Dear Friends,

We pray together again this week during a time of pandemic and national unrest.  The pandemic has in fact taken a back seat this week due to the death of our brother, George Floyd and the protests across our country and around the world. If we are truthful with ourselves, we realize that these protests are long overdue because his death was one of, too many. May our good God forgive us all for letting this go on so long…may this same God now give us all the strength we need to make the changes so needed to make our country whole. As our readings today tell us, we have a God of “tenderness and compassion.” 

Hopefully, this post finds you all safe and well, with the hope that we can join as a community again before too long. Peace and love, Pastor Kathy

P.S. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if I can help you in any way–507-429-3616 or krredig@hbci.com

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Entrance Antiphon

O God, may you be praised, lifted up and glorified above all else forever. Blessed is your name, you who can’t be measured, contained, or fully named, your mercy and love extend forever. Praised be you O God forever and ever.

Let Us Pray:

Opening Prayer

Today, O God, we praise you in your greatness of persons. You are our Creator God who loves us as a father, as a mother loves their children.  You are our Savior, in Jesus, the Christ who lived his entire life for us to show us the way, even unto death, rising to a glorious new state. You are our friend in the Spirit of this loving God-head, One, forever and ever, AMEN.

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Readings:

• Exodus 34: 4-6, 8-9
• 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13
• John 3: 16-18

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Homily

Trinity Sunday my friends, is all about praising the God of us all, in the persons of the Creator, the Savior and the Spirit.  Today’s readings from Exodus, Corinthians and John not only speak about our God who has loved us beyond all imagining, but about how we, as followers of our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth—the Christ, expects us to live as we sojourn upon this beautiful earth.

The Creator God of Exodus proclaims to Moses, “I am, I am!”  Many times in the past, we have heard explanations of this scene, trying to figure out how to name God.  I believe what God says next to Moses is so much more important, especially in the context of present day living as we struggle as a nation, to be whole, to include all in meaningful ways, finally—perhaps, finally.

Our God continues, “I am a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and rich in kindness and faithfulness.” These traits—tenderness, compassion, slowness in moving toward anger, richness where kindness is concerned and faithfulness to oaths that all police officers take to protect and serve were absent on May 25^th when our brother, George Floyd was murdered in the hands of these “public servants.”  And as others have rightfully said, “He was murdered as so many others before him because—he was black, proving that in our country, black lives matter less that do white lives. I have to believe that our God is “taking a knee,” is weeping deep tears of sorrow alongside the black community, nationally, as they beg, plead to be heard, to be recognized and to be treated as white folk are treated in this country.

I heard a novelist in the past week, who just happens to be white, speaking about this issue and she related that when she was growing up—half of the kids in her school were black and she never thought of them as belonging to the “black community,” but to her community! Perhaps a lesson for all of us.

Our Scripture readings continue today and we reflect on the Gospel refrain which comes from Psalm 8:  “Who are we that you should be mindful of us?” I have always loved this verse—because to me, it says that the psalmist is aware of how wonderful a gift from the Creator—life is, and without taking a stance of, “mea culpa,” or “beating our breasts” in our “insignificance,” we instead show our deep gratitude for this wonderful opportunity. With thoughts of gratitude as a backdrop then, we must reflect on what it is to be black in our world at present, where up until the death of George Floyd, the people in this country had been complicit in systemic racism.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians encourages his hearers and this includes us, “to live in harmony and peace, to greet one another with a holy kiss.” Paul’s command to all of us does justice to the Creator God who said, “I am a God of tenderness and compassion.”  The times in which we live, my dear friends, call us to no less.

And today’s readings conclude with John’s gospel where we hear—“Yes, [our] God so loved the world as to give the Only-Begotten One”—to be with us, showing us how to live and to die. And for us white-skinned folk here in the United States of America, it is good to recall that in 1^st Century Palestine, Jesus would have appeared as a dark-skinned human!

So my friends, what are we to make of all of this? How do we start, and what might be our vision going forward?  One thing, I truly believe; we have passed the point of where we can simply do nothing, once the protests are over.  Like our response in the past to mass shootings in our country, “our thoughts and prayers” simply will not get it done!  Our thoughts and prayers must move us to action.  Our Minnesota governor has said, “This is our last chance in this state to get it right!”

As you all know, for this change to take place in our society—in our country—moving us as a nation to see all of us as equal and deserving of the basics of daily life, regardless of race, color of skin, gender, whatever “impediment” there might be, will not be like flipping a switch.

I heard a speaker, knowledgeable in these matters; talk this past week, about the concepts of “explicit” and “implicit” racism as a way to get at the deeper issues involved.  Explicit racism shows itself in language and actions that clearly show a person to be racist—to be against another in a basic way—no doubt about it.  Implicit racism is not as clear a response to a person of a different race.  The person operating under this form of racism may not even be aware of how their actions or language appears to others.  If there is a sense that in any way a person considers them self to better than another and this sense doesn’t cause them to be upset with the lack of just treatment of another in this world; we are probably seeing, “implicit” racism.

For most of us white folk, this may be a hard pill to swallow—but in order to come to terms with the fact that too many people in our country and world go to bed hungry every night, that too many people don’t have adequate shelter or meaningful work, for any number of reasons, plus our national crime that people of color are more often than not considered guilty before the facts are known, (white privilege) should tell us something about what needs to happen in our country and world, especially for those of us who claim to be, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or whatever other faith names for us a universal God of kindness and compassion.

We have received hope this week since George Floyd’s death that change may happen this time. The protests, mostly peaceful, certainly haven’t stopped and may not for some time.  Singular police personnel around the country have spoken out and shown with actions—actually talking with those protesting to see what they need and want, “taking a knee” out of respect for how George Floyd lost his life, listening, truly listening.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) have made a statement recognizing their complicity in racism in our country and have asked forgiveness of the black community with the promise to do better going forward attacking white privilege in our country.

The National Black Sisters’ Conference have named the indiscriminate killing of black people by police officers, “21^st Century Lynchings” and have called on Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis/St. Paul and the National Bishops’ Conference to make a pastoral statement denouncing, “violent hatred and racism.”

Unfortunately, response from leadership within the Catholic hierarchy has been slow to non-existent.  Our hope lies in examples like the bishop of El Paso, Mark Sietz and some of his clergy who knelt for 8 minutes this past week, in a local park, holding signs, “Black Lives Matter.”  For them, this sign is just another way of saying as Catholics often had, “God has a special love for the forgotten and oppressed.”  Bishop Sietz was quoted as saying of their demonstration, “There is something profoundly ‘eucharistic’ about these moments.” Yes!

Another example is Cardinal Blaise Cupich of Chicago, when speaking recently about what our response to the unrest over racism should be, suggested that we should be less quick to judge the proportionality of “their” response and start talking about the proportionality of “ours.”

He went on; our country has a “shameful history of discrimination, racial profiling and police brutality. Let’s look at the grace in all of this. Look at the witness of those who are bravely taking up their parts in the drama of salvation unfolding…If we look past the static—they’re pointing the redemptive way to transformation…they are showing us what our country can look like when all have a place at the table.”  Thank you, Blaise Cupich!

A final example:  James Cone in America magazine said, “The Word comes tortured, black and lynched.  Today we meet Jesus in those tear-gassed, tased, strangled and snuffed out.”

My friends, in conclusion, this is not easy and we will at times feel like this is such a great task, but we must remember the plight of our black sisters and brothers in our world and do all we can to show them what the face of God looks like—a God of tenderness and kindness, love and mercy.  Amen? Amen!

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Prayers of the Faithful

Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

1.On this Trinity Sunday, may the greatness of who you are God, be ever present to us, we pray—Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

2. O God, we know you are great, help us to remember that you want more than anything to be near us and involved in our lives, we pray—Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

3. We profess as Christians to believe in Jesus, the first born of our loving God—help us Jesus to be willing to “travel with you” showing love, compassion, mercy and understanding for our world and its people, we pray—Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

4. Dear Spirit of the Living God, surround us with your love and friendship, your wisdom and grace to reach out to our suffering world, especially those who live with less than the basics of life, we pray—Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

5. Bless our community, All Are One—keep us O Spirit close to the heart of Jesus and help us to be ever ready to accept any and all into our family, and be with now as Church and nation to confront the evil of racism, we pray—Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

6. Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week—through Covid 19, as well as all other ways—give them your peace, and help them to find their way through their grief, we pray—Response: We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

***Let us pray for your particular needs—you may say them aloud, we pray, then response

***Let us pray for the silent petitions on our hearts—(pause) we pray, then response

Let Us Pray

   Good and gracious, Triune God, more great and wonderful than we can imagine, stay close to our hearts and minds this day and always. Be the air we breathe, be light to our eyes and solace to our spirits. Be our strength in each day to make a difference in our world, so in need of your compassionate love and understanding. Teach us to share your love through the simple kindnesses of each day—a smile, an encouraging word, a helping hand. Help us to realize your challenge each day to your believers—they will only see me if they see me through you!  In all things, give us your peace, a firm belief that you walk with us each and every day. During this time of unrest in our country over the issue of systemic racism, help us who are white, to be able to “sit with” the unrest and consider the part that we play in the unrest due to white privilege. We ask all of this of you who are God for us—Creator, Savior and Spirit, in Jesus’ name—AMEN.

