The Transfiguration

This Sunday we hear the words from Luke 9:28-43 in which Peter, John, and James witness the transfiguration of Jesus, 

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.’ While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

When the voice said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!", God was speaking to not only Peter, John, and James, but to us as well. 

So why don't people listen to him (Jesus)? You have probably heard every excuse in the book, and in order to even talk about Jesus to someone, you had better first listen to their excuse. Be prepared to explain why you listen to Jesus, and pray that Jesus unstops their ears. Maybe, just maybe that person will be, if not transfigured, transformed.

Not Married With Children

 I saw this at The Daily Wire a while back and was not surprised, 

"Among the 130 million households in the United States, only 17.8% feature married parents with children — down from over 40% in 1970, according to the Census Bureau."

I suppose fewer people are getting married, more people are shacking up, fewer people are having children, and more people are living the single parent lifestyle either by choice or by divorce. 

This is not part of God's plan. 

To paraphrase Judges 21:25, 

In these days, there is no God in American's hearts, all the people do whatever seems right in their own eyes.

 My question to America: How is that working for you?

 

The Do's and Don'ts

This Sunday's reading is from Luke 6:27-38 in which Jesus gives us some tough do's and don'ts, 

‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’

 I once led a Bible study, and when we got to the "love your enemies" bit, one lady objected. She did not believe she could ever do that. My response was that there are many things the God wants us to do that we don't do, and for that we beg for forgiveness in our confession. We should take it to heart that this is the very reason that we need a savior. Still, we need to keep on trying to follow Jesus' commands because if we do, we will be living as He intended, and that will be pleasing in His sight.

The Gambling and Embezzling Nun

As one who had several close encounters with Roman Catholic nuns as a youth, and was stared down by some less than angelic looking ones while riding to school on public transportation, the following sad story from Premier Christian News confirms my suspicion that the sisters are only human.

A US nun has been jailed for a year after being found guilty of stealing hundreds of thousands from a Catholic school. 

Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted to stealing $835,000 (£614,000) to finance personal holidays to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, as well as paying for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos". 

The 80-year-old pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering after embezzling money during the ten years she worked as principal at St. James Catholic School, in the US state of California. 

"I have sinned, I've broken the law and I have no excuses," Kreuper said during her sentencing, according to The Guardian.

"My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me."

Kreuper had worked as headmaster in the school for more than 28 years. In 2018, during a change of management at the school, concerns were raised over missing funds.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which oversees the school, said these reviews, "showed a substantial amount of school funds had been misappropriated for personal use by Sister Mary Margaret during her tenure as school principal."...

...Kreuper was sentenced on Tuesday to 12 months and a day in federal prison, and has been ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution.

I don't think that restitution money will ever get paid unless she wins big at the blackjack table. 

No Resurrection, No Hope

In this Sunday's reading from 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, St. Paul stresses the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus, and its meaning that we too shall be raised,

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

We affirm Paul's claim when we say each Sunday, 

Christ has died

Christ is risen

Christ will come again!

The resurrection of Jesus changed his followers into true apostles. If we believe in the Resurrection, then we believe in an all powerful God who can rescue us from our sins, and who promises us eternal life. 

If we do not believe in the Resurrection, then what do we have to hope for? 

 

 

Hospitals: Get Vaccinated or No Transplant!

So far I have heard of two people being turned down for kidney transplants because of Covid-19 vaccination issues. I understand that after a kidney transplant one has to take immunosuppressing medication to prevent rejection of the donated kidney, and we know that people taking such medications are at higher risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19.  Hospital systems do not want any excess mortality showing up in their transplant units numbers, and individual physicians get bad marks for excess complications and mortality, but isn't it up to the patient if he is willing to take that added risk? 

The most absurd example was where one person was rejected because his donor was not vaccinated! 

"...five days before the operation—Cleveland Clinic called the Ganims to tell them that it was being put on hold because George (the donor) isn’t vaccinated for COVID-19, even though Mike Ganim (the recipient) is."

