Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 2^nd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 26 and 28; Evening, Psalms 36 and 39;
Isaiah 44:9 to 20; Ephesians 4:17 to 32; Mark 3:19b to 35

“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3: 29 and 30)

Is our Lord Jesus saying that there is, after all, a limit to forgiveness?  So I look at this state of affairs as, “once we know, we can’t un-know.” Once we have experienced the holy presence of God, in Christ Jesus, or any divine manifestation, we move to certain knowledge beyond belief.

One of my friends in my Cursillo Reunion Group shared a quote from Richard Rohr, (American author, spiritual writer, and Franciscan friar based in Albuquerque, New Mexico), who said that he no longer believes in Jesus because he now “knows” Jesus. We often get confused about what we know and what we believe.  A couple of years ago a young woman in New York City, thought she “knew” a certain young man took her cell phone.  As it turned out, she left her phone in a car for hire and the driver returned it later.  My point is that sometimes when we think we “know” something, in reality, we only believe. At one point we believed the earth was flat, now we know it’s round.  We all really need to figure out a way to discern what we believe from what we know. Having said all this, I do believe Rohr has made the transition from believing to knowing our Lord Jesus. I pray the same for myself someday.

I find it somewhat reassuring that our readings for today reference the requirement for respect for the Holy Spirit of God.  From our Gospel according of Mark, and our Ephesians’ reading, we are cautioned not to blaspheme or grieve the Holy Spirit.  To blaspheme is to curse or profane someone or something.  I think it is one thing to blaspheme what we think we believe. However, when God has blessed us with a glimmer of grace to the point that we “know”, that is, we actually experience the Holy, to then turn against such an experience is truly unforgivable. This is what I think our Lord Jesus meant.

As humanity, we are created in the Spiritual Image of our Creator.  For Christians, at baptism, we are marked as Christ’s own forever!  Therefore, as Paul writes to the Ephesians, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4: 30)

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the 2^nd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 25; Evening, Psalms 9 and 15
Isaiah 44:6 to 8 and 21 to 23; Ephesians 4:1 to 16; Mark 3:7-19:

“He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.” (The Message Bible: Ephesians 4: within verses 7 to 13)

I particularly referenced the “Message Bible” for this passage because it affirms my understanding that the Pastor-Teacher gift is one gift that has twin focal points – pastor and teacher.

To be a pastor is to be a listener and counselor. It is to be a spiritual guide to those who are seeking the Presence of the Holy Spirit.

To be a teacher is to be a leader and one who shows the how-to’s of life. It is also one who shows the when-to’s of life. It is the teaching of the proper way and time for acts and procedures.

To be pastor – teacher is to be one who listens and counsels individuals and instructs in the classroom, methods and circumstances of proper, moral, and godly, behavior based on tradition and experience.

I fully recognize that God has gifted some faith leaders as apostles (bishops), prophets and evangelists.  However, I profess to be a pastor-teacher. I am in my element when listening to others as they fix themselves.  And, only in formal classroom situations do I try to bring light to those seeking to learn something they want to better understand. Thank You Lord Jesus.

Have you pondered about what gifts God might have endowed you with?  It is discernment. You should discern how God has gifted you for the enhancement of the community in which you live. We need what God has given you.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of the Second Week of Epiphany: Year A

Isaiah 49:1-7;  Psalm 40:1-12;  1^st Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42:

“The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29)

This “taking away the sins of the world,” was also proclaimed in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 1, verse 21, “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  It is the work of the Church to reconcile all people to God through the ministry of Jesus Christ: (BCP 855)

John the Baptist goes on to say, “This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me” (John 1:30).  This statement from John the Baptist refers to the prologue to the Gospel of John where it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God,”  (John 1: 1 and 2). John the Baptist is well aware that he is sent to announce the coming of the Lord, the coming of heaven near us.

 And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him”  (John 1: 32).  This coming, and remaining, is like unto the witness of the Magi of the Gospel of Matthew where we read, “When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was; (Matthew 2:9). Back to the Gospel according to John, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit;” (John 1:33).

 “John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God! (John 1: 35 and 36)  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for? They asked him, “Where are you staying?” Again, we have movement, stopping and staying. May our eyes today catch the movement of God and then attend to what God is doing.

“One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed^”. He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas,” (which is translated Peter). (John 1: 40 to 42)

How has Jesus changed who you are?  Has the Holy Spirit moved to you, found you, and stayed with you?  This is the speech of the Holy Spirit.  We are called to listen to this same Holy Spirit today.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 1^st Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 20, 21:1-7; Evening, Psalms 110:1to5, 116,and 117
Isaiah 43:1 to 13; Ephesians 3:14 to 21; Mark 2:23 to 3:6:

“Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”  (Mark 2: 27 and 28)

This has new meaning for me after reading “Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Hershel. Our time is way more important than all the things we could ask for. 

I am reminded that God created time and then created us within time. And lastly, it is a special day within time as a gift to us, for us to rest with God.  For me, the Sabbath may not even be a time for worship, but just to rest and allow contemplation to take place.

When someone gives us a gift, that gift becomes our own possession. We do with it what we please. The giver may or may not be pleased if we put his or her gift in the garage never to be seen again until we decide to have a yard sale.  But the gift was ours. I am not Jewish in the traditional sense. But I am a “Judeo-Christian.” Our Lord Jesus kept his Jewish traditions throughout his life.

For me, keeping the Sabbath does not mean worshiping on the Sabbath. Worship is work, at least for clergy and worship support people.  We Christians should keep the first day of the week, (Sunday) as our worship day.

I have lived for over 70 years not realizing how important the Sabbath is. But thanks be to God, I have not, and could not “sale” my Sabbath. It is a gift from God and I intend to live into it more reverently going forward. This will be an adjustment over time. I am also remembering that while the Rest of God came after the creation of humanity, the restfulness that is found in the Sabbath is shared with humanity as an opportunity to be with God our Creator.  We were not made for the Sabbath, but rather, the Sabbath was made by God, for God, and yet shared with humanity as gift. We have choices. We can ignore the Sabbath, or, we can live and rest into it.  I now choose the latter. It is never too late for the revelation of God to change us, Thank You Lord Jesus.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 1^st Week of Epiphany 2021: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 16 and 17; Evening, Psalm 22;
Isaiah 42:1 to 17; Ephesians3:1 to 13; Mark 2:13 to 22 

“Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.”  (Ephesians 3:7)

For some reason the words, “Of this gospel I have become a servant,” has caused me to ponder.  I ponder that the word Gospel literally means, “Good News.”  So Paul has become a servant of the Good News.

Normally to receive Good News on the television, by people who bring us the news, I have to watch it to the very end, and if I am lucky, the anchor will share something, something charming or wonderful, good news. Such anchors are servants of whatever news that they are given to report.  Paul, on the other hand, has volunteered to be a servant of the Good News of God in Christ Jesus.

So how would you or I go about being the servant of the Good News?  Such servanthood requires us to bring positivity to people who may not see anything to be happy about.  And we must remember, we are not necessarily the servant of the people to whom we are bringing the Gospel to, but the Gospel itself.  We then are servants of the Gospel – the Good News.

This means we must be servants of an idea, a faith, a hope.  We are called to be servants of the idea of love and forgiveness.  We are servants of the idea of our Lord Jesus bringing us into eternal life. It is this Gospel which we escort to people as our master, There is the ideal and the real.  But you and I can align the real with the ideal in our Gospel of love and hope, and faith, and Good News. It’s hard work.  Some people don’t want to be happy.  But we are not servants to them; we are servants to the Gospel.  We take the Gospel to them.  God then takes it from there.  Paul says, this is “the gift of God’s grace that was given to [us] by the working of his power.”

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the 1^st Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 18:1 to 20; Evening, Psalm 18:21 to 50;
Isaiah 41:17 to 29; Ephesians 2:11 to 22; Mark 2:1 to 12:

“For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”  (Ephesians 2:14)

It seems we have a dividing wall that separates us from our neighbors, our brothers and sisters. There is hostility within, and between us.  My prayer is that we calm down and listen to what our hearts are saying to us.  Paul says that Jesus is our peace.  He says that, “in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall.”  Somehow, I still fill like the wall is there.  Perhaps not everybody has heard about what Jesus has done, and is doing. We are one group now.  There is no separation anymore.  Whatever the issues are, we should be able to come to some kind of consensus, and perhaps, enlightenment in this time of Epiphany.  

In Christ Jesus we Christians must realize we are all one in Christ. We should not want to win at the expense of others. Is there a way we can be satisfied with enough while at the same time, those who have a different opinion, may also be satisfied with enough?  We all make up the body of Christ Jesus.  And the body of our Lord Jesus does not succumb to cancer or Covid. We will live on, eternally!

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the 1^st Week of Epiphany: Year1

Morning, Psalm 119:1 to 24; Evening, Psalms 12, 13 and 14; 
Isaiah 41:1 to 16; Ephesians 2:1 to 10; Mark 1:29 to 45 

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

There are so many deeds that Jesus can do that you and I cannot.  Except for medical doctors, most of us cannot heal others.  It seems also to be very hard for some of us to forgive (or love) some people.  Some of us have been blessed with the gift of teaching but not with the authority that our Lord Jesus wielded, Thank you Lord Jesus. Few of us, if any of us, can cast out demons. But here is what we can do; we can all find a place to pray.

