Reminder for 4th Advent, December 20, 2020,

Readings:

2 Samuel 7, 1-5, 8-12, 14, & 16, The Lord tells the prophet Nathan that he will protect his lineage forever.

Psalm, 89, Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord

Romans 16, 25-27,  To the only wise God be glory forever

Luke 1, 26-38, The angel Gabriel was sent to a town called Nazareth

 

 

Tranquility 10

 

 

Here is information about ways we can help this Christmas. 

Soul’s Harbor.  As in years past we are collecting sweatshirts and hoodies for the guys at Soul’s Harbor. Please drop them off at Lynda Fleming’s house by 12/17/20.  (5 Vista Cliff Place, Richardson, TX 75080).

 

A note from Becky Good:

Legacy Preparatory Charter in Plano is looking for a few good church families to donate to our neediest school families.  If you're one of those who feels the need to answer this call please email me so that I can make you part of the document that will contain the list of our neediest families and their children with ages and sizes.

Should you want to donate money instead, email me and we will find a way to receive it if you don't want to drop off a check.

Families in need: Download Families (1)

Here's my email:  Bgood@legacypca.com

As always, Legacy and I thank you for your constant generosity.  You are making a difference in our school community.  Thank you again.

Checks and gifts/donations needed to be dropped off by Monday, 12/15/20, so they can get it to the families.  Still okay for donations.

 

Tranquility 8

Turtle Tea Time, location, NW Hwy bridge over White Rock Creek Trail, north side, you can see over a dozen occasionally.  See any babies? 

 

ROMEOS, Friday, December 18, 1:00,  as usual.    Welcome!

ROMEOs' Virtual Jason's Deli BYOB lunch
This is a recurring meeting, Friday, 1:00 pm
Link :
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85798571623?pwd=NmFSTW1ocVMzRGdIc0QzUGxKdHM3dz09

Meeting ID: 857 9857 1623
Password: saladbar

 

Romeos

 

Last Friday Romeos, Ray, Mike, Guess, Jim, John, Christmas tree.  Scary, no?

 

 

Reminder for 4th Sunday Advent, December 20, 2020

Here are the links for Sunday:

For Zoom   ( the video conference, same as last week )
 
 
 
For Youtube    
 
 
1. in your browser, go to   youtube.com
2. search for "john stack ministries"
 
 
 
What's up in Ye Olde Catholic Church
1.  Demon Possession?  Exorcism?   San Francisco archbishop's exorcisms,  https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/san-francisco-archbishops-exorcisms-highlight-controversy-over-serra-conflict
I've worked with these poor souls both here in the States and in East Africa.  It was always Catholic church hysteria.
 
 
 
Wise Men
 
 
 
 
Covid version of Night Before Christmas.   Thanks to Becky on FaceBook.

T'was a month before Christmas,

And all through the town,

People wore masks,

That covered their frown.

 

The frown had begun

Way back in the Spring,

When a global pandemic

Changed everything.

 

They called it corona,

But unlike the beer,

It didn’t bring good times,

It didn’t bring cheer.

 

Airplanes were grounded,

Travel was banned.

Borders were closed

Across air, sea and land.

 

As the world entered lockdown

To flatten the curve,

The economy halted,

And folks lost their nerve.

 

From March to July

We rode the first wave,

People stayed home,

They tried to behave.

 

When summer emerged

The lockdown was lifted.

But away from caution,

Many folks drifted.

 

Now it’s December

And cases are spiking,

Wave two has arrived,

Much to our disliking.

 

It’s true that this year

Has had sadness a plenty,

We’ll never forget

The year 2020.

 

And just ‘round the corner –

The holiday season,

But why be merry?

Is there even one reason?

 

To decorate the house

And put up the tree,

Who will see it,

No one but me.

 

But outside my window

The snow gently falls,

And I think to myself,

Let’s deck the halls!

 

So, I gather the ribbon,

The garland and bows,

As I play those old carols,

My happiness grows.

 

Christmas is not cancelled

And neither is hope.

If we lean on each other,

I know we can cope

 

Anonymous

 

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  • 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 9, 2022

    2 Kings 5:  Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.

    2 Timothy 2:  Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.

    Luke 17:  Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?

     

     

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    John about to begin Mass

                                                      

     

    Thanks…      

    Music,    Ben & Shonda

    Readers,  Mary & Frank

    Gospel,   John Cade

    Homily,  John Stack

    Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

    The Magic Zoom makers,      Hue & Richard & Kevin

    Final Blessing, Rosemary

             

                                                        IMG_5712

    Frank reading from 2 Kings
           

     

                                                                      

    Readings:  Download 10-09-22- Readings – 28th Sunday Ord

    Homily:   

     

     

    Remember these special people:

    For Jan; For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer and Kaliope, John Cade's Mother-in-law;  For Donna and the Dinsmore Family after her brother, Dennis died  from pancreatic cancer;   For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;    For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

                                                                         

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    Mary reading from Paul's Letter to Timothy       

     

     

     

     

    Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;     For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

     

     

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    Jan and Charlie are here    

     

     

    Birthdays:   

    Anniversaries:   

          

    Community Finances:   

    Expenses:  590.00

    Outreach: $  355.00

    Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

                     

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    Connie telling us about Bona Responds and everyone's memories of Bill

     

     

    Rosemary's Blessing:  

    May you be blessed with the gift of humility

    To know who you are,

    To appreciate your strengths and talents,

    To be aware of your shortcomings and limitations,

    And most especially…

    To be grateful each day for life

    Unknown

     
     
     

    JSM Mission-Faith Statement  

          Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth.  

          Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we live in a better place to live.

  • 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Christ the King Sunday, November 26, 2023

    Ezekiel 34: Thus says the Lord God: From now on, I myself am the shepherd.  As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep.   I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered. 

    James:  You can no more show me your works apart from your faith, than I can show you my faith apart from my works.  Faith and works, works and faith—they fit together hand in glove.

    Luke 17: Whenever you did one of these things to the least of my sisters and brothers—that was me.  You did it to me.

     

     

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    Mary Jane reading from Ezekiel

     

    Thanks…     

    Music,   Shonda & Ben 

    Readers,  Mary Jane & John

    Homily,   John Cade

    Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

    The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Richard

    Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                          

    IMG_9260         John reading from James

     

     

    Christmas Collections:

    We will be collecting sweatshirts and hoodies for Soul's Harbor  on Sunday, December 10, 2023.

    We will also have an Angel Tree.  More details to follow.

     

     

    Homily:  Download 11-26-23 Homily – Christ the King

     

     

     

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    John gets a cookie for his anniversary

     

     

    Remember these special people:

    For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Tom Good;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Allen Stryker;   For Mike and Judy Carrell ; For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;   For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie;  For Ron ;  For Teresa Quinn's niece, Maddie who has a brain tumor;

                                                                                                     

     

    Jackie's sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;  For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & the families of Annie and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

     

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    Cody gets a cookie for his birthday last week

     

                                          

    Birthdays:   Mike Moran 12/2

    Anniversaries:  Frank & Mary Esparza 11/26, John &  Michelle Simari 11/29, Brent & Meredith Burmaster 12/1

                     

    Community Finances:   

    Expenses: 330.00

    Outreach: $  

    Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

     

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    Gilbert gets a cookie

                                        

    Rosemary's Blessing:
     

    O God of Quiet, come! 

    Whisper in our waiting hearts what you ask of us.  … Come! 

    Help us listen. 

    Help us be quiet. 

    May God’s small, still whisper reach our waiting, listening hearts.

     

    Sr. Delores Dolezai

     
     
     

    John Stack Ministries meets on Sunday for Mass at 9:30 at The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano, Texas.

     

     

     

    JSM Mission-Faith Statement  

          Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth.  

          Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we live in a better place to live.

  • Sunday Homily, January 28, 2018, 4th Ordinary Time B

      Cody plus

     

     

    "Welcome in, Everybody," say Cody with Sandra & Emma & Beth & Sophia.

     

     

    Notice: if ever you notice that suddenly you are not receiving this blog, please reregister under www.johnstackministries.com.    Two guys just told me on the same day that the blog suddenly stopped coming.   This is the error of the carrier, Typepad, and it happens fairly regularly for some reason.  So sorry.

     

     

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    Guess who is Sophia's favorite dad.   I bet it is Ben.

     

     

    Readings:

    Deuteronomy 18, 15-20,  Moses spoke to all the people.

    Psalm 95,  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

    Corinthians 7, 32-35,   I should like you to be free of anxieties. 
    A married man is anxious.

    Mark 1, 21-28, Is not a man’s life on earth a drudgery?

     

     

     

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    A double team.  While Emma performs her candle magic, Georgie reads the blessing of light.

     

     

    Deuteronomy observations :

    What : 5th book of the Bible, of the Pentateuch or Torah   It is a series of addresses by Moses to the people in the desert after escaping from Egypt & Pharaoh.

    Psalm 95 observations:

    I would like to share some ideas about the part of the responsorial that says, If today you hear his voice. 

    The first stanza is the best of all the readings.  Watch for it.

     

     

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    Welcome in Vanessa, Stella, and Coco.

     

     

    1 Corinthians observations:

    There was in ancient times a theory of asceticism that said that all pleasure was harmful to the inner spirit.  This applied double for sexual experience.  From personal experience I would reject this idea.  Watch what Paul says about marriage vs celibacy.

     

     

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    There he is, Sophia's favorite daddy and, also, Leo's favorite mommy
     

     

    Mark observations:

    The story is about a man who had an unclean spirit in him, meaning he was possessed by a devil.  Today people would say Jesus did an exorcism. 

    There is another explanation of all this that I subscribe to because of psychological study and personal experience. 

    Psychology says there is a condition called multiple personalities.  The condition is the result of severe abuse, especially at a young age.  It is a self defense maneuver, a disassociation from myself. 

     

     

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    Yes, it helps to have helpers with the elevation, especially with a little Parkenson's. 

     

     

    I have worked with some of these poor people.  They usually had more than one personality with different ages.  With some of those I worked with there had been exorcism, which was not just useless, but harmful.  The person thought they had a devil inside, which was false and horrible.  For starters there is no devil.

    Recovery involves acceptance and talk.  Ultimately, the host person needs to close the door to the alternates because it knows it is safe.  It takes time for healing.

    Actually, Jesus exemplifies the process, though it normally takes much more time than one encounter.  I would suggest that Jesus presented a peaceful and accepting persona, just what the man’s host personality craved.

    Watch as Mark presents a story about multiple personality.

     

     

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    How could we do this without Georgie and Buddy!

     

     

    Hearing the Voice of God in Unusual Places

    I want to talk this morning about three  places the voice of God was heard.  Two are mine.  Number three from a mystery guest who gives me permission to share the story.

    The first event came up because I am thinking about the trip planned to Dickenson to help with the clean up.  A few years back there was a tornado in OK City.  The same team went, Professor Jim Maher & his students from St. Bonaventure. 

    Jim has my number unfortunately (not really), so I went up by myself.

     

     

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    It is almost brunch time, Buddy.  It will be terrific!

     

    One day we're cleaning up a mess at a rural town called Little Ax.  We had our team and you will never guess at the other team.  Muslim Emergency Aid.   Remember?  I talked about this after I returned.  They were well equipped like the Baptist Men and great guys and girls.

    At one point I was walking down a hill from taking a piece of an I beam to the pile on the dirt road.  For pick up.  One second I was up walking down that slope.  The next I fell over something on the ground.

    I was not injured in any way, landing on thick grass.  People started coming to my help.  Guess who was the first to come to me.  Yep, one of the Muslim boys.  I was most touched and humbled.

    The voice of God in an unusual place.

     

     

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    Sez Rosemary, "Don't tell the old geezer that he is 78.  He still thinks he is about 40."

     

     

    The second was at DFW airport when Rosemary & I came back from the wedding a couple of weeks ago.  We had landed and were departing the plane. 

    I stopped to put a book into my backpack, using a wheel chair as a table, stepped to the right, forgot about the little foot piece, and fell right over on the carpeted gangway. 

    Like with Joyce Scott, the lady I talked about Christmas Eve, all sorts of people came to my aid and helped me get up.  No injury except to my price.

    God spoke again in an unusual place.

     

     

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    Brent, It is an honor to be able to give you these two checks for Souls Harbor.  The work you do there for 65 men in recovery is phenomenal.

     

     

    Thirdly, the mystery guest.  Rosemary.

    One morning about 6:00 Rosemary walked up to the desk of one of the hotels within shuttle distance of DFW.  We park at these hotels when we fly sometimes.  It costs about $5 per day and the shuttle is free.

    Without a word she starts in, “I would like a chit to park here.  My husband is parking the car in the back.”

    The clerek looks up and says cheerfully, “Good Morning.”

    “Oh, I am sorry.  Yes, Good Morning to you, too.”

    The voice of God in an unusual place.   

    You, any unusual places?

     

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    Guess what  is coming.

     

     

  • Link Announcement for the 7th Sunday of Easter, May 24, 2020

    Here are the links for Sunday:

    For Zoom   ( the video conference, same as last week )
     
     
     
    For Youtube    
     
     
     
    Despite the instructions coming out from D.C., I would like to assure you all that we will continue to meet with Zoom on Sundays until it is safer.  Thanks.  John
     
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    Le Moulin Neuf, Paunat, France (Dordogne region of France)
  • Sunday Homily, February 17, 2019, 6th Ordinary Time

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    "Welcome in, Everybody," say Emma & her mom, Beth.

     

    Readings: 

    Jeremiah 17,  5-8,   Cursed  is the one who trusts in human beings.

    Psalm 1,  Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.  

    1 Corinthians 15, 12, 16-20,    Christ has been raised from the dead.

    Luke 6,  17, 20-26,  Blessed are you who are poor.  (beatitudes)

     

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    Suiting up is a teamwork.

     

     

    Sunday Homily

     Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings.

    This morning I would like to talk about this line from Jeremiah, which, you know me, I do not like. 

    A little story for perspective.

     

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    Victoria doing her magic lighting of the candles.

     

    It was only a week ago this past Thursday that I went to visit my spine surgeon for my 6 week post op check up.  I expected to get a looser leash, like maybe a physical therapist.  Rosemary came with me, mostly because she did not want me to come home saying I could do things she doubted came from the surgeon.  

    So, what happens?  I got more freedom than I could imagine.  I was even asked if I wanted a physical therapist.  I said I did not care.  He asked if I learned anything new from the physical therapist I had pre-op.  I said I really learned nothing.  So, he said just go do what you know.

    I was so stunned, so surprised, I was in tears.  Lucky I had Rosemary there.  She would have never believed me.

     

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    Buddy reading the Blessing of The Winter Candles.  You just gets better each week, Buddy.

     

     

    So, from the office in the Presby  complex we headed home all elated in our Prius.  We took Royal Lane west from Central and caught the light at Hillcrest.  We were behind a lady.  The red light changed to green and the lady sat there.  I flashed my lights one time.

    Then, Bamm!  We were tail gated. 

    What now?  All the horror stories I have heard of hit & run people, people who get angry and blame the victims.

     

     

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    I am proud to say, Carol, that I am jealous of your hair.

     

    So we went to the first left bound lane, pulled over to the right hand curb, and got out.  My elation had turned to a downer.  At least the person had not tried to run away and pulled right up behind us.  Moreover she jumped out of her Infinity SUV, asking, "Are you okay?  Anybody get hurt?   I am so sorry, my foot just slipped off the brake pedal."  I know you are warned never to do this if you caused the accident.

     

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    The Music Musicians Ben & David.

     

    Corey was the lady's name, middle aged, slender, and probably from the neighborhood.  She had a lot of integrity, claimed she was responsible, gave us photos of her papers, especially the insurance paper.  

    By the next day, Friday, her insurance company was in touch, they offered us a rental, which we did not think we needed for a few days, and we booked the Prius into the local service King this past Thursday.  

     

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    Elevation time.

     

    So, cursed is the one who trusts in human beings?  Jeremiah, you must have been having a bad day, a bunch of which I know you had in your life.

    I think the real challenge for us is to trust. 

    Who are the people in your life whom you trust?  

     

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    The Beautiful Sisters Geri & Francine.