Homilies

Homily – Mary of Magdala – First Zoom Mass!

/ kredig

Dear Friends, about 30 people participated in our first ever Zoom liturgy yesterday–it was so great to see each other again through a bit of technology.  My great thanks to all our technicians, readers, musicians and our wonderful community for making this joy-filled opportunity available to those who were able to join.  Hopefully, by our next Zoom Mass scheduled for August 30, 2020; we can get some problems worked out for some who couldn’t get on for one reason or another. I have sent the mass script from yesterday already and now today, the homily is included. I do have a taped copy of the mass from yesterday that I can send on line–if you would like to view it–please request that and I will send it out.  For now then, hoping this finds you staying well and peace-filled–love to all of you, Pastor Kathy

Homily

My friends, if my view of history is correct, this is our 10th Mary of Magdala celebration—since we began in 2010 with this annual celebration of Mary and all women, missing only the year that Robert and I journeyed to Alaska after my retirement.

Mary of Magdala is a wonderful model for women and for men—I add the men for it seems that if the hierarchy within our Church and its priests could be more like her and by extension—all men—our Church would truly flourish.

What do I mean by that? Mary of Magdala knew her heart and because of knowing her heart, which in the end, is all about love; she found her voice to share the Good News of her brother in faith, and her friend, Jesus.

Those who are apt to bypass the condemnation of Mary in the first centuries of the Church, as a prostitute and look deeper, have discovered that she probably suffered from a mental illness and in the past, this was called, “being possessed by devils,” of which Jesus freed her.  Only those among us who have in fact suffered a mental illness, or depression that is debilitating, or still do, can truly understand the gratitude she would have felt in being finally freed of such a torment.

And we cannot truly remember Mary of Magdala without also remembering the attempt by past Church fathers to lump all the Marys in Scripture into a composite with the stand-out characteristic being, that she was a prostitute.  In this way, she would not be remembered until very recent times for who she truly was; prophet, priest and apostle to the apostles.

Mary of Magdala is someone who calls each of us as Jesus’ followers to our best selves—to knowing our hearts, which means we will always present to our world and its people the face of love, instead of our heads and the rule of law.  As we have always said in this community; we need laws to guide our path, but not at the expense of love.  If love fails to be served in any situation of law, then there is something wrong with the law.

A current example of this is my invitation to you, today, if you wish, and I underscore that, if you wish, to have bread and wine with you for our Mass, through the Zoom technology and as we pray the words together at the Consecration, as we always do when we can physically be together, from our “collective altars,” Jesus will be present in a tangible way from my altar to yours through our collective eyes of faith.

This will be “different” yes, than when we are together—but in these extraordinary times that show no let-up any time in the future, it came to me, through my thought and prayer, that this was the most loving thing to do, albeit against  the laws that say it can’t be done. If we on this side of the screen were to receive the physical body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine, I wanted you to have that opportunity as well.  And please know that if you choose not to accept this invitation for whatever reason; that is perfectly OK.

A final word on this invitation is to reiterate that this is for a special time while we can’t be together, or in other words, the Zoom Masses and this invitation are only for this extraordinary time.

Now back to Mary of Magdala…In Jesus’ time, women were expected to keep silence and their opinions were generally not thought much of in public.  When Mary reported to the male apostles that, “She had seen the Lord!—had seen the Teacher,” their response was pathetic—they didn’t believe her and had to go and see for themselves!  And today, like this ages’ old response in Jesus’ time, the hierarchical response of men in positions of power in our beloved Church is to, not believe as well—not believe that the God they purport to follow could actually call a woman to be a priest or to lead in any significant way!

So my friends; we meet today to remember a valiant woman—one who led with her heart—with courage and truth, always keeping the path clear that followed in her friend, mentor and savior’s footsteps. That is all, really, that any of us need do in our world of 2020 to be able to say with conviction that we follow Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ—lead with our heart.

In conclusion, as we have already shared Sister Joan Chittister’s Litany of Women for the Church—who by the way, is a prophet in her own right—I wanted to include in my ending, her assessment of who Mary of Magdala is for our Church:

“Mary Magdalene is, no doubt about it, an important icon for the twenty-first century. 

She calls women to listen to the call of the Christ over the call of the church.

She calls men to listen for the call of the Christ in the messages of women.

She calls women to courage and men to humility.