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Let Us Pray:  Again, we must consider Eucharist to be bigger than the “bread of the altar,” but find Jesus, all around us!

Prayer after Communion

We remember how you loved us to your death, and we celebrate because you are with us here. We believe that we will see you when you come, in your glory, we remember, we celebrate, we believe.

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My friends, this is Pentecost Sunday in a time of pandemic. We know Pentecost is the beginning, really, of the Church—for simplicity sake, we call, “Christian” as it forever tries to follow our brother Jesus, whom we believe to be, “the Christ”—the anointed one. The times in which we live call us to be “Christian” as never before—to be honest, truthful, filled with justice, merciful, compassionate and loving—as was Jesus. May we be, as the first disciples, “enabled” by Jesus’ Spirit to be his true followers in our world.

This week Pastor Dick Dahl has gifted us with a homily—enjoy! –Pastor Kathy

P.S. And as always, please be in contact by email, krredig@hbci.com or by phone, 507-429-3616 if I can be of service to you.

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Entrance Antiphon

The love of our God has been poured into our hearts by God’s Spirit living in us, Alleluia!

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

God of Light, from whom every good gift comes; send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds.  Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit, we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus lives and loves us with you and this same Spirit—one God, forever and ever—Amen.

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Readings:

• Acts 2:1-11
• 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13
• John 20: 19-23

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Homily–From Pastor Dick Dahl

Today’s readings speak to us with the power of a tornado and the gentleness of a whisper. They speak about the outpouring, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit hovered over the abyss at the creation of the universe. The Spirit of God has never been absent. If that were the case, nothing would exist.  But the coming of the Spirit into human life after the departure of Jesus has special powerful meaning.

A powerful force is the root meaning of the Hebrew word that is translated as “spirit.”  It is related, however, to breath as well as wind. In Genesis, God is pictured as creating the universe by simply speaking, “Let there be….”  Then God breathes life into dust from the earth and human life begins.

But, as I said, today’s readings are about the gift of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost and what this means for us and the world. So, let’s look at one of those readings. I prefer to start with the one from John’s Gospel although it is usually read last.

It may surprise you, but this reading gives us, as it were, the first Pentecost story. The evening of his Resurrection, Jesus appears to his disciples. They are in hiding for fear of capture, so twice he reassures them, “Peace be with you.” In place of wind or fire, he delivers the Spirit by breathing on them, saying “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

(Some biblical scholars think the following words, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained,” refer to baptism through which the Holy Spirit is given.)

Next, in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke describes the disciples gathered in the same room when the Spirit whom Jesus had promised comes to them through the sound of a strong driving wind and flames of fire: “They were all filled with the holy Spirit….”

The sound had drawn a large crowd of Jewish pilgrims who had come from all parts of the then known world. When the Apostles spoke, the audience understood them, although the people listening spoke many different languages. The Spirit enabled the Apostles to speak, so that those hearing them were able to understand what they were saying, namely about the amazing things God had done through Jesus.

Intentionally or not, Luke presents a reverse picture of the story of the tower of Babel from chapter 11 of Genesis. In that account early humans who still spoke only the same language, out of arrogance tried to build a tower to the heavens. God punished their pride by confusing their language so that they did not understand one another and then were scattered over all the earth. Now in Acts those scattered and diverse people were drawn together and could understand the Apostles across the barriers of different languages.

In the other reading for today, from Paul’s first letter to the Christian community in Corinth, we see an aspect of this event that had special meaning in the time of Roman rule as well as now. The Roman Empire was a very stratified society.  But Paul writes to the Corinthians, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”

Imagine that! Through the gift of the Spirit, the slave had equal worth to the emperor! This was the first religion to teach such a message. The sense of radical egalitarianism drew many to the early Christian community. Note also, how instead of wind, fire or breath, Paul used the image of water to describe the Spirit’s action, the living water promised by Jesus to the Samaritan woman.

Jesus told his followers, and that includes us, that he and his Father would send us a gift, the Spirit. The Spirit would be our advocate, one who knows what we need before even we do. Jesus told his disciples that the Spirit would teach them everything and remind them of all he had told them (John 14:26).

My sense, and perhaps I’m wrong, is that instead of letting the Spirit teach us, open our vision to all of creation, there is often a tendency to minimize and mentally limit the Spirit’s dynamic and permeating presence. For example, how much do people see religion focusing mainly on church-related concerns or even specific moral concerns (usually about sex) rather than the call of the two Great Commandments—to love everyone with no exceptions. Many have been taught consciously or unconsciously to think of the Church in narrow terms, as if it were confined to the hierarchy and the clergy.

