Thank you, Steve.

I, too, welcome each of you here this afternoon to begin our national celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Six years ago this very day we gathered here to dedicate this beautiful campus and to dedicate ourselves to provide children an exceptional Catholic education. We covenanted at that time to devote ourselves to the total formation of your children through character and spiritual development, leadership training, academic rigor, physical well-being and an ethic of service. These are our six pillars of education.

The theme of this year’s Catholic School Week is Faith, Academics, Service. Know that they are lived each day here at St Patrick’s. Allow me to briefly comment on each.

FAITH –In our Tradition, the principle of sacramentality is fundamental. We see the presence of God in nature, objects, rituals and especially in people.  That is the Catholic outlook. Our religious education program was intentionally developed to help our students develop a relationship with God through prayer, religious education, community life and service.

Always remember that St. Patrick’s is authentically Catholic and warmly ecumenical.

ACADEMICS – That this young school, while in its infancy was accredited by SAIS and SACS, is almost unheard of. They are among the premier accreditation services in the country.  We have commenced applying to become one of the nation’s Blue Ribbon Schools. One reason we are not already a Blue Ribbon School is because we don’t yet meet the eligibility requirements; we are too young to be considered! We set high standards for our students and our faculty and staff are the most dedicated educators I know. They fully understand their responsibility for identifying, nurturing and celebrating the gifts of each of your children.

SERVICE – Catholic Tradition teaches that faith without works is dead. The lack of works is what separated the sheep and goats in Matthew’s Gospel story about Judgment Day. The service projects our youngsters are involved with here at St. Patrick are too numerous for me to share. The genesis of many of our service projects are from the ideas of the student body. We believe that helping one another is not just an expression of our faith; it’s good citizenship. Again, an ethic of service is one of our six pillars of educating your children.

If I may continue a bit on the themes of faith and academics, we believe a very important part of the total formation of your children is exposing them to the arts. Our Church for millennia has used the arts for faith and academics. A thousand years ago, most people were illiterate. So they were taught and catechized sensually. Stain glass windows and even ditties were visual and auditory means to teach. We at St Patrick continue our Church’s long tradition of supporting the arts. With no equivocation, I believe we have the best art, music and theater teachers in Hampton Roads.

Because the arts are so important, we always begin Catholic Schools Week here at St Patrick with our very own Chris Kypros’ concert.

I thank you for your attention and for choosing to spend your Sunday afternoon with us;

Please sit back, and let us begin this week of celebrating Catholic Schools with a piece by George Gershwin!!!

Ladies and gentlemen -  -  -  Chris Kypros.

Christian Unity Day Chapel

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

“Telling the Story, Living the Story, Being the Story”

Welcome to our Christian Unity Day where we recognize our common baptism in the Lord Jesus and gather in celebration to recognize some fantastic individuals who are pastors and ministers in our good city…..and who have become our special friends at Saint Patrick Catholic School.

As you know, our faith learning community is authentically Catholic and very warmly ecumenical.  And this is a day that we can show this in sign and symbol by asking their young parishioners and our fellow Wolfhounds to introduce them to our school assembly. After our Chapel, we also have a reception in their honor in the art connector.

Reflection on the Gospel

In today’s gospel we hear the powerful words of the evangelist Mark, whose symbol is the lion!

At Saint Patrick’s Catholic School we often times tell stories and we understand the power of stories. We are bound to listen to them and we delight in a great story! The whole movie industry is nothing but telling a pictorial story. The stained-glass windows in our churches were primarily designed to tell a story. And for all of human history, our human survival depended upon the young people carefully listening and abiding by the stories of the older people in their communities clans, tribes.

So, on a practical level don’t forget the power of stories and learn to tell them.  What we learn from stories is as fundamental to human existence as breathing.  I am going to tell you quickly two stories. And what connects them.

