Sunday Homily, August 25, 2003, 21st Ordinary Time C

Some of our Community members  are in need of special prayers:

 

Jan Keszler  is in Chicago with her Mom who will be 101 on 6/31.  Her Mom  is now in Hospice Care and Jan asks for prayers for her and the family.

 

John Cade's Mother-in-Law, Kaliope, who is 96, fell and broke 2 vertebrae and is in the hospital.

 

Tom and Teresa Quinn were on a  river cruise on the Danube and the second day Tom tested positive for Covid.  They are now in a hotel room in Vienna and Tom is quarantined for 5 days and can't leave the room.  Teresa just hopes she doesn't get it.

 

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2, 14, 22-33; Psalm 16, Lord, You will show us the Path of Life; 1st Letter of Peter 1, 17-21; Luke 24, 13-35

 

Acts observations—(Author, Date, Place, Subject), a repeat from Easter

 Author: This is Luke, the physician, the companion of Paul, the Gentile writing for Gentile Christians, and the same Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke.

 Date: Around 65 years after Christ.  Probably just before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (70 C.E., a big date in Jewish history), or Luke would have likely mentioned it. 

 

Place: most probably Ephesus, today a ruin on the west coast of Turkey south of Constantinople.  Once this town was a major Christian center.

 Subject: the material works like in concentric, expanding circles, beginning in Jerusalem and ending in Rome after touching Judea, Syria, Ephesus, & Europe.  It treats activities in the early Christian community, some of which may describe they way they wished things were. 

 Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, St. Louis U. Jesuits’ Liturgical web

 

Mother's Day: a brief history–

1.  Greece & Rome: Cybele was the mother of all gods

2.  in the U.S.

    a.  Julia Ward Howe: during Civil War, ca. 1870,  as a counter to the tragedy

    b.  Anna Jarvis: 1912, pushed for 2nd Sunday of May, Mother's Day, with emphasis on the apostrophe, i.e., a single mother of a family, not all mothers.  Ended up regretting the day because of commercializaiton in the 40's before she died.  Hated Hallmark Cards' canned messages instead of personal notes.

  
   

c.  President Woodrow Wilson: 1912, made it a national holiday.

Sources: Legacy Project & Wikipedia

 

Cura Personalis

I have a Mother’s Day story for you.  It comes from of all places, Rosemary’s home, NYC, naturally.  We were just there this very hour last Sunday.

 The scene is this.  It is around 4:30 on a beautiful day, blue sky, 62 degrees.  The Ride began at 8:00, all 32,000.  We have traveled up 6^th Avenue from Battery Park in Manhattan, through Central Park & Harlem, into the Bronx, passed through Queens into Brooklyn, and the 40 miles came to an end in Staten Island, near the Staten Island ferry, which we took to get to the starting line in Battery Park. 

 

 We have gone straight north and returned straight south.  This has not been a race, like the Hotter ‘N Hell here at the end of August, rather a stroll or a promenade.  I have never ridden in a tsunami of people until this event.  90 percent of the time I rode shoulder to shoulder with other riders, scrutinizing their every move so that I would not crash.

 At 4:30 on this lovely afternoon Bernadette is just arriving at the last bridge, the famous Verrazano Narrows, a bridge that goes up a good way before it comes down into Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island and the finish line. 

 

 Bernadette is pooped as she begins this final ascent.  Everybody else in our group of 7 has already reached the end.  

 As Bernadette climbs bit by bit, she realizes that she cannot ride up to the top.  She gets off and starts pushing her bike up the bridge.  Remember, folks, this is New York City.

 Shortly after she begins trudging up the bridge a young man in his 30’s goes by.  Then he returns and stops.  “Would you like me to push your bike up the bridge?” he asks.  Remember this is New York City.  And this is a New Yorker, in fact, from Brooklyn, Bernadette tells me.

 Our New Yorker pushes Bernadette’s bike along with his own up to the top of the bridge. 

 

 When I was a Jesuit we were educated in a concept, cura personalis, which is Latin for personal care.  Advertising has made this term into a expression of narcissism, meaning my personal care.  In the Jesuits it was meant as a term for others, personal care of my brother & sister & my neighbor. 

 I would propose that this is a particular attribute of women, caring for others, which is what we celebrate today, Mother’s Day.  It is not limited to women, however.  This young man exemplified personal care.  In Luke’s story about the two guys on the road to Emmaus, who  is showing personal care?  Jesus.

 Today we honor the personal care of mothers.  We all, however, male or female, adult or kid, we all are called to personally care for our people.

