“… we must not forget that there were three men crucified on Calvery’s hill… two for immorality and theft, living below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, for truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. So, after all, maybe the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

… Things are different now. The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things just as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century

. I am meeting young people everyday whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust.

Maybe again, I have been too optimistic, Is organized religion too in extricable bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Maybe I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ecclesia, and the hope for our world.”

from Letters From The Birmingham Jail

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

As I see it, without a willingness to consider becoming creative extremists, the mission and vision of any spiritual and/or religious group is at risk of never developing beyond being an irritant to the status quo, a socially troublesome but treatable rash, that will easily be placated and then ignored.

With being willing to become more “creatively maladjusted” is there enough of a sense of dignity and justice that makes any person or group capable of presenting the dis-ease and lament of the people of God effectively and powerfully enough to those who oppose them and who, by patriarchal religious and often penitential tradition and their theological assertions have effectively have controlled them.

Throughout the centuries of Western civilization, churches have come to occupy places of religious prominence and cultural importance. There is an undeniable historical reality that informs us… But that fact of culture and history cannot limit our understanding of what a church is, or what it stands for in our respective communities. Just as it is certain that there is a need for our churches to stand against any intrusions by government concerning one’s right to worship as one sees fit, and to remain separate from mutual entanglements, so, too, is it important for churches to assert their ethical presence in a community. As I see it, our progressively minded churches stand as stately sentinels; they can act as the guardians of individual freedom, and stand watch over the issues of justice and compassion in all civic affairs and interpersonal relationships.. In a world that seems to have lost its moral compass, our inclusive churches can act decisively to promote a concern for corporate responsibility, governmental accountability, and personal ethics. Furthermore, their presence in any conservative community acts as a vibrant religious alternative; a place that promotes freedom and safety, dialogue and self discovery, along the many diverse paths of human and spiritual inquiry towards greater comprehension and understanding. Our progressive and inclusive communities offer a welcoming and affirming environment that promotes a variety of opportunities for rational exploration, self discovery, and personal affirmation, which was traditionally aligned with the idea of the ripening and maturity of one’s soul or awareness.

If King is right in his prophetic sense of where the church of our contemporary culture is today, then the world of culture, consciousness and church life is now, more than ever before, in need of creative extremists. The time for timidity is over; it is Gospel based temerity that longs to assert itself- to present itself as being fully believable- fully and without reservation on the side of compassion, justice, equality and radical change.

If the mission and vision of a spiritual and/or religious group is sincere, it will have to be honest about the degree of obstinacy and frustration it faces in our larger religious world. The power of clerical inertia and the hierarchical arrogance that lies at the base of that power it held on to fiercely. Its desire for keeping up the dysfunctional status quo will remain stolid, intransigent, cold, and callous to the need for change, unless it go unheeded, and people vote to secede with their wallets and their feet! In that regard, it is not too strong to suggest that much of what functions in our culture as mainstream church, and what passes for a purposeful or meaningful spiritual life has already separated from the people of God it claims to serve!

Ask yourself this: If King waited until all the churches aligned with him on civil rights, then the battle would not yet have begun… If Ghandi waited until the English Raj and the Crown police demurred, or until they saw the errors of their inhospitable, dehumanizing ways, then India would still be a colony. So, too, if the faithful today have to ask ourselves this preeminent question: Are we willing to wait?

The history of the Western Church has evolved violently- It was through disagreement with the powers that were ensconced or enshrined, be they be creed, book, prince, or tradition, and that only through reformation, revolution and reform, did visionaries and dissenters have sufficient energy and impetus to create all the many varieties of church that can fill many almanacs and reference books.

As one radical example among many- Who is to say that the time is not right for an American Catholic Church? Or a People’s Catholic Church?

If there is an earnest desire to defeat the systemic evils that we clamor to remove, its arrogant crassness and the icy unresponsiveness that creates so much of the heartache in the women and men of conscience within the institutional church, then to simply protest by declining to agree is insufficient– a rash that is treated with indifference.

