Sunday Homily 3-25-12, 5th Lent

Readings: Acts 10, 34-43; Psalm 118, This is the Day the Lord has Made, Lus Us Rejoice and be Glad; 1 Corinthians 5, 6-8; John 20, 1-9 

 

The Readings:

 

It is almost impossible for us today to understand how significant the story told in Chapter 10 of Acts was for the Jewish people at the time Luke wrote it.  Our first reading is part of that narrative.  The two main characters are Peter, who is in Caesarea, and Cornelius a Roman Centurion, in Jaffa, about 30 miles south on the Mediterranean coast. The scene is the home of Cornelius a centurion.

 

 

 Remember up to this point the Jews had felt like they had a monopoly on God.  In this chapter 10 Luke uses two separate incidents taking place in different locations to set the stage for our reading.  We meet Cornelius having a vision of an angel who tells him to send for Peter.  Meantime Peter is sitting hungry on the roof in Caesarea and has a vision of all different kinds of animals and being told by God to eat. 

 

 

There is the usual discussion about unclean and Peter is made to see that God only makes clean!  The folks from Jaffa arrive and summon Peter to go see Cornelius.  Peter heads off to Jaffa, worried about his dream and then when he hears about Cornelius’ dream he sees the connection and proceeds to baptize Cornelius and his household.  Our first reading today is what can best be described as a quick lesson from Peter about Jesus. 

 

   

Our second reading is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.  I am going to take a certain amount of license in focusing only on the word yeast in the reading, as the full topic of this section of the Letter does not need to be brought up here.  Read it for yourselves!  Yeast is used in beer making and bread making and basically it converts sugars into bubbles.  So we are to be bubbles in society! Gas pockets!  But seriously, when I think about yeast, I think about the huge effect just a little has on the dough.  And for us in society as Christians, I believe that we too can have a huge effect on society.

 

Easter Homily:

 

 

I remember one Easter when I was studying in seminary.  We normally had to stay in the seminary until Easter Sunday morning before we could go home for Easter holidays.  This one year I skipped out and caught the boat from Dublin to England arriving at about 6AM.  I found a church and went to early morning Mass on Easter Sunday and then took the tube out to my cousin Eileen’s flat in Kensington.  She was married to Bill who was protestant,  Church of England.  Bill was going to church that morning and invited me to my first protestant Easter Service. 

 

 

  

I can remember being amazed by the fact that most of the service was all about Easter eggs.  The whole sanctuary of the church was full of them.  I had never associated the Resurrection with eggs before then.  Yes, we always got chocolate Easter eggs, but I put them in the same category as toys at Christmas, nothing to do with the Birth of Jesus, just a very happy coincidence! 

 

 

 

Right now in our front garden at home there is a dove, patiently sitting on some eggs in a nest in one of the trees.  Our next-door neighbor has a duck doing the same thing in their front garden in some bushes.  The Church, by some happy coincidence chose spring as the time of year to celebrate the Resurrection and I think this gives us our first clue in how we should view the Resurrection.  We can’t understand it, it is a mystery, but analogies can help us part of the way.  The Resurrection requires an act of Faith, end of story.  Don’t try to understand it.  It is outside our human capability.

 

 

And it was outside the expectations of the apostles and also of Mary of Magdala in our Gospel reading today.  She was heading to the tomb to properly bury Jesus.  As you will recall, when Jesus was arrested it was abandon ship, everyone fled, Peter didn’t hesitate to deny that he even knew Jesus.  We know that the apostles went back to their old trades, Peter, James and John to being fishermen. 

 

 

The event we are celebrating today was not what any of the people who had walked with Jesus before his death had expected.  And it is not an easy event to describe and understand.  So the accounts in the New Testament are all over the map on what exactly happened, but one thing was certain in the minds of the early church; God had raised Jesus from the grave and that made all the difference in their lives. 

If we look back at the different gospels readings we have listened to during this lent we will recall the Temptation of Jesus, were Jesus is tempted and so can understand when we are tempted. 

 

  

 

The story of the Transfiguration, when Peter attempted to capture the impossible moment by putting up tents, again a perfectly human reaction to being faced with the Divine, the second chance being given to the useless fig tree and then the two very powerful stories of forgiveness with the Prodigal Son and the Woman caught in adultery. 

 

 

 

The strong message of forgiveness from these stories has to give us hope and encouragement.   We can always start anew with God his love is constant.  And the message of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is that an indication of how unreserved that love is.  Armed with the knowledge of God’s love and forgiveness, we can be like yeast to the lives of those we meet in the world.  Lets not worry about how big a difference we will make, let’s just be sure we make a difference. 

