Sunday Homily, February 28, 2016, 3rd Lent

Readings: Acts 6, 1-7; Psalm 33; 1 Peter 2, 4-9; John 14, 1-12.

Acts:  This is another example of stories from the early Christian Community.  On this occasion, the community is selecting from the community seven people, men, who will help free up the priests to do preaching.  The seven chosen are like deacons.

A Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood

Two things happened to me in Italy that came to mind when I saw this line in Peter’s letter about being a chosen race and a royal priesthood.

First, in Rome on our last evening before departing this past Friday.  It was about 6:30.  All four of us were planning to celebrate sunset at 7:45 and the end of our trip with a glass of wine on the rooftop of our 4-5 story, 500 year old palace & convent.  A great vista point for the city.

Rosemary & I had taken a stroll and were coming home crossing the little plaza next to our convent, when a young Italian boy about 17 came up to me and in Italian asked me where the Pantheon was.  This delighted me for two reasons.

First, he must have thought I was more of a local, not an American tourist.  Ever since my time in East Africa I have always tried to blend in, not stand out as from elsewhere.  That was hard in Tanzania. Secondly, because of the first, he spoke to me in Italian. I both knew what he asked, and I knew how to respond and guide him to the Pantheon, which I half walked him to because it was fairly near.  For a last nighter, this was a gift.

The other event took place on a high point in Florence a week earlier.  Again Rosemary & I had taken a stroll in the early evening while others rested & before going out together.  I was exploring and had climbed a hill to see if I could spot a good place to see the sunset over Florence.  I had heard about this place from one of the sisters at the Florence convent we were staying in.  There were a series of steps in a switch back pattern leading up to a secondary basilica, called St. Miniato.  The steps were quite a climb, with the basilica steps going straight up.

At one point Rosemary is wandering around & I am sitting at the very top, my legs hanging over the marble balustrade.  I am looking over Florence & watching a rain storm approach from the west when I see a little man stooped with osteoporosis start to climb the steps way below me.  He has a dark overcoat on and he uses an umbrella as a cane.  He leans on the balustrade on his left.  Slowly & steadily he climbs until he reaches the top, turns right, and starts to pass near me. 

As he approaches I say in Italian, "Congratulations on climbing the steps."  I reach over and shake his sweaty little hand.  Bent over, he looks up and says, "What?"  I repeat and he asks me who I am.  After I tell him he says, "Are you Italian?"  I am complimented, but say, "No, I’m not Italian.  I am American."  "Oh, bahh," he exclaims and goes on his way.  I am slightly deflated. 

As Peter says in his letter, we are all chosen, we are all a royal priesthood.  Royal does not grab me, but priesthood does.  Sometimes we feel more chosen, more priestly, sometimes we feel more rejected and certainly not royal. 

The 17 year old boy chose me out of all the people in that plaza and asked for help.  In the priest context, I was able to help & guide him.  This experience is common to all of us.  I chose to compliment the little man in a priest context, but he rejected me.  Another common experience to all of us.  Because we are all chosen by God, we are all called to priesthood.  The challenge is to continue to congratulate, help, & guide the next person.

How are you doing this?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-04-20.mp3 

Readings:    

Jeremiah  31, 7-9,   Shout with joy.

Psalm 126,   The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.

Hebrews 5, 1-6,   Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God.

Mark 10, 46-52,  Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the road begging. 

Emma

Jeremiah observations:

Who:  one of the Big 3 Prophets, 52 chapters, the “broken hearted prophet,” because he hated being so unpopular and having to condemn so much. 

Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe seems to be who put down the prophet’s message.   Jeremiah probably died in Egypt.

When: put together before & during the B.C., Babylonian Captivity, say 575 before Christ  (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).

Remember, too,  that time before Christ is counting downward or backwards.

Welcome, Leo

Interesting Side Note: (another reminder) can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, this same time, i.e. ca. 575.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Offertory, Mike and Judy, Mary and Bill

Subject: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.

Today: Beautiful message of peace and consolation.  It is coming.

Sources: Bishop John Shelby Spong, The sins of Scripture; Wikipedia

Leo and Cole

 She Danced through Life

Rosemary & I had the privilege and the honor Thursday to attend the funeral of another noble woman & friend, like Joan, Colleen Romero. 

I calculate that Rosemary & I have known Colleen and her husband for ten years.  We certainly knew them for a couple of years before we got married in 05/05/05.   You will never guess how we met them.  Dancing.

Zoe receiving her birthday cupcake of the week, 4 years old today, Sunday

 Somewhere along the line, a group of us noticed that Plano Parks provided a whole variety of adult classes, among them dancing.  So Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette, Beth & Rob , and some others, we all decided, “Let’s go learn to dance.”  And so we met Colleen and Fred.

Sophia

They were our teachers.  They were elegant, charming, and fun.  I danced with Colleen a number of times.  I would ask Fred how I was learning some special dance.  He would laugh.  Then Colleen would guide me to a point where I got it.

Delgado corner with Buddy, Leo, and Torri

 This is the first thing I see when I remember Colleen.  She danced through life, charming, elegant, smiling, and having fun.  She and Fred were even running dance classes at St. Gabriel parish for adults who had Parkinson’s or coordination problems. 

Nikki and Cameron with Sophia with their birthday cupcakes of the week, 12 years old.

A  second aspect to Colleen I saw recently.  It was a few weeks back when I got a notice that Colleen was not doing well and was in the hospital.   We had not seen her and Fred for months, maybe a year.  She had been struggling with various joint problems for some time, but this was supposed to be serious.

Jessica home from Boston

So, I called her straight up.  She answered.  She sounded groggy and stressed.  In fact, she was experiencing nausea.  So I made it quick, saying I loved her and sent her all my support.  She said this may be her time and that she was okay about it.

A few more days go by and I get another note saying that the word is this really is it.  This time we get in the car and go visit her at Medical City Plano. 

I walk in and find her looking and sounding great.  However, she says this is truly her time, that she wants no special treatment, and that she is totally ready.  She was in that acceptance stage we talk about in stages of dying, the stage of peace.  

Cathy just before receiving blessing for her foot operation

Colleen was not like Mark’s Bartimaeus today.  She was not blind.  She could see.  She danced her way through life and when her time approached, she accepted it. 

Like I asked with Joan, how have you been blessed by people like Colleen?

Readings:  

Deuteronomy 4, 32-34, 39-40, Ask from one end of the sky to the other, did anything so great ever happen?

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

Romans 8, 14-17, The Spirit bears witness to our spirit. 

Matthew 28, 16-20, Behold, I am with all days until the end of the ages.

Observations on the Readings:

1^st reading from Book of Deuteronomy (Chapter 4)

Deuteronomy is the 5^th  book of Bible and of Jewish Torah or Pentateuch. Though traditionally attributed entirely to Moses, modern scholars agree that it is a collection of Jewish traditions, later adapted to nationalistic reform and its final form coming after the Babylonian captivity in late 6^th century BC.

It is written as if from the mouth of Moses, who was considered the greatest of the prophets, for the authority his name gave the book. See last verses of final chapter 34. The most famous verses are Ch 6:4-5: “Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, our God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

3^rd  reading from the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 28)

This book is the second  gospel chronologically, and was written with the Jewish people in mind, to show  a direct connection between the Jewish Law and the Prophets and the teachings
of Jesus.

Homily

This  year we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the
Second Vatican Council in 1962. I recommend the article in the blog by Giovanni Franzone, a former Italian Benedictine Abbot. As an Abbot, he attended the Second Vatican Council as one of the ‘Fathers’ of the council. He is now 86, and his article gives a fresh “I was there” perspective. I want to talk a little today about Vatican II, which has been called the most significant event in the life of the Catholic Church in modern times.

 Pope  John XXIII became Pope following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. Less than a year later, John 23^rd announced that he would call an ecumenical council. You may remember his story of how he had a dream one night in which the church was coming together in a council to renew itself. He awoke thinking what a great idea that was and thinking “I must tell the pope about it.” And then he realized, “Wait a minute, I am the Pope.”

Some of The Jesuit Class of '58, reunion, New Orleans. 2 still active as S.J. priests, one in NY, one in Peru.

So he called the council to  bring together representatives of the church all over the world, including many great minds of the time, and including representatives of other Christian faiths and non-Christian faiths. The two main purposes were “aggiornamento”, a bringing-up-to-date of the Church, and a striving for Christian unity. In answer to someone’s question about the purpose of the council, Pope John once said:
‘to let some fresh air into the Church”. 

I didn’t just honor and give respect to Pope John 23^rd; I loved him—for who he was as a man, and what he did for the church’s world
community. And we also shared the same birth day of November 25^th.

