Sunday Homily, August 18, 2019, 20th Ordinary Time

Readings: Deuteronomy 8, 2-16; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58.

Deuteronomy: The fifth & last book of the Torah.  The scene: Moses & the Hebrews are in the desert just outside the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, whom they are going to kick out and kill.  Moses is reviewing their journey from Egypt.

The belief that Yahweh punishes and corrects us is not so common today as Moses suggests to the people.  We will read the whole section to get the sense more clearly.

The Banquet

A while back somebody asked me what was the best meal we had in Italy.  It took me a nano second to remember.  It took place the afternoon we arrived in Venice. 

We had just gotten off the train from spending two days with Chebino & Lydia in Pordenone & Aviano.  In fact, if I had eaten the two evenings with Michael I might have considered these meals some of the best, because when Michael walks into these 2 favorite places, the owner comes out and everyone greets him.  He gets all this affection because he is so friendly & outgoing. 

Consequently, everything was cordial & delightful & we received the best of everything.  My only problem was that I don't eat after about 4:00, to eliminate acid reflux without having to take pills.  So I just enjoyed the event and a glass of red wine.

In Venice, however, it was early afternoon when we walked out of the train station and onto the famous Grand Canal, leaving one world and entering one of my most favorite dream worlds.  We descended the broad stairs, turned left at the canal, and walked up one of the main pedestrian walkways of the Cannaregio suburb.  At a small fork in the walkway we went left, crossed a couple of small canals on up & down bridges, took a right across the last canal, and arrived at our convent. 

After we had been received with all sorts of hospitality and settled, I asked the portress Magda to recommend a good, reasonable cafe.  "Turn right out the door," she says, "cross the bridge to the left, and at the next canal go right and look for the tables on the edge of the canal.  The place is called Ristorante Diana on Fontamenta della Misericordia.  Ask for Omer."

When we get there, the guy is all friendly and we take a window seat inside because the sun is on the fondamenta tables.  I tell him we come with Magda's recommendation.  "What is good today?"  He recommends this and that, and we begin with a seafood salad, pasta, have two varieties of fish he said were caught that day, some dessert, and finish off with Samabuca, my first ever, and some small glasses of lemon liquor. 

Folks, we must have been there three hours, a bit beyond my usual finishing hour even though we had begun about 3:00.  It was the best.  Until I asked for the check.  I had never asked Omer just how much each course was costing, trusting in Magda and in Omer.  We paid over $75 per person for that meal, probably the most expensive I've ever had in my whole life.

I talk about this today for three reasons:

• It is Memorial Day & time for picnics, special meals, & banquets.
• We are celebrating the Eucharist today.
• The Eucharist is basically a banquet and cannot be appreciated for what it really is unless we throw a banquet occasionally.

I think a banquet involves three elements for it to come off, place, intention, & time.

• The place can be almost anywhere as long as it has some special quality, grandmother's dining room, a campfire in Yosemite, a Fondamenta della Misericordia in Venice, a Saturday afternoon on a patio, or a Sunday evening around a swimming pool. Even an El Fenix or a Chili's
• When I say intention, I mean somebody has to set it up, say, "Welcome, let's do it." Set a date, a place, and a time. Chebino sees his fly buddy and family in a restaurant and invites them all for dinner the next night.
• Time is probably the most important. It cannot take place in less than an hour, I would suggest. Two or three would be better & best. Trouble with some restaurants like Chili's is you get a bill dumped on your table just as you take the last few bites of the main course. In Italy you may sit there the whole afternoon and they still won't bring a bill until you ask for it. Taking time at the banquet is the exact opposite of fast food or eating while driving.

Never enjoy a long meal and you are missing one of the joys of life, and the Eucharist certainly can't be appreciated.

If we did not have a Eucharist ritual, I think I would invent one.  The Eucharist attempts to take a banquet or special meal and put it into a context where we place ourselves into contact with the God of the Universe.  It is based on knowing how to banquet.

When was your last special meal?  Your next?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-05-25.mp3

Readings: Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem at the beginning, John 12, 12-16; then first reading, Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2, 6-11; The Passion, Mark 14 & 15.

We have no homily today because the Passion reading from Mark takes up so much time that it is impossible to add a homily.  Next week, Easter Sunday.

