Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
Message: Rev. Katie Omberg (they/them), MBA Area Conference Minister, preaching!
This Sunday is Palm Sunday! When I was a child it was the second best to Easter. I was fitted for an Easter-like dress and got to pick out a hat that I could wear on both Palm Sunday and Easter. We’d have dinner at my grandparents’ house and, with all of the palm waving and big music, I had no idea what the biblical story meant or what it would lead into the following week. I didn’t realize that, while the day certainly held JOY, it was less a Macy’s Day parade joy and more like a protest in front of the ICE building in Burlington joy; less of a Easter dress and new shoes joy and more of a “gird your loins” because things are going sideways within just a few days. I wonder if this year we can hold both things? I wonder if we can celebrate the non-violent act of protest that can make us feel hopeful and powerful while knowing that death is before us, just steps from our efforts? I wonder if we can celebrate this Sunday and then spend this week in reflection and prayer that considers the mortality of our hope and what it would then mean to learn that indeed our hope cannot be killed – can never die.
Join me Sunday to hear Rev. Omberg preach our entrance into Holy Week and our slow and steady journey to the cross… and beyond.
Music:
Prelude: “Wondrous Love” The Southern Harmony, 1835
Anthem: “Hosanna” Bartholomæus Gesius
Meditation: “Eucharistica” Pablo Casals Chihiro Asano, mezzo soprano
Postlude: “Voluntary in D” John Stanley
Easter Offering
This year’s Easter Offering will be in support of The Twin Cities ICE Relief Fund. This fund was created by a faith-based organizer to help coordinate grocery and ride requests for neighbors who were afraid to leave and work due to the presence of ICE agents. Despite the news largely ‘moving on’ from the crisis in Minneapolis, many are still not able to safely get to their jobs and are struggling to stay afloat financially. Here’s an excerpt from the latest update (from March 19) from the fund:
Eviction filings in Minneapolis have surged 339% – 237 filings in just the first 11 days of March, compared to 54 in the same period last year. And that number only captures what’s happening in the formal system. For families without written leases – those renting a room, a bed, an informal arrangement – there’s no filing, no record, and no protection. Many of them don’t show up in any data at all.
Here’s one of the most challenging aspects of the current landscape: city rental assistance requires a lease. But many families in our communities have loose or entirely verbal arrangements. They have no written agreement. Under current rules, that means no access to city funds – and as tenants, effectively no rights. The people most vulnerable are often living in the shadows of the system meant to help.