Dear Friends, 

Here we are in another week on our journey with our brother Jesus in July of 2020 in a time of pandemic.  Each of us is, as always–called to be our best.  This is a time  when strong leadership in Church and government would be a comfort, but unfortunately, we have come to see, that for the most part, we have to look within ourselves for answers as we seem to be short on leadership from the aforementioned places. Our loving God though, the Scriptures tell us this week, is always with us–we have no need to fear as our good God is our hope and we are each other’s hope too.  Please reach out to me if I can be of help in any way: 507-429-3616 or aaorcc2008@gmail.com.  Peace and love,  Pastor Kathy

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Entrance Antiphon

 God, you are our help, upholding our lives.  We offer you a willing gift of ourselves—we praise your name God for your goodness towards us—always!

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

 Loving God, be merciful to us.  Fill us with your gifts and make us always eager to serve you in faith, hope and love. We ask this in Jesus’ wonderful name who lives and loves us, with you, in the Spirit, one God, forever and ever, Amen.

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Readings:

• Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19
• Romans 8: 26-27
• Matthew 13: 24-43

Homily

My friends, the Wisdom literature for this Sunday tells us, and I paraphrase, a truly powerful God can risk being lenient to attain the justice that is wanted (needed) by all.  To me, this idea speaks to the whole issue of law versus love.  This is the theme of the Wisdom writers throughout the First Testament of the Bible, known to most of us as the “Old Testament.”  It would behoove us to keep our eyes on these writers more, including the prophets, and not as much on those who depict our God as mean and unfeeling.  The books of Wisdom and that of the Prophets challenge us to be people of justice and of love as the God of us all had challenged them to be.  The God of the prophets was the God that our brother Jesus called—“Abba,” Loving Parent.

Contemplating on the God of Wisdom literature being lenient in judgment, strong, caring, powerful and kind reminds me of the much loved musical, Fiddler on the Roof that we had occasion to watch this past week. This story, as you may know is that of Tevye, the Jewish “papa,” his wife, Golda and their five daughters whom they try to raise in the traditions of their Jewish faith.  Their God seems somewhat remote and they are constantly trying to understand this God, especially Tevye.

Their faith, in its tradition, holds that a “match-maker in their town will choose husbands for their daughters when the time comes for them to marry.  The whole story is fraught with the notion that, “times are changing,” which means that Tevye’s sense of tradition, “what is right” will be challenged by his daughters wanting to marry men that they love, not men whom their papa and mama choose for them.

As the story unfolds, we see that the final decision will come from “the papa,” who, as in all Jewish families, is head of the household. We see though, that he can be resigned to his daughters marrying men that they choose, as long as they marry within the faith.  Chava, the youngest of the three to marry in the story, chooses a man outside the faith and to papa; it is seen as if she has died. This reflects a God who is not “lenient” as described in Wisdom today, and even one who is “mean and unfeeling.”

For those of you who know the story, as the townspeople of Anatevka are forced to move on the brink of the Russian revolution of 1905, Tevye, in the end, can find it in his heart to show love and not just “the law” to his daughter who married outside of the faith.

So, my friends, what does this story have to say about our Scriptures today?  It seems, when all is said and done, the entirety of words of both testaments of our Holy Book speak to the struggle of law versus love—it was always so and always will be.  We need the law to guide our path but never at the expense of love. This was certainly the message of our brother, Jesus.  We need to remember the words from the Wisdom writer’s 1^st reading today—a truly powerful God can risk being lenient to attain justice.

One cannot read this Sunday’s readings and come away with any other notion than that, “God definitely has our backs.”  Paul, in his letter to the Romans carries on the thought of the Wisdom writer of a God who is kind, caring, strong and filled with justice by saying, “The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness, with groanings too deep for words.”  I would say, God truly knows our hearts and stands with us, not only in our pain, but in our joy too.

The psalmist continues—“You are good and forgiving.”  In Matthew’s gospel today we read of three parables told by our brother Jesus—of weeds and wheat, of the mustard seed growing into the largest of shrubs, even though it started as the smallest seed, and yeast put into a measure of flour—all with the same message—we are loved and God will give us every chance to grow and become all that we were meant to be.  And as his followers; we are challenged as the prophets of old, to share that goodness with others.

As always, my friends; the Scriptures call us back into our lives, our world in July of 2020 where we must ask, “What do I make of these words on the page of so long ago?”  Are they living words that are reflected in my life or are they dead upon the page?

