Friends, our parish met yesterday for our monthly Saturday Mass at 4:30 P.M. with 12 “apostles” present. The remainder of the monthly masses are on Sundays at 10 A.M. Below is this weekend’s homily that the Spirit and I worked on this week: Pastor Kathy

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My friends, our readings today let us know that our forebears in the faith, women and men alike, carried on after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ultimate return to his, more heavenly existence, in a stance of much strength—faith and power, in Jesus’ name through the power of his Spirit. 

   We know that this “new life” of faith wasn’t always easy as so many still didn’t believe, or chose not to believe what these first apostles and disciples had come to accept— “a stone rejected” by the religious powers who had become [the] “cornerstone,” of their lives—a cornerstone meant to “show the way” for all who would allow it. 

   And friends, as we ponder these mysteries, we should realize that we are called to the same—to hear the stories of faith and allow ourselves to “break out of our safe boxes,” and cry with strength in the Spirit, “alleluia,” in our hearts at least, if not out loud with our voices. 

   Our human tendency is to move toward the least common denominator in our actions that may speak to our faith, but more so, keep us part of the group and safe.  Peter and the others, in the early days and weeks after Jesus’ physical leaving, are constantly getting into trouble, even being jailed at times because they will not be silent about the truth of Jesus’ life—something that the authorities wanted to squelch. 

   In our own lives too, the same is true.  We can and should constantly speak to the injustices that we see and experience in our world, in State and Church, even if we, like Jesus, have to stand alone.  Unfortunately, the “least common (safe) denominator” that if we agree with, keeps us “part of the family,” so to speak, is alive and well,

in our Church, in this country, for the most part.  The National Council of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) are working toward a summer Eucharistic Council to uplift the Body and Blood of Christ, on the altar, because it seems, they feel this will bring folks who have left, back to the Catholic church. And while advocating for that, these same bishops, except for possibly, a few, are ignoring Pope Francis’ attempts toward more diversity in our beloved Church, in this year’s culmination of a two-year process in a Synod on Synodality. 

   The focus, as I see it, in the NCCB’s actions toward uplifting the Eucharist on the altar, is to move back prior to the Second Vatican Council when all things concerning God were shrouded in mystery, and God was really untouchable. 

   Pope Francis’ synodality process, as I see it, is about uplifting the “eucharist,” we all, each one of us, find in our daily lives—in ourselves, in others, in places, cultures, differing genders, expressions of love, Spirit-inspired new ways and living—tending toward justice for all and so much more. 

   The NCCB is addressing what we already know—what is safe, not what may include more and more people.  Robert and I took time this past week to sit down with the canon lawyer, Father Will Thompson, for the Winona/Rochester, Minnesota Catholic diocese, so that he could spell out what, from the bishop’s viewpoint, our parish, All Are One needs to do to once again be in “good standing” with the hierarchical church.

   Actually, this is what we thought was going to happen, (him spelling out a list of things to do) but it turned out to be a bit different. He deferred to us as he said he basically didn’t know a lot of the back story. Thus, we shared how one of our board members had asked if we had ever invited the bishop to come and visit with us, perhaps have a meal getting to know each other better. We shared that over the past year we have tried to set up a visit with the bishop only to finally learn that he wasn’t willing to see us unless we recanted our choices.  Therefore, we shared that we were finally told through a secretary that we should talk with the canon lawyer about what was actually required in “recanting.” In actuality, we knew what was required but wanted to get the steps all legally correct and it seemed that this was the next step to being able to talk with the bishop. 

   We found Father Will to be very kind, understanding, and even compassionate, yet, in the end, tied to the laws that we were breaking. But, of course, as Robert reminded me, he has to do that, it is his job. It did make me sad though to think that even while, “he heard us, and on some level might have agreed, he couldn’t do anything but what he did—basically be, “the long arm of the law.”

   To our way of thinking, trying to corral people into believing one way, devoid of the Spirit, who we have been told, “is continually renewing the face of the earth,” speaking of a God big enough, and creative enough to see the good in calling women, as well as men to ordained ministry, seeing the good in all ways that true love is expressed, and so much more, is purely, “semantics” and a waste of the precious life and God-given gifts each of us possesses!

   But we went simply to record and be clear that we know what is being asked of us and why, if we don’t comply, our bishop, supposedly, our “shepherd,” will never meet with us.  And I believe, it is no coincidence that this Sunday is “Good Shepherd Sunday.” John tells us that “good shepherds” puts themselves on the line for their sheep, will leave the safe 99, in search of the one who may be standing alone.  So much for the good shepherd. 

   Jesus’ message, my friends, has always been about listening from our hearts, not about constructing rules and regulations to control the Spirit.  Jesus’ ultimate command was to love God and others as ourselves.  We can’t say that we love God if we aren’t open to listening and perhaps hearing another call from the Spirit of our God. Christianity is a “messy” business—what else can I say? But I believe when we really try, to follow Jesus, even if we get “crucified,” we will know peace. 

   Present-day prophet, Sr. Joan Chittister has said it like this: “To move from childish spirituality to adult spirituality, we must not be afraid to question any dogma, any sermon, any edict, writings, admonition—not to deny it, but to wrestle it to the ground. Then we can be sure that neither magic nor authoritarianism will ever substitute for our search for God.”  Amen? Amen! Alleluia!

My friends, during this past week with the experience of traveling to, and seeing the total eclipse of our sun by our moon, a phenomenon that can only happen at certain times and places because the ratio of size, one to another, and the distance between the two being, “just right” as to make this possible; I found that this particular experience fits well into the mystery of the Easter Season. Let me explain.

   I have often spoken about Jesus’ human experience being more about letting us know how much our God loves us than about the “old theology” of Jesus’ coming to “save us from our sins.”  Simply put, Jesus’ coming and living our human existence was really about showing us “the way” to do this well—in other words, attempting to be our best.  And when more people than not, are in fact, attempting to be their best, life is really better for everyone. 

   So, above, as I suggested, that what we experienced in the total eclipse of the sun by the moon, fits well into the Easter mystery, I need to tell you in a bit more detail, exactly what we experienced. 

   We knew that we wanted to pick a spot, and for us, this was near the Illinois/Indiana border, where we would be alone so as to hear all the sounds, and lack of sounds during a total eclipse.  From a previous experience of total darkness during an eclipse in 2017, we knew that birds and other creatures react to this phenomenon of nature in certain ways.  And such was the case this time too.  As the light became “dusky” at near totality at 2pm in the afternoon, frogs in the area ponds began to croak as they usually do at nightfall, and the birds that had been singing, ceased their song. 

   At totality there was the “diamond flash” that we have all heard about and the circle of light around our “black” moon, and total darkness across the land except for the light on the horizon over 50 miles away.  It was an awesome, emotional experience for us that we will never forget, witnessing these stellar shapes that regulate our very existence, so beautifully—in a way, we might say—being a piece of their best selves!  The 2017 eclipse that we experienced, while wonderful, happened for us in a cloudy sky, so the view wasn’t as spectacular as this 2024 one was for us! 

   And then there was the fact that so many traveled, as we did, 100s of miles to witness and experience this awesome event!  Our trip home took considerably longer as we experienced a 100-mile section where we were bumper-to-bumper—cars out front and behind us as far as the eye could see.  One might look at this and be irritated, but we finally realized that it was part of the experience, and it wasn’t able to “extinguish” what we had experienced in the eclipse. 

   The ability my friends, to rise above our day-to-day, often mundane lives, looking for the profound in the ordinary is what truly makes us “Easter people.”  We can get stuck in the “salvation story” of Jesus being sent by a vengeful God to make reparation for our sinful lives, and when, this God, “He” does, we can sing, “alleluia,” or we can rise above our earthly existence to see the glory of our loving God in celestial creations, in our family members and friends, and in the love of our God for us—in sending Jesus who has shown us the way to become our best selves. 

   All the readings today carry that overall theme of “being our best selves” –basically telling us that this should be our personal life’s work. John’s 1^st letter selection today says it well, and I paraphrase, [God’s love comes to perfection in the person who obeys God’s words]. Peter, in his words in Acts, recounts for his listeners how they have failed in the past, and he basically forgives them for what he names as their, “ignorance,” and encourages them now, to begin again, and to become their best.  He goes on to tell them that if they do this, “all the families of the earth will be blessed” [in their offspring]. 

   In conclusion my friends, I wanted to mention a public TV presentation this past week that basically explored what our future on planet earth could look like. I know when I first read the title and the explanation, I found myself thinking, “Oh, this can’t be good!” 

   We ended up watching it anyway and found that my 1^st impression was wrong.  The presenter, Ari Wallach, described how our present existence leaves many of us feeling that “something just isn’t right” –that we are, “between times,” looking, hoping perhaps for something better.  Now, we all know that there are many reasons that we might feel that “something isn’t right” in the here and now –from our relationships with others, within families and nations, climate change, and protecting our beautiful earth, politics, religion and more. 

   Now, amid all this, Wallach says, just because our cities, for instance, aren’t necessarily “people-friendly,” with too much concrete, and too little “green space” doesn’t mean that in future we can’t come up with something better. Computer-generated images then showed more pleasant building shapes with curves rather than straight lines, with all kinds of green plants nestling up along the sides, less cars, more bikes, and so on. 

   It struck me my friends that the “something” or “some things” that aren’t right, are in our hands to change, if we have the will to do so!  Can we do it alone? No! –but we can do our part!  That is what the “letter-writing group” each week is all about, as an example. 

   The Easter story is all about our God first loving us, with the expectation that we will love God in return, and show that love by loving and caring for others, our beautiful world, not only for ourselves, but for those who come after us.  That’s the Easter story and if we can do our part, as did Jesus, continuing his work, then, “alleluia” can truly be our song!  It’s all about “love,” about something ultimately bigger than ourselves—about seeing the splendor, the awesome, in the every day, and continually working toward a world shared by all, for all. Amen? Amen! Alleluia!

   My friends, it was Easter Friday during the 1^st week of Easter, as I wrote this. Additionally, I received an on-line Easter greeting from a friend who almost always sends me one after the actual holiday or holyday.  As I reflect on that, I realize, and she probably did too, that the wonderful sentiments that Easter conveys, or any other special day for that matter, are big enough, and important enough to extend to more than one day. My mother-by-marriage, Margaret, used to say, “We can celebrate our birthdays for a whole week,” when we didn’t get together on someone’s actual special day. 

   So, what am I saying with regard to the Easter Season?  Benedictine Sister, Joan Chittister has said of Easter, “It is not a nice, fairytale with a happy ending—it is just the beginning.”

   I think to put all of this in perspective, let’s review what happened in Jesus’ life journey after he died on the cross—the state punishment for one who wouldn’t remain silent in the face of injustice to many in Church and State. 

   Jesus’ followers from over the three years of his very public life had, we could say, lost a great deal of hope in their rabbi who they sincerely thought to be their “messiah,” and even though Jesus foretold his death, they couldn’t actually believe that it would come to pass.

   They had seen him cure many, raise Lazarus from the dead— “why,” in their humanity, they asked, “couldn’t he save himself?” They had never before seen the likes of such a teacher-revealer-friend, so it makes sense that they simply couldn’t imagine such a one as Jesus, who would become, the Christ, the “anointed one.”

   So after the Sabbath, these 1^st followers’ level of hope got a real boost when the women went to his tomb to anoint his body, and found that had, “gone missing.”  Now, not yet understanding what Jesus’ foretelling of the fact that, “he would rise again” truly meant, they assumed, some of them, that his body had been stolen. 

   You may have wondered reading the account from John’s gospel on Easter, of Peter and John going to inspect the tomb after Mary Magdala reported that Jesus was not there, why it mattered “that the body wrappings and the face covering were in different places” in the tomb.  What John, in his gospel is saying to his readers, is what he personally, “saw,” [and came] “to believe” –Jesus had risen, just as he said, because if someone had actually, “stolen his body,” they wouldn’t have unwrapped it first!  John wants everyone reading his account to know what he came to know—Jesus had truly risen! 

   And additionally, we all, reading through the longer account of that 1^st Easter morning, come to know and hopefully believe that “rising from the dead” is quite different than being “resuscitated,” as was Lazarus.  Easter morning let those 1^st believers know that what Jesus experienced in the resurrection –something promised to each of us one day, was, and would be different.

   We know this because the risen Jesus was unrecognizable to his closest friends and followers—Mary Magdala and the travelers on the way to Emmaus, who only knew him when he “spoke and acted” in ways that they recognized from when he had been physically present to them.

