Reminder for Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021

Ezekiel 33:  Thus says the Lord: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.

Romans 13: Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love on another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Matthew 18:  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

Denni reading from Ezekiel

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Denni & Tom

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                      

Tom reading from Peter's Letter to the Romans

 

 

Readings:  Download 09-10-23 Readings -23rd Ordinary

Homily:  

 

 

Brent commenting on the Homily

 

 

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 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.

 

 

Beth and Rob get a cookie  for their anniversary

                                          

Birthdays:   Waren Wittek

Anniversaries:  Mike & Geri Moran

                 

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  36500

Outreach: $  50.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

Loretta gets a cookie for coming back to visit

Joshua 24:  The people answered, "We'd never forsake God! Never! We'd never leave God to worship other gods.

Ephesians 5:  And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh."

John 6: Peter replied, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life.

 

 

Another Reminder for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 25, 2024

Second Sunday of Easter

Welcome to our on line celebration.

John Cade will offer his 5th Special Homily on Matthew's work.

 

 

 

First Reading read by Cody, Acts of the Apostles

 

         The newly converted followers of Christ committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.  Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles!  And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common.  They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

        They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God.  People in general liked what they saw.  Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Our word for today.

 

 

 

Second Reading, read by Patricia,  First Letter of Peter

   

Sisters and brothers: What a God we have!  And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus!  Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!  God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.  The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

        I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime.  Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.  When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

        You never saw him, yet you love him.  You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing.  Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to:  total salvation.

 

Our word for today.

 

 

 

Gospel reading read by Deacon Mike,     Gospel of John

          Later on that first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house.  Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”  Then he showed them his hands and side.  The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant.  Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you.  Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”  Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them.  “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said.  “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good.  If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” 

         But Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”  But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”  Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room.  This time Thomas was with them.

 

 

 

  Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”  Then he focused his attention on Thomas.  “Take your finger and examine my hands.  Take your hand and stick it in my side.  Don’t be unbelieving.  Believe.”  Thomas said, “My Master!  My God!”  Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes.  Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” 

         Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs then are written down in this book.  These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

The Good News of John

 

 

 

Anniversary of The Week, John & Alison Degenova

 

Rosemary's Blessing of The Week

Risen Jesus, help us to be human expressions of the God you proclaimed: a God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

May we know deeply God's great love for us, and like God, lean toward those suffering, oppressed and poor.

Taken from A Reflection and Prayer for Easter by S. Jean Amore, CSJ

 

In response to those of you who have been asking, Yes, we are so far paying our weekly bills.   Collections are certainly down.  We are bringing in ca. $400 a week. Unfortunately we have not been able to support Souls Harbor. 

If you would like to help out, simply send a check to Rosemary at 6107 Tulip Lane, Dallas 75230.  Tom Zurchin suggested we get a PayPal account and Rosemary is afraid it will complicate her present arrangements.  

Tom also gave us a heads up about the North Texas Giving Day, May 5.   Souls Harbor has a $10 thousand matching grant.   Donate your $1200 government subsidy?  Unless you need it.

 

Remember……

 

 

 

Welcome in Everybody, and welcome to Advent.

 

Readings:  

Jeremiah  33, 14-16, “The days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will fulfill the promise I made.”

Psalm 25,  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

1 Thesssalonians 3,12-4,2, May the Lord make you increase and abound in love.

Like 21,  25-28, 34-36, There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars.  

 

 

 

Welcome from today's Offertory Team, Michelle & Gil, Carol & Rich

 

 

One Day on a Walker   

For a New Appreciation of People, Try a Walker

This morning I would like to talk about how I came to see again how genuinely good ordinary people can be.  Want a quickie answer to that?  Try lumbar stenosis which leads to lower back pain which leads to life on a walker.

 

 

Another Day on the walker.

 

Two examples.

Just after the doctor put me on a walker I had an 8:00 A.M. appointment with my skin doctor.  It was freezing dark, cold, windy, and I had to park in one of those ground level parking areas, like about ½ a mile from the double glass entrance doors. 

As I hobbled up to the doors, a guy and a woman jumped ahead of me and held the doors open for me.  I was most touched.

 

 

Leo the Candle Man in Action.

 

The same thing happened when I departed the buildings.

Other similar events happened all the time we were in Hilton Head.   But a special one took place at an Alabama highway welcome facility just departing Georgia. 

We stopped in the visitor space to visit the facilities.  As I approached the one story building I noticed that the host of the facility this particular morning was a black guy about 60.  He saw me and was immediately heading toward the entrance doors.

 

 

Buddy reading the Blessing of The Advent Candle.

 

We arrived about the same moment and I reached out to pull outward the right hand door.  Trouble was, I was coming at it from the left.  I was awkwardly pulling the door with my right hand when the guy opened the door and stepped out to help me. 

Lucky me, because I was planning on using the door handle with my right hand to balance.  Suddenly the door was open, the handle out of reach, and I am falling over—right into the arms of the welcoming station.  Yes, he caught me and graciously got me righted.

 

 

Yes, Harper, you look really pretty with your new shorter hair.

 

Then, even at the restroom door, truckers were holding it so I could enter and depart.

