Apologies for overlooking these two important reminders.
1. Saturday night remember to set clocks back an hour, "Fall back."
2. Let's honor the people we love who have moved to the other side by bringing their pictures to our celebration.
And for Halloween,
Readings:
Jeremiah 1, 4-5, 17-19, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. (The Call)
Psalm 71, I will sing of your salvation.
1 Corinthians 12, 31 – 13, 4-13, If I do not have love, I am nothing. (Excellent)
Luke 4, 21-30, They wanted to throw him over the cliff.
Leo says, "Welcome in, Everybody. It's fun here."
Jeremiah observations:
Who: One of the Big 3 and my second favorite behind Isaiah, whom we will hear from next Sunday. Why a favorite: because he shares his feelings with gusto.
When: you can guess it, before and during the Babylonian Captivity. Notice how much prophetic energy is concentrated around this one event? Shows how big it was in Jewish history. Keep 555 before Christ as the beacon date.
Harper, also, says, "Hi, Folks, Come in."
What: you can guess this, too. Criticism of behavior, warning of punishment from God, and eventually a better day.
What today: Jeremiah’s call by God to be his man, really Everyperson’s call to be God’s special. This call theme carries through our next 2 readings, especially the next one, The Big One.
Candle Lighters of The Week, Buddy & Tori.
Love is patient, Love is kind
I confess, I used to get 1 Corinthians 13 fatigue, I heard it so often at weddings. Lately, however, I have changed. Now as I listen I feel it calling me to step up. I want to be more patient and more kind. I hear Francis inviting me to be a peacemaker.
One small example.
A few months ago Rosemary and I were heading out one Sunday morning to celebrate Mass at Vines. It must have been 8:30, the time we usually depart. The streets were practically deserted.
The Candle Lighters at work.
We were going east on Royal Lane. We got to Central and stopped for the light. When it changed we moved forward and planned to take a left to go up the ramp to north bound Central.
I noticed behind me at the light was a silver Mercedes. As I moved forward it was practically touching the back of our van. I turned left and started up the ramp. It stayed right behind us.
Happy Birthday, Mary.
As I got onto Central and moved into the first lane on the left, this person, a guy, floored his Mercedes, leaned on the horn, and raced by us on the right showering us with nice little hand gestures.
Rosemary says I drive too slowly some times, but this was Sunday morning, folks. Almost no other cars but this guy and us.
Happy Birthday, Rick (the man behind many of the pictures you see)
So what would you do? Well, I did nothing, of course. I can recognize serious road rage and I was just hoping the guy would not stick a gun out his window and start blasting away. Let him go away, which he did.
However, does being patient and kind apply here? Yep, I think so.
Candle Lighters deserve their rewards. How did you get in there, Zoe?
As a priest and psychotherapist for years I have heard the life stories of people who have done pretty bad things. I get to know them and I find out what was behind their actions. Who knows about this guy on an early Sunday morning. Maybe he was heading to a hospital. His wife or child was dying. Maybe his wife just divorced him. Maybe on Friday he was fired for his anger. There is always a story and a reason.
So when I hear Corinthians on patience and kindness, I think, ‘Stack, cool off.’
Happy Birthday, Gil. It looks like you have someone eager to help you with that cupcake.
And Cornthians has a reverse value. Say I had reacted to his anger. Then later I would feel guilty and ashamed. The patience and kindness is for me, too. I usually don’t have road rage fortunately, but I can get mad, I can criticize, I can get passive aggressive, and then get remorseful. Can’t we all?
Any of you all drive a silver Mercedes? Do you have road rage? Are you patient and kind?
How are you going to be a more loving and peace-making person after hearing this passage this morning?
Does Music get any better than this, Shonda & Bethany, Ray & David.
Sirach 50: May he grant you joy of heart and may peace abide among you.
1 Corinthians 1: God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Luke 17: And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.
Here are the links for Sunday:
1 Samuel 3: When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out as before. "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
1 Corinthians 6: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.
John 1: Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas" –which is translated Peter.
Here are the links for Sunday:
JSM Mission-Faith Statement
Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth.
Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we live in a better place to live.
Can you get a better welcome than this from these two, Sandra & Cathy!
Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made. Plus, this week, Special Brunch in honor of Kevin
Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack
Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075
Tom at work reading for us.
Readings:
Daniel 7, 9-10, 13-14, His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Psalm 97, The Lord is King, the Most High over all the earth.
2 Peter 1, 16-19, This is my son with whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 17, 1-9, The Transfiguration.
The Best Team.
Community Activities:
ROMEO MEET: Friday, August 4, 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), Off for the summer. We will be back in September.
Brunch this Sunday in honor of Kevin going off to college.
Jackie Urbanczyk's Memorial: August 12, Saturday, 12:00-3:00, Hackberry Creek Country Club, 1901 WEST Royal Lane, Irving, TX, Welcome everybody.
Cupcake for Buddy for being a Super Kid.
What is going on in Our Catholic World
True?
The person who is willing to undertake the discipline and the difficulty of mending his or her own ways is worth more to the conservation movement than a hundred who are insisting merely that the government and industries mend their ways.
Wendell Berry
Offertory with Paul & Carrie & Bill
See you Sunday.
J.S., 214-783-0443
Yeah! The Coffee Man has arrived, Mike.
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.
Our Father.
Isaiah 50:The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced;
Philippians 2: Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Another Reminder for Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025
Here are the links for Sunday:
Meeting ID: 885 2874 4737
Passcode: 412993
JSM Mission-Faith Statement
Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth.
Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we
Readings:
Numbers 67, 22-27, The Lord bless you and keep you.
Psalm 67, May God bless us in his mercy
Galatians 4, 4-7, God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts.
Luke 2, 16-21, The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God.
Genevieve, are you the little girl in the red dress who stole the whole show at our Christmas Eve celebration??
First reading: God blesses people in countless ways. Today’s reading from the Book of Numbers is a priestly blessing given first to Moses by words that come to him from the Lord.
Second reading, Galatians 4:4-7: God sent his Son to redeem us so that we can become God’s adopted sons.
Brandon says, "Welcome in, Everybody. Yep, she is the girl in the red dress."
Gospel reading, Matthew 25: 31-46:
John gave me permission to switch gospel readings. What you are missing is a small part of a metaphorical story about Mary, an angel, shepherds and the baby Jesus.
You might recall 15 or 20 years ago that the Liturgy of the Word, for each of the A, B, and C cycles on New Year’s Day, had as its gospel Matthew’s parable of The Last Judgment. I imagine that its purpose was to encourage parishioners to incorporate some of its teaching into their New Year’s resolutions.
Alison, you know that the kids all love your home made communion bread and want more than one.
But I want you for a moment to think about where we live. When we go shopping, to work, or to a movie or local restaurant, to Whole Foods or Target, it isn’t really clear to us if there is, for example, an orphan or a widow in our midst who needs our help.
Simply put, we choose to support with taxes and contributions, governmental agencies and nonprofits, to provide food and drink to the hungry and thirsty and stranger twenty miles south of us. The fact is, whether we realize it or not, we distance ourselves from the needy.
Clear the way, Folks, here come Mike the Coffee Man.
The meaning to today’s parable is this: When we distance ourselves from the needy, we distance ourselves from God.
I placed myself in the following scenario: I was in one of the poorer parts of South Dallas, around seven in the evening, in front of a drug store where I had gone to pick up some cough medicine.
Aiden with his grandparents, John & Jean O'Donnell.
When I got out of the car and pushed the button to lock all of its doors, I immediately noticed, about two yards from the entrance of the store a stranger, at least to me. He was homeless, for he was wearing too many clothes, unshaven, had dark hair and complexion, and he was finishing the last drink of water that he would get from a small plastic bottle.
Learning: Big brother teaching little sister how to work a water fountain.
He was looking right at me, and I at him. As I approached him he addressed me in a language I did not know or understand. Searching his face I sought his eyes and noticed a bit of a smile as he ran his fingers through his hair. He reached to open the door for me. What should I do?
Mike ready to share his ideas in his homily.
In a split second I heard the question from the unrighteous in today’s parable, ‘When was it that we saw you a stranger and did not welcome you?’
Offertory, Cheryl, Carrie, & Paul.
Would I have responded with a joyful smile? Would I have embraced him with his perfume of sweat? Would I have kissed him on his forehead, taking hold of his arm to have him enter with me? Would I have asked the people in the store if anyone knew his language so that I could find out why he was there and what he needed? Would I have invited him to my home, offered him the opportunity to take a shower, laid out something for him to wear as I washed his clothes and prepared something for him to eat?
Brandon, our Candle Lighter of The Week.
Jesus, an itinerant preacher, had a dark complexion and nowhere to rest his head. Was he present to me here and now? The Lord in our parable was hungry, thirsty, a stranger longing for a visit. Yes, every encounter we have with another is meant to be a holy encounter.
Our School gorilla (know any other school with a pet gorilla at the door to the cafeteria?) says he is happy to see us back in the cafeteria after being in the gym for Christmas Eve.
When we name the other person God, we name ourselves. We verify our name, the body of Christ in the world.