Sunday Homily, February 23, 2014, 7th Ordinary Time, Cycle A

 

In Memory of Our Beloved Bill, who moved to the other side this past Wednesday.  This Sunday & next Sunday we will formally dedicate our celebration to Bill, Patty, and their beautiful family. 

 

A number of people in our community have expressed interest in taking part in the ceremony for Bill at the military cemetery in Grand Prairie.  I just talked with Patty & she says we are only allowed 10 participants and 10 minutes for the ceremony.  There must be high volume.  I've never had these restrictions in all the ceremonies I have done there.

Lynda Fleming is putting together a slide show of Bill's life.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

 

Can music get any better, Ben & Shonda.

 

 

Readings:

1 Kings 3, 5, 7-12, God said to Solomon, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you

Psalm 119,  Lord, I love your commands.

Romans  8, 28-30,  All things work for good for those who love God

Matthew 13, 44-52,   The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,     Brent & Mary, & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel & Homily,  Doctor-Deacon Mike Carroll

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Richard & Ben

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Mad scientists?   Yes!  Richard & Mike.

 

Please Remember these special people:

For our Bill & his family;  For Cindy recuperating from a procedure 3-4 weeks ago;    For Carrie Bieda's son;   For Esparzas, Frank & Mary, who lost their son Jim to sepsis;   For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery;   For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & all of Shonda's dear family   for Michelle;

 

 

 

Another Mad Man?  Yes!

 

For Jackie's mom;  For a friend, a neighbor, & a doctor, Karen, with brain cancer; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free.;    For Hue;  For John O'Donnell;    For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini;  for Virginia Mattingly.

 

Birthdays:  Dawson Dinsmore, 23, Cindy Ekes

Anniversary: David & Donna Dinsmore, 34th

 

 

 

A Crazy Gallery?  Yes!

 

Download Readings Week 7-26

 

A reading from the gospel of Matthew Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,which a person finds and hides again, 
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.  When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 

The gospel of the Lord.

 

Homily by Mike Carroll

 A summary of the gospel readings these past three weeks has been this: The Lord came to redeem the world by sowing upon us his Word, the good seed.  Moreover, it was not his intention to leave us as orphans.  Instead he bestowed the Holy Spirit upon people like Bill Hammond, who welcomed and lived his buried treasure.

Today, we seek to remember with tears of love all the times that Bill brought forth, to not just this community, but to others too, his hands filled with the hidden treasure of goodness and kindness that he had buried in his human heart. 

When we heard today’s gospel reading about the hidden treasure, a much better translation of it is this:

“The kingdom of heaven is like adding to the store house within our hearts of what Jesus has revealed to us.”

I am going to give you five examples I put together that bind our hearts to one another. Each of them refers to the treasure of the Church. I will read each of them slowly; twice.

• Where our treasure is, our hearts will be there also.
• We are to carefully guard the treasure that lives within our hearts for from them we give life to others.
• The treasure of the Church is the Good News of Jesus Christ; moreover, it has been freely given to the whole world.
• The treasure given to us of the Holy Spirit empowers us to forgive others.
• The treasure we yearn for should be our daily bread, for the Word and the Eucharist are incapable of being separated.

The Good News of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Community Finances, July 26, 2020

Expenses: $900.00  

Outreach   $100.00     (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

 

Readings:  Isaiah 63, 16-19, 64, 2-7, We are the clay, you the potter; Psalm 80, Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved; 1 Corinthians 1, 3-9, I give thanks to my God always on your account; Mark 13, 33-37, Be alert, you do not know when the time will come.

Isaiah: One of the big 3 Prophets, mostly because of the size of the book.  At least 3 writers put this book together and this is number 3.

 

Thanksgiving History: Everyone knows about the first Thanksgiving in 1602 with the Pilgrims and the Indians eating together, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock.   Here are 5 facts that people do not hear about usually.

1.  When did Thanksgiving begin?  Our ancestors have celebrated end of harvest feasts of gratitude for centuries.  Lincoln first focused on a national feast; FDR established the national holiday in 1941.

