Sunday Homily for December 30, 2018, Holy Family

Readings:  Jeremiah 23, 1-6; Psalm 23, The Lord is My Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want; Ephesians 2, 13-18; Mark 6, 30-34     

Jeremiah:

Author & Who: Jeremiah is called "the broken hearted prophet," because he felt compelled to say woe to the leaders & shepherds of the state of Judah.  He predicted tragedy for the people because of their unfaithful ways.  Because he predicted such catastrophe, the leaders & even the people hated him.  He hated his his prophet job and his unpopularity.

Jeremiah is considered #2 of the big 3 prophets, along with Isaiah, #1, and Ezekiel, #3.  They are considered the major prophets because of the size of their works, e.g., Jeremiah has 52 chapters.

Baruch, Jeremiah's secretary & scribe, is considered the person who wrote down & edited the Book of Jeremiah. 

Time: ca. 625-575, i.e. before the famous Babylonian Captivity and during part of it, which took place starting around 585 BCE.

Setting & Story: Catastrophe is coming in the person of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (near Baghdad, Iraq, of all places).  He has defeated the Assyrians who had destroyed the northern Jewish state of Israel (ca. 720 BCE) and is now looking at Judah, the southern state with Jerusalem the capitol.   The 10 tribes of the north were carted away and disappeared into the Middle East gene pool.  Intermarriage and lost culture. 

Jeremiah sees what is coming, predicts devastation, and blames it on the leaders & shepherds of the people of this southern state of Judah.  It happens as he foretold, and Jeremiah ends up going to Egypt, where he dies.  He also predicts the return of the people to Judah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Interesting Side Note: can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, i.e. ca. 575.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Our Selection: Jeremiah is saying woe to the leaders & shepherds of the Jews of Judah.  He is also consoling them that a better day will come when they will have good leaders and they won't have to fear and tremble.

Sources: Bishop Spong, The Sins on Scripture; Wikipedia

Shepherding

Every Friday morning since before 1990 I have had an appointment with a little lady about 4'11' named Elizabeth.  She is 93 this year. 

In the beginning she used to take the bus to Jesuit for our meetings.  In fact, one fall Friday morning she was walking along the main first floor hall, the bell rang for the end of class, the guys poured out, and one big kid, number 55 in his football jersey, knocked her down.  Uninjured and flattered by the attention of all the boys, she wended her way to the back of the property where my office was.

Some of you have met her because you have helped me move her from a second floor to a first floor apartment, then from that apartment to a condo she bought.  Npw she lives in the 3 Fountains retirement home a little off of Park Lane, east of Central and Northpark Mall.  She has always been a independent, bohemian lady with a literary bent.  She wrote a novel 80.

The church she always attended after her conversion and until she could not get around was Holy Trinity in the Oak Lawn area. This was where she lived most of her life.  While she was at Holy Trinity she met a couple in their 50's who used to bring her home after Mass. 

As Elizabeth got older the couple got more involved.  Really involved in a helpful way.  The husband, who seems familiar with real estate, found the condo that she bought, then found the retirement home for her, doing all the paper work.  He is selling the condo for her right now.  At first I though there was some kind of swindle taking place, because they were almost too good.  They were real, however. 

The wife continues to visit Elizabeth about once a week, taking her to the doctor and pharmacy, using a lot of her time.  This is depite the fact that Elizabeth can often be less than gracious.  I do not know how many times I have been sumarily kicked out and told not to return.  Elizabeth admits that she often treats the lady harshly.

This couple has been a life saver not only to Elizabeth, but also to me.  I did not know how I was going to help Elizabeth deal with her growing inability to get around.  She had said often she would never go into one of those old folks homes.  She had told me she wanted to die in her condo.  The couple somehow helped her over this obstacle.  What they did, I think, is they just took her to a couple of places they had checked out.

I talk about this couple today because they exemplify something I think the gospel is trying to convey, the meaning of being a shepherd, a care taker. 

Jesus does two things in the episode that I think are marvelous.  First, he shows care for his comrades.  These guys had been out sharing the message, had returned to share their adventures, and they were tired.  People were all around.  Jesus suggests that they all go away to a quiet place and rest.  This is shepherding or care taking one's closest, one's family, one's team. 

They get into a boat and cross some water, obviously the Sea or Lake of Galillee, one of the beautiful places of the world, a heart shaped body 21 miles in length & only 7 miles across.  Many of you could swim it.  The second marvelous thing Jesus does is take compassion on the people who have anticipated where he was going and got there first.  He changes his plans and tends to them.

This is our challenge.  The couple who care take Elizabeth is an example of what Jesus is showing us. 

Whom do you shepherd or care take?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-07-19.mp3

Picture 1:  Mass with Sabrina & Ruth

Picture 2:  Choir, Wendy, Shonda, Ray, & Celeste

Picture 3:  Ekes & Wittiks–Bobby & Debby, Barb W., Mabel, Marlene, Cindy, Curtis, & Warren W. 

Readings: Isaiah 55, 1-3; Psalm 145, The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs; Romans 8, 35, 37-39; Matthew 14, 13-21.  Excellent readings this week.

4 Preliminary Observations:

 1.  Today, July 31.  The Jesuit Feast Day, St. Ignatius Loyola’s church feast, founder of Society of Jesus, Jesuits. I was a Jesuit for 4 years short of 50 years.  

        a.  Time of Ignatius: 1491-1556, vibrant Europe, Spain of Ferdinand & Isabella, expulsion of the Jews & the Moors from the Alhambra in Grenada in 1492, Michelangelo,  Da Vinci, death of Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence in 1492, Copernicus, Galileo, & Martin Luther.  Luther is almost a contemporary of Ignatius.  He posted his 95 theses in 1517 & the revolution began.  Inquisition time: the monk Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for his ideas, 1600, Campo dei Fiori, Rome.  See his statue today.

 

        b.  Place of Ignatius: from Loyola Castle, Basque Province, Spain.  He was military, badly wounded in the legs at Pamplona, Navarre, where the bulls run.  He was converted while recuperating from leg operations.  At Manresa, Catalonia, Spain Ignatius came out with a vision.

        c.  Accomplishments of Ignatius: founded a little company which reached 36,000 in the 60’s.  He stressed military self discipline, obedience to authority, education, and spiritual growth especially with his Spiritual Exercises.

 

 2.  Isaiah 55: 3 beautiful invitations, come, come, come.  The very last chapter of Isaiah II trying to encourage the Israelites in the Babylonian period, ca. 550 B.C.

 3.  Psalm 145 & Romans 8.  That special line again, The Lord is gracious & merciful, does not get angry and is abounding in love.  

Paul is winding up Romans and is almost poetic, claiming that even cosmic events cannot separate us from God’s love.

 4.  Feeding the 10 thousand.  This story is repeated in all 4 gospel stories.  In fact, it is told 6 times.  Get ready.  To convey what I think is the main miracle of this story I have to tell a story from my time in East Africa. 

 Sources: St. Louis U. Liturgies, Reginald Fuller, Daniel Westberg, John Pilch, Larry Gillick, & Wikipedia

 

Touched into Trust & Sharing

     This story happened to me when I was living in East Africa in the 70’s & 80’s.  It exemplifies for me how this miracle could at least have been Jesus’ touching the people's hearts, so that they trusted one another and shared their hidden goods.

     It started in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania.  One evening I boarded an overnight train from Dar to a town near Kilimanjaro, where we Jesuits had a small house which I used as a base.  

     For some crazy reason I had to buy a ticket at the last minute.  This gave me only a spot on the train, no bunk, no seat, just a spot.  

