My friends, this past week, as you know, has been one of grief, of anger, of lack of faith, perhaps, that anything can be done about the “gun crisis” in our country. The term, “gun crisis, is one I heard this week for perhaps the first time—to explain the madness of gun proliferation in our beloved country.  Someone wrote this past week that our country is exemplary in many ways, but then stated, to be the country with the most deaths due to guns, far and above every other country in our world is not something we should want to claim to our credit!

So, my friends, at the beginning of this homily; I would like to share several key thoughts that stood out for me in the readings for this Sunday that can perhaps help us make sense of all this, or at the least, move us forward toward change.

• First, the Wisdom writer tells us that the “holy people would share all things, blessings and dangers alike.”
• Second, Psalm 33 proclaims that, “Happy are the people who are chosen to be God’s own!” The psalmist also prays the petition that is on all our hearts—“May your love be upon us as we place all our hope in you.”
• Third, the writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the definition of faith—“the confident assurance of what we hope for, the conviction about things we do not see.”
• Fourth, Jesus’ words in Luke’s gospel today are well-known to us as well—“wherever your treasure lies, there, your heart will be.”

I believe in a general way, each of these readings is about faith, some clearer than others, but about that hopeful, confident assurance, just the same.

This “holy people” that the Wisdom writer speaks of is in fact, all of us.  This past week gave us such a profound example, in the yet again, mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton of how, we as a people, “a holy people, share all things, blessings and dangers alike.” Holy people, which all of us were created to be, feel joined when such a tragedy happens, even though we may not know anyone involved. We are joined because we are all God’s people and we must likewise be joined in demanding change in our beloved country that has gone so far astray in what we will “live with,” what we will accept as a new normal in actions, rhetoric and basic values.

This past week, as I said above, I have been hearing the new term used by writers trying to speak sense to the senseless killing that our country somehow has come to accept—that of a “gun crisis,” in our country.

One writer in particular, Daniel Horan, in a National Catholic Reporter article, states in no uncertain terms that, “America is addicted to guns, and that we’re in denial!”  He goes on, “Our country mimics an addict in denial.  Addicts, [we know], need to admit first that there is a problem”—and many in so-called leadership, are not there yet!

Those on the side of doing nothing say, “Americans have a right to bear arms—it’s there in the Constitution.” We must answer this statement as Horan does, “Our Constitution’s second amendment, the right to bear arms was an 18^th Century response to a rebelling colony’s right to defend itself,”  end quote, and we must remember that the guns available in the 18^th Century were one shot, muzzle-loaders! Horan goes on, “This [Constitutional right] should not be a “cover” for nearly anybody to have access to weapons of mass murder!”

Now I know that there isn’t a one of you here that believes that our Constitutional right to bear arms includes these weapons of mass murder, so I am talking, in effect, to the choir.  But does that leave us off the hook in regard to action?  No, it does not! And having said that, what do we in fact do?

Let us look to our Scriptures.  The Hebrew’s description of what faith is, “the confident assurance of what we hope for, the conviction about things we do not see,” has some clues.

I have said many times before, in this space, that faith and hope are so important, coupled with action, based in love to help us all persevere in these times.  I heard a newscaster, Judy Woodruff of PBS, this past week, question a Republican congressperson on whether he thought this time, with this mass shooting; we could hope for some “gun sense laws?” The congressman responded, “I still don’t think anything can happen yet!” She responded, “Is it good to be of that mindset?”

What she was saying definitely reflects our Scriptures for today—the confident assurance of what we hope for, the conviction about things we do not see!”  Friends, we must not lose hope that a better world than we are living in now can be, and we must couple our hope with action—call and write your congress people, be an irritant under the skin with your persistence, until they act for the good of us all! Go to a demonstration if there is one near you, join the work of Moms Against Violence, or support their work financially, pray without ceasing for strength to not let up, even though you become discouraged. Pray that closed minds and hearts might be opened. I always remember the words of a good friend, Father Paul Nelson, who once told me, and I believe it, “The truth, [or we might say, the good], always comes out—in the end.”