This amounts to having blinders on to God’s outpouring of his Spirit throughout the world, in fact, through all of creation. So to think of God only in the Catholic Church, or even only in Christians is to distort and grossly minimize God’s presence and actions through the Spirit.  On Pentecost the Spirit flooded the world, was poured into all living things, in all of nature, in all creation. This is why one can often regain a sense of peace, of the beauty of God’s presence, when one has the opportunity to spend time outside–in the yard, by the river, in the woods.

I am suggesting that there is a tendency to restrict our sense of God to a place, the tabernacle, a church building, or to people like us, people who believe what we believe, who share our culture, who act the way we think others should act.

Jesus, however, taught us by his example to get rid of such restricted thinking. He offended the religious leaders of his time (and I suspect would do the same today) by reaching out to those considered “outsiders,” lepers, Samaritans, tax collectors, gentiles, prostitutes, “sinners.”  Who are the “outsiders” in our community or wider world today?

These are concrete, not abstract ideas. The murder and riots of the past week in Minneapolis puts a spotlight on an individual act of cruelty and violence, but also on a system of brutality and disrespect which has left many of our fellow citizens enraged and discouraged beyond their ability to hope. I read that Martin Luther King Jr. once said or wrote, “Riots are the language of the unheard.” So when Jesus repeatedly connected with the outsiders, he gave us an example—namely that there are no such thing as outsiders in his eyes. He gave us his Spirit by which the slave is equal in God’s eyes to the emperor, as is the black man under the knee of an arresting officer to you or me, or to the President of the United States.

In one of his daily meditations last week Father Richard Rohr wrote: “We see in the Gospels that the people who tend to follow Jesus are the ones on the margins: the lame, poor, blind, prostitutes, drunkards, tax collectors, and foreigners. He lived in close proximity to and in solidarity with the excluded ones in his society. Those on the inside and at the center of power are the ones who crucify him: elders, chief priests, teachers of the Law, scribes, and Roman occupiers. Yet we still honor people in these latter roles and shun the ones in the former.

But when the Bible is read through the eyes of solidarity—what we call the ‘preferential option for the poor’ or the ‘bias from the margins’—it will always be liberating, transformative, and empowering in a completely different way. Read this way, Scripture cannot be used by those with power to oppress or impress. The question is no longer ‘How can I maintain my special and secure status?’ It is ‘How can we all grow and change together?’ I think the acceptance of that invitation to solidarity with the larger pain of the world is what it means to be a ‘Christian.’”

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Prayers of the Faithful

Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

1. Jesus, thank you for the gift of your Spirit among us—help us to always remember that in this gift you fulfill your promise to always be with us, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

2. O God, let peace reign in our hearts and give us the strength and grace to be people of peace, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

3. Jesus, you who said that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend, give us hearts that strive to love unconditionally, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

4. Jesus, give the gift of hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for those suffering from job loss or any other set-backs at this time, due to the coronavirus, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

5. Jesus, you have called us friends—enable us to extend that relationship in our world to those who most need friendship, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

6. Jesus, you no longer have a body in this world except through us—help us to be your hands and eyes and ears and heart for our world , we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

7. Jesus, your words in Scripture today remind us that we are sent forth—give us the strength to follow your lead in our world and speak truth to power through your Spirit, we pray it your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

8. Jesus, in your loving Spirit let us as members of this community, All Are One, always find room at our table for all your people—we pray too that our community can remain strong during this time of Covid 19, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come!”

9. Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week,—give them your peace, and help them to find their way through their grief, we pray in your Spirit—Response: “Come, Spirit, Come”

  ***Let us pray for your particular needs—you may say them aloud, we pray, then response

***Let us pray for the silent petitions on our hearts—(pause) we pray, then response

Let Us Pray

Jesus, be the strength we need each day to be Pentecost people –true to our calling to be people of peace and of love. Let us never falter in our commitment to you and your world. Let us look at your people, always with love, remembering that you have called us friends—that you have given all that we might have eternal life with you. Let us always remember your never-failing love for each person and that because you have loved us so fully, we too must love fully in return.  We are grateful for the gift of your loving Spirit in our lives. Through that same Spirit, give us renewed hearts, strong in our commitment to speak truth to power wherever needed.  Be with the black community now—give them strength in this most recent assault by Minneapolis policemen—be with the white community and help all of them, to address the issue of racism in this country.  Give us what we most need today so that we can more effectively be your body in our world. We ask all of this of you, our loving Savior and with the Creator and your loving Spirit— all, one God, living and loving us forever and ever, Amen.

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Let Us Pray—Again, we remember that we are “Jesus,” if we choose to be, for our world.  Ask him to be with you, now, in a special way, and he will be!

Prayer after Communion

Loving Jesus, may the food we have received today in this Eucharist keep within us the vigor of your Spirit and protect the gifts you have given to your Church—we ask this in your wonderful name—Amen.

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