A Servant to All

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This Sunday’s Gospel has a line that caught my attention: “Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

As a Franciscan Parish, we are drawn to the words of our father, Saint Francis of Assisi. For those who do not know what a Franciscan is, we are followers of the teachings of Saint Francis.

Saint Francis heard a voice speak to him one day, “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you see, is falling down.” While Francis thought he was being called to repair the church of San Damiano, he would come to understand that God was calling him to repair the whole church worldwide of the greed, clericalism, and abuse that ran throughout it.

Saint Francis believed that the solution to this cancer in the church was to reject worldly wealth, care for the poor and sick, and to be a servant to all people. This is, after all, the message of the Gospel. Francis was willing to sell all his father’s possessions and give those funds to the poor and sick. This even though his father would go on to disown him.

Francis is quoted as saying, “It would be considered a theft on our part if we didn’t give to someone in greater need than we are.” This teaching is one of the foundations of our parish. It is our call to help those who cannot help themselves. As I said last Sunday in my sermon, we are called to help even when we have little to give.

This Sunday, the Gospel focuses on the disciples’ anger at James and John asking to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand. Jesus says those words I opened with to all the disciples. Nearly 2000 years later, that teaching is still meant for us.

As Saint Francis said, “We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God’s sake.” We are called to be servants to all people regardless of who they are. We are to show no partiality when we meet others.

I ask you today to decide to walk this path with us. Come follow the teachings of the Gospel and of Saint Francis. Not just on Sundays, but on every day of our lives.

I hope to see you at Mass on Sunday!

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Giving Joyfully

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This Sunday we have the Gospel reading of the rich young man. Jesus was asked by him what he must do to inherent eternal life. Jesus told him that he must follow the ten commandments. He replied that he had kept all the commandments since his youth. Jesus then told him to go, sell all that he had, and give that money to the poor. The young man went away upset because he was rich and did not want to let go of his wealth.

Jesus remarks to his disciples that it is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to inherent the Kingdom of God. Yes, I know, most English translations say camel, but that is a mistranslation. The actual translation preserved in the Syriac Peshitta says rope.

Living in the Deep South and having endured the recent destruction caused by Hurricane Helene and Milton, I have seen so many people reach out to help one another survive. None of them were rich. All of them were people like me and you; barely scrapping by and trying hard to survive on what little they had.

Like the parable of the woman who gave her last two coins to the temple treasury, so many people gave from their need, not their abundance. The few people who were rich and helped did so after being shamed on social media into helping. That is not given from their heart or their sense of Christian charity. No, it was giving from their desire to save face.

We are a small parish. We have very little in the way of funding. However, we continue to help the poor and homeless, not from our abundance, but from our need. We cannot turn our backs on those who need our assistance. And we are commanded to help them no matter what.

Today, I ask you, will you give to our parish and help us to continue the great work we do here in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA)? Will you give of your need or your abundance to make sure others have what they need to survive? Will you bless others as you have been blessed?

So many people watch us online, yet so few support the parish financially. It is time this changed. Be a part of our ministry by dedicating your time, talents, and money to help us.

If you cannot give financially, can you be a lector? Can you take time to record you reading the Sunday readings to send to us? What about taking time to record a video about how our parish affects your life? Or maybe you have parish management skills we can use. There are so many ways for you to volunteer and help us out.

Pray about how you might be able to help others through our parish family.

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Finding Jesus in the Hurricane

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As I sit at my dear friend Rev. Marc Trimm’s house charging devices and using his Wi-Fi, I am drawn to discuss the lack of compassion, understanding, and love that we have seen in this disaster in the south. Last Friday morning, Hurricane Helene came through Augusta, Georgia delivering a direct hit to the city and crippling us.

The church remains without power today on Day 6 of this disaster. Many people are still trying to dig out from downed trees and damaged homes and cars. There have been bright moments of selflessness, with churches and organizations stepping up to help those who need it most.

However, there have been many examples of greed, anger, and outright selfishness. People have taken to price gouging their neighbors and friends. Businesses are raising prices to make a bigger profit off the backs of those of us without money or resources. And even worse, are those who cannot show the slightest bit of humanity when it comes to helping others.

I have seen so many Christians, who have power because of generators or their lucky position near the substations, refuse to help their neighbors with anything. People who have food and supplies watch their neighbors go without rather than share with others.

Jesus spent his ministry on earth preaching a message of helping those in need. He feed the hungry many times, healed the sick, and raised the dead. He would be here helping those who are without power, without food, and whose homes are destroyed. Jesus didn’t ask us to do this, he commanded us to.

This hurricane coming through our area has really opened my eyes. Ministers in our communities have failed our flock. We have failed to teach the message of Jesus but instead have taught a message of false holiness.

If you want to get into heaven, you will be judged on how you treat the least of these, not on how many Sundays you went to church.

Join us this week LIVING the Gospel!

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Where are the loving Christians?

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Saint Francis Parish and Outreach has been working tirelessly to bring a voice of compassion, love, social justice, and radical inclusion to the CSRA for almost 21 years now. We are routinely asked why more people don’t come to our church. And I don’t have the answer to that question.

I would like to think that people in our community are loving, accepting, affirming, and inclusive in their love for their neighbors. However, I find it very disheartening to see churches that teach radical exclusion, hatred, abuse, and condemnation full to the brim while churches like Saint Francis remain empty on Sunday.

I won’t lie to you, there are Sundays where I sit and hold back the tears as I sit before Jesus in the tabernacle. We have dedicated our lives to helping those most marginalized in our community: the homeless, the poor, the LGBTQIA+, women, and people of color. It has been our founding principle to stand up against injustice and abuse. We continue to work to make a difference in our community by joining with others to stand against oppression, stigma, racism, and bigotry.

Where are those who want to help with this ministry? Where are those who aim to live the Gospel message of inclusion and love?

We have so many things planned as we move into fall and the Christmas season. We have our Blessing of the Pets on Sunday, October 6th during Mass at 3:00 PM. We are planning our annual Blue Christmas Service in December. And who can forget our Christmas Midnight Mass!

I am pleading with you this week, come visit us this Sunday at 3:00 PM at 557 Greene Street in Augusta, Georgia. Come see an entirely different way to be Catholic. Come experience the beauty of the Metropolitan Community Church of Our Redeemer that graciously lets us use their space for worship. And come to support the living Gospel!

Make Saint Francis Parish and Outreach your new church home!

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Our command to help others

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We have seen the situation play out in churches repeatedly throughout the years. People who claim to be Christians fighting with each other over who is the best Christian. They play a game with their faith, seeing it as something that one must work to be better than their fellow Christians.

Sadly, this is not a new situation. Jesus had to confront this type of spiritual abuse among his own disciples. They were caught by Jesus arguing about who was the greatest disciple. And Jesus confronted this argument in a unique way.

Jesus tells the disciples that if they want to be the first in the kingdom of God, they must first be the last. They must be like a little child. In other words, they had to be humble and put others before themselves.

Saint Francis of Assisi would spread that same message 1200 years later. He would remind his followers that to be first, you had to put everyone ahead of you. He went as far as to tell his brothers that they needed to be last when it came to getting their food and eating. They should make sure others were fed first.

These brothers, later called friars, would make this a central part of their daily lives. Here at Saint Francis Parish and Outreach, we are a Franciscan parish focused on putting those most in need ahead of ourselves.

I am asked a lot why we ask for so much help to feed the homeless and poor. My answer is simple: Jesus told us to, and Saint Francis commanded us to. So, we work diligently to help as many people as we can.

We ask you to help for two reasons: 1) the task is too great for one person to do alone, and 2) we are giving you the opportunity to live the message of the Gospel. This is your chance to be part of a movement bigger than yourself, to help those most in need of love and support.

I know you get tired of hearing about it, but your support helps us and you. It helps the poor and homeless in the CSRA. And sending a donation to our parish helps to keep us actively helping those who need our help most.

I hope you will come to worship with us this Sunday, either in person or online. And that you will consider signing up for reoccurring donations to our outreaches and parish.

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Faith without works is dead

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Faith without works is dead. That is the message of this Sunday’s second reading. We live in a world where most Christians believe that all they need to be a good Christian is to have faith.

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. Faith is a critical part of our religious and spiritual walk. However, if you have faith only then you are missing the most critical part. Saint James tells us that faith comes through our works.

Without the work we do to help those around us, our faith is stagnated and dead. One of the great messages of Jesus was to help those in most need around us. We are called to help the homeless, the orphan, the widow, and the marginalized.

When we abandon those works, we show that we have little or no faith in the teachings of Jesus. It is time for the church to stop trying to set up an earthly kingdom for Jesus and to start following his teachings. It is time we work to help others and to be a force for good in our world.

