The Christian calendar is highlighted by multiple feast days each honoring an individual saint.  All Saints’ Day (November 1) was placed on the Church’s calendar as early as 373 AD to celebrate notable saints who lived a godly life but did not have a feast day assigned to them.  In 998 AD, November 2 was designated by the monastic, Odilo of Cluny, as All Souls’ Day to commemorate the souls of all the faithfully departed.  In our Book of Common Prayer (p 29) this day is designated “Commemoration of All Faithful Departed” to honor all those Christian individuals who are unknown in the wider fellowship of the church, especially family members and friends.  The 1979 Book of Common Prayer is the first American Prayer Book in which this feast is listed on the calendar.  The commemoration on this day is of those Christians who were neither martyrs nor confessors - people not especially distinguished by their death or by their way of life.  During World War I, Pope Benedict XV allowed priests to celebrate the Eucharist three times on All Souls’ Day.  He felt that the “useless slaughter” of the war warranted a special commemoration for all those persons who had lost their lives.

​~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Proper 24
Mark 10:35-45
19th Sunday after Pentecost
October 17, 2021
"Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask." This is the rather brazen and unthinking sentence in this whole Gospel story that juts out from the story and seems rather bizarre to me! How about you? Doesn't it kind of jolt you? Two followers of Jesus approach Jesus and tell him—not ask him, as my mother would point out—but, tell him that they want him to fulfil their desires. "You do what I want," is what they are saying.
To get a clearer picture of this interaction, imagine Jesus being approached and then addressing his disciples wearing a kitchen apron. A towel is in his hand. He has just finished preparing their supper and maybe drying some dishes before setting them on their table. The disciples move to assist him, but he makes a deliberate point to wait on them.[i]
Also adding clarity and context for this interaction between James, John and Jesus, is a recognition that if we back up only two sentences before today's reading, St. Mark tells us that we would hear Jesus predicting his passion in no uncertain terms when he says, "the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise. (Mark 10:33-34.) No sooner does Jesus finish saying this than we hear James and John make their demand. Did they not hear him? What Jesus just said seems to have no effect on these disciples. Their thoughts seem to be solely focused on acquiring these power positions.
 
Similarly, in the preceding Chapter 9, Jesus had no sooner finished predicting his passion and death when he perceives that the disciples are arguing among themselves over which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom.
Let's stop and think for a moment... imagine you are leading a group of people into the next evolution of humankind, an evolution of spirituality, one of love, service and peace, and you prophesy—accurately predicting—that because of your message and its challenge to the traditional hierarchy, that you will be tortured and put to death, but that you will also rise from the dead after three days... and your followers still don't have a firm concept, a clear understanding, the necessary mental and spiritual shift to accommodate your message. They're still working at power plays and hierarchical corporate structures! How would you feel? What would you do? If I laid bare this vision and my followers could only respond with "Who's the best?" and "Make me first," I believe I would feel defeated and down-hearted; I believe I would be looking at my timeline, and thinking "I've got to ramp things up here! They need to learn my way, or the world will be in big trouble."
So, Jesus calls them together and teaches them with two bullet points:
  "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; Bullet point number one: Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; and bullet point number two:
  whoever wishes to be first among you will be the servant of all. So, do you want to be great and be a servant, or do you want to do better than great, be number one, and be servant to all?
Jesus goes on, "For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." In the previous chapter, he had said much the same thing: "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and the servant of all. "[ii]
So, let's stop again for a second, and imagine the opposite of Jesus words... something like, "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your task master; whoever wishes to be first among you will be task master of all." What if the Son of Man came to be served, not to serve? ...and what if Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for no one? This description of being the master who lords it over all, someone who's in it for him or herself, is simply the way of the world, isn't it? There's a stark contrast between this way of thinking about the world, of being in the world, and Jesus' words describing the Kingdom of God here and forever as being made up of servants.
Jesus' words are what the apostles needed to hear, needed to learn; words they needed to bring deep into their hearts and live by—and eventually, with the help of the Holy Spirit, did live by. As Jesus' disciples, these are words that we must read, mark, learn and inwardly digest, also! These are words we must reconcile ourselves to as members of the Body of Christ, as people who are working every day to bring about the Kingdom of God on the face of this earth, as people of light blotting out darkness. We must pray daily, asking the Holy Spirit to reorder our lives from the "me first" orientation of the world, to a servant orientation, serving all of God's children.
 
