29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 18, 2020
Readings:
Isaiah 45, 1, 4-6, I have called you by your name.
Psalm 96, Give the Lord glory & honor
Thessalonians 1, 1-5, We give thanks to God always for all of you.
Matthew 22, 15-21, Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
Thanks to the Team
Music, Ben & Shonda's help
Readers, Sandra & Patricia & Buddy, the candle blesser
Gospel, Deacon Mike
Homily, Stack
Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade
The Magic Zoom makers, Mike, Ben, Richard, & Hue
Final Blessing, Rosemary
For hosting us at Legacy, Becky
Isaiah observations:
Who : Can you guess which Isaiah this is in chapter 45? 1, 2, or 3? A little more difficult than the last two Sundays. This is Isaiah 2, going from chapter 40 to 55.
Today’s selection: this is not Isaiah 2 at his best. I like the line, I have called you by your name. Otherwise, the passage is mildly comforting to the people who are living in Babylonian slavery, around 555 before Christ.
Cyrus: So, who is Cyrus?
Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece. He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.
Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem. This is exactly what Cyrus does. Where is Babylon? Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River. What is left? Rubble.
Note: Watch out for the alleluia verse just before the gospel. A good one.
e.g., Shine like lights to the world, as you hold on to the word of life.
Please Remember these special people:
For Alan Stryker; For John Doherty with back pain; For David Dismore's bad shoulder from a biking accident; For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery; For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands, For Loretta's aunt Alicia; For Sir Charlie & Jan; Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family;
For Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn; For both Jean & Cliff Wright; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free; For Hue; For John O'Donnell; For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health; For Anthony & Sabrina; For a young man who is suffering from depression; John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer, For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.
Homily for 10/20
I bet you don’t know what special anniversary Rosemary & I are celebrating this Tuesday, October 20. Yep, one year ago Tuesday we were visited by that massively destructive tornado.
Actually, I personally cannot tell you what the tornado was like. It hit at 10:00 P.M. Saturday and Aviana & I had already been sound asleep in bed for an hour. What woke us up was an enormous crash. Rosemary came running in saying we needed to get into the hall closet. We made it, but it was mostly over, leaving the front bay window on the south side of the house all blasted into the living room. A lot of roofing was also blown away.
Tulip Lane house after the tornado.
At that time Rosemary, still dressed, went out to check on some of our neighbors, especially two widows, one, Joyce, in her 90’s and Betty a little younger. Joyce would have been killed in her bed if she had also gone to bed as usual at 9:00. The roof was blown down on her bed. Because her daughter was in town, they were up and they both got in a hall closet. It took a neighbor’s chain saw to get them out.
Betty was funny because she was getting ready for bed when the tornado hit and when she was pulled out of her collapsed house by neighbors, she said, “My pants are in there. I have to go back in.” She had no pants on.
To stay in this house for any time we had to fix the roof. We stayed until Sept. 1
Actually, on that corner of Tulip & Camellia 5 houses were totally ruined. One of the five had been a quasi mansion owned by the Dallas hockey player, Tyler Sagan. One couple moved into our den for the remainder of the night. I ran around the house putting buckets in place to catch the leaks, about 20 all together. TV broadcasts were taking place right in front of our house and police were everywhere. The couple who spent the night in our den are still in an apartment waiting to get their house rebuilt.
You have heard me talk already about how I was humbled and stunned at how many people from the neighborhood just showed up early in the morning. They mainly pulled, dragged, and carried tree branches from around the face of the house to the curb for pick up. The yard was a battle scene with limbs from our beautiful trees lying everywhere. Doug LeBlanc showed up the first morning with plywood. He & his buddies boarded up the bay window. I was stunned, grateful, and humbled by how hard those people worked.
House belonging to the Dallas hockey player, Tyler Sagan.
And that was just the first day. There were still loads of clearing to be done. Kids from the neighborhood & St. Marks Boys School joined in and really worked. A day or so later a bunch of our community members showed up and helped to load trucks with debris. Loretta Garcia Williams fed us that day.
Even Central Market on our south east corner of Preston Royal joined in. They set up a mobile kitchen under a big tent and served breakfast, lunch, and dinner for four or five of days.
8 houses destroyed at the Tulip Lane & Camelia corner.
These were real meals. I can vouch for breakfast because some kids brought me a Central Market hot breakfast one morning.
We had known for years that our house on Tulip Lane was falling apart. Built in 1950, the piers were deteriorating and the walls and ceilings had cracks. You should have seen it after the tornado! Which got us house hunting at full throttle.
And look at what we have. We have been blessed. It was worth waiting, though a number of days it all seemed to be going no where.
You can even see into the St. Mark's Boys School parking lot.
You know how Rosemary found this house? With the help our agent, a good friend, Rosemary mailed out 90 personal letters to home owners. One of them was our present house, which is a story by itself.
The one downer right now is our old house. I thought it would be bulldozed during this month we have been gone. I do not want to ride by and look at it. But just riding by on Royal Lane I can see it. It looks forlorn and I have abandoned it and all the improvements I put into the place. All the trees that shaded and beautified that corner are gone. Tuesday, Rosemary & I will celebrate and give thanks. What has been your blessing?
Late addendum to this homily. Our old house has just been bulldozed. How do I feel? Both sad and relieved. Yes, blessed that it is finally done.
6107 Tulip Lane this past Friday.
Birthdays: Donna Dinsmore, Chuck Pratt, 82
Community Finances, October 18, 2020
Expenses: $450.00
Outreach $100.00 (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)
Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.
Rosemary's Blessing:
Loving God, give us
eyes that see the best in people;
words that repair and reconnect rifts and divisions;
courage to reshape the heart of the world; and
wisdom to “see things the way they are, not the way we are.”
We ask this in Jesus’ name who taught us the truth and the way.
Amen.
Sister Jean Amore, CSJ, Principal, Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, N.Y.
Just in case you missed our new address, 7017 Helsem Way 75230. (notice the same Zip Code as Tulip Lane?)