Note on palms:

• Egyptians used them to cover mummies.  The palms were considered prophylactics, able to ward off diseases, like our vaccinations.

• Greeks had the goddess Nike bestowing palms on winners of competitions.  There was a legend that palm trees were so strong that they could stand erect even when burdened with a heavy load.  The winners were seen to have overcome heavy loads to win. 

• People in East Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda, even today use palm branches and banana plantation leaves to celebrate at parades.

Sources: National Catholic Reporter, NCRonline.org, Fr. Hays, 4-4-09; plus my own experience in East Africa

Picture 1:  Entrance with sprinkling

Picture 2:  Teresas & Zack

Picture 3:  Rosemary with her sister Clare & brother Peter

Welcome, Everybody, to our new home.  And thanks, Becky, for all you have done to welcome us.

Readings:  

 Exodus 24, 3-8,   This is the blood of the covenant

 Psalm 116,   I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord

 Hebrews 9, 11-15,    He is a mediator of a new covenant.

 Mark 14, 12-16, 22-26,   The Eucharist   

John with his long awaited arm operation done.

Exodus:   8 points on the readings, including 2 on Exodus, 4 on points from the other readings, 2 more on Exodus

    1.  This is the 2nd book of the Torah/Pentateuch, the first section of the Old Testament.  Deuteronomy, which we visited last week, is the 5th & last book.

 

Emma doing her candle Magic.

 

    2.  Story: This is a fabulous and edifying fable that tells how the Israelites got out of slavery in Egypt with the leadership of Moses. 

    3.  Passover: the night the angel passed over the first born male children of the Jews because they had smeared lamb blood on their door posts.  But the angel killed all the Egyptian first born sons to make Pharaoh let the people go.  Remember, this is not history, rather like a fable, like Aesop's Fables.  There is a story about the burning bush in the Holy Land, for tourists.  Tourists are told this bush was the bush that burst into flame and from which Yahweh spoke to Moses.

Welcome in, Harper.  I cannot wait to meet your new little sister, Betsy.

    4.  Covenant vs Contract: in a contract two parties agree to do something.  If one fails, the contract is often null.  In a covenant two people agree, and even if one party fails, the other party honors the covenant.  The Covenant between Yahweh & the People:  the people will honor Yahweh as their only god; Yahweh will protect and care for them as his chosen, and bring them into a new land.

    5.  Sacrifice & holocaust: ancient tribal belief that I must offer to my god (s) things precious to me to appease the god's anger or win his favor, for example, animals, prisoners, and the most beautiful girl in the community.  Jesus was seen as this sacrifice to appease the god, and also as the high priest who usually performed the sacrifice.  Thus the emphasis on blood & death.  Today scripture scholars as well as ordinary folks don't believe in a God who was so angry that he demanded special sacrifice.  We do not have a vengeful, angry God.

Sandra reads our Blessing of the Candles.

    6.  12 tribes: the 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob (or Israel; the 3 patiarchs were Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob-Israel).

    7.  Author & Date of Exodus: not Moses.  Rather a compilation of material from different centuries, that was mostly put together after the Babylonian Captivity, e.g., ca. 550 BCE.

    8.  Our Selection from Exodus: the people have been wandering in the desert and are now being given laws and customs they must observe.  The Covenant is being sealed.

The Best, Shonda & Ben.

A Banquet of Joy

In  honor of it being the feast of Corpus Christi, which is a celebration of our relationship with someone who totally loves us and accepts us as we are, I want to tell you a banquet of joy story.

These banquets take place morning, noon, and night.  It does not matter.  In fact, my dad was part of a morning banquet every week day at Christ the King parish, as I mentioned last week.

Rita & her admirer at the JCC gym, Jewish Community Center.

The banquet I was part of was in the morning about 6:00, at the Jewish Community Center, in the second floor gym, in fact.

There is a little lady named Rita.  She is black, about 60, big hair, somewhat round, and walks slowly into the gym with a walker.  She arrives with a DART bus, the small type bus that picks up individuals.

She comes maybe twice a week and settles on a recumbent bike which she pedals easily for 30-40 minutes. 

If that crazy Parkinson won't let the right hand behave, Jackie makes for a great substitute right hand.

I noticed her because she was unique in the gym.  And I really admired her for doing it.  So I started greeting her and we exchanged names sometime during the past year.  Last April I told her that I would be gone for a couple of weeks.  Rosemary & I were going to France.

She was so excited and asked me to bring her a little key chain statue of the Eiffel Tower.

Want to know why Rosemary played hookey from Juliettes Friday?   These two little critters, great nieces Rosemary (how about that!) and Alice, flew into Dallas with their mom, Kristine.   

I told Rosemary and, lo and behold, one afternoon in a tiny town curio shop in the Perigord region we found just what she wanted.

It was a week or two until I saw her come in one morning.  I got the Eiffel Tower key chain, went to her bike, bowed, and gave her the gift.

She went so crazy over that little token of my affection for her that I was almost in tears.  Her delight was my Banquet of Joy.

Coming up, Cupcake of The Week Time, everybody's favorite part of our celebration.

When was the last time you had a Banquet of Joy?

Sez Leo, "Cupcake time yet??"

Readings: Acts 4, 8-12; Psalm 118, The stone rejected by the builders has become the corner stone; 1 John 3, 1-2; John 10, 11-18, The Good Shepherd 

Acts:  A review–

Date: ca. 70-100 A.D.

Author: Luke, who wrote both the Gospel and Acts

Setting:  Just like the last 2 Sundays, Peter & John have just healed a lame man outside of the temple gate.  The people rush to question them.  They say it happened because of God's power and that Jesus was raised from the dead.  The high priests hear about this and have them arrested.  After telling them to stop saying Jesus was raised from the dead, the two are released.

Our Selection: last week we read Peter's discourse to the local believers in a room.  The week before we read about the quality of life of the local believers, communal.  Today's account is Peter talking to the high priests and elders of the high court.  They are on trial.

John:

Date of Gospel: A.D. 85-95

Author: scholars have doubts that the Apostle John is the writer of the 3 works attributed to John, the Gospel, 3 letters, & Revelation.  Doubts exist even that one writer composed all the works.

The Shepherd Who lays down His Life

Back in the beautiful old days of St. Mark's, during the time when Duffy was our super hospitable pastor, Rita was the housekeeper and the to die for cook, and we had a fun staff with priests like Dean Pratt & Fr. Rudy, we had three marvelous deacons, Arnold Pichon, Mike Carroll, and Bob Scoggins. 

I had the privilege to get to know Arnold especially well when he started out as a novice deacon.  For years we did the Hispanic Mass in the cafetorium at 9:00.  I watched him move from being a rather nervous homilist to being a confident, caring deacon as the years went by.  He was faithful to the community.  He gave his heart to those people and so far as I understand, he still does.  Every Sunday and days in between, whoever the priest is who shows up.

Everybody at St. Marks knew Mike Carroll.  Not only did he tell numerous smaltzie stories in his homilies, standing right down at the base of the altar like I loved to do.  He also made good points and he was always there.  I would arrive for evening penitential services during Lent & Advent.  Who was running the services?  He also dedicated his heart to the people and in particular to the kids in formation programs.

Finally there was Bob Scoggins, whom I love just as much as Arnold and Mike.  Scoggins was always at the 10:30 cafetorium Mass, and from the beginning I admired him for something special.  Bob's wife Trula had MS.  When I started saying the 10:30, Trula was always there in a wheel chair or some kind of conveyance.

The years went on and suddenly it dawned upon me that Trula was not there.  I asked Bob about it and he said Trula had deteriorated and could not get out of bed for long.  I suggested he simply bring her and she could lie on a bed near or on the stage while we had the Mass.  Bob, however, thought it would be too hard & embarrassing for her.

Sometime after that, Trula went on to her reward.  Then, every time Bob gave a homily he would end up in tears talking about Trula's example.  It continued so long that finally I used to tell him before the Mass, "Okay, Scoggins, no tears today!."  Slightly preposterous of me, who deals with tears often enough.  A lot of good it did.  More tears always came.  Finally, somewhere in those golden days, Bob went to stay with Trula.  He gave his heart to the people of St. Mark's and to Trula. 

I was reminded of these terrific guys because we are reading in John about the Good Shepherd who lays down his life.  Scoggins was a Good Shepherd and laid down his life, his whole heart for Trula and the people.

Arnold and Mike are Good Shepherds.  They are still pouring out their hearts and their lives for the people.  It don't get better than these guys.

You might think, "Well, nice, but I don't see anybody else besides these deacons.  Plus, that is their job."  Look around some more.  Try Julia Grenier who started the Collin County Adult Clinic.  Try Rita Dore who played such a marvelously hospitable compliment to Duffy and who baby sat The Man through so much.  She was there in the background, but likewise playing the role of The Good Shepherd, pouring out her heart & her life for us guys.

My old coach, teacher, and Scout Master at Christ the King was a Good Shepherd to me.  Frank Hart.  He gave me his life. 

Two questions:

        1.  Who is your model for The Good Shepherd?

        2.  How are You a Good Shepherd?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-05-03.mp3

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin helping

Picture 2:  Choir, Wendy, Ray, & Celeste

Picture 3:  Our Father, Kevin, Patricia, & Bill

Picture 4:  The Ekes, Zalie, Cindy, Marlene, Bobby, Mabel, & Debbie

Readings: Isaiah 49, 14-15; Psalm 62, Rest in God alone, my Soul; 1 Corinthians 4, 1-5; Matthew 6, 24-34.

Isaiah reminders—

 Author: This is Isaiah #2, the composer of chapters 40-55.  January 6 we had a first reading from this same chapter 49, verses 4-5, talking about Yahweh’s people being a servant and light to the nations.  I talked about the taxi driver whose son had been killed for his pickup truck in Cuernavaca.

 Date:  Ca. 575 before Christ.  The Jewish people of Jerusalem are defeated, crushed, & in the Babylonian Captivity.  Isaiah #3, chapters 56-66, is writing after the Babylonian Captivity.

 Today’s Message: Even though life is bad, Yahweh says he will never forget his people, somewhat similar to the reading from January 6.

Sources: Good News Bible

Don’ Worry About Tomorrow? 

 Yesterday afternoon I did a funeral celebration for a lady named Rebecca Sides.  It took place at Turrentine Funeral Home on Ridgeview.  She died of cancer at 58. 

 I did not ever know Rebecca personally.   I knew her through Jean Atwood’s son Sean, who married one of Rebecca’s three daughters, Terra.  Rebecca was the payroll supervisor for the city of Plano, so there were numerous Plano City people there, including her supervisor and an assistance police chief, both of whom gave excellent talks. 

 Of all the things I heard about Rebecca the quality that struck me the most was the way she had her priorities in order.  Her number one priority was her family.  She seemed like the family matriarch, a magnetic force that brought members together, especially her 4 grand kids. 

 I talk about her because she exemplified what Matthew’s two lessons are trying to teach us today and what he has been trying to teach us all during this sermon on the mount.  Namely, getting our priorities in order.

 I want to say a word about each of Matthew’s points, serving two masters and not worrying about tomorrow.  One preliminary reminder.

 Matthew is again using exaggeration, hyperbole, and infinite demand to convey his message.  Do you not want to say, ‘Are you nuts, are you crazy?’  There is another half, infinite acceptance, like the line, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.”  Psalm 103 & other places. 

 First, ‘Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, your body, what you will wear.  All these things will be given to you.’  Everyone can see this is like crazy.  And this is the negative aspect.  So it all gets dismissed. 

 The positive is the word  ‘worry’ repeated four times and the reference to the birds and flowers.  We can have our priorities and goals without worry.  We can emulate the birds and flowers to a point.  Worry leads to anxiety, to high blood pressure, and to strokes. 

 Secondly, the idea that we cannot serve two masters.  The negative part of this lesson is that it is either/or, black or white, God or mammon.  More exaggeration. 

 More positively, do we not serve a number of masters in our life?  God may be an ultimate master.  Do we not have numerous sub-masters?  Could it be possible I am my own master?  I wonder.

 All these lessons seem to be telling us to get our priorities in order.  From what I heard, Rebecca had hers in order.

 What are your 3 biggest priorities in life?

 Picture 1:   Leo with his baby sitter, Lynda  

 Picture 2:   Marlene & Cindy

 Picture 3:   Penny

 Picture 4:   Zoe