The message, the victory of Easter, is that mankind’s biggest fear, death is finally laid to rest. 

 

 
 

 

We have a God who not only loves us unconditionally, but who wants us to be in His presence forever.  Not something which we can prove or even understand, except thru faith.  The presence of the Holy Spirit helped the early Christians believe, and that same Spirit can help us today too.  We too have a new life.  Happy Easter. 

 

 

Picture 1:  Mass beginning

 

Picture 2:  Want to know what happens to priests who marry?  They become grand dads.  Fr. Tony with Emma.

 

Picture 3:  And with mom, Julie

 

Picture 4:  Quads with mom & dad

 

Picture 5:  Quads  with grandmother & aunt

 

Picture 6:   Holy Thursday, Washing of Hands, at the Robinsons

 

Picture 7:  Good Friday Stations at the Robinsons

 

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

Readings: Zephaniah 3, 14-18; Psalm, Isaiah 12, Cry out with Joy and Gladness for among You is the Great and Holy One of Israel; Philippians 4, 4-7; Luke 3, 10-18

 

Zephaniah: date, author, subject, & our selection

 

    Date: two possibilities–ca. 650 BCE, before Babylon & contemporary with Jeremiah.  Or ca. 200 BCE.

 

  

Author: probably not Zephaniah himself, but someone recording what he said.  He is one of the 12 minor prophets, simply because his work is small, only 3 chapters.

 

   Subject: like all prophets, Zephaniah predicts doom and destruction to Jerusalem because the people are not good.  His purpose: alter behavior, especially the religious behavior, of his fellow citizens of Jerusalem.  A rather jealous and punishing god is presented.

 

   Our selection: last lines of the last chapter, a song of joy and rejoicing.  This is the only positive note in the 3 chapters.  Consequently, scholars think it may have been added to the original work.  This is the only time in the 3 year cycle that we have a reading from Zephaniah.  Take a good look.

 

Candle liturgy

Tony: We have lit the first two candles, one for hope and one for peace. Today we light the third candle, the candle of joy. This should be the easy one, because joy is all around us—in the children, the lights, the music, the gathering together. But how often do we let our preparations—or our memories—push joy to the side? Joy is like an underground spring that wells up within us, but joy is also a choice, an attitude. Like a muscle, it needs to be exercised. So today we open ourselves to joy, trusting that God has already planted it in us. All we need to do is give it care and offer it to share.

Three candles are lit

 All Sing

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

All: Loving God, we open ourselves to you,
trusting that this is how you made us:
you created us for joy-filled hearts and lives.
Show us the creative power of hope.
Teach us the peace that comes from justice.
Fill us with the kind of joy that cannot be contained, but must be shared.
Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you,
That we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen.

Tony: Rejoice in God always, and again I say, rejoice
For God has created you with the capacity for joy.

All: We will find what makes us joyful,
And make that our gift to the world.

Tony:  Trust in God’s good will for all of creation
and open yourself to God’s gentle, transforming love. 

All:  We will welcome new possibilities in our lives.
We will offer ourselves to God’s goodness.
We will go forth in hope, and peace, and joy.

 

 

 

A Christmas Story 

 

I have a Christmas story for you this morning.  It took place the first Christmas I was in Africa, 1977. 

 

The African continent is shaped vaguely like a heart.  I spent most of my time on the east side, Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda.  But my first Christmas I spent on the left side of the continent, the west.  The country I spent Christmas in was called Zaire in those days for ca. 30 years, now called the Republic of Congo, since ca. 2000.

 

The ruler at the time was a guy named Mobuto Seseseko and he was corrupt.  He took for himself all the money gained by selling off the country's considerable natural wealth. 

 

The capitol of the country is called Kinshasa and I was in a town near there called Kimwenza.  I had been giving seminars & retreats in Nigeria and ended up in Zaire at Christmas, how, I do not remember.

 

Three special memories remain with me from that Christmas.

 

First, I remember a midnight Mass.  It took place in a big but simple church on the edge of town.  There was probably a thousand black Zaire folks there and one white guy sitting up front on the left side with his eyes bugging out.

 

My eyes were bugging out because of at least two things.  First, the priest, a local young black Zaire man, he spent a lot of time dancing with a tall, cone shaped hat.  He danced marching in with the drums and the shakers going at it, he danced during the ceremony, and he danced on the way out.  In fact, he did not walk during the ceremony, he danced. 

 

The other thing memorable was when he finally danced out.  It was probably more than 3 hours since he had danced in.  And nobody was leaving early.  In fact, I discovered that Africans want to celebrate for at least a couple of hours when they come to Mass.  Consequently, a lot of music. 

 

The second memory I have is the incongruity I felt celebrating Christmas in a tropical environment, like celebrating Christmas in the summer.  Kinshasa has tons of flowers and they bloom all year because it is summer all year.  The bougainvillea, the frangipanni, and the jacaranda with their purple flowers making like snow on the ground, all were flowering along with their cousins.

 

 

Thirdly, I remember that Mobutu was mad at the Catholic church for some reason and he decreed that Christmas could not be celebrated on Christmas day.  It was a week day and businesses and schools were all open.  He did not ban the Masses, but people had to pretend to be working and going to school.  I remember walking around the town Christmas day thinking how odd the whole experience was, summer time and the government banning the celebration of Christmas day. 

 

Fortunately, the government did not get nasty about the celebrating that took place, many of the city folks were Catholic.  In a goofy twist, Seseseko's own sons even went to the Jesuit college in Kimwenza.   Oddly I appreciated more the freedom I had to celebrate that Christmas Mass, and the people seemed to celebrate with even more zest. 

 

This year here in Dallas we have the freedom to make Christmas a spiritual festival.  

 

How are you doing it? 

 

Picture 1:  Mass begins

 

Picture 2:  Andy Vrabel, one of our own comes home

 

Picture 3:  Tony with Margie

 

Picture 4:  Tony with David Hoover 

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Jeremiah 31, 31-34 ,  I will make a new covenant.

Psalm 51,    Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Hebrews 5, 7-9,   He became the source of Salvation.

 John  12,  20-33,   Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies.

 

 

Jeremiah observations: 

What:  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. 52 chapters in Jeremiah), who are Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel.   I love Jeremiah, he is such an attractive and transparent character.  

Author:  most of the work is put together 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.  The people hated him for this.   

Time:  ca. 555 before Christ, as an easy date to remember.   Jeremiah speaks before and during the Babylonian Captivity.  Like all prophets, he condemns before, and he consoles during the Captivity.  This event is monumental in the life of the tribe and in the life of Jeremiah.

 

 

 

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 600, more or less, the Babylonians do destroy Jerusalem and cart the Hebrews into slavery.

Today's selection, chapter 31.  Jeremiah is consoling the people who are now in captivity.  He suggests that God wants to make a new deal or, as it is called, a covenant.  Yahweh is promising to forgive the people and treasure them.  Jeremiah addresses the people right off using first person singular, I, meaning God.

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 the best stories I tell over & over, they are so poignant.  The story speaks to my point today, hate my life?  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.  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.

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.  I am bad.  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 to stay around. 

You know someone depressed like this?  Ask them if they are suicidal.

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 4:00 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 players 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, get up and head over to the Jewish Community Center, 6:00 A.M. spin class.  The result, I love life.  

 

 

 

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.

 

Readings:

Exodus  3, 1-8, 13-15     Yahweh calls Moses from the burning bush.

Psalm 103,  The Lord is kind and merciful. (Excellent last stanza, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.)

1 Corinthians 10, 1-6, 10-12,   Do not grumble as some of them did. 

Luke 13, 1-9,   The parable of the fig tree with no figs.

 

 

Says Harper, Welcome in, Everybody. 

 

Exodus observations:

What: this is the second book of the Bible and Torah, following Genesis, which we had last week with Abraham receiving the special land.    Exodus is a story about how the Jewish tribe of people escaped from slavery in Egypt.  A good read.

Who:  the story is about the Jewish people and their reluctant leader, Moses.  It was put together, not by Moses, as was thought for centuries, but by a group of the priests even centuries later.

 

 

Hey, who is that new helper?  Why, that is Buddy, next to his big sister.

 

When:  it is put together at The Time in Jewish history, yes, during the Babylonian Captivity, say 555 years before Christ.  It is a mostly mythological story about how God helped his special people out of slavery eons before Babylon.  Do you see a parallel between the slavery of Egypt and Babylon?  Could this be a reason for developing the Egypt story, that is, to encourage the people enslaved in Babylon?

Our selection:  like the call stories of Isaiah and Jeremiah, here is another call story, this time Moses.    

 

         

Ugh, oh, Folks, watch out.  Guess who is walking!

 

 

The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

This morning I would like to pick up two themes from the readings and tie them up with our lives.  The themes are from Exodus and Psalm 103, the Moses story of call and the description of God as being gracious and merciful, never getting angry and abounding in love, using a translation I love.

Two observations about the call.  First, it usually involves discomfort for me because I am getting called out of my comfort zone.  Secondly, in accepting the call I feel peace and joy, like I talked about last week.  In fact, I meet that God who is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

 

Daddy, May I play with that guitar.    

 

I have told you over the years that I can identify 3 big calls in my life, entering the Jesuits, going to work in East Africa, and getting married to Rosemary.  I’m now adding a fourth, the invitation to be part of our marvelous community.

Besides these mega calls I would propose that we get medium level calls frequently in our lives.  These come to me because of events or circumstances.  Often they come to me because of a person, maybe in combination with events. 

 

Some of the Bona Responds volunteers in Dallas to donate a week of their spring break to clean up work in Garland.  They are students at St. Bonaventure U., near Buffalo, a Franciscan university.  

 

For example, there is a person like that here with us this morning, Jim Mahar, from the staff at St. Bonaventure U. near Buffalo, NY.   I would include with Jim one of our own, Bill Hammond. 

I first got one of these Mahar-Hammond calls after the hurricane in Galveston.  Guess where I went for a week.  Yes, Galveston, where we all worked like crazy cleaning trash out of roads, tearing destroyed houses apart, and spending nights in a church dormitory for about 20 Baptist Men (a great group), one of whom snored quite loudly.  We had a group of students, boys and girls, probably 10 to 15.  I spent a beautiful and moving week.

 

 Artist at work, Zoe.

 

Next I get the call to go to OK City after the last big tornado.  Our group of about 10 spent a week cleaning up a forgotten small town called Little Ax.   The majority of dwellings had been mobile homes.  They were gone, or, at least, torn and twisted apart.  It was beautiful spring weather while we were there and dreadful destruction.  The people were all gone. 

One special event for me took place in Little Ax.  We worked with and spent the nights with two unique groups of kids.  One was an international Jewish disaster group and the other was a Muslim international disaster group.  I talked with the kids in these groups and was quite touched.  The Jewish kids had literally flown in from Israel to help in Oklahoma.

 

Our newest altar server understudy, Buddy,  helping his big sister.

 

Talk about God being gracious and merciful, never getting angry and abounding in love.   Despite the destruction.

Guess what is the call this week from Mahar & Hammond. 

 

 

Guess who has their eyes intently focused on their brother, Buddy.  Victoria and Zoe.  

Readings:

Amos 8, 4-7,  Never will I forget a thing they have done.

Psalm 113,  Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

 1 Timothy 2, 1-8,  I ask that supplications & prayers be offered for everyone.

Luke 16, 1-13,   The rich man and the dishonest steward.

 

 

Homily

A hint I’m taking from the Service of the Word is how do we, like Jesus, or like Mother Theresa, attend to the poor?

From the Responsorial we have the verse from Psalm 113, “He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor…”

From the Alleluia verse we heard, “Though Jesus was rich, he became poor for us.”

 

I heard about a new book by Patrick Phillips (on NPR, Terri Gross or Diane Rheem):  “Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America” by Patrick Phillips.  It’s about how the entire Black community of Forsythe County, who were also poor at that time in the early 20^th century, were forced to leave that county in Georgia.  The author moved there as a kid in the 50’s from outside Atlanta …..there were no Blacks at all….why….rape….lynchings, robbed of houses and land…

 

 

Abbeville (Louisiana where I grew up)– how protected and insulated we were from the poor, how very little we knew about the poor and the Black members of our community. 

Dallas – we still protect our image today.  Remember a few weeks ago the city made the many poor of tent city under highway bridges just East of down town move out; now we’re talking about moving the poor out of their new tent cities that are even closer to Fair Park (near Haskell and I-30), with the State Fair about to open. 

 

Ways this community has opened itself to the needs of the poor:

• Love for the children with Bill Hammond’s group—before Christmas is for disadvantaged kids, kids from poor families, to have a fun day and receive clothes and other presents
• Habitat for Humanity with Tom Fleming helping people build their homes, those who would probably no have a home otherwise
• Helping fix up and paint houses and do yard work for those needing this help
• Tornado damaged areas in Texas, in Oklahoma and beyond with Bill and Bona Responds
• I remember this community helping with the census of the homeless in Plano area of Collin Co.
• The generosity of community in providing financial outreach to Soul’s Harbor, and also giving items for their thrift stores.

 

 

This list of examples of your generosity of spirit is amazing. You are not slackers; you consistently attend to and care for the poor and needy.  We respond to the poor among us as a community and also as individuals.  E.g., Thursday evening on Abrams going to DARCC (Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center) event, car stopped, guy behind car with gas can….  Or greeting a new neighbor.

 

Today’s question: How do you challenge yourself to see the poor, and care for the poor?   Maybe you have other ideas for this community helping the poor?  Will you pass on your ideas?