Truly right!
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, July 31, 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 • Colossians 3:1-11 • Luke 12:13-21
In the name of the one, holy and life-giving God. Amen.
Today is the 11th anniversary of my celebrating my first Eucharist as an Episcopal priest here at Holy Innocents. T.S. Eliot is one of my favorite authors and my favorite quote from him is, “And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” God is always inviting us to see the Divine presence in both old and new places. Thank you all for your friendship and support as I made the transition from the Jesuits to the Episcopal Church.
And that is a good tie-in for a day on the calendar of saints. Today is the memorial of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Our gospel today speaks of not being rich in worldly possessions but rich in God. One of the prayers attributed to Ignatius expresses this in a very eloquent way:
Dear Lord, teach me to be generous, to serve You as You deserve; To give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, To toil and and not to seek for rest, to labor and ask no other reward But that of know that I do Your will, O God. Amen.
Part of our inheritance from American history is the idea that wealth is a sign of God’s favor. That has led to ideas about if you work hard enough, you will be blessed. The opposite is closer to the truth, i.e., we are blessed and that gives us grace to work hard. The Spiritual Exercises are probably the most enduring gift that Ignatius gave to the Christian tradition. It is a guide book on making a retreat, but it ends with a meditation called the Contemplation to Attain Divine Love. It is a way of reminding ourselves of the blessings we have and being grateful.
It taught me that gratitude is the most important form of prayer. And it’s a simple practice to include in our own prayer practice. The meditation has the person choose a period of your life or even your whole life and remember the events and persons for which you feel most grateful. I do this at the end of the day just before I fall asleep. It’s important to be as specific as possible about the persons and events of the day. When you spend even a brief period of time doing this, you really see how much God has loved you and taken care of you. You don’t need to prove to God how worthy you are by your deeds or hard work, just keep being grateful.
As we celebrate the Eucharist we are giving thanks. The word efharisto, the origin of Eucharist, is Greek for thanks. Our sacred meal is our community gathering to say thank you. May this lead us to more deeply appreciate each day the myriad of blessings God has given us. This is not to say that everything is wonderful. It is rather a shift in perspective. As we say in the Eucharist, “Let us give thanks to God. It is RIGHT to give our thanks and praise. Truly right!”
Amen.