     We pulled out at sunset, always at 7:00 because it is close to the equator.  I was sitting on a suit case & expecting to stay there until we arrived at Kilimanjaro at 6:00 in the morning.  The train, of course, was packed.  People & kids everywhere, even an occasional chicken.  I felt right at home, though I knew I had a long night ahead of me.

     About 1:00 A.M. the train stops.  No word about what.  I never found out.  After an hour I get off and lie on the train bed.  If the train moved & I was asleep, I would hear it and hop on.  Though I did not sleep.  Mosquitoes for one thing. 

     The train sat there until 7:00 the following evening.  

 

     I cannot believe how dumb I was that night.  I was a veteran of Tanzania.  I knew how things broke down.  I had not taken any food or water with me.  

     Because I spoke the language with no problem, I could have asked the Tanzanians for food & water, but I did not want to drink the water, which was probably unpurified.  As the day passed, they ate & drank along the tracks in the shade of a few frangipani trees.  

     Finally I noticed another white couple, Germans.  I got water from them & was okay.  Eventually, they stayed at our house a couple of days and I climbed Kilimanjaro with them.  

 

     The people on that train, with the exception of one dumb white guy, they traveled with provisions.  They had food & water for emergencies. 

     I would propose that the 10 thousand people sitting around Jesus & his apostles, they were just like the Tanzanians.  They traveled with emergency provisions.  Like the Tanzanians, also, they did not trust the others whom they did not know and certainly did not share their provisions.  They were accustomed to shortages.  Hang on to what you got, because you don’t know when you will have nothing.    

     What happened with Jesus did not happen on the train.  Jesus took a piece of the bread and fish, and he passed it on.  The next person received it, took a bit, and then, thinking it would be fitting, put in a little of his or her own cache.  Eventually, when everyone has had the food pass them & they have contributed, 12 baskets are left over (a symbol likely connected with the 12 apostles).

 

     Jesus touched the hearts of the people and caused a miracle to take place.  They trusted one another and shared their provisions.  These miracles do take place today.  I saw them in the mountains of Colorado the past two weeks.  

     How are you sharing your provisions?  How do you show you trust your neighbor? 

 Picture 1:   Mass begins

 Picture 2:   New choir member, Hue

 Picture 3:   Sisters, Cindy (her birthday) & Marlene

 Picture 4:   Barb & Warren

 Picture 5:   Sienna offers to help Ray

 Picture 6:   Sienna ready to sing  

 

 

 

Readings: Acts 10, 34-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3, 1-4; John 20, 1-9.

An Easter Story (Kids Only?)

There is a little girl named Meredith. She had a dog named Amy who after a good life died when Meredith was 4. Meredith loved Amy and wanted to write a note to God to make sure He knew she had arrived.

Her mother, being a good mom, wrote down what Meredith wanted to say, put the letter in an envelope along with 2 pictures so God could identify Amy, and sealed it with Meredith’s return address. Two stamps were applied because the letter had a long way to go. It was addressed: God, Heaven.

A week or so later on a Saturday afternoon, Meredith returned home with her mom. On the porch was package wrapped in gold paper addressed to Meredith. Return address: God, Heaven.

Meredith ran to her room and opened the package. Inside was a small book, When Your Pet Dies, Meredith’s letter and pictures, and on pink paper a handwritten note.

Dearest Meredith,

I am sure you will be happy to know that Amy arrived here safe, sound, and happy. Your pictures were especially helpful and I recognized her immediately. She is now with me all the time.

You might also be happy to know that she is no longer sick and stiff. Rather her spirit is so frisky and playful that I cannot keep up with her.

Since as spirits we do not have bodies and therefore don’t have pockets, I am returning your helpful pictures and beautiful letter. They may provide good memories some day.

Thank you for such a thoughtful letter. I hope the book helps. Thanks also to your wonderful mom for helping you with the letter. Did you know I chose her especially for you.

One of my angels is helping me with this letter. As God I enjoy hanging around heaven and wherever there is love. I bless you and love you more every day.

Signed, God & one of his special helpers (who wrote this letter when God told her the words to write).

What is Your Easter Story?

Download the homily as an mp3 file.

Readings: Hosea, 6, 3-6; Psalm 50; Romans 4, 18-25; Matthew 9,9-13; plus a good Alleluia verse, Luke 4, 18, about which I would like to speak.

Hosea: as with most of the prophets, Hosea is disturbed by the infidelity & behavior of the Hebrews.  He tells them how bad they are and warns them that their bad ways will have consequences.  Yahweh will punish them.  He lives about 700 years B.C. & worked the area of the north, called Israel or Galilee.

Me Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor?

Many of you, I am sure, have your favorite auto mechanic.  And if you don't, you probably wish you did.  Rosemary & I have an Italian Catholic family, the Lucidos, who run One Stop.  Trouble with it is that it is a little distance, near 35 & Royal. 

In Richardson there is another of these reliable mechanics.  I don't know the man, but he has a reputation of being reliable, dependable, reasonable with his prices, and a curmudgeon.  A grump, a no patience, no compliments, non-smiler. 

A family I know who has lived in Richardson forever has believed in this mechanic.  The family has raised three kids who are now grown up and at least into their 20's.  As is the case in so many families, one of the kids, the oldest boy, has had his troubles migrating from adolescence into adulthood.  In and out of school, not able to find what he wanted to do, hanging with friends who likewise could not find their way. 

In the past couple of years, this boy finally married, had some kids, and actually graduated from college.  I think this was his first year to teach in special ed.  It looked like the kid was really putting his life together and going somewhere.

In the spring the boy had car trouble and naturally he took his trouble to the family mechanic.  All went well and the car was fixed for a reasonable price. 

A few days later the father got a call from the curmudgeon mechanic.  What do you think he was calling to say? 

"I am calling," he said, "to compliment you on your son."  The mechanic who never gives compliments and who had known and followed the son through his growing pains, said the boy had turned out marvelously, courteous, friendly, saying "Yes, sir," & "No, sir," and was really a pleasure to be around. 

I think dad just about fainted dead on the phone.

I tell this story because it exemplifies one approach to "The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor."  A marvelous line.  For three reasons.

     We are all the poor and need to hear glad tidings.  We are less than we want to be, we hurt others, we fail in business and in sports, we fail as spouses, as parents, as priests.   Then along comes glad tidings: "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.  Pretty good news for us sinners.

   The Lord sends Me to bring glad tidings, good news, compliments.  The Richardson curmudgeon mechanic brought happy tidings to a father who could have felt rather poverty stricken over the years as a parent.  This is one of the main motivations I work as a priest & therapist.

   The result of the glad tidings is greater inner peace–for the person who receives the gift and for the person who brings it.  Certainly the father felt greater peace and probably the mechanic felt a peace.

With whom do you share glad tidings & how?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-06-08.mp3

                                 Bonjour et Bienvenu, Mes Amis.

 

Readings:

 Baruch  5, 1-9,  Jerusalem, put on the splendor of glory.

Psalm 126,    The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.

Advent special: Pope Francis,' Laudato Si (Praise to you).

 

                    Leighton, too, says, "Welcome, Everybody."

 

A Reading from Pope Francis’ Letter on the Environment:

In some countries there are positive examples of environmental improvement: rivers, polluted for decades, have been cleaned up; native woodlands have been restored; advances have been made in the production of non-polluting energy and in the improvement of public transportation. These achievements show that men and women are capable of intervening positively.

At the same time we can note the rise of a false or superficial ecology which bolsters complacency and a cheerful recklessness.  In periods of deep crisis requiring bold decisions, we are tempted to think that what is happening is not entirely clear.  Superficially, apart from a few obvious signs of pollution and deterioration, things do not look that serious, and the planet could continue as it is for some time.  

Such evasiveness serves as a license to carry on with our present lifestyles and models of production and consumption. This is the way humans contrive to feed self-destructive habits: trying not to see reality, trying not to acknowledge reality, delaying important decisions and pretending that nothing will happen.

The word of Pope Francis.

Luke,  3,  1-6,  Prepare the way of the Lord.

 

                             Warren says, "What's going on around here?"

Baruch:

    What: One of the little books (only 5 chapters) of what I'll call The Odd Books.  That is, it is not one of the big 3, nor one of the 12 little prophetic books, nor part of the N.T.  It is part of a dozen small books in between.  Most Protestant churches  don't recognize the legitimacy The Odd Books.

     Author:  Baruch was Jeremiah's secretary. Maybe he wrote some of the material, but it was not put together.  Remember, he & Jeremiah lived before & during the Babylonian Captivity.  There are 4 small discourses.  Compilation of the total work seems to have taken place later,  Most likely some anonymous person or persons a few centuries after Jeremiah. 

 

                     Who let these two characters in?  

 

Date of composition: maybe during the  Maccabees' revolt ca. 100 before Christ.   If so,  the little book intends to strengthen resistance of the Jews during the Macabeean Revolt, using the Babylonian model to encourage the people.

      Our passage: a message of optimism, hope, peace, and a victorious new day.  The passage reflects 2nd Isaiah's message (chapter 40), which is likewise quoted in Luke's gospel for today.  The famous 2nd Isaiah: Luke uses this source to build his nativity narrative.  See also the lyrics of Handel's Messiah.

Sources:  Good New Bible.

 

                                          2nd Sunday of Advent, two candles.

 

It’s Coming, It’s Coming, It’s Here!

I would like to talk this morning about the fact that it is coming, it is coming, it is here.  That is, Christmas.  I would propose that there is a richness, a joy, and a peace in the time leading up to Christmas, as well as Christmas itself.

A little story.

When Rosemary & I were with her sister and brother in law in Hilton Head, we spent an evening watching a comedy film called Christmas with the Kranks.  At first I thought this was just going to be a goofy movie, which it was.  But it had a message inside the comedy. It goes like this.

 

         Guess who lit those candles, Buddy, Victoria, and Zoe.

 

A couple in probably their 40’s had a daughter who was going to Peru to work as a Peace Corp volunteer.   They were both depressed.  At that point, Luther, the husband decided to buy tickets on a Christmas Caribbean cruise.   That got them both excited. 

Luther also decided that they would simply skip Christmas at their home, no decorations and no holiday socializing when they normally had a big Christmas Eve party.

 

                                 The Team, Georgie & Kevin

 

First thing that happens, the Scouts come with Luther’s annual Christmas tree, the kids’ annual fundraiser.  Luther says, “No Christmas tree this year.”  This causes quite a commotion & pushback.  Scrooge gets mentioned.

Then the police come selling their annual calendar.  They get turned away and are not happy.  Then the neighborhood wants Luther to put up his plastic snowman on the roof.  “Not this year,” says Luther. 

 

                                                  Hi, Harper.

 

By now Luther and Nora have everyone mad at them, the Scouts, the Police, and all the neighbors.  One old neighbor across the street gives it to Luther.  His wife has cancer.

The couple are counting days to departure when on Christmas Eve morning their daughter, Blair, calls to say that she has decided to do Christmas with them, is in like Miami and will arrive home in the afternoon, and is bringing with her a Peruvian guy she wants them to meet.  She plans to wed him.  Plus she is so looking forward to all their annual decorations, the big Christmas Eve party, and snow. 

 

                         Victoria and her favorite Mommy.

 

Luther and Nora are delighted, speechless, and aghast.  What to do?  They reverse field and start racing around to decorate and set up the Christmas Eve party.  Luther even borrows a decorated Christmas tree from a neighbor who will be away for Christmas.   Some of the Scouts help him take it to his house.

It all gets done, the over the top decorations, the party to which the neighbors come, and the daughter with her new fiance’ gets her snow. 

 

                                      Some of today's food drive.

 

The coup de grace comes when Luther slips away from the party and crosses the street to the grumpy neighbor and his wife with the cancer.  Luther gives the couple their cruise tickets. 

The lesson from the movie?   The value of community, of friends, and of family.

 

               Genevieve says, "I think it is time for me to start moving around."

 

This is what we try to build here on Sundays, what Rosemary & I try to build at Hilton Head, our Romeos & ladies’ luncheons, and next Saturday, the marvelous Love for Kids picnic.

How are you sharing The Spirit?

 

                Our friendly gorilla says he appreciates all hugs.

 

 

 

Readings:

Sirach 3, 2-6, 12-14, My son, take care of your father when he is old.

Psalm 128,  Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Colossians 3, 12-21,  Wives, be subordinate to your husbands.

Matthew 2, 13-15, 19-23, Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you.

 

 

Sirach observations:

What.  One of those 12 odd books, neither in the Old nor the New Testament.  A book with wise little sayings & vingettes.

Examples: Be humble in everything you do, 3, 17.   Stubborness will get you into trouble, 3, 26.  If you are polite and courteous, you will enjoy the friendship of many, 6, 5.  A father who loves his son will whip him often, 30, 1.  A woman has to take any man as a husband, but a man must choose his wife carefully, 36, 21.

Who.   Sirach is the father of a man names Joshua (or Jesus) who wrote & compiled these saying.

When.   Composed around 200 years before Christ, maybe.

 

Colossians observations:

Get ready, this is a good one.  Especially for wives.  

 

 

Paradigmes for Families

I remember way back when Rosemary and I had been married a while, I told her one day that I thought this special line from the Bible was my new favorite line.  “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands.”  Sounded good to me. 

You know what I got, the look, the dog kennel look, the look that said, ‘There is a vacancy in the dog kennel in the back yard, bubba.’  So much for my new favorite line. 

We have one of the classic lines in Scripture here this morning.  “Wives,be subordinate to your husbands.”  I would like to talk about this.

 

 

I also remember one afternoon I was in line to ride the roller coaster or something at 6 Flags.  Ahead of me was a family, husband and wife with maybe two or three kids.  The couple were discussing two sides of some decision.  Then I heard the husband tell the wife that she should follow his opinion, because….   You know what he said.  I almost passed out.  I did not realize that contemporary, educated, middle class folks followed this just because it says it in the Bible.

Let me offer some perspective, a little history and the 3 models of family dynamics.

Historically, remember that the writer of the line lived not in the Middle Ages, but way before that.  Women were not considered equal to men in any way.  I saw this in East Africa when I lived there.  The man was the head and the wife, kids, and farm animals were all more or less on the same level.

 

 

You may see the same phenomenon today.  Where?  Try Afghanistan or among many Arab or Muslim countries.  Women have no rights and are certainly not considered equal to men.  Because of this, women can be beaten like a child or abused with hardly any consequence.  The old dictum held, ‘A good beating never hurt anyone.’

The writer of this letter saw this and spoke to it.  Not only does he speak to the wife, he also speaks to the husband, “Husbands, love your wives.”  Pretty unique stuff for those days.  Wives, in other words, are human beings, not property to be told how to dress and behave.

 

 

Finally, let me remind you of the 3 models of family dynamics.

First, you have the patriarchy.  The father is the head, which today’s writer is aware of.  And accepts.

Secondly, you have the matriarchy, the wife is the head of the family.  This model has been used over the centuries in various places.

Thirdly, you have equality.  This model has more traction today because women and men are equally educated and often equally talented.  In this family the husband and wife share responsibility and consult with each other.

It is not so much that one model is better than the other.  Which model works?

 

 

There are days when I am convinced that Rosemary and I have a matriarchy.

What works for you?