Our Command (Mandate): LOVE EACH OTHER

This is the service I did on Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2013. I hope you will enjly it. Do comment if you have something to say about it!

MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE 

As we begin the service, let us center ourselves, dust off our journey, put aside the day's worries, drama and vexations, take a deep breath and reach for the peace that passes understanding. Let us each, in our own way, silently ask for God's blessing and presence in our worship this evening.

Opening Words Teresa of Avila

Teresa was born in Spain in the 1500's. She was a Carmelite nun, mystic, theologian, and reformer. In the 1970's Pope Paul made her a Doctor of the Church. She is one of four women.

Let nothing disturb you nothing frighten you, all things are passing;

Patient endurance attains all things;

one whom God possesses wants nothing

for God alone suffices.

Litany

Leader: We gather in remembrance of Jesus' last meal with his followers.

People: We are taking a journey, as his followers did, so long ago.

L: Let us begin this night of love, as Jesus did, with humbleness and cleansing.

P: As we cleanse, and throw off the old garmets, we feel new, refreshed and ready to begin this night of love.

L: On this night of love, Jesus broke bread, and offered wine, in remembrance of him.

P: We remember him as we eat the bread and drink the wine, and we encounter Jesus once again.

L: We have wandered, we are weary, we are thirsty and in need of rest and refreshment.

ALL: Just as our Jewish sisters and brothers celebrate Passover and the journey to freedom, we celebrate our journey of remembering, death and finally, the bright light of new life.

Before we start the reading, let me explain what we are going to do: I will read it through first and pause, then, we will all read it together and pause again. The third time, we will read it together, but in a whisper, and pause one last time before moving on. Each time we pause, think about the words and see if something pops out for you. This is a very old method of immersing ourselves in scripture.

Reading: Gospel of John 13:34-35 (NCV)

“I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.”

Message
What does “Maundy” mean? It is taken from the Latin word 'mandatum', which means 'mandate' or 'command'. The reading we just did from John, gives us that mandate or command: to love each other. This is Jesus' last teaching, and practically the last words he speaks. I believe, this is his most profound and powerful teaching. It forms the heart of Jesus' mission. Three simple words, love – each - other.

Earlier in Jesus' mission, he said,'love your neighbor'. Again, three simple words. But, as before, they pack a punch. Who do you define as your neighbor? You mean, that Moslem family that lives down the street? Or what about those two guys who live next door? Wait a minute, do you mean those people who's skin color is different from mine? Oh, not those 'illegals'? How about that smelly lady who sits on the corner downtown and sings all day? Well, no way are you going to get me to love those Democrats (or Republicans). Uh huh, I do mean all of “those” people. We are commanded to love them. And don't tell me, “Oh we love the person, but we hate the sin.” No, that's not love. It certainly is not the unconditional love that we are blessed with from God. THAT is the love that Jesus was talking about.

When you truly and deeply love someone, whether it's a friend, a lover, a spouse, your parent, you come to respect them. From respect flows justice. This week in Washington, we've heard a lot about marriage equality and this fits in with what we are talking about here. God is quite concerned about justice. Taking care of “the least of these” is what Jesus talked about. When we love someone, we are concerned about their well-being. So, if they are homeless, jobless or hungry, that is of concern to us. If they are sick, either bodily or mentally, we want to take care of them. After all, we love them. Love is a profoundly important word. If we call ourselves Christians or Jesus followers, we have a mandate to love not only each other, but also, the rest of the world.



Ubi Caritas – Where true charity and love abide, God is there.
To be sung 3 times.
U-bi ca-ri-tas et a-mor.
U-bi ca-ri-tas De-us i-bi est.


Psalm 116 (from the St. Helena Psalter), read by Rev. Jim Morgan
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of God.
I will you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon your holy Name.
In the courts of God's house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

This is obviously not the traditional “Lord's Prayer”. It may be a bit awkward at first to say it, but let it sit for awhile, come back to it and see how it resonates with you.