In 1977, NASA launched space probes called Voyager 1 and 2.  The probes were to move beyond the gravitational pull of our own star and into the interstellar space.  Voyager carried messages to potential extraterrestrials. The messages were in 55 different languages. They contained mathematical information, biological information, musical information.  One of the songs sent was Johnny B Good by Chuck Berry.   That was right alongside Beethoven!

But the messages basically said to an unknown people…. That if you find this,  know that we are a good people. We are a trustworthy people of peace and goodwill. We know that this probe will go into a space and time that we cannot access….beyond our capacity to touch. But know that we have lived and hopefully some of us still live on a planet that we call earth, the third planet from our star that we call, the Sun.  We give you in this information, as much of our story as we can provide, with our technology at this time.

The second story is a personal one. As I have shared with many of you, Renae (Mrs. Hammond) and I became first-time grandparents only a little while ago. Part of becoming a grandparent means that you can act very silly about and around your grandchildren and nobody seems to mind too much.  But when we look at our grandson, Brennan, we know that he will go into a world where we cannot go. In a time that we will not be able to access. It will be his world. But as people who have learned a few things in this life, we would like to teach him what we know. Kind of like helping him pack his bags for the journey.  Sort of like a nice pastrami sandwich with tomatoes and onions and a coarse ground mustard.  Good stuff!

We would like him to have these messages that will help him. But there is a part of us that would like him to be the message. An unspoken message.  That there were people in his life that loved him, cared for him and taught him how to be a strong and good person. We would like to think that where ever he goes, even if it is to remote places, that his character, at least in part, will speak of that which we were able to provide him.  That’s our story will somehow live in him until he can pass it on to those who come to be in his care.

And then there is this gospel story according to Mark. John the Baptist has been arrested. It is a scary and dangerous time. But Jesus knows that it is His time now. The Baptist’s voice will be silenced soon and it is the time for Jesus’ voice to be raised.  He has a story to tell.  And he knows that if John could be arrested, he could to. He knows that if John could be beheaded, he could as well.

And so, Jesus sets out on his journey to gather disciples. People with the heart and souls to hear the good news, the story of salvation!  In this gospel, Jesus attracts four disciples! Can you tell us who they are: Simon, Andrew, James, John.   All fishermen.  Probably not so educated. They work in a tough, smelly business. Made a living but only that.

Jesus was in essence telling them. Follow me. I have a story to tell you that you need to know. And, moreover, the world needs to know. A story it has to know.  And… I may not likely be here in the physical sense, to tell this story to all who need to hear it. And so I need you, as disciples. To learn the story well and to tell it boldly and bravely.  But you have much to learn first about the good news, the kingdom of God and the story of salvation.

And they followed him. Passing on their information to disciples of their own. And those disciples, to theirs. And so on and so on until we arrive at this moment in time. Our moment, filled as with all moments… the promise of tomorrow.

And we have with us, those disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. These disciples, these sayers who are still telling the story. Who still are sharing the good news!  Who still know and understand that we are brothers and sisters and a common baptism, in a common love, in a common service to the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ.

And it is to these storytellers that we pay tribute today.

Now, here’s the final question and the most important question. How are you telling the story? How do you communicate Jesus’ story of salvation?  How does His story connect with yours?

In your word and in your example, how are you telling, living and being…….. the story?

Based on the Gospel reading from Matthew 2:1-12

Discovering The Epiphany

Well, my friends, The Feast of the Epiphany will be celebrated this coming Sunday. Only four days from now. The Epiphany has much to teach us. Like all good scholars we must start with a definition of terms. If we don’t know what we are talking about, we don’t know what we are talking about, so it is important to understand the language used in any discussion so that we better can construct some meaning out of it all. That means that anytime, anyplace you have the freedom to ask for a definition of terms; that is, what does that word mean or how are you using that word. That’s an important lesson.

Epiphany is an interesting word. What does it mean? What do we celebrate at the Feast of the Epiphany?