   At this point friends, I think it is important to actually try and place ourselves into this awesome experience that Jesus’ 1^st followers, Scripture tells us, were involved in.  In doing that, we can excuse perhaps, any unbelief, or lack of seeming, understanding of what was going on, because after all, what we have come to believe, in our faith, after hearing this story every year of our lives, these 1^st followers were experiencing for the very first time!

    Today then, in John’s gospel, we really shouldn’t be so hard on Thomas for not believing—he was perhaps a very “pragmatic” person who simply, “needed to physically see,” to believe.  Mary Magdala and those who journeyed to Emmaus, along with all the other apostles had experienced the “risen Jesus” in a way that they couldn’t explain, which helped them to believe.  The telling then, over the centuries, of this awesome story has helped all of us to believe. 

   Pondering then the other Scripture selections for this 2^nd Sunday of Easter, we see that as Joan Chittister said of Easter, “this is just the beginning.”  Our part then, as for all of Jesus’ followers is to walk in his footsteps, doing in our world, what he did in his. 

   In the reading from Acts, we are told that, “the community of believers was of one “mind and heart,” thus from the very beginning, we should know that for each of us, both, “mind and heart” will be needed “to be” in our world as Jesus was in his.  Luke, thought-to-be writer of Acts continues, “all [in this community of believers] were given great respect,” and that “no one was needy among them.” Think my friends, how it would be if more in our world, treated “all with respect” and that we shared to the point that “no one was needy.”

   In the second reading from John’s 1^st letter, he says, “the love of God consists of this, that we keep God’s commandments,” and here we see that balance, or at least mention of the importance of “mind and heart” –is not always an easy undertaking.  It has been said, “Love is the hardest lesson.”  Additionally, John, in his 1^st letter has a consul for those who would perhaps enforce the “commandments”— [that they] “are not burdensome.”

   In today’s gospel, another line that jumps out for me, that Jesus utters often when he appears after the resurrection, is one that we should make part of our own lives, as we too engage with others— “Peace be with you!” It would seem that this phrase, whether we use these exact words or not, would be the balance between acting on law, versus acting with love. 

   Within this gospel, our brother Jesus gives the Church its “marching orders” so to speak, in being open to the, “Spirit continually renewing the face of the earth: “Whose sins you retain, or forgive,” it is done!”  I believe what Jesus is basically saying here is that we should engage not only our minds, but more so, and at least with equal measure, our hearts— “do what you feel, in your heart, is right,” I believe Jesus is saying.  Again, not to be redundant, Bishop Barron’s response to our parish’s request for a visit, is devoid of heart.

   This past week our Church lost a prophet in the person of Bishop Tom Gumbleton. He said of himself that in his justice actions in our world for peace, for equality, and more, “he never thought about consequences,” and that is probably why he never attained more than “auxiliary” bishop, which came to him at age 38. Our Church, unfortunately, doesn’t promote prophets. 

   In conclusion then, earlier I mentioned the words from John’s 1^st letter that “love of God consists of…keeping God’s commandments,” and Jesus made that easy for us when he said, there are really only two you need keep— “Love God and your neighbor as yourself.”  It sounds simple, but anyone, including the first community of believers that formed after the resurrection came to know, it is not always “simple,” nor is it, “easy.”  Our salvation friends is in knowing that our brother Jesus has not only shown us “the way,” but stands with us as we strive to engage heart and mind in living as he did.  Amen? —Amen! —Alleluia!

My friends, one of the two Eucharistic Prayers that I use, speaks to the beauty of all creation, and names humankind as the pinnacle of all created life.  Not so long ago, one of you questioned whether we should have such a hierarchy of created life when really humankind is just a part of that. I found this comment most compelling to the point that now when I pray this Eucharistic Prayer, as I will today, I eliminate the hierarchy and pray our gratefulness for all of creation, in all its parts and forms, because together we share a symbioses that makes life “work” for all of creation. 

