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.

 

Homily from Mark 9:2-10

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

  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.

 

 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.

 

 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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 25, 6-8,   On Mt. Zion the Lord will prepare a banquet. (special)

Psalm 63,  My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Thessalonians 4, 13-18 ,  The Lord will come down from heaven.

Matthew 25, 1-13,  The kingdom of heaven will be like the 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

 

 

Along with Claire, Rose, the whole community and I say, "Welcome home.  It is so nice to have you here."

 

Introduction

What we call Chapter 25 of the Matthew gospel is composed of three parables,

the first of which is about a Wedding Banquet, the Father’s gift of salvation.  The Bridegroom of this parable is the Lord, Jesus who is coming for his Bride, the Church, those who have welcomed and are living the Good News. 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning, Dearest Tori, Welcome.  It is so nice to see you.

 

 

The First Reading, [a substitution, Isaiah 25:6-8] is from the Prophet Isaiah. It describes the Wedding Banquet for those who seek to do the will of the Lord; what unites us together is good food, aged wine, and forgiveness.

Our Responsorial Psalm, ‘My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God,’ addresses our yearning for a spiritual banquet with the Lord. 

 

 

 

Emma, our Dearest Candle Lighter of The Week, in action.

 

 

Our Second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians addresses the mystical body of Christ rising together as one Body, for the Wedding Banquet at the end of time.

Our spiritual gift, of course, is that the Lord comes to us here and now in our banquet of the Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist, the fish and the bread.

 

 

 

Mike, conjuring up his neat little homily touch, namely Emma leading the community in singing, This Little Light of Mine.

 

 

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew: the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.

I say to you that something is terribly wrong in the way we understand this parable:  We sense it in the failure of the wise bridesmaids to share some of their oil with the foolish bridesmaids whose lamps were going out.  Obviously, there must be an answer to this dilemma, and you will be surprised to find where I found it?

 

 

 

 

Want to go to Communion?  Jan & Bern will help you. 

 

Most of you can remember singing along with the children, as they held up their little paper or cardboard lamps, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine….” You probably don’t recall that its meaning is purposely given in Matthew’s ‘Sermon on the mount.

 

 

 

 

Here they are, Folks, better than ever (as they say on Mike & Mike, A.M. sports radio).

 

 

You are the light of the world….let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The oil that was brought by the wise bridesmaids for their lamps in this parable, is a metaphor.  It represents the good works they have done by loving others as Christ has loved them. When the wise bridesmaids, who are the Light of the World, trim their lamps with oil to go out to meet the Bridegroom, they are of course lighting the way for others as Christ escorts them to the Wedding Banquet.

 

 

 

 

This Little Light of Mine, will always be special because of you singing it for us, Emma.

 

 

The foolish, however, have no oil. Without good works it is impossible for them to trim their lamps, so the wise tell them to go to the marketplace for that’s where they can to do good works by becoming the Light of the World for others, the oil that gives glory to God.  It is where they can choose to use their God given talents for the good of all, to be the Light of the World in their encounters with the poor, the lonely, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick. 

 

Readings:

Wisdom   18, 6-9,  The night of the Passover was known.

Psalm 33,  Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Hebrews 11, 1-2, 8-19,   Faith is the realization of what is hoped for.

Luke 12, 32-48,  You must be prepared for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

(Less than amiable readings this week.)

 

Say Genevieve and John, "Welcome in Everybody."

 

 

Observations on the book of Wisdom:

What:  Exploration of the meaning and value of wisdom.  The author is the first to express a hope for immortality, a Greek concept.

 Who:  A Greek Jew who wrote probably in Alexandria, Egypt.

 

An observation on Hebrews:  one of the most difficult books in the Bible.

 

 

Just watch how good I can walk.

 

 

Watch out for the Beauty

As you may imagine, I am not comfortable at all with the tenor of our readings this morning.   Do you really think our God is a mean master sneaking around looking to snatch us when we have messed up? 

No way.    Instead, I would suggest our God is a God of gifts.  We are challenged to be alert, yes,  & watch out for the beautiful gift of the moment.  And there are many each day. 

Let me exemplify with three stories from Iowa and the Ragbrai bike rally.

 

 

If there is a candle lighting Olympic category, sign up our man, Cole.
 

 

 

Firstly, on the third or fourth night of our week we pulled into a scenic hilly town called Centerville.  Our group of about 25 was invited by a couple to camp in their front and back yards. 

