Sunday Homily 10-30-11, 31st Ordinary Time & All Saints

Acts 13:  Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

Revelation 7:   Then one of the elders said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

John 10:   Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Connie reading from the Acts of the Apostles

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben 

Outreach: $    75.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

A Mother's Day blessing for all the women

Rosemary's Blessing:

Suggested Petitions for Mother’s Day

For our mothers, who have given us life and love, that we may show them reverence and love, and others who show us a mother’s love, we pray to the Lord.

For adoptive mothers and for the women who wish to give birth but experience challenges, that they know your care, we pray to the Lord.

For mothers who have lost a child through death, that their faith may give them hope, and their family and friends support and console them, we pray to the Lord.

For those who wish to serve as mothers, but are not able to do so, that they know your comfort, we pray to the Lord.

For mothers who have died, that God may bring them into the joy of his kingdom, we pray to the Lord.

Archdiocese of New Orleans

Welcome to The Team this Sunday, Mike.

Readings:

Exodus 17, 8-13,  Joshua mowed down Amelek and his people.

Psalm 121,  The Lord Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven & earth.

2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2,  Remain faithful to what you have learned.

Luke 18, 1-8,  The persistent widow & the ornery judge.

Georgie helping Leo with the candles.

He is beside you at your right hand: In praise of Pete Wacks

It often strikes me as disappointing when I hear or give a eulogy.  Why?  Because the person has no say, like ‘He’s lying,’ or ‘Why did you not tell me all those good things while I was alive?!’

Pete Wacks was one of my best buddies at Christ the King grade school and at old Jesuit.  Moreover, he is alive and most of this story I have told him. 

Ben, I'm envious of your Zeke Elliott do.   Maybe if I could do that with my hair Rosemary might love me a little bit.

When we were adolescents Pete was the guy I would like to have been.  He was well built without even working out.  This was the age of flat tops.  His was the best.  He was one of the guys we all hung around together.  Which scared me when Msgr. Bender thundered one Sunday, “If your friends are going to hell, you will too.”  One story why: the German Shepherd event.

It was a Friday night football game at Highland Park, our junior year.  As we walked out of the stadium early we saw a friendly German Shepherd on a chain under the north stands.  We, the three of  us, got into my dad’s black & white ‘54-‘55 4 door Chevie.  I used it for my morning paper route. 

Welcome home, Kevin.

Going east on Lovers Lane we got the red light at Preston.  Lo and behold, right in front of us was the German Shepherd in the University Park dog wagon.  We did not think twice.  Pete seated next to me and Jerry in the back both jumped out and let the Shepherd out, he jumped into the front seat next to me, and off we headed north onto Preston.  We had not gone 20 yards when, bam, we are engulfed in the red lights of the University Park police.

It takes a community to get suited up around here.

The cop told us to follow him to the station and there we were asked to get the dog out, which we did.    After grilling us we spent 3-4 hours in a jail cell.  Meanwhile Jerry had been begging them not to call his parents.  His mom was just on the verge of delivering her 9^th or 10^th child.  About 12:30 they released us.

The police never called our parents.

This is just one of the episodes that characterized our adolescent years.  See why I joined the Jesuits?

Welcome in, David.  When I was a young Jesuit teaching at Jesuit in the '60's, David was one of our star assistant principals. 

Guess what: I recounted this story to Pete last Monday when we visited him in Chicago.   He could not remember it!  Instead of joining the Jesuits, Pete joined up with the F.B.I. & worked for 35 years.  He also got into running, doing the Chicago Marathon ca. 12 times, plus the Boston, N.Y., and some others.

Pete retired in “97 .    He is now bedridden and has amyloidosis, plus a few other conditions. I know our loving God is waiting to embrace him.

Welcome in, Catherine, Becca, and Grace.

Readings:

2 Samuel 7, 1-16,  Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me. (A good read)

 Psalm 89,    Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Romans 16, 25-27,  To him who can strengthen you.

Luke 1, 26-28,   The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin.

The Beautiful Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome."

Samuel observations:

Who :  there are 4 books, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  And there are 4 rulers of Israel, namely, Samuel, who was the last judge of the people, Saul, David, and Solomon, who were kings.  These 4 books are some of the best reading in the Bible.

Samuel was called by God himself in a series of dreams Samuel had one night when he was in the service of the priest Eli.  He was the last of the peoples' judges and he anointed Saul the first king.   

That pretty girl in Purple also says, "Come in Everybody, It's fun," Zoe.

Date: Bible scholars consider the 4 books to be a compilation of a bunch of sources, beginning around 800 before Christ and finally coming together as a whole, guess when, yes, the Babylonian Captivity, 555 before Christ.

Today's selection:  2 characters, King David and Nathan, the prophet.  David is now king and wants to build a temple for God.  Nathan says that God does not want a temple, but that God, nevertheless,  will bless him, his family, and the people.  The temple will be built eventually by David's son, Solomon.  This is chapter 7 today.  Chapter 6 is good, but 11 is one of my most favorite chapters in the bible.  In our homily today, I want to tell you the story of how Solomon came to be David's son, which is described in chapter 11.

And Leo says, "Hi, Folks, if you are really good you just might get a cupcakes." He must have been good, he got one.

King David

 This morning I would like to talk about King David.  He is our story of the week.  In fact, there are numerous good stories about David.  For instance, he is the David who as a youth kills Goliath with his sling shot after Goliath has scared half to death the Israelite army. 

As with all human events, there was a down side to this achievement.  Saul, the king becomes jealous of David’s popularity and will spend much of his later years trying to kill David.

Jackie and Rick.

 A second marvelous story takes place in chapter 6, right before our chapter.  David is bringing into Jerusalem the arc of the covenant, which was housed in a tent or portable house.  As the procession enters Jerusalem, David strips down to his shorts and dances for joy as he leads the procession.

His wife Mical is watching from her second floor window and she is disgusted.  She tells David this when he comes into their home and he responds that he will always dance before the Lord.  Guess what.  God is not pleased with Mical’s disgust and because of that she never has any children.  The lesson: don’t mock me when I dance.

 The most amazing story is this.  You won't find this excellent reading in any of the 3 cycles of the Lectionary.

Who is that pretty girl with the glasses? Why, that's Georgie.

 One day David is strolling around the roof of his house.  He looks over to his neighbors’ house and sees a beautiful woman bathing.  He enquires into who she is and invites her over for a neighborly dinner.  Guess what happens.  Yes, he falls madly in love with her and they get together. 

The trouble is, the woman, the famous Bathsheba, is married to Uriah, a soldier in David’s army.  The army is away on maneuvers. 

 So David has Uriah brought back to Jerusalem.  He invites him to dinner, gets him totally drunk, and sends him home to spend the night with Bathsheba.  Unfortunately, Uriah, a man of honor, will not sleep under his roof while his soldier comrades are out sleeping on the ground.  Uriah sleeps on his door step.  A complication for David. 

The pretty Megan says, " Georgie? We're buddies."

 So David sends Uriah back to the army, but sends with him a note which tells the commander that he is to place Uriah at the front of the troops in the next battle.   At the peak of the battle, pull the soldiers back and leave Uriah alone. 

 So, Uriah gets killed.  David marries Bathsheba.  End of story, happy ending?  No.

Zaile and Mabel.

The prophet Nathan is still around.  God sends Nathan to tell David a parable about a rich guy who steals the favorite lamb of a poor man.  Nathan asks what should be done to that rich man?  David is angry and says he deserves a severe punishment.  Nathan says, “You are that rich man.”   David repents and does penance.

 Meanwhile, Bathsheba has a baby, a little boy, their little love child.  The name of this little boy?  Solomon.  

Cowboy Cole explaining the meaning of life.

 Why I find this story fascinating and consoling?  God has accepted the child of David and Bathsheba, even though conceived in less than positive circumstances.  Moreover, David continues to be favored and blessed with enormous success by God despite being less than saintly. 

 We, too, are often less than saintly.  How do you know that you are still favored and blessed by God?

Thanks, Hue, for being our special sound man every week.

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: Isaiah 22, 19-23; Psalm 138, Lord, Your Love is eternal; do not forsake the Work of Your Hands; Romans 11, 33-36; Matthew 16, 13-20 

Intro to Readings 

 Our sources for our three readings again this week are Isaiah, Paul to the Romans and Matthew’s Gospel.  John last week talked a little about the Letter to the Romans and I would like to continue with that topic a little further.  This letter to the Romans is different than all of his other letters for several reasons.

