Feast days in the Episcopal church are not when we have lots of food together, although, they can include food. Feast days are when we commemorate biblical or other historic events in our liturgy. On most Sundays, we celebrate the Feast of Jesus Christ. We hear this in our Eucharistic liturgy as we remember Christ’s life, death, and resurrection every Sunday. But there are special Sundays in the church calendar too. There are times when we recount a saint, a season, or a biblical event like Christmas or Easter. Some of these are major feasts and some lesser feasts. The church calendar is full of saints or events we can recognize in our daily prayers or reflections.

Some of these Feasts commemorating saints or events are more current as well. We have a feast day to commemorate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We also commemorate the United States Independence in the Book of Common Prayer. And so, there is a new movement in some churches to commemorate Juneteenth as a sacred Feast day.

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of the enslaved in the US, originating in Galveston, Texas when the African Americans finally heard about their freedom. It is sometimes called the Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, or Black Independence Day.

And I think there is good reason to recognize this Juneteenth celebration as a sacred event. Our God desires liberation for humankind, not just spiritually but physically in this world as well. God led God’s people out of bondage in Israel. God sustained the Israelites in Babylonian exile. Jesus taught and enacted the liberation from social, economic, and power structures that keep others down. There are countless other ways in which God has ordained for us a liberated life.

And so I offer this prayer on Juneteenth from the Diocese of California to not just recall a historical event but to live into the liberation we find in Christ. And to spread that Good News not just in our words, but in our actions.

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.