2.  The pilgrims did not know they were pilgrims.  They called themselves saints, and strangers were called non-saints.  The word pilgrim came along in the 18 hundreds, 2 centuries later.  They were not even Puritans, but separatists.  They split off from the Church of England, old Henry VIII's church, and the Puritans did not split off.

3.  The Separatists did not come to establish religious freedom.  They came for religious freedom for their religion and only their religion. 

                                                                                   

4.  The Mayflower returned to England, was torn apart, and its beams were used to build a barn in Buckinghamshire (just north of London & east of Oxford).

5.  How did the Indians & Separatists communicate?   The Indians were Algonquians & one of them, Squanto had actually lived in England some years.  He returned to his tribe and taught his friend, Samoset English.  It was Samoset who communicated with the Separatists, & the Indians taught them to raise corn, to fish, and to hunt.  In the first winter half of the 100 Separatists died before the Indians taught them how to survive. 

 

How Prepare for a Marvelous Christmas

    When I returned to the States in the late 80's and began to work full time as a spiritual director & psychotherapist, I was struck every fall by a tension that I found in some people.  They were nervous about the coming Christmas season. 

    I remember people bringing this up as early as the beginning of the school year in September.  Certainly by October and most certainly by Halloween.  People were tense and anxious because of memories of bad Christmas seasons. 

    Because of this and because we are just beginning the season of Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas, I would like to review some ways to prepare ourselves for a marvelous Christmas.  I have 5 observations.

    1.  First, beware of fear and depression.  I read Mark's story about the man traveling abroad and I can  get spooked into thinking God is going to grab me when I'm not looking.  Nonsense.

    Depression seems to surface more during the Christmas season, because of at least one reason.  Expectations.  We expect more out of the Christmas season, peace, love, warm relationships, gifts.  When the reality comes in below the expectation I have, I get disappointed and maybe depressed.  Memories of disappointing Christmases can also depress me. 

    2.  Unlike Mark's warning about sleeping, I would propose that we need more rest at this darker time of the year.  Our ancestors used to sleep when it went dark.  Today we force ourselves to stay awake and lights keep us awake.  Doctors are saying we need more sleep in the dark days of winter and are recommending, get this, 9 hours.  Maybe try an extra hour.  Try a siesta.

    3.  Along with more sleep, try a little more exercise.  My internist tells me that he wants me to exercise every day.  I do.  Walk through the neighborhood.  Ride a bike.  Along the way look at the colors of the red oaks and Bradford Pear trees. 

    4.  Have you got anything special you do every year for Christmas, during Advent?  Something to get you into a Christmas spirit?  If not, what about finding something?  Two things I have got to do every year: take in a performance of Handel's Messiah and take in the Dallas Symphony Christmas concert.  I may get in an extra one or two of these, but I find this so touches my spirit.

    I know a few families who tour Christmas lights.  Here in Plano is Deer Park.  One of the best is Highland Park, Beverly Drive and Armstrong Parkway, both east and west of Preston.   In Deer Park, you may walk around.  In Highland Park there are horse drawn carriages. 

    5.  Finally, in line with Mark's gospel, watch, watch for the daily miracles and blessings.  Review your year for the biggest blessings, like I mentioned before Thanksgiving.  

    I hope you are not anxious about or nervous about the coming of Christmas.  If you are, even more relevent is my question, 'What are you doing to make  Christmas this year a beauty?'

Picture 1:    1st Sunday of Advent begins

Picture 2:    Mary & Nikki

Picture 3:    Advent candle lighting

Picture 4:    Barb & Ron after their 40th

Picture 5:    Norm

Picture 6:    Leo on the move

 

Readings:  Jonah 3, 1-10, Forty days more and Nineveh will be destroyed; Psalm 25, Teach me your ways, O Lord; 1 Corinthians 7, 29-31, The time is running out; Mark 1, 14-20, I will make you fishers of people.

Jonah: This little book of 4 chapters is a gem and tells a delightful short story.   It is so good I would like to read it all, but will read chapter 1 and all of chapter 3. 

Background: Jonah has been asked by Yahweh to go to Nineveh in Assyria to tell the people & leaders that they are evil and will be punished shortly by Yahweh.  Trouble is, Nineveh is the enemy, like me going to Houston or Philadelphia. 