The same is true with Magi. What does Magi (or singular) Magus mean?  It means “wise people” or in the sense of this story “wise men.”  It had its origins in Persia (today’s Syria) and refers to people who could “divine” what would happen in the future. Our word “magic” comes from it.

So what does Matthew say about the Epiphany? Three Magi from the East “divined” a star in the heavens represented the ascendancy of a new king of Israel. They went to Jerusalem and told the reigning king, Herrod, that they had traveled a great distance to worship this newborn King. Herrod didn’t want newborn King because he was the King and didn’t want to be dethroned. So, he tried to trick the three men into finding the child and then coming back to him and telling where they found him. When they didn’t come back to Herrod after visiting Jesus, Herrod became terribly angry and sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and the surrounding area in order to kill all of the baby boys two years old and younger.

Magi brought to Jesus three gifts: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. The three gifts are symbolic. The gold represents a King because Kings tend to have a lot of gold. Frankincense is an incense which is caught on fire and the smoke billows up toward the heavens. This stands for godliness. And Myrrh is a spice for embalming which represents “humanity.”  Put all together they gifts were “saying” that this little child was a King that was both human and divine.

But the Magi made a mistake and it is worth talking about. They went looking for the new king of the Jews at the kingly Palace in Jerusalem. You would have to think that made a lot of sense. You would naturally find a King in the palace of his kingdom. But they were flat out wrong. In fact the currently reigning king did not know as saying about it. Here are three non-Jews, that is, Gentiles were telling him that a new Jewish King was born and I wanted to worship him! Matthew doesn’t say they told Herrod they came to worship him but to worship a little baby who would be King. All of this upset Herrod quite a bit. Three “unclean” Gentiles were telling him what was going on in his own kingdom. Furthermore, we’re not quite sure if the Magi worshiped. Herrod much at all. I probably made him jealous and furthermore this new baby King had a star in the heavens. Nothing is said that Herrod had a star that he could call his own, so this probably made an egocentric, power-hungry, ruthless fellow rather upset. To be sure, is Herrod was not an effective control.

Like most people, the Magi were looking for a King in the great gold halls and finery of the palace. They did not know that Jesus was to be a different kind of King. Jesus was a King that would show not only the Jewish people, but the entire world, exactly what it meant to seek and find salvation. They did not know that Jesus’ message of love, mercy and forgiveness was the “edict” that he would put forth to the entire world for all time. They did not know that they would actually find the new “King of the Jews” in the most humble of surroundings. Surroundings not of gold and not of power; but surroundings of humility and poverty; suffering and sacrifice.

They were looking for love in all the wrong places. Just like so many human beings do. Seeking to fulfill their love and belonging needs by aspiring for great power and wealth, material and influence. While there is nothing wrong with acquiring some of these things and used wisely can actually help our community, Jesus would tell his Church that that is not where you first go looking for Love because you’ll not likely find it there. This new King would say that before being able to fully love, one must fully experience humility, poverty. One must have a passionate desire and a firm commitment justice for all people, not just the influential or powerful ones. To fully experience love, Jesus came to say and to show that we must serve the least of the people in our human community. Wow! This was quite a different king than the Magi had anticipated. Can you imagine what they talked about on their long camel ride back to the East?

This remarkable story speaks to “Epiphany.” Undoubtedly, Mary and Joseph developed a new understanding of their son with the visit of these three men bearing gifts. The three Magi experienced an Epiphany, some revelation of what Kingliness actually means. We viewing the story from our distance can see most clearly from the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, that he came as God’s son to say that no one, however humble, however poor, however ignorant, however despised, however ostracized and reviled falls outside of the mantle of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.

