Sunday Homily 9-21-08, 25th, Ordinary Time

Readings: Deuteronomy 11, 18-32; Psalm 31, Lord, be my Rock of Safety; 2 Corinthians 5, 20-6, 2; Matthew 6, 1-6, 16-18. 

Deuteronomy, some observations:

 What:

1.  5^th book of the Bible, last book of the Torah.

2.  A farewell discourse by Moses after 40 years in the desert. He will not, but the Jewish people are about to enter what they called their promised land, a place occupied by the Canaanites, who will be killed and displaced by the Jews.

 Author: not Moses.  Rather, some teachers and political leaders of the people already in Jerusalem.

 Dates: Some material seems to come from before the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel.  So about 750 years before Christ.  It seems to have other material and to have been stitched together as one piece after the Babylonian Captivity.  Therefore, around 550 before Christ.

 Subject: Yahweh has saved his special people and blessed them.  To continue this blessing, obey.  Otherwise, you know what.

 Today’s Subject: there is a blessing & a curse.  Obey the laws & be blessed; disobey & be cursed. 

 Sources: Good News Bible; The New Interpreter’s Study Bible; Wikipedia, St. Louis U. Liturgies.

Is My House Built on Sand?

 Because of Leo’s baptism I want to say just a word about Matthew’s main lesson. 

 Do you own a house in the Dallas area?  Is your house built on rock?  No!  It is built on black clay soil, about as solid as sand.

 Some years ago my mom & I had a couple of foundation companies give us an estimation on fixing our 1950 pier & beam foundation.  One company said they would not touch the place. 

 If I put a pen on a certain angle on my computer desk, it will roll right off.  The tile on the outer wall of my bathroom is squishing because the wall is sinking faster than the bathroom.

 I would suggest that we are all built on black clay soil or sand.  Sorry Matthew.  Specifically, we all fail, we have our obsessions & addictions, we have our fears.  We are still accepted!

 If this is not the point of God’s acceptance of us, I do not know what is. 

 This reminds me of Jimmy Johnson’s boast about the Cowboys, “They don’t just talk the talk; they walk the walk.”  This is cute macho talk when you win.  Were the Cowboys this past year just losers?  No, not really. 

 The positive side of the lesson is that we are challenged to be what we used to get drummed into us as young Jesuits, Renaissance Men (or Women).  In other words, I try to be fully alive, physically, intellectually, and psychologically/spiritually healthy & active.  A person of self discipline & moderation.

 Good old Lent arrives Wednesday.  Where is your foundation weak? 

 Picture 1:   Leo welcoming everyone to his baptism

 Picture 2:   Baptism, Teresa & John, Ray & Shonda, and Leo

 Picture 3:   The baptism

 Picture 4:    Old Geezers, Myron Hubble & Bill Poncik

 Picture 5:    Justin & Ashley with the grandparents, Jean & Cliff      

Sir Charlie, you are supposed to be welcoming everybody.  Looks like you are scaring everyone away, like me.

Readings: 

Isaiah 60, 1-6, Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem. (good one)

Psalm 72, Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.  

Ephesians 3, 2-3, 5-6,  The Gentiles are co-heir, members of the same body.  

Matthew 2, 1-12, The Epiphany or opening to the Gentiles.

John ready in case I forget.

An Epiphany Day

This morning I would like to talk about an Epiphany Day, meaning a special day or a wonder day or event or even a person.  December 28 was an epiphany day for me.  Anybody guess why?  Yes, the date of my back surgery, an event I was totally looking forward to.

Emma sharing her candle lighting gift with the rest of us.

The operation was scheduled for 10:00.  We had to be there at 8:00.  Rosemary & I were there at 7:30.  Somewhere around 8:15 they checked me in and gave me the special operation gown.  I was invited to get on my own special stretcher with 4 wheels. One guy wheeled me around and into a 14 cubicle pre-op room.   Along the way we picked up Rosemary and a good old friend.

Buddy reading our Blessing of the Christmas Candles.

I did not know it at the time, but I was going to spend 4 hours waiting in that room.   My doctor got delayed was all I was told.  Rosemary had to leave.  I got to know the names of the pre-op room staff, Matt and Deborah. 