Prayer of Jesus translated from Aramaic by Neil Douglas-Klotz
O thou from whom comes the breath of life,
which is present in all realms of vibration and light
Let thy light/sound be experienced in my own 'holy of holies'.
Let your ideals and counsel rule.
Let your desire be, in the universe, so in all forms.
Give us understanding and support for our needs from day to day.
Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others mistakes.
Do not let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.
To you belongs the ruling will, the life and power to do,
the song which beautifies all,
from age to age it renews. Amen



Silent Prayer of Contrition



Assurance of Forgiveness
We have tossed off the old and put on new garments. God has forgiven us and shows us mercy and love.
Instructions for communion
This communion table is open to everyone. We will begin with passing the unleavened bread (matzoh) around, then the wine and grape juice. You will serve each other. As you serve the bread, say, “Take, to remember Jesus.”; and then the juice or wine, “Drink, to remember Jesus.”



Communion: 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (taken from NLT)
Let us read together-

On the night when he was betrayed, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said,“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying,“This cup is the new covenant between God and the people. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.”

Prayer for bread: “God, dedicate this bread to your people.”
Prayer for juice & wine: “God, dedicate this wine & juice to your people.”



passing around of communion



Let us pray.
Prayer
God of justice and compassion, in remembrance of your mighty acts in Jesus, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, these received gifts of bread and wine and the food to follow. Make them be for us the embodiment of your love, mercy and forgiveness. And by your Spirit, make us one with you, make us one with Jesus, as we go in ministry to all the world, spreading your love and peace until your realm has come and all of your children will feast together. Amen

Jesus Has A Wife?

This is the sermon I gave on Sunday, October 7, 2012. Following the sermon are the two readings I used in the service.

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES – JESUS HAD A WIFE?

So, was there a Mrs. Jesus?

As you probably already know, Jesus has been in the news of late. A few words regarding his marital status and about having a female diciple, has the world of Christian theology, history and archeology in an uproar. People like me, who thoroughly enjoy this kind of upending of Christianity's doctrine and dogma, have been experiencing a strange kind of pleasure regarding this “new” finding. It is very exciting and adds to our knowledge base about the origins of the early Jesus movement. I have to admit that the first time I read about it, I did feel a twinge of vindication. After all, what had I been saying – that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and they probably had a family and here was the rest of the world catching up to what I had figured out long ago. Well, not so fast.

Karen King, professor at Harvard University's Divinity School, historian of early Christianity, and author (translated our Gospel of Mary reading) was given a small piece of parchment, probably cut from a much longer work, by an antiquities collector almost a year ago. The origin of this piece and what it was taken from, is unknown. In the world of archeology and scholarship, this is identified as “unprovenanced”. That is a big deal, and one that can be difficult for one's colleagues to take this seriously in the academic world. It is written in Coptic, an Egyptian language that uses Greek letters. Dr. King is an expert in the Copic language – it's one of the courses she teaches at Harvard Divinity. This small piece of papyrus had some words written on it that were downright earth-shaking: Jesus, while apparently talking to his disiples, says , “My wife” and “Mary is worthy of it”, and, perhaps most amazing, “she will be able to be my disiple”. Does this prove that Jesus was married and that Mary Magdelene was his wife and disciple? No, not at all.

If it proves anything at all, it is this: during the early centuries, there were many different ideas about who Jesus was, what his life was like and what were the important ideas that he taught.

Dr. King translated the fragment. Experts in ancient papyri, Dr. Roger Bagnall of New York University and Dr. AnneMarie Luijendijk of Princeton University examined it and concluded that it was authentic, both for the writing and the papyrus. The judgment of all was that it was written in the 2^nd Century, C.E. A paper, written by Karen King was presented in late September, at the International Conference of Coptic Studies, held in Rome, Italy. Some of her colleagues immediately denounced the findings and called it a forgery.

Just as many indicated their interest in this and were eager to learn more. Others, who didn't call it fake, used different language to describe what Jesus purportedly said. For instance, when he talked about, “My wife”, he was referring to the Church as his bride and he was the bridegroom. I know that those words have been used in the that way, but this was written supposedly before there really was a church as we use the term today. About a week after the headlines in the newspapers,on TV and the interenet, the Roman Catholic Church weighted in calling it all, “fake”. Though I won't comment further on their reaction, I believe it was a lamentable choice of words.

