Homilies

Sunday Homily, November 12, 2017, 32nd Ordinary Time

ByRosemary November 12, 2017

Readings:

Isaiah 25, 6-8, On Mt. Zion the Lord will prepare a banquet. (special)

Psalm 63, My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Thessalonians 4, 13-18 , The Lord will come down from heaven.

Matthew 25, 1-13, The kingdom of heaven will be like the 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Along with Claire, Rose, the whole community and I say, "Welcome home. It is so nice to have you here."

Introduction

What we call Chapter 25 of the Matthew gospel is composed of three parables,

the first of which is about a Wedding Banquet, the Father’s gift of salvation. The Bridegroom of this parable is the Lord, Jesus who is coming for his Bride, the Church, those who have welcomed and are living the Good News.

Good Morning, Dearest Tori, Welcome. It is so nice to see you.

The First Reading, [a substitution, Isaiah 25:6-8] is from the Prophet Isaiah. It describes the Wedding Banquet for those who seek to do the will of the Lord; what unites us together is good food, aged wine, and forgiveness.

Our Responsorial Psalm, ‘My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God,’ addresses our yearning for a spiritual banquet with the Lord.

Emma, our Dearest Candle Lighter of The Week, in action.

Our Second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians addresses the mystical body of Christ rising together as one Body, for the Wedding Banquet at the end of time.

Our spiritual gift, of course, is that the Lord comes to us here and now in our banquet of the Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist, the fish and the bread.

Mike, conjuring up his neat little homily touch, namely Emma leading the community in singing, This Little Light of Mine.

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew: the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.

I say to you that something is terribly wrong in the way we understand this parable: We sense it in the failure of the wise bridesmaids to share some of their oil with the foolish bridesmaids whose lamps were going out. Obviously, there must be an answer to this dilemma, and you will be surprised to find where I found it?

Want to go to Communion? Jan & Bern will help you.

Most of you can remember singing along with the children, as they held up their little paper or cardboard lamps, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine….” You probably don’t recall that its meaning is purposely given in Matthew’s ‘Sermon on the mount.

Here they are, Folks, better than ever (as they say on Mike & Mike, A.M. sports radio).

You are the light of the world….let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The oil that was brought by the wise bridesmaids for their lamps in this parable, is a metaphor. It represents the good works they have done by loving others as Christ has loved them. When the wise bridesmaids, who are the Light of the World, trim their lamps with oil to go out to meet the Bridegroom, they are of course lighting the way for others as Christ escorts them to the Wedding Banquet.

This Little Light of Mine, will always be special because of you singing it for us, Emma.

The foolish, however, have no oil. Without good works it is impossible for them to trim their lamps, so the wise tell them to go to the marketplace for that’s where they can to do good works by becoming the Light of the World for others, the oil that gives glory to God. It is where they can choose to use their God given talents for the good of all, to be the Light of the World in their encounters with the poor, the lonely, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick.

Homilies

Sunday Homily 8-9-09, 19th Ordinary Time
ByRosemary August 9, 2009

Readings: 1 Kings 19, 4-8; Psalm 34, Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord; Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2; John 6, 41-51

Kings: a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel. The Big 3 were Saul, David, & his son Solomon. The Book of kings follows the Book of Samuel, which describes the lives of the the kings up to the death of David. Kings takes up the life of Solomon, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, i.e., it divides and is conquered.

Time Period: : from ca. 900 – 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus of Persia (Iran).

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE.

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah. The kingdom has already been split. Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel. Time of severe drought. The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel. The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.

There has been a contest: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain. 2 bulls were slaughtered. Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered. When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah. He is going to run away all depressed.

We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.

Taste and See the Goodness of Life

The psalm today says to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord." I would like to suggest that we taste and see the goodness of life. I have a Yosemite story that exemplifies this.

The scene. It is day 5 of our 9 day trip in the park. We are at about 9,000 feet. Our last campsite has been at a beautiful high altitude lake called Miller Lake.  No one else was around it but our group of 10. It has rained every afternoon since we entered Yosemite, more rain than I have ever seen in all the years I have come to Yosemite.

We have to descend from the lake, reach the bottom of Matterhorn Canyon, then climb up the canyon as far as we can go & still have shelter from trees. I've told the guys in the lead to look for just the right spot to camp in overnight before we go over our third pass of the trip, the third of four, all above 10,000 feet, the first one above 11,000.

When I arrive in the campsite the guys have chosen, it is close to the time for the rain to begin. Everyone has set up their tent except me and one or two others. I notice we are not in compliance with camping rules, but who am I to suggest that everyone move their tent 100 feet away from the trail and the mountain stream.

So I set up my own tent in a wooded area with lots of vines & bushes, take a quick dip in the mountain stream to clean up, and climb into my dry tent for a brief snooze before the rain passes and we get out for dinner around 5:00.

Just before 4:00 while the rain comes down a ranger lady arrives at the lower level of our camp. She asks to see our permit, like happened on our second night with no problem. This is the first time in years I see rangers again in the park. Everyone tells her that Stack has the papers. She arrives at my tent. I open up she informs me there in the rain at 4:00 P.M. that we have to move our campsite. We are too close to the trail, too close to the stream, we have built a small, illegal fire ring, and we even had a shower rigged up in a tree over the trail. She could give us a dozen citations, even fine us, really me as the coordinator of the group.

No discussion would budge her. Not the rain, not the hour, nothing. She left saying she would go up canyon, then return later to see our progress. I felt horrible. I remember sitting in my tent thinking, "What next?" I figured at least we could wait until 4:30 to see if the rain would stop.

Meanwhile, on the lower level of the campsite, Rob & Ray spring into action, rain or no rain. They head up canyon, at least we would be getting closer to the pass, and search out a campsite, across the river, which the ranger had suggested. We had already waded 3 times the same mountain stream and each time had to put on sandals because the water was higher than our boots. There was a little bit of resistance, with hope to find something on our side of the stream.

In the end we chose the site across the stream, everyone packed up wet rain flies, crossed the river, and set up on the broad grassy slope. The campsite ended up being terrific when it stopped raining.

In many ways this experience could have turned our trip into a trip from hell. As a matter of fact, looking back, there was a special beauty, a special good. First, I did not have to initiate the change of camp. Everyone pitched in with acceptance & without complaint. Then we found an even more beautiful campsite which was a half mile closer to the pass than I have ever camped before. And finally, after packing up wet the next morning, we climbed over Burro Pass and found my most favorite and the most beautiful campsite that I have ever enjoyed. We dried out quickly and stayed here two delightful nights.

I could taste & see the goodness of life on this trip.

In your life, what are 2 places or ways you taste & see the goodness?

Picture 1: Mass with Kevin & T.J.

Picture 2: Alexandra & her dad, David

Picture 3: Cara & her mom, Christine

Picture 4: Shelby & her mom, Debbie

Read More Sunday Homily 8-9-09, 19th Ordinary Time
Homilies

Sunday Homily 1-31-10, 4th Ordinary Time
ByRosemary January 31, 2010

Readings: Jeremiah 1, 4-19; Psalm 71, I will Sing of Your Salvation; 1 Corinthians 12, 31-13,13; Luke 4, 21-30

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Reflection on Readings



Jeremiah. One of the great prophets. Spent almost 50 years active as a prophet. at least from 627 to 585. So we know, time wise we are back before and during the fall of Jerusalem. I guess, when you are in the middle of a very busy road, you are going to get run over, and if we look at a map of where the kingdom of Judah was, back then, we see that to the north and north east were the Assyrians and Babylonians and to the south west were the Egyptians, and as each army marched to do battle with the Egyptians or the Egyptians marched north, they had to pass thru Judah. And an army does not pass thru without leaving its mark!



By the way, if you ever visit the Sistine Chapel, Jeremiah is part of Michael Angelo’s ceiling.

Jeremiah was at a very difficult time. The last of the kings of Judah were weak and didn’t have good foreign policies. Plus, internally there were strong pro-war groups, which caused the kings to not pick their battles wisely. Our reading today is from the very beginning of Jeremiah’s time and we hear God promising Jeremiah that God will take care of him.

For additional information on Jeremiah visit this site:

http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=6299

Our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a favorite of Weddings! But it is also a very powerful reminder to us of how we should be with one another.

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Homily

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” An amazing statement! Poor Jeremiah! He hadn’t a chance! Our first reading picks up right after God has told Jeremiah that he is to be His prophet and Jeremiah had answered that he thought he was too young. “"Ah, Lord GOD!" I said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young." were Jeremiahs words, and then we hear God’ answer, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”



And this can be said about each one of us! Think about that for a moment. Before we were even formed in our mother’s womb, God knew us!

A mother knows a baby before it is born, and this is important. Remember how a mother sees her child. The smartest, most beautiful, wisest etc.!!

How often do we think we know others? Jesus in Nazareth was the carpenter’s son, nothing else. Plus there was a bit of jealousy because the locals had heard about some of his miracles elsewhere, but they could only see him as the carpenters son.

Humans are funny the way we look at things and other people. We have a tendency to see with prejudiced eyes.

I remember the North of Ireland Tribunal the BBC held years ago, the three old judges could barely sit up, yet their minds were razor sharp. I had been prejudging them because they looked old.

Before I formed you I knew you.

Paul’s Love is…not jealous, rude, etc. God knows each one of us, and loves us. We need to get past our poor vision of others by remembering that our eyesight could be off. Could we be seeing others thru a set of values, which we need to reexamine? How would we fare if God had our eyesight?

Mike Miller handing over our check to CCAC:

Picture 1:  Our Father with Maggie McGrath  on her birthday, her grandmother Jackie, Tony, and Kevin

Picture 2: Sacrament of the Sick with Joanne Languell

Picture 3: Emily Kite with her mom, Julie

Picture 4: CCAC check for $2000, given by Mike Miller, with Claire & Ray & Frank

Read More Sunday Homily 1-31-10, 4th Ordinary Time
Homilies

Sunday Homily, June 29, 2014, Peter & Paul
ByRosemary June 29, 2014

Readings:

Acts  12, 1-11, The chains fell from his wrists.

Psalm 34,   The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

2 Timothy  4, 6-8, 17-18, The Lord stood by me and gave me strength.

John  21, 15-19, Simon, son of John, do you love me.

Cowboy Cole and his mom, Erin, say, "Welcome, Everybody."

Acts, a quick review–

Luke wrote this and his gospel, around 65, covering the time after the resurrection and onto Rome.

Our selection describes Peter's imaginative escape from jail.

John: I want to use the gospel passage from the Vigil Mass, the story about Jesus asking Peter, "Do you love me?" Watch how this story can be unpacked from something fairly simple to something with more finesse.

Emma and her mom, Beth, say, "Come, Folks, it's fun here."

Do you love me?

I want to talk this morning about the little dialogue between Jesus and Peter. It looks pretty simple and straight forward. Jesus says, “Do you love me?” Peter responds, “You know I love you.”

You have probably heard the simple explication that it is a triple statement of love after a triple denial. It ain’t so simple. You may have heard me talk about this in the past, but it bears repeating.

By way of an introduction, let me tell a little story.

Cupcakes of the Week to Cowboy Cole and Emma (for just being neat kids) and Candice on her birthday.

Last Monday I am at the “J” for the 6:00 A.M. spin class, the Jewish Community Center near our house. There are about 20 people there, all ages, males and females, some in pretty good shape, some not. The instructor or coach or whatever he is, is a tall slender, in shape black guy. He knows everybody’s name, calls you out during the class, like, “Come on, John, you can do better than that,” when I am already putting out so much I am about to faint.

Most of all he has the mouth, the language. He’s beautiful. He says a lot of crazy things to get us going, and if I was not going so flat out, I could enjoy him even more. So, I love to tease him. He asks everyone how they’re doing 5 minutes before the end of the session and after all the others have said they are doing great, I say I am dying and I say I know that makes him happy.

Jack & Sophia, Candice and Ben's kids.

So after dying in Monday’s class and while I am cleaning up the stationary bike, I say to him, “Hey, Ben, if you really love me like you profess (he’s never told me he loves me, rather the contrary), in three weeks you would come with me to ride across Iowa in the Ragbrai bike tour.”

You can imagine what he says. He does not deny that he loves me. But he says that he is not the stud biker like I am. Pretty slippery. Of course, I make some smart response like, “So much for your love for me.”

This story exemplifies a bit how the dialogue between Jesus and Peter can be seen.

Barb, the bearer of Charm.

There is play on the word love here that is totally lost in the English. Two Greek words are used for love, agapo and phileo. Let’s say that agapo means love, but phileo means, say, care for. Watch what happens with the 3 back and forths.

The first time, Jesus says, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”, he uses agapo, do you love me?

Peter responds, “You know that I love you.” Guess what. He uses the word phileo. I care for you. Does that not make a significant difference?

The second time, Jesus only says, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Again he uses agapo.

Offertory, Kerry and Nina, fellow bikers.

Peter responds exactly the same, “You know that I love you.” Guess which word he uses. Phileo. I care for you.

Third time, Jesus says, “Simon, son of John, do you care for me?” Jesus switches word. This time he uses phileo, care for.

Peter responds, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I care for you.”

So what is the author John trying to convey by crafting this little vignette? Who knows really? Apparently Peter has become a more humble, less braggadocio person. Look at where it begins with Jesus asking about loving more than the others. What would the old Peter have said? And look at where it ends, Jesus lowering his expectations and Peter sticking to his first statement. Beyond that, who can say?

Question this week: how do you deal with the mystery that is this bible?

Wendy and Ben charming the community.

Read More Sunday Homily, June 29, 2014, Peter & Paul
Homilies | Reminders

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 18, 2020
ByRosemary October 18, 2020

Readings:

Isaiah 45, 1, 4-6, I have called you by your name.

Psalm 96, Give the Lord glory & honor

Thessalonians 1, 1-5, We give thanks to God always for all of you.

Matthew 22, 15-21, Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

Thanks to the Team

Music, Ben & Shonda's help

Readers, Sandra & Patricia & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel, Deacon Mike

Homily, Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike, Ben, Richard, & Hue

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

Isaiah observations:

Who : Can you guess which Isaiah this is in chapter 45? 1, 2, or 3? A little more difficult than the last two Sundays. This is Isaiah 2, going from chapter 40 to 55.

Today’s selection:  this is not Isaiah 2 at his best. I like the line, I have called you by your name.  Otherwise, the passage is mildly comforting to the people who are living in Babylonian slavery, around 555 before Christ.

Cyrus: So, who is Cyrus?

Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece.   He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.

Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem. This is exactly what Cyrus does. Where is Babylon? Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River. What is left? Rubble.

Note: Watch out for the alleluia verse just before the gospel. A good one.

e.g., Shine like lights to the world, as you hold on to the word of life.

Download Readings Week 29

Please Remember these special people:

For Alan Stryker; For John Doherty with back pain; For David Dismore's bad shoulder from a biking accident; 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 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;

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 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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer, For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Homily for 10/20

I bet you don’t know what special anniversary Rosemary & I are celebrating this Tuesday, October 20. Yep, one year ago Tuesday we were visited by that massively destructive tornado.

Actually, I personally cannot tell you what the tornado was like. It hit at 10:00 P.M. Saturday and Aviana & I had already been sound asleep in bed for an hour.   What woke us up was an enormous crash. Rosemary came running in saying we needed to get into the hall closet.   We made it, but it was mostly over, leaving the front bay window on the south side of the house all blasted into the living room. A lot of roofing was also blown away.

Tulip Lane house after the tornado.

At that time Rosemary, still dressed, went out to check on some of our neighbors, especially two widows, one, Joyce, in her 90’s and Betty a little younger. Joyce would have been killed in her bed if she had also gone to bed as usual at 9:00.    The roof was blown down on her bed. Because her daughter was in town, they were up and they both got in a hall closet. It took a neighbor’s chain saw to get them out.

Betty was funny because she was getting ready for bed when the tornado hit and when she was pulled out of her collapsed house by neighbors, she said, “My pants are in there. I have to go back in.” She had no pants on.

To stay in this house for any time we had to fix the roof. We stayed until Sept. 1

Actually, on that corner of Tulip & Camellia 5 houses were totally ruined. One of the five had been a quasi mansion owned by the Dallas hockey player, Tyler Sagan. One couple moved into our den for the remainder of the night. I ran around the house putting buckets in place to catch the leaks, about 20 all together. TV broadcasts were taking place right in front of our house and police were everywhere. The couple who spent the night in our den are still in an apartment waiting to get their house rebuilt.

You have heard me talk already about how I was humbled and stunned at how many people from the neighborhood just showed up early in the morning.   They mainly pulled, dragged, and carried tree branches from around the face of the house to the curb for pick up. The yard was a battle scene with limbs from our beautiful trees lying everywhere. Doug LeBlanc showed up the first morning with plywood. He & his buddies boarded up the bay window. I was stunned, grateful, and humbled by how hard those people worked.

House belonging to the Dallas hockey player, Tyler Sagan.

And that was just the first day. There were still loads of clearing to be done. Kids from the neighborhood & St. Marks Boys School joined in and really worked. A day or so later a bunch of our community members showed up and helped to load trucks with debris. Loretta Garcia Williams fed us that day.

Even Central Market on our south east corner of Preston Royal joined in. They set up a mobile kitchen under a big tent and served breakfast, lunch, and dinner for four or five of days.

8 houses destroyed at the Tulip Lane & Camelia corner.

These were real meals. I can vouch for breakfast because some kids brought me a Central Market hot breakfast one morning.

We had known for years that our house on Tulip Lane was falling apart. Built in 1950, the piers were deteriorating and the walls and ceilings had cracks. You should have seen it after the tornado!   Which got us house hunting at full throttle.

And look at what we have. We have been blessed. It was worth waiting, though a number of days it all seemed to be going no where.

You can even see into the St. Mark's Boys School parking lot.

You know how Rosemary found this house? With the help our agent, a good friend, Rosemary mailed out 90 personal letters to home owners. One of them was our present house, which is a story by itself.

The one downer right now is our old house. I thought it would be bulldozed during this month we have been gone. I do not want to ride by and look at it. But just riding by on Royal Lane I can see it.   It looks forlorn and I have abandoned it and all the improvements I put into the place. All the trees that shaded and beautified that corner are gone. Tuesday, Rosemary & I will celebrate and give thanks. What has been your blessing?

Late addendum to this homily. Our old house has just been bulldozed. How do I feel? Both sad and relieved. Yes, blessed that it is finally done.

6107 Tulip Lane this past Friday.

Birthdays: Donna Dinsmore, Chuck Pratt, 82

Community Finances, October 18, 2020

Expenses: $450.00

Outreach $100.00 (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:

Loving God, give us

eyes that see the best in people;

words that repair and reconnect rifts and divisions;

courage to reshape the heart of the world; and

wisdom to “see things the way they are, not the way we are.”

We ask this in Jesus’ name who taught us the truth and the way.

Amen.

Sister Jean Amore, CSJ, Principal, Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, N.Y.

Just in case you missed our new address, 7017 Helsem Way 75230. (notice the same Zip Code as Tulip Lane?)

Read More 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 18, 2020
Homilies

Sunday Homily 12-5-10, 2nd Advent
ByRosemary December 5, 2010

Readings: Isaiah 11, 1-10 (a beauty); Psalm 72, Justice shall Flourish in His Time, and Fulness of Peace Forever; Romans 15, 4-9; Matthew 3, 1-12.

Isaiah 11 observations:

Author: Isaiah 1. Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters. Isaiah 1 covers chapters 1-39. This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This is because the works are the longest. There are 12 minor prophets.

Time: ca. 700, before the Assyrians annihilate the northern Jewish kingdom, called Israel, vs the southern kingdom called Judah, where Jerusalem is. 10 tribes were lost in this destruction, the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel.

Remember there were 12 tribes. Why? Because of the 12 sons of Jacob, who was one of the 3 great patriarchs or founders of the tribe, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, who was also called Israel.

Message of Isaiah 1: condemnation of the corruption of the ruling class & oppression of the poor. Because of this, destruction is coming. He foresaw the coming of the Assyrians, not a difficult thing to do. The profile of the prophet was usually 1. criticism, 2. prediction of dire payment, 3. consolation.

Today’s message: consolation. Two parts. In part one, a special person will come. And because of him, part two, watch what will happen. A dream most touching.

Advent Wreaths: This little liturgical practice came to the Catholic liturgy, believe it or not, from the German Lutherans in the 1500's, the time of Martin Luther. It was more than just decoration. The circle symbolized eternity. The greens Christian life in a dead time of the year. The candles represent each of the 4 weeks of Advent, each candle symbolizing the greater light brought by Christ. Their color purple symbolized penance and purification for the Coming. The Rose candle says, 'We are almost there!'

Beautiful Dreams Can Happen

The Isaiah reading this morning has special meaning for me in two ways.

First of all, the beauty of the writer’s dream touches me. He dreams that the world will have such peace and harmony that even the animals will live without fear of each other. Wow.

Secondly, I have a story connected with the dream. It happened in Toronto the Advent at the end of the year I was ordained, 1971.

The Jesuits have a theology college in Toronto and I spent four years there, ’68-’72. The fall of my second year a class of about 35 guys entered from all over. Among them was a Jesuit brother.

Brothers were Jesuits, members of the fraternity, but they focused on living religious life in a community with its 3 vows of poverty, chastity, & obedience. They did not feel a call to be priests. They worked in all sorts of occupations, treasurer, house administrator, grounds keepers, you name it.

The Jesuit brother who entered that fall had been a brother for a half a dozen years & now wanted to become a priest. Trouble was he was blind. His name was Larry.

Larry had not come to this idea solely on his own. Many people had encouraged him. For some years he had worked & taught at a Wisconsin Jesuit boarding high school called Prairie du Chien, now closed unfortunately. Here the idea really grew.

He went to the Wisconsin Jesuit provincial and he agreed to see what could be done. The provincial went to Rome to get permission for a blind person to be ordained. Rome said, “No, and don’t bother to ask again.”

So the provincial sent Larry to Toronto to do the normal theology studies leading up to priesthood. Just to see how he would make out.

He made out splendidly. In fact, we all pitched in to help him. We recorded classes, we read to him, we recorded assigned readings, and we studied with him. I, in fact, lived next door to him on the third floor.

The end of the first year came and the provincial returned to Rome to ask again. Rome said, “No, and don’t ask again.”

The end of Larry’s third year the provincial asked again. This time Rome said, “He may be ordained a deacon.” Folks, the excitement and gratitude in our house was tactile. You could feel it, touch it. We knew that once a deacon, he could easily move to priesthood.

Larry was now in his 3^rd year and it was in Advent of the 3^rd year when the men were ordained deacons, the priesthood coming in the following spring.

It was the second Sunday of Advent, cycle A like this year, in the college chapel full, about 35 guys getting ordained deacons preliminary to being ordained priests 6 month later. The reading was Isaiah 11. In Braille Larry read Isaiah’s dream. There was not a dry eye, not a sound but Larry’s voice.

Today Larry Gillick is ordained and works as part of a team working out of St. Louis U.

Beautiful dreams can happen. We can influence their happening. How?

Picture 1:   Hunter lighting the candles

Picture 2:   Mass begins

Picture 3:   Mary & Frank with the offertory

Picture 4:   C C at the donut shoppe

Read More Sunday Homily 12-5-10, 2nd Advent
Homilies

Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2020
ByRosemary December 24, 2020

Readings:

Isaiah 9, 1-6, The People who walked in darkness have seen a great light

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

Titus 2, 11-14, Beloved, the grace of God has appeared, saving all.

Luke 2, 1-14, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus…

Peace

Download Readings Christmas 2020

Homily:

Download Homily for Christmas Eve 2020

Serenity

Thanks to the Team

Music, Ben & Shonda,

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

Gospel, Claire Occipinti

Homily, John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Hue & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

Alaskan Forest

Please Remember these special people:

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;

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.

More of the forest

Community Finances, December 24, 2020

Expenses: $

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

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Read More Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2020

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