Sunday Homily, February 3, 2019, 34th Ordinary Time

Readings:

 Ezekiel, 34, 11-12, 15-17, As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. 

 Psalm 23,   The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. (good one)

1 Corinthians 15, 20-26, 28,  Christ has been raised.

Matthew 25, 31-46,  He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 

 

Ezekiel  observations and reminders:

I've mentioned how Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 Prophets, #3 after Isaiah & Jeremiah, 48 chapters vs 66 in Isaiah.  I also mentioned how he lived smack dab in the middle of one of the two or three biggest tragedies of the Jewish people, the Babylonian captivity, say 555 before Christ.  He was there.

In American history we can look back and identify special presidential leaders, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt.  They came forward in crisis times. 

Ezekiel was this type of leader in Jewish history.  He saw what had happened to other Jews of the northern province of Israel (Jerusalem is in the southern province of Judah) after they had been carted off as slaves after a defeat by the Assyrians (Syria still).  They intermarried and simply disappeared in the DNA of the middle east.

Ezekiel is in Babylon and is determined that his community would not lose its identity.  He did three things to help maintain the spirit of the community: he emphasized  1. observance of the Sabbath, 2. kosher diet, and 3. male circumcision.

 

 

Eventually after ca. 50 years the community still was a cohesive unit and it returned to rebuild Jerusalem, at least the second or third generation.  The Jews are one of the few peoples to be defeated and scattered, and still return to their original homeland.  They remained there until the Romans defeated them in 70 C.E., returning when?  1948, after the Holocaust.

Today's reading comes to us from an Ezekiel captive in Babylon, and has Ezekiel promising the people a return, a brighter day after the captivity.  He uses the figure of speech, I will.  But I is Yahweh. 

Note on both Ezekiel, Psalm 23, and Matthew: There are two consoling readings this morning, Ezekiel and Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.  

At the very end of Ezekiel’s consoling passage and in Matthew there is talk of the sheep and goats.  Beware of taking this literally.  This is either/or spirituality.  Guess what: we are all goats.  I see heaven full of both sheep and goats.  And I can’t find any evidence of hell.

 

 

 Thanksgiving History: Everyone knows about the first Thanksgiving in 1602 with the Pilgrims and the Indians eating together, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock.  

When did our Thanksgiving begin?  Our ancestors have celebrated end of harvest feasts of gratitude for centuries.  Lincoln first focused on a national feast; FDR established the national holiday in 1941. 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

This morning I would like to talk about Thanksgiving and in particular I would like to tell you about my top three blessings of the year.

Rosemary & I have a habit at the end of the year of writing down all our blessings and gifts of the year.  We usually begin tagging them at Thanksgiving.  And since she is in Princeton, NJ, for her niece’s wedding, I get to say things about her I would not admit if she were here. 

Looking back over the year I have a ton of blessings, but in particular I have three I would like to mention.

 

 

Guess what number One is.  Yep, Rosemary.  I know, and Rosemary reminds me frequently, yes, I married up.  But this marriage  with Rosemary is one of the 3 biggest blessings of my whole life.  10 years in East Africa and my Jesuit career are the other 2. 

You people should have told me how good it can be.  I know, for sure,  all of you gave Rosemary about a year before she had enough of the old geezer bachelor.  However, because of living in community my 40 odd years as a Jesuit I really never was a bachelor.  I loved living in a community with other guys, like in a fraternity.   But it does not come close to life with Rosemary.  And this May we celebrate 10 years. 

 

 

 

My third blessing of the year is my splendid summer filled with fun events.  It started, as usual, with our 5 Boro bike tour of NY with the McGinn family reunion.  The next big one was the bike ride across Iowa with Bill Hammond and about 15 thousand others.  This event is like 8 days of 4^th of July, all the little towns overflowing with spirit and hospitality.  I just try to slow the clock down and absorb it all.

Then comes the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred bike ride the last Saturday of August, out of Wichita Falls.  This takes preparation and planning on how to survive.  Finishing that event produces such a spirit high in me.

 

 

 

Then in September came our 8 night back pack trip in Yosemite, my favorite National Park among all the ones I have seen.  This was as fun as ever, the campfires, the meals, the views, the quickie bath in the cold river or stream after a sweaty hike, and the exhilaration of climbing into my tent and and into my down sleeping bag on a near freezing night at about 10 thousand feet.

Finally there was the Viking River cruise on the Danube with Rosemary.  I love riding trains.  But, listening to the water swish by our cabin window beat the train by a mile.  And more beauty.

Can summer get better than this?

 

 

 

And the final blessing, number two, this marvelous community, you people.  When I departed to get married, I never expected to be doing this, especially 10 years later.  I thought it was over.  You people are a treasure in my life and I will continue to celebrate with you like this until I get called to the heavenly homestead.  You are so much fun and make my life so rich.  Thank you.

And your Blessings of The Year? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who let that rabbit in here??  Happy Easter, Everybody.  Welcome.

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  10, 34-43.   You know what has happened all over Judea

Psalm 118,  This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad.

1 Corinthians 5, 6-8,   A little yeast leavens all the dough.

 John 20,  1-9,    The Resurrection

 

 

Chloe with Nora and Charlotte and their buddy, all say, "Happy Easter, Folks, welcome in."

 

 Resurrection

I would like to talk about the Resurrection this morning.  I suspect that you, like me, consider this event a one time event from ancient history.

However, on the contrary, I want to suggest that resurrection events are multiple and present tense.  They take place daily or, at least, frequently in our lives.  A resurrection moment is a moment of great positive feeling, great consolation, a Kilimanjaro moment, and a time when I say ‘It is good to be alive.’

 

 

 Joanie  and the kids.

 

Let me give you 4-5 examples. 

First, there is a bike ride the last Saturday every August in and around Wichita Falls, yes, the famous Hotter ‘N Hell.  After you have ridden the 100 miles and just before the finish line in town, you pass over a bridge leading up and then down to the finish.  Many a time when I am on top of that bridge, I am in tears, tears of gratitude and positive feelings.   I can say to myself, ‘It is so good to be alive!’

 

 

 

The Gerwers, Casey & Rob, and the kids.

 

Secondly, another bike ride in July, for a week, 500 miles, crossing Iowa from west to east, from the Missouri to the Mississippi.    When I come down a hill and behold that enormous gorgeous river, I have a Kilimanjaro moment.  Tears again, gratitude, wonder. ‘It is good to be alive.”

 

 

Cody with Ben & Olivia.

 

Thirdly, Labor Day every September we put together a group of 5-12 people and we head out back packing.   I started doing this with the Jesuits back in “89 and we have seen numerous beautiful parks.  For me The Beauty is Yosemite and especially our particular route on the east side, a route I call Matterhorn Canyon.

There are 3 passes of 10 thousand feet.  Kilimanjaro moments each.  Equally positive are 2-3 special campsites.  ‘It is good to be alive in Yosemite.’

 

 

Harper with her daddy, Brian, and her granddaddy, Ted 

 

2 more.  Every Fall and Spring many of us in the community volunteer at the Love for Kids picnic at Circle K ranch in Flower Mound.  2 weeks ago I am standing at the entrance to the pavilion to welcome the kids, who are all handicapped.  They come with their marvelous parents.

At one point my attention was caught by a little blond girl about 2 years old seated in a pram.  She had her left hand over her eyes, her head was down on the little basket, and she was sobbing her eyes out.  She broke my heart.  I think she might have been scared by all the people. 

 

 

Our Great Candle Lighter, Cole, at work.

 

Bill Hammond has a story about a little boy about 3 who had a left prosthetic leg.  I noticed him coming in, for sure.  Bill says that later the boy & his family approached the horses for a sponsored ride.  The family told Bill they did know.  The boy did not even like to pet dogs. 

The little boy, however, was so excited once he got on the horse that the horse walkers toured the boy around not one time, but two. 

 

 

I think we have the Zurchin clan here, Tom  & Charlotte, Chloe & Nora with Denni, and Claire & Andrew.

 

What are your resurrection moments?  When was the last one?

 

Carol with Karen, John, & Richard.

 Readings: 2 Kings 5, 14-17; Psalm 98, The Lord has revealed to The Nations His Saving Power; 2 Timothy 2, 8-13; Luke 17, 11-19. 

                                                  

Twenty eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Intro to the readings.

 

Our first reading today is from the second book of Kings, and was written about the year 560BCE.  The Book of Kings was written at a time of great crisis.  In 587 the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzer and his armies had attacked the southern kingdom, Judah, and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, and taken the Jewish people back to Babylon as slaves. 

 

 The big question for the Jews was “where was their God in all of this?"  What about the promises he had made on Mount Sinai?  The 400 year rule of the Davidic line of kings has come to an end.  The purpose of the writer is to tell the people that it is not God who has been unfaithful, but the people.  He  encourages them to see that God is still faithful to his people. 

 

Our short story in today’s reading fits with the gospel in that someone saw that the gospel was about lepers and so find something about lepers in the Old Testament!  Recall that in those days most gods were seen as local, and so we find Naaman, who is a high ranking general from Damascus, where Paul was heading when he had his vision, asking Elisha if he can take two mule loads of the earth back with him.  He has been cured by Elisha’s god and wants that god to be with him when he returns home.  To get the full impact of this reading I want to read to you the piece which leads up to our reading today:

 

Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.  Now the Arameans had captured from the land of Israel in a raid a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman's wife.  "If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria," she said to her mistress, "he would cure him of his leprosy." 

 

 Naaman went and told his lord just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.  "Go," said the king of Aram. "I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.  To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 

 

 When he read the letter, the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed: "Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy? Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!"  When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: "Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel."  Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.  The prophet sent him the message: "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean."

But Naaman went away angry, saying, "I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy.  Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?" With this, he turned about in anger and left.

 

But his servants came up and reasoned with him. "My father," they said, "if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, 'Wash and be clean,' should you do as he said."

 

  

 

Twenty eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Homily

 

On the surface today’s gospel message seems simple enough, don’t forget to say, “Thank you”.  But because I have two weeks to reflect on the story, and also because a good friend of mine whom I was ordained with years ago told me about a great homily he had heard about the ten lepers, I had to pry deeper.  My friend now lives in England and after spending thirty minutes on the phone with him the other day, neither one of us could come up with what that original ‘great homily’ was all about!  I feel there is more to Luke’s account than a lesson in ‘good manners’.

 

The story itself is classical Luke.  Jesus is still heading towards Jerusalem, although the geographic clues, which Luke gives at the beginning of the story, tell us that Luke doesn’t have a clue of the geography of the area!  Ten lepers meet with Jesus and are sent off to be inspected and declared free of their leprosy.  Only one comes back to say thanks. 

 

 There are several things we need to keep in mind.  The one who came back was a Samaritan.  Luke seems to have a thing for Samaritans; we have the “good Samaritan, the Samaritan woman at the well, and now the Samaritan leper.  What we can easily forget is that the Samaritan would not be going to Jerusalem to be declared “cured’ by the Temple priests, he would have gone to Mount Gerizim, that was their place of worship. 

 

 When the nine Jewish lepers would have been declared clean, there is explicit instructions for a thanksgiving offering clearly spelt out in Leviticus chapter 13: “³⁰And he shall offer, of the turtle-doves or pigeons such as he can afford, ³¹one^* for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering, along with a grain-offering; and the priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one being cleansed. ³²This is the ritual for one who has a leprous^* disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.”

 

What I would like to read into today’s story is the following.  The nine lepers who went to the temple in Jerusalem were doing exactly what the Law of Moses told them to do.  Of course they were thankful, and did what the Law prescribed.

 

Whenever Jesus seems to run afoul of the Jewish leaders it is because they are trying to enforce the Law and he is ignoring it!  His laws are fairly simple, “Love God and Love your neighbor”.  Too often we have been raised to “follow the rules”.  As I have said recently, we have become slaves to the rules.  Vatican II has invited us to act responsibly and be accountable for our own actions.  Too often people need the security of “following the rules”.  I came across the following story from Margaret Silf in the current issue of the magazine “America”.

                                                                                                                     

 

A bewildered traveler was once walking in a strange country. Feeling fearful, without map or compass, he came to the junction of three trails. There was no signpost to indicate where any of them might lead. As he sat on a rock, contemplating the problem, a young boy came by and wished him a bright “Good Morning!” The traveler replied, “And a very good morning to you, son. Can you help me, please? I’m not from these parts, and I’m lost. Where does that trail over there lead?” “Sorry, sir, I don’t know” said the boy.    “Well, what about that second trail there?”  “Sorry, sir,” replied the boy, “I don’t know.” By now the traveler was getting impatient. “O.K., where does this third trail go?”  “Sorry sir, I don’t know,” came the cheerful reply.  Now seriously frustrated, the traveler snapped back, “For goodness sake, boy, what do you know?”  “I know I’m not lost, sir,” came the confident rejoinder, as the boy went on his way. 

                                                                                                                                

 

It is that ability to be comfortable with not knowing, with being able to be your own person, make your own decisions after reflection that come to me as the point in the story today.  The Samaritan leper was not bound by the urgency to get to his priest to be declared clean, but decided to go back to Jesus to say thank you.  He would then still need to go the temple at Mount Gerizim.  It was his ability to act for himself and not be determined by the rules, which saved him.

                                                                                                                 

 

 

St Ambrose, the third century theologian uses a very simple analogy which I think might have value for us today in the rather turbulent times we live in.  He says we need to look at the little fish in the big ocean and try to be like that.  The fish has learned to swim in calm waters and when the sea is raging.  Neither sea bothers the fish, it is happy in its environment.  Most of us would rather the sea be calm, but it isn’t right now, not on any front.  All the rules are being challenged, all our solid truths are being questioned and it feels like the traveler at the intersection of three roads. 

                                                                                                                   

Remember the lovely story of the apostles in the boat during the stormy sea.  Why were you afraid, did you not know I am with you! 

This is the message I get from today’s simple story.

 

 

 

Welcome in, Everybody, from Jean & John.

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 66, 18-21,  I come to gather nations of every language..

Psalm :  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News

Hebrews 12, 5-7, 11-13, Endure your trials as discipline

Luke 13, 22-30,  Many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.

 

 

 

Welcome in, Everybody, from The Team.

 

Isaiah 66 observations:

Author: Isaiah III.  The book of Isaiah is one of my favorites, as you have heard me say often enough.   Some beautiful passages.  Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters, and we are reading the very last. 

This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Why? because the works are the longest.  There are 12 minor prophets.

 

 

Trouble in the bleachers with Richard & Mike.

 

Time of composition: ca. 555 to 777,   The Assyrians annihilated the northern Jewish provence or 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 III: Mostly consolation after the catastrophic mess of Jerusalem that greeted the Jews on their return from Babylon. 

 

 

 

Do I have a deal for you on a almost mint condition red Studebaker.

 

What is the activity of a prophet?  1.  criticism, 2. prediction of dire consequences, 3. consolation.

Today’s specific message: this being the last chapter of the whole work, you might guess.  Yes, consolation.

To check out the state of the world, check in with Dona, Bernadette, and Tera (from Iran).

