Friends, we are back to Ordinary Time again, but as I always tell you, this simply means, no special season of weeks such as Advent, preparing for Jesus to come at Christmas or the whole Lenten-Easter cycle remembering Jesus’ sufferings and total gift of himself, in love for us, followed by the Resurrection signaling our rising one day too.  Even so, this so-called “ordinary time” is filled with very challenging moments, calling us to greatness, through basic goodness as we strive to follow our brother Jesus.

Today, we are called to reflect on the miraculous growth that happens in small ways—like that of a mustard seed—one so very small that has such great potential in becoming one of the largest shrubs.    Ezekiel, in our first reading today lays out the power of God in our midst, highlighting the grandeur in all created life, stressing the fact that nothing is impossible for God.

This reminds me of my flower gardens this year as it seems that all the elements of nature have come together just right—enough sun, enough rain—perhaps this year, I mulched just right—whatever the combination, the plants seem healthier, more vibrant, more beautiful! Sometimes we take the beauty of all created life for granted—I know I do, and every once in a while, something catches my attention and I remember again, to slow down and take notice of the beauty all around.  One of the blessings of taking a vacation is to allow ourselves that slowing down, that ability to discover a new, in a different place, the beautiful world our God has gifted us with. Retirement for me this year has helped me do that.

A little back-story today to help us truly understand the readings:  The prophet Ezekiel is writing to a people humbled, demoralized really, from defeat in battle, from years in exile—he is trying to instill hope that again, nothing is impossible for God—their God is with them, something they must believe and hold on to.

God’s message through Ezekiel is about nature with the connection intended to speak to their lives.  God says, “I will stunt tall trees and make low trees grow tall—those that are now green, will grow dry—those dry will grow green. Apparently, there will be justice one day. Hearing these words encourages me because sometimes I wonder why we can’t somehow learn as countries, as people,  to live peacefully with each other—I wonder too, if we even try. It seems we must all strive for a change of heart—to thinking that looks beyond our own needs, desires—as nations, as people to what is best for the greatest majority of people inhabiting this planet.

I received yet again another message this week to ask our congress people to pursue gun legislation that keeps us safe. I, along with you and many others across our nation have asked repeatedly for this, yet, big money and an inability in our legislative bodies to get any meaningful work done because they can’t agree and won’t work together continues to plague our nation. I find myself thinking—enough already—get on with it! I would like to challenge each of you, if you haven’t already to contact your congress people and ask them to compromise and get our nation’s work done.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians reminds us that, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Sometimes we may wonder when the good will flourish—when wars will cease—when the reign of God, hinted at in Paul’s reading and taken on fully in the gospel today from Mark, will actually happen. It seems that it will take the eyes and ears of faith to see and hear, to fully recognize the reign of God in our midst. And perhaps, it will take the responsible nature within each of us, doing our part toward making our world a place we truly want to live in and be a part of.

As an aside today, I think we see the beginnings of good, ole Christian/Catholic guilt coming from Paul as he warns that we will “get what we deserve” for the way we have basically lived our lives. I think these early followers must have been going astray for Paul to write this—and it seems to me that we need not worry so much about final judgment if we concentrate on walking in the footsteps of Jesus—living the law of love—asking often and really in every situation—“What would Jesus do here—would he take the easy way out—stand mute before discriminating actions, words of injustice toward one group of people over another or would we stand up and at least ask a question to slow a process down—what is it that we are truly saying by this action?

I read somewhere recently that when we see evil in our world and do nothing, we are guilty—it would seem that the least we can do is make our voices heard! Back in the 60’s, John Howard Griffin became famous for his book, Black Like Me, wherein he performed an experiment, darkening his skin so as to experience what our black brothers and sisters have experienced in our country for far too long. He made the statement, “The greatest way for evil to triumph is that good [people] remain silent.”

Ezekiel’s reading mentions the cedar—how it starts out as a tender shoot and is planted on the high mountain where really, the conditions are quite harsh.  It seems, in many ways, it prospers under these conditions.  Many times that is true for us as well. Harsh conditions that we may be called on in our lives to bear; illness, death of a loved one, loss of job and home, neglect, insensitivity from others, can many times open up our hearts to be more aware of,  and sensitive to, the needs of others—out of pain—growth and strength. It is not in proclaiming our own greatness that we become great—greatness lies in what we do—who we become for others and for our world.

The readings today, especially the gospel, speak of the reign of God.  All the earth belongs to God and God wants each of us—all of us to know that we are loved and that God longs for the day when we will realize that. Then perhaps, we can truly say, the reign of God is here—now!  It does take eyes, ears and a heart of faith. If we but look around at the beauty of nature—we may begin to understand that God made this beautiful earth for us to enjoy—to share.

We must walk by faith, not by sight!

There is a definite difference between plant growth and the reign of God as we are directed to consider in this week’s readings—but all of God’s creation is sign and symbol of how much our God loves us and we must strive to care and love this earth given us by God.  We had the good fortune this past week to view a public television show on the Apollo Program and the race in the 1960’s to be the first to get to the moon.

Within that program which concentrated on the mission of Apollo 8 which basically orbited the moon ten times—no small feat—first humans to do that, history, through these three astronauts, recorded the now famous “Earthrise” picture from space. This happened on Christmas Day, 1969 and these astronauts reflected on the fragility of our beautiful planet hanging out there in the blackness of space.  And amid the beauty, came the realization of all the strife upon our planet at that time, the escalating Viet Nam War and the unrest among our black sisters and brothers.  Yet, today still, I have hope as I look at all of you and your willingness to keep choosing life and openness within this community of believers, that good will rise and overcome all that is unfinished even in our day.

Our eyes of faith allow us to witness what our human sight can’t always make out.  We will see God’s reign coming to fruition in the small events of each day:  In our homes in the patience of others when frustrating events take place, in the kindness of a neighbor bringing some food when someone has died, in the loving touch of a caretaker, in the willingness of women and men who put themselves in danger for the good of us all, in the honesty of a neighbor over a business enterprise—so many everyday events that sometimes demand the eyes of faith to realize that, “yes” the reign of God is coming, little by little, each day.

The reign of God friends, is like the tiny mustard seed in our gospel today—so insignificant seemingly, yet with so much potential. The reign of God will not happen though simply by us hoping for it—it will take all of our best efforts—we don’t have to wait for some cataclysmic final event—the reign of God is here now, in our midst—the potential is within each one of us.

 

 

This past week, our family gathered on the Redig Family Farm for our annual clean-up day. This is a day we set aside each year in spring to clean the family farm inside and out—washing windows, cleaning out cupboards, dusting hidden corners, weeding flower beds, trimming trees, picking up debris on woods’ trails and hauling it all away. You get the idea. And amid all this sprucing up there is lots of conversation and catching up on each other’s lives.  Of course there is the potluck meal at noon that sustains us throughout all the house and yard work. And what gathering in Winona would be complete without a sampling of Bloedows’ donuts mid-morning? A nephew so indulged us. The day ended with a cook-out of hotdogs and marshmallows plus the added joy of blessing the marriage of a niece and her husband by the family gathered.

As I reflected on the meaning of Corpus Christi,  which means, as you know, the Body of Christ, it struck me that our gathering was a wonderful sign and symbol for what this feast should call up in each of us. Jesus our brother came among us to show us how much we are each loved by God. He totally immersed himself in created life; the goodness of relationships, the ups and downs of all that life brings.  He lived and died in an all-encompassing way to show us the way to do the same.  His passage into resurrected life gave us the promise and hope of the same.

Because he wanted to remain close to all of created life even when he could no longer remain here physically; he gave us a most wonderful gift, that of the Eucharist. With his words, “This is my body, this is my blood,” whenever we gather to remember and share this sacred meal, he is with us in a special way—we don’t know how exactly, but in the words of the hymn, we remember, we celebrate, we believe!

And as wonderful as this gift is to behold and partake in; we must see it as only the beginning, the starting place in our lives as Christians, as followers of our brother Jesus.  We would do better, and I must give my husband Robert credit for this, to see the Eucharist as a verb as opposed to a noun, for you see, Jesus never intended it to be a static encounter between God and us as individuals, but the impetus for us moving out into our world and again through the words of a hymn, become “bread” for that same world.

In the past; I believe all of us got stuck in the piety of reverencing the body and blood on the altar, taking it no further, letting it be a noun, instead of a verb—an action word. Because we didn’t make the connection, we forgot about Jesus’ body and blood in the world, in all the faces, in all the lives of those that we meet each day. The reception of the Eucharist, it seems to me, was always and is today, just the starting place for us—the challenge for us is to then become the bread—the body of Jesus in our world—that is where the transubstantiation really needs to take place!

Just like my opening example of family gathered, there was at the end of the day of being together, working, sharing a meal and conversing, the hope and promise of more in the future.  Each time we gather here, likewise, to pray, to share, to eat this sacred meal; we are simply starting, and must move out then into our individual lives, choosing to be present to the body of Christ that we meet each day in our homes, at work, at the grocery store—wherever our lives take us.

Our Christian lives friends are a challenge—we are meant to be active as a result of our baptisms. In that light, another opportunity has availed itself this week in the request from the Dan Corcoran House for volunteers to do 4-hour shifts “on the house.”  This is an opportunity which may work for some of you and if interested, I can get the information to you as to how to be involved. There are countless ways for us to be bread for our world, and, through our parish, many of you are already involved very generously and for that, I am most grateful.  You are an encouragement to me and models for my actions.

Our commitment to our God must always carry us out of ourselves as St. Edith Stein, Jewish nun and convert from Judaism, living under Nazi occupation said, “Dedication to God means dedication to the whole of creation.”  The Eucharist friends, is not a static noun, but a challenging, active verb and Jesus’ words, “This is my body, this is my blood” sends us forth into our world.  Hopefully, we can respond, “Amen!”

Today, my friends, we are asked to ponder a great mystery—who is God for us?  The easy formula that we have always used in the past and into the present says well what we believe—that of the sign of the cross—where we say that we believe in Abba God, the Creator, in the name of the First-Born, or Son—Jesus, our Brother, and in the name of the Spirit, Sophia, in the Old or First Testament—the feminine face of God—three persons—All, one God.  It is a mystery that we can only take on faith as it is beyond our scope to truly understand.   I think what is easier for most of us to grasp, and where our energies should lie, is in the relational understanding of who God is for us, and of how God wants to be part of our lives.

The first reading from Deuteronomy finds Moses marveling to the people, now freed from Egypt, of how their God had worked so wonderfully in their lives and of the signs God had shown to bring them out of bondage.  “Know this today, therefore, and take it into your hearts: Your God is God indeed, in heaven above and on earth below and there is no other.” And more than even the feats of strength, the power shown in the wonders of nature, was the fact that God had chosen them from all the nations, in their belief, a small, rather insignificant people to raise up and make them God’s own.   We think of Psalm 8, used to preface the Gospel today: “When I behold your heavens, the work of your hands …who are we that you should be mindful of us?” How had they been so fortunate? Had they in fact done anything to deserve this kind of care?  The answer of course for them and us was and is, often times, “No.” We too can share stories of how God was with us mightily in times of trouble and we certainly can echo St. Paul’s words—“I know the right thing to do, but I often choose otherwise.

But getting back to the fact of this insignificant people being chosen—we see as we follow the readings for today through to understand who our God is, that the choosing of us–of all people, does go on to the present—to each one of us–to our children and our children’s children. A literal read of this passage from Deuteronomy would tell us that our God is exclusive, choosing one group of people over another to the detriment of those not chosen, but we know in Jesus, that is not so—Jesus was about calling and choosing all of us.

So friends, we see in reading much of the First Testament texts that we need to look for the fulfillment of them in the Second—in the message of Jesus. In Jesus, we see that all, in effect, are chosen, are cherished, are loved and are wanted.  One of Jesus’  last commands to his flock was that they would make disciples of all the nations—baptizing them in the name of the Three Persons, the Creator, the Savior and the Spirit—all comprising one God.  And when we struggle to follow Jesus, we remember his most comforting line before physically departing the earth—“Know my friends that I am with you always, even until the end of the world.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but I can do much in this world with that knowledge—that I am doing it with Jesus at my side.  I can put up with the struggles, the misunderstandings at times to keep moving forward, to keep answering the call to love wherever and with whomever–as long as I know that God is with me! That gives me great hope!

Looking at the second reading from Paul to the Romans, we get a sense of how intimately we are connected to this Triune God.  We are not subjects, nor slaves, we are children of God, heirs with Jesus, the Christ—the First-Born of God.  And because we are heirs—Jesus is our Brother and Friend, not a Lord over us.  You will remember that Jesus called the disciples his friends in his priestly prayer before he died.  And again, that is why I always call you friends when I address you—I see myself as your equal—not as one above you, as seems to be have been the trend in recent years in the patriarchal church, bent on returning to pre-Vatican II times. But now, with Francis; we are seeing a turn once again, forward a bit, to a Church on more equal footing.  I say, “a bit” because Francis hasn’t yet been enlightened on women.

