Sunday Homily 11-21-10, Christ the King & Thanksgiving

 

 

Welcome, Everybody. 

 

 

Readings:  

 1 Kings 19:4-8,  Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert.  

 Psalm 34,   Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

 Ephesians 4:30-5,2, Be kind to  one another

John 6: 41-51,  I am the bread of life

 

 

 

 

Emma doing her Candle Magic.

 

 

Kings:  a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel.  The Big 3 kings were Saul, David, & his son Solomon.  The 2 Books of kings follows the 2 Books of Samuel, which describe the lives of the the kings up to the death of the Great King David, my favorite.  1 & 2 Kings takes up the life of Solomon, David's son, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, that is, it divides and is conquered. 

Time Period:  from ca. 900 – 555 before Christ, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus.

 

 

 

 

Hue reading our Blessing of the Summer Candles.

 

 

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ. 

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah.  The kingdom has already been split.  Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel.  Time of severe drought.  The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel.  The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought. 

 

 

 

Welcome, Dear Sandra.

 

There has been a contest in chapter 18: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain.  2 bulls were slaughtered.  Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered.  When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.   

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah.  He is going to run away all depressed. 

 

 

 

 

What a Team!  It don't get no better.

 

 

Taste & See the Goodness of the Lord

I want to talk this morning about one of my favorite themes, namely that we can see, hear, and be touched by the presence of the Lord every day.  As the Psalm says & I believe, we can taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Two examples.

 

 

 

 

Our Special Ekes' Offertory Team, Cindy, Bill, & Marlene.

 

 

As you all know Rosemary with her buddy, Barbara, delivers Meals on Wheels every Thursday.  They visit 15 to 20 clients every week in the general area of Spring Valley east of Coit. Among their clients, whom they love, is a elderly Vietnamese.

While the apartment complex in which he lives is somewhat worn down, he is scrupulously neat and clean.  He has planted flowers and grass outside his door.  In fact, he trims the grass with scissors.

 

 

 

Elevation time.

 

The man heard about rental bikes and thought it would make his trips to the grocery store much easier.  A good idea until he discovered that a credit card was needed. 

There must be a Vietnamese radio station in town.  So he calls up to voice his disappointment.

Thursday when Rosemary & Barbara bring him his food for the day, what do they find in the living room?  A new bike, complete with a lock, an air pump, and bike stuff all from some family that was listening to the radio station.

Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord.

 

 

 

 

Play Station #1.

 

One final story from this year’s Ragbrai.  This story comes from David.

On Monday, the second day of riding, we rode from the overnight town of Dennison to Jefferson, a ride of 70 miles or so.  Along the route there are always vendors, both in the lovely little towns we pass through and just on the shoulder of the road or in a big field.  My favorite, of course, is the Amish site with ice cream & pie.

Another favorite, as you may imagine, is the craft beer garden.  There will be 3-4 scattered along the road and the crowds are enormous.  You have to be really careful riding by because of all the off going and in coming bikers.

 

 

 

 

 

Play Station #1 revisited.

 

 

Somewhere along the road to Jefferson David stops.  He gets a beer and is talking to a couple of guys from Grinnell College, just east of Des Moines (French for monks).  One of the guys is looking for a potty seat for his kid.

Why a potty seat on a bike ride of 70 miles.  From David: " Both guys had their families riding.  One of the families had a 2-3 year old girl who rode in a compartment on her mom's handle bar.  The little girl was potty training and the parents did not want to confuse her and loose ground.   They had a potty seat but it had gotten lost in their sag wagon pick up truck."   (Homily by committee.)

 

 

Our Special Welcoming Committee: Jan can do it all.

 

 

So they go on down the road and end up at the Catholic Church in Jefferson, our overnight town.   Guess why.  Lasagna!  I stopped, too, but later. 

One of the Church volunteers, a guy, hears that the Grinnell guy is looking for a potty seat.  He has one & it is not being used.  He can go get it.  “Be back in an hour & a half,” he says.  He lives 35 miles away.

When did you last Taste & See the Goodness of the Lord?

 

 

 

Our Beloved Music Team, Shonda, Ben, & David.

 

Readings:  Proverbs 31, 10-31, When one finds a worthy wife…; Psalm 128, Blessed are those who fear the Lord; 1 Thessalonians 5, 1-6, You are not in darkness; Matthew 25, 14-30, The parable of the talents.

