Sunday Homily 10-4-09, 27th Ordinary Time

Readings: Acts 15, 1-29; Psalm 67; Revelation 21, 10-23; John 14, 23-29

Mother’s Gift

Some years ago after I had returned to Dallas in the 80’s and my mother was still alive, she had to go to the hospital for some procedure. The hospital was the one on LBJ near Webb Chapel, called Deadman in those days.

She was going to stay for at least a night, so we packed up some of her stuff. It was afternoon. I was driving her west on LBJ and we were talking. Suddenly she patted me on my right thigh and said, "I’m proud of you."

Now at that time I am probably 47 or 48, but her little compliment moved me. It was especially touching because she had never wanted me to go off to the Jesuits and she had gotten so mad I went to Africa that she did not speak to any local Jesuit for some years.

I talk about this on Mothers’ Day because of two reasons.

First, it shows how at whatever age we are, our mother’s compliments and affirmations remain powerful. My mom’s simple compliment touched my spirit. I can still remember it as if it were yesterday.

Secondly, it shows how you mothers have the touch. You can ignite people’s spirits into new life with just a movement or a word. It may seem so simple that it is of little value. This event with my mom exemplifies just the contrary, how valuable it is.

Whom do you touch into new life?

Download the homily as an mp3 file.

Readings:

Isaiah  66, 18-21,  I know their works and their thoughts.  (This is the last chapter of the book of Isaiah.)

Psalm 117,  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Hebrews 12, 5-7, 11-13,    He scourges every son he acknowledges.

Luke 13, 22-30,  Strive to enter through the narrow gate.

 

Leo and Genevieve say, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Isaiah 66 observations:

Author: Isaiah III.  The book of Isaiah is one of my favorites.  Some beautiful passages.  Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters, and we are reading the very last.  Isaiah 1 covers chapters 1-39.  This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  This is because the works are the longest.  There are 12 minor prophets.

Time: ca. 700, before the Assyrians annihilate the northern Jewish kingdom, called Israel, vs the southern kingdom called Judah, where Jerusalem is.  10 tribes were lost in this destruction, the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel. 

 

 

 

Leo and his buddy, John, also say, "Come on in, Folks." 

 

 

Remember, there were 12 tribes.  Why?  Because of the 12 sons of Jacob, who was one of the 3 great patriarchs or founders of the tribe, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, who was also called Israel. 

 Message of Isaiah III: Mostly consolation after the catastrophe.   What is the basic activity of a prophet?  1.  criticism, 2. prediction of dire payment, 3. consolation.

Today’s message: this being the last chapter of the whole work, you might guess.  Yes, consolation and future unity.

 

 

Buddy, our Candle Lighter of The Week, at work.


 

 

Psalm  117:  The best line in the whole bunch of readings.  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Hebrews observation:

 The best thing about today's selection: we have to read Hebrews only one more week.  Awful reading today.

 

 

Genevieve says, "Like my new dance step?" 

 

 

It is all Good News

You will never guess where I was this past Friday morning at 6:00.  Yep, you know me too well.   I was beginning spin class at the Jewish Community Center.  I have a special story about something that happened at that class.

Normally we have 10 to 16 or so people for the classes.  But Friday morning we had only about 7-8.  Plus we had a substitute teacher or directress of the orchestra, a lady named Alesia, whose style I like, a bit more laid back.

 

 

Becky and Tom, good friends. 

 

 

So, just as Alesia was instructing us to get started, I stepped away from my bike and made a sign to her that I would like to talk.  So she gave me the welcome sign. 

I stepped forward, turned a bit to include the class, and said that a very special person was celebrating her birthday that day, Haya.   I went over to her and gave her a gift of a little package of cookies called BelVita. 

 

 

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody." 

 

 

Haya is an older woman, which makes her special to me.  She is about 5‘1”, is a little hunchbacked, has a vertical scar on the back of her right shoulder, is very quiet and shy, speaks English with a foreign accent, and drives a gold Prius (as I say frequently, “Anybody who drives a gold Prius has got to be special). 

We finish the class, sing Happy Birthday, start drying off, stretching, and preparing to leave.  I feel a tap on my back.  Haya.  She thanks me for remembering her.  Then she says, “This is the happiest day of my life.”

