Sunday Homily, August 6, 2017, Transfiguration

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?

 Deuteronomy 4, This great nation is a wise and intelligent people.

Psalm 15, The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord

James 5,  Be doers of the word and not hearers only.

John 7,  All Jews do not eat without carefully washing their hands.

Ben bringing life.

Thanks……

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers, Mary Jane & John, & Buddy, our candle blesser 

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,     Richard & Hue & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy for all these years & will miss you enormously, Becky

Mary Jane reads 1st reading

Readings:

Download Readings 22nd Ordinary time 08-29-21

Homily by John Stack

Download Homily by Stack 8-29-2021

John Schanot reads 2nd reading

Remember these special people:

For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson baby & 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,

Brent & Meredith, our cancer survivor

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 12 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.

Peace Everybody

Birthdays:   Teresa Quinn & Maureen Macchio

Anniversaries:  

Ken & Cindy Cramer, 59th

Our Dear Ken & Cindy.

Community Finances,   August 29, 2021

Expenses: $1030.000

Outreach: $200.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary reads her Blessing.

Rosemary's Blessing:

Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people,

A heart that forgives the worst,

A mind that forgets the bad,

And a soul that never loses faith in God.

Unknown

Peace, Everybody.

Readings:

1 Kings  17, 17-24,  The life breath returned to the body of the child.

Psalm 30,  I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Galatians 1, 11-19,  The gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

Luke 9, 11-17,  Young man, I tell you, arise.

Emma with her arm back in a sling. She was getting a bit sporting before the collar bone had completely healed.

 Observations on the readings: 

1 Kings 17:17-24

The young man’s mother recognizes that the word of the Lord
truly comes from Elijah’s mouth.  He
breaths forth life into her son in this parable.

Second reading: Galatians 1:11-19

Our Gospel is the proclamation of good news, where good news, is a noun. Paul is preaching good news that came to him
through a revelation of Jesus Christ, where preaching
good news is a verb.  The Gospel
hadn’t been written, yet.

Leo has found a new toy.

Gospel:  Luke 7:11-17

Paul uses the word ‘flesh’ at least 100 times in his
letters, once in our short reading from Galatians. 

 I want
you to understand a verse from John’s gospel. 
‘What is born of flesh is flesh; what is born of Spirit is spirit.  To be born only of flesh means that when a
decision needs to be made that person relies only on his mind…and the mind
seeks to have the flesh satisfied. 

Celeste.

Everything
God created is good; the flesh is good. For example; if you work hard all
morning your stomach lets your mind know that your body wants some food.  So, if you are home, you use your mind and go
to the refrigerator to find something to eat. 
Your mind will seek to satisfy the flesh when you open that door.  Anything is fair game. 

Cupcakes of the Week, Mike, Diane, and John (really for Alison).

But, what is born of Spirit is spirit, where
the Spirit has a [capital S].  The Spirit
enhances the flesh!  Instead of a desire
to satisfy your flesh your desire is to put your spouse first, even if he or
she is not there. What is born of Spirit is spirit. 

Offertory, Jean, Doug, Cliff, and John.

A great way to hone in on Spirit-living
begins with, ‘in everything give thanks.’ 
If you go to the refrigerator only to find it empty, give thanks. Your
desire to satisfy just the flesh will begin to fade away.  Pick up the list of things on the counter
that you and your spouse make to replenish the empty refrigerator.  Give thanks when the parking place is further
away from the store than you had hoped. The exercise will be good. 

Harper.

Someone left a cart in a good parking place.
Give thanks that someone will find it a good place as soon as you push it
toward the store doors. 

Number 2. Affirm
your spouse for the great things that he or she put on the grocery list.   Affirm the stocker who has just filled up
the shelf, ‘looks great.’ 

Delgado Corner with Bernadette and Gilberto sitting with Emma, who has come to see where all her playmates are today. They are on vacation.

3, Be a good
listener at home, and enjoy looking into your spouse’s eyes and touching his or
her shoulder or hand. 

Last of all always
forgive your spouse; it is in giving that you receive.  Remember, forgiveness is the message of the
good news of Jesus Christ.  Recall for a
moment our communal services in Lent and Advent.  You listen, you look into each other’s eyes,
you ask to be forgiven, you forgive others; you embrace; you affirm; you give
thanks. 

Little Axe, OK, scene of the first of 3 tornadoes around & in OK City. Notice how the wind has bent the two steel I beams which had been the foundation for a large mobile home.

In today’s gospel, a young man
is seeking forgiveness. The assembly ritually carries him.  He’s not heavy; he’s their brother. The
assembly mourns along with his mother for all of times that they have not shown
love.  They are professing their faith with
him.

Little Axe, we made 3 piles on the edge of the road, metals, wood, and trash. This is mostly wood. A trailer truck with a set of large jaws was picking this up and placing it into trash trucks.  This pile has been pushed up to the road by a bulldozer.

In this parable Jesus is there to grant forgiveness to this young
man.  He will rise to be set free, unbound from whatever had enslaved him.  In faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit
we can say those words to someone; and we have during Lent and Advent.             

Is there someone you know who needs
to be forgiven.   Give thanks that you
have the time to heal yourself and them this week. 

Little Axe, upside down pickup with a trailer dumped on top. Chaos everywhere. More about the trip this coming Sunday.

Readings: Deuteronomy 11, 18-32; Psalm 31, Lord, be my Rock of Safety; 2 Corinthians 5, 20-6, 2; Matthew 6, 1-6, 16-18. 

Deuteronomy, some observations:

 What:

1.  5^th book of the Bible, last book of the Torah.

2.  A farewell discourse by Moses after 40 years in the desert. He will not, but the Jewish people are about to enter what they called their promised land, a place occupied by the Canaanites, who will be killed and displaced by the Jews.

 Author: not Moses.  Rather, some teachers and political leaders of the people already in Jerusalem.

 Dates: Some material seems to come from before the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel.  So about 750 years before Christ.  It seems to have other material and to have been stitched together as one piece after the Babylonian Captivity.  Therefore, around 550 before Christ.

 Subject: Yahweh has saved his special people and blessed them.  To continue this blessing, obey.  Otherwise, you know what.

 Today’s Subject: there is a blessing & a curse.  Obey the laws & be blessed; disobey & be cursed. 

 Sources: Good News Bible; The New Interpreter’s Study Bible; Wikipedia, St. Louis U. Liturgies.

Is My House Built on Sand?

 Because of Leo’s baptism I want to say just a word about Matthew’s main lesson. 

 Do you own a house in the Dallas area?  Is your house built on rock?  No!  It is built on black clay soil, about as solid as sand.

 Some years ago my mom & I had a couple of foundation companies give us an estimation on fixing our 1950 pier & beam foundation.  One company said they would not touch the place. 

 If I put a pen on a certain angle on my computer desk, it will roll right off.  The tile on the outer wall of my bathroom is squishing because the wall is sinking faster than the bathroom.

 I would suggest that we are all built on black clay soil or sand.  Sorry Matthew.  Specifically, we all fail, we have our obsessions & addictions, we have our fears.  We are still accepted!

 If this is not the point of God’s acceptance of us, I do not know what is. 

 This reminds me of Jimmy Johnson’s boast about the Cowboys, “They don’t just talk the talk; they walk the walk.”  This is cute macho talk when you win.  Were the Cowboys this past year just losers?  No, not really. 

 The positive side of the lesson is that we are challenged to be what we used to get drummed into us as young Jesuits, Renaissance Men (or Women).  In other words, I try to be fully alive, physically, intellectually, and psychologically/spiritually healthy & active.  A person of self discipline & moderation.

 Good old Lent arrives Wednesday.  Where is your foundation weak? 

 Picture 1:   Leo welcoming everyone to his baptism

 Picture 2:   Baptism, Teresa & John, Ray & Shonda, and Leo

 Picture 3:   The baptism

 Picture 4:    Old Geezers, Myron Hubble & Bill Poncik

 Picture 5:    Justin & Ashley with the grandparents, Jean & Cliff      

Readings: Deuteronomy 8, 2-16; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58.

Deuteronomy: The fifth & last book of the Torah.  The scene: Moses & the Hebrews are in the desert just outside the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, whom they are going to kick out and kill.  Moses is reviewing their journey from Egypt.

The belief that Yahweh punishes and corrects us is not so common today as Moses suggests to the people.  We will read the whole section to get the sense more clearly.

The Banquet

A while back somebody asked me what was the best meal we had in Italy.  It took me a nano second to remember.  It took place the afternoon we arrived in Venice. 

We had just gotten off the train from spending two days with Chebino & Lydia in Pordenone & Aviano.  In fact, if I had eaten the two evenings with Michael I might have considered these meals some of the best, because when Michael walks into these 2 favorite places, the owner comes out and everyone greets him.  He gets all this affection because he is so friendly & outgoing. 

Consequently, everything was cordial & delightful & we received the best of everything.  My only problem was that I don't eat after about 4:00, to eliminate acid reflux without having to take pills.  So I just enjoyed the event and a glass of red wine.