   As you all know, Robert and I were away these past two weeks cruising the Amazon River and into the Caribbean with Viking.  One of the things that they do really well is to bring historians, and other expert speakers on board to give “cruisers” a fuller picture of the people, land, culture and more, of the places visited. One such individual was an Englishman, Bernard Purrier.  He gave us much to think about in several presentations, but one example that I’d like to share, fits particularly well here, and makes the point that we humans shouldn’t hold ourselves in such high esteem as compared to the rest of creation.

   This was a presentation on whales and dolphins and their fine abilities to know where they are in the water as their eyesight isn’t that great. Because both are mammals, we could say, in a general way, that they are our sisters and brothers.  They also are very intelligent.  Bernard gave us a wonderful example showing their very keen intelligence and sense of caring typical of female dolphins. It apparently has been recorded that female dolphins can sense the heartbeat of a human fetus within its mother’s womb when the woman is in the water and will move to protect this human “sister” from harm.  So then, what does this have to do with Easter Sunday you might be thinking.

   Our brother Jesus came into history over 2,000 years ago to show us how to live, to love, to die, and one day—like him, to pass on—to rise to a new life.  And precisely here is the connection between what Jesus came to do and much of what we experienced on our trip—through speakers, local guides, and our own experiences visiting many new places in our beautiful world. We had a cruise director, Jenna who ended each of her daily presentations explaining the opportunities for the following day that we could choose from by saying, “Whatever you do, live your best life!” 

   Our loving God, my friends, wants the same for us, to live our lives well, striving to be our best, for ourselves and for others, thus sending our brother Jesus as a model for us to follow.  For too long, hundreds of years in fact, before “windows and doors were opened” at the Second Vatican Council, we Catholics were stuck, much like the Jews, in the time of Jesus, adhering to copious, crippling rules and regulations designed by “religious” men whose main concern, it would seem, was to keep people in line by frightening them into submission over the thought of one day meeting a vengeful God who would judge them. 

    The Second Vatican Council poured fresh air into our beloved Church reminding us of just how much our God, did, in fact LOVE us, and we came to know this through our brother Jesus who spoke of our God as a loving parent who welcomed the “prodigal” back, and about a shepherd who left the 99 in search of one that was lost.

   With Vatican Council II, gone was the old story of a mean-spirited God who sent Jesus to die for our sins—and this Council encouraged us all to break out, and away from of this tiny-boxed God, and begin to hear anew, through Jesus, how much each of us is loved.  What the story of Jesus is really all about is his encouragement to be our best selves—to grow beyond our human inclinations to think small, to be safe—to be like the status-quo, and to instead, become people who can see the wonder and the good in all people, all races, all genders, no genders, all religious expressions, and all human manifestations of love—one for another, without excluding and dividing, saying who is welcome, who is not. 

   I was again saddened to see our Bishop Barron’s take on the monumental work of the Second Vatican Council in basically denouncing Jesus’ call that, “we are all one,” by stating this type of inclusion is making our Church, “nicey-nice,” or that Pope Francis is, “dumbing down the Church” in doing the same. 

   We must remember my friends; Good Friday was really all about an attempt to silence someone (Jesus) for not remaining silent in the face of injustice in both Church and State.  We may look at the torture of crucifixion and think, how barbaric, but the same kind of torture can be done in more than physical ways for not being silent in the face of injustice. 

   Our bishop’s statement that, “he will not waste his time until we (AAO) come back to the Church,” is, in my mind, a “crucifixion” of the heart, and is against everything that our brother Jesus stands for. 

   So, my friends, my intent here was to move beyond a traditional Easter Sunday homily to basically say that the reason for our Alleluias today is because Jesus did break, “out of the box,” saying, what you are doing here is just not enough! Whenever you do not see me in any person you meet, when you fail to care for our world and all its creatures, when you basically place law above love, you have failed in being my follower. But the great thing with Jesus, with our God, is we can always have another chance.

   In conclusion then, my friends, I will talk more about the Easter Scriptures in the upcoming weeks, but for today, I wanted to uplift for us the beauty of the longer version of today’s Gospel from John. The key players, besides Jesus are John, Peter, and Mary Magdala. They each, on some level, knew that Jesus would “rise from the dead”—at least they had heard him say that he would.  They wanted to believe but they had no idea what “resurrection” meant. And it is only in this longer version that we basically learn that someone who has experienced resurrection will not appear the same.  In this longer version of the gospel, Mary Magdala did not know Jesus when she met him in the garden.  It was only when he said her name, “Mary” in the way that only he would say it, did she know him! —doing something that was familiar. 