So he runs away, catches a boat headed for Spain, is blamed by the sailors for causing a big storm on the sea, and is dumped overboard.  The whale swallows him and for three days Jonah is constrained to reflect on what he is doing.  When, after 3 days, the whale dumps him on shore, Jonah is more willing to listen.  We arrive at this point and I will have all of chapter 3 read.

Author: For centuries, while people took this story as factual, Jonah was considered author of his own story.  Once it was seen as a fable or allegory, the story probably has some unknown ancient as the author.

Date of composition: no one really knows, but educated guesses put it ca. 800 BCE.

Note: the story of Jonah and the story of Jesus' interaction with his future apostles are both about The Call. 

 

A Call Story

    Because the Jonah story and the story about Jesus relating to his future apostles all talk about The Call, I have a short contemporary story.

    The girl’s name is Susan.  Blond hair, green eyes, vivacious, a cheer leader at Skyline and at S.M.U.  In fact, she was the head cheerleader at S.M.U.  She was fun to be around and full of zest for life.  

    While Susan presented herself so positively at school, At this point in her life three horrible events had taken place.   

    First, the summer Susan was 10 she and her mother were at the lake on the 4^th of July.  They were on the boat dock when a man came up and whispered in her mother’s ear that their 18 year old son had just committed suicide back at their home.  Susan watched as her mother was carried off the pier.   

    The suicide drove her parents to drink and eventually divorce.  Susan was left to care take the house and her drunk mother while she finished grade school and high school.  This was the second horrible event. 

    When Susan graduated with honors from high school, no one was there to clap for her or support her.  She went home, raged at her mother, and told her she wished she were dead.   The next morning Susan found her mother dead.  Her mother was 49 when she drank herself to death.  This was the third tragedy.  She was just entering S.M.U.

    Some years later one more tragedy struck her.  Her older sister Kathy, upon whom she depended, died of cancer at the same age as their mom, 49, on the same holiday as her mom, Memorial Day. 

    This final event did it.  Despite having kids and a career as a special ed coordinator, Susan entered the world of drug addiction.  Within about a year CPS had taken her kids away and Susan went to prison.  

    In about a year Susan came out of the belly of the prison and two things happened.  First, she heard The Call.  Secondly, and interconnected with The Call she watched two parents react to the tragic death of their child.  The parents inspired her and she answered The Call to come back to life.  Today Susan gives talks about her life to strengthen others.

  

    If you are like me, you think that The Call is to do something usually significant.  Maybe it is, but it can be simply an invitation to come back to life or to be more fully alive.  

    Today the Mass is all about Call.  What is yours today?

  

Resource, Dallas Morning News, 1-21-12, Kristie Smith, Viewpoints section, Educator Fell far but found God.

Picture 1:    Offertory, Mary Ellen & Grace

Picture 2:    Brooklyn with Joanie & Erin

Picture 3:    Ray & Claire celebrating 41 years

Picture 4:    Tom, Bill, & Ron

Picture 5:    Someone has come to visit, no fear!

Picture 6:    It's Sienna!

Readings:

 1 Kings  19, 16-21,  You shall anoint Elisha as prophet to succeed you.

Psalm 16,  You are my inheritance, O Lord

Galatians 5, 1, 13-18,  You are all called for freedom.

Luke 9, 51-62,  I will follow you, Lord, but first…

1 Kings observations

What

A continuation of a larger work, 1 & 2 Samuel, plus 2 Kings. 
This is presented as history, but it is a joining together of legends, fables, folktales, and miracle stories.  I see this called theological history.

Date

After the Babylonian captivity, therefore around 555 before Christ.

Subject

The book covers 3 events:

        – The end of the life of the Great King David,

        – The story of his glorious son, Solomon, and his building of
the temple in Jerusalem,

        – The famous division of the state into north and south,
Israel and Judah, after Solomon’s death and his weak successors.

Our passage

Coming in chapter 17 you can guess it talks about the third event, the division of the state. 
One prophet Elijah is anointing his successor.  The presence of prophets signals what?  Times are bad and Yahweh is not pleased with the people and leadership for allowing the division.

Sources: Good News Bible, Wikipedia.

The Samaritans

This morning I would like to talk about 2 subjects.  

First, the Samaritans.  Who were they and why hostility between Jews and them?

