St. Nick and the MDG's

Yesterday we had a St. Nicholas Eucharist at the Cathedral (photo attached), complete with a visit from the Bishop of Myra himself. Afterward we had a presentation about the Millennium Development Goals....the 8 goals adopted by the United Nations (and later by the Episcopal Church) to work toward eradicating world poverty--and all that poverty impacts--by the year 2015. Today I learned about a prayer being said at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City, a prayer to be recited daily until the goals are met. Here's the article I read about this prayer, written by Barbara Crafton:

THE COUNTING PRAYER: WE HAVE THE MEANS Back in September, an important thing began to happen at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City, the historic 18th-century church that served so many recovery workers after the destruction of the World Trade Center. You may not have noticed it, not right away, it was so simple and so quiet. But it's still happening as I write this, and you're noticing now. It's called The Counting Prayer. People are praying it every day: The world now has the means to end extreme poverty, we pray we will have the will. It takes about three seconds to say it. People are signing onto a pledge to say it daily. Individuals and congregations of all faiths and Christian denominations throughout the world are pledging to say the prayer at every public service of worship. I have promised to say it at Morning and Evening Prayer every day. The prayers are counted and tallied at http://www.countingprayers.org/home. The Counting Prayer will go on until the Millennium Development Goals are met. You know the MDGs, by now: that group of eight means by which extreme poverty and its terrible effects on the human race can be ended. We do not lack what is needed to fulfill them. Our failure to do so is purely a matter of will, and our will can change: that's one of the things prayer does in us. And our will does lead us: when our will has changed, our behavior follows. Because we don't pray for change in the world as if it were a reality external to ourselves. The world isn't outside us; we are the world. We pray to become that thing we wish to see in the world, to become people for whom comfort is incomplete while others still sicken and die from being poor. Perfectly aware that self-interest governs the affairs of nations and the lives of many individuals, we pray for another rule to grow among us: we pray for the world to become as important as the self. People are capable of living this way: ask almost any parent. The Prayer Vigil Counter as of this morning was at 0,000,064,032. The people at CountingPrayers.org say they expect to reach 100,000 by New Year's. They bid us all a blessed Advent. The world now has the means to end extreme poverty, we pray we will have the will.

Ordination: Done!

Well it is done! I was actually ordained to the transitional diaconate last Saturday. What a great Eucharist! Thanks to all who helped to make it such a memorable day. The youth and kids who were part of the service and sat in the front pew made me really happy. A friend videotaped the ordination and at times, in the background, was the sound of children----a beautiful beautiful noise.

In J2A the next day we discussed the process I went through leading up to ordination. It wasn't until I spoke of the entire process that I realized just how much goes into this--and how many people carried me, and continue to carry me through this process. Thank you!

When I left the "family pew" for the Examination and Consecration I had a distinct knowledge that "this was it" I was walking away from laity and toward clergy. It was very moving for me. I am still digesting the amazing day!

Today I was honored to preach at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood. I spoke about the Millenium Development Goals and how the Gospel compels us to remember those who have less than we do. Afterwards I came home, opened the Sunday paper and saw this column by Anna Quindlen. The column is reprinted below, followed by the text of my sermon. The bottom line? There are a ton of needy people in the world and if we just skipped one latte a week, we could feed an awful lot of people:

Blessed Is the Full Plate
A terrible shortage of food for the poor grips the country. Where is the political will to do the right thing for the hungry?
By Anna Quindlen
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 12:47 PM ET Nov 17, 2007
One of the most majestic dining rooms in New York City is in the Church of the Holy Apostles. After the landmark building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1990, the Episcopal parish made the decision not to replace the pews so that the nave could become a place of various uses. There are traditional Sunday services, of course, and the gay and lesbian synagogue on Friday evenings. And every weekday more than a thousand people eat lunch at round tables beneath 12-foot stained-glass windows and a priceless Dutch pipe organ.
"You can't get more Biblical than feeding the hungry," says the Rev. William Greenlaw, the rector.
Holy Apostles has fed the hungry for 25 years now without missing a single weekday, including the morning after the fire, when the church lay in ruins, still smoldering, and 943 meals were served by candlelight. There's a queue on Ninth Avenue by midmorning; sometimes tourists think there's a wait for some exclusive New York happening until they notice the shabby clothes, piles of shopping bags and unshaven faces that are the small unmistakable markers of poverty.
The poor could be forgiven for feeling somewhat poorer nowadays. The share of the nation's income going to the top 1 percent of its citizens is at its highest level since 1928, just before the big boom went bust. But poverty is not a subject that's been discussed much by the current administration, who were wild to bring freedom to the Iraqis but not bread to the South Bronx. "Hunger is hard for us as a nation to admit," says Clyde Kuemmerle, who oversees the volunteers at Holy Apostles. "That makes it hard to talk about and impossible to run on."
At Holy Apostles the issue is measured in mouthfuls. Pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches. But in this anniversary year the storage shelves are less full, the pipeline less predictable. The worst emergency food shortage in years is plaguing charities from Maine to California, even while the number of those who need help grows. The director of City Harvest in New York, Jilly Stephens, has told her staff they have to find another million pounds of food over the next few months to make up the shortfall. "Half as many pantry bags" is the mantra heard now that the city receives half the amount of emergency food than it once did from the Feds. In Los Angeles 24 million pounds of food in 2002 became 15 million in 2006; in Oregon 13 million pounds dwindled to six. It's a cockamamie new math that denies the reality of hunger amid affluence.
There are many reasons why. An agriculture bill that would have increased aid and the food-stamp allotment has been knocking around Congress, where no one ever goes hungry. Donations from a federal program that buys excess crops from farmers and gives them to food banks has shrunk alarmingly. Even the environment and corporate efficiency have contributed to empty pantries: more farmers are producing corn for ethanol, and more companies have conquered quality control, cutting down on those irregular cans and battered boxes that once went to the needy.
What hasn't shrunk is the size of the human stomach. At lunchtime at Holy Apostles, Ernest is hungry, his hand bandaged because he got in a fight, even though he is sober now and has his own place in the Bronx. Janice is hungry, too, she of the beautiful manners and carefully knotted headscarf, who sleeps on the train on winter nights and walks with a cane since being hit by a car. There are the two veterans, both Marines, with the raddled faces and slightly unfocused eyes of those who sleep outdoors, which means mostly always being half-awake, and that group of Chinese women who don't speak English, and the Muslim couple who sit alone. Mostly it's single men at Holy Apostles. Some are mentally ill, and some are addicts, and to repair their lives would take a lot of help. But at the moment they have an immediate problem with an immediate answer: pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches.
This place is a blessing, and an outrage. "We call these people our guests," says the rector. "They are the children of God." That's real God talk. The political arena has been lousy with the talk-show variety in recent years: worrying about whether children could pray in school instead of whether they'd eaten before they got there, obsessing about the beginning of life instead of the end of poverty, concerned with private behavior instead of public generosity.
There's a miracle in which an enormous crowd comes to hear Jesus and he feeds them all by turning a bit of bread and fish into enough to serve the multitudes. The truth is that America is so rich that political leaders could actually produce some variant of that miracle if they had the will. And, I suppose, if they thought there were votes in it. Enough with the pious sanctimony about gay marriage and abortion. If elected officials want to bring God talk into public life, let it be the bedrock stuff, about charity and mercy and the least of our brethren. Instead of the performance art of the presidential debate, the candidates should come to Holy Apostles and do what good people, people of faith, do there every day—feed the hungry, comfort the weary, soothe the afflicted. And wipe down the tables after each seating. Here's a prayer for every politician: pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches. Amen.


URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/70982
© Newsweek Mag


"Jesus Remember Me"
Preached by Cathy Dempesy at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Buffalo, NY
November 25, 2007 Christ the King Sunday, Last Pentecost

Christ the King Sunday. Christ as the Ruler, Christ as the Sovereign. That is a difficult image for some. Prince of Peace may be a little easier. But the truth is, I think we should embrace this moniker---Christ as King, Christ as Sovereign—because the point in this label is that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ has completely turned the idea of earthly rulers, of powers, of dominions, of principalities on its ear. We as humans are held hostage by the limits of language. When we hear King we have a number of negative images Better that when we hear Christ the King we hear it accompanied by a wink and a nod. For this king, this ruler, is not about power and oppression but is about peace, reconciliation, and love.

Why do we celebrate OneSunday, the day we reflect on the work of the Church toward achieving the millennium Development Goals—the eradication of world poverty by the year 2015, on a day when our readings are full of rulers, and wrath and mocking? Because the church has a fabulous sense of irony. On the one hand it is the result of power and domination that we have a world of haves and have nots. Power and domination has contributed to the millions of AIDS orphans throughout the world. It is the result of power and domination that there are women who remain enslaved in abusive relationships because they have no access to education, who die in childbirth due to no access to basic maternal health care. It is the result of power and domination which leads to the destruction of our environment through global warming and the waste of our earth, entrusted to us at creation.

