It’s the most wonderful time of the

(Sermon preached by Bishop Leo Frade at Trinity Cathedral, Miami, December 24, 2011)

Yes indeed, it’s for sure the most wonderful time of the year: Tonight we are able to celebrate Christmas and rejoice knowing that it is through Christ’s birth that we are able to share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity.

What a wonderful delight it is to be able to worship in this historic Cathedral. Some of us tonight are able to share our joy with family and friends, while others reach for the memories of those who have parted from our midst and now know the strength of God’s presence and rejoice in his eternal glory.

This Christmas celebration should not take us by surprise, considering that the Church has been reminding us during the four weeks of Advent to prepare ourselves to receive this gift of God, which is Baby Jesus.

But in addition, our secular society has been eagerly reminding us to get into our Christmas spirit from as far back as Halloween. By Thanksgiving all the stores and many of our streets were full of decorations, and the elevators were playing Christmas music, to make sure that we realized that, “it’s beginning to look like Christmas,” and that it was time to get our credit cards out.

Now, not everybody reacts to Christmas the same way. For me it has not arrived until I hear the Salvation Army bells ringing in front of Macy’s and Publix. Those bells seem to work for me, as the bell did for Pavlov’s dog that began to salivate as soon as he heard the bell ringing.

I’ll make a confession to you; I have not always been a faithful Episcopalian. I discovered during my college days in Kentucky that I could be bought just with the offer of a Christmas job. It all began before Christmas 1961 when I was enticed to get a job during my Christmas vacation as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army. Some of my college friends convinced me to join them and apply for a job during Christmas to raise money ringing a bell for the Salvation Army. Lo and behold, we got the job and four of my friends crowded with me in my 1950 Ford, and with lots of prayer and teenage immaturity we drove from Kentucky to New York City, where the Salvation Army headquarters is located.

From there we were assigned in groups of two to different parts of the city. I ended up assigned, together with my friend Hyman, to ring our bells in front of the Sears store in the Bronx by the Grand Concourse. I must say that it was a good deal for the time because not only did we get paid the minimum wage, but we also got free housing at the Salvation Army alcoholic rehab center–one of the many programs that they successfully run to help those in need. We were given a bed and slept in a big hall with the people being treated for their addiction. It wasn’t too bad—we were young, and besides giving us a place to sleep we were fed every morning a hearty free breakfast.

We worked non-stop ringing our bells from the time that the stores opened until they closed. Our outfit was a long black winter coat and one of those Salvation Army hats.  I don’t want to brag but I really looked very handsome and official.

From then on every year during my college days my friends and I spent our Christmas vacation ringing bells and freezing in those cold New York winters.

Now don’t think that we were the only ones ringing bells in front of the stores. Next to us we always found the dreadful competition: It was the Santa Claus ringing bells for the Volunteers of America. I must confess that I did very well in my job. One of the reasons was that the Santa Claus that had been assigned to my spot was drunk most of the time. He asked me every day to take care of his pot while he went to the bar. It was easy pickings as I directed the passersby to put their money in my pot.

Today when I see one of those Salvation Army red pots and hear the bells ringing I just cannot resist giving my contribution. It not only brings back old memories, but I know that the money will be used for a good cause.

Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.  I think that there are two reasons that make Christmas unique: magic and miracle.

Yes, magic and miracle make Christmas so extraordinarily different from all the other holidays of the year. During Christmas time, like magic, people are transformed and our behavior tends to change for the good.

I have found that regardless of all the pressures that we encounter during this time there seems to be something that takes place within us, and that magical something makes us willing to reach out to others.

Christmas has such a positive magic in itself that is able to transform us. It becomes like a light in the middle of the darkness that allows us to see the goodness in others that otherwise we are unable to see in the shadows of our daily life.

Christmas may be a time of pressure but also a time that brings joy to our busy burdened life.

Talking about pressures let me share with you the quandary that I find myself every year around this time. As a married man I face double jeopardy because my wedding anniversary is December 22, just three days before Christmas. I didn’t realize the mistake I was making by getting married on that day. Are you aware of how hard it is for a man to make up his mind on what to buy his wife, not one but two gifts, one after the other? And the only help I get is: “Honey, whatever you get me is fine with me.” Actually I am hoping that Walgreen’s will be open tomorrow morning because if not I am in big trouble.

