Welcome to the scene of our 4th Advent and Christmas Eve celebrations, to the most colorful school dining room I have ever seen, and to a marvelous venue for special inspiration.  Legacy Charter School.

Readings: 

Micah 5, 1-4, From you shall come one who is to be ruler in Israel

Psalm 80,  Lord, make us turn to you, let us see your face and we shall be saved.   

Hebrews 10, 5-10, Sacrifices and offering you did not  desire  

Luke 1,  39-45,  Mary visits Elizabeth.

Buddy, you are becoming such a gifted reader.  Thanks to you and thanks to you, Georgie, for shepherding Buddy.

Homily

The summer of 2015 I was a volunteer referee, of course, unbiased, principled, and open to all gifts.  Chocolate was my favorite.  I was a referee for the Maccabe summer games at the Jewish Community Center, a place that has become something of a second or third home for me.

Thanks for lighting our 4 Advent candles today, Zoe.  Your hair is gorgeous.

The Maccabe Games take place every summer in Jewish Community Centers all over the country and perhaps Canada.  Thousands of kids came to Dallas, and the spirit in the air was terrific.  They were sheltered all over Dallas in JCC family homes.  We had a dozen or so on our block of Tulip Lane.  All together it must be like that at the Olympics.

During the time there were numerous general meetings.  At one of the meetings of no less than 2500 a special event took place.

Welcome Home from Beirut, Celeste.  It is so good to see you back.  I am jealous of those kids in Beirut who have you as their music teacher.

There was a young girl of about 15, Hallie Bernard, who addressed the whole assembly one day.  Hallie had a rare disease.   To recover she needed a bone marrow transplant.  She made an appeal to the parents and kids to get registered and maybe she would find a donor who would save her life.

Hallie immediately had 2500 volunteers.  As word got out to others at the event and beyond, over 6,000 volunteers registered.

Congratulations, Rick, on losing 30 pounds.  I am proud to know you.

As a result, 53 matches were found all over the place, even beyond Dallas & Texas. 

Hallie found a match.  

Guess why the people at the Jewish Community Center and beyond so touch my heart.  

Are people just not good!

Welcome home from college, Kevin, so good to see you.

Our Advent Reconciliation with Mary Jane & Becky (the head of Legacy Charter).

Readings: Isaiah 8, 23-9, 3; Psalm 27, The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; 1 Corinthians 1, 10-13; Matthew 4, 12-23

 Intro to Readings

 The gospel reading today should sound familiar when you hear it, as it is mostly a repeat of our first reading from Isaiah.  In today’s reading Jesus has just heard that John the Baptist has been jailed by Herod and so he decides to head over to Capernaum. 

The reading describes Capernaum as being in the region of Zebulum and Naphtali.  These places were named after two of the sons of Jacob, he of the ‘twelve tribes’ fame.  Galilee is a very familiar name to us as Jesus spent a whole lot of time there.  This area was the area invaded by the Assyrians in the eight century BC and all of the wealthy and educated people where carried away as slaves.  What was left were the peasants, and so we have this reference to the land left in darkness!

Nazareth was to the southern end of Galilee.  Galilee itself was a rather small and insignificant place compared with Jerusalem in Judea.  Capernaum was a fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  It was also close to the Via Maris, which you will hear referred to in the first reading as the seaward road.

 Because of this earlier exile, there was a much greater mix of gentiles in this area.  There was a certain amount of tension between the Jews who lived in Galilee and those in Jerusalem.  They were not considered quite as ‘pure’ due to their constant contact with the gentiles.

The really important part of the gospel reading is the last line, where we are given Jesus’ message “repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

 Our second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians shows what can so easily happen to any small community of believers.  The community is breaking into factions and forgetting its purpose.  

The Homily: instead of a formal homily today we have a baptism.  Catch the video:

 Picture 1:    Mass Begins  

Picture 2:    Special Welcome to Sienna, Brian, Payton, & Erin 

Picture 3:    The Baptism Party, Brian, Susanne, Payton, Erin, & Sienna

Picture 4:    The Baptism

Acts 5:   So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

Revelation 5:  "To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever."

John 21:  So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something."  So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.

John Cade and John Stack start Mass

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Outreach: $    250.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Connie and John help with Communion

Rosemary's Blessing:

Walk softly upon the earth.
May its beauty forever surround you,
its wonders forever astound you.

May its wisdom delight you,
its music invite you
to dance and to play and to sing.

May you love and be loved by all that you meet;
may you know and practice compassion.

Rejoice in the earth and in all of creation.
Rejoice in life.

a parting blessing – alfred v. fedak – 2008

Readings: 1 Samuel 26, 2-23; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 15, 45-49; Luke6, 27-38.

Samuel – This book of Samuel is a transition book describing how the Israelites went from being governed by judges to kings. Samuel was the last judge, Saul the first king.

A third dramatic person enters the book, King David. He is the one who killed Goliath with his sling and was King Saul’s favorite for a while.

However, when Saul noticed that the girls liked David more than he, Saul got jealous and tried to kill him on a number of occasions.

Our chapter 27 is one of these occasions. Watch what happens. The theme centers around compassion & mercy.

1 Corinthians 15 – We continue Corinthians 15 with a rather convoluted contrast between Adam, the first human being, & Jesus.

Turn the Other Cheek?

When Rosemary & I are in Mexico at Christmas we always spend the evenings in the village centers because they are enchanting. One evening in Cuernavaca this year I was standing in a one person line in front of a little kiosk selling fruit juice drinks. The kiosk was one of about six that circle the bottom of the bright gazebo. I always get an orange juice with papaya, banana, and strawberry.

As I wait in line behind a woman another woman walks by me, goes straight to the chest high counter, and asks for what she wants. I am a little indignant. I learned in East Africa, where this happens all the time, to simply say something. So I say in Spanish, "Is there no line here?"

At least the woman appeared rather abashed, even though she tried to ignore me. Ultimately, I got my fruit drink, and I was happy that I had not just wimped out, saying nothing because I hate creating scenes and this caught people’s attention.

Is this an example of offering the other cheek?

What about the example of the Amish whose children were recently killed by some deranged man? They did not just tell their kids that they would do well to forgive, but they brought aid and food to the man’s widow and his family.

I find this teaching of Christ just confounding. Half of the time I can’t do it; the other half I don’t want to. A couple of observations.

One, this is another example of the Christian program of infinite demand. The other half is infinite acceptance. We have humbling examples of people who have lived out this infinite demand: the Amish, Martin Luther King & the Freedom Riders, Dorothy Day, Maryknoller Roy Bourgeois, and even outside the Christian tradition, Ghandi in India.

Secondly, our Christian heritage clearly states that the better way is always compassion and mercy instead of hitting back and violence. David was compassionate and merciful to crazy old King Saul. Theologically we have developed a theory that says self defense is acceptable. Acceptable but not the better.

When that little lady jumped the line in front of me, I could have gotten all angry and really made a scene. I could have said nothing, which for me would have been wimping out. What I decided to do some years ago was to simply comment. Was I turning the other cheek?

What have you done when someone strikes you on the cheek, even metaphorically? What do you want to do in light of this reading?

Download the homily as an mp3.

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:

 Isaiah  66, 10-14,  Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad.

Psalm 66,  Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Galatians 6, 14-18,  You are all called for freedom.

Luke 10, 1-12, 17-20, The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.

Brooklyn is back, but not awake yet.

Isaiah 11 observations & review: 

Author:  
Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters.  Isaiah 1
covers chapters 1-39.  This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along
with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  This is because the works are the
longest.  There are 12 minor prophets, authors who have small books.

Time: around 555 before Christ, a
compiling that is taking place with the end of the Babylonian Captivity in sight or
already done. 

Sienna, too.

Message
of Isaiah 66: The profile of the prophet was usually 1. criticism, 2.
prediction of dire payment, 3. consolation. 
This is the last chapter, so guess which of the 3 authors and subject.  Yes, the third.  And…

Today’s
message: consolation, joy, song.

Leo catching Rick.

The Laborers
are Few ?

This morning I want to focus on the line that the laborers are few.  I disagree. 
I see lots of laborers these days. 
Let me give you 3 examples.

Professor Jim Mahar.  You remember
him.  He spoke to us a year or so ago, he
and some students. 

Jim is a finance professor at St. Bonaventure near Buffalo, NY, a
Franciscan college.  A competitor with
the Jesuit college in the same area, Canisius. 

Jan and Sir Charlie coming to cause trouble.

You could imagine that Jim as a professor would be spending all his time
with his students, teaching, testing, grading, and advising.  In summers he might do research and spend
some time at his cottage in the Catskills or on the NJ shore. 

Nope, not Jim.  He does all the
professor with the kids, but his second passion is relief work.  I first met him when Bill Hammond & I
drove down to Galveston to work with him and about 30 volunteer students a few
years ago.   We spent a week cleaning, tearing
down, building, and living side by side in dorms with the Baptist Men (another
great group) and other volunteers.

Hue, our sound tech.

After Hurricane Sandy hit NYC, where was Jim and his bunch of student
volunteers?   Right where it was the
worst, like Breezy Point.   They even spent so much time there that they
established a base house.

Where again was Jim and his gang after the OK tornadoes in May?  I can tell you personally he and his gang
worked hard, even working through lunch and up until sundown.  We ate finally at Central Market about 9:30,
closing the place at 10:00. 

Harper at 2 knows what Cupcake of The Week means for her, along with John.

Jim is not just a laborer.  He
invites and facilitates other laborers, like me.

Then we have the lady I talked about last Sunday, the vivacious real
estate agent who had a good month of June. 
She out of nowhere gives us $1000 to be used in whatever way we see
fit. 

Emma ready for a fun Mass.

I wanted to go personally with that check to work with Habitat Granbury
this coming week, but they are not working over the July 4^th
period.  Maybe our Habitat group?

Mentioning our Habitat, I had a good friend ask about working.  I suggested he work yesterday at our
house.  At about 8:15 he calls me and
says, “Where is everybody.”  Apparently
we also took the week off.

Zoe and her buddy.

That $1000 check so touched me that I decided I was going to give $20 to
each of the guys who pick up our recycle every Monday morning.  I usually do this at Christmas.   I did
so this time in connection with July 4^th and was so touched.  The three guys could not tell me often
enough about how grateful they were.

One word about our community.  Can anyone imagine how we would make it without all the people who bring the sound, coffee, pastries, wine cups, take pictures, read, and sing, just to mention a few of the labors that take place?

Torri arrives with her big sister, Georgie.

Finally, I know another person whose name will remain unmentioned.  I’ll whisper so she cannot hear.   This
woman goes for an exploration meeting at Meals on Wheels.  There she runs into an old friend and
neighbor who has moved out of the neighborhood and is likewise interested. 
Now they are a team delivering Meals on Wheels every Thursday.  I think I sleep with this person.

So, you, know any laborers in the vineyard?  And you?

Bethany and Ray.