And my friends, I can honestly admit to you, that I struggle in my life as you do in yours to let these words of justice, caring, goodness—basically, love be reflected in my life—in July of 2020.  A sampling from my life may be of help:

• I struggle to make sense of people in religion with power over others using and abusing them—completely ruining the lives of those they have abused. The most current example is musician-songwriter, David Haas.
• I struggle with his apology to the Catholic community, which on the surface seems, heartfelt, but knowing the cunning of such people, “to groom” their vulnerable victims—can I truly trust his apparent sincerity?
• I struggle with those in public office whose bottom line seems to be, themselves, not the people they purport to serve—what literally do I do with my anger, my disgust?
• I struggle with those one-issue voters who use their precious right to vote to elect individuals who promise to save life in the womb, but deny it to those same lives once here. By electing people who promise life at one point on the continuum but deny it through a livable wage, adequate housing, food and education makes absolutely no sense and it makes me livid. This is the kind of thing that caused Jesus to incite a riot in the temple on the last week of his life. Life is life all along the continuum! I could go on, but I think you get the point.

July in 2020 lays out a plenitude on the land—to be harvested and to be enjoyed—fruits and vegetables—flowers of all colors and sizes to behold!  As we consider the harvest which Jesus is speaking of in the parable of weeds and wheat growing up together in today’s gospel; we see the plenitude of our God.  The “weeds and the wheat” are us, of course, as we make our way through life, choosing at one time, good, and at other times, the not so good. Our God realizes that we are capable of both and gives us every chance to grow, as is depicted in letting the weeds grow along with the wheat, so that we, all, might become, if we choose, our best selves.

There is a poignant scene in, Fiddler on the Roof when the townspeople are told that they have to leave Anatevka.  Tevye’s son-in-law, Motel (pronounced with a long “O”) says to the rabbi, “We have waited all our lives for the Messiah—wouldn’t this be a good time for him to come?”  The rabbi, who is depicted as rather non-plussed by everything in life says, “Well, we will just have to wait for him someplace else.”

Overall, the people of Anatevka are depicted as a long-suffering group, but one too of fortitude—courage in pain and suffering.  One of the themes in this movie, as I indicated earlier, is that, “the times are changing.”

Maybe we all need to consider, in the face of pain and suffering that our call may be to name the pain suffered as the Jewish people were beginning to do as evidenced by the three marriageable daughters in the Fiddler.  As Jesus’ followers we too need to name the pain in our world and ask what part we play in that pain. We must then  do our part to make the necessary changes that would allow everyone—every race—every gender and its variations, to have justice.  That is what, “Black Lives Matter” is really all about, hearing the cries of all in our world who are imploring us to hear their cries that, “they cannot breathe.”

The time when we can be shocked one day by a crime at the hands of the State, the police, the Church—whomever it may be and let it slip past us if we aren’t directly affected, is over. Period.

We all have been given the perfect opportunity in this July of 2020, in a time of pandemic—felt to a greater degree by those living in poverty, a time that has called our nation’s attention to its racist heart, and to the lack of concern and true moral leadership at the highest levels of our government, to be the “messiahs” that we all hope for—basically to do our parts in the ways that we can to make meaningful change.

We may feel like that smallest of seeds in today’s gospel—the mustard seed and that our paltry efforts can make no difference—but they can!

Our efforts, each one, will make the greatest of “trees.”  This is what Jesus, our brother did in his time—this is what we must do in our time, now, in July of 2020!  Amen? Amen!

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Prayers of the Faithful

 Response: “Be with us Loving God”

1. Jesus, give us strength to be the good seed, the yeast for your people that we might all grow to be what you intend for us, we pray—Response: “Be with us Loving God”

 2.  O God, let peace reign in our hearts and give us the strength and grace to be people of peace—help us to understand that making peace is always better, albeit harder, than making war, we pray—Response:  “Be with us Loving God”

 3.  Jesus, you ask us to be people of faith, and trust—we believe, but help our times of unbelief, we pray —Response: “Be with us Loving God”

4. 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, help us all to be together again soon, we pray—Response:  “Be with us Loving God”

 5.  Loving Creator, Savior, Spirit—give us your patience, your strength, your love for our world, be with our country that it can find its way back to “goodness” for all, we pray—Response: “Be with us Loving God”

 6.  Loving Jesus, give each of us, what we most need today, to be prophets for the kindom, we pray—Response: “Be with us Loving God”

7. Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week, due to COVID 19, and all other causes—give them your peace, and help them to find their way through their grief, we pray—Response:  “Be with us, Loving God.”