She calls all of us to faith and fortitude, to unity and universalism, to a Christianity that rises above sexism, a religion that transcends the idolatry of maleness, a commitment to the things of God that surmount every obstacle and surpasses every system. 

 Mary Magdalene is a shining light of hope, a disciple of Christ, a model of the wholeness of life, in a world whose name is despair and in a church whose vision is yet, still, even now, partial.”  When we reflect on these words, I think you can see why Mary of Magdala is a wonderful model for all, men as well as women.

Finally then my friends, you, as I, have probably reflected on some of the public broadcasting material remembering this year as the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote.  Some younger women today, who don’t know the story of how our great “grandmothers” in history fought, to get the vote, show that they don’t fully appreciate the gift these valiant women gave to us, when they don’t exercise this wonderful right and vote.

In one of the PBS presentations that I watched, a statement is made, “Women were given the vote!” to which a woman responds, “We were given nothing; we took it!”  This truth, spoken out loud, like Mary of Magdala’s truth, spoken out loud, “I have seen the Lord, I have seen the Teacher,” whether that truth is accepted or not, does not diminish the importance of it being said.

Change that makes us all more equal, free, heard and appreciated is worth pursuing, like our country’s struggle now to address systemic racism.  We all have a part to play in these great causes; for women, for all those used and  abused in any way and Mary of Magdala is a great model to follow—for us, like her, “We have seen the Lord” and must respond! Amen? Amen!

 

Homily – 16th Sunday in [Extra] Ordinary Time in a Pandemic

/ kredig

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

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.

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 1st 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!

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”

  1. 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”

  1. 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!

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Homily – 15th Sunday in [Extra] Ordinary Time in a Pandemic

/ kredig

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

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.

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 15th 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!

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.”

  1. 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.

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.

 

Homily – 14th Sunday in [Extra] Ordinary Time in a time of Pandemic

/ kredig

Dear Friends,

Pastor Dick Dahl has given us a wonderful homily this week and I am very grateful to him for that. He has lived up to this time of  “challenge” that Ordinary Time always is and gifted us with much to reflect on. 

As always, if I can be of any help to you or you just want to chat, don’t hesitate to call, 507-429-3616 or email, aaorcc2008@gmail.com.  Stay safe and well–

Peace and love, Pastor Kathy

 

Entrance Prayer

Within your house, O God, we ponder your loving kindness—we raise up your name and bless you forever and ever—you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger, compassionate toward all and just in all your ways. We sing your praises to the ends of the earth.

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

Good and gentle God, help us always to live in your Spirit, just as Jesus lived among us through this same Spirit. Enable us to always model our lives after Jesus, our brother and friend, who lives with you, God, in the Spirit, forever and ever—AMEN.

Readings:

  • Zechariah 9: 9-10
  • Romans 8:9, 11-13
  • Matthew 11: 25-30

Homily from Pastor Dick Dahl—

In his current best-selling book, How To Be An Anti- Racist, Ibram X. Kendi describes that when his parents were college students and before they knew each other, they joined one hundred other Black New Yorkers on a 24-hour bus ride to the University of Illinois to a conference sponsored there by the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the U.S. evangelical movement’s premier college organizer.

The keynote speaker for the second day was Tom Skinner. Earlier in his life Skinner had come to worship an elite White Jesus Christ who cleaned people up through “rules and regulations,” prefiguring some politicians’ vision of law and order. But Skinner said that one day he realized he’d gotten Jesus wrong.

Skinner’s new idea of Jesus was born of and committed to a new reading of the gospel. Skinner declared, “Any gospel that does not…speak to the issue of enslavement” and “injustice” and “inequality—any gospel that does not want to go where people are hungry and poverty-stricken and set them free in the name of Jesus Christ—is not the gospel.”

The system that flourished like that in the days of Jesus continues like a cancer today. The authorities then saw Jesus as dangerous because he was challenging the system to change. That’s why he was locked up, nailed to a cross, killed and buried.

But we believe that three days later he came out of the grave to proclaim liberation to the captives, sight to the blind, and to have his followers go into the world and tell all who are bound mentally, spiritually and physically, “The liberator has come!”

“Liberator” is the word Skinner used in place of Savior. I find it dynamic and meaningful. A Christian is a person who is striving for liberation. Christians cannot accept the status quo when its policies produce or sustain patterns of severe injustice and inequity between racial groups.

However, our Liberator did not march in at the head of a military army. In the first reading today Zechariah marvels at “how humbly your king comes to you.” He will banish weapons of war and proclaim peace.