Let's take a look at what we and Biblical scholars know about Jesus – Yeshua's life. We know that he was probably born to a young mother, Mary or Miryam. In those days, in the Jewish community, when a woman became betrothed to a man, it was not unusual for her to become pregnant and even deliver her first-born before she actually got married. During the betrothal, it was considered prudent to make sure that the woman could adequately bear children. So, I believe then, Jesus was concieved in the old fashioned way, with Joseph or Yehoseph as his biological father. In the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, Jesus has four brothers and at least two sisters. They are: James – Yaakov; Joseph – Yose (a nickname actually); Jude – Yehuda; Simon – Shimon; Mary – Miryam; Solome – Shulamit. All of these are extremely common names in Israel in the first century. I know that the Catholic church calls his siblings, “cousins”, but the Greek words, which the earliest versions of the Gospels were translated from, use the word that means biological brothers or sisters.

We don't know what happened from the time Jesus was 12 until he started his teaching, but there are some buried hints. There are a number of scholars, who posit that Jesus was an Essene during part of this time. The Essenes were a break-away Jewish sect (2^nd century B.C.E.) who had gone out into the desert along the Dead Sea to live and worship the way they felt was proper. They had left the Temple in Jerusalem for a number of reasons, among them being that they felt that the priests of the temple had too close a relationship with the occupiers and that the Shekinah, the consort of Yahweh or the Feminine Devine, had been thrown out of the temple. The sect apparently had a few divisions within that followed slightly different ways of life. One followed a completely ascetic way of life and for the most part lived totally apart from the rest of society. Another group had a revolving group of members who lived together for a few years ascetically, then left to re-enter society, marry and have families. The last group apparently were families living together abstaining from most of what society had to offer, but not all, and may have been the ones who occupied Qumran and perhaps were the folks who hid the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Now we come to the very beginning of Jesus life teaching and healing. There are, again, a few hidden clues about what might have been happening. In our second reading by Margaret Starbird, she talks of Jesus being married. The story of the wedding at Cana may very well describe Jesus' own wedding. The wedding is being held in Cana, a village in Gallilee, not far from Nazereth. His mother comes to Jesus to tell him that the wine is running low and that they need more. First of all, this is a clue. Why would his mother come to him to tell him that the wine is running out? Is she the hostess? Why would this be a concern of hers? There has been speculation that if this was Jesus' wedding, she would have been the hostess (based on 1^st century Jewish tradition) and so would have been keenly watching how supplies of food and drink would have been holding out. Also, this wasn't a short little reception after a wedding ceremony, this could have been going on for many hours or even a couple of days. If her husband Joseph was deceased at this point, then very likely she would have been the only one in charge of refreshment at this lively feast.

One other thing: if Jesus was considered a teacher or rabbi in the first century, he would have had to be married. The first of the mitsvah or commandments is to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). This was not taken lightly. If someone was a rabbi, then they were married.

We have come finally to Jesus' crucifixion and death. The Gospels of Luke and John place several women at the site of the crucifixion, among them his mother and Mary Magdalene. Jesus body was laid in a tomb as soon as he taken down from the cross. The Jewish people were preparing for Passover and they needed to get this done before nightfall. In Jewish tradition, once the sun went down, it was a new day. That new day would then have been Passover. Handling a dead body made one ritually unclean, and they needed to be ritually clean to celebrate the Passover, so his body was not tended to as normally one would have done. The process for taking care of a dead body in first century Judaism would have been to wash the body, anoint it with fragrant oils and spices and then wrap it in clean linen. The body laid in a stone tomb, usually a family tomb, for a year. After a year had gone by and the flesh had fallen off and distingtigrated, the bones were gathered up and put into a stone bone box or ossuary and re-intered in the family burial tomb. In each of the Gospels a group of women or sometimes just Mary Magdalene is mentioned as coming to take care of Jesus' body after he was put in the tomb. The one very interesting fact, is that her name is always mentioned first. The washing and annointing of a dead body in first century Judaism was always done by women. And they were always women who were closely related to the deceased. In this case, it would have been his wife, his mother and a sister: "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came to the sepulcher at the rising of the sun" (Mk.16:1-2 KJV). His mother would have been identified as the mother of James, because he was now the eldest son and head of the family.

With this chronology, we see where a wife of Jesus' could have been in his life's story. In the Gospel of Mary, we see where his followers believed that Mary Magdalene was a leader in the early days of the Jesus movement. So where does this put us in looking at whether Jesus had a wife or not? That is for you to decide. We are a free church, with no bishop, hierarchy or doctrine to tell us what to believe. I suspect that many of you are here because you are more comfortable with that. Our Congregational Covenent compells us to respect each other's ideas and beliefs about Jesus, God, and our place in this world. I have experienced criticism about my beliefs: that they are too extreme, that I don't belong in this church, that I don't know what I'm talking about; but repect for one another's beliefs is a two way street. If you want me to respect your beliefs, then you will have to respect mine. The reaction to the, “news” that Jesus had a wife, leads me to believe that there is a hunger out there to know that Jesus might have lived a “normal” life, which makes him more real and reachable.

Are there some of you are now in full panic mode and complaining (whining?) about everyone changing Jesus on you? Look, here's the deal: life is change. New things will always be found regarding one of the most important people in history. But here is what hasn't changed: Jesus' message about love – his most powerful and perhaps most important one coming the night before he died “Love one another as I have loved you.” And caring for others, for “the least of these”, for the hungry, sick, homeless, the widows and orphans. His teaching is still the same. Nothing has changed about that. So, what are you waiting for? There are people to be fed – go fix dinner for the men at Leland House or on Saturday morning help with Food For All downstairs, find an animal shelter or rescue organization that needs some help (yes, those animals especially could be considered the “least of these”) and they always do, help a student in a school near where you live or work to learn to read or do math. And in doing things for others, in helping others we can find what I believe will be our own salvation.

Readings for Oct. 7

Gospel of Mary translated by Karen King
But they were distressed and wept greatly. "How are we going to go out to the rest of the world to announce the good news about the Realm of the child of true Humanity?" they said. "If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?"
Then Mary stood up. She greeted them all, addressing her brothers and sisters, "Do not weep and be distressed nor let your hearts be irresolute. For his grace will be with you all and will shelter you. Rather we should praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and made us true Human beings."
When Mary had said these things, she turned their heart [to]ward the Good, and they began to deba[t]e about the wor[d]s of [the Savior].
Peter said to Mary, "Sister, we know that the Savior loved you more than all other women. Tell us the words of the Savior that you remember, the things which you know that we don't because we haven't heard them."
Mary responded, "I will teach you about what is hidden from you."

Excerpt from “The Woman With the Alabaster Jar” by Magaret Starbird

The Fourth Gospel says very clearly that the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Mary Magdalen's name is not mentioned in connection with the anointing scene, but it is she who accompanies Jesus to Calvary in the Gospels, standing near the cross; and it is she who goes at dawn on Easter morning to finish the anointing for burial that she began several days before.

A dynastic marriage between Jesus and a royal daughter of the Benjamites would have been perceived as a source of healing to the people of Israel during their time of misery as an occupied nation.

In the novel King Jesus (published in 1946), Robert Graves, the twentieth-century mythographer, suggests that Jesus' lineage and marriage were concealed from all but a select circle of royalist leaders. To protect the royal bloodline, this marriage would have been kept secret from the Romans and the Herodian tetrarchs, and after the crucifixion of Jesus, the protection of his wife and family would have been a sacred trust for those few who knew their identity. All reference to the marriage of Jesus would have been deliberately obscured, edited, or eradicated.

It is probable that the original references to Mary Magdalen in the oral tradition, the "pericopes" of the New Testament, were misunderstood before they were ever committed to writing. I suspect that the epithet "Magdaleri" was meant to be an allusion to the "Magdaleder" found in Micah, the promise of the restoration of Sion following her exile. Perhaps the earliest verbal references attaching the epithet "Magdala" to Mary of Bethany's name had nothing to do with an obscure town in Galilee, as is suggested, but were deliberate references to these lines in Micah, to the "watchtower" or "stronghold" of the Daughter of Sion who was forced into political exile.

It seems obvious that after the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary Magdalen was no longer in Jerusalem. there is no mention of Mary, Martha, or Lazarus in the Book of Acts or in Paul's letters.

It is clear from the four canonical Gospels that Mary Magdalen enjoyed special precedence in the community of believers, since she was the first person to see and speak to Jesus on Easter Sunday, having hurried to his tomb at first light to perform embalming rites for his dead body. There are seven lists in the four Gospels that name the women who accompanied Jesus. In six of the seven, the name of Mary Magdalen is given first--ahead of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and ahead of the other women mentioned. The Gospel writers, beginning with Mark, are most likely reflecting the status of the Magdalen in the Christian community--that of First Lady.

