Bishop's Note: Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Bishop Eric Menees

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which giveth life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This collect begins with the acknowledgement that God is our "Gracious Father." He is the very essence of fatherhood - we only know a good father or a wanting father due to the fact that we have a good and gracious Father in heaven.  

For many in other religions, this is a very offensive concept - that God could be referred to as our Father. Within Orthodox Judaism it is still considered near blasphemy to pronounce the name of God - God is known through His word and through His creation, but is not a personable being. Within Islam, God or Allah is impersonal and unknowable. Equally within eastern religions, God is a disembodied force that one seeks to align with but cannot be known nor know you.

For Christians the title of Father implies exactly what it means - that God desires both to be known and to know us as His adopted sons and daughters. How amazing it is to know that the God of the Universe - the God who spoke the stars and planets into existence - also chose to adopt us as His children! "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

As a human father desires the very best for his children, so too our Heavenly Father desires the very best for us, His adopted children. Jesus speaks directly to this when he taught the disciples: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13)

Even beyond our Heavenly Father’s desire to provide for us, He desires to be so deeply known to us that we abide in Him and He in us. Listen to this collect: "Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which giveth life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him…."  God sent his son to be the Bread of Life: “Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” (John 6:35) These images of bread and water are powerful ones - they are the very stuff of life. Jesus taught us to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread…," (Luke 11:3) - give us Jesus daily, that we may live, for nothing can satisfy or delight as much as the Bread of Life. 

How awesome it is for us, when we come to the altar on the Lord's day - or any day - and kneel down, make the sign of the cross, and place our hands out to receive the Bread of Life - the body of Christ. How thrilling it is to know, in the depth of our being, that Christ is present in some mystical way in that bread, and that when receiving Him we are being obedient to His command: "Take, eat, this is my body given for you…," (Matthew 26:26) and that His desire is to be with us.

As a priest and bishop, it remains my greatest honor to celebrate Holy Eucharist - to look into the  eyes of a believer and, while placing the consecrated bread into their hands or upon their tongue, say, "The body of Christ, the bread of Heaven" or "The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life." 

I pray that, as we approach the depth of Lent and the height of Easter, we will always desire: "Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him…."  And to that I say... AMEN!

Note: These articles are written by Bishop Menees for the Diocese of San Joaquin. I have posted them on Soundings with his permission for a wider audience. This is also the case for his "Why I am an Anglican" series. Dale+

Facing the Canon with Archbishop Justin Welby

I thought I would share this interview with those who are interested. It is a good opportunity to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. He has been Archbishop for more than a year now and this interview is a less formal opportunity to hear him speak and get a sense of the man we pray for in our prayers of the people.

My own sense is that he is personable, humorous and humble. There is the obvious British deportment. Canon J. Johns asks some good questions but for the most part avoids the elephant in the Anglican living room which is the break in fellowship within the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The majority of questions focus on Archbishop Justin's experience in the Church of England.

++Welby sees himself as a specialist in reconciliation but there is even disagreement among Anglicans about what constitutes reconciliation. ++Welby defines reconciliation as "Good disagreement." That may be a good business model of reconciliation but that is not what the church means. Reconciliation in the church is preceded by repentance.

He is every inch an Evangelical Anglican Christian. He argues that we are 1. To worship Christ and 2. Spread the Gospel.

Fr. Dale Matson 

Bishop's Note: Collect for the Third Sunday of Lent

Bishop Eric Menees

Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

On Lent One, Fr. Tony Faint at St. Timothy's, Bishop, began his sermon by quoting step one of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous: "We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable." Fr. Faint's point was that we must admit that, without the power of the Holy Spirit, we are powerless over sin in our lives.

The collect for the Third Sunday of Lent makes the same point - that we have no power within ourselves to help ourselves overcome sin in our lives. Of course, this is not a new thought - it dates back to the first century, with St. Paul admitting to God, himself, and the people of the Church in Rome: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (Romans 7:15) Admitting that we have no power to help ourselves is absolutely necessary for our salvation. When we live with the illusion that we have the power to help ourselves, then we never need God! So the scriptures teach us that we have no power to help ourselves, and therefore we need to turn to God.

The service of Reconciliation begins with this very admittance:

Penitent

Bless me, for I have sinned.

The Priest says

The Lord be in your heart and upon your lips that you may truly and humbly confess your sins: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Penitent

I confess to Almighty God, to his Church, and to you, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in things done and left undone; especially ______." (BCP pg. 447)

Precisely because we are powerless to help ourselves, we must seek Him who is all powerful - The Lord God Almighty - for our protection and for our forgiveness. Thanks be to God, we are loved beyond our wildest imaginations by Jesus Christ, who willingly suffered and died that the veil may be torn in two and the chasm between God and man may be bridged.