 This is Paul’s attempt to tell the folks in Rome, who do not know him, who he is and what he has been preaching!  All of Paul’s other letters were written to communities he had started himself.  He has not yet been to Rome, but there are Christians there.  Paul has enemies who are preaching that he is corrupting the Good News, and so he needs to address that very clearly.  This he does by explaining his own understanding of Jesus.

 Paul is also at a cross-roads in his own life.  He is just completing his missionary work in Asia Minor and Greece.  He is about to head back to Jerusalem with “The Collection”, money he has raised from these communities to support the Jerusalem Church – an early Peters Pence collection!  He then plans to head west to Spain and start his mission word there.  He will need a base in Rome to support that work, and so he also wants to make a good impression there.

 Of course, Paul never does get to Spain!  He is arrested after his visit to Jerusalem and does end up in Rome, but in jail, where he is eventually killed by Nero.

 Homily

 “Who do men say I am?”  This question is one that all three of the Synoptic Gospel writers have.  It is an interesting question, but one which we can all too easily glide over and see it as only directed at Peter.  I would like to propose that it is a very important question and one that each one of us needs to answer today!  Who is Jesus for me, for you? 

 In trying to understand and answer the question it is worth stepping back and approaching it in the following way.  Today, when we are introduced to someone, it is fairly common in the conversation to ask “ and what do you do?”  We tend to try to understand who someone is by what they do.  Their activity or job, helps us get a bit of a handle on who they are.  In the same way when Jesus asks the disciples the question, they tend to fall back on describing who he is by naming people who have done similar things in the past!  We know that the answer “what I do” is not a satisfactory answer, but it seems to be a fairly common approach.  When someone says “oh so you are a salesman” my instinctive reaction is to say yes but I am more than that.  Stick around and get to know me.  Determining who I am by just what I do is very superficial.  So too when it comes to Jesus, what he did is only part of the answer. 

 It seems to me that in order to fully answer the question about Jesus we need to do more than just know what he did.  Yes that will help, but I believe that this getting to know business is a lifetime work.  And reflection is very much a part of that activity. 

 I think that once we get to know someone really well, we change!  Our knowledge of them changes us as a person.  Think about this.  Reflect on the people who are in your life who really mean something to you.  Are you a different person because of that relationship?  I would have to answer “yes” in my case. My life is different, my attitude is different.  Now to bring it back to Jesus, we can certainly say that Peter’s life was very different after Jesus said, “come follow me”.  We know that Paul’s life was totally different after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

 How do we develop and deepen our relationship with Jesus.  It really isn’t enough to just read the New Testament, and read about Jesus, that will just give us information!  We need to do that but then we need to start a dialog with Jesus, and we need to spend time listening to Him.  Not easy, but otherwise we will have a tough time answering the question.  Jesus will be merely an interesting person from long ago, and not someone who has a major say in our daily lives.

The question for each one of us is the same, “Who is Jesus for me?”

Picutre 1:    Justin with his grandmother, Jean

Picture 2:    Justin & Anthony

Picture 3:    Jon

Picture 4:    Shonda

Picture 5:    Emma

Genesis 22, 1-2, 9-13, 15-18, Take your son Isaac.  You shall offer him up as a holocaust; Psalm 116, I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living; Romans 8, 31-34; Mark 9, 2-10, He was transfigured before them.

Introduction to Genesis 22

 The concept of a covenant between God and His people is one of the central themes of the Bible. The First Reading last week was the covenant God made with Noah. This week it is the covenant God made with Abraham, and next week it is the covenant God made with Moses.  Of course, as Christians, our belief is that we have a covenant with God through Jesus Christ. 

God, with infinite love for us brings salvation to the Table in the covenant won for us by Christ.  What are we to bring?  We are to live the spoken Word in our lives with gratitude!

 Before Bill Poncik gives the first reading, I want to share a story he emailed me a couple of weeks ago.  The mother of a young boy knowing that he had a terminal disease and only a few weeks to live asked him what he wanted to do that day. He replied that he would like to go to the Fire station for maybe he would have been a fireman.  She called the neighborhood fire station in Phoenix where they lived, told the chief there the situation and asked if her son could come for a visit. The chief asked for his height and weight and told her to bring him at 9:00 AM and plan to stay awhile. They were greeted by the morning shift of 16 men who made him a fellow fireman for a day, gave him a fitting safety helmet, yellow protective coat and boots. He and his mother began a wonderful tour; but he was told that if he heard the bell ringing that one of the 16 firemen would escort him to one of the trucks. Three times that day the young boy lived his dream.  A few weeks later his mother called the station once again to tell them that the angels would be coming for her son, that he was still awake but not for long. She was told to open the window of his bedroom when she heard the siren. That day 16 firemen climbed the ladder and entered his window fully dressed in their yellow and red. They were there, when the boy left them, dressed like the angels who had come to carry him to paradise.  16 men were living Christ’s words with gratitude in answer to God’s gift of salvation.

Mass Begins

Homily from Mark 9:2-10

Candle lighting, Mike & Jenny

 Again, to better understand a reading, one must consider the context in which it has been placed.  So, in the teaching that precedes this transfiguration event, a man is seeking to be in a covenant relationship with God through Christ.  In this process of coming to faith he observes those around Jesus to be ‘like trees that are walking.’ 

What does this mean?  Christ’s disciples have to commit themselves to Christ’s words. The seed has been planted; but they have no roots, no foundation. They have failed to understand that he is the Messiah. That teaching does end with Peter coming to the realization that the Messiah has come to them; however, he misunderstands Christ’s mission and the disciples’ responsibility in response to God’s plan of salvation.

The Dembneys, Kate, Chris, Susan, & Nancy

 Secondly, let’s look at the purpose of Christ’s mission in the very first verses of this Mark gospel realizing that since they are in the summary of the gospel we will find them somewhere in the later text of the Mark gospel.  When the Mark gospel begins we find that when Jesus comes forth from the waters where John was baptizing, the Holy Spirit comes upon him with the voice from heaven saying, ‘This is my son the beloved.’  These words are present twice in the Mark gospel. Here in the beginning of the summary of the Mark gospel—the second time, of course, is in today’s gospel. 

 Thirdly, we need to look at the very beginning of the Bible in the covenant God made with Abraham in the Book of the Law.  When Moses came up from the waters of the Red Sea leading the Israelites to freedom the Spirit came upon him.  Later, when Moses went up the mountain, by himself, the second time to receive the 10 commandments, Moses face continued to give off some light for he had been close to the radiance of God when the covenant had been made with him.

Leo joins the choir

  In today’s reading, Jesus takes his inner circle of Peter, James and John up the mountain where Christ’s divinity is revealed to them. Streams of light come forth Him, for he was dazzling bright. When Moses and Elijah appear Peter is still in the dark, for he wants Jesus to abide in the presence of Moses and Elijah.  It is then we hear, with Peter, the voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, Listen to Him!’ (Exclamation point) No one is there but Jesus. The words of Moses and Elijah are to be understood as an expectation of the Law and the Prophets for the coming of the Messiah. When one listens to, and puts into practice, the words of Christ with all their mind and heart and soul, they enter into the new covenant with God through Christ through grace.  The words of Christ fulfill the covenants that required circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic Law.

Leo resigned from the choir with Lynda

 Some might be saying, ‘Well, yes, I understand; but be more specific about that to which we are to listen.”  Well, now we know why the inspired writers of the Matthew Gospel have a Sermon on the Mount! That sermon is to enlighten us. Not only is it a summary of how we are to live our lives; but it informs us that it is how we are to illuminate others to come to glorify God. During Lent I would recommend that we all reread it. It begins at Matthew’s Chapter 5.  How are you going to remember where it is in the Matthew gospel? Just look at one of your hands—five fingers—Chapter five.

 If you read the Letter of James written to the Jewish Christians its inspired writers tell us that in the New Covenant there is one perfect law.  Since in that letter there are many references to the John gospel, it’s not hard to realize what those inspired writers meant.  In the John gospel Jesus presents his disciples with one commandment.   We are to love one another as Christ loves us!  When we do that we are truly living the entirety of Christ’s words—the perfect response to the covenant God has made with us in Christ Jesus.

Georgie with her dad, Randolph, and her friend, Meghan

 Reflect for a moment on something you plan to do this coming week. How will you illuminate those moments to those who around you by your words and actions?  Remember, we show our gratitude to God only to the degree we show our love toward others!

John, Kevin, & Mike