Only substantive action will create meaningful reform. Only with an acceptance that one has to be maladjusted to the status quo can there be enough energy generated that will definitively support deep reform and foster genuine change. Only with the affirming and encouraging creation of a new paradigm for spiritual community and ethical service, can the real or true ecclesia that King recommends come into being; Only then will energy of an inclusive and compassionate mission manifest, and only then can a vision that is clear and strong to be seen that exposes the long held, tolerated abuses of the Senex and patriarchal mentality. It is only then that we will arise as the hope for the world, and affirm ” Let the revolution of God’s people ” begin!

As this is the first part of the first month of the new year… It is our wintering or our time of introspection before the bursts of energy and creativity that mark the Spring, I have chosen a few quotes and insights from my personal collection of daily readings to share with you… May they foster insight and contemplation, and assist your growth in awareness and compassion in the coming year…

“The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul. This every [person is entitled to, and is contained within them, although in almost all of us it is obstructed and unborn.] In this action, it is genius, not the privilege of here and there a favorite, but the sound estate of every [person.] In its essence, it is progressive.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson From A Year With Emerson by Richard Grossman

” I love all beginnings, despite their anxiousness and their uncertainty, which belong to every commencement. If I have earned a pleasure or a reward, or if I wish that something had not happened, if I doubt the worth of an experience and remain in my past- then I choose to begin at this very second. Begin what? I begin. I have already thus begun a thousand lives.

 From the early Journals and the Book, Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

“If, like a Cherokee warrior, I can look at the new year as an opportunity to stand on new ground, then strength and courage are on my side. If I have waited a long time for everything to be perfect- and therre have been moments, brief as they were, that filled my expectations- then I can face the challenges….

I will be still and steady, because there is nothing to be gained by showing fear in a chaotic world. I can turn from ignorance and prejudice toward a light that never goes out.

The death of fear is in doing what you fear to do.”

Sequichie Comingdeer

“The greatest accomplishment in life is to be who and what you are, and that is what God wanted you to be when [God} created you.” Abbot Thomas Keating

… “As we begin the new year, let us each look within to identify our true self and work throughout the year to express it.” Brother Wayne Teasdale from his book, The Mystic Hours

“One of the cardinal rules of the spiritual life is that we are to live in the present moment. … There is no need to move in haste. Think only of laying a solid foundation. See that this foundation is deep and broad by absolutely renouncing yourself , and by abandoning yourself without reserve to the requirements of God. Then let God raise upon this foundation whatever type of building {God} pleases. Shut your eyes and commit yourself to God. How wonderful is this walking with Abraham in pure faith, not knowing where you are going! And how full of blessings is the path!

God will be your Guide. [God} will travel with you, as we are told that God traveled with the Israelites bringing them, step-by-step across the desert to the Promised Land. …

From Talking With God, a contemporary translation,                         by Bishop Francois Fenelon

　Meister Eckhart wrote:

“A perfect and true will is one that always is perfectly aligned with God and is empty of everything else. The more a person succeeds in following God’s will, the more she or he unites

With their depth with God’s. By aligning with God’s will, a person takes on the taste of God. Grief and joy, bitterness and sweetness, darkness and light, all of life becomes a divine gift.”

I have kept that quote on a stand on my desk for twenty years… Andrew Harvey

From a collection of essays he wrote and that were included in the Book, One Heart- Universal Wisdom from the World’s Scriptures

　”There are many paths available for seeking the light within. To start, you have to recognize that there is something precious within to be found, in spite of our culture’s pressure to keep us externally oriented, looking for happiness by being consumers of external goods.

You have to continually struggle against the social current, of course; people who go within are dangerous and unpredictable, so society distrusts, discourages, and often punishes them…

All paths require courage: courage to buck the social tide, courage to see yourself as you really are, courage to take risks. Progress on any genuine path is a gift to us all, as well as a gain for yourself.”

From the book, Waking Up by Dr. Charles Tart, and included in the collection, Meditations for The New Age edited by Carol Tonsing

conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the

winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

And a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2002, but not without due respect for the

calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “AMERICA” in the Western hemisphere), and, of course, this celebration is without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to

clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole Discretion of the wisher.) 

PEL ( adapted from other sources)

Time present, and time past are both perhaps present in time future And time future is contained in time past….

He got out of his limousine, and walked over to the young fisherman and questioned him… in a direct tone of voice, he asked

” Why aren’t you out fishing today???

It is still early, and you should be still hard at work…!

” The fisherman said, ” I have already caught enough fish for the day”

The rich man pushed further” Why aren’t you eager to stay out and catch more?? The fisherman replied, ” What would I do with anymore?”

You could sell it and earn money, was the industrialist’s reply. Then, you could buy a motor, fix up your boat or buy a bigger one, and then be able to go out long distances, into deeper water, and catch even more fish!

Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets, so you can catch more fish, and make more money. Then you could hire workers and buy another boat… maybe a whole fleet of fishing boats! Then you would become a rich man like me.”

What would I do then? asked the fisherman

Then you could relax and really enjoy life said the rich man.

What do you think I am doing right now??

Question: Which would you rather have: a fortune in your future or the capacity to enjoy life in the here and now?

The Dreams of Christmas- A Homily for Christmas Eve

How do the phenomena of dreams connect to the Christmas Story? As I see it, the Christmas Story would be a very different story if you excluded the power and influence of dreams upon its outcome. When we delve into the mythic story, and study the experiences of its archetypal characters, we are shown a series of personal lessons for our spiritual development that are based on the wisdom found in following or heeding one’s dreams. 

We find these instructive dreams early in Matthew’s Gospel. There are four important dreams that occupy a central place in this version of the Christmas story. These dreams reveal the soulful lessons that can come from our Deep Self, or if you prefer, that come from God or from a messenger of God, an angel. Dreams, in this context, reveal what needs to appear; what needs to be given attention, what needs to manifest or what changes are now necessary. Dreams beckon us towards transformation or signal what is creatively birthing or being born spiritually within us.

The first of these four dreams comes to Joseph by way of an angel speaking to him, and that tells him to change his mind about Mary, her baby, and his relationship to them! Quietly, he had already made up his mind that Mary was a disgrace; and he was going to send her off to live as an outcast, or to live with distant relatives. However, this adamant dream shook him to his very core- for you see, it changed his heart …

Its message made him more open, loving and trusting so that he could forget about his wounded pride, and to accept that his purpose in life was to be a dedicated step father who would care for a special child- a savior- a child who would grow to become a teacher, and through his compassion and wisdom, save or teach …

As an adult, he would be able to save his people from themselves- to save or release them from their ingrained ignorance, egotism, and sin. When Joseph awakened from this first dream, he knew the answer to “What child was this?” This conviction gave him a strong sense of certainty and clarity about what he was supposed to do. He would act in a way that went beyond common sense, beyond tribal social customs, beyond patriarchal rules. …

He would act on faith; faith as surrender and as acceptance.

1 How many of men can go beyond the wounds to our pride, in this case, to care for a woman and her child he knew was not his own? Think about how many serious doubts, and anxieties he had to release so he could let go, “let go and let God,” direct him through his dreams?Excerpts from The Birth Story According to Matthew 

Faith can ask many things of us- not the least of which is that we are to trust that God dwells within each of us, or is the Deep Self, and once recognized, (made conscious or made manifest) it has a mission or a purpose for our lives that goes beyond what is comfortable or secure or what you expected, beyond what you want or desire ….

In the second dream, the Wise Men receive a collective dream of guidance or discernment. They are informed through the wisdom of the dream that they need to avoid Herod and not tell him about the child’s whereabouts, and return home quickly.

From this wisdom dream, I ask these questions: Have you ever felt that you have need to drastically change direction? Have you ever received a message about someone you trusted that reveals that their motives are not what they appear to be?

At different junctures and crossroads of our lives, such dreams or compelling messages manifest from deep within us.

They call out to us to transform our lives and turn our loves upside down so we can make a new start. Similarly, we can also receive disturbing messages about someone such as when they are trying to control you, or that he or she has been insincere, shallow, or even malicious!

5

In my experience, we ignore those inner messages at our eventual peril- whatever insecurity or upset heeding these deep messages might create, it pales in contrast to robbing your soul of its freedom, its full and rightful expression.

