Dear Ones,
Since March, the NAACP and a number of immigrant organizations have issued a travel advisory related to Florida’s open hostility toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Yesterday, the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRC) issued its first declaration since its inception forty years ago of a “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ travelers and residents within the United States. People are living in fear for their safety and lives. Families are being uprooted.
In this valley of the shadow, it is easy to lose faith in our society and in God. But God has promised to be with us, now and always, through thick and through thin. God’s faithfulness never wanes.
We’ve seen challenging times before, and we’ll see them again. I know that during the difficult times I have experienced, it has been faith that has brought me through. That does not mean I haven’t doubted.
This week we look backward into the Gospel of Matthew and Jesus’s dining with sinners and tax collectors, healing the woman ill for twelve years, and the raising of the synagogue leader’s daughter. It is through their faith – in their reaching out and calling out for mercy – that healing is gained. We can surely use a lot of grace and mercy right now.
I look forward to seeing you this second Sunday in Pride Month as we look at Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26. Be it at 1130 Balclutha or on Zoom, see you at 10 am.
Keep the faith,
Rev. Michael Cronin