I have been most touched, folks, and feel privileged.

Any of you seen these people around lately? 

And the question I would ask normally, I don’t ask now because it is irrelevant.  You do this kind of activity every day.

 

 

Could it be that Leo's most favorite time of our Sunday Mass is the Cupcake of the Week time.

 

 

 

 

 

Says our dearest Harper, "Welcome in, Everybody. 

 

 

 

Readings:  

Daniel 12, 1-3, In those day, I, Daniel, heard the word of the Lord

Psalm 16,  You are my inheritance, O Lord

1 Corinthians 1, 3-9, I give thanks  (selection from Thanksgiving Day)

Mark 13,  24-32,  Learn a lesson from the fig tree.

 

 

 

With Buddy reading the blessing of the candles, Emma lights the candles.

 

 

Thanksgiving History: Everyone knows about the first Thanksgiving in 1602 with the Pilgrims and the Indians eating together, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock.   Here are 5 facts that people do not hear about usually.

1.  When did Thanksgiving begin?  Our ancestors have celebrated end of harvest feasts of gratitude for centuries.  Lincoln first focused on a national feast; FDR established the national holiday in 1941.

 

 

 

Michelle with her dad, Gil.

 

1.  The pilgrims did not know they were pilgrims.  They called themselves saints, and non-saints were called strangers.  The word pilgrim came along in the 18 hundreds, 2 centuries later.  They were not even Puritans, but separatists.  They split off from the Church of England, old Henry VIII's church, and the Puritans did not split off. 
2.   The Separatists did not come to establish religious freedom.  They came for religious freedom for their religion and only their religion.  Like the Catholic Church, the Separatists demanded everyone belong to their program.  Failure to conform could result in execution, ala inquisition.

 

 

And the Father will Dance, One of our most favorite hymns led by Ben.

 

 

1.  The Mayflower returned to England, was torn apart, and its beams were used to build a barn in Buckinghamshire (just north of London & east of Oxford).
2.  How did the Indians & Separatists communicate?   The Indians were Algonquians & one of them, Squanto had actually lived in Briton some years.  He returned to his tribe and taught his friend, Samoset English.  It was Samoset who communicated with the Separatists, & the Indians taught them to raise corn, to fish, and to hunt.  In the first winter half of the 100 Separatists died before the Indians taught them how to survive.

 

 

 

Elevation time.

 

Thanksgiving

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, my most favorite celebration, I would like to talk about blessings.  Excuse me for the personal focus.  It is my annual assessment.  Rosemary & I do this together more toward the end of the year, but initially I put together my own list.

As an aside, this Tuesday we celebrate the 26^th anniversary of the 6 Jesuits killed in the patio of their residence of their university, UCA, University of Central America, El Salvador.

 

 

 

Offertory with Mike, John, and Connie.

 

Thanksgiving

Despite the fact that Rosemary says, when she hears that I want to give a Thanksgiving homily this Sunday, “Not another thanksgiving homily.”  I  promise her that  won’t repeat the Big 3 Blessings in my life.  Like entering the Jesuits, spending 10 years in East Africa, and marrying her. 

Instead, I have Ragbrai.  The ride across Iowa in July.  You have heard me talk about this event on numerous occasions.  To me this is an extraordinary event, some 30 thousand riders, 400-500 miles from the Missouri River to the Mississippi.

 

 

 

 Saturday night wedding with Christi and Steve.

 

 

 I have my favorite vendor, the Mennonite community, serving home made pie slices and a big bowl of vanilla ice cream.  One flavor of ice cream, a dozen flavors of pie, which the are baking right there on the edge of the road. Like in October we took an ocean cruise in the North Atlantic, starting in Bergen, Switzerland, and continuing through Amsterdam and Portsmouth, England through the Straights of Gibraltar to Barcelona, Spain.

One of the most moving experiences was taking a bus from Bruge, Belgium to the First World War battle lines at Ypres.  This was to be the war to end all wars.

 

 

 

Away they go on a new journey in life.

 

 

Thirdly, and this is the best year after year.  This community, you people.  Like what community could you find who would welcome with open arms a crazy woman who wants to tell us about her ancestors who came over on the Mayflower.  Moreover, we loved the presentation, complete with singing and a costume change.

These are just three of my blessings this year.  What are three of yours. 

 

 

 

 

Even big kids get to play with the toys, as long as the kids don't see them

2 Maccabees 7:  It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him;…

2 Thessalonians 2:  May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.

Luke 20:  They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.

 

     

Mary reading from Maccabees

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Mary and Warren

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Richard & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

         

                               

Warren reading from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians

               

                                                                  

Readings:  Download 11-03-22- Readings – 32nd Sunday Ord

Homily:  

 

 

 

Grace and Aviana

 

 

 

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 Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  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; 

                                                                    

 

 

Richard reminding us about the Love For Kids Party in December    

 

 

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.

 

 

 

John, Brent and Tom

   

 

Birthdays:   

Anniversaries:   

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $   1,210.00

Outreach: $   360.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

                 

John and Connie

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

 

Taken from IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915 
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium