14th Sunday, Ordinary time, 7-4-2021

Mass:   Coffee, donuts, and specials on the house.  

Time: 9:30; Stack Celebrating 

Place:  Vines High School, 15th between Custer & Independence, south side

 Readings: Exodus 17, 8-13; Psalm 121, Our help is from the Lord, who made Heaven & Earth; 2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2; Luke 18, 1-8  
 

Community Bulletin Board: 

Discussion after Mass this Sunday 

Dates to Check: 

October 30, Saturday: Our special day at our Habitat house.  Tom Fleming will explain Sunday. 

November 20, Saturday before Thanksgiving: help us feed the homeless like we did last year.  More information coming.

November 21, Sunday before Thanksgiving: our holiday food drive.                                                             

Thoughts on The Church:

1.  Where we  Catholics came from, NY Times, 10-7-10:  Download A Lesson from History 10-15-10 

2.  Excellent article on the state of the Catholic world written by Anthony Padovano, a married priest & scholar.  The article is both excellent and long.  Issue #3:  Download Padovano #3 of 4, 10-15-10

True? 

People, even more than things,
have to be restored,
renewed, revived,
reclaimed,
and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.

Audrey Hepburn
 

Picture 5:   Kevin & Georgie at the pastry table

 
 See you Sunday, October 17

 J.S.   (214-783-0443)

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?

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

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; 

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.

Jan and Charlie are here    

Birthdays:   

Anniversaries:   

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $   590.00

Outreach: $  355.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

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

So sorry, but Mass this Sunday, January 2, 2022 will be virtual on Zoom because of the current threat of the Omicron virus.

Keep safe.  Hope to see you all soon.

The Chain Bridge, Budapest

Readings:  

Ezekiel 17, 22-24, Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it.

Psalm 92, Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

2 Corinthians 5, 6-10, We are always courageous.  

Mark 4, 26-34, Through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.

Leo & his momma, Shonda

Observations on Ezekiel

Who:  Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 prophets.  Why?  48 chapters.  The other 2: Isaiah & Jeremiah.  Lots of chapters.

Ezekiel was born into the priest class.  He later was considered a prophet.  When he was about 25 he was swept up in the Babylonian captivity, around 590. 

Emma wiating for the cookies

When: It covers the period of the Captivity, but it is composed toward the end of the Captivity, around 550, before Christ.  This is Ezekiel’s material, but it has been saved and edited by his fellow priests.

Brooklyn ready to roll

Message:

1.  Ezekiel warns the people that they will be punished for their bad ways, for example, the Captivity.
2. He promises comfort and a brighter future for the captive, especially envisioning a restored temple (which was done until when?  The year 70, when the Romans finally destroyed the temple & the priestly cast ceased to function, to this day).
3. An amusing vision: The Dry Bones, chapter 37.

Today’s selection: Consolation.  Watch for a comforting message about a cedar tree.

As Sienna escapes across the stage, Brian climbs the stairs two at a time in hot pursuit. Who won?

Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Wikipedia

All males in the community receiving a special community Father's Day Blessing

Father’s Day

In honor of Father’s Day I want to tell you 4 vignettes that I saw this weekend at a wedding Rosemary & I celebrated in Marshall, TX.  Two of the fathers are the couple’s dads.  The other two are guys I saw in action.

The community blesses

The wedding was for Kyle Dansby, a boy whom I have known and loved since way back in the nineties when he & often his two younger brothers helped me as altar servers at St. Mark’s.  Ashli Marie Acker was Kyle’s fiancé’.

Robyn & Erin offer their blessings

The first time I noticed something special was at breakfast yesterday morning in our motel, Comfort Suites.  Rosemary & I were seated at a table in the dining room about 9:00.  In comes a young couple with a girl about 3 and a boy who was placed in a high chair. 

This little boy fell immediately in love with Rosemary.  To see her he had to turn around left in his chair.  Despite dad’s efforts to interest him in eating, the little boy just watched Rosemary.  Food went uneaten and even on the floor.

The Dansby Family, Clark, Charlie, Kyle, Janet, & Randy. The Marshall Court House is where Kyle works as an Assistant D.A.

We talked with the little boy who never spoke, just watched.  Despite dad’s plans and despite the mess, dad never lost his cool.  When it was time for them to leave, he simply cleaned up, held out his arms, and the little boy put up his arms to be held.  I was touched, especially by his not placing project over people.

Later at the wedding, which was outdoors across the plaza from the pretty Marshall courthouse in a small park with a gazebo attached to a building.  So there was a stage effect.  We had two little flower girls, Lily & Abby.    Kids are always a delight at a wedding and these little girls were no exception. 

Ashli & Kyle Married

First, they got lost trying to choose which access to get up on the gazebo stage.  So I went and helped them up.  Then, as the wedding progressed, they were everywhere.  They went up and down, they went to pick up their flower baskets, and they were chatting with the bride’s maids.  Dad never got flustered.  Nor did anyone on the stage.  Instead of being seen as distractions, they were celebrated as delights.

Another example of people over project.

Then there was Ashli’s father.  Nice guy, congenial, probably in his fifties.  Then I discover he has recently obtained his doctorate and is teaching at a college maybe in Beaumont.  I am most impressed because I was trained as a Jesuit and still believe it that we never stop learning.  Life is an adventure in learning.  And here is an example.

Our very entertaining flower girls

Finally, Kyle’s dad.  I discovered that when Kyle was about 2 or 3 his mom died of cancer.  She was only about 34.  I cannot imagine how difficult this must have been.  I talked with him just a little bit about the event and he admitted that it was really, really tough. 

Later, fortunately, he met his present wife and has two more sons.  Faithfulness.

Technology to the rescue. The Bible was left in the girls' dressing room. So Kyle's brother, Charlie, brings up the Corinthians reading on his iPhone

These four guys touched me each in their own special way.  The two fathers of the little kids reminded me of my own struggle with placing projects over people.  Ashli’s dad exemplifies the ideal that learning is a lifelong adventure.  And Kyle’s dad, faithfulness.

How are you blessed by the dads in your life?

How are you dads blessing our world?

Jeremiah 17:  But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God.

1 Corinthians 15: But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

Luke 6:  Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.

Another Reminder for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 16, 2025

Joshua 5:  On the day after the Passover, they ate of the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain.

2 Corinthians 5:  So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.

Luke 15: While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.  He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Expenses: $   1,270.00

Outreach: $    350.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

The Kiss of Peace

Rosemary's Blessing:

God,

Bless anyone who has asked me to pray for them

    and anyone that I have promised to pray for.

Bless anyone that I cannot get along with

    And anyone that cannot get along with me.

Bless the person who has hurt me deeply

    and anyone that I have hurt.

Bless the person that I cannot forgive

    and anyone that cannot forgive me.

Grant me the grace to live as a person of peace today

    and to treat all I meet today with dignity

Author unknown