"Welcome in, Everybody," says our dear Michelle, The Great Mom.

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 40, 1-5, 9-11,   Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God

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

2 Peter 3, 8-14,  One day with the Lord is like a thousand years.

Mark, 1, 1-,  He will prepare your way.

 

Christmas Eve Mass, 12/24/17 at 4:00.

 

 

Our Dearest Candle Lighter, Emma, at work bringing us light.

 

Observations on Isaiah

Who: number 2 Isaiah, my favorite and a bringer of peace and consolation.  This is despite the fact that Isaiah 2 is composing during the time of the Babylonian Captivity.

If you are familiar with Handel’s Messiah, you will recognize lines he took directly from this passage.  

 

Watch out for a line in the letter of Peter, where God is compared to a thief who will come unexpectedly and send you to a bad place.

 

 

 

Thanks for the help with the Offertory, Teresa & Tom, and Leo in the back.

 

 

The Day of the Lord will come like a thief

In the spirit of Advent I want to tell you three stories about how the thief came to me in the past week.  This is my kind of thief, one who brings peace and consolation.

 

 

 

The Best Music with Shonda, Ben, & David.
 

 

 

There is a person who lives in a suburb not far from our community gathering place here at Sigler Elementary.  In this neighborhood the Dallas Morning News is delivered every morning at 6:10.  The paper is thrown into the lawn from a passing car or pick-up (not like in my days as a paper boy when I walked and took pride in placing the paper right at the front door).  In the neighborhood the first person to fetch the paper walks around and delivers everyone’s paper to their doorstep.  Pretty cool.

This past Friday morning this person was ready to do the paper delivery, stepped out, and behold, his paper had already been delivered by a neighbor.  This is getting merit by intention, an old Catholic grade school teaching of the Ursuline nuns.  The person?  Our Mike Carroll, a thief who regularly brings peace and consolation to all.

 

 

 

Communion ready, Claire & Sandra, Geri & Mike & Patricia.

 

 

 

The name of second thief is unknown.  Andy Sokolowski, one of our stalwart backpackers, told me this.  He & his wife were in their RV looking for a special park in Arizona.  They cannot find it, are sitting at the edge of the road looking at their map, and up comes a black guy who asks if they are lost. 

Yes!  The guy explains how to get to the park, which involves about half a dozen turns on little roads.  A couple of miles down their road, they are lost again. 

 

 

 

The real thieves at the Love for Kids picnic bringing peace and consolation.

 

 

But, behind them comes the thief bringing peace and consolation.  He offers to personally lead them to the park.  The thief of peace and consolation has struck again.

The third even took place yesterday, yes, the Great Love for Kids picnic at the large ranch west of Flower Mound.  The picnic invites kids from DISD and other school districts.  The schools are mostly from low income neighborhoods.

 

 

 

Those thieves were everywhere.   This young teacher is lacing up the shoe of one of her little charges.

 

Saturday 30 plus buses delivered a thousand pumped kids to a whole swarm of activities.  I watched those kids come into the big rectangular pavilion.  They were so excited.   Immediately they were welcomed with music and special middle school kids who sang and invited the kids to dance.  One the stage was even a Downs Syndrome girl who could really dance.

Waiting for them were bags of pop corn, kool-ade, face painting and tatoos, horse back rides, and  lunch.  Plus more music and dancing.  Every kid got a new winter coat and they were not all alike.  When the kids got back on their buses, guess what they found. A package of goodies had been put on every seat in every bus.

 

 

 

 

Welcome, All You Kids.

 

Who made this all possible and did all the work?  A whole big gang of volunteers , among them a big bunch from our community.  They struck again, those thieves of peace and consolation.

To whom are you a thief bringing peace and consolation?

 

 

These kids looked like middle school level, but could they all sing and dance, and get everyone else dancing.

 

 

Readings: Ezekiel 37, 1-14 (1-11 not in lectionary); Psalm 130, With the Lord there is Mercy and Fullness of Redemption; Romans 8, 8-11; John 11, 1-45, The raising of Lazarus
 

Ezekiel 37, observations:  (Author, When, Message)

           Author: Ezekiel, for real.  He is unique because he was not only one of the Big 3 Prophets (along with Isaiah & Jeremiah), but he was also a priest working in the temple. 

          When: before & during the Babylonian Captivity, therefore around 585 before Christ.  His audience was these people. 

 

          Message: Like the classic prophet, he condemns, warns, and consoles.  We pick up on the consolation end.  I want to read the first verses which lead up to our selection, because it is the fun dry bones story, about which we have the Spiritual.  It is a shame the richer story is not included.  This is metaphor.  The dry bones can stand for the people in captivity; they can stand for me.  Get out of that tomb!

 Sources: New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Good News Bible, St. Louis U. with Reginald Fuller, Daniel Westberg, Larry Gillick, Jesuits.

  
 

Get out of that tomb!

 One of the blessings of travel for me is the deepening of gratitude in me for how fortunate I am right here.  Another blessing comes with meeting special people along the way.

 I met one of these special people in Normandy on our trip to France.  When we arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, we immediately took the train to a little village called Bayeux in Normandy. 

 

 The next day we took a moving tour of the June 6, D Day landings on Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, three of the cemeteries, plus a handful of other memorials. 

 The following day we visited a place I was to discover was one of the four Middle Age pilgrimage sites.  First off, I did not know of four.  Know the other three?   Jerusalem, Rome, & Santiago de Campostella in the NW province of Galicia in Spain. 

 The  place we visited was called Mont San Michel and has been a Benedictine monastery for centuries, since around 900.  It is built on a large rock off of the coast of France, reached only by a causeway because high tide surrounds the rock with water. 

 Visiting the monastery, which was actually used as a prison for about a century after the French Revolution in 1789, was moving.  Equally moving for me was the woman who took us out there, the second point.

 

 One of those special persons.  She was simply driving a hotel van from Bayeux to Mont San Michel.  She could have said nothing.  Instead, she was full of personality and information about everything.  I came to really admirer her, especially when she shared her story.

 She said she had gone through a painful lay off and could not find work.  So she went to plan B, as she called it, driving the van for the little Churchill Hotel in Bayeux. 

 She did not just drive.  She described everything along the way and shared more about the history of Mont San Michel than I had even read.  She became a friend to such an extent that we went out with her the next afternoon, after she did her morning drive, to a little town she told us we would love, Honfleur.  We did.

 Why talk about her?  Because she exemplifies what is being talked about here, getting out of the tomb where we are half dead and coming to fuller life. She said getting laid off just about killed her, especially when she could not find any replacement.  She was in the tomb, she was not alive.

 

 The message is ‘get out of that tomb.’  Where am I stuck?  We know the places, the addictions & the obsessions, the laziness and the over indulgence.  The goal is simply to be a person more fully alive.

 Where is your tomb?

 Picture 1:   The Community    

 Picture 2:   Leo & his daddy, Ray  

 Picture 3:   Maggie & her daddy, Tom

 Picture 4:   Mont San Michel, Normandy, France

 Picture 5:   Wedding of Jill Carleton & Stephen Egal

 

 

Readings:

Leviticus 19, 1-2,  17-18,  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.   

 Psalm 103,  The Lord is kind and merciful. (Stanza 2, one of the best)

 1 Corinthians 3, 16-23,   You are the temple of God.

 Matthew 5, 38-48,    Love your enemies.

 

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," say Olivia and her dad, Cory.

 

Observations on Leviticus

What :  the 3rd book of the Bible and one of the 5 books of the Torah.

Who:  a compilation of sayings accumulated over centuries, not Moses, as was thought for some years.

Date: sometime after the Exile in Babylon, ca. 555 before Christ.

 

 

"Don't forget me," says Tori, "Come in, Folks."
 

 

Subject:  rules about how to live, how to worship, and the penalties for transgressing.  This is based upon 2 beliefs:

1. The world has been created good, but is vulnerable to sin.
2. Enactment of proper ritual makes God present and ignoring proper ritual compromises the harmony between God & people. 

Some unique rules:

1. Cursing, death.   24.14
2. Unkempt hair, God will smite you.  10.1
3.  You will not tatoo yourself, 19.28
4. Trimming your beard.  19.27
5. Cutting the hair on the sides of your head.  19.27

Today’s Subject:  the best line in the whole work, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”   19.18

Sources:  Good News Bible, Wikipedia

 

The Offertory Team, Bill, Ray, Bernadette, and Richard.

 

I want to help people.  That’s what I’m for.

Ever hear of a guy named Clarence Griffith?  I read about him in the Dallas Morning News recently.  Three things are unique about him.

1. He was born in 1913.  Know anybody that old?  104 years.
2. When he was 94 he received triple heart bypass at Baylor, Dallas.
3. Ever since his recuperation he regularly goes to console and help people in the Baylor cardiac waiting room.  He gets them coffee, food, and offers them support, praying with them or just letting them talk.  He says,  “That’s what I’m for.  I want to help people.”

 

 

Leo, our Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

For me, Clarence Griffith has accepted that, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.”  Moreover, he is making himself live that image.

Last week we looked at infinite demand that was followed up with promises of hell.  A fear based program.

This week we look at a different infinite demand equally challenging.  The demand is to get rid of fear in our relationship with God using that description, and to help others to do so.

 

 

The Team.

 

This is one of the biggest reasons I have been and am a priest, and even a psychotherapist, to help others get rid of fear in our relationship with God.

Which leads me to three demands presented by Matthew.  If you reflect upon it, these three are a result of knowing that our God is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

 

 

The Wedding, Patricia and John.

 

First, Matthew says, using his favorite little figure of speech, ‘You have heard it said, but I say to you…’, when someone hits the left side of your face, offer the right and don’t resist the person who is evil. 

Is this insanity or what?  Has it ever been tried?  Yes, you say, by dead people.   Impossible.  This is the message of the pacifist, a person mostly ridiculed by the rest of us.  Know any?  Sure, John Dear, once a Jesuit, Roy Bourgeois, once a Maryknoll. 

I wonder what would happen if we really did this.  I confess I have not been able to get there. 

 

Congratulations, John, I am so happy when I am not the only one with tears up here.  Must be because you come from Australia.  Double congratulations.  
 

 

Secondly, give to the person who asks from you.  Another tough one.  How do you feel passing the men & women begging at stop lights?  I, for one, feel horrible, even though I know they have a number of shelters, like The Bridge and Austin St. Shelter.   I can work in those places and know that we as a community help them, but I still feel horrible passing those people on the corner.

Thirdly, love my enemy.  I really don’t have any serious enemies that I know of.

 

"I, Patricia, take you, John in marriage.  I promise to be true to you in good times and bad, in sickness and in health.  I will love and cherish you all the days of my life."

 

Despite failure to live up to these demands, which are infinite, our God is still infinitely accepting, specifically gracious and merciful, never get angry and is abounding in love.   Moreover, relevant to our weakness, he says in the following line, “Not according to our sins does he deal with us.”

104 year old Clarence Griffith is showing people this image of God in the Baylor hospital waiting room.

Who shows this image to you?

To whom do you show the image?

 

 The Kiss.

 

Readings:  Exodus 32, 7-14; Psalm 51, I will rise and go to My Father; 1 Timothy 1, 12-17; Luke 15, 1-32

 

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Intro to Readings

Our first reading from the Book ofExodus is a wonderful piece of writing!  There are two sections to the reading; the first is God expressing his anger to Moses because the people have made an idol. 

 

One very interesting human touch in the reading should be familiar to anyone who has had kids, when the kids have not been at their best.  The kids suddenly do not belong to one of the parents!  In our reading, the people are no longer “God’s people” but suddenly are Moses’ people!  The second section of the reading Moses turns the situation around convincing God not to destroy the people.

The second reading comes from Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. 

I suppose the first question that comes to mind is “who is Timothy”?  He has two letters from Paul!  Acts of the Apostles Chapter 16 tells us that Paul was in Lystra when he met with Timothy.  We are told who Timothy’s parents are and Paul took him with him on his missionary work, finally sending him to the community in Ephesus, and that is where Timothy was when our letter today was written to him, probably around the year 65 CE.  By this time Paul is in prison in Rome.  The reading ends with what we call a doxology, which is a short type of hymn, we have one when we pray the Eucharistic Prayer and the ending “Through him, with him etc.”  That is a doxology.  Paul simply tried to get the message that if he could be forgiven his sins, then anyone could!

 

Homily

The theme in each one of our readings today is the same “being lost and in need of God’s forgiveness, or being found”.  In our first reading from the Book of Exodus, recall that the people have been lead by Moses from slavery in Egypt and have wandered through the desert for many years.  Moses has gone up the mountain, Mount Sinai, to receive the 10 Commandments from God.  Meanwhile the people are tired of God and have built a golden calf to worship.  Needless to say, God is pretty upset.  They are about to get really lost, but Moses manages to talk God out of it!

Psalm 51 is our responsorial psalm and is a great favorite of mine.  Like St Paul, you have to be a great sinner to really appreciate this psalm.  There is a great awareness on the part of the writer, sometimes ascribed to King David, of how sinful he is.  “Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight”

 

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul is telling him his own story as a way of encouraging Timothy and to all who feel lost.

Our gospel reading from Luke gives us three stories about losses.  If you look closely at all three stories, there is another theme running through them, that of “rejoicing”  When a sheep gets lost, he simply lies down and will not get up even when the shepherd finds him, which is why the shepherd picks him up and carries him. 

I think at times we too can fall into a similar pattern.  When we get lost we have a tendency to lie down and do nothing.  The readings today are a very loud reminder to us of God’s forgiveness.  Two thoughts to take away.  First, are we willing to accept God’s forgiveness and secondly are we able to bring that forgiveness to those around us who need to be picked up?

Picture 1:   Mass begins

 

Picture 2:   Anthony

 

Picture 3:   Michelle is ready

 

Picture 4:   Zoe, Michelle's second daughter, & Rich 

 

 

Readings: Acts 12, 1-11; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4, 6-8, 17-18; John 21, 15-19.

Acts: this work is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel.  It’s purpose is to tell how Jesus’ early followers spread news of him.  Since this is the feast of Peter & Paul, the selection today focuses on a special event in Peter’s life.

Do you Love Me?  More than These?

 

 

Since those days I have come to appreciate how a word in a passage can make a lot of difference depending upon how it is translated into English.  We have a rather fun example in this morning’s selection from John.

Guess what the word is: love.  It is used a lot in today’s reading.  Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, even more than the others.  Three times Peter responds that he loves him.  Looks simple.  In fact, obviously there must be a play here on the fact that Peter denied Jesus three times. 

Yet watch this. In Greek there are two words that may get translated into love.  Agapo and phileo.  The word agapo means I love you.  Phileo means something slightly different, I care for you or I like you a lot.  We have the same distinctions in English.  If your girl friend tells you, I love you, wow, the world goes off like a Roman Candle.  If she tells you, I like you & I care for you, yuk, disappointment, depression.  “I don’t want you to just like me.”  What a bummer.

Now for the passage.  Both words are used in the three sets questions.

Set one.  “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these other do?”  “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”   When Jesus says love, he uses agapo, meaning love.  Peter, however, uses phileo, meaning “I care for you.”  Interesting.

Set two.  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Guess what.  Yes, Jesus uses agapo & Peter uses phileo.  Same as set one.  But note the significant absence.  Nothing about “more than these others.”

Set three.  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”  What do you think?  Same as before?  Nope.  This time Jesus backs off and uses phileo.  Peter, of course, sticks with phileo.

So what is going on here?  What is the point?  A couple of observations:

• First, the story is more nuanced, more a play on words than a simple do you love me back & forth.
• Secondly, the writer John may be trying to show how failure can lead to character growth. And that after the failure, acceptance still endures. Peter is exemplifying how failure can lead to less bombast & over self-confidence. Peter is less impulsive and bragadocious.

What can we take away from this story?

• First, that it is complicated to read the Bible as it is translated.
• Secondly, that even after a horrendous fall I can grow to be a better person.

Ever had a fall in your life?  How have you made yourself better because of it?

AUDIO:   http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-06-29.mp3

Readings: 1 Samuel 3, 3-10 & 19, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening; Psalm 40, Here am I, Lord, I come to do Your Will; 1 Corinthians 6, 13-15 & 17-20, Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit; John 1, 35-42, We have found the Messiah.

 

1 Samuel: This is book one of two books.  The series is 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings; the characters being Samuel, the last of the Judge leaders of Israel-Judah; Saul, the first king; and King David. 

Authors:  Traditionally it was thought that 3 people wrote the book, Samuel, Gad, & Nathan.  Samuel, chapters 1-25; Gad was King David's historian, & Nathan was an editor.  Contemporary biblical experts think this unlikely & say that the works were put together at least 50 years after the time of the events.

Time:  The events take place ca. 1100-1000 BCE.  The compilation & recording of the events takes place ca. 950 BCE. 

Today's Selection: Yahweh is calling Samuel in a dream.  This ties in with the Gospel where three future apostles are called.  Samuel's parents were Elkanah & Hannah, and Hannah is famous because of a touching story about how she came to have Samuel.  She had been barren for years and even Elkanah's other wife ridiculed her.  One day the prophet Eli heard her crying and praying in the temple.  At first he accused her of being drunk.  Then when he talked with her, he promised that she would have a son. 

Hannah had promised Yahweh that she would dedicate to the temple her son, if she got one.  Consequently, our selection finds Samuel residing in the temple with Eli the prophet.  He would be about 12 years old.

Be aware that while these marvelous stories are mythological, the writer is attempting to convey to a simple people lessons about trust in Yahweh.

 

Eli Who?

     When I was a young pup of a Jesuit I got to know an old blind Jesuit who was living in the old priests’ infirmary at Grand Coteau.  I can still remember a tall, skinny Fr. McLaughlin doing pull ups on a bar in back of the big, four story building we lived in.

     I got to know him especially well the first Christmas I spent at Grand Coteau, my first away from home.  I had acquired a really good case of poison ivy and could not do much.  I had gotten the poison ivy one recreation day when we were out in the Achafalaya swamp.  I used some Spanish moss after a pit stop in the woods. 

     Fr. McLaughlin received tons of Christmas cards and being blind he needed someone to write for him.  That was my job, which I did mostly standing that Christmas.

     In the Jesuits we had a strong custom of having spiritual directors.  Fr. McLaughlin was my first.  He was a great raconteur of stories, but also a kind listener.  He helped me through my homesickness.

     I talk about Fr. Mac because he was an Eli figure for me.  Fr. Mac & the priest Eli were both spiritual directors.  I would like to talk about spiritual direction and directors.  Two observations.

     First, I highly recommend this old Jesuit custom.  Get a spiritual director. 

     I have one.  Most of you know him, David McKeon, a married priest from the Rochester, NY diocese, a spiritual man and a licensed psychotherapist. 

     I usually visit him every other month, usually just recounting to him the many blessings of life with Rosemary, the life of our community, and my insights.

     Spiritual directors come in professional and semi-professional sizes.  Some are counselors.  Characteristics include:

          1.  The person is a good listener

          2.  They are affirmative

          3.  Like Eli, they reflect back what they are hearing. 

          4.  They do not tell a person what to do.  No “You shoulds,” a really difficult thing for lots of adults to refrain from.  Actually, teachers are trained to do this—with students.

         Secondly, besides recommending that you get a spiritual director, I would suggest that you all are spiritual directors, the semi-professional size.  For years I was a spiritual director for nuns, priests, young Jesuits, and people from various areas of life. 

     Spiritual directors helped me all through the Jesuits and David McKeon still does.  I invite you to consider yourselves spiritual directors.  It happens at meals, coffees, at Tom Thumb, at receptions.  Follow the four characteristics I mentioned, listen, affirm, reflect back, and don’t tell adults what they should do. 

 Furthermore, I invite you to get a spiritual director or counselor. 

 Who is the Eli in your life?

Picture 1:    Georgie & Elizabeth

Picture 2:    Ashley, Jean & Cliff's granddaughter       

Picture 3:    The Kerns, Ben, Candy, Michael, & Mike

Picture 4:    Cole

Picture 5:    Buddy with his granddad, Gilberto

Picture 6:    Leo comfortable in Jean's arms