Sunday Homily, August 14, 2016, 20th Sunday Ordinary

Readings:

Wisdom   2, 7-11,  I prayed and prudence was given to me.

Psalm 90,    Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy.

Hebrews  4, 12-13, The word of God is living and effective.

Mark 10, 17-30,  It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom.

 

"Hi, Everybody," says Genevieve, "Welcome to my baptism.  This is my mom, Mary, and my grandmom, Jill."

 

Wisdom:

Date of Composition: 100-200 BCE, which is why it is considered significant.  It provides a glimpse into the cultural & social milieu which prevailed just before & during the time of Christ.   We had Wisdom for our first reading 3 weeks ago.

Place of Composition: Alexandria, Egypt.

The Composer: a Jew who wrote educated Greek.

Unique Quality: Wisdom is one of a set of 12 (or 14) books written in Greek considered not part of the original 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, the O.T.  This blew up around 350 CE when St. Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Early Church, i.e., a church leader who influenced a lot of church dogma, said the books were not genuine.   He was opposed by St. Augustine.  It was the Council of Trent (ca. 1550), that declared the 12 books okay.  Another person doubting the validity of the books was Martin Luther. 

Rich, Ray's dad, and Jill and George, Mary's parents, with The Queen.

 

You probably won’t find these books in the Protestant Bibles.

Our Selection in Chapter 7: the book of Wisdom generally says that good guys get rewarded by God, bad guys don’t.  This selection personifies the virtue of wisdom, using the feminine pronoun she, and praises her as above all other values & pleasures.  I loved her even more than health or beauty, the composer declares.

 Sources: The Good News Bible, Got Bible Questions on line.

 

                         Genevieve's moment has arrived.

 

Mark, an observation

I do not want to talk about the Gospel this morning, but I would like to give you a head's up about one line, It being easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the kingdom.

1.  I've been there and done what it says.   I am left with the belief that we don't have to be so hard on ourselves.  We are talking about infinite demand.  Balance that with infinite acceptance.

2.  Change the perspective.  Instead of the infinite demand focused on saving my soul for eternity, focus on the kingdom being present tense. Peace is the kingdom now.  Do we often push ourselves to achieve a goal in this life?  And with the goal do we experience peace?  I experienced peace in going to East Africa even though it tore my heart out to leave my mom and friends.

 

              "Robert, Ray, where have you seen God most recently?"

 

Don’t Judge that Book by the Cover

I did it again, Folks.  I judged the book by the cover.  In fact, I did not realize I was doing it.  The book, the German People living during the 3^rd Reich and the War.   

This is not saying that I had not met some marvelous Germans when I worked in Tanzania.  In fact, I even visited two German medical sisters in their homes on my various home visits.  One lived in Bonn, the former capital while Germany was divided.  The other lived in Cologne, which we visited this past trip on the Rhine. 

 

               "When I saw this perfect little girl this morning."

 

There was a series of insights into the German people on this journey, but in particular there was one Sunday afternoon in a little town called Speyer.  We had docked overnight, been toured around the town in the morning, and then the afternoon we were free.  Around 6:00 we would depart Speyer. 

Rosemary was pooped, so I told her I would just walk over to the plaza in front of the church and look around.  I had walked around for maybe an hour when I decided to simply sit on a park bench in the shade and watch the people.  It was a beautiful, contemplative afternoon for me.

 

                Today, even the gorilla gets a hug from Kevin.

 

In the park I was struck by the simple family enjoyment, parents with kids and people with dogs.  Europe is very dog friendly.  Rosemary & I saw three elderly ladies seated at an outdoor coffee shop, and the fourth seat, a little white poodle.  The dog was very well trained and polite.

The little town of Speyer was also neat and clean and people had red geraniums in almost every window sill.  I saw this in every German town and city.

 

It takes preparation, bread, wine, readers, and song books, and Jan coordinates is all.

 

On top of this, Germany is just drop dead beautiful, as Ron A. has told me repeatedly.  Green, hilly, forested, and dotted with these lovely towns. 

I have a bad habit of judging the book by the cover.  This is the first time I discovered that I have judged a whole people.  I had been shifting, I admit, because Rosemary has been feeding me these gripping novels about the conscientious German during the Reich. 

 

                                   Ray & Leo, dad & son.