Vatican II continued for a couple more years and eventually

Trinity Sunday Mass at Bob Baxter's house in New Orleans. Cathy Lichliter reading with her husband, Bill, on the left.

documents were approved by the council. Perhaps the five most significant were: The Constitution on the Church, The Decree on Ecumenism, The Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, The Declaration on Religious Liberty, and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Contemporary World. I will say just a little about the first three, and I hope we can look at more of them, and in more detail, during this 50^th anniversary year.

In the Constitution on the Church, the significant updating was, as
Mike said last week, a new (yet old) vision of the church primarily as the
‘People of God’, equal through Baptism, rather than primarily as a hierarchical and clerical structure. 

Gab Session after Mass. A uniquely moving class reunion of 20 plus men who spent many of their early years as Jesuit classmates. Now meeting with their wives.

The Decree on Ecumenism reached out to people of all
faiths and erased the old belief that you had to be Catholic to ‘be saved’—to be with God. Remember we read a lot from some Acts of some Apostles during the Easter Season.

In Chap.10 of Acts Peter said: ‘I can see now that God is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation anyone who reverences him and
does what is right, is acceptable to him.’ In other words, every human being who reaches moral adulthood chooses between what his conscience judges to be right and what his conscience judges to be wrong. If a person makes the basic choice for right as he knows it, he is in fact choosing God.

The Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops included the notion of ‘collegiality’ among bishops with the Pope, that bishops are not just advisors to the Pope, but co-deciders with him and the People of God. The Decree encouraged the formation of regional councils and, all the way down to the parish community level, councils were to be formed to allow participation in decision making by the community from the ground level up. How many of you ever served on a parish community council?

Sunday brunch after Mass

We have good reason to remember the aggiornamento begun by Pope John 23^rd. I remember following the sessions of the council closely with enthusiasm and optimism. My 50^th was last year, so I was ordained the year before the council opened. Stack was just a few years from ordination and no doubt also following it equally closely. Pope John died in 1963 less than a year after he opened the council, and was followed by Pope Paul VI. The article by Abbot Franzone in the blog provides a lot more information about Vatican II and about the role of Paul VI during and after the Council. 

Vatican II is the most significant event in the life of the Catholic Church in modern times. My question today is: how much do we know about it? and how are we living out its updated teachings and its spirit?

Readings:

Ezekiel  34, 11-12, 15-17, I will look after and tend my sheep.

Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.  (a beautiful Psalm)

1 Corinthians  15,  20-26. 28, Christ has been raised from the dead

Matthew 25, 31-46, He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Have a Blessed & Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda, Welcome Home!

Readers,   Denni & Tom & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  John Cade 

Homily,   John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

Download Readings Week 34

John Cade Homilizing on Thanksgiving

Download Cade 2 Homily – 11-22-20 Thanksgiving – Blessings

Please Remember these special people:

For Paul & Carrie recuperating;  For Alan Stryker;  For Joe Sullivan;  For John Doherty recuperating;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine; For David Dinsmore's bad shoulder from a biking accident;  For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique;  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 Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Loretta's aunt Alicia;  For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family;  

Tranquility.

For Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For both Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free;    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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer,  For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Thanksgiving  for Today's Brain Team, Mike & Hue

Birthdays:  Ron Ackerman, David Grattifiori, 61, Joanie Beavers, 40, John Cade, 86, Rose's son, Fred

Anniversaries:

Cliff & Jean Wright, 25th

Barb & Ron Senter, 49th

John & Michelle Simari, 41st

Frank & Mary Esparza, 57th

Community Finances, November 22, 2020

Expenses: $2980.00

Outreach   $225.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

And double thanks to all who jumped right in within 1 week to help the 50 families Becky adopted for special Thanksgiving help.  Our marvelous little community has been so generous that the same families already are covered for Christmas.  I feel humbled and privileged to be part of our most generous community.

Hooray, they are back, Shonda from Air Force duty, Ben from food poisoning, yuk.

Rosemary's Blessing:

Thanksgiving is here.

As we celebrate this special day,

May we be grateful for the roads we have taken in life,

The marvels, the beauty, and the people we have met along the way,

And the gift to be able to help others today and always.

Acts 5:   So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

Revelation 5:  "To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever."

John 21:  So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something."  So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.

John Cade and John Stack start Mass

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Outreach: $    250.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Connie and John help with Communion

Rosemary's Blessing:

Walk softly upon the earth.
May its beauty forever surround you,
its wonders forever astound you.

May its wisdom delight you,
its music invite you
to dance and to play and to sing.

May you love and be loved by all that you meet;
may you know and practice compassion.

Rejoice in the earth and in all of creation.
Rejoice in life.

a parting blessing – alfred v. fedak – 2008

Readings:

2 Samuel 7, 1-16,  Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me. (A good read)

 Psalm 89,    Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Romans 16, 25-27,  To him who can strengthen you.

Luke 1, 26-28,   The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin.

The Beautiful Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome."

Samuel observations:

Who :  there are 4 books, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  And there are 4 rulers of Israel, namely, Samuel, who was the last judge of the people, Saul, David, and Solomon, who were kings.  These 4 books are some of the best reading in the Bible.

Samuel was called by God himself in a series of dreams Samuel had one night when he was in the service of the priest Eli.  He was the last of the peoples' judges and he anointed Saul the first king.   

That pretty girl in Purple also says, "Come in Everybody, It's fun," Zoe.

Date: Bible scholars consider the 4 books to be a compilation of a bunch of sources, beginning around 800 before Christ and finally coming together as a whole, guess when, yes, the Babylonian Captivity, 555 before Christ.

Today's selection:  2 characters, King David and Nathan, the prophet.  David is now king and wants to build a temple for God.  Nathan says that God does not want a temple, but that God, nevertheless,  will bless him, his family, and the people.  The temple will be built eventually by David's son, Solomon.  This is chapter 7 today.  Chapter 6 is good, but 11 is one of my most favorite chapters in the bible.  In our homily today, I want to tell you the story of how Solomon came to be David's son, which is described in chapter 11.

And Leo says, "Hi, Folks, if you are really good you just might get a cupcakes." He must have been good, he got one.

King David

 This morning I would like to talk about King David.  He is our story of the week.  In fact, there are numerous good stories about David.  For instance, he is the David who as a youth kills Goliath with his sling shot after Goliath has scared half to death the Israelite army. 

As with all human events, there was a down side to this achievement.  Saul, the king becomes jealous of David’s popularity and will spend much of his later years trying to kill David.

Jackie and Rick.

 A second marvelous story takes place in chapter 6, right before our chapter.  David is bringing into Jerusalem the arc of the covenant, which was housed in a tent or portable house.  As the procession enters Jerusalem, David strips down to his shorts and dances for joy as he leads the procession.

His wife Mical is watching from her second floor window and she is disgusted.  She tells David this when he comes into their home and he responds that he will always dance before the Lord.  Guess what.  God is not pleased with Mical’s disgust and because of that she never has any children.  The lesson: don’t mock me when I dance.

 The most amazing story is this.  You won't find this excellent reading in any of the 3 cycles of the Lectionary.

Who is that pretty girl with the glasses? Why, that's Georgie.

 One day David is strolling around the roof of his house.  He looks over to his neighbors’ house and sees a beautiful woman bathing.  He enquires into who she is and invites her over for a neighborly dinner.  Guess what happens.  Yes, he falls madly in love with her and they get together. 

The trouble is, the woman, the famous Bathsheba, is married to Uriah, a soldier in David’s army.  The army is away on maneuvers. 

 So David has Uriah brought back to Jerusalem.  He invites him to dinner, gets him totally drunk, and sends him home to spend the night with Bathsheba.  Unfortunately, Uriah, a man of honor, will not sleep under his roof while his soldier comrades are out sleeping on the ground.  Uriah sleeps on his door step.  A complication for David. 

The pretty Megan says, " Georgie? We're buddies."

 So David sends Uriah back to the army, but sends with him a note which tells the commander that he is to place Uriah at the front of the troops in the next battle.   At the peak of the battle, pull the soldiers back and leave Uriah alone. 

 So, Uriah gets killed.  David marries Bathsheba.  End of story, happy ending?  No.

Zaile and Mabel.

The prophet Nathan is still around.  God sends Nathan to tell David a parable about a rich guy who steals the favorite lamb of a poor man.  Nathan asks what should be done to that rich man?  David is angry and says he deserves a severe punishment.  Nathan says, “You are that rich man.”   David repents and does penance.

 Meanwhile, Bathsheba has a baby, a little boy, their little love child.  The name of this little boy?  Solomon.  

Cowboy Cole explaining the meaning of life.

 Why I find this story fascinating and consoling?  God has accepted the child of David and Bathsheba, even though conceived in less than positive circumstances.  Moreover, David continues to be favored and blessed with enormous success by God despite being less than saintly. 

 We, too, are often less than saintly.  How do you know that you are still favored and blessed by God?

Thanks, Hue, for being our special sound man every week.