As we close this reflection, I would like to ask you, young and old, that in hearing this ancient story, what is your Epiphany? What is the revelation that you see in the story? What is the manifestation that you hear that makes sense to you? Are you seeking love and belonging in “all the wrong places?” Are you, like Herrod, being deceitful, small minded and mean spirited?  Are you like the Magi seeking God with the gifts that you have in a spirit of openness and awe? Are you, like Mary, willing to bear burdens that you do not fully understand? Are you, like the Magi, willing to take another route home instead of betraying a pure and holy creation? Are you willing to stand for justice? Can you stand up for someone who is being bullied? Or do you capitulate to power and peer pressure? These are the questions that I ask you this morning to wrestle with, and then I have one more question for you:

What are you going to do about it?

Please, when listening to the Trio sing, have a tissue handy!  Your eyes will tell the rest of the story!

Have a wonderful Christmas break!

Sight beyond the Mountains looked down at his gnarled and callused hands and marveled at how the years had done their work so well. He placed the heavy lid upon the iron pot which gurgled over the open fireplace. It was filled with a good rabbit stew which laced his small cabin with an aroma of wild seasons and herbs that he had picked from the side of the mountain.

He was a very old man born a Cherokee Indian well over 100 years ago but he remembered well the time when Andrew Jackson signed a law that took his people from their homes in north Georgia and forced them to march 1000 miles to a land they did not know and way of life that was not their own.  Growing up, he heard stories of how Chief John Ross wrote letters filled with truth to ask the government’s leaders for the right of the Cherokee to stay on their own land.  But the “double tongues” were filled with trickery and their hearts were twisted with pride, fear and greed so much that they became that which had twisted them.

The old man showed remarkable wisdom very early in his life and so his parents named him Sight beyond the Mountains for his ability to see things that were not in front of him and to know things that only the Great Spirit could have taught him. In a special ceremony, they dedicated him to the Great Spirit and put him in the protection of the loving Earth mother. While hunting as a boy, he was captured by some very mean men on horseback. They put a rope around his feet and dragged him a long way until they thought he was dead and then cut him loose. But life was in him and though he was disfigured to the point that no one could even recognize him, his earth mother nurtured and cared for him, giving him food that was everywhere but no one could see and shelter in obscure places that no one could find. When Sight beyond the Mountains had regained his strength, he asked his earth mother to guide him to his real home and she did. She sent an eagle to show him the way and told him that when he saw the eagle land, that would be his home. And so many hundreds of miles he walked and at the end of the each day he did not see the eagle. But in the morning the eagle would be circling overhead. He followed the eagle to a mountain somewhere between Tennessee and Alabama and then down the side of it where the eagle disappeared. Before he reached the bottom he came to a big hollow in the mountain and when he stopped to rest, Sight beyond the Mountains saw the eagle perched in a hickory tree looking down at him.  He knew he had found his home, built himself a cabin and had lived there alone for years learning wisdom and joy from the great Spirit and mother Earth.

And this is where the Rock House Kids found him, now a very old man living in harmony with the great spirit and under the protection of mother Earth. Sight beyond the Mountains’ cabin was covered in moss and a meandering stream of smoke trailed from the strong, stone fireplace.  If it were not for the motion of the smoke, they would have likely not seen the cabin that blended perfectly into the mountainside.

When they entered, slowly and very cautiously, the only light within the cabin was emitted from the small flickering fire on the left side of the room. A warm voice from the far back of the cabin simply said, “Do not be afraid.”

“Who are you?,” Hopalong said.

“I am called Sight beyond the Mountains,” the voice said. “Please, do not come any further. You are not ready to see me.” “Please make yourself at home if you wish.”

All 12 of the Rock House Kids sat down in a semi circle facing the voice and the conversation that ensued was magical. Sight beyond the Mountains shared his story and the children asked him many questions. For the rest of the fall, The Rock House Kids returned to the cabin where they learned many things about the great mother and the Great Spirit. But Sight beyond the Mountains, always stayed in the warm shadows at the back of the cabin. They began to love the old man and marveled at his stories and the wisdom inside them. He taught them of the beauty of the mother and the awesome wonder of the Great Spirit. He taught how to forgive those who had wronged you terribly and showed them that forgiveness and mercy was what you had to always carry in seeking the fullness of life along the pathway of love. As they listened to him day by day they began to understand the wondrous ways of life and wisdom. They began to be filled with the Great Spirit and started to see the loving Mother with a new vision.

