So my friends, here we are at the 2^nd week of Easter, having accomplished 6 weeks of Lent – a time given us by our Church, to, in its very best sense, I believe, look at our personal lives to see how much they resemble that of our brother Jesus.  And in doing that, we then can express nothing but gratitude for a God who has loved us so much as to send Jesus, to live his one wonderful life among us, showing us so completely how we should try to live ours. 

   The Scriptures for this week show us Jesus’ first followers living in somewhat of a “honeymoon” phase in the selection from Acts today.  Wonders in the form of physical cures seem to happen miraculously simply through Peter’s shadow falling upon the afflicted.  Luke, the presumed writer of Acts lets us know that “more and more believers … in great numbers” [were added to their ranks].  This had to be a heady experience for these first followers – one that they would have to come to terms with as time went on, for we who know, “the end of the story,” realize that persecution for these faithful followers will come – but for now, the wonders that they are seeing is something to marvel at. 

   Moving ahead to today’s gospel from John, we backtrack a bit, finding Jesus’ followers in the Upper Room, basically, “shaking in their boots” or their sandals, as the case maybe.  Jesus understands their fear and within this reading speaks no less than 3x, the words, “Peace be with you” – as he wants nothing but good for them, and so gives his Spirit so that “fear” will not get in the way of them doing the good in the world that he knows each is capable of.  Even though this gospel doesn’t include the words –we sense Jesus’ meaning – especially in the 2^nd reading from Revelation – “Don’t be afraid” – [I will be with you always!]

   I would like to briefly lift up another line from Revelation in today’s 2^nd reading.  John, living on the island of Patmos, the same John of the 4^th Gospel, is told to “write down everything” [he sees].  I take this line in a broader sense to mean that we should continue to keep our eyes on Jesus.  It seems that if each of us who claims, “to be Christian,” could do this more regularly, our world and our Church could be so much better. 

   Another important line from today’s Scriptures that I want to lift up for us to consider is when Jesus tells the apostles that if they so choose to “forgive the failings of others, those failings are forgiven…” – this is a broad power these 1^st believers received – one that I think the hierarchy now within the Church, forget when they claim “to have no power” to do what they are being asked to do that they don’t want to do.  Actually, I believe that these “powerful” words revert back to Jesus’ common practice of responding more from the heart than the head.  I so long for our beloved Church, ruled by men, to respond in our world in like manner. 

   As you know, I always attempt to connect the chosen Scriptures for each Sunday with what is going on in our world, so as to say that these Words are meant for us today as well.  This week’s news here in Winona again unearthed a tragic story of 14 years ago concerning a deceased baby found in the river in a backpack surrounded by angel figurines; thus, this little one was named by some in our community, “Baby Angel.” 

    The police officer in charge at the time seemed overly concerned about this case as did some Winona area residents, spending what seemed to me an inordinate amount of attention looking for “the woman who committed this crime.” 

   Now, 14 years later, with better genetic testing that could identify relationship, and this was done in an unseemly way, the woman has been found, arrested and the news piece this week spoke of “Baby Angel now getting justice.” 

   Now, I am not saying that “something bad” didn’t happen, but only, that perhaps this case calls for some mercy too.  The news report spoke of no mercy nor understanding of what this story in its entirety might be about. 

   For several years, I have been writing to a woman in the Wisconsin prison system, whom I learned about from another minister friend—she has spent the last 38 years of her life there because at a very bad time in her young life, she tragically took the lives of her two young sons.  It was a time in her life, as an abused woman, alone, frightened, and at her wits end, that she thought this was the “best” and only option in her life. 

   Now any of us who claim to be sane, living what we may consider, moral lives, and looking at these two examples from that privileged place, might find ourselves saying, well, it seems like justice is served.

   That my friends would be the “black and white” answer to these equally tragic stories.  The woman that I write to has been denied parole time and time again over these 38 years, even though she has demonstrated her diligence to better herself.  She is no threat to others, yet this punitive system seems to have a need to punish her without end. In 2024 she was once again up for parole, and asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her, which I did – and we were most hopeful this time, but once again, came the denial. 

   And, we hear Jesus’ words in light of this, “Receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven.”  I know in my heart that my friend that I write to is no danger to society, yet she can’t seem to get any mercy. 