Secondly, I have to tell you about an amazing event that happened to me this week.

The Samaritans.  These people were and are Jews.  They claim to be descendents of some of those 10 lost tribes.  Remember the lost tribes?

Take the date 700 years before Christ.  There are the two states, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, going back to the time after Solomon when weak kings lost the unity.

700 is the date that the Assyrians (the famous Syria, still in the news because of continued fighting) defeated the state of Israel and scattered the Jewish people, intermarrying with many of them.   Some of these Jews survived mostly in Judah. 

During the Babylonian Captivity, 555 before Christ, descendents of some of these people did not go to Babylon.  They were there when the descendents of those Jews taken from Jerusalem returned. 

Hostility developed between the two groups.   Each group had developed unique religious customs and each group considered the other to be heretical or bad.   

The group supposedly descended from one or more of the 10 lost tribes was called Samaritan.  It is also suspected that some of these Jews intermarried with the conquering Assyrians.  See why Jesus’ followers often act as if the Samaritans are bad.  Remember the story of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at the well?  

We have a similar situation today.  Look at all the Christian sects, Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, and others.  Each of these probably considers the others bad.   As Catholic kids we were certainly not allowed into a non-Catholic church. 

Now for the story.  I am a member of Dallas North Rotary, as many of you know.  I don’t eat and I miss a lot of meetings, but I love the other members and have known some of them for 20 years.

Tuesday I walked into our meeting and was going around greeting everyone already there.  I greeted a lady named Cheryl, who is one of our most active members.  After moving around the room, I was passing her again.   She says to me, “John, wait.” I stop and she sticks a piece of paper in my hand. 

I look and it is a check.  I open it and made out to John Stack Ministries is $1000.  I am stunned and say something like, “What is this?”  She says, “It is for whatever you & your community want.”  She says she has had a good month.  She is a vivacious real estate agent. 

She is not a Catholic and in the old days she probably would have considered us to be Samaritans, bad. 

I am humbled by this gift and I will say it again, I am proud to be a member of you people, this community.  It is you who are catching the attention of good people. 

We will have to put this thousand to work in a special way.  I’ve been thinking about Habitat in Granbury, where they are rebuilding 61 Habitat homes destroyed by the May tornado.  I would even like to spend a few days working there.  Anyone want to go? 

So this is the background on Samaritans, the bad folks.  Who are the Samaritans in your life?

 

 Readings:

Genesis  14, 18-20,  Blessed be Abraham.

Psalm 110,  You are a priest forever  in the line of Melchizedek.

1 Corinthians 11, 23-26,  Do this in remembrance of me.

Luke 9, 11-17,  Give them some food yourselves.

 

 

Genesis:  for observations, please check the Sunday Homily for Pentecost, May 19.

 

 

Today we had the pleasure of hearing the personal story of Reggie, a resident at Soul's Harbor.

Reggie went to OU on a football scholarship, left OU, and hit the bottom with drugs, even to eating from dumpsters and sleeping in port-o-potties in the winter.  He said that he cannot go around Olive Garden resaurants today because he used to survive on the food in their dumpsters.

With Soul's Harbor he has gotten his life back and become Brent's right hand man at the residence. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Readings:                          

2 Samuel   12,  7-10, 13, David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Psalm 32,  Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Galatians 2, 16, 19-21     A person is not justified by work or the law

Luke 7, 36-8, 3,  The woman who bathed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.

 

 

Welcome into our beautiful world, Everet.  You are marvelous.

 

 

2 Samuel observations: (Following upon last week)

What :  2 Samuel is the second book in a 4 book semi-history of the early tribe of Israelites.  The books, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  The story goes from Samuel, the last of the judges, to Saul, the first of the kings, to King David (with Goliath, Jonathan, Mikah and dancing, Bathsheba & Solomon).

The two books of Samuel focus on Saul & David and their difficult relationship.

 

 

Victoria says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.

 

 

When composed:   during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.  Why at this time?  Same reason why so much was composed at this time, to explain why the Captivity, to keep the tribal identity, and to provide hope for a brighter future.

Who composed:   Tradition said Jeremiah the prophet, but contemporary studies show at least 3 writers.

