Sunday Homily, August 9, 19th Ordinary Time
Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."
Readings:
1 Kings 19 4-8, Elijah prayed for death. Plus Chapter 18, it is so good.
Psalm 34, Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2, All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you.
John 6, 41-51, I am the bread of life.
Hi, Genevieve, Welcome in to You.
Kings: a review–
Subject: The kings of Israel. The Big 3 kings were Saul, David, & his son Solomon. The 2 Books of kings follows the 2 Books of Samuel, which describe the lives of the the kings up to the death of the Great King David, my favorite. 1 & 2 Kings takes up the life of Solomon, David's son, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, that is, it divides and is conquered.
Time Period: from ca. 900 – 555 before Christ, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus.
Zoe says, "Wow, it is fun to be here."
Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.
Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah. The kingdom has already been split. Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel. Time of severe drought. The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel. The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.
Cole & Angela holding hands during the Our Father. Cole says to his mom, "Mom, she needs me to hold her hand…She doesn't have anyone." Wow, Cole, you are The Best.
There has been a contest in chapter 18: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain. 2 bulls were slaughtered. Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered. When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.
We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah. He is going to run away all depressed.
We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.
Cole's grandmother, Diane, one of the numerous positive influences in Cole's life.
Kind, Compassionate, and Forgiving
I would like to talk about what Ephesians brings up, being kind, compassionate, and forgiving. It happened to me.
Folks, I unexpectedly had another one of those special weeks. Not on the Kilimanjaro level of my Ragbrai week, but still special.
I don’t know if you saw in the news that this past week the Jewish Community Center was hosting the Maccabi games. There are two or three places where these games take place every summer for Jewish kids from, say, 12 to 16. Kids come from all over the world. Some games are even scheduled in Europe and Israel.
Linda and Hue at 40 years today. Give that marvelous couple a cupcake!
Dallas hosts the games every 5 or so years and it is big. 9 venues are involved where the events take place. Kids came from Australia and Israel, to name only two that I saw, plus from cities all over the States. 26 programs were involved with over a thousand kids playing soccer, basketball, volleyball, and even ping pong, to name just some .
How did I get mixed up in the show? You know I do spin classes at the Jewish Community Center every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 6:00. Two of the women in the class whom I like a lot are part of the organizing team. They were looking for volunteers among even non-Jewish people, not to host the kids, but to volunteer. So I volunteered.
Would you trust this man to give Carrie her birthday cupcake? Mr. Paul has been known…
The first thing I noticed when I came on board was that, despite the fact that there was a tsunami of kids at the J, which was ground zero, that same spirit of trust was there that I noticed in Iowa. Backpacks were lying around all over, inside a lot, but outside everywhere. I was again moved by this trust atmosphere.
Secondly, I noticed the security. My car had to be tagged, I had to be tagged, photo ID at all times. Guess why. Remember the Munich games? These kids are potentially a target. About that, I am sad. These kids were beautiful and charming. And there are people who would be happy to kill them. I am reminded of the Holocaust and I always have a hard time getting my mind around that.
A Cupcake for you on your Birthday, Marlene.
My role in the event? I was involved Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, mostly in being a score keeper and line judge in girls’ volley ball and in being a timer in swimming. I was at the Sportsplex on Alpha Road behind the old Valley View center. This was where I met kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.
I met it because I messed up the score at least 5 games out of the 10 or so I scored and even flubbed being a line judge. At least three times the volleyball games had to be stopped so the score could be made right. For me it was not so simple because the scoring is different today. Plus I would get emotional and cheer a spike or some wicked serve and forget to flip the score.
The Team. No white alb this morning. The alb got left at the wedding venue the night before.
And you think being a line judge is simple. No way. It goes against all my Jesuit training and psychological formation. My training was don’t judge the book by the cover, no black or white, no right or wrong. So I had to think about what I saw. On the one had, this shot could be in. On the other, maybe it was out.
One time I even judged a ball out, which favored the team I was closer to. The main line judge, however, over ruled me and then the girls on the team said to him, “But he said it was out!”
Despite all my dufus mistakes, all these people were kind, compassionate, and forgiving.
The Offertory Team John & Connie, Marsha & Joe.
Moreover, I even fell in love with the Dallas girls’ volleyball team. I had watched them so much. Trouble was, they lost the final. I could not stay to watch after they had lost the first 2 out of 5 to L.A..
The week was special for me. What was special this week for you?
Says Genevieve, "Wake me up, please when that old geezer stops talking."