 

Sophia - Lady Wisdom

Today is Friday, August 17th, and it is the feast day of St. Sophia. Ah, but not according your saints calendar?  No matter. It is according to the Gnostics - yeah, those damn heretics are still around.  Let me tell you about this wonderful Lady. She is the representative of the Feminine Divine in the Bible. Her name is all over the Old Testament and occasionally in the New.

.

There are quite a few names that are used for her. Some of them you might have heard before, but in reference to someone else: Holy Spirit, Queen of Heaven, Shekinah, Star of the Sea, Creator, Divine Mother, Lady Wisdom, Chochma, Bride of God.  The ancient Jews revered  Holy Wisdom, but they called her Chochma (hock-ma) or Hochma. She was the Divine Companion of YHWH.  Together, they created everything,

When Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, She was there. In the Old Testament, She can be found in the Wisdom literature and Proverbs, among other places.

   When God set the heavens in place - I was there.

When God fixed the sea's horizon - I was there.

When God made firm the sky and set the fountains that feed the sea;

When God bound the ocean with shore, and the sand with sea - I was there.

Proverbs 8:27-29

She honors Her noble birth

by living with God who loves Her.

She is an initiate in divine knowledge,

and a partner in all God's works.

Wisdom of Solomon 8:4

Look at the picture above. Yes, it's the one painted by Michaelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It's very famous and has something quite interesting in it if you look at it long enough. God is in the middle with His arm outstretched to Adam's hand. But look at God's other arm. It's draped over the shoulders of a beautiful woman! That is Sophia, Wisdom, Hochma. 

So raise a glass to Sophia and tell Her. "Thank you!". She has always been there, but you just didn't know it.

To be continued.......

                              

It's Sunday. But I Didn't Go to Church

It is Sunday. I did not go to church for services. Why not? There are several reasons. They may not seem like good ones, but they are mine. Here they are in no particular order:

• I am extremely tired of male/patriarchal language when speaking of God. (I believe that God is BOTH male and female. If you happen to believe or just like God being called, "He", I am fine with that, but please realize that not everyone feels the same way. Use inclusive language when speaking in public about God.)
• I like diverse ways of worship, not the same thing every. single. Sunday. (I realize that some folks LIKE services that never change - I'm just not one of them.) Mix things up a bit. Full stompin', Holy Spirit infused, speaking in tongues, yellin', hands waving and clapping, enthusiastic, EMOTIONAL worship, would really get my juices flowing. A poetry service, gospel, drama, just ANYTHING that shows a little ingenuity about worship. 
• Show some EMOTION during worship. Most services are almost completely devoid of intense, sincere, authentic, genuine emotion of any kind. How about some laughter (and I mean REAL laughter), tears, joy, happiness? Is that really too hard to plan and execute worship services that have all of or at least some of those things? I have attended a handful of services in my life that have those things, and I felt so good afterwards. And NONE of those emotions need come with shaming, hateful or damaging words. 
• And speaking of words, if a faith community is going to be following the words and teachings of Jesus, then there is no room for hate, shame or anger toward anyone. God made everyone, so God loves everyone. Period. Jesus didn't talk about hate or people that today we think of as sinful. His words were: "Love others as I have loved you." There is too much hating going on in religion, no matter the denomination or beliefs. People are using the Bible as a vehicle to justify the hate (read: fear) they hold in their hearts toward others. This cannot be tolerated or encouraged. IT is an abomination to hate anyone. 
• Music. Now, I am all for the old hymns, Bach or classical music in church. (Of course the old hymns either should be gender inclusive or re-worded so that they are), but a steady diet of that makes me feel as if I'm stuck in a time warp. How about some jazz, blues, rock, gospel, folk or praise? Why not REALLY mix it up with a little of each? I really like diverse kinds of music when I listen to music on my own and I think that would be fantastic in a church service.
• Let's have some good, thought provoking, burn-the-barn preaching. Yeah, that emotion thing again. Preaching from the heart always beats any other kind in my book. I realize that some really like intellectual, higher thinking kind of stuff, but frankly it leaves me cold. Touch me in some way. Give me something to think about all week. If you, as a preacher, have your hair on fire about something, PREACH it!! If, by the end of the "sermon", and by that I mean, whatever message is to be conveyed in whatever form, the preacher is exhausted, that is a good thing. Don't always have the message done as a sermon. Use other forms to get that message across - drama, poetry, story, 2 or 3 people involved. MIX IT UP.
• And finally,  be friendly to whomever shows up on your doorstep. No, I don't mean just say hello. I mean GENUINE friendliness. Show some warmth. Ask about me, don't just talk about yourself. Introduce me to another person. Introduce me to the entire congregation (without embarrassing me), find out why I am there and maybe even why I might stay. (Or might not.) Follow up. Don't ignore some people, and be friendly to others. Invite me to something that the congregation is doing. Have plenty of things that the people, who make up the faith community, are doing that I can be invited to join. Make me feel welcome and loved. Then I WILL be back. 

