Sunday Homily, December 11, 2016, 3rd Advent, Cycle A

Daniel 7,  His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

Revelation 1,  I am the Alpha and the Omega.

John 18,  My kingdom does not belong to this world.

Bougainvillea in Venice.

 

Thanks……

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,    Beth & Rob, & Buddy, our candle blesser 

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,  Cathy Bambenek

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,      Mike & Richard

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

St. Marks, Venice

 

 

Readings:  Download 11-21-21 – Readings – 34th Ord

 

Homily:  Not this Sunday

 

The Bridge of Sighs.

 

 

Remember these special people:

For John Stack having a hard time right now with a bad back;  For Becky & Tom's son, Austin, who took his life this past week;  For Laura Chollick;  For John & Karen Anderlick's grandson, Cooper John who lived only a few hours with his parents;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson  & Frank;  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, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy,

 

Sete, France.

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren  ;  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; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & a nephew; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

Birthdays:  Ron Ackerman, John Cade

Anniversaries:  Ron and Barbara Senter

Community Finances,   

Expenses: $  465.00

Outreach: $  150.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Sunset in Venice.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

A Thanksgiving prayer from a Dear Abbey column:

 

 

“Father and Mother of all:

We give thanks for food and remember the hungry,

We give thanks for health and remember the sick,

We give thanks for friends and remember the friendless,

We give thanks for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May our giving thanks stir us to service, that our blessings may be shared with others. Amen.”

 

 

Ezekiel 2, As the Lord spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet.

Psalm 123, Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy. 

2 Corinthians 12, a thorn in the flesh was given me.

Mark 6, a prophet is not without honor except in his native place.

 

 

Let this show begin…

 

Thanks……

Music,    Shonda broadcasting from Houston.

Readers,  Mary & Frank, & Buddy, our candle blesser (no candle blessing today)

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,  John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,    Mike and Hue and Richard

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

Mary reading from Ezekiel.  

 

Readings:

Download Readings 14th Ordinary Time 7-4-21

 

Homily by John Cade

Download Homily John Cade 7-04-21

 

 

Frank reading from 2 Corinthians.

 

Remember these special people:

For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson;  For Alan Stryker;   For Candice Taht, friend of Mary Hall;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique, & Frank with shingles;  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, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   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 &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy, 

 

John sharing his excellent slants on today's readings.

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren  ;  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; from Barbara, a little 4 month old baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Happy Birthday, Paul!

 

Birthdays:   Brent, 65; Kim Crossk; Paul Bieda, 60; Cindy Cramer. 83.

Anniversaries:   Jan & Sir Charlie, 60 

 

 

And Happy Birthday to you, Brent, and also a check for your Soul's Harbor.   Moreover, congratulations on Soul's Harbor being especially written up in today's Dallas Morning News.

 

Community Finances,   July 4, 2021

Expenses: $750.00  

Outreach: $235.00  

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 
                                                                                                                                Rosemary sharing her July 4 Blessing.                                                                                                                                       

Rosemary's Blessing:

Lord

May we never take our freedom for granted

and help us to strive so that this same freedom

may be experienced by everyone in our country,

especially the poor and the oppressed,

and eventually by all humankind.

 

Andrew Greeley A Book of Irish American Blessings and Prayers  

 

 

 

Ezekiel 47:  This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.  Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
1 Corinthians 3:  Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
 John 2:   He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Shonda & Ben
Readers,  Pat & Fred
Homily,   John Cade
Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade
The Magic Zoom makers,  Hue & Kevin
The Organization man,  Richard
Final Blessing,  Rosemary

 

Remember these special people:

For all the people affected by natural disasters like floods, earthquakes etc;  For the Ukraine and the Holy Land; For our new Pope, Leo XIV;  For John Stack;    For Adam, that the doctors may find a remedy for his seizures; For Meredith ;   For Tom  Quinn;   For Warren Wittek; For Tom Good; For Lambrini, John Cade’s wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Allen Stryker;   For Mike and Judy Carrell ; For Hue; For Jackie;    For Ron

Jackie’s sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;    from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Birthdays:   John Anderlick 11/14
Anniversaries:  Connie & John Bresson 11/14

Expenses: $  890.00
Outreach: $  105.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Rosemary’s Blessing:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch, Be yours to bear it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep tho’ poppies blow
In Flanders Field.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

 The Answer (One of many poems written in response to In Flanders Fields)

In Flanders Field the cannon boom
And fitful flashes light the gloom;
While up above, like Eagles, fly
The fierce destroyers of the sky;
With stains the earth wherein you lie
Is redder than the poppy bloom
In Flanders Field.

Sleep on ye brave! The shrieking shell,
The quaking trench, the startling yell,
The fury of the battle hell
Shall wake you not; for all is well.

Sleep peacefully, for all is well.
Your flaming torch aloft we bear,
With burning heart an oath we swear
To keep the faith to fight it through
To crush the foe, or sleep with you
In Flanders Field

The Answer, by Lt. J. A. Armstrong of Beloit.Wisconsin.

 

John Stack Ministries meets on Sunday for Mass at
9:30 at the ArtCentre of Plano,
902 E. 16th St, Plano, Texas.

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.

 

 Readings:

 Deuteronomy  30, 10-14,  If only you would heed the voice of the Lord.

Psalm 69,  Turn to the Lord in your need and you will live.

Colossians 1, 15-20,  He is before all things.

Luke 10, 25-37,  A Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.

 

 Deuteronomy observations:

 

The Scene: the desert outside the promised land.  Moses is talking to the people about all that has happened to them since he led them out of Israel and through the desert for many years.  Now, as they prepare to enter, Moses is dying.  He is simply exhorting them to love Yahweh and obey his laws. 

The Author:  not Moses.  A compilation put into three discourses.

Date:  guess when?  Yes, after the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.

Subject today:  Moses talks about a command, but never mentions exactly what it is.  Watch for the answer in today's gospel.  The Great Command.

 

 

The Good Samaritan

I would like to talk a bit about the Good Samaritan parable this morning.

There may have been two meanings.  Initially this parable looks like simply an encouragement to help others, which it is.
 

However, there is a second meaning, perhaps more profound, especially for the Jews who are listening. It has to do with prejudice.

 

The setting. A Jewish lawyer is asking a question about his justification. Where does one draw the line in helping a person? Who is my neighbor? Some observations.

First, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous and plagued with thieves. That this man was alone is significant.  People would travel in groups for safety. Was he an outcast?  Friendless?  Not too
intelligent or not so innocent?

Second, the man was stripped. For the lawyer this would signify that the man was without identity, of no identifiable class. In other words, he might not be anything, not even a Jew. He was Every Person.  A human being.

 

Thirdly, the priest & the Levite (a priestly class). The lawyer would know why they did not stop to help. The Law. They would have been on the way to the temple and they could not cause themselves to be ritually impure or dirty.  In the temple they had to be pure, no contact with dirty people or they could not offer their sacrifice.   Organized religion still follows this practice? 

 

Then, fourth, along comes the Samaritan. To the Jewish lawyer & the Jewish listeners Samaritans were considered scum.  Samaritans were Jews from Israel thought to have intermarried with pagans, i.e., people who did not recognize Yahweh as the name of their God, probably Assyrians after 700.    They did not get swept up in the Babylonian Captivity. They would defile the temple just by entering. In sum, they were vile and dirty, certainly not capable of performing an act of love.

 

But, to the surprise of the lawyer & the audience, it is the Samaritan who performs the act of love.  He even risks his own life by rescuing the man. Jesus further twists the knife by showing how the Samaritan goes beyond the call by setting the man up in an inn and promising to cover all his expenses.

The composer of the parable goes further and plays with two elements used in the temple sacrifice: oil and water.  The Samaritan employs these elements to clean (purify?) the victim.  The author knows what he is suggesting in using these items.

Jesus is responding to the lawyer's question, "Who is my neighbor," by saying "Everybody."  No prejudice.

 

Know anybody like that Samaritan?  How about you?     

Sources, Francis Vanderwall, Jesus, The Parable of God (Francis will speak here September 28-29)

 

                                                                                                                                                     

 

Deuteronomy 8:  … that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:  Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body,  for we all partake of the one loaf.

John 6:  This is the bread that came down from heaven.

 

 

Connie reading from Deuteronomy

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Connie & John

Homily,   John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

                                                                              

John reading from Paul's Letter to the Corinthians

 

                                                                    

 

Readings:  Download 06-11-23 Readings – Corpus Christi

Homily: 

                                                                                     

                                                 
                           

                        

Cody and John commenting on the homily

 

 

Remember these special people:

For Sandra Pratt's family;  For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Jan;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

                                                                                                   

       

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;  For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Barbara asking for prayers for a friend

                 

                        

Birthdays:  Mary Esparza

Anniversaries:  

                                                              

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  665.00

Outreach: $   175.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

Ezekiel 33:  Thus says the Lord: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.

Romans 13: Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love on another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Matthew 18:  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

Denni reading from Ezekiel

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Denni & Tom

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                      

Tom reading from Peter's Letter to the Romans

 

 

Readings:  Download 09-10-23 Readings -23rd Ordinary

Homily:  

 

 

Brent commenting on the Homily

 

 

Remember these special people:

For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Tom Good;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;   For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie;  For Ron ;  For Teresa Quinn's niece, Maddie who has a brain tumor;

                                                                                                 

 

Jackie's sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;  For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & the families of Annie and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Beth and Rob get a cookie  for their anniversary

                                          

Birthdays:   Waren Wittek

Anniversaries:  Mike & Geri Moran

                 

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  36500

Outreach: $  50.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

Loretta gets a cookie for coming back to visit