 

 

Grace and Richard, more good friends. 

 

 

 I cannot believe what I just heard.  I am so touched.  On the one hand, I am touched that such a small gesture can mean so much to her.  On the other, does this say something about her life?  Could she be a victim of the Holocaust?  I discover that we are the same age, 76.  What has she seen in life that I have never seen? 

Why talk about her this morning?  Two reasons.   Because she is Good News.  The Psalm says, “Go out and tell the Good News.”  People are Good News.   I want to know her story.

 

 

 

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany (guess who is expecting?), and Ray.

 

 

Secondly, I want also to contextualize the negativity of Hebrews and Luke. 

There was a strong belief in these times that God was definitely a conditional love God.  Why did the Babylonian Captivity take place?  The Israelites were bad.  Jeremiah says it, the Isaiahs say it.   And so it was written.  In fact, God scourges those who are his special people.

 

 

 

Offertory with Mike & Judy, and Mary.

 

Pretty much this opinion of God has been discarded.  But, remember Katrina?  Happened because New Orleans was bad.  So would you believe that God this past spring was punishing Garland, Blue Mound, and other Dallas suburbs when the hail and rain wrecked people’s houses?  Is sickness a penance for a sinful, bad life?

Me?  I believe and propose that people are The Good News, that you are The Good News.

 

 

 

Play station Number 1. 

 

 

And you?   A God who scourges and demands penance or a God who proclaims that people are The Good News?

 

Readings:

Acts 8, 5-8, 14-17   There was great joy in that city.

Psalm 66,  Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. 

1 Peter  3, 15-18,  It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

John  14, 15-21,  Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Happy Memorial Day."

Reminders on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described. 

CC and Kayla say, Welcome, Everybody, fun to see you."

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Our Selection: More growing pains in the early community.

Watch 2 readings today, the lovely Psalm 66, and the conditional love in John's gospel.  I would like to talk about unconditional love.

Emma and Sienna say, "It's fun here, come on in."

Could the Love be Unconditional ?

I would like to talk about conditional vs. unconditional love this morning.

It seems I hear a lot about unconditional love for kids, for animals, and for other people.  I like that.  I would like to be able to love unconditionally, at least, once in a while. 

Ever think about how the New Testament presents unconditional love?  In fact, I think the New Testament presents a conditional love.  The whole story of our redemption is based on conditional love.

Here comes The Family, Zoe & Tori & Buddy with their mom, Michelle, and granddad, Gilbert.

What does conditional love sound like?  When Rosemary tells me I will love you if you bring me coffee in bed.  Or I will stay with you another year if you mow the grass.  Look at the word John puts in Jesus mouth this morning, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

I would propose that God’s love and acceptance of us is unconditional.  I can see this love in people and I think people reflect the nature of God.   Let me illustrate the point with a little story.

"Did somebody say Cupcakes?", Sienna and Brooklyn.

As you know, Rosemary & I head to New York every first weekend in May for the 5 Bike Tour and for a big family reunion at her nephew Brian’s house in Essex Fells, NJ.  After all this is finished Sunday evening, Rosemary & I stay Monday to visit The City and to have dinner with one of her girl friends and classmates from her days at the College of New Rochelle.  Her girl friend is Juanita and her husband is Charlie, fun people.

Believe it or not, they are members of a community very similar to ours.  Anthony Padovano is the priest who coordinates the community.  It was this couple who mentioned they know you folks by name because they read our blogs.   Juanita rattled off the names of the kids, Zoe & Emma, Leo & Cowboy Cole, and others. 

Zoe just looking beautiful again.

So we are having dinner this Monday night.  At least they are and I am having a glass of wine.  I don’t eat after 4:00 and, therefore, don’t have to take meds for acid reflux. 

We were talking about blessings and good things in our lives, when Juanita says that about 4 months ago she had one of those special experiences.

They are getting ready for the beginning of their Sunday Mass when a new couple comes in and sits next to Juanita.   The celebrant welcomes the new couple and says that the man is Jack Egan, formerly a priest of their archdiocese.

Tori at work.

Juanita is immediately curious.  Her mother used to work at the local Catholic Charities and she remembered hearing her mother talk about this Jack Egan. 

As soon as their Mass is over she immediately asks the man if he ever worked at the local Catholic Charities.  He says, “Certainly.”  She says, “Do you remember my mother, Jo Torres.  She worked there many years.  And I remember that she liked you and mentioned your name often.  ”

Who is that Spider Man? Could that be Buddy?

“Yes, absolutely, I loved her.  In fact, I remember frequently coming into her office while she was working on a case study, tears just streaming down her cheeks.”

Juanita is quite touched and says that she never knew that about her mother. 

Jack Egan says, “What a special moment.  I did not know your mom liked me so much and you did not know how touched she was by the people.”

Cupcake of the Week to Maureen for being The Great Grandmother.

An illustration of unconditional love.  And this from human beings.   They receive the gift from The Source. 

What is your image of Our God’s  love for you and acceptance of you?  Conditional or unconditional.  How do you know?

Source: Thanks, Juanita, for letting me share your story with our community.

Who is that Cupcake Thief? Why, that looks almost like Leo. Impossible.

Take it away, Ben.  We are ready!

Readings: 

Nehemiah 8, 2-4, 5-6, 8-10   The story of Ezra, the priest

Psalm 19,  Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.

1 Corinthians 12, 12-30,  As the body is one.

Luke 1, 1-4,  4, 14-21,  Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.

Emma doing her Candle Magic with John's help.

Homily from Mike

Think about the last vacation you were on.  Did it meet your expectations; good weather, good food, good company.  Sometimes our expectations are not met, unless we’ve taught ourselves to go with the flow and look toward the bright side by giving thanks no matter what we encounter.

Buddy reading the Blessing of the Candles with Mike's help.

In our gospel today, the Jews at the Sabbath synagogue service were in expectation to hear what Jesus had to say, for Jesus had chosen the reading.  Not only that, it was said that he spoke with authority, and this was Jesus’ home ground; it was where he grew up.

Mike homilizing.

What Jesus gave them was what the Messiah would do when he came to his people, Israel. When you heard it, did you recognize that it was filled with promises, beginning with the most important: where he promised to bring to the lowly, those in dire need, the Good News of Jesus Christ. After reading it, he sat down; and he held them in expectation.

What a team.

When he stood up he said, “This day, this Scripture, is fulfilled in your midst.” They didn’t realize it but they had just begun to receive the Good News. They were the ones to whom Jesus had come. All of promises, given by the prophets, were directed to them: they were the blind, the poor in spirit, the ones who were in captivity, they were the downtrodden,

The Great Offertory Team, Karen, Tom, & Denni.

This Scripture is being fulfilled in our midst too, for we are the ones called to make those promises come true.  We are the ones who daily are led by the Spirit to welcome and live the Good News in the world. With every act of kindness, each of us, using our unique spiritual gifts, bind ourselves together as one body; His body, which we are about to break and share with one another in our Liturgy of Eucharist.   

Can it get better than this, Luke with his mommy, Julie.

Welcome in, Dearest Harper.  I wish I could have been with you this morning, but next week for sure.

Readings: 

1 Samuel 1, 20-22, 24-28, In those days Hannah bore a son

Psalm 84,  Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.   

1 John 3, 1-2, 21-24, See what love the Father has bestowed upon us.  

Luke 2,  41-52,  When he was 12 years old they went up according to the festival custom.

Thanks for your beautiful welcome Cindy & Dee.

HOMILY     

Since the Church has always taught that Jesus was truly human, I like it when the Scripture gives an example of the family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus as an actual, real human family.

Rick, you make an excellent candle lighter.  Thanks for your help.

Today’s Gospel gives such an example. Luke’s story hints at a family conflict caused by Jesus’ behavior. Luke gives us just a glimpse of the conflict, but I can imagine it going something like his mom, Mary saying, “How could you do this to us? Not telling us where you were all this time. This was hurtful to your father and me. We’ve been looking for you since last night; and were worried to death all this time! Don’t you know how disrespected we feel? We taught you better than this”…(and perhaps, both concerned parents, either Joseph or Mary said)…“Do not do this to us again!”

Thanks so much for your company yesterday, Mike.  You sure helped me to wait patiently while my surgeon got delayed for almost 4 hours.  We actually had fun in that OR waiting room.  Like with the lady who was wanting nothing but a coffee while she waited.

As for Jesus, I can imagine his side too. Some claim Jesus had brothers and/or sisters. Whether he had siblings or not, he was twelve, equal to a teenager today, a time kids are practicing behaviors that are rebellious or just plain independent. Working with your Dad learning carpentry isn’t bad, but Jesus may have begun to experience it’s limitations. And being in the big city for the first time as a 12-year old probably exposed Jesus to opportunities he hadn’t considered before—like a chance to talk about the Scriptures with temple scholars.

Hi, Jan, Where is that crazy guy you hang out with, like you know, that Sir Charlie?

Luke had his own goal in mind, building up Jesus’ credentials as a kid wise beyond his years and already showing an advanced knowledge of the Scriptures. So we don’t get the whole story here, of Joseph and Mary and Jesus, being a working class Jewish family living all those years in a small town.

The Best Music with Shonda, Ben (where is your hat), and David.

Though just a glimpse, in this story Luke gives us a hint of the holy family being like a regular family I can identify with. How about you? Can you imagine from Luke’s story how the family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus acted and lived—and had conflicts—much like your own family?

John sharing another of his insightful homilies to end the year of 2018.

Readings: Isaiah 9, 1-6, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Psalm 96, Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord; Titus, 1, 11-14, The Grace of God has appeared; Luke 2, 1-14, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.  Terrific Readings!

Isaiah, a quick review. 

This beautiful passage is just one of many reasons why I love the Work of Isaiah.  

 Yes, this is Isaiah I, who composed before the Babylonian Captivity around 600 before Christ.  In fact, he wrote even before Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, around 750 before Christ.  He saw it coming.

Incarnations 

    Folks, it happened two weeks ago, that beautiful Saturday, December 10.  Rosemary & I were volunteers at a picnic in Flower Mound for underprivileged kids.  We were specifically employed at crowd control in front of a photo shop in a large pavilion where all kinds of things were going on, lunches, dances on a stage, face paintings, and so on.  Horses for riding were outside.    

    Then there were tons of kids, about 3000 according to one count.  60 school buses, 850 volunteers, and 4500 hot dogs which were totally gone in a nano-second.  We had about 35 members of our own little community.  

    A whole bunch of events touched me, but three stand out. 

    The first person who touched me was Joey, a cute little black girl about 6 years old.  I chatted up everyone in the line, but seemed to spend more time with Joey, which is how I came to know her name.  She just told me. 

    At one point in our conversations she handed me a small trinket she had glued onto her blouse.  She said, “That’s yours.  I made it.”  I was so touched.  Then she got her picture taken and was gone, happy as could be. 

    Another time I was watching a black woman chaperon or bus driver.  She was rounding up her kids and had them all sitting on the cement floor just beyond my line for the photo shop.  When I talked with her she was up to 45 in counting her kids and had more to go.   Her care for all those kids knocked me over. 

    Then there was a little black girl who was afraid.  She, too, was about 6 and was with about five other girls a bit older and an adult lady.  In the line ahead of her was a black man who was totally dressed as a clown, face painted white, and everything. 

    I’m standing next to her and she whispers to me, “I’m scared of him.”  I was touched that she told me.  So we talked.  Eventually I moved into her sight line so she could not see him, because it was like she was obsessing about the guy.  

    She told the others and they scoffed at her.  However, I was able to let her know that fear was okay and that here she was safe.  I would not let the clown hurt her.  That seemed to calm her; she got her picture, and went happily on her way. 

    These were incarnation events for me, the spirit of God right there in this crowd of kids on a picnic.  I suggest that these sightings take place daily, in people like the ones I mention, in people who make up my daily life, and in events, to say nothing about nature.

    What was your last incarnation event?

Picture 1:    The Team 

Picture 2:    Emma as angel 

Picture 3:    The Nativity Drama   

Picture 4:    The Nativity Drama 

Picture 5:    The Nativity Drama 

      Video:     The Nativity