Sunday Homily, April 16, 2019, Trinity Sunday

Readings:

Exodus  3, 1-8, 13-15     Yahweh calls Moses from the burning bush.

Psalm 103,  The Lord is kind and merciful. (Excellent last stanza, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.)

1 Corinthians 10, 1-6, 10-12,   Do not grumble as some of them did. 

Luke 13, 1-9,   The parable of the fig tree with no figs.

 

 

Says Harper, Welcome in, Everybody. 

 

Exodus observations:

What: this is the second book of the Bible and Torah, following Genesis, which we had last week with Abraham receiving the special land.    Exodus is a story about how the Jewish tribe of people escaped from slavery in Egypt.  A good read.

Who:  the story is about the Jewish people and their reluctant leader, Moses.  It was put together, not by Moses, as was thought for centuries, but by a group of the priests even centuries later.

 

 

Hey, who is that new helper?  Why, that is Buddy, next to his big sister.

 

When:  it is put together at The Time in Jewish history, yes, during the Babylonian Captivity, say 555 years before Christ.  It is a mostly mythological story about how God helped his special people out of slavery eons before Babylon.  Do you see a parallel between the slavery of Egypt and Babylon?  Could this be a reason for developing the Egypt story, that is, to encourage the people enslaved in Babylon?

Our selection:  like the call stories of Isaiah and Jeremiah, here is another call story, this time Moses.    

 

         

Ugh, oh, Folks, watch out.  Guess who is walking!

 

 

The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

This morning I would like to pick up two themes from the readings and tie them up with our lives.  The themes are from Exodus and Psalm 103, the Moses story of call and the description of God as being gracious and merciful, never getting angry and abounding in love, using a translation I love.

Two observations about the call.  First, it usually involves discomfort for me because I am getting called out of my comfort zone.  Secondly, in accepting the call I feel peace and joy, like I talked about last week.  In fact, I meet that God who is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

 

Daddy, May I play with that guitar.    

 

I have told you over the years that I can identify 3 big calls in my life, entering the Jesuits, going to work in East Africa, and getting married to Rosemary.  I’m now adding a fourth, the invitation to be part of our marvelous community.

Besides these mega calls I would propose that we get medium level calls frequently in our lives.  These come to me because of events or circumstances.  Often they come to me because of a person, maybe in combination with events. 

 

Some of the Bona Responds volunteers in Dallas to donate a week of their spring break to clean up work in Garland.  They are students at St. Bonaventure U., near Buffalo, a Franciscan university.  

 

For example, there is a person like that here with us this morning, Jim Mahar, from the staff at St. Bonaventure U. near Buffalo, NY.   I would include with Jim one of our own, Bill Hammond. 

I first got one of these Mahar-Hammond calls after the hurricane in Galveston.  Guess where I went for a week.  Yes, Galveston, where we all worked like crazy cleaning trash out of roads, tearing destroyed houses apart, and spending nights in a church dormitory for about 20 Baptist Men (a great group), one of whom snored quite loudly.  We had a group of students, boys and girls, probably 10 to 15.  I spent a beautiful and moving week.

 

 Artist at work, Zoe.

 

Next I get the call to go to OK City after the last big tornado.  Our group of about 10 spent a week cleaning up a forgotten small town called Little Ax.   The majority of dwellings had been mobile homes.  They were gone, or, at least, torn and twisted apart.  It was beautiful spring weather while we were there and dreadful destruction.  The people were all gone. 

One special event for me took place in Little Ax.  We worked with and spent the nights with two unique groups of kids.  One was an international Jewish disaster group and the other was a Muslim international disaster group.  I talked with the kids in these groups and was quite touched.  The Jewish kids had literally flown in from Israel to help in Oklahoma.

 

Our newest altar server understudy, Buddy,  helping his big sister.

 

Talk about God being gracious and merciful, never getting angry and abounding in love.   Despite the destruction.

Guess what is the call this week from Mahar & Hammond. 

 

 

Guess who has their eyes intently focused on their brother, Buddy.  Victoria and Zoe.  

 

Welcome to the scene of our 4th Advent and Christmas Eve celebrations, to the most colorful school dining room I have ever seen, and to a marvelous venue for special inspiration.  Legacy Charter School.

 

Readings: 

Micah 5, 1-4, From you shall come one who is to be ruler in Israel

Psalm 80,  Lord, make us turn to you, let us see your face and we shall be saved.   

Hebrews 10, 5-10, Sacrifices and offering you did not  desire  

Luke 1,  39-45,  Mary visits Elizabeth.

 

 

Buddy, you are becoming such a gifted reader.  Thanks to you and thanks to you, Georgie, for shepherding Buddy.

 

 

Homily

The summer of 2015 I was a volunteer referee, of course, unbiased, principled, and open to all gifts.  Chocolate was my favorite.  I was a referee for the Maccabe summer games at the Jewish Community Center, a place that has become something of a second or third home for me.

 

 

Thanks for lighting our 4 Advent candles today, Zoe.  Your hair is gorgeous.

 

The Maccabe Games take place every summer in Jewish Community Centers all over the country and perhaps Canada.  Thousands of kids came to Dallas, and the spirit in the air was terrific.  They were sheltered all over Dallas in JCC family homes.  We had a dozen or so on our block of Tulip Lane.  All together it must be like that at the Olympics.

During the time there were numerous general meetings.  At one of the meetings of no less than 2500 a special event took place.

 

 

Welcome Home from Beirut, Celeste.  It is so good to see you back.  I am jealous of those kids in Beirut who have you as their music teacher.

 

There was a young girl of about 15, Hallie Bernard, who addressed the whole assembly one day.  Hallie had a rare disease.   To recover she needed a bone marrow transplant.  She made an appeal to the parents and kids to get registered and maybe she would find a donor who would save her life.

Hallie immediately had 2500 volunteers.  As word got out to others at the event and beyond, over 6,000 volunteers registered.

 

 

Congratulations, Rick, on losing 30 pounds.  I am proud to know you.

 

As a result, 53 matches were found all over the place, even beyond Dallas & Texas. 

Hallie found a match.  

Guess why the people at the Jewish Community Center and beyond so touch my heart.  

Are people just not good!

 

 

Welcome home from college, Kevin, so good to see you.

 

Our Advent Reconciliation with Mary Jane & Becky (the head of Legacy Charter).

Readings:

Wisdom   2, 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,  It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom.

 

"Hi, Everybody," says Genevieve, "Welcome to my baptism.  This is my mom, Mary, and my grandmom, Jill."

 

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. 

Rich, Ray's dad, and Jill and George, Mary's parents, with The Queen.

 

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.

 

                         Genevieve's moment has arrived.

 

Mark, an observation

I do not want to talk about the Gospel this morning, but I would like to give you a head's up about one line, It being easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the kingdom.

1.  I've been there and done what it says.   I am left with the belief that we don't have to be so hard on ourselves.  We are talking about infinite demand.  Balance that with infinite acceptance.

2.  Change the perspective.  Instead of the infinite demand focused on saving my soul for eternity, focus on the kingdom being present tense. Peace is the kingdom now.  Do we often push ourselves to achieve a goal in this life?  And with the goal do we experience peace?  I experienced peace in going to East Africa even though it tore my heart out to leave my mom and friends.

 

              "Robert, Ray, where have you seen God most recently?"

 

Don’t Judge that Book by the Cover

I did it again, Folks.  I judged the book by the cover.  In fact, I did not realize I was doing it.  The book, the German People living during the 3^rd Reich and the War.   

This is not saying that I had not met some marvelous Germans when I worked in Tanzania.  In fact, I even visited two German medical sisters in their homes on my various home visits.  One lived in Bonn, the former capital while Germany was divided.  The other lived in Cologne, which we visited this past trip on the Rhine. 

 

               "When I saw this perfect little girl this morning."

 

There was a series of insights into the German people on this journey, but in particular there was one Sunday afternoon in a little town called Speyer.  We had docked overnight, been toured around the town in the morning, and then the afternoon we were free.  Around 6:00 we would depart Speyer. 

Rosemary was pooped, so I told her I would just walk over to the plaza in front of the church and look around.  I had walked around for maybe an hour when I decided to simply sit on a park bench in the shade and watch the people.  It was a beautiful, contemplative afternoon for me.

 

                Today, even the gorilla gets a hug from Kevin.

 

In the park I was struck by the simple family enjoyment, parents with kids and people with dogs.  Europe is very dog friendly.  Rosemary & I saw three elderly ladies seated at an outdoor coffee shop, and the fourth seat, a little white poodle.  The dog was very well trained and polite.

The little town of Speyer was also neat and clean and people had red geraniums in almost every window sill.  I saw this in every German town and city.

 

It takes preparation, bread, wine, readers, and song books, and Jan coordinates is all.

 

On top of this, Germany is just drop dead beautiful, as Ron A. has told me repeatedly.  Green, hilly, forested, and dotted with these lovely towns. 