In Venice, however, it was early afternoon when we walked out of the train station and onto the famous Grand Canal, leaving one world and entering one of my most favorite dream worlds.  We descended the broad stairs, turned left at the canal, and walked up one of the main pedestrian walkways of the Cannaregio suburb.  At a small fork in the walkway we went left, crossed a couple of small canals on up & down bridges, took a right across the last canal, and arrived at our convent. 

After we had been received with all sorts of hospitality and settled, I asked the portress Magda to recommend a good, reasonable cafe.  "Turn right out the door," she says, "cross the bridge to the left, and at the next canal go right and look for the tables on the edge of the canal.  The place is called Ristorante Diana on Fontamenta della Misericordia.  Ask for Omer."

When we get there, the guy is all friendly and we take a window seat inside because the sun is on the fondamenta tables.  I tell him we come with Magda's recommendation.  "What is good today?"  He recommends this and that, and we begin with a seafood salad, pasta, have two varieties of fish he said were caught that day, some dessert, and finish off with Samabuca, my first ever, and some small glasses of lemon liquor. 

Folks, we must have been there three hours, a bit beyond my usual finishing hour even though we had begun about 3:00.  It was the best.  Until I asked for the check.  I had never asked Omer just how much each course was costing, trusting in Magda and in Omer.  We paid over $75 per person for that meal, probably the most expensive I've ever had in my whole life.

I talk about this today for three reasons:

• It is Memorial Day & time for picnics, special meals, & banquets.
• We are celebrating the Eucharist today.
• The Eucharist is basically a banquet and cannot be appreciated for what it really is unless we throw a banquet occasionally.

I think a banquet involves three elements for it to come off, place, intention, & time.

• The place can be almost anywhere as long as it has some special quality, grandmother's dining room, a campfire in Yosemite, a Fondamenta della Misericordia in Venice, a Saturday afternoon on a patio, or a Sunday evening around a swimming pool. Even an El Fenix or a Chili's
• When I say intention, I mean somebody has to set it up, say, "Welcome, let's do it." Set a date, a place, and a time. Chebino sees his fly buddy and family in a restaurant and invites them all for dinner the next night.
• Time is probably the most important. It cannot take place in less than an hour, I would suggest. Two or three would be better & best. Trouble with some restaurants like Chili's is you get a bill dumped on your table just as you take the last few bites of the main course. In Italy you may sit there the whole afternoon and they still won't bring a bill until you ask for it. Taking time at the banquet is the exact opposite of fast food or eating while driving.

Never enjoy a long meal and you are missing one of the joys of life, and the Eucharist certainly can't be appreciated.

If we did not have a Eucharist ritual, I think I would invent one.  The Eucharist attempts to take a banquet or special meal and put it into a context where we place ourselves into contact with the God of the Universe.  It is based on knowing how to banquet.

When was your last special meal?  Your next?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-05-25.mp3

Readings:

Isaiah 43 1-5,  Do not be afraid for I am with you.  I have called you by your name, you are mine.  When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you.  Your troubles will not overwhelm you.  When you pass through fire, you will not be burned.  The hard trials that come will not hurt you.  For I am the lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. 

 Psalm 145,  Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

 1 John 3, 1-3,  See what love the father has bestowed on us.

 John 14, 27, 15, 9 & 11,  (27)Peace is what I leave you; it is my own peace that I give you.   (9)I love you just as the father loves me, remain in my love.  (11)I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Special readings in honor of All Saints.

Welcome to our celebration of our dear ones.  Happy All Saints & All Souls.

Isaiah observations:

Who.  This is second Isaiah, the best.  Handel's Messiah uses a number of lines from Isaiah 2.

Subject.  It is a time when many of the people of Judah are in exile in Babylon, crushed and without hope.  The prophet is proclaiming that God would eventually set his people free and take them home to Jerusalem.  (Note the Exodus theme, escape from bondage to find a new life, thus giving hope to those in Babylon.)

Our Subject.  Do not be afraid.  You will not be hurt.

Welcome in Everybody, say Georgie and Buddy.

All Souls Day observations–

Let me give you a bit of history and the thinking behind this All Souls' Day.  Five observations: the theology, purgatory-limbo, a legend, pre-Christian practices, and today.

1. The Theology.  All Souls' Day is part of a package with All Saints.  The idea is: on All Saints' Day we honor all those who are enjoying the beatific vision, that is, heaven, the saints.  On All Souls' Day we honor those who have died but have not reached heaven because they had penance to do. 

We are talking mortal & venial sin here.  If the person died with mortal sin, they are you know where. Those with venial sins have to go through purification and purging, which brings us to All Souls' Day and purgatory.

Wake up Buddy, you are missing all the good stuff.
 

2. Purgatory & limbo.  People ended up in purgatory to purify themselves with suffering, before being allowed into heaven.  Limbo was for whom?  It was for people, especially children who died without being baptized.  They remained there how long?  Forever.  Can you imagine a baby there or even in the old purgatory?

At least the Catholic Church recently acknowledged that the limbo idea was bogus.  The pope said it does not exist and never did.  Though many consider purgatory to be in the same class, it still exists.  Want to know how we know?  A previous pope was offering indulgences.  The indulgence is for the soul in purgatory.  It speeds up the process.  There are partial & total indulgences.  We can win them for these souls and get them out or we can win them for ourselves. 

For instance, on the last feast of Peter & Paul Rome offered an indulgence if you visited a church named after one or both of these two, and you recited a prescribed menu of prayers. 

Offertory with Mike & Judy & Mary.

3. The legend.   It happened around 1000 A.D. that a monk, St. Idolo, from the French monastery of Cluny was shipwrecked on a desolate island as he returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, i.e., Israel.  On the island he met a poor hermit.  The hermit told him that among the rocks was a crevice from which came the anguished voices of the many suffering in purgatory.  Likewise, listening carefully you could hear the devils cursing that living people were speeding up the sufferings of these souls by praying and doing penance for them. 

Some time after this, i.e., 1000 A.D., the Cluny Monastery established an All Souls' Day.  Ca. 1300 Rome followed suit.  

Pretty good, Hugh and Sydney; Rosemary does to me the same thing.

4. Pre-Christian times.  There is evidence that at least in Mexico numerous tribes had a day or period when the departed ancestors were honored.  The purpose was to honor them, remember their example, and to communicate with them.  Today in Mexico & in Hispanic families the Day of the Dead is still celebrated.  This custom has been celebrated for 3,000 years.

Guess who wears boots now.

       5.  Today.  Limbo has been discarded by Rome and many scholars consider purgatory a dinosaur idea from antiquity.  Consequently, All Souls' Day celebrates Samantha, my mom & dad, Rosemary's mom & dad, and all our loved ones pictured on the stage.  All Saints' Day handles the canonized.   Hell is also considered today a mental concept, not real.

So we say, What special blessing did you receive from one of these people pictured or whom you remember in your heart?

Do we have little mice crawling around around the floor of our community?  Little mice with boots?

Do not be Afraid

In honor of All Saints and All Souls I chose two of my favorite scripture passages.  Let me explain why.  

I will always remember the summer of 1970.  This was the summer just before I was ordained in 1971.  I came down from Toronto to work as an apprentice chaplain at Boston City Hospital.  

One afternoon I walked into the room of a guy who was dying.  He was elderly and a typical Boston Irish Catholic.  I asked him about his life, the positives and the negatives.  I asked him how he felt about dying. 

He said he was resigned to it even though he knew he was going to hell. 

Cole, our semi-pro candle lighter, at his craft.

I was stunned.  It seems he had married young and gotten divorced.  Then he married again and lived happily with his second wife for decades before the lady died.  He had never gotten an annulment. 

What was the Catholic teaching of these days, even though Vatican II had already taken place?  Yes, this was mortal sin and it would take him straight to hell forever.  He was stoic about paying the price.

Well, you can guess what I did.  I got another Jesuit, a priest, to visit him and send him home in peace. 

Recognize anybody in this picture?

This, folks, exemplifies the spirituality of fear that many of us Catholics lived with all our lives.  My dad had it.  Not so much my mom.  I had it, for sure.  Like I’ve mentioned here frequently, it was fear that I was going to hell with my buddies that convinced me to join the Jesuits. 

It was in Tanzania where I slowly and unconsciously learned the spirituality of unconditional acceptance and love.  It was definitely reinforced in my work with psychology.  

I would propose again that we have a God of unconditional love, not a God of punishment, especially eternal punishment.

Recognize anybody in this picture?  

We used to have limbo for babies who die without being baptized.  Even the Catholic Church admitted that this idea was made up by people.  Purgatory?  Protestants say this does not exist and is not in the Bible.  Made up by our ancestors.   So, what about hell?   Could it, likewise, be an idea and not a reality?  I, at least, think so.  

The readings I’ve chosen for this celebration of All Saints and All Souls focus on Do not be afraid.  They are some of my most favorite Bible verses.  Maybe the people who wrote in the gospels about eternal fire were simply trying to get people to obey. 

Lots of people have their favorite Bible verses.  Some verses focus on eternal fire.  Others talk of living without fear, certainly without fear of eternal punishment. 

What a team!

What is your belief?  A God of unconditional love or a God of eternal punishment?