Readings:  Genesis 18, 20-32; Psalm 138, Lord, on the Day I called for Help, You answered Me; Colossians 2, 12-14; Luke 11, 1-13

Seventeenth Sunday – Reading Notes

The first reading continues from last week’s with the Book of Genesis and shows us a rather interesting twist on the old adage of collective responsibility for a crime, and therefore collective punishment.  This was an accepted principal in early Israel. 

Today’s reading views this principal from the other side.  Can a few good people save the entire community?  We have a wonderful example of a type of prayer, a bargaining prayer.  It reads like a great story and we are left wondering what did happen!  I hope you know what happened!  Remember, Lot’s wife had to look back!

Our second reading continues our readings from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians.  The focus of today’s reading is the contrast between the effectiveness of circumcision and that of baptism, because of Christ’s death on the cross.  Everything is forgiven by that death.

 

 

Seventeenth Sunday – Homily

The main focus in our Gospel reading today is the Our Father.  Remember, in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is on his Journey to Jerusalem.  Luke gives us this section about Jesus praying and his apostles ask him to teach them to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray, and just as any great prophet would be expected to do. 

This prayer is the simplest version we have of the Our Father.  The version in Matthew’s gospel is a little longer, and there is a very early church document called the Didache, which means the Teachings, which has the version used today by most Protestants with the ending “for thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever.”  Luke’s version has two addresses to the Father, May your name be holy, and may your kingdom come,  and three about us; provisions, forgiveness and don’t test us.  The opening section is very similar to the Jewish prayer the Kiddish!

 

Growing up, most of us learned prayers by heart, or rote.  I still find myself using those prayers and they give me a sense of calm.  But if my prayer life stops there then my relationship with God will probably be very childlike. 

I came across a very helpful interview with Sister Joan Chittister on Prayer.  I have included the link to the site at the end of these notes.  She talks about prayer bringing her to a greater awareness of God’s presence around us.  If we look at the actions of Jesus, he was incredibly sensitive to those around him and their needs.  His level of prayer enabled him to know who was suffering and to bring relief to them, whether it was the pain of sins past or of current illness. 

 

As a community I think that we do show awareness to the pains of those around us in our Outreach Ministry.  But the question that should always be asked is, who else needs comforting.  Who around me, either in my home life or work, or in the marketplace could benefit from God’s love, which can only come through one of us. 

Last week John mentioned our desire to be a more welcoming and outreaching community to those who have felt rejected by the “official church” for whatever reason.  Those folks are out there, hurting for want of a loving healing community.  As you continue to pray, to get in touch with the all present God, keep an eye out for those ‘lost or rejected sheep”

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-haag/what-is-prayer-a-conversa_b_603667.html

Picture 1:   Mass with Tony & 2 servers

 

Picture 2:   Tom handing over our monthly donations

 

Picture 3:   Alison & Anthony running the celebration from the entrance

 

Picture 4:   The Sisters, Marlene & Cindy bringing up the bread & wine

 

 

 

Readings:  Zephaniah 12, 10-11, 13, 1; Psalm 63, My Soul is Thirsting for You, O Lord my God; Galatians 3, 26-29; Luke 9, 18-24. 

Father's Day, A Brief History:

Mother’s Day background:

 

1.  In reaction to the Civil War horror, Julia Ward Howe proposed a Mother’s Day, ca. 1870.  It became a custom in some communities.

 

 2.  Picking up the idea later was Anna Jarvis who influenced President Wilson to declare it a national May holiday, 1912.

 

 

Father’s Day:

 

1.  As a compliment celebration, Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, WA began celebrating in June a Father’s Day. 

 

2.  Her history played a role here, because she had great affection for her dad, a Civil War Vet, who took care of the family as sole parent when his wife died giving birth to their 6^th child.  Sonora was 16 at the time.

 

3.  Sonora also influenced  President Wilson to establish a June Father’s Day national holiday.  He could not get it through Congress, who thought it was getting trivial.  In fact, while Mother’s Day was eagerly celebrated, at first Father’s Day was considered a joke.