I have a bad habit of judging the book by the cover.  This is the first time I discovered that I have judged a whole people.  I had been shifting, I admit, because Rosemary has been feeding me these gripping novels about the conscientious German during the Reich. 

 

                                   Ray & Leo, dad & son.

 

 

How to survive if you disagreed with the program, when even a word overheard by a person could get you reported, visited in the night by the S.S., and then sent to a death camp.   There were a number of priests and Jesuits who encountered this.

 

                 Cupcake of the Week to Angela on her birthday.

 

I have come to see how I have been judging this book by its cover, the German people.

What is the book you are judging by its cover?

 

                        Not only does Jan coordinate everything.

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  6, 1-7, Select from among you 7 reputable men.

Psalm 33,  Lord, Let your mercy be upon us as we place our trust in you.

1 Peter 2, 4-9, You are a chosen race.

 John 14, 15-21,  If you love me you will keep my commandments.

 

 

"Hi, Everybody," says Zoe, "And Happy Mother's Day."
 

 

Mother's Day History:

1905-08: Anna Jarvis of West Virginia began this celebration for her mother, Ann, who cared for wounded Civil War soldiers of both sides.  She campaigned to make it a national day and in 

1914:  Woodrow Wilson made it national.

The spelling: always singular, according to Anna. 

Hallmark Cards: Anna hated them because she felt you know what.  

 

 

"From me, too," says Tori, "Happy Mother's Day."

 

It’s Mother’s Day !

In honor of it being Mother’s Day I want to tell two stories about my mom.  One story is about a compliment she gave me and the second is about a trip we made together.

The first story took place around ’89 or ’90.  I had already returned from East Africa and had already put in a year in a Hispanic church the Jesuits ran in downtown Houston.   I was now living at the high school community. 

 

 

Welcome home, Dawson, from first year at Ole Miss.

 

It was early afternoon.  We were on westbound LBJ heading toward what used to be called the Deadman Hospital at Webb Chapel.  The name has been changed.  Mom was going to the hospital to have some minor surgery, and would stay overnight.

As we drove along she reached out her left hand, patted me on the leg, and said, “I’m proud of you.” 

 

The bells are ringing, time to start.

I may be wrong, but I don’t remember my mom ever doing that before.  You got to remember that she had always been bummed about me joining the Jesuits and she had never spoken to a Jesuit for about 7 years after I had gone to East Africa. 

She thought I had been sent despite my insistence that I had simply accepted an invitation. 

 

Our Candle Lighter of The Week, Leo.

 

 

 

 

Offertory time with Warren, Barb, and Bill.

 

I was already probably 50 years old at the time mom complimented me.  I had been around a bit.  That compliment really touched me.

The second story took place on one of my home visits from East Africa.  Mom got her two sisters to join her and invited me to drive them around Ireland one Fall on my return to East Africa. 

 

Communion helpers, Mike, Geri, Claire, Beth, and Rob.

 

We met in London, which is a story for another homily.  We went to Dublin and leased a little red, two door car.  We drove counter clockwise through County Cavin, where they looked in graveyards for our ancestors, through Northern Ireland, and through the northwest until we arrived at Shannon Airport.

They were like three teen aged girls, laughing, and telling stories about their early day.  Thanks to the smallness of Ireland, we were able to make good progress even though we would usually not be ready to depart in the morning until 10:00 or 10:30.  By 11:30 they wanted to stop for tea.

 

Buddies, Zoe & Harper.

 

12:30 or 1:00 lunch.  3:30 for tea and pastries.  Finally, by 5:30 I had to start looking for a place to stay & eat.  And this was a process.  I had to check it out.  Then my mom checked it.  If she gave the okay, in everyone went to eat dinner and laugh themselves silly until 11:00 or 12:00 midnight.

It was one of the fun trips of my life and I was most touched that mom had invited me to be their driver.

 

Buddies, Mike & Rosemary.

 

The power of a mother to give life through a simple compliment. 

How has your mother given you life?

 Readings: Exodus, 34, 4-9, Note the great line, The Lord is Gracious & Merciful, slow to anger, and rich in kindness & fidelity;

Daniel 3, Glory and Praise Forever;

2 Corinthians 13, 11-13;

John 3, 16-18.   Great readings today!

 

Father’s Day History:

 Four steps:

     1.  The Civil War started thinking about a Mother’s Day.  Anna Jarvis pushed it ca. 1907 and it was made official in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson.

       2.  Monongah, WV mining disaster, 210 fathers killed, Dec. 6, 1907 (just before Christmas & after the Mother’s Day activity).  Fairmont, WV.   Grace Golden Clayton pushed the idea. 

        3.  Spokane, WA, Sonora Dodd & influence of Mother’s Day.  Dodd’s dad had fought in the Civil War and all by himself raised Sonora & her 5 siblings.   

        4.  Pres. LBJ made it special, 1966.  Pres. Nixon made it a national holiday, 1972.

 

Exodus Story: 

The Israelite people have been wandering around in the Sinai Desert for many years after escaping from old Pharaoh in Egypt.  Moses has been invited up Mt. Sinai to receive 10 Commandments.  

He comes down loaded with two stone tablets written on both sides and discovers that the people have become  exasperated with him and the wandering in the desert.  They have created a gold bull to celebrate with and to worship.

Old Moses, all angry, throws down the tablets and breaks them.  He calls Aaron, his lieutenant, tells him to gather the Levite tribe, the priestly tribe, and he tells them to slaughter all the rest.  They do.

 

Then, and here we take up the reading, Yahweh tells Moses to make two more tablets and to return to the top of Mt. Sinai, where he will get another set of commandments.  It is here where that marvelous line about the nature of God is mentioned again, "The Lord is gracious & merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love."

Beware of taking this story literally.  It is mythical history making.  

 

Responsorial Psalm from the Book of Daniel: 

A great story.  Characters: three Jewish boys, a gold statue, and the great King, Nebuchadnezzar, what a name. 

Seems like old Nebuchadnezzar decided to cast a gold statue.  He wanted everyone to bow down to it.  Three Jewish boys said no.  Even though they were favorites of the king, he had to throw them into a flaming furnace.   

Far from being burned up, the boys started dancing around in joy and they sang the song we have for today’s responsorial psalm.  Though this is totally a mythical story, you can picture them.

 

Homily was given by Tony Levatino of Holy Trinity Parish.

 

Picture 1:   Consecration

Picture 2:   Our Father

Picture 3:   Father's Day Blessing

Picture 4:   Father's Day Blessing

Picture 5:   Tony 

Readings: Isaiah 7, 10-14; Psalm 24; Romans, 1, 1-7; Matthew 1, 18-24.

Isaiah: The great prophetic book.  8 centuries before Christ.  Talking here about the coming of the savior.

The Gift of Life

Last Sunday morning ca. 1:30 A.M., a friend of mine was having insomnia.  She got up without waking her husband.  Got into her car and headed down Belt Line to get a coffee or something at the 7-11 on the corner near Central.  Along the way she lost control of her Expedition, ran into a pole, and then slammed into another.  Parkland Hospital awakened her husband at 3:00 A.M. to inform him that his wife Sally had just died in their emergency room.

I have known Sally Ann Kidwell Swenholt since the 60’s when she was a little girl and I taught her big brother John Michael at Jesuit, where he was a good basketball player.   She was 48 and married 29 years to her high school boy friend. Her father had been my dentist in Preston Center until he retired and John Michael took over.  She became a dental hygienist and cleaned my teeth every year or so.  Her sister Susanne is a special friend.  I have loved this family and been privileged to walk with them through some great times and some troubled times.  This event has knocked me out.  Why?  And why at this time of year.

Some observations.

I can’t answer the why question for myself.  It just happens.  I can live with that mystery.  However, one big lesson stands out for me: life is a gift.  I may blow it off or I may treasure and appreciate it.  Sally Ann did the latter and I hope to follow her example.

One of the qualities that endeared her to me was that she was a delightful airhead who chattered non-stop.  The Kidwell dental office works very efficiently, on time.  You get your teeth cleaned & X-rayed in 30 minutes.  More attention needed, you make another appointment.  I do not know how she & I ever got through a half hour appointment.  Talk & more talk.  Ever try to tell someone how your sister is or how the Masses are at San Vino with someone cleaning your teeth with a drill mounted brush?  We always had so much to catch up on. 

As a tribute to her person centered, caring life, as well as the Kidwell family, St. Rita’s was full with a thousand plus people.  People were standing in the back.  Even though I could not concelebrate with Phil Postell, the Jesuit president, I was delighted that I got the idea and then did it: I applauded after Shauna, Sally’s oldest child who also works at the dental office, gave a beautifully amusing & tear filled eulogy to her mom.  In fact, though I fantasized that I might be clapping all alone, people not only jumped right in, but as Shauna came down & hugged her dad, the whole community stood and redoubled their applause.   I was in tears. 

One other observation.  When Sally drove into that pole on Belt Line she did not have her seat belt on.

We are privileged to celebrate here this morning, we are privileged to celebrate Christmas tomorrow, we are privileged to be alive.

How are you treasuring this gift today?