Sunday Homily 6-5-11, 7th Easter

 

 

Says Emma, "Welcome in, Everybody." 

 

 

Readings:  

 Genesis 11, 1-9     The whole world spoke the same language.

Psalm 104,   Lord, send down your spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

 Romans 8, 11-16,   The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.

 John 7, 37-39,   Let anyone who thirsts come to me.

 

 

 

And from Jan, our communion hostess, "Bread and Grape Juice?"

 

 

Seven weeks ago on the Sabbath, the day before Easter, Judaism celebrated their feast of Passover.  Recall how the Israelites were set free from being slaves in Egypt when the angel of death had passed over their homes marked by the blood from their lambs. Seven weeks ago on Easter, the Passover feast of Judaism was fullfilled by the Lamb of God who set us free from sin and death.  

Yesterday, Judaism celebrated their feast of Pentecost when the Israelites pledged themselves to live the Ten Commandments of the Law.  Today, we fulfill the Jewish Pentecost celebration by pledging, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to welcome and live the the Good News of Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

And from Tori & Zoe, "Welcome to our play station."

 

 

Those who welcome and live the Good News are likened to the man who builds his house on rock.  We do not store up our treasures on earth; rather we seek to bring dignity to the poor, the sick, the hungry, the stranger, and those in prison.

We are called to be Jesus of Nazareth throughout the Good News, therefore we speak in his name.  We have the responsibility to treat each person with goodness and kindness; tenderness and compassion.

 

 

 

 

Candle lighting time with Emma lighting the candle and Georgie reading the blessing of the candles.

 

 

It is important that we witness the oneness of our faith in the Good News, to our children and grand children.  There are those among us who have the responsibility for watching over their grandchildren.  Vacation Bible School can be your best friend during the the coming summer months.  Sign them up early, get in a car pool, and have them attend with their friends.  Remember, we are one in Christ!

Encourage these children to carry their Bible, or Bible story book, when they come with you to Mass; enjoy watching them tap their feet when we sing together our stories of God’s love for us and our love for others.   

 

 

 

Hi, Rookie, great to see you and your grandmother, Carrie.

 

 

When you are ready to give a Bible or Bible story book to a child or grandchild make sure that it is age appropriate and that it contains some of the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Wrap it with love. Mark your favorite verses for them to get to know you better. Make that day a celebration that the child will not forget. 

 

 

 

Ben working the solo shift.  It's Summer Vacation time.

Readings:

Isaiah  43, 16-21,  See, I am doing something new

Psalm 126,  The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.

Philippians 3, 8-14, For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things.

John 8, 1-11,   The woman caught in adultery.

 

Says Genevieve, "Welcome, Everybody, where you been?"

 

 Isaiah Observations:

The scene: the Jewish people are captives in Babylon ca. 555 years before Christ.  Isaiah No.1  had warned the people that their bad ways were going to lead to this.   

In this chapter 43, which is Isaiah No. 2, Isaiah has Yahweh reminding them of how much he has done for them in the past and lets them know that they are still his people.  Their lives will get better.   

The first 5 verses of this chapter are some of my favorites in the whole Bible.  Isaiah No.2 is telling the people to not be afraid because he is with them. It goes— 

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.  I have called you by your name.  You are mine.  When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you…  When you pass through fire, you will not suffer.   I regard you as precious, honored, and I love you.

 

Leo, The Candle Lighter of The Week, at work.

 

Philippians Observations:

Philippi was a town in Macedonia, now called Greece.  Philippi was the first church Paul set up on European soil.  He is in prison.  He is basically saying that for him nothing has any importance beyond his relationship with Jesus.

 

 

 

The Chair Person of our Welcoming Committee.

 

Punishment or Compassion

I would like to talk this morning about the woman in the gospel, the one about to be stoned to death for being caught in adultery.   An example of punishment vs compassion.   The Law vs Jesus.  The brutality and the injustice of it smacks me in the face.  It is, also, so contemporary.

It reminds me of a very uncomfortable situation I found myself in when I was learning Swahili in Tanzania.   This would have been about ’77 or ’78, when I was just getting into the language. 

 

 

Alison preparing the communion cups.  

 

 

I was at an outstation church from an outstation church maintained by our Jesuit parish in a town called Tabora, smack in the middle of Tanzania, on the east-west train track.   This is the place where I later fell into the grave of a little lady I was burying and the place where I spent Advent and Christmas one year with two young Jesuit interns from the Island of Malta just off the Mediterranean tip of Italy.

On this occasion I was being shown around by the 4-5 men of this tiny village with a small, mud walled church.  I could not have been saying much because the language was still quite difficult for me.

 

Sir Charlie saluting The Queen Mother.

 

It was afternoon of a pleasant day.  We are way out in the bush and I remember the land was fairly green.  It was probably the period of the small rains, meaning, say, February or March.   The long rains come in our summer.  This is south of the equator.

At one point the men and I are wandering up a slope on top of which was a fairly large corrugated metal building, probably built by the government to help the villagers store their produce.

 

Offertory, Tom & Aggie & Allen.

 

As we get closer I can hear voices from inside the building and a thud or two.  Maybe the guys escorting me had explained what was going on and I did not understand.

Whatever the case, we are maybe twenty yards from a door at the corner of the building when, all of a sudden, the door opens and a few guys come out and with them staggers a man who has been beater.  He is dressed in nothing more than something like a towel or a skirt.  He has bruises on his shoulders and legs.  Because he is black I can’t see discoloring, but I see wounds. 

 

The Best, Shonda, Bethany, and Ray.

 

He has been caught cattle rustling.  He took one cow that he found out in the countryside near the village and attempted to get away.  He is a skinny older guy and probably not too smart.  They caught him easily. 

After teaching him a lesson, they are planning to walk him to the police station about 40 miles away in Tabora, the larger town I came from.  Along the way they will pass a few small villages where the inhabitants will also beat him.  If he makes it, jail will look pretty good.  And he does make it, I heard later.

 

Can that be a little mouse I see.  Looks like a familiar little mouse.

 

 

When this old guy sees me, he sees a savior and comes toward me with a begging gesture. 

I am ready to throw up and I want to tell the people to stop beating the man.   But I don’t know the language and I feel very awkward because these people are hosting me.  I feel paralyzed.

What do I do?   I did nothing.  And I was haunted by my doing nothing for years.  I had to forgive myself somewhere along the years.

 

Long time best buddies, Leo and John

 

Two lessons for me here. 

1.  Which is better, justice according to the law or compassion?
2. What do I do if I chicken out? 

 

Anybody recognize this foot?  Looks like it belongs to That Mouse.

 

 

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," say Cody & Richard.

 

Readings:

Isaiah , 42, 1-4, 6-7,  Here is  my chosen one.

Psalm 29,  The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Acts of the Apostles 10, 34-38,  I see that God shows no partiality

Matthew 3, 13-17,  Jesus came to John to be baptized

 

Welcome back out of the hospital, Bill.  So good to see you here.

 

 

Mike's Homily

 

Jesus of Nazareth came from Galilee to John at the Jordan River to be baptized by him.

John tried to prevent him, saying, 
“I need to be baptized by you,
and yet you are coming to me?”

 

 

Wire that old guy up, Hue.

Jesus said to him in reply,
“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him.

After Jesus of Nazareth was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him, 
and he saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove
and coming upon him.

 

And a voice came from the heavens, saying, 
“This is my beloved Son, the Messiah, with whom I am well pleased.”

 

 

The communion table.

 

Homily

We are to become the words and actions of the Messiah in our everyday lives; recognizing with joy his presence with us.

 

 

 

Want to know who runs this celebration here?

 

Chicago is a special place to Judy and I; we spent our honeymoon among our visits there.  I still have a story in mind that a Chicago woman wrote when she daily used a bus route getting to work and then returning home.  Walking to the bus stop each day allowed her to get to know some of people she would say hello to.  She got to know a baker who placed in his window each day donuts and her favorite bear claws.  Occasionally she would purchase a small sack of them carefully wrapped.

 

 

 

The Best Music with Shonda & Ben & David.

 

One such day, on the way home from work all of the seats were taken. She began taking off her coat, her hat, her brief case and her bear claws just as someone got up to depart from the bus. She and the young man reached the empty seat at the same time.  He let her enter first after he had taken off his coat, hat, scarf and what he had been carrying.

 

 

The Celebration team.

 

Four or five minutes later he opened the sack of bear claws, smiled at her, and began to eat one of them. She was stunned, and began to give him the evil eye.  Having finished the first one, he licked his fingers, of all things, and took a second one from the bag.  He nodded at her to join him. She gave him another evil look.

 

 

The Candle Ritual.

 

Not wanted him to take advantage of her again, she took out two of them, and saying nothing ate them rather quickly while he licked his fingers and smiled at her. She knew that there was only one left, so she tore it in two and gave him the smaller piece, and smiled back at him. 

 

 

 

Mike homilizes.

 

The bus came to a halt, and he departed, without her having said anything during the whole time they had sat together.  She was angry, especially at herself for having stuffed herself and said without words, “Good Riddance.”  A few minutes later she stood to get off the bus.  As she did so she put her hat back one, followed by her coat, lifted up her brief case and then her scarf. 

 

The last thing she took from her seat was her neatly folded, and carefully wrapped bag of five bear claws.  The messiah had been in her midst, and she had not greeted him with a single word.

 

 

"It is Girl Scout cookie time," sez Our Dearest Harper.

 

Readings:

Wisdom   2, 7-11,  I prayed and prudence was given to me.

Psalm 90,    Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy.

Hebrews  4, 12-13, The word of God is living and effective.

Mark 10, 17-30,  It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom.

 

"Hi, Everybody," says Genevieve, "Welcome to my baptism.  This is my mom, Mary, and my grandmom, Jill."

 

Wisdom:

Date of Composition: 100-200 BCE, which is why it is considered significant.  It provides a glimpse into the cultural & social milieu which prevailed just before & during the time of Christ.   We had Wisdom for our first reading 3 weeks ago.

Place of Composition: Alexandria, Egypt.

The Composer: a Jew who wrote educated Greek.

Unique Quality: Wisdom is one of a set of 12 (or 14) books written in Greek considered not part of the original 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, the O.T.  This blew up around 350 CE when St. Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Early Church, i.e., a church leader who influenced a lot of church dogma, said the books were not genuine.   He was opposed by St. Augustine.  It was the Council of Trent (ca. 1550), that declared the 12 books okay.  Another person doubting the validity of the books was Martin Luther. 

Rich, Ray's dad, and Jill and George, Mary's parents, with The Queen.

 

You probably won’t find these books in the Protestant Bibles.

Our Selection in Chapter 7: the book of Wisdom generally says that good guys get rewarded by God, bad guys don’t.  This selection personifies the virtue of wisdom, using the feminine pronoun she, and praises her as above all other values & pleasures.  I loved her even more than health or beauty, the composer declares.

 Sources: The Good News Bible, Got Bible Questions on line.

 

                         Genevieve's moment has arrived.

 

Mark, an observation

I do not want to talk about the Gospel this morning, but I would like to give you a head's up about one line, It being easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the kingdom.

1.  I've been there and done what it says.   I am left with the belief that we don't have to be so hard on ourselves.  We are talking about infinite demand.  Balance that with infinite acceptance.

2.  Change the perspective.  Instead of the infinite demand focused on saving my soul for eternity, focus on the kingdom being present tense. Peace is the kingdom now.  Do we often push ourselves to achieve a goal in this life?  And with the goal do we experience peace?  I experienced peace in going to East Africa even though it tore my heart out to leave my mom and friends.

 

              "Robert, Ray, where have you seen God most recently?"

 

Don’t Judge that Book by the Cover

I did it again, Folks.  I judged the book by the cover.  In fact, I did not realize I was doing it.  The book, the German People living during the 3^rd Reich and the War.   

This is not saying that I had not met some marvelous Germans when I worked in Tanzania.  In fact, I even visited two German medical sisters in their homes on my various home visits.  One lived in Bonn, the former capital while Germany was divided.  The other lived in Cologne, which we visited this past trip on the Rhine. 

 

               "When I saw this perfect little girl this morning."

 

There was a series of insights into the German people on this journey, but in particular there was one Sunday afternoon in a little town called Speyer.  We had docked overnight, been toured around the town in the morning, and then the afternoon we were free.  Around 6:00 we would depart Speyer. 

Rosemary was pooped, so I told her I would just walk over to the plaza in front of the church and look around.  I had walked around for maybe an hour when I decided to simply sit on a park bench in the shade and watch the people.  It was a beautiful, contemplative afternoon for me.

 

                Today, even the gorilla gets a hug from Kevin.

 

In the park I was struck by the simple family enjoyment, parents with kids and people with dogs.  Europe is very dog friendly.  Rosemary & I saw three elderly ladies seated at an outdoor coffee shop, and the fourth seat, a little white poodle.  The dog was very well trained and polite.

The little town of Speyer was also neat and clean and people had red geraniums in almost every window sill.  I saw this in every German town and city.

 

It takes preparation, bread, wine, readers, and song books, and Jan coordinates is all.

 

On top of this, Germany is just drop dead beautiful, as Ron A. has told me repeatedly.  Green, hilly, forested, and dotted with these lovely towns. 

I have a bad habit of judging the book by the cover.  This is the first time I discovered that I have judged a whole people.  I had been shifting, I admit, because Rosemary has been feeding me these gripping novels about the conscientious German during the Reich. 

 

                                   Ray & Leo, dad & son.

 

 

How to survive if you disagreed with the program, when even a word overheard by a person could get you reported, visited in the night by the S.S., and then sent to a death camp.   There were a number of priests and Jesuits who encountered this.

 

                 Cupcake of the Week to Angela on her birthday.

 

I have come to see how I have been judging this book by its cover, the German people.

What is the book you are judging by its cover?

 

                        Not only does Jan coordinate everything.

 

Readings:

Exodus 17, 3-7,  Moses: “What shall I do with this people?”

 Psalm 95,  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

 Romans 5,  1-2, 5- 8,   The love of God has been poured out into our hearts.

 John 4, 5-42,    The Samaritan Woman at the well.

 

 

Say Brandon and Mary, his mom, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Exodus observations :

What: After two weeks in the first book of the Bible, today we move to the second. The book basically tells the heroic struggle of Moses to get the Hebrew people out of Egypt, where they had gone because of the drought in their land some decades or centuries before. 

Author: The book is about Moses, but he is not the author, as was thought for centuries. Instead, it is a compilation. 

 

 

 

My Dearest Genevieve, are you playing for us this morning?

 

When:  Take a guess.  Yes, during and after the Babylonian Captivity, 555 before Christ.  Why now?  To help the Jewish tribe stay together.  Biblical commentators will say this is the most important book in the Bible.  Why?  Cultural history gives identity, especially one that goes from tragedy to triumph.  Plus, the writers, the priests-Levites, emphasized that God considered this tribe to be The Tribe.

Today’ selection: an amusing story about how the Jewish people are bummed out with Moses for taking them out of the so called cushy slave life of Egypt into a desert with no water and no food.  

Recommendation for Lent: Read Genesis and Exodus.  Interesting stories.

 

 

The best Music, Shonda & Ray.  Anybody know why Bethany is not with us this morning?  Yep, she finally had her baby!
 

 

Life Giving Water

This morning I would like to mention 3 comments about John’s gospel that contemporary Bible scholars make.  Then, proceeding from the general observations, I would like to look at today’s gospel and especially the play on water.  Is it symbolic maybe?  Of what?

 

 

Hi, Kevin, thanks for all your help.

 

Observation 1: 3 writers can be identified as contributing to the gospel of John.  The 3 authors worked over a period of 25 to 30 years, up to around 90.

 Secondly, the figures in the stories are literary creations, perhaps built around certain people.                                                                                                         

Thirdly, the words that Jesus uses are not just recordings, but words composed by the writers to convey a message or a symbol, like water. 

 

 

Hi, Georgie, thanks, also, to you for all your help.

 

Which leads to our selection from John this morning, the Samaritan woman at the well. 

She is talking about ordinary well water.  Jesus is talking about symbolic water, living water that gives life to the spirit.  

I would propose this life giving water takes all sorts of forms.  For example.

 

 

And thanks to you, Buddy.  It is so nice to have you with us.

 

Remember the first time we had our penitential rite?  When Mike proposed the idea at a team luncheon I confess I was a bit skeptical.  I was thinking, ‘Nobody is going to want to do this.  More focus on sin.’  This is why I don’t like Lent, the endless focus on sin.  What does the ordinary Mass always begin with?  Focus on me a sinner. 

 Was I pleasantly surprised!  In fact, that penitential rite was pure water to my spirit.  I was humbled and touched. 

 

 

Let us begin.

 

So, events can be life giving water, people can be life giving water.  Put them together and my spirit is moved. 

Last week in Hilton Head we had Rosemary’s two sisters and husbands.  We celebrated a little Sunday Mass in the living room.  I was moved to tears.  I could hardly talk. 

 

 

Brandon, our Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

Another event: our own Mass right here at Sigler.  You people are living water for me.

What event brings living water to you?

Who brings living water to you?

And You?

Sources:  Raymond Brown and John Shelby Spong

 

 Our Candle Lighter at work, three whites and one purple.

Readings: Acts 2, 1-11; Psalm 104; 1 Corinthians 12, 3-13, John 20,19-23, Pentecost.

Mothers’ Day Notes:

• The idea originated, ca. 1870, with 3 women who had worked in hospitals during the Civil War. 
• Julia Ward Howe (Battle Hymn), Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis, & her daughter, Anna Jarvis wanted a Mothers’ Day of Peace because of the horrors they had seen in the military hospitals.
• Woodrow Wilson, 1914, established the national holiday.

Pentecost Notes:

• The word signifies 50, in this case, 50 days (or 7 weeks).
• O.T.: the Hebrews celebrated the 50th day after the Passover (Egypt, first born sons killed by angel, Jewish sons spared, to threaten Pharaoh into letting the Hebrews depart Egypt).  The celebration eventually focused on agriculture & thanksgiving for the first fruits of the spring, and finally Thanksgiving for the Torah.
• N.T.: Christians tied this occasion to the spiritual fruits of redemption, the Spirit, 50 days (or 7 Sundays/weeks) after the Resurrection.
• Question: a 1 time only event or repeatable (e.g., Pentecostals)?

Mothers’ Day

In Thursday’s USA Today there is an article by Paul Aronsohn about two women, his mother & his sister, Margot & Patti.

When Patti was ca. 25 years old she was diagnosed with a rare disease that eventually would take her life, a disease that resembles M.S., but which does not seem to have a name or be very common.  This happened in ’89, almost 20 years ago.

As the years have passed Patti slowly went down.  Originally active athletically & intellectually, she first had to walk with a cane.  Then she took up a walker, then moved into a wheel chair.  Finally, a few years ago, she became bed ridden.  To eat she has to use a feeding tube, into which something like Ensure is poured, yuk.

During the years her three sibling and friends have helped her.  But the person who has helped her the most was her mother who was herself about 50 when the diagnosis was given. 

Today Patti is about 45, totally bed bound, fed through a tube, can talk a bit, is conscious, and is awaiting the end.  Her mother, Margot, is mid-70’s, takes care of Patti full time in Florida where they moved because of the milder weather than New Jersey.  During the day Margot has help, but at night she sleeps beside Patti’s bed in case Patti needs anything.

What kind of love is this!!  Remember Jackie Ritter’s story about landing in Holland instead of Italy?

Whom do you love this much?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-05-11.mp3