Lift Up Your Heads: A Year of Old Catholic Homilies

By Robert Mitchell

The homilies in this volume were all delivered by archdeacon Robert Mitchell Jr. -- a transitional archdeacon in the Old Catholic tradition enrolled at Ekklesia Epignostika Church & Seminary in pursuit of Holy Orders of the priesthood -- during Holy Communion services between Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021 and Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022 in St. Barachiel Chapel in Richmond, VA.  They reflect his Old Catholic stance on matters of faith and his deep appreciation for the "quadriga" -- the four most ancient senses of interpreting scripture -- which are the literal, allegorical, moral, and mystical.   

 

What is an Old Catholic?

 

Old Catholics are not Roman Catholics.  They are a relatively small denomination -- a loosely-associated group of sister churches, some in communion and others not -- who split from the Roman Catholic Church starting in the mid-to-late 19th century over various doctrinal and administrative disputes, primarily papal infallibility, the valid appointment of bishops, and particularities of Marian devotion.  Because of their similarities to both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, Old Catholics are often described as "catholic but not Roman, orthodox but not Eastern."

• Language: English
• Publisher: ROBERT MITCHELL
• Release date: Jun 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201102838

Robert Mitchell

Robert Mitchell is a priest in the Old Catholic tradition from Richmond, VA.  He is the founder of Heritage Arts Inc., a 501(c)(3) federally-recognized non-profit educational charity providing free instruction in martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development (www.heritageartsinc.com). A martial artist for over thirty-five years, in 2011 he was awarded the rank of Master by the Combat Martial Arts Practitioners Association, and in 2019 became an authorized instructor of Mark Hatmaker's Frontier Rough & Tumble Martial arts program. His writing credits include two books of homilies -- "Lift up Your Heads: A Year of Old Catholic Homilies" and "Seek His Face: Another Year of Old Catholic Homilies" --  the martial arts book "Martial Grit: Real Fighting Fitness on a Budget," the fitness bestseller "The Calisthenics Codex" (which has been in Smashword's Top 10 fitness books since its publication in 2015) and "The Wildwood Workbook: Nature Appreciation and Survival."  His fiction work includes novels, poems, 'zines, comic books, and short pieces which have appeared in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Hulltown 360 Literary Journal, and others. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1983 with a B.A. in English. He and his wife are the proud parents of four children and five grandchildren.

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Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021

Readings: Mk 11:1-10, Is 50:4-7, Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24, Mk 14:1—15:47

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Entrance Antiphon for Palm Sunday

Priest: Six days before Passover,

when the Lord came into the city of Jerusalem,

the children ran to meet Him;

in their hands, they carried palm branches,

and with a loud voice cried out:

ALL: Hosanna* in the highest! [ * Hosanna means Save or Give Salvation ]

Priest: Blessed are you, who have come in your abundant mercy!

O gates, lift high your heads;

Grow higher, ancient doors.

ALL: Let him enter, the King of Glory!

Priest: Who is the King of Glory?

ALL: He, the Lord of Hosts!

Priest: He is the King of Glory.

ALL: Hosanna!

Priest: Blessed are you, who have come in your abundant mercy!

ALL: Hosanna, in the highest!

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In today’s liturgy we find the beautiful Psalm 24 which ends with these stanzas,

7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors:

And the King of glory will come in.

8 Who is the King of glory?

Jehovah strong and mighty,

Jehovah mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors:

And the King of glory will come in.

10 Who is this King of glory?

Jehovah of hosts,

He is the King of glory.

This psalm is thought to have been written by King David to celebrate bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the tabernacle.  It has also been suggested that David might have written it for his son Solomon to sing when the Ark would later be brought into the temple.

This reveals the ancient Hebrew worldview in which God is associated with physical objects and inhabits physical spaces, like the Holy of Holies in the heart of the temple.  And rightly so.  But that worldview only takes us so far. 

Friends, Jesus (as he says in Matt. 5:17) comes not to abolish the law and the prophets—the older worldview—but to fulfill it.  To fulfill as in a prophecy?  Yes indeed.  But even more than that.  To fulfill as in to fill it full—full of love.  That is to say, not just following the rules, but living the rules in a genuine, heartfelt way.

This is why Jesus says in Matt. 5:21-22,

21Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire.

And so, we as Christians, in the spirit of fulfillment, take up Psalm 24 to commemorate the entrance of Jesus into the Holy City.  We see that, just as the doors of the tabernacle and the doors of the temple were opened for the Ark to enter, so were the gates of Jerusalem opened for the Son of God to enter.  We could even say that David's song is a foreshadowing of Jesus entering the world through the gateway of Holy Mary, the mother of God. 

But perhaps the best possible way to read Psalm 24 is to see that it is speaking directly to us, brothers and sisters.

We are the doors through which the King of Glory enters the world.

On this Palm Sunday, I pray that we all lift up our heads that the King of Glory may come in—that He may come and go through us. And if we do this, we have the hope of everlasting life, then we may truly become everlasting gates for the Lord of Hosts—He is the King of Glory!

Second Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy), April 11, 2021

Readings: Acts 4:32-35, 1 John 5:1-6, John 20:19-31 

John 20:19-31  American Standard Version

19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: 23 whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30 Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name.

In 1966 the U.S. Surgeon General issued a report on the dangers of smoking and the U.S. became the first country in the world to put mandatory warning labels on cigarette packs.  And did everyone quit smoking?  Did smoking die out?  Did people stop purchasing them?  No, they did not.  In 1984 the U.S. passed the MLDA which effectively raised the minimum legal drinking age to 21.  Did teens stop drinking?  Were teen brains forever saved from the developmental ravages of alcohol?  Was there a permanent end to DUI-related teen vehicle fatalities?  No.

Why?  Because people don’t do what’s good for them, even in the face of evidence.  We hear the news, but we don’t engage.  We know the risks, but it doesn’t hit home.  Doctors tell us to exercise and eat right, but we don’t.  Psychologists tell us that two hours of screen time per day is the maximum for promoting the mental health of our children, but we keep on letting our kids play video games all day.  It’s four hours for adults, but we keep working at our laptops from dawn to dusk.

Jesus knows this intimately.  He comes into the world, and he performs miracles far and wide.  He heals lepers, cures the blind, drives out demons, even raises the dead and walks on water! And is that it?  Does everyone just roll over and get the message?  No.

In the same way that we ignore the advice of doctors and the rule of law, we didn’t pay attention to Jesus either.  We sold him down the river for thirty pieces of silver, denied him three times, had him dragged before the Pontius Pilate, and chanted our desire to have him crucified.  We humans are a really hardheaded bunch.

And Jesus knows this.  He knows that there’s only one way he can get through our thick skulls.  First, he has to enter into our human condition, and then he needs to conquer it so that we can see what’s possible.  We humans like to break into tombs and steal things.  Jesus does the opposite.  He breaks out of tombs and gives us things.

He knows how we think and how we work.  This is why when he comes back, he doesn’t appear to kings, emperors, queens, pharaohs, or princes and convince them to issue laws and proclamations.  He knows it won’t work.  He appears to select people, those who are ready to see, hear and touch his risen body.  He basically restarts his mission all over again.  Even working with the fertile ground of his disciples, it still takes fifty days to get them to the point where they’re ready for the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  I’m telling you, we are really hardheaded, we humans.

In this context today’s readings make perfect sense.  In Acts 4 we see the disciples living in true community, supporting the apostles, embodying Christ’s ideals.  In 1 John 5 we read, we keep his commandments, and the commandments are not burdensome because whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.  This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and blood.

Why not just water?  Because baptism isn’t enough.  A splash of water, a label, a press conference, a warning, some good advice – big deal.  We are all the doubting Thomas we see in John 20.  We see the miracles and hear the good news, and so what?  We need to touch the wounds.  Not by water alone are we convinced, but by blood.  It’s that resurrection thing.  That pesky resurrection, that so many people nowadays want to say was implausible, impossible, and unscientific – well it turns out to be absolutely essential.

Because Jesus isn’t just another wise teacher giving good advice.  He’s not your doctor telling you to eat right and exercise, the surgeon general telling you not to smoke, or any of the other people you can, will and do systematically ignore.

Christ is the one who entered into your suffering, shared your condition, felt the cravings of the flesh, the pain of betrayal, the agony of torture and the horror of death – but overcame it all so show you what’s possible through him and him alone.

Friends, this Divine Mercy Sunday we get to see the wisdom and mercy of Christ in full display, as he comes to forgive our hardheadedness and deliver us from the sins of the world.  At the end of time when he comes again in the Divine Eschaton?  Yes.  But also today, right here, right now.

Third Sunday of Easter, April 18, 2021

Readings: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19, Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9, 1 Jn 2:1-5a, Lk 24:35-48

Luke 24:35-48  American Standard Version

35 And they rehearsed the things that happened in the way, and how he was known of them in the breaking of the bread.

36 And as they spake these things, he himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they beheld a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do questionings arise in your heart? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having. 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here anything to eat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish. 43 And he took it, and ate before them.

44 And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; 46 and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 Ye are witnesses of these things.

Brothers and sisters, we want what we want, not what God wants.  We have our agendas, our plans and our objectives, and it’s easy to see God as a vending machine that serves our needs.  We put in our worship, our time, our reverence, and we expect to get what we paid for – health, blessings, happiness, and our eternal reward.  And since modernity has smoothed and rounded off many of the ancient world’s sharp corners and edges, it’s easy to fall into that trap.  Life expectancy has doubled in just the last few hundred years, and we’ve lifted more people out of poverty in the last twenty years than we did in the previous thousand.  But when something goes wrong – when death, injury, COVID, or some misfortune breaks in – if we have a transactional view of God, it can shake or even break our faith.  Today’s readings are brought together to guide us to understanding.

The Luke reading opens with, Then the two recounted what had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  Remember now: Cleopas and the other disciple hadn’t recognized Jesus on the road to Emmaus.  It wasn’t until they sat down to sup that they saw who Jesus was.  Cleopas and the other disciple, just like us, saw what they wanted and expected to see until Jesus opened their eyes.

In the Acts reading, Peter and John are in the temple after having healed a man crippled from birth.  The man had asked for alms.  But instead of alms, Peter and John healed him.  This man thought he needed money because he was destined to be forever lame. But what he really needed was a fundamental change.