Jesus’ getting up and going off to a place to pray is definitely something we can all do, and, I think, we all should do. Copying Jesus’ habit of praying, or even Sabbath praying, may even lead to more Jesus-like abilities. Praying doesn’t have to be beautifully articulated words of perfection.

I recall the story of the little shepherd boy who prayed as he watched the sheep. In his little prayers he prayed whatever came to his mind.  As I recall, he prayed thus: “Dear Jesus, If you were cold I would give you my coat. If you were hungry I would share my food with you, if you were real hungry you could have all my food.”  As the old story goes, a priest was passing by and heard the boy praying. The priest interrupted the boy and schooled him on the “proper” way to pray. After the priest’s lecture the little shepherd boy felt so bad, he quit praying all together.  Missing the boy’s regular prayers, God sent an angel to see what happened. The boy explained how he was told that he wasn’t doing it right and the angel asked, “Who told you that?”  I don’t know how the angel handled the priest but the angel assured the boy that God loved, and missed, his prayers and wanted him to continue.  The boy resumed his prayer life.

This is a nice little story from a long time ago.  The point is, like our Lord Jesus and the little shepherd boy, prayer is not done from training, but rather, prayer is our being trained by doing.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Week 1 of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 5and 6; Evening, Psalm 10 and 11:
Isaiah 40:25-31; Ephesians 1:15-23; Mark 1:14-28:

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people:” (Mark 1:17)

Jesus invites the first of two brothers to move their search for fish to a search for people.  I have found that most of our community vocations can be modified in a way that will be useful in our church. Accountants, carpenters, cooks, janitors, doctors and lawyers all have skills that will enhance our houses of worship.  We just need to hear the invitation of our Lord Jesus to “follow Him.”

What gifts or talents do you have that your church needs? Where your skills and the community needs meet, there is our Lord Jesus asking you to follow Him.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for January 9: Epiphany: Year 1

Morning,  Psalms 1, 2 and 3; Evening, Psalm 4 and 7:   
Isaiah 40:12-23; Ephesians 1:1-14; Mark 1:1-13: 

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ (John 5:6)

When we have been lying in our crippled or depressed, or emotionally damaged state for many years, the question of, “If we want to be made well?” is a good question.  However, being made well might mean not having others give us special attention anymore. It could mean no more mood altering narcotics. It could mean we have to go to work again. Wanting to be made well is truly something to ponder.

Perhaps the crippled man in our John Gospel considered all this and used excuses like “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me,” (John 5:7).  Poor thing.  So Jesus becomes the “living waters, “Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.” (John 5:8 and 9)

His excuses were gone.  With our Lord Jesus, our excuses are gone.  Let us not become complacent or lazy, or dependant while validating our perceived wretched state with shallow excuses. Our Lord Jesus is, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Get up, take up your mat and walk as best you can. And if that fails, crawl.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Eucharistic Readings for the First Sunday after the Epiphany: Year A

Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17:

“But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.” (Matthew 3: 15)

So Jesus comes to John to be baptized and John has second thoughts. But Baptism is in many ways like crucifixion, you must be handed over into the hands of others for it to be done to you. One does not baptise one’s self.  It is in this way we are communal.  We need and must have others in whom we place ourselves. This then, according to our Lord Jesus, fulfills all righteousness.

“And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. (Matthew 3: 16)  This coming up out of the water has been interpreted in many ways.  It could mean that as he was pushed beneath the surface of the water (full emersion) and that his face being brought back above the surface on the way up; or , it could mean as he was stepping back up on the bank, out of the water where he knelt while John took water in his hands and lifted it over Jesus’ head. Either way, baptism is baptism.  My most memorable baptism was also in the Jordan where almost 50 Christian clergy were on tour to the Holy Land.  That water was really cold!

 In Matthew’s Gospel we hear the voice of God speaking to us, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”” (Matthew 3: 17).  The voice doesn’t say “You” as if speaking to Jesus directly.  The voice informs us that this is our Lord Jesus, and that God is so pleased with him. Baptism is one of two Holy Sacraments for Christians, the other being Holy Communion.  In accordance with the Canons of our Church one must be baptized before receiving Communion.  This makes One Baptism for the forgiveness of sins the preeminent sacrament. I personally believe that even after the water stops moving over us, the Holy Spirit continues moving over us always.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John