strong-benevolent

Because I Follow Jesus, I love you.

I move toward “the other.”

I break down walls of hostility.

i stand with you in solidarity.

you are made in God’s image.

i am your servant.

I practice human-kindness.

Four Challenges

1. Historical

2. Doctrinal

4. Missional

Four Challenges

1. Historical

2. Doctrinal

3. Liturgical

4. Missional

there are liturgies that foment hostility and reinforce hostility...

can we imagine liturgies that inspire kindness?

The very act of gathering for worship

can be “groupish” ritualof affirming

“us-ness” versus

“them-ness.”

The Songs We Sing

All things bright and beautiful,All creatures great and small,All things wise and wonderful:The Lord God made them all.

- Ms. Cecil Alexander (1848)

Each little flower that opens,/ Each little bird that sings,/ He made their glowing colors./ He made their tiny wings.

The purple headed mountains,/ The river running by,/ The sunset and the morning/ That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,/ The pleasant summer sun,/ The ripe fruits in the garden,/ He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,/The meadows where we play,/ The rushes by the water,/ To gather every day.

He gave us eyes to see them,/ And lips that we might tell/ How great is God Almighty,/ Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,/ All creatures great and small,/ All things wise and wonderful:/ The Lord God made them all.

The rich man in his castle,The poor man at his gate,He made them, high or lowly,And ordered their estate.

All things bright and beautiful,All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful:The Lord God made them all.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal master, leads against the foe; Forward into battle see his banners go!

-Sabine Baring-Gould

France, 1847

Placide Clappeau, a French wine merchant, mayor of the French town Roquemaure, writes a poem.

Adolphe Adam sets it to music. Later the song is translated into English by John

S. Dwight – It is said to have been the first music ever

broadcast over radio.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born!O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother And in His Name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy Name! Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

1847

The Sermons We Preach

The Sermons We Preach

- Who is scapegoated/condemned? - What virtues are aspired to?

- What vices are condemned?- What Scriptures are

emphasized?- What subjects are avoided?

And vice versa?

The danger of the “cheap shot” amen ...

The Rituals We Practice

Baptism: A ritual of cleansing

Clean - uncleanAcceptance - revulsion

Us - themClean, still water

Certified Gatekeepers

Meanwhile in the wilderness:

The Essenes- Hyper-clearn-Hyper-puritan

- Isolated communes- Multiple daily

baptisms

What would it mean for John ...- to leave his father’s

priestly work- to leave the Temple- to leave Jerusalem

- to avoid the Essenes- and to baptize ...

in the Jordan River?- in public

- in running water- in an

“undeveloped” setting

- with a message, not of

cleanliness, but ...

rethinking, reformulation, repentance?

What does it mean for Jesus to

accept John’s baptism?

What would it mean for the Spirit in the form of a dove to descend upon

Jesus?

And what would it mean for Jesus’

disciples to expand John’s

“guerrilla theatre” around

the world?

Baptism - not into a new “hyper-clean” religion - but into Christ, a new humanity, a new kingdom, a new way of life?

Peter, Acts 10:

“God has shown me I should never call

anyone impure or unclean.”

“I now realize ... God does not show favoritism.”

Baptism into this new way of being human ...

Born again ...

Given a new identity ...

In the flowing river ...

In solidarity with everyone everywhere.

In Christ ...

neither Jew nor Greek ...

male nor female ...

slave nor free ...

In Christ ...

neither Jew nor Greek ...

male nor female ...

slave nor free ...

The Eucharist

Altar of Sacrifice ... to appease a hostile God?

or

Table of Fellowship ... to celebrate a reconciling

God?

A table of elitism and exclusion ...

or a feast of grace and reconciliation?

In John’s gospel:

Bread as manna ... God’s self-giving

Food, not sacrifice

For Paul ...

Eucharist as passover ... not day of atonement.

Meal of liberation ...

Meal of anticipation ...

We don’t need to offer a sacred gift to appease a hostile God ...

Rather, a gracious God offers a sacred gift of love to us ...

so that we will be reconciled to God and to one another.

Sacrifice is transformed in the New Testament ...

Living sacrifices (Rom 12)

Sacrifice of praise

Sacrifice of doing good and sharing (Hebrews)

but what about ...

Christ died for our sins ....

Christ died for our sins ....

The coach put in Smith for Jones. (substitute)

I paid $20 for the book. (exchange)

+++++

I got a ticket for speeding. (consequence)

I took an aspirin for my headache. (cure)

Meal of unity ...

Meal of solidarity ...

Meal of one-anotherness

how will our liturgies of hostility be

transformed ...

into liturgies of harmony?

new identity?peace-making?

From Catherine Maresca (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd)

Finally, [Maria] Cavalletti emphasizes the importance of being specific. You can’t teach children language without teaching children a language. She writes, “Wishing to stay on a vague level without any specific content is the same as wanting a child to talk without using any particular language.” Some parents say they don’t want their children to learn a particular religion because they want them to be free to choose their own. But these children are missing the opportunity to become spiritually literate.

To be initiated into the signs of their religious tradition creates the possibility of grasping the signs of many traditions, and of respecting the integrity of each of those traditions. So we need to be religious in a particular way, true to the faith we affirm for ourselves, in order to foster the spiritual and religious literacy of our children. world this is a service to our children. We have to be specific.

While we don’t reject other traditions, a particular religion has to be our starting point. To say, “I’m spiritual but not religious” is like saying, “I’m linguistic but don’t speak any particular language.” Everyone has innate linguistic capacity that gets activated as one learns a particular language or languages. Likewise, everyone has spiritual capacity that gets activated and mobilized through becoming religious in a particular way. Becoming religious in a particular way is foundational for relating to the religious other.

Children who have learned their native language well are poised to learn new languages with greater ease. Children who learned the language of their religious tradition are likewise poised to grasp the sacred signs of another tradition. As we nurture the spiritual life of young children with sacred signs, we simultaneously build the foundation of respect and understanding for others’ beliefs. With spiritual literacy, faith and interfaith formation work hand in hand, promoting in turn a more peaceful world.

Children, Signs, and SpiritualLiteracy: An Interfaith Experience

By Catherine Maresca

Four Challenges

1. Historical

2. Doctrinal

3. Liturgical

4. Missional