Sunday Homily, November, 18, 2007, Thanksgiving

Readings:

Genesis  18, 1-10,  Sara will then have a son.

Psalm 15, He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

Colossians 1, 24-28,  It is He whom we proclaim.

Luke 10, 38-42,  “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?  Tell her to help me.”

 

 

Introduction  

As Abraham gives, showing hospitality to the strangers in our first reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham receives. In like manner, Paul addresses the Colossians in our second reading to show mercy, kindness and pardon to others for they are Christ in the World.

 

Homily 

 When I would go on retreats with young people wanting to celebrate the Church’s sacrament of Confirmation they would receive a booklet with songs, prayers but also some blank pages.  I would say to them, ‘You will always receive the desire of your heart,’ and I would ask them what they thought this meant. 

It was not unusual to get a response like this, ‘The desire of my heart is to win the lottery; but since the odds of me doing that are slim to none, I do not believe that statement is true.’ ‘Before I give you an answer,’ I would say, ‘I want all of you to write down in your booklet what you would do if you actually won a lottery… say, a 100 million dollars.’

 They were to take their time and not share with others what they had written.  ‘What’s in your notebook is yours and yours alone today.’ When I perceived that they had all written enough, I would say, ‘What you have just written down is the desire of your heart!  Wanting to win a lottery is not a desire of your heart, rather it is a desire of the flesh. I hope that all of you shared your desire to show goodness and justice; tenderness and compassion to those less fortunate than yourselves.’

 To the degree we desire to give from our heart will be the degree to which we do give and receive.  Life-giving relationships are precious! To the degree that we are in relationship with one another, we are in relationship with God. Those who welcomed the stranger and visited the sick are those who inherited the kingdom of God.

 Often we informally invite others over to our home; other times we have a birthday or anniversary gathering.  We have family and friends over for Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas. But sometimes we might find ourselves getting caught up in all the details, decorations, and preparations, so much so that sometimes, when we don’t even expect it, you might hear or even say, ‘I’m glad that’s over and I won’t have to do that for another year.’

 When that happens our priorities weren’t in the proper order.  We forgot listening to, affirming, enjoying, and making friends. It happened to Martha in our reading from Luke today.  Picture Jesus saying to her softly and in private, ‘Martha, Martha, you worry about many things, Mary has chosen the better portion and it shall not be taken from her.’

 It wasn’t that Mary hadn’t been helping her.  She had.  But when Jesus came through the door that day, Mary made him the priority of her life. It was time to begin a lasting and loving relationship.  
 

Martha’s priorities had been which tablecloth should she use, should we
eat at the table inside or outside, should I sweep the floor again, should I
put all of the food out at once. Would Jesus recognize that the vegetables were fresh? 

 These things had become more important to her than Jesus’ presence.  Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his words that he wanted equally to share with Martha.  We have come to sit at table with God and each other. 

How have you been building relationships with one another since you entered here this morning.  Take a moment to welcome someone near you
that you didn’t acknowledge and embrace when you arrived.

 

 

 

Readings:

Sirach 15, 15-20,   If you trust in God, you too shall live.   

 Psalm 119,  Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.

 1 Corinthians 2, 6-10,   What eye has not seen…

 Matthew 5, 17-37,    If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

 

 

Hi, Genevieve, Better watch out that some of the women around here don't swipe you red shoes.

 

Observations:  on Sirach—

What:  This is one of those 12 odd books in between the Old and the New Testament.

 Author: a Jewish teacher called Joshua.  The only identified author in the whole Old Testament.  He tells us who he is, that he is a teacher, lived in Jerusalem, and traveled a lot.  It seems he put his work together while running a school in Alexandria, Egypt.

 His grandson translated the Hebrew work into Greek.  This Hebrew text was lost for centuries until the 19^th century, when 2/3 of it was found in Cairo.  Then other portions were found in Qumran and Masada, as late as 1964.

 

 

Welcome back, Dee, you look so terrific with your brand new hip.  Did I not warn you that you would love it?

 

 Date: composed around 175 years before Christ.  About 90 years before Christ the Jews put together their official bible, but excluded Sirach because they could not find the Hebrew version, only the Greek. 

 Christians accepted the book as part of their bible in the 2^nd century after Christ.  The Council of Trent (keep 1555 in mind as a date) officially accepted it, making it part of that extra 12 books called the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical.  Martin Luther rejected the book & so do many Protestant congregations today.

 Subject Matter: practical ethics, duties.  Beware of the either / or spirituality presented.  Also, what about unconditional love??

 

 

Welcome back Christine, and welcome to your first day out of the hospital. 

 

Subject today: you may choose good or bad.  Beware of the either / or spirituality presented in the reading.    All is either good or bad.  No in between or both, which is more what we all are, both good and bad.  

It can be simplistic & Pelagian, that is, it is all up to you and you have all the strength needed to choose good.  Pelagians thought that you had to EARN your salvation.  Therefore, the more religious stuff you did, like the more Masses, the more pilgrimages to the church & shrines, the more novenas & rosaries,  the more merit you win for yourself.

 

Psalm 119: the longest of all the psalms.  A focus on observance of the laws, decrees, and statutes.

 

 

The terrific sister Candle Lighting  Team of The Week, Zoe & Tori with help from big sister Georgie.

 

 

Matthew 5:  a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. Note the figures of speech called “antitheses,” namely, “You have heard it said, but, I say to you.”  4 even 5 times.  Matthew is trying to establish the authority & authenticity of Jesus.

See if you can find any unconditional love in this passage?  

Sources: Good New Bible; New Interpreter's Bible.,  Reginal Fuller, S.J., David Westberg, S.J., & Larry Gillick, S.J., St. Louis U. Liturgies, on line; Wikipedia;

 

 

Leo and his buddy, John.

 

Wako Spirituality

We have been here before, Folks.  In fact, at Romeos Friday Mike sits down and says to me, “So, are you going to start with that same story again?”  Yes, Everybody, we begin with that same story.  Just a quick reminder.  Here we go.

When I was studying theology in Toronto years ago, like maybe 1970, an article came out in the local newspaper.  Some guy had read the passage saying that if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  He did it, folks. 

 

 

 

Play Station Numero Uno with the beautiful Zoe and the beautiful Victoria.

 

 In this passage from Matthew there are five pieces of advice to the early Christians which taken literally can get a person all messed up.  Is there a positive as well as a negative to each? 

Two observations before I touch the five.  I have mentioned this so often that I hope you are not worn out.   First, infinite demand and infinite acceptance.  Watch out here for a lot of infinite demand.  I’ll give a positive & a negative for each.  Secondly, God, unconditional love.

 

 

Beginnings…

 

Matthew’s five pieces of advice are 1. breaking the least commandment,  2. getting angry,  3. looking at a woman, 4. divorce, and  5. swearing.  Here goes.

1. Matthew says that if you break the smallest commandment you will be the least in the kingdom.  Moreover, unless you are better than the Pharisees, you will not even get into the kingdom.  The positive here is that the bar is set high.  The negative is that all, all of us sinners will be kept out. It creates scruples and obsessive compulsive behavior.  
2. Secondly, if you get mad at me and call me a fool, you are going to Hell.  I love it.  The positive here is the call to anger management.  I am challenged to know that all feelings are okay and need to be controlled.  The negative is that it gives me the idea that anger is not allowed, so stuff it.  Trouble is, it does not stuff well.  Not like a sleeping bag or tent.  It pops up in unexpected places.

 

 

The Offertory Team, Sandra and Nina, Kerry and Mary.

 

3. Looking at a woman with lust.  The positive here is teaching respect for all people.  This advice, written by men for men, was attempting to gain some respect for women who were looked upon as property.  I found this in Tanzania & Kenya.  Rosemary read me an article about some guy who cut off his wife’s ears and nose for reporting him for abuse.   The negative is that it teaches us that feelings are sinful.  In the old days, we thought we looked at a girl and we were going to hell.  This is doubly sad because I don’t think there is a hell anyway.
4. Divorce is adultery.  The positive is that it reinforces the unity of marriage.  The negative is that people stay in abusive or addictive marriages long after it may even be safe.  Divorce is failure and we all fail sometimes even in tragic ways.  In order to escape using the word divorce the Catholic Church comes up with the more convoluted word Annulment.

 

 

The Best, Ray and David.

 

5. Swearing.  The positive is that it involves politeness and respect for others.  Even if I am okay with my anger I do not swear at someone.  The negative is that it tightens us up.  We forget the therapeutic value of cussing, maybe a healthy & fun way of releasing anger.  The healthy Jesuits I lived with certainly partook of this therapy. 

 

 

Anybody due soon, Bethany?  Like in two weeks?  Wow!  Cannot Wait.

 

 The overall danger in these pieces of advice is that we really get messed up, forgetting two things.  First they are presenting infinite demand and they make no mention of infinite acceptance.

Secondly, where is the God of unconditional love?

 The poor guy in Toronto who blinded himself is an example of how we can mess ourselves up with goofy religion. 

 

 

 

Please don't cry John.  I promise not to try singing again, maybe.  

 

 Where are you with these ideas?

 

 

Help, Everybody.  She is taking over.  

Readings: Deuteronomy, 26, 4-10; Psalm 91; Romans 10, 8-13; Luke 4, 1-13

Deuteronomy – The scene: The Israelites have escaped from Egypt and have been wandering in the desert for years. They are just about to enter The Land. They are assembled. Moses is addressing them and reminding them of all Yahweh has done for them over the years of wandering.

In our chapter he is telling them that when they have settled in their new land, where he will not accompany them, they must take a basket full of a portion of their first harvest, present it to the rabbi, and offer it as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Romans – Paul writes to the Romans that all people, Gentiles as well as Jews, are invited to be part of the Christ event.

Lent!

I know I have mentioned this once a year or so ago, but I saw it again and it is so fitting to our Lenten time of year. Please bear with me.

The last time I was with Rosemary’s sister & brother in law in Hilton Head I was working out on a stationary bike in the little club gym. I look up and coming into the gym is a little old man leaning on a cane. He is hobbling along and bending a bit. I think the man is one step this side of a wheel chair.

I watch as he enters, stows his cane in the corner, pulls a gym towel around his neck, heads for an elliptical trainer, gets on, and begins to work out. I am stunned with the vigor he puts into the trainer. I finish with my half hour bike ride and depart with him still pumping away.

The man is one symbol of what Lent can be. It is like spring training that baseball and football teams are engaged in right now. For me this Lent is not a time of gloom, doom, penance, and a focus on sin. It is new life, becoming more fully alive, spring cleaning, getting into better shape. Becoming a more peaceful human.

Here are ten things you can do for spring training:

1. Exercise more. Take a walk every day, even a couple of times a week.
2. Eat more healthily. Beware of hidden ingredients, e.g., high fructose corn syrup.
3. Mediate every work day morning for 15 minutes, maybe 5 minutes, giving thanks for your blessing of yesterday & today.
4. Say thanks 5 times a day, once a day, especially to family members.
5. Give one compliment a day, especially to a family member.
6. One time a week phone someone or make a luncheon engagement.
7. Read a book. A novel, a book I have recommended.
8. Fun! Be more creative in doing fun things.
9. Give yourself to something that helps others, like Colin Co. Adult Clinic or the Great Trinity Forest Clean up.
10. Get into recovery for your addiction: alcohol, drugs, food, work, smoking, porn. We are all addicted.

You cannot do all of these recommendations. Choose one. Choose something not here.

Look ahead six week to the Sunday we gather for Easter, April 9. How will you have had a great spring training Lent?

Download the homily as an mp3 file.

Readings:

Luke 19, 28-40, Jesus enters Jerusalem (for the procession)

Isaiah 50, 4-7, I gave my back to those who beat me (one of the Suffering Servant songs)

Psalm 22,  My God, My God, why have you abandoned me. 

Philippians 2, 6-11,  He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.

Luke 22, 14-23, 56  The Passion

Note: No homily this Sunday because of the volume of readings.

Video:  Entrance Procession for Palm Sunday.  Curtis consented to play the role of Jesus entering Jerusalem.  (2 minutes)

 

 

Readings: Isaiah 42, 1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 10, 34-38; Matthew 3, 13-17, The Baptism

Isaiah: After 6 weeks of marvelous visions of the future, the writers of Isaiah today present a contrary vision, actually a vision of suffering that will characterize the savior.  Instead of a conquering hero, we are given a Suffering Servant.  There are three or four of these Suffering Servant Songs in the book of Isaiah, and they certainly were not the common expectation of the people.

There are two parts to today’s selection.  The second part is a beautiful description of how Yahweh, despite suffering, will help us to open the eyes of the blind and free people imprisoned and living in darkness.

The Story of Cuernavaca

Last summer our community sent $2500 to two women, a mother & daughter, living in a garage in Cuernavaca.  The money was a grant & a loan to help them start a small pharmacy.  Over the Christmas holiday Rosemary & I had the privilege to see how far they have progressed.

If you remember, I requested the help for a number of reasons.  First of all and obviously, they have virtually nothing and I for-see the day when Maria Luisa, the mother will pass on.  She has already had three primary sources of cancer.  I could see Karina struggling to live some day, while dealing with the fact that her mobility is so limited because she is crippled from childhood polio.

Karina, Maria Luisa, & I had talked about the day when Karina would be alone.  Out of the conversations came the idea that Karina could open a small Mexican pharmacy, which is more like our small convenience stores.  She had already worked in her aunt’s store and knew the business.  Moreover, despite their lack of formal education, I pick up how intelligent & savvy Karina is.  I often tell her she has a gift for teaching if she could only get the education and certification.  She has not been able to do this, even if I supported her, because she has had to care for her sick mother over the past five or six years.

The state of their progress is this.  The women have opened a small shop in an arcade.  They are selling candles and tea and similar items.  Karina tells me that she was not able to get a license from the government to run a little non-prescription pharmacy.  I had thought that she would have had an advantage in getting a license with her disability.  But no.

A couple of observations.

First, I was impressed with their ingenuity and creativity.  Instead of getting discouraged and defeated, they moved in a slightly different direction.  They found a place that is about 20 minutes by bus from their neighborhood, saying that they did not want to pay the higher rent for a place closer to home.  They did some do diligence to find this place in the middle of a busy neighborhood with lots of shops. 

Secondly, initially I was not excited about selling candles.  Can you make a living off of candles & tea?  However, looking at how proud they were of their clean little shop I could not help but think they will make it.  Karina is too street smart to lose.  They spend a few pennies on the bus and they tell me they will be open seven days a week.  Really they don’t have much at home, so the shop may be like a home.

If they succeed with this venture, I have told them that we are giving them a loan. Pay back is not to us but to people they know who really need help in Cuernavaca. 

Finally, both Rosemary & I were humbled that we could be the bearers of such joy and optimism.   I am grateful to all of you who made this dream come true. 

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-01-13.mp3

Jackie’s HOLLAND: Download welcome_to_holland.doc

Rosemary’s Blessing:

May you always have walls for the wind, a roof for the rain, tea by your fire,              laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all that you heart may desire.

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  2, 1-11,  Arrival of the Holy Spirit

Psalm 104,   Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth

1 Corinthians 12, 3-7, 12-13, different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

 John 20, 19-23,   Peace be with you; receive the Holy Spirit. 

 

 

 

Welcome back home from Arkansas, CC  I really miss you when you are not here.

 

Pentecost

This morning I want to talk about the feast of Pentecost.   I propose that a Pentecost event takes place often in our lives.  It is a light bulb happening.  I see more clearly.  I have more energy.   There are light bulb events and light bulb people.  For example.

I know a lady who graduated from high school some years ago.  She was 18 and decided she would go to college.  She signed up, went to her accounting class, and got a D.  “That decided me,” she told me, “college was not for me.”

So she met her husband, got married, and had three kids.  Much more fun.

 

 

Says Olivia, "Welcome, Everybody."  Olivia, do you realize what a megawatt smile you have?  It brightens my day.

 

Fast forward about 30 years.  Her kids have grown up and they have graduated from college.  One is continuing studies to become a doctor.

It is Christmas.  They are all sitting around the table.  Somebody asks, “Is there anything in your life that you regret not doing?”  Various answers come in. 

My friend says, “I regret not getting my college degree many years ago.”  “Well, why don’t you go and get it?,” everybody says. 

 

 

Emma, you make my day.  Welcome back after a bunch of weeks missing you.

 

So she decides to take the entrance exams at CCCC (Collin County Community College).  See how it goes.  She takes two exams, math and reading.  She barely flunks the math, which is her long term weakness.  Remember the D in accounting. 

The reading exam?  She flat out fails the reading exam, also.  The college admissions office tells her they cannot admit her. 

 

 

Yeah, Ben is back everybody.  What a treat to have you and Sophia back, Ben.
 

 

What a blow!  Is that the end of it?  In fact, no!  She decides to appeal to take the reading test again. 

End of story, end of college career?  Nope, she aces the reading exam and is allowed to enter the college. 

 

 

What a scene.  The Girls' play station with Harper, Tori, and Zoe, with Olivia watching over the whole scene.

 

She proceeds to pass two years at CCCC during which time she takes a, you guessed it, an accounting course.  Fortunately, she has a husband who understands these arcane concepts.  Like, he says, “ You see this dollar?  That is an asset.”  And so on.  With his help she gets even a good grade in the class. 

After the two years at CCCC, it is time for another big step.  By the way, all during this time she is working full time.

 

 

Offertory with Carol Ann & Doug, Caroline & David.
 

 

The next big step is Texas A & M at Commerce.  Do you realize how far it is to Commerce.  Also during this time she is not taking a light load, like 9 hours.  Oh, no, once she even takes 18 hours.  This is a monster load for a full time student. 

After two years of A & M she is finally ready to graduate.  She even wins an award, not a cum laude, not even a magna cum laude, but a summa cum laude.  With the Highest Honor.  Latin.

 

 

My little buddy Seth is helping me to celebrate the wedding of his mom & dad, Monique and Zack, last Friday evening at The Rectory.
 

 

Karen Anderlick, thanks for being my inspiration and our Pentecost Person.

Who is your Pentecost Person?

 

 

 

Karen Anderlick, Summa cum Laude.