Sunday Homily 9-7-09, 23rd, Ordinary Time
Readings: Ezekiel 33, 7-9; Psalm 95; Romans 13, 8-10; Matthew 18, 15-20.
Ezekiel:
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Place written: Jerusalem & Babylon
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Time written: 570's & 580's B.C.
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Audience: The Hebrews in exile in Babylon.
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Message: you are paying the price of your disobedience. Reform and you will receive Yahweh's blessings again.
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Note: the Babylonians did not enslave the Hebrews like the Egyptians did. Consequently, when they were given permission to return to Jerusalem, many remained in Babylon because they were peacefully settled. They became the first of the Jewish Diaspora.
Our Marie Green
It was probably around the year 2000 when I first met Marie. I was looking for someone with whom I could converse in Italian. Jesuit was where I started searching and the teachers there put me in touch with the Italian Club in Dallas. I actually sat in on a few classes but wanted to move at a faster pace. The teacher at the club gave me the numbers of a handful of people.
As a result, one Sunday after celebrating the 10:30 at St. Marks I met two charming elderly ladies, Marie and Francesca. We met in what used to be the old rectory across the parking lot and was then the house Rita used before she eventually moved into the house across Brentwood where she now lives. We had an hour of fun conversation which was the beginningng of two delightful friendships for me.
A year or so later, Francesca had a stroke and returned to Padua, Italy, where her family lived. From then on I visited with Marie at least once a week. Every Thursday evening we had our hour to chat and often we met at socials & dinners. She even became one of about a dozen of us who bought Dallas Summer Musical season tickets together. She was always ready to go.
Let me talk about four things that I loved about her and that fascinated me.
1. First, the story of her life. It was marvelous. Marie was born in the north east of the U.S. At an early age her father took the family back to Italy, in the region of Turin, the north western province of Italy, where they held the winter Olympics a few years back. She grew up during the time of Mussolini, who came to power in 1922.
Her father, who worked with the railroad, became frightened by what he saw in Fascist Italy and moved the family back to the U.S. when Marie was about 16. Marie did not speak English when she returned.
Some years later, around 1950, a young man came into the place where Marie was working. He was younger than Marie, Jewish, and had survived Hitler's death camps. His name was Bart. They married and had Stephen. With Bart she lived in all sorts of places all around the world because of his work and language ability. Despite being younger than Marie, Bart died first.
2. Secondly, besides being fascinated by her history, I was touched by the courage she showed in life, especially in her relationship with Bart. For example, imagine, she a Catholic married a Jewish man, and in fact, a man younger than herself by about a dozen years.
Then, at a late age for having children in those days, Marie and Bart had the courage to conceive Stephen. Catholics of that era were strongly discouraged from marrying those not Catholic. In fact, the couple had to get all sorts of special permissions and make promises.
This did not deter Marie. You know what the Catholic church demands even today of the partner who is not Catholic. Kids, Catholic. Marie seems to have been unintimidated by this demand and decided that for Bart & her it was better that Stephen be allowed to follow the Jewish tradition. When I asked her how she could do this, she told me how they had talked it out together.
3. Thirdly, Carol Hogan, one of Marie's best & most faithful of friends, reminded me of another quality that I try to emulate. Her generosity. She coupled this with old world hospitality. Never could I visit Marie that she did not want to share with me a glass of wine, usually some cookies. Sometimes she would even want to give me something from the house.
For me a special aspect of her generosity was her constant positive affirmation of my Italian. I progress with positive strokes, and every time I talked Italian with Marie, I came away elated at how well I was doing, whether true or not. With that elation I would return to my study with even more energy.
4. Finally, I would observe that Marie was always & justly proud of Stephen. During our visits I always got the latest news of Stephen, whether he was in the U.S. or the three years spent in Korea.
These are ways Marie blessed and enriched my life.
How did Marie bless your life?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-09-07.mp3