On the other hand, it is through the life, death and resurrection of this peasant from Nazareth that we are given the route to righting all of these wrongs. All the powers and dominions of the world do not have a chance in the face of The Christ. Because Jesus, the Christ, the incarnate God, God made human doesn’t play the game.
“If you are the King of Jews save yourself. If you are the Messiah then save yourself!”
We, as humans don’t get it, do we? By not saving himself he saved us. And by not saving ourselves, we save others. Think about some of the basic tenets of relationship success. Sometimes you just back off. Sometimes you compromise. Sometimes you let go. Because sometimes being right isn’t as important as your beloved. By not buying the biggest bossiest car around we may feel a little less comfortable or important, but we will help, in the littlest bit, slow global warming. By accepting higher taxes we may have less of the extras, but someone else will get a little more of the necessities.
So the alleged King of the Jews, the First Born of all Creation, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings, died on the cross. It wasn’t in a blaze of glory, it wasn’t after a battle royal. They came, they arrested him and he went, peacefully and in a seeming state of resignation. The men around Jesus fled, their King had been stripped, their Teacher had been defeated, their Emperor had No Clothes. They fled. They were scared. The power of the earthly realm had swooped down and destroyed, in their minds, the promise of a new rule, a new kingdom, a new power. So they hid, the denied, they ran. A handful of women remained, including his mother. Did they remain because they knew it would be ok? Did they remain because they knew Jesus would reign supreme? Did they stay because they knew that the empire would be defeated? No. They stayed because this man they loved, this son she had birthed, this teacher they revered, was seemingly defeated. He was beaten, he was abandoned, he was lost. And they would not leave. They couldn’t save him from death, but they could stand with him until the end. They remained his companions. They remained his friends. They remained because the right thing to do was to stand with the one they loved, to make sure he knew he was not alone, that he mattered to them and that they would stand with him until the end. He wasn’t their King, he wasn’t (just ) their savior, he wasn’t their messiah, he was their friend, he was their family. And he was in big trouble. And he was very scared. And they would not let him die all alone. So they stood there. They watched a horrible spectacle, they quite possibly wondered where God was in all of this, they quite possibly felt overwhelmed. No doubt they were terrified. No doubt a part of them wanted to turn and run. But they didn’t. They looked at the horror dead on. They looked, they saw, they witnessed. They remembered.
That’s what we are asked to do through the MDG’s. At the Cathedral a lot of people have mentioned that they have compassion fatigue because we talk about the MDG’s a lot. Our answer? We will keep talking about them as long as there is one child who goes to bed hungry tonight. We will keep talking about them as long as families are dying from very preventable diseases. We will keep talking about them as long as the Haves in our World forget ignore or deny the Have Nots. Because if we do not look at the horror of global poverty, environmental destruction and the spread of preventable diseases like HIV and Malaria, dead in the eye then we are no different than the mocking crowds at the cross, shouting, SAVE YOURSELF. But is that who we really are? We may fall into that behavior, when we cross the street to avoid the homeless person, when we don’t recycle, when we buy and buy and buy for ourselves, leaving nothing for the rest of the world. But at our core that is not who we are. God knows that. Jesus knows that. It’s us who forget.
And who, in today’s lessons teaches us to remember? Jeremiah? Paul? Jesus? Nope. The Thief. A thief. A criminal, a nare do well, one of the other two crucified with Jesus that day. The one who simply says, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He saw the crowds, he heard the taunts and he simply asked Jesus for salvation. Jesus, Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom. Not this Kingdom, not the Kingdom of oppression and domination, but the Kingdom of salvation, the kingdom of unfathomable joy, peace and light. The Kingdom of all of Creation, unified and reconciled in perfect harmony, as God intended. Jesus Remember Me.
The question of course isn’t will Jesus remember us, but will we remember Jesus?If we remember Jesus we remember that the thrones, dominions rulers and powers of this world mean nothing.
When we remember Jesus, we remember the least among us.
When we remember Jesus we can no longer keep the blinders on.
When we remember Jesus we no longer accept oppression of the other.
When we remember Jesus we no longer tolerate millions of people dying because of preventable diseases.
When we remember Jesus we no longer accept that women die in childbirth.
When we remember Jesus we remember that this creation, this earth, our island home, is a gift to be cherished and nurtured and loved.
When we remember Jesus, we remember that love, God’s love, was poured out on that cross .
When we remember Jesus we, along with Mary and the other women, along with the beloved disciple, along with the thief, are remembered by Jesus when he comes into the kingdom of equality, his kingdom of abundance, his kingdom of love for all, regardless of thrones, dominions and powers. When we remember the least among us. when we remember the downtrodden, the oppressed, the hated and the despised, we remember Jesus. And when we refuse to accept a world of inequality, a world of terror, a world of abuse, we remember Jesus. And when we do that, Jesus remember us.


Jesus remember us when you come into your kingdom while we remember you as we gaze upon the awesome things God has done with Creation. Jesus as you remember us, let us remember you.

Amen.

Bishop Tutu from the BBC News

Tutu chides Church for gay stance
Archbishop Tutu rebuked religious conservatives
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".
He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.
He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.
"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.
"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.
"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God."
'Extraordinarily homophobic'
Archbishop Tutu referred to the debate about whether Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, could serve as the bishop of New Hampshire.
He said the Anglican Church had seemed "extraordinarily homophobic" in its handling of the issue, and that he had felt "saddened" and "ashamed" of his church at the time.
Asked if he still felt ashamed, he said: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."
Dr Williams has been working to limit divisions between liberal and traditionalist Anglicans that came to the fore following Bishop Robinson's consecration in 2003.
Following his plea for compromise, leaders of the Episcopal Church in the US agreed to halt the consecration of gay priests as bishops, to prevent a split in the Anglican Communion.
In the interview, Archbishop Tutu also rebuked religious conservatives who said homosexuality was a choice.
"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual.
"You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred.
"It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society."
F

On Sunday November 11, 2007 I preached the following sermon at the Cathedral. Enjoy--Cathy

I know that my Redeemer lives. It is a beautiful sentence isn’t it? Too bad Job wasn’t actually referring to God. Actually he was referring to a friend, an advocate, someone to represent him to God, for at that moment in time Job was pretty ticked off at God. But for centuries we have heard this line as a loving statement of faith. And I am all for keeping it that way.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know it, I know it, I know it. Except for those times when I forget. Sometimes we forget.
Job forgot. Paul was worried that the church in Thessalonica would forget. The Sadducess? They forgot. Jesus? He forgot---not for long, just for a moment when he was so scared on the cross.--- But then before the lament was out of his mouth, he remembered. He remembered that His Redeemer lived.
I know that my Redeemer Liveth, that wonderful solo from Handel’s Messiah. Handel knew that his Redeemer lives and he shouted it to the world through his music.
So even though it may not have been the original intent in the book of Job that phrase resonates with us—Job may not have meant it as we meant it, but the statement works, it will warm us when our choirs sing Handel’s Messiah on December 2 right here at the Cathedral. Even the coldest of December nights are warmed when he hear: “My Redeemer Liveth.” Because it is true.

December, it will be here before we know it. Two short weeks ago it was hard to imagine the cold and dark of a Buffalo winter, but now? Now there

has been snow, we have dug out the gloves; the ice scraper is back in the car. The earth is going dormant, the leaves are dying, and the plants are frost bit, but even in the darkest and coldest of nights, we know that spring will come. We just know it.
Everything around us has died, yet we know that spring will come. We know that the earth will live again. The circle of life.
We live each day to its fullest even though we know we will die. We may weep at the grave of family and friends, but we are not hopeless. For we know we will be together at the last day (John 6:40). The relationship we had with the deceased is not over, it is changed. It is this point the Sadducess are having trouble with, so they challenge Jesus with their long tale of marriages and remarriages [as was the Levrite marriage custom] . To whom would the woman be married in the afterlife? The woman,is a child of God, and in the world to come, that’s all that matters. Because, according to Jesus, it is the relationship we know as faith which feeds and fuels all other relationships. As John says in his epistle, God is love. (1 John 4:8) And all other love flows out of that.
Our ability to have relationships-- to be in relationship with each other-- is because of the relationship God has with us.

God the three in one, trinity, is all about relationships, actually the triune God—father son and holy spirit isn’t about relationship. God is relationship.
The creator God made the heavens and the earth and all the interconnections and inter-relatedness of that creation. That vast expanse of interstellar space? We now know that it is vast beyond all our wildest imaginings. It is

exponentially larger than scientists thought. Yet, in all that vastness there is intricate interconnectedness. The effect of a butterfly flapping her wings in Peru can, 3 weeks later, impact the weather patterns in Tibet. This “butterfly effect” is just one of a whole cadre of discoveries science has made regarding the inter-relationship of creation. Can not recycling your newspaper destroy the earth? Single-handedly no, but in conjunction with other seemingly miniscule decisions? Yes. This interconnectedness is relationship. The ultimate form of this interconnectedness is the trinity—for each aspect of the trinity feeds off the other:
This God the Creator and God the Son in relationship is what fuels our faith. That fuel ,that action between God and Son, God and Creation, Son and humanity—that is the Holy Spirit.—

My ability to love you, your ability to love me, our ability to love one another is God Given. It is the relationship which is God, it is Grace. Grace is the stuff of relationships. The love we feel for others is God. God the Father lovingly incarnated as God the son, lovingly at work within us, between us, above us, before us, behind us, below us is God the Holy Spirit.

In today’s Gospel, The Sadducees were trying to trick Jesus and Jesus did what he was very good at—he beat them at their own game. It was easy for Jesus to do for he knew that the Sadducees were focused on this life, the life we know the life which we can taste touch and see. But Jesus is talking about a greater life—the true and eternal life which is not easily


comprehended. The life which requires faith to grasp. The life which is shown to us day in and day out through our loving relationships.
Jesus understood that the relationships we have on earth are precious to us and I don’t think he is saying that we should scrap it all .
The relationship of Three in One—the trinity-- fills our hearts and souls. It is the action of that relationship which gives us the ability to be in relationship with one another.

Jesus isn’t demeaning our loving earthly relationships—not at all—but he is saying that we must always remember that our ability to be in relationship, our ability to love and to nurture is a gift…a gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us by God, through Jesus Christ.
If we acknowledge the fact, that it is through relationship God is expressed, then so much falls into place:
The irritating co-worker, the annoying driver, the whiny friend, the belligerent 2 yr old, the impatient spouse—all of these people are in relationship with us, and in that relationship God is working. The Sadducees were in relationship with Jesus, just as Job was in relationship with God—and those relationships are a conduit for Grace. All relationships are potential vehicles for God’s Grace. It is up to us, in our human condition to decide whether we will cooperate with God’s grace. When in relationship we can one of two things: we can head toward the life giving light of God or toward the life draining darkness. When we head toward the darkness we deny the flow of God’s grace.


When in darkness we find many false redeemers: power, prestige, drugs, money, and elitism. In Denying God we embrace all the worst aspects of humanity: anger, hatred, abuse, bigotry, the list goes on.
Darkness begets darkness so once in it, finding our way out is hard. We can’t do it alone. We need help. We need a partner. We need another. We need to be in relationship.
The Church, the one in Thessalonica, as well as this one in Buffalo, is all about relationships. A church of one is no church; a church of one is no community. For the church relies on people, people who gather in faith to rejoice in the relationship we know as God. In this world, we need the church. In this world and in this church, we need each other.

Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann has a theory about what we, the modern day church needs to be for the world in the 21st century---what he calls a non-anxious presence. To illustrate his point he reminds us of the role a loving adult plays when a child awakens in the middle of the night
from a nightmare. We go to the child take them in our arms and say, do not be afraid, I am here.
That’s being the light in the child’s darkness: I am here. You are here, together we will be ok, because together we are in relationship and that relationship is God’s grace.
How powerful this can be. What if, when we are blind with rage at another we stopped to think, is this God’s grace?



What if when the government made decisions about the war they stopped and thought that every person they harm, Americans or Iraqis or Afghanis has relationships and that in those relationships is God. Each of these people can be vessels for God’s grace. We must cherish that grace, we must realize that they—all of them---are creatures of God.

They are part of the ever flowing grace and love of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God.
What, if when we exchanged the Peace with one another we realized—I mean really realized that we, right then and there in that exchange are doing what God has intended: to connect, to relate, to love.

When we stand together, look at each other and say “The Peace of the Lord Be With You” we are also saying, “Do Not Be Afraid, for I know that my Redeemer, Your Redeemer, Our Redeemer, Lives.”

J2A THIS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18

We will meet at our regular time, 4:30-6:30. Don't forget to bring something to drink. Also we need a volunteer to bring dessert---any takers?
This week in the group with Cathy, we will discuss confirmation and go over a list of stuff we need to accomplish before confirmation on May 1. We will also set up a rehearsal time for those acolyting at the ordination. See you Sunday!

Ordination!!!!

Yes, it is true, on December 1, 2007 I will be ordained a transitional deacon. 6 months or so later, I should (God and the People Willing) be ordained a priest. For so long now I have been consciously trying to NOT get excited, as there were hurdles to overcome, committees to meet with etc. But now the invitations are out, the plans are being finalized and it is official: I am VERY excited.
Not being excited reminded me of trying to act very cool when I was younger---you know pretending that nothing was a big deal, taking everything in stride. Well no longer. I am older and I have decided that I can be excited. Now I won't get too excited because that can get annoying really fast, but I will be excited...I am excited. Be excited with me, OK? Several of the youth from St. Paul's have already agreed to help with the service on way or another....I want as many kids and youth there as possible...so mark your calendars for December 1 at 10:30 in the morning, at the Cathedral. Join me, it should be VERY fun!!!!!!!

Relationships

I am working on the sermon for this Sunday and it is turning out to be about relationships. Especially about the primary relationship--The Relationship--of our life: the Trinity. Now before you stop reading, give me a moment of your time, especially if you are preparing to be confirmed. The Trinity, as we express so regularly, is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But how does this work? How can God be One yet be three? The basic answer is: well it is one of the mysteries of faith. But that is wholly unsatisfactory to inquiring minds. So, you inquiring minded folks, try this on for size:
God so loved the world, that God needed to be with us in flesh and blood, because God knew that we needed to see, hear and touch God in the flesh to really understand. That taking on flesh, that God made in human form, is Jesus. It took Jesus to explain to us that even when he was no longer walking upon the earth he would still be with us, because God is always with us. Being human beings though, we need more assurance than that. We need some proof! So, as Jesus explains in the Gospel of John: In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. John 14:19-20.
What is Jesus talking about here? What does he mean?The Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit is in me, it is in you, it runs between us, it is relationship. When you and your best friend have an excellent time together, that's the Holy Spirit. When you and your Dad or Mom really connect, that is the Holy Spirit. When we laugh and laugh and laugh together that is the Holy Spirit. The good stuff in life is almost always stuff which happens between two people, or in a group of people, a family, a bunch of friends. The really good stuff in life is experienced in relationship. And relationship---connecting---is God---God as Creator (Father); God as Son (Jesus), God as Holy Spirit (grace). On Sunday when we were working at Friends of the Night People and we were laughing and saying hi to all of the guests and helping them get a hot meal God was there--with every "Hi, how are you?" and every, "Thank you" and "you're welcome" and every smile we were exchanging grace, we were instruments of God's love, we were, through our connecting with one another, expressions of the Holy Trinity, expressions of God as Creator, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. God is huge, so God needs a variety of ways to get our attention.
See you Sunday!
PS check out www.npr.org and look up StoryCorps on the Morning Edition tab. StoryCorps is all about relationships!

Casualties of War--Children

I just saw this in this morning's paper. 2 children killed by US or US supported troops. I am sure hundreds if not thousands of children have been killed in Iraq, but we sure don't hear about it. Children are a gift. To kill a child is the worst type of horror. Pray for the children of our world, those in the path of war, those in the grips of disease, those who will wake up today hungry, scared or lonely.

2 children die in US raid in Afghanistan By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer



KABUL, Afghanistan - A nighttime raid in eastern Afghanistan by U.S. and Afghan troops sparked a gunbattle that killed three people, including two children, and the military said Thursday it is investigating the deaths.


Civilian casualties have incited resentment and demonstrations against U.S. and NATO forces, though officials blame militants who use civilian homes as cover during clashes. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with Western forces to do all they can to prevent such deaths.

The latest civilian casualties came as U.S. and Afghan troops were raiding a compound suspected of harboring militants belonging to a suicide bombing network. They were fired upon as they approached late Wednesday in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar province, said Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.

After the clash, a militant and two children were found dead inside the compound, Belcher said. A woman and another child were wounded, he said.

"It is regrettable that the civilian lives were put in danger by the militants and our sincere condolences goes to the families of the deceased and wounded," said Belcher, noting the military has launched an investigation.

A policeman also was wounded during the raid, said Ghafoor Khan, a spokesman for provincial police chief. Three other men from the house were detained by U.S. troops, Khan said.

For Parents

In the latest edition of The Chimes, I have an article outlining church as not just a building, but a destination. Lately I have been reflecting a lot on my own childhood---being raised in the church---and how that history has anchored me through my life. I certainly don't mean that if your children attend church regularly they will end up being clergy or that they won't have problems! But I am very sure that they will have an extra place to call home, an extra place to feel safe, an extra place to grow up. Our youth program is called Journey to Adulthood for a very specific reason---our kids are growing up and it is a journey. A journey toward being an adult. Take a good look at our world, don't we need some stable, thoughtful, peace loving adults? To get them, we must raise them. That's what we are doing at St. Paul's Cathedral--we are raising some good solid people who have a foundation of faith to carry them through the rough times and to feed the joy of the good times.
To this end, if your child, ages 12-15 is interested in confirmation, call Cathy Dempesy at 855-0900 ext. 231 ASAP. Or if you are interested in learning more about opportunities for children and youth, call the same number.

Halloween Thanksgiving and Christmas

Tis the season for pumpkins and the witch of Endor, turkeys and thanksgivings for our abundant blessings, Christmas trees and watchful anticipation. Although it has felt a lot more like July than October, in just a few days it will be November and that insidious "holiday rush" will be upon us. The church doesn't slow down at all as we try to keep up with all the secularism of these days. We have already had our Halloween Party (with many thanks to Kelly Giordano, Alma Brown, Kara Schwabel and Ellie Bender who made the day a big success) and we are deep into our plans for the Thanksgiving Eve Eucharist, a St. Paul's contingent at the Turkey Trot, my ordination to the transitional diaconate (thanks be to God!), Advent, that wonderfully anxious time as we await the incarnation, and Christmas. These are the times parents can get caught up in buying the latest fad item for their kids, kids can get caught up in the materialism of an "I need" society and everyone can become irritable and ill at ease. Let St. Paul's Cathedral be an oasis for you over the next 8 weeks--find some quiet time at our 12:05 Eucharists, daily Morning Prayer (9 AM), Tuesday-Thursday Evensongs (5:45 PM), Friends of Music concerts, education hours and, of course, Sunday Eucharist. Our doors are open and our arms spread wide in welcome. Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving and with wishes for a holy, peaceful and mysterious Advent I ask you to take a deep breath and let us, your family at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, welcome you.
Want to join us for the turkey trot? Want to learn more about our weekday services? Interested in confirmation classes for your youth? Would your children like to participate in the Christmas Pageant? Email me at cathy.dempesy@stpaulscathedral.org

The Question About Health Care

On Sunday, we had an interesting discussion about the S-CHIP controversy. Here's a perspective from the New York Times.