I arrived about 4:00 and immediately went out to get something to eat.  I returned and found the hosts, Terry and Kevin, had produced a huge spread in their driveway, hamburgers, brats, cookies, and two gallons of vanilla ice cream with, of course, chocolate sauce.  I could not believe my eyes.

 

 

Camping in the shady yard of a beautiful Victorian two story. 

 

 

I was most touched and thanked them over & over.  This hospitality was a norm and it never ceased to catch me unaware and to touch me.  Our God is a God of Gifts.

Secondly, the Air Force.  Every year I see Air Force men & women in these marvelous blue & white bike outfits with big, upright wings on their back.  I remember other years when we had 50 or 60.  This year there were ca. 115, according to one guy I asked.  

 

 

The Air Force, not only riding, all 120 plus of them, but helping anyone who came up with a flat, a dropped chain, or an accident.   They were everywhere and I told them I was really proud of them.  Sign up next year, Ryan, Chebino.

 

The men and women not only rode the 500 miles, they also stopped to help bikers who had a flat or who had dropped their chain.  And, of course, they patched bikers up who had scratches & bruises.  Likewise, they can phone in for an ambulance, of which I saw a bunch.  I would see them all along the road.  I am so proud of these Air Force people.  Our God is a God of Gifts.     

Likewise, David, himself stopped once and patched up a girl he saw fall down.

 

 

Oh, my gosh, where did I put my bike?   A typical scene in every town we entered.  

 

 

Thirdly, on the second day coming out of Shenandoah and heading toward Creston, going up a hill, I spot a three wheel bike with two people.  One person is a woman in, say, her thirties.   Next to her was an older man, slender with white hair.  She is pedaling.

On the back of the tricycle there was a hand written sign.  “My father is 81 years old and he has stage 4 cancer.  This is his first Ragbrai.”   Wow.  Talk about being moved. 

 

 

Does life get better than this?? 

 

 

This was only part of the story.  A guy had ridden past this dad & daughter, had dropped his bike up the hill, run back down, and was pushing the three wheeler up the hill.   Further up the hill I saw another guy had dropped his bike on the shoulder, and he, too, was running down to help push. 

Our God is a God of Gifts.

 

 

And you were hoping to get through this town in how many minutes?  And you still have not reached the town square.

 

 

Because of many of these & many other similar moments, when I finally arrived at the marvelous, mighty Mississippi, I just had tears streaming down my cheeks. 

Our God is a God of Gifts.

What are yours today?

 

Our God is a God of the Gift of cuddly grandmothers for lovely girls like Zoe.

 

 

Readings:   Isaiah 55, 10-11; Psalm 65, The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest; Romans 8, 18-23; Matthew 13, 1-23. 

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Intro to the Readings

 Our readings today are from very familiar sources, Isaiah, Paul to the Romans and Matthew, and since we will not be having a homily, due to the baptisms, I wanted to take this time to say a few words about the readings and how they apply to our lives, especially because we are going to celebrate the baptisms in this liturgy.

 

A common theme in both Isaiah and Matthew is the notion of God’s Word being like a seed.  Today, the three kids who will be baptized will have that Word, that seed, watered by the waters of Baptism.  Now if we continue with the notion of the seed as being God’s word in our lives, or as being our faith response to God’s Word, then like any seed we plant, it needs care and attention if it is to grow and thrive.  This care and attention we do by coming here each week and listening to God’s word and by our participation in the liturgy.  But as a community we are there to help each other.  Our relationship with God is one in community. 

 

God, for whatever reason, seems to want relationship with us thru community.  That is the clear message, which comes throughout the Old Testament: I will be your God and you will be my people. This idea continues with the Christian community as they celebrated their identity by coming together for the “breaking of the bread”.  So many folks feel that sitting at home just reading their bible and accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior is what God wants.  There is nowhere in any of the scriptures this notion of a “personal God”.  God relates with us in community. 

 

So today, as we welcome Tori, Buddy and Zoe into our community, reflect on what it means to be part of a community.  With all of the wonderful advances brought about by technology, there are also fearful risks of isolation with that same technology. 

 

Picture 1:   Mass begins

Picture 2:   Some of the Delgados, Georgie, Hannah & David, Bernadette

Picture 3:   Leo with his grandmother, Ruth

Picture 4:   Dillon with his grandmother, Jo

Picture 5:   Sienna

 

Readings:  Exodus 22, 20-26, I am compassionate; Psalm 18, I love you, Lord, my strength; 1 Thessalonians 1, 5-10; Matthew 22, 34-40, Love the Lord and love your neighbor. 

Exodus:

What: One of the great books of the Bible, the second book of the O.T.  A good read.  The name  means 'departure' and refers to one of the most important events in Israel's history, the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt where they had become slaves after going there to escape drought in their own land.

Author: not Moses, but a bunch of people putting together the story most likely after the Babylonian Captivity, therefore around 500 B.C.E.

Our selection:   comes from the "Book of the Covenant," that is, the law or commandments.

The materials in the book are akin to many legal codes of the ancient Near East, the most famous of which is the Code of Hammurabi, 20th Century B.C.E.

Today's reading comes from a section of the code dealing with the laws of social conduct.  They inculcate a social ethic based upon compassion.  Abstract justice is not enough, especially for the underprivileged.  The lesson was obviously chosen to go with the summary of the Law that forms the gospel reading. 

Watch how at the end Yahweh (that is, the person writing in Yahweh's name) says he is compassionate just after declaring he will kill certain types of people if they are not compassionate.

Matthew:

What:  another example of the cultural game of "gotcha," challenge & reposte. 

Background:  The Pharasees identified 613 commandments in the Torah (first 5 books of the O.T.)  248 were positive ("thou shalt"), and 365 were negative ("thou shalt not").  How could anyone remember all of them?  Were some more important than others?  See where we are going?   Our Gospel, "the Greatest Commandment?"

Some teachers distinguished between "heavy" and "light" commandments.  The "Ten" are examples of the heavies.  An example of a light commandment is in Deut. 22, 6-7, which stipulates that a person who finds a bird's nest with a mother sitting on eggs or with young may take the young but must let the mother go.  The reason for observing all these commandments: "That it may go well with you, and that you may live long."  (Deut. 5, 16; 22, 7)

Resources: The New Interpreters Study Bible; St. Louis U. Liturgical @ Liturgical.slu.edu

 

The 3 Great Commandments

A priest in Chicago who is a psychologist and whom I admire, Andrew Greeley, tells the story of a woman who had three or four kids.  As she was bringing up the family she noticed that so many of the children around her were rebellious, disrespectful, lazy, and without discipline.  She determined that her kids would be respectful, active, and disciplined. 

She demanded they assume responsibility in the house for various chores, they had strict curfews and limits, and they were disciplined when they failed or were disobedient.  Time outs, privileges taken away, groundings, no TV, no cell phones, and so forth.  All were used to maintain discipline. 

The kids grew up, were successful, and all moved away.  Seldom did Mom hear from them.  One day when she was talking with her youngest, a girl, who was celebrating her birthday, the mom asked her why she and the others never kept in touch.  Had she not trained them all well for life and taught them discipline and integrity?  "Yes, Mom," the girl replied.  "But I never felt you loved us. I was a project."

Matthew in today's gospel explains what the two greatest commandments are, love God & love your neighbor as yourself.  Over the years I have taken a psychological approach to these two, noting that there really are three.  The third command is implicit, love yourself.  My observation is that, first, loving myself is often the hardest, and second, it is the foundation of the other two.  Can't love God or anybody else very well if I hate myself.

Today, however, I would like to make some observations about two groups of people, the Pharisees and the neighbor.  This will give you an idea why the question of the Pharisees is important and a trap. 

About the Pharisees, a rather crazy group of people not even absent from our own times.  The word means 'separate.'  The Pharisees saw themselves as separate and so did the people.  They were separate because they obsessively and rigidly observed the law. 

Their goal was to win Yahweh's favor by being perfect and at the same time act as an example of righteousness to the people.  Their road map was the law.  Guess what the law meant for the Jew of this time.  Yes, like I mentioned, over 600 commandments, some heavy, some light.

The Pharisees studied and meditated on these laws.  The poor people, the people who had to work could never hope to focus on all these laws, which is why the Pharisees were mostly rich and, therefore, separate from the people.

A question these pharisees struggled with was are all laws equal because they all come from Yahweh, or are some more important that others.  This was how the pharisees were trying to trap Jesus, make him choose one of these 600 laws.  He sidesteps the trap and pronounces the two laws which sum up all the laws. 