“'I don't know what that's going to mean. They called Mike and they said how sorry they are. The surgeons are devastated that this is a decision that came from the high up,' said Debi Ganim."

Kidney transplants are done for people on kidney dialysis, and while old folks only live 3-4 years on dialysis, younger people can live longer but average 10-12 years, so many times things can wait until another donor becomes available. 

Heart transplantation is different in that one's lifespan once the decision has been made to be put on "the list" is often measured in weeks to months, so if a hospital turns down a patient for a heart transplant because of refusal to be vaccinated, there might be a serious breach of the "Physician do no harm" ethic. The following is such a case from CBS Boston, 

BOSTON (CBS) – David Ferguson is speaking out passionately on behalf of his son DJ. He says the 31-year-old is fighting for his life at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in desperate need of a heart transplant.

“My son has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he’s been pushed to the limit,” Ferguson said.

The family says he was at the front of the line to receive a transplant but because he has not received the COVID-19 vaccination he is no longer eligible according to hospital policy. Ferguson says his son refuses to get the shot.

“It’s kind of against his basic principles; he doesn’t believe in it. It’s a policy they are enforcing and so because he won’t get the shot, they took him off the list of a heart transplant,” Ferguson said.

Brigham and Women’s released a statement saying, “And like many other transplant programs in the United States – the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several vaccines and lifestyle behaviors required for transplant candidates in the Mass General Brigham system in order to create both the best chance for a successful operation and also the patient’s survival after transplantation.”

Dr. Arthur Caplan is Head of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He says being vaccinated is necessary for this type of procedure. “Post any transplant, kidney, heart whatever, your immune system is shut off,” Caplan said. “The flu could kill you, a cold could kill you, COVID could kill you. The organs are scarce, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving.”

The key word from Dr. Caplan is that Covid-19 "could" kill. So could getting in a car accident going home from the hospital. Does lack of a vaccination give this man a poorer chance of surviving compared to vaccinated heart recipients? Show me the data Dr. Caplan. You won't be able to because there are no randomized controlled studies to prove your point.

So, hospitals are sentencing people to death over their refusal to be vaccinated. 

Does anybody else have a problem with this?

Gone Fishing

This Sunday's reading is from Luke 5:1-11and it is pretty much self explanatory,

"Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him."

You have heard Jesus' voice, so let's go fishing, and if you don't know how to fish, keep following Jesus, keep studying the Bible, and you will become a fisherman too. 

Tech and Spiritual Growth

I was reading an article at Public Discourse by Deion Kathawa titled, "On Tech and Dignity: The Posthuman Technology That Threatens Us All (Part I)", and wondered how much my exposure to media was affecting my ability to hear the small still voice of God in the midst of the torrent of distractions filling my leisure time.

"In monopolizing and monetizing the fragile and limited human attention span—we could justifiably say that it has been stolen—platforms and providers like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and YouTube anesthetize human creativity. Eventually, they extinguish people’s capacity to experience authentic silence, which is critical for self-reflection and spiritual growth. The longer you’re on social media, the longer you’re subject to the tyranny of the 'endless scroll,' and the less capable you are of experiencing leisure, which is the capacity to ask life’s big “why” questions and to receive answers. Without leisure, we can’t engage in self-reflection, undergo spiritual growth, or experience authentic silence; stripped of meaning, our day-to-day labors degenerate into oppressive toiling."

I would add television to the thieves mentioned above stealing our attention. Pewsterspouse has an element of attention deficit disorder and does not do well with silence. I wonder if the constant din around us has contributed to the rise of this disorder in children, teens, and adults. I wonder if the rise in praise bands in church and less quiet time in some of the megachurches are a means of catering to  the decreased attention spans of people.

Tech has helped us participate in Wednesday night Bible Study with our church family as we live quite a distance from our parish building, so Tech does have some good points.

Tech lets me focus on what God wants me to communicate as well, and I type and think better when I work in silence.

Distractions can be a form of addiction, or a false idol. 

Prayerful silence, focus on God's word. and Jesus are the cures.