Our Vocation as Apostles and Evangelists: Called to Become the Gospel of Jesus Christ

In these days of natural disasters, climates tragedies, war and famine we frequently see images of people fleeing with little more than the clothes on their backs. Sometimes we will see pictures of folks with some warning packing their cars full of belongings and preparing to evacuate. Today at our Communion Service I wondered how many of those attending had spent time deciding what they would take with them in case of such an emergency. Most everyone had, at one time or another thought about this question and were more or less prepared for such an emergency and the difficulties of closing the door on most all they own if circumstances demanded that of them.

 So, on the Feast of St Luke today's first reading from 2 Timothy struck me with what Paul requests of those coming to support him and all this implied. He wants contact with his correspondents, of course; he wants and needs their support and encouragement, their prayer,  news, and personal sharing. And he is grateful for their presence in his life, but in terms of "things" he asks only for the cloak he left in Troy (Turkey) and for the scrolls and parchments (books). He especially wants the books, the "parchments". Possibly approaching his own death in Rome, scholars believe Paul wants access to the stories of Jesus' life and ministry, and perhaps some of Paul's own letters as well. He has "put on Christ" in all that implies and needs little more than the texts which will help him come even closer to Christ and proclaim him to those around him. His needs are slight, a cloak he has had with him on 10's of 1000's of miles of journeying, shipwrecks, stonings, floggings, betrayals, abandonment, disappointments, successes, etc., and the Risen Christ who has accompanied, empowered, and transformed him with the unconditional love of God.

What struck me in the Gospel lection was very similar. Jesus sends disciples out two by two on purposeful and focused journeys. They are to bring peace to whomever they meet at their destination and proclaim the Kingdom of God is "at hand". They too have "put on Christ", received the Holy Spirit of Life and Truth, and been missioned to approach others without benefit of anything more than who they are in light of this inheritance. They are to bring no sack, no sandals, no moneybags; they are to close the door of their own homes and travel out to those places Christ desires and (with and in them?!) will visit. They are to accept whatever hospitality is offered to them, nor are they to move from house to house looking for better fare or accommodations. They are to offer the peace of Christ to whomever will receive it and not be troubled when it is rejected. Above all they are to be themselves in Christ, living examples of the Gospel of God in Christ.

In both of these readings the words I heard again and again were "integrity" and "freedom."  Every Christian is called upon to be an Apostle of Christ. We are each of us sent into the world to proclaim the Gospel with our lives. (Paradoxically, hermits are sent out only to the extent we are sent into our hermitage or cell to dwell with Christ in solitude; it is in this way we become an incarnation of the Gospel lived for the sake of others.) We are each and all of us meant to be the Gospel that listens and responds to the needs of others with the heart and mind of Christ. We are to need nothing else than ourselves and the Christ who indwells and empowers us while we trust that insofar as this is who we truly are, it will be sufficient for all those we meet. Integrity. At the same time we are called to journey in Freedom without the need for props or external support and without the burdens of our own woundedness, limitations, or brokenness. As was true with Paul, and as he wrote to the Church in Philippi, even the things which once bound and crippled us can be opportunities for the proclamation of the Gospel. As Paul demonstrated to the Church in Galatia, showing up beaten and bruised and proclaiming the good news of a Crucified Christ was a sign of his credibility, not something that invalidated his message. In Christ Paul knew Freedom, especially freedom from arrogance and a merciless fanaticism and freedom for a humble and compassionate integrity.

The prospect of being somehow turned out of our own homes and neighborhoods by a natural disaster, a so-called "Act of God" with little more than a well-worn but beloved jacket, a photo album or two, and perhaps our personal Bible, may be difficult to entertain. The prospect of encountering a certainly hostile but also potentially hospitable world with only ourselves clothed with Christ -- without money, status, influential relationships or networks, etc., is frightening. And yet, as Christians we are commissioned by Christ in a very literal act of God (!) which asks us to trust in the potential of those we meet as we proclaim a Good News  capable of answering every hope and fulfilling the very deepest dreams. On this Feast of St Luke let us take seriously our call to be Evangelists. In the integrity and freedom of those who have put on Christ let us BE the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Monastic (Eremitical) Cowl, Perpetual Profession

In preparing for perpetual vows this next weekend, I was informed by the Vicar for Religious that I would need a ring and a prayer garment. The ring I had had for several months, but the prayer garment? What really did they have in mind? Well, it turns out they were thinking of something like monastics use either in choir or in cell to pray in: a cowl or cuculla, a scapular with hood, or a tunic with hood.

Now these garments are very meaningful to monastics (and this includes hermits). In most communities, it is the cowl that is given at solemn profession, and the symbolism is rich and real. In the Camaldolese tradition the cowl is white, and reminds us clearly of white martyrdom ---the self-sacrifice of the hermit for the sake of Christ and his people, for instance. Echoes of wedding garments, baptismal garments, and putting on Christ are all a part of this garment's symbolism. It is designed so that one literally can do nothing other than pray in it! The sleeves are voluminous --- even on the modified version which my cowl will be. The hood closes one off to what is around one, and the full length ensures one is wholly covered, completely enwrapped.

I had not personally prepared for this, eventhough the cowl is also associated with perpetual profession in eremitic life. I was prepared for the ring (I will take off my silver band and replace it with a gold band), for my relationship with Christ has been nuptial for many years now and the bridal imagery of the perpetual profession resonated well with that. But, while I sometimes attend Mass and/or vespers at a Camaldolese monastery, and while I am used to the monks/nuns wearing cowls for choir and Mass, wearing such a garment myself much less being given one canonically to wear whenever I pray was relatively foreign to me! (And it was foreign to my sister as well, who, upon hearing the story, promptly responded: "Yo, Casper!")

I have had some time to work through this whole idea now, time to process it some, and it is meaningful to me --- though it is likely to become more so over time. It helped a lot that last week, the lections I chose for doing a reflection on were Thursday's! The first two lections were about vows and keeping one's vows, and the gospel was Matt's parable of the king who invites two different sets of people to the wedding feast. Once the second set have accepted the invitation and the feast is in full swing, the king looks around and spots a guy who has not worn the appropriate wedding garment, and without further ado, he has the man thrown out!!

Of course, the gospel is not about clothes per se. It is about God's unconditional love and the response it engenders and empowers. It is about "putting on Christ" in response to, and in the power of this love. What is clear is that if we accept the invitation of the king to the wedding feast, then we really do need to dress appropriately, and that means clothing ourselves in Christ. Even in situations where we will "look funny", be unfashionable, or out of step with our dominant culture, we really need to put on Christ. For me, the monastic cowl is a symbol of this --- and the fact that it does not represent just a sign of my new status as perpetually professed hermit, but is also still a bit "weird" is probably a good thing. Certainly it will not allow me to forget how truly marginal the hermit is, nor how truly countercultural either! Neither will it allow me to forget that the challenge to put on Christ is not an easy thing, nor one which is apt to keep me within some artificially determined comfort level. No, it will push the boundaries and take me where I might not have wanted or chosen to go otherwise.

This weekend, as a perpetually professed hermit, I receive canonically the monastic cowl. It is not yet as meaningful to me as the ring I will also receive, but it marks another new beginning to my hermit life, and one where every day I will struggle anew to put on Christ --- whether or not I put on the cowl (or a modified version of the same) at the same time!!