Readings:

1 Kings  19, 9-13,  There was a tiny whispering sound.

 Psalm 85,   Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

Romans 9, 1-5,  My kindred according to the flesh

Matthew  14, 22-33,  Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

Georgie says, "Welcome, Everybody, Come in."

1 Kings observations:  

What:

There are really 2 books, 1 Kings & 2 Kings.  Or originally, it was all one work.

Even though 1 Kings focuses mostly on King Solomon & his accomplishments, the latter half of the work shows how at Solomon's death the kingdom split into two hostile & petty states, Israel in the north & Judah in the south around Jerusalem.  2 Kings ends with the Babylonian Captivity.

As I have pointed out concerning prophets, Elijah condemns the behavior, especially of the rulers, and promises punishment. 

When & Who:  The two books were put together by numerous people and the latest putting together took place, you guessed it, around the Babylonian Captivity, around 555 before Christ.

 Today’s selection: The prophet Elijah is running scared to get away from Jezebel.  She is out to kill him for his killing her fake priests.  We catch up with him in the desert.  

I love this little story.  See if you can figure out why.

Carol & David, too, say, "Hi, Folks, Welcome."

A Tiny Whispering Sound

We are having a run on delightful scripture passages these days.  The passage I love today is the scene where Elijah stands outside a cave and he sees wind, earthquake, and fire.  No God visit.  Then he hears a tiny whispering sound.  The God visit.  I would suggest we have these god visits daily, and we are often deaf or blind to the visit. 

To exemplify, our story of the week.

It is Wednesday.  Guess where.  Yes, Iowa.  The 4^th day of our ride from the Missouri River to the Mississippi.  We have only 40 miles to go from Forest City to Mason City, the city on which Meredith Wilson based his musical, Music Man.  We have only two pass through cities, Verona and Clear Lake.

Emma says, "Hi, Everybody."

So, I am thinking, ‘How can I extend this day.’  I want to savor the joys of the ride as long as possible.  Two or three miles out of Forest City I decide that at least I will stop at a coffee stand for a good cup of coffee.  Take my time, enjoy it, and watch the hundreds of people passing by.  This is the day after I was so moved by the man playing the National Anthem.

I see a sign for coffee in a hundred yards, pass by the stand, and pull over to the shoulder of the road, careful to get out of the way. 

The coffee shop is simply a four poster tent perched on the slope of the shoulder just a bit above the bottom of the irrigation ditch and dangerously close to the road for me. Very low tech.  A kid about 17 is serving coffee, muffins, bananas, watermelon, water, and who knows what else. 

Tori in her stylish attire.

He has a line of about a dozen people and is a bit frazzled trying to take money, cut watermelon, and prepare coffee, all of which is coming out of the back of his van which was perched sideways on the shoulder.  This is not Starbucks. 

However,  as people order coffee, he asks them to form a line on the other side of the stand.  I even regretted later that I did not help him, but at the time I thought I would be there all day long.  As it is, we are all trying to keep to the very edge of the road to avoid getting hit by one of the hundreds of bikers swishing by.

Zoe and her dad, Randolph.

Finally, the lady ahead of me gets to the kid, asks for what she wants, and discovers that she is $2 short.  I say, “Hey, I got $2,” and I give it to her despite her protests.  “Loan it to the next guy,” I say. 

Later that morning, say about 11:00, I pull into this gorgeous green, tree shaded, people filled park in a town called Clear Lake, on the northern edge of a lake by the same name.  For an hour we had ridden along the shore of this lake until I see the park.

I put my bike against a tree and settle on a park bench in the sun (it was so mild) in front of a band stand.  People are all over the place, hundreds, lounging in the sun, eating, chatting.  Between the park where I am and the lake the bikers are passing through.  I am facing the lake.

A shy Harper, for the moment.

I hang out there probably an hour.  I watch a group of guys ride up, bring out their electric guitars using batteries, and play for us.  I even get interviewed by a young girl from the De Moines Register.  These are my wind and earthquake.  I can see God's presence in both.  

And then it happens, the tiny whispering sound, a God visit.

