Author: John Thomas Frazier

The Lessons Appointed for Use on Thursday in the First Week of Lent

Esther (Apocrypha) 14:1–6,12–14Psalm 138Matthew 7:7–12

Matthew:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.   For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”   (Matt. 7:7 – 8)

My Ponderings

Jesus is still teaching in Galilee to a large crowd that began in chapter 3 of Matthew.  As it becomes apparent to them that they have much to learn he begins to show them how to obtain greater understanding.   He now tells them that to have a deeper relationship with God and one another they must ask, seek and knock. He goes on to give the example that if we know how to care for our loved ones, how much more does God know how to care for us, but we must ask. We must seek.  We must knock.  Jesus ends with the golden rule of “do to others what you would want them to do to you.” ( Matt. 7:12)

Asking for anything really comes hard for some people.  This is especially true if they have to ask a friend or a neighbor for help.  But necessity happens.  We must remember that God exist in our neighbors also.  And in most cases God has already prepared our neighbors to help us and sometimes they are completely unawares.  But we must humble ourselves and ask for help. We are not afforded the life wherein we can say “I never have to ask for anything.”  Sometimes we must. Asking is God’s plan. It is the social network God wants us to enjoy.

Curiosity too brings about innovation in our work and in our everyday lives.  It is the old “what if” question.  If we search for answers we will find them. Even finding out what does not work is an answer.  This is what Jesus says. Seek and we shall find.   For me it is all about “Pondering.”  I just let my mind ponder around whatever primary idea comes to me. But to do this, I need you. Help me please.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Readings for James Theodore Holly Bishop of Haiti and Dominican Republic (13 March 1911)

Psalm 86:11-17 Deuteronomy 6:20-25  Acts 8:26-39 John 4:31-38

Acts of the Apostles:

Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The Eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts 8:37)

Acts 8:37 may not be found in many English translations. I have taken up the position of baptizing at the drop of a hat based on this Acts reading about Philip and the Eunuch for a long time.  I have especially liked the part where the Eunuch sees water and asked what is to prevent him from being baptized?

I also like the fact that Philip picked up where the Eunuch was rather than starting from the beginning of Genesis and giving the Eunuch more than he either asked for or could handle.  This was brotherly love truly demonstrated wherein Philip had compassion for one who was probably refused entrance into the Temple he traveled so far to because of his mutilated condition.

Verse 37 of Acts 8 with its requirement to believe that Jesus is the Son of God is so important to being a Christian.  If one does not there is no point in being baptized.  In just the same way men wanting to be a Free Mason must proclaim a belief in God (even if not Christian) or there is no point in taking an obligation to be a Mason.  Masonry is not a religion, but a man must believe in God, in some way, to be accepted into the fraternity.

James Theodore Holly was the First African American Bishop in the Episcopal Church and Bishop of Haiti. “As an experienced Masonic leader and scholar, Holly visited the Masonic temples and made friends among their members. He was also willing to perform Masonic burial services.” ( adapted from St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church, Buffalo, NY (reprinted with permission))

No matter what we do in life or what fraternity or sorority we join, if we are professed Christians we must believe in God as made manifest in Christ Jesus and this must be first in our lives. It was the teachings of Jesus that guided Philip to the pastoral care of the Eunuch.  The teachings of Jesus will also guide us today to the pastoral care of all who Jesus puts in our path. We are to go up to their chariot and explain the story of Jesus only as much as they can bear.  One does not baptize one’s self, it takes community.

Fraternity, sorority or parish, find a community of faithful believers and be “taken” by the Holy Spirit to do good works.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Liturgical Readings for Tuesday in the First Week of Lent

Isaiah 55:6–11 Psalm 34:15–22 Matthew 6:7–15

Isaiah:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”   (Isaiah 55:8)

My Pondering

What would it be like to have thoughts like God’s thoughts?  It seems from this verse that God’s thoughts lead to God’s ways and therefore, since our thoughts are not like God’s thoughts our ways are not like God’s ways.

