My friends, first of all today, I want to lift up for our appreciation and blessings, all mothers – grands and great-grands, seeing that I wasn’t with you last Sunday to do this.  And as you who have been with us for more than a year have come to realize, and for those who have more recently joined us – this will be new, whenever I speak of “mothers,” or “fathers,” for that matter, I mean more than just the physical mothering, giving physical birth.  There are many in our world who while never having had the privilege of bearing a child, have “mothered” others, emotionally and spiritually into adulthood and beyond – and we applaud them all! 

   And unfortunately, there are those who have given birth to children who have never been able to “mother” in the other ways, emotionally and spiritually that are so important. And then there are those moms and grammas who have had the privilege of physically bearing children who have been able to mother in the other two ways as well. For all these mothers, in all the ways that they have tried, we send our thanks and gratitude. 

   Additionally,  I want to thank each one of you, all those who have supported our parish, All Are One Catholic church, both those alive now, and those who have gone on to God.  As of May 10^th, we have supported each other, guided by the Spirit of Jesus for 18 years! And here, special thanks goes out to Shannon Hanzel – gone home to God, who always advocated wholeheartedly for our parish from its beginnings.   I am continually humbled to be your pastor, and in saying that, I need to publicly thank Robert as well for his steadfast love and support, which, without, this little experiment in Winona wouldn’t have been possible. 

   And with that we are led right into the theme of today’s liturgy which is to carry on what our brother Jesus started and entrusted to his followers.  Today, as you know, we are celebrating both his ascension from the physical world, and the end of the Easter Season, as we prepare for the coming of his Spirit, in a special way at Pentecost, next Sunday. 

   With each of these events, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, totaling 50 days from beginning to end, we are called, as Jesus’ followers, to believe what we can’t logically explain – that’s called faith – head versus heart stuff.  And in the realm of the heart, it is basically, and simply about a God who has loved creation, us and all life in an “over-the-top” way as Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong was fond of saying.

   “Theologian-types” over the centuries have tried to “box-in” God’s love for creation, saying that Jesus’ coming was all about making reparation for our sinful humanity, and only the “death of God,” in a sense could make us “right” with God again.  John Shelby Spong, who left us in 2021, was all about saying, “No, our God’s love is so much bigger than that!”  Jesus said when with us, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” – follow me.  That’s what this Easter Season has been about – preparing us, once again to take the life of our brother Jesus, into the world, in all the many ways that we engage our world. 

   You will have noticed that I combined the Ascension and the last Sunday of Easter in the readings today, being that we didn’t meet specifically this past Thursday for the Ascension.  Our 1^st reading then from Acts was used in this past Thursday’s liturgy.  The apostles are understandably afraid as they experienced, in some way, Jesus’ physical parting from them, after three years with him in a very special way.  He has assured them that they will be baptized in the Spirit in the coming days, and that baptism will give them the strength to, as he said, “be my witnesses.” “Apostle” in the Greek, literally means, “one who is sent out.” 

   My friends, on this Sunday, as we conclude the Easter Season, I believe it is important to “sit with” the purely human emotions these first apostles were experiencing.  I think sometimes we have heard this story so many times that we simply take it as fact, and don’t try to imagine or put ourselves into the story and ask, how we would have acted. 

   In the 2^nd reading today from 1^st Peter, he lets new converts know that in following Jesus, there will be suffering  – in other words, it won’t always be easy.  And, he goes on to say, that the only suffering we should take on in life is in “following Jesus.”  He continues, don’t bring suffering upon yourself by choosing evil in your life, only the suffering that can come from following the “ways” of Jesus.

   While in Ireland, from time to time, in visiting with Irish relatives of our daughter-in-law, Lauren, we would hear the term, “chalk and cheese.”  After a few times, we inquired, just what, “chalk and cheese” meant.  The explanation they gave was like saying, “black and white,” or the difference between “night and day.” 

   As I was preparing this homily, it came to me that claiming to be a “Christian,” a follower of our brother, Jesus, has to be about “chalk versus cheese” – are we Christians in name only, (chalk) or do we prove it by how we act? (cheese). If we are truly Jesus’ followers, we have to act as he would, if we believe, we must follow even when it is hard. For any Star Wars fans out there, you will recall Yoda’s famous words, “Do, or do not, there is no try.”

   Then my friends, we come to the lovely gospel from John that speaks to the beginnings and the continued life of our parish.  John’s gospel for today includes our brother Jesus’ words for us and all who would “try and hopefully do,” in his footsteps, “Protect those you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”  This prayer, for each of us, is a blessing that should give us strength to welcome any and all to our table, and community here.  Amen? Amen!