 

 

How to survive if you disagreed with the program, when even a word overheard by a person could get you reported, visited in the night by the S.S., and then sent to a death camp.   There were a number of priests and Jesuits who encountered this.

 

                 Cupcake of the Week to Angela on her birthday.

 

I have come to see how I have been judging this book by its cover, the German people.

What is the book you are judging by its cover?

 

                        Not only does Jan coordinate everything.

 

Readings:  Isaiah 56, 1-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11, 13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15, 21-28.

Romans: For months we have been using as our second reading Paul's letter to the Romans.  I have not mentioned it or even included in the homilies for two reasons:

1. It is not related to the other two readings. The Gospel & the first reading attempt to follow a theme. The second reading continues the same book week after week and if it relates it is accidental.
2. It is dense. 7 letters are considered written by Paul who wrote this one probably around 55 A.D., while he was in Corinth, Greece, and in anticipation of a visit to Rome. It is the most complete statement of his understanding of the Christian faith. Some scholars consider it his masterpiece, but it is often difficult to understand.

The Assumption

This past Friday the Catholic Church celebrated one of its big feast days, the Assumption of Mary into heaven.  The meaning: Mary, after she finished her time on earth, was taken bodily into heaven.  Let me talk about this feast.  4 observations.

1.  The history of the belief.  The idea that Mary was taken up bodily into heaven got going by at least the 5th century.  People thought that she was rewarded for her role in redemption by this action on God's part. 

2.  The history of the declaration.  In November, 1950, Pius XII declared this event to be a dogma of the Catholic Church, that is, you have to believe it if you are a Catholic.   It was the first and only doctrine declared under papal infallibility, a doctrine proclaimed by Pius IX in 1870.

The story behind both of these dates is quite interesting.  1870 is the date of Italian unification.  Up to this time there was no united peninsula, no Italy like today.  There were at least three big parts: north, south, and right in the middle the Papal States. 

The people wanted those states to be part of the whole.  Pius IX was adamantly against ceding an inch of his property.  When the people won the property deal , Pius withdrew into the Vatican, declared himself a prisoner of the Vatican, appealed to France who did not help him, and finally declared that what he said as pope on faith & morals was infallible, despite the advice of the majority of his consul tors.

In 1950 the Second World War was finished and the world was stunned into shock by the revelation of the Holocaust.  Pius XII himself was downcast by the Holocaust.  Moreover, he was getting some heat because he did not stand up more strenuously to Hitler.  He had been Vatican ambassador to Germany during the build up of the Third Reich, so he knew the atmosphere well.  On top of that, there was evidence that at least one senior vatican official was complicit in sending Jews to the death camps. 

Pius XII might have experienced some shame.  In the face of the brutality of the Holocaust, Pius decided to make a dramatic statement to show the sacredness of the human person, body included, by declaring the assumption of Mary's body into heaven a dogma. 

3.  The basis in Scripture for the doctrine.  There is none.  What is taking place here, is that Pius is articulating what has been considered a belief for centuries.  It has been believed for, say, 10-15 centuries.  Therefore, it took place.  There is a weakness here, of course.  What can be asserted a fact without evidence, can be discarded without evidence. 

 

4.  The Assumption in my life.  50 years ago Friday I walked into the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA.  30 of us entered more or less together.  Two of my classmates celebrated Friday in New Orleans or Mobile when the Jesuit Province gathered to celebrate anniversaries. 

On that day 50 years ago my life took a 180 degree turn from being a typical  bratty teen ager to a monk.  From days spent with friends, girls, music, cars, and radios, I entered a world of silence, meditation, physical work, and study.  Feast days were eagerly anticipated and the Assumption was one of the big ones.  I took vows twice on August 15 and the date is still big with Jesuits.  It comes at a convenient time at the end of the summer and before the school year. 

I still celebrate August 15, and in 2004 I did it in a special way.  You may have heard.  This is the story.  It was earlier that week that I returned from the annual Yosemite trip and was told unexpectedly that I had been suspended by the bishop because of an anonymous letter saying Stack wanted to get married.  Why then?  Who knows?  I had been saying this for years, ever since returning from East Africa.