I am reminded of our old “Think and Do” books in private school when I was in first or second grade.  I can’t remember the content so much but I have never forgotten the title, “Think and Do.”  Think and Do parallels thoughts and ways.  So if I want my ways to be more godly then my godly thoughts must come first.  While we will never be able to achieve the mind of God I think at least trying to move in that direction is a good first step to a more godly path and way.

There may not be a big difference between thought and love for God. For that matter, for God, think and love may, in some way, be the same thing.  If God thinks in love, how do I copy that?  I too must think in terms of love.  This means that whenever something bad happens I should immediately go into recovery mode, into make-whole-again mode. There is always a scene in an adventure movie where a loved one has been hurt by a villain and the villain runs off.  The hero then has to decide whether to give chase or take care of the victim.  In almost all cases, the hero attends first to the victim.  This is the right and loving way. The same is true for whatever attacks someone we love.  The most import thing, the most godly thing to do is provide comfort to our loved ones.  The attacker could be another person or persons, a disease, a job loss, or an accident that caused harm.  The first step is always to stop the bleeding!  This love-action (thought-way) Godly Way is what we want to be and do.

Revenge or retaliation is never a godly way. It is certainly not a loving way.  We must learn to turn our hurt and hate into help and healing – searching for another way. If we let ourselves become obsessed with negative relationship we are no longer able to love-act, thought-way, think and do. With retaliation and/or revenge we could get ourselves into a place that would prevent us from being able to help our loved ones in the future.

We can, and should try to get a little closer to God’s Way of thinking and the Way God loves us.  Then our thoughts will be at least closer to God’s thoughts, and our ways closer to God’s Ways.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Eucharistic Readings for Monday in the First Week of Lent

Leviticus 19:1–2,11–18Psalm 19:7–14Matthew 25:31–46

Psalm 19

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” (Psalm 91:14)

My Pondering:

I use a modified version of this verse after reading the Gospel at the service of Holy Eucharist. My version is first person plural in the second half of it. “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of “our” hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.”

This “our hearts” language comes not too long after we have asked God to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts.  There is something comforting to say about a Christian spiritual community that quietly invites God to enter our heart and cleanse it and assist us with meditation. So many times we see in Scripture where God, or God’s representative, comes to people in their quiet moments.

Three of the places that I like are from Abraham from Genesis; Elijah from 1 Kings; and Mary from Luke.  In Genesis, “The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.” (Gen 18:1) In 1 Kings we have, “The Lord said [to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. (1Kings 19:11)  And in the Gospel of Luke we have, “The angel went to her [Mary] and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)  These are all moments where the presence of God was mingled with the mind of mortals.

This is the same, timeless, God we have today, a God who still wants to mingle with us.  I believe we are created to be a spiritual, peaceful people. We get anxious about many things. All we really need to do is just settle down and open the minds of our hearts. We who do this are few in number so we have to make room for God not only to be with us for ourselves, but to be with us for the benefit of others as well.  God was with Abraham for the benefit of the World, God was with Elijah for the benefit of the Israelites.  And God was with Mary again for the benefit of the world.

So we hear words from the Bible and hopefully we let these words sink deep into our hearts.  These same words say different things to different people.  In this way we need each other.  This is God’s plan. None of us should be alone. We need each other. We need to talk to each other so that we can perceive what God is saying. Each and every one of us is a beautiful creature of God who God uses to sustain this earth, God’s beautiful place in the universe.  I need you, you need me: God’s plan. So again to God I say; “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.” Amen.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Liturgical Readings

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13

Luke

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Luke 4:1)

My Pondering:

As very young men my brother and I would often travel with my dad on long road trips driving an 18 wheeler.  On one accession my dad and I took with us another young person I will call Boston.  Boston was under 18 years of age.

We found ourselves on a trip that would take us us through western Canada.  But we could not take Boston because he was under age with no identity as a U. S. citizen and we would not be able to get him back into the U.S.  So we bought him a bus ticket from Sweetgrass, Montana to Seattle, Washington.  My dad’s words to him (over and over) was, no matter what he was to stay at that bus station.  We knew when he would be there and we would be there the same day.  That was the plan.