As I have found it, the necessities for change, while appearing more difficult, risky and uncertain are far more healthy than remaining wounded or stuck in fears, rehearsing our negativity, or remaining in any of our addictive CO-dependencies.

As I approach this Christmas Eve, I know that the next six months are going to require a lot of faith and courage from me. In my search for usefulness and self reliance, and in my desire for a beneficial expression of my gifts and abilities, I know that I will have to rely on my inner resources, God’s grace, and some unexpected blessings to see me through this year and move me beyond my fears. So like Joseph, I will have to dream, and then follow, doing what is necessary and essential for my life and my soul.

These dreams of wisdom we have can be unsettling and scary. They will require great courage, faith and trust in their new directions. Yet, I believe wholeheartedly that each of us has a star we have to find, a star we have to follow, one that leads us to God, or the inner truths we hold within us.

We dream our dreams at all stages of our lives. Briefly, in childhood, we might dream of gifts, toys, pleasure and the excitement of some adventure. In maturity, we dream of another kind of fulfillment- to answer deeper relational needs or to find solutions for our financial insecurities or as a whole, to know how to compassionately, ethically, and effectively satisfy our inner aches and soulful yearnings so that we have or claim an

6

Authenticity for our lives- our inner desire for having sufficient faith, and trust so that we can take our next needful steps. We have to make room and time in our lives to dream: We will have to slow down, to be more intentional and allow ourselves to stop and listen, so that we can take the fragments and messages of our dreams and give them power and authenticity in our lives.

As our fearful egos soften, our freeing souls can ripen,..

It becomes our essential task to listen and to commit to these new paths for our lives- paths that lead us towards greater wholeness and integrity, deeper purpose, and lasting peace.

We can learn from Joseph and the Wise Men who listened to their dreams; listened with their hearts to overcome social awkwardness, personal insecurity, and false trust- and then acted faithfully to empower change in themselves and their world.

These dreams of Christmas can be ours, too. May you be blessed and inspired by your angelic visitors within your dreams. May you be graced and impelled to give birth creatively to a holy child that lives within you, so that you will begin to live your lives that allows you to further unfold their deep promise, their truth and their beauty. Amen. So Be It!

Opening Words:

Faith Hope and Love, I offer you this season.

A faith that affirms, a hope that illumines, a love that matters more than anything.

Faith, Hope, and Love, these three… Not as gifts can I offer them, for they are not only mine to give. They are yours and mine to share, humbly, gratefully, with one another.

Fumbling, we hope their promise in our hands,

Faintly, we speak them with trembling words.

Faith, Hope and Love, I offer you this season.

The Rev. Richard Gilbert

Selected Readings:

Messiahs We Need

{… There are Messiahs we want, and there are Messiahs we need: The Messiah we, as humans, most often want is someone who will do it all for us. The ones we need however, are those who will point us towards our own strength– the strength that comes from our sharing, our compassion, our responsible interactions.

The Christmas Story is the story of a God who refused to send us what we wanted, and who opted to send what we needed, instead.

…. In his little book, Psychoanalysis and Religion, Eric Fromm wrote, “God is not a symbol of power over [humanity,] but a symbol of humanity’s powers.” That is really the image of God I have in mind when I speculate on the Christmas Story. It is a story of a God who indeed did refuse to play the part or be a symbol of a God who wields power over us, but that becomes a God who is One with you, as the power of love and life among us. As Christmas beckons, may we all tell the story of a God who refused to do anything more than live among us, and to be like us, sharing the power of love with us..] Widely adapted from The Rev. Stephen Edington Rockland, ME 1981

The Immaculate Misconception? All Life Has a Holy Promise 

The Reverend Peter Edward Lanzillotta, Ph.D.

December 8th is a special day in the Western religious calendar for the Roman, Greek, and Episcopal churches. It is feast or the day of The Immaculate Conception.

 If you were brought up a Roman Catholic or if you knew someone who was or is, chances you have heard of this day as being a unique, if not a curious part of the Advent season.

