Notes, Thoughts and Reflections: 2014

Friday, December 26, 2014

David Clifton "The New Born King (Christmas Truce 1914)" - YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vBRtHLg54Vw

Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Away in a Manger - December 25, 2014

A Christmas Reflection

December 25, 2014 - Year B

By Dennis S. Hankins

Away in a Manger

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:20)

God ever invites us to come and see! He sent a choir of angels to invite the shepherds to come and see. A spectacular star led Wise Men from the regions of Persia to come and see. And for roughly 2,014 years folks of every race, tribe, and nation under heaven have responded to the invitation to come and see.

Come and behold him, born the king of angels. Born that man no more may die; born to give the sons and daughters of earth a second birth. All the great hymns of Christmas marvel at the power emanating from that baby lying in a manger. So, yes, we must come again and see for ourselves on this Christmas day this babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Come and see and worship him because, well because, born in the city of David is our Savior who is Christ the Lord! Everyone is invited. No one is excluded. That is the remarkable sense and feeling almost everyone understands this time of the year when the soul feels treasured and special. It's the most inclusive time of the year. It's that Christmas spirit everyone gets - the real reason of the Season that comes alive again.

Christmas is when we peek once again into that feed trough and look into the wonderful face of God and feel the immeasurable mercy of his love. There we see for ourselves the Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing - our flesh - a body like our body, yet without sin. It's this truth that makes this the most wonderful time of the year, the mystery of Emmanuel, God with us, the Word made flesh and dwelling among us. He is full of grace and truth, mercy and love, life and light. It is this holy baby lying in the manger who is drawing all of us to himself. Its the holy tug we feel especially at Christmas, to be reconciled to God and to one another.

In scripture we read: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. (Titus 2:11) Let us therefore rejoice on this holy day of celebration of Christ's birth, even Jesus, our Emmanuel. For to you and me and to all who will come after us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. So come, come and behold him! Come and adore him! And then go and tell this amazing story of grace to everyone; the story of Christ whose law is love and whose gospel is peace. Amen.

Dennis Hankins, a Catholic Evangelist, is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN. Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Saturday, December 20, 2014

The Obedience of Faith

Reflections on the Readings

Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 21, 2014 - Year B

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

The Obedience of Faith

Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:38)

What makes this time of the year so wonderful? After all, not everyone embraces the wonder, the beauty, the hope of the celebration of Christmas. The so called annual Christmas wars reveal concerns if not outright hostility to giving public space to displays of the Creche. Do I hear a sigh of disgust? I know, its appalling! But in a culture that has aborted millions of its babies what makes a baby born two thousand years ago special?

When our officers of peace use excessive measures resulting in the death of our sons and daughters, don't we need more of Christmas rather than less? Do I hear an Amen? What we need, what our hearts yearn for, is for more of Jesus, is for more of his saving goodness, not less. Eliza Hewitt wrote the lyrics to More About Jesus, a beautiful hymn she composed in 1887:

More about Jesus let me learn,

More of His holy will discern;

Spirit of God, my teacher be,

Showing the things of Christ to me.

Ms. Hewitt wrote her songs from a bed of pain. Her debilitating spinal condition was caused by a reckless student striking her on her back with a slate. Instead of sinking into the deeper depths of despair, Ms. Hewitt went deeper into Christ. In her pain she sought to know more about Jesus. Our strength, our hope, our help, is in the same Jesus Ms. Hewitt wrote and sang about. Grand Juries may fail us, but the holy child Jesus, resting in Mary's womb, will bring us goodness and light; he is full of grace and truth.

So let us not surrender to the violence we harbor in our hearts. Rather, let's embrace more profoundly to be obedient to the faith. To let the wisdom that is from above, that is first pure, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, and is without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy, be our guide. To surrender to the hope of this season we approach and say with an obedient heart with Mary, "Here I am, a servant of the Lord." Then will the world be a better place, our homes true sanctuaries of holiness, and our hearts filled with that holy mystery lying in a manger. Amen.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Spirit at Christmas! - Third Sunday of Advent

Reflections on the Readings

Third Sunday of Advent - December 14, 2014 - Year B

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

The Spirit at Christmas

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-21)

"Just who are you?" they asked John the Baptizer. Throngs of people were lining up to be baptized by him. News of his impact on the people reached the highest religious authorities in Jerusalem. Something new and never seen before was transpiring on the banks of the Jordan river. Looking straight into the eyes of his interrogators John explained, "I am not the Christ."