 

4.  LBJ finally designated it to be celebrated the 3^rd Sunday of June.  55 other countries celebrate on the same day.

 

5.  President Nixon finally got it established as a national holiday.  Date 1972.

 

 

A Father’s Day Story

 

 

This event happened in mid-March.  I was out in the back yard on a Monday morning about 7:30.  I remember it was sunny, which was rare this past March. 

 

 

Do not tell my physical therapist that I was out in the yard walking around with my cane or walker.  I don’t remember which.  I know I was still home bound for another couple of weeks from the second hip replacement.   There was a fear I would fall down and dislocate the thing. 

I know it was Monday because we have our recycle material pick up and I was out putting stuff in the container in the alley.

 

 

At some point I am walking back to the porch and the back door, taking the long route to see how many pecan branches had fallen in the yard.  I’m out near the edge of our property where it touches the little north-south street, Camellia. 

 

 

Along comes an elderly guy I had seen once or twice earlier in the year (probably younger than I am).  He was headed to the Starbucks on Royal & Preston.  We have a fair amount of foot traffic from the neighborhood pass our corner headed to Starbucks for their morning fix.

He says to me, “You have a really nice yard here.”  Now when he says this, I’m thinking I did not hear him because our yard is a winter mess, lots of small branches still lying around from the first snow fall, everything ragged and unkempt. 

 

 

So I say, “Thanks, but the yard is really a mess right now and I cannot do anything about it for another month or so.”  And he responds, “Yes, but you really do keep a beautiful place here.” 

 

I thank him again and he continues on toward Starbucks. 

 

I was dumbstruck and touched.  I do attempt to maintain a pretty place.  It is like therapy for me.  Yet this is the first time a passing stranger has ever complimented me on it.  That compliment made my day and it stuck with me.  It even gave me this shot of energy which made me want to go out and clean the place up, but I couldn’t.

 

 

The power of a compliment or positive stroke!  They give life.  I have subsequently found out this guy’s name is Harold and he is both a dad and a grand dad.  He has a gift.  It is a gift we all have

When and to whom do you dads put the gift to use?

 

 

Picture 1:  Sienna helping with the beginning of Mass

 

Picture 2:  Special Blessing of Males by the Women, Sandra

 

Picture 3:  Kiddie Korner, Kayla & Cici

 

Picture 4:  Sam with his Momma, Pam

 

Readings:  Isaiah 25, 6-10 (beautiful); Psalm 23 (nice); Philippians 4, 12-20; Matthew 22, 1-14 (The King throws a wedding banquet)

Isaiah: A beautiful selection today.  This is why Isaiah 1 is so popular, his worderful dreams.  The selection today talks about the day when the Lord will provide a feast of rich food and fine wine on a mountain top.  These dreams were dreamed some 600 to 900 years B.C.E. 

Psalm 23:

Number of Psalms: There are 150 psalms, which are religious songs.

Authorship: Jews, Muslims and Christians for centuries considered King David to be the author.  73 psalms use his name.  Today, however, scripture scholars think numerous authors composed the psalms and they passed down ca. 500 years in an oral, sung form before they began to be written down ca. 600 B.C.E.  King David lived ca. 1000 B.C.E.

Pictures 1 & 2:

#1: the choir: Wendy, Shonda & Ray, Celeste

#2: Birthdays: Lacee Ackerman (13); Georgie (7); Lisa Ackerman, & Richard Eshelbrenner

Life as a Banquet

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. 

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 ten years ago with a brain tumor.  And he died skinny, so he now may eat all his favorite foods without guilt. 

I think of Tom whenever this reading comes up.  Our readings today are so Tom Barbarito, eating, feasting, enjoying the cup running over.  Moreover we have a king throwing a wedding banquet and getting mad because the invited did not come.  Then one man 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 puts parables into 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.

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

Second observation, we are the street people & therefore included.   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 the newly 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.  Because of this distinction , some believe that only those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved.

The third observation is that the banquet on the mountain top, the marriage feast is 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.

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?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-10-12.mp3

 

 

Bona Responds at work.

 

 

Readings:

 2 Chronicles 36, 14-16, 19-23, Cyrus, king of Persia, builds a temple in Jerusalem.

Psalm 137, Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.

Ephesians 2, 4-10,  God raised us up.

John  3,  14-21, Jesus and Nicodemus converse

 

 

 

Some of The Team.

 

 

Today's Homily, Shared

 

On February 23 a group of 10-15 of our community went to Dickinson, TX to help people cleaning up from Hurricane & flood Harvey.  Our group met up with about 50 students, faculty, and alumni from St. Bonaventure U., near Buffalo.   Professor Jim Mahar regularly leads these groups to crisis areas mostly in our country.  He titles the group Bona Responds.

 

Today the community has invited the members of our group to share with us what touched their hearts during their stay in Dickinson.  Our group includes John & Connie Bresson, David Dinsmore, Bill Hammond who coordinates us with Bona Responds, and Mike Moran.

 

 

 

 Bona does ceilings.

 

 

John started by saying how emotional and humbling it was to work along these college kids who were giving up their Spring Break to clean up trash, to tear down dry wall, to wade through filthy flood water left in houses, to crawl back out of holes when the rotten flooring in a house or trailer home collapsed.  

 

Connie described working in the black mold trailer home of an elderly lady who could hardly do anything.  They cleared out moldy dry wall, insulation, and even flooring.  

 

 

 

 

Clean up.

 

There was one house that had 10 family members and relatives during the flood which brought in 4 feet of water inside the house/trailer.  A tree fell on the house.  Everyone, including a 94 year old grandmother and a dog had to climb to the attic for 10 hours to escape the flood water.  

 

They were finally rescued when they hailed a passing boat, everybody, including the dog.  Except one beloved family treasure, a Cockatiel bird.   They were broken hearted.  They finally were able to return a week later.  And what did they find, the pet Cockatiel, his cage half way filled with water, but alive and still loving everyone.

 

 

 

Some of our Community who made the trip to Dickinson. 

 

 

The family was blessed in that they had friends and family out of state who came to the rescue, cleaning, gutting, repairing, and even repainting.  Our group helped with some of the final steps, removing old insulation and installing new.

 

There was a trailer park, a complete disaster.  The first lady our people went to work for was named Theresa, very feeble with MS.  Her shower was broken so our people fixed it.  Theresa took her first shower in 6 months.Theresa was so grateful to the group that she gave the only gift she had other than love.  Theresa handed to each person a hand made artificial flower, gifts more touching than any kind of monetary gift.

 

 

 

Mike shares some of his memories and blessings.

 

 

Another elderly lady was living with her 5 dogs in a trailer home that was in like a bowl, a bowl with 3 feet of water.  Our people were able to pump out the water, which housed various water creatures like crawdads.  In the middle of the process three volunteers crashed through the lady's mobile home floor, uninjured fortunately.  Our team gutted the ceiling, walls, and floor.  Finally plywood was put back on the lady's floor.

 

Mike described how he was touched and impressed with Jim Mahar's practice of delegation and inclusion.  Some of the students had never held a hammer or done any of this kind of work.   They were still valuable.  Every morning and every evening all would gather.  In the evening the stories came pouring out in response to Jim's question, What touched you today?

 

What has touched you today?

 

 

 

Dona reporting on the Community's continued generosity in raising over $200 to help furnish the volunteer barrack with a large coffee maker and a 4 slice toaster (something important missing on the last visit).

Readings: Leviticus 13, 1-2, 44-46, The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall cry out, "Unclean."; Psalm 32, I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation; 1 Corinthians 10, 31-11, 1, Do everything for the glory of God; Mark 1, 40-45, If you wish, you can make me clean.

Leviticus: The book of the Levite tribe, the priestly tribe, one of the 12 tribes, a book of 27 chapters focused mostly on laws.  The third book of the Torah after Genesis & Exodus, before Numbers & Deuteronomy.

Author: a collection of many sources, but not Moses (impossible).

Date: some laws go back 1400 BCE., others from ca. 450 BCE.

Subject matter: laws for better living with Yahweh.  For instance in chapter 11, one may not eat pigs, camels, or rabbits, no animal with a divided hoof.  All winged insects are unclean, except those that hop.  In chapter 12, women are ritually unclean after giving birth, 7 days for boys, 14 days for girls.  Chapter 19, "love one another as one's self."  This morning's selection deals with how people with leprosy are to be treated.  Leprosy, of course, was considered a punishment for sin & disobedience.

 

Note: an interesting example of how academics better understand these texts.  They noted that both Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14 have similar lists of clean and unclean animals for eating.  Deuteronomy 14, however, has 11 additional critters which are not mentioned in Leviticus 11.  These 11 dwell only in the Arabian desert, not in Egypt or the land of Canaan (Holy Land).   From this it can be deduced that the person (s) writing the laws in Leviticus had not wandered the desert and was writing before the Exodus.  The writer (s) of Deuteronomy, however, had wandered the desert. 

Source: The Book of Leviticus; Believe: Religious Information Source, Canon Tristam

 

Exclusion vs Inclusion

When I first lived in Kenya & Tanzania in the late 70's I spent time working on my Swahili in a Jesuit parish that was in a town called Tabora, Tanzania.  The town is in the middle of Tanzania with no paved roads leading to it.  Only a few roads in the town itself are paved.  The parish had about 3 Jesuit priests in those days, if I remember correctly, a French Canadian, an Irish, and an Indian.  Today the Jesuits have departed and handed it over to the diocese because of not enough Jesuit priests.

In those days the parish had 21 outstations, some of which even had other outstations further out.  These were located in small villages where little mud walled churches had been put up.  Occasionally I found a rather large cement block church left over from times when priests were more abundant.   Each Sunday we would all head out on motorcycles to the outstations. 

On the edge of Tabora there was a special community.  A community of men & women who had leprosy.  The exclusion of these lepers was similar to what we read in Leviticus, though they received better care.  Our parish used to help them a lot and I went to say Mass for them and spent time talking with them often individually, sometimes in a group.  Despite the effectiveness of modern medicine, many had significant scarring and were without hands or feet.  I remember being touched mostly by the quality of their spirits and sense of acceptance. 

I am reminded of this leper community when I read about the lepers in today's readings.  Leviticus lays down the directives.  Mark has Jesus dealing with a leper.   I've already discussed Leviticus.  Let me mention one main point relevant to Mark & his account.

It is inclusion.

Mark wants to convince Christians of Jewish & mostly Gentile background that they are included and that Jesus is the Messiah.  This community probably lived in Galilee, that is, around the Sea of Galilee or in Syria.  How do today's students of the bible know this?  Because they analyzed the text and noted that Mark used Greek rather than Aramaic.  Moreover, Mark describes geography typical of Galilee, not Jerusalem.

 The miracle Mark describes today aims at inclusion in the community.  Using the leper as a metaphor or symbol, he is telling especially the Gentile Christians, 'You are part of this community.  You belong here.  If Jesus can include a leper, then anyone and everyone is part of the community.  Nobody is excluded.'

What does Leviticus instruct?  What does Jesus do?  He welcomes him.  In fact, he does something that broke the law, and the people would be astounded, no, probably shocked and repulsed.  He touched the leper.  This was after Mark has the leper break the law by approaching Jesus.  People around are saying, "Wow!", when they read Marks story. 

This might be today's lesson for us.  Inclusion.  It may be easier for us to think of including a leper, because we know the virus is not that contagious and can be effectively treated.  But HIV?  What about other races, colors, religions, students from other schools?

Whom do I have trouble including in my community?

References: Austin Cline, Audience of Mark's Gospel (on line).

Picture 1:    Mass Begins

Picture 2:    The Community

Picture 3:    Brooklyn walks

Picture 4:    Charlie with Zoe & Georgie

Picture 5:    Georgie with Zoe & Sienna

Picture 6:    Torri with her granddad, Gilberto