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

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  6, 1-7, Select from among you 7 reputable men.

Psalm 33,  Lord, Let your mercy be upon us as we place our trust in you.

1 Peter 2, 4-9, You are a chosen race.

 John 14, 15-21,  If you love me you will keep my commandments.

 

 

"Hi, Everybody," says Zoe, "And Happy Mother's Day."
 

 

Mother's Day History:

1905-08: Anna Jarvis of West Virginia began this celebration for her mother, Ann, who cared for wounded Civil War soldiers of both sides.  She campaigned to make it a national day and in 

1914:  Woodrow Wilson made it national.

The spelling: always singular, according to Anna. 

Hallmark Cards: Anna hated them because she felt you know what.  

 

 

"From me, too," says Tori, "Happy Mother's Day."

 

It’s Mother’s Day !

In honor of it being Mother’s Day I want to tell two stories about my mom.  One story is about a compliment she gave me and the second is about a trip we made together.

The first story took place around ’89 or ’90.  I had already returned from East Africa and had already put in a year in a Hispanic church the Jesuits ran in downtown Houston.   I was now living at the high school community. 

 

 

Welcome home, Dawson, from first year at Ole Miss.

 

It was early afternoon.  We were on westbound LBJ heading toward what used to be called the Deadman Hospital at Webb Chapel.  The name has been changed.  Mom was going to the hospital to have some minor surgery, and would stay overnight.

As we drove along she reached out her left hand, patted me on the leg, and said, “I’m proud of you.” 

 

The bells are ringing, time to start.

I may be wrong, but I don’t remember my mom ever doing that before.  You got to remember that she had always been bummed about me joining the Jesuits and she had never spoken to a Jesuit for about 7 years after I had gone to East Africa. 

She thought I had been sent despite my insistence that I had simply accepted an invitation. 

 

Our Candle Lighter of The Week, Leo.

 

 

 

 

Offertory time with Warren, Barb, and Bill.

 

I was already probably 50 years old at the time mom complimented me.  I had been around a bit.  That compliment really touched me.

The second story took place on one of my home visits from East Africa.  Mom got her two sisters to join her and invited me to drive them around Ireland one Fall on my return to East Africa. 

 

Communion helpers, Mike, Geri, Claire, Beth, and Rob.

 

We met in London, which is a story for another homily.  We went to Dublin and leased a little red, two door car.  We drove counter clockwise through County Cavin, where they looked in graveyards for our ancestors, through Northern Ireland, and through the northwest until we arrived at Shannon Airport.

They were like three teen aged girls, laughing, and telling stories about their early day.  Thanks to the smallness of Ireland, we were able to make good progress even though we would usually not be ready to depart in the morning until 10:00 or 10:30.  By 11:30 they wanted to stop for tea.

 

Buddies, Zoe & Harper.

 

12:30 or 1:00 lunch.  3:30 for tea and pastries.  Finally, by 5:30 I had to start looking for a place to stay & eat.  And this was a process.  I had to check it out.  Then my mom checked it.  If she gave the okay, in everyone went to eat dinner and laugh themselves silly until 11:00 or 12:00 midnight.

It was one of the fun trips of my life and I was most touched that mom had invited me to be their driver.

 

Buddies, Mike & Rosemary.

 

The power of a mother to give life through a simple compliment. 

How has your mother given you life?

 

Readings:

 

2 Samuel  12, 1-14,  The verses of this reading are expanded because of the excellence of the story, King David and Bathsheba.

Psalm 32,  Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Galatians 2, 16-21,  If justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Luke 7, 36-8, 3,  She stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears.  Another beautiful reading.

 

 

Relief Work
in OK City

This morning I would like to talk with you about the trip I made to OK
City a week ago.  Three aspects, the time
and the geography of the tornadoes, gratitude, and the three teams.

You might not know it, but three tornadoes hit the area.  The third and second were E5’s, the kind with
winds over 250 miles per hour.  The third
was also the tornado with the diameter of about 2 & a half miles.  20 people were killed, including the 3
professional tornado watchers, but it mostly roamed the countryside, not living
areas. 

 

The middle tornado was the Moore tornado, Moore being a suburb of OK
City.  You drive north on I-35.  On the right you see devastation—of houses
like in Plano or Richardson.  On the left
you see devastation–of a large strip shopping complex like Collin Creek
Mall. 

 

The first tornado, a day or two before Moore, hit Little Axe, a small
village of maybe 50 houses.  35 were
destroyed.  I would conjecture the
majority of the residences were portables, trailer homes.  This tornado spent 14 seconds on the ground
and you will see the result. 

 

We were sent to Little Axe because it had been neglected and forgotten
after Moore.  Moore was urban and middle
class.  Little Axe was rural and
relatively poor.  The roads were not paved,
just gravel and dirt.  Moore sucked up
all the press coverage and attention.  We
were sent to redress this neglect.

 

Secondly, the gratitude.  The
first thing I noticed, after the shock of seeing Moore from I-35 as I drove
north, was the gratitude of people.  We
wore our Bona Responds brown T shirts as we visited stores like Home
Depot.  Customers and staff all thanked
us for coming to help out.  At the Stihl
outlet where we went to buy chain saw parts, the staff comes out with Stihl T
shirts for all of us.  Jim gave them Bona
Responds T shirts.   It was humbling.   See the two types of T shirts.

Thirdly, the teams.  Obviously, we
were the team from St. Bonaventure, the Catholic university.  Besides Jim, who is a finance professor,
there was Jerry, a chemistry professor. 

 

The second team was Israeli.  The
first morning I’m standing outside our barracks style quarters at this generic
church.  I hear these kids talking a language
I don’t recognize.  I look more closely
at them and see the obvious Israeli blue & white flag on their white T
shirts.  I ask them who they are and what
are they doing.  They say they have come
from Israel to help.  I am stunned.

 

A footnote on these kids.  When I
am driving to our site in Little Axe later that morning, the two girls in my
Prius see the Israeli kids and are all excited because they had worked together
at another site.  Guess where: New York
after Sandy.  They were like old friends
meeting.

The third group was a group of, get this, Muslim kids.  Marvelous young people.  Acting and looking just like us except they
were dark, the guys I talked with said they were from St. Louis.

 

Both the Muslim and the Israeli groups obviously have organizations behind them on the ground in the U.S. 
They both had more equipment than we. 
Like, the Muslims had a generator with which they ran a saw that cut I
beams. 

In fact, during the afternoon I worked a lot with the Muslims.  They were cutting up I beams and I and some
others were carrying 6-9 foot sections up out of a valley to the edge of the
road where we had 3 piles, metal, wood, and trash.

 

At one point I trip over some debris on the ground and fall.  Fortunately for sports in my early years I
learned how to fall.  Not hurt at all,
just rolling into ground.  Guess who the
first person to reach out to me was: not one of those Catholic kids, not even
an Israeli, a Muslim.   The others were not near anyway.  They did not even know I fell. Check the pictures of
the teams and equipment.

I told you all how proud I am to be part of you, of this little community
which is so generous and makes such a positive difference.   You
people not only helped the people of Little Axe, but you helped these kids from
St. Bonaventure have a marvelous ecumenical and international experience.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Readings: Isaiah 7, 10-14; Psalm 24; Romans, 1, 1-7; Matthew 1, 18-24.

Isaiah: The great prophetic book.  8 centuries before Christ.  Talking here about the coming of the savior.

The Gift of Life

Last Sunday morning ca. 1:30 A.M., a friend of mine was having insomnia.  She got up without waking her husband.  Got into her car and headed down Belt Line to get a coffee or something at the 7-11 on the corner near Central.  Along the way she lost control of her Expedition, ran into a pole, and then slammed into another.  Parkland Hospital awakened her husband at 3:00 A.M. to inform him that his wife Sally had just died in their emergency room.

I have known Sally Ann Kidwell Swenholt since the 60’s when she was a little girl and I taught her big brother John Michael at Jesuit, where he was a good basketball player.   She was 48 and married 29 years to her high school boy friend. Her father had been my dentist in Preston Center until he retired and John Michael took over.  She became a dental hygienist and cleaned my teeth every year or so.  Her sister Susanne is a special friend.  I have loved this family and been privileged to walk with them through some great times and some troubled times.  This event has knocked me out.  Why?  And why at this time of year.

Some observations.

I can’t answer the why question for myself.  It just happens.  I can live with that mystery.  However, one big lesson stands out for me: life is a gift.  I may blow it off or I may treasure and appreciate it.  Sally Ann did the latter and I hope to follow her example.

One of the qualities that endeared her to me was that she was a delightful airhead who chattered non-stop.  The Kidwell dental office works very efficiently, on time.  You get your teeth cleaned & X-rayed in 30 minutes.  More attention needed, you make another appointment.  I do not know how she & I ever got through a half hour appointment.  Talk & more talk.  Ever try to tell someone how your sister is or how the Masses are at San Vino with someone cleaning your teeth with a drill mounted brush?  We always had so much to catch up on. 

As a tribute to her person centered, caring life, as well as the Kidwell family, St. Rita’s was full with a thousand plus people.  People were standing in the back.  Even though I could not concelebrate with Phil Postell, the Jesuit president, I was delighted that I got the idea and then did it: I applauded after Shauna, Sally’s oldest child who also works at the dental office, gave a beautifully amusing & tear filled eulogy to her mom.  In fact, though I fantasized that I might be clapping all alone, people not only jumped right in, but as Shauna came down & hugged her dad, the whole community stood and redoubled their applause.   I was in tears. 

One other observation.  When Sally drove into that pole on Belt Line she did not have her seat belt on.

We are privileged to celebrate here this morning, we are privileged to celebrate Christmas tomorrow, we are privileged to be alive.

How are you treasuring this gift today?

   

Readings: 2 Kings 4, 42-44; Psalm 145, The Hand of the Lord feeds Us; He answers all Our Needs; Ephesians 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15 

 

Kings: 4 observations–

Subject Matter: The Kings, naturally.  Especially Solomon after the death of his father, David.  But also treated:

    1.  The temple.  Solomon builds it.

    2.  The death of Solomon who held the nation together.

    3.  Division: Israel in the north breaks away from Judah in the south.

    4.  Israel destroyed completely by the Assyrians, ca. 720.

    5.  Fall of Jerusalem & destruction of the Temple; Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 585 BCE.

    6.  Cyrus of Persia releases the Jews to return to Jerusalem after defeating the Babylonians (remember Babylon was near present day Bagdhad).

Date: from 900 – ca. 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE.

Our Selection: There are 2 significant prophets, Elijah & Elisha, his son.  In this piece, Elisha it telling a man with 20 loaves of bread to feed a crowd.  This is a lead into the Gospel of John about feeding the multitude. 

Sources: Encyclopedia of Judaism, Wikipedia

The Miracle of Sharing My Food

I hate to do this to you folks, but every time I read this story about 5 loaves and 2 fish feeding a crowd of 5,000 men (to say nothing of the women), I am reminded of my days in Tanzania, East Africa.  You who have heard these stories, please forgive me.  They just clarify so much.  Here we go.

I was on an overnight train.  I was traveling from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the capitol, to Moshi, a town near Kilimanjaro, where the Jesuits had a small one to three person house, which I used as a base when I was not traveling around Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda giving seminars and retreats.

I had arrived in Dar es Salaam late for some reason and could not make an advance reservation for a first class cabin, which was the only way to go.  You shared a little compartment with another guy.  Because I was without reservation, I had to buy a coach ticket.  These trains are marvelous old antiques from the colonial age, but travel by coach is mayhem.  They are packed.  Don't dream of getting a seat.  Just be grateful that you can get inside.  Which I did, sitting on my one small suitcase, expecting to be awake all night listening to the kids, chickens, ducks, and snores of the few who had a seat and the ability to sleep through it all. 

You board this train for a 7:00 P.M. departure.  You expect to arrive Moshi around 5:00 A.M.   This particular night the train came to a halt at about 1:00 in the middle of nowhere.  Naturally, nobody knew why we stopped and for how long.  We stayed in that spot all the rest of the night and all the following day until about 6:00 P.M. 

Everyone on that train had food & water hidden away, except one gringo, who tried to sleep on the rocks on the edge of the roadbed, knowing he would hear the train move and could get up and get back in.

I was actually rescued from dying of thirst in the heat of the day by a young German couple in the first class compartments, the only other white folks on the whole train.  I was afraid to drink the water of the Tanzanians because they often did not purify it. 

I tell this story because the Tanzanian people on the train I suspect would be similar to the Jews listening to Jesus in that crowd of 5,000 men.  People like these do not go away from their base unprepared.  Not only do they carry food & water, they hide it so as to not have to share with someone too stupid to bring his own.  The women, especially, can hide in their robes lots of things.  Hoarding in the cultures we are talking about is no sign of inferiority.  It is survival. 

What Jesus did that was confounding is that he got these country folks to share their cache.  He takes some of the bread & fish and passes it on.  The person who receives it takes some, but feels uncomfortable only taking.  So the person puts a portion of his or her own in the basket.  What do they end up with?  Twelve wicker baskets of leftover food.

This interpretation of the 5 loaves & 2 fishes is as old as when I got ordained back in 1971, and before that.  I find it fascinating because we can go and do likewise.  You & I cannot multiply bread & fish, but we can share treasures.  We can share and we can invite others to feel secure enough to share. 

I finally arrived home to Moshi in the middle of the next night.  I even caught a thief with his hand in my right pocket at a little kiosk lit with a kerosene lamp.  The train had stopped at some tiny station and a lady was selling little pieces of rice bread or something.  I pulled that man's hand out of my pocket, grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him back.  If I had yelled "thief!", he might have been killed on the spot.  I knew the custom and the language, and he knew I knew.  He ran. 

I also got to know the German couple, even climbing Kilimanjaro with them one of my 5 times.  So, folks, sorry for repeating a favorite story of mine.  The question, too, is the same.

How am I overcoming my temptation to hoard & sharing my food?

Picture 1:  Mass with T.J.

Picture 2:  Bill Carey & Ron Kovatis

Picture 3:  Ron donating $2000 to CCAC with Claire & Ray, Jackie & Cathy

Picture 4:  Barb & her sister Evie from Germany

 

Readings:

Isaiah 9, 1-6, The People who walked in darkness have seen a great  light

Psalm, 96, Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord.

Titus 2, 11-14,  Beloved, the grace of God has appeared, saving all.

Luke 2, 1-14, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus…

 

 

Peace 

 

 

Download Readings Christmas 2020

 

Homily:

Download Homily for Christmas Eve 2020

 

Serenity

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda, 

Readers, Beth & Rob,  & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  Claire Occipinti 

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Mike 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

Alaskan Forest

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Paul & Carrie recuperating, plus her ex, Larry;  For Alan Stryker;  For Joe Sullivan;    For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine; For David Dinsmore's bad shoulder from a biking accident;  For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique;  For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Loretta's aunt Alicia;  For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family;  

 

 

 

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For both Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free;    For John O'Donnell;   For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer; for a little 4 month old boy undergoing an operation, from Barbara;  For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

More of the forest

 

Community Finances, December 24, 2020

Expenses: $

Outreach   $  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.

Robert  Louis Stevenson

 

Genesis 18:  "Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.  What if there are at least ten there?"  He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy  it."

Colossians 2:  You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Luke 11:  "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

 

                     

Denni reading from Genesis
 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben  & Shonda

Tom reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians

The Kiss of Peace

 

Outreach: $   220.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Candice, Buddy, Claire and Ray

 

Rosemary's Blessing: