4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 30, 2022

Readings: Isaiah 40, 1-11; Psalm 104, O Bless the Lord, My Soul; Titus 2, 11-14, 3, 4-7; Luke 3, 1-22.

 

Baptism & Original Sin: traditional & contemporary theology

 

Traditional theology on baptism & original sin:

 

a.  Original sin: the 1 sin of Eve & Adam, the eating of an apple, ruptured the relationship between God & Humans.

 

b.  Why we baptized: purification & removal of that original sin inherited by all babies.  A new born baby was a sinner & would go to Limbo forever if not baptized before dying. 

   

 

Contemporary theology on baptism & original sin:

  

a.  Original sin:

 

1.  no original sin

  

2.  Genesis story of the fall is allegory, not fact.  No Garden of Eden and no Adam & Eve.

  

3.  from Darwin's Origin of the Species the idea has developed that in our human infancy, we needed certain behaviors to survive.  For instance, killing another person & stealing (like food).  As our ancestors formed communities, norms of social behavior emerged, for example, the 10 commandments. 

  

4.  St. Augustine, ca. 400: 

 

–A major, if not the major influence on Christian/Catholic theology of original sin and human nature from his time to today 

–After conversion from a rather lusty life at 32, he had a pessimistic view of human nature, different from early Christianity

–St. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), Pelagius, a British monk, & Julian of Eclanum, Italy, a bishop, all found nature good and fought against Augustine

–Augustine used all means to vanquish his opponents with their positive view that nature was good, even to sending a gift of horses to the pope to influence his decision.  Augustine won.

   

 

b.  Why we baptize today: (using the contemporary theology)

  

1.  To celebrate a new life

   

2.  To ritually & formally welcome the new person into a family, a community, and to a God famous for love and acceptance.

  

3.  To cleanse after the journey

 

Sources: Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent; John Shelby Spong; Wikipedia

 

 

We are Getting Better

 

I have one more Christmas story to celebrate this baptism today. 

 

There are three people in the story.  My good friend, her little daughter, and her niece, who is about 16 or 17.  The story took place at Collin Creek Mall one or two days just after Christmas.  Guess what they were doing.  Bringing things back. 

 

It happened that the niece had offered to take the daughter to the mall to have girl fun while her mother went to the mall to return various items.  After they had been there a while, the niece phoned to say that it was getting to be time for her to leave.  So could she return the daughter? 

 

They agreed that the easiest way to arrange the swap was for the niece to take the girl in her car, drive over to where my friend's car was, and then transfer the daughter & her car seat.  So they met in the parking lot, my friend's car in a parking place, the other car in the aisle behind the first car. 

 

Mother goes into the niece's car, unbuckles her daughter, and places the girl in her car.  Then she disconnects the car seat and reconnects it in her own car, securing her daughter in place.  Somewhere in this process she set her purse down.  Yep, you guessed it.

 

Who knows where she set it down.  Maybe by her niece's car, maybe by her own.  But apparently outside. 

 

She gets into her car and drives off.  Almost immediately she notices her purse is missing.  She calls her niece and asks her to look in her car.  No purse. 

 

So they both return to where the car was parked.  They drive around, ask people.  No sign of the purse.  The niece finally departs and mom  goes home.  She calls her mom, then she calls the mall security.  Nothing had been reported or brought in.  Security says to call the police.  The police do not know what to do.  Was it stolen?  Or was it forgotten? 

 

She thinks of her credit card, of getting a new license, she thinks of her phone.  So, using her mom's phone, she starts calling her phone hoping someone will answer   No one answers. 

 

 

Time passes.  A few hours later in the evening, her mom gets a phone call.  It is young boy, a high school aged kid.  He has the purse.  He says he and his dad found it in the parking lot and simply used the phone's incoming calls to call the number identified as "Mom."

 

The mom who got the purse back was Bobbi Jo Whitley, mother of Dillon, Hunter, and Audry.  Bobbi's mom is Jo Whitley, who read this morning.  The purse came back.  Nothing missing.

 

Are there not lots of good stories like this?  Are we not evolving into a better people?  Scott Burns said so in his column in the Dallas Morning News a couple of weeks ago.  A great Jesuit geologist and paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, thought so, saying that the human race is slowly becoming more mature, more sensitive, more peaceful.  I think so, too.  For lots of reasons.

 

What do you think?

 

Picture 1:  Mass begins with Kevin helping

 

Picture 2:  Daniel (Mr. A&M) & Beth

 

Picture 3:  Bob & Jerry with 2 new knees

 

Picture 4:  Georgie

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing Video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $    920.00

  Outreach: $    200.00 

 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

John and Connie share about their trip to Ireland

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

from Pope Francis

 

“Rivers do not drink their own water;

trees do not eat their own fruit;

the sun does not shine on itself

and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves.