From behind me a lady comes around, hands me $2, says, “Thanks,” and then vanishes back into the crowd leaving me speechless except for a quick, “Sure.”  It was the same lady from the coffee stand.

Cupcakes of the Week, Marsha, Denni, John & Jean, Mike & Carol, and Marlene.

I admit that the Iowa days were full of God moments for me.  This lady, however, was especially touching, a tiny whispering sound.   I never saw her again and she probably identified me in the crowd because of the Aviana beany baby on my helmet and the Mardi Gras beads I wear around my neck.  Moreover, Hammond says I look like a bum in my choice of attire.

When was your last God moment, your tiny whispering sound?

It's The 50's, Jean and John at 56, Mike and Carol at 50!

Readings:

Deuteronomy  8, 2-3, 14-16,   He let you be afflicted with hunger, then fed you.

Psalm 147,   Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 10, 16-17,  We all partake of the one loaf.

John  6, 51-58,  Whoever eats this bread will live forever.

The Girls say, "Welcome, Everybody, Hats in honor of Cathy." Patricia, Carol, and Maureen.

Deuteronomy: The fifth & last book of the Torah.  The scene: Moses & the Hebrews are in the desert just outside the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, whom they are going to kick out and kill.  Moses is reviewing their journey from Egypt.

Date:  first put into some form around 750 before Christ, then put into a more final form, guess when, at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, around 555.

Jan with her hat of symbols, tree planting, peace, patriotism, friendship, and cupcakes.

Author: not Moses, even though the book is 3 sermons of Moses on the plains of Moab, just at the end of the period of wandering, and just before entering the land of the Caananites, or the Promised Land.  It is really tradition, stories of old times. 

Our Selection:  Moses is recounting the escape from Egypt and the years in the desert.  

The belief that Yahweh punishes, corrects us, and tests us with affliction is not common today as Moses suggests to the people.  You can still hear it from fundamentalist preachers.  Remember the huricane in New Orleans?  We will read more of the section to get the sense more clearly.

Geri and Marilyn say, "Hi, Folks, Come in."

My Guide through the Desert

We have just read about how Moses guided the Jewish people through the desert.  In honor of two of our most favorite people who are retiring from years in public education, this morning I would like to talk about people who guided us and me through the desert.

Two short stories, some of which you may have heard before.  It just seems to fit in here so well.

When I was in maybe 6^th grade, I joined the Boy Scouts at Christ the King around January, when I have my birthday.  Some of my classmate joined up in the spring.

Cathy and especially Harper accepting a special pastry for Cathy's retirement from public education.

First thing I know, along comes summer and we are heading to Texoma for a week of summer camp.  We get there, get our tents, and I overhear some of the 8^th grade guys planning to initiate me.  Why me?  Probably because I was bigger than some of my classmates. 

So suddenly I get sick.  I’m afraid.  I'm home sick.  I want out of there.  These guys were bigger than me and I did not feel safe, no way.  The scout master was a pretty passive guy I did not know well. 

Rick and Jackie accepting a special pastry for Rick's retirement from public education, Rick's 62nd birthday, Rick and Jackie's 39th anniversary, and for Jackie's marvelous recovery.

We had come in on Sunday.  By Monday night I am back home, and back home really feeling horrible about what I did.  I feel like a chicken, for sure.  I was embarrassed even in front of my parents.

The next summer comes along.  My dad, who had remained active along with me in the Scout troop, invited me to go with him back to Texoma.  He was going to spend the night as one of the adult overnight supports for the troop.  

With some trepidation, I decided to go.  We arrived at night and I still remember walking into the tent of my coach and teacher, Frank Hart.  He was sitting on his cot and there was a Coleman lantern buzzing.  He had always supported me.  Always encouraged me. 

Brian and especially two little mice accepting a Cupcake of the Week for Brian's 63rd.

His welcome that night was a turning point in my young life.  It probably prepared me for the day after high school, when I would walk away from the security of my family, join the Jesuits, and never return, even to Dallas for 7 years.

My second guide through the desert was one of the Jesuits at the old Jesuit High.  From as early as I can remember I detested clericalism and the piety stuff.  That was all I had seen until Jesuit.  Fr. Jules May was not clerical and not pious. 