Political Memo
Capitol Feud: A 12-Year-Old Is the Fodder
·
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: October 10, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — There have been moments when the fight between Congressional Democrats and President Bush over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program seemed to devolve into a shouting match about who loves children more.
So when Democrats enlisted 12-year-old Graeme Frost, who along with a younger sister relied on the program for treatment of severe brain injuries suffered in a car crash, to give the response to Mr. Bush’s weekly radio address on Sept. 29, Republican opponents quickly accused them of exploiting the boy to score political points.
Then, they wasted little time in going after him to score their own.
In recent days, Graeme and his family have been attacked by conservative bloggers and other critics of the Democrats’ plan to expand the insurance program, known as S-chip. They scrutinized the family’s income and assets — even alleged the counters in their kitchen to be granite — and declared that the Frosts did not seem needy enough for government benefits.
But what on the surface appears to be yet another partisan feud, all the nastier because a child is at the center of it, actually cuts to the most substantive debate around S-chip. Democrats say it is crucially needed to help the working poor — Medicaid already helps the impoverished — but many Republicans say it now helps too many people with the means to help themselves.
The feud also illustrates what can happen when politicians showcase real people to make a point, a popular but often perilous technique. And in this case, the discourse has been anything but polite.
The critics accused Graeme’s father, Halsey, a self-employed woodworker, of choosing not to provide insurance for his family of six, even though he owned his own business. They pointed out that Graeme attends an expensive private school. And they asserted that the family’s home had undergone extensive remodeling, and that its market value could exceed $400,000.
One critic, in an e-mail message to Graeme’s mother, Bonnie, warned: “Lie down with dogs, and expect to get fleas.” As it turns out, the Frosts say, Graeme attends the private school on scholarship. The business that the critics said Mr. Frost owned was dissolved in 1999. The family’s home, in the modest Butchers Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, was bought for $55,000 in 1990 and is now worth about $260,000, according to public records. And, for the record, the Frosts say, their kitchen counters are concrete.
Certainly the Frosts are not destitute. They also own a commercial property, valued at about $160,000, that provides rental income. Mr. Frost works intermittently in woodworking and as a welder, while Mrs. Frost has a part-time job at a firm that provides services to publishers of medical journals. Her job does not provide health coverage.
Under the Maryland child health program, a family of six must earn less than $55,220 a year for children to qualify. The program does not require applicants to list their assets, which do not affect eligibility.
In a telephone interview, the Frosts said they had recently been rejected by three private insurance companies because of pre-existing medical conditions. “We stood up in the first place because S-chip really helped our family and we wanted to help other families,” Mrs. Frost said.
“We work hard, we’re honest, we pay our taxes,” Mr. Frost said, adding, “There are hard-working families that really need affordable health insurance.”
Democrats, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, have risen to the Frosts’ defense, saying they earn about $45,000 a year and are precisely the type of working-poor Americans that the program was intended to help.
Ms. Pelosi on Tuesday said, “I think it’s really a sad statement about how bankrupt some of these people are in their arguments against S-chip that they would attack a 12-year-old boy.”
The House and Senate approved legislation to expand the child health program by $35 billion over five years. President Bush, who proposed a lower increase, vetoed the bill last week. Mr. Bush said the Democrats’ plan was fiscally unsound and would raise taxes; the Democrats say he is willing to spend billions on the Iraq war but not on health care for American children.
Mr. Bush’s plan could force states to tighten eligibility limits, but it seemed likely that the Frost children would still be covered.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who were gearing up to use Graeme as evidence that Democrats have overexpanded the health program to include families wealthy enough to afford private insurance, have backed off.
An aide to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, expressed relief that his office had not issued a press release criticizing the Frosts.
But Michelle Malkin, one of the bloggers who have strongly criticized the Frosts, insisted Republicans should hold their ground and not pull punches.
“The bottom line here is that this family has considerable assets,” Ms. Malkin wrote in an e-mail message. “Maryland’s S-chip program does not means-test. The refusal to do assets tests on federal health insurance programs is why federal entitlements are exploding and government keeps expanding. If Republicans don’t have the guts to hold the line, they deserve to lose their seats.”
As for accusations that bloggers were unfairly attacking a 12-year-old, Ms. Malkin wrote on her blog, “If you don’t want questions, don’t foist these children onto the public stage.”
Mr. and Mrs. Frost said they were bothered by the assertion that they lacked health coverage by their own choice.
“That is not true at all,” Mrs. Frost said. “Basically all these naysayers need to lay the facts out on the page, and say, ‘How could a family be able to do this?’ S-chip is a stopgap.”

What Else Should We Be Doing?

What is it that youth want at church? I am asking a number of my kids this question so if you have a response, let me know. Maybe a better way to ask this question is: why do you come to church? If the answer is because your parents say you have to then answer this: what makes it "not so bad?" I want to do more of what you like and less of what is a drag. I also want to try and get some grant money to expand our programming. What DO YOU think would work?

Also, just a quick thought for tonight: I realized, as I sat in one of my classes this week that God is Enough. I worry about money, I worry about peace in the world, I worry about the safety of those I love...but really I needn't worry....for God is Enough. Just a thought.

The Last Jew in Afghanistan

This AFP article was on Yahoo today. What would it be like to be the only person in Buffalo to worship at the Cathedral? This article was written by by Beatrice Khadige, she writes from Kabul in Afghanistan:

Zebulon Simentov, the last Jew in Afghanistan, is once again marking the Jewish holy day of fasting in solitude, in a deserted synagogue in the capital of a devoutly Islamic nation.

"I have everything I need for the 24 hours of praying and fasting," Simentov tells AFP before the start of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at sunset on Friday.
Around two decades ago, there were still about 20 Afghan Jewish families living in Kabul, although all were from Herat -- the largest city in northwestern Afghanistan near the border with Iran.
Through the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, the subsequent civil war and the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime, all went to Israel or moved to neighbouring former Soviet republics -- undoing a Jewish presence built up from the seventh century.
Only Simentov has been left behind, becoming by default the guardian of Kabul's empty synagogue.
The room where he receives visitors was once a prayer room for women. On the wall are pictures of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the late ultra-orthodox Lubavitch rabbi, Menahem Scheerson.
Adjoining this room is the bare-walled "small synagogue" for men, where he prefers to pray.
Simentov, approaching 50, dislikes the "big synagogue" across the corridor -- another large and dirty room in which stands only a platform traditionally reserved for the rabbi.
A cupboard built into the wall faces Jerusalem. Its doors are open and it has been stripped of its treasure, a scroll of the Torah.
The precious document was stolen by a Taliban during the rule of the Islamist movement which was driven from government six years ago by a coalition led by the United States.
The man "wanted to sell it, thinking it was valuable," Simentov says in Dari, one of the main languages in Afghanistan. He says he reads Hebrew perfectly but prefers not to speak it.
"Today that Taliban is jailed at Guantanamo Bay and I am waiting for him to be freed so I can ask him to return the Tables of the Law," says Simentov, who wears a Jewish cap called a kippa, but is otherwise dressed like an Afghan.
Simentov is alone. His wife and two children are in Israel, which he says he has not visited since 1998.
"I have been the only Jew in Afghanistan for two years," he says. Ishaq Levin, the synagogue's former guardian, died from illness two years ago aged around 80.
Simentov says it is not easy to practise his religion alone.
But he has obtained special permission from a rabbi in Tashkent, capital of neighbouring Uzbekistan and home to 15,000 Jews, to slaughter his own meat in the kosher way that can normally only be done by a special rabbi.
Otherwise this former carpet salesman appears perfectly integrated into Kabul, where he is well-known by people who live around the synagogue, and warmly greeted when he is outside.
Jews have lived in several regions of Afghanistan and legends abound about their presence.
One says the Pashtuns, one of the main ethnic groups in Afghanistan, descended from a tribe from Israel. Another says the name Afghanistan comes from Afghana, grandson of King Saul -- the first king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel.

Walking for a Cure

Even adults need mentors, and I have several who are helping me through this process toward becoming a priest. Of course here at the Cathedral I have Mother Liza and Father Paul, but I also have other priests and deacons (even some bishops!) who support me by sharing their wisdom. One such man is Bill Wipfler who is an associate priest at St. Matthias in East Aurora, NY. Bill's wife Pauline has Alzheimer's disease. She no longer recognizes Bill or any of their children. She cannot feed herself, as this disease has ravaged her mind and now her body. On September 29 I will participate in the Memory Walk to raise money for research in hopes of finding a cure. If you are interested in contributing , walking with me and/or in learning more about the organization, go to www.alz.org/wny
Thanks!

Welcome and Patience

Hello all,
This is my first time doing a blog so be patient! As the Coordinator for Children and Youth Education at the Episcopal Cathedral in Buffalo, New York, I wanted to communicate with the youth at the Cathedral and beyond about issues of life in general and, more specifically, faith. I have added some links so you can get to know a little more about our Cathedral, our Diocese and the national church---explore. I will also post some sermons and summaries of discussions we have in the Youth Group and in Sunday School. First some definitions--the Sunday School program we use at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo is Godly Play. This Montessori based curriculum is for children from pre-K through 5th grade. I often refer to them as the Godly Players. Our youth follow the Journey to Adulthood model and they are referred to as J2Aers. Sometimes I just refer to the kids and youth of the church as "my kids." Because, that is how I think of them---they are my kids, they are our kids--the kids at the Cathedral are the kids Of the Cathedral.
I love our kids.
I am a third year seminarian at Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary in Rochester, NY. I am set to graduate in May of '08 and am on the ordination track. Currently I am a Candidate for Holy Orders which means that the next step in this process is to interviewed and evaluated for ordination. My interviews will be in mid-October. My goal, God and the people consenting, is to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. Some of those experiences will find their way into this blog, too.