Fully Alive in God

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69 ) Today we hear the last gospel based on the “Bread of Life” discourse in John. And we hear the result of peoples’ reactions to Jesus presenting himself as the son of God. Jesus’ words are simply hard to swallow. He is talking about others eating his flesh as if it were bread. Now it is hard for us to remember that before anyone knew about the Eucharist, about receiving spiritual food in the form of physical bread and wine, this would sound super weird. Having some fellow just start talking about us eating his body might sound a lot like cannibalism. And for devout Jews, the “word” that is hardest to swallow is Jesus seeing himself as the Son of God. All things we accept now as Christians, but were very hard to handle without understanding the bigger picture. I can understand why so many people were thrown off with Jesus’ words. Cannibalism is creepy....

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( 1 Reyes 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Salmo 84; Efesios 6:10-20; Juan 6:56-69 ) Hoy escuchamos el último pasaje del evangelio de Juan basado en el discurso del "Pan de vida". Y escuchamos el resultado de las reacciones de la gente a Jesús cuando se presenta como el hijo de Dios. Las palabras de Jesús son simplemente difíciles de aceptar. Habla de comer su carne como si fuera pan. Jesus is talking about people eating him like bread, and is claiming he is the Son of God. Ahora es difícil para nosotros recordar que antes nadie sabía acerca de la Eucaristía. No habían escuchado de recibir alimento espiritual en forma del pan y el vino, y esto suena súper raro. Escuchar a un compañero hablando a de nosotros de comer su cuerpo puede parecer al canibalismo. Y para los judíos devotos, la "palabra" que es más difícil de recibir es que Jesús se vea a sí mismo como el hijo de Dios. Todas estas cosas ahora más o menos acept...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( 1 Kings 2:10–12; 3:3–14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15–20; St John 6:51–58) “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).” In seminary we had social hours every Thursday night after chapel and before dinner, and every other Thursday, wine and beer was on offer along with “equally attractive” juice and water options for the happy hour time. The seminary had long held a happy hour time, but had adjusted the frequency of serving alcohol with its increasing awareness that the church had to work against the tendency amongst many clergy towards excessive consumption of alcohol. Taken at face value, the phrase I read before from the letter to the Ephesians reads just like a reminder not to get smashed. But, as one commentator pointed out, this passage would be very boring if it was just about how we act at cocktail parties. [1] In fact, this is as much a metaphor as it is designed to he...

(Behold the Joy of Jesus, L. Robb) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( 1 Reyes 2:10–12; 3:3–14; Salmo 111; Efesios 5:15–20; San Juan 6:51–58) “No se emborrachen, pues eso lleva al desenfreno; al contrario, llénense del Espíritu Santo.” Efesios 5:18. En seminario, tuvimos horas sociales cada jueves después de la misa en la capilla y antes de la cena, y cada otro jueves sirvieron cerveza y vino con otras opciones “atractivas” de jugo y agua para el tiempo “happy hour.” Por mucho tiempo el seminario había ofrecido un tiempo social, pero en años recientes se dieron cuenta del grande problema que es el abuso de alcohol. Ellos se dieron cuenta de que la iglesia tenía que trabajar en contra de una tendencia entre los clérigos de beber demasiado. Our seminary was very geared at moderate use of alcohol. Cuando uno lo lea por primera vez, esta frase de la carta a los Efesios lee como un recuerdo que no debemos emborracharnos. Pero, como mencion ó un comentarista, sería m...

(cute necklace idea from site above) Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( 2 Samuel 18:5–9, 15, 31–33; Ps. 130; Ephesians 4:25–5:2; John 6:35, 41–51) Kate Bowler’s book Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved (Random House, 2018) tells the true story of a young religion professor’s encounter with terminal cancer. The author’s specialty is in the traditions that believe strongly in faith healing, or in the idea that if you have enough faith and pray, you will be healed. Of course all of us Christians believe in faith healing. We pray for those we love who are sick and rejoice when those prayers are answered. We have a Healing Eucharist every Wednesday at 5 PM here at All Saints for this purpose. The difference is found in how we respond when something does not happen as we hope. Those who believe that the strength of your faith is what leads to your healing begin to look askance at a person who is simply not healing. This was such a challenging ...

(bonito idea del sitio arriba) Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( 2 Samuel 18:5–9, 15, 31–33; Ps. 130; Ephesians 4:25–5:2; John 6:35, 41–51) El libro por Kate Bowler llamado Everything Happens for a Reason and other Lies I’ve Loved ( Random House, 2018) o “Todo pase por una razón y otras mentiras que he amado” describe como Bowler, una joven profesora de religión, ha tenido una experiencia muy profunda con cáncer terminal. Ella estudia un grupo de cristianos quienes están muy enfocados en sanación por medio de oración con fe. Ellos tienen la idea de que si oremos lo suficiente, estaremos sanados. Pero ella explica que cuando no sanaba, hubo un dilema. ¿Cómo hablar con la gente que conoce y respeta por sus estudios pero no sentir como una persona sin fe? Bowler realized that when she didn’t heal from terminal cancer, some might think she wasn’t praying hard enough. La verdad es que todos cristianos creemos que si oremos, podemos estar sanados. Es por esto que t...