TAKE UP THE CROSS

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW JESUS

(Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Winfred Vergara in connection with the blessing of the Resurrection Hall of St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, Seaford, New York on 09.25.2011)

Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” The last time I preached about it, I saw a lady picking up her husband. 

What is the cross? The cross is anyone or anything that crosses your path. It maybe your family, your friends or enemies; it maybe your mission, your challenge, your purpose in life. To most people, a cross is a problem to be solved or a burden to bear. To some, it is a health issue such as a debilitating disease; to others, it is a weight issue, such as obesity or anorexia.  To some, it is an economic issue like loss of a job; to others it is a life and death issue, like losing someone you love or being called for an IRS audit. The cross is also a symbol of commitment and responsibility.

The cross of Jesus is the epitome of all crosses. Jesus was ordained by the Father to take up the cross as a ransom for the sins of the whole world. It was a burden hard to bear and a terrifying responsibility. Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, take this cup away from me.” And as he prayed, tears and blood came out from his eyes and body and finally he said, “nevertheless, not my will but thy will done.” The rest is history. 

The Good News in the cross is that it is temporary. You do not carry the cross forever. There is a time when problems are solved; burdens are removed and challenges are overcome. After crucifixion comes resurrection. Crying turns into laughter, sorrows turn to joy, and mourning and sighing shall flee away.

Here at St. Michael, I have a cross to bear. It is my vision that this parish will become a beacon in the community of Seaford.  I do not see the cross as the lack of money, though we certainly need a lot of it. Although, I have been appointed by the Bishop as priest-in-charge, we are not yet in full operation because our funds are low. But it is not about money. As a missionary, I believe and always proved, that “where God guides, God provides.” God’s work, done in God’s way, and in God’s time never lack blessings.

The cross is not about leadership, because we have great leaders among us.

The cross is not about our facilities. We may have a small sanctuary but it is beautiful and today, we are about to bless a newly-renovated hall.

What then is our cross? Our cross is not found outside of us; our cross is inside of us.  In fact, we do not only have one cross; we have three crosses; and they are not external that we can see. They are invisible cross. Let me tell you what they are.

1.      First, our cross is our faith. We have a crisis of faith. Of course, this is not just St. Michael & All Angels but other churches as well. The Church is supposed to be the repository of faith but ironically, there is so much lack of faith in many churches. And when there is lack of faith, what happens? There is fear. And what happens when there is fear? Nothing happens.

We know the story of Peter. He saw Jesus walking on water and he got excited. “Master, let me walk on water like you.”  And Jesus said, “Come.” Peter stepped in faith and walked on water but when he saw the waves; he got frightened and began to sink.  And Jesus said, “O man of little faith? Why did you doubt?”

Christianity is not about fear; it is not about doubt. It is about faith. It is not about feeling secure, about taking precautions. It is about taking risks and engaging in adventure. Christianity is adventure in faith and that is a cross we have to take. Our parents Abraham and Sarah taught us about adventure. They obeyed God and lived in faith, and God did not disappoint them. I left home at age 15 to escape rural poverty and since then my adventure in faith has led me even to places beyond my childhood dreams.

The second cross is our hope.  We have a crisis of hope. John Wesley said, “If you lose money, you lose nothing; if you lose your health, you lose something. But if you lose hope, you lose everything.” Hope is the virtue that makes a person stands up after every fall. Hope is the quality a person who does not get discouraged when things do not turn out successfully for he/she knows that success is a failure turned upside down. A hopeful person is one who continually hopes even when hope is gone.

One of my colleagues in the national church said that when she attended a course in church leadership, many of the clergy in the class were talking nothing but about the church dying. “The church is dying, the church is dying, the church is dying.” And she said that she could not bear it any longer that she screamed, “Let it die!”

Yes, if the church has lost hope, let it die. A church with no hope is no church of Jesus Christ.

That is why we are naming our newly-renovated hall, as Resurrection Hall, because that is the nature of the church, the people of God. We are a people of hope; we preach hope; we live with hope, an even if we die, we shall die with hope. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And that is our Christian hope. We are an Easter people; we are a Resurrection people.

Third and finally, our cross is our love. We have a crisis of love. It is not money that makes the world go round; it is not fame that makes the world go round; it is not power that makes the world go round; it is love that makes the world go round. If God removes His love from the world, the world will crumble and fall.  And if God removes His love from us, our lips shall turn into clay.

During our recent visit to Italy, we visited the ruins of Pompeii.  We learned that Pompeii was a great and prosperous city in the first century A.D. But in their prosperity, their love for God and for each other had grown cold.  The volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted and the whole city was covered with six meters of ashes. It was completely destroyed and lost for 1700 years. Today, its ruins tell the story of a generation who lost their love for the One who loves us all.

Love is what makes the world go round and love is also what makes the church what it really is. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know, that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.”  They will know we are Christians by our love.

My cross, as your Priest-in-Charge- is how to make this little church---a beacon of faith, hope and love in the City of Seaford. Help me take up this cross, and together, let us follow Jesus. Amen.

(Photo: Fr. Fred with Lois Handwerker and son, Rob. Robert Handwerker, Sr. left a legacy that made possible the renovation of Resurrection Hall.)

My Italian Tour: The Eternal City and More

Last September 1-15, 2011 my wife (Angela) and I joined with a group of 46 other tourists from all over the world in what is known as the “Splendors of Italy Tour.” It brought us to over a dozen renowned cities and fantastic places in grand Italia. It is amazing that the country, being so rich in culture, history and significance continue to inspire pilgrims who visit it. Trafalgar Tour offered us a variety of optional tours, most of which we took.

Angela has lots of wonderful photos in her Face book (angieverg@aol.com) and I am preparing some reflections on my blog site, www.travelinasian.blogspot.com. While I have been to many places in Europe and Asia, I find Italy to be most fascinating and awe-inspiring.

Our first stop was Rome, the “eternal city,” with its famous St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican and some museums. Even roaming around Rome itself, if you can feel the Spirit, and, if you can see past the pickpockets, the anxious fellow tourists getting lost in the sea of humanity and the constant roaring of the scooters in narrow streets of cobbled stones, you can see God. Of course, for a pilgrim, not a tourist, God is written even in the graffiti of tenement walls. The frescos of Michelangelo was certainly beyond compare.

After Rome, we ogled the frescos (from ‘fresh’ paint), walked along the gardens of Tivoli.  The day was hot but when evening came, after a rowdy dinner, just before I dropped three coins in the fountain and made my wished, it rained---and the $3 Euro umbrella suddenly jumped at $5 Euros. The rest of the days were a staccato of fantastic places: Bay of Naples, Castellamare, Bay of Capri, Positano. In  the cruise along Lake Como, we were told to watch out for George Clooney and I swore it was my childhood crush, Sophia Loren (she must be a century old by now), whom I saw tending to her lakeside gardens. Of course, no one, including my wife would believe my imagination.

A visit to Assisi, where my favorite St. Francis and St. Claire, come from was a dream come true. I have always admired “brother Sun and sister Moon” but we did not have much time to explore Umbria where they played among the birds and the bees. Of course you know that the twin-patron saints of Italy were St. Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena; I reckoned Claire would be content being the saint of the poor and Francis the saint of the animals, including myself.

The ruins of Pompeii are a poignant symbol that the “city of man will always die but the city of God will never die” as another Italian saint, Augustine (thanks to his mother, Monica and the bishop of Milan, Ambrose for his conversion), would agree in his book, the “Civitas Dei.” Pompeii, a prosperous and cosmopolitan city in the 1^st century was the center of many pagan and bacchanalian feasts. Many of the filthy rich had their Roman holiday villas there, feasting on licentiousness and decadence. The city was completely destroyed and buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., ironically a day after Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of fire. Walking among the city ruins (rediscovered in 1749), it was eerie to be told that Mt. Vesuvius is still an active volcano.
Touring by bus can be ennui unless you learn to travel as a family. Our Tour Director, Dominic Harris, was a funny guy. His background as son of an Anglican vicar (he also married the daughter of a Scotland vicar), made him and me kindred spirits. At the bus, I prayed a “9-11 Prayer,” told some jokes and made adaptation of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” into “He Did it Pompei”  and “New York, New York” into “Venice, Venice.” I was wondering if stand up comedy or a murderer of ballads would be my lot if I retire from the ministry.
Yes, Venice was a romantic city and still is. It is interesting to note that all the gondolas are now legally restricted to black color. It became a fashion statement and social status in the past, when the rich would have their gondolas in loud colors and bedecked them with gold and even diamond ornaments to set their gondolas different from those of the plebian’s. Venetian government wants them to be blind to socio-economic boasting, without poking their eyes. The visit to San Marco Church (in honor of St. Mark’s the evangelist) was intriguing. Venice is a city built atop a million logs dropped in the lagoon of the Adriatic Sea and it is amazing that it still stands today. “If I can float up here, I can float anywhere; it’s up to you, Venice, Venice,” I would sing. Marco Polo’s adventures speak of his Venetian lifestyle.
Verona was my idyllic place because it is the scene of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the mother of all romantic tragedies. I can still hear Lawrence Olivier intoning the prologue “Two households both alike in dignity…” It has a huge arena not only for Shakespeare’s plays but hey, maybe Lady Gaga’s concerts as well. In Pisa, the Tower is still leaning and I wonder when it will finally fall.
We made an incursion into Lugano, border of Italy and Switzerland, for a peek of Gucci and other temptations. Of course, most of the touristic ladies bought their leather, later, in Florence. Firenze is the capital city of Tuscany and my interest was more on its art and architecture. As a priest, I used my privilege to enter the Florence Cathedral for free, and access to some of the holy places where the lay were not allowed. Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance and been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.  The cathedral is undergoing reconstruction but I could still see the iconic statue of David and haunting fresco of Adam and Eve being driven out of paradise, another Michelangelo creation. The statues of Dante Alighieri, Machiavelli, Savonarola and Leonardo Da Vinci speak of the greatness of the Florentines.
The supreme highlight of the trip for me, was, ironically, the descent to the Roman catacombs. I will have a separate reflection about it but suffice it to say that the catacombs were an important signpost to Christian martyrdom (Latin martyrium for “witness”) and the power of God to convert the hearts. Ireneus and Achilleus, two praetorian guards in-charge of cutting off the heads of Christians, became converted and had their own heads cut off as well. An underground basilica was commissioned by Pope Gregory in honor of their martyrdom in the site where those they executed were buried. Talk about poetic justice.
I departed Italy not only with fond memories but a personal desire to study more of its past and its relevance to our contemporary world. Arrivederci Roma. Ad majorem Dei Gloriam.
Fred+