Sunday Homily January 22, 2017, 3rd Ordinary Time

Readings:

Isaiah 61, 1-2, 10-11, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

Psalm, Luke 1, My soul rejoices in my God

Thessalonians 5, 16-24, Rejoice always; Check out special reading from Pope Francis

John 1, 6-8, 19- 28,  A man named John was sent from God

Our Mass this morning is for Christine Dresher, who passed to the Other Side recently, and for her family, Mom & Sisters, and Many Friends.

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda, 

Readers,  Jackie & John Simari, & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  John Cade 

Homily,   John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Mike & Richard

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

Download Readings Gaudete Sunday 12-13-20

Download Cade homily 12-13-2020

Please Remember these special people:

For Cody, For Paul & Carrie recuperating, plus her ex, Larry;  For Alan Stryker;  For Joe Sullivan;    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, 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 & Ben & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family;  

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.  It's about learning how to dance in the rain.  Vivian Green

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 a little 4 month old boy undergoing an operation, from Barbara;  For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Our Beloved John Cade.

Birthdays: Jan Keszler, Doug Kite 65, Quads (12), Becky 62.

Anniversaries: Jackie & Rick

Community Finances, December 13, 2020

Expenses: $1375.00

Outreach   $900.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:

May an abundance of gratitude burst forth in our minds and hearts as we remember all the blessings in our life

May we slow our hurried pace these days so we can be aware of, and enjoy, what we can too easily take for granted. 

May we always be open, willing and ready to share our blessings with others and never forget the God who loves us lavishly and unconditionally. 

And  may we remember that our thanksgiving is incomplete until we pay it forward by doing for others what they cannot do for themselves. 

Amen.

From a prayer by Sr. Jean Amore CSJ,  Sacred Heart Academy,  Hempstead, N.Y.

Grace reading from the Great Prophet, Isaiah.

Readings:

Isaiah 9, 1-6,    The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.  (Wow!  Beautiful)

Psalm, 96,  Today is born our savior, Christ the Lord.

Reading 2: The Road Less Taken

Luke 2, 1-14,   The Nativity story.   (Lovely)

John reading The Road not Taken, one of The Greats.

Frost, Robert: The Road Not Taken  ( Reading #2)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

        And sorry I could not travel both   

And be one traveler.       Long I stood

         and looked down one as far as I could,

         to where it bent in the undergrowth,

Then took the other, as just as fair,       

         And having perhaps the better claim,

         Because it was grassy and wanted wear.

         Though as for that the passing there

         Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

         In leaves no step had trodden black.

         Oh, I kept the first for another day!

         But knowing how way leads onto way,

         I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

         Somewhere ages and ages hence:

         Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–

         I took the one less traveled by,

         And that has made all the difference.

Claire reading the Nativity Narrative from Luke.

Homily, 12/24/18

Since November when this crazy lumbar stenosis smacked  me, I have had more doctor appointments than ever in my life, including  getting my two nice titanium hips.

On one occasion I was going to Presby’s office building 4, on the south east corner of Walnut Hill & Greenville.  This was my second visit to this building.  Parking is all on the ground level, with the 5 or 6 story building over the parking. 

The Nativity story with Leo as Joseph and Zoe as Mary.

This morning Rosemary drove me over, dropped me fairly near the big glass doors, two sets of them.  It is freezing, darkish, and windy like being in a wind tunnel.

As I approach the first set of doors, though still 30 yards away, this tall,  strong looking black lady in a security uniform comes running from the inside, opens one of the doors wide and says cheerily, Good Morning and Welcome In.

Who dat??  That is the Baby Jesus, otherwise known as Betsy!

I laugh despite being in a world of pain from the pinched nerve.  I thank her.  And as I pass in front of her at the door, I tell her, “I am finding it hard to have people opening doors for me.  I ain’t used to this.”

So I go upstairs, check with my doctor, and return to the lobby in maybe an hour.  I sit on a marble ledge, call Rosemary, and wait.