Today's selection:  the prophet Nathan is chastising King David because he has been really bad.  See the homily, a Bible story today.

Sources: New Jerusalem Bible, Wikipedia

 

 

 

The Team

 

A Bible Story

This morning I would like to tell a bible story.  It is about the great Jewish hero, King David.  I tell the story because it is background to today’s first reading from 2 Samuel.  More than likely you have not a clue about where today’s passage is coming from.

Here we go.  This is the way the composers put it together, not necessarily how it was.

 

 

Anybody notice?  Buddy has his own robe.  Congratulations, Buddy.

 

 

There was a man named Jesse who had 8 sons.  Samuel, the last of the judges is sent by Yahweh to find a successor to Saul, the present king who is misbehaving and Yahweh has decided to reject him. 

Read about Saul and you can’t help but see bipolar symptoms.

 

 

The Best Music.

 

So Samuel goes to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse, who has 8 of sons.  The first 7 pass by and Yahweh tells Samuel, "Not this one."   Eventually number 8 comes in, Little David.   When Samuel sees him, Yahweh tells him, “That’s the one.”

So, David is especially chosen by Yahweh, a hero quality.

David goes to Saul’s court and becomes a favorite.  Then in a fight with the Philistines, little David kills the giant Goliath.  Another hero quality.

 

The Play Center.

 

Time goes on, Saul gets jealous because David is so popular and he decides to kill him.  The second part of 1 Samuel details all the struggles between Saul and David.  David even has a chance to kill a sleeping Saul in a cave, but he simply cuts off a piece of his cloak to show Saul later.  Saul cries, swears he will stop trying to kill David, but then continues.  David’s mercy, another hero quality.

Time goes on, Saul actually commits suicide, and David becomes the popular king of the Jewish nation.  His army is defeating all their enemies.

 

 

 

Sandra with her granddaughter, Maddie, from Nebraska who now goes to TCU.

 

One morning our hero king is strolling on the roof of his palace.  While walking he spies a beautiful woman on another roof taking a bath.  He invites her over for dinner and, behold, she becomes pregnant.  David is already married to Saul’s daughter, Michal, but Yahweh has rejected her because she mocked David for dancing before the people in a victory parade.  The woman, Bathsheba. 

So David decides to invite Bathsheba’s husband to dinner.  Her husband, Uriah, is with the army in the field.   David gets him drunk and tells him to go home to his wife.  Then Uriah will assume that Bashsheba’s baby is his. 

 

 

 

Leo the Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

However, Uriah tells David he won’t sleep under a roof while his men are sleeping in the field.  So that plan won’t work. 

Then David tells his commander to put Uriah on the front line, get into a battle, then pull the other men back, leaving Uriah.  So Uriah is killed.

 So David, our hero king, invites Bathsheba to join his household. 

At this point the prophet Nathan of our story is told by Yahweh to visit David.   Nathan tells David a little story.

 

 

Guess who now walks.  Beware.  "Good Morning, Genevieve."
 

 

There were two men, a rich man who had everything, large flocks and every convenience.  The second man, a neighbor had nothing more than a little lamb which he had bought.  The man loved the lamb and even slept with it.

Two visitors come to the rich man’s house.  Instead of preparing a meal from one of his own lambs, the rich man takes the poor man’s lamb for his meal.  Nathan asks David what should happen to that rich man.  David says he should be severely punished. 

 Nathan says, “You are that rich man!”   David is stunned and goes into penance and mourning.  This is where our story comes in.  All this happened before our little reading.

 

 

 

Collin Classic Bike Rally.

 

A lesson?   Even the hero, the chosen of Yahweh, fails and commits sin.  We are all King Davids.   

Lesson 2: Yahweh forgives and accepts.  This theme is exemplified by our gospel, the woman bathing Jesus’ feet with her tears.  Forgiveness and acceptance.

I would suggest it also involves self forgiveness and self acceptance when we fail to be what we would like ourselves to be.

 

 

Crossing the dam at Lake Lavon. 

 

David was accepted by Yahweh and Bathsheba, although she loses her first child with David, goes on to have another son, who is considered the ancestor of Jesus.

How good is your self acceptance?

 

Rest stop # 3 on the shore of The Lake.