"Well, who are you then?" they persisted. "We need to give an answer to those who sent us! Are you Elijah or the Prophet? What do you have to say for yourself?" John insisted he was a voice in the desert crying out announcing the coming of the Lord. "One last question," they snarled. "If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, why then do you baptize." John looked beyond them as though he saw something no one else noticed. And with the confidence of a prophet John whispered into the air, "I baptize with water; but the coming One whom you do not recognize is greater than me and will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap."

From the very beginning, the story of Christ is a story filled with the Holy Spirit. When Mary asks how can she bear a child since she does not know a man, Gabriel's answer is, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God."

It is this same Holy Spirit Paul asks us to embrace and to welcome in the second reading. It is the same Holy Spirit we are promised who will lead us and guide us into all that is true concerning Christ and his love. It is the same Holy Spirit who inspires us to say, "Jesus is Lord!" In all that we say and do we are to invite the Holy Spirit and welcome him for he is the very breath of God. We can no more live in Christ without the Holy Spirit than we can live without oxygen.

The Holy Spirit gives rise to rejoicing. He helps us to know how to pray and to pray without ceasing. Through the Holy Spirit we give thanks especially in the Great Thanksgiving at the Holy Table. It is the Holy Spirit that Paul says that we should not quench nor despise. Rather we should as the Church did in its earliest days welcome and adore the Holy Spirit. As we confess every Sunday in the creed, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets."

We should resist the temptation to regulate and tame the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth leads us into the things of God, or as St. Paul said, the deep things of God. If we are to go deeper into the love of God we will allow the Holy Spirit more space, more control, more movement in our heart.

Pope Francis in his April 16, 2013 homily spoke about resistance to the Holy Spirit. He said, "To get to the point, the Holy Spirit annoys us, because he moves us…Do not take up resistance to the Holy Spirit: this is the grace for which I wish we would all ask the Lord; docility to the Holy Spirit, to that Spirit who comes to us and make us go forward on the path of holiness, that holiness of the Church which is so beautiful."

The Holy Spirit gives us strength and courage and fills us with joy. There is a particular kind of joy that comes from tinsel and pretty paper and bright lights. But there is another source of joy. It is a joy filled with the glory and promise of peace on earth and good will toward all. That joy my friend is drawn from that deep well of the Spirit who reminds us always that our faith must not rest on the wisdom of men but in the power of God, in the real Spirit of Christmas. Amen.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Jesus and the Future (Part II)

Reflections on the Readings

Second Sunday of Advent - December 7, 2014 - Year B

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Jesus and the Future

(Part II)

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:11-13)

John the Baptist announces that in Jesus the future is full of promise and blessing. "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals," says John. These words must have been thrilling to hear the first time John's voice pierced the air and set the leaves of the trees to clapping their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)

Imagine being one of those coming up out of the Jordan and hearing John explain how his baptism is the doorway to even more. He says to his followers, "I have baptized you with water, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

This mighty voice of one crying in the wilderness preached with the insight of a prophet; a prophet much like Elijah whom he resembled in both speech and appearance. He understood that what he did mattered, and that the future he was ushering in has its beginning and conclusion in the 'One mightier than I.'

John urged those who came to him to receive his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And throngs of people did. They came from Jerusalem and from the countryside of Judea. Moms and dads and children and old people and little people and babies and the sick and the dying came to confess their sins in the baptismal waters of the Jordan. John's baptism was a powerful statement about the future and how to prepare for God's presence, that is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

John's message of promise brought comfort and renewal to all who received his words. Called from his mother's womb to be a prophet of hope, John comforted the people God with the promise of forgiveness and restoration like we hear from the passage in Isaiah today:

"Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins."

These words were first proclaimed to bring hope and the promise of restoration to Israel's exiled multitudes in Babylon about 550 BC. John likewise thundered the message at the dawn of a new era, "Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord God…Like a shepherd he feeds his flock, in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care."