It is still quite a remarkable claim, and it remains one of the lesser understood but influential doctrines of faith that still exists today. For example, some treat Mary as the Queen of Heaven, (The Angelus and Hail Holy Queen, etc.) while others regard her as the prototype for all women and especially the ideals of motherhood. Others within Christianity simply and respectfully acknowledge her as the young mother who, at first doubted her selection, then accepted her special connection to God and Jesus and her central role in the essential theme of the season: The Christ birth event.  I will try to explain this belief, unpack its meaning, test its accuracy from a religiously inclusive perspective, and then present some startling, and dissenting conclusions.

The recognition of Mary’s special status within Christianity evolved gradually. It was not until her nature and being was declared unique that the larger impact was to affect our society. The proclamation of a binding, official doctrine for The Immaculate Conception became Roman church law in the year 1854, when Pope Pius IX issued a papal Bull… ((Historically, popes have always been known for their bull -I could not resist this pun!)

A Bull is an edict that carries with it the necessity of universal agreement or acceptance. It becomes a foundational belief, an indisputable article of faith. This edict declared that “The Blessed Virgin Mary, was conceived in a particular moment of grace, and preserved immune from every stain of original guilt [or original sin].” I contend that such a pious and unnatural statement served to reinforce prevailing Victorian attitudes and contradictions towards women, and it was a strong contributor to the negative Freudian view of women in society. This is the famous Mary vs. Eve and the Whore/Madonna beliefs…

It was, in my estimation, one of the religious actions that contributed to the wholesale devaluing and even the negation of women long associated with the Roman church…Unfortunately, some of these effects are still with us and acutely undermine women’s equality and freedom at quite a social price: from covertly accepting or tolerating violence against women, the woman’s duty to be passive, etc., to being a contributing block or obstacle to necessary options for birth control and the crisis of overpopulation, to widespread negation of reproductive choice, the need for quality lifelong sex education, and discouraging the funding of effective treatment that combats sexually transmitted diseases.

Contrary to popular beliefs, and a subject of much confusion for traditional Roman Catholics is that the doctrinal statement about The Immaculate Conception states that it was NOT Jesus who had an untainted, pure birth or who was born without sin, but that it was Mary HERSELF who was conceived and born without any stain of sexual sin- that original cursing, or the degrading, normal condition and circumstances of having a human birth. The doctrine further states that during her gestation in her mother’s womb, and before her birth, Mary miraculously received all the powers of baptism that cleanses away original sin, so that she alone could be born pure- different from all other women. This teaching has, as its corollary, that she HAD to be a pure vessel, an unblemished womb, so that she might then be selected and privileged enough to divinely conceive Jesus. (Theotokas)

 Now, lets start here to examine these teachings. In the spirit of healthy dissent, and based on accepted scholarship, we can understand the designation of Mary as a virgin in another way. I can conclude that the Greek translation of the word, virgin, can also mean a young girl, not just a pure or undefiled person. (The mistranslation of Isaiah 7) In that way, the idea of a Messiah being born conventionally or normally could be an acceptable religious conviction or in accord with the non-creedal Christian beliefs.

       As I understand it, the rationale behind wanting Mary to be immaculate comes from the ancient world notion that a God cannot be conventionally human; while they can and often do look human, that was only their outward appearance! The rival deities in ancient world or during Greek and Roman times- principally the Persian Sun God, named Mithras, was believed to have an immaculate birth- making him above mere humanity.

Looking Eastward, it was widely believed that Buddha, and the Hindu deity, Vishnu, had similar remarkably unique or supernatural origins. Therefore, to the Early Church Fathers who created orthodoxy and creedal beliefs for Christians to follow, they decreed or determined that it would be best to go along with this precedence for Jesus. They decided to write and to editorialize the Scriptures to include a virgin who gave birth miraculously to a Christ-child. In that way, they contended that their God was just as good as any of the other gods in Persia, Israel, or India! So, the idea and the ideal of a virgin and those birth legends about Mary’s sinlessness were created and eventually through uncritical repetition, became declared authoritative beliefs. When looked at it historically, I can empathize with that outlook, and can understand how it evolved, even if I strenuously disagree.

My preference for a religious ideal, be it of a man or a woman, a mother or a child, has to directly inspire and console me and address my human condition. He or she has to be someone I can relate to directly and daily: someone who struggles, changes, grows, and succeeds at gaining sufficient awareness to be able to bless, to help heal, and to lead me to my full humanness by modeling a greater wisdom, standing up for a larger sense of justice and an expanded sense of love. If I were to accept a singular, particular perfect woman giving birth to a unique god-man, I could not hope to be like them. I would always lose in comparison; always feeling inadequate, guilty or because I could not measure up, be a failure.

That does not inspire faith for me… It does serve effectively as an agent of thought, worship and practice that perpetuates negative self image, sin and guilt!  It would create a clear gap between the human and the divine, making only God as Jesus good, and Mary as the only perfect image of holy womanhood. This conclusion or image for what is good or divine can create or serve the attitude that condemns women and men for being normal- that is, having or being sexual and spiritual in the fullest meaning- it concludes in the doctrine of the necessity for cleansing Baptism, that every child born is somehow sinful.

Instead of perpetuating these fearful preoccupation’s with sex, sin, and guilt, religious liberals try to teach about how to best cultivate a healthy and responsible sexual identity, true self esteem, and how we can help each other to become more enlightened, compassionate, and free.

 Now, I would like to outline some alternative possibilities concerning Mary and Jesus that I assure you that I did not learn in any seminary. These are new, intriguing and challenging theories that come from Biblical criticism and Gnostic wisdom writings. What they state might startle you. They definitely bring out new dimensions of the Christmas story than what is ordinarily accepted and traditionally condoned.

Depending on how we are willing to look at the birth stories in the two Gospels, we can come to the conclusion that Mary was either especially blessed or that she was possibly promiscuous! While we are all familiar with the former rendition, most of us have not heard about the other scandalous possibility. This other explanation states that Mary was involved with another man, and that Jesus was illegitimate! Even though this is a minority opinion among radical scholars who contend that the original manuscripts infer such a fiasco, they cannot be disproven.

So we can ask: Which approach is more believable, anyway? The more miraculous Gospel accounts have to be accepted with a definite, unflagging certainty. From a less miracle based perspective, an outlook where one affirms that it is Jesus’ life and how he treated others that is far more important than either his birth or his death, it adds an intriguing, and for me, a more inspiring bit of scholarship to seriously consider.

First, let’s consider that Jesus had a normal, physical, human father; supposedly the Roman centurion named Panthera. ( Stephen Mitchell) That would make him a normal human being who later became a divinely inspired example of enlightened living.

Because I accept that there is an ongoing need to develop wisdom, gain insight, and cultivate one’s spiritual and ethical maturity all along and through one’s life, for Jesus to start out human gives me a greater respect for him, and gives me more hope that if I follow his example, I can become more balanced, whole, a truly healing, just, and helpful person. That’s my kind of Jesus; a regular guy who learned his metaphysical and ethical lessons so well, that he became the greatest Western example of embodied truth, wisdom, and love. He deserved the Biblical description that “he spoke with as one who had authority, [authenticity], not like the scribes and Pharisees.”

 Now let’s go a little deeper. What about being illegitimate? How could that be considered a valuable way to look at Mary and Jesus? In the culture of the Middle East, and we can probably say, up until the last twenty five years in Western society, to be born out of wedlock or to a single mother, was considered a social liability and even a moral disgrace. In Biblical times, remember, it was not only grounds for divorce, but like adultery for women, it too could carry a death penalty!

Mary, if the supposition holds, was a single mother who discredited her family, and luckily latched on to a kindly older man, Joseph, who would act as a guardian for her and her illegitimate son. She would have to live with the severe embarrassment, but only in her small town and among her immediate family. She was relived to learn that she had to go far away to live in Nazareth, Joseph’s hometown where none of the disgraceful details would be easily known.

Another interesting note: In Matthew’s Gospel we are given the genealogy of Jesus. There only four women appear. They are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathesheba or in accord with Biblical facts, there was Tamar, who was the mother of her brother’s children; Rahab, the heroic harlot; Ruth, the opportunistic seductress; and Bathesheba the easily or all too willing unfaithful wife. … Do you see any pattern there?? Any reference point for Mary? And What of Jesus in this lineage? The Bible in Luke calls him, “Son of Mary”, which scholars conclude was a derogatory term… not the child of his father which would confer legitimate status; in other words, he was a bastard child, not the son of a Jewish man!

How could we relate to an illegitimate Jesus? How did he relate to his mother? What about the purpose of his mission? While these radical scholars are given to a more modern psychological interpretation, they can make a case by pointing to these facts: first, his rejection or at least his awkwardness in dealing with his mother- remember the Gospel account in Mark or Matthew where his apostles tell Jesus that his mother and brothers and sisters are outside? Do you recall what his response is? “Who is my mother, and who is my brother or my sister? Those who do the will of God are my mother, my brother or my sister.”

 A second supportive example comes from the well accepted fact that the writers of the Gospel took great pains to editorialize- to find Old Testament references to the Messiah and fit them to Jesus’ coming. They interpreted them as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy. Just like taking a reading from first Isaiah for the virgin birth, they also appropriated third Isaiah’s descriptions of the suffering servant. And what are we to make of the powerful words Mary declares in the birth story according to Luke? Are those the words of a meek and spineless woman? (The Magnificat for many reasons!)

No, not by any means! Her words reveal a gratitude for being chosen And the part most Christians seem to ignore, a deep longing for a God whose acts in society will reward humility and reform the world and create greater social justice. What can we deduce from such statements?

First, the Isaiah statement about the suffering servant foretells a man who is harmless, infinitely caring, humble, and of no status in the world. His power is one of moral truth, of righteousness, but it is not worldly, for it is neither regal nor economic. In the phrase, “he is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,” with suffering and humiliation. Here we could be receiving a substatantiation for a portrait of a man who could have grown up as a social outcast, a despised or at least a menial person who was well acquainted with misery, social prejudice, and economic, political, and religious power plays.

All one has to do, when reading Jesus’ or Mary’s words, is consider the basis for the worldwide liberation theology movement- a way of understanding Christianity which predicates its understanding of Jesus, Mary and God as having a preference for the poor… and to remember that more than half of all Jesus’s parables center on prohibitions towards riches, landowners, Pharisees, and the corruption’s of upper class power. To my estimation, it not such a far stretch to consider a Messiah – which means someone who comes to save, teach, heal and transform the world- who would look harshly on cultural biases, class-based oppression, and prefer that he and his followers identify with their spiritual birthright as the children of God: Blessed are the poor, the pure in heart, those who mourn, those seeking peace, and those who are reviled and persecuted for continuing his mission, or trying to live by following in his communitiarian and egalitarian example.

How do I welcome this possible, admittedly unconventional way of looking at Jesus? With a strange, warm, empathy and deep feelings of respect. I ask myself: Who deserves more of our admiration and allegiance? A God born as a man with perfect sinless understanding to a pure, undefiled woman? Or a a mortal who through his own devotion and dedication, through sweat and struggle, pain and suffering became someone who the world can gain inspiration and solace from? Because he was acquainted with disgrace and grief, he knew and felt the struggle each of us has to face in becoming a child of God in our own minds and hearts, in every aspect of our daily lives.

Well, that is a lot to chew on today, and I will stop with this last thought … When Jesus asked the apostles. ” Who do you think I am?” The answers he received ranged from you are a reincarnation of the old prophets, to the declaration that he was the Christ, the anointed son of the living God. Maybe, after today’s considerations, we could answer it differently…

If we were gathered at that place and time, if we were to gather in this place and time… Maybe our answer would be something like this:

“You, Jesus, are the poor, the outcast, the suffering hope for all the wounds of our humanity. We follow you because we believe in your promises, your healing reality among us. Because of you, and the way you taught and lived, we can now live with hope.”

So BE IT. AMEN

“The Magnificat” from The Gospel of Luke 1:39-55

And then she asked, why is this happening to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb jumped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.

And Mary said,” My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

His mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant, Israel, in remembrance of his mercy according to the promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his decendants forever.