February 5, 2023

Before turning to our readings of the day, let’s spend a bit of time thinking about St. Brigid, whose feast day was last week on February 1st or 2nd or both. In fact, when we hear Jesus saying today that we should let our light shine forth, that might be part of why Brigid is often depicted as carrying a bowl of fire. She’s also known for interesting prayers like this one: “I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. … I’d love the Heavenly Host to be tippling there for all eternity. … I’d sit with the men, the women of God, there by the lake of beer; We’d be drinking good health forever, And every drop would be a prayer.” https://www.sacredheartmillhill.com/.../st-brigid-the... Hmm … I’ve been thinking my prayer life needs some uplift … but I don’t like beer and wine now gives me headaches. Brigid was certainly the opposite of a boring saint!

Last week we heard again that famous line from Micah 6:8 – a motto for many Christians – saying that what God requires of us is to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God. The need to do justice is a recurring theme in many Isaiah readings as well, with today being no exception. Today once again we see that the people are puzzled as to why God seems to be displeased with them, even though they’re fasting and praying and trying to worship God. God replies, saying: “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and fight and strike with a wicked fist.” (vs 3 & 4).

And then God prescribes a better version of fasting, which I’m pretty sure is given to us today to start thinking about our upcoming Lenten season. Isaiah hears God saying: “Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free … Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin.” (vs 6-7). Actually, hiding from our own kin, at times, or accepting that they’re hiding from us – may be a necessary evil. But that’s another story.

Today’s gospel is still part of the beloved Sermon on the Mount and continues directly from last week’s Beatitudes from Matthew. Jesus offers encouraging words to his followers, calling them the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. After pointing out the obvious – that salt lends flavour to foods -- William Barclay points out that ideally Christianity should lend flavour to all of life as well. Instead, he says, that people have often connected Christianity with that which takes the flavour out of life! And he was writing in 1956! It’s probably gotten worse since then. As Bishop Anna points out, we are in the most secular, or non-religious, diocese in North America. Skeptics in the past have quipped that some stricter religions in particular -- seem to operate with a basic assumption something like this: if it’s fun, it must be a sin, so don’t do it! Brigid would disagree with her lake of beer!

A few verses later Jesus says something quite surprising – that he has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. And yet there are numerous gospel examples of Jesus breaking a variety of those 613 Jewish mitzvot laws; and of Jesus criticizing those who pay attention to the minutiae of such laws, while ignoring bigger justice issues. So it’s likely that what Jesus means here is that he’s come to help humans understand the essence, or the real meanings, of those laws. In his earthly life Jesus functioned largely within the Jewish legal and moral system. He did not come to overthrow those laws, but rather to be a reformer who reminds his followers of their deeper meanings, and the ways they can help form a foundation for a new future. To build on the past in a way that helps build a better future – that’s a good ongoing goal for all of us.

The Christian St Brigid of Kildare (c 451-525) was something like that – she seems to have somehow partly evolved from the older pre-Christian goddess Brigid. That bowl of fire she carries -- later gave way to the Christian feast of Candlemas. Some of you likely remember this special Sunday at the beginning of February, which was dedicated to blessing all of the church’s candles for the year, right? And of course this celebration of the light fits in well with the ancient celebration of Imbolc – of the approximate halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, when we enjoy longer daylight hours. Celebrating Imbolc was seen as pagan and discouraged for much of the church’s history. However, in our times we seek to celebrate nature’s various points of transformation – which have also been celebrated by many indigenous peoples around the world, including Celtic peoples. Brigid is also well-known for her hospitality and care for the poor and vulnerable – so her focus resonates with what God tells Isaiah that people should be doing.

Since she was supposedly born on a threshold or under the lintel of a doorway, Brigid is also highlighted for her liminality, or her ability to be relevant to the past, the present and the future, and therefore to a focus on transformation. We here at Two Saints are also being called forward into a great transformation, as the diocese explores with the city – how our buildings can best serve the needs of the community going forward. Tomorrow, the first Monday in February, Brigid will be honoured with an ongoing annual holiday in the Republic of Ireland. May we, like Brigid (https://faithtides.ca/halfway-back-to-the-light/), span the present and future as we surrender what we have -- to the needs of the world around us. And may we find ongoing ways to respond to Jesus’ desire that we be salt for the earth and light for the world, Amen.