Sunday Homily, Sept 23, 2007, 25th in Ordinary Time

Welcome into our community, Tom & Susan.  Poor Tom was a student at Jesuit when that Stack was supposed to be one of the teaching staff.

Readings:

Wisdom 9, 13-18,  Thus were the paths of those on earth made straight

Psalm 90,  In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge

Philemon  9, 10. 12-17,   Welcome him as you would me.

Luke 14, 25-33,    …hating his father & mother, wife & children

Pagosa Bill just returned from the wild lands of Colorado. 

Homily by Stack     

I would like to talk about the line from Wisdom that struck me, It’s’ hard to make sense of what is going on in the world & harder still to understand what happening right under our noses. 

My problem is that I do understand.  Consequently, I can get down and I tell Rosemary, ”Let’s don’t talk about that stuff.”  Now, seeing that Rosemary & I will be out of the country the next  two weeks of September, I want to focus on activities and events that console me, challenge me, and make me proud to be an American.  I got five quickies.

Our candle lighting team of the week, Zoe, Tori, and their friend Zoe.

First, anybody know where the Dallas Baptist Men are this morning?  Try Florida and N. Carolina, according to the announcement I heard while Dorian was still in the Bahamas.  So, before hitting the U.S. they already had packed up their pick ups, their shower 18 wheeler, their mobile kitchen, and tons of food.

I worked along side these guys in Galveston and, in fact, shared a  large rectangular dormitory with about 25 guys, one of which snored like a chain saw.

Rosemary sez to Cindy, "Now while I am gone you have this short list of 16 things to do for the community."

The group I was with in Galveston was, as you can guess, Bona Responds, the group of St. Bonaventure students with their incredible professor, Jim Mahar, plus his henchman, our own Pagosa Bill Hammond.  Guess from whom I got a message about taking a group to the Bahamas.

Closer at hand, how about Meals on Wheels?  I am so proud of Rosemary and Barbara, her buddy, when they head out together to bring food to about 12-18 people.  You might think this is a local endeavor only.  Come with us on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day when a mob of regular volunteers pick up their food at the central headquarters near Love Field.

The BEST, John & Connie who can now see the world, thanks to the cataract removals.

On 60 Minutes a week or so I heard about a wealthy alumnus of NYU (Rosemary's Alma Mater) who gathered & donated enough money to set up a trust to enable all students in the medical school study loan free.  I was in tears when it showed the assembled students getting the notice.

Finally, a favorite of our community, the Love for Kids picnic in the Fall and the one in the Spring.  We ride in under the flag of Bona Responds and Pagosa Bill suits us all up in special T shirts.  Who ever came up with this plan?  It is fabulous and most touching.

Come on, Ben, I'm jealous & want a Zeke Elliott do like you got.

These are five reasons I am honored and proud to be here in Plano with you people, to be in Texas, and to be in the U.S.

Your five reasons?

Want to see the man who has no stage fright?  You are looking at him, Leo.

Readings:   Wisdom 12, 13-19; Psalm 86, Lord, You are good and forgiving; Romans 8, 26-27; Matthew 13, 24-43

Wisdom:

• Author: not Solomon, but an unknown Jew from Alexandria
• Original Language: Greek
• Time: 1-2 centuries B.C.
• Message: Yahweh rewards those faithful to him.
• Means: Greek Philosophy common in Alexandria (Platonism & Stoicism) and Jewish traditional  teachings (wisdom of Solomon).
• Uniqueness: one of the ca. 11 deutero-canonical books (not originally part of the Jewish bible).
• Today's reading from chapter 12 emphasizes a God who cares for all, is merciful, and kind, perhaps as a balance to the parable of the wheat & weeds in Matthew

How We Help Each Other Along the Way

    Last Friday morning Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette were riding around White Rock Lake.  It was about 7:00.  We had started at Royal Lane and had passed through the marvelously dense forest along the White Rock Creek Trail.  We had crossed Mockingbird & Northwest Hwy, and were going around the stunningly beautiful lake in a clockwise direction.  We had split up, each going at their comfortable speed until we meet up at the boat house on the south end of the lake near the dam, the half way point.

    I’m ahead and see a lady on the left side of the road with her bike down.  I ask if she needs help, hoping, I confess, that she will say no.  She says yes.  Ugh, oh.  So I slow down, turn around, and get off next to her.  Shortly after that Gilberto rides up.

     She says her rear tire is real low, she has an air pump, but she has never used it, and cannot get it to work.  The problem was she had her pump set for one type of inner tube valve and she had the other.   For bikers, she had a schraeder valve, and her pump was set for presta, the skinny tire..

     So we showed her the problem, helped her pump up her tire, and she took off with a hundred thank you’s.  

     Meanwhile, my phone is ringing non-stop.  I usually do not answer when riding.  An 18 year old riding with us once fell down when he answered a call from his mom.  

     On the phone is Rosemary.  You guessed it, she has a front flat.  She is behind us at the Bath House.  So I return and we start a pump and run strategy to help her get back to a good pick up point, which turned out to be the Dart station on Northwest. Hwy.  

     Twice as we return we encounter the lady.  The first time she even says to Rosemary, “You are a lucky lady!”   Yahoo!   The second time she is taking a break at the same place Rosemary has stopped to pump up her tire again.  

     After Rosemary departed on her run, she says again how grateful she is and she adds, “I really learned something special about myself this morning.  I normally hate to ask for help and when I did it today it was okay.  From now on I will always ask others on the side of the road if they need help.  But I will also let myself ask for help.” 

     We have here a metaphor for community, folks.  We are not alone.  We help and accept help.  It is how I would like to handle the three parables, one of which could scare you.  Actually, it was intended by Matthew to scare his young Christian community, because he thought some members were not always doing good. 

     I see two community symbols in what happened on the shore of White Rock Lake. First, what we did.  Secondly, what took place in the lady.

     The first thing, normal for community, we stopped to help someone.  Simple.  What about people who are unemployed or sick?  We help them, too.  What about fear?  You hear the parable of the wheat & weeds and immediately see yourself heading for the furnace.  

     Naturally, we all see the weeds in ourselves.  Everybody does because we all see our weeds.  In a caring community we hear that we are both, not either/or, wheat or weeds.  You might even hear that one old priest doubts that there is a furnace.  After all, it has been admitted that limbo was imaginary.  What about purgatory?  Enough with fear of me going to hell.

     Secondly, what happened inside the lady is symbolic.  One little community event has touched her into new sensitivity and acceptance.  Even deeper peace.  Can you see the mustard seed growing, the yeast expanding in her spirit?  

     Can you give me one way you are richer because of community and one way you make community richer for another?

 Picture 1:   Mass

 Picture 2:   Georgie with Buddy & her dad, Randolph

 Picture 3:   Zoe with her mom, Michelle

 Picture 4:   Hugh & Sydney Bivona

 Picture 5:   The Girls, Gayle, Jackie, & Mary Ellen 

Welcome in Jan & Bernadette & our favorite Studebaker salesman, Sir Charlie.

Readings: 

Acts of the Apostles, 13, 21-27, They appointed elders.

Psalm 145,  I will praise your name forever, my king and my God (excellent first stanza, one of my favorites.  The Lord is Gracious & Merciful, Never gets angry, and is Abounding with Love.)

Revelation 21, 1-5,  Then, I, John saw a new heaven & a new earth.

John 13, 31-35,  This how you will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Juliettes on the loose, Mary, Sydney, & Geri.

The Lord is Gracious and Merciful, Never gets angry, and is Abounding in Love.

Eddie Aguilar is a 64 year old Viet Nam vet who enlisted in the Navy at 17, so he could get a good education, which he could not get with his family in Santa Barbara.  They did not have the resources. 

After basic training he was posted to the USS Oklahoma City, the flagship of the 7^th Fleet off the Viet Nam coast.  Being an intelligent kid he was assigned to a 5 person team in the radio shack.

How many girls does it take to light up our Easter Candles?  At Least, 3, Zoe, Tori, and Georgie, to not mention Buddy who is reading The Blessing.

Eddie says that the guys saw and heard a lot of highly secret crypto material.  They could not talk about any of it—ever.  Eddie and the team was together for 2 years off the coast,’73-’75.  They all became good friends and buddies, which helped because they lived in really tight quarters.

On getting released from the Navy in ’75, they continued to stay close and even put together some reunions, all except one, the Little Texan.  They had lived through Viet Nam in a unique position, the radio shack.  They could not talk about it, but it helped to be with the team that  experienced  the same horror of the war.

I'm jealous!  John & Connie just returned from biking from Pittsburg to D.C., crossing the eastern Continental Divide, all in one week.

Music don't get no better than with Ben & David.

The years passed and Eddie continued to search for the ‘good ole boy from Texas.’  Eddie says T.J  was a sweetheart of a guy, a salt of the earth guy.

As the years passed Eddie continued to search on and off all to no avail, until this year, their 45^th reunion at Las Vegas.  Eddie now lives in San Antonio and remembered recently that he thought he heard T.J. mention he came from a town called Garland in Texas. 

Communion Team ready.

Knowing that Garland was a suburb of Dallas, Eddie contacted The Dallas Morning News and Sharon Grigsby took up the search.  Using her search tools it did not take her long to find a name she was looking for.  She left a message and lo and behold TJ called her back.  Success yes, but TJ confessed he was just not ready yet to reunite with his former buddies.

I would bet that Eddie will continue to welcome TJ back into the group whenever he is ready.

Worn out!!

For me Eddie is a personification of a Shepherd-God who is Gracious and Merciful.

Where & when do you find this Gracious and Merciful God who Never gets angry and is Abounding in love.

Ref. Dallas Morning News, Metro, 5-14-19

The Best Teamwork.

 Readings: 

 Amos 8, 4-7,   Never will I forget a thing they have done!

Psalm 113,  Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

1 Timothy 2, 1-8, I ask that supplications be offered for everyone.

Luke 16, 1-13, A rich man had a steward who was reported for squandering his property.

Line forms at the rear for Free Hugs from Georgina and Zoe.

Amos observations :

What : 
One of the 12 minor prophets, only 9 chapters.

Who:  the book
presents the thoughts and observations of Amos, who was a sheep herder and a
fig farmer.  He was born in the southern
kingdom of Judah in a little town south of Jerusalem, but he is condemning the
people, especially the rich, of the northern kingdom, Israel.

Time:  Amos was
active around 755 before Christ, but his words and message were revised and
edited down through the years, especially during the Babylonian Captivity,
around 555 before Christ.  He lives just
before the Syrians destroy the northern kingdom of Israel, around 700 before Christ.

Message:  prayer and
sacrifice don’t make up for social injustice and oppression of the poor by the
rich. 

Today:  God will
punish you rich and prosperous for your abuse of the poor.  Amos may have seen the threat coming from the
Syrians. 

Sources:  Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible,
Wikipedia

Cowboy Cole ready for business.

The Wiley
Steward

Anybody get any rain Thursday night?   We got 3 whole inches, an amazing gift.  We also got a surprise. 

It was just time for the sun to come up Friday morning.  I wanted to take my first cup of coffee on
the back porch where I could watch that special rain.  I go out and sit down with Aviana beside me. 

James arriving.

I look toward the street and I see a huge tree branch lying half way
across the street, Camellia, and half in our parkway.  I immediately look at the front yard of my
neighbor, hoping to see where it came from his red oak.  Nope. 
It did not come from there.  Oh,
Lord, it must be from one of our trees. 
And in fact it is a pecan branch. 
We have three large pecan trees on that side of our yard.  It is our branch. 

Kara, James' big sister.

What to do?  It is still raining seriously.  I decide that I will wait until the rain
stops, even though cars are having to negotiate around the branch. 

I must then have gone in for a minute. 
When I come out I see a boy from St. Mark’s School a block away out
in the rain, trying to lift the trunk of the branch out of the street and pull
it into our parkway.  I am embarrassed
that I am still on the porch while he is working in the rain.

Mabel with Debbie.

He can only barely move the trunk to the edge of the street, although
many branches are still lying in the street. 
At one point he looks over at me and I thank him, saying I am planning
to tackle the branch when the rain stops. 

The Girls, Marlene, Megan, and Cindy.

He finishes up what he can do, looks back, I thank him again, and I tell
him he did great work.  He says, “Sure,
it is really heavy, have a nice day,” and takes off for St. Mark’s.  I could not see whether he was on foot or got
back in a car.  He had no rain gear
on.  So I sent a note to St. Mark’s,
complimenting the boy and them for helping to train a kid like that.

Cupcakes of The Week to Judy and Bethany on birthdays.

Moral of the story: we got lots of good kids out there, and good people,
too.

I tell this story as a bit of a contrast to our parable today, the
parable of the wiley steward.  It is
quite coincidental, but this parable is also explained by Francis Vanderwall in
one of his books.   

Cupcake of The Week to Mary Jane for her birthday.

The steward was in charge of collecting promissory notes from the owner
of the farm.  Here is where the customs
and culture of the times open it all up. 

The steward made his living by adding a little sur-charge, a commission
on each transaction.   The charge went to
the steward.  Francis points out that all
the steward did was call the debtors in and cancel his commission.  Granted, he was also cheating a bit, and
cheating the farmer. 

And to Georgie on 12 years.

There are some other crazy statements at the end of the story, but I
will leave them to Francis to explain. 
Watch out for that either/or stuff at the end, either God or mammon,
hate one master/love the other.  Life is
not either/or, it is both.

The moral of the two stories?  Not
either/ or, but sometimes you got to use your wits like the wiley steward, and
other times you just pitch in and help some poor guy (like me!).

When did you last pitch in and help?

Source: The Liberating Stories of Jesus, Francis
Vanderwall

Leo and Cowboy Cole at work.

Chloe says, "Happy Easter, Everybody."

Readings:

Acts 10, 34, 37-43,   Peter proceeded to speak.

Psalm 118,  This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.

1 Corinthians  5, 6-8,  A little yeast leavens all the dough.

John  20, 11-18,  Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.

Jude also says, "Happy Easter, Everybody, and welcome in."

Seeing the Lord

I would like to talk this morning about seeing the Lord.  I would, also, like to suggest we see the Lord constantly and seldom realize it.  I have three short stories to illustrate the idea.

The first event happened here about two, maybe three weeks ago.  We were in the middle of our Sunday celebration.  I am pretty sure we were singing, so it could have been at the very beginning or during the responsorial psalm. 

Not to be outdone by those big kids, Charlotte says, "Happy Easter Everybody; where is that Easter Rabbit?

During the singing Leo was playing at the feet of his parents as he often does.  At a point, he gets up and starts walking slowly in front of the table as he often does.  Suddenly, however, he vanishes from sight.  I don’t think I was paying much attention to him. 

Then I sense he is just at my feet.  He had decided to slip under the table cloth hanging down in front of the table which we use as an altar.  He climbed in under the table.  And there he was right at my feet.

Christopher says, "Happy Easter from Amarillo."

Poor Shonda, as soon as she could finish singing and get over here, she comes over, pulls him out from under the table, and carries him off.  Leo did not cry or squeal or anything.  He looked content.

This was a see the Lord moment for me.  Why?  Two reasons.        

First, Leo was not afraid to wander around up front with everyone looking on.  He feels accepted by you people, the community.  Occasionally, Emma does it, walking by sweetly smiling at everyone.  Georgie, you used to do a bit of this in your day.  This is amazing and I see the Lord in the kids and in you folks when you accept the kids.

The Roberts.

Secondly, Leo is not afraid of The Old Geezer.   Parents have told me since the days of St. Marks, “My kids think you are God.”  I am sure many of you can see the resemblance. 

I think when I was a little kid I saw the priest as some God figure.  Trouble was, they were all stern and scary.  I would never have done what Leo did, nor anything close to it.  I grew up with fear, ultimately, fear that I was going to hell because I was such a bad kid.

Emma, who is always ready to welcome everybody, says, "When do we begin that Easter egg hunt?"

So if Leo and the kids think I am something like God and they are not afraid of me, I am overjoyed.  This is one of my goals in our community.  No fear spirituality.

The second event took place last night in Granbury.  We did the wedding of Ron and Barb Senter’s second daughter, Rebecca.  I saw the Lord in those people and especially in Rebecca, who had a difficult time in her adolescent years and has turned into one marvelous person. 

"Where is that Easter Rabbit, say the Gerwers kids.

I was so touched by her.  As she walked down the aisle with Ron, her dad, she began to cry and cry.  Of course, that got me going.  I saw the Lord last night.

The third event took place Thursday afternoon.  See this turquoise thumb.  This says, “She made it, the last of 18 chemo treatments, success over ovarian cancer, NED, no evidence detected, Jackie Urbanczyk.”  We had a celebration at her house Thursday after her last treatment. 

There that rabbit is.

Three times in three days: Leo, Rebecca, Jackie, I saw the Lord. 

And you?

Fred and Maureen celebrating 51 years and Fred 76 years. So he wants 2 Cupcakes of The Week!

 Readings:   Jeremiah 31, 31-34, I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; Psalm 51, Create a clean heart in me, O God; Hebrews 5, 7-9, He learned obedience from what he suffered; John 12, 20-33, Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground.  Whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

Jeremiah:  We have not seen Jeremiah for a long time, since before Thanksgiving.  Remember that he is one of the Big 3 Prophets (because of the size of the work, e.g. 62 chapters in Jeremiah), who are Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel.   A review:

Lighting Today's 5 Candles, Sienna & Brian, Brooklyn & Erin

Author: most of the work is done by Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch.  Jeremiah is described as the broken hearted prophet because of his heart rending life spent warning the people & kings that their behavior was going to be punished.  And so it happened with The Babylonian Captivity.

Time:  ca. 600 BCE, as an easy date to remember.   The Captivity went from around 585-550 BCE.  Jeremiah may have died in Egypt during The Captivity in Babylon.

The Scene:  Remember that the Holy Land had a north & a south, Israel & Judah.  First, the northern kingdom, Israel, was defeated by the Assyrians, 622 BCE.  These Hebrew tribes vanish into the DNA of the region, “The Lost Tribes of Israel.”  Next, the Babylonians & Nebuchadnezzar defeat the Assyrians and threaten the southern kingdom, Judah with the capital Jerusalem.  Jeremiah is watching this and seeing it as Yahweh's punishment.  In 596, more or less, the Babylonians do destroy Jerusalem and cart the Hebrews into slavery.

Today's selection, chapter 31.  Yahweh is promising to make a new covenant or agreement with all the people, and to forgive them, after having shown the people who is master.  Here is the covenant idea mentioned again.  It is a pact or a deal.

Sources: Fr. Reginald Fuller, St. Louis U., Wikipedia; Answers.com; Encyclopedia of Judaism

Brooklyn Walks!

Hate My Life?

I have a story this morning which I have told twice, once at St. Mark's, over 8 years ago and here about 4 years ago.  Pardon me if you've heard it. Some of our best stories we tell over & over, they are so poignant.  The story speaks to my point today.  I had permission for the story.

It happened many years ago when I was working full time as a psychotherapist out of an office at Jesuit.  I think it was the first Monday morning of May.   I know it was a beautiful morning like today.  A boy came to see me who had been in my office on and off for about six years.  He had just graduated from high school and enlisted in the Air Force.  He had struggled since grade school with bouts of depression, and that morning seemed to be in great shape.  We did not even spend more than 30 minutes together, his mood was so up beat and care free.

The Girls, Robyn, Erin & Brooklyn, & Sandra

He left.  Maybe two or three hours later a call came in.  The boy had left Jesuit, crossed Inwood to the Lincoln Center complex at LBJ, drove up to the top of the four floor garage, parked his car, headed to the edge of the garage, and walked over the side.  He landed on the cement street four floors below, face down flat.

A passerby saw it, called 911, and in a second the paramedics from just around the corner were on the scene.  He was in Parkland in a flash.  He lived.

It was not for about 3 weeks until I got to visit him.  He apologized.  I admit I was mad.  I loved this kid.  He fooled me.  He said that he had been in a zone, happy because he knew he was out of there, meaning he was ready to go to the other side.  He wanted to escape the pain of life and go to heaven.  He said he had  no fear in walking off that fourth floor, none of the hesitation you feel before you jump off the high diving board the first time. 

Emma & her mom, Beth

You may guess why I tell this story.  It exemplifies what happens when you take literally "whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life."  This little piece of advice, taken the wrong way, can be so dangerous. This boy hated his life.

 I would suggest there is a negative and a positive way to hate my life. 

The negative is exemplified by this kid's story.  This is often what is happening when you hear of someone cutting on themselves.  If I hate my life and hate myself, I will want to punish myself.  So I cut myself.  Or I may think that I am such a loser that no one will pay me any attention if I do not do something dramatic like spill my blood. 

So who's crazier, Sir Charlie or La Reina Patricia

Even without such dramatic examples, I do not want to encourage someone who hates their body, hates their job, hates their family, hates their school, hates.  Just thinking about this I recoil.   There may be reason for the hatred.  However, "There is a better way," I want to say and I would say it.   I believe in talk therapy.   Feelings are all okay.  I just don’t want some feelings to stay around. 

On the positive side, I would suggest two things.

First, the word hate can be considered as hyperbolic, a big word meaning exaggeration.  It is like Rosemary telling me, "You get me up at 5:00 tomorrow morning for spin class & it is divorce!”   Think she is exaggerating?  I hope. 

Rich & Mary

Secondly, I would suggest that this all has to do with being more alive now, in this life. The grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying fits in with this.  For example: look at March Madness.  Many of these player have died to themselves to achieve & to be better players.  How many hours in the gym have they spent practicing free throws?  When they could be hanging out, sleeping in, text messaging?  And they love their lives.  I’ve seen boys do this at Jesuit. 

Goofy, but I hate my life to love my life.  I don't want to get up early.  I could sleep in to 11:00.  However, I, we, Rosemary & I get up and head over to the Jewish Community Center, 6:00 A.M. spin class.  The result even Rosemary loves  life.  And so do I.

The boy who jumped is now okay, amazingly.  It took him years of physical recovery.  Two things did not happen that blessed him.  He did not damage his brain and did not damage his spine.  Every other bone, plus his teeth, were broken.  Once he got strong enough he went to medical technical school, got his certificates, and now has good jobs in various hospitals in the city.  I don't think he hates his life anymore.  In fact, he loves it. 

Maureen & Marilyn looking over the enormous food drive

How do you love your life?

Sources:  The Center for Liturgy, St. Louis U.; St. Raymond Catholic Church, Dublin, CA; Carmelite Order Web; Homilias Domincales.