This is ministry! This is all of our ministry. In the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer, it poses the question, "Who are the ministers of the Church?" The answer does not say, "any ordained Bishop, priest, or deacon." No. Our Catechism teaches us that "the ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons." All Christians are called to minister both to one another and to those around them by participating in God's work in the world.[iii] Ministry, is a word which comes from the same root word as "minus", which means, "less." Jesus said, "For who is greater: the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27.) Paul, too, reminds us that our Lord "did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:6-7.)[iv] Our response to God's call to us places us in the role of minister on God's behalf; as servant to God's creation.
 
For a few weeks recently, we held a different kind of ministry fair. Usually we have a Sunday event, a real fair within our Church that focuses us on the many ministries that serve our Church and that serve beyond the walls of this Church—that serve the greater community of Oklahoma City and even beyond. Each of those Sundays when we held our alternative Ministry Fair, Fr. Joseph provided sign-up sheets to everyone to participate in a ministry. He talked about the importance of ministry, not simply how it benefits those being ministered to, but also for those who provide ministry. This is because Christian ministry is more than simply doing good. Rather, it is something that Christ does in us and through us and that we do in and through Christ.[v] It's simple enough to say, "I chose to work on the Altar Guild," or "l chose to serve as a Eucharistic Visitor." But, in truth, God chose us for those ministries, and our committing to them is our response to God's call. How much richer our lives will be through our service.
I can without a doubt say this is true for me. Marian and I were new to St. Mary's—Edmond when we were married over 35 years ago. At that time, I was still terribly shy. But there were church dinner groups to join, the Men's Dinner once a month, small groups, and of course, coffee after Sunday morning worship. Feeling a call to participate, I waded into all of those, tentatively and cautiously. I rarely spoke, and most often, in kindness, no one called that to my attention. I knew I wanted to be more involved in the church, and offered to serve as a lector, and then at the altar as a Eucharistic Minister. Over the years I sang in the choir. I taught Sunday morning and Wednesday evening classes; helped with Confirmation courses and did a lot of pre-marital preparation. I served a couple terms on Vestry. Eventually, I put myself forward to be admitted to Holy Orders as a Deacon, and much later, as a priest. I provided consulting services for Bishop Ed, and was appointed to serve on Commission on Ministry.
I don't know when it happened, but at some point, I was looking back over my involvement in the church, and realized that in addition to my own spiritual development, it was through my service that my crippling shyness had melted away—not completely, but to a huge degree. Service was not just me giving, but it was also Jesus working in and through me, giving back to me. It was God providing me strength, as God provides all his servants. It became less about me, and more about Jesus—the way it should be. Recently, I felt the nudge to again offer a short course Lectio
Divina on Sunday mornings. This was a familiar prompting by the Holy Spirit and I knew, that although I have plenty on my plate, that this prompting could not be ignored. These promptings to do my little part as a member of the Body of Christ, to bring the presence of Christ as a fully-known reality to others. And, of course, the Ministry Fair lives on; it really never ends... if you are feeling the prompting of the Holy Spirit to serve in some capacity, let one of the clergy know or talk with Sarah-Emily, the Membership Engagement Coordinator. We'll help make that happen.
The power seats that James and John longed for are what usually only divide us from others: us versus them; top dog versus underdog. We even saw this happen immediately within the apostles' own community after their request to Jesus surfaced. The position of servant, however, unites:
We serve each other; we serve God; we serve the Body of Christ—ensuring its forward movement on earth; we are fellow spiritual travelers, concerned for each other; comforting one another and sharing in our joys.
What a different world this would be if we truly heeded
Jesus' words about servanthood. My prayer today is that Christians everywhere will open our ears to hear the words of our Lord Jesus, "to serve, not to be served" and then go into the world in peace, to love and serve (each other) and the Lord.
Amen.

~Fr. Tony Moon, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
​
[i] Larry Gillick, S.J.

[ii] Deacon Sil

[iii] Farnham, S.G., et al. (2021). Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Fenhagen, Mutual Ministry as reported in Farnham, S.G., et al. (2021). Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community

Labyrinth meditators believe that walking a labyrinth can resolve inner discomforts and still the mind to create a sense of clarity in a confusing and complex world.  As a spiritual tool, both the calming effect and the metaphorical symbolism of the labyrinth as a pathway on a spiritual track can assist in pondering life’s greater mysteries.  Labyrinths combine the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering, but purposeful, path.  The labyrinth represents a journey to our center and back out again.  The ancient Labyrinth on the isle of Crete is a mythical maze that allegedly housed the half-bull, half-man Minotaur of Greek legend.  However, spiritual labyrinths are not to be confused with such mazes -  puzzles of twists and blind alleys that require logic and analysis to discover the correct path.  A labyrinth’s single path is unicursal - the way in is the way out.  Dissimilar to a maze, labyrinths require creativity and imagery.  The only choice to be made is whether to enter or not.  The meditator stands at the entrance, centers himself by breathing deeply, acknowledges the coming spiritual journey, begins the walk, pauses on reaching the center, and walks out.

~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

John 10:1-18
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
 
Meditation
People follow Jesus because he is all about Love.  The flock follows him because his voice is one of compassion and truth.  Those who are full of lies and negativity aren’t fit to lead and should not be followed.  You can be sure they will not lay down their life for yours.  Love and compassion always bring about a better outcome than the alternatives.  There are times in life I respond poorly to situations.  May be out of hate, ignorance or frustration.  The fact that Jesus suffered crucifixion willingly for the wellbeing of his flock, while not lashing out in anger, is the pinnacle of leading by example.  We follow his voice because deep down we know it is the right thing to do.  I can’t count how many times I followed my own voice and things went all wrong. 
 
Prayer
Lord help us to see things in life that we are spiritually blind.  Let us shift our focus off of what we as mortals see.  Help us to remember only the one true shepherd will not lead us astray, Amen.
Submitted by Jonathan Lynn Wallingford, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

John 4:5,6
So He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.”

Meditation
Jesus, weary from traveling, was sitting by Jacob’s well. Just picture it; picture yourself seeing that on your own walk one day.  If that isn’t a stage scene setup, I don’t know what is.  What happens next?  Well, I’m not going to give it all away, and you hopefully have read the whole passage already. Suffice it to say Jesus discusses way more about the kingdom of heaven with a Samaritan woman than I bet she expected when she walked up. How often in our daily lives does something so profound and unexpected happen that it shatters our understanding of the natural order?
We follow a teacher who knows us so well it scares us when we realize this.  He asks us to be always ready to listen, to learn, to be willing to change our minds.  He asks us to question the fundamental assumptions we have regarding human nature and our own worth.  He asks us to challenge the assumption of where we *should* worship God.  And, ultimately, He asks us to trust that we can find our path back to Love through Him.  That is a lot to ask. And it is surprising and frightening when we finally and fully understand it.  And it is wonderful.

Prayer
Lord of Love, You surprise us when You show up and we are not prepared, which is always.  We don’t deserve the attention, the time, the grace.  And then we realize You think we do.  You offer us hope, and meaning, and purpose, and life itself.  Help us to be ready to always receive You.  Amen.


Submitted by Noel Jacobs, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma​

Ignatius, was Bishop of Antioch, and a Martyr.  Around 100 AD, Ignatius became the second or third Bishop of Anitoch after St. Peter.  Ignatius was captured by Roman soldiers and escorted to Rome where he was martyred.  This transport to Rome is unusual since Christians were typically killed locally.  During his  journey, Ignatius and his entourage made a number of lengthy stops in Asia Minor, and he was given great freedom to visit local Christians and to write seven letters that sealed his fame.  He is remembered for his contributions to the development of the eucharist; his orthodox defenses against heresies, and his enthusiastic martyrdom.  Ignatius was the first person to use the term “Catholic Church”.  More than any other person, he stressed the role of a single bishop.  Prior to this time, each church was governed by groups of bishops.  He insisted that there should be one bishop who presided over presbyters and deacons.  He is one of the most important figures in the early church, a period when the church was developing from its infant New Testament roots and moved in the direction of an organized, defined, and catholic religion.

~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

One of the worst feelings in the world is that of being unheard or misunderstood.  Is that fair to say?  Who likes being misinterpreted?  The feeling of being unheard or misunderstood leaves you feeling powerless, alone, or like you just don’t matter. One of the most damaging things that can happen in a family, a job, a relationship, or an organization is the inability/refusal to hear, really hear and understand/empathize with what someone else is going through.  
Being ignored fosters all manner of resentments, struggles, pain, and agony for people and ends up hurting both people’s dignity and how they see other people. When you feel unheard or misunderstood the temptation to lash out and act in ways contrary to how you want to be be. It is tempting and attractive to throw in the cards and walk away from someone or something when we feel as though no one listens or cares.

The Letter/Epistle/Missive to the Hebrews is written to a group of Jewish folks who were tempted, tried and hurting. 
They were feeling misunderstood by so many and considering throwing up their hands and going back to the old way of being; and many of them already had.  
Someone once said that “The Book of Hebrews was written by a Hebrew to other Hebrews telling the Hebrews to stop acting like Hebrews.” 

In actuality this isn’t far from the mark, many of the early Jewish believers were slipping back into the rites and rituals of Judaism in order to escape the mounting persecution. This letter, then, is an exhortation for those persecuted believers to continue in the grace of Jesus Christ. Let’s be honest though, can you blame them?  If folks were saying your crazy or bad or evil for thinking the things you think and following the way of Jesus. It would be mighty tempting to just throw up your hands and walk away, especially if they were threatening death or ostracism. It would be oh so tempting to go back to familiar well worn paths and the social safety and comfort they afforded.


At varying points in our lives we’ve probably all dealt with folks either ignoring us or telling us we were not good or bad because we thought differently or acted differently than the group. The resultant effect is we end up mired in sadness, frustration, and maybe a bit of resentment.  Maybe even feeling a bit dumb for swimming upstream… Whenever we go off the accepted script of the way things are supposed to be, we will run up against the keepers of the status quo who will either ignore, isolate, or exclude; then we are left out in the cold feeling like no one gets us. The Epistle reading we have today is encouragement/reminder to them then and us now that we have someone who gets us, who cares for us, who loves us despite all the consternation/frustration/exclusion we experience. We are reminded over and over in our reading that Jesus is the single best example of what God is like and that he is one who has experienced the oddness and pain/the joy and wonder of human existence.  

God is not some far off deity that is unfeeling or willfully ignorant to the pains of what it means to be a person. God has come in the person Jesus to show us through the life, torture, death, and resurrection of Jesus what it means to not just survive but how to truly live. God is not a silent removed unfeeling being, no! God is engaged and involved with God’s creation in ways that we don’t always see because we are running around as fast as we can just to stay in place. Our reading today from Hebrews serves as a resounding call/invitation/reminder that we ought always endeavor to live life shaped by the way of demonstrated the way of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  We hear that a lot as Christians but what does that mean? My hunch is that we become different type of people, who live life in a different way, and seek to embody the way of Christ wherever we are and whomever we are with. We become a type of people that in all likelihood, people will not fully understand but we will endeavor to to understand those who misunderstand us.When they ignore our voice, we work to hear theirs. When they exclude us, we seek to include them.

God has come in Jesus as God’s most perfect revelation to the world of what God is like and how we are to be, love, and care for one another. If your practice of Christianity doesn’t have the resultant effect of you become kinder, I’m pretty sure you’re doing it wrong. The Epistle to the Hebrews, especially our reading today, reminds us that there is one(Jesus) who understands, there is one(Jesus) who cares, there is one(Jesus) who walks with us; so we can walk alongside others in their pain. Jesus hears us, Jesus understands us, Jesus knows what it means to struggle. We ought always seek to understand and walk with others, so that they too can know the healing power of God as revealed in community. Living the way of Jesus isn’t a novel hobby we pick up when we have some free time but it is an all encompassing reality.  Jesus knows our pains and wants to heal them, following Jesus isn’t an insurance policy from suffering but rather  a walking with the one who heals and seeking to how we can help to heal this broken world with Him. The way of Jesus is about being rescued from sin and ourselves and collaborating/conspiring with God to rescuing a world neck deep in pain, violence, and misery. Is it hard? Oh yeah it is.  Is it worth it?  Yes assuredly without reservation, because we walk with one who understands us. With Jesus on our side what might we do?


AMEN

~Fr. Lance Schmitz, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

James, Joses, Jude, and Simon are listed Biblically as Jesus’ brothers.  Because James is listed first, he was probably the eldest.  St. Jerome, believing in the Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, argued that the “brothers” of Jesus were actually His cousins.  Interestingly, Biblical Hebrew lacks a word for “cousin”, which might require the alternative, “brother”.  James was the first bishop of Jerusalem, and his liturgy is the oldest still in use.  After Peter fled Jerusalem for fear of Herod, James became Christianity’s leader.  James presided over the “Apostolic Council” when Paul argued successfully that Gentile converts need not be circumcised.  Although Jesus had two apostles names James - James, the son of Zebedee and James, the son of Alphaeus - it is unlikely that either wrote the epistle attributed to James, and James, the brother of Jesus is thought to be the author.  James was stoned to death in 63 A.D.  Martin Luther wrote that James’ Epistle was an “Epistle of Straw” because it stressed Christian “works”, in apparent opposition to Luther’s belief in justification by faith alone.  Although Luther unsuccessfully attempted to remove Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation from the canonical Bible, these four books were relegated to last place in the German-language Bible. 

~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma