Fully Alive in God

  Presencia, no la perfección Propio 27 A, Mateo 25, 1 Tesalonicenses 4 San Pablo Emanuel, Santa Paula y All Santos, Oxnard   La Revda. Alene Campbell-Langdell Edición y traducción por la Revda. Melissa Campbell-Langdell   Hay un anhelo de formar una comunidad que perdura en los paisajes de hoy. Para la esperanza que va más allá de las limitaciones de nuestro momento. Por ejemplo, los Tesalonicenses son parte de una cultura griega. Los que estaban inmersos en la mitología greca sabían que, en esa cultura anciana, los que murieron entraron un lugar de donde nadie regresa. Tal vez han visto la película “The Odyssey,” o recuerden el mito de Orfeo y Eurídice. Este mito dramatiza el dolor de la separación con nuestros seres queridos que han fallecido. En esta historia, Orfeo va a Hades para recoger a Eurídice. Orfeo es un musico talentoso, con un don tan fuerte que hasta los dioses se fascinan con él. Pero ni siquiera Orfeo puede recogerla a Eurídice, porque en u...

  Presence, not Perfection Proper 27A, Matthew 25, 1 Thessalonians 4 St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula and All Santos, Oxnard The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell Ed. By The Very Rev. Melissa Campbell-Langdell There’s a hunger in our passages today for community that will last. For hope beyond the limitations of our moment.   For example, the Thessalonians are part of Greek society.   For those immersed in Greek mythology, those who die enter a realm from which no one returns.   You may be familiar with the myth of Orpheus and Euridice. It dramatizes the pain of separation with our loved ones who have died. In the story, Orpheus goes to Hades to fetch back Eurydice. Orpheus is gifted with a tremendous musical talent, one that enthralls even the gods, but not even Orpheus was successful in bringing his beloved back from the dead.   For the ancient Greeks, there was no one whose trust and love was perfect enough to cross that river backwards. For these new Chri...

  Blessed/Dichosos M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints Sunday/ Domingo de Todos los Santos, 2026 (Rev./Apoc. 7, Ps/S. 34, 1 San Juan/John 3, Mateo/Matthew 5) When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. » Dichosos los que tienen hambre y sed de la justicia, porque serán satisfechos. » Dichosos los compasivos, porque Dios tendrá compasión de ellos. » Dichosos los de corazón limpio, porque verán a Dios. (De Mateo 5) Good morning, everyone! ¡Buenos días! Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday, our special feast day. Es el domingo de nuestra fiesta patronal, y hoy celebramos a todos los santos y nuestros santos difuntos, anticipando mañana el Dia de los Muertos . We also honor our...

The Rev. Dr. Joel Chan All Santos, Oxnard Proper 25 A + 10.25.26 Scripture readings: Deuteronomy 34:1–12; Psalm 90:1–6, 13–17; 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8; Matthew 22:34–46. At our latest Welcome Table gathering several nights ago, I sat next to an attendee who said, “You cannot love God without loving others!” The comment was in reference to the rejection her niece experienced from her mother when the niece came out. Although the attendee was talking about her niece’s specific situation, she was articulating a common disconnection. Even though we Christians all consider ourselves loving and God-fearing people, we forget sometimes that loving God means loving others. They are inseparable ways of acting and being. However, we all seem to forget this Truth – I will call it a truth. To address this, I want to offer a way that could make it easier for us Christians to remember this Truth. I offer a technique that could help us internalize and reflexively remember: “That we cannot love ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Exodus 32:1–14; Ps. 106:1–6, 19–23; Phil. 4:1–9; Matthew 22:1–14) Do you remember the film “Wayne’s World” (1992) from the 1990s? It is beautifully silly and very profane at times. But many of you might remember its refrain: “Party on, Garth. Party on, Wayne!” I think this parable might be teaching us a thing or two about how to party on. But let’s talk about that parable. Ah, the parable of the wedding feast. So beautiful and thorny at once.   Everyone is welcome. But if you aren’t wearing the right shirt, you are tossed into howling darkness. Uh, Matthew, when did you go nutso? How do we make sense of this? To me, this parable raises two big questions. One is about who we invite to the table, be it a wedding feast, or a church. But another is about how we respond when we are invited to the table, and how do we interact with the other guests. The wedding feast is both a parable for the ways of God’s kingdom but is also ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Éxodo 32:1–14; S. 106:1–6, 19–23; Fil. 4:1–9; Mateo 22:1–14) ¿Algunos recuerden una película "Wayne’s World" (1992) de los años 1990? Es bien tonto y muy profano a veces. Pero muchos de ustedes puedan recordar su refrán bonito: "Party on, Garth. Party on, Wayne!" Creo que esta parábola puede enseñarnos un par de cosas sobre cómo ser parte de la fiesta. Así que, hablamos de esa parábola. Ah, la parábola del banquete de la boda. Tan bella y dura a la vez. Todos son bienvenidos. Pero si no lleva la camiseta correcta, va a estar botado a la oscuridad. ¿Eh, Mateo, when did you go nutso / cuándo te puso loco? ¿Cómo hacemos sentido de esto? Para mí, esta parábola nos habla de dos grandes preguntas. Uno es sobre quien invitamos a la mesa, ya sea una fiesta de boda, o una iglesia. Pero otra es sobre cómo respondemos cuando somos invitados a la mesa y cómo que nos relacionamos con los otros huéspedes. La fiesta de bodas ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 ) Del Salmo: Sean gratos los dichos de mi boca y la meditación de mi corazón delante de ti, * oh Señor, Roca mía y Redentor mío. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, * O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen. Good morning, everyone/ buenos días a todos y todas! Today’s gospel speaks to us of a vineyard, a powerful biblical symbolic image, with meaningful roots in the book of Isaiah. La lectura del evangelio del hoy nos habla de un viñedo, y tiene simbolismo en el libro de Isaías, a lo que seguramente refiere Jesús. Nosotros no tenemos que trabajar duro para imaginar un viñedo así, porque estamos rodeados de granjas y aun algunos viñedos en nuestra área. We don’t have to stretch our imaginations too far to imagine this scene, surrounded as we are by fields and even some vineyards. We see a co...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Exodus 17:1-7;   Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 ) Some of you are familiar with the farm church that was formed around the Abundant Table farm, and which now continues in a different iteration. When I would join the farm church for worship at a local community garden, often with Ted, our music director, I loved a simple moment in which we passed a container of water and used it to bless ourselves, lifting up water as a holy source of life in our area of Southern California and the Central Coast. Local theologian Ched Myers calls all of us in his book Watershed Discipleship to connect with and claim a relationship with our local watershed. For those of us in the Oxnard plain, we are part of the Ventura River Watershed. As we spend time at local sources of water, we feel more connected to our local ecology and also to our forebears on this land, and the indigenous people who continue to reside here as ...