Sez Luke, "Hey, I'm an Angel!

Suddenly coming in through the doors from the outside, my black security lady appears.  I wave at her and she walks toward me.  She says, “You remember what you said to me that it is hard to let others hold the door for you.  Well, I look at you and I know you.  I know that you have opened a lot of doors for other people to walk through.   For me it is an honor to be able to pay it back just a little and hold the door for you.”

Does it get better than this ??!!

I was stunned, I was touched, I was in tears.

Are people not good!

Have a wonderful Christmas.

The Best Team!

Genesis 18:  "Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.  What if there are at least ten there?"  He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy  it."

Colossians 2:  You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Luke 11:  "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Denni reading from Genesis
 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben  & Shonda

Tom reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians

The Kiss of Peace

Outreach: $   220.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Candice, Buddy, Claire and Ray

Rosemary's Blessing:

Readings:

Isaiah  25, 6-10,  On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines.  (One of my favorite all-time readings.)

Psalm 23,   I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Philippians 4, 1-14, 19-20,  I know how to live in humble circumstances.

Matthew 22, 1-14,  The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.  

 

Victoria the Witch says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

Isaiah observations:

Who:  Any idea which Isaiah this is, 1, 2, or 3?   We had Isaiah 1 last week talking about the vineyard.  That was chapter 5.  Pretty easy to guess, Isaiah 1.  But, this is chapter 25.

It seems out of character for Isaiah 1, who criticizes the people.  More like Isaiah 2, which John Cade loves and which we will read this Advent. 

Remember Isaiah 1 is pre-Babylonian Captivity, around 555 before Christ.  This selection is a marvelous vision of peace and sensual satisfaction, one of my favorites.

Yep, it is still Isaiah 1, all the way to chapter 39.  Basically he is saying that a great day will come, after you people have paid for your sinful, selfish ways. 

Tori's big sister, Georgie, also says, "Welcome, Everybody."

Life as a Banquet

I apologize ahead of time for talking about these readings in ways I have done before.  Trouble is, some readings for me just have a special meaning.  They hit me in just a special way.  Here goes some observations you may recognize a little bit.

I had a Jesuit friend named Tom Barbarito who was in the class behind me.  Italian.  About 5 feet 5. Quite rotund in his early years.  No way athletic.  In fact would shudder at the prospect of exercise or physical work.  Intelligent and very amusing mostly at his own expense.  He was pastor of St. Rita for many years. 

And then there comes the girl with the Pink Ribbon, Zoe.

Our selection from Isaiah 1 about the banquet was his favorite reading of all time.  He loved to eat.  We used to have what were called first class feasts in the early years of my Jesuit life.  These were special meals on Christmas, Easter, and church holidays.  The meals were excellent Cajun cuisine put together by our cajun cooks from southwest LA, Opalousas & Lafayette.  And Tom was from New Orleans, as were many in the classes those days.  We got to talk in the refectory on the occasion of these meals, all 150 of us.

I can still picture Tom squaring off for one of these meals, his white cloth napkin tucked into the collar of his cassock European style, getting elbow room, and proclaiming that he was ready.  He used to declare that he could not wait for the heavenly banquet referred to here in Isaiah.  Today Tom is enjoying that banquet because he died maybe twenty years ago with a brain tumor.  And he died skinny, so he now may eat all his favorite foods without guilt. 

And then comes the girl with The Smile, Emma.

I think of Tom whenever this reading comes up.  Our readings today are so Tom Barbarito, eating, feasting, enjoying the wine running over.  Besides that, we got the king throwing a wedding banquet and getting mad because the invited did not come.  Then one guy gets kicked out for not having a wedding garment on.  What is going on?   Three observations.

First, remember for whom Matthew is writing.  He has an agenda when he composes parables for his work.  Initially he writes to warn the Jewish people about how they are losing it in not recognizing Jesus.  But equally he is addressing the Gentiles, letting them know that Jesus welcomes them also.

Watch out, James, you are surrounded by girls.

As in all parables, check out the symbolism of the gospel.  Obviously the king is God.  Who are the invited to the wedding feast?  The Jews.  Who are the good & bad street people? 

Second observation, we are invited.   There is a banquet out there, a feast on a mountain top, a feast of rich food and choice wine.  Tex Mex & Blue Bell?  We are invited, despite the fact that we are the street people.  In fact, I would propose that we are all street people, bad and good, Gentile and Jew.  The parable may be creating a false distinction.  The idea eventually says only those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved.  Only Catholics can go to heaven.  Not quite.  This was a common Catholic belief from my childhood in the 40’s & 50’s.

Nikki at 14 with her grandparents, Mary and Frank.

The third observation is that the banquet on the mountain top and the marriage feast are taking place today.  I can be tempted to think the feast takes place in the next life.  In fact, I think a lot of poor people and slaves were fed this nonsense so they would not try to fight back against oppression. 

This may be where the poor guy without the wedding garment fits in.  He gets treated pretty harshly, especially so after the king invites all the street people in, both good and bad.  To attempt an understanding, I think we go back to the symbolism which is the currency of parables.  What could he symbolize?  Perhaps the wedding garment symbolizes gratitude.  Maybe he was not grateful, but was critical and cynical, thinking he was entitled to all this, the attitude that seem to be so prevalent in our contemporary culture.  Consequently, the man was thrown out.  In reality the ingratitude never allows him in.  We can be the man without the wedding garment.

Cupcake of The Week to Richard on his birthday. The question: who gets it?

My friend Tom Barberito I am sure is enjoying his wedding banquet in the next life.  We are invited to enjoy this life's banquet with gratitude.

What is your banquet today?

Want to see a contemporary feast: (copy the link into your browser)

http://www.coolestone.com/media/10482/This-Is-What-Happens-When-Pranksters-/

Connie & Cathy. Don't forget you two troublemakers the cupcake is for Harper, who is sick at home. Can we trust them?

 Soul's Harbor Silent Auction, October 21, 2014, special notice:

  Download Doc1

Readings: Acts 2, 1-11; Psalm 104, Lord Send our your Spirit, and Renew the Face of the Earth; 1 Corinthians 12, 3-13; John 20, 19-23.

Pentecost:

Perspective A: The Catholic Encyclopedia says this feast commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit (or Ghost) upon the Apostles 50 days after the Resurrection.  The root of the word pentecost is 5, like pentagon.

Perspective B: biblical students point out that this event is one in a series of events that base their timing on the calendar of Jewish liturgical feasts.  They point out how Mark, the first to write a gospel, started this process by providing Jesus stories appropriate to the first 6 months of the liturgical calendar of synagogue celebrations.  Remember the followers of Jesus spent about 50 years as Jews worshipping in the temple and synagogue, until 88 C.E., when a split occurred.

Luke, our writer today, built his gospel on Mark and expanded it to fill the whole liturgical calendar year.  Mark only covered about 6 months.  Thus, Luke is the only one who presents the Pentecost story and he puts it together with the Jewish feast of Shavout which takes place 50 days after Passover.  Shavout celebrates Moses receiving the 10 commandments 50 days after the exodus from Egypt.  All symbolic events. 

Note another example: Mark tied the crucifixion to the Passover, the feast commemorating the Jews escape from Egypt. 

Whatever we think took place at this event called Pentecost, for me it seems like it was at least a moment of light, enlightenment.

Sources: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Bishop John Shelby Spong.

Pentecost: An Enlightenment

A week or so ago I put together something I have never done before.  I bought a dozen roses at Tom Thumb, took them home to Rosemary to help me arrange them in her artistic way, and drove up to Plano Presbyterian to give a gift of thanks to the staff on the 8^th floor.

I confess I waited until I could walk well without a cane so I could show off for everyone who had helped me out. 

The experience was touching and a bit anti-climactic.  Anti-climactic because I ended up going on a Saturday instead of a work day.  This was because the charge nurse and the nurse who was charged with my care got her schedule changed from a Friday to a Saturday. 

Being a Saturday, the staff of nurses and physical therapists that I had come to appreciate were mostly off.  In fact, the hall that had been such a beehive of activity when I was there was totally quiet. 

Why did I do this?  Because I had acquired this deep appreciation of life and people in that hospital and the recuperation months afterward.  This enlightenment is what I think Pentecost is all about. 

What touched me even more was when I gave my charge nurse the roses. She told that she and her colleagues often hear about one of their patients doing well after they return home.  But in all her years working as a nurse, this was the first time a patient had returned with a gift.  This, too, was a Pentecost moment.

Whom or what do you appreciate most today and what are you doing about it?

Picture 1:  Mass begins, first time solo flying since early January

Picture 2:  Jan & Charlie

Picture 3:  The Dopnut Shoppe, Chloe with her mom, Clare, Maggie with her mom, Tanya, and Hue on the left

Picture 4:   Mike Moretta & Beverly (fiancee until Saturday)

Readings: Isaiah 35, 1-6, 10 (again beautiful); Psalm 146; James 5, 7-10; Matthew 11, 2-11

Isaiah: Again today’s selection from this marvelous book put together some 8 hundred years before Christ presents a dream and a vision of a day of peace and happiness.  To emphasize the beauty we will split the reading again, the first part read by Margarita; the second by her daughter Ashley.

How to Give Sight, Give Life

In Utah there is a ranch which specializes in equine therapy for young people.  Equine therapy uses horses to help people & kids find themselves and level out. 

A family who are really good friends of mine visited the ranch some years ago to check out if it might be a good place for one of their children to get settled in life.  One afternoon some staff people took them down to the barn to look at the horses.  Now the wife in her childhood had done some riding and was pretty confident around horses, which the staff apparently picked up.

Consequently, one of the women staff members offered her a bridle and asked her if she thought she could bridle a wild mustang they had just brought in.  "Sure," she said, and off she went to bridle the mustang.  Three staff members climbed up and sat on the fence to watch her.  Inside she was saying to herself that she would be firm and brave, remembering that she had once broken her arm with a horse. 

Using all her skill, determination, and bravery she tried and tried to bridle that mustang, for probably over an hour.  It was even beginning to get dark.  But she was determined she would prove she could do it all by herself.  Finally, with darkness setting in she took the bridle, handed it back to the staff, and feeling defeated said she could think of no other way to bridle that mustang.

The staff asked, "Are you sure you have tried every possibility?"  "Yes," she replied, "Everything. "I think there may be still another possibility," the staff said.  "What?" my friend asked.  "You could have asked for help."

Isaiah says this morning that some day the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf be cleared.  That evening in that coral in Utah, my friend saw and heard in a new way.

There are two pieces to this dynamic.  One, am I aware that I am blind and deaf, and need the help of community?  We are all blind and deaf.  Secondly, am I aware that I have to help others see and hear better?  Or I am less a person? 

One of the hardest things for me to do is to ask for help.  It is partly pride, but also good Jesuit training.  I’ve been trained to think and act independently.  I can almost learn Spanish or Italian without asking for help.  However, ever try to learn to work a computer without asking for help?  I have had to ask Rosemary a million times how to do things.  Humbling.  And eye opening.

The staff members sitting on that fence were helping my friend to see and hear.  It is even their profession, a privilege and a call really.  Teachers are helping others to see, parents do it.   Like I mentioned the first Sunday of Advent, flight attendants do it with their hospitality, like happened to Rosemary & me coming out of Hilton Head. 

A paradox in all this is that when I help another to see or hear better, I receive the same gift.

My friends never did work with the ranch in Utah, and their child grew up and leveled out.

How are you helping the person next to you to see & hear better?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-12-16.mp3