Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 2^nd Week of Advent Year 2

AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35 Haggai 1:1-15; Rev. 2:18-29; Matt. 23:27-39

“Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, I am with you, says the Lord.  And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.” ( Haggai 1:13 – 14)

Today it still takes the Spirit of God to work in people in order that they might honor their houses of worship.  All places of human religous assembly require due vigilance in order that they are properly maintained.  The church is the sure sign of how important God is in the lives of a community.

I have read stories where people in some neighborhoods will occasionally help out with various projects in and around a church even when they themselves do not attend it. Often it is because they recognize the need for the food pantries or social events that lift the self esteem of people and they want to be a part of it.   

This care for houses of worship is God’s doing.  And “unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain (Psalm 127:1).  We are moved then by the hand of God to support the efforts of those who want to respect and honor God.  This power of God is not concerned with denomination or a particular faith.  It is concerned with people admitting that God exist and that God is good.  (All the time)

In our Haggai lesson today, King Darius was not of the Hebrew people, he was a Persian King. But he went to great lengths to ensure that the house of God was properly rebuilt.  So too, in all of our neighborhoods, any of us can, and should, support godly works as we recognize them to be such. None of us can claim God for ourselves only.  God only is God and loves ALL people.  As long as a faith tradition is not hostile or preaching hate but rather doing good works in the community, we should listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us in terms of what they might need. And then do it as we are able to do so. 

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the second week of Advent: Year 2

AM Psalm 37:1-18; PM Psalm 37:19-42 Amos 9:1-10; Rev. 2:8-17; Matt. 23:13-26

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,so that the outside also may become clean.” (Matthew 23:25 – 26)

In this f session of warnings Jesus tells those of us, who will listen, that if we clean the inside of our selves the outside will become clean as well.

What makes itself manifest on the outside, particularly in behavior and actions, starts in the heart and mind of the person.  As I occasionally conduct pre-marital counseling, I have the engaged couple raise many questions about the other.  I don’t want to know the answers that they come up with.  I just want to know that they have addressed the issues. So I have them to have conversations around money and what it means; around education; around concerns of faith (particularly if they are of different faith backgrounds), around children (natural or adopted). I have them discuss concerns of sex and intimacy; and lately I ask about social media and each other’s friends in general.  Sometime I think I’m unconsciously trying to get them to rethink getting married at all.

The reality is, I am trying to get them to see what’s inside of each other. Is the other’s cup clean on the inside? This question goes further than just marriage proposals.  We need to ponder these questions with all whom we hold close. We need to take it home and ask ourselves these types of questions.  But there is hope.  Our Lord Jesus says that if we clean the inside of our cup the outside will be clean as well.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Week 2 of Advent Year 2

AM Psalm 38; PM Psalm 119:25-48 Amos 8:1-14; Rev. 1:17-2:7; Matt. 23:1-12

“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)

After pondering on these words of Matthew for a while I get the sense that exaltation is the goal for both, it’s just two different routes to being exalted. While we are kind of led to the latter, that is, to humble ourselves now in order to be exalted later (in the next life), it seems to me that we are being humble for the reward of being exalted.  That doesn’t work for me. 

I think if I train myself to really get into and be comfortable with humility I will never want or desire exaltation.  I’ve always told my congregation that being humble can be a fleeting thing.  Once you boast about your humility, it’s gone. 

I have had lapses in humility.  I played guitar with another guitarist and when he was thanked for coming and playing and I was not I brought it to the attention of the host. Shame on me.  It was after that incident that I coined the phrase “the humility of invisibility.”  Unfortunately humility was not my comfort zone. But I want it to be.  So I have put into practice the words of C.S. Lewis who said, “Humility is not so much about thinking less of yourself, but rather, thinking of yourself less.”

So now I ponder all the times I was not seen or remembered, while at the same time was very present, at various events. I am learning to enjoy “the humility of invisibility,” and not so that I might be exalted later, but just for the inherent quiet and unassuming nature of it.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for Thomas Merton: MONK, POET, SPIRITUAL WRITER, 1968

Psalm 62 Isaiah 57:14-19 Colossians 2:2-10 John 12:27-36

“I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2 – 3)

This writing to the Church in Colossae encourages the Christians there, and us, to live fully into the mystery of God’s love, Such writing was not lost on Thomas Merton.

“Thomas Merton was among the most influential Catholic writers of the twentieth century. His writings cover a broad range of subject matter: spirituality and the contemplative life, prayer, and religious biography. He was also deeply interested in issues of social justice and Christian responsibility. He did not shy away from controversy and addressed race relations, economic injustice, war, violence, and the nuclear arms race.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for December 10)

The wonder of God and God’s creating love for all creation should be the number one concern of all creation but more especially people.  We are those of creation that the Creator walked with.  So I can see why Thomas Merton devoted his life to the Wonder of God. One of my favorite quotes is not from Merton but brings the same thought, “It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery.  God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.” (Kallistos Ware) We walk in mystery. 