If the church focused on work that helps the communities we live in, then we would see a dramatic decrease in homelessness, poverty, and hunger. We would see many people abandon their hatred and anger and start showing love to one another.

Now is the time to make this change. Won’t you join us?

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Treat everyone the same

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Our readings this weekend remind us that we are to care for all people equally and not show favoritism to those who are rich. We are called upon to treat everyone with love and respect. It is a very important message for today’s church, but one very few are willing to listen to.

Isaiah and Mark remind us that God, thru his son Jesus, will come to heal those most in need of help. Those who are downtrodden and abused. Those who are in most need of being treated as human. This is the message we have lost as Christians.

You see, everyone is a child of the Divine. No one you meet is without a spark of the Divine within them. So when you treat others as less than yourself, you are treating the Divine (God) as being less than yourself.

This is your call to re-evaluate your life and how you approach those around you. It is time for Christians to stop giving into the lures of the world, to stop giving in to the hate and bigotry around them, and to work to follow the teachings of our Lord.

To remind you of the reading from Joshua two weeks ago, who will you serve? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

I hope to see you Sunday!

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Walking the walk

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Far too often, Christians today talk a good talk but fail to live the Gospel message. We see this all around us, with more and more Christians expecting religious purity rather than being concerned with their own spirituality. They expect so many people in society to live by their rules when it comes to spirituality but cannot live up to those same standards.

Saint Paul reminds us to be doers of the word, not just hearers. Jesus reminds us that all too often people honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from God. These are hard messages to stomach. Many people have chosen to go to churches that happily tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

Someone told me years ago that if you do not look at Holy Scripture through the lens of love, you miss the entire message. I find myself these days asking myself “Where is the Love?” just like in the song by the Black Eyed Peas. So many people live their lives angry, hateful, and abusive to all those around them. They hold so many grudges against the people around them that they find themselves alone.

This past week, I failed in that message myself. I was given a chance to show those around me grace, and I failed. Someone left me a note telling me to please mow my lawn. Rather than show them love and grace, I became angry, and I took my neighbors to task. I failed to walk the walk. And I have plenty of people to ask for forgiveness from.

But that just goes to show you that even I have room to grow. I, too, must walk the walk and not just preach a good sermon. Far too often, my sermons are being preached to me too.

I hope that this week we can all focus on walking the path of the Christ. And I hope you will join me at Saint Francis Parish walking that walk. Because it helps to have that support of your fellow human beings on this journey called life.

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Who will you serve?

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We come to the ultimate end of the Bread of Life discourse in the Gospel of Saint John. Jesus telling his followers that he is the Bread of Life caused many of them to leave his teachings behind and return to their old lives.

In Joshua, the people of Israel are given the same choice: return to the gods of their ancestors or follow the God that had led them out of Egypt. The people of Israel chose that day to follow the God that led them through the desert.

We have the same choice today. We can choose to follow the path of Jesus the Christ, or we can follow the path of greed, suffering, and violence that our society is so entrenched in. Many Christians today have given in to the latter and serve the destructive voices of society.  

I, for one, strive to follow the path of Jesus the Christ. I chose to eat the Bread of Life every Sunday in the Holy Eucharist. And I strive to live my life in peace and love. Jesus taught us to care for the least among us, to show love to our neighbors, and to be a friend to those who are outcast.

Today is the day to make a choice. Follow the path of Jesus the Christ, or continue down this destructive path that society offers us.

Who will you serve today?

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Come receive the Bread of Life

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This Sunday we are called to follow the path of wisdom to the Bread of Life that Jesus offers us. It is a hard message for many people to accept, but one that is more important today than ever before.

So many people live in utter foolishness, being tossed about by every wind and wave that comes our way. It is very easy to do given that we are hit by so many conflicting messages. Those messages come from the news, social media and even our pulpits.

It is so hard to find what we are supposed to believe. That is why the message of the Gospel, and the readings, is so very essential today.

Wisdom is sought through our study and meditation on the Holy Scriptures. The strength to follow that wisdom is given us in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. In it Jesus gives us the grace and wisdom to handle those things that are sent our way by the world.

It is also wise in these days to not forsake the fellowship of one another. That is why we consistently offer mass every Sunday whether anyone is there or not. We give everyone an opportunity to come before Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I hope you will come this Sunday and receive the Bread of Life!

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer