My friends, through the readings today; we are called to look at the law, what it meant to the Israelites, to Jesus and to us.  Simply put; we need laws as a point of reference to indicate good from bad and right from wrong—I believe we would all agree to that.  The catch is, laws can be rather black and white—do this—don’t do that.  But we know that the life situations that befall us all can land in gray areas from time to time.

If we look at the Ten Commandments as laid out in the Exodus reading today; we see this idea of “black and white.”  I believe many of us use these commandments as a point of reference and then move on from there, in the “grayness” of our life situations, making the best decisions we can.

I heard a speaker at the Winona Sanctuary Meeting last Saturday, a week ago, speak to this very issue.  He talked about the commandment, “Thou shall not steal,” and said he thought he had done that one quite well most of his life until the last few years when he realized that he had routinely, “stolen” from Third World people who make, for poverty wages, many of the clothes he wore and because of his “theft,” he could buy these clothes much cheaper on the backs of their poverty.  Now this is a negative outcome to looking at a law set in place to keep us honest and respecting of our neighbor.  Technically, no stealing happened (black and white), but in a broader sense, it did.

An example with a positive outcome might be the case of my ordination.  The hierarchical Church says this is a violation of a law that many consider, outdated and unjust and I can affirm, in my conscience that it was a law that I couldn’t obey because I felt the call from God, a higher law, to serve the People of God in this way.  So, even though my action called down excommunication from the Church I love; I had no choice but to break this law.

What can help us in our actions toward doing what is right is always to look deeper—as Jesus said, “What are the fruits of this action?” Many times power and control are at the heart of administering certain laws, like the ban on women being ordained. Excommunication is a tool of men, not of God.

Jesus, our brother, a good Jew, was very aware of the weight of the law on the Jewish people with over 600 rules and regulations that burdened every aspect of their lives.  He was about making laws to guide our lives more simple and straightforward.  He looked broadly at the Ten Commandments given to Moses and said, “Love God—the first three of the Ten are about that—the remaining seven are about loving your neighbor, thus, “Love God and your neighbor as yourself.”

If we keep this in mind, as our point of reference; we can’t go wrong.  If we say we “love God,” we will spend time trying to grow closer, we won’t talk about God disparagingly and we will give back some time to God.  If we say, “we love our neighbors as ourselves, we will honor our parents in the ways that we can, we won’t take a life, or another’s spouse, or their goods, or their good name.  Now, granted, there can be gray areas, but at least these are our points of reference.

Jesus’ great commandments really cover it all and interestingly enough, without being specific in naming what, “love of God” and love of neighbor” is, the commandments  allow us as individuals to look into our hearts, listening to the Spirit about “how” in actuality this two-fold kind of loving is done.  And as has been said, it is seldom a black and white response.

Lent for the Catholic church, in its hierarchy, is still about clinging to rigid rules of fasting and abstinence rather than looking at what these practices call forth from us.   If fasting and abstinence’s fruits are kindness, gentleness and mercy, then I would say it might be a good practice for those who take it on. If not, then fasting and abstaining from gossiping, meanness, pettiness and hatred might be a better route to go.

There is a good piece out on-line that I shared this past week—part of a concerted effort to respond to the now, so-called, Valentines’ Day Massacre in Florida. A man and a woman shared a message of love—they spoke about how all great change in the world has come about through people moving out in love toward their fellow creatures: Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King were given as examples.  This couple was basically saying, “Let love be the response to dealing with people we disagree with. They continued, “We are fully conscious of the fact that people will discount us, thinking this is just a “namby-pamby” response, but they were really serious! They did agree although that it won’t always be easy to respond to ignorance, hate, disagreement and more, with love.

They went on to speak about how our country is so divided now, so unwilling to come together on anything and are suggesting we try to find something loveable in those we most disagree with and go from there.  The man in the video asks, “If you win the war, but lose the connection to another individual, what have you accomplished?  Try love, they were saying—it certainly can’t hurt!”

Two Saturdays ago, the Interfaith Council of Winona sponsored a listening and learning event in Winona which invited people from around our state involved in the ministry of giving sanctuary to undocumented aliens living and working in our country who are now subject to deportation to come and share with us how this can be done in Winona. Many of these undocumented people, as you may know, have lived and worked here for many years and have established lives.

