Readings: Entry Reading, Matthew 21, 1-11; Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 22, My God, My God, why have You abandoned me?; Philippians 2, 6-11; Passion, Matthew 26. 

 

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday 2011    

Intro to the Readings

 Today we will be celebrating both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday – two extremes – the one an occasion of great joy and celebration with the palms, when Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem being hailed as King, the other is our reading of the Passion of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel.  Each of the evangelists gives us an account of Jesus’ last days.  It might help to put it into perspective by considering, particularly for those of you who were alive and can remember the assassination of President John Kennedy, the time lapse between the event and the writing of the gospel narratives.  Our views of president Kennedy have been affected by time.  So too the account of Jesus’ death is influenced by the events taking place when these accounts were written.

 

 In brief, Matthew and Mark are very similar and present a Jesus who has been abandoned by all!  The disciples do not come off too well, they fall asleep on him three times, Peter denies him three times, and Jesus’ last words from the cross are “My God, why have you abandoned me. 

For Luke, Jesus is not abandoned, the disciples appear in a much more sympathetic light.   The people are not against Jesus, three times Pilate declares Jesus innocent, and in Luke, Jesus heals the soldier whose ear is cut off.  He prays for the women of Jerusalem, he forgives those who persecute him, promising the good thief heaven and finally prays, ”Into your hands I commend my spirit”. 

 John has a Jesus who is able to declare “I lay down my life and I take it up again, no one takes it from me”.  On the cross his royalty is proclaimed in three languages, Pilate declares him King of the Jews, his Mother and beloved disciple are with him at the foot of the cross, and his final words are “it is finished”. 

 How are we to understand these different presentations?  Not as contradictions but as different sides of a diamond, because we will need Jesus differently in our different circumstances, at different times in our lives.  Sometimes we will feel abandoned, sometimes in need of comfort and other times assured of God’s infinite power.

 

 Homily

I want to use this time for the homily, very briefly.  A question I would have you consider as we listen to the gospel reading today – who are you in those readings? 

Are you one of the crowd on Palm Sunday cheering wildly as Jesus rides into Jerusalem?  Are you one of the disciples who abandoned Jesus when things got tough, or Peter who denied him three times, or Judas who betrayed him?  Are you Pilate, who declares his own innocence by washing his hands of the whole thing? 

 
This may seem a bit of an extreme question, but remember, the way the gospel story is presented by each of the evangelists is colored by the circumstances in which their account has been written.

Picture 1:   The Passion with Claire Occhipinti helping

Picture 2:   The Kiddos, Georgie, Natalie, J.E., and Kendall

Picture 3:   Offertory, Tom & Teresa Quinn

Picture 4:   Communion helpers, Rob & Beth Robinson and Mike Carrell

Picture 5:   Communion helpers, Joanne, Tom & Lynda Fleming 

 

 

 Readings:   Jeremiah 31, 31-34, I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; Psalm 51, Create a clean heart in me, O God; Hebrews 5, 7-9, He learned obedience from what he suffered; John 12, 20-33, Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground.  Whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

Jeremiah:  We have not seen Jeremiah for a long time, since before Thanksgiving.  Remember that he is one of the Big 3 Prophets (because of the size of the work, e.g. 62 chapters in Jeremiah), who are Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel.   A review:

 

Author: most of the work is done by Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch.  Jeremiah is described as the broken hearted prophet because of his heart rending life spent warning the people & kings that their behavior was going to be punished.  And so it happened with The Babylonian Captivity.

Time:  ca. 600 BCE, as an easy date to remember.   The Captivity went from around 585-550 BCE.  Jeremiah may have died in Egypt during The Captivity in Babylon.

The Scene:  Remember that the Holy Land had a north & a south, Israel & Judah.  First, the northern kingdom, Israel, was defeated by the Assyrians, 622 BCE.  These Hebrew tribes vanish into the DNA of the region, “The Lost Tribes of Israel.”  Next, the Babylonians & Nebuchadnezzar defeat the Assyrians and threaten the southern kingdom, Judah with the capital Jerusalem.  Jeremiah is watching this and seeing it as Yahweh's punishment.  In 596, more or less, the Babylonians do destroy Jerusalem and cart the Hebrews into slavery.

Today's selection, chapter 31.  Yahweh is promising to make a new covenant or agreement with all the people, and to forgive them, after having shown the people who is master.  Here is the covenant idea mentioned again.  It is a pact or a deal.

Sources: Fr. Reginald Fuller, St. Louis U., Wikipedia; Answers.com; Encyclopedia of Judaism

 

Hate My Life?

I have a story this morning which I have told twice, once at St. Mark's, over 8 years ago and here about 4 years ago.  Pardon me if you've heard it. Some of our best stories we tell over & over, they are so poignant.  The story speaks to my point today.  I had permission for the story.

It happened many years ago when I was working full time as a psychotherapist out of an office at Jesuit.  I think it was the first Monday morning of May.   I know it was a beautiful morning like today.  A boy came to see me who had been in my office on and off for about six years.  He had just graduated from high school and enlisted in the Air Force.  He had struggled since grade school with bouts of depression, and that morning seemed to be in great shape.  We did not even spend more than 30 minutes together, his mood was so up beat and care free.

 

He left.  Maybe two or three hours later a call came in.  The boy had left Jesuit, crossed Inwood to the Lincoln Center complex at LBJ, drove up to the top of the four floor garage, parked his car, headed to the edge of the garage, and walked over the side.  He landed on the cement street four floors below, face down flat.

A passerby saw it, called 911, and in a second the paramedics from just around the corner were on the scene.  He was in Parkland in a flash.  He lived.

It was not for about 3 weeks until I got to visit him.  He apologized.  I admit I was mad.  I loved this kid.  He fooled me.  He said that he had been in a zone, happy because he knew he was out of there, meaning he was ready to go to the other side.  He wanted to escape the pain of life and go to heaven.  He said he had  no fear in walking off that fourth floor, none of the hesitation you feel before you jump off the high diving board the first time. 

 

You may guess why I tell this story.  It exemplifies what happens when you take literally "whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life."  This little piece of advice, taken the wrong way, can be so dangerous. This boy hated his life.

 I would suggest there is a negative and a positive way to hate my life. 

The negative is exemplified by this kid's story.  This is often what is happening when you hear of someone cutting on themselves.  If I hate my life and hate myself, I will want to punish myself.  So I cut myself.  Or I may think that I am such a loser that no one will pay me any attention if I do not do something dramatic like spill my blood. 

 

Even without such dramatic examples, I do not want to encourage someone who hates their body, hates their job, hates their family, hates their school, hates.  Just thinking about this I recoil.   There may be reason for the hatred.  However, "There is a better way," I want to say and I would say it.   I believe in talk therapy.   Feelings are all okay.  I just don’t want some feelings to stay around. 

On the positive side, I would suggest two things.

First, the word hate can be considered as hyperbolic, a big word meaning exaggeration.  It is like Rosemary telling me, "You get me up at 5:00 tomorrow morning for spin class & it is divorce!”   Think she is exaggerating?  I hope. 

 

  

Secondly, I would suggest that this all has to do with being more alive now, in this life. The grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying fits in with this.  For example: look at March Madness.  Many of these player have died to themselves to achieve & to be better players.  How many hours in the gym have they spent practicing free throws?  When they could be hanging out, sleeping in, text messaging?  And they love their lives.  I’ve seen boys do this at Jesuit. 

Goofy, but I hate my life to love my life.  I don't want to get up early.  I could sleep in to 11:00.  However, I, we, Rosemary & I get up and head over to the Jewish Community Center, 6:00 A.M. spin class.  The result even Rosemary loves  life.  And so do I.

The boy who jumped is now okay, amazingly.  It took him years of physical recovery.  Two things did not happen that blessed him.  He did not damage his brain and did not damage his spine.  Every other bone, plus his teeth, were broken.  Once he got strong enough he went to medical technical school, got his certificates, and now has good jobs in various hospitals in the city.  I don't think he hates his life anymore.  In fact, he loves it. 

 

How do you love your life?

Sources:  The Center for Liturgy, St. Louis U.; St. Raymond Catholic Church, Dublin, CA; Carmelite Order Web; Homilias Domincales.

 

 

 

 

Having a vision, Aggie?

 

Readings:

Isaiah 11, 1-10, The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb…(beautiful, poetic?)

Psalm 72,  Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.

Romans 15, 4-9  Let us throw off the works of darkness

Matthew 3, 1-12,  John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert  (Fear based spirituality?)

 

We have noticed that people discover that the Blog has not been coming.  Typepad tends to drop people for no reason.  So if this happens to you, just sign up again by going to www.johnstackministries.com

 

 

Welcome in, Chip & Cathy.

 

Curtis Jenkins, December 15

This morning I have my first Christmas homily of the season.  I want to introduce you to Curtis Jenkins, a  school bus driver for about 70 kids from Lake Highlands Elementary, Richardson West Junior High, and J.J. Peace Senior High.  Jenkins is a 46 year old black guy who married his 8^th grade girl friend.  They have 3 daughters all in their 20’s. 

 

 

Teamwork.

 

Jenkins has been driving the school bus for 7 years.  Initially he gave up his career as an electrician/ plumber so he could be more present to his mother, who is not well.

What is special about Curtis is taking place right now, this very week  All the 70 kids who ride his school bus may make a request for a Christmas present.  Last year apparently when Curtis had bought, wrapped, and loaded all the gifts into his bus, there was hardly room for the kids.  He does this every year.

 

 

Candle lighting with Tori.

 

Plus, during the year he gives birthday gifts (Sound familiar?  Maybe cupcakes?).   As the kids prepare to disembark, Curtis gives them a little pep talk, like a hope talk.  Maybe a quickie homily or final blessing?  He even develops community responsibility by creating clean up teams, safety teams (like bigger kids helping smaller kids, and helper kids (like for gift distribution).  Parents say their kids wake up eager and excited that they get to ride Curtis school bus.

 

 

He's got it memorized, Folks.

 

Curtis was featured in the April 20, 2019 edition of the Dallas Morning News. 

You know what this makes me want to do?  Pick up on Cathy’s idea last Sunday where we would give a Christmas gift to every kid in this school.  Are these not our kids?  A possibility?  How many kids are here?

 

Juliets' Christmas luncheon.   Table 1 of many.

 

All these ladies do is have parties!

 

 

 

 

 

Readings: 2 Kings 5, 14-17; Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2, 8-13; Luke 17, 11-19.

2 Kings:

• Time of the events: 900 B.C.
• Time when written: 550 B.C., during the Babylonian captivity
• Subject of 1 Kings: This book continues the history of the kings taking up with the death of King David and continuing through the story of David & Bathsheba’s son Solomon.  He builds the famous Temple of Solomon.  After his death the nation divides into the northern & southern states, Israel in the north, Judah in the south (including Jerusalem; remember by the "J’s").
• Subject of 2 Kings: This book continues the history of the decline of the two states until Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeats the people. 
• Subject of our chapter 5 (read it all, it is delightful): one of the leaders of the Syrian-Babylonian army goes to visit the prophet of the day, Elisha.  Naaman, the general, has leprosy.  Note the twist of the story at the end.  Thanks is a theme of this selection and it sets the stage for Luke’s story about gratitude.

Gratitude

Last Sunday after our Mass, after Rosemary had counted the income, and had put it on spread sheets, we got in the car to go out for the evening.  I dropped her off at the Royal Lane & Preston Tom Thumb to buy something, she gave me some letters to mail at the corner, and she gave me the two envelopes to deposit in the bank on the same corner.  We always deposit that money right away.

I drove through the parking lot to the mail box and dumped in all the envelopes. All the envelopes.  Namely, her letters and the two bank deposit envelopes.

I knew almost immediately what I had done and, in fact, wanted to reach down into the mail box to retrieve the deposits.  However, I realized I could go to jail for that.  So we typed up a special note with our phone number and put it in the mailbox and figured we would make contact with the Royal Lane post office early the next day before pick up.  Guess what Monday was: Columbus Day, a postal holiday. 

Tuesday morning I got a call from the main post office that they had one of our deposit envelopes and I could pick it up.  When I met the guy I confessed that I was embarrassed to admit that I was the person who put the deposits in the mail box.  He says to me that as a matter of fact it happens a lot on that corner and that a woman had actually put in 10 thousand dollars in cash. 

So we have gotten back the running expenses deposit and still are waiting for the outreach envelope, which he seems optimistic will show up.  The thing that touched me, however, was how this postal supervisor treated my brain dead behavior with such a light touch.  I thanked him for both, for getting the envelope and for making light of it all.  I was really grateful.

The two stories we have in today’s readings are all about gratitude. A few observations.

First.  The temptation is to think I am one of the nine who did not return to thank Jesus. Yes & No.  I would suggest again: we are both.  Lots of times we forget to thank.  Lots of times we thank. 

Second.  There could be symbolism in the nine and one.  Perhaps I am nine tenths ungrateful and one tenth grateful.  This is a pretty normal proportion. A lot of times, however, I am not so much ungrateful as just insensitive, totally unaware.  Perhaps the lepers who did not return just figured they were lucky and went on their way.  The other guy realized he had been given a gift by that stranger and wanted to respond.

Jesus  tells him his faith has saved him.  I would suggest that his gratitude transformed him.

Third.  How is it possible to rearrange the percentages?  Rosemary & I have a favorite little practice that we do every night.  I’ve mentioned it before. We ask each other what were the blessings of the day.  I recommend this. I even recommend it for sitting alone, while savoring the first cup of coffee in the morning, driving or riding the DART to work & back, getting ready to go to school.  Simple question: what were my blessings yesterday or this week?

In that main post office I could have focused on how dumb I was or that I did not get the second deposit back.  Fortunately I could appreciate the supervisor’s light touch and that I had gotten back one envelope, the larger.

You may start now: what were your three biggest blessings this week?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-10-14.mp3

Theme Today: July 4th, Why I'm proud to be an American

Readings:

 Ezekiel  2,  2-5  Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels.

Psalm 123,    Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

2 Corinthians 12, 7-10, A thorn in the flesh was given to me.

 Mark  6, 1-6, A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.

 

Emma says, "Welcome in, Everybody, and meet my friend, Teddy, my dad's old special friend."

 

Ezekiel observations:

Who:  Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 prophets.  Why?  48 chapters.  The other 2: Isaiah & Jeremiah.  These 3 have lots of chapters & material.

Ezekiel was born into the priest class.  He later was considered a prophet.  He got The Call from God.  When he was about 25 he was swept up in the Babylonian captivity, around 590. 

When: It covers the period of the Captivity, 600-550 before Christ, which Ezekiel lived personally.  But the work is composed toward the end of the Captivity, around 550.  This is Ezekiel’s material, but it has been saved and edited by his fellow priests.

 

The special magic lady of our neighborhood who puts together our July 4th parade and party every year, Patty Cody.  It is also her birthday.  Her helpers Aviana, The Queen Mother, and Larry.

 

Message:

1. Ezekiel criticises the people and warns them that their bad ways will be punished, for example, by being defeated and led into slavery and the Captivity.
2. He promises comfort and a brighter future for the captive people, especially envisioning a restored temple (which then lasted until when?  The year 70, when the Romans finally destroyed the temple & the priestly cast ceased to function, to this day).
3. An amusing vision: The Dry Bones, chapter 37.

Today’s selection:   Ezekiel gets The Call or invitation from God to go tell the Israelite people that God sees what is going on.  Which means, tell them they are behaving horribly and they will pay dearly for their misbehavior. 

 

                Happy 4th of July and welcome to our party.

 

2 Corinthians observations

1.  This second letter to Corinth is often called the severe or tearful letter.  Paul was upset with the Corinth, Greece community because of what he thought were false prophets undermining his authority.  These people could have simply been people who disagreed with him.  At points you can almost hear Paul playing his violin & singing 'Poor Paul.'

2.  He talks here about a thorn in his flesh.  So, what is that?  People have speculated for centuries.  Could it have been he was OCD (obsessive compulsive), bi-polar (mood swings from manic & dramatic to depressed), epilepsy, or something else?  Is there evidence in his writing for any of this?  Maybe. No way to really diagnose.  The patient has been dead for a few years.

Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, St. Louis U. Liturgy Studies, Wikipedia

 

            Will somebody decorate my bike like that for Iowa?

 

July 4th : Why I am happy to be an American

One of the nice things about being 75 is that I find myself looking back over the years and counting the special blessings of my life.  This 4^th of July week I it struck me that of my 75 years I had the privilege of living in East Africa for about 10 of those years.  While I was often critical of American foreign policies, I was happy to be an American. 

Why am I happy to be an American?  I have an East African story and two small contemporary stories.

 

 

             Engines are warming up.  Patriotic dogs welcomed.

 

When I lived in East Africa I based out of Tanzania.   I gave seminars and retreats also to priests and nuns living in Kenya and in Uganda.  This was the time of Idi Amin, a rather crazy tyrant who resided in Kampala, the capital.

One time my team & I had a program, probably a month long program in Uganda.  We were just down a dilapidated two lane, main highway going west from Kampala to the most western town, Mbarara.   There was a center run by some sisters on the south side of this highway.  We had probably 20 participants. 

 

 

                                   Who's having more fun here, Dad or Kids?

 

I used to run every day.  When I ran on the road I was in Idi Amin territory with occasional trucks passing with his soldiers.  When I returned to the center I was in the rebels’ territory.  The State dept forbade Americans from entering Uganda because of Idi Amin.  But in we went, anyway.

I never had any trouble with the soldiers on the road and, certainly no trouble with the rebels in the forests behind the center.

 

 

                          Away we go, just follow the fire truck.

 

My one trouble came when I was returning to Kenya & Nairobi, the capital.  I was at the border, Uganda side.  I went up to a Ugandan soldier at a low desk, showed him my passport, and made a mistake.  I spoke Swahili.  The guy went off.  I thought I was going to jail.  Why?  Swahili was the language of Tanzania and Kenya, both against Idi Amin.

I remember getting through, catching a country taxi into Nairobi, and getting out in the middle of the town to see the American flag flying over the embassy. 

 

                    Larry's favorite toy, and you should hear it.

 

Seeing the flag and what it stood for was like seeing a friend in a foreign land.  I would see it occasionally in Nairobi and in the capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam (which means harbor of peace in Arabic).

That was then.  This past week two special events took place.

 

Another favorite toy, especially for the kids, but perhaps for a few big kids, too.

 

Monday Rosemary & I set out on the White Rock Creek Trail to go ride our bikes around White Rock.  Almost at the end of the trial, the south end, just before it goes under Northwest Highway, Rosemary hit a pot hole and had two blow outs.  Both tires at the same time.  A very unusual event.

I came along and we determined that I should ride back to Royal Lane, get the car, and pick her up a point about half way back on the trail.  She would walk the bike back. 

 

                               Patriotic golf , Anybody?

 

When I picked her up, she said she was touched.  People kept passing her.  11 men and 5 women.  Of those people 7 men and 4 women asked if they could help her.  One woman even asked Rosemary if she would like her to tow Rosemary’s bike.  I, too, was touched.

Finally, yesterday morning, July 4^th.  We have an annual parade and picnic every July 4^th morning.  Preston Hollow elementary school yard is the scene.  A fire truck leads the parade and police cars are scattered here and there.  The parade circles around the neighborhood, and returns to the school, where there is a petting zoo, face painting, snow cones, a DJ with patriotic music, and refreshments provided by The Queen Mother.  Guess what the biggest treat is: donut holes. 

 

It is always embarrassing to run into a former Jesuit student.  He knows too much. 

 

The kids are beautiful, the families are beautiful, and the lady who coordinates all of it is The Best.

Why are you happy to be American?

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Malachi  3, 1-4,  Yes, he is coming, says the Lord.

Psalm 24,  Who is this kind of glory?  It is the Lord.

Hebrews,  2, 14-18,  That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.

Luke  2, 22-40, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to the temple to present him to the Lord.

 

Homily by Mike

Helen Roberta Marina Lazio was the woman that my Father married. What do I remember most about my mother? She loved to pray. She said the whole rosary every day of the last 25 years of her life.  The Joyful Mysteries were her favorites for they fit well with her prayer to Mary. 

Recall that the Hail Mary begins with words from the angel Gabriel [Hail Mary full of grace; the Lord is with you] at the Annunciation event and are followed by Elisabeth’s greeting to Mary at the beginning of the Visitation [Blessed are you among women; and blessed is the fruit of your womb]. 

 

 

The first two chapters of the Luke gospel give us the Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Our Lord, the Presentation, and the Finding of the boy Jesus in the Temple. Today’s Feast of the Presentation happens to be the fourth Joyful Mystery. 

To help us understand more fully today’s feast, let us take a short journey within the two chapters. It begins with the story about Zechariah and Elizabeth.  They are both Levites and he is also a priest. They are righteous before God and keep all the commandments of the Law; however she is barren. 

 

 

They represent Judaism that is not bearing fruit, they pray for its fulfillment and God hears their prayer. Their son will be John the Baptist, the messenger of our first reading.  Gabriel is now sent to Mary to announce that she will give birth to a Messiah king, and she comes to realize that the fruit she will bear fulfills the yearning and expectation of his coming given within the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. 

 

 

Gabriel tells Mary that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is not longer barren, and immediately she sets off to visit her.  Elizabeth greets Mary with the words, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’  Elizabeth and Zechariah know that Mary is to give birth to the Messiah, and they reveal the role of John the Baptist to prepare the people for his coming.   Now, recall the words of Christ, the Good Shepherd to Peter at the end of the John gospel. Three times he says, ‘Feed my Lambs.’

 

 

Lambs in the Gospel are those who have heard the words of the Good Shepherd and follow him.  So, we are now presented in the Luke gospel shepherds who are watching over their flock, lambs, when angels make them aware that the Christ child will be found in a feeding trough, a manger, wrapped in stripes of cloth, a shroud.

The shepherds are to perceive the Christ child as the Suffering Servant and Lamb of God of the Good News. The Word and the Bread blessed and broken are food for the lambs. The feast of the birth of Christ [Christ Mass is the Christ Liturgy] is a feast of the liturgy the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist: food for the soul.

 

 

The Christ child [the Word and Sacred Meal that fulfilled the written expectation of the Law, Prophets and Psalms] in the feeding trough, the Church, is now intimately understood by Simeon in the temple when he says Isaiah’s words, ‘My eyes perceive the salvation which God has prepared for the nations, a light to enlighten the gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.’  

 

 

 In that same way we are to manifest the Word and the Bread blessed and broken in our lives, to become the Body of Christ in the world!  Liturgically we put on Christ to become the Light of the World when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, receive a baptismal robe, and a candle lit from the Easter candle.  

Remember the song, ‘This little light of mine…’ Recall the Matthew verses of a baptismal liturgy: "You are the Light of the World. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden, and no one lights a lamp to put it under a bushel, they put it on the lampstand, where it gives light to all who are in the house.  In that same way, let your light shine before men so that seeing your good works they too may give glory your Father who in heaven.