Rev. Valerie's Reveille

Today the Church remembers the Conversion of St. Paul, perhaps one of the most vividly described events in the Book of Acts. In Chapter 9, we meet Saul, “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” (9:1)  This is the Saul that held the coats of those that stoned Stephen to death.  He did everything he could to crush the fledgling religious movement of the Way, but it still kept growing.  No one meeting Saul would have ever thought he would become Jesus’ greatest advocate. But he did. The Risen Christ literally stopped Saul in his tracks on his way to Damascus and asked, “Why do you persecute me?”  Saul was struck blind and must be helped to bed in the aftermath of this dramatic encounter.  Only when Ananias – a faithful disciple yet still full of trepidation to meet the sworn enemy of the Jews – lays hands on Saul and prays for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit does Saul transform into Paul, a fierce defender of Christ. It i...

Jesus said to his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16:15-16 Today, the Church remembers St. Peter’s confession of faith, a momentous occasion in Matthew’s Gospel as Peter is the first person to identify Jesus as the Christ. It is serendipitous that this commemoration happens between the Sunday Lectionary cycle of the calling of the first disciples, last week from John’s Gospel and this week from Matthew.  In John, Peter’s brother, Andrew, testifies that they have found the Messiah before Peter ever meets Jesus.  In Matthew, it takes 12 chapters between being called to follow Jesus and Peter’s confession – but he still chose to follow. We could focus on how the details of the various Gospel’s are inconsistent of who did what when, however that is not a helpful enterprise since the intention is the same – belief in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son sent from God. The c...

The baptism of Jesus is so important, it gets two Sundays in our Lectionary, from different points of view.  This week we hear John’s version, which is much different from the other Gospels as it emphasizes Jesus’ being baptized with the Holy Spirit rather than with water.  This follows the way the Holy Spirit worked prior to the event of Pentecost, when it was given to particular people at particular times for particular reasons.  In Jesus’ case, it was to embody “the Lamb of God.” As we begin our calendar year, the focus on baptism in helpful and important.  Last Sunday we reaffirmed our Baptismal Covenant as a way to rededicate ourselves of how to live out our Christian identity in the world.  We will repent, we will pray, we will worship, we will love, we will respect.  These are no small tasks and we need God’s help, as well as our community, in order to fulfill our sacred vows. Secluar society will do all it can to distract us for these core values...

After all the planning and preparation, I usually have a sense of ennui following the Christmas excitement.  I know I am not alone in this as the tradition of “Twelfth Night” attests.  In the long, dark days and nights of Elizabethan England, any reason for celebration seemed to be a good idea, and since there is a (seemingly) religious context – the end of the Christmas season – all the better. Of course, the first time I remember hearing the term “Twelfth Night” it was in reference to William Shakespeare’s play, which has nothing to do with a religious holiday.  It was called “Twelfth Night” as that was the occasion for which he wrote the play, not about its subject or content.  The first production of “Twelfth Night” that I saw was in the middle of summer and the characters in the play were allusions to characters from “Gilligan’s Island” (strange, but it worked!). Shakespeare’s play is full of hijinks, mistaken identity, gender bending and sexual tension...