Humanity, our faith and all that is decent and good in us as a country demands that we find a way. One of the presenters who came from Rochester, MN, a United Church of Christ pastor basically told us, that, “ it is a walk in faith” and trust and if you move in that light, you will, “find a way” for whatever you are being called to do. It is good for us to remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians today, and turn to our God, “whose weakness is stronger than human strength.”

The Winona Interfaith Council is presently discussing the possibility of establishing a sanctuary church in Winona. Entities that can serve as places of sanctuary are churches, hospitals and schools.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not go into these places to retrieve people.

Now, while All Are One could not be a sanctuary church—obviously because we have no building of our own; we could serve as a support church.  At last Sunday’s service, the people present at Mass began the discussion of the possibility of us doing this and there was a positive feel among us for participating. I have asked our board to weigh in on this too.

There will be more discussion as we go along as there is much to keep in mind—this is an act of civil disobedience to help the undocumented from being apprehended, but we are told that it is less likely that people will bear the brunt of what can happen if the responsibility is spread around. If we were to designate ourselves as a support community, our way to help might be through donations of money, food or other supplies that are needed to house an individual as they await a trial. We just received word on Friday that there may be a church in Winona that is discerning becoming our sanctuary church!  Please pray friends for this yet, unnamed church that they will have the strength and faith to take this on.

In today’s Gospel from John, we read about and witness Jesus’ zeal for what is right—for the House of God.  The House of God, in actuality is God’s People—we must not let anything get in the way of caring for all the People of God.  This homily began with looking at the law, realizing that laws are “points of reference” and moving on to Jesus’ interpretation giving us two great commandments—to love God and our neighbors as ourselves.

It is probably, in the freedom that we all enjoy, hard to imagine being an alien in a foreign country, a country we have made home because to return to our own country might mean sure death, but this is exactly what Jesus’ great commandments call us to!

Amen? Amen!

My friends, it is good to be back with you again! Going away, having a vacation is always good, but as all of us would most certainly agree, after being gone for a while, it is always good to return home!—which actually is a very good thought as we contemplate the season of Lent—returning home to our loving God who has always been there for us.

Our trip through the Panama Canal was a great experience—the cruise gave us the opportunity through lectures and screen presentations to know in depth all the human suffering, skill and collaboration that went into making this engineering masterpiece!

Once through the canal; we had the opportunity to stop at several Central American and two Mexican ports along the way to our destination in San Diego—we even had the opportunity to get into the ocean twice, both the Atlantic and the Pacific!

I am always impressed with the simple fact that, “people are people” wherever one goes—most want a better life for themselves and their families and are willing to work to get it.  I was especially touched by the young women, many still girls, selling their crafts and wares on the streets, many with a young child on their skirt tails and most with a baby wrapped in a pouch and tied around them.

I engaged one young woman who tried very hard to sell me some jewelry that I didn’t want, but as I talked with her and met her 9 month-old Daniel, asleep against her heart; I realized that he was who she was working for, so while I didn’t take her jewelry; I gave her the money for Daniel and the look on her face was one I will always remember—from one mother to another.

Our time away brought us into the holy season of Lent, a time, really, that calls each of us home, as I said above, home to a God who loves us more than we can imagine.  Just as our hearts yearn to travel and see new places, have new adventures, those same hearts ultimately call us to return home.  As Christians, as followers of our brother Jesus, “returning home” means choosing again to come to what is most important in our lives and living toward those goals.  For many and perhaps, all of us, I know this includes living truthfully, generously, with mercy and compassion for those who have less, basically trying to become our best selves.

In this last week of our absence, this country suffered yet another great tragedy—the slaughter of 17 youth and teachers at a Parkland, Florida, high school.  The real tragedy beyond the loss of young people intended to be part of our future is that it was totally preventable, but for the lack of will and intestinal fortitude of our leaders to do whatever it takes to make our country safer, because the majority of Americans want laws to make us safer .

One always runs the risk of “getting political,” stepping on toes,” “being judgmental,” making such statements, but gun violence in our country has come to be a national crisis—it is way beyond political—it has become, human and IT SHOULD BE! Countries around the world wonder at this great country of ours, allowing Americans to kill Americans—again and again, and do nothing about it!

As I said above, Lent calls us to strive to become our best selves—to speak truth to power, to stand up for what we believe in, what we get up for each day—hope, justice, and the opportunity to live in peace, for ourselves and others.  Speaking truth to power is what I saw many young people doing this last week—not just asking for change, but demanding it from the so-called leaders.  Jim Wallis of Sojourner Magazine said this week, “When the leaders refuse to lead, the children will do it!”  So, what guidance do the Scriptures have for us today?

The first thing I can say is that as always; we are challenged.  From Genesis, we have the story of God’s request to Abraham that he sacrifice his only beloved son, Isaac, one that most of us find hard to shallow as it is so inconsistent with the all-loving God of Jesus.  Paul tells the Romans in no uncertain terms that if, “God is for us, who can be against!” And in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to transformation as he is transfigured before Peter, James and John.

I think when we come upon a Scripture text that is hard to explain or contradictory; we must always remember to first keep it in context, understanding that it was written for a certain group of people in a certain time and not necessarily intended to make sense to us in our time.  That is the point behind remembering that “the Spirit is continually renewing the face of the earth.”  As new knowledge comes to the fore, we must make use of it and judge wisely.

In this light and in my study of Scripture; I come upon writers and theologians of the likes of Sandra Schneiders, Richard Rohr, Ilia Delio, and John Shelby Spong who challenge the God of the First Testament to make sense in the light of Jesus’ Abba God.  Many of these writers also speak about biblical translations and that sometimes in order to put forward a certain message, will change a word or two and that this changes the whole meaning.  Again; we see the importance of going back to the original texts.

With this thought in mind, how would the story of Abraham and Isaac be different if in fact it was more of a conversation between God and Abraham on the question of faith, which, we are told, is the purpose of this story—how strong is Abraham’s faith, instead of how cruel of God to ask Abraham to give Isaac’s life as proof of his belief in God?

Let’s say God asks Abraham this question, “Abraham, you say you love me and believe that I would do anything for you, that I want only good and not bad for you—what would you do to prove your love for me? What is it in your life that means most to you?  Your son?  Would you give your son?  I think we can see that this would change the scenario from a tyrannical being asking the unthinkable from a parent to a God who simply wants to know how much faith a person has.  The Scriptures have been used through time to convey certain messages by the institutional Church, a fact that is good for us to remember.

We see in the end, don’t we, that in fact God is the loveable God that Jesus talks about by presenting Abraham, just in time, with the sacrificial lamb. But why, our sanity cries out, would a loving God even ask the question—even cause the loving parent to have to choose between the precious life of their child and their faith in God?

I could give you the rote answers—this was a culture that ritually killed their young and so they looked at it differently, perhaps, which, when you think of it makes a secure connection to the idea that Jesus was sent to “save us from our sins,” a notion that has totally been disregarded by all of the writers I mentioned above.  If the case can be made for God being willing to sacrifice the Son, then if follows that we, God’s creatures should be willing to do the same.  And again, remember the fact that this notion has been rejected by most theologians.

So, I will leave the Abraham/Isaac story for you to make what you will of it, but perhaps, this connection could be made to our present day national crisis of gun violence.  As much as we can’t understand a God who would ask a parent to give up their only son to prove their belief in that God; I have to wonder why we as a nation are willing to sacrifice our most precious gifts, our children, our people, on the altar of the Second Amendment that has ceased to be meaningful in our day and time.  I am wondering why all of us aren’t in the streets and in our state houses demanding change.

The school youth at Parkland High in Florida have begun a national movement that we can’t let die this time.  Let each of us do all that we can to bring about change.  There is an initiative started to get major credit card companies to block the purchase of dangerous, high-powered rifles when their cards are used—every bit helps! There will be a national match on Washington March 24^th and other marches around the country in March—watch for these and participate in any way that you can to support the children who have become our leaders!

As Peter said when he witnessed the transfigured Christ, “It is wonderful to be here!” We have so much power, my friends, if we but use it! Amen? Amen!

Friends, one final homily from Pastor Dahl–enjoy! –Pastor Kathy

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February 17, 2018

“Jesus was driven by the Spirit out into the wilderness.” I usually think of Jesus leading, guiding others. Here he is being moved by a force, as it were,  greater than himself.

It can be difficult for a believer to think of Jesus as a human being, as a man. The Gospel account of his presentation in the temple when he was twelve says “the boy returned home with his parents where he grew in wisdom, age and grace.” He grew and therefore changed  through stages of development, just as anyone does—physically, of course, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

So here Jesus, after thirty years of life, is driven by the Spirit, is forced to endure the challenges that each of us face in our lives. It’s been said that humans who are blessed with full lives—that are not cut short in early years by illness, accidents, or warfare—go through two major stages of development. We spend the first half of our lives coming to figure out who we are, entering relationships, developing skills, seeking to create our lives. In the second half of life we can gain insight from the mistakes, the heartaches, the decisions good and bad of the first.

Is it possible that Jesus, driven into the desert, went through the transformation that it takes most of us a lifetime to undergo? The three temptations he faced confront us in varied but similar ways. We seek out pleasures of many kinds in order to discover what really matters in life. We seek power in one form or another, but often through jobs, income and status. We seek to create a reputation, a good name, perhaps even fame.

These challenges can leave us weary, and sometimes disappointed and hurt. At the end of his ordeal in the wilderness, today’s reading says angels ministered to Jesus. Have there been angels in your life who have ministered to you when you were at your lowest? I know there have been in mine.

When Jesus emerged from the wilderness, John the Baptist had been arrested. Jesus now replaced John. Enlightened and strengthened by the Spirit and having grown from dealing with the temptations that assailed him in the wilderness, Jesus now began his public service or ministry. He began by telling people about  something wonderful, something truly worthy of their attention.

Along with the beauty of our created world, from the beginning humans have known deception and hurt, alienation and death, shame and fear.

The word “sin” is not commonly spoken of these days. We more commonly hear the words, “Mistakes were made.” Yet we live with our own repeated failings, with hurt done to us and hurt we have done and do to others. We live in a world with enormous injustice and suffering.

This is the world Jesus was living in, just as we do today. His message was not about sin. It was about life, forgiveness, hope and the Love of God that transforms our failings. The Law taught us that we cannot achieve holiness, oneness with God, by what we do, but by what He does for us—by accepting and surrendering to “the folly of the Cross.”

This may not make sense logically. But the fact is that the Law can’t get us where we want to go, or to become what we want to be. Only Grace can. Fr. Richard Rohr writes that low-level religion always reverts to the law, but St. Paul’s answer to every dilemma is not to try harder, but to surrender more. He wrote, “When I am weak, I am strong.” It’s not through my performance, (not through the Law,) but only through the Gift, only through Grace, that we are transformed. As members of Christ’s “Body” we are in a process of transformation by him–and always have been, whether we realized it or not. And it is not just an individual process.

We submit to death and resurrection because Jesus did. We are saved by grace and mercy. No need to count our good deeds. Life is worth living because it is going somewhere. It has a purpose. There’s a radical sense of safety and purpose amid the chaos and suffering.

This is what Jesus was announcing after he emerged from the wilderness: we are living in a time of fulfillment. Believe in this Good News; let it enter into your hearts and minds and change them.”

We experience gratefulness when something we value is given to us, a real gift, something we haven’t bought or earned. It might be forgiveness. It might be the love of another person. We can be grateful for the opportunity we are given in every moment. We miss this opportunity if we rush through the moment.

Open your eyes, your ears, each of your senses. Open your mind. There are so many things to be grateful for. Water, the miracle of reading, food that others have grown and produced and transported to us, and on and on.  We can open our heart to the opportunity of the moment.

“Change your hearts and minds” says Jesus to us-– change your hearts and minds to believe the amazingly Good News, that you are loved as you are.

Lent is our opportunity to stop, be quiet,  and listen. God does not love us if we change; God’s love enables us to change. Only love brings about inner transformation–not duress, guilt, shunning or social pressure.”

Pastor Kathy once said in a homily that if we were to take to heart this one thought during the 40 days of lent–the fact that we are loved–that would be enough. Or, as I once read on a friend’s Facebook wall: “I can’t brag about my love for God because I fail him daily, but I can brag about his love for me because it never fails.” Let us take time, repeatedly, to be aware of the gifts and the Gift in our lives. Joy to you this Lent!

Dear Friends, 

Another homily from Pastor Dick Dahl–enjoy! –Pastor Kathy

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Dear Friends,

Robert and I have been away on a cruise to see the Panama Canal and actually travel through it! It was a wonderful get-away and it is good to be back now. We were able to do this because of the generosity of my colleague and friend, Pastor Dick Dahl. I will be sharing today, the first of the three homilies he gifted us with in my absence. Tomorrow another and on Saturday, the third. Enjoy! -Pastor Kathy

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Homily, February 4, 2018

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells Simon and Andrew, “Let us go elsewhere so that I can proclaim the message. That is why I came.” In the second reading Paul writes that he put himself in slavery and accommodated himself to all kinds of different situations so that he might share the benefits of the Gospel with others.

What was and is the message Jesus was eager to move on to proclaim? What really is the news or Gospel that Paul went through many perils to share with others?

Marcus Borg, theologian and New Testament scholar who died in 2015, wrote: For the author of John’s Gospel, Jesus is the revelation of God’s love.

Through the centuries since Jesus and Paul lived physically among us, many have claimed to know and preach that Gospel, this Good News. In the process, sadly, the distortions of the message have led whole groups of people to feel and be excluded and condemned. Instead of revealing God’s love for all, these distortions of the Gospel have been used to justify even slavery, torture and wars. Rules and laws have led many to bear burdens of guilt and fear of God, rather than rejoice in God’s unconditional love and unearned GRACE. It has led to feelings of alienation in those who weren’t guilty of sin and false justification in those who were.

This has not been the whole picture, of course. Many people, countless people, both known and unknown to us, have lived lives of love, compassion, generosity and mercy. Nevertheless, the distortions of Jesus’ message have led many to reject Jesus, Christianity and religion altogether.

Vince Hatt, the former director of the Franciscan Spirituality Center in La Crosse, said in a recent talk, “There is no ‘they.’” In other words we must not allow our minds and spirits to divide people into them and us. That road to dualistic thinking makes “them” the people who are wrong while we are right, the people we can criticize or even persecute for their beliefs or their actions, in other words, the enemy.

The Sermon on the Mount is the best summary of Jesus’ teaching. It is the very blueprint for Christian life. Francis of Assisi put it this way to those who followed him: “Preach the Gospel; use words if necessary.” In other words, while words may help clarify the message, it is mainly shared through lives that speak compassion, generosity, tolerance and respect for all others, in short, love.

The Gospel message is authentically proclaimed and shared by those who like Francis of Assisi live by love, not by power or insistence on  being right. When you reflect on which people you think best proclaim the Gospel to you by their lives, who comes to mind? You each have people, who are not known beyond your personal acquaintances perhaps, but who witness to the love and presence of Jesus by how they live.

Sometimes, others have a better sense of God’s love than we do. Jesus’ story of the Samaritan who cared for the man beaten by robbers made this point. As Father Richard Rohr points out, “Truth is public domain.” We need to recognize, welcome and rejoice in it wherever we find it—in our Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist brothers and sisters, and also in those who consciously profess no faith but whose lives reflect the care and love of neighbor that is the sign of God’s presence.

I keep running into people who say they are former Catholics or “recovering Catholics.” What are they recovering from? It is certainly not from the message Jesus proclaimed that we are loved and have been from the beginning of time.

We live in the mystery of a benevolent universe even though it seems to be an indifferent one. And depending who we are, or when and where we live, evil and unjust suffering is experienced to an overwhelming extent, often by both the just and the unjust, and especially by children and the helpless.

What difference does God’s love make in such a life? This seemed to be the lament of Job in the First Reading today. What we do know is that Jesus spoke with his actions as well as his words. We know that Jesus was misunderstood. He was betrayed by a friend. He was imprisoned. He was humiliated and tortured. He suffered an agonizing death in which at the end even he cried out, “Why have you forsaken me?” He went through the ordeal, not to satisfy a sadistic god, but to prove he stands in solidarity with all who suffer. He is God’s promise that evil and tragedy will not have the last word.

I am closing with a statement by Father Rohr that I have quoted before but I repeat because it summarizes what this homily is all about: “Jesus did not come to solve a problem but to reveal the love of God for all creation. Jesus came not to change God’s mind about us, but to change the mind of humanity about God.”