I would like to start by sharing a little of my personal journey toward Shared Ministry, and then turn it over to Jeff.

I began coming to SJA nearly 20 years ago, when Harvey Eagan was still the pastor. Like so many others, my first visit to SJA was a powerful experience and left me in no doubt as to where my spiritual home was. I was inspired by the social justice focus of this church and wanted to get involved in some way.

But I remember feeling intimidated. I had never been arrested for civil disobedience, and wasn’t sure I wanted to be. I was dazzled by the courage and commitment of Harvey and the other peace activists; I saw their ministry as the only true, authentic involvement open to me. Anything else seemed like half measures.

Of course, now I can see how foolish that was, but back then I was young and idealistic. I was also single, living with my sister and working in a low-wage job. I was driving a junky car and living on popcorn and mac & cheese. I couldn’t just go out and get myself arrested. What would happen to my job? How would I find another job if I had a rap sheet? I had never even had a parking ticket. So, I did the only reasonable thing… nothing. I sat back and watched, and felt guilty and never even looked around at the many other choices I had for involvement in this parish.

Eventually my sister and I decided to volunteer as a Host Family. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I felt a strong spiritual connection with each individual as I distributed communion, and took great satisfaction in finally feeling part of the SJA community in a way I never had before.

Jeff and I were married here in 1996. We signed up to work the Lenten Soup Suppers, and the Cabaret, and I joined the Bible study. The Bible study was, and still is, a very powerful form of shared ministry. I have been transformed by the experience and am profoundly grateful for the insights, friendships and support I have found within this group.

In the spring of 2001, Fr. Jim Cassidy was on a recruiting binge for the Mpls-Chicago AIDS ride, and approached us. He gave us some song and dance about how couples he had married were required to participate in the event before their 5th Anniversary, which, coincidentally, we were approaching. We suspected that was just a ploy, but we went along with it, and signed up – Jeff as a rider and me as crew.

We had some serious reservations – this was going to take us outside our comfort zone big time. And it did. Neither of us could have predicted the immense impact the ride would have on us, both individually and as a couple. It pushed us to our limits every day, physically and emotionally, and made us appreciate how important it is to have someone to lean on when you are feeling completely tapped out. One of the greatest rewards of the ride was the large number of new and wonderful friends we made. Faces we had seen many times at SJA, but had never gotten to know.

That experience was a turning point for us, and our involvement in shared ministry has continued to grow. We have stepped out of our comfort zone many more times since then, with trips last year to South Africa and Haiti. Those trips were very difficult for me, emotionally, but also extremely rewarding. And they have taken me in directions I could not have foreseen.

It’s funny… I can clearly recall how, just a few years ago, I was praying for God to show me how to become more involved – not just with my time, but with my heart. I would pray and ask for a sign, and keep on trying to steer things in my own direction. It wasn’t until I stepped back and really handed it over to God, that I found myself in the middle of doing exactly what seems right.

Today’s reading from Revelation is more powerful to me now than ever before. Anyone who has been involved directly with justice issues, here in Mpls or in our sister parish in Guatemala, or in Haiti or South Africa or the Middle East, will hear those words resonate with deeper meaning: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. For the Lamb…will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” When we share of our gifts, we work as the hand of God, wiping away tears.

Archbishop Romero had it right. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

Back in my Harvey Eagan days, I thought I had to do everything, and I was paralyzed by my inadequacy. Now that I’ve realized I can never save the world, nor am I expected to, I am liberated to do my little part in one little corner of the world and to save and be saved one person at a time.

Jeff:

Perception becomes reality. Our perceptions of our busy lives and our cluttered world and the barrage of noise simply clouds the voice inside us that is telling us how we are supposed to connect with everything that is important. Makes us wonder… if we plant a seed, will it make a difference. Will we ever see the fruit of our labor… why bother? Or that we’re not good enough.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “my sheep listen to my voice… and they follow me.”

Our Lenten theme this year was “Seeing Beyond”… what about LISTENING beyond… to that tiny voice - of question, of action, of hope and inspiration that tries talking to us.

