Homily 10.31.2020 (All Saints / All Souls)

Readings

1st Reading: Wisdom 3:1-9
2nd Reading: Romans 6:3-9
Gospel: John 6:37-40


At this time when the veil between the spirit world and our world is thin, I invite us to take a moment to honor the ancestors of the places where we are currently located, those who tended this land long before our own ancestors arrived.

We remember, we celebrate, we believe. This phrase from our opening song captures well the heart of these holy days of remembering and celebrating our beloved friends and ancestors who have passed on from this incarnation of life and we believe in this remembering and celebrating that they are still with us, united in the love of God that spans all time, and space, life, and death.

All three of our readings today emphasize this idea of connection – we are united to God and Christ not only in this life, but also in death and the new life that comes from death. Sophia wisdom reminds us that the souls of our beloved departed are in the hands of God. Paul opens our eyes to the Sacrament of Baptism as union with Christ in these cycles of life, death, and resurrection, the cycles of creation all around us, and the hopeful message that death is a necessary part of this cycle and from death springs new life. Our Gospel reminds us that in this intimate connection to the Triune God through the incarnation of Jesus we are promised life eternal, we continue to live on as we transition into an even deeper union with the divine in a Love that crosses all boundaries, including life and death.

Knowing that through this unitive presence of divine love we are connected to all who have gone before us and all who will come after us, we can call on these ancestors by name and invite in their gifts and support in our lives today. This is honestly one of my favorite things about Catholicism and our theological imagination: the understanding of the Communion of Saints. There are holy men and women who we can pray to and call on when we need them or their particular gifts in our lives. And this communion of saints extends beyond just the canonized, more well-known ancestors of faith, they include our more personal family members and ancestors as well, who through prayer we can also call on and invite into our lives here and now to support us with their gifts and blessings.

The necklace I am wearing tonight is my ancestor necklace, it contains a locket of my grandparents who have passed on, it includes a medallion of St. Francis and St. Clare, it includes a medallion of Our Lady of Guadalupe, our great divine Mother, and a medallion I bought from the Catacombs of Priscilla of an engraving of an early woman church leader leading prayer. They are all part of my communion of saints who I draw on in prayer and who’s support I feel on my own unraveling spiritual and life journey.

For millenia, at this particular time of year, cultures around the world have recognized there is something special and mysterious about our ability to connect with our beloved departed. Some of the language used is a thinning of the veil that separates the worlds. Given the rich Mexican-American cultural heritage in this country and our communities we might be most familiar with celebrations of the Day of the Dead, but there are similar festivals honoring the dead around this time in many cultures including European, Asian, African, and Latinx. Most of these cultural celebrations involve either visiting the tombs of the departed and/or creating altars, hosting parties and celebrations around bonfires, storytelling, dancing, and song. There is almost always a feast and food shared, particularly favorite foods of the departed. What all of this says to me is that ritual to remember and honor the dead, the ancestors, is an intrinsic part of being human. It is part of who we are.


At this time I would like to open it up for some sharing about what are the traditions in your own family or ancestral lineage to remember and celebrate the dead?


Food is an important part of these celebrations and rituals to honor the dead. Some include sharing a meal with the dead, leaving food out for them, or eating their favorite foods as a way to celebrate their ongoing presence.

I know there are certain foods or food related experiences that remind me of my grandparents who have passed on. I experience this when I make chocolate chip cookies in my grandmother’s green glass mixing bowl. Or over the summer when I went fishing with my nephews and then we cooked the fish we caught, I was reminded of my grandpa and our fishing trips.


What are some favorite foods or meals that remind you of the presence of your beloved departed?


As Catholics, we engage in the ritual meal of remembering our beloved dead every week! This is the Eucharist. When Jesus gathered with his friends before he passed and shared a meal, he said “do this in memory of me,” and in many of the resurrection appearances his presence was known in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the meal. We believe Christ is truly present in the meal we share in his honor. And in continuing this ritual meal we are also bringing into presence all of the ancestors who have shared this meal over the centuries.

On this celebration of All Saints/All Souls may we be particularly tuned in to the presence of Christ and the whole communion of saints that accompany us in the breaking of the bread, and may we live in such a way that the generations who come after us may continue to be blessed by our memory and legacy.

Homily 10.4.2020 (Feast of St. Francis)

Readings:

1st Reading: Praises of God by St. Francis
2nd Reading: Phil 4:6-9
Gospel: MT 21:33-43

Holy. Strong. All Good. Love. Wisdom. Humility. Patience. Joy and Gladness. Justice. Beauty. Hope. Protector. Our Great Sweetness. 

These attributes and praises of God heard in our first reading today by St. Francis, speak to a reality that is not beyond or outside of us, but that is within us as Imago Dei - the images of God - and woven into and throughout the very fabric of creation. This weekend we honor and celebrate the life and witness of St. Francis of Assisi, one of our patron saints here at Sts. Clare & Francis, and we draw on his wisdom and spirituality rooted deeply in devotion to the God present in all of creation and uniquely embodied in the life of the Christ to help guide us and accompany us in the work we are called to today.

There is power in choosing and there is power in naming. The names we choose for ourselves are incredibly significant and have consequences. To highlight this on a personal level I’d like to share a little about my own relationship with St. Francis and then look at our community’s relationship with Francis. When I was facing the choice to be confirmed into the Catholic faith and had my doubts and questions about the institution and whether I really believed or wanted to be a part of it, the saint I turned to and chose as my confirmation saint was St. Francis of Assisi, and I have been blessed by that choice and naming ever since. When I traveled to Peru as a lay missionary, the church that I attended and served at was St. Francis of Assisi. It was through this Franciscan church community that I met my now husband, Roger, and we connected and grew in love through music just like Francis was a great lover of music, composing songs like the canticle of creation which we sung at the beginning of Mass. When I returned from Peru and was searching for a faith community that would honor and welcome my gifts I found Sts. Clare & Francis, ECC. The spirit of Francis has accompanied me in working to reconnect with the greater web of life in my development as an ecofeminist theologian and spiritual leader. I draw on the spirit of St. Francis in prayer frequently and I can feel his support, love, and encouragement. 

When this community was first forming and deciding on a name for itself, it chose Sts. Clare & Francis. In choosing Clare & Francis we invited in their spirits and legacies in a special way to guide us as a community and I believe they have. For the past year and a half or so we have been going through a process of discernment and visioning as a community to refine who we are and what we are called to do in the world as a witness to our faith. We can look to the saints we chose to model ourselves after to help give us wisdom and insight in this process, into the kind of community we are called to be at this time. 

We are called to ‘Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words.’ 

This wisdom of Francis reminds us that our actions speak louder than our words. We are incarnate, embodied, divine beings. Yes we are called to speak out with our words as Francis frequently did, but our lives and actions should match those same values and beliefs spoken out loud. Choosing how to spend our time and resources speaks to our values as a community, and the witness of Francis calls us to take seriously the Good News of Jesus and work to realize the beloved community where justice reigns here and now in our midst. Part of this Good News involves making a preferential option for the poor, a vow that Francis and his community took seriously and that is a core part of Catholic Social Teaching today. How are we complicit in economic systems that continue to increase the wealth gap between the rich and poor, and what are we doing to not only meet the needs of those who are impoverished today but transform the systems keeping them impoverished tomorrow? And as we preach the Good News with our actions and work to transform these systems of inequality we are called to do so with great joy and celebration, with song and dance, praising our God who accompanies us in this work. 

We are called to rebuild the house of God which has fallen into disrepair. 

What is the house of God? Francis I think went through a few different understandings of this call which I believe continues to be our call today. At first, he thought it was the physical church building where he first heard the message. Later he came to understand it to be the wider church community and structure. And still further I believe he understood it to mean the whole of creation as the dwelling place of our God. Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ - an encyclical deeply inspired by St. Francis of Assisi - reflects this understanding that this earth is our common home, the house of the living God which has not only fallen into disrepair but is being intentionally and systematically destroyed by human actions. I think we can see this call of Francis both in terms of rebuilding a new kind of Catholic community and also repairing the incredible harm happening throughout our common home. We are called to heal and repair the harm that has been committed in the name of God and Christ by welcoming and celebrating diversity and allowing each person to share their God given gifts with the church and with the world. We are called to help heal and repair our shattered relationships with the great web of life and to take bold, prophetic action in response to the worsening climate crisis. 

We are called to foster inter-religious dialogue and respect 

One famous encounter that St. Francis is known for is his meeting with the Muslim Sultan of Egypt during the Crusades, a bloody war between Christians and Muslims. Christian leaders were using fear and hatred to encourage young men to take up arms and fight against who they were told were their enemies in order to preserve their religion and way of life. Unfortunately we see a similar story playing out today. Francis however, at great personal risk, traveled and met with the Sultan of Egypt who received him and treated him warmly. It was through spending time together that Francis’ eyes and heart were opened to the beauty and deep faith of the Muslim people and he re-wrote his Order to include living peacefully among Muslims. We too today in an ever-changing world of religious diversity are called to get to know our neighbors and kin of differing faiths, to speak out against the violent actions fueled by white supremacy and Christian supremacy targeting other faith groups, and to work together to bring peace to our world. Which brings me to our final calling from Francis: 

We are called to be peacemakers. 

What does it mean to be a peacemaker in a violent world? St. Paul in his letter to the Philipians we heard today speaks of both the peace of God and the God of peace. St. Paul lived in the shadow of Roman occupation, in a violent world that saw his message as a threat to the status quo and powers that be, and imprisoned him and ultimately murdered him for his faithful witness. It is believed that this letter to the Philipians was written during one of his imprisonments. And yet he is able to speak of peace, and love, and justice even in these conditions because he knows a peace in his soul that only God can provide. 

St. Francis lived during violent times. Prior to his conversion he was a soldier and prisoner of war. After his conversion he continued to see great violence carried out in the name of God and Christ. He suffered ridicule and ostracization by family and friends, and yet he too continued to speak of good, love, justice, and peace because he knew the deep peace of God within him. 

How do we cultivate this grounding peace within us today and bring it into the world? We hear the powers that be call for peace in order to maintain their violent status quo. There is a chant we say in the streets: No justice, No peace - which recognizes that true peace cannot be separated from the reality of justice. Our call to be peacemakers in a world of violence today is a call to work for true justice so that all life can be healthy and thrive, and we do this work of justice rooted in the peace of God who hears our prayers and petitions, and who accompanies us in the struggle. 

There is a proverb: the more things change, the more they stay the same. While St. Francis lived over 800 years ago, the wisdom and witness of his life continues to be relevant to the times we are facing and our call as Christians today. I would like to end by inviting us to reflect on who we are called to be as channels of God’s peace in the world today as we listen to this beautiful prayer of St. Francis sung by Taft. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKxuixb_ki0&list=PLYVjnvP5OvXfAFFMVJBXnnCahr-s7ECuu&index=5)