Does that make sense to anyone else but me? I'm beginning to think that I am the only one who feels this way. 

Mary Magdalene: Lost in the Jesus Narrative

Today is July 22, the feast day of Mary Magdalene. She was an important person in the Jesus movement, but nearly got lost when "The Boys" started to feel threatened by her.  By that, I mean that she was a leader within the movement, but when the Church started to take control of the Jesus narrative, she began to fade into the mist. That was exactly what they wanted. She had become very powerful. Women were not to have any kind of leadership in the Church and they had to be subjugated.  After all, they could create life and that creative force was a threat to all the men who dreamed of complete rule in every aspect of faith and life. Indeed, they tried to force women to become the meek, unstable, manipulated, cowering in fear beings that were the so-called ideal, but many females just pretended to act like that. Though, of course, some women believed that that was their role in life, many women did not. The Feminine went underground. Deep underground. But, live, it did. Today, that creative life force is beginning to really show its muscle: the nuns of the Catholic Church is only one example. Most women today, take for granted that they can work outside the home, hold political office, be faith community leaders, earn more money than men (though often they don't, even in the same jobs), marry or not, who they wish (though if it's another woman, not likely), live as a single mother head of household, have credit apart from husbands, make choices regarding giving birth, etc. I could go on, but all of these things were not a part of my growing up years. My daughter today knows nothing different. Let us take today to dedicate ourselves to furthering the power of womanhood. We have come a great distance, but there is much further to go to achieve women's fullest potential.

So, how do we know that Mary Magdalene got lost? First, we know almost nothing about her. There are only fragments of her existence in the Gospels, basically our only source of information. There are other, non-canonical gospels that talk about her, the best known is the Gospel of Mary. The Gospel of Thomas tells a narrative about the relationship between her and Jesus. You can read it and figure out what it was. I am of the opinion that she and Jesus were married. The Wedding at Cana may well be a story about Jesus' wedding, instead of someone elses. Based on the Gospel of Mary, we can surmise that she was a leader in the Jesus Movement. Though this information may not be totally accurate, again, you can make up your own mind. For me, it indicates that she was a leader. In many of the authentic letters of Paul, other women are portrayed as leaders of their faith communities. Later this was a major cause of concern to the male Church leaders. But at the time, this was not considered a problem. In the Gospels, on Easter morning, she is consistently the first one at the tomb and discovers something quite unusual. In the Orthodox Christian Church's tradition, she is named the Apostle to the Apostles. To me that says it all. I hold her in great esteem among those that followed Jesus.

The Boys in Rome

I've been thinking a lot lately about the conflagration that has recently surfaced regarding the conduct of American nuns in the Catholic Church. I've been trying to figure out how to write this without sounding as if I don't like Catholics. That is not what I mean. I do have issues with the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Now, I'm sure you know that I'm not Catholic, so all of my viewpoints come from the perspective of someone who is outside, looking in.

It seems that the boys in Rome are objecting to a group of womyn who have opinions of their own, can make decisions and are following Jesus' teaching. The rest of the world doesn't see anything wrong with that. But the Catholic church has a problem with all of it. One of the major criticisms is that they are caring for the poor and hungry and not getting all upset with same-sex marriage and abortions. In fact some of the nuns actually care for people who are gay and have had abortions.  Why is this such a point of contention? What century are they living in? Obviously, the nuns are living in the 21st century and the boys in Rome are stuck back in the Dark Ages. It was called that for a reason. To me, it proves what I have thought for a long time - that the Roman Catholic Church cannot handle being in the modern age, where people are accepted just for who they are and the teachings of Jesus are taken seriously. Remember what Jesus said? "Love others as I have loved you. Love your neighbor as yourself" Yeah, those teachings. Oh, and, "Take care of the least of these." That means the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the ones on the fringe of society. THOSE people. If you are going to call yourself a Jesus following or a Christian, those are the kinds of things that one must do. The nuns are doing that, but their church is rebuking them because they aren't paying any attention to the social issues that the (male) bishops have decided need to be addressed, and that are very much out of step with the rest of society. The boys in Rome just nailed the their coffin shut. They have no relevancy in today's world and it is no wonder that their churches are loosing members rapidly.