August 15 that year was a Sunday.  Where was I always on Sunday mornings?  St. Marks.  10:30 that morning, when I would have been starting the cafetorium Mass, Rosemary & I were watering trees at Fretz Park, Belt Line & Hillcrest.  I had gotten out of the truck to repair a tree, got up, and went into a disassociation state that lasted until about 5:00 that evening.  I woke up looking out the bay window of the living room on Tulip Lane.  Rosemary & Libby had taken me to the emergency room, thinking I had a stroke.  I had been released when they found nothing.  It was stress induced.  I have run into this defense mechanism in people over the years as a priest & psychotherapist.  I never thought that I might try it, but you never know totally what your inner spirit is feeling.

The stress, of course, was over getting suspended, being turned away by St. Marks, and facing another 180 degree turn around in my life. 

Guess what: it was all worth it and I could not be happier.  Actually, both 180 degree turns in my life were special blessings. 

The Assumption was the feast Friday.  What do you think about it?  What do you believe?

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Welcome Home, Alison & John.

 

 

Readings:

Proverbs 31, 10-13, 19-20, 30-31,   When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls.

Psalm 128,  Blessed are those who fear the Lord.  (No!)

1 Thessalonians 5, 1-6,  The Lord will come like a thief at night.  (No!)

Matthew 25, 1-13,  The parable of the man going on a journey and leaving talents with his servants

 

 

 

Says Rocco, "Good Morning, Everybody, welcome in."

 

 

Observation on the  psalm response and Thessalonians

Could there not be a better way to establish a relationship with the Lord than FEAR?  Like maybe LOVE?!

 

 

 

 

Wake up, Buddy.  Mike is coming on and he will fascinate you.

 

 

In honor of Thanksgiving we have invited Mike Kuklenski to share his experiences in Viet Nam and since.   

 

Nearly 50 years after Vietnam, a combat hero struggles to understand his war

 

The Link:

 

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2017/11/11/fifty-years-vietnam-combat-hero-struggles-understand-war

 

 

 

 

Mike Kuklenski sharing his experiences in Viet Nam.

 

 

Mike, a ''67 graduate of Jesuit , was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star for his heroic time as a conscientious objector and corpsman (medic).

 

 

 

The Team.

 

 

 

The marvelous Music Team.

 

 

Readings: Sirach 3, 17-29; Psalm 68; Hebrews 12, 18-24; Luke 14, 1-14

Sirach: this book was written after Jesus died.  It is basically a compilation of traditional Jewish wisdom material.  Our reading focuses on being humble and wise.

Humility a Side Effect?

A good friend of mine told me recently about a trip he made to Central Market. It was a week day, so the store was not so crowded. He went to the deli counter and there about a half a dozen people waiting.  Normally, when it is more crowded, customers take a number and wait to get the number called to get served. 

Because of the small number of customers this afternoon, people were not taking numbers. My friend said that often in a case like this people might try to jump ahead or get the sales person’s attention before it went to another customer. However, on this occasion people actually told the sales person, "No. It is not my turn. He is ahead of me." And everyone was doing this. No jumping the line. Waiting with patience and courtesy.

In Luke today he talks about taking the first place.  In fact, it is suggested that you take the second or last place so that you may be called up to the front of the line.  Some observations about this.

First, when I was going through the 2 year Jesuit novitiate emphasis was put on being humble.  Folks, I never felt comfortable with this.  Today I would rather focus on healthy humility being self acceptance.  Humility is really a side effect of self acceptance.  Self acceptance says, "Who cares whether I am first or last."

Second, I would even propose that if I have to be last or first, that need could be a symptom of something else, like a low self image or a sense of inferiority.  Maybe religious scruples or a religion addiction.

Thirdly, I would suggest that if I am choosinjg the last place or acting humbly so I will win esteem, whoa.  As the (famous?) poet David Budbill says,

I want to famous so I can be humble about being famous.                                                              What good is this humility when I am stuck in this obscurity?

Fourth, about inviting the guests to dinner. Rosemary says that the reason I get invited to so many dinners is because I fulfill all the requirements: poor, crippled, lame, and blind. 

Not to beat the acceptance idea to death, but I think a possible healthy approach is through acceptance of others as well as myself.  Ultimately, it is irrelevant whether you or I are rich or poor.  We are all rich and poor.  If I only focus on the materially rich or white or being from Plano Senior High or whatever, then maybe I got a problem and this may be the leading symptom.  Remember low self image?

