Juneteenth Holiday

WEEKLY REFLECTION | Second Sunday After Pentecost, June 19, 2022

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday is not only the second Sunday after Pentecost, it is also Juneteenth. “Just what is that?” you ask?  From the website juneteenth.com:

Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

Later attempts to explain this two-and-a-half-year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All of which or none of these versions could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question. Whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory.

Two and a half YEARS to get the liberating and soul-saving word that people who had been enslaved their whole lives were now free!  But for many people of color, even today, 159 years since President Lincoln’s Proclamation, true equality is still a dream. “We shall overcome…someday…,” but not today, is a fact. Racism and discrimination are still widespread, with tragic consequences. 

In addition to the devastation it brings economically, mentally, and socially to the people it targets, it is a disease that invades the souls of those who indulge in it.  You cannot draw the lines more clearly than in the words of Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Bluntly speaking, those who insist on the sins of racism and discrimination, set themselves outside the oneness that is one of Jesus’ gifts.  It is well worth the time to look into our own hearts to see where the subtle serpent might be hiding.

The Episcopal Church has been working toward raising awareness of the need to push back against racism and discrimination. The Diocesan website offers some tools to help, together with wonderful interviews with people around the Diocese. Take some time on Juneteenth to celebrate freedom and to make a commitment to equality: https://diobeth.org/racial-justice-reconciliation/. Scroll down to the bottom for videos and resources.

As the Presiding Bishop says: “If it’s about God, it’s about Love.” And that means loving ALL the brothers and sisters in the way that Jesus loves.

Let us pray this Collect for Juneteenth:

Almighty God, you rescued your people from slavery in Egypt, and throughout the ages you have never failed to hear the cries of the captives; We remember before you our sisters and brothers in Galveston, Texas who on this day received the glad tidings of their emancipation; Forgive us for the many grave sins that delayed that liberating word; Anoint us with your Spirit to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Mo Laura+


Links

Read more about the history of Juneteenth: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Juneteenth