Cody, tell Ben that he cannot go to  sleep until I start talking.

I teased some of the pre-op patients.  Like one lady was begging to have a coffee.  I welcomed back some from surgery.  I had to ask to use the restroom.  I napped.  All these 4 hours my buddy stayed with me.  He read the newspaper when I dozed.

To join this exalted team, it is required that you are named John and that your are old enough to forget your age.

Finally about 2:00 I was wheeled into the operating room, cold as usual.  An hour or so later I was awake, Rosemary was there, and my good friend was there. 

Looking back, the day was an Epiphany Day and the operation an epiphany event.  You know what was another epiphany event?   My good friend.  He came and stayed about six hours, from the time I was supposed to have the operation, through the delay, and up to and past the operation time.  The pre-op room staff even told the poor guy we looked like brothers.

Bill and his special mom, Mabel.

Know who that special friend is?  Mike Carrell, an Epiphany Event.   Thanks, Mike.

Hi, Tom & Joe & Marsha

The Best Teammates

Elevation Time

The Healing Touch with John.

Mike, an Epiphany Friend

Readings:

Isaiah  45, 1, 4-6,  I have called you by your name.

Psalm 96,   Give the Lord glory and honor.

Thessalonians 1, 1-5,  Grace to you and peace.

Matthew 22, 15-21,  Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?  

Mary Ellen and Mary say, "Welcome in, Everybody."  Sadly for all of us, Thursday Mary Ellen moves back to CT.

Isaiah observations :

Who : Can you guess which Isaiah this is in chapter 45?  1, 2, or 3.  A little more difficult than the last two Sundays.  This is Isaiah 2, going from chapter 40 to 55.

Today’s selection:  this is not Isaiah 2 at his best.  I like the line, I have called you by your name.  Otherwise, the passage is mildly comforting to the people who are living in Babylonian slavery, around 555 before Christ.

Cyrus: So, who is Cyrus?          

 Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece.   He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.

Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem.  This is exactly what Cyrus does.  Where is Babylon?  Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River.  What is left?  Rubble. 

Rob & Beth still celebrating their 40th.

Thessalonians:

• Time written: ca. 50 A.D.   Considered Paul's first letter, and, in fact, the earliest written document in the N.T.
• Place: Paul was writing in Corinth, Greece to the town in northern Greece, Thessalonica, at the northern corner of the Aegean Sea.  He had founded a community there.
• Purpose of writing: to comfort and encourage the new Christians of Thessalonica, most of whom were Gentiles.    He sent Timothy to see how things were going.   The report Timothy brought back was largely favorable—hence the warm tone of the opening thanksgiving, which forms the main part of today’s reading. But there were also a few problems in Thessalonica; we will meet them on the thirty-second and thirty-third Sundays.

And we begin.

Resources: The New Interpreters Study Bible; St. Louis U. Liturgical @ Liturgical.slu.edu

The Best Line:  the Alleluia verse, Shine like lights in the world.  Guess what I would like to talk about.

Leo and Cole solving world problems.

Matthew observation:

Matthew lifts this story right out of Mark.  The story a game that was popular among the intellectuals in Jesus time, like a game of verbal chess.  The object was to confound your opponent so that choosing either one of two answers springs a trap.

Watch the smarmy language of the Pharisees and you can almost see them salivating at the impending kill. 

The trap: do you think it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not?  Jesus confounds them by choosing both.  Jesus wins the game.

Why do Mark & Matthew use this story?  To show how Jesus is superior and worthy of being followed and listened to.   

Offertory, Jerry & Shirley, Judy & Mike.

Me, a Light in the World? 

I want to talk about the alleluia verse, “Shine like lights in the world.”  I apologize again for talking about this reading in a way I have talked before. It is just so perfect a fit.  It comes to mind also because of the ebola focus these days.

After getting ordained at old St. Rita’s in June of 1971, I was sent to Miami to work as a chaplain in the big medical complex known as Jackson Memorial Hospital.  It was like Parkland, Southwestern Medical, and Presbyterian. 

The Jesuits of my southern province had a big parish right in the middle of downtown Miami, and part of the team worked the hospitals.  I was a summer helper and loved it.