“Merton was known in the community as Brother Louis; his gifts as a writer were encouraged by the abbot. In addition to his translations of Cistercian sources and his original works, Merton carried on a prolific correspondence with people around the world on a wide range of subjects. Some of his correspondence takes the form of spiritual direction, some shows his deep affections for friends outside the community, and much of it demonstrates Merton’s ability to be fully engaged in the world even though he lived a cloistered life. Merton died in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 10, 1968, by accidental electrocution, while attending a meeting of religious leaders during a pilgrimage to the Far East.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for December 10)

Merton engaged with the world in a time before computers.  How much more can you and I do good global works through this very source from which you are reading this blog?  Not just for the Colossians, but for us too, there are still treasures of wisdom and knowledge to be understood.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the Second Week of Advent Year 2

AM Psalm 25; PM Psalm 9, 15 Amos 7:1-9; Rev. 1:1-8; Matt. 22:23-33

“This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said, ‘See, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by.” (Amos 7:7 – 8)

This plumb-line that the lord is setting in the midst is us is the perfect upright angle with which we are to judge our own moral character.  A friend of mine once said to a congregation that it was hard for him to achieve something he has not seen.  But once he as seen someone do and be the better person, then, he too could aim for that knowing it was possible.

We don’t all have the same level of good judgment at the same time. But I believe the ability to make better and better decisions is an evolving skill.  I believe patience in understanding helps us to be better decision makers.  We must first want to do the right thing, The right thing has to be more important than “my” thing.  Getting even is not the right thing and against the Lord’s plumb-line it clearly shows us to be off kilter.  Also, we should not try to make ourselves look good by pointing out the faults of others.  It would be better to point out how you have challenges that you are aware of and are working on, than to point to the short comings of others.  

Our Lord Jesus is the perfect Plumb-line.  We can’t be Him but we can continue to work towards perfection. In trying to perfect our character we become that plumb-line for someone else to emulate. Remember however, we are not doing it to be copied (even though that would make the world a better place).  We are working towards that never ending road to perfection from which we will not regress or return. We will just keep comparing ourselves to that perfection, that plumb-line, that some may not know even exist.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Week 2 of Advent Year A

Isaiah 11:1-10  Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19   Romans 15:4-13   Matthew 3:1-12

“Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9)

After sarcastically calling the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers, John the Baptist takes away any ancestral heritage they might claim as a saving grace and lets them know that God doesn’t care about the genetic makeup of people but rather their faith.  This is what was pleasing to God about Abraham.

Abraham believed.  Abraham trusted God.  God told Abraham that he was blessed and that he would be a blessing to All people.

According to Douglas Hare writing for Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching; on Matthew, “This passage is scheduled by some lectionaries for the second Sunday of Advent,  In parts of the modern Church, Advent has become almost exclusively preparation of Christmas, that is, a time for pondering the meaning of the incarnation.”  (p. 19)

The Incarnation is God with us as one of us.  Our Lord Jesus knows what it is like to be human.  Therefore, God knows what it is like to be one of us as Joan Osborne’s song goes, “What if God was one of us, just a slob like one of us, just a stranger on a bus?”  This is the Incarnation.

God’s presence is not just about human so-called royal blood, not even the physical blood of Abraham. But very much like Abraham an unwavering faith that will not withhold anything from God, not even one’s only child. It is the spirit and faith of Abraham that God looks for in us as we truly are the spiritual offspring of Abraham through the connecting royal blood-cup of our Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore we are baptized into our faith and then forever partake of the cup of Christ where we taste and see that the Lord is good.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for the Saturday of Week 1 of Advent Year 2.

AM Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14); PM Psalm 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117 Amos 5:18-27; Jude 17-25; Matt. 22:15-22

“It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude: 19 – 20)

I always say that every human being has the Spirit of God in them, but many do not use it.  I think this is what Jude means when he talks about worldly people devoid of the Spirit. He goes on the say that such worldly people cause division among us. Laziness and blaming others for all the bad that happen to us is easy and infectious and makes us feel that we are not responsible for the way we are or what we say and do.

Jude continues, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith.”  Having and relying on our faith is so important.  With our faith we strive to see our Lord Jesus in all people. The good secrete we have is that we can, and should, look for our Lord Jesus in people who do not profess Christianity as well as those that do. See if you can discover a Christ-like quality in a non church-goer or someone who is of a faith other than Christianity or even no professed faith at all.  If you do see a loving Jesus quality in the person you can always say to yourself, “That’s awfully Jesus of you.”  Just don’t say it out loud.  Remember it is you who is looking for our Lord Jesus in the other, not them.  I’m thinking they have him and don’t know it. So let part of your faith be the search for our Lord Jesus in others regardless of what they may or may not believe.

Finally, Jude says to “pray in the Holy Spirit.”  Remember that when you pray you are responding to God who is already praying, you are not initiating the prayer.  God has already done that.  All any of us has to do is just relax and let the Holy Spirit pray through us.  To quote a commercial, “Oh what a relief it is.”

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for St Nicholas Bishop of Myra, c. 342

Psalm 145:8-13 1 John 4:7-14 Mark 10:13-16

“People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them.”  (Mark 10:13)

I never knew that Santa Clause derived from an actual bishop.  I had heard the term “St. Nick” before but didn’t connect it to the religious life.  That was my childhood and early life. “Very little is known about the life of Nicholas, except that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. It is possible that he was one of the bishops attending the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. He was honored as a saint in Constantinople in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian. His veneration became immensely popular in the West after the supposed removal of his body to Bari, Italy, in the late eleventh century. In England, almost 400 churches were dedicated to him.  Nicholas is famed as the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors, and, more especially, of children. As a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists in New York, from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for December 6)

In our Gospel reading parents wanted their children to go to Jesus. They wanted the best for their children.  Christian parents today still bring their children to our Lord Jesus. We do this by bringing them to church but more importantly, we should be praying with them at home. When a child comes to church it should be from a home where they have already heard about our Lord Jesus.  We so often talk about Santa Claus from about Thanksgiving on before finally bringing the child to a store to meet Santa.  So why not talk about our Lord Jesus at least some time during each week before Sunday?

Personally, I like learning about Nicholas of Myra because as a Christian believing in the Resurrection I know that Nicholas has risen in our Lord Jesus Christ and lives today.  So I believe in Santa Claus because I believe in the Resurrections of the dead. Or, as James Kiefer puts it: “The story of St. Nicholas offers a possible way of dealing with the “Santa Claus” problem, to parents who do not want to lie to their children, even in fun, but do not want to say simply: “Bah, humbug! There is no such thing as Santa. Forget about him.”  by James Kiefer http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Nicholas.htm 

So today is Santa Claus Day even while it is still Advent.  Merry (almost) Christmas.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for Clement of Alexandria Priest, c. 210 December 5

Psalm 34:9-14 Colossians 1:11-20 John 6:57-63

“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it”  (John 6:60)

Parishes call priests to lead them.  These are priests who have not only been called to ordained ministry but then sent to formalized training and education at a seminary so that they might better inform their congregations.  But it requires trust.  When the priest enters the parish parishioners must trust that the priest both understands scripture a little deeper and the priest’s heart is fixed on the will of God. Jesus ran into the same situation in the reading from John.  Clement of Alexandria too was also challenged.

“Clement was born in the middle of the second century. He was a cultured Greek philosopher who sought truth in many schools until he met Pantaneaus, founder of the Christian Catechetical School at Alexandria in Egypt. Clement succeeded Pantaneaus as head of that school in about 190, and was for many years an apologist for the Christian faith to both pagans and Christians. His learning and allegorical exegesis of the Bible helped to commend Christianity to the intellectual circles of Alexandria. His work prepared the way for his pupil Origen, the most eminent theologian of early Greek Christianity, and his liberal approach to secular knowledge laid the foundations of Christian humanism. During the persecution under the Emperor Severus in 202, he fled Alexandria. The exact time and place of his death are unknown.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for December 5)

Many people have certain beliefs about what God wants.  Often, too often, they are (or have been) misinformed.  God wants all people of the world to have open hearts and minds to the good that God is doing, not just a few.

“Clement lived in the age of “Gnosticism,” a comprehensive term for many theories or ways of salvation current in the second and third centuries, all emphasizing “Gnosis” or “knowledge.” Salvation, for Gnostics, was to be had through a secret and rather esoteric knowledge accessible only to a few. It was salvation from the world, rather than salvation of the world. Clement asserted that there was a true Christian Gnosis, to be found in the Scriptures, available to all.”  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for December 5)

We should not try to become God.  Whatever plan God has for us “it will be done.”  When we create our own interpretation of what we think God wants we usurp God’s will and it leads to an idolatry that pushes us away from the will of God.  We must continue to call and then listen to priests who have been properly educated in the open and all inclusive love of God for all people.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of 1Advent Year 2

AM Psalm 119:1-24; PM Psalm 12, 13, 14  Amos 3:12-4:5; 2 Pet. 3:1-10; Matt. 21:23-32

“But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.”  (2 Peter 3: 8 – 10)

Peter reminds us that the time we experience is nothing like that with God.  God knows no time.  God is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.  Words like fast and slow have no value to God, God does things in God’s time (Kairos).  Peter also shares with us that God does not want any of us to perish.  We have a universal God.  A God who loves everybody, even the people we don’t like.  This is something we are going to have to get over. God loves people in the other skin color, in the other political party, in the other country and so on.  We have a universal loving God and we should be as well.

The last part of our 2 Peter passage for today is the hint of accountability.  Peter says “and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.”  My beloved, disclosed is not destroyed.  Disclosed means revealed!  I had a military leader once tell me that forewarned is forearmed.  This means that if we know something is going to happen we have time to make it right before that time comes.  How do you want your report read out loud in that heavenly court?  Think about that.  And remember that we are dealing with a God who knows no time.  God could bring us to accountability right now! Are you ready?  Forewarned is forearmed.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+