St. Francis Universal Catholic Church

Sunday Sermon

2012-01-29T21:58:00.001-08:00

January 29, 2012
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
(Special memorial for Connie Wilson Barsby)
We live in a generation where everything isn’t really taken at face value. As recent as 75 years ago, one would not hear nearly as much question over the validity of the Bible as one would today. For us Catholics, a Bible has 73 books between its leather flaps. The younger generation today would ask how one can possibly believe that 73 books, mostly written by different authors over a span of a few hundred years could possibly be the inspired Word of God. However, to have 73 books written by about forty authors, from kings and nobles to fishermen and soldiers, in three languages and on three continents, be of the same mind as it is the case with the Bible, is just not humanly possible. Why, the editorial writers in our newspapers can't even agree when they come from the same culture and similar educational backgrounds.
As we consider the inspiration of the Bible, it is understandable for some to think that it is unacceptable to consider the Bible inspired just because some man or some organization declares it is inspired. We all know that men make mistakes and the organizations run by men are equally fallible. Just because someone desires that the Bible be inspired by God does not necessarily make it so.
Interestingly however, the Bible invites close scrutiny of its claim to be a book written by God. It acknowledges that there are hustlers in the world and that we must be careful regarding who we can believe. From I John we read: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world". Anyone can claim to receive a message from God, but the claim alone is not proof of inspiration.
However, we would expect that any work of God would claim God as its author. There are an endless number of books in the world, yet for most we do not need to consider whether they are inspired by God because such books do not claim to be inspired. Let’s face it; is Shakespeare the inspired word of God? Not hardly. To further demonstrate this, the works of Shakespeare have sold thousands of copies over the years; however they have not sold nearly as many copies as that of the Bible! How many people have read the Bible as compared to Shakespeare’s works? Further still, do you hear or see people living by what Shakespeare wrote? In a modern perspective, even the current popularity, the Harry Potter books are not viewed as inspired. There are a few fanatics on the Harry Potter subject, but few, if any, would treat the books as the inspired Word of God.
Christians claim that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Therefore, a book that was written by such a God would have to be consistent in its message. Uninspired messages contain contradictions in their doctrine. A book by God would be perfectly consistent. In fact, this is offered as a point of proof within the Bible. In Deuteronomy we read: "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods' -which you have not known-'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams". Moses stated that a true prophet of God will not deliver a message that contradicts previous messages from God. Hence we read of Jesus telling the Pharisees that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.
These ancient works cover every major topic dealing with the human condition including: love, hate, death, sin, marriage, civil laws, and relationships with each other as well as with God. Although these works were written independently, they show an amazing congruency and they never seem to contradict each other when given fair scrutiny!
Paul wrote in third chapter of II Timothy "All scripture is inspired by God". Paul believes the Scriptures are "God-breathed"; that is they hold the same authority as if God were to come down and speak to you directly. Every word recorded in the original documents is considered to be chosen by God. We obviously cannot go into a laboratory and test for "God residue" on the text, so to ask for scientific proof is impossible. Similarly, asking for scientific proof that one loves his spouse is absurd. True science is limited to making claims on that which it can disprove through experimentation. Since science does not have any objective standards for measuring "God-ness", it cannot be asked to make a determination on His existence.
The Bible is the most published book in history, with the widest distribution of any published work. It has been translated into more languages than any other book. It is the most sold book in history. It was the first book published with moveable type. It is still the #1 best seller of any book. This in itself speaks volumes. If it were not the inspired Word of God, then how does one explain its popularity and longevity? Surely, God is behind this. It has been published for a few hundred years and the original manuscripts before that were, in some cases, a thousand years old. And through all this, the message and words have only changed to match the language. Such meticulous care for mere words would be a ludicrous waste of time, if it were not really the inspired Word of God. Surely something is behind this for 2.1 billion people to profess Christianity as their professed faith. That’s one third of the world’s population! Nearly 57% or 1.2 billion of all Christians are Catholics, or one fifth of the world’s population. I doubt seriously we could get all these people to profess a belief in a religion based on books of scripture if there was not something behind it all.
The Bible has an incredible amount of manuscript evidence to authenticate its message as it was originally written. Of every ancient literary or historical work, none can come remotely close to the huge amount of manuscript evidence for the New Testament. There are over 5,300 manuscripts or parts of manuscripts we can examine today. If you count all the early copies of translations of the New Testament, the number skyrockets to over 24,000. The Old Testament, unfortunately, does not share the wealth of manuscript evidence that the New Testament possesses. However, because of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other discoveries, along with ancient Hebrew sources that quote from the Old Testament, we are assured that it is in the same form as it was in Jesus' day. The Dead Sea Scrolls themselves included almost the entire Old Testament canon and they date from 250B.C. to 100A.D. Also, the copies of the Septuagint, which was a Greek version of the Old Testament written about 250B.C., shows the text we have today has been nearly perfectly preserved.
Archaeology has also borne out the reliability of the Bible. Everywhere the archaeologist searches, he uncovers discoveries that bolster, not refute support of the Bible as being a true account of history. Archaeological digs have uncovered a stele (a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief and/or painted onto the slab) dedicated to Pontius Pilate and even found the remains of a crucified man, with the nail still in the bones of the hand. The Hittites were a group considered in the last century to be a mythical people only mentioned in the Bible. It wasn't until A.J. Sayce brought forth evidence of their existence in 1876 that the Hittites were generally accepted as historically true. In fact, the archaeological evidence for the validity of the Bible is so overwhelming that Donald J. Wiseman stated over 25,000 sites mentioned in the Bible have been found.
Further, there is no valid reason to believe that the men who wrote the Bible were lying or trying to deceive. The New Testament particularly shows that the character of the writers was beyond reproach. Each of them suffered and was executed because they would not recant their position that the teachings of the Bible are true and accurate. If their testimony was made up for gain or folly, surely someone would have renounced his stand to save his life, but it did not happen. All the apostles and the writers believed unwaveringly that the Bible was absolute fact. Let’s face it; you do not see people willingly dying to prove Superman is real, or that the comic books of him are inspired words of God!
Given that, we can then rest assured that the Old Testament writings were equally true. The Apostles refused to recant their teachings of Jesus’ life; hence we have support that Jesus did exist, with archaeological evidence to boot. This same Jesus during His life, by His teachings and example, confirmed the inspired Word in the Old Testament writings.
Let’s think about this for a moment. Imagine a classroom of thirty students at the high-school level. The teacher has decided on the class writing a novel for a class project. Each student will independently be assigned one chapter and they will then gather the papers together to assemble the finished work. The topic chosen is "Why God is important in man's life," but there is no outline and there are no rules as to what that statement means. Because the students are all the same age and live in the same area at the same point in time, they have a tremendous advantage over the Biblical writers, yet still to expect a congruent work is ridiculous. The thirty chapters would have far too obvious differences, unlike that of the Bible. The fact that the Bible is a unified message shows that its origin comes from beyond man.
Because the Bible claims it is the word of God, it requires of itself a stricter assessment. The Old Testament is filled with the authoritative phrase "Thus sayeth the LORD”. The fact that men recognized it from the time it was first penned as authoritative gives it a measure of strength. The laws that were required of the Jews were very arduous. Because they chose to accept them as commandments from God before any significant length of time had elapsed to mythicalize them shows that the people believed with their lives that these documents were from God. Jesus Himself validates the Old Testament by regarding it as the word of God and authoritative in all things.
And so, in today’s passage, Paul addresses the issue of unnecessary anxieties in the Christian life. He does this in the context of what was a major concern for the Corinthian believers, namely, the issue of asceticism. In today’s modern terms, people find Paul’s directive downright impossible, which explains the decline of vocations of Monks, Nuns and Priests throughout the world. But, in reality, Paul isn’t really speaking of it in the terms most would immediately assume.
Paul is not opposed to the ascetic single life, but he ends up arguing against sexual abstinence in marriage, marriage separation on ascetic/spiritual grounds, and even the ascetic single life itself, because an authentic Christian life is not dependent on ones marital, or single state. Given the inclination toward spiritual asceticism in the Corinthian congregation, as against a background of societal promiscuity, Paul's advice is "better marry than burn." There are, of course, good grounds for the ascetic life, although in general terms the better principle is "stay as you are." As far as Paul is concerned, given the impending crisis, "there is no point in making any significant change in one's ordinary way of life". Paul moves past the issue of the relative worth of either the single or married life to the more important issue of pursuing eternal verities. Paul then tackles the issue of damaging "anxieties" in the Christian life. Anxieties could be from many different things in life, not just marriage.
This passage is notoriously difficult to interpret. Yet it is clear that in chapter 7 Paul is making the point that an unmarried state is not intrinsically better than a married state, as though sexual intercourse was somehow less than holy, as some may seem to teach. The "doing" rather than "receiving" ethos of the "nomists" in the group Paul is writing to, has obviously produced an unhelpful aesthetic approach to sexual relations. Paul, in his typical argumentative style, affirms the ascetic ideal; celibacy is a worthy "gift" to pursue given the impending distress, the difficulties of marriage, and the impermanence of this life. Paul thus ends up promoting a realistic compromise - "better marry than burn." (Or at least it was realistic in that period of time.) Overall life was created by God, and thus we are better to keep the distractions down so as we can better focus on God.
At face value Paul seems to be affirming the single life with its increased opportunities for service to the Lord, as opposed to the married life with its inevitable family distractions. With this approach there is bad "anxiety" or the troubles of the world experienced by married people and good "anxiety” or the increased opportunities of the unmarried to please the Lord.
So, Paul encourages the Corinthians to set aside all their anxieties, and this with particular reference to the issue of sexual abstinence in marriage, marriage separation on ascetic/spiritual grounds and the ascetic single life, because in the end these things are "not a matter of what is right or wrong, but what is or is not expedient and profitable in particular circumstances". Paul's practical advice to the Corinthians is that they "remain as they are", but if they need to re-gig their personal relationships, then do it - "better marry than burn".
So by now you might be asking what this has to do with what I have to say today? Are our attachments and our distractions keeping us from God? Are our attachments and our distractions keeping us from simply believing? Are we allowing our incessant disbelief, questioned belief or our lack of appropriate time keeping us from spending time with God? Do we not understand God? Do we have doubts that creep in simply because we cannot see Him any more than the Israelites could during their recorded 40 year journey through the desert?
When someone dies, we grieve. This is a natural human reaction and emotional response. God understands. There is nothing to be ashamed of there. God even understands when we lash out at Him for taking that loved one away from us. He also tries, through his ministers here on earth, to help you understand that those who put their trust and faith in Him, will not be alone. Not only will he be there, but so will the many other faithful believers to help support you.
God has never promised an “easy” life, but He has promised that he will be there. As some of you know, on my Bishop’s coat of arms there is a motto written near the bottom. All Bishops have one. My reads, “Is eram tunc ut Portavi vos”. It is Latin for, “it was then I carried you”, from the Footprints in the Sand poem about Jesus. I firmly believe that we sometimes must carry one another. Jesus said that when we help the sick, or visit the people in prison, or put clothes on the backs of the homeless, we are doing so for Him. We are the hands of Jesus. We serve Jesus when we serve each other. It may not be easy. It certainly will not always be painless, but we will serve Him when we serve our brother man.
Sometimes God works in supernatural ways we cannot see, feel or touch. Sometimes miracles happen and we miss them, and sometimes we witness them clearly. God is here. God is there. God is everywhere. The main core of it all is that we simply believe and have faith. We have the Bible written by witnesses of God and His power. We have the Inspired Word of God to support us when life pushes us to the floor. God is not an empty deity statue in the corner of a room; He is an all-powerful, all-knowing God who awaits our call. We do well to not allow our worldly anxieties take us away from God.
When our loved ones die, they only die to this world; not God’s world. They live on in eternity looking down on us and loving us still. They are up there loving us more than we can ever feel from another human being left here with us. We do not know how. We do not understand why. But you see, the Bible isn’t about how heaven goes; it’s about how to go to heaven.
So I want to leave you with something to ponder. It will not necessarily make all your troubles go away or even make you feel better (at least not immediately), but it surely will make you think. It’s called, God’s Plan.
Some things are beyond planning.
And life doesn't always turn out as planned.
You don't plan for a broken heart.
You don't plan for a failed business venture.
You don't plan for an adulterous husband
or a wife who wants you out of her life.
You don't plan for an autistic child.
You don't plan for spinsterhood.
You don't plan for a lump in your breast.

You plan to be young forever.
You plan to climb the corporate ladder.
You plan to be rich and powerful.
You plan to be acclaimed and successful.
You plan to conquer the universe.
You plan to fall in love - and be loved forever.

You don't plan to be sad.
You don't plan to be hurt.
You don't plan to be broke.
You don't plan to be betrayed.
You don't plan to be alone in this world.
You plan to be happy. You don't plan to be shattered.
Sometimes if you work hard enough, you can get what you want.

But MOST times, what you want and what you get
are two different things.

We, mortals, plan. But so does God in the heavens.
Sometimes, it is difficult to understand God's plans especially
when His plans are not in consonance with ours.

Often, when God sends us crisis, we turn to Him in anger.
True, we cannot choose the cross that God wishes us to carry,
but we can carry that cross with courage knowing that God will
never abandon us nor send something we cannot cope with.

Sometimes, God breaks our spirit to save our soul.
Sometimes, He breaks our heart to make us whole.
Sometimes, God allows pain so we can be stronger.
Sometimes, God sends us failure so we can be humble.
Sometimes, God allows illness so we can take better care of
ourselves. Sometimes, God takes everything away from us
so we can learn the value of everything He gave us.

Make plans, but understand that we live by God's grace.

~Author Unknown~

God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2012-01-16T13:48:00.001-08:00

January 15, 2012
Baptism of our Lord
Just why did our Lord need to be baptized? I suppose we would have to look at the definition of the word “need”. However, let's look at the baptism our Lord little bit differently.
What is love? Is love a myth? Is love a fantasy? Is love a mirage? Is love real? Most everyone here today would agree with me and say that love most certainly is not a myth, fantasy, or mirage. Love is most certainly “real”. No one who knows what love is could say such things, except maybe for those so hard or so hurt.
Atheists like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris I am quite sure do not think love is a myth. But their belief in love depends upon what they mean by “real”. Just what would they mean by “real”? Doesn't “real” mean real? Yes, to them love is real - that is a real experience. Love is “really” important. Love has a “real” place in our world and in our culture, and our relationships and even our morality. But would they say that love is actually and factually “real” beyond an experienced reality?
No, they wouldn't. They wouldn't, because they can't. To do so would mean they believed in that which they cannot because they are atheists. Because if they believe in atheism in the manner in which they state, love goes the way of all other things, all aspects of life and all experiences of living. Love is not really “real”. It just “seems real” because it is a human experience. And that experience is its fundamental and factual reality. It is a biochemical sensation type of experience. It is an adaptive artifact from a more primitive era that promotes social order. Nothing more.
If you are a spouse of someone who's atheist, then you are married to someone who believes all of life is only sensory and only material. That means love is nothing more than a biochemical event. Therefore, when your atheist spouse hugs you, you are nothing more than his or her favorite biochemical mass; his or her favorite pile of organic matter; his or her favorite animal species. Now I don't know about any of you, but that hardly sounds romantic, much less like love.
I suppose I could go on and on and use further possible examples. If anyone in this room is even remotely sensitive, we should recoil from such ridiculous examples. The perspectives of these thoughts are so shallow in their conception and even diabolical in its effects to entertain in any serious way even if you are an atheist.
Love is real. Love is inherent in us, a native component of what it means to be human. To deny the actual reality of love, the love within us, the love we want, the love we hope to be, is to define it differently than we really are. It removes our dignity, our nobility, our heroism, our stature and our divine spark. What would remain of us without love? Nothing else would remain except for a shell built on selfishness and self-interest. Love is like a loaf of bread. Without the leaven of love, we cannot rise above our pride, our passions, our senses, our sensuality, our survival, or are self-centeredness. Without love we are nothing but substance. We are left with our selfishness, our desire for survival, and our sensory passions.
But thankfully, the atheists are wrong. Love is real. Love is amazing. Love comes in many forms and fashions. It's lasting and fleeting. It is more than just the emotion and sensation. It is more than an idea or an impulse. It is even more than just a duty your commitment. It is all of these and more. Love is God!
It is because of this love that we exist. It is because of this love that God allows us to live as we do. It is because of this love the God comes in incarnate form. It is because of this love, that He takes upon himself our human form and becomes the second person of the Trinity. He becomes the Son of God.
God doesn't “need” to do anything. God, being all-powerful, all-knowing, all seeing and living for all eternity, did not need to create us or even do anything for us after he did. However, God did do many things for us and continues to do so every day. He loves us so much, that no matter how many times we would turn from him, He continues to love us. He continues see the beauty that He created, no matter how much we attempt to destroy it.
Humans are so atheistic, even to some degree those of us in this sanctuary today. It's hard for us to believe anything that we cannot see or touch. I can’t feel it like I can this pulpit. I can’t smell it. I don't see it. Yet my body reacts in a particular way when love is around.
It is this way with God too. When we open ourselves up to God, there's something far more than a biochemical sensation within our bodies, when because of that opening up of ourselves, the Holy Spirit enters within. God is always trying to get our attention. That is why He came to us as a human man. That is why He went to John the Baptist and was baptized. We needed to see. We needed to feel. We needed to touch. We needed to smell. And that River Jordan was not pleasant smelling either! But in those days we didn't have washing machines; they did not have nice clean baptismal fonts.
God wanted us to know that He existed. God wanted us to know that He loved us. He came in human form for that very reason. We love because God gave us the ability to do so. We love because God gives us emotions. No one on this earth will ever be able to convince me that everything I see, everything I feel, everything I smell, and everything I hear can be explained in scientific experiment. How is it that there is this earth with all its inhabitants and its creations in the middle of the universe of other planets of stone and mass? Coincidence? Evolution? Some test tube experiment from 5000 years ago and poof here we are?
No! We are here because God created us and our planet and everything in and on it. God created mankind with a brain that He allows us to use in a manner referred to as free will. It is because it of this free-will that we have taken God's creation and created things of our own. These clothes we wear; this building in which we are in; this chair is that we sit upon; the cars we drive; the food creations that we eat; and medicines that keep us alive.
Jesus was baptized because God wanted us to see him. Because God wanted to give us an example to follow. God wanted us to have a fighting chance in a world that we've turned to muck. Jesus taught his Apostles to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist baptized with dirty Jordan water, but by Jesus' command, we baptize with Holy Water and the Holy Spirit. We do this because we need to see, smell, feel and hear God's love coming upon us.
More and more as we go on with the Christian life we learn the strange power of the Spirit over circumstance; seldom sensationally declared, but always present and active. God in his richness and freedom comes into our every situation, overruling the ceaseless stream of events which make up our earthly existence, and through these events, he is molding our souls. The radiation of his love penetrates, modifies, and quickens our lives.
This action is the power of God in our life. Its pressure and action is continuous in and through the texture of our life and it is rarely seen, though some have been given a glimpse like that of Moses and the burning bush. It conditions our whole life from birth to death just as the invisible lines of force within a magnetic field condition all the tiny iron filings scattered on it. But now and then God emerges on the surface and startles us to witness a subtle and ceaseless power and love working within the web events of life.
This sort of evidence of the direct action of God lies very thick in the pages of the old and new Testaments, sometimes intervening in great and crucial events. Sometimes in very homely things like the shortage of wine at the wedding made good in a situation saved. Sometimes in desperate crisis like the storm quelled just in time and the chosen servants of God brought safely through danger. Sometimes in prison doors being opened. “The power of God unto salvation,” St. Paul said, is the essence of the Gospel, a personal energy, a never ceasing presence that intervenes in and overrules events. Nothing is by coincidence; nothing is by chance; but everything is by providence; God working in the created world.
Some of us find all this hard to believe. Some of us find it very strange, or even unimaginative and dull. But even on our tiny human scale, we feel that the Perfect Master of a great industry is one who organizes the whole in the interest of good and profitable work of the well-being of the workers, who gives his subordinates relative freedom and lets the factory run on ordained lines without too much interference in the details. He is always accessible to the personal troubles and desires of his workers, overrides rolls where necessary and is interested in every detail down to the factory cat. Even one human creature can do that without surprising us. But when Christ says the absolute Majesty and the holiness of God can both rule heaven and care for the Sparrow and will intervene to help and save, we think that it is poetry, paradox and stories about superstitions. Sometimes we are simply too stupid and too narrow in our notions to concede the energy of the Immeasurable Holy that enters our world and modifies and changes circumstance.
Beyond our abilities to see and understand, our eternal God is a never ceasing presence transforming daily events; helping us to open up more fully to his transforming grace and become more often an instrument for his purpose which is far more greater and holy the most purposes of our own.
God didn't “need” to come as man, but we “needed” him to do so. From the time of Adam and all through up to now, we human beings have been needing God to come into our lives Sometimes we are too much like the atheists and we lock our doors in an attempt to keep God out because we find it to impossible for God to do as He has done and is He is doing. The mechanics of our brains; of our internal organs; of the many different species of mammals and all of creation; point to something far greater than something that will ever be in a test tube. Love does exist. God does exist. God was baptized in the River Jordan. God is here with us today asking us not only to allow him in, but to invite Him in.
Jesus did not “need” to be baptized; but he knew we needed it. All of Jesus and of his life was previously prophesized. Some human being, many hundreds of years prior put to parchment things that took place in Jesus. We “needed” Jesus’ baptism. We “needed” it, because we are doubting imperfect creations who “need” their Creator. That is what is “real”. That is love. That is God’s love.
Let me leave you with a small teaching by Mother Teresa.
“If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness; your emptiness, that God can fill you with himself.”
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2012-01-08T17:30:00.001-08:00

January 8, 2012
Epiphany Sunday
Just what is Epiphany? What can be said about it that one does not already know? Or do we really know? It can be as simple or as complicated as we want it to be. However, I think it easier to start this way. Webster’s defines it as this: “A sudden and striking understanding of something.” I suppose we have epiphanies all the time.
We as humans are quite hard to satisfy. Let’s face it, we are never happy and to truly believe in something that isn’t glaring us in the face, we are not much different from the people of biblical times, we need proof or “signs”. It has always been this way. We only need to take a look in the Old Testament to see that. God’s people were always asking Him for a “sign”. Without proof, we simply don’t believe it or struggle to do so.
Signs played a great part in the lives of the Israelites. Many prophets came to serve as a confirmation for those who are addressed by God. There is no reason to think that the shepherds or the Magi mistrusted Angel and therefore need that kind of sign as confirmation, but yet God does so with a bright star. The Angels brought great joy to the shepherds; and bid them to follow the star and find the Messiah.
A star; a great light. Many churches attribute Epiphany to light. Christ is the light to the world; and by his coming he brings light. Light in the darkness helps us to see. By seeing we have an epiphany.
When we consider the evil, injustice, and misery existing in the world, how can we claim that the ultimate Reality at the heart of the universe is a Spirit of peace, harmony, and infinite love? What evidence can we bring to support such a belief? And how can we adore a God whose creation is marred by cruelty, suffering and sin?
This of course, is the problem of evil; the principle problem for all realistic religions. It is no use to dodge the issue, and still less to pretend that the church has a solution for the problem up her sleeve. Christian spirituality does not explain evil and suffering, which remain a mystery beyond the reach of the mind, but does show us how to deal with them. It insists that something has gone wrong and badly wrong, with the world. The world as we know it does not look like the work a of loving Father that the Gospels call us to worship. Rather, the world is like the work of selfish and undisciplined children who have been given wonderful material in a measure of freedom, and have not used that freedom well.
Yet we see in this model the world in a constant struggle for truth, goodness, and perfection. And all those who give themselves to the struggle; the struggle for the redemption of the world from greed, cruelty, injustice, selfish desire and their results; find themselves supported and reinforced by the Spiritual power which enhances life, and strengthens will, and purifies character. And they come to recognize more and more the power and action of God; a small epiphany. These facts are as real as the other facts that distress and puzzle us; the apparent cruelty, injustice and futility of life. We have to rationalize somehow for the existence of gentleness, purity, self-sacrifice, holiness, and love. How can we account for them unless they are the attributes of God?
Now to accept Christianity as God's supreme self revelation does not mean some elaborate philosophy of the spirit. It means that we accept the Gospel story that touches our lives significantly at every point, because it is in this that God is conveyed. If we are ever to learn all that this record can mean for us, we must never forget that these, beyond all other facts of history, are indwelt, molded, brought into being by the living Spirit of God. And if we feel God in these events, some so strange and homely, inspiring this action and record, then we also accept all these incidents as conveying something of His overruling will and thought, and having something in them for each of us. Nothing in the message of Epiphany is by accident. Everything is there because they convey spiritual truth, and gives us the supernatural. It all speaks to our condition.
The Gospels may not always have the accuracy of a photograph, but they have a higher reality, they are the very word of and charged with God. This is the reason why it has always been recommended and always will be recommended that Christians meditate on the Gospels; it is almost like chewing evangelical cud that is so nourishing to the soul and so inexhaustible as a basis of prayer. In a way every word of the gospel is a sacramental, like some great work of art reviewing greater depths of significance as we grow in the wisdom of a child of humility and love. You see the wisdom that the Magi came away from Bethlehem with.
You know how sometimes in the pitch black night in the country (I know some of you have not always lived in San Diego) the pitch black dark of night and when you look far off you see a glimmer of light and you follow it and it turns out to be simply a candle in the cottage window. But that light was enough to assure you of life ahead, to give you the lead you wanted in the dark. In the same way, when the Magi turned from their complicated calculations in search of heaven and decided to follow a star, they did not arrive at a great mathematical result or revelation of the cosmic mind. They found a poor little family and were brought to their knees, because like the truly wise, they were really humble minded before baby born under most unfortunate circumstances, a mystery of human life, a Little League in a growing thing. What a paradox! The apparently rich Magi coming to the apparently poor child. There they laid down their intellectual treasures; all pure gold to them; and better than that, offered the spirit of adoration, the incense which alone consecrates the intellectual life in quest of truth, and that reverent acceptance of pain, mental suffering and sacrifice, that death to self which, like myrrh, hallows the dedicated life in all its forms.
The most that mankind achieved on his own here surrenders before the unspeakable simplicity of the methods of God. He is the Light of the World - all of it. He does not only want or illuminate spiritual things; he hallows the ox and the lamb, and the sparrows and the flowers. There never was a less highbrow religion or one more deeply in touch with natural life than Christianity. ‘Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’
The story the Magi shows the new life which has appeared within the rich texture of our normal experience, casting its purifying radiance upon the whole existence of mankind. Cozy religious exclusiveness is condemned in this ministry. It is easy for the pious to join the shepherds and feel in place at the crib, and look out into the surrounding darkness saying, “Look at those extraordinary intellectuals wandering about after a star; they seem to have no religious sense. Look what curious gifts and odd types of self consecration they are bringing; not at all the sort of people one sees in church.” Yet the Child who began by receiving those unexpected pilgrims had a woman on the streets for His most faithful friend, and two thieves for His comrades at last. Looking at these extremes, so deeply significant of the Christian spirit, we can learn something, perhaps, of the height and depth and breadth of that divine generosity into which our narrow and fragmentary lives must be absorbed.
The Epiphany means the free pouring out of limitless light; the Light of the World; not just its careful communication to those whom we hold worthy to receive it. The Magi, after all, took more trouble than the shepherds. They came along their journey, by more perilous paths. The intellectual virtues and longings of men are all blessed in Christ. The Epiphany is here to teach us that God - that Christ is not just for justice such as these. Christ is for the entire world.
God's mysterious and life-giving action is for a purpose that points beyond ourselves. It happens not merely for our sakes; but because His manifestation to the world must be through us. Every real Christian is part of the dust laden air which shall radiate the glowing charity of God; catch and reflect His golden light. You are the light of the world, because you are irradiated by the one Light of the World, the Holy Generosity of God. The holy saints of past lives have learned this; they look right through and pass the outward appearance of mankind's lives, and seek only for the seed of divine life within them, the hidden child of God. “Ye are of God, little children; greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world,” explains St. John. This is the awful truth which rules the inner life of mankind.
Sometimes our epiphanies are not going to be this great. Sometimes our epiphanies will simply be matters of faith. Our own patron saint of our little church here, St. Francis of Assisi, had this to say: “Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall not be disappointed. Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall enjoy everything.” We need to allow the light of Christ to shine in our lives. We need to allow ourselves to open up to the reality of Christ, so that he will allow his light to shine on us. That little proof; that little sign that He exists for you will come.
It has always been so amazing to me that there are some many people out there that do not believe. We all have our trials and tribulations. We all see the evil, the injustice, and the misery in the world. As Christians we don't claim to be able to explain it or remotely understand it, but we do claim that there is a way of getting through it. We do claim that there is way to help soften it.
This year for Epiphany, let the Christ child shine through you. Open yourself up. Ask God to bring His star - that glorious light - into your soul. Look around you; look at the world that we live in; look at the many comforts we had even in the poorest of homes; look at the engineering feats; look at the medical feats; think of your body and how it lives for a certain number years; think of all these things and more and know that the Christ child does indeed live and shine his light to the world. Epiphany, asks us not only to see that light, but to be that light to the rest of the world.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-12-11T19:51:00.001-08:00

December 11, 2011

The Third Sunday in Advent

Gaudete Sunday

So you got your kid the latest video game system for Christmas and you’re glad that you are not going to hear him (or her) say, “Dad, will you help me set this up?” In such an unlikely event, you’d be rushing to the manual, which would do you no good whatsoever because you know that you’d have a better chance of understanding it if it were written in Mandarin Chinese.

The child, flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone, has no such problems. He doesn’t bother to crack the manual. He sets it up and parks himself in front of the monitor where he gradually lapses into a semi comatose state in which he’ll remain until school starts.

Your child is not unusual. Few people want to be bothered with weighty manuals. While it’s certainly true, as the apostle John says, that “In the beginning was the Word”, in this day and age at the dawn of 2012 there aren’t many people who want to take the time to read any words at all; or at least not unless it is on a IPad, Kindle or Nook.

Americans today are buying the most sophisticated computers, IPads, tablets or readers, the sharpest video game systems, the snazziest automobiles, the most versatile smart phones that do everything except cook for you and then we forget, decline or simply refuse to read the directions.

Owner’s manuals, care guides, troubleshooting Web sites, how-to directories? Too much trouble. “It’s too time-consuming and I’m impatient,” or “I’d rather watch someone else doing it, and then I can ask why”, “I’m a hands-on person; I learn by doing” and any myriad of things some of us might say.

Reading the manual. For many, it’s simply not going to happen. The implications of this trend are disturbing, in both our economic and spiritual lives. Failure to read the instructions makes products more expensive, because manufacturers have to provide toll-free help lines to provide simple answers to simple questions.

Q: Why doesn’t my washing machine start?
A: Because the lid is not closed.
Q: Why won’t my computer printer work?
A: Because it’s not plugged in ... because the ink cartridge is not properly installed ... because there is no paper in the printer.

These questions and answers may seem silly or cynical, but sad to say they are true. Ignoring instructions is turning out to be a high-priced habit. For some people, no amount of clearly written instructional material is going to make a bit of difference.
For the rest of us, however, reading the manual is essential - as consumers and as Christians. It is in the manual called the Bible that we can find answers to so many FAQs, such as:

• What should I be doing with my life?
• How can I make a fresh start?
• Where’s the guidance I need for happiness in my relationships?
• What’s the point of the day-to-day grind I’m experiencing?
• How can I make the best use of the time and money and talents that I have?
• Where’s the evidence of God in this world?
• Why do really nasty things happen to innocent people?
• Is there more to this life than I can see?

The Bible contains stories and letters and prophecies and commandments with answers to these questions, and it rewards our attempts at careful and prayerful study of its 66 books; 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament. (Or for Catholic Bibles, there are 73 books. 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament.) Certain lessons are much better learned through Holy Scripture than through personal trial and error. But the Bible is big, let’s face it - it’s an enormous owner’s manual, containing over a thousand pages in most translations. There’s just no way that we can master it in a single sitting.

Many desire a user-friendly version. I’ve personally read the Bible cover to cover five times. Twice like a novel, and three times in a yearlong 365 day segment version. But, few people will do anything remotely like this today. We all want the quick answer or solution. Being a Christian; being a Catholic is a way of life, and it simply doesn’t come quickly. It takes time, perseverance and a good manual.

Fortunately, John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. This pre-existent Word of God was part of the very creation of the world, and brought both life and light into our midst. Best of all, “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth”. The Word of God became human in Jesus Christ and lived among us, so that we could see the perfect grace and truth of God at work in human life. In Jesus, God’s Word is not only 66/73 books spread out over a thousand-plus pages; it is also a living, breathing, loving, forgiving, healing, teaching, leading, guiding, correcting, consoling, challenging and comforting human being.

Jesus is not a Word we sit down and read. Instead, he’s a Word we watch and hear and imitate and follow. No form of instruction could possibly be more user-friendly.

To follow this Word-made-flesh is to accept that Jesus is at the heart of our interpretation of Scripture. Does a particular interpretation conform to the teaching, activity, example, life, death and resurrection of Jesus? If so, then it’s a correct interpretation, and a valid form of instruction. If not, then we should scrutinize it.

Pick a difficult problem, any difficult problem: capital punishment, abortion, welfare reform, war, gay marriage and any number of topics on a seemingly endless list. Then plug in a popular Christian solution, and ask yourself, “Does this solution conform to the example of Jesus Christ? Does it support his great commandment to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind - and to love your neighbor as yourself? Does it spread the love given by God, commanded by God and shown by Jesus?” If it fits the life and teaching of Christ, you’ve got a winner.

It is certainly true that there aren’t many people today who are willing to slow down long enough to read the fine print of various owners’ manuals, care guides, troubleshooting Web sites, and how-to directories. And it’s equally true that there aren’t many among us who are going to take the time to do a careful study of the rules and regulations of the Old Testament books of the law.

That’s why we need the Word made flesh. That’s why we need someone to come down and pull us out of trouble, save us from our sins, lead us by the hand and inspire us to follow the way of God. In our word-avoiding world, we need a picture, an icon. Now we have it: Jesus Christ the Lord.

“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,” says the writer of Hebrews. That was the age of instructions, the era of detailed how-to directories. But “in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word” (1:1-3).
In the coming of Christ, we have now been given a far more wonderful and user-friendly guide: the flesh-and-blood Son of God.

To find the answers to life’s questions, we can do no better than looking to God’s Son. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being. Heir of all things. Creator of worlds. Sustainer of all.

• When we are searching for direction and guidance, he can lead us.
• When we are desperate for forgiveness and new life, he can fill us.
• When we are hungering for meaning and insight, he can satisfy us.
• When we are looking for holiness in the swirling chaos of current events, Jesus can reveal himself to us.

To all who receive him, according to the gospel of John, who believe in his name, he gives power to become children of God. Advent is the time we most especially seek God Incarnate; Jesus the Christ. The Messiah come as a child; come as a human being, in our flesh to connect with us, because we simply won’t read manuals; at least not in the traditional way.
God Love You +
+The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-12-05T13:57:00.001-08:00

December 4, 2011

The Second Sunday of Advent

We live between Christ's two advents in the flesh, and our life as Christians is defined by them. He has already come to us in great humility, to suffer and die for our redemption; and he shall come again is glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead. And what we shall be judged by at his second advent is whether, and how, we have lived by the grace and mercy of his first.
Advent is preeminently the season of preparation. The world both helps and hinders this task. The sending of cards, the purchase and wrapping of presents, the decorating of trees, the stringing of lights, the singing of seasonal music, the preparation of food and drink, the reunions of families and friends, the opening of doors on Advent calendars and even the expectation of Santa Claus (fore he is, after all, St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, and witness to Christ's divinity). All of this is, or can be, an authentic part of Christian life, an element in the preparation for Christ's advent.
Yet all these customs can also become a way of ignoring and forgetting the reality of his advent; a way of turning up the volume of this world's noise to drown out the Angel choirs. It is a question of attitude and outlook.
There is only one way of dealing with Christ is coming, and that is by Christ himself. Christ has three advents. His first advent is in the flesh. His second advent is in judgment. In this third intermediate advent is in the mind and heart of mankind. Here and now, in the virtue of his first coming, and in preparation for his second, he comes into our minds and hearts through his Spirit working in them through the Word and Sacrament he has entrusted to his Church.
Above all, he comes to us in the Sacrament of the Altar, the Holy Communion. Each time is in advent of Christ. In every such celebration we are faced with a moment of judgment and mercy, an opportunity and a challenge. It is a question of being ready and able to receive what it is Christ wills to give. If we are not ready and able to receive what he wills to give, which means to say we do not desire what he desires for us, then the Sacrament is a sign of judgment, a sign of what we are not and do not want to be. But if we do desire what he desires to give us, then it is to us a sign of mercy, of what he is making us, and what we will to be made.
The Church therefore has always taught the necessity of preparation for Communion. In earlier centuries, preparation for Communion could be an elaborate, meticulous process of self-examination, repentance and gratitude. In the 17th and 18th centuries, manuals of devotion were published to guide this preparation, which assumed a process extending over several days, and thus undertaken infrequently with Communion being taken maybe two or three times a year at most.
After the 19th century, frequency of Communion gradually increased, and from the 1930s, weekly communion became more and more common, and communicants’ manuals of preparation at first kept pace. But by the 1980s, the very notion of preparation for Communion had faded away. The requirement of being baptized, let alone a general confession and absolution, is viewed in the modern time with this distaste from many quarters.
It is hard to prepare for Communion because it's hard to face the truth. In many ways it's equally as hard to prepare during Advent for Christmas. But it's really not that complicated. We have to merely accept what we know God demands of us, and to renounce what we know he forbids and thus be sorry.
There are websites out there that on Christmas Eve will track Santa's progress as he goes around the world and gives out toys to all the little boys and girls who have been good in the previous year. Many children probably run to the website every few moments or seconds, with their excitement heightening when they see the sleigh pulled by reindeer is nearing North America. Their imaginations track him to their state, to their town, and even to their own home. Some would even claim they hear the reindeer on the roof. The expectations of young boys and girls are unlimited. So many good things are about to happen. As Christians we are called to be like eager children who are waiting for Santa, but in our case, waiting for Christ's second coming.
If we expect Christ's presence, we will find it because God is always present to us, whether in the Holy Eucharist or in our hearts. From the beginning of time God has wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for. God enriched us in every way and assured us that we are not lacking in any spiritual gift.
In the many preparations, sights and sounds of the season, our watching and waiting would quickly become dulled. As humans we need that sight, that sound, and that smell to help heighten our expectation and eagerness for the divine presence that will come to us on Christmas Day. Our expectations must open us to recognize Jesus among us now, working for our good in so many ways. We must also recognize his presence in ourselves as we strive to do good for others.
In the Gospel we are told to prepare the way of the Lord. Just what is the way Lord? It is not only a life of holiness and devotion, but also a life of repentance and forgiveness, a life of hearing the glad tidings of God’s salvation and announcing this good news to the world. This is the way John the Baptist lived; this is the way of life into which Christ baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. Left to our own design, we cannot hope to prepare for or bring ourselves to this kind of living. It is God who shepherds us, feeds us, gathers us, is faithful to divine promises, and baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. The work of salvation is God's. But ours is the preparation and being open to divine initiative.
Like John the Baptist, we must be voices crying out to prepare the way of the Lord. Salvation has already come. What we do now with this salvation is critical. It is what John the Baptist was doing when he announced Christ's first coming. The way we live our lives makes a difference, not only for our salvation, but because we are to announce God's kingdom to others.
The job of John the Baptist is transferred to us. The most important announcement in preparation for Christ’s coming, is living our lives in such a way that we are without spot or blemish before him. The fullness of this way of the Lord will only come when this world will pass away.
By living in this life we announce the Christ has come and brought us salvation. All we need to do is respond with faithfulness, for by our holiness and devotion, we are not just waiting for but actually hastening the coming of the day of the Lord. It is up to us to manage those activities and sights and smells that come with this season, and allow them to work for us in our advantage. To allow them to lead us to the true reason of the season. All those lights, all those gifts, all those sights and sounds are not what's bad; what's bad is how we allow them to distract us from the true meaning of what takes place on Christmas Day. Alternately, if we allow them to heighten our expectation of the Christ child, then in our miserably human way, we are calling out to Christ. Let us prepare the way of the Lord!
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-11-22T20:28:00.001-08:00

November 20, 2011

Sunday before Advent

(Thanksgiving)

You see him in television and print ads for prostate cancer Pharmaceuticals. He's looking dignified and not at all embarrassed in a deep-blue, worsted-wool suit, white shirt and silk tie. He's saying: "When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, my first concern was ridding myself of the cancer. But I was also concerned about possible, postoperative side effects, like--erectile dysfunction. I'm speaking out now in the hope that men with E.D. will get proper treatment for a condition that affects millions of men."

Wow! If some guy can go on TV and talk without embarrassment about something like that then we should have no problem sharing with others the simple little good news that God is in the world through Jesus Christ and offers to all of us his love and forgiveness. However, many of us do have a problem speaking about just that. Some would rather do the commercial. Wouldn't you feel your chest constricting just a bit as you prepared to explain why making a commitment to Jesus Christ could provide the much-needed turnaround in a friend's life?

You might be an “EB”, an Embarrassed Believer. But the embarrassment stems not from some innate discomfort with the gospel message, but with the public and media perception of what Christians are like. The media portrays Christians as "backward" in their thinking, poorly educated, and identified with wild, right-wing, extremist agendas. Obviously, this is not case all the time and in all places, but that is how some Christians are viewed. Christians today, while not facing any physical danger for sharing their faith, do face public scorn and media ridicule. We fall for it. We're embarrassed. We're quiet. We don't have answers.

If you suspect that you're an “E.B.”, don't worry. You're not alone. Most people with embarrassment would be surprised to know how many of them there are. Indeed, some have wondered whether or not there should be an AA group for EB's. They wouldn't even need to rent space from anyone. They would not have to find new time in the midst of their already overcrowded schedules. They would not have to develop a new curriculum or set up a new organization. They could just continue meeting Sunday mornings, at 11 AM in the buildings they have been meeting in for years. It's called church.

How did we come by such a syndrome? What has prompted our pathology? What are the marks of our malaise? Maybe part of the answer lies in our belief that religion is a personal, private matter. Religion is our personal faith, and that shouldn't be a public issue.

But not everything personal is private. All of your clothing is personal; it all belongs to you. But not all of it is private; that would just refer to certain garments best left unnamed. But the rest of your personal wardrobe is very public; you share it all the time. We all think of how our clothing will be received publicly when we purchase it. Our clothing speaks, it communicates ... yet it's personal.

So, too, does religion speak, but faith shouts. The best faith is personal, but communicative. Individual and inspirational, a matter of the heart but gushing forth from the mouth. Yet, our tendency to privatize gets in the way of the intensely personal faith that communicates by its very nature.

Maybe the embarrassment stems from the fact that religion is still not "in," a cool or accepted way of belonging in the world, or even in the community. Faith is seen as a barrier, not a bridge; a wall and not a walkway. Yet, if more of us shared our faith and risked the embarrassment, we might discover that we have the power to change the status quo; faith is "in", it is alive and well.

It's amazing how many stories people tell of how once they make some form of open faith commitment, they find agreement from some quarter, affirmation from some coworker, or support from some sector. They were just waiting for someone to make the first move.

Jesus addresses this issue in today's gospel lesson. A day approaches, he warns, when we'll be knocking at heaven's door and the Lord of the manor will turn us away failing to recognize us. Others will be admitted. The litmus test is our treatment of Christ the King himself. When he was hungry we fed him; or we didn't feed him. When he was thirsty we gave him water; or didn't give him water. When he was naked, we gave him clothing; or didn't give him clothing. When he was sick, we took care of him; or didn't take care of him. When he was in prison, we visited him; or didn't visit him.

It says here if we recognize Christ, he will recognize us. We recognize Christ, Christ himself says, when we feed, clothe and welcome "the least" among us, the marginalized of society, the poor and oppressed, those who have been cast off and neglected by others.

This is not politics. This is not right wing or left wing. This is not this coalition or that political action committee. This is a simple mandate to feed and take care of Jesus Christ as we recognize him in our neighbors. How can we be embarrassed to do that? But, when we get right down to it, we have to admit that we are.

Scripture and history give us plenty of examples of those who have been Outspoken Believers, Courageous Believers, Risky Believers, Irrepressible Believers, Turbo-charged Believers. Abraham, Joseph, Rahab, Ruth, David, Daniel, Paul, Peter to drop a few names from the Bible. Polycarp, Ignatius, Cyprian, Hus, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Latimer, Luther, Calvin, and Knox--to name a few from the history of the church. And more recently, what about Mother Teresa, Schweitzer, Jim Elliot, Jim Wallis, Dobson, Colson, King, Abernathy, Tutu, or Graham.

But, we may be missing the point. God does not call us to be famous, but to be faithful. We live in a world where we cannot afford to be EBs. We may prefer a world that is comfortable and calm, familiar and friendly. But the hungry need daring people of devotion. The naked need faithful folks of fortitude, the imprisoned need people who think outside the box and their own solitary confinement. It may be a risk, just as it is to believe in a God whose track record includes healings, miracles and a full-fledged resurrection from the dead.
As we approach Thanksgiving this year, we do well to remember that many of us, even if we live poorly, are still doing better than many others in the world today. Most of us have a roof on our heads and food in our stomachs. Many of us even have mode of transportation and communication. We have clothes to wear and selection of them at that. We have not committed a crime voluntarily or involuntarily and thus are free to walk the streets. Most of us are healthy to the point that we can come to Mass today and/or read this sermon on the web.
No matter what we may be able to produce to try to prove our own disadvantage, there are always those out there that are in need far more than we and we not only should be thankful that we have more, but also treat them as Christ would where and when we can.

God's promise is that the embarrassed believer will never be without help. The EB will never be without support. While our embarrassment may seem to preclude God's working, God chooses to work with and through our timidity to strengthen us to be witnesses to those who are hurting; to those who are struggling to move from welfare to work, to those who do seek a crust of bread, a corner of warmth, a hand up, and a transformative vision.

You have an answer for the ills, suffering and pain of the least, last and lost. Dare to overcome your embarrassment. With the help of God, you can.

God Love You + and may He richly bless you this Thanksgiving!

+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Chapel
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-11-07T11:54:00.001-08:00

November 6, 2011

All Saints Sunday

Typos. When you run across them in your daily reading, they are no big deal. But when the errors occur in Holy Scripture, then you have a problem of biblical proportions.

“Thou shalt commit adultery” is what one Bible said. That mistake in the 20th chapter of Exodus could have started a sexual revolution.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God.” The unrighteousness lobby certainly liked the sound of that one.

“Go and sin on more,” said Jesus in John 8:11. I am sure those who are tired of going to confession would have loved to see that.

How about, “Let the children first be killed.” Must have been edited by a frustrated parent.

And in Matthew 5:9, part of today’s passage of Scripture, we hear, “Blessed are the place-makers.” That’s almost as bad as the line that Monty Python misunderstood and mangled into “Blessed are the cheese-makers.”
And what about the phrase “our ancestors” typed as “sour ancestors.” Instead of condemning “factions,” the Bible would have called for an end to “fractions.” Not that America’s young math students would have minded that one.

Fortunately for us editorial and proofreading services work hard to catch and correct such biblical blunders. With an ordinary book, you can put up with more mistakes because it’s not something you’re basing your whole life on. With the Bible people expect perfection.

What’s so shocking about today’s passage from Matthew is that it sounds like it is full of typos even though it is completely accurate. When you read this stuff, it is so counter-intuitive that you figure that there must be a misprint here. “Blessed are the meek”? The meek? In this day and age? Some would say that Jesus must have drank too much of that water he turned into wine!
The only way to see these words clearly is through the lens of the kingdom of God. A proofreader’s magnifying glass cannot help us to spot the truth here. We need to be looking through the divine optics of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus Christ. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” ... “Blessed are those who mourn” ... “Blessed are the peacemakers” ... these are not prescriptions from the self-help section of your local Barnes & Noble. Instead, they are statements of what is true about the new reality that the Lord is inscribing on the world.

There are no typos here. Only the God’s-honest truth. So what can we learn from these counterintuitive realities? What ahs all this to do with remembering All Saints and All Souls day?
For starters, we need to realize that these blessings, known as the Beatitudes, are not descriptions of human feelings. When Jesus says that we are “blessed,” he is not saying that we are necessarily “happy.” To be reviled and persecuted because you follow the Lord might turn out to be a blessing, but it is not going to make you feel particularly cheerful. The nine Beatitudes which Jesus proclaims in this passage are so much more than nine “be-happy-attitudes.”

To be blessed, in this case, is to be made privileged or fortunate by the action of Almighty God. It carries with it a sense of salvation and peace and well-being. You might say that the opposite of blessed is not “unhappy.” Rather, the opposite of blessed is “cursed.” To be blessed is to be given the gift of divine favor, a gift that we all have a deep human hunger to receive.

Stated this way, it’s clear that the blessing of the Beatitudes is not about us, and it’s not about how we feel. Instead, it’s all about what God has done for us. We are all saints in the eyes of God. That’s saints with a lower case “S”, but saints all the same.

With this perspective in mind, we can get a clearer sense of what Jesus is talking about when he describes his disciples as “blessed.” What he is saying is that these former fishermen are blessed because they are experiencing the coming of God’s kingdom, and they are in the process of discovering that their lives are being reshaped by this new reality. No longer will the meaning of life be defined by the culture of the town of Capernaum, or the expectations of their extended families, or the size of the fish being pulled out of the Sea of Galilee. From now on, the dominant reality in their existence will be the kingdom of God, and the blessing of God will come to all who make a place for this kingdom in their lives.

When you think about it, there was some truth in the typo that read “Blessed are the place-makers.” Blessed are those who make a place for the kingdom of God.

So, what does it mean for us to make a place for the kingdom in our lives today? What kind of blessing will we experience if we allow ourselves to be transformed by the radical new reality that Jesus offers us? What kind of renewal will come our way if we take seriously the invitation to open our hearts and minds to the arrival of God’s kingdom? Will we become like the Saints with the capital “S”?

Well, maybe not that far for us average people, but we might discover, for example, that we are “poor in spirit”; a term that describes people who find their true identity and security in the One Lord God. There is nothing weak or pathetic or shameful about being poor in spirit, but instead it means that we are not deluded enough to think that we are masters of the universe and in complete control of our lives. This spiritual poverty is really an excellent quality to have in this post-9/11 world of terrorist threats, international tension and economic uncertainty — it means that we are dependent on God, first and foremost, and that the Lord will reward us with the gift of his kingdom.

So, on the day we commemorate All Saints and All Souls, we might also find that we are among “those who mourn”; people who feel grief as we look around and see pain and crying, suffering and dying. We mourn because there is evil in us and around us, erupting in bedrooms and boardrooms, back alleys and battlefields. There are temptations all around us, and weaknesses deep within us, that make it an everyday struggle to follow the Lord in faith. But the promise of today’s passage is that this grim and often grotesque reality is not the final chapter of human history. There is going to be an unexpected twist in the tale with a turn toward love and peace and justice. God is writing a surprise ending to this story, and he invites each of us to play a part by doing what we can to live by the values of Christ’s kingdom.

If we do, we’ll be given a sense of comfort we never dreamed possible. We’ll find ourselves blessed, not cursed. Maybe we really are what Jesus calls “the meek”; gentle people who are trying to reject the power-hungry and violent ways of the world we live in.

Or maybe we are men and women who hunger and thirst for righteousness by actively doing the will of God. Maybe we are “pure in heart”, willing to show the world in word and deed that there is nothing more life-changing than single-minded devotion to God. Or are we “merciful”, showing others the very gift that we are so anxious to receive for ourselves.

These are not mistakes or misspellings, as strange as they look to us. Instead, they are kingdom-based qualities that can open the door to inner peace and everlasting salvation. Let’s make a place for them. Let’s try to be saints; whether capital letter or lower case, it is all about opening up to the Kingdom of God.

The challenge for us is to open ourselves to God’s kingdom, and receive this radical new reality that Jesus is inscribing on our hearts and thus making a place for the Beatitudes. Blessed are those who open the door to the kingdom of God, says Jesus; blessed are the placemakers.

That’s no typo.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-10-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

October 2, 2011

St. Michael and All Angels Sunday

Angels. Archangels. Guardian Angels. Are they just distant relics of the past? Don't sit too close, leave room for your Guardian Angel. Don't be afraid. You're Angel will protect you, guard you, and support you, “lest you dash your foot against a stone.” All night. All day. Angels watching over me. Over you. Over all the weary world.
Angels. Messenger Angels. Bearers of the big news. Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth to all of goodwill. God's efficient emissaries. The Angel Gabriel. Bring glad tidings of great joy to the barren womb of Israel and of all humankind. Fear not, Zechariah. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a child. Fear not, Mary. The child already alive in you is of the Holy Spirit. Fear not, all you people of faith and goodwill. Nothing is impossible with God.
Angels. Warrior Angels. Michael, the principal principality, celestial troubleshooter, victorious, triumphant, defiant, the one who defeats the dragon in defending good over evil. Fighting Angels. Fallen Angels. Lucifer, full of light, a.k.a. Satan the deceiver, thrown out of heaven, thrown down to earth in contempt of the heavenly court to tempt the unsuspecting, spitting venom like a snake in the grass. War broke out in heaven, and ex-Angel Satan and legions of Angels all fell like lightning, conquered by the blood of the Lamb. Angels and former Angels. Principalities and Powers. A hierarchy of Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, and Seraphim.
Angels. Healing Angels. Raphael, healer of Tobit’s eyes. Exorcist Angel for Sarah. Messenger of courage. Take courage God has healing in store for you. I will go with him; have no fear. In good health we shall leave you, and in good health we shall return to you, for the way is safe. The demon, repelled by the odor of the fish, fled into Upper Egypt; Raphael pursued him there and bound him hand and foot. Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory. Before all the living, acknowledge the many good things he has done for you, by blessing and extolling his name in song. Before all men, honor and proclaim God's deeds, and do not be slack in praising him. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord. No need to fear; you are safe. Thank God now and forever.
Angels. Ascending and descending the mystical ladder linking heaven and earth. Ten thousand times ten thousand Angels serving the One whose everlasting dominion will never pass away. And every now and then, on a midnight clear, listen: you may hear once again a glorious song, of Angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold.
We have grown so accustomed to the rumor of Angels that we would confuse rumor with reality. Our written records suggest that all the really important Angels are male. Michael. Gabriel. Raphael. Is this fact or is it fiction? Do they have or even need gender? Oral tradition adds its own whimsical touch. Harps. Halos. Wings. Angelic choirs. In the absence of physical evidence, our fantasy fills in the facts. We may have never seen an Angel, yet we picture fiery figures with flaming swords, or fat little cherubs, according to the circumstances of the Church year. And our assumption is that one day, we too will be Angels, claiming our halo, earning our wings and a place in the heavenly choir. We have theologically thought and rationalized and romanticized through the centuries about the subject of Angels, perhaps saying too much about something we know far too little about. Today is the feast of Angels, but what are we to celebrate? What are Angels for you and for me?
In the Gospel according to John, Jesus makes a promise to Nathaniel the Israelite. Believe in me, says Jesus, and you will see even greater things than what I have revealed to you. You'll see what Jacob and Daniel saw, and what the Saints of God have envisioned. You will see the integral connection between God and humankind, between the mysteries of heaven and the realities of Earth. You will experience the power of God and the energy of grace flowing with a fierce force between the heavenly and earthly realms. You will discern blessings ascending and descending through the Incarnate One who bridges the human and the divine. At times, you may even see Angels, for Angels signal God's presence and mediate God's providential care. Angels inhabit the realm of the spirit where we must learn more and more to dwell. And at decisive turning points in the history of faith, Angels have been known to communicate to us and interpret for us the intricacies of grace.
Angels remind us that there is more to life than what is immediately apparent. As often as seeing is believing, even more often, really believing is seeing far more than meets the eye. Such spiritual insight born of faith bestows an inner authority that demons cannot withstand. Yet Luke reminds us not to rejoice in authority or power, but rather that our names are written in the heavens to shine forever like stars.
We will understand the meaning of Angels only if we learn to transcend the language telling us what Angels are about. Forget the vain pursuit of halo and harp and eternal rest on a cloud. Enough of those larger-than-life, militant Seraphim who support our propensity for war. Put aside the hierarchical, patriarchal imagery. Angels have something important to teach us about ourselves and God. Angels remind us that our material world is influenced by the world of the spirit, and that we are intrinsically capable of inhabiting both worlds with equal ease. Humanity may rank a little lower than the angels because we are flash as well as spirit, yet through Jesus who is God's own word made flesh, we can rise above the Angels the share in the very life of God. Yet Angels delight in this. True Angels exist to do God’s will and do so with great grace and joy; not with the reluctance of Hollywood movies or bestselling novels. Look close and you will see the Angels revealing God's secret's, guarding and protecting the vulnerable, witnessing to miracles, and are called to unending praise. Today we celebrate not only their achievements, but also let the potential in ourselves to be and do the same. So we are invited to learn how to be an Angel. And may the grace of God flow in and through all of us in our weary world.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-09-12T15:58:00.001-07:00

September 11, 2011

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Day of Remembrance – September 11, 2001

(Nativity of our Lady)

What do you remember about September 11, 2001? Do you remember what you were doing the very moment the terrorist attack happened?

It was an unforgettable, gut-wrenching, world-changing day. Many of us recall exactly where we were when the terrorists attacked. In terms of national impact, it was a day on par with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the assassination of JFK.

Carl Wilton, a minister in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, vividly remembers walking down to the beach after the towers fell and looking to the north. He saw a pillar of cloud. What he was seeing, of course, was the massive column of smoke rising from the devastated buildings. He wondered: Was it a sign of the Lord's presence and power, amidst our national agony -- leading us onward, to some new way of being God's people? Or was it merely the smoke of ruination, inciting us to vengeance? He has a strong intuition that how we have answered that question as a nation over these last 10 years says everything about how our faith intersects (or fails to intersect) with our national life -- and, indeed, our individual lives as well.

Why do terror groups hate as a nation? What is a Christian response to this? Our lord calls us to find a new way to behave toward others, one that exemplifies the peace of the Gospel and the love of Christ.

In Exodus 14 we read, "The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel". God was powerfully present with the Israelite army, and in the middle of the Red Sea the Egyptians discovered that God was fighting for the Israelites. After passing on dry ground through the sea, "Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians".

Where was God present on 9-11? Was God fighting for us, and if so, how? In the middle of so much loss of innocent life, what work did God do on 9-11? These and many much harder questions will be asked today, just as they have been asked over the years.

Phillip Yancy, author of Where Is God When It Hurts?, was asked after the terrorist attacks, "Where is God at a time like this?" He answered with a question of his own, "Where is the church when it hurts? If the church is doing its job -- binding wounds, comforting the grieving, offering food to the hungry -- I don't think people will wonder so much where God is when it hurts. They'll know where God is: in the presence of his people on Earth."

Then he reflected on what our nation was taught by 9-11 (Christianity Today, October 1, 2001): "We learned that even in a city known for its crusty cynicism, heroes can emerge. We learned that at a time of crisis, we turn to our spiritual roots: the President quoting Psalm 23, the bagpiper piping Amazing Grace,' the sanitation workers stopping by their makeshift chapel, the Salvation Army chaplains dispensing grace, the chaplains comforting the grieving loved ones. Thanks to them, we know where God is when it hurts."
Today we read in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus telling the parable of the unforgiving slave to remind his followers that God forgives our sins -- but only if we forgive those who sin against us. In the parable, a king tortures a slave who refuses to show mercy to a fellow slave, and Jesus promises, "So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart".
The servant debtor did not ask the king to forgive his debt but to remain patient until he paid it off. The king did not do what the servant begged for. Instead, he immediately forgave the whole debt. Absolutely unthinkable! This overwhelming, unexpected, compassionate forgiveness of the king makes the servant’s behavior toward his fellow servant all the more despicable. It also helps us understand Jesus’ response to Peter's question about how often we are to forgive one another. God forgiveness of us knows no limits it is always granted. Anything less in our forgiveness of one another brings the same judgment against us that Jesus renders against the “wicked servant.”
Life in the church demands that we forgive one another not only because it is the compassionate thing to do but because this is how God acts and expect us to act. It belongs to the very being of God to forgive; if we are of God, then it is also of our very being to forgive also. The key to understanding this is that we are in a relationship both with God and with each other. By forgiving, we choose not to let any offense that has happened between us control how we continue to relate to one another. By forgiving we repair the damage to the relationship and restore dignity both to the forgiver and to the forgiven.
This is why counting how many times we forgive, even to the seven that Peter suggests at the beginning of the gospel, misses the point. Jesus’ response to Peter is a way of reminding us that God forgives us countless times, and this is the motivation for forgiving each other equally countless times. Our Heavenly Father has shown the way; we are to forgive each other from the heart.
As St. Paul says in Romans, “None of us lives for oneself” because we “live for the Lord.” Our relationship to each other is described in terms of our relationship to God. Forgiveness is absolutely central to the message of the whole Gospel because it is necessary in order for our relationships with God and each other to continually grow stronger and more graceful.
Christ’s dying and rising examples for us our own dying and rising, “no one dies for oneself.” We always die for the sake of the other. Forgiving entails dying to damage relationships so that we might all belong to the Lord and rise to every new life with Him. Forgiving means God has hold of us and enables us to act in a Christ like manner. Forgiving means that petty hurts or even major ruptures pale in comparison to the life-giving wholesomeness of being in healthy and strong relationships.
Now, Ten years after the 9-11 attack, have we forgiven those who sinned against us? What does forgiveness mean in the context of war or military action? Where is the link between our willingness to forgive and the forgiveness we hope to receive from God? How can we pursue reconciliation with those who have done violence to us?

Forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian message. Jesus not only forgave others, but challenged his followers to forgive -- not just seven times but 77 times. Forgiveness is never easy, especially when we are faced with something as awful as 9-11 which has forever changed our lives. But it is important for us to remember that it is God who forgives sin and wrongdoing. Our forgiveness is actually a participation in God's larger act of forgiveness.

Recall that in Luke's gospel, the first word of Jesus on the cross is about forgiveness: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). We often read this as Jesus forgiving his executioners, but in actual fact, Jesus is calling on God, his Father, to forgive them all. Jesus is still in the midst of his suffering. He cannot forgive his executioners for something they have not yet completed. But he can call on his Father to forgive.

In the same way, we can ask God to forgive those who sin against us, "for they do not know what they are doing." In prayer, we can lift up those who have hurt us terribly, and trust God to include them in an act of forgiveness that is beyond our abilities as hurt and suffering human beings.

After passing safely through the Red Sea, "the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses" (Exodus 14:31). The Exodus story has been handed down from generation to generation to remind us of God's power and faithfulness, and to inspire awe and belief within us.
How will we hand the story of 9-11 to the next generation? What will its lessons be? Is there evidence that our Christian beliefs have become stronger? If so, where? What do you think the memory of 9-11 will inspire in future generations?

The late Peter Gomes, the long-serving pastor of Harvard University's Memorial Church, said after 9-11, "The whole record of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, and the whole experience of the people of God from Good Friday down to and beyond September 11, suggests that faith is forged on the anvil of human adversity. No adversity; no faith.

"Consider the lesson from the ancient Book of Ecclesiasticus. Could it be put any plainer? My son, if thou comest to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation. Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and do not make haste in time of calamity.' You don't need a degree in Hebrew Bible or exegesis to figure out what that is saying.

"What is the context for these words? Trouble, turmoil, tribulation, and temptation: That's the given, that's the context. What is the response for calamity? Endurance. Don't rush, don't panic. What are we to do in calamitous times? We are to slow down. We are to inquire. We are to endure. Tribulation does not invite haste; it invites contemplation, reflection, perseverance, endurance."

On this 10th anniversary of 9-11, God is giving us an opportunity to contemplate, reflect, persevere and endure. We can testify to our faith being forged -- not destroyed -- on the anvil of human adversity. We live in a society wherein there are many walks of life, many religions and many nations. This is not really any different now than it was during Christ's time. What is different is that we have Christ as our example and teacher in how to deal with them in a better way than our ancestors may have.
10 years ago was a terrible day. There are no words that can express how terrible it was for the people of this nation but most especially for those of loved ones that lost their lives. Today I do not debate the merits of what our nation is doing and the various skirmishes overseas; I simply hope to put a face on the situation in a way our Lord would will us to do. For some this may not be so hard. For others, however, this could be the most difficult thing to have ever had to do. There are some who will never be able to forgive the tragedy which happened in our lives those ten years ago.
So again, God is giving us an opportunity to contemplate, reflect, persevere and endure. Most probably a great majority of all Christian churches, and probably many other religions as well, will be praying this day for those who been lost; for those who've been left behind; for those who orchestrated this act of terrorism; but most especially that God will give us all the grace, courage and will to forgive. I know that that is my prayer for all of us today. May we all come up out of the ashes and forgive as our Lord wills us to forgive!
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-08-15T15:51:00.001-07:00

August 14, 2011

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Have you ever noticed that the dearer something or someone is to us, the greater the need and greater our efforts are to achieve what we want? Most parents sacrifice a great deal so that children can have a better life than they did themselves growing up. Some young adults will give up free time so that they can study for college exams and improve their GPAs, or retain scholarships, and graduate with good hope for secure jobs. Those who are serious about losing weight and maintaining good health will exercise daily and eat nutritious food; food that is perhaps not especially to their liking.
Today's gospel reading (Matthew 15:21-28) of a Canaanite woman, a foreigner, approaches Jesus with a heartfelt request to heal her daughter. It is interesting that the gospel makes it a point to indicate that this woman is a foreigner or not from the “House of Israel”. Jesus seems to imply anything but a welcoming response. However she does not give up.
Many people and scholars tend to take this particular passage and think of it as very harsh. Jesus seems to initially exclude the Canaanite woman from his ministry. But the woman isn't daunted, because so great is her desire for her daughter to be healed. And because of this, the woman wins! The life of her daughter is at stake, and this gave her the courage to challenge who are to be the recipients of Jesus' ministry.
In this gospel, Jesus initially declares that his mission is only to, “the House of Israel” and consequently, and seemingly harshly, rebuffs the Canaanite woman. The continuing dialogue between Jesus and this woman leads Jesus to marvel at her great faith and thus heal her daughter. This gospel challenges us to be persons of strong faith and persistent in prayer and courageously continue asking for our needs. For such people God's salvation is already given. The encounter between Jesus and the woman reveals the unrestricted mercy of Jesus, the power of great faith, and the universality of salvation for those who believe.
There is even more good news in this gospel. Even “scraps” in God's kingdom are sufficient to meet our needs. The inclusiveness of salvation embraces all people. This gospel passage shows that even among perceived exclusions Jesus is truly open to all. And further, he embraces and meets all of our needs. Great faith recognizes that even a little bit from God is sufficient. Such faith sees the great worth that even a little bit from God holds. After all, what God offers us is life! And this life is more than even our own human life; God offers us a share in the divine life, now and for all eternity.
The Canaanite woman's single-mindedness on behalf of her daughter is rewarded with her daughter being healed. The gospel challenges us to be just as single-minded about placing our requests before God. And just as single-minded about our own inclusive ministry to others.
You might note that it is interesting that the Canaanite woman's cry to Jesus was that he “have pity on me”; not on her daughter, but on “me”. Although, certainly that was surely implied in this request. Her love for her daughter and her great desire that her daughter be healed, could not be separated from herself. She and her daughter were one in the need for healing and life.
This gives us an insight into our inclusivity and ministry. We must be so “at one” with others that someone else’s plight is our own plight. Single-mindedness, but inclusive of others. So indirectly, this gospel is asking the question, “Do we allow ourselves to be drawn in to other’s needs?” Ministry is more than doing for another; it implies an empathy with another that discloses the unity we share as members of the body of Christ. One dimension of living the Gospel is that we work to increase our unity with one another, which in turn draws us to reach out to others in mercy and compassion, no matter who they are or may be.
We sometimes think that our words to God must be correct, the “right ones”, polite, holy, and/or loving. We have a hard time “arguing” with God in the manner that the Canaanite woman used with Jesus. Our conversations with God must be as real and honest as our conversations with each other. Our God is not an impersonal God. Sometimes God wants us to argue with him. Sometimes God wants us to let our passion come forth in our words. Sometimes God simply wants to know the we care; that we believe; that we have faith!
Personally, I don't think Jesus really meant to exclude this woman all. We see by his ministry that he never excluded anyone. The woman at the well; the tax collector; the Roman Centurion, just to name a few. This passage gives the impression that Jesus was rebuffing this woman. We remember how his Disciples were taken back when Jesus spoke to the woman at the well; surely some of those same thoughts crossed their mind again here. However I don't think that was his intention at all. I think his intention was simply a ploy for his Disciple’s sake. Jesus had already associated with outcasts and lepers. Do we honestly think this woman made such a big difference from those others he had already ministered to?
Once again Jesus is showing us by example; he is showing us in a parable set on a real-life encounter; that everyone we meet, no matter who they are or may be, are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus did not exclude anyone from his ministry. Nor should any ministry claiming to be Christian exclude anyone either. And further, Jesus also makes it extremely clear, that for those who persist to call upon him in faith will be rewarded with an answer. Faith is believing and trusting when life tells you otherwise.
Jesus is telling us today that we are all loved by God no matter who we are or what life we come from or what need we have. When we come to him, we are being called to come in faith and persistence, and as such, we will not be turned away.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-07-31T17:24:00.001-07:00

July 31, 2011

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity

When we find ourselves shrinking, shirking, shivering and sniveling in fear and doubt, God breaks through to say: "Hello! I’m here!" In fact, have you ever wondered what God thinks about us sometimes when we do or say quirky things? Let me give you just a tiny bit of what I mean.
A survey commissioned by United Airlines found that 38 percent of passengers never use the lavatory during a flight, 60 percent do, and another 2 percent aren't sure. I'm fascinated by that 2 percent. But I sure hope I never sit next to one of them on a flight!

Julee Sharik, from Orem, Utah gave birth to a 7-pound, 5-ounce son, and just 12 hours after learning she was pregnant. She explained: "Looking back, I remember times when he was moving around a lot, but I thought it was just gas."

A prison inmate escaped on the 89th day of a 90-day sentence; he was captured and had to then serve 1-1/2 more years.
A robber allowed a store clerk to make one call during the robbery--and was flabbergasted when the police arrived on the scene.
A brick-throwing, smash-and-grab thief knocked himself out, thus discovering that the shop owner had installed Plexiglas windows.
All true stories related in the news. Sometimes we need to laugh at life a little, but sometimes we simply want to cry. Sometimes we let our worries take complete control of our lives. I’m not in denial – I do it as well. Blessed Mother Teresa had what is referred to as “Dark Nights of the Soul. Yet, God is standing at the door and knocking, waiting and hoping we will simply let Him into our lives. He is always there. He’s answering us always, but sometime with the answer we don’t want, so we feel that He hasn’t answered when He has.
Paul's words of comfort in today's Romans text should cause all of us to sit up and take notice. They call out a big "Hello!" to every shrinking, shirking, shivering, sniveling one of us who lets doubt overcome conviction and fears overwhelm our faith.

If we are worried about a client, the security of your job, or the state of your finances, St. Paul calms these worries by asserting, "All things work together for good for those who love God ...." Paul offers more than the assurance of simple love. He asserts that we are considered no less than brothers and sisters of Christ and that God's sovereign will has predestined faithful men and women to become members of the divine household.

If our individual wimpy-ness before the divine love and miracle of Christ's sacrifice is embarrassing, consider the track record of the Church--the body of Christ. Armed with Paul's words that nothing is able to "separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus", the church chooses to panic over-- the loss of "status" as an institution before our government and its policies; the distance between "conservative" and "liberal" church attitudes; even little things like which translation of the Bible is best. . . .

To which, God says, "Hello!"

The problem is that Christians have let their god become too small. They have allowed their salvation to be microchip miniaturized. We are eager to pray that our checking account has enough funds in it for the transaction you are about to proceed with -- but we are hesitant to ask God to deliver the many factions around the world (and even in our own cities) from the simmering pot of hatred that keeps them locked together as bloody adversaries.

It is the transformative power of God, embodied by the once-for-all-time sacrifice of Christ, which refuses to let our lives fall prey to the clutches of evil and despair. Paul's message is not some popeyed Pollyanna optimism. The apostle is not promising that nothing bad will ever happen to us. We will experience the full forces of evil--loss, hardship, heartache--over the course of our lives.

But the promise God has made to us, through Christ's revelation of God's heart on the cross, pledges to us that such events will not overpower God's presence beside us, within us, alongside us, everyday. Our lives are forever trained toward the Light of Christ--and nothing can pull us off or away from that course. In the words of Brendan Manning, "The Lord reveals himself to each of us in myriad ways. For me, the human face of God is the strangling Jesus stretched against a darkening sky”. In a letter from prison, Bonhoeffer wrote, “'This is the only God who counts.' Christ on the cross is not a mere theological precondition for salvation. He is God's enduring Word to the world saying, 'See how much I love you. See how you must love one another.'"
God is with us, wherever we are and whatever we face.

Does our faith falter when it contemplates the challenges that surround every human life? What is on our minds right now? These are exactly the circumstances that enable Christians to live Paul's creed with confidence.
I don’t mean to stand here today and make it seem that we should not have any worries. We all do, and we all will. Some will over power us and others will fester for some time and others come back for continuous rehearsal of emotional drama. As we read in Romans last week, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” When you think about it, those words are a joyous conclusion to the argument that St. Paul has carefully unfolded in the preceding chapters of his letter to the Romans. The opposition of unbelievers and Satan will never succeed, since God is for us.
Those who have come to faith in Christ will never be found guilty, for God declares them to be right before the entire world at the divine tribunal. So Paul repeats the question, “Who then is to condemn?” As Christians we may rejoice with the certainty that we will never be condemned; for Christ died for us and paid the full penalty for our sins. He was raised, which showed that his death was effective. He is now seated triumphantly at God's right hand. He intercedes for his people on the basis of his shed blood. For interceding signifies intervention.
Paul is not saying that difficulties will not strike Christians; they are not exempted from suffering or even from being killed. Christians are more than conquerors, because God turns everything, including suffering and death, into good. Paul answers his own question with absolute certainty that nothing can ever sever God's people from his love in Christ.
Sometimes when people come to me with different problems that they want help with. And if I happen to know the person reasonably well, I will sometimes use my jovial style of sarcasm, which they are probably used to, to answer their questions and concerns. As an example. Some people know that I like to bake and make sweets. So I have the sarcastic analogy I will sometimes use. In reality I didn't develop this particular analogy; I simply have adapted it to my use. So when someone comes to me and says, something to the effect of, “My husband just got laid off; I had a pet who has just died; the son is rebellious; and I've just learned I had cancer” They want to know why and how God can allow all this to happen to them in such a short time. I will respond in this way: “You like the cakes I make, right?” “So how about some flour; would you like a spoonful of that? How about this vegetable oil? Would you like a spoonful of that? And how about baking powder? A teaspoon of that maybe?” And of course everyone will always say no make faces to each question thinking I am making light of their situation. At which point I will simply tell them that they like my cake, but make faces at the ingredients! All those ingredients go together into the batter to make the cake that you like, but you do not like the ingredients! Sometimes life is like that.
The sad truth of it is that life is much like a cake. All the good and the bad have to be put together to make the whole. Without all those things added to the batter that we do not like individually, the cake would not come out right. Life is no different really. We struggle with that sometimes - we even fear it. But God doesn't want us to fear it. He wants us to trust in him. St. Paul is telling us from his first-hand experience that we can trust in God and be assured that all will be well. It may not seem that way at that moment, sometimes, but all will be well.

In the face of death ...
there is the Resurrection.
In the face of illness ...
there is eternal healing.
In the face of danger ...
there is the right arm of God.
In the face of adversity ...
there is "blessed assurance."
In the face of confrontation ...
there is confidence.
In the face of the Serpent ...
there is the gift of the Cross.
In the face of greed ...
there is the abundant life.
In the face of pollution ...
there is God's redemption of
all creation.
In the face of hunger ...
there is a legacy of loaves and
fishes.
In the face of homelessness ...
there is compassion.
In the face of hardship ...
there is the promise of goodness. (Author: unknown.)
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-07-26T07:20:00.001-07:00

July 24, 2011

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

I've discovered some interesting ideas about treasure in our culture. We live in a recyclable era, and we have names for what we throw away and recycle. On one level we call it junk and garbage, on another level we call it second-hand furniture, and on the highest level we call it antiques. At different phases in the life of the same thing, as it is recycled, it may be perceived as garbage, as second-hand or as a priceless antique.
“One person's junk is another person's treasure”, we have all heard. Oh, and how true it is. Often treasures come to us, garbed in some other vesture that allows us to see them for what they really are. All things have a value when they are prized; the game that elevates some things from junk to second-hand to antiques is a game that is played in a lot of fields. One week’s hero in the art world is next year's wash up.
The Lord knows you can get to feel that way about yourself. You can begin to think that you have no value because you're not popular or not as successful as the next person. Value seems to be so relative that you end up judging yourself in relation to others, and of course you always come up lacking.
The Epistle and Gospel speak as one to this point. The Epistle is Paul’s testimony to the process whereby he was declared valuable in the eyes of God. He was chosen, predestined, called into this life together with God in Christ, in order to be glorified; he will know the weight of glory, because the presence of God will penetrate, sustain and support his life completely from past to present. As I was performing a baptism yesterday on a wonderful infant girl, I was reminded that we are all conformed to the image of Christ by baptism, we all passed through the process which God has in mind for us; we are transformed by the renewal of our minds in Christ. Our value is given us before we begin to search for it; we have been declared valuable and thus we need no longer compare ourselves to others in order to determine our value. The greatest point of comparison has been given to us and that is our relationship to God in the light of which nothing and no one is without value.
If we compare ourselves to others, some of us will need to be recycled. The rest of us will wind up either as junk, or as second-hand, or as antiques. But we are determined that the value will have been our own, and we will go on to market ourselves or to manipulate others into seeing our value or to write advertisements for ourselves. This, however, is the path of delusion.
The Gospel bids us to seek for that Pearl of great price which is called the dominion of God, a mysterious reality which sounds alive and true and full of hope. We are bothered deep within by the prospect of a life in which we must always be on our toes, comparing ourselves to others in order to discover our value. Yet our only hope is to relinquish this comparison. The dominion of God exists, we know, wherever Christ has created the space for each of us to be most truly ourselves, where our value is underwritten by the love and the creative energy of God, and where we can find our Sabbath rest.
The search for the dominion of God is valuable because in the search itself we may find our value. In seeking we find. The object of our search is found on the road. We are tempted to look constantly beyond ourselves, and so we never realize that the search, once undertaken, is the fulfillment and the joy which is promised to us. If we are to pray, then we begin by saying Our Father. If we are to enter the dominion of God, then we begin by entering the dominion of God. Seems so simple when said, yet it seems so hard when we attempt to carry it out.
The invitation to enter the dominion of God is perennial and eternal. Christ invites us from a place beyond place and a time beyond time. His invitation comes to us here and now. But the dominion of God comes garbed in some vesture that hides it from us so that we need to search to see it. The Holy Spirit says, come, let us look. Just as God hid Himself in the burning bush to Moses, so He presents Himself to us today garbed in a vesture for us to see.
In the dominion of God, we are all of value. We are all blessed by God to be citizens of this dominion; but since the dominion of God cannot be seen, we have to hear of it in ways that will make us see it even when we cannot see it. We must be invited into the deepest reality which cannot be seen. And so Jesus used parables to invite us; the dominion of God comes garbed in a vesture that hides it from us so that we can see it.
Here today is bread and wine. Shortly we shall pick up the bread and the wine, and we shall taste it and take it into ourselves. We shall do this after having been cautioned, that this bread and wine is something more than bread and wine. Something is hidden in, with and under the bread and wine. It is also the Body of Christ, and it is also the Blood of Christ poured out for us. Christ comes to us in garbed in a vesture that hides His presence from us so that we can see it.
Someone's true values can easily be discovered, especially by simply observing what is around the home. If every corner is filled with things, the person values inanimate objects. If the walls shine forth with pictures of family and friends, the person values relationships. If there are healthy green plants about and perhaps fresh flowers, the person values growth in life. If the space is uncluttered, the person values simplicity and silence. This Sunday's Gospel speaks to the value of the kingdom of heaven; the dominion of God. How might this be captured in one's home? Maybe by a crucifix on the wall or a piece of religious art or a statue. But more important, we know the kingdom of heaven is present when God is present, and this is manifested by the “treasures” of God. These treasures are simply hospitality and kindness, joy and love, wisdom and understanding. These expressions of divine presence are no less real than the furniture, decorations or dishes about the house.
The three comparisons in the Gospel point to the incomparable value of the dominion of God. But God's kingdom is not fully revealed by images such as earthly treasure, priceless gems, an abundance of sumptuous food, or the things we might have in our house. The dominion of God is fully revealed in those people with hearts so wise and understanding that they know what is right and judge justly. Discipleship means searching for this treasure of incomparable value in giving all we have to become part of it. We disciples seek continually for that which we want more than anything else.
The treasure we go out to seek isn't some thing or in some place; it is nothing less than the very presence of God that is breaking in upon us now but is only fully realized in the future. As the Gospel tells us, the dominion of God isn't some object or realm that we can identify physically; instead it is the gift of divine presence God gives us. God's presence to us is a free, unexpected, and invaluable gift.
This gift does have its cost. We must actively search for it, recognize it when we find it, and sort out all the distractions that keep us from recognizing it. In the Gospel the seekers go out in obvious places to find treasure. For us, the discovery of the dominion of God is most often in our everyday circumstances when we experience overwhelmingly the in-breaking of God's presence. This may be something so simple as the smile of a person's grateful thanks or the sense of righteousness that comes with fidelity to daily prayer. It may be something more challenging, as admitting that we've hurt another. It may be demanding, such as committing time to help those in need. The issue is to recognize that God chooses to be present to us and wants us to seek that presence with all our hearts.
It's a kind of trick to keep you from falling into a place we can only value yourself in comparison to other people. You have to stay focused on the road and not on yourself. The Christian community is an odd one, in that its focus is not upon itself, certainly not on self-improvement so much per se’, but on the praise of God who has come to us in Christ to free us from the pain of creating our own value, who has surprised us with the presence of the One who valued us before we were born. God comes to us garbed in a vesture that hides God's presence from us so we can see it.
Now look once more at the bread and wine and remember, here Christ and the dominion of God come to you garbed in a vesture which hides them so that you can see them. And, finally, if the truth were to be known, we come to this meal garbed in a vesture, the white robe of baptism, which hides us from ourselves in order that we might know who we truly are. And that may be the deepest mystery of them all.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-07-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2011

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Charlie Bucket and Veruca Salt. A good seed and a bad weed. Charlie’s honest, kind, brave and true. Veruca is a spoiled-rotten brat.

Both get a chance to enter the mysterious chocolate factory of Willy Wonka, a place that has been sealed up tight and closed to the public for a decade. Charlie and Veruca have found Golden Tickets in their Wonka chocolate bars. Charlie’s ticket was in a Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, to be exact; and because of this they get to go on a tour of the chocolate factory, along with three other lucky children.

Their tour guide is none other than the reclusive and eccentric Willy Wonka himself, a part played by Johnny Depp in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When the children walk through the factory doors, they enter an amazing world known only to Willy and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.

The tour is a dream come true for Charlie, a child born into poverty, but it turns into a nightmare for the other members of the group. Willy Wonka is beset with problems: There’s Augustus Gloop, whose hobby is eating; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum chewer; and Mike Teavee, a gangster-wannabe who is obsessed with television.

As for Veruca Salt, let’s just say that Willy is not amused when she demands of her father, “Daddy, I want a boat like this! ... And I want lots of Oompa-Loompas to row me about, and I want a chocolate river and I want ... I want ...”

Now it wouldn’t be right to give away the secrets of the chocolate factory, but suffice it to say that a number of the children get in trouble when they disobey Willy’s orders. One by one, the nasty are punished and the good are rewarded, in some spectacular and disturbing ways.

That’s what we love about this flick: The good kids get rewarded, and the bad kids get what’s coming to them. It’s a replay of primal, dualistic, good vs. evil, light vs. dark, and in the end goodness and light triumph.

And we love this because in real life, it doesn’t always work this way. The psalmist paints a far more accurate picture when he complains about the wicked prospering while the righteous suffer. For the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk, it was a faith-threatening reality: “The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted” (Habakkuk 1:4).

So we love it when the wicked are punished, when the unrighteous are mowed down, when the weeds are uprooted in the garden. It may not seem like a very Christian sort of thought, but let’s be honest, as humans we think these thoughts, even if we aren’t suppose to.

This is the subject of the text. Here Jesus seems to be acting an awful lot like Willy Wonka. He tells the parable of the weeds and the wheat, and concludes his story with the command to “collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn”.

But there is more to this parable than its crisp and clear conclusion about judgment day, when the evildoers of this world will burn and the righteous will “shine like the sun”. While we certainly have to take seriously this prediction of God’s final judgment, we also need to listen to what Jesus says about the danger of making judgments of our own along the way.

Here’s the point: Leave the weeds to me, says Jesus. You just worry about growing up as wheat.

This is counter intuitive but important advice because we live in a gnashing-of-teeth culture of shouting and name-calling. One person’s weed is another person’s flower.

And it’s not just in the world. The church has caught this infection as well. Christians, right and left, are strutting around these days in the garments of self-righteousness suggesting that those who disagree with them are the weeds in the garden of life, while they themselves are the beauty and flower of the garden.

It’s a rush-to-judgment world we live in. Some are judged harshly for being too radical, others for not being radical enough. Some are judged for embracing doctrinal errors, others for appearing not to have any doctrine at all. Some are condemned for not caring for the poor, others for caring only for the poor. And so it goes.

No wonder, then, that Jesus counsels us to hold off on the weed-pulling “for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them”.

The parable goes like this: a householder sows good seed in his field, and then an enemy comes and sows weeds among the wheat. It’s a nasty little case of agricultural terrorism.

When the plants come up and bear grain, the weeds appear as well. And the slaves of the householder come to him and say, “Master, we’ve got a problem. Weeds among the wheat. Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?”

This seems like a logical response, but the householder gives them a very different command. “No,” he says; “for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest”. The master senses that a full-scale attack on the weeds would disturb and possibly even destroy the good wheat, so he instructs his slaves to do nothing about the bad seeds now. At harvest time the householder plans to tell the reapers, “Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn”.

Jesus takes a totally non-Wonkish approach to rooting out evil. Whereas Willy doesn’t bat an eye as Augustus plunges into a chocolate river, Violet turns into a blueberry, Mike disappears into a transporter beam, and Veruca slides down a garbage chute into a furnace, Jesus is committed to preserving the weeds until the wheat is fully developed. He doesn’t have any desire to rush to judgment, preferring instead for nature to take its course.

The point of this parable is not that Jesus is going to go easy on the weeds. No, he fully intends to put evildoers into the furnace of fire, as it were, “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

What Jesus is trying to teach us is to leave the judgments to him. He knows that we are consistently off the mark when we try to make an accurate assessment of the moral character of a friend or a neighbor, and so he orders us to put our energy elsewhere.

Here’s an example: A seminar leader recently showed a class of government workers a series of pictures. The pictures began with a view of a person’s face, and then broadened the view to reveal the person’s entire body. It was only when the entire picture was seen that the class could make anything approaching an accurate judgment.

The first picture showed the face of a grizzled man, scowling and straining. He looked to be a member of a motorcycle gang, perhaps gripping the handlebar of a chopper. But when the entire picture was revealed, it became clear that he was a maker of customized wheelchairs for the handicapped, and he was pushing one of his creations.

Picture two showed the face of a lovely woman with a beautiful smile. She appeared to be a flight attendant or a hostess at an upscale restaurant. But when the view was expanded, what the class saw was an exotic dancer, ready to do a pole dance.

We don’t have the whole picture, says Jesus. We too often judge the book by the cover. We should be honest; we all fall into this trap now and again.

The challenge for us is to put our energy into being good wheat, instead of trashing the weeds around us. Rather than erecting walls, building boundaries and trying to purify our community of faith, our job is to grow up healthy and strong, and leave the judging to Jesus. The problem with trying to pull up weeds is that we might grab some wheat by mistake, and hurt ourselves and others who are part of the good-seed set.

Forty years ago some Christians condemned Martin Luther King as a rabble-rouser and a troublemaker. Some Christians denounced Dorothy Day because she did some writing for a socialist newspaper, and missed her great Christian work on behalf of the poor. Some call U2 singer, Bono, an airheaded, irreverent rock star, and he may be for all I know, but we would do well to not fail to heed his call to respond to the AIDS emergency in Africa.

Don’t rush to judgment, says Jesus. Let the weeds grow up with the wheat. It will get sorted out in the end.

The best news is that growth and maturity are probably the most effective forms of weed control. If you are responsible for taking care of a lawn, you know that healthy grass is extremely competitive and will crowd out most weeds all by itself. If your lawn is healthy, you shouldn’t have to dig out many weeds at all; in fact, the presence of weeds is a sign that your grass is weaker than it should be. If you find yourself dealing with weeds, one of the best things to do is simply let your grass grow. Don’t cut it so short.

In the end, it’s enough to know that we are “seeds” who have been planted by the “Son of Man,” and that we’re part of a healthy harvest that will someday be reaped by the angels of God.

We don’t really want a Willy Wonka in the church. It would be enough to be like Charlie Bucket, a kid who was kind, brave and true.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-07-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

July 10, 2011

The Third Sunday after Trinity

One day during the past week, I was at a restaurant having breakfast. It was my day off, and I was simply having a leisurely breakfast to myself and reading the morning paper. I tend to treat myself to a breakfast out on my one day during the week that I am off. I have done it for a few years now. I sit, read my paper, shut out the world for a few minutes, enjoy the food and then on about my day. It so happens that it is a very busy restaurant, even during week days, so many tables and booths are usually filled. I do not normally pay much attention to what people around me are doing or what they are discussing, unless they are doing so in a loud manner, or as in the case of this day, I simply happen to catch a couple words that catches my attention.
It just so happened that I was reading an article in the paper about Casey Anthony and her being found not guilty. Coincidental or God’s providence, I do not know, but it so happened that same moment the people at the table immediately across from me apparently were discussing that very topic. Now, I could only hear bits and pieces of what they each were saying, but the gist of it was that they seemed to feel that it was a crime that Casey was found not guilty and that the jury that found her not guilty was apparently all lunatics.
I went back to my paper and didn’t bother to listen any further, but as I sat there I could not help but wonder where these people came up with their conclusion. Did they have some miraculous power that somehow put them at the scene the day this child of Casey Anthony’s died? Did they somehow have more information than that of the lawyers and jury had that somehow gave these people a better sense of the truth?
I couldn’t help but shake my head in puzzlement and dismay at the way people are. This one conversation is not very different from many going on elsewhere in the country (or over the past centuries of time for that matter). We humans just simply cannot let go of the negative. We live in a country where our judicial system says a person is innocent until proven guilty and yet we treat each other as though they are guilty without even the possibility of being innocent.
It is so sad to say, that many of us act this way and do not even realize it. We make up our minds about things without even knowing the facts. I would wager that none of us in that restaurant that day had any true knowledge of that case outside of what the news media has presented at some point. Not one of us in that room could possibly have more or better information to convict this young lady of murder than those who were in that courtroom. Yet, they were very clear in their conviction that she was far from “not guilty” as the jury and courts had decided.
I am not here to say that I think she is necessarily innocent or guilty. I have no way of knowing one way or another. Yes, a tragic death of a child was involved, but that does not give me the right to simply assume the view that her mother committed the crime is true. Yes, she “confessed” to lying to the police authorities, and it would seem that those untrue statements that she made point some suspicion to her. I agree that it would seem, anyway, that those lies would not have been necessary if she were innocent. Why would she make these statements at all if she were innocent? We may never truly know. And even if we were able to find out, would it really help our day to day lives?
Now, some of you might be asking, at this point, what any of this has to do with today’s Mass, the readings or the message the Holy Spirit wants me to convey today. Well, I suppose I could say that I have the liberty to preach on any topic I choose. I suppose I could simply “twist” the readings to have them fit with the topic I want to talk about. Today, I suspect it is a little of both. As many of you know, I do not normally use the pulpit for specific issues of society that can be taken out of the news or politics. Oh yes, I touch on some topics generically and in reality I am doing the same here today, but I am not normally one to take a current event topic on a regular basis and preach on it.
You see, that conversation at the restaurant that day really gave me a thought for today’s sermon, but it was not about whether Casey Anthony is guilty or not. That’s for the governmental authorities to try and prove. Ultimately, whether guilty or not, she has only God to answer to in the end. So, that said, I am not concerned with her case specifically; I am concerned with people’s reactions.
Jesus’ parable we read today applies here very well. Parables are Jesus’ way of communicating truth through narrative analogies in order to teach a moral and spiritual lesson. His parables produce different results in different people – much like our parable today teaches. Just as the seeds respond differently where they are scattered, so do the messages of Jesus sink into the people who hear them.
We take the messages that the Scriptures tell us; we take the messages of the teachings the Church gives us; and we take the messages from our preacher’s sermons; we take all these messages and we form our lives from them or we ignore them completely. Our free will allows us to do just these things.
The Holy Spirit speaks through these mediums to reach our hearts and souls. Many of these messages are true to the Spirit of God. Now and again we get some bad messages, because humans that are communicating them are imperfect. But, overall, I would say the messages are as they are intended to be from God. Just like Jesus’ parables, much can be gleamed from the messages and there is so much in the messages themselves, that many ideas can be brought away from them. After all, the average person in the pew probably on listens to or concentrates on 40% of the words spoken at any given sermon. Not hard scientific data, simply blend of a few sources and research examples.
However, all in all we take messages and we simply do the picking and choosing. We would be upset if someone misunderstood a memo we sent out to the world to read and then someone in the world phrased in such a way that it seems opposing to the message you originally sent and sends it out again….. Yet, we seem content to evaluate each other in a manner that is less than flattering, when we sometimes do not have all the facts.
We have seed that withers and dies. People, who claim to be God fearing, hear and see God’s message, but live a life in such a way that even a lackluster Christian would raise an eyebrow at. We have those who claim to be God fearing and may even attend church and maybe pray now and again, but their life seems out of sync and not representative of the life they claim to be until something happens and they suddenly need God. Then there are those who live their life as close as humanly possible in the understanding of what being a good Christian means.
Somewhere in the middle is where I find conversations much like the one I overheard. We have to be careful to not look at our fellow human beings and automatically assume the worst. I did not hear the entire conversation, nor did I try. I simply heard a few short words that happened to trip a thought in my mind. Obviously, with today’s media and technological advances, we are going to hear what is happening hundreds of miles away as if it happened in our back yard. We want to be concerned with our fellow human beings, but we sometimes get consumed with simply wanting a juicy story or something to gossip about.
I am not advocating that we stop talking about what goes on around us, nor am I saying that we should not have access to such information. However, I am saying that when we speak about such things, are we doing so in the guidance that Jesus taught us? The conversation I overheard parts of, would not be in itself bad, if it were simply a conversation of what we knew as the facts and maybe some innocent questions amongst themselves as to whether she was guilty or not, but in this case, they had already made up their mind when only the courts and the jury had most of the necessary facts to make this determination.
So, what does this parable tell us and what is it about?
· Some seed falls on the paths, and the birds quickly eat it.
· Some seed falls where there are rocks, and not much soil. Plants grow quickly, but soon the sun dries them. There is not enough soil, and the plants die.
· Some seed begins to grow in a place where there are too many weeds. The weeds stop the growth of the plants, and the plants die.
· But other seed falls on good ground. So, the plants grow well. The farmer has a harvest from these plants.
Jesus himself explained it to the disciples. The farmer is like Jesus. The seed that he sows is the seed of the good news about Jesus. The farmer sows the seed in many different places, just as Christians tell God's good news in many different places. What happens to the seed is different in different places. It is the same with the good news about Jesus. It has a good result in the lives of some people, and it has a poor result in other lives.
The first seed fell on the path, where there was no soil. Some people hear the good news but give no attention to it at all. This is like the seed on the path. These people do not change their behavior. These people do not think about other people. They are selfish. They quickly forget about the good news.
Some seed falls where there are rocks. It grows quickly, but then it dies. This teaches us that some people listen to the good news. They seem to like what they hear about Jesus. But this does not last. They have a difficult time, or other people laugh at them. Then they have no more interest in Jesus. They never really trusted him.
Some seed began to grow among weeds, and the weeds killed it. This teaches us that some people have no time for Jesus. They are selfish, and they want things for themselves. Perhaps they want to be rich, or to be powerful. They worry all the time. They are anxious about their possessions. Sometimes, the Devil is there to make these people doubt anything and everything.
Finally we hear in the story about seed on good ground. The good ground is like people who love the Lord. They believe in Jesus and they trust him. God will bless these people. His Holy Spirit will help them to love other people. They will be able to forgive other people, and to live in peace with them. They will be joyful. This is because God can change them. He changes the inside of these people, and this changes their behavior.
This parable can teach us about ourselves. God will bless those people who trust him. We learn from this parable the same truths as we learn from the beatitudes. When we know that we need Jesus, we should trust him. When we really trust him, he will teach to us. We will change, because Jesus will change us.
Granted, the views I have given are only one of a myriad of possibilities and I explained them in a dramatic and intense way to show a point. Do I really believe a majority of people are as harsh as some seed examples above? Not really, but there are those out in the world that really have no clue how they are treating their lives or each other. If the people at that table that day had their situations reversed with Casey, I somehow suspect their viewpoints would be different.
But ask yourself this question: what kind of soil are you like? I think if when we have a healthy conversation in life and we treat it knowing that we will never have all of the facts, and speak of others in non-judgmental ways, we at least are letting some of those seeds of Christ to fall within some of the good soil we are all made of. We are allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us and accept some thoughts that maybe we would not normally listen to. We need to fertilize our soil by having an open mind to new and different realities that may not always seem to be “in check” with our personal views of life. Jesus’ parable challenges us to see a different way and to treat others in a manner we would want to be treated if in a similar situation.
I have no idea or not whether Casey Anthony is innocent or not. But, I do know that when we stop judging, we start accepting God’s love and grace.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-06-20T17:32:00.001-07:00

June 19, 2011

Trinity Sunday

The liturgical calendar calls this Sunday "Trinity Sunday" -- a day set aside to "celebrate" the unique triune character of our God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is that very weighty subject that everyone wants to understand, but no one can explain.

Should we really say, "Celebrate" or should we say, “stumble over?” The complex theological doctrine of the Trinity has always managed to leave scholars somewhat frustrated and the faithful somewhat confused. Trying adequately to express the mystery of a God who is Three-in-One and One-in-Three tends to leave us tongue-tied. It is the first Sunday after Pentecost, and the feast day devoted to a central doctrine of the Christian faith. I want to remind all of you, Christians and others among you, that “doctrine” is an essential expression of a believer’s faith.
It is very easy to think of the Christian faith as a lovely story about Jesus, or as a historical phenomenon involving God, or a series of ethical or social precepts, or even as an aesthetic and cultural experience. All of this is part true and part of the whole truth, but none of it can or must be used to avoid the fact that there is content, form, and substance to the Christian faith, a content that does not descend upon our assent for its validity, and without which our “assent”, whatever that may be, means very little.
I think one of the important reasons for talking about the Trinity today is to help you think about the Christian faith as having a content that forces you not simply to act, which is easy, nor to feel, which is even easier, but to think. To open your minds and use your imaginations and wrestle with the implications of what you find as you think about the nature of God, as you imagine for yourselves the largest possible canvas; or the big picture.
Symbols for the Trinity include a circle inscribed within an equilateral triangle. Actually, during the first eight centuries of Christian art, the image of the triangle for the Trinity was not widespread -- although on one of the gravestones in the catacombs there is a triangle in which the monogram of the name of Christ was placed.

The three persons were often represented in art, but they were shown separately. The first time they seem to have been placed together was in the fourth century, and that representation consisted of "the Hand, the Lamb and the Dove".

Some of the best attempts, however, have come exactly when we seem to be grasping at straws. Many of us have grown up gratefully with St. Patrick's cloverleaf image of the Trinity -- three leaves making up one clover leaf. Most find that to be the easiest to understand and accept, but it too falls far short. Here is another attempt at understanding the Trinity.

Remember as child playing with mercury when you were in grade school? Mercury is an unusual metal because it remains in liquid form at room temperature. This makes it both highly useful and potentially quite dangerous.

In elementary school there was a period of time when some of us started bringing small pill bottles to school with a few drops of liquid mercury swimming around in the bottom. During the duller parts of class, we would empty the contents of our bottles into the little craters on the desks that were designed to hold pencils. While the teacher droned on, we amused ourselves by taking the points of our pencils and dividing the large, single mercury bead into dozens of tiny little balls that shimmered and skittered on the desktop. Most amazing of all was that simply by rolling the small drops back to touch each other, they were all reabsorbed back to re-create the one large, silver ball.

The liquid mercury existed both as those separate beads and as that unified mass. When considered as one, it was seamless and whole, perfectly round and stable. But it also existed as those separate identities, themselves completely independent and with their own character.

Might this give us some hint into the workings of the triune God? God is whole, fully formed and diamond-perfect; not some piecemeal work that is stuck together with divine duct tape. And to think that duct-tape is every American’s answer to everything that is “broken”. Sorry, won’t work here.
But as a Trinitarian reality -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- the divine is also known in seamless separateness. Not lopped-off parts that look incomplete, but individual beads of divinity that shimmer with their own purpose and power. Yet the whole is recalled at a touch, the three wholly part of the one. For many of us, however, words will always fail to capture the truth of the Trinity. But, do we miss the big picture, as it were?

Jesus counseled Nicodemus that if he really wanted to experience the kingdom of God, he himself would have to undergo a change of community and identity. He would need to be born again -- both "from above" and "anew." As a resident of this kingdom of God -- as a re-created individual, Nicodemus was told he would be introduced to the wind of the Spirit and the sacrifice of the Son. Faced with all these fresh categories of divine activity, little wonder poor Nicodemus could only stammer, "How can these things be?" Of course, in the modern age, we have the Sacrament of Baptism to be “born again” as it were, but that is for a different sermon. "How can this be?" is the great question throughout history when one is faced with the mystery of the Trinity -- Three-in-One and One-in-Three.

If one were to read chapter 4 from the Book of the Revelation according to St. John, one can add a bit of imagination to the understanding. It does not state a dad-blasted thing about the Trinity. In fact it may simply add to the confusion. (Read Revelation 4) We are taken by St. John the Divine on a guided tour of the spiritual imagination. We are given insight into a visionary’s vision. The glimpse through the open door into the wonders of heaven allows us with St. John to leave the level of debate and argument and enter the realm of the imagination, where wondrous and strange things point to the wonder of all things.
In this part of the Book of Revelation, the text is an invitation to expand consciousness of our minds, to push beyond our petty realities, and to see this things that were, that are, and that are to be. John invites us to a new form of seeing, and like the novice guided to see a painting once thought familiar, by a discerning guiding critic, one begins to see new and different and wonderful things.
It is very much like a little girl in Sunday school. She was busy drawing with all of her crayons and all of her might when her teacher asked her what she was drawing. “I am drawing a picture of God,” she said. Her teacher replied, “But, my dear, nobody knows what God looks like.” To which the little girl replied without stopping her strokes. “They will when I am finished.” I believe that just settles it! Such is the purpose and confidence of St. John, to draw us a picture of God that we will recognize when he is finished.
Don't waste your efforts trying to make sense of all that wonderful symbolism, trying to figure out what the twenty-four thrones mean, the seven flaming torches, the sea of Crystal, and all that. Look at the passage and see the great white throne in the middle, and the peals of thunder, and the lightning. If it sounds awfully familiar to you, it's probably because your vision now comes up with the vision of the Wizard of Oz. I hate to disappoint all of you, but God is even bigger than that and he does not live in the Emerald City either!
In reading the Book of Revelation, especially chapters such as this, one must not be distracted by the details, so much as looking at the big picture. Keep inside the object of all this frantic activity and exquisite detail. What is the center of it all? The One who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. All this energy and imagination is directed to the worship of One who was, and is, and is to be; who rules, that is, who sits upon the throne and who lives forever. It is to the One who sits upon the throne that these glorious creatures full of wings and eyes sing without pausing for breath.
The picture of God is of One who is the Creator, and by whose will all things that are, are. We have caught a glimpse through the open door into heaven, and we have seen a God who is worthy to be worshiped because he is the good creature of us all, who himself will last forever, for he is forever. That is the big picture; the biggest picture possible. When we think about God, some may be impressed by the majesty and glory, some by the raw and awesome power, or the thunder and the lightning; for others it may be the goodness and benevolence that impresses. But God is all of this and more!
Such a big picture of God nearly defies imagination, but it is only imagination that will allow us to grow and be able to see something of that picture. We must remember that the object of Christian theology is not to reduce incomprehensibilities to our small size but rather to make us grow up in some small degree to the capacity of the subject. St. John gives us his wonderful vision, seen as through a crack into heaven, and the Church has described that same vision in its efforts to describe God in the doctrine of the Trinity - that which was, that which is, and that which is to be. Creation is time past. Redemption is time present. The ultimate justice of God is time future. The Trinity is the attempt of the Church to paint that big picture of God and to understand it in ways that extend and expand the ordinary consciousness. The Church baptizes her faithful in the name of the Trinity; she blesses the living and the dead in the undivided name of the Trinity; and the signing of the cross is Trinitarian in form and in expression.
Why does the Church cling to the Trinity in the face of the claims of the modern need for tidy and useful thoughts? Why does the Church cling to the Trinity when it is so hard to understand? The Church is bound to the Trinity because it works to explain the unexplainable and it helps to draw for us the big picture, it satisfies our need to engage and stretch and stimulate our imagination, it enlivens our worship, it stimulates our debate, and he gives us cause to wait out the impatient adversities of this fallen and falling world. The Trinity is the expression of our ultimate optimism in the face of our provisional pessimism. The Trinity allows us to imagine, experience, anticipate, and celebrate the wholeness and unity of God, and the only appropriate response to all of that is to worship him with those who fall down before him saying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, because thou didst create all things; by thy will they were created and have there being.” Such is to experience the fullness, the wholeness, the unity of God; the one who was, and is, and is to be; the big picture. No definition can help us understand the Trinity. Only our imagination looking at the big picture will help us to simply accept in faith a God who is bigger than our imaginations can hold!
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-06-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

June 12, 2011

Whitsunday/Pentecost

If we want transformation, we must risk chaos much like that of a butterfly. The word “risk” makes some people feel uncomfortable, but for us risk is simply another word for “faith”.
Remember your first science project? Often, one of the first science projects children undertake is to watch a plain little caterpillar spin a cocoon about itself until it is completely shrouded within a chrysalis. The wonder of transformation is made real to the children when, days later, an entirely different creature -- a beautiful butterfly -- emerges from the apparently lifeless shell.

As children, we immediately focus on the delicate creature that emerges so mysteriously from the cocoon. With the actual process inside the cocoon unseen, there is a lot of mystery about the cocoon. A creepy, crawly caterpillar is magically transformed into a radiant, soaring butterfly. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? However, for the caterpillar, there was nothing "wonderful" about it.

A caterpillar doesn't just grow into a butterfly. A caterpillar must undergo molting and metamorphosis -- the dramatic silence of the larva in which the insect's metamorphosis is entirely rearranged. How ironic that in today's English language, that word "cocoon" has come to mean exactly the opposite of what it means to a caterpillar. Modern English defines a cocoon as a safe place or state of being. When someone is shielding themselves from different aspects or beliefs in life, we say they are in a cocoon. However, a cocoon isn't safe. A cocoon is where a caterpillar risks it all -- where it enters total chaos, where it undergoes total rebuilding, where it dies to one way of life and is born to a new way of living. A cocoon is where a caterpillar allows itself to disintegrate into a blob of gelatinous liquid without structure or identity so that it can emerge with sharpened sensory perceptions and breathtaking beauty.

Only in taking the risk of entering that inert larva can the caterpillar go from dormancy to potency, from ugliness to beauty. This is the reason why the butterfly is an authentic symbol of resurrection! Not because it's cute. But because it risks dying to be born to new life.

On Pentecost morning, the miracle of the Holy Spirit was not that of multilinguistic languages spoken by everyone and understood by everyone ( although that is certainly a miracle, just not the one of greatest importance). The miracle of Pentecost was and is this: Pentecost power proclaims a fundamental transformation. The presence of Christ's Spirit burst out of accepted, established parameters. Holiness became accessible to all, even the fearful disciples, and was preached forth to all who would listen. Human attempts to keep the Holy Spirit contained in one holy language or one holy place failed. Christ's sacrifice split open the chrysalis and sent the Holy Spirit soaring out into the world.

Who gave the church of Christ a safety-first, risk-free commission? Who authorized the church of Christ to be a church of wimps? Why are we looking to God more for day care than for dare care?

There is no such thing as a risk-free life. Nothing is safe. According to the insurance industry's publication Risk Watch, "'Safety' is a word of primitive simplicity that has lost its utility in the face, of expanded technology, but of growing knowledge about the sometimes malignant complexities of nature." "Safety first" was not the motto of Jesus, nor St. Paul, nor of John Wesley. Safety first is fatal to holiness.

Cocoons are self-contained packets of risk. If that frumpy, dumpy little caterpillar didn't take the ultimate risk of re-creation, something which can be experienced only in the cocoon, he would never be able to break out as a butterfly. The way to the safety of a transformed life is found in risk.

Too many of us are lured only by "the safety of the chair," instead of being enticed by "the challenge of the dare." The danger is in the chair; the safety is in the dare. Even the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 1980, "Safe does not mean risk-free."

A 6-year-old gets nervous about taking that first step onto a moving escalator. He hesitates, halts, hovers on the edge, reluctant to step off that edge. It entices him for sure, but that first step is difficult. But once you take it, the movement of the escalator carries you along effortlessly. When he plays stop and go at that first step, there is the greatest danger. We all topple over him, or he panics and bolts forward, dragging others with him. He is safer taking the risk of getting onto something beyond his control than he is holding back. The hardest part is that first step of faith; but from then on, it's easy. You cannot NOT be a risk-taker.

You probably didn't think about it, but you took considerable risks getting here to church this morning. Risks such as:
-- One in 18,585 people will die in a car accident today.

-- A one in two million chance of dying by falling out of bed.

-- A one in 350,000 chance of being electrocuted by your alarm clock.

-- While brushing your teeth, you flirted with the 20 percent chance that your local water supply has infectious bacteria in it.

-- Men endured a one in 7,000 chance of a serious shaving injury.

-- Men and women endured the danger of a one in 2,600 chance of being zippered, snapped or buttoned into some sort of injury.

-- If you avoided the stairs, you still took a one in six million risk of an elevator injury.

-- A one in 11,000 risk of dying in your car while traveling, as either a passenger or a driver.

-- A risk of one in 145 of your car's being stolen still waits for you.

I could not begin to determine where they come up with these statistics; however they help with my analogy today. The danger today lies with safety; the benefits lie with risk and speed. We must give up the church's "safety-first," risk-free approach to ministry and mission. We need to embrace a more entrepreneurial, risk-taking, failure-embracing strategy. Can we support the more imaginative and energetic self-starters in our midst?

Social systems are not unlike biological systems; they work not so much by trial and error, but by trial and success. The disciples risked ridicule and retribution by proclaiming the gospel message out to that crowd in words they could all easily understand. They took a chance and believed that the authority and power of the Holy Spirit would work through their words. It was a profound risk. But that moment of proclamation brought into being the church as the new creation of God. The followers had the Holy Spirit descend upon them in the form of tongues of fire and they all spoke languages they never knew before, all the while others understood them as never before.

There is no safety in safety; there is only safety in the risk and dare of a life of faith. Faith is but another word for "risk."

God is the biggest risk-taker of them all. Albert Einstein could not come to terms with his own theories because he said that God couldn't have built this kind of risk into the universe. God couldn't have created a universe with this kind of indeterminacy and unpredictability and chaos. "God does not throw dice," Einstein said.

Well, Einstein was wrong. And late in life he came to see how wrong he was. God does take chances. God created you and me with the right of refusal, called free will. God built risk into the very heart of the universe: at an atomic level, at a cosmic level. God is big enough and bold enough to put the very being of Himself at risk by creating you and me. God gave us free will and risked us choosing to not follow Him.

That doesn't mean that God is endangered by our right of refusal. But it does mean that God suffers because of our right of refusal. God created a cosmos where the creation can participate in God's own creativity.

That also means that, while you and I don't get safety, we do get joy and delight and the experience of the divine. We get the privilege of participating in the creativity of God, because of the Holy Spirit working through us. Take that risk today and ask God to help that case of unbelief or lackluster belief and wait to see what the Holy Spirit will do for you as he did some 2,000 + years ago!

God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-06-06T14:15:00.001-07:00

June 5, 2011

Ascension Sunday

How does one explain the Ascension of Jesus Christ?
Nikita Khrushchev once ridiculed Christianity by remarking humorously that his cosmonauts, on their journeys around the Earth, had never reported seeing Jesus passing by. His remark may well cause some unease in the most thoughtful modern Christians. What is left of our proclamation of the Ascension of Christ if we refuse to take literally the archaic cosmological picture against which Jesus is described as moving from an Earth down here to heaven up there?
In fact, popular cosmological pictures, archaic or modern, have less to do with displaying scientific data about the universe than with bringing out assumptions about the nature of life within it. Atheists are very quick to make light of Christian beliefs. Atheists are very quick to make light of any belief in any intelligent design deity. I find it so sad that some of these people do not realize what they are refusing to understand. There are too many miracles in this world to be that close minded.
In the accounts of the Ascension of Christ we hear from the Acts of the Apostles employ bits and pieces of a cosmological picture which views these matters in a very different way. We should not assume that the authors of our New Testament writings were necessarily unaware that the Earth was round or that heaven and earth were not so simply up there and down here as they seem to suggest. Nonetheless, it was a picture which would have been familiar to any reader of Jewish apocalyptic writing, the book of Daniel for instance, or a passage from the prophet Ezekiel.
In the picture that is read from many of these writings, the universe is certainly awesome. But we are far from aliens in it. It is the work of God, God's glorious throne room. It is run according to God's mysterious purposes, which must finally control the destiny of all of us. If we are alone and afraid within it, that is because his purposes are different from ours. We want to live for ourselves, to promote our own concerns even when they clash with those of God or our neighbors. We want to run as much as we can of the universe on our own terms, however impossible that may be. Sometimes I wonder if this is not why atheists don't want to believe in God; because they will not be able to feel in control.
God is in control, however. Jesus was God incarnate. God came down to be man with us. God could not get our attention the way he wanted our attention, so he came down to be with us; to live like us except for sin. Some questioned why would God do this. Someone questioned why would God need to do this. We are not only not privy to those answers, but neither are we meant to understand the design of God. We are called simply to believe in faith that God does exist; that God is working in the world. God is working in the world as he sees fit in his own mysterious way. That doesn't mean that he does not exist. It simply means he is in control and will not just exist as we think he should. Our impure thoughts cannot possibly fathom his pure thoughts.
Man did not evolve from plants to what we are now, as some scientists would have us believe. Is there some evolution involved in the creation process God used? Most assuredly there is - just not as a scientist is able to explain. God came as man; a man named Jesus. This man Jesus came that we might have life. He came to catch our attention, and that he did. He came and he ministered to our psyche, our souls, and our bodies. He was condemned, just as some today condemn him, and he was tortured and put on a cross to die. And died he did, all because he was trying to bring hope to his people. But, his dying did not stop his plan; it assured it.
Three days later we see Jesus again. This time in a bit more glorious form. Then he stays with his apostles both male and female and all his followers. He stays that they may believe. He stays that they may have the proof that their doubts need. Then he ascends into heaven.
It is against the background provided by this picture that our readings set the suffering and death of Jesus at our hands, and his being raised again to life with God. The picture is in the background, and actually only the useful bits and pieces of it remain. Jesus, dead and risen, is in the foreground for all to see. What the disciples have been witnessing these last weeks is the actual, visible event of God's reaching out to reconcile the whole creation, to save it from the confusion it has brought on itself, to bring it back together in the new life of Jesus Christ. There is no question anymore about the mysterious purposes of the one who sits on the heavenly throne. They are clear now. If the death we tried to use to stop them will not work, no power can do so. No disbelief; no physical harm; nothing.
This feast, then, has to do not with speculations about the universe we do not know, but with God's involvement with the human life we know only too well. With the conflict of human wills, personal, social, national, seemingly even cosmic, this threatened to overwhelm it. It has to do with that, and with our confidence in the ultimate triumph of the new human life which God is bringing into existence in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Just a few short weeks back, we were entertaining the idea that the world was going to end as we know it. The preacher stated that he had mathematically figured it out when God was going to end the world. Not only did Jesus say that only the Father in heaven knows when this will take place; but today we read in the Acts of the Apostles that the believers gathered together and asked Jesus: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” And Jesus again tells them that it is not for them to know the time or the season that the Father in heaven has established by virtue of his authority. Jesus says these things and is taken up in a cloud.
We cannot help noticing how the disciples are portrayed in the accounts of the ascension we have heard. As is often the case in the Gospels, they are unaware of the real purposes of God unfolding before them. Despite all they have witnessed these last weeks, they still ask the risen Christ will you at this time restore dominion to Israel. They want to know that now that he has been restored miraculously to the human scene, if he will not finally get down to doing what the Messiah is expected to do, for instance redressing the balances between Israel and the nations. The disciples have little notion of the scope of God's plans for human reconciliation, or of the role of Christ in their being brought to fulfillment. They have to be prodded back to Jerusalem to await the gift of the Holy Spirit which will make them bearers of a message they do not yet understand.
We Christians are, unfortunately, more likely to see ourselves Mirrored in the disciples as portrayed here than in the disciples as we will encounter them again in the accounts of Pentecost next Sunday. Despite the gift of the Holy Spirit at our baptism, we secretly tend to think that the death and resurrection of Christ has something to do with the success of our side in the conflict of human wills which still dominates our lives, personal, social, national, most of the time.
We must, on this Ascension Sunday, as well as any other day, pray for the renewal of the Holy Spirit to enable us to see more, far more, absolutely more than that in the work of reconciliation to which we have been called as members of the body of the risen Christ in the world. Christ ascended into heaven to once again become God. Christ ascended into heaven to become God so that we may know him in faith and trust in him with our lives. But, of course, Jesus was already God and did not really need to “become God”, but our feeble brains and faith needed to feel or sense the sensation.
Yes, God could've probably found a far easier way to get our attention. However he chose this way. As Jesus once told his disciples, when we see Jesus we've seen the Father. When we have seen the Father we have seen God. Jesus-God ascended is with us always.
God love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-05-29T18:51:00.001-07:00

May 29, 2011

The Fifth Sunday after Easter

Most mission statements, according to Kevin Starr, needs a short statement, no more than eight words long, that includes "Verb, target, outcome." Can a church come up with something like that?

How about: Jesus was a man on a mission.

He healed the sick, fed the 5,000, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, washed the feet of the disciples, commanded them to love one another and showed them the way to God. His mission was clear. But did he have a "mission statement"? An essential expression of purpose? Something such as "To inspire and nurture the human spirit", as the Starbucks Coffee Company slogan says?

Sounds awfully spiritual, doesn't it? In the inspiration business, we Christians have some serious competition. But does Jesus need a mission statement? Or better yet, would one mission statement be enough in describing Jesus? Or would we need many mission statements?

Mission statements have become big business, with a wide range of organizations crafting them in an attempt to capture their core values, purposes and goals. The problem with most of them is they wind up sounding complex and boring, such as the one that reads: "Our challenge is to assertively network economically sound methods of empowerment so that we may continually negotiate performance-based infrastructures." I will not tell you were it is from, but suffice to say unless you’re a person with a rocket scientist brain working in some intense field, that slogan would do nothing for any of us.

Jesus would never want his mission to be so complex and boring. As followers of Christ, we can do better.

So what should be included in a mission statement for the followers of Jesus, based on the words he spoke the night before his death? "If you love me," he says to his disciples, "you will keep my commandments". That's a strong start, but this exceeds the eight-word limit. Maybe we are limiting ourselves too much with something as strong as Jesus.

"I will ask the Father," promises Jesus, "and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever". Advocate comes from the Greek word parakletos - one who exhorts, comforts, helps and makes an appeal on another person's behalf. There are acceptable English translations for the word parakletos, which is why one Bible will render the word "Advocate," another will say "Comforter" and, still another, "Counselor." Depending on what version of the Bible a preacher uses, there could be any number of combinations of a sermon given to describe the Holy Spirit. All these English words describe the "Spirit of truth" that God will send to the disciples, and Jesus predicts that "you know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you".

This is a good start to an authentic Christian mission statement: Love Christ, do the right thing, receive the Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, Spirit of truth. But wait, there's more - "I will not leave you orphaned," promises Jesus; "I am coming to you." Jesus assures his disciples they will see him after his death and resurrection, and he predicts that the future will be marked by an amazing intimacy between God, Jesus and all his followers. "I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you," he says, describing in this tumbling jumble of pronouns a beautiful blend of divine and human elements.

Then Jesus circles back to where he began, making another link between loving him and keeping his commandments (One could substitute, we might say, "Do the right thing," or "Do the God-thing" or "Don't Be Evil" for commandments) "They who observe my Don't Be Evil rule are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them". Different churches might teach the concept of "commandment" differently; the point is that Jesus connects living right with loving right. For many people, loving and commandment-keeping are very different approaches to the Christian faith. For Jesus, they're one and the same.

After reading this passage, one easily sees how mission statements can become awash in jargon and marble-mouthed pronouncements. There's so much to say, and the temptation is to try to say it all. But remember the marks of an effective statement: verb, target, outcome. Eight words, no more.

Fortunately, Jesus includes several strong action words in this passage from John: love, keep, know, abide, see, live. And he offers a clear target as well: the creation of a community of people who love Christ, keep his commandments and experience a truly amazing intimacy with Jesus and God. And what will be the outcome of this effort? To receive the Holy Spirit - receive the one who is an Advocate, Comforter and Counselor, as well as the continuing presence and power of Jesus Christ himself.

Verbs, target, outcome. A mission statement, it seems, boils down to eight essential words:

Love Christ, keep his commandments, receive the Spirit.

This is our mission: to be a community of people who love Christ and keep his commandments - seeing these actions as complementary, not contradictory. Loving and commandment-keeping are two sides of the same spiritual coin, revealing both devotion and order, affection and obedience. If we can hold them together, then we'll be in a position to receive the Holy Spirit.

So how do we do it? First, we love Christ. The writer Anne Lamott was a 30-year-old single, hip, intellectual agnostic who didn't think she wanted to have anything to do with Jesus. In her book Traveling Mercies, she tells of how she became pregnant by a married man. She had an abortion and was sadder than she'd been since her father died. She drank and took pills to dull the pain. Then, one night, lying in the darkness, she became aware of someone with her, hunkered down in the corner. She knew it was Jesus. "I felt him just sitting there on his haunches in the corner of my sleeping loft," she writes, "watching me with patience and love."

For the next few days, Lamott sensed Jesus following her everywhere, like "a little cat." Finally, she took a long, deep breath and said out loud, "All right. You can come in." Looking back on the experience, Lamott says, "I was dying, and I got a second chance. I do believe I was saved."

We love Jesus because he first loved us. He comes to us with patience and love, and he saves us.

Then we do the right thing: We keep his commandments. This doesn't mean we suddenly achieve a state of moral perfection, with an ability to check off all the ethical imperatives in the Sermon on the Mount or become a “goody-two-shoes”. But it does mean we respond to Christ's love with a desire to live an orderly and obedient life - one that's organized around the new commandment of Jesus to "love one another." Loving and commandment-keeping come together when Jesus says to his disciples, "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another".

Such love isn't so much an emotion as it is a deep desire to order our lives around the example Jesus set. It means championing the cause of the underdog, reaching out to the downtrodden, working to build up God's kingdom on earth and being willing to sacrifice for others. "No one has greater love than this," says Jesus, "to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you". On this Memorial Day weekend, we pause to give thanks for all the men and women, throughout our nation's history, who have given their lives for others.

Loving sacrifice is how we keep Christ's commandments. In a concrete way, it shows the world that we are friends of Jesus Christ.
Let me use another analogy. A parent or grandparent may ask a small child, “How much do you love me?” And the child will respond with stretched wide open arms and an enthusiastic “This much!” Real love has no bounds. As wide as the child can open his or her arms; this is a whole universe to a small child. This is the unboundedness of responsive love that nurtures, strengthens, and helps build strong character and values. “If you love me …” Jesus says. Of course we love Jesus! Why else are many of us here today? And, as with a small child, we might want to open our arms wide and exclaim “This much!” - As much as the whole universe.
Yet it would seem that Jesus puts a limit on how much we can love him; “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Commandments are finite and measurable. Is it true that Jesus is limiting our love? Of course not! There is much more to what Jesus is saying than what meets the eye. Instead, it expands our love to include the whole of our living. When Jesus says to keep his Commandments as a sign of our love for him, he is not only speaking about the Ten Commandments; he is saying that if we love him, we will live as he lived. Loving Jesus as he asks requires us to live in such a way that others know the Resurrection is real, that Jesus is really present, that Jesus cares for us deeply.
Our love for Jesus is shown in the same way as the early disciples showed their love; by doing in our everyday living. Like Philip and Peter and John, as we read in our first reading, we are to proclaim the living Christ by the way we heal hurts in others; bring a healing touch to those who are ailing in any way; strengthen those who are weak or paralyzed by fear, doubt, or selfishness; those who feel ostracized; encourage those weighed down with too much stress, work, or indecision. All this and more is keeping Jesus’ commandments by living his way of life; a life of deep care for others. The most encouraging aspect of this Gospel reading is that Jesus sends us the help we need to love and live in this way.

Finally, our mission comes to its conclusion when we receive the Spirit. This is the final phrase in our mission statement, the outcome of our loving Christ and our commandment-keeping. It's usually experienced in a community of faith, such as the Presbyterian congregation where Anne Lamott is a member. She writes, "One of our newer members, a man named Ken Nelson, is dying of AIDS, disintegrating before our very eyes." He has a totally lopsided face, ravaged and emaciated, but "when he smiles, he is radiant. He looks like God's crazy nephew." Ken says he would gladly pay any price for what he has now, which is Jesus - and his congregation.

During the prayers of the people, Ken talks "joyously of his life and his decline, of grace and redemption, of how safe and happy he feels these days." He is dying but is full of the Holy Spirit - full of God's Advocate, God's Comforter, God's Counselor.

This is our purpose: Love Christ, keep his commandments, receive the Spirit. No jargon. No gobbledygook. Just eight words of authentic Christian mission. When we go into the world and love all others we meet without condition, we are loving them as Christ would love them, hence we are loving Christ. Let us go into the world and do just that!
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

* A special deal for an Organist *

2011-05-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi,

We are in need of an Organist for our St Francis Universal Catholic Church and have a special deal for you:

If you want to practice on an Organ, you can use ours free of charge. All we ask is to please play the Organ for 1 hour on Sundays at 11 during our Mass.

Please contact our Bishop Robert at:

FrRobt@aol.com

Thank you for your consideration.

Sunday Sermon

2011-05-22T18:59:00.001-07:00

May 22, 2011

The Fourth Sunday after Easter

New research continues to show that skipping breakfast can have nasty effects on the health of your heart. Although a healthy diet overall is key, it looks like one meal might just be most critical of all. Mom always said breakfast was the most important meal of the day. It turns out she was right.

Sure, we all grew up hearing it was "the most important meal of the day," but most of us assumed that was just Mom's way of making us feel guilty and thus making us feel obligated into grabbing a banana as we burst out the door to catch the bus. Although, that may have been true, it also turns out Mom was on to something.

According to a ongoing study from Mayo Clinic researchers, breakfast is, in fact, the most important meal of the day, at least when it comes to the health of your heart. Throughout the course of 20 years, doctors tracked the breakfast habits and health statistics of some 2,100 individuals. The monitoring began in early adolescence and continued into adulthood. The goal of the study was simple; to determine the positive or negative overall health effects of skipping breakfast.

Respondents who grew up in homes where breakfast was skipped or who later in life chose to rebel against a pro-breakfast upbringing by passing on the meal as adults showed significantly higher levels of heart-wrenching health statistics. Their waistlines were larger. Their cholesterol was higher. Their insulin levels were out of whack.

Moms, doctors and the Mayo Clinic aren't the only ones concerned about heart trouble. So is Jesus. In today's gospel text, Jesus gives his disciples this clear command: "Let not your hearts be troubled".

Jesus isn't talking about cholesterol levels or bypass surgeries. He's talking about a different kind of heart trouble; the kind that can also be classified as worry, fear, anxiety or stress. The kind of heart trouble that can feel like a loss of hope, a lack of faith, a panic attack or pangs of uncertainty. The kind of heart trouble that keeps you up at night thinking about money, biting your nails when you're worried about your child or on the phone with a friend craving advice for a crumbling marriage. That's the kind of heart trouble Jesus is talking about. It's the kind we've all experienced. It's the kind of heart trouble, faith trouble and lack-of-peace-trouble that tends to run rampant in our lives.

It's not hard to see that heart trouble - of the physical, emotional and spiritual kind - is a major threat to our well-being as followers of Christ. Thanks to the Mayo Clinic, we know a bowl of Cheerios will help our arteries. But what about our hearts of faith, our worries and anxieties? What about those gnawing fears and gnawed fingernails? Let's be honest. Is it even possible, as follower of Jesus in an extremely screwed-up world, to heed his command and have an untroubled heart? Sure it is.

According to Jesus, having an untroubled heart of faith all comes down to what you're feeding that heart. Just as an omelet makes a difference physically, what you're feasting on or depriving yourself of makes all of the difference spiritually.

Ask any doctors, and they'll tell you there are two keys to physical well-being: It all comes down to a good diet and regular exercise. Neglect either of those, and you're headed for trouble. The same is true with your heart of faith. It must be well-fed and well-run in order to be strong and healthy. Take another look at Jesus' words. He says, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me". Jesus tells us the key to "heart health" as one of his followers is to trust in and feast on him. What our hearts need to stay healthy is regular nourishment from Christ and an active life of following Christ.

Now, at first glance, that answer may reek of Sunday school simplicity. But it's true. Far too many followers of Christ have heart trouble stemming from the fact that their lives involve no regular consumption of Christ and no actual exercise of their faith in Christ. As a result, they're unable to withstand the anxieties of life that come up daily. Starving for a sense of direction that comes from Christ in his Word or craving some lasting peace that can come only from standing on his promises, we wind up looking for nourishment in all the wrong places.

We skip the spiritual meals in favor of earthly solutions. Later, we binge on earthly things, believing they'll bring us God-things. For example, you might religiously consume cable news, thinking the talking heads from your preferred political tribe will give you lasting wisdom in a crumbling world. You may join the neighborhood gym and begin obsessing about your physical appearance and calorie count, wrongly believing that regaining control over your body will give you control over your startled soul.

Meanwhile, our unfed hearts of faith are going through prolonged periods of disengaged laziness. Our troubled hearts of faith that were once tested in tough conversations with unbelieving friends in college and put to use through prayer in times of stress now sit on the couch and consume nothing but junk. No wonder we feel ill-equipped for the worries of life!

If you already know you suffer from actual heart disease, the Mayo Clinic prescribes a dizzying array of "easy" steps to help establish a healthier existence. Simply stop smoking, control your cholesterol, manage your diet, get moving for 30 minutes each day, manage your stress, practice good hygiene, maintain a healthy weight, take your vitamins and be sure to get a flu shot. That's all.

But when it comes to our hearts of faith, it's about just two things. Our troubled hearts need to be fed with Christ and exercised in a life of following him. Remember Christ's own words immediately following the command that our hearts be trouble-free. Five times - five times in just two verses - Jesus uses the words I or me. It's nothing less than a plea for us to anchor our hearts in the hope that he gives and the work he'll one day return to complete.

So how do we feed our hearts the power of Christ? It comes down to being connected to the promises of his Word, found in the Scriptures, and the power of his presence, found in his people. Just as someone who's cultivating physical heart health by taking up running might subscribe to Runner's World for insight and join a local running club for accountability, God's Word and his people are essential for a strong heart of faith.

Christ makes a promise, saying, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." Quite often, when our hearts are troubled and we feel furthest from Christ, it's simply because we are far from the two places - his Word and his people - where he's promised to always be found.

What's more, we live in a world in which access to God's Word has never been easier. Just one example: At the Web site youversion.com, one can read the Bible in hundreds of languages and translations, take notes that can be shared with others and use an endless number of reading plans that make connecting with Christ easier and more accessible than ever before.

Once your heart of faith is fed with Christ, the essential element is to make sure it's regularly stretched, exercised and put to the test in a lifestyle of relentlessly pursuing Christ. Immediately after telling his disciples to feast on him, Jesus boldly proclaimed that they would be living lives of faith in which they achieved more amazing things than he did! "Truly, truly," said Jesus, "whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these he will do ...” The disciples needed hearts that were fed with Christ because they'd be thrown into lives of doing incredible, frightening, heart-straining works in the name of Christ.

Could it be that one reason your faith feels so weak is because it never gets off the couch? Could it be that the very reason you feel so ill-equipped to face life's obstacles is because you've only attempted to avoid them? Could it be that the very means of strengthening your heart of faith is jumping at opportunities that will test it?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year some 785,000 people suffer their very first heart attack. Heart disease is the number-one health issue among adults, both male and female. Each year, more than 630,000 of us will die of a heart-related disease. It's time to start feeding your heart a little breakfast.

Each day, millions of disciples will feel a few shooting pains run through their hearts as their work-stress rises, a relationship gets rough, money gets tight or health grows weak. "Let not your hearts be troubled." It's time to heed Christ's call, feed on his Word and begin flexing that faith.

Pick up that Bible and do some more reading and meditating over the Scriptures. Take out that prayer book you bought eons ago and use. Make a concerted effort to come to church more and hear God’s word in action. While at church, receive Jesus in the Body and Blood at the altar. Just a few minor suggestions that will help that aching heart and get you on a healthier spiritual heart road.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-05-18T11:52:00.001-07:00

May 15, 2011

The Third Sunday after Easter

Ever had a miserable job? You know, one of those soul-sucking employment situations that make you feel like a drone in a corporate hive somewhere? If so, you’re not alone. A recent Gallup poll revealed that 77 percent of American employees hate their jobs. Gallup also contends that this ailing workforce is costing employers more than $350 billion dollars in lost productivity. Americans are increasingly unhappy with their jobs.

These figures intrigued author Patrick Lencioni because they reminded him of his own experience. Says Lencioni, “I became interested in this topic because, as a kid, I watched my dad trudge off to work each day and became somewhat obsessed with the notion of job misery. Somewhere along the line, I came to the frightening realization that people spend so much time at work, yet so many of them were unfulfilled and frustrated in their jobs. As I got older, I came to another realization — that job misery was having a devastating impact on individuals, and on society at large. It seemed to me that understanding the cause of the problem, and finding a solution for it, was a worthy focus for my career.” His latest book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, is his attempt to meet the problem head-on.
I have to admit, as I sat at my desk writing this sermon, I felt strangely Déjà vu. I remember when I was a child, seeing how much my dad hated his job, he would literally hate it so much that his attendance record at his job must have been deplorable, but thanks be to God, they never fired him.

You’d think that the barometers of job satisfaction would depend on things like salary, job responsibilities and the possibility for advancement. Those aren’t insignificant factors, but, says Lencioni, they aren’t the key values that determine whether or not you have a miserable job. I have said a few times in my career, that it isn’t the job I hate, it is where I am doing it. Lencioni seems to confirm this feeling, as he wrote, “It’s important to understand that being miserable has nothing to do with the actual work a job involves,” says Lencioni. “A professional basketball player can be miserable in his job while the janitor cleaning the locker room behind him finds fulfillment in his work. A marketing executive can be miserable making a million dollars a year while the waitress who serves the executive lunch derives meaning and satisfaction from her job.” I fully agree with Lencioni on this. I have met, as an example, many waitresses and cashiers over the years who have held that same job for eons, and yet are happier than a corporate executive making tons of money.

What makes the difference between a miserable job and a satisfying one? According to Lencioni, it’s the relationships formed on the job, particularly the relationship between manager and employees, which determine whether your job is a dream or a soul-sucking nightmare. Lencioni points to three critical signs that, when put together, form the perfect storm of vocational hell.
As much as this sermon sounds like a topic of “Workplace hell”, however it is actually leading somewhere, so bear with just a tiny bit longer ….

The most telling indicator of job misery is anonymity. “People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known,” says Lencioni. People need to have a sense of being understood and appreciated for their unique personality and gifts, and that feedback needs to come from someone in a position of authority. If people feel invisible or anonymous in the workplace, particularly to their supervisor, they can’t love their job no matter what it is or what it pays. We’re not talking about the need for constant praise here, just a sense that someone in authority cares about the people in their charge.

The second sign is irrelevance — not knowing that your job matters to someone, to anyone. “Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an, employee simply will not find lasting improvement,” remarks Lencioni. A job must have some kind of purpose and impact on others, even if it’s just flipping hamburgers. We all want to feel that what we do matters and that someone will miss us if we’re gone.

Lencioni invented the word “immeasurement” to describe the third sign. Immeasurement illuminates the fact that employees “need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves.” Employees don’t want their jobs to be merely judged subjectively by the opinions of others, which can lead to politics and posturing in the workplace. They want to know how they measure up based on a set of agreed-upon criteria. Measurements don’t necessarily have to be numerical, but they do have to be tangible. Take a bagger at a grocery store, for example. How many bags he fills on an hourly basis is one measurement, but there are others, such as how many times he makes a customer smile or the time it takes for him to move customers through the line. Humans like to feel a healthy sense of competition, seeing it as an opportunity not only to measure performance but to improve it.
These three statements by Lencioni are so very true. In my 27 years in retail management, I have seen how true these statements are. As an example, our company recently unveiled a new employee review system. Instead of the manager sitting down with the employee telling them how he feels they are doing, they must take a criteria of 8 items and tell the managers how they think they are doing and then the manager critiques that. I find that completely demoralizing, however. An employee already knows how they feel; they hardly need to write it down. They want to know how their manager feels about them.

These signs that Lencioni talks about all seem like pretty elementary stuff that anybody who works with people should understand. It should be a given that leaders know their people well and care about them, help them see how their place on the team matters and give them markers to assess their progress. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work that way. Its little wonder, then, that job misery more often than not spills over into the other aspects of a person’s life. Health problems, addictions, broken relationships at home — these are just some of the byproducts of a miserable job.

However, I said all this was leading somewhere and here it is. I simply have taken a familiar topic and stretched it out a bit to help everyone relate to what I am going to say from today’s lesson.
We weren’t created to work this way or live this way, for that matter. We were made to enjoy a fulfilling and life-giving relationship with God and with others. We were created to live with purpose and to measure our lives not in terms of the dollars we earn or the amount of stuff we own or produce but by the amount of love we give and receive.

Jesus came that we might have “life, and have it abundantly”. If there’re markers for a miserable job and, a miserable life, Jesus offers a completely different set of signs to mark a life that is ultimately fulfilled and fulfilling.

As John 10 opens, Jesus is still engaged in a rather heated exchange with the Pharisees — a conversation sparked by Jesus’ healing of the man born blind in John 9. The Pharisees were acting like the ultimate bad boss, engaging in religious ruthlessness rather than in compassion and amazement at the man’s healing. Notice that the blind man is never named — he’s anonymous, and the Pharisees seem to care less about the man himself than about the legality of him being healed on the Sabbath. In response, Jesus draws on a different vocational metaphor to counter the misery-making legalism of the Pharisees.

It would’ve been hard to imagine a more miserable first-century job than shepherding sheep. Besides the grinding boredom of moving sheep back and forth from water to pasture to sheepfold, shepherds faced long periods of time away from home and family. Living most of the time in the open, and they were often pounded by harsh weather. Their nomadic life meant that they could dine on only the most basic foods. Certainly not with the preservatives that modern day food has either. Besides that, they and their flocks were in constant danger from animal predators like lions, bears and wolves and human predators like sheep-stealing thieves. Shepherds were among the poorest of the poor.

It’s interesting, then, that in John 10 Jesus chooses to put himself in the shepherding role to describe his relationship to his followers. In doing so, he placed himself firmly in the prophetic tradition of Ezekiel, which describes God as the good shepherd who cares for the sheep. By calling himself the “good shepherd”, Jesus identifies himself as fulfilling the role and promises of God.

Back up a bit to verses 1-10, though, and you see that Jesus is setting up a contrast between the shepherd who cares for the flock and the “thieves and bandits” who come only to “steal, kill and destroy”. The Pharisees may have seen themselves as the benevolent bosses of the people, but Jesus makes it clear that their oppressive religious posturing is bringing the people nothing but misery. They’re clueless managers who just don’t get it. Jesus, on the other hand, understands the needs of his flock and is invested in bringing “abundant life” to those in his care.

Here, then, is the second set of threes:

The signs of the abundant life: Being known. No anonymity here. The abundant life has everything to do with the relationship of the shepherd to the sheep. For Jesus, the first and foremost sign of an abundant life has to do with knowing and being known. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” says Jesus of the shepherd, “and the sheep follow him because they know his voice”. If a basic human need is to be valued by someone in authority, Jesus is all over this. We don’t serve a dispassionate, disconnected God who sits in a divine office dispensing orders. In Christ, God knows us by name, values us, and cares for us. In a world that seems to always operate out of a sense of scarcity, where the operative principle is always wanting, doing or being more, Jesus offers an abundance of love, grace and hope.

Moreover, the church has always recognized the value of being known, not only by God in Jesus Christ, but by each other. Thus the emphasis on hospitality and community. You could say that church is meant to be a cheery place where “everyone knows my name.” If not everyone, at least enough people to satisfy the human need for being known.

Relevance: That love isn’t just a sentimental thought. Jesus would “lay down his life” and be the “gate” through whom all his sheep, his people, would “come in” and “be saved”. The love and care of the Good Shepherd has a purpose. We are people who can make a difference! We’re not just saved from the dangers of life apart from God; we are also saved for the mission of sharing the abundant life in Christ with others. Jesus came to bring an abundant life and says to us, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”.

Our relevance in the world isn’t based on our job title, on what we produce or how much we make. No one gets out of bed in the morning to program software or assemble furniture or do whatever it is that accountants do. They get out of bed to live their lives, and their work tasks are merely part of their lives. An abundant life embraces a larger vision of life and our place in the world. As Paul put it, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). I suppose it is much like a little saying some of you may have heard before, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down!” No matter what job, family or life situation we find ourselves in, we find relevance when we see our connectedness to the purposes of God for the whole world. When we function in our jobs or just the everyday, seemingly mundaine life, if we simply put Christ at the head of it, life doesn’t seem nearly as bad.

And finally, it’s about Ministry, not measurement: At the end of his book, Lencioni encourages his readers to engage in what he calls “the ministry of management.” “I have come to the realization,” he says, “that all managers can — and really should — view their work as a ministry. A service to others.” Whether you manage workers or just your own life, viewing your work as a ministry is a step toward understanding your relevance.

Measuring the abundant life involves a different kind of math than the rest of the world uses. All the things that typically mark success in the world don’t add up to a hill of beans in the eyes of Jesus. The abundant life is always outwardly focused, always concerned about how much one gives rather than gets. If there’s a measuring stick for the followers of Jesus, then it has to be Jesus himself. We measure ourselves by asking, “How well did we represent Jesus? How did I reflect his presence in my life? Did I move the kingdom of heaven a little closer to earth today?”

As I mentioned earlier, I have often noticed how the most humble of workers, are probably the happiest workers. We should not live to work, but work to live. Some become slaves to their jobs so as to have more and more. But what really counts is to have more happiness and to have it fully with Jesus. No matter how glorious a job or how exuberant the pay; nothing can match the happiness found in Jesus and letting Him be our directing force, not our jobs.
Being a disciple of Jesus may be a tough job, but it’s certainly not a miserable one. After all, we serve a divine manager, a shepherd, who loves us enough to die for us — one who gives us an abundant life designed to be fully lived with and for him.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-05-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

May 8, 2011

The Second Sunday after Easter

Mother’s Day

First, I wanted to say just a few words on a topic hovering over us today. As most of you know, Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed by our Navy SEAL group. Many have asked me over the past week, how I feel about it and what I think others should feel about it.
I think we need to keep in mind that we are first and foremost imperfect human beings that are going to have varying views on this topic. There will be those who are jubilating over Bin Laden’s death. There will be those who have no strong emotion one way or another. There will also be those who are angered by the whole thing. And further still, there are those who struggle internally with their mixed emotions. They probably feel some sense of joy, while yet at the same time, some sense of remorse for feeling joy.
All of these emotions are normal. Nothing any pastor says today will really mean a hill of beans in the end result. We could say things to help those who are remorseful to help them feel better. We could try to temper the anger. We could help bring some Christian light to the joy (if one feels the joy is wrong or misdirected). However, I only want to say that all of these emotions are normal, and for each of us to reflect for a moment on our own personal emotions over the issue and realize that as imperfect beings we are going to have those emotions, regardless whether we think these emotions are good or bad.
As Christians, we have teachings from Jesus that seems to take us away from the vengeful God perceived in the Old Testament Scriptures. This is true. We must understand, however, that Jesus did not leave us with teachings on every possible life scenario. The Church has always taught reservedly that a country, and thus the world, has the right and obligation to protect her citizens. If we take the message from the Old Testament Scriptures, this is very true. If we look to Jesus, we have a less clear message. However, the Church, believing that the Holy Spirit guides her, has taught that even Jesus was not a passivist to the point that nations could not or should not defend and protect her people. Jesus did say however, that “those who live by the sword, shall die by the sword.” Unfortunately, this is one of those situations.
All this said, Christians do well to not be over jubilant over Bin Laden’s death. There is reason for some gladness that the insidious proponent of terroristic evil is now eliminated, yes. However, with that comes the feeling as though one has committed a sin in thinking this. Even Jesus made it clear that we should not feel sorrowful over elimination of evil. And finally, we should not get over burdened with feeling that this death is overly evil or sinful either. All peoples have a right to defend life against one who seems to not value life as highly. Do not over burden yourself with shame for what you feel your country has done. Evil has to be stopped …. Sometimes in unpleasant ways. With all this said, I would like to offer a prayer.
Almighty and Merciful God, this week a foe has fallen-and admittedly we have rejoiced.

This enemy was not just our enemy, but also a threat to those of his own religious faith, and to his countrymen. Disavowed, and condemned by many national states in the world. Thousands of men, women and children have perished, suffering horrible deaths, because of the diabolical planning of this foe.

So, we celebrated.

We whooped and hollered. We waved flags. We danced in lower Manhattan. We sang our national anthem. And we did so spontaneously - as with the joy of the thirsty drinking cool water, the joy of the hungry sated with food, the joy of the sorrowful now comforted in their mourning. In those first hours following the news, it was as though we rose off the ash pit, anointed ourselves with the "oil of gladness" and donned "the garments of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

And if in the dancing, the waving and the singing there was anything unseemly, we confess our sin, for our motives are seldom pure and who can know our hearts, but you, O God? The death of any living soul is sobering. But we ask you not to consider us blameworthy, to remember our humanity, to remember our natural love of country, to remember our basic sense of decency, to remember our empathy with the thousands of families whose loved ones perished ten years ago, and to have mercy upon us, for you "O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness."

May our national leaders and the community of nations move forward from this moment to not only defend the innocent from the minds of destruction and the architects of annihilation, but to refocus our national will to protect the weak, and - in the words of the ancient prophet-to rise up against "those who make unjust laws, against those who deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed, and from those who make widows their prey and robbing the fatherless."

May we reconsider again what it means to "act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God."

Loving God, a foe has fallen. We have rejoiced. But we acknowledge that wickedness abounds and that we must stay ever vigilant. Empower us now to return to our duty to "preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, to comfort those who mourn and to provide for those who grieve."

Heavenly Father, we ask all this in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen
Now that we are done with that late breaking news, we now rejoin our regularly scheduled program …. Err … sermon from the beginning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Text messages may look like gibberish, but we shouldn’t dismiss this new form of discourse. Peter’s message at Pentecost was short and on point.
Dad@hvn, ur spshl. we want wot u want &urth2b like hvn. giv us food & 4giv r sins lyk we 4giv uvaz. don test us! sAv us! bcos we kno ur boss, ur tuf & ur cool 4 eva! k?’

Got it?

For the uninitiated among us, this probably looks like a new form of transliterated Near Eastern hieroglyphics. For the younger demographic, however, this one’s a no-brainer.

It’s the Lord’s Prayer — or at least a shorthand and post modernized version of it. This particular version by York College (U.K.) student Matthew Campbell won a contest put on by the online Christian magazine Ship of Fools in which entrants were encouraged to update the oft-repeated prayer to read in 160 characters or less — the length of a mobile phone text message.

Here’s the “literal” translation of the prayer Jesus taught us, err, texted us: “Dad in heaven, you are special. We want what you want and earth to be like heaven. Give us food and forgive our sins like we forgive others. Don’t test us! Save us! Because we know you are boss, you are tough and you are cool forever. Okay?”
It gives me chills, but in a good way. Somehow, I imagine Jesus being willing to text the prayer just this way, simply to get our attention. Further, God is the bomb, so why not say it with a modern feel!

Welcome to the world of Generation Txt, where the English language, like most everything else in the realm of communication, has been reduced to the smallest of parts.

Text or “instant” messaging is rapidly overtaking e-mail and voice as the primary means of communication among adults in many areas of the world. Users can type a quick, shorthand message and instantly fire it off to a friend or coworker’s cell phone or PDA — no need to wait for the phone to ring. It also enables the sender to know whether the other person is online at a given moment, using indicators that flash or play sounds when the other person logs on or off and so many things I will be forever too inept to figure out!

A survey by Internet giant AOL shows that 59 percent of American Internet users are “texting” each other, with the largest number of those being in the 13-21 age bracket (90 percent of them use it). As with most youth culture trends, text messaging has brought a new and, for some, disturbing transformation of the language.

Take, for example, an essay handed in by a 13-year-old Scottish student describing her summer vacation that was texted beyond recognition by her teacher.

Her teacher was not amused. “I could not believe what I was seeing. The page was riddled with hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate.” Others, like the publisher of a new dictionary, have decried similar shorthand writing as a “degree of crisis” among university students, indicating a serious decline in the proper use of spelling and grammar.

But perhaps the grammatically correct among us should pause a moment before we trash this new quick-set and thumb-twitch language. The messages are getting through, and for some young adults, like those who text into the advice forum “Text Talk,” it’s providing a new voice and a way to ask for help. Text Talk offers information on a wide range of issues, including counseling, housing, substance abuse and careers with a guaranteed immediate response.

The text service has been in operation in Wolverhampton, U.K., since January and has already helped 200 young people, many of them boys.

It’s interesting that an apparent de-evolution in language is actually enabling more people, particularly young people, to communicate better and more often. While the rest of us may not be able to type that fast with our thumbs, there is hope that we can crack the code. New Web sites like transl8it.com can translate the IM hieroglyphics into traditional English or vice versa.

In the post-resurrection experience of the disciples/apostles, the world was being turned upside down. And the first sign of it was that people were hearing and seeing things they couldn’t understand.

When I was writing this sermon, I was drawn back to a book that Ramon had lent me to read. It speaks of the Holy Spirit being the light; or the truth to the world. The advent of the Holy Spirit was — as it were — the beginning of instant messaging. Jesus had given them a heads-up about this — that the Spirit would translate and disseminate Jesus’ message to and through them: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you”.

Now, as this new matrix begins to unfold, Peter, speaking boldly and using language far beyond his own previous skill and capacity, texts a sermon straight from the Holy Spirit and the Hebrew Scriptures — a wi fi, fired up translation of Israel’s history into “His-story” — the story of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ. “Therefore the entire house of Israel knows with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified”. Peter’s proclamation of Jesus as the Christ was short, to the point, and tremendously effective: God has made Jesus Lord and Christ.

In a message that’s tighter than some rock star’s jeans, you get an impression real quick:

Peter: God has made Jesus Lord and Christ.

People: What shall we do?

Peter: Repent.

As with any txt tlk, the message itself can be fleshed out.

Peter argues to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost celebrations that God is the agent of all the changes being seen here. He notes, in the text prior to today’s reading, that it’s the same God who had spoken through the prophets, Joel, in particular.

It was God who worked miracles by empowering Jesus to do them.

It was God who delivered Jesus into the hands of his enemies.

It was God who then raised Jesus from the dead.

It was God who made the covenant with David.

It was God who gave the promised Holy Spirit who has now been “poured out” among us.

Moreover, God made Jesus Lord.

It’s a word that was typically not associated with messianic promises, but reserved for God himself. God revealed Jesus to be God, or Lord.

And it was God who made Jesus the Christ, or Messiah.

God. God. God. That’s powerful text.

And disturbing text. The response of the people is quick and brief: “What shall we do?”

It is an appropriate response for all of us. If it is God who gave Jesus power to work miracles, and who delivered Jesus into the hands of his enemies, and raised him from the dead, and who promised us and delivered to us the Holy Spirit, what other question is there for us except, “What shall we do?”

Do we continue to live as though God does not exist? Do we stumble through life in pursuit of earthly pleasures and possessions as though the most important thing is to die with more toys than anyone else? Do we try to shoulder the burdens and responsibilities of life as though there is not a divine Presence to help us with those burdens? Do we live as though we are alone in the universe?

What shall we do? The short answer is “repent.” Change. Turn about. Turn around. Stop going in one direction and go in another. Do an about-face. The fruit of that repentance is that we receive the Holy Spirit who mediates the presence of God in our lives. The Holy Spirit acts for us like the IM piece of the Trinity — the power and word and activity of God given to us in a moment in order to clearly communicate the truth and good news of Christ.

Peter also makes it clear that this movement of the Spirit is going to be widely broadcast across generational and national borders, making this language of good news available to everyone. The disciples were now set to translate the story of Jesus for the rest of the world. They did it in a world where walking was the primary mode of transportation and messaging consisted of rolls of parchment and months-long mail service. We can do it in a world that has become progressively smaller because of technology that enables us to transmit a thought in less than a heartbeat.

In other words, we are hard-wired to use the gift of the Holy Spirit himself and the gifts of the Spirit within us to mass communicate the love of God through Christ to a world where nearly everyone is in reach.

But the core message is simple: God has made Jesus Lord and Christ. In response, we repent — and begin a new life text-messaging, or life-messaging the Good News to others.
And one more thing ….. How about text messaging your mothers today; whether on earth or in heaven, and wish them a Happy Mother’s day and let them know how much you love them and are grateful for all they have done for you – most especially – giving you birth! (That probably would be one of those smiling emoticons with little hearts fluttering in the air.)
God Love You+
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Welcome To Universal Catholic Church

2011-05-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

It is unity we are talking about, not uniformity. What is needed is to respect one another's points of view and not impute unworthy motives to one another or to seek to impugn the integrity of the other. Our maturity will be judged by how well we are able to disagree and yet continue to love one another and to cherish one another and see the greater good of the other.
(Extract from Archbishop Tutu's archiepiscopacy sermon during his enthronement in St. George's Cathedral as the first black Archbishop of Cape Town, September 1986)
Welcome to St. Francis Universal Catholic Church. We're glad you stopped by. We further hope that you find something that is appealing to you as well as something traditional. Here at St. Francis we offer all Catholic Sacraments combined with the widest measure of intellectual liberty and respect for individual conscience. If being Catholic is important to you, if you want less guilt and fewer restrictions, then St. Francis is for you!
We are an independent and self-governing body, neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant, but Catholic. We trace our apostolic succession to the Old Catholic Church of Holland, through a complete reorganization in 1916 of the Old Catholic movement in Great Britain. We draw our central inspiration from our faith in the Eternal Christ, who lives now and forever and is a mighty spiritual presence in the world, guiding and sustaining all his children.
We've had many families come to us over the years with various horror stories of how they were denied the Sacraments at other Catholic churches (predominately Roman Catholic). Families come to us to have their children baptized, because one or more church wouldn't do it. Whether it be because the parents were not married; the parents were married in a civil ceremony; or one member of the parents was not Catholic; the parents were not members of the church or were new members; the parents have not donated enough money to the church; or the children were born out of wedlock. We do not deny children being baptized because of the chosen godparents are not married to each other, the godparents were either too young or too old or because the godparents were not both Catholic.
Although these issues can be theologically debated, the more important aspect of this is that the children should not be punished for anything the Church feels the parents may have done wrong. It is ludicrous to hinder a child being baptized for any reason. It is ludicrous to not allow a child to go through catechism classes; to have their First Confession; or First Holy Communion; and be Confirmed, all because of something the parents have or have not done. When we're asked what our requirements are for something such as a baptism, we simply say, “If your child has not been baptized, then you have met the requirements!”
We've had many couples come to us asking us to perform their marriage ceremony. Why? Because, like the children who've come to us to be baptized, these couples have been denied a marriage ceremony for various reasons. Whether they have been living together prior to marriage or one or both of them have been divorced, will not be a complete impediment to our church performing a marriage. Once again these are all good theological debates, however the Church is meant to minister to people, not make their lives miserable or deny them the grace of God. We do not feel Christ mandated this nor should the Church. There are issues that may need to be worked out before they receive the blessing of the Church on their marriage, however we do not turn them away. Christ wants us to learn from our mistakes not suffer because of them.
We welcome those who have been marginalized by other churches, or treated like second-class citizens . We welcome the divorced and remarried back to the altar of Holy Communion, when they have been denied the Body and Blood of Christ elsewhere. We do not deny politicians Holy Communion based strictly on their voting record. We welcome diverse people who felt unwelcome in other churches for reasons of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, economic status, age, disability, theological viewpoint, familial status, or issues of individual conscience. When other churches have said “no” to God's children, we said “yes”! Yes to being welcome in God's house. Yes to being loved, not for who you might be someday, but for who you are now. Yes to participating in the most precious gift of our Lord; the gift of his Holy Body and Blood the consecrated Bread and Wine of the Holy Eucharist.
Some will ask about our stance on Confession. We do teach this is one of the seven Sacraments. However, we have no church teaching that requires you to go at certain times or certain number of times per year. We do highly recommend that you do go to a priest for private confession for any major sins. As an example, if you said a bad word in traffic the other day, no we do not feel that you have to run to your first priest and confess it. We have a Confiteor during our Mass, in which the priest gives general absolution to everyone present. It is our belief structure that if you recite the confession sincerely, truthfully, and with true repentance, then you have satisfied the requirement of the Sacrament. Therefore, anyone who feels that they cannot take Communion because I haven't been the confession lately, need not worry, because we have confession and general absolution during every Mass which satisfies the requirement. However, as stated before, you are highly encouraged to see one of our priests for a major sin.
You'll never find a church where all of her members agree with their pastor or church leaders all the time. You'll never find a church were all of her members agree with all the principles and practices upon which the church is founded. You'll never find a church were all of her members interpret the Bible exactly the same way, or hold the same political views, or all vote for the same candidates or issues. You will find many, many churches expect those with different or minority opinions to change them, or at least to keep silent about them. Some people even go as far as hiding their marital status, sexual orientation, past history, or current values from their priests or ministers, in order to be welcomed at the altar for Holy Communion. In the Universal Catholic Church, we focus on common worship, not common belief. People who want to be welcome to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, are welcome just the way they are in our churches.
Who are we?
The Universal Catholic Church is one of a number of independent Catholic churches. Others include the Old Catholic Church, the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch, the National Catholic Church, the American Catholic Church, the Greek, Russian, Syrian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Coptic Orthodox Churches and many others. The Universal Catholic Church is a modern thinking, yet traditional liturgical church. Modern in that the forms of religion should keep pace with the human growth and enlightenment. Historical in recognizing the Church has handed down from ancient times a very precious heritage from Christ is himself. Traditional in liturgy, in that we use a variation of the Tridentine Mass that was used prior to Vatican II, though seemingly ‘old’ to some, it is a rich descendent of a form of worship that was in existence for hundreds of years. Yet progressive, and that leaves English not Latin. Therefore, we combine the Catholic formal worship; a solemn ritual, its deep mysticism, and its steadfast witness to the reality of Sacramental grace. We feel this style of worship is part of our heritage and calls upon us to seek a deeper mystical worship of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Universal Catholic Church combines the Sacramental worship of the Christian Church with a wide measure of intellectual liberty and respect for individual conscience, yet still preserving the mystical power of the Sacraments. The Universal Catholic Church welcomes to its altars all who reverently and sincerely approach them. The Church is a gathering of all those who turn to Jesus Christ. We attempt to balance ourselves between worship, spiritual devotion, mystical understanding, modern philosophical thought, and current scientific advances.
We are part of the Liberal Catholic Movement. A group of churches that came into existence as a result of the complete reorganization in 1917-1918 of the Old Catholic movement in Great Britain upon a more liberal basis. The old Catholic movement was developed shortly after the year 1870 and Vatican Council I, where the new doctrine of Papal Infallibility was declared an absolute doctrine of faith.
Contrary to popular opinion as stated in some circles, “liberal” is not a dirty word. It comes from the Latin word liberalis, which means “suitable for free man.” The idea of this ancient term is that “free man” is free to think for himself, and not be told what to think as a slave would be. We are “Liberal” in the sense that we erect no barriers around our Sacraments; all members of the Christian Fellowship are welcomed within our churches. All are welcome to our churches. Those who have faith and those who are searching for it. Those who believe in the literal exposition of the Scriptures and those who believe in a symbolic spiritual interpretation.
Some find the name of our church, the Universal Catholic Church, strange. The words “Universal” and “Catholic” some would say mean the same thing. And they would be partially correct. However our choice of this name is the idea that the church is “universal” by existing in all times and all places for all people. We believe that all of mankind has the possibility of being saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. That said, we teach a form of what is referred to in Christianity as, “Universalism”. Further, it is our teaching the Christ did not want any person singled out from His church. So “universal” has also come to mean for us, that all people universally are welcome to the Body of Christ. The church is called Universal Catholic because its outlook is both Universal and Catholic. (For more information on our denomination, you are encouraged to visit WWW.universalcatholic.org )
Therefore, here at St. Francis, we offer open communion; that is, we welcome all the members of the Christian Fellowship to receive Communion at our altars. The only thing that we ask is that if you are child, that you be at least seven years of age, baptized and confirmed; and if you are an adult, that you approach the altar with reverence, sincerity and respect.
We are traditional church, in that we believe in all seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Absolution/Confession, Holy Unction (Last Rites/Anointing of the Sick), Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders. We believe that, through administering Catholic Sacraments to all, we continue to be stewards of the precious heritage handed down from Christ himself.
Admittedly, if you're looking for church with dazzling multimedia presentations, with elaborate expensive sound systems, with hundred member choirs, with television ministries and radio stations, where you can show up, be entertained, and go home ….. well, you probably will not like the Universal Catholic Church. Most of our churches are very small and do not have the resources for the above mentioned ideas. Further, we do not feel the worship service is about being entertained; it is about coming together to worship God as one. But if you're looking for a faith community, a place to belong, a place where but he knows your name, a place to participate and get involved, a place for our members are family, in good times and bad, if you're interested not just in attending a church but helping to build a faith community, then we think you need the Universal Catholic Church and St. Francis.
Independent Catholicism:
One question often posed is, “Can one be Catholic without being Roman Catholic?” A short review of church history can assist us in coming to a conclusion.
History has not been kind Christian freedom. The first century of the Christian era was witnessing a religious riot when the Church erupted from the upper room on Pentecost with its startling message of freedom. A careful study of the New Testament in the earliest writings of the primitive Christian community reveals that the Church which burst forth from the upper room - the Church founded by our Lord Jesus - the Church of the Apostles - was Independent Catholicism. The church of Rome is always taught that there has always been a “Pope”. We do not deny the fact that there has always seemingly been one person who was at the leadership role within the church; we simply want to clarify, however, that this structure that the Roman Catholic Church has now, has not always been in place in this form. Just as the United States has the president; even the president does not hold all the power within the nation.
Some people find it hard to believe that the Church was not always “Roman Catholic”; it used to be “Independent Catholic”. Historical inaccuracy, repeated often enough, becomes accepted wisdom. But the fact remains that the Holy Catholic Church existed long before there was a Pope, before there was a single Eastern Patriarch, before there was even one bishop in England. The title or term “Bishop” was not even used until many years after the Apostles were no longer alive. In fact, those are all later developments in Catholicism. All this resulted in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican Communions, but all three share a common Catholic heritage: Independent Catholicism.
As the Church emerged from the upper room they brought the message of the Gospel to the farthest reaches of the known world. St. Thomas brought the Church to India. St. Mark brought the Church to Egypt and the rest of Africa. Other disciples brought the Church to the wild isles of the Celts. The fact is, that all of the Apostles brought the Church to someplace in those early years. This courageous, diverse, responsive Church was united in the love of the Lord, the faith of the Apostles, the celebration of the Sacraments, and the apostolic succession of the independent Catholic Bishops from the Apostles.
Yes, Jesus stated to Peter that he would be the head of his Church. And this he was. However, what most people do not realize, is that in the early years of the Church, St. Peter was more of “a first among equals” such as that term that the Anglicans use in modern-day. Whether Jesus meant for St. Peter to be a “Pope” such as we have now, is open for debate amongst the many liturgical and sacramental churches in the world. We hold no ill feelings toward the Roman Catholic Church, only that we disagree with the supremacy of the Pope. The Pope is the Archbishop of Rome and deserves the respect as that of any Archbishop and/or that of a person who is first among equals. He is a successor to the Apostles such as all bishops are.
Every Christian, Catholic or Protestant, bows his or her faith to Independent Catholicism. Over the centuries, sects and denominations have fractionated, reformed, ruptured and revolted away from their Catholic roots. But the Holy Spirit who brought Catholicism into existence has never abandoned the Church. Pentecost is still happening today!
And yet, it is estimated that 62 million American adults will not go to church this week. They have opted out of the religious riot. Other millions will fill pews out of habit. Some will go seeking. Some will go for imaginary security of belonging to a large institution. Somewhat water fear. Some will go for their children. Some will try some other religion entirely. Some will try something new age. Some will simply not given it any thought at all. This is such a shame. When God originally created us, we were meant to be in his image; but most importantly we were meant to worship him. It is so sad that the situations that we have mentioned above exist in our world today.
So, what do we teach?
Although we are listing forth with the following lists the teachings it must be stated in advance that these are just teachings, not required beliefs. One of our doctrines he is “freedom of thought”. We allow our members full intellectual discernment.

We teach the doctrine of the holy Trinity.
We teach that God the father is the creator preserver of mankind and that his love shall never fail.
We teach that the historic Jesus is the Christ, who is also the Ancient of Days. We teach that He was incarnated (born of the Virgin Mary), crucified, resurrected and ascended.
We teach that it is by Christ that “all things were made, and as the indwelling life all things exist, and as the transcendent glory all things live and move and have there being."
We teach that Christ lives on as a mighty spiritual presence in the world, guiding and sustaining His people.
We teach that we are created in the image of God and that we are heirs of God.
We teach that we are all immortal, both before and after physical death.
We teach that our bodies are vehicles were expressions of our consciousness, of the indwelling Spirit.
We teach that the Christian Church is the Mystical body of Christ.
We teach that there are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Absolution, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Holy Unction, and Holy Orders.
We teach that the Sacraments were instituted by Christ Himself and He is present in them.
We teach that all the Sacraments are received from the Hand of Christ Himself and the officiant is but an instrument in that Hand.
The church practices infant baptism, as the dedication of the child to Christ, as a grafting of the child into the mystical Body of Christ, and as a means of opening the child's whole nature to the most Holy Spirit of the living God.
We teach that in the Holy Eucharist the substance of the bread and wine become linked, or polarized, on the Life of Christ and become literal outposts of His Life and His Consciousness.
We teach that, as the corporate worship of the Church, the Holy Eucharist is designed to help those who physically take part, and to pour out a flood of spiritual power upon the surrounding world.
We teach that we are assisted from the beginning of the Eucharist by the Angel of the Mass, and later by all the various Orders of Angels.
We teach that Christ has given to the priests of his church the power to absolve the repentant faithful from their sins. We teach that the Sacrament of Absolution is a loosening from the bondage of sin, a restoration of the inner harmony that was disturbed by the wrongdoing, so that the person can make a fresh start toward righteousness. We do not teach that Absolution is a way of escaping the consequences of one's misdeeds. “Harbor no illusions; God is not deceived; for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
We teach that the Sacrament of Confirmation is intended to supplement the Sacrament of Baptism and thus bestow on the person the fullness of complete union with the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church Universal.
We teach regarding Holy Matrimony that the couple are the celebrants and that the method of sacramentalizing the marriage is the placing of the blessed ring by the groom on the ring finger of the bride with the reciting of the Names of the Trinity.
We teach that in the Sacrament of Holy Unction we are assisted by the healing Angel.
We teach that the power of the Apostles has descended to this day through the Apostolic Succession. In the case of the Universal Catholic Church, that Succession is derived from the Dutch Old Catholic Church and is complete and valid.
We teach that the minor orders (Cleric, Doorkeeper, Reader, Exorcist, and Acolyte) are intended primarily to assist the candidate and his own spiritual growth and life. We teach that the major orders (Deacon, Priest, and Bishop) are intended primarily to assist the Christian community. Subdeacon is an intermediate stage. Both men and women may be ordained to any of these levels.
We teach that the Holy Scriptures, Creeds, and the Traditions of the Church are the means by which the teachings of Christ have been handed down to His followers. We teach that they are fundamental, true, and sufficient as a basis for right understanding and right conduct.
We teach that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inspired in a general sense only, and can in no way be construed as verbally infallible. We hold that the books of the Old Testament are of unequal value.
We teach that all Christian worship is valid, of whatever kind, so long as it is earnest and true.
We teach that the sign of the cross can be traced to the earliest times of Christianity; it is the Christian “sign of power.” We teach that it is a vehicle of spiritual force, flowing sometimes from the Priest to the congregation, sometimes from on high into the Priest and the people. We teach that when it is made over ourselves, it will draw around us unseen influences that will tend to drive away unwholesome thoughts, and at the same time make it easier to retain what is good.
We teach that the vestments worn by the Priest date from the earliest times of Christianity, and that they are part of the general scheme by which spiritual power is spread out upon the congregation.
We teach that the Seasons of the Church were “appointed for solace and instruction.”
We teach that the efforts of men and women can hasten the coming of the kingdom of God. We teach that the expectation of faith is victory; that good shall finally triumph over ill, and that death is but a gateway to eternal life.
We teach that everyone shall “one day reach his feet, however far they stray.” We teach that the “dead” passed to a life of higher service, where there is available to them the “Felicity of the …. Presence, ever more ….” what we shall experience “at His feet” is conscious life in Christ.

Frequently asked questions.
What relief requirements to you who's on prospective members of the Universal Catholic Church?
Universal Catholic Church has as one of its basic tenets freedom of thought. It permits its lay members entire freedom in the interpretation of the Creeds, Scriptures, Tradition, and of the Liturgy. The church hold strongly they believe should be the result of individual study or intuition, not its antecedent. The truth is not a truth for a man, nor a revelation, until he sees it to be true for himself. We make no belief restrictions on lay members; instead, we asked questions about the prospective member’s intentions. For example, in the Form of Admission to the church we ask: “Wilt thou strive to live in the spirit of love with all mankind, and with all your will to fight against sin and selfishness?” “Wilt thou strive to show forth in thy thoughts, thy words, and thy works, the power of God which is in thee?”
What is the Universal Catholic Church’s position on reincarnation?
We do not teach nor require a belief in the dogma were teaching of the principle known as reincarnation, “Christian” or otherwise.
What are the conditions for receiving communion in the Universal Catholic Church?
The UCC offers open communion; that is, we welcome all the members of the Christian Fellowship to receive communion at our altars. There are no membership or belief requirements. The blessed sacrament of Christ love was meant for the betterment of all people. Christ came not to heal the healthy but the infirm. The only thing that we ask is that if you are child, that you be at least seven years of age, baptized and confirmed; and if you are an adult, that you approach the altar with reverence, sincerity and respect.

Do Universal Catholics believe that the bread and wine in Communion actually become the Body and Blood of Christ?
We do teach that a change, known as transubstantiation, occurs in the bread and wine after they are consecrated in the Holy Eucharist. The Body of Christ is the vehicle of his consciousness and the Blood of Christ is His life poured out in sacrifice. Though the bread still looks like bread, taste like bread, and smells like bread; though the wine still looks like wine, tastes like wine, and smells like wine; both of these elements truly do become the Body and Blood of Christ. This is a miracle that is trusted in faith in most all Catholic churches.
Our Universal Catholic priests allowed to marry?
Yes. Many people are unaware that the practice of requiring celibacy, such as those in the Roman Catholic Church, was not always a requirement. This change to celibacy came about roughly 1000 years ago as a means of preventing the spouses and children of priests from inheriting church property. Prior to this time married clergy was very common. The Roman Catholic Church also teaches that celibacy allows for the clergy to not be distracted by married life or worldly things and thus is able to concentrate fully on the flock under his care. Though admittedly there is good value to this last explanation, we feel that other churches that have been successful with married clergy has proven that the opposite can also be true. Further, when Jesus chose His Apostles, many of them were married as well. We do not feel that Jesus necessarily was calling the priests of His church to be celibate.
Do you ordain women?
Yes we do. Put simply, we see no reason to hinder women from Holy Orders.
Are divorced are married people welcoming your church?
Yes. If we look at Jesus' treatment of the woman caught in adultery as well as the woman at the well, we see that Jesus still treated these women with great respect. Although Jesus did state that divorces were granted by Moses because the people were simply stubborn, and he did indicate the divorce was wrong. However, we can see by his actions of the two examples listed above, the he knew well of the human condition. For many unfortunate reasons, divorce does take place, and following Jesus' example, we do not turn anyone away. Staying in an irreconcilably bad marriage is not good for anyone. If a couple comes to us for marriage, after one or both of the couple have been previously married and divorced, we most certainly will consider the request, as being divorced in itself is not an impediment for remarriage in our denomination. The couple in most cases will be required, however, do have some discussions with our pastor to help ensure that the right choices are being made in a remarriage.
Do Universal Catholics practice artificial means of birth control?
The Universal Catholic Church places no restrictions on its members use or lack of use of birth control methods. In fact, many Universal Catholics, in keeping with church belief that religion should keep pace with human growth and enlightenment, consider family planning an important part of responsible human sexuality. Artificial birth control and/or the use of condoms is not restricted in our church.
Are homosexuals welcome in the Universal Catholic Church?
Yes. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people they receive Holy Communion at our altars, with no need to hide or repress their sexual orientation. Although many churches teach that homosexuality is sinful and in some cases even evil, many people would be surprised to know that Jesus never mentioned homosexuality at all. We might wonder why so many Christians are worried about something that Christ never once mentioned. If Jesus mention so many things as being sinful, yet did not mention anything about homosexuality, it begs the question as to whether homosexuality is as bad as some make it out to be. While the Old Testament does condemn certain forms of homosexual behavior, it also condemns men cutting their facial hair, eating pork, and many other things that today's Christian churches do not consider sinful. Science is slowly showing that Homosexuality likely has a biological basis. Christ did not single out homosexuality for scorn, neither should we.
I am still concerned, though, that many of these things – divorce, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage - our sins. Doesn't a person need to be in a “state of grace” before receiving Holy Communion?
Christ taught us in the story of the woman caught in adultery, that only the person who is without sin among us can cast the stone. We have all committed sins. We seek to recall the original meaning of the word “sin”, which means error. We have all made errors. Consider the company Jesus kept – drunkards, prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, the poor and the oppressed - and that nearly all of His critical comments were aimed at religious leaders. When Jesus walked the earth He did not withhold His love from all but the perfect, nor does He now.
What do Universal Catholics think about Mary?
The Universal Catholic Church does not seek to clearly define the role of the holy Lady Mary as other churches have done. There are a great many of our followers that have a special devotion to her. Some view her in a very traditional Catholic way as the Theotokos, your “God-Bearer”, while others see her as the World Mother - a manifestation of the feminine aspect of divinity. She is often honored in the devotion of the Rosary.
Some of the early bishops of the Liberal Catholic Church were Theosophists. The Liberal Catholic Church led to the Liberal Catholic Movement of which the Universal Catholic Church is part of. What is theosophy and is it a belief that is required in Universal Catholic Church?
Theosophy is a school of thought founded in the late 1800s. The purpose was to study comparative religion and mysticism. Some of its basic principles our beliefs in the eastern concepts of reincarnation, karma, vegetarianism and abstention from the use of alcoholic beverage. While many liberal Catholic churches early bishops did, in fact, hold Theosophical ideas, a belief in them was never required nor forbidden in most Liberal Catholic Church circles. The Universal Catholic Church respects the freedom of individual conscience on these issues, as in others. There are branches within the Liberal Catholic Movement that require their members to believe in Theosophy. We are not a part of that branch.
Does your church have a hierarchy similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church?
The Universal Catholic Church is governed by what is called the “General Episcopal Synod”. The Synod is simply all the bishops of our church. In comparison, think of the Synod is the House of Representatives or the Senate of the church. The Synod meets formally approximately every three years. The sin is the governing body, or Board of Directors, of our church. The Synod also elects from one of its bishops, a Presiding Bishop, who is the spiritual head of our denomination. Much like the Anglican Church, the Presiding Bishop is a first among equals within the ranks of our bishops. The Presiding Bishop does not function in the capacity such as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church would.

Sunday Sermon (Palm Sunday)

2011-04-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

April 17, 2011

Palm Sunday

Judas is our brother. Indeed, Judas is our middle name. Can you receive God’s gift of forgiveness?
As part of a study, a group of researchers from Harvard contacted an elementary school teacher at the beginning of a school year. They told the teacher that they had designed a test that would correctly predict which students were going to grow intellectually during the coming school year. Someone called it "The Harvard Test of Intellectual Spurts" because he said it told which students were going to 'spurt' that year. The researchers promised it would indicate the right students. The test was said to be very, very accurate.

The researchers then administered, unbeknownst to the teacher, an obsolete IQ test. When the students had finished, the researchers threw the tests away. Then they picked five names at random from the roll-book and told the teacher, "These are the students who are going to have a very good year. Watch these kids. The first one of them is Rachel Smith."

"Rachel Smith?" the teacher replied incredulously. "She couldn't 'spurt' if you shot her from a cannon. I have had two of her brothers and each one of the Smiths is dumber than the last. “But the researchers maintained that the test was hardly ever wrong in its findings.

You can imagine what happened that semester. However, I bet you would be wrong. Rachel never had a chance to be her same old self. Under a barrage of "Rachel, would you write this on the board this morning?" or "Rachel will lead the line to the lunch room today?" or "Is that a new dress, Rachel? It sure is pretty" or "Thank you, Rachel, that was very good," Rachel "spurted" all over that school. And so did every name they put on that list.

According to the apostle Paul, every one of our names belongs on a list like that. We are all "God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved." A little boy in elementary school said, "My teacher thought I was smarter than I wuz. So I wuz!" All of us need to believe we are smarter and better and more gifted than we have ever dared to think we are. This is one of the ways that each of us will begin to hear the calling voice of God.

Throughout the dark night of his soul in the Gethsamene Garden, Jesus begged his disciples to stay up with him, comfort him, pray with him, and support him. But they couldn't do it. On the night that Jesus was arrested, all of his disciples abandoned him. And two of them actively betrayed him.

Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus only once, almost immediately regretted his action. He boldly marched back before the powerful, corrupt officials and proclaimed Jesus' innocence to their faces, throwing their bribe money back at their feet for good measure. Peter, the other fallen disciple, betrayed Jesus on three separate occasions. He hid out of fear of the officials and then ran off seeking anonymity and seclusion. Yet that first disciple, Judas, has been named throughout history as the prime example of all that is contemptible, corrupt and deceitful in human nature. That second disciple, Peter, is honored as the father of the church and is designated a "saint.” How did such a disparity of interpretation occur? What distinguishes Judas' action so starkly from Peter's?

Perhaps the simplest way to understand is to look at their motives. Judas' treachery, we declare, was premeditated, calculated, even paid for. Peter's act of betrayal, on the other hand, was a cowardly, spontaneous burst of emotion that profited him nothing. But there remains the unpleasant fact that Matthew tells of Judas returning the blood money, defending Jesus' innocence before the tribunal and realizing his mistake - and all while Jesus was still alive. In contrast, Peter only sneaked back to the disciple's fold as a mourner after the crucifixion frenzy had passed and the tomb was sealed.

The only real difference between these two betrayers - Judas and Peter - was their perception of how Jesus must see them. Judas was overcome with guilt. Although "he repented", Judas could only envision a wrathful, Judgmental Jesus declaring him cursed according to Deuteronomic law. In his despair, Judas blocked out Jesus' forgiving gesture in the garden. Hearing only condemnation ringing in his ears, Judas cut himself off from the healing capabilities of God's grace and, in an agonizing fit of self-Judgment, hanged himself.

Peter heard other voices. Undoubtedly he replayed his own three pitiful denials of Jesus over and over again. After leaving the courtyard Matthew says Peter "wept bitterly". Surely Peter also heard himself as before promising Jesus he would never deny him, even if it meant facing death. But there were other crucial conversations Peter had stored in his memory that gave him hope on that dark night.

Peter was the disciple who had come to Jesus to ask specifically about the act of forgiveness. How many times should we forgive? Peter asked. Jesus declared "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven". Would Jesus do any less for Peter now than his own proclamation of when and how to forgive? Even more importantly, Jesus had singled Peter out when asking, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter could recall he had once boldly confessed, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God".

Even more comforting and hopeful must have been Peter's recollection of Jesus' response to that confession: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!" And then came Jesus' statement, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it". What a life-time lifeline this memory must have been for Peter - and what a life-vest that very night for Peter's sinking heart. Jesus had believed in him. Jesus had designated him to be something special in the life of the church. Whatever Peter had done in his past, Jesus had assured him he had a future.

Judas did not do anything that every single one of the disciples and that every one of us have not done. But Judas forgot one thing, and this one thing was the difference between life and death. Judas forgot that he was only one in a long, established, distinguished tradition of God's failed faithful. Moses, Aaron, David, Thomas, and Paul all committed grievous acts of betrayal against God. But each one found their way back to God's side through the back door of grace.

Judas died, stigmatized by his own heart as a betrayer. Why? Because he never even tried the door. Judas didn't want a gift of grace. He wanted to be in control of his situation. With those 30 pieces of silver, Judas thought he could buy his way into God's presence - as if by forcing Jesus' hand through the arrest, Judas thought the messianic age could be hurried.

Faced with the consequences of his monumental mistake, Judas then sought to buy his way out of his betrayal by throwing that same silver back at the feet of the chief priests. But Judas could not control the tidal wave of events his actions had unleashed. In panic, Judas' final controlling act was to take his own life. He never dared to check that back door of grace that God always leaves unlocked - and even pushes open for us. It was, after all, his destiny to betray Jesus as part of God’s plan for redemption of us all.

The message of the gospel is that God's grace is available to all, that the back door to God's loving presence is always open. Judas is the middle name of each one of us. And Judas becomes our first name not when we betray and deny Christ himself, but when we deny the redemptive power of God's grace that Christ offers every one of us.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-04-11T18:46:00.001-07:00

April 10, 2011

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Passion Sunday

“George” had been sleepwalking her way through life. An aimless college student who drove her family nuts with her cynicism and lack of motivation, she dropped out of school and reluctantly landed a job at a temp agency, and that only because of her mother’s ceaseless prodding.

Her life changed on a lunch break where, standing on the street, she’s instantly killed by a falling piece of the burned-up MIR Space Station ... the toilet seat. End of story? Hardly.

Immediately following her fatal encounter with interstellar Soviet-era bathroom hardware, George finds herself standing again on the street amid the gathering crowd. She doesn’t realize that she’s dead until a kindly man named Rube points out her remains and tells her that she’s now a member of the Rube-led Pacific Northwest chapter of grim reapers — people who, like George, died with unresolved issues and now must learn lessons that, for one reason or another, they failed to learn in life.

This quirky and darkly comic look at one possible version of life after death is the premise of Showtime’s series Dead Like Me, starring Ellen Muth as George and Mandy Patinkin as Rube. Weaving its storylines through the interaction of the characters and their “victims,” the show asks some compelling questions about life and death: “What if death is not the end? What if it’s not even an escape from the issues that plagued us? What if it’s not a way to avoid accountability, but an opportunity to accept responsibility? What if it’s a wake-up call?”

A literary version of this theme is taken up by Mitch Albom, who published the novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven on the heels of his wildly successful Tuesdays With Morrie. If you have not read either, I highly recommend this very motivational author. In Five People, Eddie works at an amusement park in Jersey, but is killed by a malfunction of Freddy’s Free Fall. In heaven, Eddie meets five people who help him understand why what happened on earth — happened.

George. Eddie. Now Lazarus. Think of the story of Lazarus as kind of a Dead Like Me prequel without the attendant grim reaper storyline.

When the story opens we learn that Lazarus, a friend to both Jesus and the disciples, had “fallen asleep,” his illness leading to death. Sleep was the common term used when speaking of death in Jewish texts and in Greek mythology where Sleep and Death were portrayed as twin brothers. Jesus tells his disciples that he will go to Bethany to “awaken Lazarus” but, being way too literal, the disciples think that sleeping is a good thing and that “if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right”.

“Lazarus is dead,” Jesus has to tell them plainly. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him”. Jesus is going to not only wake up his death-sleeping friend, but also wake up his own disciples to the reality of resurrection power. The rest of the story is like a script right out of a Hollywood horror flick. Lazarus has been decomposing for four days; the odor of death is pervasive; bodily fluids have run everywhere – you get the idea.

Jesus arrives, weeps with and for the mourners, and then gets to work. Ordering the stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb, he prays and then calls into the darkness, “Lazarus, come out!” Out lurches this former corpse, wrapped in smelly linen.

But what’s the rest of the story? Imagine you’re Lazarus, just awakened, standing outside your own tomb looking at a stunned crowd of people who don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or run for the hills. What was it like for him to wake up to “life after death?”

In television’s Dead Like Me, George gets another chance to do it right while still dead. In Five People, Eddie learns what life was all about while dead and in heaven. But in the gospel of John, Lazarus has a Real Death Experience, not a Near Death Experience, and lives to tell about it. He dies once, but is born twice — from both the womb and the tomb.

We can almost imagine what it would be like to have something like that happen in our time. Percival Everett’s novel, American Desert, is about a man named Ted Street, a UCLA professor whose life is a mess and who decides to take his own life by walking into the ocean. On the way, however, his life is cut even shorter than he intended when a traffic accident decapitates him. His head is reattached with thread by a mortician so that the body will look presentable.

Problem is, during the funeral, Ted wakes up and sits up in his coffin, sparking an instant riot among the funeral attendees and they all run out into the street. Ted is dead — no pulse, no body heat, but he is now conscious and aware.

Not knowing what to do with his reanimated life, Ted goes home to his horrified and confused family. Soon, TV crews are parked on Ted’s front lawn, he’s an object of morbid curiosity by the government and by the scientific and medical communities, and feared as a minion of Satan by an obscure religious cult such as the like of Fred Phelps (of course he thinks everyone is ill, sick or evil anyway).

But the heart of the book is Ted’s new-found lease on life — after death. He reconnects with his estranged family and finds new value in getting a second chance at life, or at least something like it.

Is it surprising in an American culture as hedonistic and pleasure-seeking as it is, that there is some evidence that we’re not quite able to pull it off? We’re not quite able to escape our Puritan and piety background. There is still the residue of moral and ultimate accountability that rings true; maybe not much these days, but still some. We live for ourselves, but now we’re asking ourselves if perhaps there isn’t a second chance on the other side.

John 12 tells us that Lazarus, too, became an instant celebrity with the crowd and an instant outcast to the religious establishment. As Dan Rather would say, he’s hotter than a Times Square Rolex. The grateful dead man walking was an animated testament to the power of Jesus — living, breathing evidence of the possibility of resurrection that the people of Israel were looking for to occur – but they were looking for it to occur “at the last day.”

The chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus and put him back in the tomb for good. But that’s where we lose track of this dead man walking in the Scriptures. The truth is that we don’t know exactly what Lazarus was like before and after he emerged from his tomb. Christian tradition goes a couple of different directions when it comes to the rest of the story. One tradition says that Lazarus, learning of the plot against him, fled to France where he became bishop of Marseilles and was later martyred. Another says that he and his sisters fled to the island of Cyprus, where he was later ordained by Paul and Barnabas and served for years as bishop and an example of the Christian life and hope of resurrection to the people there. He died (again) at age 60 and was buried in a sarcophagus with the inscription “The four-day Lazarus — friend of Christ.” His remains were removed to Constantinople in the year 890 by the Byzantine emperor who, in return, built a church in Cyprus that survives to this day.

Whatever happened, we imagine that Lazarus spent the rest of his second life devoted to telling others about the Christ who had given him life — not just raising him physically from the dead, but giving him a new life of purpose as well. He awoke to a new reality in Christ.

Here’s the deal: Characters like George Lass, Ted Street and Lazarus pose a spiritually significant challenge to all of us. It forces us to view life through the lens of death; to look backward at life from its end point rather than always forward; to recognize that while death comes to us all at some point, we should prepare for that death not by fearing it but by facing it.

To put it another way, we don’t have to sleepwalk through life and wait for death in order to wake up and smell the malodorous life we’ve left behind. We can have a second chance, an opportunity to die more than once, to die to self, as Paul put it, and to put behind us an old life and awaken to a new one filled with new adventures, renewed relationships and ultimate purpose.

Lazarus’ physical death and resurrection put him on a different path toward living out his purpose as a follower of Christ. Our spiritual death, dying to ourselves and our sleepy, sinful way of life can do the same.

Think of it as joining the ranks of the “living dead” without the lurching, drooling, and moaning. No whacking over the head with a toilet seat required. Instead of being Dead Like Me, we are Alive in Christ.
God Love You +
+ The most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Ash Wednesday Sermon

2011-03-14T11:54:00.002-07:00

March 9, 2011

Ash Wednesday

There must be a gazillion reasons why human beings break down and have a good cry now and again. Some of us have our tear ducts so close to our eyes, that we can, as they say, cry at the drop of a hat. It was said that CBS anchorman, Dan Rather, however, did not. This hard-biting journalist is widely known for his aloofness and apparent imperturbability in times of crises. That's why the country was amazed to watch Rather cry when appearing on the Letterman Show in September, 2001, following the terrorist's attack. Dan Rather simply doesn't cry.
Crying isn't so hard for a lot of us. Our kids cry when their feelings are injured, when their mother leaves them with the sitter, or when the teacher scolds them for being disruptive in class. We cry during arguments, at the loss of a loved one, when watching a movie, listening to a song, when a passing thought runs across our minds, when we've hit the lotto jackpot, when we're slapped with a lawsuit, when our children do us proud, when the daughter gets married or because the daughter isn't married. We cry tears of revenge, seduction, escape and empathy; tears of pleasure and pain. The biblical history of tears shows us David crying at the death of Absalom, Abraham over the death of Sarah. Joseph cried when meeting Benjamin. Even Jesus, according to that famously short verse in John's gospel, wept.

Some even have the ability to get moist in public on cue. Jimmy Swaggart wept profusely in an attempt to keep his ministry afloat. Sally Struthers gets moist on TV as she pleads for your support for Save the Children. George Bush could tear up during moving invocations of patriotism. And the mother of all weepers, Tammy Faye, was prone to weeping adventures that alone assure Estee Lauder a long and bright economic future.

Tears are always arouse us to action, observes Tom Lutz in Crying, a book that details the history of tears from the 14th century B.C. to the present day. The tears of public figures can spur people to pity or empathy, and then to action. Although tears were once seen as a sign of emotional instability in men, they are now considered to be proof that a particular man has feelings, and that he's strong enough to show deep emotion.
So what's this crying game all about? That's a good question as we observe Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent - the season of the church year that might bring us to a tearful or sorrowful state of emotion. To start things off, the prophet Joel issues a call for tears, for repentance. Divine judgment is on its way, and so God says through the prophet, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning". Although the people of Judah are terribly threatened by the coming of the day of the Lord, God offers them the opportunity to repent with fasting and weeping, and to return to communion with him.

Joel is convinced that these tears must be genuine. His God isn't interested in crocodile tears, or in any weeping that is designed to manipulate others. God is not looking for the kind of crying that is simply a biological event, a form of bodily elimination that may have the effect of evacuating ulcer-causing chemicals and proteins. No, God is interested in the type of weeping that accompanies an authentic change of heart.

In the middle of this state of crying, the prophet Joel calls for a particular kind of weeping: That which is genuine, and which leads to repentance. To repent is to turn your life around and begin to walk in a new direction; it means to turn away from sin and idolatry, and turn toward God's will and God's way. "Return to the LORD, your God," implores the prophet, "for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love".

Here's where the crying gets complex: It is not only a sign of sorrow over sin, but can be an expression of joy over God's goodness. We are invited to turn toward a gracious and forgiving God, not toward a vengeful and punishing Lord. God is "gracious," full of goodwill; "merciful," showing the love of a mother for her child; "slow to anger," waiting patiently for repentance; and full of "steadfast love," love which is grounded in God's promises to his people.

Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son. In it, the prodigal goes to a distant country, squanders his fortune in dissolute living, and then he "repents" - that is, he decides to turn himself around and return to his father. Here, we envision God - God's forgiveness knows no boundaries. His joy knows no restraint. He runs to meet us, according to the parable. Puts his arms around us. Kisses us. Welcomes us home.

The key thing to remember is that our crying - whether happy or sad - should result in changed behavior. The prophet Joel says, "Rend your hearts and not your clothing"; change your insides and not just your outsides; make sure your fasting and weeping and mourning are part of a new walk, not just a new talk. What Joel really hates is hypocrisy: People who say they are repenting but then fail to turn their lives around.

Barbara Brown Taylor argues that repentance is not complete until confession and pardon lead to "penance" - penance being a set of actions that allow community to be restored. "Just for a lark," she suggests, "imagine going to your pastor and confessing your rampant materialism, your devotion to things instead of people, and your isolation from the poor whom Jesus loved." Picture yourself confessing, with tears, all those things that you have done to rip the fabric of your community.

"Then imagine being forgiven and given your penance: To select five of your favorite things - including perhaps your Bose radio and your new Coach book bag - and to match them up with five people who you know would turn cartwheels to have them. Then on Saturday, put your lawn mower in your trunk, drive down to that transitional neighborhood where all the old people live and offer to mow lawns for free until dark." Notice that none of this is standard punishment. None of it is designed to inflict pain on yourself. Instead, it is penance, which is for the purpose of showing that your life is now turned around and that you are devoted to repairing relationships and restoring community.

If you find yourself crying over a lost valuable, just remember: When you weep in the process of true repentance, you're crying the tears of new life.

Tears and new life - they are inextricably linked in the promises of our faith. In this mournful season of Lent, we can believe that if we return to our gracious God with all our heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning, then we will discover a fullness of life that we have never known before. If we turn our lives around and work hard for the restoration of our relationships and our community, we'll know a joy that we never thought possible.

Our tears will lead to resurrection life. That's something to cry about!
God Love You +
+ The most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-03-14T11:54:00.001-07:00

March 13, 2011

The First Sunday in Lent

Chris Gottbrath is no slacker. In spite of the fact that he wrote an academic treatise he fondly calls "The Slack Paper," this astronomer/computer engineer/swing music lover is no sluggard, at least intellectually. In this essay, Gottbrath unleashes a barrage of high-powered mathematical calculations to answer this timeless question: If you're running a long race, should you take the slow and steady approach, or chill at the back of the pack and then sprint from behind to win?

Others, of course, favor the methodical pace of the turtle over the rabbit's last minute energy spurt. But Gottbrath begs to differ. He mathematically calculated that a more successful strategy in problem solving begins with slacking off. That's right. Don't touch the project for a while. Go to the beach. Hit the mountains. Kick your feet up. Relax.

Gottbrath's research goes like this: the computational power available at a particular price doubles every 18 months in your local computer showroom. If the overall productivity of the newest computers overtakes older technology at this rate, one is better off "slacking," or waiting for some period of time, before purchasing a new computer and beginning the project. Waiting to purchase and work on the newest, fastest computer while your competitors plod along on soon-to-be obsolete machines means improved productivity.

The first step, then, if you want to beat the competition, is to achieve an attitude of slack: slackitude. Diligent laziness.

As Gottbrath coaches individuals to seek optimal slackitude, others in the world of time management advise other common sense strategies, helpful even to the mathematically challenged. Gil Gordon writes in Turn It Off that our long-term effectiveness as employees or entrepreneurs is at risk if we don't occasionally turn off our computers, cell phones and brains.

Who doesn't answer the phone during dinner? Who doesn't sneak into the office on holidays or weekends? Check e-mail on vacation? Gordon, like Gottbrath, advises us to slack off a little.

Lent reminds us that disengaging is not the exclusive obligation of employees and entrepreneurs. The spiritually challenged - all of us - require periods of diligent laziness. The excitement people once exuded over their new technological toys has been replaced by resentment over being "on duty" all the time. Without refueling and re-energizing, both our personal lives and our work lives suffer.

The slow and steady discipline of following the Fourth Commandment has proven to be ineffective in our culture. That whole resting-on-the-seventh-day-plan hasn't captured our 21st century sensibilities.

But Lent invites us once again to slack off a bit. Give up something and take on something. Shake up the spiritual life a little by taking a step back.

Many view Lent as Plan B for failed New Year's Resolutions. But Jesus did not venture into the wilderness to lower his fat intake or curb caffeine consumption. He "was led" into the wilderness by the Spirit to develop a slackitude attitude. Along the way, it turned into a war with hunger, wild beasts and even the devil himself.

You'd think that after his media debut at the Jordan with John the Baptist, Jesus would've launched into a flurry of power healing and miracle making. Without delay, Jesus could have multitasked his way through Galilee turning the world upside down, wowing the masses. But Jesus did not rise from the baptismal waters of the Jordan to burst immediately onto the temple scene. Jesus didn't move directly from under the parted heavens to the top of the ministerial world, frantically moving from the blind to the lame to the bleeding, all the while charting out his goals for optimal career growth.

No, instead he took off for the hills above Jericho, to a stony, desolate place where he accepted the spiritual discipline of fasting for 40 days and 40 nights all alone. Well, almost alone.

The problem with slackitude is that one is particularly vulnerable to temptation while kicking back. Without every minute scheduled, temptations present themselves and fill the empty spaces.

For Jesus, temptation meant flirting with more than illusions of grandeur. Problem was the plan involved humble service, not awesome political dominance. If Jesus did not think of these enticements himself, a tempter was on hand to remind him. While in the throes of his spiritual retreat up there in the Judean wilderness with little to do and nothing to eat, the devil reminds him, "You know, you could turn these stones into loaves of bread. Crusty, chewy, extraordinarily tasty bread."

Of course he could. Water into wine. Stones into bread. What's the difference? But Jesus was up in some down time. Wilderness time meant personal time, spiritual time. He could turn stones into bread, sure, but bread is not everything. One does not live by bread alone.

The devil flatters him. "You could fling yourself off the pinnacle of the temple, and armies of angels will swoop down and save you at the click of a finger. How cool is that?" But Jesus knew better than to test God with such games.

The devil tempts him: "You're the man. You have the power. You could take control of the world." With an arm casually tossed around his shoulder, the tempter eggs him on saying, "One day all this could be yours," as if the devil were the one who could bequeath it. Jesus could have trumped The Donald, out-monopolized Bill Gates, crushed the power of the world's most sophisticated armies, richest treasuries and smartest think tanks. But instead, he waved Satan off like a pesky fly, remembering the commandment: "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him."

Jesus' example of retreating to the wilderness reminds us of the importance of being tethered to God - the one who ultimately feeds us, protects us, and owns us. Optimal slackitude involves a freedom that comes when we realize that the world can go on without us, and no longer are we afraid to admit that reality. In fact, we delight in it.

For Jesus, temptation in the throes of slackitude meant one thing - or three things. For us perhaps the temptation is to fill every minute for fear that empty moments will find us haunted by something we'd rather not face. For us perhaps the temptation is to work night and day to prove we are worth having around, terrified that somebody will not value us if we stop even for a moment. For us perhaps the temptation involves clinging to keep control of our lives, while ironically, the technology that keeps us in touch with each other winds up controlling us and keeping us out of touch with what is really important.

Lent invites us into a season of slackitude when we might reflect on making room for the most important things. The truth we discover, as we unplug and unwind, lies in the fact that the Spirit continues to lead human beings to a place of spiritual rest so that we might prepare for what lies ahead. Tethered only to God, we realize what truly nourishes and feeds us in lonely places.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

Sunday Sermon

2011-03-07T11:26:00.001-08:00

March 6, 2011

Quinquagesima

In today’s society, we are challenged more and more to find meaning to our lives. We are challenged by the many forces and venues that are constantly shifting and changing with the tides of new experiments and thoughts.
Less than fifty years ago, life was much simpler. For that matter the further back we go, the more simple it was. We are in an age where with the flip of a switch, a swipe of a finger, we have instant gratification and information. Here in America, our freedom has a price. Some would say it has utopia, but I say that is only a partial truth and it too has a price.
We can have everything we want, even if it is only in the “virtual” world. We either have the money to buy what we want, or the computer (and cell phones these days) to go onto the internet which will have what we cannot or do not want to buy, but simply enjoy virtual reality.
Because we have this “luxury”, life does not have the meaning that Jesus is calling us to have. Our free will has gained us technologies and advances that have shielded us from the fact that without God, none of this means anything.
An Eighteenth-century American lawyer, James Otis, coined the phrase “A man’s house is his castle”. The context of this statement was his response to the English Parliament’s law allowing searches of colonist’s homes for smuggled goods that avoided taxation. His phrase raises a wider concern that our homes are more than a storehouse of goods and a place of an owner. Homes are where we presume to be free from interference, where we can be ourselves, and to find perfection. Our homes are physical embodiments of ourselves in the life and virtues we value most. We need them to be secure, lasting, and intact.
In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the parable about the wise man who built his house upon a rock. Neither rain nor floods, wind nor buffeting could topple this house. It remains solid, stable, and livable. The parable is doing far more than telling us how and where we are to build our homes. Jesus is instructing us about where our true home is (the kingdom of heaven) and how we ensure that we enter into and remain in his home by doing more than simply listening to his words.
We may remember from the stories of Moses of how Moses admonishes the Israelites to take God's word into their hearts and souls; into their very being. God's will cannot be something external to us. Even merely conforming to God's will is not enough. Doing something simply because it is law is lifeless and not life-giving. If God's will is to lead us to the fullness of life, such as entering the kingdom of heaven, it must be embraced, made our own, and become for us a blessing rather than a burden. As it was with Jesus, our words and deeds must coincide, be in agreement, become one because they well up from deep within us. The solid rock of our very selves is found in listening to Jesus’ words, acting upon those words, and thus building lives consistent with who he is.
Not everyone builds on the solid rock. Some lives are built on the slippery and changing sands of fickleness, showiness, and ignoring the everyday responsibilities we all to face and do well. The solid rock upon which Jesus invites us to build our home is nothing less than doing “the will of the father in heaven.” Words are not enough. Jesus makes clear that it is deeds that set direction for our life. The bed rock of life is doing God's will as revealed to us through Jesus’ words. Jesus is the rock upon which we build our lives, and it is our encounters with him that teaches to do as he did. We are to live in his example.
Jesus’ words must become our words; his deeds must become our deeds. This process of our words and deeds coalescing and aligning with Jesus’ words and deeds can only happen when we truly listen to Jesus. This active listening is not a matter of merely hearing words; active listening is encountering Jesus so that his words are internalized as a deeper relationship with him. The listening is conforming ourselves to Christ.
We encounter and listen to Jesus in the words of Scripture we read in our private prayer as well as those proclaimed during Mass. Jesus' words come to us through the advice and critiques of others. We might hear his word in an encouraging remark that nudges us to try harder or in the warning comment that brings us to reevaluate our choices and behaviors.
We hear Christ also in the words of the Church. The church is the instrument in which Jesus lives and breathes with and for his people. Just as we rely on the government to sustain and protect our lives within the country that we live, we too rely on the Church to do much the same with our spiritual lives. This is sometimes a hard thing to do. But in the case of the Church, we know first that it is made up of fellow human beings, and as such, it is sometimes hard to trust because of the errors that people sometimes make. However, Jesus made it very clear to his Apostles and to St. Peter in particular, that Peter was to be this rock on which Jesus was to build the church of God.
We are called in faith to trust that the Holy Spirit will guide the ministers of the Church to be good shepherds to the people that are called to that Church. As with all things in life, there is good and there's bad. However, when we look at ourselves and we go about our everyday life, whether it be driving a car, riding the bus, or walking on the street, we trust that we will be able to do so freely, safely, and very much as ourselves. If we can put that much trust into our fellow society and the government that governs that society, then surely we can put that much trust and more into our God who we know is far greater and far more trustworthy than any human being we could possibly trust. It is that same God who guides the Church. It is that same God who sends out the Holy Spirit to be among those ministers who are the shepherds of the Church.
The shepherds are given special gifts and inspirations to bring the word of God to the sheep; the members of the Church. So that, every member of the Church can know the word of God, and thus build their home on the solid rock of Christ. All things done in faith in Jesus Christ will not fail. Even in the worst of times God is in charge of the details. As in that well-known poem, the footprints in the sand, it is in times of sorrow or calamity that you can see the one set of footprints in the sand; those of our Lord Jesus Christ carrying us.
This Sunday we are called to know, that in putting our trust and our faith in Jesus Christ, our home - our life - will be on a rock foundation. When the storms come, when life seems tough, that rock will stand up to anything that will come against it. Christ is the good Shepherd who will not allow anyone to fail with their trust in him. That trust, is simply known as faith.
So as we go about our everyday life, as we turn on a switch, as we swipe your finger across the iPhone or iPads, as we watch 3-D television or browse the Internet, let us take time for the simpler and fulfilling things in life. Through simple and fulfilling things, we simply need to take time to know the love of God and his son Jesus Christ. Is it so hard to take a moment and thank God for the food we are about to eat; is it so hard for us to simply say a little prayer before we go to an interview or when we are facing a challenging task at work; is it so hard to put a few minutes aside every day to simply sit quietly and reflect on our life; the beauty of life that God created and put us in the middle of; is this so hard to ask God what is the purpose of our own life in amongst all this? We are called to build on the rock foundation and ask God to be in our lives completely, not just during those times when our lives are at its worst.
God Love You +
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.

St. Francis Universal Catholic Church

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