Announcement for Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020

Rosemary's Blessing:  

May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

Irish Blessing

Special Thanks: 

• For Reading: Julie & Donna

• For the Communion Bread:  Cindy Cramer & Kim Crossk

• For Serving:   Sabrina

• For the Books & Wine Cups & Cross: John & Alison 

• For the Music: Ray & Shonda & Celeste & Wendy

• For the Pictures: Taylor 

• For the altar & sound:  Margie & Hue

• For the donuts & coffee:  Jackie & Tony & Gayle

• For all his work as The Board Secretary, George Elwell

Happy Birthday:  Georgie Brown (8), Sabrina (14 yesterday), Lacee (today) & her mom, Lisa, Angela Kemp, Amy Carey (20), Celeste, & Dick Eshelbrenner

 

 

Please Remember:   Celeste's niece, Lexi Colmenero; Alice Alt;   Christine Drescher's Grandmother;   David Hoover's mom who is failing;  Ann Bivona with her broken leg;  Rita Dore; Jackie's friend Jack Brown with various cancers;  Julie Johnston;  Margie Weynant;  Hugh Bivona's sick friends Bob & Bonnie; Rick Urbanczyk’s mom, Irene;  Richard Froebe's dad who had a stroke;  Warren & Barb's friends Jerry & and Mark, and a little baby, Reese who has tuberous sclerosis complex;   Mary Ellen's Christopher, Margaret, & Jim;  Tom & Teresa's friend Neva Flynn with cancer & Teresa's niece Angel;  Diane's dad Butch Uderman  & cousin Judy;  Margie's mom ; Donna & Cathy Goode's mom; our friends, sons, & daughters in the military, including Trey Bailey, Ryan McClurg, Matt Gardner, Chebino, Roy's son Chris, Lisa's nephew Kristopher on his 2nd Iraq trip;  George & Marianne's sons & Linda's son and Marianne's mom Marguerite, plus Stacie & Ben White & their niece just diagnosed with leukemia; a cure for autism from Laura Chollick;  Dawn's friend Jessica & Aunt Ann & Hector; Fred's friend John with cancer; Casey & Rob plus Cameron  & Reid, Trey and Brady; for our President  that he have great success and someday hold his grandchildren in his lap.  

 

             

Picture 1:  Communion: Jackie, Mabel & Curtis

Picture 2:  Financial Report by Tom

Picture 3:  Maggie

 

Picture 4:  Georgie  (the birthday girl) with her parents Michelle & Randolph

 

Check out the Quads: http://gerwerbabies.blogspot.com   

Next Week we will be at Wilson Middle School (on Custer, North of Plano Pkwy)

 

 

Your Finances: October 11

• Income for Running   Expenses: $  809.00 
• Income for Outreach Expenses: $  710.00 

 

 Thanks for your Generosity!

 Have a Great Week, J.S    (214-783-0443)

1 Samuel 3: When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out as before. "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

1 Corinthians 6:  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.

John 1:  Then he brought him to Jesus.  Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas" –which is translated Peter.

 

 

 

Welcome, Everybody!

 

 

Readings:  

 Ezekiel   17, 22-24,   All the trees of the field will know…

 Psalm 130,   Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

 2 Corinthians —  A special reading

 Mark 4, 26-34,   This is how  it is with the kingdom of God.  

 

 

 

 

Welcome to our Fathers' Day Special.

 

 

Homily by John Cade:  

Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is here all around us and, yes, it is miraculous, like the mustard seed or pine nut are miraculous. To Jesus’ listeners the gifts of nature, like the growth of plants, were a mystery, how they start out so little and somehow grow so big. This is how God’s Spirit works. From inside we are moved to grow, to mature, to share, to help create God’s kingdom. 

 

 

 

 

Emma sharing one of  her special gift, lighting our candles.

 

 

Examples of people building the kingdom abound. We see each week this wall of portraits of people who were like us, regular people, and who also dared to love their neighbors however they met them: Like Mahatma Gandhi in India, standing for non-violent civil disobedience and for self-government for the Indian people; like Martin Luther King Jr. in the U.S., standing for racial equality and against unjust war; like Mother Teresa in India, serving the poor and outcast; like Oscar Romero in El Salvador, standing for his people against political tyranny and abuse; like Nelson Mandela in South Africa, standing for his native people of color against apartheid; like Cesar Chavez and Harriet Tubman in the U.S., Cesar standing against the unjust treatment of migrant workers and for the right to unionize, and Harriet standing for the freeing of slaves and risking her life supporting the ‘underground railroad’; and so forth with the others.

 

 

 

The Team.

 

 

These people were, like us, born as regular people. They had eyes like us to see, and ears like us to hear, and they, each in their own way, imagined how they could help build up the kingdom of God in their time. We tend to make our heroes seem other-worldly, bigger than life. We put them on a pedestal, just out of our reach, just a bit too super to imitate. But this is an overly idealized view. Most people who actively build up the kingdom of God don’t get known as super heroes, don’t get their portrait on a wall.

 

 

 

The Doughertys, Connie, John, & home from college, Kevin.

 

 

Like my sister-in-law who raised 2 children while working full time as a teacher and when her husband developed a brain tumor, being a caring partner in his journey. She now divides her time between helping her grown daughter, a single mom who has MS and a 3 year old son, and helping her 95 year old father, who is in failing health, to remain in his own home. 

 

 

 

The Best, Shonda, Ben, & David.

 

 

 

Or like two young men and fathers I know who, though their marriages did not succeed, stay true to their mission to be fathers to their sons, participating wholeheartedly in their growth and development.

 

 

 

The Bresson Offertory Procession, Kevin, John, & Connie.

 

 

These good people are builders of the kingdom of God visualized by Jesus. Look around. See all the ways people you know are building up the kingdom. How you help make the kingdom come in your time is limited only by the unlimited ways you can imagine it. It’s not how big a splash you make. It’s the love and courage and persistence of your choices and behaviors that make God’s kingdom come in our world in our time.

 

 

 

Welcome Home, Mary Ellen.  So nice to see you here with us all.

 

 

Who have you seen building up God’s kingdom, and you can imagine their portrait on the wall? And when did you last imagine how you could build up this kingdom in your lifetime?

 

 

Thanks for being special to us all, My Dearest Emma.

 

 

 

 

Says Cindy, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Readings:

Isaiah , 49, 3, 5-6,  I will make you a light to the nations.

       (This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.)

Psalm 40,  Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

1 Corinthians 1, 1-3,  Paul, called to be an apostle

John 1, 29-34, I saw the spirit come down

 

 

And never to be left behind, Ben, too, says, "Come in, Everybody.  It is delightful here."

 

 

I will make you a light to the nations

Have you people ever heard of a woman named Samantha Elandary?  No?  Never heard of her?  You must be living under a rock. 

No.  Actually I had never heard of her until I saw her at choral presentation last fall at Richardson High School.  All singers were Parkinson persons.  She  is my choice for being a light to the nations.  Certainly she is a light for me.  Why?

 

 

The Candle Girls in action.

 

 

Samantha, a graduate of UNT with a degree in speech pathology, established in 2005 a non- profit program called Parkinson Voice Project. 

One of the delightful little surprises of Parkinson is that the person slowly loses voice strength, eventually becoming almost mute and faced with whispering to communicate.  I personally have noticed that I am developing a little bit of this.  Ask my buddies at our Friday Romeo’s luncheons.  Maybe even Rosemary would love me more if I would reach this stage.

 

 

 

Buddy reading the Candle Blessing.

 

Samantha’s program at Parkinson Voice Project has two levels.

1. Individual speech therapy one on one with a professional therapist.  I am on this level.  I started in January a 4 week program of 3 sessions a week, 2 sessions with my therapist,  & a third session with a group of people on this beginner ‘s level.

 

 

The communion team.

 

I have a workbook with phrases I am instructed to read and speak with intent.  Speaking with intent is the key.

2. The second level takes place at the end of my month and involves group sessions where I am challenged to speak with intent loudly.  I’ll tell you more about this in February, when I graduate into the group therapy sessions.

 

 

I'm jealous, Ben!

 

I cannot tell you how consoled I felt the one time I was in the group session.  All of us had the same problem and I felt a sense of strength & of being among kindred spirits.

There are today over 400 participants in the Parkinson Voice Project .   It is also training therapists from other corners of the U.S.  The program started by Samantha, meeting such a great need, is the only one in the world. 

 

 

Welcome in.

 

The program operates on a pay it forward arrangement.  I have not been asked for a nickel.  Participants are obviously chipping in. 

In fact, at the fall choral presentation we were told about a financial challenge Samantha was given.  Collect 1 million dollars and a benefactor would donate $500 thousand.  Samantha & her team succeeded. 

 

 

 

The Best Team.

 

Samantha Elandary is my Light to the Nations, a person who makes God’s touch reach to all the corners of the earth.

Who is your Samantha?  How are you a Light?

 

 

You are The Best Salesgirl for Girl Scout cookies, Dearest Harper.

 

 

Readings:

 Amos 7, 12-15  I was no prophet.  I was a shepherd.

Psalm 85,    Lord, let us see you kindness and grant us your salvation.

Ephesians 1, 3-14, In love he destined us for adoption

 Mark  6, 7-13, Take nothing for the journey but a walking stick

 

                      Says Kevin, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Amos  observations:

Author: Amos or his scribe.  He was a shepherd of sheep & tended sycamore trees.  One of the 12 minor prophets of the OT, minor because of smallness of the works.  Amos has only 9 chapters.  Usual pattern of prophets: 1. predictions of dire times for evil behavior; 2. predictions of better times in the future. 

Date: Ca. 777 (a memory help), after the kingships of David & Solomon, time of King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom, called Israel vs the southern kingdom, called Judah (where Jerusalem is).   

 

 

                          And from Harper, too, "Hi, Folks."

 

Geography: Note the two kingdoms, Judah in the south, Israel in the north.  Amos tended sheep in a little town called Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, in Judah, the south.  He is sent by Yahweh to Bethel, a small but important town in the northern kingdom, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, to warn the people of Israel & their king Jeroboam that Yahweh was mad at them.  The wicked high priest of Bethel, Amaziah condemns Amos for his interference.

The Setting: a time of prosperity.  But Yahweh is mad at the greed of the wealthy and their oppression of the poor (which ties into our gospel talking about walking lightly through life).  We know the people of this kingdom of Israel are headed for annihilation by the Assyrian nation.  And they will disappear as a significant body.  

Our Selection, chapter 7:  Amos describes three visions or dreams he has.  Amaziah gives it to him for spreading these visions around.  Then, Amos responds and socks it to Amaziah with a hammer.

 

          And from Sienna, "From Brooklyn and me, Welcome."

 

Take Nothing for the Journey

I apologize this morning for telling you a story that some of you will probably remember.  However, the event so speaks to the gospel this morning that I can not pass it up.  Another African story.

One evening in Tanzania I boarded an overnight train in Dar es Salaam, the capital.  I would get off in the region near Kilimajaro where the Jesuit house was that I used as a base when I was not on the road giving seminars or retreats. 

 

       Some of The Cupcakes of The Week gang for this week.

 

I had bought my ticket just the afternoon of the trip.  No compartments were available, which were not much anyway.  Two shared the compartment and an upper bunk came down.  You had to be careful in the little stations, because thieves would look in the window and grab.  So, no big loss.

I had to take general booking.  This entitled me to a place on the train, not necessarily a seat.  It is not air conditioned and can be a bit warm. 

 

 

           Offertory with Mike and Judy, Sydney and Hugh.

 

I started out sitting on a suitcase I traveled with.  There were mothers with little kids and a few chickens all around my area at the end of a train car.   I expected it would be a long night, but I would get where I wanted to go and then sleep extra.

About midnight the train stopped, like in the middle of nowhere.  We sit there.  No explanation, nothing.   I finally join others getting off.  I lie down on the rocks on the edge of the track, my case under my head so no one would snatch it, and wait.  And wait.  We sit there with no explanation until about 7:00 the next evening. 

 

 

                      Wendy and Collin providing The Best.

 

Just like Mark recommends in the gospel today, I had boarded that train with nothing to drink or eat.  Looking back, I cannot believe I was so stupid.  Normally I would never have set out without water. 

Why did I not ask the Tanzanian ladies for a drink?  I could easily talk Swahili with them.  Trouble was, they did not often purify their water and I was afraid of it.   So there I sat, now in the shade.  I look around.  Everyone on that train is Tanzanian.  I am the only white guy, which by then I am at home with.

 

 

                                             Elevation.

 

Suddenly I see up the track maybe 4 or 5 cars ahead of me a white couple.  They have extra water.  Hooray.  They are Germans, but speak English with no problem.

We hang out.  They saved me, and let me tell you a quickie about how I saved them.

We were seated in the shade of a Frangipani tree I can still clearly remember.  All the passengers were seated along the train in the shade.  Next to us was a momma with her baby.  At one point the momma gets up and goes into the train.

 

 

                          Emma and Beth solving the World's problems.

 

The German guy who was about 6 foot 4 inches gets up and takes a picture of the baby.  Bad move.  Someone on the train sees him, tells the momma, she tells her husband, and he comes out yelling with a bunch of people.  He wants the camera.  He wants to take the German to the police, wherever that might be.

So, I stepped in.  We all sat down under the trees and I talked.   I finally got the father to allow the German to go to his compartment, cut off the baby’s picture, and give it to the man. 

 

 

                         Emma with one of her Best Buddies.

 

He cuts off just the end of the film, brings it back, and gives it to the man.  The crisis comes to an end. 

I ended up climbing Kilimanjaro with the couple, which ended up being amusing.  He was an Alpine Mountain rescue expert, like a 4 on a 5 scale.  He could crawl across your ceiling holding on with his fingernails.  When we got to the top of Kilimanjaro he got altitude sickness and I carried his back pack.  Of course, I teased him mercilessly. 

 

                                 Harper dancing to the music.

 

I never saw them again, although they were begging me to come to Germany on one of my homeward trips.  I wanted to see the Berlin wall and never did.  She was East German, he West.

The story simply tries to show how literal reading of the Bible can get you into bad places. 

What  would you suggest is a positive in this story about traveling with nothing? Could this be what Francis is emphasizing when he talks about Less is Better? 

How is Less Better for you?

 

 

               

Acts of the Apostles 10:  While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.

1 John 4:  Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

John 15:  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.