Sunday Homily 5-31-09, Pentecost

Wisdom 2, Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious

Psalm 54, The Lord upholds my life.

James 3,  Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder.

Mark 9,  If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last.

John Simari reads the first reading.

Thanks……

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers, John & Brent & Buddy, our candle blesser 

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,   John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,     Richard & Hue & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy for all these years & will miss you enormously, Becky

Brent reads the second reading.

Homily by John Cade,  

Download Homily John Cade 09-19-21

Welcome home, Sir Charlie & Jan.  So good to see you.  It has been too long!

Remember these special people:

For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson  & Frank;  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 Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy,

John shares his interesting insights into today's readings.

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren  ;  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; from Barbara, a little 12 month old baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Welcome Home, Patricia & Fred!

Birthdays:   Ben's daughter, Sophia, 14

Anniversaries:  

Tom & Lynda Fleming

Rob & Beth

Peace, Everybody!

Community Finances,   September 19, 2021

Expenses: $ 745.00

Outreach: $ 255.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:

How we see ourselves has everything to do with how we see God and how we see others. Let us make sure our God is the kindest, most loving and forgiving person we know. We become our image of God.

Taken from We Become Our Image of God by Sr. Jean Amore, CSJ, Principal Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, New York

Happy Anniversary, Beth & Rob, and welcome home.

Readings:

Isaiah, 22, 19-23, On that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim

Psalm 138,  Lord, your love is eternal.  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart X 3 times.

Romans  11, 33-36,  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. 

Matthew 16, 13-20,   You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Connie & John Doherty , & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel:  Deacon Mike

Homily,  Stack 

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike (on vacation) & Richard (on vacation), Tom, Ben & Hue 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Download Readings Week 21

Coming up in the readings is the psalm of the day, i.e., Psalm 138, one of my long time favorites.  There are two translations, the more modern and the more traditional.  Because I have spent so many hours meditating on the more traditional form, I offer both translations.  For me thanks is the key to my relationship with God, as well with others.  See what you think about the italicized parts.

1.  I will give thanks to you, Oh, Lord, with all my heart for you have heard the words of  my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise.

2.  I will give thanks to your name, because of your kindness and your truth.

3  Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever.

Aviana watching over the stove and over us.

Reflections of a Tornado Refugee Family

Somewhere in the distant past when I was a Boy Scout at Christ the King I was trained to always leave my campsite better than I found it.  I probably drove my fellow campers crazy when I went camping with my Jesuit buddies and especially when I went with Bill & Mike, Ray & Rose, and a dozen or so others.  I would aim to be the last camper to leave the site, with the exception of Mike. 

Exactly a week from tomorrow I will be cleaning a campsite.   Rosemary & I will be departing the house we have lived in for 15 years and the house that my parents bought in ’75.   I will take one last look around, probably with Rosemary, to make sure this campsite is better than I found it.  Even though a bulldozer will demolish it.

Looking out our front window, 4 houses used to be there.

This is already proving to be emotionally quite difficult for me.  The problem is that there are numerous tender memories in that house, like the portrait of Aviana that Rosemary painted on the ceramic tiles behind the stove in the kitchen, painted one summer while I was out camping with the gang.  For her I had put in the tiles and the parquet flooring in that kitchen.  Every room in the house I have painted and decorated with decals.  I painted the outside more than once and even the sturdy tool shed.  This campsite has been a home. 

The neighborhood, too, has touched my heart.  This is where the 16 year old St. Marks boy who lives three doors down rang our bell one spring afternoon and told me ‘Thanks for being delightful neighbors.”  I am still touched.  We also have handled all the free refreshments for our neighborhood July 4 party.  Rosemary, the lady who walks the little white dog, is known everywhere.  She is also the Tulip Lane block captain.  She expects me to salute her.

There used to be a 50 year old beautiful Live Oak on this corner.  Gone, along with whole bunches of other trees.

The one reason I am happy to move on: the destruction of the trees, many of which I planted.  It used to be delightfully shady at our corner, Tulip Lane & Camellia.  Now, it is a desert, with all 8 of the houses around us destroyed.  It must also have been 20 degrees hotter those 100 degree days recently. 

The house itself has a number of cracks in the ceilings and walls, which is why we easily decided we had to move.   It has been a comfortable campsite.  Despite the presence of the bulldozer just across the street, I will leave this campsite as neat as I found it.

As Psalm 138 says, I will give thanks to you Oh Lord, with all my heart, eventually.

There are three lots on this corner.  

Please Remember these special people:

For Becky's dad discovered with the virus;  For Cindy recuperating at home;    For Esparzas, Frank & Mary,  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;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, Woodlands,  For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & all of Shonda's dear family;   for Michelle;  for Bill Ekes' longtime buddy, Bobby Duncan, who just passed to the other side.

To stay in our house we had to replace the roofing.   A good move.  It has taken us 5 months to find and get into our new place, September 1.
 

For Jackie's mom;  For a friend, a neighbor, & a doctor, Karen, with brain cancer; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free;    For Hue;  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.

The house of the professional hockey player, Tyler Sagan.  It is now gone.

Birthdays:     Marsha Farmer & Marilyn Ackerman

Anniversaries: 

Rose & Wally Banzhaf, 49th 

Brain Trust??

Community Finances, August 23, 2020

Expenses: $600.00

Outreach   $500.00    (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

The Best Music, Ben & Shonda.

Rosemary's Blessing:

May you learn to see your self

With the same delight,

Pride and expectation

With which God sees you in every moment.

To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue

As of September 1, Rosemary & I will have a new address,   7017 Helsem Way, Dallas 75230.   This enclave has TREES, unlike our poor, dear, tornado battered Preston Hollow neighborhood.

Welcome into our community, Tom & Susan.  Poor Tom was a student at Jesuit when that Stack was supposed to be one of the teaching staff.

Readings:

Wisdom 9, 13-18,  Thus were the paths of those on earth made straight

Psalm 90,  In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge

Philemon  9, 10. 12-17,   Welcome him as you would me.

Luke 14, 25-33,    …hating his father & mother, wife & children

Pagosa Bill just returned from the wild lands of Colorado. 

Homily by Stack     

I would like to talk about the line from Wisdom that struck me, It’s’ hard to make sense of what is going on in the world & harder still to understand what happening right under our noses. 

My problem is that I do understand.  Consequently, I can get down and I tell Rosemary, ”Let’s don’t talk about that stuff.”  Now, seeing that Rosemary & I will be out of the country the next  two weeks of September, I want to focus on activities and events that console me, challenge me, and make me proud to be an American.  I got five quickies.

Our candle lighting team of the week, Zoe, Tori, and their friend Zoe.

First, anybody know where the Dallas Baptist Men are this morning?  Try Florida and N. Carolina, according to the announcement I heard while Dorian was still in the Bahamas.  So, before hitting the U.S. they already had packed up their pick ups, their shower 18 wheeler, their mobile kitchen, and tons of food.

I worked along side these guys in Galveston and, in fact, shared a  large rectangular dormitory with about 25 guys, one of which snored like a chain saw.

Rosemary sez to Cindy, "Now while I am gone you have this short list of 16 things to do for the community."

The group I was with in Galveston was, as you can guess, Bona Responds, the group of St. Bonaventure students with their incredible professor, Jim Mahar, plus his henchman, our own Pagosa Bill Hammond.  Guess from whom I got a message about taking a group to the Bahamas.

Closer at hand, how about Meals on Wheels?  I am so proud of Rosemary and Barbara, her buddy, when they head out together to bring food to about 12-18 people.  You might think this is a local endeavor only.  Come with us on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day when a mob of regular volunteers pick up their food at the central headquarters near Love Field.

The BEST, John & Connie who can now see the world, thanks to the cataract removals.

On 60 Minutes a week or so I heard about a wealthy alumnus of NYU (Rosemary's Alma Mater) who gathered & donated enough money to set up a trust to enable all students in the medical school study loan free.  I was in tears when it showed the assembled students getting the notice.

Finally, a favorite of our community, the Love for Kids picnic in the Fall and the one in the Spring.  We ride in under the flag of Bona Responds and Pagosa Bill suits us all up in special T shirts.  Who ever came up with this plan?  It is fabulous and most touching.

Come on, Ben, I'm jealous & want a Zeke Elliott do like you got.

These are five reasons I am honored and proud to be here in Plano with you people, to be in Texas, and to be in the U.S.

Your five reasons?

Want to see the man who has no stage fright?  You are looking at him, Leo.

Readings:

Isaiah  55, 6-9,  Our God who is generous in forgiving.

Psalm 145,   The Lord is near to all who call upon him

Philippians 1, 20-27,  Christ will be magnified in my body.

Matthew 20, 1-16,  The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

Leo says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in. It is so fun."

Isaiah 55  observations—

Who:  My favorite prophet.  In fact , Isaiah 2 is my favorite of the 3 composers of the Book of Isaiah, and our selection today is the very last chapter of Isaiah 2.

When: remember these 3 writers wrote more or less before, during, and after the Great Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.  So, we can guess that today’s selection from Isaiah 2 comes from the time during the Captivity.

What:  Isaiah 2 has some of the best and most beautifully consoling passages. Check out The Messiah. Unfortunately, our little selection today talks about scoundrels and the wicked, in other words, about us.   Maybe these people are mentioned in connection with the people who grumble in the Gospel today.  See what you think.  I am cheating a bit with the reading.  I've added about 4 more lines that are more typical of Isaiah 2.

Y Alesia dice, "Bienvenidos, Todos. Descansense aqui.

This is not Fair!

This morning, Folks, I would like to talk about these workers hired by the vineyard owner.  We hear how the workers who worked all day got the same wages as those who worked one hour and we want to yell, “This is not fair!” 

Want to know what this parable is basically saying?  First, it is all gift.  Everything is gift.  Secondly, comparison is poison.  “How come he got this and I did not?”  “How come I got sick and he did not?”  Our lives are all gift.  Comparing myself with others poisons my spirit.

A story of the week to illustrate.  Guess from where I got it.  From our Yosemite trip.

The Bridge.

There was a man I met on the trail.  It is the second half of our 8 night adventure and the second day of rest, nights 6 & 7.  It is a gorgeous day after a rainy day.   I am standing on a suspension bridge over Woods Creek, just contemplating the beauty all around me.  A great sense of gratitude at being there at that moment.

We are in a valley.  The bridge is about 40 yards long and about 40 feet above a rushing stream.  The bridge sways and rocks when you walk on it.  There are two long cables going over two wooden towers.  There are vertical cables holding up the walkway.  We have a beautiful campsite just off the upper end of the bridge and just above the stream.

The Bridge looking toward our campsite on the left in the trees. Somebody is coming.

An elderly man comes onto the far end of the bridge.  As he approaches my back, I say over my shoulder, “Good afternoon, how are you doing?”, like I do all the time with people I meet on the trail and even at White Rock Lake.   No response.  Thinking he may not have heard me because of the roar of the stream, as he passes my right shoulder, I say, “You okay?” 

He grumbles, “Surviving.” 

His wife is following, so I enquire a bit more.  Turns out they are hiking the John Muir Trail for about a month and they are maybe in a little bit over their depth.  Both are elderly, though not probably as much as my 74 years, but not in good shape.

Contemplating the beauty looking south & east.

The John Muir trail is one of two famous trails going north-south through Yosemite.  The other is the Pacific Crest Trail.  The John Muir runs south from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental U.S.  People hike the whole thing in 3-4 weeks, depending upon food supplies stationed along the way. This year we saw an unusually high number of these John Muir hikers.   For part of our trip we were on the trail for a few miles.  

This couple touched me and I talked later that evening around the campfire with our group.  I mentioned how sad.  I have been overwhelmed all day with the gift of being where we are.  I am so grateful that I can still hike to these beautiful places.  And this hiker is grumpy.  Does he not see the gift?  

It is all gift.  Health or no health, rich or poor, life.   

What is your gift today?

Contemplating, looking west & north. Going right on this bridge we headed down the trail to Lower Paradise Campsite, our last campsite of the 8 nights.

Readings: Hosea, 6, 3-6; Psalm 50; Romans 4, 18-25; Matthew 9,9-13; plus a good Alleluia verse, Luke 4, 18, about which I would like to speak.

Hosea: as with most of the prophets, Hosea is disturbed by the infidelity & behavior of the Hebrews.  He tells them how bad they are and warns them that their bad ways will have consequences.  Yahweh will punish them.  He lives about 700 years B.C. & worked the area of the north, called Israel or Galilee.

Me Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor?

Many of you, I am sure, have your favorite auto mechanic.  And if you don't, you probably wish you did.  Rosemary & I have an Italian Catholic family, the Lucidos, who run One Stop.  Trouble with it is that it is a little distance, near 35 & Royal. 

In Richardson there is another of these reliable mechanics.  I don't know the man, but he has a reputation of being reliable, dependable, reasonable with his prices, and a curmudgeon.  A grump, a no patience, no compliments, non-smiler. 

A family I know who has lived in Richardson forever has believed in this mechanic.  The family has raised three kids who are now grown up and at least into their 20's.  As is the case in so many families, one of the kids, the oldest boy, has had his troubles migrating from adolescence into adulthood.  In and out of school, not able to find what he wanted to do, hanging with friends who likewise could not find their way. 

In the past couple of years, this boy finally married, had some kids, and actually graduated from college.  I think this was his first year to teach in special ed.  It looked like the kid was really putting his life together and going somewhere.

In the spring the boy had car trouble and naturally he took his trouble to the family mechanic.  All went well and the car was fixed for a reasonable price. 

A few days later the father got a call from the curmudgeon mechanic.  What do you think he was calling to say? 

"I am calling," he said, "to compliment you on your son."  The mechanic who never gives compliments and who had known and followed the son through his growing pains, said the boy had turned out marvelously, courteous, friendly, saying "Yes, sir," & "No, sir," and was really a pleasure to be around. 

I think dad just about fainted dead on the phone.

I tell this story because it exemplifies one approach to "The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor."  A marvelous line.  For three reasons.

     We are all the poor and need to hear glad tidings.  We are less than we want to be, we hurt others, we fail in business and in sports, we fail as spouses, as parents, as priests.   Then along comes glad tidings: "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.  Pretty good news for us sinners.

   The Lord sends Me to bring glad tidings, good news, compliments.  The Richardson curmudgeon mechanic brought happy tidings to a father who could have felt rather poverty stricken over the years as a parent.  This is one of the main motivations I work as a priest & therapist.

   The result of the glad tidings is greater inner peace–for the person who receives the gift and for the person who brings it.  Certainly the father felt greater peace and probably the mechanic felt a peace.

With whom do you share glad tidings & how?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-06-08.mp3

Readings:

Ecclesiastes   1 2; 2, 21-23, Vanity of vanities, all things are vanit.

Psalm 90,  If today you hear his voice, harden not  your hearts.

Colossians 3, 1-5, 9-11,   Put to death the parts of you that are earthly

Luke 11, 1-13,  The rich man who hoarded all his wealth in bigger barns, then died.

 

The Consecration

INTRODUCTION:  

After the Jews received the commandments and oral law, they received from God the Judges; the last of whom was Samuel. During this period of time the following wisdom was practiced: Jews were to follow the example of the Judges. They were to use their free will to determine what was right or wrong using the oral law and the Commandments as their guide.

When the people asked for a king, Samuel said, ‘No!’  Why?  A king would take the best of everything from you; your sons and daughters, your land, your vineyards. He will become rich and you will become poor.  Do not put your faith in a king instead of God. 

Fast forward through King Saul and King David, to our first reading from Ecclesiastes.  The one who labored in our first reading was King David.   His son Solomon, did not labor for, but was the beneficiary of all of his possessions.  Solomon was worldly wise and clever; but not spiritually wise. He certainly did not use the oral law or the commandment to guide his decisions, nor did he suggest to others to do so until the very end of Ecclesiastes.  Our second reading continues the teaching we are receiving from Colossians.  We are to humble ourselves to be the hands and eyes and heart of Christ in the world by showing compassion and generosity to others.  To put on Christ infers that we have died to the greed that is idolatry,

 

The Offertory. Bill, Marlene, and Cindy

HOMILY:  Samuel’s reasons for not having a king where fulfilled by Solomon.  He abandoned his father David’s advice to him, and he lavished himself with expensive gifts.  He lusted after women, taking 700 wives and 300 concubines.  He had 4000 stalls filled with expensive horses.  In a dream Solomon asked for wisdom to rule God’s people with justice.  Remember the parable I shared with you some time ago about Solomon and the two prostitutes?  He asked his servants for a sword, saying that he would cut the living child in two, giving half to one and half to the other.  He used fear not wisdom to identify the real mother.  He was clever; but not spiritually wise.

 

Genevieve, a happy little girl

In the New Testament Letter of James, the rich are reminded of the wisdom that comes to us from above. It is the good news of Jesus Christ. Those who seek him receive the Holy Spirit so that their labor is pure and gentle, and filled with compassion.  The wisdom, of course, is that we are to put on Christ.

The inspired writer of the Luke gospel used the word rich to describe the man in today’s parable.  This Greek word suggests that the man had more than ample property to make willingly, with gratitude, a generous gift. But he didn’t; his wisdom was foolishness.  The parable is to be understood this way:  The Lord’s judgment, ‘you fool,’ is how he gave answer to the rich man’s greed that was idolatry.

Generosity is always a gift of gratitude toward God.  Giving of our time and talent is just as important as giving material wealth.  In everything give thanks for that is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.  The wisdom that comes from above is meant to be contagious, those served with love are given the opportunity to do the same for others.