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The Third Sunday after the Epiphany | By the Rev. AJ Boots


Halfway through my middler year of seminary, I got on a Zoom call with my bishop,

Rob Hirschfeld of New Hampshire,

and nervously asked for his blessing

to discern a call to monastic life here at the Community of St. Mary.


He was real surprised.

—to this day I think he was expecting me to ask for permission to get engaged—

but, as the shock wore off, he was incredibly supportive.

He held up a stack of books he already had on his desk about The Rule of Benedict

and told me he would soon be the Bishop Visitor

for the Society of St. John the Evangelist, up in Cambridge, MA.


Bishop Rob talked about the importance of monastic communities, how much he valued them,

and said one specific thing that especially made an impression on me.

He said that vitally important spiritual warfare on behalf of the Church

took place in monastic communities.


I’m the slightly reckless, spiritually adventurous type,

who, in hearing a statement like that,

has to fight the urge to salute

and declare to the bishop, “I am equal to the task, I will not let you down!”


But since that Zoom call, I have discovered that not everyone in Church

views monastic communities in that same way.

My senior year of seminary, a guest speaker focused on priestly social activism

asked my classmates to go around the room

and share how we thought our priestly ministries might manifest in social activism.


My turn came, and I said I was discerning a call to a convent,

and that while my ministry might be smaller and quieter than my classmates,

I hoped it would be a deep, prayerful work,

and I echoed what my bishop had said about monasticism waging important spiritual warfare.


Well, this guest speaker told me in front of everyone

that he was uncomfortable with me using the term, “spiritual warfare.”

Under the surprise and shame of being shushed,

I didn’t argue with him,

but I sure wanted to tell this person that he could go be loud in the streets all he wanted —

I was brave enough to combat the diabolical forces

fueling the people and policies he was protesting against.


Gotta love the ego that goes into competitive piety.


The day of this encounter was actually the day I joined the Anglo-Catholics

in the practice of crossing myself during the Lord’s Prayer at “deliver us from evil.”

(Fun fact: The Rule of Benedict does actually talk about how

that’s the most important sentence in the Lord’s Prayer

and that if the prayer is being read aloud by one person,

that’s where everyone else needs to join in.)

It needs to be said.

Deliver us from evil.


Studying the Rule of Benedict is one of the things I’ve been doing

since I was accepted as a postulant here at St. Mary’s four months ago,

in addition to living, working, and praying alongside the Sisters.


Today, as the Episcopal Church celebrates Religious Life Sunday,

I will share that, to me, the Sisters’ very way of life —

their daily practice and core priorities—

are a powerful form of resistance to the enemy and his deceptions.


The best lens through which to describe monastic resistance

might be the idea of “God’s economy” and “Pharaoh’s economy.”

This is a concept we studied in seminary, and if you’re not familiar with it,

these two terms contrast how we live in this broken world

versus how God wants us to live in the Kingdom.


In Pharaoh’s Economy, people, things, and creation are a means to an end

and the constant fear is scarcity.

In God’s economy, people, things, and creation are cherished

and humanity knows there is enough abundance for all if we all just share.


Our lectionary readings today of course don’t use the term “God’s economy”

but, man, they sure do illustrate it well.

In our Old Testament reading, Nehemiah and Ezra tell the people to

“…eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared.”

—sharing abundance joyfully without scrutinizing why someone might be in need.


The author of Psalm 19 rejoices in observing the law of God,

a disciplined priority of God’s ways over societal norms.


1st Corinthians is a treasure trove of God’s economy over Pharaoh’s economy:

Valuing the diverse members of the Body of Christ,

disregarding the instinct to rank persons by their usefulness.


And finally, in our gospel reading, Jesus preaches of

“good news to the poor, release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed”

an economy which does not necessitate the subjugation of part of society,

a mindset that assumes health, safety, emancipation for all.


The intent of monasticism is to actualize God’s economy

and to reject Pharaoh’s economy.


God’s economy is actualized in the Sisters’ shared possessions, communal decision making,

and their equal care and consideration for each member.


Pharaoh’s economy is rejected in the Sisters’ vows of personal poverty, careful stewardship of resources,

and intent to live simply without accruing excess belongings.


God’s economy is actualized when the Sisters prioritize their prayer life in chapel

over their personal preferences, desire for leisure, or what’s most convenient for their productivity.


Pharaoh’s economy is rejected when, per scripture, the Sisters observe their weekly Sabbath Day,

closing the convent to the public, resting, exploring hobbies, enjoying creation and friends.


God’s economy is actualized in The Rule of the Community’s directive to persist in Christian Formation,

recognizing with humility that even life-professed Sisters

can continue to grow in their faith and expand their understanding of God.


Pharaoh’s Economy is rejected in the Sisters’ associate and oblate programs,

which helps guide those not living in monastic communities

to follow Rules of Life which prioritize counter cultural choices,

choices bring them closer to God,

choices which help them shut out the noise of the enemy.


God’s Economy is actualized when the Sisters welcome guests to the convent,

make them feel accepted in chapel or at the breakfast table,

and encourage them to foster their own internal peace and need for rest.

The Hermitage, I’m told, intentionally does not have Wi-Fi.

People pay to not have WiFi!


Pharaoh’s Economy is rejected each time an intern moves into St. Dorothy’s Cottage with one career plan,

and leaves 3 to 9 months later, saying “No, that was what other people wanted me to pursue,

but now I’m going to pursue what I think God is calling me to do.”


God’s Economy is actualized in the full observance of the liturgical calendar.

Not just Sundays, like most parishes, or Monday through Friday like the seminary,

but all major feasts, fasts, and special days of observance.

Instead of the calendar being shaped by their preferred schedule,

their daily life is shaped by the calendar:

Rescheduling a Sabbath Day so as to actually celebrate Epiphany on Epiphany,

Silence on Fridays,

talking lunches and ice cream on major feast days.


Pharaoh’s Economy is rejected in the Sisters’ commitment

to geographic, fiscal, mental, and emotional stability,

a form of endurance,

forsaking the human urge to distract or divert oneself

with excess, drama, romanticism, technology, or consumerism.


The collect for today prays that we will

“answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ

and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation.”


While I am a still a postulant, which is just one of the steps on the way to (hopefully) becoming a Sister,

I have felt for a few years now that the way I am best able to “answer readily the call of Jesus”

and frankly, the only way I can authentically live out my priestly vows,

is by patterning my life within a monastic vocation.


A monastic vocation, however, is of course, not how everyone is able to best answer the call readily.

It’s a narrow gate within the already narrow gate of Christianity. Today, however, Religious Life Sunday,

is the day to honor those who are vowed to live on the far side of that doubly narrow gate —

Sister Felicity, Sister Hannah, Sister Elizabeth, and Sister Madeleine Mary.


These women, and the the vowed Sisters who came before them,

have committed their lives to actualizing God’s economy

and by doing so, they have committed their lives to rejecting Pharaoh’s Economy

— to rejecting evil itself.

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