But regardless of all the pressure we tend to face, I won’t change Christmas for anything else. The magic that takes place makes it worthwhile. Christmas brings that extra special feeling that life is precious and that we are bound to each other in our humanity as brothers and sisters. 

One of the most beautiful Christmas stories I have heard is a true story that took place in the battlefield of France during the First World War. It has to do with an event that happened to German, French and Scottish soldiers that were fighting in opposite trenches during the war to end all wars.

On Christmas Eve 1914, the Allied troops began to see candlelight coming from the German trenches. Thinking that they were going to be attacked they got ready, but then instead of canons or bullets, they began to hear that famous Austrian Christmas carol Stille Nacht, Heilege Nacht, “Silent Night, Holy Night,” being sung by the German troops. The French and Scottish troops instead of firing began to sing French and Scottish Christmas hymns. It was then when an informal, unauthorized truce began to take place and the troops from both sides began to fraternize with each other exchanging gifts, playing soccer and showing pictures of their families to each other.  The soldiers and the officers of the opposing armies peacefully met in a  no-man’s land to share a precious pause in the carnage of war. This extraordinary moment in the middle of the war was captured in the film Joyeux Noel, a 2005 movie directed by Christian Canon. It allows you to see that magic of Christmas that took over the troops.

But in addition, I mentioned that a miracle is also involved that makes Christmas so special. That miracle comes as soon as we grasp the wonderful realization that God so loved the world–that God so loved you and me–that he sent his only son so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish, but have eternal life.  

It is at the moment that Mary receives the message from the Archangel Gabriel and surrenders to God’s will for her life that the miracle of Christmas begins to take place.

It is the miracle of God’s love for us that touches our innermost being. It is then that we are called to know God in Jesus Christ, and believe in him as someone we know intimately, whose promise is worthy of our trust, as well as our personal investment and commitment.

The miracle of Christmas lies in our believing that the Savior of the world has been born in Bethlehem, born of the Virgin Mary, and that Mary’s son, Jesus, is indeed Emmanuel, “God with us.”

This Christmas let that magic touch you, and also let the miracle of Christmas transform you through believing that God cares for you, and that God cares for your loved ones, both those whom you can see and those who are now gone.

Let the miracle of God incarnate in our midst as a tender baby allow us to share that eternal light that will help transform this world, to bring peace on earth and goodwill to every man and woman of this planet.

My prayer for you this Christmas Eve is that God may grant you

The light of Christmas, which is faith,

The warmth of Christmas, which is love,

The radiance of Christmas, which is purity,

The righteousness of Christmas, which is justice,

The belief in Christmas, which is peace,

And the all of Christmas, which is Christ.

Yes, indeed Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas to all!

Amen.

El Milagro de la Navidad : Un Mensaje de Navidad 2011

Regocijémonos durante estos días de Navidad porque es a través del nacimiento de Cristo que podemos compartir la vida divina de quien se humilló para compartir nuestra humanidad.

 La Iglesia nos ha estado recordando estas últimas cuatro semanas que nos preparemos a recibir el regalo que Dios nos ha dado en Belén. Dios nuestro Creador, Salvador y Santificador no ha amado tanto que nos ha dado a su único hijo para que el que crea en él no se pierda sino que tenga vida eterna.

n el momento que la Virgen María recibió el mensaje del Arcángel Gabriel y se rindió a cumplir la voluntad de Dios para su vida es que el milagro de la Navidad comienza.

Es el milagro del amor de Dios por nosotros que toca lo más intimo de nuestro ser. Es entonces cuando somos llamados a conocer a Dios en Jesucristo y a creer en él como alguien que podemos conocer íntimamente y en cuya promesa podemos confiar al igual que nuestra entrega y compromiso personal.

El milagro de la Navidad radica en que nosotros creemos que el Salvador del mundo nació en Belén, nacido de la Virgen María y ese hijo de María, Jesús es sin lugar a dudas Emanuel, “Dios con nosotros.”

El signo visible y externo de este milagro del amor de Dios es el milagro de nuestra transformación cuando comenzamos a confiar en el saber que Dios nos cuida y no solo a nosotros sino que además cuida de nuestros amigos, extraños y hasta de nuestros enemigos.

Dios también cuida de nuestros seres queridos que vemos hoy y aquellos que hemos dejado de ver que hoy conocen la fortaleza de su presencia y se regocijan en su gloria eterna.

La Navidad es verdaderamente la temporada más maravillosa del año como dice esa canción popular navideña en inglés. Pero esta temporada es maravillosa no solo por los regalos, las alegres decoraciones navideñas y por las fiestas ó por la anticipación de los regalos que vamos a recibir. Esta temporada de navidad nos recuerda que debemos de buscar nuestro regalo que el Niño Dios nos hace, el regalo de saber lo que puede ser la humanidad si esta busca a Dios para transformar nuestras vidas y las relaciones de los unos con los otros.

La navidad puede ser una luz en el medio de la oscuridad de nuestro ser que nos guía a buscar esa bondad que casi siempre permanece escondida en la sombra de nuestra cotidiana vida. El poder conocer que Dios ha entrado en nuestro mundo como un indefenso infante, nacido en alrededores de pobreza y nos recuerda que cada vida es preciosa en los ojos de Dios y que estamos unidos los unos con los otros en nuestra humanidad como hermanos y hermanas.

Regocijémonos durante estos días de la temporada navideña que no se acaba ahora sino que comienza a la medianoche del 24 de diciembre y que dura por doce días. Nuestra gran alegría proviene de saber de que Dios está con nosotros y que también pertenecemos a él para siempre.

Les deseo a todos una Feliz Navidad.

Monseñor Leo Frade, Obispo del Sureste de La Florida

The Miracle of Christmas: 2011 Christmas message

Let us rejoice during these days of Christmas, because it is through Christ’s birth that we are able to share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity.

The Church has been reminding us for the past four weeks to prepare ourselves to receive the gift that God has given us in Bethlehem. God our Creator, Savior and Sanctifier, loved us so much that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish, but have eternal life.

It is at the moment that Mary receives the message from the Archangel Gabriel and surrenders to God’s will for her life that the miracle of Christmas begins to take place.

It is the miracle of God’s love for us that touches our innermost being. It is then that we are called to know God in Jesus Christ, and believe in him as someone we know intimately, whose promise is worthy of our trust, as well as our personal investment and commitment.

The miracle of Christmas lies in our believing that the Savior of the world has been born in Bethlehem, born of the Virgin Mary, and that Mary’s son, Jesus, is indeed Emmanuel, “God with us.”

The outward and visible sign of this miracle of God’s love is the miracle of our transformation, as we begin to trust that God cares for all of us—friends, strangers, even enemies—and for all our loved ones, both those we still see around us in this life, and those who are now gone from us here, but know the strength of God’s presence and rejoice in his eternal glory.

Christmas is indeed “the most wonderful time of the year,” as the popular song proclaims, but not simply because of presents, decorations and parties, much as we anticipate and enjoy these good gifts. It is because this season reminds us to claim our gift from the Holy Child, the gift of what humanity can be if we reach out to God to transform our lives and our dealings with each other. Christmas can be a light in the midst of the darkness of our being, guiding us to reach out for the goodness that often remains hidden by the shadows of our daily lives. Knowing that God has entered our world as a helpless human infant, born in the poorest surroundings, reminds us that every life is precious, and that we are bound to each other in our humanity as brothers and sisters.

Let’s rejoice in this time, knowing that God is with us in Christ, and that we are his forever.

Merry Christmas!

 +Leo Frade,  Bishop of Southeast Florida

Bishop Leo Frade’s Address to Diocesan Convention, 11-11-11

My beloved in Christ, good afternoon, and blessings from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This afternoon I am thrilled to report to this 42^nd Diocesan Convention the excellent news that our diocese, the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida is in very good hands. Yes, you heard me right: The Diocese of Southeast Florida is in very good hands.

Now, allow me to explain myself before you start snickering or thinking that I have thrown overboard any attempt to practice humility. As soon as I share with you why I believe that the Diocese of Southeast Florida is in very good hands, you are bound to agree with me that we are indeed in very good hands.

Our diocese is in very good hands, because we have placed it in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ, and because our hope and foundation are not based on earthly and material things that pass away and fluctuate up and down, to and fro like a leaf blown by the autumn wind.

I affirm that our diocese is in very good hands, because we have placed our hope and faith in the promises that Christ gave to his Church that its hope would have a firm foundation, the foundation found in God through Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Every day as I face the challenges that comes with my calling I am accustomed to repeat a mantra that reminds me to keep my eyes upon Jesus and on the task that our Lord gave me when I became your bishop.

