Readings: Acts 5, 27-41; Psalm 30, I will Praise You, Lord, for You have Rescued Me; Revelations , 11-14; John 21, 1-14

 

Third Sunday of Easter – Introduction to the Readings

 

 

All of our readings during the Sundays after Easter until Pentecost Sunday come from the same three books, Acts of the Apostles, The Book of Revelation and John’s Gospel.  In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles the apostles are again brought before the elders of the Jewish community and told to stop preaching.  What we skip over in our reading is an interesting section. 

 

 

The Sanhedrin wants to put the apostles to death, but one of their members, a Pharisee called Gamaliel dissuades this action by reminding the group that there had been other ‘apparent prophets’ whose followers had dissipated after the prophet was put to death and he argues that either of two things will happen:  the apostles will disappear soon, since Jesus has been put to death, or Jesus was the real thing and they had better leave the apostles alone!! 

 

 

Then our reading today resumes just after the apostles are flogged instead of being put to death.

 

 

A few words about the Book of Revelations, since we will be reading from it for the next several Sundays.  The book was probably written about the year 95 to 100 CE, by John, though not the same John who wrote the Gospel.  It is addressed to the seven churches in Asia, namely the whole community at that time, and the churches are enduring harsh persecutions under the emperor Domitian.  The style is mainly apocalyptic, which is a highly stylized form of writing  which is not one we are accustomed to these days.

 

 

Third Sunday After Easter

 

My daughter Rosheen loves to read- it always amazed me how quickly she could get through a book.  A few years ago an old family friend was ill and Rosheen was visiting her and offered to read to her.  Later I remember her telling me how beautiful the language was in the book, something she had not appreciated until she had to read aloud.  Some books are so well written that the language is indeed a joy. 

 

 

Our gospel today is one of those books.  We cannot begin to appreciate how much thought has gone into each and every word in the gospel.  I am not sure how many of you said to yourselves as I was proclaiming today’s gospel and said the word “charcoal fire” now haven’t I heard that recently!!  In fact you did hear it on Good Friday when we proclaimed the “Passion”.  Let me remind you of the piece.   

 

“Now the slaves and guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold , and were warming themselves.  Peter was also standing there keeping warm.”   In today’s gospel we read that Jesus was preparing breakfast over a charcoal fire.  The two events are linked.  In the earlier event, Peter denies even knowing Jesus, three times.  In today’s gospel, Jesus helps Peter get past that denial.  “Peter, do you love me?” Three times Jesus asks Peter, sort of a parallel to the three times Peter had earlier denied Jesus.

 

 

This is another example of the point we discussed on Easter Sunday.  The fact that God always gives us second chances.  Think about what Peter had done.  Jesus had just been arrested, all of the disciples had scattered, Peter had not run away, but was in the courtyard where Jesus was being held.  Remember that earlier that evening Jesus had even foretold Peter that he was going to deny him three times. 

 

 

This denial was no spur of the moment thing.  He had been forewarned, and still he denies even knowing Jesus.  Pretty serious stuff – and still God gives Peter a chance to repent.  God wants Peter back and God wants each one of us back too.  Never let anything cause us to stay away, there is no sin too great.  Remember Peter.

 

Picture 1:  Mass Begins

 

Picture 2:  Altar Helpers

 

Picture 3:  Offertory

 

Picture 4:  John & Anthony

 

Leviticus 13, 1-2, 44-46, If the man is leprous and unclean…

Psalm 32, I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble.

1 Corinthians 10, 31-11, 1, Do everything for the glory of God.

Mark  1, 40-45,  A leper came to Jesus.

 

 

Spring Dreaming….

 

 

 

Good Morning, Tori, Good Morning, Zoe.  So nice to see you dear girls.

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 5, 1-7,  The fruitless vineyard

Psalm 80,  The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Phlippians 4, 6-9,  Have no anxiety at all

Matthew 21, 33-43,  The vineyard owner & the unfaithful tenants. 

 

 

 

Good Morning to you, too, Riley, and welcome in from Atlanta.   It is so nice to meet you.  I knew your mom when she was your age.  And you are as pretty as she was.

 

Reading 1; Isaiah 5:1-7

Introduction:

The vineyard in Isaiah is a sad story.  Why?  The fruit from the House of Israel should have been praise and thanksgiving to God.  But there was no thanksgiving given and no humility shown.  There was no lived praise or peace or justice.

 

 

 

Thanks, John and Buddy and Mike, for celebrating today.  I knew before we did Paul & Carrie's wedding this weekend, I would be jet lagged out after the wedding and an evening arrival from Grand Canyon and Phoenix.