 When was the last time you personally cared for yours?

 Thanks, Bernadette, for letting me tell your story.

 Picture 1:   Mass begins

 Picture 2:   Cameron & Nikki with their grandparents, Mary & Frank Esparza

 Picture 3:   Cora

 Picture 4:   Liam up, for the moment

 Picture 5:   Liam down & totally at home

 Picture 6:   Liam & Cora with their parent, Megan & Dave plus Megan's parents Rob & Beth

 

Sez Betsy, "Hi, Everybody.  Welcome in!"

 

Readings

Genesis 12, 1-4, I will make of you a great nation.

Psalm 33, Lord, let your mercy be upon us, as we put our trust in you.

2 Timothy 1-10, Bear your hardship.

Matthew 17, 1-9, The transfiguration.

 

 

Fist bumps for a healthy welcome.

 

Homily by John Cade                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The Gospel of Matthew and the Jewish Synagogue—Talk Two

Last week we talked about how, as Jewish, the disciples and followers of Jesus continued as members and participants in the life of the synagogue and the Sabbath liturgy. Also, how these followers of Jesus remembered him in the synagogue, and preserved the stories of his life, teachings and deeds. An example of the general pattern of worship on the Sabbath is in Acts 13.

 

 

What a team!

 

It says, “On the Sabbath Paul went to the synagogue. After the reading of the Scriptures—God’s Law and the Prophets—the head of the meeting asked Paul, Friend, do you have anything you want to say? Paul stood up and said, Fellow Israelites and friends of God, listen.” Then he told how God led their ancestors out of Egypt and gave them their own land. He traced their history through King David, and how, from David’s descendants, God sent a Savior for Israel. And that this was the gospel, the good news, they were bringing: that what God promised their fathers has come true for their children—for them.

 

Our Super, All Girls, Sisters Candle Lighting Team.

 

This passage in Acts provides the basic pattern of synagogue worship on the Sabbath: mainly lots of long scripture readings.

First, a reading from the Law of Moses (the Torah, first 5 books of Jewish Scripture) in 1-yr cycle. Then readings from the Prophets, in three parts:  The “former prophets” (stories of Israel before and after the death of Moses, their greatest prophet—7 books of Joshua thru II Kings) in 1-yr cycle. Then more reading from what they called the “latter prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel—what we call the major prophets) in 1-yr cycle.  Then more reading from the ‘Book of the Twelve’—the last 12 books of Hebrew Scripture, that we call the minor prophets (Hosea to Malachi) in 4-yr cycle. [We use abbreviated 3-yr cycle]

 

 

Buddy, our special reader of the Candle Blessing

 

The psalms were read or chanted between the readings, sometimes for specific feasts of the liturgical year, but also to break things up with so many long readings, (and maybe to wake people up).

I counted, and the weekly Sabbath readings averaged over 16 pages every week, using this type print. After all the readings, the leader of the synagogue would preach on those scriptures or he might ask a visiting preacher to do so, as in the example of Paul. This is how the story of Jesus was passed on and preserved in the synagogue, for 55 years after Jesus’ death.

 

 

John reading his homily explaining the milieu of Matthew's Gospel.

 

So the written gospels are deeply Jewish books, capable of being understood only by those who lived and shared the Jewish mindset. If Jesus’ followers ever moved out of the Jewish world in which they was born, and if their gospels ever came to be read entirely or primarily by those who didn’t understand the Jewish authors’ meaning, they would be misread or misunderstood.  That is exactly what seems to have happened.  Step out of the Jewish world into the Greek and Roman world around the Mediterranean; the gospels would most likely be assumed by non-Jewish readers to be a literal account of what Jesus said and did.

 

Presenting the Gifts, Hue, Patricia, and Linda.

 

 A growing number of Jesus’ followers were beginning to be from urban centers around the Mediterranean—like Corinth, Thessalonica, Galatia, Rome—where they interacted with non-Jewish people and culture.  As the Jewish followers of Jesus became more cosmopolitan, they began to attract the non-Jewish Gentiles, and early Christianity became more and more a Gentile movement.  Near the end of the 1^st century CE, in the year 88CE, a split occurred between the synagogue and the followers of Jesus.  Orthodox Jews came to think of Jesus’ followers as “revisionists” and excommunicated them from the synagogue. So, by the middle of the second century (about 150 CE), there were practically no Jews left in the Christian movement.  Missing that Jewish context, Gentile Christians began to literalize the words and miracle stories, a practice the original Jewish gospel writers could never have imagined. For 55 years the Jewish people had been relating Jesus to the Hebrew Scriptures and incorporating his memory into Jewish liturgical practices. 

 

 

Minor Elevation time.

 

The followers of Jesus, including the authors of the gospels, had been speaking, then writing down, Jewish interpretations of the ‘Jesus experience’, not biographical accounts or historical stories.  As Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire gradually became a Christian majority, Christian literalism or fundamentalism was born.  This way of reading the gospels is the result of misunderstanding their Jewish context and meaning.  E.g., we read Jesus being referred to as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  First-century Jews would have known this was a reference straight out of the Yom Kippur liturgy, not a literal reality.  They would never have imagined that these very familiar Jewish liturgical words could ever be so distorted. 

Next Sunday we dive into Spong’s basic thesis: the Gospels, Matthew in particular, were written explicitly for the Sabbath liturgy, and followed the synagogue’s annual liturgical calendar.

Amen.

 

 

Who dat peeking in the door?

Music,   Ben 

Donna sharing a Thank You card from the men at Soul's Harbor for the sweatshirts and hoodies.

Expenses: $   2024   900.00           

                    2025   390.00

Outreach: $   2024   600.00           

                    2025   130.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Lynda sharing a Thank You note  from the Plano Wellness Center for Older Adults for the gifts we gave them at Christmas

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

When the decorations of Christmas have been packed away then the work of Christmas begins:

Lord, help us

to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
and to make a little music with the heart…

Adapted from Work of Christmas Begins by Howard Thurman

 

 

 

Exodus 19:  Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob; tell the Israelites: You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself.

Romans 5:  Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Matthew 9:  Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

           

John Stack and John Cade begin the Mass

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Geri & Mike

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                                                              

Buddy reads the blessing for the lighting of the candles

                                                                    

 

Readings:  Download 06-18-23 Readings -11th Ordinary

Homily: 

                                                                                     

                                           

                   Mary receives Communion                          

                        

 

Remember these special people:

For Sandra Pratt's family;  For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Jan;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

                                                                                                   

       

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;  For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

The Father's Day Blessing for all the men whether or not they are fathers

                 

                        

Birthdays:  Bernadette Delgado 6/19

Anniversaries:  

                                                              

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  405.00

Outreach: $   

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

Some more men receiving the blessing

 

 

 

No touch Our Father.  The flu.

 

 

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made.  

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075

 

 

 

 

Don't leave yet, Leo.  We are almost finished.

 

 

Readings:

Deuteronomy 18, 15-20,  Moses spoke to all the people.

Psalm 95,  Today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Corinthians 7, 32-35,   I should like you to be free of anxieties. 
A married man is anxious.

Mark 1, 21-28, Is not a man’s life on earth a drudgery?

 

 

 

 

What a team we got, Georgie, Buddy, Leo, David, Ben, Shonda (barely visible), and even Emma singing (just out of sight, Mike).

 

 

Community Activities:  

 

THIS SUNDAY: birthday brunch after Mass, Welcome!  Guess for whom.

 

 

 

Do I dare ask what you crazies are laughing at?  Like Me?? 

 

 

 

ROMEO MEET: Friday, January 26, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos,  you will fit right in.  

JULIET LUNCHEON, (aka.,just us ladies into eating together),  February Luncheon,

 Hope everyone is keeping warm on this chilly January night. Many of you have suggested going to the Bavarian Grill for lunch in February.  We can enjoy authentic German cuisine in a warm, friendly and inviting atmosphere.

We will meet Friday, February 2 at 12:30.  The Bavarian Grill is located at 221 West Parker Rd., Plano.  It is in the same shopping plaza as Burlington Coat Factory.

Please let me know if you will be joining us.

Thanks,  Marilyn,    972-491-7068     

 

Dickenson Trip:  February 23- March 3

 

 

 

 

Elevation help.  Great when you got Parkenson's.

 

 

What is going on in Our Catholic World:

1    Why are young Catholics departing, National Catholic Reporter, January 22, 2018, 740 words,      Download YOUNG CATHOLICS DEPARTING 1-25-18    

 

 

 

 

Healing for Cheryl.

 

 

True?

 

 

To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.

 

Bernard M. Baruch, upon observing his eighty-fifth birthda.

 

 

 

 

 

Healing for David.

 

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

 

 

Special Community Blessing for Ray & Beth, who have surgery this week.  Part A, Rosemary shares her blessing.

 

 

JSM Mission-Faith Statement:  Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for and challenges spiritual and total growth.

Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged and make the world we live in a better place to live.

 

 

 

Community Blessing, Part B, everybody.