“Surely, it is God who saves me;

I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and he will be my Savior.”

That message from the twelfth chapter of Isaiah, the First Song of Isaiah, is my message to you today. Our Lord is our stronghold and our sure defense, let us keep trusting him and not be afraid, because he is our Savior.

Jesus Christ our Lord is the one foundation that keeps us together, that sustains us throughout this time.

It is our Lord  who allows us to reach our goals regardless of hurricanes, market collapses, division and depression and any other etcetera that may come our way.

We have been called by God to continue with the ministry that he gave the Apostles, and be assured that if we put our trust in Christ and remove fear from our hearts, then God will prove to be our stronghold and our sure defense; our Lord will indeed be our savior.

I have witnessed and experienced throughout all the many years that I have been a bishop that it is God, and only God, who is able to give his Church the strength to go on. We must never loose sight of who we are and whom we serve.

During this Convention we are going to be making important decisions that will affect our ability to do our mission and ministry.

We are facing a resolution that calls for the decrease of the Diocesan Assessment by 1 % every year for the next five years. That may sound like motherhood and apple pie, but if we make that decision, the tragic consequences will be a reduction of the 2012 budget by approximately $200,000, and over the next five years, a total reduction in the diocesan budget of approximately $1 million dollars.

This could lead to an additional unwanted outcome: the closing of the poorest churches of our diocese, which would include not only most of the black, Haitian and Latino churches, as well as several small and  less affluent white congregations.

As you well know, we have been working very hard during the last few years to help all of our churches, and especially those in ethnic minority communities and those with fewer financial resources,  to achieve a firm financial foundation; but in these deplorable economic times the poor have still been affected the most.

I implore you in the name of the poor and the vulnerable in our diocese to defeat this resolution, which would have such devastating, if unintended, consequences in our mission and ministry.

Moving on now, I have been asked if we have shown the kind of growth this year that we experienced between 2009 and 2010. Well, I am sorry to say that our average weekend attendance (AWA) has decreased somewhat in 2010, but the Easter attendance far exceeded our expectations. Financially, our operating income for all the diocesan parishes was slightly down, primarily due to two of our largest parishes, which were going through a transition in 2010.  Both now have new clergy leadership in place and are thriving and moving forward. We will continue with the efforts of the Nehemiah Process to strengthen our message and to empower the messengers.

I am also happy to report that most of our congregations  that were searching for new clergy this time last year have now filled these positions. I am also very glad that most of these new diocesan clergy, men and women, are much younger than I. That doesn’t take much!

Transitional times are extremely vital times in the lives of those parishes experiencing change. Four of our largest parishes and three medium-sized parishes have called new leadership this past year, so I think we can safely expect our growth to continue upward in 2012.

With the Bishop’s Ministry Grant Program, which I announced to you at least year’s convention, we have also provided the funds in three congregations needing assisting clergy.

Here again we have strategically called and placed vibrant young clergy in parishes with growth potential for 2012 and on into the future.

(By the way, last May we had seven graduating seminarians, all of whom have been placed in continuing ministry in one form or another). Church growth can be measured in many different ways!

The Bishop’s Ministry Grants have also been instrumental in helping our Companion Dioceses of the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Madagascar.

They also made possible the Regional Ministries of the Chapel of St. Andrew’s and St. Gregory in the South Palm Beach Deanery; and St. George’s and St. Mark’s in the North Palm Beach Deanery.

Grants went to complete the salary and benefits package for a chaplain to nursing homes in the North Palm Beach Deanery; the St. Columba’s Music Ministry in the Keys Deanery; the St. Stephen’s ministry to those under 40 in the South Dade Deanery; the Latin Radio program that has now the highest rating of all Spanish religious radio programs serving Miami-Dade County and parts of Broward. The Bishop’s Ministry Grants also help to establish Grace Church Multimedia Project for youth in the North Palm Beach Deanery.

It also empowered congregations and clergy of the diocese by sponsoring Preaching Workshops and the All Things Media (ATM) training for clergy and parish staff and volunteers in the use of electronic media tools for communication in the digital age.

I also want to point out to you that at my direction, the Property and Loan Committee committed extensive funding through our Slemaker Fund to one of our original regional ministry initiatives in the Broward Deanery, the New River Regional Ministry. All Saint’s Church, with its outreach arm of El Centro, St. Ambrose Church and St. Ambrose School are forging ahead with new ministry concepts and outreach to that portion of Broward County. This past Sunday I had the pleasure to visit both St. Ambrose and then All Saints, Ft. Lauderdale, to confirm and receive quite a large class in both churches. It’s always a joy to welcome new members to our church.

I also want to note  that a self-funding regional ministry is taking place in the North Dade Deanery. I want to commend the leadership of Historic St. Agnes, which together with the congregations  of St. Kevin’s and Transfiguration, have strengthened their ministry using their own resources.

At this convention I am announcing a new initiative that will allow us as a diocese to face the challenges that the future will surely bring to the structures that support our common life.

Many of the ways we organize ourselves to do the necessary business of the Church as an organization and to share our resources have been with us for well over a century; I am sure that you will agree that we must be prepared to be more nimble in the ways we serve as the Body of Christ in this 21^st Century. We can’t be a Model-T in the age of the hybrid car, or expect to share the Good News by Morse code in the world of Twitter!

To respond to these challenges I am calling for a workgroup composed of representatives from around our diocese to begin analyzing our existing diocesan structures and proposing necessary revisions—and this will include financial revisions. This group is not intended to replace the State of the Church Committee.

I hope that in 2012 and 2013 we may seriously look at the way we accomplish our work. We need to look at what has worked in past and what may serve us in the future, and also proceed to begin implementing those changes that could make us more efficient in doing our ministry.

Life teaches us that without change, our ways will wither and drop like the leaves of fall, so change needs to be a part of life, and life renewed.

However, we must make the changes from confidence, and not from fear; fear can paralyze us and strip us of our vision, destabilizing our best efforts.

British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who served during the upheavals of the 1960s and ‘70s, said that he who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution that rejects progress is the cemetery.

But to move ahead and encounter the future with all of its challenges, we need to be constantly reminded in whose hands we are secure and in whom we have put our trust.

If we continue in faith, we are not only in the hands of Christ but we will become those hands in our purpose and mission!

And now allow this immigrant to this great nation to give God thanks for this our beloved country, a country fashioned as our Prayer Book says, “into one united people from the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.”

And let us never forget that our torch of freedom remains lit because of the sacrifice of men and women of our Armed Forces that throughout the years have offered their service and their lives for our country. We stand in their shadow and enjoy the fruits of their sacrifices.

I am aware that I am not the President of this republic but I will end by saying, much as the president does: God bless our diocese, God bless the Episcopal Church, and God bless the United States of America!

Thank you very much.

Our heritage of freedom–Sermon at Trinity Cathedral, Miami, July 3, 2011

Elbridge Gerry, Rufus King, William Samuel Johnson, David Brearly, Robert Morris, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, George Clymer, John Dickinson, George Read, Luther Martin, John Francis Mercer, Daniel of St Thomas Jennifer, George Mason, Edmund Jennings, George Wythe, William Blount, Richard Dobbs, John Rutledge, Pierce Butler, Charles Pinckney III, William Leigh Pierce, William Houstoun, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington.

Each one of those persons had something in common with us. All of them were Anglicans, at the time members of the Church of England, and later on after its institution in 1789, members of The Episcopal Church. Like us, each of those American patriots worshipped with the Book of Common Prayer, cared for their church–and they, like us, loved liberty.

A total of 26 of the 55 Delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were Anglicans. But even better, 18 out of 39 who signed the Declaration of Independence were like us, Anglicans. Each one of them risked his life by putting his signature on that document.

Yes, I know that there were also nine Presbyterians, seven Congregationalists,

two Roman Catholics, two Dutch Reformed, two Methodists, a couple of Quakers, and a couple of Deists. It’s funny that there were no Baptists, who now claim to be the most patriotic.

I am sure that you know that for those 26 Anglicans, members of the Church of England, it was not an easy thing to be an American patriot and to favor independence. But it was especially hard for the Anglican clergy, who at their ordination had been required to swear allegiance to the King.

Our Book of Common Prayer today offers prayers for our Presiden,t but in those days it offered prayers for the King.

Not only that, but it actually beseeched God “to be his defender and keeper, giving him victory over all his enemies.”

At the time of the Declaration of Independence the Anglican Church was the established church in six British colonies of America: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and several counties in New York, and during the late colonial era, there were also Anglican congregations in other colonies.

But at the time there was not a single bishop in America. If you wanted to be ordained you had to make the dangerous crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, and if you survived then you had to find yourself a bishop to ordain you in the Mother Country.

One of the reasons why the Episcopal laity have so much influence in our church today is a direct inheritance from our past. The laity contracted the priests and kept the churches open when there were no priests to be found, and many times finding a clergy person willing to work in America was very hard.

It was not until 1749 that the College of Philadelphia was founded; now we call it the University of Philadelphia. Then in 1754 King’s College was founded, and we call it today Columbia University. These provided within their higher education curriculum an opportunity for clergy to be trained in America. But in any case, after you finished your studies you still had to cross the Atlantic Ocean to be ordained.

But the reality was that due to the lack of bishops and training places the American colonists depended mainly on clergy who were born and educated in Great Britain.

You can understand how this influenced our church during the Revolutionary War. In many ways the Anglican Church in America was at war within its ranks. You could say that we were in a deep crisis.

In the area of New England and the middle colonies, where we were a minority and where our church had strong connections to England, the priests were mostly loyalist. But that was not the case in other colonies; in Virginia, for example, many of our clergy were ardent supporters of independence. The records show that between 1775 and 1783 of the Anglican clergy residing in what became the United States of America, 123 were loyalist, 88 supported the American Revolution–and in typical Anglican style 107 worked very hard to appear to be neutral. Actually, many of those neutral priests had no chance to show their sympathy for independence, because they were in areas controlled by the British; but they managed either to close their churches or fudge with the liturgy, eliminating the prayers for the King to destroy its enemies.

With the passing of time ,as our independence became apparent, Anglican ministers who had remained in the colonies began to envision an independent American church.

Some changes were made to the Book of Common Prayer to adapt and be compatible with our rising democratic nation that was to be called the United States of America.

You can see today in our General Convention the influence of the people who drafted the form of our secular government, because they were the same people who drafted the form of our ecclesiastical government. Checks and balances were instituted, the notion of archbishops was eliminated, and the power of the laity in the life of the church was preserved.

Many years have passed since those days when the architects of this great country, who were also the architects of our church, strove to plant a new nation and a new American church. They knew that they were not forming a perfect system, but they left the space for that system to be perfected along the way. Freedom was their legacy and they tinkered to give us a form of ecclesiastical government where all–laity, bishops, priests and deacons–were to have full participation in its government.

That is why I am so concerned with the proposed scheme that foreign prelates are proposing in the Anglican Covenant that will surely limit our freedom as an American church.

Since 1789 the Episcopal Church has governed itself without the need of foreign intervention.

I have already participated in three Lambeth Conferences—1988, 1998 and 2008–where Anglican bishops from all around the world meet in England for a month with the Archbishop of Canterbury; and in each of those conferences I have witnessed how foreign prelates put down our unique American form of government, in which bishops and archbishops are not omnipotent, but have to share their decision making with the clergy and laity.

In recent years those same prelates have been attempting to find ways to adapt and to conform our democratic system of government to their hierarchical, top-heavy ways.

 It’s difficult for some of them to understand that in our American church bishops are not almighty and that clergy don’t have the last word in their churches, even if they try.

 I pray that we will always strive very hard to preserve the freedom of our country and our church that so many Episcopalians in the past sacrificed to give to us.

 Our America today is indeed quite different from the America of the 18^th Century, but this wonderful union that we call the United States of America needs to continue trusting in God in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us.

 For 235 years the torch of freedom has been lit and the world has seen it as a source of hope and liberty. Many like me have come out of darkness to imbibe for ourselves the sweet potion of freedom. I pray that we as Americans, as Christians and Episcopalians, will always have the grace and the courage to maintain and preserve the gift of liberty in our country and in our church.

 Amen.

Reviving the Cross of Christ at Trinity Cathedral–sermon at Trinity Cathedral, Miami, June 19, 2011

Heavenly God, we pray that this morning we may receive a blessing and that you may be manifested in our midst, in the breaking of the bread, in the preaching of your word, as we worship you; be among us and let your Holy Spirit empower us to your service now and forever. Amen.

This Trinity Sunday I am inviting you to revive the cross that was marked here on the soil of this city over a century ago by Bishop William Crane Gray as he blessed the creation of our church in Miami.

One hundred fifteen years ago this Episcopal bishop, who had been assigned to the almost impossible task of planting our church in the State of Florida, came to this city of Miami at the invitation of an extraordinary woman named Julia Tuttle. As required by our liturgy for the dedication of a sacred space, he marked the cross of Christ on the ground, and by doing so he planted this congregation at the end of the 19^th Century.

Julia Tuttle was not only a very shrewd businesswoman, but also a devout Christian and a good and committed Episcopalian. As she worked hard to develop Miami, she eventually managed to convince Henry Flagler to bring his railroad all the way down here to a place that many considered an forbiddingly hot, swampy and muddy town.

Julia Tuttle’s commitment with our Lord was also to bring the cross of Christ to Miami, to plant new church here–and she was going to make sure that it was an Episcopal Church.

I don’t know if Bishop Gray, who lived in Jacksonville, Florida and was supposed to be in charge of the entire Florida peninsula, really knew exactly what he was getting into. But the good bishop agreed, even before the city was organized, to come down and take a look before committing himself to give the OK for a new church in this swampy land

In order to travel to Miami you had to take a train that went from the northern part of the state  all the way down to the city Lake Worth, in Palm Beach County, which was the end of the line. From there you had to wait for the next ship heading to Miami. Of course in those days Carnival Cruises had not being invented, and instead you had to take a cargo ship that carried lumber and supplies that were needed to build this new city that was to be called Miami.

Julia Tuttle wanted to be sure to get her church, so not wanting to take any chances, she worked very hard to impress the Bishop of Florida.

We are told by her daughter that to achieve her goal she first erected a big tent for worship, and then procured a piano and piano player from one of the local honky-tonk clubs of the time. The next thing she needed was people to fill the tent, and for that she enlisted her foremen to recruit all her workers to show up at the tent. With a little practice for them in hymn singing, she knew that the bishop was bound to be impressed.

But at the last minute before the bishop’s arrival she realized that the tent was not full, so she ordered her foremen to go get the rest of her workers, the ones who had worked the previous night shift and were still asleep. Many of them were literally dragged from their beds and brought to church. She also ordered the pool halls closed and the players pressed to be at worship. The foremen also went out in the street and began to invite any passerby to go and meet the bishop.

Sure enough, the tent was finally full by the time that Bishop Gray arrived. Later he made the comment that he didn’t realize there were that many enthusiastic Episcopalians in Miami. Surely these devout people needed a church, and he gave his approval.

Thanks to Julia Tuttle, the bishop to marked the cross of Christ on the ground and planted this congregation of Trinity Church 115 years ago.  Now my question for you on this morning of Trinity Sunday, this church’s patronal feast, must be:

Are you willing to help to revive that cross that Bishop Gray marked when he planted this congregation of Trinity? Are you willing with your life, time treasure and talent and revive that cross that has been a beacon of faith for over a century in this city of Miami?

In reality Trinity’s congregation existed before Miami was finally organized; our first member was Julia Tuttle. More than a century has passed and Trinity has been housed in several different structures since that first tent, until finally this majestic and historic building was constructed.

There was a time that all the land around us belonged to Trinity.  The land from the Miami Women’s Club all the way to Biscayne Bay, including the sites where the Doubletree Grand, the Marriot and the Venetian condominium now stand, was owned by this church. However, several financial debacles from the past century reduced that extra space.

In 1969 when the Diocese of South Florida was divided into three different dioceses, Southeast Florida came to be, and our first Diocesan Convention, 41 years ago, named Trinity as the diocesan Cathedral.

Bishop James Duncan, who is buried in the columbarium of this cathedral, became our first bishop. He was the bishop who ordained me deacon in this cathedral, and six months later, priest, at Holy Cross Church on 36th Street, just a few blocks from here.

This church and cathedral has seen several rectors, deans and bishops, and now we are moving into a new era. We are not a dormant congregation anymore, as this area where we are located is becoming a very safe and heavily populated area. We are surrounded be the Arsht Center for Performing Arts, wonderful places to eat and to have fun, department stores, an arena for sports, a Starbucks, and lo and behold, even a new Pulix supermarket just one block from here–definitely a sign of progress1

So today we celebrate our existence by receiving new members through confirmation and reception. This time Julia Tuttle’s foremen didn’t have to go out and force anyone to come here. I believe that God is responsible for that.

I think that today is a good day to be reminded that we are depositories of a legacy of faith that needs to continue shining the truth of Christ into this city.

Yes, Trinity Cathedral can brag about our wonderful past, but let us remember that the past should become a springboard for action and not a hammock for resting, as some may think.

We are not called to depend on someone else’s accomplishments.

I believe and support Dean McCaleb’s call for us to get off our hammocks and to wake up and see the transformation of this area. It is even a radically different place from what it was 11 years ago when I became your bishop. We have before us an extraordinary opportunity to impact Miami again with Christ’s message, and reach those who have moved into our new surroundings.

I know it is not an easy task, but this opportunity we are given should not be wasted.

We also need God’s guidance–but that will be wasted if we are not willing to move our feet.

We need a sure faith, able to dare our soul to go farther that we can see. That was the faith of Julia Tuttle, because she was sure that if she convinced the bishop to build this church, those few Miamians of her time would come and built a strong congregation.

Yes we need God’s guidance and strong faith, but we also need you, each one of you, to carry on the Great Commission of becoming a beacon of light in this area and in this city.

I don’t know how many of you have invited your neighbors to accompany you to worship at Trinity? I am convinced that many of us are willing to do it but we prefer to use telepathy to invite others to church. It has been proven without any doubt that telepathy doesn’t work.

Let’s remember that when people without a church home begin to visit a church they are not necessarily looking for a friendly church; they are really looking for friends.

I like to share this story. When I first came to this diocese, on one of my first visits to a congregation my wife Diana was accompanying me and the priest forgot to announce her presence. No one talked to her, and after about 20 minutes in the parish hall the rector realized that he had forgotten to introduce the new bishop’s wife.

Afterward, when people realized who this stranger was, one of the matrons, a longtime member of the church, came to her and said in a recriminatory way: “Mrs. Frade, you should have introduced yourself. If we had known that you were the bishop’s wife we would have talked to you.”

Every time you welcome a stranger in this Cathedral, you revive the cross that Bishop Gray marked on the ground with his crosier. Every time you invite a friend to church you revive that cross. Every time that you are willing to give of your treasure, your time, your talent, then you are reviving that cross.

Our past needs to become a springboard to the future that will encourage us to move forward with the same determination of Julia Tuttle had. She was convinced that Trinity had a mission to accomplish in Miami, that Trinity was in itself a mission with a church and not simply a church with a mission.

Are you ready to revive that cross? I invite today you to be part of this mission that we call Trinity Cathedral.

In the name of God,  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

 

Easter Eggs and the Resurrection

It was Easter and the priest gathered the children up front for the usual children’s sermon. He showed them an egg and asked if they knew what was inside the egg. A little girl in the group eagerly raised her hand and said that she knew the answer. The priest then asked her to share it and proudly she responded, “Pantyhose!”

Actually, the company that used to sell its pantyhose in large plastic eggs has long since abandoned those in favor of more biodegradable packaging, but the truth is that most urban children today really don’t associate an egg with something that could contain life inside its shell. With the exception of children in Key West or some parts of Miami, where chickens roam freely in the streets, most of our children think that eggs come in foam cartons from the supermarket, ready to make delicious omelets or end up as colored hard-cooked eggs to be found at the Easter egg hunt.

But the reality is that eggs and Easter are interrelated. Eggs have been symbols of rebirth since pagan times, because they evoked the rebirth of Earth in spring. The Church adopted the egg as a symbol of the most miraculous rebirth of all–the resurrection of Jesus.

In the West we have borrowed our tradition of Easter eggs from our Orthodox brothers and sisters, who dye eggs red to symbolize the blood of our Lord on the cross and use the egg’s hard shell to symbolize the sealed tomb of Christ. Orthodox priests bless the eggs at the end of the Paschal Vigil.

One of my favorite stories related to Easter eggs tells us that Mary Magdalene was bringing hard-cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb and when she saw the resurrected Christ the eggs turned brilliant red.

Easter eggs give us a great opportunity to teach our children about the resurrection of the Lord as we remind them that an egg can be carrier of life inside its shell. Then we can also tell them about the new life that came out of the sealed tomb–that in the midst of death there is life, and that through the Paschal mystery we are buried with Christ by Baptism into his death and can be raised with him to newness of life.

Happy Easter!

+Leo Frade, Bishop of Southeast Florida