 

Reading 2; Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 4:6-9

Introduction:

Today’s reading from Philippians contains a teaching common to several of his letters, “Have no anxiety at all; rather you should give thanks in everything, for that is God’s will for us.

 

 

 

Thanks for the Homily, Mike.

 

Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 21:33-43

Introduction: The landowner in the parable is God, and his gift to Israel is the kingdom, the tenants are the Jewish chief priests and elders of the people, the servants were the prophets.

The Father’s son is Jesus, who is the cornerstone, the fountain of living water [the good news], and the source of the Holy Spirit [the new wine].

The Gentiles are to be the recipients of the kingdom.

 

 

It was a marvelous, beautiful wedding and I am so peaceful resting in the back row for this celebration.  Thanks again, John & Mike.

 

 

Homily

Our Liturgy of the Word always leads us to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

Recall Paul’s teaching, ‘In everything give thanks for that is God’s will for us in Christ, Jesus.’

 

 

 

Paul & Carrie begin their wedding standing on the top of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on a beautiful evening.

 

 

In our soon to be celebrated Liturgy of Eucharist, we are presented with the perfect example of Jesus giving thanks to the Father.  Of course, he does so with no anxiety, but instead with thanksgiving. 

Since the bread that we break and share with one another is a participation in our communion with Jesus Christ; we are invited to join with Jesus as a Thanksgiving to his Father.  We, too, as his sons and daughters, through the power of the Spirit, can give ourselves back to the Father.

 

 

In the background is the North Rim, to which Paul & Carrie, plus a few others, are hiking this very day.  These dear people are in shape.  More next Sunday.

 

 

Judy and I have a friendship with a couple in Austin who, about 15 years ago adopted a baby boy.  After some months it became apparent that he was born with special needs.  In everything they gave thanks. The angels in heaven sought to find perfect parents for the boy; and they did. Today he is still has needs; but he is active, full of excitement, and appreciative.

May each of us continue to seek to do God’s will for us in Christ, Jesus.

 

 

 

The celebration of Greg & Erin continues on with the help of Cole and Diane.

 

Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6,  Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem.

 Psalm 72,  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

 Ephesians 3, 2 & 3, 5 & 6, The Gentiles are coheirs.

 Matthew 2, 1-12,   The visit of the Magi to Bethlehem.

 

 

Welcome in Everybody.

 

Isaiah observations & reminders:

Who.  This is Isaiah III, the third of three.  

Time.  The Jewish people have been released from slavery in Babylon and are back in a devastated Jerusalem.  Around 555 before Christ.

Message:  consolation and encouragement.   The splendor of Jerusalem will shine again.

 

 

"And from me, too," says Leo, "Welcome in, Folks".

 

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols:

2 observations–

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  Matthew carefully crafted this story to appeal to both his fellow Jews and the Gentile population.   I'll touch 2 points, each with 3 subdivisions..         

 

 

Hi, Folks.
 

 

1.  The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are

a. Gentiles

b. They come from the east, considered the source of wisdom in the world of that time.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east or a star he will bring new light. 

c. They are searchers & symbolize every man’s search for meaning in life.    Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising for not searching, and the Gentiles. 

 

 

A future musician with her daddy.

 

2.  The 3 gifts. 

 a.  Gold is given because it signifies royalty. 

 b.  Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity. 

 c.  Myrra signifies medicine.  Myrra is for the human.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of the Week, Buddy.

 

 A post script.  People in Europe used to write an inscription over their doors, e.g. 20+C+M+B+17.  The numbers are our year.  The letters are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, supposedly the kings' names.   Christians made it say, “Christ & you 3 kings bless our house or Maison the year listed."

 

 

Who is that under that beautiful, white hat?
 

 

 Another post script.  In New Orleans Epiphany starts Carnival season, which leads up to Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The parades start, folks.  Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler.

 Sources: Reginal Fuller, St. Louis U. Liturgy; Biblical & Theological Resources, the Voice Institute, on line; Wikipedia; and other sources.

 

 

Hi, Harper, so nice to see you.

 

An Epiphany Story

Rosemary & I once went to the exposition of some paintings of about six or eight artists. Among the artists and the reason we were there was my childhood buddy, Ed Lamberty.  He was presenting some of his works.

 As we were wandering around we ran into another couple who are old friends.  We ask what brought them to this exposition.  They pointed across the room to a middle aged, middle class, blondish woman who was standing by some of her works.

 

Some of the people who attended Frank Reyes' Memorial, Saturday evening, The Resource Center in Dallas near Love Field.

 

 Here is the story the wife told me.

The couple we know are both academics on the university level.  Some years ago the wife had been teaching and came to know one of her students.  The student was a mother with a son about 8 years old.  At some point in time the father had abandoned them and left them with nothing.  They were living in the mother’s car.

 

 

The Beautiful women of our Community.

 

My friend says to me that this so shocked her and she thought this cannot continue.  An Epiphany moment.  She described the situation to her husband and two sons who were about 10 & 12.  Guess what they did.

They invited the mother & son to live with them until they got on their feet.  The two sons moved into one bedroom and the mother & her son took the other.  Here they lived for almost a year until the husband found the woman a job. 

 

 

And more of the beautiful Juliettes.

 

The woman now is successful and is developing as an artist, selling her works for big sums.  The son graduated from Jesuit, graduated from college, and now is married with a couple of his own kids. 

 Obvious from the fact that they were at the art exposition, my friends are still quite close with the mother & her son. 

 

 

 

And talking about beauty, Wow!  Does it get any better than The Romeos??

 

I would propose that this is what epiphany is, a light shines on a presence, like Mike talked about last week.  The presence is a challenge and, perhaps, involves care for others.   The presence may be the example of another person.

 Who is an epiphany for you?

 For whom are you an epiphany?

Readings: Isaiah 55, 1-3; Psalm 145, The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs; Romans 8, 35, 37-39; Matthew 14, 13-21.  Excellent readings this week.

4 Preliminary Observations:

 1.  Today, July 31.  The Jesuit Feast Day, St. Ignatius Loyola’s church feast, founder of Society of Jesus, Jesuits. I was a Jesuit for 4 years short of 50 years.  

        a.  Time of Ignatius: 1491-1556, vibrant Europe, Spain of Ferdinand & Isabella, expulsion of the Jews & the Moors from the Alhambra in Grenada in 1492, Michelangelo,  Da Vinci, death of Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence in 1492, Copernicus, Galileo, & Martin Luther.  Luther is almost a contemporary of Ignatius.  He posted his 95 theses in 1517 & the revolution began.  Inquisition time: the monk Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for his ideas, 1600, Campo dei Fiori, Rome.  See his statue today.

 

        b.  Place of Ignatius: from Loyola Castle, Basque Province, Spain.  He was military, badly wounded in the legs at Pamplona, Navarre, where the bulls run.  He was converted while recuperating from leg operations.  At Manresa, Catalonia, Spain Ignatius came out with a vision.

        c.  Accomplishments of Ignatius: founded a little company which reached 36,000 in the 60’s.  He stressed military self discipline, obedience to authority, education, and spiritual growth especially with his Spiritual Exercises.

 

 2.  Isaiah 55: 3 beautiful invitations, come, come, come.  The very last chapter of Isaiah II trying to encourage the Israelites in the Babylonian period, ca. 550 B.C.

 3.  Psalm 145 & Romans 8.  That special line again, The Lord is gracious & merciful, does not get angry and is abounding in love.  

Paul is winding up Romans and is almost poetic, claiming that even cosmic events cannot separate us from God’s love.

 4.  Feeding the 10 thousand.  This story is repeated in all 4 gospel stories.  In fact, it is told 6 times.  Get ready.  To convey what I think is the main miracle of this story I have to tell a story from my time in East Africa. 

 Sources: St. Louis U. Liturgies, Reginald Fuller, Daniel Westberg, John Pilch, Larry Gillick, & Wikipedia

 

Touched into Trust & Sharing

     This story happened to me when I was living in East Africa in the 70’s & 80’s.  It exemplifies for me how this miracle could at least have been Jesus’ touching the people's hearts, so that they trusted one another and shared their hidden goods.

     It started in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania.  One evening I boarded an overnight train from Dar to a town near Kilimanjaro, where we Jesuits had a small house which I used as a base.  

     For some crazy reason I had to buy a ticket at the last minute.  This gave me only a spot on the train, no bunk, no seat, just a spot.  

     We pulled out at sunset, always at 7:00 because it is close to the equator.  I was sitting on a suit case & expecting to stay there until we arrived at Kilimanjaro at 6:00 in the morning.  The train, of course, was packed.  People & kids everywhere, even an occasional chicken.  I felt right at home, though I knew I had a long night ahead of me.

     About 1:00 A.M. the train stops.  No word about what.  I never found out.  After an hour I get off and lie on the train bed.  If the train moved & I was asleep, I would hear it and hop on.  Though I did not sleep.  Mosquitoes for one thing. 

     The train sat there until 7:00 the following evening.  

 

     I cannot believe how dumb I was that night.  I was a veteran of Tanzania.  I knew how things broke down.  I had not taken any food or water with me.  

     Because I spoke the language with no problem, I could have asked the Tanzanians for food & water, but I did not want to drink the water, which was probably unpurified.  As the day passed, they ate & drank along the tracks in the shade of a few frangipani trees.  

     Finally I noticed another white couple, Germans.  I got water from them & was okay.  Eventually, they stayed at our house a couple of days and I climbed Kilimanjaro with them.  

 

     The people on that train, with the exception of one dumb white guy, they traveled with provisions.  They had food & water for emergencies. 

     I would propose that the 10 thousand people sitting around Jesus & his apostles, they were just like the Tanzanians.  They traveled with emergency provisions.  Like the Tanzanians, also, they did not trust the others whom they did not know and certainly did not share their provisions.  They were accustomed to shortages.  Hang on to what you got, because you don’t know when you will have nothing.    

     What happened with Jesus did not happen on the train.  Jesus took a piece of the bread and fish, and he passed it on.  The next person received it, took a bit, and then, thinking it would be fitting, put in a little of his or her own cache.  Eventually, when everyone has had the food pass them & they have contributed, 12 baskets are left over (a symbol likely connected with the 12 apostles).

 

     Jesus touched the hearts of the people and caused a miracle to take place.  They trusted one another and shared their provisions.  These miracles do take place today.  I saw them in the mountains of Colorado the past two weeks.  

     How are you sharing your provisions?  How do you show you trust your neighbor? 

 Picture 1:   Mass begins

 Picture 2:   New choir member, Hue

 Picture 3:   Sisters, Cindy (her birthday) & Marlene

 Picture 4:   Barb & Warren

 Picture 5:   Sienna offers to help Ray

 Picture 6:   Sienna ready to sing  

 

 

 

Readings:    

Jeremiah  31, 7-9,   Shout with joy.

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

Hebrews 5, 1-6,   Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God.

Mark 10, 46-52,  Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the road begging. 

 

Jeremiah observations:

Who:  one of the Big 3 Prophets, 52 chapters, the “broken hearted prophet,” because he hated being so unpopular and having to condemn so much. 

Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe seems to be who put down the prophet’s message.   Jeremiah probably died in Egypt.

When: put together before & during the B.C., Babylonian Captivity, say 575 before Christ  (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).

Remember, too,  that time before Christ is counting downward or backwards.

Interesting Side Note: (another reminder) can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, this same time, i.e. ca. 575.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Subject: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.

Today: Beautiful message of peace and consolation.  It is coming.

Sources: Bishop John Shelby Spong, The sins of Scripture; Wikipedia

Leo and Cole

 She Danced through Life

Rosemary & I had the privilege and the honor Thursday to attend the funeral of another noble woman & friend, like Joan, Colleen Romero. 

I calculate that Rosemary & I have known Colleen and her husband for ten years.  We certainly knew them for a couple of years before we got married in 05/05/05.   You will never guess how we met them.  Dancing.

 Somewhere along the line, a group of us noticed that Plano Parks provided a whole variety of adult classes, among them dancing.  So Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette, Beth & Rob , and some others, we all decided, “Let’s go learn to dance.”  And so we met Colleen and Fred.

They were our teachers.  They were elegant, charming, and fun.  I danced with Colleen a number of times.  I would ask Fred how I was learning some special dance.  He would laugh.  Then Colleen would guide me to a point where I got it.

 This is the first thing I see when I remember Colleen.  She danced through life, charming, elegant, smiling, and having fun.  She and Fred were even running dance classes at St. Gabriel parish for adults who had Parkinson’s or coordination problems. 

A  second aspect to Colleen I saw recently.  It was a few weeks back when I got a notice that Colleen was not doing well and was in the hospital.   We had not seen her and Fred for months, maybe a year.  She had been struggling with various joint problems for some time, but this was supposed to be serious.

So, I called her straight up.  She answered.  She sounded groggy and stressed.  In fact, she was experiencing nausea.  So I made it quick, saying I loved her and sent her all my support.  She said this may be her time and that she was okay about it.

A few more days go by and I get another note saying that the word is this really is it.  This time we get in the car and go visit her at Medical City Plano. 

I walk in and find her looking and sounding great.  However, she says this is truly her time, that she wants no special treatment, and that she is totally ready.  She was in that acceptance stage we talk about in stages of dying, the stage of peace.  

Colleen was not like Mark’s Bartimaeus today.  She was not blind.  She could see.  She danced her way through life and when her time approached, she accepted it. 

Like I asked with Joan, how have you been blessed by people like Colleen?