   From this one example friends, we will know others, they will know us, and they will see Jesus, when they see us acting with love in our world, just as he did in his. Amen? Amen! Alleluia!

My friends, as I said in this week’s bulletin, two lines, especially, stood out for me—the 1^st from Ephesians, serving as our 2^nd reading today, “We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things God created us to do…” The 2^nd one from 2 Chronicles, our 1^st reading today, comes from Cyrus, the leader of the Persians, who set the Israelites free after the Exile, with the words, “You can go home again.”

   Now, it won’t be any surprise to you that I am suggesting that each of us go deeper with these two lines.  For many of our combined years, “cradle-Catholics,” most of us, Lent has been a time, wherein we have nearly, “wallowed in,” “good ole Catholic guilt.”  The 1^st reading today from 2 Chronicles could add to the personal feelings that many of us may have had about our “worthlessness,” and feelings that we just can’t ever, “get it right”—mea culpa, mea culpa, striking our breasts, if it weren’t for the saving lines of Cyrus, that, “yes,” “we can go home again[!]”

   Again, this is why I always say, “go deeper” to unearth the message our loving God wants us to get.  Perhaps, we can look at this 1^st reading as an “attention-getter” to simply realize that in our humanity, we are imperfect and make mistakes, for any number of reasons; we are tired, ill, upset, selfish, lazy—whatever it may be, but for me, the greater part of this reading (going deeper) is the message of hope that Cyrus not only gives to the People of God coming out of exile, but to us today, is that we too, “can go home again!”

   John’s gospel selection for this Sunday lets us know, in Jesus’ words, that “God sent him into the world to save us,” (that good ole Catholic guilt) that I mentioned earlier, and told us that Jesus “needed” to die that horrible death on the cross, to save us as reparation for our sins.  Think of how that paints God in most of our minds!

   How about if we reframe this picture.  If as we read in the letter to the Ephesians, “we are God’s work of art,” wouldn’t it make more sense to think that God wanted to give us, “a little bit extra help” in living out our imperfect human lives, by sending us, “a northern star,” so to speak, in our brother Jesus, to show us the way to be our best selves –as opposed to a vindictive God who “needed” someone to suffer for the imperfections of humanity?

   I always have to wonder why our hierarchical Church fathers insist on holding up during Lent our “sinfulness” as opposed to our “merciful” God who “chases after us” all the days of our lives, as written so beautifully in the translation from The Message of the 23^rd Psalm.  The negative message does much to “enslave” us while the positive message is all about, “setting us free” to discover that indeed, “we are God’s work of art,” capable of so much good in our world. 

   And, as I look around our world, there seems to be so much that needs our love and care.  Yes, we may be “imperfect” creatures, but we aren’t incapable of making a difference in our world.  You all are aware that March is, Women’s History Month. February was, Black History Month.  Have you ever thought why we have these two month-long celebrations?  Or better yet, why we don’t have a Men’s History Month?

   Racism and sexism are two of our national sins, and when you think about it, we are only touching the “tip of the iceberg” in month-long celebrations of the wonderful accomplishments over time, of both groups, often made little of, or nothing at all.

   Friends, we live in a patriarchal world and Church, that second-guesses” the abilities of blacks and women that in the cases of whites and men, are uplifted.  If we want to talk about “sin” in our Church, here is one, where women are concerned! 

   So much my friends that is labeled, “undoable” in our world and Church is not about an “inability” to do the thing that is needed, but about “power and control” –think about it!

   Those with the power, for whatever reason, don’t want to share it, and how, we might ask, does that square with a God who created us, “works of art,” “to do the good things [that same God] “created us to do?”

   In the beginning of this homily, I spoke about the negative notion that we have often gotten concerning Lent—heavy on “repenting.”  It is good to consider that the word “return,” as in, “you can go home again,” and “repent” come from the same Greek word.  Perhaps we might concentrate in these last weeks of Lent more on “returning” to our loving God, if by our actions, we have “been away,” knowing that “we will find mercy,” to begin once again, to be our best selves, and be “enabled” to do all that we were created to do. Amen? Amen!