One of the most controversial topics that nuns in the United States has been talking about and exploring is the ordination of womyn to the Roman Catholic priesthood. The boys in Rome won't have any of that kind of talk. That is is blasphemous and heretical. The problem is that scholarship and archaeology have made their viewpoints on womyn in the priesthood obsolete. It is well documented, both in the Bible and in non-canonical literature that womyn were very active in the ministry, both when Jesus was alive and after his crucifixion..There have been archaeological sites that have uncovered the names of womyn as leaders of churches in the Middle East.  Many of the very earliest people involved in establishing churches were womyn. Up until the fourth century (and even perhaps later in some parts of the world) womyn were priests, bishops and they were also married. Yes, clergy was married, both men and womyn. It is historical fact that womyn were priests and that can't be swept under the rug anymore.

The other interesting fact is that the Church organization that is rebuking the American nuns is the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith. That used to be called the Inquisition. How ironic it is that this is the Office in the Roman Catholic Church that would censure American nuns. For several years this Office has been running an "inquiry" into the womyn who serve the Church here in the U.S.A. In case the boys in Rome didn't get the memo: In the United States there is freedom of religion, the right to think differently about many things including religion, politics and government. Not everyone is going to think exactly like you do. That includes those who are devoted followers of the Roman Catholic Church.

Easter

I have issues with Easter. I don't believe that Jesus bodily rose from the grave. I don't believe that he walked the earth as a human being before ascending to "heaven". I believe that his "resurrection" was not what many Christians believe happened. So, there is a reason I was hesitant to write about Easter. It makes me uncomfortable. But I do have a few (probably heretical) ideas about what might of happened.

I think that Jesus was seen "in spirit". What people saw was a full bodied apparition. I have seen one of those and I believe it was entirely possible that he appeared to his followers in that form. Jesus' soul or spirit was what was walking on earth, not his body.  It was Jesus' ghost that was being seen. And yes, ghosts can "speak", though its not in the same way a live human can speak. I believe that Jesus had a very strong, vibrant soul and it would have survived his crucifixion. I also believe that since his death was so traumatic that his soul stayed on earth for awhile and eventually it went to the light which is God.

That is not say some kind of resurrection didn't happen. It just wasn't a bodily resurrection. When Jesus' soul left his body and later ascended to God, he wouldn't have taken his bones with him. They (the bones) would have been laid in a family tomb for a year - the flesh would have disintegrated - and then a gathering of family and friends would have put the bones that were left in an ossuary (bone box). It would have been then put into a niche inside the family tomb and it would have lain there for centuries. Or perhaps it's still laying somewhere. What I just described was the way that most Jews were buried in the first century C. E. (Common Era). Though most people who were crucified were just left on the cross after they died, Jesus probably was taken down, because some of his followers were either in the priest class in Judaism or were Roman citizens.

Now we get to how it was that Mary Magdalene was the first one at the tomb after three days (well, actually more like 2 1/2). The people who prepared the bodies for burial in the tombs were the immediate family of the deceased. Women were usually the ones to do the preparation, because they didn't have to worry about being ritually unclean. In Judaism, touching a dead body made one unclean. One would have to go through a specific set of rituals to cleanse oneself, so they were no longer unclean. So, the women of the family would have gone back to the tomb to wash, anoint, and wrap the body in a clean linen cloth. In some of the Gospels there are a group of women who go to the tomb to do that, in others there's just one. But, you must remember it has to be members of the family. There is always one woman mentioned in all the Gospels who is there: Mary Magdalene. But why would she be there? She's not a member of his family. There is only one explanation for who she really was - Jesus' wife. The wife was a member of the immediate family of the one who had died. Wait a minute - it doesn't say in the Gospels that Jesus was married. Yes, that is true. That information could have been in there, but later taken out when it was decided that Jesus was celibate. Non-canonical gospels hinted at their relationship, but it was never spelled out. But only family members prepared the body, so otherwise why would she have been there?

It is always hard to describe what happened to Jesus after he was crucified, but I hope I have given you some food for thought.