“When can we see you?” they asked.

“When your eyes are ready to see,” Sight beyond the mountains replied.

Then one day after a visit filled with wonderful stories, Sight beyond the Mountains emerged from the shadows and sat on one side of the circle in which they were sitting.  His face was broken and scarred. His eyes were clouded. They had ceased to see. His nose had been badly broken and healed improperly.  His body was bent because of the shattered vertebrae.  By the world’s account, a poor creature, torn, blind, broken and abandoned from the world.

They all looked at him carefully and beyond his slight smile, they saw themselves, each with their differences, each with their own beauty, in his face each child gazed upon their own uniqueness.

And as Sight beyond the Mountains looked at them through his blind eyes, all he saw was love.

The End

What do you stand for?  What will you not stand for?

Jesus, John the Baptist and Dorothy Day

Chapel Reflection, 30 November 2011

Today I want to tell you about a person who understood Jesus. She understood that Jesus was a revolutionary with revolutionary thoughts that made him reviled by those in power. So much so that they found a way to kill him.

But first, I want to teach you a song. It is a simple song but a very powerful one.

I Shall Not Be Moved

I shall not be ….
I shall not be moved
I shall not be………….

I shall not be moved
Like a tree planted by the water

I shall not be moved

Repeat.

Yesterday was the anniversary of her death. She dedicated her life to serving the poor and being steadfast in her belief that we as human beings do not have the right to kill another human being.

She tended the poor, fed the poor, clothed the poor…. she lived with the poor.  She went to mass every day and confession every week.

She was brilliant and a prolific writer. She wrote numerous books and many articles. She established a newspaper and also a movement called “The Catholic Worker.”

As a young woman she marched with other women in order that all women would received the right to vote in this country. She went to jail for it. She also marched in various peace movements and went to jail for those protests to.

She was a gentle person but a very strong person.

She was not always a Catholic but became a Catholic later in her life.  Her mother was a remarkable model for her and showed her at a very young age that she had a responsibility to take care of the poor.

And just like all followers of Christ, she was a revolutionary. She rejected the cultural norms of materialism (always wanting to have more things), consumerism (always wanting to buy more stuff), the Puritan ethic (of other things, that being poor is God’s response for being sinful), violence (believing that violence is a solution to human problems).

She has much to teach us in the lesson of her life. She lived her life as if it were the only Gospel anyone would ever read. And so let me ask you this:

What do you stand for?  If somebody ask you today who are you? What do you stand for? How would you respond?

If somebody looked at your behavior and said what do you stand for? How would your behavior speak?

And as importantly: What will you not stand for? What is it that when you see it, or hear it or feel it… that you will say emphatically… I do not stand for that. I will not abide that. I do not believe in this. And I shall not be moved.

Is it gossip? Is it unjust criticizing, blaming and complaining? Is it cheating? Is it lying? Is it racist jokes?

The person that I am honoring today is Dorothy Day. Ms. Day knew what she stood for and what she would not stand for. She had the courage to speak her mind and to show in her actions both on a prayerful level and on a social action level that she was an authentic saint.

Like all the great saints……. She knew where she stood and would not act contrary to her beliefs.

And so I repeat: What do you stand for, my friends, and what at the end of the day will you look somebody in the eye and say… I believe this ……and I shall not be moved.

I Shall Not Be Moved

Oh, I shall not be ….
I shall not be moved
I shall not be………….

I shall not be moved
Like a tree planted by the water

I shall not be moved

I’m going on in Jesus name,

God’s been so good to me

Standing on the rock

Nobody can move me

Amen!