tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344022193179491682024-03-13T12:07:39.955-04:00StellarCrossThe Internet Homepage of Father Robert LyonsBishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.comBlogger278125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-50668773664645763192014-10-20T00:00:00.000-04:002014-10-20T09:57:34.310-04:00The Reform of the Daily Office - Part 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
What is the purpose of the Office?</div>
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In the <a href="http://stellarcross.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-reform-of-daily-office-part-1.html" target="_blank">first part of this series</a>, I gave a brief overview of the reform of the Office in the Western Church, and discussed the concept of the Cathedral Office, the revival of which has never really occurred in widespread practice. At the conclusion of that post, I posed a series of questions.</div>
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Today I explore the first, and quite possibly the biggest question... what is the purpose of the Divine Office?</div>
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While answers could (and have!) taken up hundreds of pages, the cliche answer, 'the sanctification of time' still works as well as any other answer that one can develop. From the earliest days of Christianity, some form of daily prayer was understood to be a part of the Christian's walk. The Didache specifically mentions offering the Lord's Prayer three times daily, which seems to roughly correspond to the morning, afternoon, and evening temple prayers referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. This parallels the practices of both the Psalmist (Ps. 55:17) and Daniel (Dan. 6:10) in the Old Testament. Of course, there is also the example of David, who said that he praised God seven times daily, but at the moment I don't wish to focus so much on how many hours to pray as to why we pray at fixed times.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUGamzTJUC3z2no5SZpoXiFdaE64u1nn5Pl7GLyqhwpQkFWWU2W8m4d17S-PIgFgZXqPPgzzVXEsEhZRpwBm4A0rREn661pY4k9KHNjDj1AFVY8CKCPf0QlSsDlhFcm-UKKjyg0H1FzM/s1600/thehours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUGamzTJUC3z2no5SZpoXiFdaE64u1nn5Pl7GLyqhwpQkFWWU2W8m4d17S-PIgFgZXqPPgzzVXEsEhZRpwBm4A0rREn661pY4k9KHNjDj1AFVY8CKCPf0QlSsDlhFcm-UKKjyg0H1FzM/s1600/thehours.jpg" height="150" width="320" /></a></div>
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When state that we keep the hours for 'the sanctification of time' we are called to remember that we, while servants of an infinite God, are people who live lives governed, to some extent, by clocks. It doesn't matter of that clock is the intricate motions of the sun, moon, and earth in an annual cycle, or the flipping of the seconds on an iPhone app, time is passing, and we along with it. Each moment we live, we continue our journey down the river of faith that leads us, ultimately, to our heavenly home.</div>
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That said, the journey is fraught with distractions, disruptions, and yes, sinful inclinations. Left to our own devices, we would often neglect to spend time in thanksgiving and prayer. We are not the best at keeping Christ in the forefront of our minds. Yes we, baptized and renewed people, can still be distracted by a multitude of earthly enticements. That doesn't mean the enticements are intrinsically evil, mind you, just that they are distractions at times. Thus, the discipline of fixed hour prayer - regardless of the number of hours we keep, is intended to ensure that our focus is recalled on a regular basis to the blessings of God, who, to this day, reaches out to us when we reach out to him. In this way, we sanctify time.</div>
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Fixed hour prayer is not a panacea that will alleviate all trouble, distraction, or concern - but it is a powerful tool to keep our minds and hearts fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.<br />
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In my next post, I'll consider the question: <i>How many hours are appropriate to keep?</i></div>
Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-40586538928142126602014-10-02T22:45:00.001-04:002014-10-03T08:47:02.286-04:00The Reform of the Daily Office - Part 1<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0P2A1QBycY_KPOMN2FU4nz61jJJPGiFMmgFZmVmifmbVepkVkyhtRhL4vV7YeEakLw8XsmZIacF2cSZhS3TNrsmKoc0IvKlEylqwrRkKXNEvq3smz3ajq1A0tO7i_ZgX1EvGcYrZmcto/s1600/breviary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0P2A1QBycY_KPOMN2FU4nz61jJJPGiFMmgFZmVmifmbVepkVkyhtRhL4vV7YeEakLw8XsmZIacF2cSZhS3TNrsmKoc0IvKlEylqwrRkKXNEvq3smz3ajq1A0tO7i_ZgX1EvGcYrZmcto/s1600/breviary.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>In the latter decades of the twentieth century, and into the twenty-first, the Daily Office has enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity among Christians. Long felt to be the duty of monks and the clergy, who were obligated to offer the lengthy prayer offices (in other languages in some traditions), the use of the Offices enjoyed great popular use only in the Church of England and her daughter Churches as both Morning and Evening Prayer became cornerstones of typical parish worship. Often rendered by exquisite choirs, the words of Evensong became melodious companions to generations of the English. <br />
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In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, fresh revision was made of the Roman Rite's hours. But, in many ways, the Roman Breviary as it exists today still feels more monastic in root and purpose, which is unsurprising, considering the history of Office in western Christian practice.</div>
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Anciently, the Western Church's Office was known in two forms - Cathedral and Monastic. The Monastic Office, largely structured after the Rule of Saint Benedict, included a weekly recitation of the complete Psalter, lengthy readings - both Scriptural and Patristic - and eight stops along the journey of the day to offer the Opus Dei, the Work of God. Over time, the Monastic form exerted influence over the prayer life of the clergy in Rome, and from there, the general structure of the Offices took on a distinctly more monastic feel for secular clergy. The transition largely shut the laity out of full, active, and conscious participation of the Office, reducing their presence to mere attendance whilst they focused on their private devotions.</div>
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The Cathedral Office, however, was of much simpler form. A smaller corpus of psalmody was used, in order to allow the people to become familiar with at least a few psalms. Since, in the so-called Cathedral Office was intended as corporate prayer for all the people, it made sense for it to bear a mark of noble simplicity, having lavish symbolism to enhance the experience. Large candles were borne in procession as the sun set, incense was burned, and other ritual elements could be added to both teach and enrich.</div>
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In the process of the liturgical reforms of the twentieth century, it was often hoped that a Cathedral style Office would be produced, but few firm examples actually surfaced. Several Roman Catholic hymnals produced texts that could be considered Cathedral Offices (GIA and OCP both tend to include something resembling such a form in their publications - at least in their publications up through a decade ago; I have no newer hymnals to examine and see if this is still the practice); but their nature does not, strictly speaking, fulfill the obligation of the clergy to offer the Daily Office, and they are not actual authorized liturgical texts of the Church.<br />
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Three notable attempts at Daily Office reform are to be found 'down under' (to us North Americans, anyway) - they are the orders for Daily Service from <a href="http://www.epray.com.au/Files/AAPB_2011_text_no_trims.pdf" target="_blank">An Australian Prayer Book</a> (1978), <a href="http://anglicanprayerbook.org.nz/" target="_blank">A New Zealand Prayer Book - He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa</a> (1989), and A Prayer Book for Australia (1995). These three texts appear to share a common heritage, and, while I don't know enough about the history of these Offices to know if they were designed with the intention of serving as a Cathedral Office, their simplicity of form and structure ultimately leaves one with the feel that these offerings are well on the way to meeting at least some of the goals of a Cathedral Office in contemporary liturgical use.<br />
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Additionally, while not strictly an Office form, I would note that the fourfold Daily Prayer for Individuals and Families published by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in Hymnal Supplement 98 and Treasury of Daily Prayer, as well as the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod's Morning, Evening, and General Devotions in the Christian Worship line (not to be confused with the orders for Morning Praise and Evening Prayer) are likewise steps in the right direction.<br />
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In order to determine the best way to move forward today in crafting a form of the Office that will truly become a Prayer of the People, several questions need to be asked concerning the keeping of the liturgical hours:<br />
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1) What is the purpose of the Office?<br />
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2) How many hours are appropriate?<br />
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3) How long is too long, and how short is too short?<br />
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4) How shall we treat the Psalter?<br />
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5) Is the Office a form of Bible Study, a Devotional, or something unique?<br />
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6) How much variety is required, and how much is simply a vain attempt to make the Office artificially interesting?</div>
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Over the next few weeks, I hope to write several posts covering the six questions I just asked. I hope you'll join me and offer your own feedback and considerations. I also hope you'll consider sharing your experiences with the Daily Office.</div>
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Stay tuned... this could get interesting!</div>
Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-17695234701110120272014-04-18T12:15:00.000-04:002014-04-18T12:15:00.152-04:00Homily for Good Friday 2014<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">My brothers and sisters, we have just
heard proclaimed in our midst Luke’s account of Jesus suffering and death.