God, the Creator, is our loving parent, the term—“Abba,” means that.  The Spirit is the spirit of Jesus. I once learned as a child that the love of God the Creator for the First-Born, Jesus, was so great that it caused a third entity—and that is the Spirit.  That always made sense to me.  Most of us can wrap our minds and hearts around that—which is the model for procreation—the love between two is so great that a third entity is born. This is in the very best sense of course, because we know that procreation happens that does not include true love and self-giving but only passion and power-over. Both love and passion are necessary to give birth to more love in our world—a love that will nurture created life, in the model of our loving God for each of us.

This aspect, that love and passion are necessary “to give birth to more love in our world” has been very much part of the defense, if you will, for sanctioning the love relationships of gay and lesbian couples.  “Love is love is love,” as my friend and songwriter, Paul Alexander has so aptly said. Wherever there is love, there is God, our brother Jesus has said, so why would we not want to uplift that?  The Church hierarchy’s defense against love that seems to not follow the rules has been that such actions will be “confusing” to the people.  I believe the only confusing actions are in fact when we do anything that is against love—using love as a measure always trumps the law.

On this Trinity Sunday, a word about terminology for God—this is something I have shared with you before, but it bears repeating.  We know from Scriptures that the Spirit is continually renewing the face of the earth and so our understanding of God must grow too.  If you listen carefully to me, you will realize that I seldom address God as Father, Son and a Spirit that is male, exclusively.  I do this primarily because God is bigger and more than, as theologian, Sandra Schneiders, says, “Two men and a bird.”  I do it as well to help women, myself included, and men, realize that female flesh does image our God too.   If God is bigger than two men and a bird—if God is mother, father, sister, brother, friend—women and men will begin to see God in the feminine face and not primarily in the masculine face alone.  If women are given the privilege along with their brothers to serve at the altars of our churches—women will begin to recognize God in their experiences as men do in theirs. And friends, this is our goal—to see God through our lives, on this earth, because after all, our eternity will be with God; best to get acquainted now with who God really is!

Speaking of ordination for women, I recall the words of a priest friend back some 15 years ago who when we were discussing this possibility and he very matter-a-factly said to me, “Well Kathy, no one has a right to ordination.” I looked at my friend and said as lovingly as I could, “Well you have much more of a right than me simply by the nature of how you happened to have been born!”  Something doesn’t ring true about a mindset of exclusivity when we are considering a God in Jesus who came to let us know of his Abba’s over-the-top love for each of us.

This reminds me of the present-day prophet, Joan Chittister who is fond of saying and I paraphrase:  Our God who is all powerful, all wonderful, has all strength and wisdom, can move mountains, is simply undone when it comes to women!  Friends, the inability to see the image of Jesus in women is a mindset, pure and simple and is not of love, and certainly is not of God.

In respect for our history and where we have come from, it is good to remember, if we could ever forget, that we grew out of a patriarchal society where some gods were seen as “fathers” because these ancient people considered human fathers to be the source of life, loving protectors and attentive guides.  In these patriarchal societies only a male child could be an heir.

This would explain the importance given through time to sons.  Now, let us underscore—“ancient” times in this consideration.  We now live in modern times and to hold onto a theology where God’s face is only revealed in male form and experience is to denigrate half of God’s human creation.  It is holding onto these ancient ideas that justifies to this day, women being paid less than men in many professions for comparable work.  The fact that men are considered better than women and of more importance justifies then, using and abusing them in society and in our homes.

Even the example of my priest friend who over the years was always very supportive of me as a woman in chaplaincy, stopped short of being able to see me as a priest.  He and others, trained so well, could not imagine women totally imaging Jesus our brother at the altar.

A Church that does not look equally on all of its congregants and see what our loving God sees in each one, what Jesus saw, is at least, not worthy of the term “human” and at most, should not be touting the label of “Christian.” Our Churches that operate out of a patriarchal mindset where men are seen as better than women do in effect encourage abuse of women in our society. This too my friends is why I lay such importance on the language that we use for people and for God—those with the language are those with the power.  Our Churches should be modeling for society the good, the best we can be as persons, not the status quo or what is most convenient.

Within our Christian churches we should be able to see the face of Jesus, who continually saves—recognize the work of on-going creation and the renewal of the Spirit that is ever calling us to be more—to move ever closer to God as we move ever closer in relationship, understanding and appreciation of each and every person.   The Triune God, my friends is a mystery—a wonder and a reality.  Let us pray today to be ever more cognizant of how our God has loved us from creation onward until now and wants and expects us to love our world and its people in the same way.