Sunday Homily, December 31, 2017, Holy Family

Readings: Ezekiel 33, 7-9; Psalm 95, If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts; Romans 13, 8-10; Matthew 18, 15-20. 

23^rd  Sunday – Intro to Readings , Fr. Tony

 I would like to say a few words, not about the three readings today, but about the part of the Mass they occupy, the Liturgy of the Word.

 As I have mentioned previously, each of the sacraments has a pattern, Scripture Readings followed by an Action.  It is reminiscent of the creation story, God said and something happened.  Let there be light, and there was light!  And so in our Mass, we have a Liturgy of the Word, when we listen to God speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures and then our response to that word is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, when we offer our gifts of bread and wine in Thanksgiving.

 

Last Sunday we heard a bit about the celebration in Detroit of the 50^th anniversary of Vatican 2.  One of the major changes, which came out of the council, was a reemphasis on the Scriptures.  Recall that prior to this time, Catholics were pretty much discouraged from reading the Bible.  Its purpose in most catholic homes was as a place to record baptisms, first communions etc.  Remember that before Vatican 2 you could miss the entire liturgy of the Word and still be on time for mass!!  Of course they were read in Latin, so it didn’t really matter anyway, you had no idea what was being read unless you had your own missal and were diligently following in it. 

 The reason Vatican 2 was able to move so quickly with the refocus on the Scriptures was because of a new encouragement  on Catholic scripture scholarship, which was started by Leo XIII and continued, by Pope Pius X, XI and the XII when he issued his encyclical in 1943 on Biblical Studies. 

 

 It may be helpful for us to understand how a Jewish person would hear God’s word – not as a message to be analyzed but as listening to God speaking directly to them.  Here is what Isaiah had to say about it

 “Yet just as from the heavens, the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats.  So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it.”  (Is 55: 10-11)

So, when we celebrate the Liturgy of the Word, and hear God’s Word proclaimed, we need to remember that it is God speaking directly to us. 

 

 Homily

 Today’s gospel reading from St. Matthew would appear at first glance to be a simple lesson on conflict resolution.  But I think there is much more to this reading.  If we step back a little and take a broader view of the reading in its setting in the gospel we will see that it follows a very short but powerful account of the good shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go and find the lost sheep.  Then following our reading, which you will hear next Sunday is the story about the importance of forgiveness, not just 7 times as Peter suggests but 70 times 7!!  So I think this little reading today isn’t as simple as it first appears.  Plus I believe that the Church wants us to consider all of our readings today, I see them all connected, for a change!

 

The first reading from Ezekiel puts forth an interesting concept.  If the prophet, or in this case us, have heard God’s Word, and do nothing about it, in other words if we don’t try to reach out with God’s Word, then we are responsible for those around us!!  In other words, we can’t keep it to ourselves!  Paul, in the second reading tells us what that message is: “love one another”.  I feel that the Responsorial Psalm repeats this message with its response “if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”.  It is so easy at times to simply say “forget it” I am done trying, I am done with whatever, they have gone too far.  And yet we must remember, 70 times 7.

 So, this stuff isn’t easy!  But back to today’s gospel, and the closing lines, “where two or three are gathered”.  That’s us!  Our liturgy of the Word has been us, listening to God speaking to us.  We are two or three gathered, listening to God and now we will respond with our gifts of bread and wine.  And I believe that we can also ask for God’s help in living lives of love and forgiveness.  Remember again Matthew’s comment “anything for which you pray shall be granted”!  

 

Picture 1:    Tony beginning

Picture 2:    Kevin with his parents, Connie & John

Picture 3:    Communion helpers, Nancy, Jan, Patricia, & Sandra

Picture 4:    Ryan

Picture 5:    Leo with Alison

 

 

 

Folks, You are witnessing a Changing of The Team, Kevin's last formal day, Leo's first formal day.  

 

Readings:

Daniel 7, 9-10, 13-14,   His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Psalm 97,   The Lord is King, the Most High over all the earth.

2 Peter 1, 16-19,  This is my son with whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 17, 1-9,  The Transfiguration.

 

 

 

Even our Special Greeter, Genevieve, is back to honor her brother Leo.
 

 

 

Observations on Daniel

Who : a prophet foretelling better times.  Daniel is the hero, not the author, who is unknown.

Time: Babylonian captivity the scene, but put together ca. 160 before Christ during another persecution.

Subject: Dreams foretelling better times.

Today: A dream in which a great leader will come and rule with peace.

 

 

 

Can you find a brighter smile than that anywhere!  Peighton says, "Hi, Folks, Welcome.
 

 

 

Transfigurations Today

This morning I would like to talk about transfigurations today and propose that this phenomenon can be almost a daily experience.  Transfiguration moments create greater peace of heart, gratitude, and humility.

Guess where I saw this recently.  Yes, I had a whole week of transfigurations last week in Iowa riding my bike across that state along with 15 thousand other riders. 

 

 

 

Emma, you only get better each week as our Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

 

I have three example of how I was touched by the beauty of nature,  of people, and the beauty of trust. 

So, one morning about 6:30 I was pulling out of one of our first overnight towns, probably Spenser.  I was one of hundreds of bikers all heading into the coming sunrise.  The sky was crystal clear blue and there was ground fog.  On either side of us were green contoured corn fields and soy  beans.

 

 

 

After pedaling all week for ca. 500 miles, I find it overwhelming to come over a hill and look down suddenly on this marvelous, enormous  Mississippi.

 

At one point we were climbing a gentle rise and curving slightly to the left.  I could see a mile ahead and what I saw was the silhouettes of the riders in the fog against the brightness of the coming sunrise.   It was breath taking.  I was just so happy to be alive and where I was, riding my bike.  A transfiguration moment of beauty.  A moment of greater peace, gratitude, and humility.

Secondly, people.  Picture this.  It is time to eat dinner in about the 4^th or 5^th overnight town.  I choose to go to the Methodist church for scalloped potatoes, ham, a salad, and desert for $10, all you can eat. I was looking for lasagna, but could not find it.

 

 

 

We pass through beautiful rolling fields of corn & soy beans, gorgeous sun rises with early morning ground fog, even a national park with serious climbs & descents.   Arriving at this extraordinary, ancient river just takes my breath away.

 

 

So I walk in the side door, buy my ticket, and descend to the basement where they are serving and there are whole bunches of long tables, almost all full.  I find a seat in the middle of one of those tables, across from another older guy like me.  We get talking and the usual question comes out fairly quickly, “Where you from?’  Turns out he is from Iowa and very friendly.  At this point the people on both sides of us finish, leave, and they are replace by 4 guys & women on each side. 

The question gets asked and Michigan & out west all are represented.  One of the new guys even asks me how many Ragbrais I’ve ridden, the second most common question.  And, then, ‘How old are you.” 

 

 

 

Hungry for the salad/dessert bar at Hy-Vee grocery & food court?  Leave your bike, your helmet, and your gloves, all unlocked.   Don't forget where you leave your bike.  Return in an hour, all will be awaiting you.  Incidentally, poor Hy-Vee was completely overwhelmed with the tidal wave of bikers who came through their doors.  Even bikers pitched in to help bus tables (like yours truly).

 

 

That causes a ruckus.   Lots of congratulations and compliments. 

This was a people transfiguration.  I came out of there not only with a good meal, but also a sense of greater peace, hope in the goodness of people, and humility. 

Thirdly, a trust transfiguration.  I  have two favorite vendors in Iowa, a grocery store called Hy-Vee and a 7-11 type convenience store called Casey’s.  Casey’s has the best & cheapest coffee in the morning.  They are in every village.

 

 

A small piece of advice especially to first trippers, Do not ever forget where you have parked your bike.  

 

 

 

Let's say you find your bike.  Next question, Can you extricate it from the tangle of other bikes.  They are usually hitched to cables running the  length of the main street of each little village.

 

 

Hy-Vee has great, all you can eat salad bars for $9.  Trouble is, Hy-Vee is only in the larger villages.  We had 2, Spenser & Orange City.  You want to get something at one of these places?  Just ride up, find a place to park your bike, go in, spend 15 minutes or 60, come out, and your bike & helmet await you.   Nothing is stolen.

A trust transfiguration.

 

 

 

 

Still ready to join the music team, Genevieve?   Or ready to help Leo?
 

 

 

The Old Pro and The Rookie, Two Winners.  

 

 

A bonus transfiguration.    As a Jesuit I was challenged by the goal of the Renaissance man.  The man is well rounded, intellectually, spiritually, and physically.  I found one.

Intellectually the guy is not only a chemical engineer.  He is a car mechanic.   He plays the piano.  He is into model trains & camping.  Spiritually he is solid.  Physically he is a dynamo biker.  All of this & more I discovered about our own David Dinsmore.

Where do you find your transfiguration moments?   The last one?

 

 

A Renaissance Man, David Dinsmore.

 

Readings: Acts Acts 1, 1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1, 17-23; Matthew 28, 16-20, Readings of the Ascension.

Observations on the Ascension in Acts (and in Luke’s Gospel):

• Luke wrote the 2 accounts: the Gospel of Luke & Acts
• Intended to be read as metaphor or symbol, emphasizing a) Jesus is One with God & therefore can be experienced everywhere; b) Jesus is Lord, a value not only for religious reasons but also political reasons at a time when leaders were lords.
• Reasons why it is considered symbolic: a) time is inconsistent–40 days mentioned in Acts, while the Ascension in Luke’s Gospel seems to take place at most a few days after the Resurrection; b)  the archaic view of a 3 story universe is assumed, i.e., heaven above, hell below, earth in the middle.

What Sends You Up?

There is an old 4 story convent in Venice on the north side in Cannaregio.  4 or 5 elderly nuns live there & they have a beautiful private garden behind their convent, which is just a stones throw from the large body of water separating Venice on the north from the mainland.  Also living in the convent are about 25 elderly women and one Ethiopian lady about 50 who is the guest hostess and door keeper. 

In the morning before breakfast maybe 6 of the ladies gather in the entrance area to chat among themselves and with Magda the hostess lady, and to watch the morning’s comings and goings through the main entrance.

One morning I decided I would join these delightful people to practice my Italian which the women all praised at great length.  I’m thinking, these are Venetian women.  I would love to hear their stories, ask what Venice was like during Mussolini’s time, what were their happiest memories, and so on.

So I went down, greeted everyone, and began to ask them about a booklet I had seen on the coffee table that was about the Jesuits.  I began to get looks of incomprehension and I realized I was talking jibberish to them, mixing Spanish into everything I was saying.  I was so deflated.  All this time and effort put into learning Italian and I could not even use the right word for magazine.  I was ready to quit the language.  I’ll never get it.

The next day I get up and decide I will try again.  I prepare ahead of time and take my time getting started.  The ladies were charming and complimentary as ever and all went well.  I went out of there soaring. 

A couple of days later in a taxi in Florence I had the driver reinforce my positive experience.  He not only says my Italian is good, but that I got the rythm and accent.  That compliment sent me over the moon.

What sends you up? 

We talk about the Ascension today and I would propose that ascension moments are available to all of us.  I would distinguish between passive and active moments.

For example, my moments of language success were active, in the sense that I worked to achieve them and success really sent me up. 

I can work to put together a celebration like we had last night and have an ascension moment all evening and for days afterward.  Our Sunday celebrations do that for me. 

Helping Karina and her mother in Cuernavaca.  Our decades long tree project and the joy of seeing the trees blossom in spring with new growth.  Some of the trees we planted in the 80’s I can’t believe they were small such a short time ago.  I can only imagine the high Tom got running the Boston Marathon.  Beth has been working toward her nationals swim meet yesterday in Austin.  Rob says she’s done really well. 

There are passive or vicarious moments that send me up.  Our music at Mass, watching Kovatis chase the little kids around the cafeteria, watching Maggie & Chloe play during Mass, Chloe & Hunter dancing last night.  My first cup of coffee on the back porch in the morning.  Listening to Handel or Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons.

These moments are the spice of life.  Some come as gifts, others involve effort, but are worth it. 

On this feast of the Ascension, what sends you up? 

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-05-04.mp3

 

Readings:                          

Acts  2,  1-11,  There appeared to them tongues as of fire.

Psalm 104,  Lord, send out your spirit and renew the face of the earth.

Romans 8, 8-17,    You are in the spirit.

John 20, 19-23,  Peace be with you.

 

Homily by Mike

 

Well, I just finished reading Bishop John Shelby Spong’s new book titled Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, which is a study of the Gospel of Matthew.  Bishop Spong is one of my prime mentors in understanding the Christian faith and the Christian Scriptures.  My main reason I picked a chapter of his book for us today is that it is on understanding the Sermon on the Mount in relation to Pentecost, which we are preparing to celebrate next Sunday.  Also, Bishop Spong’s book is on the Gospel of Matthew, and Matthew is our default reading source whom we read from most of this year (of Cycle C readings).  In his new book Bishop Spong teaches how Matthew composed his Gospel to match up with the festivals of the Jewish year, all celebrated in the synagogue.  In this chapter he shows us how Matthew matches the Jewish celebration of Pentecost or Shavuot with Jesus as the New Moses.  Moses was the most significant person in Jewish history.  The second major celebration of the Jewish liturgical year, after Passover, is Pentecost or Shavuot.

At Pentecost, or Shavuot, Matthew provides the liturgy readings that make it clear to the Jewish followers of Jesus that Jesus is the new Moses.  The Book of Exodus tells the story of how Moses went up Mount Sinai, received the law directly from God and announced it to the people.  In their acceptance of God’s law from Moses (The 10 Commandments) the Jewish people entered into a covenant with God.  Matthew, in his Gospel, has Jesus go up a mountain and then deliver to the people God’s new law—the Beatitudes.  In accepting this new law from Jesus, his followers enter into a new covenant with God.     

Remember, at that time most people were illiterate.  The Torah, the Books of Moses, were read at every Sabbath liturgy.  They read the entire 5 books of the Torah every year—compare that with our reading a mere fraction of the Bible once every 3 years. Shavuot or Pentecost was celebrated in a big way (it was huge!), with a 24-hour vigil, so they needed a lot of readings and songs to fill the vigil.  That’s where Psalm 119 came into play—the longest psalm of all with 176 verses (psalms were the synagogue’s hymnal).  This was the psalm sung at the celebration of Shavuot.  Psalm 119 is relentless in its praise of the beauty and wonder of God’s law and the covenant that sprang from accepting and keeping God’s law. The meaning of this covenant is what was renewed liturgically each year, and was what the 24-hour vigil was all about.   

Matthew combined Psalm 119 with the Sermon on the Mount to present Jesus as the new Moses.  Psalm 119 fits the Shavuot liturgy with stanzas for each of the 8 3-hour portions of the vigil.  Psalm 119’s first stanza has 8 verses and the first 2 begin with the word “blessed”.  The Sermon on the Mount also begins with 8 verses, each starting with the word “blessed”.  We call these the Beatitudes.  So Matthew used Psalm 119 as the basis on which to build the Sermon on the Mount. Next Matthew has Jesus give commentaries on each of the 8 beatitudes, 1 for each of the 8 3-hour portions of the vigil.  Matthew then has Jesus do a commentary on the 10 Commandments, going deeper into the heart of these original laws of God.

This whole Sermon on the Mount is a beautifully crafted interpretation of Jesus as the new Moses.  And it’s all organized around the psalm used at Shavuot, Pentecost.  This amazing take and understanding of Matthew’s writing of his Gospel knocks my socks off and I love it.

As we prepare for Pentecost, what is our commitment to the new law?  How do we renew our covenant with this understanding of Jesus as the new Moses?                                                                                                                                                              

 

Readings:

Isaiah  62, 1-5,     The Lord delights in you. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah III)

Psalm 96,  Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

 1 Corinthians 12, 4-11,  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit, different forms of service, but the same Lord.   (a good selection)

John 2, 1-11, There was a wedding at Cana.  ( a good story)

 

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.  It is so nice to be back after a long absence."

 

Isaiah observations:

When you see that today's selection is from the 62nd chapter, you may pretty easily guess  that this is Isaiah III.   The last 10 chapters of the work are from Isaiah III, that is, chapters 56-66.  

Remember that Isaiah III talks consolation and comfort for the people, most of whom have now returned from the Babylonian Captivity to a destroyed Jerusalem.

 

"Yep, Welcome Back, Cathy."

 

What is your gift?

Want to take a trip to East Africa this morning, to my beloved Tanzania?  I want to talk a moment about our gifts and forms of service like are mentioned in 1 Corinthians.   To exemplify my thinking, I want to tell you a Christmas story that took place ca. 1980.   I was tempted to tell you about a wedding I did on the slope of Kilimanjaro, but this is just as good and we have only finished with Christmas a few weeks back.

So, buckle your seat belts and let’s take off.

 

"Hi, Victoria, Hi, Buddy."

 

There is a town smack in the middle of Tanzania called Tabora.  It was on the east west railroad from Dar es Salaam, the capital, to Lake Tanganyika.   The Jesuits staffed a church in Tabora, not large, but with lots of people.  It also had about 20 spokes out from the main church, outstation churches built when more expatriate priests were around to man them. 

I was at one of these outstations for Advent and Christmas around 1980 to work on my Swahili.   Two Maltese Jesuits interns were with me (from the island of Malta, off the island of Sicily).  They were what were called scholastics, i.e., learning to be Jesuit priests.  Good guys,  Joe Xerri and Joe Pulicino. 

 

Want to hear The Best?  Shonda, Bethany, Ray, & David.

 

Later I visited Xerri at his home, not on Malta itself, but the island of Gozo, just off of Malta.  He eventually left the Jesuits.  Pulicino, got ordained, returned to TZ, worked with refugees, got captured by some Sudanese, and eventually was released.

So we three Jesuits are at this outstation, which was a fairly large, cinder block, rectangular building with a bell, a bell tower, and a corrugated tin roof.  I often thought about the priests who built the church and then had to leave it empty somewhere along the way.  It must have hurt.

 

 Zoe & Cole at work on our major life problems.

 

The little town where this church was situated was tiny, just a few houses with tin roofs, maybe even mud walls.  The church itself had an outstation, another little village even smaller.  I did a funeral in this tiny village and fell into the grave.  That scared everybody really good.

The people around the main church had not had a Christmas Mass in ages.  They wanted a midnight Mass and we offered to put together a Nativity pageant.  They jumped at it and we had a cast of dozens. 

 

And More Problems being solved.

 

So the night comes.  You got to picture the scene.  No electricity.  We had a few of the old kerosene lanterns.  I spent many an evening with those kerosene lanterns.  There was no heat other than campfires.   Christmas in TZ comes in the middle of the warm & dry season, just opposite to us in the northern regions.

We rang the bell.  People were literally camped out all over the place because many had walked for miles.  The church filled up.   There was plenty of music, basically drumming and shakers, and, of course,  great rhythm. 

 

A Cupcake of The Week to Georgie for being a Great Helper.

 

The one thing I never expected was the wave of June bugs.  The church walls were not totally closed, but had sections where cinder blocks with holes were used.  With the light in the church in the totally dark night, bugs came from everywhere.  Nobody seemed to be bothered in the least.

The Mass lasted probably 2 hours.  The Nativity pageant was super.   Nobody wanted it to end.

 

 Happy Birthday, Becky.

 

Why talk about this?  Gifts.  We had a gift and we shared it with everybody.  They had gifts of music and excitement and gratitude.  The kids pitched in with the pageant. 

You can say that Jesus had a gift and he shared it.  Mary, too, had a gift and she shared it, her son.

What gift do you have and how do you share it?

 

Cupcake of The Week to Cole for being The Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

Readings: Isaiah 8, 23-9, 3; Psalm 27; 1 Corinthians 1, 10-17; Matthew 4, 12-23.

Isaiah: This great book continues for one more beautiful week.  Today we are presented with another vision of a people walking in light with joy and rejoicing.  Just a reminder: the visions in the book come from ca. 800 years B.C.

To what are You Called?

I would like to talk this morning about The Call.  Has anyone heard about a guy named Franz Jagerstatter?  This man was beatified last October in the cathedral in Linz, Austria.   He was Austrian, born in 1907 to poor farming parents.  He toyed with the idea of joining a monastery when he was 27, but decided his mother needed him to stay and help her with the farm.

At 29 he married Franziska and later said he could never have imagined that being married would be so wonderful.  The year was 1936.  Two years later you know what happened?  What happened in Austria?  Nazi Germany unified as it were Austria, and it became basically a state in Germany.  Coincidentally, Adolf Hitler was born in a small Austrian town neighboring the small town Franz was born in. 

With the Nazi take-over of Austria the arrest and exportation of the Jews began immediately.  The majority of the Catholic Church gave full and complete support to the Nazi take over and unification.  The diocese of Linz was an exception, and it was near Linz that Franz & his family lived and listened to the debate.  He was torn.  Some priests even encouraged Franz to get along, don’t endanger his family and keep his head down.

While Franz was struggling with his conscience, Germany spectacularly continued its unification plans, taking over Poland in ’39, France, and the Netherlands.  And arresting Jews.  In February,1943, just two years before the end of the war in May,1945, Franz got his orders to report for military service. March 2 he reported to the military base and refused to serve.  He was arrested and spent the next five months in prison in Linz.  In July he was found guilty of impeding the war effort and condemned to death.   August 9, 1943, 4:00 P.M., he was beheaded.  He was 36 years old.

Franz Jagerstratter heard The Call, Folks.  I am humbled by his example.

Jesus is walking along the lake.  He sees these rough fishermen and calls them to come along.  They do. We get the same call.   I am tempted to think the call is for that guy, for Franz, or someone else.  Not me.  Wrong.  We each get The Call.

To what are you called?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-01-27.mp3