Words are often insufficient to truly parse the meaning of what we have just
received into our minds and hearts, so I will, out of respect for the gravity
of today’s readings, speak to you in my own words, and with a few borrowed words,
only briefly…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What you are about to hear might, on
some level, challenge the way you think about our Lord’s Passion and Death. I
offer these words to you, not because what you may already hold in your heart
and spirit concerning Jesus’ death is wrong, but because if you have not fully
comprehended the depth and dimension of what we solemnly commemorate here
today, then you are missing the point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s observance brings to our mind,
and rightly so, extremely painful thoughts. Thorns… whips… nails… blood… death…
All this is part and parcel of the Good Friday experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But if we focus on the thorns, whips, nails,
blood… if we focus on the death, and that is the end of our experience, then we
have totally missed the point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
point is not the suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's
the love that was willing to endure such suffering.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's
important to remember this.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Remember.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today, we will behold the cross and,
through ritual, express our connection to the love that gives the cross
meaning, the sacrificial love that was willing to expend itself that we might
have life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We will receive that same blood,
together with the body from which it was spilled, as we partake of the
Eucharist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We do this because of the selfless,
sacrificial love of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's
important to remember this.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Remember.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Note:<i>
The words in italics in the preceding manuscript are drawn, with permission,
from a Facebook post by the Reverend Peter Pearson. He has graciously granted
permission for his profound and meaningful words to be used in this Homily.</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-49274676680536698592014-04-17T13:00:00.000-04:002014-04-17T13:00:02.932-04:00Homily for Holy Thursday 2014<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everything is powered by something. Our
bodies are powered by the food we consume. Our cars and much of our civil
infrastructure is fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas. The ecosystem of our
planet is, at its root level, powered by the sun. Everything that exists
derives its root energies from something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The same thing is true in the mysteries
we celebrate today. Something empowers us and the mysteries of our faith. That
something is sacrifice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Without
sacrifice, there is no sacrament.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Without
sacrifice, there is no salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Without
sacrifice, there is no love.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For us as believers, it is the power of
sacrifice, of Christ’s sacrifice, that empowers us, and all that we do. Or, at
least, it should be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is Jesus’ sacrifice that gives
meaning to the servant act of washing feet. Without his sacrifice, Jesus is
being a kind host, one who goes outside of what is socially required to welcome
his guests… but when touched by the power of his sacrifice, this servant act
becomes one of great transformation – one which is able to melt through the
pride that was building in the heart of a man who had, in the last several
years, witnessed countless acts of selfless service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is Jesus’ sacrifice that gives
meaning to the emblem of bread. Without his sacrifice, Jesus is eating a meal –
certainly one of great significance – but still a meal… but when touched by the
power of his sacrifice, this loaf of bread becomes the means by which the
cosmos is restored and renewed to fellowship with its Creator, the broken body
of the incarnate Word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is Jesus’ sacrifice that gives
meaning to the element of wine. Without his sacrifice, Jesus is slaking an
earthly thirst in the context of a time-honored ritual… but when touched by the
power of his sacrifice, the contents of the cup become the blood outpoured, by
which the lentils to the door of our hearts are marked. Our restoration is
rooted in this Blood ‘shed… for the forgiveness of sins’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is a heart, mind, and spirit attuned
to sacrifice that transforms common elements, religious ritual, and printed
word into a life-giving connection with the Eternal God who so deeply desires a
new birth for his creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What does the power of sacrifice do to,
for, or in you? How does Christ’s eternal sacrifice actually affect your life?
Is this something you have stopped to consider lately? Is it something that
enters into your daily consideration of how you live your life? Is it vital to
your understanding of yourself and your place in the world? It should be, for
without sacrifice, you and I truly have no life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When, in our lives, we respond to God
and reach out to others in faith, we do so by the prompting of the Spirit, who
applies the power of Jesus’ eternal sacrifice to our lives… to humble us, to renew
us, and to restore us to full fellowship with him and with one another. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">On this day, which is different from every other
day, we hear again of the establishment of the New Covenant, a covenant which
is sealed through blood of sacrifice shed on the cross. May this sacrifice be
the sacrifice which empowers us today, impelling us both to an ever-increasing
faith, as well as to service to God, and to one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The preceding Homily was preached in the Naphtali Isaac Eskenazi Sanctuary at Eskenazi Health on Thursday, April 17, 2014.</span></i></div>
</span>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-81533564236908676332014-03-05T16:43:00.002-05:002014-04-16T15:26:18.924-04:00Homily for Ash Wednesday 2014<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2ZSh841gLE_ljIWLY00UPjq_T_gZ7UIdlBBorRC7GscMte4K9" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2ZSh841gLE_ljIWLY00UPjq_T_gZ7UIdlBBorRC7GscMte4K9" data-sz="f" name="1PkbHuVd6m7B1M:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2ZSh841gLE_ljIWLY00UPjq_T_gZ7UIdlBBorRC7GscMte4K9" style="height: 189px; margin-top: 0px; width: 182px;" /></a>You may not recognize it from the snow and ice over the
weekend, but spring is here. Oh, I know that the equinox isn’t for a few weeks
yet, but forecasters talk about meteorological seasons. Meteorological spring
begins on March 1 by their logic, and so if you permit me, I am going to take
the liberty of declaring today to be the first day of Ecclesiastical spring. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Along with entering into spring comes the impetus to engage
in some cleaning. Trust me, in a few weeks, when the weather actually catches up
with what the forecasters are calling this time, you’ll see plenty of ads for
big box retailers promoting their spring cleaning lines. They’ll become as ubiquitous
as the ads for Filet ‘o Fish sandwiches are today. Mops and brooms and
organizing solutions will go flying off the shelves as bachelors and
housewives, dads and retirees all seek to make good on the promise of a sense
of accomplishment, a clean house, and perhaps some organization in their lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What you may be unaware of is that spring cleaning has among
its roots a deeply religious reason – the requirement of purging all leaven
from ones’ home during the feast of Pesach, what we know today as the Jewish
Passover. This means that every trace of yeast, all leavened products…
everything that is not classified as Passover Kosher – yes, there are two kinds
of kosher! – have to be purged. For the serious Jewish family, spring cleaning
is a religious act. The fridge and stove are pulled out, crevice tools reach
into areas so finite that it seems impossible for a bread crumb to have gotten
there… but it’s cleaned nonetheless! Special pots and pans are brought out.
Passover-only dinnerware is used. Some families even go so far as to have a
Passover-only stove, oven, and fridge! Even the kids, on the night before
Passover, get to go hunting for the last bit of leaven. All that, because they
don’t want to run even the remotest risk of having any leaven in their homes
for the Passover and the subsequent Feast of Unleavened Bread. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But why?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Biblically, leaven is used repeatedly as an illustration for
sin. In the Old Testament leaven is consistently used to represent sin, falsehood,
and evil…In the New Testament, leaven was used by Jesus himself to represent the
false teachings of the Pharisees and the lack of faith on the part of the Sadducees
Saint Paul boldly challenges the Corinthian Church to celebrate the feast, ‘not
with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.’</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not suggesting to you that you need to go home this
afternoon and purge out your loaves of Wonder Bread or toss your yeast packets
into the garbage… but I am suggesting that you take today as the chance to
embark on a journey towards Eastertide in which you will go into those
crevices, the places perhaps you don’t think to examine for sin, and to
challenge yourself to allow Christ into those areas in your life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need to take time to reflect on our sinfulness because,
to be honest, sometimes our sins have become either so completely hidden in the
cracks, or have blended so surreptitiously <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>into our lives, that we no longer take notice
of them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I grew up with my grandmother. Until the day she had a
stroke and went into the hospital for the last time, she smoked… and for most
of the years I lived with her, you couldn’t tell the difference between her and
the 6:15 bound for Topeka.
After she died, when I decided to sell the trailer she had left me, I went to
go clean it up. There was plenty of stuff that was in obvious need of removal…
her old clothes, kitchen supplies, Kleenexes under furniture… the obvious
things. But I hadn’t been in the house for a while, and something just didn’t
smell right. So I decided to wipe down the walls, thinking that, perhaps, some
mold or something had grown. What came off the walls was truly disgusting.
Decades of smoke had clung to the walls, subtly discoloring EVERYTHING. I grew
up in the house. I moved in on the day she closed on the house… I lived there
for fourteen years before I left for work and school… I came back and lived
there for three more years as her health declined… and I had become so
completely accustomed to the discoloration of the walls, the curtains – the white
curtains that I always thought were yellow! – that I was shocked… simply
shocked.</div>
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<br /></div>
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My brothers and sisters, there are things in our lives that
we know we need to clean up. There are many sins we take to the Lord, fully
realizing our need for his mercy and grace in them. And yet, how often do we go
deeper? Do we allow ourselves to settle for mediocrity in our efforts to clean
up our lives? If we do, I can promise you, with absolute certainty, that the
things we refuse to examine, the crevices we refuse to clean, will eventually
begin to quietly erode at our life of faith.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this Lenten season, therefore, as we gather today to
receive the sign of ashes and to be nourished in Word and Sacrament, I invite
each of you to observe this time with great devotion and attention to your spiritual
needs. I invite you to seek out the counsel of a wise and loving pastor if you
find yourself struggling – with sins that are great, or sins that are small.
Above all, I invite you to reinvigorate your relationship with the only one who
can possibly make anything out of what we do here today, Jesus the Christ, who
died for our justification; the one who sends the Spirit into our midst to
convict us, to apply mercy, and to draw us ever closer to himself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To God be glory, now and forever. Amen!</div>
Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-302056651323213432013-12-14T21:21:00.001-05:002013-12-14T21:21:55.005-05:00UES Constellation Complete<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-9546443143918331322013-09-16T21:01:00.001-04:002013-09-16T21:01:57.451-04:00A new 1:1000 projectWell, I decided to take my old 1:1000 refit that I had experimented with last year and do some work on her. She isn't named at the moment, but she is a TOS/TMP hybrid.<br />
<br />
This is a very ROUGH stage... revision.<br />
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Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-25650366042664116062013-09-12T20:57:00.001-04:002013-09-12T20:57:19.482-04:00Plastic Surgery on a StarshipSome photos of my recent starship plastic surgery.<br />
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The short of it - the starboard pylon was sagging and the nacelle was canted inboard. I used sheet styrene and Plastistruct to brace it up and fill in the gaps.<br />
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Unfortunately, one of my kids seems to have gotten a hold of the camera, and several images are missing.</div>
Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-51257030504182790792013-09-11T21:49:00.000-04:002013-09-11T21:49:06.117-04:00Introducing the UES Constellation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Behold... she still needs fitting out, but she's been launched from the builder's yards.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPFfIhmjhM6nrQdb1zHf9E1xEAnIEJHNW4FZpZv2xmKUS7GxlD7ycGKkXaDA2SLLVOedX0cPNmwQnz2rInvhCvRY3Ey_aRPCeVqapvVXKlpXnR64Ama0t-IlW5cGv4TqNRDrH8yTcOT0/s1600/IMG_4004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPFfIhmjhM6nrQdb1zHf9E1xEAnIEJHNW4FZpZv2xmKUS7GxlD7ycGKkXaDA2SLLVOedX0cPNmwQnz2rInvhCvRY3Ey_aRPCeVqapvVXKlpXnR64Ama0t-IlW5cGv4TqNRDrH8yTcOT0/s320/IMG_4004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /><br />Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-16727481785311849302013-08-31T23:52:00.000-04:002013-08-31T23:52:31.882-04:00TOS Shuttlecraft - With a TwistThose of you following my modeling work know I have been working in an alternate universe of late. Here is the Clare, #1 shuttlecraft of the UES Constellation in my United Earth Interstellar Confederation universe. The model is the AMT original series shuttlecraft (25th Anniversary pop of the kit) and the decals (except for the windows, impulse engines, and door button which are kit originals) are custom to my specification by JDecals.<br />
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The upper hull is Testors silver, the lower hull is Tamiya IJN gray (Sasebo Arsenal). Nacelle forward caps were painted white and then dipped in Tamiya clear orange. Nacelle aft caps were brushed with Tamiya metallic gray. Highlights on the nacelles and underside are in Tamiya copper and bronze.<br /><br />The final clear coat is drying now, and tomorrow it will get hung up in my daughter's room. More pics will follow at that time.<br />
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Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-2026356598651453002013-06-30T13:02:00.001-04:002013-06-30T13:02:48.422-04:00New Model Project - Star Fleet CutterWell, I have two new modeling projects on the bench. The first is the following cutter spacecraft. She's entirely scratchbuilt... can you guess what supplies I used?<br />
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Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-81759478001074066152013-06-18T12:42:00.001-04:002013-06-18T12:42:29.197-04:00Detail of the United Earth Interstellar Confederation Logo from the Kongo BuildBecause I figure folks might be curious, here is the artwork that JDecals reproduced for me for the side of the Kongo build. The center part of the emblem is taken from the spacesuit patch in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The graphic manipulation was done by Masao Okazaki.<br />
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<br />Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-67256981842260515842013-06-17T21:47:00.001-04:002013-06-17T21:47:23.562-04:00Modeling Project - UES KONGOThis is the Polar Lights 1:1000 Constitution class kit. I had originally intended to paint her in Motion Picture era colours, but my test was a disaster and I shot her with Testors gloss silver instead. The bussard collectors are Tamiya clear orange with a hint of clear red mized in. Most of the dark gray decals are Tamiya metallic gray.<br />
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Decal-wise, the windows (which I admittedly went a bit crazy with on the lower saucer) are from the kit, as are several of the greeblie detail decals. <br />
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The energized warp coils, is from the JTGraphics kitbashers set, and the impulse engine is a combo of one of his decals and one from the kit. The gangway hatches also came from his sheet, as did the subspace antennae (triangles on the bottom saucer) and the pylon vents. <br />
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JDecals provided the custom pennants, registry numbers, and name, as well as the United Earth Interstellar Confederation 'meatball' logo just aft of the bridge dome. <br />
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Now, just to be a jerk... I didn't use a single drop of decal set... most all of the decals, and most especially JDecals' custom ones, went down utterly smooth as silk.<br />
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She still needs two more shots of clear coat and then she'll be done.<br />
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Enjoy the pics... <br />
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Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-52593677813831704462010-11-01T08:45:00.000-04:002010-11-01T08:45:20.839-04:00The Updated NIV<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOrY2NckgZS3N8ROv1dsWffcvSy98mAOlMY7XZEox-aS8TWIawfCq9Q3PLfHmdC-Kmg4YHiH2mZajTfkbnVj7xCW3p5Sg1Vo18ZJyDpHggOL36mSrMFaVX8B_LUTGFtF-F4gs13IqGeU/s1600/niv.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOrY2NckgZS3N8ROv1dsWffcvSy98mAOlMY7XZEox-aS8TWIawfCq9Q3PLfHmdC-Kmg4YHiH2mZajTfkbnVj7xCW3p5Sg1Vo18ZJyDpHggOL36mSrMFaVX8B_LUTGFtF-F4gs13IqGeU/s1600/niv.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I did a brief review of the text of the updated NIV over at Bible Gateway. Sorry to say that, based on what I have reviewed (admittedly checking a series of texts that are important to me), this is no improvement. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
I have issues with the choices made in the NLT at times, and many of them are the same issues I have with what I see in the new NIV, but the NLT remains far more vibrant for verbal proclamation than does the updated NIV.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the oddities I noted was Revelation 22 - where the first section is noted headed up as "Eden Restored". That one caught me off guard. Also, as a complimentarian regarding men's and women's roles, I found the choices made about gendered language to be odd. Psalm 1 ignores the messianic emphasis palced upon it through nearly 1900 years of Christian history by making the reference to "the man" "the one", though it breaks with most other modern translations that do so by keeping the reference to 'the one' in the singular throughout the psalm. An odd choice. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also odd is Phoebe being called a deacon in Romans 16, when, as I recall (and I don't have the greek in front of me right at the moment to verify this) the form of the word deacon used in that passage is cast in the feminine in the original text.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Genesis 1 and John 1, oddly enough (not that I am objecting, mind you), retains the usage of the term mankind. In fact, in the several passages I reviewed, mankind was universally used. Strange to use this term, which engenders much controversy in liberal circles, while purging gender references from other texts - including ones where the word itself is specifically feminine!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This NIV update appears to me to be an odd cat. I think I'll just stay with the NLT.</div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-3517283599269103102010-06-30T17:57:00.001-04:002010-06-30T17:57:00.408-04:00Three Years and Counting!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMV9TS0UuSMnHqzvVJaXbMjyMJOcvUoIgzo8H1N264R9HiD7JVg6846ng8W_pOGRz4u32SFCPz_wt4iIGLwGmDuC8X0lxBXiscCmnU3rkarrUR1NFBNkxrmXdcfOptZ9z50eNzVGsR0A/s1600/ec78.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMV9TS0UuSMnHqzvVJaXbMjyMJOcvUoIgzo8H1N264R9HiD7JVg6846ng8W_pOGRz4u32SFCPz_wt4iIGLwGmDuC8X0lxBXiscCmnU3rkarrUR1NFBNkxrmXdcfOptZ9z50eNzVGsR0A/s200/ec78.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was on this day in 2007 that my wife and I stood before God, family, and friends to begin a life-long covenant between one another. In his grace, we have been blessed beyond our wildest imagining. We have a beautiful daughter, Clare, who just turned 8 months old, and we have a life that brings us great joy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We've also made it through a lot in those three years... from being robbed (via Spain) on the eve of our wedding to mondo-nasty sunburns on our honeymoon, from our apartment burning down to building our house... and yes, through pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting's early days. Yet, for all the stress that may have been present, God's grace and our love has abounded more and more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All glory to God for his love shown to us; and, to my wife, all my love to you, and happy anniversary!</div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-71047884397866671512010-06-29T21:33:00.001-04:002010-06-30T09:52:18.175-04:00No Pledge for Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vLkvcmc4Jk9Af4XYn32yZWrOFm9Pj8Guw-DTyp1arD0lCnvwwXgoWkc6m3ZiCDm6RmSt0bv6fs76i_lBFgfsL4feB4HivtJd3IdXhkOJ8C1ksNZAxrLjqviuU6Rx_ghHGoixp4c7deE/s1600/pledge-of-allegiance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vLkvcmc4Jk9Af4XYn32yZWrOFm9Pj8Guw-DTyp1arD0lCnvwwXgoWkc6m3ZiCDm6RmSt0bv6fs76i_lBFgfsL4feB4HivtJd3IdXhkOJ8C1ksNZAxrLjqviuU6Rx_ghHGoixp4c7deE/s200/pledge-of-allegiance.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fox News today ran an article about a school district in Massachussets which does not currently sponsor or mandate a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. You can read the article <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/29/ma-school-officials-wont-let-students-recite-pledge-allegiance/">at this link</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Regular visitors to my blog will note my consistent objection to such displays, going back the decision of Indiana governor Mitch Daniels a few years ago to endorse requiring schools in the state to recite the pledge on a daily basis. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the district in question in the article rightly notes, the Pledge can offend religious believers and thus, it should not be offered. This logic goes quite well with the barring of prayer, even 'voluntary' prayer in public schools. The state has no more right to offend or impose its beliefs on the children who are in the educational system than they have the right to push a particular religion upon anyone. If voluntary school prayer is illegal, than so must be anything that would infringe on the religious liberty of the students in those chairs. The Pledge of Allegiance is one such offensive activity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As a parent with a young child, I will be facing, together with my wife, the very difficult decision (much sooner than I think!) of what to do about this matter when my child heads off to school. As much as we talk about the 'voluntary' nature of the Pledge, it is anything but - at least in my experience. If everyone else is doing it (since they pretty much are told they have to), the peer pressure to conform can be overwhelming. It is not unheard of for teachers to discipline students who refuse to participate. I recall that, during my own education, not only was memorization mandatory, but that we were actually tested on being able to recite it, as well as being able to sing the National Anthem, and engage in other patriotic activities. During grammar school, our citizenship grade was based 50/50 on how we treated other students and on how we 'respected' our country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nation-states deserve respect only on the merit of the concept of Rule of Law, as established in the Scriptures. The proper respect, according to the Word, is to pray for civil leaders, and to follow all just laws, not to afford the state the kind of devotion that should be reserved for God alone. Today, when I think of standing up, placing my hand over my heart, and 'pledging allegiance' to the flag and to the Repubic 'for which it stands', I realize that I was giving the kind of profession of faith in America that I should have reserved for God alone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, to this school district, I say "Kudos!", as I at the same time hope that others will follow suit.</div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-38986322657938970402010-05-21T18:00:00.022-04:002010-05-21T18:00:02.871-04:00Inseparable Truths: Christ’s Eucharistic Presence is Rooted in the Mystery of the Incarnation<blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo81T68jltNbKzx_FBobQu08GWJErFfRngI8DNwKZlmkoKjmvbnrHeseR79Nv9ELzRWrGY-Tf4KEzw1MuA73X1sTzmT0bC028fKcAwTnJmGJqVR46I2z8D8o2auIIsGq9_Gu5YIAcOjQs/s1600/Black_Rubric2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo81T68jltNbKzx_FBobQu08GWJErFfRngI8DNwKZlmkoKjmvbnrHeseR79Nv9ELzRWrGY-Tf4KEzw1MuA73X1sTzmT0bC028fKcAwTnJmGJqVR46I2z8D8o2auIIsGq9_Gu5YIAcOjQs/s320/Black_Rubric2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Whereas it is ordained in this Office for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, that the Communicants should receive the same kneeling; (which order is well meant, for a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy Receivers, and for the avoiding of such profanation and disorder in the holy Communion, as might otherwise ensue;) yet, lest the same kneeling should by any persons, either out of ignorance and infirmity, or out of malice and obstinacy, be misconstrued and depraved: It is hereby declared, That thereby no adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto the Sacramental Bread or Wine there bodily received, or unto any Corporal Presence of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood. For the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural substances, and therefore may not be adored; (for that were Idolatry, to be abhorred of all faithful Christians;) and the natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not here; it being against the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more places than one."</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The text you have just read is the infamous “Black Rubric” first placed into the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer in 1552 (the text above is from the 1662 edition). It was not a part of the original submission of the Prayer Book to Parliament, but was added at the last minute. Because it was done in haste, and nobody notified the printers, this particular rubric (rule of conducting the service) was printed in black ink instead of the customary red. The name stuck, and to this day the mention of the Black Rubric to any liturgical student will immediately hearken back to this passage. The name is apt, however, for very different reasons – for it was with the implementation of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer that Anglican Eucharistic theology was forever placed under suspicion by Lutheran and Roman divines, as well as by the Orthodox. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Today, the Black Rubric holds little sway among English churchgoers, or among those who partake of the Anglican patrimony, except in some of the jurisdictions of Anglican heritage which align more closely with the theology of the Genevan Reformation. But with the suggestion that the 1662 could be the baseline liturgy considered in the nascent Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the historic Anglican position concerning the Eucharist is once again coming under a degree of scrutiny, at least in certain quarters.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In keeping with the Black Rubric, Article 28 of the Articles of Religion affirms a rejection of any local presence of Christ’s body and blood, using these words: <em>“The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith.”</em></div><br />
The classical defense of this position, as explained in the Black Rubric, is tied to the ‘truth of Christ’s natural Body’, which the text says can only be in one place at one time. There is a serious flaw, however, with such an argument, and it is laid out starkly in the twentieth chapter of St. John’s Gospel:<br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them…” <em>John 20:19</em> (ESV)</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The disciples are meeting in a closed room, the door is not only shut, it is locked. The text does not say that Jesus spoke to them and that they opened the door. It does not say that Jesus stood at the window and conversed with his followers. It says, simply, that Jesus came and stood among them. This would, it seems, require Jesus to pass through the wall, the door, the roof, or some other structural element of the room where the disciples were meeting. I have, on several occasions in my life, attempted to walk through a door or a wall (usually not on purpose). I have never once been successful. I’ve had the bruised arms and stubbed toes to prove it. My natural body is completely and utterly incapable of walking through a wall and leaving both my body and the wall intact.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The Black Rubric, and indeed much of Reformed Eucharistic theology (as it is practiced, at any rate) misses out on this one key point. Christ’s natural body has been <em>glorified</em>. It has been <em>fundamentally changed</em>, just as our bodies will be fundamentally changed on the Last Great Day. As a result, the limitations on Jesus’ natural body are non-sequitor arguments against a real Eucharistic presence. What limited his natural body has no bearing on his glorified body, and thus on his presence in the Eucharist.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Both the Articles and the Black Rubric hold an element of truth – the very real substances of bread and wine remain in the celebration of the Eucharist. They have to, in fact, for two reasons: first, because St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11 identifies the Sacrament in both terms (bread and wine as well as body and blood), and second – perhaps most importantly – because to deny that Christ can indwell within the Sacrament is to deny the fundamental central truth that sets Christianity apart from every other religion on the face of the planet – the Incarnation itself.