   ***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

Gentle God, you who loves us beyond all imagining—be close to us each and every day, shadow us under your wings and be the strength that we need to live as you did, conscious of being inclusive of all, loving others when it is easy and when it is not so easy. Be with our community, All Are One, in special ways during this time of physical separation.  Give us your deep and abiding peace that we would not worry, but trust and believe that you will always be with us. All of this we ask of you who are God, living and loving us forever and ever—Amen!

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Let Us Pray—Jesus is with us my friends—always, if we want him to be—this time without the physical Eucharist reminds us of this fact—let us remember often that Jesus is with us.

Prayer after Communion

Loving Jesus—thank you for the gift of yourself with us, always—let it help us to always share your love and peace with all we meet. We ask this in your wonderful name—Amen.

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Dear Friends, 

Again, my thanks to Pastor Dick Dahl for standing in for me last weekend supplying us with a fine homily–my gratitude, Dick! 

Another week and we still find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic that doesn’t seem to be lessening…but we have renewed hope in each other that as we do our own part, change and good, can happen! We certainly can look forward to being able to celebrate via ZOOM in two weeks time! 

In the meantime may we all stay safe and remember that we are each, loved by our God–peace and my love to each of you, Pastor Kathy

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Entrance Antiphon

You are good and forgiving, merciful and loving, slow to anger, always kind and merciful O God.  We will praise your name forever.

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

Good and Gracious God, you are ever a part of our lives, helping us to grow and produce fruit for your kindom.  Help us to trust and believe in you always, to know that your Spirit will always be near us, showing us the way. We ask this in Jesus’ name, our brother and friend, who is God with you and the Spirit, forever and ever, AMEN.

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Readings: 

• Isaiah 55: 10-11
• Romans 8: 18-23
• Matthew 13: 1=23

Homily

My friends, this Sunday in [Extra] Ordinary Time brings us once again into the middle of so much controversy in our country.  Increasing numbers of infections from COVID 19 are spreading across our 50 states with no apparent end in sight.  Individual states have realized that they can’t look to the federal government that from the top is in denial and can see the growing crisis only in terms of how it affects his re-election with total enablement from those in Congress who have the power to make meaningful change.

Each day the unrest among our black sisters and brothers continues in our states and neighborhoods—an unrest that will seemingly not die out until meaningful change in equality for all in this country happens.

The distress verbally expressed by George Floyd more than a month ago in the words, “I can’t breathe,” as he died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer; has become the accumulated cry of 400 years in the hearts and minds of dark-skinned people in this country.  Floyd’s blatant death was the last straw in the hearts and minds of black people and thankfully, many supportive white people as well.  This, my friends, is not something that will go away until justice is achieved.

A black author, Ibram X. Kendi and a white author, Robin DiAngelo have challenged us—the American people, with two new books that lay out the times that we collectively face.  Kendi’s book, How to be Anti-Racist and DiAngelo’s book, White Fragility, both let us know that racism is in our culture, so deep that most of us are unaware that certain ways that white people act and speak are “racist” even when they might attest to the fact, that they are not, “racist.”

I have not yet read these books, but I plan to as the over-riding principle I am hearing from commentary from the authors and others is that those of us who live under, “white privilege” must come to truly listen to our black brothers and sisters, must come to understand the fear that comes with each day of their lives in a country that as DiAngelo says, is “fragile” due to its culture that uplifts, “whiteness.” She goes on to say that this “fragility” gives us an “inability to withstand the challenges,” becoming defensive rather than facing this social sin and trying to conquer it, making the changes that are needed, now.  And Kendi reminds us that learning, “how to be anti-racist” is not something we do, once and for all, but is on-going and we must do it again and again until equality is achieved.

And my dear friends—the times in which we live have, with each passing day, lifted up the truth of the inequality between the races—truths that have been present for a long time—namely, that too many go to bed hungry every night, too many don’t have adequate shelter and too many are lacking the necessities of a decent life, while at the same time, too much of the good of this world goes to too few at the top and an ever increasing middle class is struggling as well.

As I said, much of the disparity in how people live has been going on for a while, but with a pandemic that has demonstrated that the poor and people of color are hardest hit due to the conditions that our racist culture has allowed for too long, along with an administration in Washington short on compassion and an ability to lead; all of this disparity is now, finally, coming into the bright light of day and we all who claim to be Christian or any follower of any other belief system are being called to finally “see” and do something to make the necessary and needed changes.

As Christians; we look to our Scriptures for answers to live by.  The prophet Isaiah, on this 15^th Sunday in [Extra] Ordinary Time has this to say and I paraphrase; just as rain and snow water the earth and make it, “fertile and fruitful,” so does the word of God planted in the hearts of the people.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, talks about what we produce in the world from the heart of God as, “revelation” and that we, along with the, “entire creation has been groaning in one great act of giving birth.”

I do not think that the movement, at present, within our country could be expressed better, than to say, “We are groaning in one great act of giving birth,” in the attempt to set us all truly free! I personally have never, in my lifetime, witnessed a coming together of people, black and white, in the midst of so much suffering, as we are seeing at present and it gives me hope.  And as much as our country could really use the strength and comfort of those in charge, and here I speak of those at the helm, both in State (federal level) and Church hierarchy—we are increasingly seeing that this leadership will have to come from us, as individuals and groups, as it is clearly absent in the afore-mentioned entities.

Our brother Jesus heralds the words in today’s gospel, “If you have ears to hear, then—listen!”  As you know, today’s gospel speaks of the “sower and the seed” and of how the seed, “the Word of God.” This seed comes to each of us and we, plant it, guard and tend it, or, we leave it untended—ignored. As a result, it cannot grow within, enabling us to change our world.

We, my friends, are all “good ground,” as it were—let us pray that the “good seed” of God’s word falls deep within us, that we tend to it, setting roots that will grow strong, that we each might be that “revelation” to the world that Paul speaks of today.  We must say a resounding, “no,” to the racism that spawns poverty, segregation, low standards in education, housing and all the other necessities of a decent life.  Let us as a nation become a “revelation” that opens our borders to those oppressed around our world who are merely seeking a better life for their families.  Let us be a revelation that all people, regardless of color, culture, class, life-style, gender were created equally by our God and deserve the respect accorded as a result of that truth.  Let us as a nation become a revelation to the world—of generosity, goodness, honesty, mercy and love for those (all) that our God has first loved.

The authors that I mentioned in the beginning of this homily speak to the fact that all this needed change in our country puts us in some “uncomfortable” places as we try to address the racism that is a direct result of “white privilege.”  Ibram Kendi says that we must sit in the “uncomfortableness” for a while, realizing that people of color “live there” every day of their lives.

As with all the challenges of Ordinary Time, our hope is in our brother Jesus, my friends, as he will give us the strength and fortitude to sit in the “uncomfortableness” until we find a way to a better life for all.  Amen? Amen!

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Prayers of the Faithful

Response:  “Be with us, O God.”

1. For our community, All Are One, be with us and send your Spirit that we might be always open to anyone coming our way–enable us to welcome all, we pray—Response: “Be with us, O God.”

 2. For each of us here, for our entire Church, help us to respond with love and care to each and every person we meet, help us to grow more spiritually awake every day to the needs of our wider world and help in all ways that we can, we pray—Response: “Be with us, O God.”

3. For all who are suffering here today or in our wider community, be it in body,       mind or spirit, be our strength and help, we pray—Response:  “Be with us, O God.”

 4. For our brothers and sisters in our country and around the world who continue to suffer from the ravages of nature—give them your peace and strength, and help all of us to see the connections between how we care for this planet and the weather we must endure if we don’t, we pray—Response: “Be with us, O God.”

 5. For our world and its people, teach us the ways of peace, help us at every turn to reject the ways of war, we pray—Response: “Be with us, O God.”

 6. Jesus open our eyes, ears and hearts to be people of justice who daily care about the poor and downtrodden, and all those who suffer for want of daily necessities, we pray—Response:  “Be with us, O God.”

7. Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week—from COVID 19, from racism, from mental illness—give them your peace, and help them to find their way through their grief, we pray—Response:  “Be with us, O God.”

    ***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 gentle God, our source of all strength and wisdom.  We ask that you would give us ears that hear, eyes that see and hearts that truly love and care for your world and its creatures. Teach us to realize that we must be the change that we yearn for, that we must be anti-racist in our racist culture as one measure.  Bless all our attempts at goodness and encourage us when we fail—giving us the strength to try again. All this we ask of you, Jesus, in union with the Creator and Spirit, one God who lives and loves us forever and ever—AMEN.

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Let Us Pray—Again, we remember that our brother Jesus walks with us always—lives within us and others.  In the absence of the physical bread, let us remember that we do have Jesus within us and are challenged to share him with all others in our life.

Prayer after Communion

Dear Jesus, we have been fed by your Word and we await the time when we can again of the bread and wine— your body and blood with us.  Help us to go forth today renewed to carry your message of love to all that we meet. We ask this of you who lives and loves us forever and ever, AMEN.

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