Jesus is asking us not only to listen to his voice… but to follow him. Not just seeing beyond… but passing beyond.

What keeps us from hearing his voice? Why don’t we follow him?

Our world is a clutter of material things, cultural bombardment, societal pressure and media noise. Just turn on TV for a few minutes and what will you see and hear?

• the only way to express love is through jewelry…
• you’re not a real man unless you have a really big truck…
• the earth and it’s resources are obviously there specifically to support our conspicuous consumption
• that if you don’t like dominant violence and our country’s policies... you’re not a good American
• and, as a child, you’re going to be ostracized unless you wear outrageously expensive name brand clothes… the only way to have fun is with the latest game controller.

St. Joan is a little more like we wish the rest of the world would be. Where we can all… just be… be who we are. It’s almost like these walls without windows block out the noise and the world that abuses our senses and spirit. Where we can hear Christ’s voice. Where we can step from our comfort zones to make a difference, wherever we are on our journey.

Some of us have come here long enough we might not remember your first trip to St. Joan. Did it just seem, right? It may not have been immediately comfortable… but something drew you here, whispered in your ear that this was a good place… a safe place… a nurturing place.

Ernie Larson said his faith truth boiled down to one phrase… God is Love. And if I believe that God is Love… then Love is God, right? And if God is capable of Amazing things, Love is capable of Amazing things. When we are love, the power of God is within us and WE are capable of amazing things.

I have to tell you how much I love all of you. You are capable of such amazing things. You have made such a difference in my life… and the lives of so many others. I never dreamed I would ever have the chance to be up here to thank you, for all you do… and for allowing Rita and I to travel the journey with you. You’ve followed Christ to places throughout the world… and to places of need right here at home. Our Shared Ministry at St. Joan makes this a place where we can hear Christ’s voice… see the power of God in a child… feel the Holy Spirit in each others presence.

Do any of us expect to change someone’s life when we teach Sunday school, fold bulletins, serve soup, clean-up after Cabaret. Not likely. But do we? You bet.

The simplest thing can make such a difference. The smallest act can be made holy. It is the seed of change we are planting… that grows… powered by love.

People have come up to me after the AIDSRides or our trips and thanked ME… saying WOW, I wish I could do that. I say WOW right back… for what they’re doing that I can’t.

We’re all capable of amazing things. We’re all just given different gifts and opportunities. Your ministry may be raising children and helping them realize how amazing they are. That’s something I can’t do.

That’s what Shared Ministry is all about… each of us doing our little bit… which is magnified and returned to us many times over. Often, the light is returned to us when we need it most… when we are in darkness. We all know there will be darkness on the path.

I struggle every day… with emotional pain and pressure. I carry more guilt and feelings of inadequacy than you can imagine.

This combination has turned me into a workaholic. Making me sometimes hard to be with… live with… and I’m not proud of it. Add to that the pressure that I believe today’s society inflicts on all men… the guilt training I had growing up in a Catholic school… the normal pain of daily life… and it’s sometimes unbearable. I see members of my family here today who may not always see the pain… but I’ve sometimes hurt them when the pressure just got to be too much.

But you help me work to be a better person. You let me work through it day by day. I’m sure I’m not alone… in wanting to say thanks for your light in the dark times… through the loss of a loved one, struggling with physical ailments, for support during recovery, for a family to be with when we feel out there alone… for providing safe haven from a culture that ridicules people because they think we’re different.

Several years ago the Lenten theme used a metaphor of a cracked-pot. Now, I know a lot of folks out there have used the term “crackpot” to describe those of us from St. Joan of Arc, but I have to set them straight… we’re not “crackpots”, we’re cracked-pots. That’s how the light gets in. It helped me understand that it’s okay to not be perfect… admit we all have reason to feel inadequate. But also to remember…

God is love… Love is God… God is capable of amazing things… then the love in me makes me capable of amazing things.

I’m living proof.

I’m the least athletic man in my family, never having ridden more than 25 miles - maybe a few times. What made me think I could ride a bike from Minneapolis to Chicago… much less do it twice? Or that I could go with groups of amazing people to South Africa and Haiti, to even try and make a difference?

Romero said it… We just need to be open so God’s grace can enter and do the rest.

And God did.

Another example… A little over a year ago, I didn’t own a video camera. In the last year, I’ve produced 3 DVD video features about extended ministries at St. Joan. You can check them out from the St. Joan Library if you’d like to see them.

The first video happened after the South Africa trip last year. Rita and I shot more 21 hours of video tape on that trip. The voice inside said people might be interested in seeing and hearing this. Who are you to keep it locked in your basement closet? To say my video editing skills were inadequate would be an understatement. I’d never done it before. So I started to learn how to make movies.

In the year that followed we produced the February 2003 Arm In Arm In Africa film. We also made and sold an Arm In Arm In Africa Music CD that raised more than $2,000 in donations. We did TeamOZ “Along for the Journey” last summer about last year’s first ever Minnesota Red Ribbon Ride… which is an amazing experience we both highly recommend.

Then, 5 months ago we went to Haiti with St. Joan’s Peace and Justice delegation. We were able to meet with leaders of many groups and met lots of amazing people… including about 30 victims of violence and persecution willing to step forward and speak about the need for justice and reparation.

Our video “Ayiti/Haiti, Eye of the Storm” tries to capture the very personal stories and images of those we met in Haiti. Little did we know that in the days following our trip, people in that film would be killed, brutalized or forced into hiding. It’s now being distribute from my basement, to Haiti support groups across the states.

Haiti made us both very sad. Here are a people whose faith and hope is the only thing keeping them alive… and only barely. Even their souls are tired. They’re so hungry, not only for food, but love and support. They want to believe that God is capable of amazing things… that love is capable of amazing things… that they are capable of amazing things. Our group of 6 was immersed in Haiti and had a taste of what it was like – to dare the question… does GOD care?

One afternoon we went to the Sisters of Charity. It is an orphanage, hospital, hospice… a little oasis where there’s a small spring of love, provided by the sisters and volunteers who frequently visit and help… like we did. We went from room to room with row after row of cribs and beds, filled with children… crying, starving for food… needing to be loved. We were there to help with afternoon feeding. We went from crib to crib, picking up these fragile children… holding them… feeding them. The children I fed had arms no bigger than my thumb. I would guess almost 2 years old. Some were very sick… with AIDS, tuberculosis and malnutrition. It didn’t matter to me. These kids needed to be held. As I fed them, I looked into their eyes… their stare almost pierced my heart and reached into my soul. They seemed to have wisdom beyond my years. Their eyes were saying they didn’t want us to stop holding them, but we needed to feed and hold the next child… then the next… and the next.

Then someone came and told me a child I fed had just died.

NO my heart shouted. It couldn’t be. I’m sure she was fine when I left her.

I hurried back to the room I had just left… there was an empty crib… the nurses had removed the motionless body and covered it with a cloth … tiny feet sticking out one end.

It wasn’t the child I had just fed, but the one next to her. I went to her crib… she was looking up at me. I picked up the little girl who lacked the strength to move… peered into the wisdom in her eyes… looking for answers. Why? Should I have fed the other baby first… held her longer…

All perception of reality was stripped away in that moment… like when you are struggling on mile 93 in a 90 degree day to ride up a hill… facing a group of HIV/AIDs teenagers who have no chance for treatment with very little future ahead of them… or seeing people with so little food, hope and love – then realizing we have so much.

You realize, inadequacy comes from not doing something… when you could have.

Seeing beyond isn’t just so we know what’s there… but being on a journey together, to go beyond. Our perceived limitations prevent us from sharing in the ministry that Christ calls us to. If we don’t open ourselves, God’s work cannot be done. What I’ve learned in the last few years is that God’s love gives us the ability to do amazing things. That we have all been given different gifts… which we’re supposed to share. It’s the seed of Love we sow… that can grow into amazing things.

You see… the cracked pot isn’t just how the light gets in… that’s how the light gets out.

When we go to the darkest places, that’s how our light gets out. During someone’s darkest times… that’s when our light is needed most.

Let your light shine St. Joan.