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">You see, God is omniscient, immortal, immutable, infinite, omnipresent (and a bunch of other big terms!). It is contrary to the nature of God, one would therefore think, for God – or any member of the Godhead – to be otherwise; yet Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became mortal, finite, and located in a specific physical construct at a particular point in the history of our universe. The one whom the whole world could never hope to contain was somehow united with our humanity and born among us in time and in flesh. In the mystery of the Incarnation and Nativity of our Lord, the core of the historic teaching of the Church on the Eucharistic Mystery is found; and we echo it each and every time we recite the Nicene Creed.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In the Creed we confess that Christ is ‘of one essence’ or ‘substance’ with the Father, and that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, becoming man. To behold Jesus, one could not tell that this son of Mary was anything special. Isaiah prophesied that much:</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” <em>Isaiah 53:1-3</em> (ESV)</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Only once before his death did the physical body of Jesus reveal in any way his Divine nature: at his Transfiguration. Though many external signs pointed to his divinity, and through in him humanity and divinity were united, it was only the brief moment of the Transfiguration when Christ’s glorified nature was revealed to anyone – then to Peter, James, and John. In the wake of the Resurrection, however, the glorified body of Christ, revealed at the Transfiguration, becomes the permanent body of the Savior… and it is of this Body that we receive and of this Blood that we drink in the celebration of our Lord’s Holy Supper.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">If we reject the idea that Christ’s body and blood can be made present under the forms of bread and wine, we must – if we are logical – reject the Incarnation itself. For just as it is against the truth of human nature (specifically man’s natural body and blood) to be present in multiple places at once, it is against the truth of God’s divine nature to be limited in time and space. If we reject Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, we reject his incarnation, his redemptive work, and his eternal kingship – as well as our own resurrection and glorification at the last great day.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The ancient faith of the Christian Church can easily be summarized with these words, “This is my body; This is my blood”. Christ has promised that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are his body and blood. If we deny this fundamental truth, we deny the ability to take Christ at his word which, in turn, undermines the totality of Scripture, and leaves us cast adrift and hopeless in a sea of doubt and despair.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">One need not adopt Roman theories of Transubstantiation and practices of adoration to receive in the Eucharist the grace, peace, and mercy that God has promised in his Word to all who participate in the Sacrament. One needs to simply accept that Christ is faithful to what he has spoken, and that he will bring it to pass. Indeed, many abuses which were occurring in the Roman Church at the time of the Reformation needed to be addressed and corrected, and the use of the Eucharist was one of them. However, rejecting the Real Presence does not simply reject Transubstantiation… it rejects the Incarnation itself, especially when it is couched in language like the Black Rubric or the text of Article 28.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I encourage all of my Christian brothers and sisters to give serious consideration to what a rejection of the Doctrine of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist does to the rest of our Christology, indeed to the totality of our theology, before persisting in an irrational rejection of one of the most precious comforts afforded to believers, being united with Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament of the Holy Supper.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, there were many who, even in Christ’s time, could not accept the idea that Christ could give his flesh for food and his blood for drink… </div><br />
<blockquote>“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."<br />
<br />
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” <em>John 6: 60-69</em> (ESV)</blockquote>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-619886109122619272010-05-13T08:02:00.000-04:002010-05-13T08:02:23.647-04:00The Solemnity of the Ascension<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua0i2F_8xtyKCOaQwvpFTJPzJEyiFd2sEWSA_xR1hFbTp2_r0tYbKd-_CNTpg1rOodeIiuRNiQUAUmoXmfYdc536LbTjgMXJZndz4RKhK43CK_MhFjJd0wCe7t1kLiGoeYN5PBKSCttg/s1600/Ascension_Theophanes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua0i2F_8xtyKCOaQwvpFTJPzJEyiFd2sEWSA_xR1hFbTp2_r0tYbKd-_CNTpg1rOodeIiuRNiQUAUmoXmfYdc536LbTjgMXJZndz4RKhK43CK_MhFjJd0wCe7t1kLiGoeYN5PBKSCttg/s200/Ascension_Theophanes.jpg" width="145" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em>Today, forty days after the celebration of Pascha, the Church celebrates the Ascension of her Lord to that heavenly realm where we are assured that Christ is making ready a place for us. May this Ascension festival strengthen your faith in the truth, and may the assuring words of the Gospel today give you the hope of everlasting life.</em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Almighty God, as your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into the heavens, so may we also ascend in heart and mind and continually dwell there with him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.</div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-47102746184417650402010-04-10T00:15:00.001-04:002010-04-10T00:16:16.250-04:00Paschaltide Thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BbT1ug2EI4Nt8WjLV5ygEjZinMUEc_JSqs3PeqG2x3qRpnHBNXKxt_vkbuUWV5dEnXQsl8zXceQVjJ5qVnY-KqMg7Fhdm0Z5VqkRu4fPtRJevkqQKYAq7El1iAokw2D5vZAfUZYvuLc/s1600/Lent,+Holy+Week,+and+Pascha+2010+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BbT1ug2EI4Nt8WjLV5ygEjZinMUEc_JSqs3PeqG2x3qRpnHBNXKxt_vkbuUWV5dEnXQsl8zXceQVjJ5qVnY-KqMg7Fhdm0Z5VqkRu4fPtRJevkqQKYAq7El1iAokw2D5vZAfUZYvuLc/s200/Lent,+Holy+Week,+and+Pascha+2010+033.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>As the Lenten experience begins to fade into the rearview mirror, and in its own way the Paschal observance - while far from over - seems to be subsiding, I have a few thoughts to share from my prayer and devotional life in recent weeks.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1) Interfacing with mission is hard. As a Church-planter, seeking to establish an orthodox, catholic congregation, it is hard to know what direction to go with things. Do I plant a traditional congregation or a house church? Do we attempt to find one mission and draw from that population, or interface with multiple missions? How do we most wisely spend the money that we have saved to form a congregation? How do we positively engage the community and spread the message about ourselves when we have no facilities, no amenities, and when the main reason we exist is because there isn't another congregation in the area that really gels with our beliefs? These are ongoing questions that are difficult to answer. Being on our own (locally speaking) presents Kristen and I with many challenges in this department that we have not managed to find answers to. We continue to pray, and we continue to evaluate many different ways to engage our community. We discussed another one tonight. Please, dear reader, pray for our discernment as we seek to bring right teaching, reverent worship, and the faith that can save to our local community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2) The Internet can be such a virulent place. I am not sure of the exact number, but over the time I have been on Facebook, I have had to block at least a half-dozen folks from posting to my wall and newsfeed. Some folks can just be putridly nasty online, thinking that it's okay and somehow socially acceptable. This was why I endeavored to post a daily reflection during the Lenten season over at Facebook - perhaps my post might be something beyond the pale on someone's news feed in that day. Who knows, perhaps it was even a form of evangelism - after a sort, of course. With the Octave of Pascha winding down, I'm not sure I have the ideas to sustain the postings indefinitely, but a great big thank you to all the positive feedback I got from folks in the process. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3) I am more amazed day by day at the joys, the challenges, and the experience of fatherhood. I can't begin to tell you how it has enhanced my ministry. I now have a whole new set of experiences to draw on with individuals I meet, either in the hospital or in other ministry settings. Just today I was able to engage an individual on the basis of being a dad - something that, a year ago, was an abstract notion to me. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWddh2Nz5cSnoCBc_gJv0MfTtYEUYz-cUZ4386nLvGUB0mLUgzhOyilg1EFwmLuEUGB6tjMd1DDDDnfaJCyha2cQVCMj_ylzAJ44V0LSgoEayeOA1Wocp0Tk28fe1_y7w3T1aeGofjVfg/s1600/Uploaded+on+March+1+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWddh2Nz5cSnoCBc_gJv0MfTtYEUYz-cUZ4386nLvGUB0mLUgzhOyilg1EFwmLuEUGB6tjMd1DDDDnfaJCyha2cQVCMj_ylzAJ44V0LSgoEayeOA1Wocp0Tk28fe1_y7w3T1aeGofjVfg/s200/Uploaded+on+March+1+028.JPG" width="150" /></a>4) As amazed as I am by my daughter, my wife just excites me! The passion with which she cares for our family, the love she pours out upon Clare and me (and the pooch!)... it's more than I have a right to ask. Sometimes it's when she comes down the steps carrying a <i>'sack o' taters'</i> (i.e., Clare) with that smile of hers, and other times its while we are making the bed or changing a diaper or doing something else totally mundane, but it is in those moments that I cannot imagine life and the journey of parenthood without her.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5) I am supremely thankful, for God has blessed me beyond any right or expectation I might or should have. A wonderful wife, a wonderful child, a faith that saves, and a Spirit that strengthens... all on account of a Son who died for me. What comforting things to think of as I prepare to lay down my head. I can never be worthy of the blessings God has shown me... I am saved by his grace; I am preserved by his grace; and I am secure in his grace and filled with his peace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">May your Paschaltide be a blessed one!</div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-40792515484362406582010-04-04T21:50:00.001-04:002010-04-04T22:25:06.225-04:00Paschal Greetings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWXKys8nMxr_G8fXrhuKu15jWpLucetqe9G4s2_bA0iuLFeG6g5QzqSgdbYEv5T3zBTmzmJB67DCARDcZebO6PiNPKOUYDoNx32fX_UAmkix3IJPkMxSp9363egmO2OOdZhyphenhyphenl7y5z0OQ/s1600/Lent,+Holy+Week,+and+Pascha+2010+064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWXKys8nMxr_G8fXrhuKu15jWpLucetqe9G4s2_bA0iuLFeG6g5QzqSgdbYEv5T3zBTmzmJB67DCARDcZebO6PiNPKOUYDoNx32fX_UAmkix3IJPkMxSp9363egmO2OOdZhyphenhyphenl7y5z0OQ/s200/Lent,+Holy+Week,+and+Pascha+2010+064.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Paschal Greetings from the Lyons Family!</i></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What a blessed Pascha! I hope your day has been as blessed as mine. The day began around 5 AM with a wake up call to be ready for Paschal Matins and Divine Service (i.e., the Easter Vigil with Holy Communion). The Paschal Candle was lit, the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exultet">Exsultet</a></i> sung, and several Scripture readings shared with us the promise of the Resurrection. Baptismal vows were renewed, and the Lamb's High Feast was shared (with a version of the Anaphora of Saint Basil, an alternative Eucharistic prayer in our BCP).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such a beautiful Liturgy... then out for a great brunch at <a href="http://www.augustinosindy.com/">Augustino's</a>, our friend Chef Aaron O'Mara's Italian restaurant on Indy's south side. Talk about delicious (as usual)! Then a nice afternoon nap before supper and then Vespers by the light of the Paschal Candle and the sinking sun. The reading was one of my favorites, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024:%2013-43&version=NLT">the Lukan account of the journey to Emmaus</a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I pray that your Pascha has been a blessed one.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVgqPFaS4vZTFJ-GxqpZUu-PyvDa_g1A0wU3paQRgXEHIa7GgJHEp3D4hpsGaI4z3HMUZ4kILFpZhUzx7aFB8hIHjDNrHOqBgz6qCmqhKeTM2awf-Uo82JEVJSfSJqYjG_68AZmcsHZg/s1600/Lent,+Holy+Week,+and+Pascha+2010+066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVgqPFaS4vZTFJ-GxqpZUu-PyvDa_g1A0wU3paQRgXEHIa7GgJHEp3D4hpsGaI4z3HMUZ4kILFpZhUzx7aFB8hIHjDNrHOqBgz6qCmqhKeTM2awf-Uo82JEVJSfSJqYjG_68AZmcsHZg/s200/Lent,+Holy+Week,+and+Pascha+2010+066.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Christ is risen!</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Truly he is risen!</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!</b></i></div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-48331820542202048942010-03-17T21:25:00.000-04:002010-03-17T21:25:46.305-04:00For the Second Time this Week, Secular Types Try to Shut Down House Church<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">For the second time this week, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/17/southern-california-city-says-home-bible-group-permit/?test=latestnews">news has hit the airwaves</a> that a house-based religious group is under citation by civic authorities; this time in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The city was in the news about six months ago when they filed to shut down another group; one which was eventually allowed to meet anyway.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">From the article: "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Kurt J. Keating, the city's code enforcement supervisor, said the city is trying to restrict church services held in private homes, not home Bible studies."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">The code enforcement supervisor has clearly voiced the city's intent to violate the right to freely practice religion. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Now, if the group is attracting thirty or so people every week in the same house, my opinion is that they should probably start meeting in two separate locations or rotating among houses... but to attempt to restrict Church services in a home is patently unconstitutional and a gross violation of human rights.</span></span></span></div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-77871092486115459412010-03-16T00:00:00.001-04:002010-03-16T08:22:29.074-04:00Religious Freedom? Really?<div style="text-align: justify;">A <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589385,00.html?test=latestnews">recent FoxNews.com / Associated Press article</a> outlines a battle that is going on between the Oasis of Truth Church in Gilbert, Arizona and the local community. According to the article, the town's code forbids religious meetings of any form in private homes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As a homeowner and a pastor, this idea makes me laugh so hard, my neighbors will probably call the police to see if anything is wrong.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Freedom of Religion means exactly that. House Churches are doing what they believe is best to follow the example of the ancient Church, meeting in smaller groups in homes, fellowshipping, sharing meals, worshipping, studying the Word of God. No civil authority has the right to ban such assemblies in the United States; nor would any homeowner's association or other 'authoritative' body.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All too often, the justification used to object to such gatherings is that they are loud, obnoxious, or clog side streets not designed for such traffic. In that case, it's time to ban kids birthday parties, family gatherings, and anything else that would cause people to park on streets. People having parties have to keep the volume down and keep it inside. No backyard BBQ when you have your family over. And if your friends are Church friends and you say grace before meals, well, that constitutes a religious practice in an assembly of people whose only relation to you is ecclesiastical (and thus religious). Out with them! Out with them all!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taxes, Census, House Church discrimination. Boy, it must be springtime in America.<br />
<br />
<strong>UPDATE:</strong> <em>The leadership of the community evidently have a different view of matters than the Zoning Enforcement officer mentioned in the story. The mayor and town manager worshipped with the community this past Sunday, and on Monday put out a </em><a href="http://sonoranalliance.com/2010/03/15/gilbert-remains-committed-to-religious-freedom/"><em>press release</em></a><em> stating that changes to the zoning code were being expedited. One still wonders why the prohibitions were there to begin with, but praise God for this victory!</em></div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-38777834749473848442010-03-13T20:59:00.000-05:002010-03-13T20:59:30.678-05:00Wonderful, Scriptural "Way of the Cross"<div style="text-align: justify;">I wish to highly recommend for your consideration a specific new subset of material over at the "Comfortable Words" site, a new version of the Way of the Cross that is completely Biblical in basis and which makes use of prayers from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. You won't be disappointed!</div><br />
<a href="http://www.comfortablewords.com/comwords/wayofthecross.php?p=0">LINK</a>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-52073112490626330862010-02-25T06:29:00.000-05:002010-02-25T06:29:05.343-05:00Mars is Back on the Table<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYahjN8GiS348APX_ZrJhBizQSxcNlgC8DEljHhqeWwVbXnfBT00QjQOpPi77jsY5On16GnmjUrAZzYexcGs7iQW_YUtPXziJvNIINgAAin_Fxca5yHfMyrejCoVfXn5fW9ep-sBf7k4w/s1600-h/mars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYahjN8GiS348APX_ZrJhBizQSxcNlgC8DEljHhqeWwVbXnfBT00QjQOpPi77jsY5On16GnmjUrAZzYexcGs7iQW_YUtPXziJvNIINgAAin_Fxca5yHfMyrejCoVfXn5fW9ep-sBf7k4w/s200/mars.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I wake up this morning to eat my Bran Flakes, and lo-and-behold, we are going to Mars... sorta...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-24/obama-will-work-with-congress-on-mars-plan-nasa-chief-says.html">Link to Story</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Upon further investigation, it's not so much that there is a plan in place as it is that an 'evolutionary' plan will be put into place to facilitate a Mars mission. In rocketeering terms, the old plan is being replaced by a new plan, one that will probably follow at least some tenants of the basic Constellation profile. I mean, you don't send folks to Mars before you test the life support, radiation shielding, and other critical systems in low earth orbit, high earth orbit, lunar orbit, etc. It would be tantamount to playing a two-year-long game of Russian Roulette, with the lives of astronauts being held to the barrel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, now that the Constellation program has been put out of its misery, we have a new program to look forward to... one that, though probably relying on more private enterprise than Constellation, will ultimately - I predict - wind up looking very, very similar. Drop the Lunar Base, perhaps, but otherwise...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have to wonder if the backlash to killing Constellation was that strong on Capital Hill; the public didn't seem to care (if they even knew what the Constellation program was). If it was, of course, the new question becomes, is this yet another stunt to give NASA's human spaceflight program some token funding for a few years? After all, Mondale wanted to shut NASA down back in the 60's (and could well have done so after the Apollo 1 disaster), arguing that the monies used to fund lunar flights would be better spent on human need at home. Obama strikes me as the heir-apparent to Mondale with regard to such matters, so it comes as an absolute shock to me that he would suggest funding this kind of a program, especially after the review panel he recommended (The Augustine Commission) recommended ditching the program designed to lead to Mars in the first place.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, don't get me wrong. While the Constellation program was visionary in some respects, it was a political beast and had as its initial centerpiece a rocket (the Ares I) that suffered from serious doubts in the professional spaceflight communion (as well as among armchair astronauts like me). Nevertheless, I can almost promise you that, shorn of a Moon base, something like Constellation is bound to reappear in Obama's new plan... because its the only logical way to go to Mars.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Above all, those of us concerned with spaceflight must hope that the mission profile is something more than a one-shot publicity stunt. Going, collecting a few rocks, and then blasting back is a useless waste of taxpayer money and NASA's skills. Give a real mission to them, Mr. President... and give them the means to do it. (And hey, if you happen to have to take a couple of billion dollars out of Defense spending to accomplish it, so much the better.) </div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834402219317949168.post-45995543281799939382010-02-23T17:51:00.000-05:002010-02-23T17:51:00.753-05:00John Calvin on the Eucharist - Suprise!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNe7wJXW6qz7vtenpErvhyphenhyphendZ-Hr_gOvY6aQrBaR_3xDSKjmlXJna1FHG8u40j39WxooLyZH1xtUUkcnOrXTXf6cD5ndumGLUch2xUPI3DkzH3GhpaxaXOEp59udbUtRfoVr7d6JwDfHyI/s1600-h/15calvindesc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNe7wJXW6qz7vtenpErvhyphenhyphendZ-Hr_gOvY6aQrBaR_3xDSKjmlXJna1FHG8u40j39WxooLyZH1xtUUkcnOrXTXf6cD5ndumGLUch2xUPI3DkzH3GhpaxaXOEp59udbUtRfoVr7d6JwDfHyI/s200/15calvindesc.jpg" width="162" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Compliments of my recuperating bishop, an interesting summary on the part of John Cosin, an Anglican bishop, of the 'Protestant Catholic' teaching on the Lord's Supper... by John Calvin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.comfortablewords.com/comwords/extracts.php?searchtype=titles&searchvalue=John%20Calvin%20On%20The%20Real%20Presence%20Of%20Christ%20In%20The%20Holy%20Sacrament">Click here</a> to read this brief but interesting collection of Calvin's statements.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among my favorite snippets:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">...we most firmly believe that receiving the signs of the Body, we also certainly receive the Body itself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We must therefore confess that the inward substance of the Sacrament is joined with the visible sign, so that, as the bread is put into our hand, the Body of Christ is also given to us. This certainly, if there were nothing else, should abundantly satisfy us, that we understand, that Christ, in His Holy Supper, gives us the true and proper substance of His Body and Blood...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sounds far more Lutheran and Catholic than Zwinglian to me... given my very basic studies of Calvin, I have to admit that reading such quotations suprises me a bit. While I have known there were nuances that divided Calvin and Zwingli over the Eucharist, I always felt that Calvin himself held a much lower view of the Sacraments than it appears he did.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You learn something new every day...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Bishop Robert Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264379235175793061noreply@blogger.com2