   Now, I don’t know Baby Angel’s mom’s story, but I think we can probably agree that it wasn’t a good one – parents don’t do such things when life is supported and cared for.  No doubt if this present case goes to trial, the true and complete story will be made known – and again, not that this woman’s action was good or right; but perhaps the good that each of us possesses as sister and brother humans can come to the fore so that a more complete justice can be arrived at.  The prospect of any more punishment being dealt out in this regard seems absolutely abhorrent to me. 

   In all fairness and truth, it must be said that both of these tragic stories that I have mentioned today reflect the patriarchal society of our world – state and church, where women often don’t have a true voice and are made to bear the blame alone of so much evil that exists when structures of power rather than love dominate our lives. 

   In conclusion friends, during this exultant season of Easter, let us not forget why Jesus, our brother came to be one-with-us –that we would have a “change of heart” –striving to be our best selves for ourselves and for others. Amen? Amen!

My friends, I decided for this Easter message, “to cut to the chase,” so to speak, and just jump into the story of Easter as it is such a good story! – because it includes all the best elements of a really good story: suspense, action, intrigue, and of course, love.

   Let’s look at what we are told—Mary Magdala, Mary the Tower, as we have learned more truly describes her name, goes to the tomb, early in the morning—she is looking for her friend who suffered a grievous death, not even two days ago, before her very eyes.  It was all so confusing that day—no one had been able to anoint his body, as was their custom, a task she intended to do now. A secret friend at the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea had given Jesus a tomb and Mary made sure she knew where it was.  Because of the Sabbath and the prohibition of any, but necessary work; she couldn’t go to the tomb until after the holyday had passed. 

   She was the first to arrive at the tomb—she couldn’t stay away.  Upon arriving, much to her wonder and shock, she finds that the stone barring the entrance has been rolled away. Her immediate reaction is that Jesus’ body has been taken, and this is what she reports to Peter and John. 

   These two disciples then run to the tomb to confirm that which they can’t yet believe. At this point all three are grieving Jesus’ death and they are looking for a body.  Upon inspecting the tomb and seeing the wrappings on the ground and the cloth covering his face rolled up in a different place, they suspect that something more than a grave robbing has occurred as was Mary’s first impression—if someone wanted to steal his body, they wouldn’t bother to unwrap it first is what exegetes tell us and no doubt the apostles and Mary were thinking this as well.  The Scriptures say, “When they saw the evidence, they believed.” 

   And we might ask, “What is it that they believed?  It is important for us to remember that these first followers had no experience of a resurrection or of what that truly meant, even though Jesus had told them that he would rise after three days. 

   Now at this point, we have to fault those who chose the gospel reading for this Easter Sunday morn as they stop short of the ten verses of the story that flesh it out and make it truly the alleluia story that it is! For those of you who follow the lectionary closely, you will notice that today’s selection ends with verse 9 of the 20^th chapter of John, “Then the disciples went back to their homes.” Really! I found myself thinking – come on guys, you’re going to end the story there?! (In fact, the selection was made by guys!)

   So, I took some “literary license,” as do most, if not all women priests, and included the next 10 verses –these verses tell of Mary Magdala’s poignant, and wonderful encounter with her risen rabbi.  As a point of information regarding the word “rabbi” you will recall that earlier I mentioned that Mary had gone to the tomb looking for her “friend.” I said this because when she finally recognizes Jesus, she calls him “Rabboni” which is a diminutive of the word Rabbi or teacher. It would be like calling him “teach” instead of “teacher.” Clearly their relationship was one of friendship!

   Moving along then, from Mary’s position beside the tomb, where Scripture tells us, “She is weeping,” she discovers two angels when she looks inside the tomb to confirm that Jesus has truly gone—been taken—something! Everyone in this story seems to be on a different page because these creatures in “dazzling robes” ask her why she is weeping.  Now given what happened to Jesus not even two days ago, weeping seems a good reaction to me.  But these “dazzling” creatures had moved to the next page indeed,

and Mary will be there soon as she then notices someone behind her who too is concerned about her weeping, but he goes further—“for whom are you looking?”  Now Mary assumes that he is the gardener and asks him if he knows where Jesus’ body has been taken. So, our imaginations are piqued—why does she not recognize her rabbi, her friend, the one for whom she weeps?

     John Aurelio, in his book, Returnings tells us that what happened to Jesus was not a resuscitation where one would appear the same once oxygen was flowing again—Jesus was resurrected, something none of us understands any more than Jesus’ first followers did, but we can clearly surmise that something wonderful and life-changing had occurred because Mary can no longer recognize, at least physically, her friend.

