We have been meditating on the need for all of us to be true to our vocations as spiritual warriors or prophets. I have chosen this theme at this dangerous time in American, international, and planetary history because dangerous times call for inner strength—what the Zohar calls the “strength of the lion.”
On Tuesday this week, Episcopal Bishop of Washington DC, Mariann Edgar Budde, showed her lion side when she spoke some gospel truths to the new president and vice president during a prayer service at the National Cathedral that takes place regularly the day after inauguration day.
She ended her talk with a direct appeal to the president urging him to “have mercy upon the people in our country” who are feeling great fear at this time. Among them are “gay, lesbian and transgender children” along with immigrant “communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.”
She also preached in a gentle but firm tone that “Christian nationalism is not only a distortion of the Gospel but also a grave threat to democracy and the common good.” She reminded the president that immigrants commit less crime than regular Americans—which is a proven fact—and that they pay taxes.
This same bishop spoke out in 2020 when she condemned the photo op Trump created when he stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church and waved a bible aloft after clearing out peaceful protesters in a violent way.
Response to Bishop Budde speaking truth to power has been swift. Change.org offered a petition to sign to “support Bishop Budde and her courageous stand against hate.” By standing with her, “we send a clear message: leaders who fight for equality, compassion, and democracy will not be intimidated.”*
Rachel Maddow invited the bishop to her Wednesday broadcast where she spoke gently but firmly about her responsibility as a preacher of the Gospel. Maddow recognized how a new resistance and activism may be rising in churches in our time.
Donald Trump called her words “nasty in tone,” and demanded an apology and that she should be fired. Many MAGA people clutched their pearls and Rep. Mike Collins (R, GA) posted on X that “the person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”
To which Stephen Colbert responded, “Hell yeah! Let’s send her back to the hellhole she came from: New Jersey.” He also observed that “Vance also seemed pretty annoyed to have to just sit there and take Jesus’ words.”
Colbert, a serious practicing Roman Catholic, actually teared up when talking about the event. Not only was it beautiful, it took courage to stand up there and say something simple, something so kind, something so true to the example of Christ….And, even better, it made Trump super-uncomfortable because here’s the thing: Sermons aren’t a debate. Trump just had to sit there and listen to it.
Might this be a sermon heard round the world that actually lights the fire under tired and bored citizens and believers? Can the evil of our time be a catalyst to wake people up and take one’s power back, demand a democracy, reject oligarchy, find one’s spine—politicians too—and their decency and practice values they say they believe in?
Let us not be blind to this fact as well—I hope Pope Francis is listening–this prophet, spiritual warrior and bishop is a woman. Maybe it’s about time and past time to ordain women after all.
* Change.org: Stand with the bishop who stood up to Trump today
See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society, pp.
See also Matthew Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Faith Traditions, pp. 413f and pp. 377-422.
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriors” in” Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 77-104.
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, pp. 257-306.
And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.
Banner Image: The Statue of Liberty: After the Storm: May the Light win over the Darkness!” Image by Daniel Arrhakis on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What are your feelings about this sermon heard around the world? Might it serve as a catalyst to wake up people of many faith traditions and none to get serious about standing up for values that serve the common good?
Recommended Reading
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE.
To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE.
To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.
Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.
9 thoughts on “Speaking of Spiritual Warriorhood: A Bishop Speaks Truth To Power”
Trump was obviously uncomfortable listening to this Truthful sermon directed at him by a courageous female bishop. He later denied and insulted this Christian female bishop which is his usual reaction to anyone who speaks the Truth or doesn’t follow his lies like most autocrats. I wish most of his supporters who claim to be Christians would listen to this sermon because it’s not only directed at the person they elected as our American president, but at themselves! The Divine Feminine Spirit of LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE… Will Prevail in the hearts, minds, and actions of All Faithful Spiritual Warriors around the world!
It was a beautiful, brave, gentle, Christian speech. It will haunt those to whom it was directed long after today, no matter how much it is opposed.
I truly admire Bishop Budde for speaking and affirming the values that Jesus taught. I’ve noticed that over the past few years it is women who have taken stands for liberty, justice, mercy. These female warriors speak firmly, yet gently and with compassion. We will all need to be brave and steadfast in the years ahead.
For once Jesus’ words have spread through the media – via a woman! This certainly is a point of light.
A courageous woman with a truthful excellent message delivered at just the moment it is needed, and to the people who most need to hear it (though it’s a good message for everyone). Thank you Bishop! Further, I have no doubt we will see women Bishops in the Roman Catholic Church in the future. Change is often laboriously slow, but occasionally walls come crumbling down and it happens in an inkling. I pray for the latter.
Speaking truth to power…including faux power… is required now. Bishop Budde has been accused of misusing the Christian pulpit to convey her message. She has also received death threats. It is interesting to me that Budde was challenging a convicted felon president who has just released the violent insurrectionists invaders of the US Capitol January 6 2021.
If we remember that when Pontius Pilate gave the people a choice between Jesus and a convicted insurrectionist named Barabbas they chose Barabbas. Many Americans seem to have followed suit in the recent election. Even Pilate wanted to wash his hands of the choice of Barabbas. How many Trumpian lawmakers want to wash their hands of the choice of Trump for President???
She spoke truth to power before, and few other religious leaders followed her. It is crucial that other leading mainline leaders of all faiths speak out, and speak out now and forcefully. Among other differences between the conditions in Germany in the 1930’s, when Hitler rose to power, and the conditions in the U.S. now is that the Lutheran Church was a state church already, and it was a lot easier to control it by threatening to stop the paychecks and other perks of ministers–they were state employees. It would not have been easy to oppose Hitler when you had a family to support. Our religious leaders have no such excuse. Many have pointed out that HItler could have been stopped at various points. So can this despot, if only we have the courage.
Well, Bishop Budde will soon have company in Washington. Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy as the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington. He is a strong supporter of Laudato Si and advocate for the planet. I hope these two can have some influence, or at least continue to speak Truth to Power to ears that don’t want to hear the message. Hopefully it can reach a wider audience and lead to change, however small…
JA – JA – JA, das ist der Christus in uns, an den ich glaube, mutig zu denen stehend, die im Herzen liebend stark sind aber von den Mächtigen verfolgt werden.
Ein großes DANKE für so viel Mut und Liebe für Christus und Gottes Schöpfung.
Die Bischöfin Budde hat verstanden:
„Wir ALLE sind Reben an dem einen Weinstock der Christus, unser Bruder ist.“
Es gibt kein Leben außerhalb dieses Weinstocks!!!