25th Sunday, Ordinary time, 9-19-2021

Readings:

Joshua  5, 9-12, Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.

Psalm 34,  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5, 17-21, Whoever is in Christ is a new creation.

Luke 15, 1-3, 11-32,   The Prodigal Son.

Welcome, Emma, it is so nice to have you back.

Mike’s Homily for March 6, 2016

Introduction   

The Jewish event of Passover set the stage for the Israelites to pass through the Red Sea.  In our First reading today they are celebrating the event of Passover to prepare themselves for the their journey through the River Jordan and into the Promised Land.  

The apostle Paul tells us in Second Corinthians that God has reconciled us to him through his Son, the Lamb of God, our Passover Mystery, to be a new creation in Christ.

Genevieve and her mom, Mary, say, "Welcome in, Everybody."

Homily   

To get a fuller understanding of today’s gospel, we should seek to understand it within the context of where it was placed in the Luke gospel.  When we do, we find that the tax collectors and sinners had been seeking Jesus’ wisdom and fellowship for he welcomed them with dignity and invited them to return home with sincere love.  

The self-righteous Pharisees and scribes saying, ‘He welcomes sinners and eats with them,’ were building walls to keep the sinners out while Jesus was inviting them in.

Really nice to see you, Leo.

The father in today’s reading followed Jesus example; the older brother was very much like the Pharisees and Scribes. The father’s heart was filled with compassion and tenderness, goodness and kindness for his younger son who had returned home. 

The older son had no intention of inviting his younger brother home; he had already judged and disowned him. So, the father teaches his older son about the fruit of compassion in today’s reading, ‘We had to celebrate with the meal of the fatted calf and rejoice, for your brother was lost and is found. He was spiritually dead; but now forgiven, alive again.’ 

He is back.  Buddy, our special helper. 

These words are how the father put into practice addressing the bitterness and anger that his older son had just expressed to him, ‘All these years I have slaved for you and yet you have never once given me so much as a kid to celebrate with my friends.’  

Instead of judging the self-righteous, Jesus addresses the Scribes and Pharisees with the wisdom of God, ‘There will be more rejoicing among the angels in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.’

Our Special Girls, Zoe, Victoria, and Emma.

"Welcome in, Everybody," sez Khalessi

Readings:

Malachi, 1-4,  I am sending my messenger to prepare the way.

Psalm 24.  Who is this king of glory?  It is the Lord.

Hebrews 2, 14-18,  He was able to help.

Luke 2, 22-40, The Presentation

Candlemas with lots of candles which Mike will use to help us sing, "This little light of mine."

Mike's Homily

Candles symbolically guide us and bless us as we journey through the Liturgical seasons. 

Since, as Church, we are ‘The Light of the World,” it is natural for us to do good works; but I have an even better suggestion.  Instead of doing a good work, why don’t we choose to become the good work.  This would mean that instead of receiving a reward for something we have done, we become something bigger, and we shine brighter, and we make our light a little stronger, so that others can come to understand and give glory to God.

Hi, Betsy, How are you today?  Is your grandmother being nice to you today?

Let’s say that a grandson of yours has been visiting with you during a spring break, and he is leaving in the morning to return to college. Early in the morning when no one is up in the house except you, you pull on your jacket and pay a visit to a gas station to fill his tank. It is becoming bigger than just a good work. It has been done in secret. Not even your wife knows, nor will she.  When your grandson leaves you both with hugs and a kisses, and you have received his last wave, you have done so with a heart felt smile, while giving praise and glory to your heavenly Father.  

And hi to you, Harper.  Want to hold a candle?

Say that your wife and children, who have baked and decorated cookies all week, now have them boxed and ready to deliver early the next morning; one box for every house on your block.  In the morning the alarm went off and she and the children got dressed and began to pull the wagon quietly down the street delivering one box to each door step.  When they were all delivered but one, the children looked up to their mother as if to ask ‘we missed someone?’  

As Mike says, "Grab a candle from the altar and let's sing."

It was then that their mother smiled back to them saying, “Quietly, get back in bed. When the neighbors look out their windows and down the street none of them will be able to know who it was who secretly gave them love on Christmas morning.”  And two little lights blinked on.

Is that your candle there, Aggie?

Today happens to be the feast of Candlemas, and there’s no reason we can’t end this homily with a song!

So, I would like to invite you to stand.  Those of you who are close to the altar can carefully come forward to hold one of the many lit candles from the altar as we join together in song, “This little light of mine.”

Sings Cody, "This little cookie of mine…"

 Readings: 

 Amos 8, 4-7,   Never will I forget a thing they have done!

Psalm 113,  Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

1 Timothy 2, 1-8, I ask that supplications be offered for everyone.

Luke 16, 1-13, A rich man had a steward who was reported for squandering his property.

Line forms at the rear for Free Hugs from Georgina and Zoe.

Amos observations :

What : 
One of the 12 minor prophets, only 9 chapters.

Who:  the book
presents the thoughts and observations of Amos, who was a sheep herder and a
fig farmer.  He was born in the southern
kingdom of Judah in a little town south of Jerusalem, but he is condemning the
people, especially the rich, of the northern kingdom, Israel.

Time:  Amos was
active around 755 before Christ, but his words and message were revised and
edited down through the years, especially during the Babylonian Captivity,
around 555 before Christ.  He lives just
before the Syrians destroy the northern kingdom of Israel, around 700 before Christ.

Message:  prayer and
sacrifice don’t make up for social injustice and oppression of the poor by the
rich. 

Today:  God will
punish you rich and prosperous for your abuse of the poor.  Amos may have seen the threat coming from the
Syrians. 

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

Cowboy Cole ready for business.

The Wiley
Steward

Anybody get any rain Thursday night?   We got 3 whole inches, an amazing gift.  We also got a surprise. 

It was just time for the sun to come up Friday morning.  I wanted to take my first cup of coffee on
the back porch where I could watch that special rain.  I go out and sit down with Aviana beside me. 

James arriving.

I look toward the street and I see a huge tree branch lying half way
across the street, Camellia, and half in our parkway.  I immediately look at the front yard of my
neighbor, hoping to see where it came from his red oak.  Nope. 
It did not come from there.  Oh,
Lord, it must be from one of our trees. 
And in fact it is a pecan branch. 
We have three large pecan trees on that side of our yard.  It is our branch. 

Kara, James' big sister.

What to do?  It is still raining seriously.  I decide that I will wait until the rain
stops, even though cars are having to negotiate around the branch. 

I must then have gone in for a minute. 
When I come out I see a boy from St. Mark’s School a block away out
in the rain, trying to lift the trunk of the branch out of the street and pull
it into our parkway.  I am embarrassed
that I am still on the porch while he is working in the rain.

Mabel with Debbie.

He can only barely move the trunk to the edge of the street, although
many branches are still lying in the street. 
At one point he looks over at me and I thank him, saying I am planning
to tackle the branch when the rain stops. 

The Girls, Marlene, Megan, and Cindy.

He finishes up what he can do, looks back, I thank him again, and I tell
him he did great work.  He says, “Sure,
it is really heavy, have a nice day,” and takes off for St. Mark’s.  I could not see whether he was on foot or got
back in a car.  He had no rain gear
on.  So I sent a note to St. Mark’s,
complimenting the boy and them for helping to train a kid like that.

Cupcakes of The Week to Judy and Bethany on birthdays.

Moral of the story: we got lots of good kids out there, and good people,
too.

I tell this story as a bit of a contrast to our parable today, the
parable of the wiley steward.  It is
quite coincidental, but this parable is also explained by Francis Vanderwall in
one of his books.   

Cupcake of The Week to Mary Jane for her birthday.

The steward was in charge of collecting promissory notes from the owner
of the farm.  Here is where the customs
and culture of the times open it all up. 

The steward made his living by adding a little sur-charge, a commission
on each transaction.   The charge went to
the steward.  Francis points out that all
the steward did was call the debtors in and cancel his commission.  Granted, he was also cheating a bit, and
cheating the farmer. 

And to Georgie on 12 years.

There are some other crazy statements at the end of the story, but I
will leave them to Francis to explain. 
Watch out for that either/or stuff at the end, either God or mammon,
hate one master/love the other.  Life is
not either/or, it is both.

The moral of the two stories?  Not
either/ or, but sometimes you got to use your wits like the wiley steward, and
other times you just pitch in and help some poor guy (like me!).

When did you last pitch in and help?

Source: The Liberating Stories of Jesus, Francis
Vanderwall

Leo and Cowboy Cole at work.

Welcome to The Team this Sunday, Mike.

Readings:

Exodus 17, 8-13,  Joshua mowed down Amelek and his people.

Psalm 121,  The Lord Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven & earth.

2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2,  Remain faithful to what you have learned.

Luke 18, 1-8,  The persistent widow & the ornery judge.

Georgie helping Leo with the candles.

He is beside you at your right hand: In praise of Pete Wacks

It often strikes me as disappointing when I hear or give a eulogy.  Why?  Because the person has no say, like ‘He’s lying,’ or ‘Why did you not tell me all those good things while I was alive?!’

Pete Wacks was one of my best buddies at Christ the King grade school and at old Jesuit.  Moreover, he is alive and most of this story I have told him. 

Ben, I'm envious of your Zeke Elliott do.   Maybe if I could do that with my hair Rosemary might love me a little bit.

When we were adolescents Pete was the guy I would like to have been.  He was well built without even working out.  This was the age of flat tops.  His was the best.  He was one of the guys we all hung around together.  Which scared me when Msgr. Bender thundered one Sunday, “If your friends are going to hell, you will too.”  One story why: the German Shepherd event.

It was a Friday night football game at Highland Park, our junior year.  As we walked out of the stadium early we saw a friendly German Shepherd on a chain under the north stands.  We, the three of  us, got into my dad’s black & white ‘54-‘55 4 door Chevie.  I used it for my morning paper route. 

Welcome home, Kevin.

Going east on Lovers Lane we got the red light at Preston.  Lo and behold, right in front of us was the German Shepherd in the University Park dog wagon.  We did not think twice.  Pete seated next to me and Jerry in the back both jumped out and let the Shepherd out, he jumped into the front seat next to me, and off we headed north onto Preston.  We had not gone 20 yards when, bam, we are engulfed in the red lights of the University Park police.

It takes a community to get suited up around here.

The cop told us to follow him to the station and there we were asked to get the dog out, which we did.    After grilling us we spent 3-4 hours in a jail cell.  Meanwhile Jerry had been begging them not to call his parents.  His mom was just on the verge of delivering her 9^th or 10^th child.  About 12:30 they released us.

The police never called our parents.

This is just one of the episodes that characterized our adolescent years.  See why I joined the Jesuits?

Welcome in, David.  When I was a young Jesuit teaching at Jesuit in the '60's, David was one of our star assistant principals. 

Guess what: I recounted this story to Pete last Monday when we visited him in Chicago.   He could not remember it!  Instead of joining the Jesuits, Pete joined up with the F.B.I. & worked for 35 years.  He also got into running, doing the Chicago Marathon ca. 12 times, plus the Boston, N.Y., and some others.

Pete retired in “97 .    He is now bedridden and has amyloidosis, plus a few other conditions. I know our loving God is waiting to embrace him.

Welcome in, Catherine, Becca, and Grace.

Readings:

Isaiah  42, 1-4, 6-7  I have formed you to open the eyes of the blind.

Psalm 29,  The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Acts  10, 34-38,  God shows no partiality.