Those folks in Central Market seem to have had some level of humility or acceptance. 

So, how are you doing accepting, yourself & others?

Megan, our September bread baker:

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Take this profile to find out your possible length of life: http://www.poodwaddle.com/realage.swf                                                                                           I will let you know my results next Sunday. 

  

Rosemary' Blessing

Loving God, through the gift of our fathers,

you reveal your wisdom, love and care.

 

Continue to bless and guide these holy men

you have given to us in our lives.

 

Support them in their call

to lead holy lives of faithfulness, respect and integrity.

 

May their witness of faith and love

shine from them and on their children and families

giving hope and encouragement to all.

 

Bless them for all the ways they lift their children to achieve their dreams.

Bless them for their sacrifice, their forgiveness and their guidance.

 

Bless grandfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins, teachers and coaches

who have shown us love and support.

 

For those fathers who have lost a child or spouse,

give them your loving touch of healing

consoling them with your gentle care.

 

For those fathers who have gone before us,

bring them to your eternal banquet of joy and peace;

bring them the fullness of union with you

and communion with us as we remember their love for us. Amen.

 

Sister Jean Amore CSJ, Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead,N.Y.  Adapted from Fr. John Thomas Lane, SSS

 

 

Part of

The Cheese Team, Becky & Tom

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Rob & Beth & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel, Deacon Mike

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky & Tom

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

The Music Team, Ben & Shonda

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Richard's dad who just passed;   For Carrie Bieda's brother, who also just passed the end of this week;  For Bill;  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;  Shonda's mom;   for Michelle;  

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;  Virginia Mattingly

 

 

 

Where is everybody??

 

From last Weeks:

Birthdays:  Shonda (last Week), Deacon Mike ordained '78, Bill Ekes, Alison DeGenova;  Bernadette, Ben's wife, Camile, Harper 9 

Anniversaries:  Sandra  & Chuck,  59th,  Barb & Warren 41st,  Rick Urbanczik, 45th & Rick, 68 

 

 

Download Readings Week 12

 

 

The Master Technician, Mike.

 

Deacon Mike's Homily

There was a rich merchant who had three sons.  The two older ones cared only for themselves. The younger son, however, cared little about the things of the world; instead he cared for his father’s workers with kindness and wisdom.  One spring day, the merchant told his three sons to meet him at the wharf; it was time for them to take over his business. The two older sons immediately ran ahead and began fighting with each other for the newest of his father’s three boats.  

The youngest son had prepared himself for this day. He knew the ones who worked well with one another; and the ones he trusted to help him read the weather, the maps, and the stories about other kingdoms. They were ready; and after bringing barrels of food on board they set sail.

One of their maps showed that they would come upon some small islands four weeks out on the direction they had chosen. When they encountered them they stopped at one whose sand looked to be pure white. Stopping there they realized that it wasn’t sand at all. It was salt.  Having extra bags that could be used for ballast they decided to take some of it home with them. A month or so later they came upon a fairly large kingdom; and they were greeted by its king.  He wished them well and fed them; but he told them that he wasn’t interested in trading for his father’s goods.

Undaunted, the younger son, after having eaten their food, paid a visit to the king’s kitchens, where he discreetly sprinkled salt, to the meat, onto the soup, over the tomatoes and into the bland custard. That night the king was amazed at the flavor of his food. Calling his chefs before him, he excitedly asked about the new technique they were using. The response was that the young man from the boat had sprinkled something called salt onto the king’s food.  The next afternoon, the merchant’s youngest son set sail for home with his crew filled with joy.  The ship was now laden with one bag of gold for every sack of salt he had left for the king.

With humility, kindness and love we too are to become the Christ by sharing the salt and light of the gospel, the treasure of the Church, to as many as we can.

 

 

The Mass continues

 

Community Finances, June 21, 2020

Expenses: $290.00

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

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

 

 

Readings:   2 Chronicles 36, 14-23, Whoever among you who belongs to any part of his people, let him go up; Psalm 137, Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget You; John 3, 14-21, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “the light came into the world.”

 

Chronicles:

Author (s): Unknown

Date:  ca. 450-350 BCE, at least after The Babylonian Captivity.  You will see why. 