And so we pray to Him for protection - protection from the enemy and the father of all lies, and for protection against our own weakness to see through those lies; lies like, “You don't need God,” or “God doesn't make junk, so you are perfect just the way you are."

My prayer for you and for me this Third Sunday in Lent is that we will not rely upon ourselves, but upon Jesus Christ - and Him alone - for our salvation, forgiveness, and protection. And to that I say... AMEN

Note: These articles are written by Bishop Menees for the Diocese of San Joaquin. I have posted them on Soundings with his permission for a wider audience. This is also the case for his "Why I am an Anglican" series. Dale+

Bishop's Note: Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent

Bishop Eric Menees

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from thy ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of thy Word, Jesus Christ thy Son; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This beautiful collect for the Second Sunday in Lent addresses many of the realities that we live with daily, whether or not we acknowledge them. 

First, the collect is addressed to God whose chief characteristic is MERCY. This is not mercy simply for others - it is mercy for me and for you! Christianity stands apart from all other religions because of God's willingness to suffer for His creation. Mercy is defined by Miriam Webster’s Dictionary as: "compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power." Our God is a God of mercy and compassion, because not only has He chosen not to give us the punishment we deserve, but he has also chosen to have compassion on - that is, to suffer with - us. In taking on human form and substance, and then suffering the wrath of God on our behalf - what theologians refer to as Substitutional Atonement - God has demonstrated His mercy. Awesome! God's mercy is also shown in his decision to adopt us as His sons and daughters. As the prologue to the Gospel of John so beautifully states it: "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)

Second, this collect petitions God to extend his Grace to all who have gone astray from His ways. That petition is for each and every one of us as the descendants of Adam.  Isaiah acknowledges this fact: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) Isaiah prophesied to a stiff necked people, and we have to count ourselves among them. The acknowledgement that we have gone astray is absolutely essential to enjoying God's mercy. We tend live with the illusion that we are perfect just the way we are - that we set the rules, and as long as we are not actively hurting another person, we are doing just fine. That may be true based on man's law, but not on God's law. Jesus set the bar with the Great Commandment, and not a one of us has been able to consistently follow that law - Lord have Mercy!

Finally, this collect asks God to direct us back to Him and help us to hold fast to the truth of His unchangeable Word - Jesus Christ. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to seek after, learn from, and cling to Jesus. This Season of Lent, we have an opportunity to "...embrace and hold fast to the unchangeable truth...” of Jesus Christ our Lord through scripture reading, prayer, worship, fasting, and self-denial. I invite you to join me in saying this prayer - thanking God for his Mercy and asking His assistance in repenting and returning to the Lord!

 

Note: These articles are written by Bishop Menees for the Diocese of San Joaquin. I have posted them on Soundings with his permission for a wider audience. This is also the case for his "Why I am an Anglican" series. Dale+

Bishop's Note: Collect for the First Sunday in Lent

Bishop Eric Menees

This week, we began the Season of Lent with the beautiful and fearful service of Ash Wednesday. In that service we were reminded of The Fall and, as a result, of our mortality, with the imposition of ashes and the statement: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." These words are taken from Genesis 3:19... "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  

In the Ash Wednesday Liturgy, we were also invited to the practice of keeping a Holy Lent through self-denial and self-discipline. In the midst of these practices, Satan loves to come to us and tempt us. Isn't it amazing that we may decide to give up the television in order to spend more time in prayer, and all of a sudden we are plagued with thoughts about how much we like this or that show, sports game, or news cast? Almost immediately, the rationalizations come to our minds: "Sports isn't really watching TV, it's enjoying a game...or the news...I've got to keep up on events and the weather." Satan is the Father of all Lies (John 8:44), and his voice can sound exactly like ours in the midst of temptation.

It is for this reason that we must call upon the Holy Spirit to assist us in the midst of our temptations. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are victorious in our decision to deny ourselves and live for Christ. St. Paul, in writing to his young apprentice Timothy, said: "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."  (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

This week's Collect, though not original to Archbishop Cranmer, reminds us that we are powerful in The Lord, but that we need to "fan into flame the gift of God," which is the Holy Spirit. In him we should have no fear, and we must trust in his power, which is made manifest in love AND self-control. And so, it is with confidence that we pray this collect for the first week of Lent, as we begin our fasts and our disciplines of prayer, scripture reading, and service.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Note: The "Notes to the church" articles are written by Bishop Menees for the Diocese of San Joaquin. I have posted them on Soundings with his permission for a wider audience. This is also the case for his "Why I am an Anglican" series. Dale+