Matthew 3, 13-17, After Jesus was baptised, he came up from the water.

Bailey says, "Hi, Everybody, welcome."

Isaiah reminders—

 Author: This is Isaiah #2, the composer of chapters 40-55.  Isaiah is my favorite book and Isaiah 2 I love the most.  As John Cade pointed out a while back, Isaiah 2 is used by Handel in his work, The Messiah, another of my favorites.

 Date:  Ca. 555 before Christ.  The Jewish people of Jerusalem are in the Babylonian Captivity.

Delaney, Bailey's big sister, says, "Yes, welcome to a fun community."

 Today’s Message: Hope and promise of a better time with emphasis on 1. being chosen, and 2. being chosen to bring light to the other nations, sight to the blind, and freedom to prisoners, very consoling and moving even today. 

Isaiah 2 is aiming his remarks at the Jewish tribe.  Later, after Jesus has come and died, the gospel writers applied the message to Jesus, saying God had chosen him  to do all the things the Prophet mentioned. Handel takes this approach.

Brady and Cameron ready to celebrate their 6th Birthday

Open the Eyes of the Blind?  Me?  I’m blind myself.

This morning, Folks, I would like to talk about the beautiful lines from Isaiah II, where he tells the people that they are chosen for good things.

In particular, they are chosen to give sight to the blind and freedom to prisoners.  This is what we are baptized to.

Reid and Trey say, "Guess whose 6th birthday is Thursday."

The message of this passage has motivated me as a Jesuit, as a priest, as a psychotherapist, and in my decision to go to East Africa.  I think to myself, ‘Maybe I can bring a little light and a little freedom to someone.’   Physically not so much as psychologically and spiritually. 

Trouble is, I constantly discover that I am the blind one or the one more in prison.  I can give you the most recent example. 

As the newest member of our community and a new jewel in our world, Charlotte gets a Cupcake of The Week along with Chloe, Andrew, and Claire.

Rosemary & I have returned to dancing, as some of you probably know. Every Monday night we go to the Senior Center where they specialize in dancing for old geezers.  All types of dancing, ballroom, country western, line, swing, and so on.  And can some of those geezers dance.

We have met some neat people and we have noticed some special couples.  One couple looks like they are out on their first date.  They always dance close and slowly.

Emma at the beauty parlor, "who is next?"

We saw another couple that had us curious.  The guy was a nice looking elderly guy, slender, and a good dancer.  He looked a little like Colonel Sanders, but without the beard.

With him and always with him was an attractive young girl, really young like in her late 20’s or 30’s, long black hair and slender figure.  While Rosemary & I will dance 2 or 3 dances and then sit one out, this couple never sits out and they always stay close together. 

Kiera says, "Where has this community been all my life?"

Guess what.  My curiosity and speculation level was really high with this couple.  I asked a lady we know one evening and she responds that, yes, the couple is a curiosity for everyone.  All are wondering.  This lady tells us that there is an age minimum to get in, like 50, and she is quite a bit younger than 50.  She should not be there and is only there because he brings her and dances every dance with her.

They seem quite congenial, dance well together, and pretty much keep to themselves.   Naturally, I am surmising the guy has a young, trophy bride.

Makela, Kiera's big sister, arriving full of charm.

Until I happen to ask another lady we know if she knows the couple.  And the story is.  The young girl has recently gotten divorced, is still hurting, and does not want to get married again or even date.  But likes to dance, and knows the guy from somewhere else.

He, on the other hand, is married, but his wife is not doing well health wise.  He loves to dance and they have all 3 agreed that the husband and the girl go dancing at Farmers’ Branch.  The wife totally supports it. 

How can I bring sight to the blind when I am so blind myself?  Talk about creating a whole fabric out of superficials.

To whom are you blind?   How do we get rid of this blindness.

The family, Georgie, Zoe, and Tori.