Hey, who let that Witch in? You do that, Harper? Must be Halloween.

One day after I had been there about a week, a blond little girl of 10 or 11 was brought into the burn ward.  Ever been in a burn ward, a children’s burn ward?  Tough places.  I spent a lot of time in these wards.

The girl, Anna, had been with her family on a sail boat.  Somewhere along their trip the boat had passed under a bridge.  Anna was standing on the edge of the boat with her back leaning against one of the guy wires.  

As the boat went under the bridge, the mast touched an electrical line.  The electricity went down the mast and the guy wire.  Anna was electrocuted and burned.  Fortunately, she was hurled into the cool water which helped to stop her burns. 

Don't mean to scare you, John, but you got a witch behind you.

However, her back and the insides of her thighs and legs were seriously burned.  She would stay in Jackson for 2 to 3 months, even after I had to move on.  

I got really close to Anna & her family.  I visited her first & last every day and I was privileged to be allowed by the doctors to hold her hand when her bandages had to be changed.  Her parents had to leave the room.  You know that this is such a high tension time.  It used to leave me shaken.  

Watch out, Harper, a witch is getting ready to touch you.

I talk about this because the alleluia verse tells us to be lights in the world.  I think this is what it means.  I was privileged to be with that little girl & her family in such a horrible experience.  It is reciprocal: she was a light in my world.

The good news is that Anna finally did leave the hospital all healed up.  I never had the opportunity again to see the family, but I corresponded for years with the mom.  Somewhere during my time in Africa, the connection got broken.  I know that maybe 15 years later her mom wrote me that Anna had married and had a little kid. 

In whose world are you a light today? 

Rosemary sharing her blessing, welcome after such crazy stuff.

Readings: Leviticus 13, 1-2, 44-46, The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall cry out, "Unclean."; Psalm 32, I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation; 1 Corinthians 10, 31-11, 1, Do everything for the glory of God; Mark 1, 40-45, If you wish, you can make me clean.

Leviticus: The book of the Levite tribe, the priestly tribe, one of the 12 tribes, a book of 27 chapters focused mostly on laws.  The third book of the Torah after Genesis & Exodus, before Numbers & Deuteronomy.

Author: a collection of many sources, but not Moses (impossible).

Date: some laws go back 1400 BCE., others from ca. 450 BCE.

Subject matter: laws for better living with Yahweh.  For instance in chapter 11, one may not eat pigs, camels, or rabbits, no animal with a divided hoof.  All winged insects are unclean, except those that hop.  In chapter 12, women are ritually unclean after giving birth, 7 days for boys, 14 days for girls.  Chapter 19, "love one another as one's self."  This morning's selection deals with how people with leprosy are to be treated.  Leprosy, of course, was considered a punishment for sin & disobedience.

Note: an interesting example of how academics better understand these texts.  They noted that both Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14 have similar lists of clean and unclean animals for eating.  Deuteronomy 14, however, has 11 additional critters which are not mentioned in Leviticus 11.  These 11 dwell only in the Arabian desert, not in Egypt or the land of Canaan (Holy Land).   From this it can be deduced that the person (s) writing the laws in Leviticus had not wandered the desert and was writing before the Exodus.  The writer (s) of Deuteronomy, however, had wandered the desert. 

Source: The Book of Leviticus; Believe: Religious Information Source, Canon Tristam

Exclusion vs Inclusion

When I first lived in Kenya & Tanzania in the late 70's I spent time working on my Swahili in a Jesuit parish that was in a town called Tabora, Tanzania.  The town is in the middle of Tanzania with no paved roads leading to it.  Only a few roads in the town itself are paved.  The parish had about 3 Jesuit priests in those days, if I remember correctly, a French Canadian, an Irish, and an Indian.  Today the Jesuits have departed and handed it over to the diocese because of not enough Jesuit priests.

In those days the parish had 21 outstations, some of which even had other outstations further out.  These were located in small villages where little mud walled churches had been put up.  Occasionally I found a rather large cement block church left over from times when priests were more abundant.   Each Sunday we would all head out on motorcycles to the outstations. 

On the edge of Tabora there was a special community.  A community of men & women who had leprosy.  The exclusion of these lepers was similar to what we read in Leviticus, though they received better care.  Our parish used to help them a lot and I went to say Mass for them and spent time talking with them often individually, sometimes in a group.  Despite the effectiveness of modern medicine, many had significant scarring and were without hands or feet.  I remember being touched mostly by the quality of their spirits and sense of acceptance. 

I am reminded of this leper community when I read about the lepers in today's readings.  Leviticus lays down the directives.  Mark has Jesus dealing with a leper.   I've already discussed Leviticus.  Let me mention one main point relevant to Mark & his account.

It is inclusion.

Mark wants to convince Christians of Jewish & mostly Gentile background that they are included and that Jesus is the Messiah.  This community probably lived in Galilee, that is, around the Sea of Galilee or in Syria.  How do today's students of the bible know this?  Because they analyzed the text and noted that Mark used Greek rather than Aramaic.  Moreover, Mark describes geography typical of Galilee, not Jerusalem.

 The miracle Mark describes today aims at inclusion in the community.  Using the leper as a metaphor or symbol, he is telling especially the Gentile Christians, 'You are part of this community.  You belong here.  If Jesus can include a leper, then anyone and everyone is part of the community.  Nobody is excluded.'

What does Leviticus instruct?  What does Jesus do?  He welcomes him.  In fact, he does something that broke the law, and the people would be astounded, no, probably shocked and repulsed.  He touched the leper.  This was after Mark has the leper break the law by approaching Jesus.  People around are saying, "Wow!", when they read Marks story. 

This might be today's lesson for us.  Inclusion.  It may be easier for us to think of including a leper, because we know the virus is not that contagious and can be effectively treated.  But HIV?  What about other races, colors, religions, students from other schools?

Whom do I have trouble including in my community?

References: Austin Cline, Audience of Mark's Gospel (on line).

Picture 1:    Mass Begins

Picture 2:    The Community

Picture 3:    Brooklyn walks

Picture 4:    Charlie with Zoe & Georgie

Picture 5:    Georgie with Zoe & Sienna

Picture 6:    Torri with her granddad, Gilberto

Readings:  Ezekiel 34, 11-17; Psalm 23 (Good); 1 Corinthians 15, 20-28;  Matthew 25, 31-46 

Ezekiel:  I've mentioned how Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 Prophets, #3 after Isaiah & Jeremiah.  I also mentioned how he lived smack dab in the middle of one of the two or three biggest tragedies of the Jewish people, the Babylonian captivity, from say 600 to 550 BCE.  He was there.

In American history we can look back and identify special presidential leaders, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt.  They came forward in crisis times. 

Ezekiel was this type of leader in Jewish history.  He saw what had happened to other Jews of the the northern province of Israel (Jerusalem is in the southern province of Judah) after they had been carted off as slaves after a defeat by the Assyrians.  They intermarried and simply disappeared in the DNA of the middle east.

Ezekiel is in Babylon and is determined that his community would not lose its identity.  He did three things to help maintain the spirit of the community: he emphasized  1. observance of the Sabbath, 2. kosher diet, and 3. circumcision.

Eventually after ca. 50 years the community still was a cohesive unit and it returned to rebuild Jerusalem, at least most of them.  The Jews are one of the few peoples to be defeated and scattered, and still return to their original homeland.  They remained there until the Romans defeated them in 70 C.E., returning when?  1948, after the Holocaust.

Today's reading comes to us from an Ezekiel captive in Babylon, and has Ezekiel promising the people a return, a brighter day after the captivity.

Dillon's Dollar

Last Sunday something special happened in our community.  We had been talking about the family we are planning to adopt for Christmas, the mother with the three little girls and a baby on the way.  Beth Robinson had described how we would buy gifts and supplies for the whole family. 

The Mass ended and people were standing around talking and taking coffee & donuts.  At some point one of our special kids came up to Beth, said he would like to help the family with the little girls, said he had a dollar, took it out of his pocket, and gave it to her.  Guess who it was.  Dillon.

I asked if I could share this story of Dillon's dollar, because it speaks to two themes I would like to pick up this week, the theme of the Matthew's gospel about giving food to the hungry & drink to the thirsty, and the theme of Thanksgiving. 

First, with Thanksgiving coming this week it is appropriate and enriching to look back over the year to count our blessings.  What is your Blessing of the Year?  What are your three biggest blessings this year?  Write them down.  Ask the people you have Thanksgiving dinner with what is their biggest blessing of the year. 

I can give you my three: namely, 1. the exhilaration I felt in riding in the Hotter 'N Hell 100, something I had dreamed of doing for some years; 2. the consolation & joy I take from our weekly community gatherings with our Dillons, which is another dream each week; 3. and my biggest, the marvelous relationship I have (I think!) with Rosemary, something I never even dreamed would be part of my future. 

In connection with focusing on our blessings of the year, we want to present again this year our Blessing Tree.  We will arrange it a little different than last year.  We will have the tree.  We invite you to write your Blessing of the Year on a piece of paper and place it in a basket near the tree.  We will focus on this the next two Sundays, the Sunday just after Thanksgiving, when I expect a lot of folks will be away and the following Sunday, Dec. 7, when we will have the brunch, blood drive and food drive.   I will publish anonymously a couple  of blessings each week until Christmas Eve Mass.

The second idea I would like to touch is the big separation of the goats and sheep, one on the left, the other on the right.  Goats and lefties like myself get a bad deal in this story.  Three short observations.

a.  Beware of either or spirituality here.  I'm either a sheep or a goat.  We are all goats!  (Some more than others!) 

b.  Beware of letting fear enter your spirit and attempt to do it all, feed, give drink, clothe, visit the imprisoned. 

c.  Let this story be a gentle reminder to help out those less blessed, to chip in your Dillon's Dollar.

In summary, therefore, what is you blessing of the year and how are you chipping in your dollar?

Picture 1: Wendy, Shonda, Ray, Celeste

Picture 2: Dillon

Picture 3:  Birthdays–Megan, Diane, John, & Ron

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-11-23.mp3

Welcome to the scene of our 4th Advent and Christmas Eve celebrations, to the most colorful school dining room I have ever seen, and to a marvelous venue for special inspiration.  Legacy Charter School.

Readings: 

Micah 5, 1-4, From you shall come one who is to be ruler in Israel

Psalm 80,  Lord, make us turn to you, let us see your face and we shall be saved.   

Hebrews 10, 5-10, Sacrifices and offering you did not  desire  

Luke 1,  39-45,  Mary visits Elizabeth.

Buddy, you are becoming such a gifted reader.  Thanks to you and thanks to you, Georgie, for shepherding Buddy.

Homily

The summer of 2015 I was a volunteer referee, of course, unbiased, principled, and open to all gifts.  Chocolate was my favorite.  I was a referee for the Maccabe summer games at the Jewish Community Center, a place that has become something of a second or third home for me.

Thanks for lighting our 4 Advent candles today, Zoe.  Your hair is gorgeous.

The Maccabe Games take place every summer in Jewish Community Centers all over the country and perhaps Canada.  Thousands of kids came to Dallas, and the spirit in the air was terrific.  They were sheltered all over Dallas in JCC family homes.  We had a dozen or so on our block of Tulip Lane.  All together it must be like that at the Olympics.

During the time there were numerous general meetings.  At one of the meetings of no less than 2500 a special event took place.

Welcome Home from Beirut, Celeste.  It is so good to see you back.  I am jealous of those kids in Beirut who have you as their music teacher.

There was a young girl of about 15, Hallie Bernard, who addressed the whole assembly one day.  Hallie had a rare disease.   To recover she needed a bone marrow transplant.  She made an appeal to the parents and kids to get registered and maybe she would find a donor who would save her life.

Hallie immediately had 2500 volunteers.  As word got out to others at the event and beyond, over 6,000 volunteers registered.

Congratulations, Rick, on losing 30 pounds.  I am proud to know you.

As a result, 53 matches were found all over the place, even beyond Dallas & Texas. 

Hallie found a match.  

Guess why the people at the Jewish Community Center and beyond so touch my heart.  

Are people just not good!

Welcome home from college, Kevin, so good to see you.

Our Advent Reconciliation with Mary Jane & Becky (the head of Legacy Charter).