   Scripture does tell us though that at one point she does recognize him, and it is when Jesus says her name, “Mary.”  No matter what resurrection has done to Jesus physically, she would always know the way he said her name. It is a bit like when we watch an old movie and recognize a character not by their looks, but by their voice. We can also think of our own loved ones and the special ways they name us, the special tone of voice, the special look reserved only for us, and we know that what is at the heart of it is love.

   Love is something that binds people over time and place and will always be, true.  Stories abound of people who have lost a loved one who later were most sure that they felt their presence in a certain situation, a physical manifestation in another human or animal form not of their loved one, or even in a manifestation of nature – rainbow, a sunset.

   We all recall the story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus who found they were walking with “a stranger” who was really Jesus, only they didn’t recognize him. When they arrived at their home, they invited the stranger in for the evening meal, still not recognizing him, but also not wanting to let him go, because “their hearts burned within them” at his words.  They finally knew him in an action they had experienced with him so many times before—”the breaking of the bread.”

   So, friends, Easter calls us each year to remember the wonderful story of how much our God loves us and wants to share our wonderful lives with us, helping us to be all that we can be, loving us no matter what we do with our lives. And love is really the key—it’s what makes this story so good! When we know we are loved; we can do anything, accomplish any feat.  That’s all God really wanted us to know in sending Jesus—that each one of us is loved.

   And because that is such an awesome task, our brother and friend, Jesus, asked us to continue what he could only begin.  That is what being his follower calls us to—to see him in our world in all the ways that he showed himself while with us.  Because he advocated for the least among us; we must see him in the poor, the downtrodden, the immigrants, the forgotten, the lonely young and the lonely old, the women around our world not afforded their full rights as human beings simply because of having been born female. We must see our brother Jesus in anyone or group of individuals not treated justly in our world due to race, creed or sexual expression and what we must see is the link that connects us all as Easter people—the connection between us and all others is the love given so freely by Jesus in his life and death, so that we could, “all be one” finally, finally! And that is why the actions coming out of Washington these days, in the name of us all, are so horrible, beyond party or district, as I told members of both parties in my postcard writing this past week.

   Jesus’ resurrection, what we celebrate today and during the next 50 days in a special way is the realization that we are called to be in our world as he was in his, and one day, to resurrected life where then, all will be fully accepted and loved as God’s own. This past week, a brother-in-law in our family, Patrick Gannon, began his resurrected life, having left this earthly life on April 15^th.  In that light, may the journey of these Easter days remind us that resurrected life awaits us all, as we strive to be our best, walking in Jesus’ footsteps.  Amen? Amen! Alleluia!   

 My friends, we had 11 from our community yesterday come to pray and remember the life, the love, and the death of our brother Jesus. Now, we all await his resurrection from the dead, a clear sign of the afterlife that is planned for each of us. Do we really understand what this means? No, but we walk in faith believing in the goodness of our good God. If you are able, come and be with us on Sunday, April 20, 2025 at 10 A.M. to celebrate, for we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is truly our song! May each of you be blessed in special ways during this holiest of weeks! Peace and much love and gratitude, Pastor Kathy

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Friends, as always, you can see, our liturgical space is very stark today—no candles, no altar coverings, no liturgical drapes.  We are bereft as this day marks the physical death of our brother, Jesus. All of us here, in addition, have those on our hearts from the parish who have died, Mary Paszkiewicz, along with Shannon Hanzel, Bob Sherman, Cathy and Eric Bartleson, Warren Galbus, Giles Schmid, and Michael Maher. When a loved one dies, we all feel, bereft, sad, and lost.  This happened this week for our family with the death of a brother-in-law, Patrick Gannon.  In order then, that we might consider what it would be like not to have Jesus, along with others in our lives, the Church’s request to sit with this sadness for a time seems most appropriate.

   It is important for us to remember that Jesus’ death was part of his life, just as our deaths one day will be part of ours. And for Jesus—death and resurrection go hand-in-hand.  We know this from our own lives—there are “dyings and risings”—there are losses to grieve, pains to bear, relationships that will end. But the good news is that in all of this “dying,” certainly things we would not choose, just as Jesus in his humanity didn’t relish the agony in the garden, the trial—all the abuse and the horrible death, his and our loving God would be with him in his human experience—all of it and for us as well!

   In addition to the actual, permanent losses, our human lives include other “dyings and risings”— and some are, heaven-on-earth experiences. We all have them.   And they often flow out of the losses—the dying.  The loss of a good friend, only to discover another friend, one we wouldn’t have come to know, except for the loss of the former friend, the loss of a job only to find a new, better one; the loss of a home only to find new opportunities in a new place; the realization after a loss that somehow, we made it through that awful time and that we hadn’t been alone—our God was with us in friends and family that were near and helped us out. We may have become aware on the other side of the pain that it was only God’s grace that got us through.

    And then, at the end of our lives is the experience of heaven—we don’t know what that will be like, we can only imagine as we recall the words of Scripture, “None of us knows what God has planned for those who have loved God in this life!”

   Good Friday and remembering our brother Jesus’ death also reminds us of those who have completed their earthly journeys from among our families and friends, others not from this community, but of our hearts.  May they rest in peace now as we all look forward one day to that eternal life that Jesus has prepared for us through his life, death, and resurrection.  We pray too for all the suffering around our world, from power, greed, and ignorance, even within our Church from those in power who want to frame our God as Someone who demands our repentance, and forgetting our God is one of over-the-top mercy and love.  It seems that Jesus continues “to die” within our country and world, every day, because we often react in small ways that exclude and separate rather than following our brother Jesus,  who always included and brought people together—found a way.  Our prayer today can be that all who are suffering in any way come to know peace and many blessings soon.

   Looking to the Scriptures today, John’s gospel is always used on Good Friday because it gives us a different focus than the other accounts from Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  We remember from Palm Sunday and Luke’s passion account that his focus was placed not so much on the detail of the suffering, but more on its meaning for each of us as depicted in Paul’s reading to the Philippians— “his state was divine, yet he did not cling to it, but became as each one of us. There was a wonderful picture of Pope Francis this past week in a poncho and in a wheel chair, that some criticized, but others thought very appropriate in that he “looked like one of us!”

   In John’s account today, we simply heard Jesus say, in regard to his own personal needs, “I am thirsty.” His concern isn’t for himself but for his apostles—that they would be set free. When he does die, he simply, “gives up his spirit.” We very much get the impression that John is trying to give; of Jesus being in control of all that is happening to him. He had the power to avail himself to what this Friday in history, that we have come to call, “good” brought him, and he accepted his fate with no complaint.  As Isaiah said in the first reading, he did not cry out, even though he was badly abused.

   Even with all the suffering Jesus endured, we see only the silence with which he carried himself, so the silence built into today’s service is again, very appropriate.  Isaiah gives the truth to this notion as well— “you were like a lamb led to slaughter and didn’t open your mouth.”  Personally, and on another level, I thought of our animal friend, Mack who is so patient at groomings, health checks and daily teeth brushings. 

   John’s account does not include the purely human moments of the Last Supper or the agony in the garden.   John shows us Jesus as one who suffers, yes, but one who is truly the “high priest” spoken of today in the letter to the Hebrews—one who stands with us and loves us in all our weaknesses, continually calling us to be more.  We often pray that our pain might be taken away and that doesn’t often happen, but we can be sure that Jesus is truly walking with us in whatever comes because he said as much before leaving his physical existence behind. 

   The evangelist goes on to tell us that because Jesus freely chooses death, he can just as freely choose life—the new life of the resurrection. This is our hope in Jesus— to one day, do the same. In this springtime of the year, the idea of the resurrection is one we can get our hearts around—out of the cold and damp ground comes so much life.

   Finally, I wanted you to know that I purposely shortened Isaiah’s reading, leaving out all the references of Jesus, “dying for our sins” as these concentrate on a God who apparently “needs” reparation for the sins of humankind.  I believe many within our Church, theologians included, have moved beyond a God who would ask such a price from a son.  This type of God, needing repentance was not the God that Jesus preached about when he spoke of the Prodigal returning to his father’s waiting arms, or the Good Shepherd who left the 99 in search of the lost one. 

   Jesus knew that his actions, his speech—declaring justice for all, speaking against the practices of his Jewish faith and the state of Rome would cause him to pay the highest price for his so-called treason—death on a cross, and freely chose that. We need not look for someone to blame —God, the Jews, the Romans.  Jesus chose life to the fullest, living from his heart, and he paid the price for not going along with the status quo, for not remaining silent as so many seem to be doing in our world today.

   As we live through Holy Week with our brother, Jesus, recounting the steps and recalling his life of love for us—even unto death, let us remember friends, if nothing else, that we are loved. Our God wants only good for us in life and offered his life for us to prove that. Can we really do any less than love this God of ours in return?   And we love God my friends when we love each other, our world, and all created life.  May God bless you all during this the holiest of weeks as we live, love, die, and remember! Amen? Amen!