He was our freshman football coach.  As coach he was out there in clothes as crummy as what we wore.  And as coach he got after us like a drill sergeant.  He cussed us.  He yelled at us.  He accepted us ultimately.  I remember my dad was somewhat shocked. I loved him. 

Buddy, the candle man, lighting up with the help of his mom, MIchelle.

I remember one day we were playing Highland Park on our upper field right next to Oak Lawn across from Holy Trinity.  My best buddy played center for Highland Park and I played center for Jesuit.   At one point in the game we were punting out of our own end zone, a chain link fence between our field and Oak Lawn.  I centered that ball over the kicker’s head, over the fence, and onto Oak Lawn. 

I was so humiliated and was waiting for Jules May to descend upon me with both feet.  He did not. 

Marsha, one of those from the "crazy corner."

Jules May was one of the reasons I decided to join the Jesuits.

These two coaches and teachers were guides to me through the desert. Cathy & Rick have guided tons of young people through the desert. 

Who was your guide?

Whom are you guiding today?

Zoe, as always, the style setter.

Readings:                          

Genesis  14,  18-20, Abraham gave Melchizadek a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110,  You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

1 Corinthians 11, 23-26,    Do this in remembrance of me.

Luke 9, 11-17,  Give them some food yourselves.

Welcome Erin & Diane & Cole.  So good to see you all.

Spirit Feast

I would like to talk this morning about 2 things.   First, what was my most favorite moment or experience on the Viking cruise.  Secondly, let me say a word about Jesus feeding the people.

This little story in Luke about the feeding of the 5 thousand men is one of my favorites.  I have talked about the story a number of times over the years, because I’ve been there & done that.

Welcome back, Marlene.  It has been too long since the days we did the 9:00 Spanish Mass in the cafetorium at St. Marks. 

The point I like to make is that  these country people would hardly ever leave home for the day without some food hidden  away in their robes.  They would not be in to sharing it. 

By telling his apostles to share their 5 loaves and 2 fish, Jesus gets the people to share their food, too.  He creates a spirit of trust.  I would call this a unique spirit event, which leads me to the first point I mentioned,  what about our cruise was the best.

Welcome Home, Ellen.
 

 As much as I loved being guided through so many cities I had read about and heard of my whole life, this was not my favorite.

I loved watching the water and watching the captain park this enormous boat, but this was not my favorite.

My favorite: the meals!   Yes.  But not in the way you are thinking,  the food, which was excellent, but in the sense of spirit.  Let me give an example.

This is it, the Viking Sea sailing out of the Norwegian fiord of Flam.  Stupendous beauty.

There was a couple named June and Steve.  We actually met them in the Heathrow Airport, where we were all part of a group of about 12 who missed our connection to Bergen, Norway because we had only 50 minutes between arriving from Boston and departing for Bergen in another terminal.

A bunch of us spent the night at a Holiday Inn, including June & Steve.   We rode the shuttle with them and had breakfast together. 

Docked at the Norwegian village of Flam from the exterior tables of the so titled "World Cafe," probably because from this 7th floor stern deck you can see the world.

On board we continued to see them and ate with them.   On one occasion we had dinner with them in my most favorite eating location on the boat, the World Café, as they called it.  It was on one of the top floors of the 8-9 floor boat, in the stern area, had no waiters, just buffet, and from each of the numerous tables on the port, starboard, and rear,  I could see the ocean.   A fabulous place to eat and appreciate just being alive and in that setting. 

This particular evening we were finally settled in and the ship was moving.  We talked about all sorts of things and we had a common spirit on so much.  We actually sat at that table and talked for 3 hours.  June noticed it when we were beginning to break up.  I had never even thought of the time.

The marvelous World Cafe from the inside.

That 3 hour meal was my favorite moment.  It was a spirit feast.

It is difficult to have these spirit feasts.  We are so busy.  It takes time.  I don't get to do this often.  At Romeos we don't take 3 hours, but we can take two.  On our camping trips we can take 3 hours.   This is one reason why I tote in every evening a pint or more of Jack Daniels and a pound of cheese for hors d'oeuvres.  Camaraderie.

The World Cafe.

This is what we try to do here at Sigler each Sunday.  And I think we succeed.   Even now without wine.

It is the feast of Corpus Christi.  When is your next spirit feast?  What about tomorrow, Memorial Day?  

Who let that homeless man on board?

 Readings:

Isaiah 6, 1-8,  Whom shall I send?  Send me.

Psalm 138,  In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praises, Lord.

1 Corinthians 15, 1-11, I am the least of the apostles.

Luke 5, 1-11, They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

Leo and his best pacifier, John

For those who don’t have a decent Bible or a book of the readings, here are two links that I use,

The Bible at Your Fingertips (http://st-luke-church.org/bible-at-finger-tips.php) and USCCB, The New American Bible (http://www.usccb.org/).  

The difference?  The first is Protestant more or less, and the second is officially Catholic and has the 12 little books in between the O.T. & N.T., called Deuterocanonical or Apocrypha. 

Both are good translations. 

Buying a bible?  The Jerusalem Bible. 

Who's that under that table? Emma!

 Isaiah 1

This is The Great One.  The Prophet.  My favorite.  In general, this work has three parts put together by three different people.  It is time dependent: before, during, and after the, you guessed it, the Babylonian Captivity.  Keep 500 before Christ in mind as an easy date. 

Last week we heard the story of the prophet Jeremiah’s call by Yahweh.  This week we have Isaiah’s call. 

Psalm 138

Want to hear something beautiful?  Listen to today’s psalm.  Another of my favorites. Thanks, thanks, and more thanks.

1 Corinthians 15

In last week’s Corinthians’ reading Paul described his vision of love.  Today he continues talking to the people of his church in Corinth, focusing on how he was called by God.

Zoe on a mission while watching the    Brunch Table.

The Small Call

I would like to talk this morning about small calls.  Our readings are all about great calls, like Isaiah, to be God’s spokesperson.  These calls come once in life, or a few times in life.  I would like to suggest small calls come every day.   Let me illustrate.

In Mexico City there is this magnificent avenue, Reforma, modeled by the Empress Carlotta on the famous Champs Elysee in Paris, built during our Civil War, say 1860.  A week ago I was on Reforma one afternoon before returning to the U.S.

Buddy, "Yeah, brunch time. I'm ready."

I was intrigued.  The government provides rental bikes.  Along the pedestrian islands that border Reforma are numerous racks of some 40 bikes which people can rent.  People are riding these bikes all over the center of Mexico City.  I wanted to know if I could rent a bike for a day. 

I had asked a few people, but no one was sure.  I was simply told that for $30 I could obtain a card which I could use to rent the bike for one year.

Cowboy Cole. How did he get ahead of the crowd? With his mom, Erin.

Cupcakes of The Week: Geri, Kevin, and his dad, John, plus 4 others.

 At one point I am standing beside the check-in post reading the instructions.  You buy the card at a drug store, show proof of identity, and then swipe the card through the reader.  It tells you what number bike is yours.  You may return the bike to any of the numerous bike racks around the city center.

I finish unsatisfied, turn around, and watch a man ride up on one of the recognizable bikes.  He puts it in the rack down the way, then begins to walk in my direction.  He is middle aged, in his mid 50’s, trim, dressed neatly in business pants, white shirt and tie, and a small back pack. 

I ask him if he could help me.  I tell him what I want and he is sure I cannot rent a bike for a day.  In fact, he thinks only citizens can rent the bikes. 

The Great Brunch, ready.

We continue to talk.  I tell him how I admire Mexico City for installing the bikes, that my wife & I, who ride a lot, saw the bikes two years ago when we were in town.  He says he has seen them not only in Mexico City, but in cities in the States and in Europe.  This tells me something, he has traveled internationally.

Brunch Time, Out of the Way!

We have a charming conversation for about 10 minutes.  As we part he tells me how he enjoyed conversing, welcome to Mexico, and, get this, he congratulates me on excellent Spanish!

Folks, I could have done a backward somersault in the air.  I felt I could jump from tree top to tree top.  I was so full, ecstatic, grateful.    All the work I had put into Spanish over the years was worth it. 

This is the small call, what that Mexican did.  A compliment. 

Ye Olde Brunch.

I would propose that we get small calls every day.  A compliment, an offer to help, a thanks, an apology for a small mishap.  The girl at the checkout has fancy fingernails; I tell her I like them. 

These small calls fill others.  With life. 

What was your small call yesterday?  Your next one? 

The Feast of the Holy Family, Fr. Tony

The Church for the Feast of the Holy Family is generous in offering us several readings to choose from.  I have selected for our First ReadingFirst Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28, and the Letter to the Colossians 3: 12-17 as our Second Reading, the Gospel is from Luke 2: 41-52.

The story in our first reading about the birth of Samuel to Hannah and her presentation of the boy Samuel to the priest Eli happens at a time of great change for the Israelites.  The time is around the year 1000 BCE. 

Remember that after the People had been lead from slavery in Egypt, passing thru the desert with Moses and then coming to the Promised Land, they had basically invaded the place under Joshua.  After this they had continued their worship of Yahweh as a loose Confederation of Twelve Tribes.  They would meet each year at Shiloh, which we shall hear referred to in our reading today.  But external forces were beginning to invade. 

At this time they were under pressure from the Philistines and also the Ammonites.  The Tribal Federation was not proving effective in defending them.  In this period the People were ruled by a series of Judges and our boy Samuel turns out to be the last of these Judges.  He is the one who anoints Saul as the First King, and of course King David immediately follows Saul.  

And so the People move from this Tribal Confederation to a Monarchy.  One which was to split after the death of Solomon into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family

The gospel reading today from Luke tells of an incident in the early life of Jesus.  It serves as a bridge between the Infancy stories of the Birth of Jesus and the beginning of His public ministry with His baptism by John at the Jordan.

The reading itself is interesting.  If we were to put it into today’s world, it would be like taking a trip from Dallas to San Francisco by bus.  Imagine the scene.  A couple, with their 12 year old, going all that distance in say a caravan of buses.  They spend a few days in San Francisco and then are heading back. The first overnight stop on the way back is in Salt Lake City.  The parents have been in separate buses and figure the kid is with the other!  To their consternation, he is still in San Francisco.  Imagine the dialogue as they try get back to the City. Imagine three frantic days of searching for a 12 year old!  And then in desperation going to the Cathedral of the day and finding him there.  I am not too sure my dialogue would have been as gentle as Mary’s, and I certainly wouldn’t have appreciated the comment about being about my Father’s business!! 

All families are different!  But they seem to have a common purpose.  A safe place for humans!  At least that would seem to be the current intended purpose.  I suspect in earlier times the purpose had much more practical terms, namely making kids who could become helpers in the fields so that we could produce more crops. 

I want to turn to the second reading though as a kind of recipe for a successful family.  In Paul’s time it was for a successful community, which indeed I feel a family is also.  I would like to think that our community here is an extended family, where we can care for each other and support, encourage, and share in success or cry with loss and failure.  Paul talks about putting on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, and then over all these put on Love.  What kind of a family would you have if we could follow this advise! 

As we begin another year, a time when we take stock of our lives, perhaps we can try to implement this behavior.  Imagine what it would be like.

Picture 1:  Tony Begins the Mass of the Holy Family

Picture 2:  Vivian Miller's baptism

Picture 3:  Vivian's family

Picture 4:  The Beautiful Zoe

: Great clip on the Nativity Drama (if pressing the arrow does not start the video, move the red dot)
 

 Readings:  

 Isaiah  50, 4-9,  I gave my back to those who beat me.

  Psalm 116,  I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

 James 2, 14-18,   What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Mark 8, 27-35,  Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself. 

Harper and…

Isaiah Observations: 

Date of Composition:

A picture of the time span:

        1. Solomon (he of Wisdom, the temple builder, 700 wives, & 300 mistresses–if he really existed) dies ca. 900-1000 before Christ.

Her Grandmother, Cathy

         2. The Hebrew kingdom divides into 2 parts, the north, Israel (Galilee today), the south, Judah, around 900 before Christ.

        3.  Assyria destroys Israel and obliterates the 10 Hebrew tribes located there, ca. 700.

        4.  Babylon carries into captivity the Hebrews of Judah, the 2 remaining tribes, ca. 600.

Contemporary scholars conjecture that this work could have been composed over a period of 400 years, i.e., 700-300.  It obviously begins by predicting disasters, typical of prophets.  They happen, 2 of the biggest tragedies in Jewish history up to the Romans' destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 years after Christ) and the Holocaust, that is, the Assyrian destruction & the Babylonian Captivity.  4 big tragedies.

Emma and guest arriving

Author (s): obviously it was composed by numerous people.  Isaiah himself is considered behind chapters 1-39.  In fact, line 1 identifies Isaiah as the author of the ideas.

What is it about: 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd Isaiah

1^st Isaiah, Chapters 1-39: predict doom for the Hebrews because they have not been faithful to their one god.

Leo rolling along

2^nd Isaiah, Chapters 40-55:  this & the remaining chapters are called The Book of Consolation.  They try to assure the people who are now in exile that God will restore them to their former glory & peace.  In fact, in chapter 45 the composer even mentions the name of Cyrus, the king of the Persians who defeats Babylon & sends the Hebrews back to Jerusalem.  So the composer knew of Cyrus and a date can be narrowed down.

This 2^nd  Isaiah section presents 4 suffering servant songs, #3 being our selection today.  Jews see the servant to be the Hebrew people/nation.  Christians see the servant to be Christ.  Isaiah 2 is considered maybe the most influential O.T. book.  On Isaiah 2 Mark built much of his gospel, especially the story of the crucifixion.

Handel's Messiah uses 2nd Isaiah for its lyrics.

3^rd Isaiah, Chapter 56-66: more assurances of a return to peace & glory.

Zoe coming to the front play zone

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself and take up his cross

I would like to say a few words this morning about denying myself and taking up my cross.

A story from our CO trip last week.

Julie with her dad, Rudolfo, preparing to enter

The day is the third of our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The 7 of us have left a delightful campsite and are headed over a pass, Flat Top Pass, right on the Continental Divide, about 12 thousand feet high.  We are climbing one to two thousand feet. 

Sanctuary, 1st Methodist, Dallas

As we climb the weather is getting nastier & nastier, cloudy skies, wind, and cold.  We come across a series of what I describe as receding ridges.  I see a ridge up ahead.  I get to it only find another ridge 200 yards further up.  We must have had 15 of these.  

It begins to sleet and rain.  The group of us is stretched out over a few hundred yards.

Rylie and Hayden

Suddenly I look up and see somebody coming down the trail by himself.   Even from a distance I see he has on only running shorts and a light pack, not like ours.  He is jogging down this rough trail and has already crossed over the pass in the sleet, rain, and wind. 

I am astounded.   Rose Banzhaf says that his whole trip is about 30 miles.  She calls him The Mean Running Machine. 

I mention this event to make a distinction about denying myself and taking up my cross.  Unhealthy and healthy.  Observations.

Campfire

Unhealthy.  In my early years as a Jesuit I think we had some unhealthy attitudes and behaviors influenced by this demand.  I am embarrassed to admit that, yes, we had little scourges that we were supposed to use on our backs and we had chains with little spikes we were supposed to wear on our thighs. 

Once we joined the Jesuit community we never expected to return home.  I did not return for 7 years.  I came back to teach for 3 years at Jesuit, not go home.  At the time I never thought anything about it.

In my years as a spiritual director especially for priests & nuns I found a lot of guilt for not being hard enough on myself.  I personally can still feel guilty if I take a 15 minute morning break or a day off.  Rosemary is good for me on this.  She calls me to relax.

Mike in Flat Top Pass

Healthy.  Self discipline to achieve a goal.  The runner obviously has some kind of goal.  Look at high school sports and how strenuously so many kids drive themselves.  Look at education, the discipline to achieve a Ph.D., to be a doctor.  What about Alcoholics Anonymous or giving up smoking?  The reward: inner peace.

Finally, let me remind you of that gospel dynamic I mention so often, infinite demand plus infinite acceptance.

Why we go

I would suggest that the runner I met at 12 thousand feet in sleet was denying himself and carrying his cross.  Hopefully he has a healthy goal. 

How do you deny yourself and take up your cross?