 

Psalm  117:  The best line in the whole bunch of readings.  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Hebrews observation:

 The best thing about today's selection: we have to read Hebrews only one more week.  Awful reading today.

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome in, Jim & John.

 

Go Out to All the World and tell the Good News

You all know well  that I love to celebrate birthdays, like we do here at our Sunday celebrations.  I have carried this over to the 6:00 A.M. spin classes at the J.

Consequently, I am often asking people when is their birthday.  Then at the end of our session I get up front and tell everybody that this person is celebrating a birthday, and give them a BelVita cookie package.  I used to try to sing, but gave it up because singing is not my gift.

 

 

 

With only her first cataract removed, Connie can see!

 

There is a lady named Haya.  I don’t know her last name..  I only know that I am touched and humbled by her.  She is probably 5’1”, and has a scar on the back of her right shoulder.  She and I are the same age part of every year.

Because I am intrigued and humbled by the background & history of these Jewish people, I often ask a person how their family was effected by the Holocaust.   With Haya having the same age as I have, I was especially curious to know what she was doing while I was growing up in University Park.  So I asked.

 

 

Who are those two characters messing with Ben?

 

Turns out that Haya and her family lived in a small town in Poland.  Her father and his two brothers had a small business.  When the Germans took over Poland in late ’39,  Haya’s dad took the family and ran to Marseilles.  The brothers decided to ride it out.

As things got worse Haya’s dad took the family to the Holy Land even before the Jewish State’s establishment.  Finally the family migrated to New York City and somehow got settled there despite some anti-imigration sentiment in the government.  Haya,  therefore, grew up in NY City.  She never heard what exactly happened to her two uncles and their families.

 

Candle Lighting team in operation.

 

Now days Haya seems to be in a good place.  I think she has a son and a daughter and maybe her husband is deceased.  Whatever, Haya has a  house in the Glen Lakes gated community on Walnut Hill and Central, a condo in Manhattan, and a condo in Tel Aviv.  She seems to bounce around all three locations.  So on her birthday, which is August 25, I announced to the class and gave her a BelVita.

 On her way  out she whispered to me, “You made this the happiest day of my life.”   I was stunned and touched.

 

 

Thanks, Tom & Denni, Karen & John for bringing up our gifts

 

 I cannot believe what I just heard.   On the one hand, I am touched that such a small gesture can mean so much to her.  On the other, does this say something about her life?   What has she seen in life that I have never seen? 

Why talk about her this morning?  Two reasons.   Because she is Good News.  The Psalm says, “Go out and tell the Good News.”  People are The Good News.   I want to know her story.

Secondly, I want also to contextualize the negativity of Hebrews and Luke. 

 

 

Elevation time.

 

There was a strong belief in these times that God was definitely a conditional love God.  Why did the Babylonian Captivity take place?  The Israelites were bad.  Jeremiah says it, the Isaiahs say it.   And so it was written.  In fact,  according to a minister here in Dallas,  God punished the people in N.O. for their badness.  Remember Katrina?

Pretty much this opinion of God has been discarded.   Is sickness a penance for a sinful, bad life?   Is this why I got Parkinson?

 

 

 

 

 

Today's Communion team.

 

Me?  I believe and I propose that people are The Good News, that you are The Good News.  God takes Delight in you

And you?   A God who scourges and demands penance or a God who proclaims that people are The Good News?

Haya?  Her birthday will be celebrated tomorrow morning.

 

 

 

Who is this scary person, Harper?

Readings:    

 Wisdom  7, 7-11,  I prayed, and prudence was given to me.

 Psalm 90,   Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy.

 Hebrews 4, 12-13,   The word of God is living and effective.

Mark 10, 17-30,  Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

 

Wisdom:

Date of Composition: 100-200 BCE, which is why it is considered significant.  It provides a glimpse into the cultural & social milieu which prevailed just before & during the time of Christ.   We had Wisdom for our first reading 3 weeks ago.

Place of Composition: Alexandria, Egypt.

The Composer: a Jew who wrote educated Greek.

Unique Quality: Wisdom is one of a set of 12 (or 14) books written in Greek considered not part of the original 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, the O.T.  This blew up around 350 CE when St. Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Early Church, i.e., a church leader who influenced a lot of church dogma, said the books were not genuine.   He was opposed by St. Augustine.  It was the Council of Trent (ca. 1550), that declared the 12 books okay.  Another person doubting the validity of the books was Martin Luther. 

You probably won’t find these books in the Protestant Bibles.

Our Selection in Chapter 7: the book of Wisdom generally says that good guys get rewarded by God, bad guys don’t.  This selection personifies the virtue of wisdom, using the feminine pronoun she, and praises her as above all other values & pleasures.  I loved her even more than health or beauty, the composer declares.

 Sources: The Good News Bible, Got Bible Questions on line.

 

Sell what I have, give it to the poor, and follow Him?

This morning I want to talk about two things:

1.  Selling everything I have and giving it to the poor, then following the Lord;
2.  It being easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the kingdom.
   

   Zoe with her mom, Michelle

I  in no way mean to boast, folks, but I have been there, done that.  Three times, in fact. 

The first time was 1958, when I joined the Jesuits to become a priest.  I was all enrolled at Notre Dame.  I went instead to Grand Coteau, LA, the Jesuit novitiate.  I did this out of fear that if I did not, I was going straight to hell. 

The other two times I was not afraid.  Anxious, yes, but not afraid.  I went to East Africa in ’76 and Rosemary & I married  05.05.05.    Paradoxically one of the riches of that hundred fold that came to me was a lack of fear.   I was not afraid to leave the States and go to East Africa.  I was not not afraid to leave the Jesuit security and marry Rosemary.  This came about because of exposure to good thinking, good people, and rich experiences. 

I gave it all up to go to East Africa and I gave it all up when Rosemary & I married, an unfortunate lack Rosemary had to accept in marrying me.   What I did not give up these two times was inner peace and inner freedom.   In fact, it has deepened with each choice.

3 observations on Mark’s message. 

1.  Go sell what you have and give it to the poor is for real.  We are always challenged to do this.  This is also Mark’s infinite demand in plain view.  This is not an ‘and  follow the Lord.’  This is following him. 
2. Why give it up?  Yes, to help others and to follow him.  But, moreover, this is a ticket of admission into the kingdom.  You know what I mean by kingdom, a here and now, present event of peace and freedom.   The peace & freedom of this kingdom is a result, a consequence of my detatchment.
3. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom, the place of peace and freedom?   Hyperbole, Mark?  Yes. 

We are all rich, all of us.  Take our education alone.  In East Africa I could have given every material thing I had away, and I still would have been rich because of my education.

However, don’t discount Mark’s message.  It is difficult to detatch myself from my money & things, so that I can follow the Lord, help others, and arrive today in the kingdom of peace and freedom.  Do you see freedom or peace in people obsessed with money or work? 

 I have been truly blessed with my 3 give it all up events.  Yes, I have personally received the hundred fold promised.

Where are you on the spectrum of giving it all up, following the Lord, and entering the kingdom of peace and freedom?

 

 Readings:

1 Samuel 1, 20-28, Hannah conceived and bore a son whom she called Samuel.

Psalm 84, Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

1 John 3, 1-2, 21-24, We are God’s children.

Luke 2, 41-52, After 3 days they found him in the temple. 

 

Samuel observations: who, when, what, our passage with a story

Who:

          –about whom: Samuel, the last judge ruler of the Israelites and the first of the Big Three, that is, Samuel, Saul, and The Great King David, a fascinating Old Testament character. 

          –by whom: not written by Samuel, but a compilation of numerous sources.

When:  The Samuel figure lived around  1000 years before Christ.  As far as being put together into a unit, being familiar as you are with the Big Three Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, when they did their prophet job,  and the influence of the Babylonian Captivity, around 600-550, yes, you are right if you guess that the work apparently was assembled at this same time.  The Jewish leaders were attempting to preserve their community as a tribe-nation.  

What:  a Jewish history lesson, fantasized greatly, and attempting to give a divinely chosen character to the Israelites’ heredity.  Originally there were two books, Samuel and Kings.  Now there are 4.  How come?  A simple answer.

Originally, it seems, Samuel was one scroll written in Hebrew.  It was translated into Greek.  Hebrew has no vowels and therefore takes up less space.  Greek has vowels.  Therefore, two scrolls were needed to write out the book of Samuel and thus it became Samuel I and II.   Sort of amusingly simple.

The Story: (chapter 1)

          The 4 characters: Samuel’s mom, Hannah; her husband Elkanah; Elkanah’s second wife, Peninnah; & the temple priest, Eli.

          There was this man, Elkanah, who lived with his two wives in Ramah.  He loved them both.  Over the years Peninnah had numerous children, but Hannah had none.  Despite this, Elkanah had a special love for Hannah.

Peninnah used to laugh at and mock Hannah, who became depressed, often would not eat, and cried a lot.

One day Hannah was in the temple crying over her inability to have children.  At one point she promised that if she had a son, she would dedicate him to God’s service.  She continued to pray, mouthing her prayer silently.

Eli, the priest, was sitting in the back of the temple watching Hannah.  He thinks she is drunk and scolds her, “Stop making a drunken spectacle of yourself.  Stop your drinking and sober up.”

Hannah, of course, is mortified and defends herself, saying she has no children and is miserable.  Eli believes her and tells her to go in peace and may God give you what you ask.

Guess what happens….

Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter's Study Bible, Bible Gateway.com, Wikipedia

 

Our Harper

The Family

This morning I would like to say a few words about the family, especially in connection with what happened in Newtown, CT. 

When the news first hit me, like millions of others, I think I was in denial, then angry, then in tears.  As time went on I would occasionally hear or see some snippet of news asking the question why this boy went off like he did.   Everyone seemed perplexed by this.

When I thought more, taking into my experience as a priest and with psychology, I kept thinking, this is not difficult.  I see three factors: nurture, nature, and environment.  And maybe all three together.  This is how it touches us.  Let me explain each one.

Nurture.  I immediately asked myself, what did he not get that he needed to grow up balanced.  What basic needs were not met?  What did I need, what did you need growing up?  I would propose 4 things, affection, acceptance, encouragement, and training.  I would include time here, too, though it is assumed with the first three. 

What happens when I do not have these needs attended to, the result?  I am hurt.  How does hurt often manifest?  Anger.

 

Nature.   This is a tough one.  Psychological disorder.  I have seen young kids who probably were getting nurture, but were out of control, impulsive, even violent.  The result: anger. 

Modern medication can certainly help a young person with such a disorder.  Sometimes it just does not work.

Environment.  This obviously involves the home atmosphere.  But it includes extended family, school, and neighborhood.  A lot of abuse can take place at school.  Bullying.   Result: hurt.  Manifestation: anger.

 

Also under environment I would include what is offered on TV, electronic games, and news from other tragedies.  Who right now are the young people out there who want to emulate Newtown or Columbine?  The example is contagious for a kid. 

What has this got to do with you and me?  It has this to do with you and me: we are family.  We can nurture, whether we are parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, coaches, scout leaders. 

One of the people who nurtured me in 7^th & 8^th grade was Frank Hart, my old coach, scout leader, and teacher.  We are still close friends.

We as a Catholic spiritual community have the honor and privilege of nurturing all the marvelous kids who join with us on Sunday mornings.  May they take away a positive image of themselves from their time here.  May they take with them an image of an affectionate and accepting God. 

Affection, acceptance, encouragement, training.  For whom are you doing this today?