Readings:

Acts 4,  34, 32-35  The community of believers was of one heart and mind.

Psalm 118,    Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

1 John 5, 1-6,   Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God.

 John  20, 19-31,  Thomas.

Brandon, our greeter, opens the door and says, "Welcome, Everybody."

Acts reminders:

Author: Luke, the same who wrote the gospel.  He was an educated, urbane Jew.

Date: the years 75-80 

Subject: This is a travel log, detailing the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome and the Mediterranean in between.

Today: we have a passage pretty universally admittedly idealistic.  All is perfect and harmonious.   We view a community which is a commune, a utopian vision of life and the foundation of communism.

Sienna, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Welcome."

Do Not be Unbelieving, But Believe 

This week Rosemary and I will head south to Mobile, Alabama, where two events are taking place.  First, we plan another reunion of my old ’58 class Jesuits will get together.  Secondly, 50 years ago we graduated from Spring Hill College and there is a homecoming event staged by the college.

Of course, all this has me reflecting fondly on our years together.  Three memories.

And, of course, Brooklyn and her rabbit say, "Hi, Folks."

First, there was a neat spirit among the 25 or so guys I entered with.  Most of these guys were amazingly normal, intellectually gifted, and some were amazing athletes. 

Secondly, as a group we lived a rigorous monastic life.  Silence, formal prayer times, work, study, and three recreation afternoons, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.  We wore a black cassock & cincture or we wore long sleeved shirts and long pants, even to play touch football & baseball in 100 degree heat & Gulf Coast humidity.  We took only three showers a week, a left over reflection of the old Catholic phobia about nakedness. 

Welcome, Cathy, back from Egypt.

There is a story funny today about the odor or sanctity.  This was how you could tell a fake Jew from a true Catholic during the time of Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain, say 1492.  Catholics did not bathe, Jews did bathe once a week.  Guess what the odor of sanctity was.

The third thing I remember is our life at Spring Hill College.  For me it was a marvelous release from a cloistered life to life on a campus with guys and girls, not that we were allowed to, as it was termed, fraternize with the college kids.

Harper, too, is delighted to have her grandmother back home.

I graduated 50 years ago with a degree in secondary ed, maybe grooming myself for administration in one of our 6 regional high schools.  I also spent the three years studying Catholic philosophy in Latin.  It was totally boring to me.  We had the adversaries and we had to learn how to out argue them.  We took our finals in Latin.

Just in case you were wondering who is handling our security, Leo, oops, no that's Batman.

It was during these three years that a lot of my classmates began to question the whole process.  It was Vatican II time, the murder of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  At this time I never questioned.  I just went along.  I admired the guys, but was content.  I survived because I played a lot of touch football and I took care of a fleet of boats & motors we used at a villa across Mobile Bay.  I could go there every weekend and for two marvelous weeks in the summer.  We also had three hot, excellent meals a day.

Robyn, the dear grandmother of Sienna and Brooklyn.

The overall training made me grow up quickly.  I look back now, however, am somewhat embarrassed, and ask myself how could I believe in some of those practices.  And I know.  It was believe, believe in the process, in the company, in those who have gone through this before me, and look at them, how successful they are.

Doubting Thomas, the subject of our Gospel today, is a hero of mine.  I think I would like to have been more like him in those early years.  Which would have been impossible at the time, I know. I believed.   Paradoxically, I think the training itself ultimately gave me the self-confidence and intellectual curiosity to enable me to have doubts & questions.  Want to know when I started questioning?  East Africa.

Our generous communion helpers.

The danger with the "do not be unbelieving, but believe" statement is that it is a "do not think" statement.  I become a sheep following the footsteps of whoever is in front of me with a feeling of security.  Doubts can be scary, questions confusing.  Without them I am less than fully human. 

Like with Thomas, what are your doubts & questions.  What do you do about them and how do you feel about them?

The music presented by Wendy, Shonda, Bethany, and Ray will take you to a different zone.