CEC service schedule and Father Riley's homily from Ash Wednesday, 26Feb20 at Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph

CEC Service Schedule (with correction):

 …Father Riley will lead us in Holy Eucharist March 1 and 22, 2020.

…Father Jefferson will lead us in Holy Eucharist March 8.

…March 15 and 29 services are scheduled to be Morning Prayer led by Mrs. Jane Barnett, 10am as usual.

ASH WEDNESDAY - A - 20                                  MATTHEW 6. 1-6, 16-21

Today we begin yet another Lenten journey. By now, we are all veterans of numerous Lenten seasons. We have made this journey before and we know what lies ahead.

The Prayer Book invites us to the observance of a Holy Lent. What makes our journey a holy one? The answer is most likely different for each of us. The invitation at the beginning of the liturgy, however, gives us a blueprint for making our Lenten journey a holy one if we will but follow it.

The invitation begins with an acknowledgement of our sins and our need for continued repentance. The ashes that are traced on our foreheads remind us of that as well as our mortal nature. These forty days are meant for us to draw nearer to God through the spiritual disciplines out lined in the invitation as we follow Jesus from the mountain of the transfiguration to Jerusalem and the cross.

In today’s gospel, Christ comments on three basic aspects of spiritual living: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. In commenting on these three disciplines, Jesus tells us what not to do in terms of practicing our piety. That is, we are not to be like the “hypocrites.”

Interesting that the original meaning of “hypocrite” was actor. What Jesus is saying is that hypocrites were play-actors practicing piety for show, desiring to please men rather than God, wearing masks of compassion, for example in their alms-giving, while inwardly they were heartless.

Their reward was the applause of men and nothing more. Thus, when we give alms, our motive for giving is not for recognition, or self-satisfaction. We give in thanksgiving for all that God has given to us. God is not impressed with what others think of us, nor by what we think of ourselves. God will reward good deeds when they are based on pure motives of the heart.

Jesus, then, warns against praying hypocritically for that is to miss the spirit of prayer, which is intimate, personal communion with God that leads to the vision of his glory. Hypocrisy blocks out this communion and this vision.  To partake of this communion, both silence and words are necessary.

True prayer is not telling God what he already knows and then telling him what to do about it, nor is it appearing pious in front of others. True prayer is humble, personal and sincere. Jesus goes on in this passage to give his disciples the example of true prayer - The Lord’s Prayer.

When we fast, Jesus says we are not to look dismal. That is to show off one’s fasting as a mere external display. Fasting is an aid to spiritual growth and teaches us to depend on God. The majority of the world’s Christians will be marked outwardly with the sign of the cross today with the ashes from the palms of a previous Lent. This is not done to merely show the world that we fasting, for most of us are not.

The cross is traced upon our foreheads as an outward sign of our mortality and our acknowledgement of our continued need of repentance. To repent is to return to God. The very message the prophet Joel, in today’s first lesson was trying to get across to God’s people. “Rend your hearts and not your garments,” the prophet said. “Return to the Lord.”

Fasting is not merely abstinence from food, but consists of self-denial in all areas of life that keep us from drawing near to God. Fasting is especially saying “no” to the ego that is always seeking public recognition. The heart of discipleship lies in disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and attaching ourselves to God.

We are all pilgrims on a spiritual journey to God. It is a lifetime road we are called to travel. We live and travel between the two Advents; Christ’s coming as an infant in a manger and His second coming in Glory. The road we are called to travel between these two Advents is a Lenten one.

We are to take up our cross and follow in Christ’ most blessed footsteps. Like the prophet Joel predicted there will be days of darkness and gloom. There will also be times of joy and light. We will all face our own Good Fridays as well as being surprised by resurrection.

The word disciple has the same root as discipline. Thus, we need to discipline ourselves spiritually by learning to practice true piety, which enables us to draw nearer to God. Our practice of piety is for no other reason than to glorify God.

When we stumble and fall, and we all do, we need to recognize our failures and acknowledge them before the Lord, that is, to repent and return to God. He will create and make new hearts within us if we will turn and lift up our hearts to Him.

In our turning to God, we learn to live the resurrected life in Christ. By focusing our spiritual habits, and our priorities on our relationship to God our direction is assured.

That doesn’t mean that our journey will be an easy or a pleasant one, as St. Paul reminds the Corinthians of his own journey in today’s Epistle, even more so, the one Jesus traveled to Jerusalem and the cross, but one as the servants of God we can be most assured, we will never travel alone. AMEN+

Father Jefferson's homily from Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph, 23Feb2020

CEC News and Service Schedule:
…Father Riley will lead us in Stations of the Cross Ash Wednesday at 11:30am followed by our Ash Wednesday service at noon February 26, 2020.  He will also lead us in Holy Eucharist March 1 and 15.
…Other services will be Holy Eucharist with Father Jefferson or Morning Prayer led by Mrs. Jane Barnett, 10am as usual.

The Last Sunday after the Epiphany
February 23, 2020
Rev’d Lee Jefferson

On this last Sunday after the Epiphany, Jesus is made manifest in yet another way; his transfiguration on the mountain top.

The mountain top experiences of Moses and Jesus are alike in many ways as we hear in the lessons today. These stories bring back a memory from my and Rita’s trips to Israel and I laugh a little at the prayerful experience we had which was nothing like Moses and Jesus’ experiences. We were visiting a site at the top of a mountain, and there was nowhere for the bus to turn around to go back down. So, the bus backed down the mountain! ALL on board were in deep prayer!!

We can hear the common threads in the two mountain top stories of Moses and Jesus. Moses sets out with his assistant Joshua, Jesus sets out with Peter, James and his brother John both parties going up a mountain of God. Moses went up further and a cloud covered the mountain and it stayed there for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses out of the cloud and he entered the cloud. We are told that the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

Jesus was transfigured before his companions and his face shined like the sun and his clothes were dazzling white. Peter and James and John saw Moses and Elijah there with Jesus and wanted to build each of them dwelling but the voice of God spoke and said, “This is my son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Of course, they were terrified! But Jesus said, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up only Jesus was with them and he instructs them to tell no one until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. Jesus is the one that God called out, and he was made manifest.

Bishop N.T. Wright gives another comparison of the transfiguration that takes a different perspective. He offers a strange parallel and contrast to the crucifixion. This is what he says, and I quote: “Here, on a mountain, is Jesus, revealed in glory; there, on a hill outside Jerusalem, is Jesus, revealed in shame. Here his clothes are shining white; there, they have been stripped off, and soldiers have gambled for them. Here he is flanked by Moses and Elijah, two of Israel’s greatest heroes, representing the law and the prophets; there, he is flanked by two criminals, representing the level to which Israel had sunk in rebellion against God. Here, a bright cloud overshadows the scene; there, darkness comes upon the land. Here Peter blurts out how wonderful it all is; there, he is hiding in shame after denying he even knows Jesus. Here a voice from God himself declares that this is his wonderful son; there, a pagan soldier declares, in surprise, that this really was God’s son.”

May we turn our hearts and minds, and souls toward Jesus and listen to him as God told Peter, James and John to do. May we learn from his transfiguration and his cross that he is the Son of God, and may we carry that message out into the world to others so that we all may be transformed into God’s people who will shine like the stars in God’s kingdom.
AMEN
(Exodus 24:12-18, Psalm 2, 2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-9)

CEC News and Father Riley's homily from Christ Episcopal, Bastrop, 23Feb20

CEC News and Service Schedule:

 …Father Riley will lead us in Stations of the Cross Ash Wednesday at 11:30am followed by our Ash Wednesday service at noon February 26, 2020.  He will also lead us in Holy Eucharist March 1 and 15.

…Other services will be Holy Eucharist with Father Jefferson or Morning Prayer led by Mrs. Jane Barnett, 10am as usual.

LAST EPIPHANY -A -20                        MATTHEW 17. 1-9

Just like that, we come to the close of another Epiphany season and stand on the threshold of Lent. Today’s gospel is Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration. Mark and Luke also record it albeit with varying detail.

For the past few weeks, we have heard from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. However, today we skip to this mystical experience of the disciples and the glorious manifestation of the true nature of Christ as he makes his way to Jerusalem and the cross.

Let us back up a bit. After Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, Jesus reveals to his followers the true nature of his messiah ship, the mystery of his passion. We know how Peter reacts to that. He unwillingly speaks for Satan in opposing the idea that Jesus must die on the cross. Satan did not want Jesus to reveal his mission and save mankind through his suffering and death.

In response, Jesus rebukes Peter for opposing the will of God and for the moment, that ends the discussion. Six days after that exchange, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on the mountain with him and away from the others and the crowds. Here he was transfigured before them.

Transfigured means he had an unearthly appearance. Luke described it this way. “His countenance was altered and his raiment became dazzling white.” Mark wrote, “He was transfigured before them, and his garment became glistening, intensely white as no fuller on earth could bleach them.”

Matthew simply says “his garments were white as light, his face shone like the sun.” All three gospel writers who recorded this extraordinary event in the life and ministry of Jesus did their best to describe it. However, none of the three was present. They were recording what was told them by the eyewitnesses, Peter being one.

In today’s Epistle, Peter acknowledged he was there and saw it with his own eyes. In addition, he heard God’s voice proclaiming Jesus as his beloved son. It was a confirmation of his earlier confession of Jesus as Messiah that preceded the mystical experience of the Transfiguration.

In addition, if seeing Jesus with a divine aura surrounding him, shinning in and through him was not enough, the three readily recognized Moses and Elijah as they stood on either side of Jesus and spoke to him. The presence of Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the prophet witness to Jesus as the messiah who fulfills the whole of the Old Testament.

Peter, being the impetuous one that he is, interrupts the conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah, and offers to build shelters so that they can all remain. He wanted to preserve the moment. But Peter and the others with him are quickly frightened when a bight cloud, the sign of God’s power, suddenly overshadows them and a voice is heard coming from the cloud proclaiming Jesus to be God’s beloved Son with the commandment to “listen to him.”

The three fall down in fear, bowing their faces to the earth, but Jesus touches them and takes away their fear. When they look up, they see Jesus only. The cloud is gone. The aura has left him. Suddenly it was all over as quickly as it had begun. Life was back to normal.

Jesus then led them down from the mountain. As they descended, He told them to keep the vision to themselves until he was risen from the dead. As I am certain they did. For whom would they tell and how could they explain it? Who would believe it?

They did not at this point understand fully what they had seen concerning Jesus. It was a glimpse of His Glory, if only for an instant of time. However, it was enough for Peter to want to remain there.


The Transfiguration is a theophany, a manifestation of God, especially the divinity of Christ. In all the gospel accounts, the Transfiguration is a proof and a foretaste of the coming of Christ in glory at the end of time.

The three who ascended with Jesus to the top of the mountain now descend to face reality. The Transfiguration was followed by a story of a boy who is desperately ill, so sick those disciples left behind could not cure him. Their mountain top experience now confronts a stubborn demon.

Life is like that for some of us, that is, we seem to go from mountain top experiences to being confronted with reality. Dramatic visions and spiritual experiences are followed by huge demands. For others life is a plateau.

The disciples were unable to understand how it was that the glory, which they had glimpsed on the mountain, the glory of God’s chosen son, the Servant who was carrying in himself the promise of redemption, would finally be revealed on a very different hill outside Jerusalem.

We too often find it completely bewildering to know how to understand all that God is doing and saying, both in our times of great joy and our times of great sadness. We will never be able it understand it if we chose to only look at it from a human point of view. Instead, we must learn to look at it from God’s point of view.

The more we are open to God and the different dimensions of God’s glory, the more we are open to the pain and suffering of the world, the more we are called to do what we can to alleviate it.

The disciples had their eyes opened, so that they can see for the first time. Even though he does not look like what they might have expected, Jesus really is messiah. Now these three know it. When the veil of ordinariness that normally prevents us from seeing the inside of a situation is drawn back, the fullness of reality is disclosed.

We don’t generally experience things as dramatic as this story. We don’t often try and interpret the details of our lives according to a detailed spiritual plot. However, each of us is called to do what the voice from the cloud said: Listen to Jesus, because he is God’s beloved son.

If we want to find the way, the way to God, the way to the kingdom, we must “listen to him.” And as we learn to listen to him, even if we sometimes get scared and say all the wrong things, we may find that glory of God manifests itself to us, strengthening us, as it did the disciples, for the journey that lies ahead. AMEN+

Visitation and Memorial Service for Mrs. Mary Waters McIntosh

A memorial service for Mary Waters McIntosh, 98, of St. Joseph, LA, will be Friday, February 21, 2020 at Christ Episcopal Church at 2 pm with Father Riley officiating. Interment will follow at Legion Memorial Cemetery in Newellton, LA, under the direction of Young's Funeral Home.



Mary Waters McIntosh was born August 4, 1921 in Rapides Parish to Harvey J. Waters, Sr. and Mary Ruth Connerly Waters and passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2020. She was a resident of St. Joseph and a lifelong member of Christ Episcopal Church. Mary was a wonderful homemaker, mother and community oriented person. She served on the Alter Guild of Christ Episcopal Church and was a member of CAR and Bruin Vidal Chapter of the DAR. When Mary was in her seventies she founded the Shepard’s Center in St. Joseph. She opened in 1991 and worked at the Center every day that it was open. She received an angel award from The Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana.



She was preceded in death by: husband, Alvin Glenn McIntosh; parents; brothers, Harvey Waters, Jr. and Dan Waters; and sister, Betty Williams.



Survivors include: three daughters, Kay Paine and husband Rev. John D. Paine of Witcha Falls, TX, Jane Barnett and husband Lamar of St. Joseph, LA and Allene Rachal and husband Rick of Jacksonville Beach, FL; grandchildren, Jennifer Jones of Austin, TX, Lisa Vige and husband Eric of West Monroe, LA, Doug Paine and wife Jamie of Houston, TX, David Barnett and wife Claire of Lafayette, LA, and Laura Chrislip and husband Bryan of West Monroe, LA; great-granddaughters, Madison Coggins and husband Kyle, Mallory Vige, Gracie Vige, Macy Chrislip, Allie Chrislip, Emily Barnett, Catherine Barnett, Mary Elise Barnett, Ellen Barnett, Mary Page Jones, Chloe Paine and Lexie Paine; sister, Dorothy Barbre and sister-in-law, Connie Waters. She is also survived by a host of nieces and nephews.



The family would like to thank the many caregivers that and helped care for Mrs. McIntosh over the years.



The family will receive friends Friday at the church from 1 pm until service time. To leave an online condolence for the family please visit www.youngsfh.com.

Visitation and Memorial Service for Mrs. Mary McIntosh

Visitation for Mrs. Mary McIntosh will be in the Parish Hall of Christ Episcopal Church, Saint Joseph, at 1pm, Friday, February 21, 2020.  A memorial service will be held in the church immediately following visitation.

CEC News and Father Riley's homily from February 16, 2020

CEC News and Service Schedule:

…Please keep those who have asked for our prayers in your prayers: Margo Wade, Margaret Rachel, Mary McIntosh, Dot Barbre, Wayne Auttonberry, Carlene Riley, Eugene Marshall, Beth Mitchell, Jackie Brown, Ted Grace, Eddie Sanders, Catherine Gray, Jennifer Jones, Val Sloan, Tom and Jessica, Corbin, Austin Hodnett, Matt, Aaron Sutton, Nancy Clark, Bobbye Ann Lee, and Mattie England.

…Father Jefferson will lead us in Holy Eucharist February 23, 2020.

…Father Riley will be leading our Ash Wednesday service at noon February 26.  He will also lead us in Holy Eucharist March 1 and 15.  Other Sundays are planned to be Morning Prayer at this time.


Father Riley's homily:6 EPIPHANY - A- 20                                                     MATTHEW 5. 21-37

Today’s gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. You will recall in last week’s teaching Jesus proclaimed that he had not come to abolish the law and the prophets but rather to fulfill them.

In that same teaching Christ warned that, our righteousness, that is, our acceptance of God’s laws and our being accepted by God, must exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes if we are to hope to enter the kingdom.

Theirs was merely an outward appearance of their acceptance of the law. The righteousness Jesus is calling for is much deeper. It has to do with attitude and motivation.

“You have heard it said,” Jesus tells the crowd, concerning the laws of Moses, “But I say…” he is offering the people a new interpretation of the Commandments. What they have been taught here to fore is not a true understanding of the intent of the law because it was based on obligation.

But who was he to do this? What gave him the authority to say such things? The repeated statement “but I say to you” is a statement of total, divine authority. He is contrasting the teaching of the Pharisees with his own, No wonder he quickly got into trouble with the religious leaders. He was usurping their authority.

What did this new teaching mean? It meant that the law was no longer the final word on the relationship between God and his people. It was not a new law, however, but a whole new frame of reference. That reference was Jesus. Jesus’ fulfillment of the law, however, does not lighten the expectations.

Rather, it asks for a deeper connection between the inner attitude and the outward actions. Following the will of God as revealed by Jesus is not easily reduced to a written code. St. Paul would later write that it was the spirit of the law that gives life not the letter.

Remember the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life? Jesus asked him what does the law say, how does it read? He quickly responded with the correct answer. But when Jesus invited him to put into action what he said he believed, by selling all that he had, and come and follow him, he could not do it and went away sorrowful.

Neither could most of God’s people live the letter of the law as taught by the religious leaders of the day. Consequently, many simply gave up trying. Jesus’ teaching, however, opened their eyes and their hearts to a new way of thinking about God and their relationship to him based on the law.

In the beginning of his sermon, which covers the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives us the beatitudes. These “blessings” of discipleship are in themselves a transforming new attitude, a new idea that Jesus is teaching. He is urging his hearers to look at the choices they make and the motivation for their actions in a new way.

The laws and the subject matter contained in today’s passage are tough issues on the surface. Many preachers and individuals shy away from addressing them for fear of offending. But what is the emphasis here? What is the intended meaning? What is Jesus teaching?

Christ is going beyond the surface of things to discover what is essential. For example, anger in itself is not sinful, but Jesus forbids sinful anger identifying it with murder. Reconciliation is the essence of Jesus’ teaching here.

Again, mutual attraction of men and women is not the issue Jesus is speaking too but the selfish promptings of lust. Sin does not come out of nature but the distortion of nature for self-indulgence.

Likewise, swearing is akin to the taking of God’s name in vain. It has to do with false witness. These were shocking revelations to his hearers. What were they to make of it? How were they to put this new teaching into action?

Jesus is calling us to a radically new way of being truly human, so as to motivate us not to do things merely because they are expected or correct or because they look good. Rather we need to hold them up to a new standard of honesty and love, which Jesus gives to us as his followers.

We need to respond to the demands of our relationship to Jesus in a way that is pleasing to God. As the author of Sirach said, “For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything…he knows every human action.” He sees through the outward appearance of our actions and into the depths of one’s heart where our motivations come from.

Of course, this response comes from an individual self-understanding and actions. However, it does not stay there. Jesus’ preaching of the kingdom was not addressed to individuals, but to a community. As the Body of Christ, we gather together as a community to hear and respond to those words, to that preaching and teaching.

We come to church seeking inner transformation but we also come to a place where that deep spiritual experience is spoken about and shared. We are brought in touch with the reality of Christ each time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist.

The reality of Christ’ presence is available, not just for personal renewal, but for strengthening the community for living the radical new claim of love that our acceptance of Jesus makes on our lives.

In Jesus, we are called to go beyond mere observance of mere conventions and commandments, to go deeper into a relationship, which calls us to respond not out of fear, or obligation, but out of love.

Then our response will be action to show ourselves far different from the Pharisees. In that way we will begin to understand and to participate in the fulfillment of the new life Jesus offers. We will lovingly keep the commandments in order to please God in both will and deed.

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes the commands of the law and shows how they provide a blueprint for a new way of living, of being truly human. This new way, which Jesus had come to pioneer and make possible, goes down deep into the roots of personality and produces a different pattern of behavior altogether.

Jesus is just not giving moral commands. He is unveiling a whole new way of being human. On the surface, it looks impossible. But Jesus himself pioneered it and invites us to follow and by God’s grace, we can. AMEN+

(Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37)

Father Riley's homily from February 9, 2020 at Christ Episcopal, Bastrop

5 EPIPHANY - A - 20                             MATTHEW 5.13-20

Today’s gospel follows Jesus having called his first disciples by the Sea of Galilee. He has begun his ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing in that region. Along with the four fishermen, large crowds have now begun to follow him.

The crowds are so large that it is impossible for Jesus to stand in the midst of them and be heard. Therefore, Jesus takes to the high ground over looking the sea. Matthew’s fifth chapter begins with the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus begins his sermon with the blessings of discipleship we refer to as the “beatitudes.” Next, he speaks of the roles of those who will choose to follow him. That’s where our passage picks up today.

In doing so, Christ uses the metaphors of “salt” and “light” to describe his follower’s roles. They are to be witnesses to his teaching and to him as the one God has sent to redeem Israel.

His use of salt and light, however, is not a new teaching, but a reiteration of Israel’s role. God chose Israel to be salt and light of the world. That is, to preserve his word and to be a light in the darkness pointing the way to the one true God. However, she had failed to live up to her God given role.

Now Jesus had come to fulfill the law and the prophets and to create a new Israel. He does so in his words and actions. He calls for a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes. That is, one that goes much deeper than mere outward appearances.

In essence, he echoes the prophet Isaiah in today’s first lesson who chides Israel for serving their own interests in their fasting and yet wonders why God had not recognized their so-called righteousness.

The goal of the Law is righteousness. However, true righteousness means one’s acceptance of God’s requirements and one’s being accepted by God (LK 18.10-14). Obviously, this was not the case for God’s people in the time of Isaiah or in the time of Jesus.

The righteousness of salvation Jesus is calling us too is one of communion in Him of one’s heart, soul, and mind. Jesus’ words in today’s passage, then, affirms the law as the foundation of the church’ teaching.

We all know the values of salt, at least before the days of high blood pressure. Salt was thought to be essential for life. It preserved food and kept it from spoiling. It was traded by caravans in ancient times. In some cases, salt was equal in value to gold or precious stones. Nothing could take its place.

If, however, it lost its saltiness, it was worthless. Christ also uses the concept of light to describe his followers. We all know about light. Without it, we cannot see in the dark. When we turn on the light, it is not the light we look at but what it points too.

Light, then, is something that points beyond itself. For Jesus salt and light had a particular meaning. When he says that his disciples must be “salt”, he means they are to preserve his teachings as they have received them.

When he says that we are to be “light” he means we are to point beyond ourselves to Him who is the true light - the one who is the light and life of the world, even Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we give in to other values, other teachings, other gospels, if we water his teaching down so as to be more acceptable to the masses, then, our salt has lost its taste.

In addition, if we point to self, if we are concerned only with self-interests, self -preservation and the maintenance of the status quo, then, we are no longer the “light” we have been called to be.

Jesus, then, is presenting a challenge to his would be followers not to fail to be what God had created them to be. God had chosen Israel to be the salt of the earth, but Israel was behaving like everybody else, with its power politics and factional squabbles.

How could God keep the world from going bad, the main function of salt in the ancient world? If Israel, his chosen salt had lost its distinctive taste?

In the same way, God called Israel to be the light of the world. Israel were the people through whom God intended to shine his bright light into the world’s dark corners, not simply to show up evil but to enable people who were blundering around in the dark to find their way.

But what if the people he called to be light-bearers had become part of the darkness?

That was Jesus’ warning and also at the same time his challenge. His was a warning not to depart from one’s God-given role and at the same time a challenge to re-commit oneself to that role.

Jerusalem, the city set on a hill, was supposed to be a beacon of hope to the world. Jesus’ followers were to be like that by keeping God’s laws as a sign to the world that God, the creator, was God indeed, and He alone should be worshipped.

In Jesus the law and the prophets was fulfilled. He was the salt of the earth God had sent to preserve his law. He was the light of the world; that would be set upon a hilltop, crucified for all the world to see. He would become the beacon of hope and new life for everyone, drawing people to worship the one true God.

That is why these sayings originally applied to Israel, now apply to all those who would follow Jesus and draw on his life as the source of their own. Can we be what God in Christ has called us to be?

Can we be what the church was instituted to be - the depository of faith and the dispenser of truth based on the teachings of Christ without compromising the essence of the His teaching to satisfy the world?

Can we, as Church, that is, corporately and individually, by what we say and do in living the new life to which we have been called always point to Him who is the True Light and the Life of the world? Can we be salt and light? AMEN+

CEC schedule and Father Riley's homily from February 2, 2020

CEC Service Schedule:

…Father Riley will lead us in Holy Eucharist February 16, 2020.

…We plan to have Morning Prayer February 23, 2020, however, plans are not firm yet and we may have Father Lee Jefferson lead us in Holy Eucharist if he is available….stay tuned.

THE PRESENTATION - A - 20                         LUKE 2. 22 - 40

“When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.”

The sanctification of the firstborn was to occur 7 days after birth, according to the Law of Moses, with the circumcision on the eight day. 40 days after the birth of a son, the mother of the child was to present herself before the Lord to make an offering in order to be pronounced clean by the priest.

Therefore, Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus made the trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem to do what was required of them. Traditionally the offering was that of a lamb, but exceptions were made for those who could not afford one. In Mary’s case, two turtledoves and two pigeons were offered.

There was in the temple an old man, Simeon who had spent his life looking for the consolation of Israel. Day in and day out, he was in the temple praying for the promise of God to come true. God had revealed to him, through the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

How many male children he must have seen being brought before the Lord whose mother’s had come to present themselves and to make their thank offering and sin offering according to the law, only God knows. Yet none of these he had heretofore seen was revealed to him as the one God had sent to fulfill the promise.

Then one day a young mother and her older husband along with their male child entered the temple to do what was customary. The Holy Spirit of God revealed to Simeon that this child was the one.

He took him into his arms and praised God singing, “…my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all your peoples, a light for revelation of the Gentiles and for the glory to your people Israel.”

His song, the Nunc dimmittis, emphasizes the double mission of Jesus to the Jews and the Gentiles. It is contained in our services of Morning and Evening Prayer, and is used as an exit anthem in the Burial office.

A child being presented in the temple was an everyday occurrence. It was not what old Simeon was expecting. Moreover, when he realized that this was the promised one, he foretold that this child, the appointed redeemer would deal with suffering by sharing it himself.

Simeon speaks dark words about opposition, and about a sword that will pierce Mary’s heart. This is what happens when the kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of the world.

God indeed blessed Simeon by his recognition of Jesus as Messiah. In his song, he reveals that God’s plan of salvation is for all people everywhere. The true glory of Israel is in her role as being the bearer of the promise, the nation in and from whom the true world ruler would arise as “A light for revelation to the nations and glory for your people Israel.”

This, however, is not the sort of revelation the world was expecting, and not the sort of glory Israel wanted, but true revelation and true glory nonetheless. Often times God’s answer is not what we expect.

Sometimes in prayer, for example, when we have been earnestly praying for an answer and what we really want is for God to confirm our wish. God says “no.” That is certainly not an answer we expect. At other times, he simply tells us not yet. In other words, we must continue to wait. Waiting requires patience. Then, there is the surprise response, when God says, “I thought you would never ask.”

Simeon and Anna had been waiting on God, waiting on their turn to die, worshipping God day and night praying for the salvation of his people. Everyday a child was brought into the Temple. Yet God’s answer was not yet, you must continue to wait.

Waiting on God requires a steady faith, faith that one day God will make good on his promise. That day finally came for both Simeon and Anna and for the life of the world.

Can we see ourselves in this story? It is our story. We all have a vocation. Everybody has his or her role in God’s plan.

For some it is obvious. It will be active, working in the public’s eye, helping to meet the practical needs of others. For others it will be quiet, away from the public’s view, praying faithfully for God to act in fulfillment of his promises. For many it will be a mixture of the two, sometimes one, sometimes the other.

In the Feast of the Presentation, we have a new winter encounter. It is a meeting between a child and two old people who have spent a lifetime waiting for the promise of salvation to be fulfilled. Simeon sings his song in response to God making good on his promise that he would not see death until he has seen God’s messiah.

However, his patient waiting was not without the constant need of receiving the grace of God to rekindle the light of faith. Anna gave thanks because the years of watching and waiting, fasting and praying, have yielded to a new life, the life of a child. She praised God for having witnessed God’s promise being fulfilled in him.

Amid the winter experiences of our own lives we are invited this day to bring our own temptations to despair that’s God ’s promise will never be fulfilled to the burning light of Jesus’ paschal mystery. He has chosen to be helpless so that he can embrace all our helplessness. As the author of Hebrews reminds us, “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”

So, let us come anew this day to the temple of our lives to receive Jesus the merciful one, who became like us in every respect whose helplessness embraces our helplessness and whose love give us the courage to keep watching and waiting as we yearn for the fulfillment of the promises of God.

For God in Jesus Christ our great high priest has chosen to meet us and to be one with us in our darkness and despair. It is by his grace the light of our faith is rekindled by the knowledge that the promise of life already shines forth through the outstretched arms of the crucified Jesus whose love for all has overcome the darkness and helplessness of the world. AMEN+