Proverbs:

Author: Not Solomon, the wise king, but, as usual, a compilation of sources.

Date of Composition: ca. 300 B.C.  It is recognized from the text that it is post exile, that is, after the Babylonian Exile, around 600 to 550 before Christ. 

Content: a collection of moral & religious teachings which  mostly deal with practical matters.   We have some of this folk wisdom, like the saying, 'early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise.   Let me give you six examples:

    1.  (Chapter 1, verse 7),  'Pay attention to what your father & mother tell you, my son.'

    2.  (13, 24),  'If you don't punish your son, you don't love him.'

    3.  (22, 15),  'Children naturally do silly things, but a good beating will teach them.'

    4.  (17, 22),  'Being cheerful keeps you healthy.'

    5.  (18, 6),  'When some fool starts an argument, he is asking for a beating.'

    6.  (25, 24), guys' favorite,  'Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife.'

Today's Selection: This chapter 31 is the last and most beautiful chapter.  A tribute to wives.  The editors of the lectionary have broken the piece up, but I have printed off the whole section.  Very nice. 

Notice anything especially obvious about the proverbs, even from the few I chose?  What do you think?  Written by men for men?

1Thessalonians

We have read this work for a bunch of Sundays.  You might remember one thing about it.  It is the first written document in the New Testament.

Sources: The New Interpreter's Study Bible, The Good News Bible.

 

 

The Parable of the Talents

I have to talk about something this morning.  I would call it a Thanksgiving event, an event that makes a difference.  Was yesterday not beautiful?  Even more beautiful was what about 20 members of our little community did at the house of Rita Dore. 

I am sorry the rest of you did not make it, but you can be proud of your community members, as I am. 

 We started about 8:00.  We had to scrape & paint three large walls and touch up the front wall, which Frank Reyes, a buddy of his, and I had painted in the summer.  There must have been twelve people scraping for two hours.  This is the painful part of a painting project.  By 10:30 we were rolling and painting vertical cracks.  By 12:30 we were 99% finished, and Jenny, Melissa, and Diane brought the pizza.  

Beth took off the handle & lock of the front door and painted it gloss white.  Jim McCabe & Ryan rigged up a block & tackle arrangement from a tree to each of the dead holly bushes and pulled them out one by one.  We even were able to buy and plant 8 Texas Sage bushes along the front of the house where the holly had been.  More drought tolerant.

Folks, later after everyone had left & I had finished cleaning up, Rita said she was overwhelmed with joy. 

I talk about this event because we are less than two weeks from Thanksgiving and because the event leads into the Parable of the Talents.  This is a crazy parable and commentaries by academics are not too helpful. One Jesuit at St. Louis U. mentioned, “Okay, what is the moral?”  I would like to touch upon 3 morals to the parable. 

The first moral.  Fr. John Foley, S.J. says the moral of the parable is obvious, ‘Make the most of what you got.  On the positive side, the moral can be a positive influence in my life.  On the negative side, it might influence me to take too many risks, like with drugs, like with motorcycles, like with money.  The first two servants are lucky they did not invest their talents with Bernie Madoff. 

The second moral.  You fear, you lose.  Observation: it is okay to be afraid.  It is a normal feeling.  It may lead to prudence, which is what the third servant may be praised for.  Or it may lead to paralysis if I let it run loose.  

The third moral.  Watch out for that mean God.  The property owner is obviously a symbol for God or Christ.  What about Matthew?  Could he have been criticizing the religious authorities, who were afraid of anything new, in this case, Jesus & his message? 

Ultimately, I would propose that the symbol for God is over drawn.  It goes contrary to where we are today with our image of God, namely, my favorite line,”He is gracious and merciful; he never gets angry and is abounding in love.” 

Renovating Rita’s house was a Thanksgiving event where a lot of talents were put to good use.  How are you sensitizing yourself and preparing for Thanksgiving? 

Sources: Fr. John Foley, S.J., St. Louis U. Liturgies.

Picture 1:    Mass Begins

Picture 2:    Chloe

Picture 3:    Cole

Picture 4:    Ryan helping scrape Rita's house with his dad, Jim

Picture 5:    Rob & Mike on Rita's house

Picture 6:    Bill Hammond replacing the dead hollies with Texas Sage, which are more drought resistant   

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Genesis  18, 20-32,  What if there are ten there?  For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.

Psalm 138,  Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Colossians 2, 12-14,  You were buried with him in baptism.

Luke 11, 1-13, Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find.

 

Observations on the readings:

The first reading from Genesis is a familiar story about God’s mercy and forgiveness, how it is all encompassing and present to all. More in my homily about this.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians is his letter to the Christian community at Colossae (in present day Turkey), telling them to remember that, as followers of Jesus, they are made new and are called to forgive one another, called to peace and thankfulness. Remember, I said last week I was choosing a more inspirational part of this letter for us to hear (Chapter 3, 12-15)

In the Gospel reading from Luke we will hear about prayer. The prayer Jesus
taught that we are familiar with, and say in Mass, is in Matthew, Chapter 6.
Today’s version in Luke is shortened. Jesus’ parable of knocking on a friend’s
door is about God’s constant mercy.    

 

Homily

From the reading in Genesis, I want to talk today about mercy and forgiveness. In particular I want to talk about what I think makes it possible for us to forgive one another. Forgiveness requires first that I put away self-justification where I put myself above another, where I collect points that make me ‘look better’ than another, especially one whom I judge has offended me, hurt me (‘I am right; I am justified in my hurt’). In order to forgive, I give up the quest ‘to be right’. [This is
where that saying fits, ‘you can be right’ or ‘you can have love in your life.’]
If I need to ‘look better’ or ‘be right’ (self-justified, self-righteous),
forgiveness becomes difficult, even unlikely.

The second requirement for sharing forgiveness is accepting what I take as an offense, a hurt, as possible in the universe of my life. This means in the whole universe of possible happenings, I accept that this hurt, this offense, is possible, this can happen to me. If I treat an offense or hurt as unthinkable or unacceptable to me in my universe, I disallow it as possible and keep it at a distance, away
from me, therefore not forgivable.

The third requirement to forgive another is mercy. Mercy is the quality attributed to God in today’s reading from Genesis about God and the people of Sodom. The quality or spirit of mercy makes forgiveness possible, even predictable. As we listened to the story about God and the people of Sodom, didn’t we predict as each question was asked by Abraham, that God’s response would be mercy?

We are called to have mercy and to forgive, even giving up the safety of waiting to first be forgiven by another (when there is mutual hurt). We are called to forgive. On the other hand we are totally accepted wherever we are in the process of learning mercy and forgiveness in our relationships.  Sometimes it may seem easier to forgive another than to ask for forgiveness from the other. Maybe that’s because giving forgiveness seems to put us in the ‘good guy’ role. Asking for forgiveness can put us in a more vulnerable position, not knowing if we will receive mercy and forgiveness from the other.

 So, my questions today are:   

Am I ready to forgive hurts by another,
especially from those close to me?

Am I ready to accept myself, even if I am not
yet fully capable of forgiving?

Am I able to ask for
forgiveness from another?

 

Readings:  Isaiah 55, 1-11; Psalm Isaiah 12; 1 John 5, 1-9; Mark 1, 7-11.  

Isaiah II & Isaiah I: 2 readings from the Book of Isaiah today.  Some points–

• Review of time frame.  The 3 writers of Isaiah all write in relation to the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 575.  Isaiah I before; Isaiah II during; and Isaiah III after the Babylonian captivity.   Chapters 1-39; 40-55; and 56-66.

• Our first reading today, chapter 55, is from Isaiah II.  Many of the lyrics for Handel's Messiah come from this writer, who is one of most influential of the prophetic writers.  This is because he is used & quoted frequently by the Gospel writers.

• Our selection from chapter 55 is Isaiah II exemplifying the consolation theme that characterizes the work of Isaiah II & III.  It is Isaiah II's last contribution and he is addressing a people  depressed.  Using Yahweh's words he is saying, 'Thirsty?  Come to me.'

• In place of a psalm this morning we have another selection from this great work, a selection from Isaiah I chapter 12, which picks up the water theme.  The passage was written before the Captivity.

I am Chosen by God and Beloved?

Like last week when we celebrated the feast of the Magi or Wise Men, this week's focus on the baptism of Jesus is intentionally crafted to help the Jewish people believe in the uniqueness of Jesus.  I have 3 background facts about this story and will follow up by highlighting a somewhat hidden treasure.

First.  When Mark has John the Baptist say, "I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals," the Jews knew something about John that the rest of us don't know today.  Only a slave was expected to deal with the sandals, because the slave was at the bottom of the social order.  The people of the time would recognize that John is saying, "I am lower on the social order than a slave."

He would be addressing his followers who thought he was terrific, and wanted him to be the man.

Second.  While the majority of the Bible presents us with myth, occasionally there is a story about an event that is likely historical.  The baptism of Jesus is one of those events.  Biblical professionals apply two criteria.  Know what they are?

    a.  One criterion is multiple mentions.  That is, the event is mentioned in numerous places and by numerous writers.  Jesus' baptism is mentioned explicitly in the 3 synoptic gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark, & Luke, and is even hinted at in John's gospel. 

    b.  The other criterion is dissimilar mentions.  That is, each time the story is told, different aspects are developed around the main event.  Therefore, it is unlikely that one writer told the story and the other two copied from him, which is the case with lots of stories in Matthew & Luke.  They probably copied, sometimes directly, from Mark. 

Third.  Nazareth.  We think of this village as a nice little place where Joseph ran his carpenter shop.  His customers were the local folk who were his neighbors.  However, Joseph might have been doing some of his work for the Roman army because at that time Nazareth was a garrison town of the Roman empire.  In fact, Nazareth apparently had a reputation as being pretty wide open with a red light flavor. 

That Jesus was born in Bethlehem with Joseph as his father puts him into the prestigious lineage of King David some 1,000 years earlier.  Being from Nazareth would create a different image in the minds of his Jewish listeners.  They would think, what kind of family is this that comes from that kind of town?

The story has to do with the line in Mark where Yahweh says, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."  By the way, this line is mentioned in the other 2 synoptics, but exactly the same.

This past week we watched the BCS bowl game that OU lost in the second half.  This week end we are watching the NFL play offs.  We all want to know who is number one.  We want our teams to be number one, college level, NFL, or NBA.  On a smaller scale we often get caught up into thinking, 'I want to be number 1.'  In my sports, in my studies, or with you.  The advertising all around me tells me that to be that number one I need to buy a bigger house, or a hot car, or an iphone, or this clothing, or ultimately get something to make me better than I am as I am. 

I even heard the story about the nut case guy who in order to get his name into the Guinness Book of Records climbed into a pit of 80 poisonous snakes.  Number one!

One of the blessings for us in going every Christmas to Mexico City is to see that Stack lives in a bubble, a bubble of wealth and material.  At a stop light on La Avenida de Reforma in Mexico City I am not surrounded by Cadillacs, Mercedes, Beamers, and big SUV's like I am at the corner of Preston & Royal near our house.

In the midst of this obsession with trying to be number one Yahweh comes saying the words 'my beloved' and 'pleased with.'   I discount the words because they are applied to Jesus in the passage.  I would propose that we can apply to us those words.  He says to you, whatever your age or state is, 'You are my beloved', and 'I am pleased with' you.  The way you are.

How does this idea strike you?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-01-11.mp3

Picture 1:  Sabrina reading her Christmas Poem

Picture 2:  The Choir

Picture 3:  Birthdays, Bobby Ekes & Doug Kite

Picture 4:  Chloe & Maggie

Readings:

Isaiah 55, 10-12,   Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down…

 Psalm 65,   The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

Romans 8,  18-23,  The sufferings of this present time are as nothing…

Matthew 13, 1-23,  The parable of the sower.

 

Emma and her mom, Beth, say, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Isaiah, The Great One, observations—

Who:  One of the Big 3 prophets, the greatest in my estimation.  Jeremiah and Ezekiel are the other two.  Actually, the book includes the work of 3 prophets.   Our selection is the last chapter written by Isaiah 2.

Time:  Isaiah 2 was living during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555.  Isaiah 1 writes before the Captivity, maybe 150 years.  Isaiah 3 writes after the return to Jerusalem. 

Subject today: better times will come.  I am expanding today’s passage by a third line, because it is so good.

Isaiah 2 has some of the most beautiful passages, many of which are seen as foretelling the coming of the Savior.  His readings are used all through the Advent & Christmas readings, as well as in Lent.  Handel uses Isaiah 2 in his marvelous work, The Messiah.

Both the Isaiah reading and Psalm 65 are beautiful.

 

 

 

David and Donna, our hearts and our complete condolences go out to you on the loss of your 1 year old little Yorkie, Dixie Belle.  On a sunny morning this past week in the Canyon Creek neighborhood, David was taking his coffee on the patio of their fenced in back yard and Dixie was playing, when a bobcat climbed over the fence,  grabbed Dixie by the neck, and climbed back over the fence with her.   David, yelling, climbed over the fence in pursuit.  With the help of a neighbor Dixie was rescued.  But it was too late.  She died later that day.  A year ago February the same thing happened to another of their little Yorkies.  So sorry!

 

And My Seed Landed Where?

This morning I would like to talk about how Jesus is said to describe how the farmer’s seed is scattered on four different types of ground, the path, the rocks, the thorns, and the fertile.  Where did your seed fall?  Where did my seed fall?  I’m sure a lot of volunteers would be happy to let me know where my seed fell.

If you are a sinful gambler poker player you would look at this explanation and notice the bad odds, one out of four.  I would propose, however, that we all landed on fertile soil.  Let me offer some examples.

 

 

Hi, Tori.

 

I’ve shared this example once before, so you might remember it, but probably not.  

When I was a little kid about 5 years old, I was playing in the driveway of our house in University Park.  There were no fences and the drive went from the street, through the space between our house and the neighbor’s, and to the back up against the alley. 

The neighbor was Sam Berger, who owned a hat store in downtown Dallas.  He was Jewish and lived next to us all during the Holocaust.  I was oblivious to it all.  He & his wife had a big black lady who not only worked in the house, but lived in the back in an apartment attached to the garage, the servant quarters.  This black lady was not nice to me. 

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of The Week at work.

 

So this day as I am playing in the driveway, the lady steps out of the kitchen door & stands on the steps.  Without thinking, I say, “You are a big fat elephant.”

To the lady’s credit, she marches right across the drive and tells my mom.  My mom comes out of the house, drags me in, and spanks me.  Thinking back, I am impressed that my mom respected the lady.  The spanking, however, and her treatment of me confirmed my suspicions that my seed had fallen at least on the path or rocks, if not right on the thorns.   I definitely grew up with the belief that I was a bad kid. 

 

 

 

Best buddies, Mary, Judy, and Mike.

 

Despite the fact that you folks might agree with that assessment, I would propose that I was just a normal little boy doing silly things. 

This habit of doing silly, not bad things, can continue into adult years.  I know a guy who gets on his bike and rides off for an hour leaving the driver’s door of his car wide upon. 

 

 

The Best, Shonda and Ben

 

I know a lady who last week let her Lincoln run out of gas in rush hour traffic.  Her husband, a bit nettled, brought gas, but then could not start the car.  It had to be towed.

I know a dear friend who drove into her garage with a canoe strapped to the top of her car. 

 

 

Wake up, Buddy, we are almost through. 
 

 

You do this stuff and you begin to believe the bad news, ‘I am a loser, I am bad, my seed obviously landed in the ditch.” 

And then there are the malicious acts.  You know where I come in on this.  Kids hurt and abused grow up to hurt and abuse.  They are not bad.  They are damaged. 

So, who landed on fertile soil?  All of us.  God don’t make bad seed.

So, what do you think about all this?

 

 

 

Beware Angela!  Cathy may be treating you all nice, but she's probably trying to sell you that mint condition Edsel that her husband brought home.  I bet she told you Bill, your son in law would love it.

 

Wisdom 18: The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers,  that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,  they might have courage.

Hebrews 11:  Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.

 

                     

Annette reading from the Book of Wisdom

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben  & Shonda

Jackie sharing her thoughts on the readings

 

Outreach: $   160.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Mary gets a cookie for her anniversary

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

Come, O Dancing God,

Spirit of Life and Love,

of  Beauty and Diversity,

stir up my soul,

bathe me in your light,

and unleash my own spirit

that I may dance with you

and be light for those around me

and reflect your love to all that I meet this week.

 

Edited and adapted from a blessing by Fr. Andrew M. Greeley