The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the faith of our great forebears, Sarah and Abraham, “as good as dead,” the writer says, yet they didn’t lose faith in the God who had promised children “as many as the stars in the heavens, the sands on the seashores.” Their faith brought to fruition what they trusted and hoped for.  And it will be for us too friends, if we keep believing, hoping, acting, and this is the key—acting in love for what we hope for!

The “acting in love” part is where, in our vernacular, “the rubber meets the road.” Our brother Jesus cautions us to, “be on our guard, that much will be required of [us] who have been given much.”  He is never easy on us when it comes to passing on what he lived and died for.  And if that sounds too daunting, remember to keep it simple—in any and every situation, ask, “Is love being violated here?” If so, our need to respond is clear!  Much will be required of us to whom much has been entrusted!

Our forebears “held” our faith and passed it on, eventually with it, coming to us—it is part of our lives, thus we endeavor to make it be about, “all that we hope for.”  Faith is indeed about hope and like Sarah, we must ask, “Have we done our part—in loving action?”

Earlier in this homily, I mentioned the NCR article by Daniel Horan, “America is Addicted to Guns and We’re in Denial.” So friends, when we wonder what we can realistically do, he says we can refute as the American Psychiatric Association has done, statements from the White House and the NRA that mental illness, violence in the media and violent video games are to blame for the mass murders in our country.  The overwhelming majority of mentally ill people are not violent and far more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators of it, they say.  The Psychiatric Association says there is no causal relationship between violent video games and real-life violence.

Additionally, we must remember that nowhere in the rest of the world do we have the gun violence that we suffer from in the U.S.  Australia is a good example—they have mental illness, and video games, but they also have strict gun laws that limit or down right prohibit gun ownership.

Both Australia and New Zealand, last century—1996 to be exact, banned assault-style weapons after mass shootings in their countries.  This is the action of a mature, reasoned population, unlike the addictive behavior of our country’s so-called leadership. We know addicts always look to blame something or someone else for the cause of the problem.

Horan concludes his article stating, “Our exceptionalism [as a country] is increasingly located in our ability to deny reality, such as in “global climate change.”  The “red herring theater” that takes place within Republican congress people after each mass shooting—the fact that within 30 seconds one person could kill 9 and wound 27 is simply inexcusable! People of faith and church leaders need to call out political leaders to face their denial—accept that we are out of control and that many more people will die because of our collective denial and inaction—we, the people are enabling the cycle of violence!”

Harsh words friends—but our reality! I close then, with no easy answers, only the truth of our brother, Jesus’ words, “Where our treasure lies, there—there, our heart will be too!”  Amen? Amen!

 

Friends, sorry for the lateness of this homily, but our internet was down this past week–seems we had a hungry mouse attack the router cable!

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My friends, this week the psalmist encourages us to ponder a simple, but really profound invitation—“If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” I would suggest that we make this question a part of our upcoming week, thinking about how we at times, do harden our hearts—fail to go deeper, checking our priorities to see just what it is that drives our lives.

The reading from Ecclesiastes seems to be saying that in the end, “all our work and toil, under the sun, is futile” if it has simply been about accumulating more.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians reminds us of the fact that through our baptisms, we have life now in Christ and that changes everything! Or perhaps, as we assess our lives, it should!

Luke follows this with Jesus’ story—one that always makes me smile, about the farmer hoarding all his grain by building yet, “a bigger barn!”  Jesus’ caution then and now is that you may be called soon to leave all that behind and account for your life—not what you have accumulated, but what indeed, you have shared! We need, in other words to be rich in the things of God—of goodness and love, not in material things.

All of us friends, who have enough, have to struggle daily for balance in our lives—how much is enough—how much is too much?  This reminds me of a question that my mother through marriage used to pose, “How much do I need, and how much do I want!”

This of course is not to say that having things or striving for them is bad, but we always have to be wary of what that striving and accumulating can do to us.  A prime example for me at present is that of some within the Roman Catholic Women Priest movement as they have strived to become ordained.

All of us women, who have become ordained, object, and rightly so, to the men within our patriarchal church who are so into power, prestige and control, to the detriment of the message of Jesus, who asked us to be servants, not lords.   In that light, it has been interesting to me to watch some of the women, as they have gained power as priests and bishops, become what they are fighting.  Power and its ability to control us find victims in women as well as in men and it is something that we do need to be aware of.

I found that for a time, I had to separate myself from my Midwest Region due to my inability to get anyone to listen to what I was saying and make some change. I believe that now some changes are happening as new leadership is coming forth.  Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised this past week as I joined my sister Midwest priests for retreat and found as Bishop Nancy told me, “We have moved on,” meaning that they aren’t the same—that growth has happened.

For all of us friends, the importance of balance in our personal lives, in our cities, in our country and our world, is so important and when all are not allowed to speak and have their concerns heard, we as families, citizens of Winona, the United States of America and the world, are headed for trouble. If we think over history past and present, we know this to be true.

The days in our Church and in other denominations as well when men can set all the rules, benefiting them primarily, with no willingness to change, touting the ridiculous excuse, “the Church moves slowly” is over!  The men, who have solely controlled our bodies of worship, for too long, have lost their credibility through their lies and abhorrent behavior regarding the sex abuse of children and we are not going back!  Balance!

The voices and experiences of women showing that face of our God to the Church is being born and cultivated through women-led congregations such as ours here at All Are One and these women, myself included, are not waiting for the men to give us permission, so they can either join us, or be left behind!  Balance!

In our country, we are witnessing the same thing—2016 may not have been the year that this country could elect a woman to lead us, but because of that ground-breaking work, 2020 may be the year that this country says, “It is time!” Balance!

The readings this week, in this, as someone has said, “Extra-Ordinary Time,” basically meaning that this time in our Church Year is not a lackadaisical time, but a time of challenge, really calling us all to set priorities.  Life, our wonderful existence on earth is all about choosing from many good possibilities—these choices only become “bad,” as it were, when we allow them to rule our lives—too much money, too many things, too much control-power, whatever it might be, to the detriment of doing what is most loving in any situation.  Balance!

Regarding having too much money, it is my strong belief that churches should not carry huge surpluses in bank accounts beyond one month’s outstanding bills.  Here at All Are One, we have the luxury of not owning a building nor needing to pay rent for the space we use—we are thus “allowed,” “to pay it forward” to the Lutheran Campus Center for their ministries, as they share their space with us and for the needs of the greater world.

Part of my disagreement with the Midwest Region of Women Priests was their tendency to “hold onto” the region’s monetary gifts intended for the education and spiritual growth of our women in lieu of some unforeseen catastrophe in the future. Old lessons die hard! Balance!

In our world we must strive for balance too—again, all the voices must be heard!  Twenty years ago, when I was completing my master’s degree in Pastoral Ministries, focusing my studies on the inequality for women in Church and society, women earned roughly, 75% of what men did for equal work.  At present, the inequality is more like 80%, along with even lower wages for women of color and lower still for other races other than Caucasian.  Balance! All the voices simply must be heard and treated equally in order that we all can live with dignity and become all that we were meant to be.

Our country at present is being pulled into a despicable state that is allowing the worst in dialog, ideas and rhetoric to rise to the top because of individual need for power, control and prestige. Fear of losing these things is the main driver and we must all rise up against this evil state when it shows itself. In a country that is frozen in that fear where its apparent need and “sense of right” to bear arms is concerned,  to the detriment of all the hundreds of innocents losing their lives because of the proliferation of guns; we must all speak up and demand change. And again, this is a case that calls for balance.

We must all do our part in any and all ways that we can when we see the morals upon which this country was founded being thrown to the winds at our southern border.  The hypocrisy of a country that was born out of immigration—our forebears coming to this country looking for a better life—a safer life for their families, and now denying this very right to others seeking the same, is absolutely, deplorable.

In these Extra-Ordinary Times, claiming to be Christians, walking hopefully, in the footsteps of our brother, Jesus; we are called to responsibility in living to our best, to care for ourselves, our families, but others too!

Our writers today, Qoheleth from Ecclesiastes, Paul and Jesus, say that we will do that by striving for balance in our lives, simple, but good living—always asking the question, “Is love being served by what I am doing or thinking about doing?”

Amen? Amen!