Jesus never said this would be easy or quick. But without justice for all there can never be peace. In a sense, this is what Matthew quotes Jesus as saying. One doesn’t have to be learned to see this. It’s obvious to little children. They haven’t come up with rationalizations and excuses to hypocritically justify the unjustifiable.

Systematic injustice exists and has existed here in Winona as well as throughout the nation. Its results are expressed in education, policing, housing, and employment.

Two weeks ago over 200 people attended a rally at Winona Senior High School at which former and current staff members, parents and students of color spoke about a lifetime of racist insults and slights they experienced and the dismissal of their complaints by school officials. They described the unequal treatment given to white and black students for identical offenses.

Kendi writes, “Antiracist ideas argue that racist policies are the cause of racial inequities. A racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups. Racism is a powerful collection of racist policies that lead to racial inequities.” Many look at people whose lives have been affected by those policies and criticize them for how they live or behave. Yes differences divide and alienate. They spontaneously give rise to speaking of “them,” the people not in the room with us, the fear of the other.

Listening, really listening, seeking to find something in common, refusing to be alienated by words I disagree with are challenges that many (probably most) of us find enormously difficult, in fact almost impossible, to do. The writer Parker Palmer approaches this from many angles, but powerfully connects it to Lincoln’s attitude, “We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies.”

How does change then come about? Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, “To belong to Christ, one must have the Spirit of Christ. You are in the Spirit who dwells in you.” I think we can understand his admonition and charge this way: “We must not live according to unjust systems that cheat and degrade and brutalize our sisters and brothers. We live by the Spirit when we put to death systems of injustice.”

Do people get weary in this struggle? Of course they do. This past week Father Richard Rohr ended one of his daily meditations with this story from a man named Tom W: I run a food pantry in . . . Massachusetts. During the pandemic, the number of families we serve has doubled, and so has the tonnage of food we distribute. At times the task can be daunting. The readings and resulting prayers [of the Daily Meditations] have shifted my thinking. I no longer think of our work as service, but as an act of solidarity, of becoming one with our neighbors. Service implies a vertical relationship, one above another. Solidarity calls for a horizontal, two-way relationship between equals, one to one. Of course, God is at the center of it all. “

All Are One, as far as I have seen, is an all-white community—not by design or intention, but in fact. As a result—despite the problems that exist in each of our lives—we have been protected, and benefited by years and years of privilege that has been denied to our brothers and sisters of color.

We may not be individually responsible for this privilege, but we need to recognize it and the ways in which others are daily denied it. Changing systematic policies that have benefited some at the cost of others first requires awareness. Then it requires unrelenting action. It requires the power of the Spirit acting in us as members of different communities—religious, social, political.

We are each called by the Spirit in different ways. Jesus calls us to take his yoke upon ourselves and learn from him. The Spirit calls some to prepare and distribute meals. It calls others to take political action, especially to get out the vote. Kendi writes, “We all have the power to discriminate. Only an exclusive few have the power to make policy.”

As Stacy Abrams said in an Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) interview on Tuesday, (I’m paraphrasing) “I can’t be sure that voting will change things as they need to be changed, but I know for sure that failing to vote will not bring about needed change.”

What is the Spirit calling me—and you—to do?

Prayers of the Faithful

Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

  1. For our community, All Are One, continue to send your Spirit upon us to enable us to be an inclusive community, open and welcoming to all, we pray—

Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

 2. For each of us here and for our entire Church, help us to respond with love and care to each and every person we meet, and additionally, in these times, let us be hope for each other, each and every day, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

 3.  For all who are suffering here today or in our wider community, be it in body, mind or spirit, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

 4.  For our brothers and sisters throughout our country who are suffering from our racist culture—be with each one and give them your deep and abiding peace to know that somehow, all will be well, as you God open hearts to see the ways we have failed in this regard, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

  1. For our world and its people, that we might begin to study earnestly the ways of peace and then do whatever is necessary to turn our backs on the ways  of war and conflict, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

 6.  For each of us here and for our wider Church, that we would realize today and always what a loving and compassionate God we have, slow to anger and rich in kindness, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

  1. Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week, from Covid 19 and in all other ways—give them your peace, and help them to find their way through their grief, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, hear our prayer.”

      ***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 peace—filled and loving hearts—the energy to always seek after peace through the gifts of lovingkindness and mercy.  Give us understanding and mercy that we might see what our black and brown sisters and brothers have lived with for so long and make the necessary and needed changes—now.  Help us to remember that our real task in this world as followers of Jesus, our brother, is to love Your people and this world. We ask that we might have the strength for this great task.   All this we ask of you, Jesus, in union with the Creator and the Spirit, one God who lives and loves us forever and ever—AMEN.

Let Us Pray—Again, my friends, we can’t meet and receive communion in a physical way, so we must remember that we are Jesus to each other and that he is present in all we meet if we have eyes to see.

Prayer after Communion

Jesus, our brother and friend, may we always praise you and thank you for the gift of the Eucharist that we have just received. May your words of love and care, “Come to me and I will give you rest” always resound in our hearts and draw us back. All this we ask of you who lives and loves us forever and ever—AMEN.

 

 

Homily – 13th Sunday in Extra Ordinary Time during a Pandemic

/ kredig

Dear Friends, I keep hoping that we can once again be together for liturgy, but we are not there yet.  As I mentioned in the bulletin, with the help of a family member; I have begun the process of offering some select liturgies on ZOOM and am hoping that I might be ready to do that soon as I am feeling that from what the science and medical communities are telling us; we really can’t safely be together again until we have a vaccine, which will take us into next year. With that in mind, the ZOOM alternative may need to be as much as we can hope for until then. 

I am trying to be in contact with you as much as I can, but if you need me in between my calls, please don’t hesitate to be in contact. By phone, 507-429-3616. You will have noticed that I have given you my HBCI.com address in the past just because I feel it is easier to remember, but lately, there has been some trouble with that address, so I will switch to the church address which you should use going forward as it is a gmail address. aaorcc2008@gmail.com. 

Thanks all–be safe and stay well–peace and love, Pastor Kathy

Entrance Antiphon

All nations, clap your hands! Shout with a voice of joy to God.

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

Loving God, the light of Jesus has scattered the darkness of hatred, sin and death. Called to that light we ask for your guidance. Form our lives in your truth, our hearts in your love.  We ask this in Jesus’ wonderful name, and with your Spirit, all One God, living and loving us forever and ever, Amen.

Readings:

  • 2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16
  • Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11
  • Matthew 10: 37-42

Homily

My friends, I have customarily said to you that Ordinary Time should be renamed, “Extra” Ordinary Time because of the continued challenge that the readings in this season bring us to follow in the footsteps of our brother Jesus. Events of this past week give us a bit of a twist on this.  By now, many of you have probably read the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) article delineating the serial grooming and abuse of young women over the past 30 years by church composer and musician, David Haas.

In the past 30 years, Haas has composed such beautiful hymns that we all know and love: You Are Mine, We Are Called, We Have Been Told, and many others. What are we to make of the dichotomy of beauty on the one hand and such evil on the other?

My initial reaction, unlike a good friend, was to say that I would continue to use his hymns at my masses because they are reflective of his “best” self and pray for him and his victims when I do.  I also said that I have to wonder what happened to him in his younger, innocent years that turned him into such a monster in his adult life, because you don’t act this way if everything has been good in your own life.

Because of the visceral reaction of my good friend to this most disturbing news about Haas; I re-read the NCR article and was struck by the comments of a woman named Megan who said, “I have been wrecked, knocked on the floor,” and again, “…the way he would look at you when he sang, You Are Mine,” makes me realize that it would be most cruel to sing his hymns in public knowing that some hearing them would be reminded of some horrible memories.  For this same reason; I have chosen,

in my professional position as your pastor and priest not to wear a clerical collar because of the pain the mere sight of it would cause those abused by male Catholic priests.

In the beginning of this homily, I indicated that the events of this week gave, “a bit of a twist” to the notion that the Scriptures offer continued challenge throughout Ordinary Time.  With the news this week of David Haas, it is the events of the world that challenge us to find or make some sense within the Scriptures for this week. Let’s take a look.

The first reading from Kings relates the story of the prophet, Elisha, who receives hospitality from, “a woman of influence” in Shunem.  Elisha responds to her care for him with the basic understanding and resultant action that a goodness has been bestowed and a response in goodness is only fitting.

The psalmist in number 89 for today, says, “I will sing the story of your love.”

