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Ash Wednesday Homily

What strikes me from the Gospel passage today is about this notion of privacy. Perhaps this is simply because I am a millennial. For long as I have been alive, computers have been connecting together in networks. I grew up with social media. The online world where everything and anything is shared and all too often, unfortunately, people have a tendency to joke that if it isn't on social media then it really hasn't happened. The notion of privacy is a shadow of what it once was. Everything has to be known, or at least accessible, in case someone wants to know it. So the idea that I could go to church or spend money or not eat without anyone knowing is almost a novelty. However, privacy is an important aspect of true relationship. All relationships have those aspects which are shown to the public and then those aspects which are kept between each other. Couples always have private aspects to their relationship and what set of best friends do you know that ...

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday 3/1/17 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Paradox always seems to hit in the most sacred of moments. Today, I am experiencing some serious conflict between what we have come here together to do this morning and the gospel passage for today. Ash Wednesday is best known for the imposition of ashes in the sign of the cross on our foreheads, but it is also known as a major fast day for the Church. A day where people give up food, sweets, meats, and all manner of other things in order to focus on God. Yet, in the gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus tells us very specifically not to make it known to everyone that we are fasting… which is slightly incongruous with putting ashes on our heads. Paradoxical? Maybe. Hypocritical? Maybe. The true question underneath this ironic situation is, “What is appropriate piety to practice?” This passage in Matthew is structured around the three major ways of the Jewish tradition to practice piety, to practice following their beliefs. First, alm...

Ash Wednesday - Grow and Rule

The liturgy of ritual is like the mother's ruler Marking boundaries to be learned and giving space for freedom When we plant in ash and soil We grow what we once knew The living dust of love  Let me empty all my inner closets Into plastic containing bins Remembering, sorting, realigning Making space for planting stardust Relationships full of light