Fully Alive in God

Melissa Campbell-Langdell+ All Saints/ Todos los Santos 1.27.13 3 rd Epiphany, Year C (Neh. 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Ps. 19; 1 Cor. 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21) A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Simchat Torah celebration at a synagogue.  Hace un par de años visit é a la celebración de “Simchat Torah” en una sinagoga en Riverside.   Imagine a whole synagogue stuffed with people on a night at the end of Sukkot, the festival of booths, a fall evening turning slightly crisp.  La rabina me guiaba junto a otro líder en la comunidad hasta el arca, un gabinete donde tienen sus rollos de Tora.   And the Torah is lifted out of the ark and unrolled all around the room!   We all stand side by side, carefully holding open the precious scriptures.   Lado a lado, estamos de pie, muy cuidadosamente cargando las sagradas escrituras judías.   The young people preparing for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are gleeful, walking around with ...

Melissa Campbell-Langdell+ All Saints, Oxnard Year C — Epiphany 2 (Isaiah 62:1–5; Ps. 36:5–10; 1 Cor. 12:1–11; John 2:1–11) In the recent adaptation of “Les Mis,” Anne Hathaway plays Fantine, who sings a haunting song, “I Dreamed a Dream.”   Part of it goes like this: “I dreamed a dream in times gone by when hope was high And life worth living I dreamed that love would never die I dreamed that God would be forgiving then I was young and unafraid … I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I'm living so different now from what it seemed now life has killed the dream I dreamed.” [1] Thinking of today’s reading from Isaiah, one can almost imagine that if Israel were a woman, as she is being referred to here, she might be singing this song.  What went wrong?  Where are my dreams now?  She has lost hope in God’s saving goodness. And God even says, yes, I left you high and dry for a moment (Isaiah 54:7). [2] But guess ...

Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos Año C — Epifanía 2 (Isaías 62:1–5; Salmo 36:5–10; 1 Corintios 12:1–11; San Juan 2:1–11) “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” “Ustedes saben que cuando todavía no eran creyentes se dejaban arrastrar ciegamente tras los ídolos mudos. Por eso, ahora quiero que sepan que nadie puede decir: «¡Maldito sea Jesús!», si está hablando por el poder del Espíritu de Dios. Y tampoco puede decir nadie: «¡Jesús es Señor!», si no está hablando por el poder del Espíritu Santo (1 Corintios 12: 1-3).” This message from St. Paul today reminds me a bit of visiting the youth group in the past few weeks.  Este mensaje de San Pablo me hace recordar de los varias veces durante los recientes meses que he visitado al grupo de jóvenes, que también ha servido como preparación para primera comunión para Jaivan, Jose y Juan.  Cada vez que yo he visitado, Jade ha estado con ellos, describiendo una par...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard Epiphany / Reyes Magos (1.6.13) (Is. 60: 1-6; Ps. 72:1-7, 10-14; Ef. 3:1-12; Mat. 2:1-12) Había una vez tres hombres bien sabios que estudiaban las estrellas.  Once upon a time there were three very wise men who had learned a lot in their respective spots studying the stars and other natural phenomena.  Y después de mucho estudio, cada uno de ellos se dio cuenta que buscaba algo.  After much studying, each man became convinced that there was something else out there to discover, something shining and bright, something bigger even than the heavens. Cada uno había escuchado un cuento de un a tierra extranjera, en que iba a nacer un rey Judío.  These wise men weren’t Jewish themselves, but they had heard the story all the same, the story of the Jewish King who might bring salvation. Así que fueron a la autoridad judío más obvio.  They saddled up their camels and traveled to Jerusalem to greet the most obvious Je...