Paul to the Romans lets us know that because of Jesus, we have the possibility of new life should we decide to take it. He goes on; we must consider ourselves, “dead to sin,” but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The gospel from Matthew has this to say, and I paraphrase, as baptized followers of our brother Jesus; we are called to do, the right thing.  This gospel has Jesus telling us that following his word has to be more important than caring for our families.  A hard saying, but we must remember that we can’t, like in most of Jesus’ sayings, read this literally.  Jesus wants us to care for our family members, yes—but never at the expense of doing what is right.  If it is considered part “of caring for our family,”

keeping a secret that should be exposed to the “light of day,” such as abuse of any kind, then doing the right thing is ultimately the best care for our family, albeit, the harder thing.

Martin Luther King Jr., while in prison for civil disobedience in the 1960’s wrote of this overriding principle:  “In a real sense all life is inter-related…all [people] are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.  I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.  This is the inter-related structure of reality.”

Now, of course, we can move through life not paying any attention to others, “doing our thing,” so to speak, with the assumption that this is our right, but if we are serious about following Jesus; this is never an option.

So we come back to what we learned of David Haas and his selfish, manipulative and cruel actions under the guise of musical minister and mentor to young and upcoming female music ministers.

At this juncture, many of us are laboring under feelings of disbelief, betrayal—followed by disgust and anger against those who knew for a long time of his behavior and did nothing to stop him.

Given my personal experience of never having been physically or sexually abused; I cannot speak to the pain of those who have, but I have been emotionally and spiritually abused by the Catholic church that continues to teach that women are not as good as men,

nor able to respond to a call from God to lead the People of God as a priest and when they do, are told that, “their sin” is akin to the abominable actions of a pedophile priest.

So, in that regard; I perhaps have some standing to comment on what issues like David Haas’ abuse have to say to us in light of the Scriptures.

Perhaps when we can get past the feelings of disgust, anger and rage, a better part of ourselves—the place where I think Haas’ music came from, even if he used it to take advantage of others, will see that he too was abused and taken advantage of at a vulnerable age.  None of us comes into this world as a “bad person,” or perhaps better said, “One who does bad things”—we become that partly through what has been done to us and then our decision to respond negatively to that hurt in our lives.

And in all of this, we are confronted by the Scriptures—by a God who has loved us, no matter what!  Can we be like God?—perhaps not, in the face of such hurt and betrayal as the story of David Haas presents, but we cannot cease to try.  The God of love that no doubt inspired Haas to write, “We have been told, we’ve seen his face, and heard his voice, alive in our hearts…” speaks to us as well and calls us beyond the hurt and anger, when we are ready.  For me, for now—I choose to pray for David Haas and his many victims, of which, he is one, but refrain from using his music at our masses for the reason given above.  Please let me know of your feelings in this regard.  Amen? Amen!

Prayers of the Faithful

Response: “Jesus, hear us.”

  1. Jesus, thank you for the gift of the Eucharist, along with your presence in all your creatures—the piece we have been called to see even more now in the absence of “physical communion—give us the eyes to see you, that you might be close, we pray—Response: “Jesus, hear us.”

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

  1. Jesus, you ask us to be people of faith, and trust—we believe, but help our times of unbelief, we pray —Response: “Jesus, hear us.”
  1. 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, and heartily welcome them, we pray—Response: “Jesus, hear us.”
  1. Loving Creator, Savior, Spirit—give us your patience, your strength, your love for our world, we pray—Response: “Jesus, hear us.”

6. Loving Jesus, give each person in your body, the Church, strength to live well and the courage to be the voice at times that speaks truth to power, for the good of all, we pray—Response: “Jesus, hear us.”

  1. Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week,—from      COVID, from racism and all other ways—give them your peace that they may     find their way through their grief, and we especially remember all the loved ones of Eric Bartleson as they continue to grieve his loss, we pray—Response:  “Jesus, hear us.”

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

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

Let Us Pray

O good and loving God, made manifest so wonderfully and beautifully in Jesus, our Savior and Friend, you know what we need before we ask—do give us what we most need today! Help us to be people of faith, strong in our trust of you and believe that no storm in our lives is too great for you to calm. Help us to reach out to you for the strength we need to be our best selves, you who are our Creator, our Savior, our Spirit Friend—we ask all of this in Jesus’ wonderful name—AMEN.

Let Us Pray–this time of pandemic calls us all in a special way to remember that Jesus’ presence is all around us; in each other, in nature–in all of creation. May we be refreshed and “nourished” by this reality.

Prayer after Communion

 Jesus, our Brother, may this communion with you give us a share in your life and help us bring your love to our world. We ask this in your loving name, Amen.