Sermon for January 21,
2014
10:00 Healing Service
Feast Day of Agnes,
Martyr at Rome,
304
St. Philip’s In The
Hills Parish, Tucson, AZ
The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse
For online access to
the readings click here.
I speak to you in the
name of One God, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit. Amen
Today
is the feast day of Agnes of Rome.
What
do you know of her?
From
Wikipedia, we learn that
·
At
the age of 12 or 13, a nobleman wanted to marry her,
·
She
refused since she had consecrated herself to Christ.
·
She
said that to marry the nobleman would be an insult to her heavenly Spouse.
·
The
young nobleman's father was the Prefect Sempronius,
o
upon
learning Agnes had rejected his son and that she was a Christian,
o
he
ordered Agnes to sacrifice to the pagan gods
·
She
was taken to a Roman temple
of Minerva (Athena), and
when led to the altar, she made the Sign of the Cross.
·
She
was threatened, then tortured when she refused to turn against God. [1]
Agnes
was martyred during the cruel persecution
of
the Emperor Diocletian.
As
a young teenager, 12 or 13.
How
do we even begin to make sense of that?
Her
biography from “Holy Women, Holy Men” says,
“after
rejecting blandishments…
she
remained firm in refusal
to
offer worship to the heathen gods...”
Blandishments. Now there’s a word we don’t hear every day – even if you are a
Downton Abbey watcher.
Blandishments
are
“…tools
of flattery and enticements to persuade somebody
to
do something.”
The
root of “blandishment” is from the old French blandiss, from “blandir” meaning,
smooth. As in “smooth operator.”
Agnes
rejected the smooth for her faith in Christ.
Agnes
was praised by the early Church
for her courage and chastity –
Agnes,
her name, reflects this –
meaning “pure” in Greek or “lamb” in Latin.
Today’s
scriptures are filled with these “pure” images
·
From
the collect,
o
God’s
choosing the powerless to put the powerful to shame
·
From
Song of Solomon,
o
God’s
calling the fair one,
o
in
the midst of the soft newness of the spring,
o
the
fresh fruits and vines that are fragrant.
o
This
is in stark contrast to her horrible death.
·
From
2nd Corinthians,
o
God’s
differentiation from the idols.
o
Paul
reminds us that we are the temple of the living God.
o
“I
will live in them and walk among them,” God promises.
·
From
the Gospel of Matthew,
o
God’s
love of the innocence of children –
o
that
when we become children:
§ humble, curious,
welcoming, innocent –
o
we
live into the kingdom of heaven.
And
so I wonder how Agnes is informing our life today?
Perhaps
you came to this healing service for reconciliation. Perhaps you came to hear a word of hope
to light up a despairing moment.
Perhaps
you came to join your prayers with all the faithful
who seek God’s presence.
Perhaps
Agnes is inviting us into healing through her example of denying
“blandishments” – of denying flattery.
Think
of a situation you find yourself in.
A
sticky situation that seems to keep triggering
a
reaction-response and not a love response.
A
response that appeals to our emotional, surface needs
Not
one that speaks to our spiritual ground?
I
have these all the time –
like
driving to work and someone cuts me off,
Or
listening to the media that draws us me into fear.
Or
that difficult conversation that I need to have
with a close friend, but I am persuaded to not
say anything; to remain in that “comfort” zone
Agnes
asks first:
How
are we receiving blandishments,
flattery that appeals to our emotional self ?
What
is the flattery for?
Are
we being enticed or persuaded
to
do something for someone else’s good?
Agnes
offers, second:
How
can we offer our soft, fresh selves
into each and every moment?
How
can we look at the situation with innocence of a child?
With humility, curiosity, welcome and
innocence?
Cynthia
Bourgeault, author and Episcopal priest,
suggests
what she calls “the welcome prayer.”
The Welcoming Prayer is that practice
of
attending to, letting go of, and surrendering to God
in the present moment of daily life.
The Welcoming Prayer[2]
is a way to respond
when we find that it is
difficult (if not impossible)
to let go of an emotion
or state of being.
The Welcoming Prayer
invites us to instead
move deeper into that
state.
We approach it with the
innocence of a child.
These are the
steps of the prayer:
1) Focussing
- Notice the sensation in your body of the emotion or state of being.
Where is it? What does it feel like?
Don’t analyze or explain the sensation, just
notice it.
2) Welcoming
- Welcome the feeling by giving it a name
For example,
“Welcome anger” “Welcome frustration” “Welcome
anxiety.”
Accept that it is there and
you can just be the way you are without trying
to change.
3) Move
back and forth between these two steps
Until the feeling begins to dissipate
naturally.
Don’t try to make it go away; just notice and welcome
until the overwhelming quality of the feeling
begins to subside.
4) Letting
Go - When you are ready,
gently let go of the feeling, saying,
“I let go of my anger.”
You are not letting go of it forever,
you will certainly feel angry again sometime.
As Cynthia Bourgeault says,
“This is not a final, forever renunciation of
your anger or fear;
it’s simply a way of gently waving farewell
as the emotion starts to recede.”
Thomas Keating, says
“Welcoming Prayer is
the practice that
actively lets go of
thoughts and feelings
that support the
false-self system”
– those
“blandishments.”
In giving the
experience over to the Holy Spirit,
the false-self is
gradually undermined & the true self liberated.”
May we, today,
recognize the call of Agnes.
She invites us to notice
and welcome blandishments,
and let them dissipate
in the healing presence of Christ
who heals and
reconciles and encourages us in every way,
with every
situation.
May we notice Agnes’
invitation to offer
our soft hearts to each
moment,
and to respond to God’s
call with the innocence of a child.
Agnes has the final
word today with this quote:
“Christ made my soul
beautiful
with the jewels of grace
and virtue.
I belong to Him whom the angels serve.”
-- Saint Agnes of Rome
[1] Cited at
http://faithofthefatherssaints.blogspot.com/2010/01/saint-agnes-of-rome.html
on January 13, 2014
[2] Cited at
http://lindsayboyer.com/welcoming_prayer.htm
on January 14, 2014