Boston was tempted by neighborhood gangs, and later by a pretty girl he said, to leave the bus station and go with her.  He did not. He had my dad’s words still running through his head, “Don’t Leave the Bus Station.”  Finally, The police came to investigate him because he just hung around and didn’t seem to leave.  We were late getting into Seattle due to forest fires in western Canada.  As we were decending down a downtown street, on our left we saw two policemen talking to Boston.  My dad yelled out of the window, “He’s mine, I’m going to park and I’ll be right back.”

When we walked back to the bus station and claimed Boston I noticed that Boston had been crying.  He then shared with me the events that took place, He told me a group of young men came by and told him that he would have to leave because this was their turf.  He was afraid but had to remain at the bus station like dad said.  Next a young woman who worked there got off work and offered him her place to relax and that she would bring him back when we got there. But he stuck to my dad’s instruction to stay at the station.

He said what really broke him down was the policemen approaching and asking him for identification. He had none and the day had been long waiting for us to show up.  It was during the questioning of the police that they heard my dad’s voice say, “He’s mine, I’m going to park and I’ll be right back.”

Jesus anchored himself to the words of scripture when being tempted by evil temptation.  Three times he was tempted. Three times he remember word from scripture that kept him from straying from safety. Jesus repeated “It is written or it is said.”  Boston was tempted three times to leave the bus station. But he was anchored to my dad’s words.  All of us need words that assist us in doing what is right.  Such words may come from a hymn, or a poem or a Psalm or a Bible passage or the quote from a parent or pastor.  The main thing is that we ought to have an anchor to keep us secure during the storms and threats of life.  And when you find yourself tempted speak boldly about your conviction to stay the course.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

AM Psalm 30, 32;  PM Psalm 42, 43Deut. 7:17-26;  Titus 3:1-15;  John 1:43-51

“Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’” (John 1: 49)

My Pondering:

When I think of the people called by Jesus to follow him I have missed Philip.  I remember James and John; and Simon Peter and Andrew; and I remember Levi being called from the tax booth.  But I somehow missed Philip.  Then Philip goes and invites Nathanael.  So when I miss Philip, I also miss Nathanael.

We know from verses just before this one that Nathanael and Jesus pondered about one another.  Nathanael pondered if any good could come out of Nazareth. And Jesus pondered about Nathanael being a man in whom there is no deceit.  So we know that in spite of Nazareth being the Sodom and Gomorrah of their day, Jesus, who is God incarnate, comes to them from there.  And we know that Nathanael is a good man because Jesus has said so. He is a man without deceit. So what is it about Nathanael?

I ponder about what Nathanael was experiencing when he was under the fig tree before Philip called him.  The moment that Jesus mentioned that he saw him before Philip called him; that he was with him under the fig tree. It must have been something special. It was so life-changing that Nathanael said to Jesus ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel! What was going on with Nathanael?  Was he crying? Was he contemplating suicide?  Was he visited by God with great joy?  We don’t know.  What we do know is that Nathanael experienced a life-change of some sort. And because Jesus knows what was going on in his (our) life he sees Jesus not just as Rabbi, but as Son of God, as King of Israel.

Where are these experiences in our lives, our secrete lives, under our own fig trees that Jesus sees us and then lets us know that we have been seen as he did Nathanael?  How do we become as appreciated by Jesus as Nathanael was? I believe we already are.

I believe that when Jesus/God sends us to someone, God also prepares that same someone to receive us.  And not always does the person we are sent to, or who is sent to us, made aware of it.  Many times God speaks to us through us. So we need to be careful.  Who was the Philip that God sent to you about Jesus?  What was the holy time and place (fig tree) of your life?  Name the person. Name the place. Name the time. To do so is healing. These fig tree moments are more important than first realized. I have had several. I was under a fig tree in Basic Training at Parris Island South Carolina. I was under another fig tree at The Episcopal Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.  And I’m pondering that God is not done with me yet.  We all have those Nathanael, fig tree moments.  It doesn’t mean that we are pure, but it does mean that Jesus sees us at those life-changing moments and only you (Jesus and you) know what’s going on.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

AM Psalm 95* & 31;   PM Psalm 35Deut. 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15; John 1:35-42

John:

“When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.” (John 1:38 – 39)

My Pondering:

I don’t know if the writer of John was intentionally making this connection but he has Jesus going back to where he was staying and inviting his new “potential” followers to “come and see.”  Moreover, we are given a time reference of four o’clock in the afternoon, when Andrew goes to get his brother and return, to end this introduction of a call to follow Jesus.

We understand that Jesus was crucified on what we call Good Friday at noon.  We think he died at three in the afternoon.  I ponder then that Jesus’ engagement with Andrew and the other follower of John the Baptist, was during these hours and a foreshadowing of Jesus coming to us and dragging those of us, who are curious enough, to follow him back to his heavenly kingdom.

The key question however comes to us from Jesus as he asks, “What are you looking for?”  I wish we had them to answer the question.  But they don’t.  They respond to the question with a question, “Where are you staying?”  Let us respond to Jesus.  What are we looking for?  More personally, what are you looking for?

I think curiosity and searching is a part of our human make-up.  I think we are born to search.  God made us that way on purpose.  However we get to choose “What” or “Who” we will search for.  We have searched to the ends of the earth just to see if it had an end (flat).  We are searching the outer most reaches of space and the depths of the seas. Archeologists dig without knowing what they will find; they just search and try to make sense of what they find.  We are searching for cures to cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.  We look now at our own genetic make-up so that we can search further into who we are.  Search, search, search, it’s what we do. So when Andrew and the other disciple looked into the eyes of “All Answers” they could only ask, “Where are you staying?”

Interestingly, when these searchers found Jesus, Jesus often re-identified some of them.  Jesus changed Simon to Peter and later Saul to Paul, new names for a new search.  So you get to fill in the blank of “I am in search of _________________.  Who will this search cause you to be or become?  In many ways I am like the archeologists; I just ponder and try to make sense of what I find.  But for all of us, we only have to follow Jesus and look into the eyes of “All Answers” and ask “Where are you staying?”

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Psalm 124 Hebrews 10:32-39 Matthew 24:9-14

“But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.”   (Hebrews 10:32,33)

I strongly suggest that you read all of Hebrews 10: 32 – 39.  It is so fitting for Perpetua and for us today as we profess our Christian faith.

My Pondering of Perpetua:

Today we remember Perpetua, who with Felicity her former slave but later sister in Christ and others, who were slaughtered in an arena in Carthage, North Africa, on 7 March 202. There are many details in her story but there are three pieces that I want to share with you in this pondering.

First, she was the 22 year old mother of an infant and hoping to be baptized soon. She already assumed the title Christian which is why she was on the death row of her day.  Even with her old grey haired father coming to her in her prison and on his knees begging her to just say she was not a Christian, she would not deny being a follower of Jesus.  How many of us would do that?

Second, in the account of her torture and death she handed off her journal to a person who continued to record her ordeal.  This is how we have it today.  It is thought by many that this person was Tertullian, Christian Theologian and writer.  My fascination here is that Perpetua had the forethought of ensuring her story was told even when she knew she would not be able to tell it. How many of us today would do that?

Third and last, as Perpetua and Felicity were being slaughtered, and after Perpetua had already been injured and thrown by what she called a wild cow and having her clothing ripped away, she quickly gather herself together and then attended to Felicity, comforting her and telling her to “maintain her dignity even if we are attacked by that wild cow or whatever it is.”  I can imagine the look on Felicity’s face realizing that Perpetua is forgetting that they have already been attacked.  Further, Perpetua’s attention to decency and comfort to Felicity quieted the jeering crowd.  They wanted to see people screaming and running for their lives. What they saw was a woman who stared down her oncoming slaughter.  I can imagine her thoughts being that she might be killed but she will not be entertaining. Finally, when they were ordered to be killed by the sword, a bumbling young soldier could only kill Perpetua with her own hand guiding him. How many of us would do that?

This 22 year old young mother is one of my most favorite heroes.  She chose Jesus over family; she told her Christian story and passed it on to be told for future generations; and she respected the dignity of all human beings including her own.  How many of us will do that?

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Eucharistic Readings for Ash Wednesday 6 March 5, 2019

Joel 2:1-2,12-17 Psalm 103 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Matthew:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

My Pondering

This statement is so true.  But it’s a little misleading.  It almost implies that the treasure comes before the heart.  But it’s the other way around.  You see our money and resources follow our desires. Our heart is already there.  When we get money or something of value we use it to navigate to where our desires, our hearts lead us,.  And here’s the thing, we get to say what our heart’s desire is. We also get the opportunity to adjust it, to say what we want to like or love.

Often we cannot follow our hearts desire because we don’t have the resources to do so.  Years back in our Diocese, we wanted to increase the money in our retired clergy fund.  We wanted to ensure that our retired clergy had enough to live on.  At that time giving was low but our desire to do this was strong.  I remember being at an Executive Council Meeting where I said, “Our hearts have taken us places that our checkbooks can’t follow.”  Our Diocesan Treasurer remembered my words and as I have spoken to her recently, she still reminds me of that time.

This same thing still happens to us today.  And sometimes it is a good thing.  I am often pleased that I didn’t have the money to buy a boat years ago.  I have come to realize that it was not something that I really wanted, or needed.  As I get older the distance between my wants and needs shrinks. I am closer to wanting only what I truly need.  I’m not completely there yet. I’m still a work in progress but I can see where I’m headed.  The Lenten season can help me get a clearer perspective on wants and needs by practicing needs first.

Finally, I have come to understand that I cannot adjust my own heart’s desire.  I need help. I need God to step in and gently move my desires to that that is pleasing to God.  It is taking me a long time to realize that God will send me that that will be pleasing both to God and to me.  This is made manifest in the people put in my path as well as vocational adjustments in community.  This adjustment is a cleansing from God.  And it takes God to do it but we first have to want it, while not knowing what “it” is.  I am so glad to pray our Collect for Purity every Sunday and it is only fitting that I recall those words now.  “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid:  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.” (1979 BCP p. 355)

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday 5 March 5, 2019

AM Psalm 26, 28; PM Psalm 36, 39 Deut. 6:16-25; Heb 2:1-10; John 1:19-28

Hebrews:

“Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”  (Hebrews 2:1)

My Pondering

Hearing the Word is so important to living faithful lives.  We are blessed in our church to weekly hear lessons from the Hebrew Testament, a Psalm or part of a Psalm, a New Testament reading and Words from the Gospel of Jesus.  We also hear a reflection on the words heard in a homily.

But our hearing is more than just this opening of our service.  We hear each other together as we pronounce what we believe in the words of the Creed.  In the same way we hear our collective selves pray to God for the welfare of our families, our church and clergy, our nation, for the sick and those who have passed. We hear all of our voices coming together and going to God in hope.

We also hear ourselves confess that we have done some wrong things and left some good works undone.  All of us have done this or not done this.  We say it together, and we hear it together.

It is important to remember what the writer to the Hebrews says, “we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”  And while not everyone can hear, the deaf live with us who can hear. They benefit and learn from us who can hear as we behave accordingly.  What we hear in our church service must be practiced in our everyday lives, at home and away, Monday back to Sunday again.  Weekly listening leads to loving lives. To drift away is to lose the hope of holding on to the life God wants for us.

God speaks to us through us.  God has one mouth, Jesus, we have two ears so that we can double hear what God is saying as the Psalmist says, “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.” (Psalm 62:11 NRSV)

So Lent is the time in the Church year for people who have fallen away from the sound of the Word to come back within earshot of the Word. But like the Hebrews preacher says, for those of us who have been regular listeners to not just let what we’ve been hearing to become mundane but rather, “we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.