Hearing these words in this season of Advent, a time of expectation, reminds us again that the future is now. Now are we to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now are we to live and work and play under the influence of the new wine of the Holy Spirit. As we wait patiently for the celebration of the birth of Christ we must also, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, be patient for the second coming of our Lord. What we must never forget, as St Peter tells us today, is that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord is not delaying his promise of reunion with us. But he's being patient with us, not wishing that any one of us should perish.

So the day of the Lord will come. He may come at morning, noon, or night. But when he comes, he will come like a thief, and everyone and everything will be open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13) But rather than be afraid and terrified we are admonished to understand what sort of persons we ought to be, living everyday in holiness and devotion, waiting for and even earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God. For we, according to his promise await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since we await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. Amen.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Jesus and the Future - First Sunday of Advent

Reflections on the Readings

First Sunday of Advent - November 30, 2014 - Year B

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Jesus and the Future

Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. (Mark 13:33)

Jesus does not ask us to speculate about the future. He asks us instead to embrace it, to look forward to the consummation, to understand that he has plans for us to be where he is. This is called eschatology and is that part of theology that has to do with the final events of history and the destiny of all things culminating in the glorious return of Jesus. Far from a future filled with disaster the end of time is not the end of us.

Scripture describes our future as a blessed hope: For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14)

It's because of this blessed hope that we are not filled with fear about tomorrow. We don't know about tomorrow, about its troubles or trials, about its beginning or its end. Yet he who holds tomorrow in his own care holds our hand. And in fellowship with God's own Son we await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ who will keep us firm to the end; the future filled and running over with goodness, truth, and beauty.

Too often the blessed hope is preached with fear instead of as an invitation. Jesus invited people into his presence. His words, the miracles of healing and exorcism, the children who sat on his lap and the lepers who fell at his feet restored and the hungry who ate with him all found him inviting and approachable. I remember as a kid I heard preaching trying to scare all of us into salvation. But Christ is more than a fire escape policy provider. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The life we now live in the flesh is the life we find in him whose life is alive forever more.

For now the Lord has left his work in our charge and he will come again. In the mean time he inspires us with hope and invites us to be alive in our faith. Christ challenges us to be alert and awake to the future that he is preparing for all who love him. This future in Christ is filled with hope for all of us, for the living and the dead. For the dead in Christ shall all rise to meet him in the air and we who are alive shall join them and together we will enter into that heavenly procession to the Father's house, prepared for all who love his appearing.

For you see my friend, He who is the centerpiece of time is the Lamb in the midst of the Throne of eternity, slain from the foundation of the world. Marked by the signs of our salvation on his back and brow, in his hands and feet, him we love because he first loved us. And that love will bring us home. May our love for him and one another never grow cold. We know not the day nor the hour, but that love that draws us toward him is familiar and endearing and covers a multitude of sins. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever.

Amen.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Brethren of the King

Reflections on the Readings

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

November 23, 2014 - Year A

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

The Brethren of the King

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40)

We rightly ask who are these 'least of these my brethren' with whom the King identifies? There surely is an ethical application of meaning to this passage and we do well to take it to heart. There is, however, a oneness of the King with those who suffer for the sake of his name. In my preparation for this reflection I read that scholars see these brethren of Christ as those who are witnesses of Christ.

It is therefore appropriate and pleasing to the Holy Spirit that we should see how closely Christ is to those who bring his light to the darkness in our world. In the news in recent days are reports of those who claim the name of Christ being chased from their ancestral lands of family and faith. Pursued like Israel of old, the new Pharaonic despots of our day pillage the ancient homes and Churches of Christians and then behead those whose only crime is that they love Jesus. Fathers and mothers and their children in Syria and Iraq fleeing these ghastly atrocities are grossly missing from the radar screens of democratically elected officials including our own government.

These are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of our kinsmen with whom we are united in baptism, languish in prisons far from their family and friends. In scripture we read: Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3) In Revelation 12:11, the visionary John explains that the dark work and resistance of Satan's kingdom is under attack. How? By those who hearts are drenched by the blood of the Lamb, and who in their witness to Christ love not their lives even unto death.

Pius XI inaugurated this Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe in 1925. In doing so Pius XI said that there is another King and that there is no part of our lives from which he should be missing. It is first in us that the world sees that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. First, we welcome Christ into our life, into our homes, into our thoughts, into the inner most place of our innerness. Then compelled by that same love we love the world that he gave his life for. Will you give your life too? What sacrifice will you make to make Christ known? .http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_11121925_quas-primas_en.html

Will knowing and sharing Christ make you popular? Sometimes maybe not. Jesus said, "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." Do not be dismayed, if they persecuted Christ, they will persecute you who carry his cross.

Jesus said, "He who receives you receives Christ. He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." (Matthew 10:40-42)

May we hear the King say to us on Judgement Day, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." Amen.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Growing in Faith

Reflections on the Readings

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ninteenth Sunday After Pentecost

November 16, 2014 - Year A

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Growing in Faith

Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master replied, "You wicked and lazy slave!"

Today's Gospel comes from chapter 25 of Matthew packed with forty-six verses of Jesus speaking of the need for a robust and vibrant faith. We hear today from a portion of that chapter called the Parable of the Talents. A talent equaled about 15 years of wages. Three servants are given responsibility to keep things going while their master goes away for a 'long time.' To each one, according to his ability, is apportioned the amount of talent the master believes that person can be trusted with.

The challenge given to us today in the readings is one of being faithful. To grow in faith and in the knowledge of our Savior is the consistent invitation given to us. Being sluggish and lackluster is not the sign of a vibrant and effective witness to Christ. The challenge for 21st century disciples of Jesus is the same as it was for 1st century followers of Christ. And that is to be the 'aroma of Christ' everywhere. Going into the whole world of the human experience where Christ's love is needed. If we don't share from the treasures of Christ's life in us then who will know that there is a God of love?

To each one of us is given gifts with which we are to make Christ known. So many do not know the depth, the width, the breadth, the height of the love of God revealed in Jesus our Savior. Letting our light shine is a message Jesus gave his first followers. It is our assignment too. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and give glory to God."

Growing in our understanding of the measure of faith given to each one of us is how we grow closer to the world Jesus came to save. Being spiritually minded brings us closer not only the Christ but to the lost.

We had/have our favorite subjects in school. Some do not like math while others bounce off the wall enjoying calculus. But have you heard of Biblical math? St. Peter taught it. It goes like this: For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love." Supplement, that is, add to your faith. Grow in grace. Don't hide your light under a bushel but let it out so that the whole world will know and see the light of Christ. Be alive in your life in Christ. Pay attention to it until Christ forms and shapes and inspires the very depth of our being. For just as a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor should a Christian infused with the Holy Spirit be hard to notice.

St. Paul speaking about generosity of giving is also applicable to what we are hearing in today's readings: For the point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully…You will be enriched in every way for great generosity. Generosity is the hallmark of the follower of Christ. Because of the surpassing grace of God in us we are compelled to make Christ front and center. Unless we keep our eyes on Jesus, we can become timid and fearful to even speak of him.

Let us ask for more. More of Christ's love. To be filled with more of the Holy Spirit. To be able to bring more of the life of the kingdom of heaven to everyone we meet. Let us live with a joyous and energetic faith that imbues all that we do so that when Christ comes again we can go out to meet him with joy!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Places of Prayer

Reflections on the Readings

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

November 9, 2014 - Year A

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Places of Prayer

He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." ~ Jesus

On November 9th, 324 AD, Pope St. Sylvester dedicated the Lateran Basilica. This Basilica of St. Johns Lateran is the official Church of every Pope since, made possible by the donation of the Laterani Palace by Constantine, remembered as the first Christian Emperor. This place of prayer, first called the Basilica of the Savior at its erection, is considered the 'mother of all the churches in the city and in the world.' As such it is a sign, a symbol of the unity of prayer in the Church.

Of course one can pray anywhere and anytime. But a house of worship particularly is a sign that there is a people there who are one in Christ and with each other and who pray together. As Jesus said, "Wherever two or three are gathered in his name, I am in the midst of them."

Christians in the earliest days of the Church sometimes gathered at the site of a martyr of Christ to celebrate the Eucharist, the source and summit of prayer as Pope St. John Paul II taught us. To this day embedded in the altar in a Catholic parish is a relic of a saint. This is a powerful reminder to us that those saints known and unknown, marked with the sign of faith, remain in prayer with us. And if the truth be understood properly, they not only continue to pray with us, but pray for us. "Any scripture for that Dennis?" you might ask. I think so. In Hebrews 12:22 we read:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel.

In our Eucharistic prayer life we come to the Body and Blood of Christ which speaks of forgiveness. The blood of Abel was spilled by his brother, Cain. Abel's blood, spilled in spiteful violence, marked Cain forever. Unlike Abel whose prayerful offering was accepted, Cain's was not. And God said, "Make things right and reject the sin that is 'couching at your door,' and I will receive you." Instead Cain chose envy and jealousy and killed his brother. The gracious message of the sprinkled blood of Christ is a message of forgiveness for all us who in some way bear the mark of Cain.

The message of the first reading is the hope that is restored when the place of prayer is rebuilt. As I said earlier, one can pray anywhere and anytime. But the picture of a restored Temple in Ezekiel's prophetic heart is one of the life and rhythm of prayer bringing newness of life. This is uniquely fulfilled in Jesus who declared that his Father's house is a house of prayer for all nations. The prayer life and outreach of the family of God is one of touching the world - its wounded, its sick, its hungry, its naked, blind and dying. The mission of every community of prayer is to bring the healing streams of the city of God into all the world.

Paul's insight into the life of the believer is that we also are a temple of the Holy Spirit; another place of prayer. The Holy Spirit indwells us and inspires us to pray and makes our prayers effective. May we never cease to place ourselves in God's presence and invite the Holy Spirit to lead us and to guide us into all the ways of prayer. As St. Paul said elsewhere, to "Pray without ceasing."

When Jesus comes to our hearts will he find a place of prayer? Or will he find a 'marketplace?' A place where stuff and things occupy our attention and distract us from being aware of the promptings of the Holy Spirit. If there is confusion in our inner most place of holiness about what is treasure and what is not, let us begin this day praying, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner." And thereby will our hearts be restored as a place of prayer and where prayer in the Spirit flows freely again. May the Spirit rise up in us as a spring of living water, bringing the joy of the Lord, making glad our hearts, and creating a dwelling place of the Most High; our heart once again a place of prayer. Amen.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

The Mystery of Faith - All Souls Day

Reflections on the Readings

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

November 2, 2014 - Year A

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

The Mystery of Faith

But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:8-9)

Jesus loves us and wants us to be with him forever. He came all the way from heaven to tell us that God is love and then proved it by dying for us. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. In his death on the cross Christ reconciled us to God justifying us by his Blood.

We receive Christ's love through baptism. Paul asks, "Are you aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized in his death?" What does that mean? In the waters of our baptism we left behind the 'old self' and were raised as a new creation in Christ. In baptism we were buried with Christ. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too have newness of life in Christ and not just for now, but forever!

The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with the love of God and with a hope that is immortal. We embrace a future that is filled with the friendship of God. Therefore our hope is not a speculation about things we are not really sure about. For the Friend of sinners has set us free from the deception of sin and the power and fear of death.

Dear friend, we have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. Christian hope purifies us and prepares us for that day when Christ shall appear. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:1:3)

Beloved, we are God's children now and we will still be his children when he calls us home. Jesus explained he was going away to prepare a place for us. Like a bridegroom building a home for his bride where they will live together, Christ our bridegroom is preparing a place for you and me. And one day soon Christ shall present us to the Father in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind. (Ephesians 5:27)

This hope, this faith, is the treasure of the Church. Let no one rob you of this treasure entrusted to us his children. Let us always proclaim with joyful expectation the mystery of our faith—"In dying, Christ destroyed our death; in rising, Christ restored our life; Lord Jesus come in glory! Until that day we stand in the presence of our Redeemer with all the faithful departed, keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Amen.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Thessalonica Meets Jesus

Reflections on the Readings

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ninteenth Sunday After Pentecost

October 19, 2014 - Year A

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Thessalonica Meets Jesus

For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you; for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

In Acts chapter 16 we read: A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing beseeching him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

So prompted by the Holy Spirit Paul and Silas and Timothy sailed for Macedonia and introduced the people of Philippi to Jesus. A girl in that city was possessed by a spirit of divination and made her owners a lot of money by her soothsaying.

She taunted the missionaries saying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." Annoyed, Paul cast the spirit out of her costing her owners their means of making money. Seizing Paul and Silas, the former owners of the soothsaying girl brought charges against the missionaries exclaiming, "These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. And they advocate customs not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." It kind of reminds one of the conflicts we currently encounter with the intrusion of government into matters of conscience. Caesar always pushes his way into such things with threat of punishment and fines, seeking to push the Church into the peripheries. "Don't bother us with matters of faith and conscience. It's against the law," they say.

Anyway, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and put in prison with their feet placed in stocks and about midnight Paul and Silas were heard praying and singing hymns to God. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains fell off. The jailer asked, "What must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." That same night the jailer and his family were baptized.

The missionaries moved on from Philippi to Thessalonica where for three Sabbaths in the synagogue Paul argued from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ." And Christ worked through Paul and company and confirmed the message they preached with attending signs.

Evangelization in the early Church happened from an intimate encounter with the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Jesus. Paul affirms that their short but productive missionary efforts in Thessalonica was not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Paul believed what he preached and he preached what he knew, that is, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Everywhere Paul's missionary journeys took him, no matter what resistance he encountered or hostility that he incurred, the gospel he preached was with power and demonstration of the Spirit. The Church was not birthed in Philippi, Thessalonica, or in Corinth by lofty words or wisdom. Among all his converts Paul's message was not with plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that their faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

With all that is within us let us live peaceably with Caesar rendering to Caesar what is lawful. We, however, are not made in the image of Caesar, but rather we bear the image of God. Let us give ourselves to him and he will confirm the message of the gospel through us as he did through Paul and Silas and Timothy, and Priscilla and Aquilla and all who have ever testified of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Let Us All Pull Together

Reflections on the Readings

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

September 28, 2014 - Year A

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Let Us All Pull Together

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 4:1-4)

The words are etched in my Pentecostal memory. I suspect it's because I read them hundreds if not thousands of times. Not only did I read them on the way out of church, but it was something to look at whenever I squirmed enough to be turned around in my seat. After all, we did go to church Sunday morning and evening. There was prayer meeting on Wednesday night and Youth service on Friday night. So there was ample opportunity to read the sign above the door leading back into the world: "Let us all pull together, for we won't be here long."

I have mused on these words many times through the years since those days. I think of them almost every Good Friday at the Ecumenical Good Friday service at my parish each year. Somehow we manage to lay aside what divides us one time a year and gather at the foot of the Cross and pray together - a real participation in the Spirit takes place as we come together having the same mind and the same love for Christ.

The relationships we have in the Body of Christ are sacred because together we stand on level ground at the foot of the Cross. No one is better than the other or more saved than the other. The precious blood of the Lamb washes over each of us with love that shows no partiality. Writing to the Church at Corinth Paul pastorally explains the reality of being lost and then found in the friendship of the Savior saying, But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

I Corinthians 6:9-11

Today we hear from the same Apostle Paul who says to the Church at Philippi, "But in humility count others better than yourselves." These words contain the secret to the power and strength and resolve in that saying posted above the doors of my church long ago. Those words are a precious reminder that we are brothers and sisters in Christ because Christ loved us and died for us while we were yet sinners.

At the tender age of nine I knelt at the foot of the Cross and asked Christ into my heart. Love mingled with the Blood of Christ bathed away the corruption in this son of Adam and I became a new creature in Christ Jesus. Since that moment the old has been passing away and everything about me is becoming new. My Creator is also my Redeemer and the life that I now live I live by faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, "When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

Dear brothers and sisters, may we be free of an attitude of selfishness or conceit in our fellowship and let us rather in humility esteem one another in love, and pull together, for life is too short, and we won't be here long! Amen.