The sad side of the pharisees' life style is that they are obsessed.  Religious obsession can be as harmful to your health as drugging, drinking, or smoking.  Love is minimal here.  In fact, fear is probably the motivator.  Whatever, the relationship between God and the law observer is not the standard that Jesus is suggesting.

Which leads to the neighbor, the person I am challenged to love as I love myself.  Two observations.

First, there are two groups of my neighbors, immediate and remote.  The immediate neighbor is my family members, my village neighbor, the people I encounter daily or regularly.  The remote neighbor is the alien mentioned in the the Exodus reading, the kid being made to be a soldier in Darfur, the mother in Guatemala, our mother & daughter in Cuernavaca, Mexico, the sick who come to CCAC.  I would even suggest that the pharisee is my neighbor.    

Secondly, while Jesus says that I am challenged to love my neighbor as myself in this setting, in another place he raises the stakes.  He says to love my neighbor as "I have loved you."  Pretty lofty demand.  Infinite demand, infinite acceptance, again. 

I am convinced that loving a god we cannot see or touch, if that is possible, is built on loving others, which is built on loving myself, something the sad, obsessed pharisee cannot do.  Thank God that none of you are pharisees, or you would not be here. 

As we head into a marvelous time of our year, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, we begin with Halloween this week. 

Give me one way you are showing or telling your love for somebody. 

Picture 1:   Frank & Mary Esparza with Frank's sister (celebrating 84 years from CA), Grace & her husband John Campos                                   

Picture 2:    On their 7th Anniversary, Christine & Ed with their son, Sean, and Cara, also today, 3 years old                          

Picture 3:    Zoe

Picture 4:    Torri with her daddy, Randolph

Picture 5:    The Girls, Connie, Joan, & Charlotte

 

Readings: Entry Reading, Matthew 21, 1-11; Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 22, My God, My God, why have You abandoned me?; Philippians 2, 6-11; Passion, Matthew 26. 

 

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday 2011    

Intro to the Readings

 Today we will be celebrating both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday – two extremes – the one an occasion of great joy and celebration with the palms, when Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem being hailed as King, the other is our reading of the Passion of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel.  Each of the evangelists gives us an account of Jesus’ last days.  It might help to put it into perspective by considering, particularly for those of you who were alive and can remember the assassination of President John Kennedy, the time lapse between the event and the writing of the gospel narratives.  Our views of president Kennedy have been affected by time.  So too the account of Jesus’ death is influenced by the events taking place when these accounts were written.

 

 In brief, Matthew and Mark are very similar and present a Jesus who has been abandoned by all!  The disciples do not come off too well, they fall asleep on him three times, Peter denies him three times, and Jesus’ last words from the cross are “My God, why have you abandoned me. 

For Luke, Jesus is not abandoned, the disciples appear in a much more sympathetic light.   The people are not against Jesus, three times Pilate declares Jesus innocent, and in Luke, Jesus heals the soldier whose ear is cut off.  He prays for the women of Jerusalem, he forgives those who persecute him, promising the good thief heaven and finally prays, ”Into your hands I commend my spirit”. 

 John has a Jesus who is able to declare “I lay down my life and I take it up again, no one takes it from me”.  On the cross his royalty is proclaimed in three languages, Pilate declares him King of the Jews, his Mother and beloved disciple are with him at the foot of the cross, and his final words are “it is finished”. 

 How are we to understand these different presentations?  Not as contradictions but as different sides of a diamond, because we will need Jesus differently in our different circumstances, at different times in our lives.  Sometimes we will feel abandoned, sometimes in need of comfort and other times assured of God’s infinite power.

 

 Homily

I want to use this time for the homily, very briefly.  A question I would have you consider as we listen to the gospel reading today – who are you in those readings? 

Are you one of the crowd on Palm Sunday cheering wildly as Jesus rides into Jerusalem?  Are you one of the disciples who abandoned Jesus when things got tough, or Peter who denied him three times, or Judas who betrayed him?  Are you Pilate, who declares his own innocence by washing his hands of the whole thing? 

 
This may seem a bit of an extreme question, but remember, the way the gospel story is presented by each of the evangelists is colored by the circumstances in which their account has been written.

Picture 1:   The Passion with Claire Occhipinti helping

Picture 2:   The Kiddos, Georgie, Natalie, J.E., and Kendall

Picture 3:   Offertory, Tom & Teresa Quinn

Picture 4:   Communion helpers, Rob & Beth Robinson and Mike Carrell

Picture 5:   Communion helpers, Joanne, Tom & Lynda Fleming