Sunday Homily, November 3, 2019 31st Sunday and All Saints
We are sorry that the Blog has not been published these past 2 weeks. We had a tornado and lost our internet connection among other things (we still don't have internet). I am down at a neighbor's house who has internet. Thanks Jane for letting us use your internet.
Homily:
All Saints, 2019-11-02
I want to talk about saints I’ve known, not from years ago, not from this year, but from last October 21, The Morning After. For me a saint is anybody trying to dance a good dance.
First, a couple of young dads with their young sons. Yes, I’ve already mentioned them last Sunday.
These guys just walked up and started moving tree branches from around the house to the curbs. The house was battered and our trophy trees were stripped of their branches. These guys worked all day. These dads & their sons are saints for me.
Next, the St. Marks boys. They started roaming the Preston Hollow neighborhood with water. As the week progressed they began distributing food. You realize that I say this as a former Jesuit student & teacher. St. Marks was always our opponent in sports & debating, everything.
Some of the food the boys were distributing came from a corporate saint. Central Market, which is just around the corner from us, a ten minute walk. The store was devastated. So what did they do? They set up a large white canopy tent in the parking lot and they distributed breakfast, lunch, and dinner for four days, free!
On Saturday Rosemary got 6-8 lunches which she shared with the truck drivers and chain saw workers who were cleaning up our debris. And let me confirm, the meals were not just cold cuts and energy bars.
Then, of course, I saw 8-10 saints from our community, Tom Goode, Tom Froelich, Grace & Doug with his chain saw, John & Connie, Loretta who fed us enchiladas, Andy & Mike (Mike Moran??!!, a saint? Maybe I need to clean my lens a bit.)
Finally, another group of saints, the Dallas police, in particular the guys who spent their nights in the cars all lit up with red & white lights. They were all night and day right at our corner of Royal & Camellia. The guys’ flashing lights were a comfort, knowing we were safe. I offered them coffee, but they always declined.
These are some of the saints I have been privileged to meet just these past 2 weeks.
Your saints?
