Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6,  Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem.

 Psalm 72,  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

 Ephesians 3, 2 & 3, 5 & 6, The Gentiles are coheirs.

 Matthew 2, 1-12,   The visit of the Magi to Bethlehem.

 

 

Welcome in Everybody.

 

Isaiah observations & reminders:

Who.  This is Isaiah III, the third of three.  

Time.  The Jewish people have been released from slavery in Babylon and are back in a devastated Jerusalem.  Around 555 before Christ.

Message:  consolation and encouragement.   The splendor of Jerusalem will shine again.

 

 

"And from me, too," says Leo, "Welcome in, Folks".

 

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols:

2 observations–

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  Matthew carefully crafted this story to appeal to both his fellow Jews and the Gentile population.   I'll touch 2 points, each with 3 subdivisions..         

 

 

Hi, Folks.
 

 

1.  The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are

a. Gentiles

b. They come from the east, considered the source of wisdom in the world of that time.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east or a star he will bring new light. 

c. They are searchers & symbolize every man’s search for meaning in life.    Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising for not searching, and the Gentiles. 

 

 

A future musician with her daddy.

 

2.  The 3 gifts. 

 a.  Gold is given because it signifies royalty. 

 b.  Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity. 

 c.  Myrra signifies medicine.  Myrra is for the human.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of the Week, Buddy.

 

 A post script.  People in Europe used to write an inscription over their doors, e.g. 20+C+M+B+17.  The numbers are our year.  The letters are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, supposedly the kings' names.   Christians made it say, “Christ & you 3 kings bless our house or Maison the year listed."

 

 

Who is that under that beautiful, white hat?
 

 

 Another post script.  In New Orleans Epiphany starts Carnival season, which leads up to Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The parades start, folks.  Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler.

 Sources: Reginal Fuller, St. Louis U. Liturgy; Biblical & Theological Resources, the Voice Institute, on line; Wikipedia; and other sources.

 

 

Hi, Harper, so nice to see you.

 

An Epiphany Story

Rosemary & I once went to the exposition of some paintings of about six or eight artists. Among the artists and the reason we were there was my childhood buddy, Ed Lamberty.  He was presenting some of his works.

 As we were wandering around we ran into another couple who are old friends.  We ask what brought them to this exposition.  They pointed across the room to a middle aged, middle class, blondish woman who was standing by some of her works.

 

Some of the people who attended Frank Reyes' Memorial, Saturday evening, The Resource Center in Dallas near Love Field.

 

 Here is the story the wife told me.

The couple we know are both academics on the university level.  Some years ago the wife had been teaching and came to know one of her students.  The student was a mother with a son about 8 years old.  At some point in time the father had abandoned them and left them with nothing.  They were living in the mother’s car.

 

 

The Beautiful women of our Community.

 

My friend says to me that this so shocked her and she thought this cannot continue.  An Epiphany moment.  She described the situation to her husband and two sons who were about 10 & 12.  Guess what they did.

They invited the mother & son to live with them until they got on their feet.  The two sons moved into one bedroom and the mother & her son took the other.  Here they lived for almost a year until the husband found the woman a job. 

 

 

And more of the beautiful Juliettes.

 

The woman now is successful and is developing as an artist, selling her works for big sums.  The son graduated from Jesuit, graduated from college, and now is married with a couple of his own kids. 

 Obvious from the fact that they were at the art exposition, my friends are still quite close with the mother & her son. 

 

 

 

And talking about beauty, Wow!  Does it get any better than The Romeos??

 

I would propose that this is what epiphany is, a light shines on a presence, like Mike talked about last week.  The presence is a challenge and, perhaps, involves care for others.   The presence may be the example of another person.

 Who is an epiphany for you?

 For whom are you an epiphany?

Readings:

Acts 4,  34, 32-35  The community of believers was of one heart and mind.

Psalm 118,    Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

1 John 5, 1-6,   Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God.

 John  20, 19-31,  Thomas.

 

 

Acts reminders:

Author: Luke, the same who wrote the gospel.  He was an educated, urbane Jew.

Date: the years 75-80 

Subject: This is a travel log, detailing the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome and the Mediterranean in between.

Today: we have a passage pretty universally admittedly idealistic.  All is perfect and harmonious.   We view a community which is a commune, a utopian vision of life and the foundation of communism.

 

 

 

 

Do Not be Unbelieving, But Believe 

This week Rosemary and I will head south to Mobile, Alabama, where two events are taking place.  First, we plan another reunion of my old ’58 class Jesuits will get together.  Secondly, 50 years ago we graduated from Spring Hill College and there is a homecoming event staged by the college.

Of course, all this has me reflecting fondly on our years together.  Three memories.

 

First, there was a neat spirit among the 25 or so guys I entered with.  Most of these guys were amazingly normal, intellectually gifted, and some were amazing athletes. 

Secondly, as a group we lived a rigorous monastic life.  Silence, formal prayer times, work, study, and three recreation afternoons, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.  We wore a black cassock & cincture or we wore long sleeved shirts and long pants, even to play touch football & baseball in 100 degree heat & Gulf Coast humidity.  We took only three showers a week, a left over reflection of the old Catholic phobia about nakedness. 

 

 

There is a story funny today about the odor or sanctity.  This was how you could tell a fake Jew from a true Catholic during the time of Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain, say 1492.  Catholics did not bathe, Jews did bathe once a week.  Guess what the odor of sanctity was.

The third thing I remember is our life at Spring Hill College.  For me it was a marvelous release from a cloistered life to life on a campus with guys and girls, not that we were allowed to, as it was termed, fraternize with the college kids.

 

 

I graduated 50 years ago with a degree in secondary ed, maybe grooming myself for administration in one of our 6 regional high schools.  I also spent the three years studying Catholic philosophy in Latin.  It was totally boring to me.  We had the adversaries and we had to learn how to out argue them.  We took our finals in Latin.

 

 

It was during these three years that a lot of my classmates began to question the whole process.  It was Vatican II time, the murder of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  At this time I never questioned.  I just went along.  I admired the guys, but was content.  I survived because I played a lot of touch football and I took care of a fleet of boats & motors we used at a villa across Mobile Bay.  I could go there every weekend and for two marvelous weeks in the summer.  We also had three hot, excellent meals a day.

 

The overall training made me grow up quickly.  I look back now, however, am somewhat embarrassed, and ask myself how could I believe in some of those practices.  And I know.  It was believe, believe in the process, in the company, in those who have gone through this before me, and look at them, how successful they are.

Doubting Thomas, the subject of our Gospel today, is a hero of mine.  I think I would like to have been more like him in those early years.  Which would have been impossible at the time, I know. I believed.   Paradoxically, I think the training itself ultimately gave me the self-confidence and intellectual curiosity to enable me to have doubts & questions.  Want to know when I started questioning?  East Africa.

 

The danger with the "do not be unbelieving, but believe" statement is that it is a "do not think" statement.  I become a sheep following the footsteps of whoever is in front of me with a feeling of security.  Doubts can be scary, questions confusing.  Without them I am less than fully human. 

Like with Thomas, what are your doubts & questions.  What do you do about them and how do you feel about them?

 

 

Readings: Acts 5, 12-16; Psalm118; Revelation 1, 9-10; John 20, 19-31

 

Second Sunday After Easter – Reflection on the Readings

 

  

Acts of the Apostles continues Luke’s Gospel by focusing on the spread of Christianity after the Resurrection.  The focus is first on the work of the Apostles and especially on the position of Peter, and then in the second half of the book, the focus is on the work of Paul. 

 

Today’s reading from Chapter 5 comes immediately after the apostles have been brought before the Sanhedrin (the powers that be in the Jewish community) and told to stop their preaching about Jesus.  This is clearly a focus on the question “who will be in charge of the twelve tribes of Israel?  It also echoes back to Abraham and his being placed in charge of the tribes of Israel. 

 

   

Remember, we are dealing with a group who have only the Old Testament to turn to in their attempts to make sense of all that they remember or heard about Jesus.  The power of God, working thru Peter is now much stronger than even when Jesus cured.  All people need for healing is to have Peter’s shadow pass over them.  There is no need for any physical contact!  Luke is here building up the importance of the “new leaders” of the people, the apostles.

 

  

 

Our second reading is from the Book of Revelations; a much-misunderstood work, which I wish had never been included in the New Testament!  The work is primarily written in an apocalyptic style and its main focus is on the Roman Empire and the battle which the early Christians had with that entity.  There is nothing about the 21^st century in this writing, nor about how the world itself would end!  The writer had no idea of a place called the USA nor the Soviet Union!  

 

Second Sunday After Easter – Homily

 

Poor Thomas!  Actually thank God for Thomas!  It is comforting to know that someone else had doubts about the resurrection.  One week after our high point of Easter Sunday we are immediately given this wonderful little incident.  What I like about it is that it allows space for a very natural doubt to exist side be side with the faith in the Resurrection. 

   

Back in 1968 a book was published called Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Ratzinger.  The book was a through examination of the Apostles Creed.  I remember being surprised when he talks fairly early on in the book about both the believer and unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief.  At the time it struck me as quite surprising.  Remember I was a naive seminarian in my early twenties and everything was rock solid!  Oh for those nice innocent days!!

  

I have since grown up to recognize the truth in Ratzinger’s book, and in my own life.  If we remember back to the church before Vatican II we seemed to live in a world of certainty.  We were told exactly how everything was, now it seems things are messy!  It is what happens when you look behind the curtain, as happened to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. 

   

Doubting seems to be an integral part of our lives.  We would very much like the comfort of absolute certainty, and we do have it in a few things, like death and taxes, but for all the other areas of our lives we move from one doubt to another, all the while trying to either buy insurance or insulate ourselves in some other way against the uncertainties of life.  And belief in God is one area where there is lots of room for doubt, since God is mystery. 

 

 

  

So what can we begin to compare or faith in God to in our experience?  It seems to me that it is like being in love.  You meet someone and fall in love.  But the other person is free to respond or not.  The minute you force their response it is no longer love.  And so our most intimate of relationships with other humans is based on a hope that the other will respond and continue to respond.  If I think of God along those lines there is one major difference, God is going to love me, in this relationship; God is the only one taking the risk. 

 

Picture 1:  Tony begins Mass

 

Picture 2:  The Offertory

 

Picture 3:  Jim, Bob, Jackie, & friend 

Readings: Acts 1, 15-26; Psalm 103, the Lord has set his Throne in Heaven; 1 John 4, 11-16; John 17, 11-19.

Acts: a review–

Author:  Luke, the author of The Acts & The Gospel

Date: ca. 50 years after the death of Jesus

Our Selection: Believe it or not, we are now back to chapter 1 after getting as far as chapters 9 & 10.  What is going on is this.  The chapter opens with an introduction and then a description of the Ascension, Jesus going up in the sky.  Apparently the event took place about a half mile outside Jerusalem on the Mt. of Olives. 

Afterward, all the community come together in the room they had been hiding in. About 120 are present and Peter gets up to speak.  We read Peter's words. 

John's letter: There is a great line in this selection.  See if you can spot it when you hear it.  I'll tell you after the reading, but a hint, it is the last line.

The World

Last Sunday evening I took Rosemary to the emergency room at Presbyterian on Walnut Hill.  Many of you may not know that for years she has endured a condition where her heart would spike up to ca. 180 and lock in there.  Normally when she felt a spike coming she would lie down and it would subside.  Occasionally it would take a longer, like an hour or two. 

Sunday, after the spike continued for 4-5 hours and she was feeling nauseous and lousy, I called our doctor who assured me the event was not life threatening, not a stroke or a heart attack, and that I should take her to the emergency room so they could arrest the spike. 

So I rush over to Presbyterian reassured that she was not in danger from the spike, but anxious about going to the hospital.  Flashing through my mind are stories about hospital mishaps, overworked nurses, scissors left inside incisions, mixed medications, and people going in with a hang nail and coming out with a staff infection that kills them. 

However, I was humbled and impressed with the efficiency, the care, and the cleanliness of what I encountered.  We arrived about 8:00 and I did not leave until shortly before midnight.  It actually took most of that time to bring the spike down and keep it down.  It would come down, then immediately spike.  The phenomenon is called SVT, supra ventricular tachycardia. 

When we walked into that emergency room, I only had to put Rosemary's name & date of birth on a piece of paper, and they whisked her into the care of numerous teams of nurses, a doctor, and eventually one of her heart specialist team.

Then a great thing happened on Tuesday morning when they did a procedure on her called an ablation, where by they run a little wire up from the groin, through a vein into the heart cavity, and zap the malfunction.  Rosemary came home and donated her heart medications to the CCAC.  She does not need them anymore.

The people in Presbyterian were terrific, amazingly professional, caring, and warm.

This has been on my mind a lot and I thought about the experience when I noticed the John reading about the world.  Did you notice that he uses the word world 9 times in a small paragraph, always in a negative context?  Like, the world is a bad place.

We have talked about this before and I would like to propose again that, while the world around us has a lot of pain & suffering, the world also has tremendous beauty.  And, moreover, you and I can increase that beauty, helping to minimize the suffering. 

As I've mentioned before, I pick up here the scent of the old philosophical principle of dualism.  That is, the whole world is divided into two opposites, hot & cold, dark & light, spirit & matter, and especially, good & bad.  Moreover, bad & good covers other doubles, for example, light is good, darkness bad.  And especially, matter is bad, spirit is good.  Consequently, the world full of material & stuff is seen as the enemy.

This extends to my person.  My material body vs my spirit, my thinking and feeling.  To free the latter I must discipline and control the body.  Taken to an extreme people get into hurting themselves, so as to free the inner spirit.  I did not have enough common sense as a young Jesuit to realize that some of the penitential practices we were encourage to do we just self abuse.

Where are we today?  Today we are encouraged to treasure our world and to improve it.  We see this all over the place.  I was at the CCAC, the Collin Co. Adult Clinic, Thursday and here are all these people providing medical care to the poorest people pro bono, no salary or stipend. Ken Cramer sent me a note, "When can we have another food drive?"  Great reminder.  We'll do it next week.

I saw recently where Groundwork Dallas had another Trinity clean up.  Hundreds showed up to remove trash and in particular a hill of dead tires illegally dumped in the forest.  I wished I could have been there, like the time Ron Kovatis got many of us down there.

I propose that our challenge is not to hate the world, but the treasure it and to make it even more beautiful. 

How are you beautifying our world?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-05-24.mp3

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin & Sabrina

Picture 2:  Sabrina, who graduated Friday from 8th grade at St. Monica with a Presidential Award for excellence, reading her poem Download Bread_by_sab[1]

Picture 3:  John Doherty preparing to receive a blessing on his employment away from home

Picture 4:  Donut Shoppe with customers Kevin, Chloe, & Denni

 

 

 

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: Jeremiah 20,10-13; Psalm 69; Romans 5, 12-15; Matthew 10, 26-33

Jeremiah: one of the 3 great prophets along with Isaiah & Ezekiel.  He lives just before the defeat & destruction of Jerusalem 650 years before Christ.  He foretells the catastrophe, warning the Hebrews that their sinful ways will lead to destruction.  He lives to see the event, but also prophesies that the exile will be temporary and that one day the people will return to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah was unpopular with the people because of his warnings.  Today's reading shows him bitter and complaining about the people. 

 

As Good as Sparrows, as Good as Aviana?

In February, when we put our little dog Naomi to sleep after 15 years, Rosemary & I debated whether we would ever want to get another dog.  Putting her to sleep was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. 

Around Memorial Day, however, Rosemary began to look on line just a bit.  Shih-tzus were our favorite, but we entertained other types of small dogs.   In fact, our vet had recommended a woman in East Texas who occasionally raised a litter of maltipoos, a mixture of maltese & poodle. 

Last Wednesday we took a trip to East Texas.  We had two ladies to visit, the one recommended by the vet and another who raised shih-tzus.  On the way we debated: yes or no.  We decided to just look.  

Well, so much for looking.  In fact, the hardest thing was coming home without one of each. 

Behold Aviana, a maltese-poodle mix whose name comes from the air base north east of  Venice, where we visited Michael & Lydia on our spring trip.  The base is Aviano; we made it feminine.

Do I have any doubts or reservations now that she is part of our family?  No, not one.  In fact, I am reminded every day why she is a special gift.  A couple of observations.

Do you realize that she is not afraid?  I think she is like all of us when we are born.  When do we begin to be afraid?  I know how Aviana could become afraid.  If I treated her mean & rough, and abused her.  Matthew recommends that we be afraid not of the person who kills the body, but of the person who kills the soul.  I would suggest the word spirit instead of soul.  Abuse kills the spirit.  At the least it wounds the spirit.

Yesterday I was working on line and Aviana was lying under my feet sound asleep.  Not on her tummy or on her side.  She was lying on her back with her legs and ears splayed out.  Talk about trust.  Lack of fear.

Matthew says that we need not fear because we are worth more than many sparrows.  Am I worth as much as one Aviana? 

Second observation is that I see the acceptance of God in the behavior of Aviana.  I saw it in Naomi.  I walk in the house and receive not just unconditional acceptance.  I encounter excited & joyous celebration.  I am amazed and touched.  We hear a lot about how we will be judged a sheep or a goat at the great roundup.  If I am lax, God will come like a thief in the night and hurl me into hell for being caught off guard. 

My preference is to see the acceptance of Aviana as reflective of the acceptance of God.  She is another of those little creatures we talked about last week.  She is another metaphor or parable about God's acceptance of us as we are. 

Aviana is not afraid of us.  She amazingly trusts us.  Moreover, she accepts and celebrates us just as we are.  

How does she symbolize or not symbolize your relationship with God? 

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-06-22.mp3