 

 

Subject:  a summary of the entire span of history to the time the people returned to Jerusalem, i.e., from Adam to the end of the Babylonian Captivity, 450 BCE.  Therefore, it begins with Adam & a genealogy up to King Saul and King David, through David's son Solomon & the building of the temple to the Babylonian Captivity with Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus the leader of the Persians who defeated Nebuchadnezzar (what a fabulous name, 5 syllables)  and allowed the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem.  Note that Babylon was near Baghdad in Iraq, while Persia was Iran.

Our selection: this is the very last chapter of ca. 60 chapters, including Chronicles 1 & 2.  A bit of a summary chapter, it says that Yahweh was so mad he got Nebuchadnezzar to defeat the Hebrews and cart them off to captivity in Babylon.  Then some 50 years later he gets Cyrus to defeat Nebuchadnezzar and free the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem, which they do. 

Sources: Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

 

 

The Nature of God

Anybody here know Bartholomew Granger?  Or who he is?  I’ll tell you.  He is from Beaumont and 41 years old.  Last Wednesday morning he was waiting outside the Beaumont courthouse where he was on trial for abusing a member of his family. 

At some point he reached into his pickup, pulled out his gun, and started shooting.  He killed a 79 year old lady just passing there.  He wounded three others including his daughter whom he also ran over with his pickup truck in an attempt to flee the scene.

 

 Anybody hear about the 22 kids from Belgium on a spring break ski trip to Switzerland?  Killed in a bus that simply ran into a bridge returning to Belgium.  22 kids plus some adults.

Which, taking into account our readings today, leads me to ask you two questions.

First question, does God get angry and punish bad people?  The Bible certainly seems to say so. 

• For example, Chronicles says today that the "anger of the Lord was so inflamed that there was no remedy."  As a result he had the Hebrews killed, burned out, and carried away as slaves in Babylon.  For a symbolic 70 years, which seems to suggest that the Hebrews had neglected to rest on the Sabbath, 7 being a special number.
• For example, Yahweh got so mad at his earlier creation that he sent the great flood, killing everybody except Noah, his wife, and the animals.  
• For example, in John this morning you find out that you will be condemned if you do not believe in the name of Jesus. 
• For example, it is held that Jesus had to come and die on a cross and he did so to take away the Father's anger at us for our ancestors' sins.  Thus, the gates of heaven, closed up to that time, would be reopened.  True?

 

 

 Were the kids on the bus bad?  Is Granger bad?  The little 79 year old lady?   What about Sargeant Robert Bales, who allegedly massacred a handful of women & children this week in Afghanistan.  Are they all such sinners that they must be punished like happened to the Hebrews in Jerusalem?

So, what do you think, what do you believe?  Does God get angry and punish bad people as we see repeatedly mentioned in the Bible?  What we are dealing with here is what you think the nature of God is.  Which leads me to my next question:

 

 

Second question, who are the bad people?  Or who are the good? 

Obviously the man who killed the old lady and injured three including his daughter whom he ran over is bad.  He deserves what?  Sargeant Robert Bales?   Be condemned?  Forever? 

From my experience as a priest and as as psychotherapist, I have discovered two things. 

First, that nobody is bad, and nobody is good.  Everybody is both bad & good.  But what about Granger?  Bales   Are they not bad?  John says, "He who does wicked things hates the light."  They must really hate the light.

 

 

Secondly, I discovered that if I had grown up in the environment of many of these so called bad people and I had been forced to live in the horrible surroundings they saw daily, I probably would have done the same things.  I do not know how many times I have talked with people who have done similar things and discovered that they were horribly wounded people.  Inside they were deeply hurt.  Outside they vented their hurt through anger and, watch out, through violence.  

                                                                                                    

And look what we are finding out about Bales, on his 4th mission, 3 of them in Iraq.

 

 

As a balance to this negativity and tragedy, let me remind you that we likewise see beauty in people.  I saw it in Ermy, the check in lady at the Jewish Community Center who greeted us cheerily Friday morning at 5:45 when we came for a spin class.  And the 20 or so friendly class mates.  I saw it in the courage of Michael Morwood yesterday who shared with us his own faith and understanding of the nature of God & Jesus. 

So, reconsidering Granger & Bales & the kids from Belgium and all the Bible stories about God being angry and punishing people, what do you think about the nature of God?

 

 

Sources: The Center for Liturgy, St. Louis U.  Online Ministries, Creighton, U.  All on line.