Living for others is a rule of nature.

We are born to help each other.

No matter how difficult it is.

Life is good when you are happy

but much better when others are happy because of you.

Let us remember that pain is a sign that we are alive,

problems are a sign that we are strong and

prayer is a sign that we are not alone.

If we can acknowledge these truths and

condition our hearts and minds, our lives will be more meaningful,

different and

worthwhile.”

 

 

 

THE CUPCAKE!!   Here I thought I would get to raz John & Connie for eating the cupcake I entrusted to them to take on the plane to visit Bill Hammond in Pagosa Springs.   I knew they would waste no time in eating it.  Wrong.  I got snookered!

 

 

Readings:

Deuteronomy  30, 10-14, If  only you would heed the voice of the Lord.

Psalm 69,  Turn to the Lord in your need and you will live

Colossians 1, 15-20,  Christ is the first born of all creation.

Luke 10, 27-37, What must I do to inherit eternal life

 

Welcome home from teaching in Beirut, Lebanon, Our Dearest Celeste.   Nice to have your daughter home, Filipita.

 

 

The Good Samaritan

This morning I would like to talk about two subjects, being a good Samaritan and and an old Red Sox fan who thought he was going to hell.

When Rosemary & I return to Northwood Park from riding the White Rock Creek trail, we get on west bound Royal Lane and usually catch the red light at Central.  Almost always, summer or winter, at the base of the light is a guy & sometimes a woman, frequently young, holding a sign asking for help.  I find this uncomfortable, especially is they come over to my window, me in air conditioned comfort.

 

 

They are home, Folks, Buddy, Tori, Zoe, and Georgie.  It is so much more fun when you all are here.

 

 

The problem is that I know they can get aid, food, and shelter at numerous places in downtown Dallas, especially like The Bridge.  In the company of a girl from Hockaday, a next door neighbor I have served dinner at the Bridge numerous times.   And you know what I am told often?  Don’t give handouts to those begging at stop lights.  I know, the word is that some don’t like sleeping in dormitories.

 

 

Patricia, too, says Welcome Home!

 

So how do I handle m discomfort?  First, I can help at The Bridge and I was donating platelets at Carter Blood once a month until I got rejected for low iron.  But equally important for me is the support I give and our community gives to the Food Pantry and, the best of all, Souls Harbor.  Brent & his team are doing it, not just with food and shelter, but also with guidance, education, and AA programs.  Souls Harbor is a harbor for me & my guilt.

 

Thanks, Connie, for your pix.

 

The summer of 69 or 70 I spent 3 months working as an intern priest chaplain.  I loved it.  One afternoon I walked into a room of a Red Sox fan.  Despite that he was a really good guy,probably younger than I am now, like in his early 70”s.  He had the Boston lingo.  And I teased him about it.

After a visit or two the old guy let me know that he knew he was dying,  it was coming fairly soon, and he was okay about it.  Kids?  None.  Wife?  Yep.  Still alive?  Nope.   Next, I do not know how it happened.  Maybe I said, “Well you will see your wife pretty soon.”   His response was that he was going to hell. 

What??  I almost croaked.

 

Says Sir Charlie, "John, see this note?  It is a special message, John, from the Pope to you.

 

Turns out he married once when he was like 19.  It lasted a while, then they separated.  A few years later he met his second wife and they had a happy 40 or more years together, until she died fairly recently.

You know what doubly blew me away.  He was peaceful about his imagined fate.  He loved his real wife.

 

 

Leo, you are growing up to be one great Kid.

 

Well, you know what I said to him.  Even 30 or more years ago I knew that there was no hell.  It was a concept created by the Jewish elders to keep the troops in line.  And we inherited it.

Can you believe it?   There is no hell, no conditional love.

 

 

The Best Music with Shonda, Ben, & David.

 

 

Readings: Deuteronomy 4, 1-8; Psalm 15, The One who does Justice will Live in the Presence of the Lord; James 1 17-27; Mark 7, 1-23.

Deuteronomy:  

The fifth book of the Old Testament.  The last book of what we refer to as the Pentateuch, namely five books.  These five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were made up of five scrolls, which is how it got its Greek title, Pentateuch.  The Jewish people referred to them at the Torah or Law.  Interestingly, the books themselves got their titles from the Greeks as a way to describe what the content of each book was about.  They cover a period from the very beginning of time down to the arrival of the Jewish people into the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy is mainly made of laws, and the bulk of the book is composed of a series of addresses by Moses and also a long collection of laws, which covered just about every facet of life for the “devout Jew”.

The book was probably composed sometime either during or shortly after the Babylonian Captivity, namly around the sixth century before Christ.

In today’s reading we hear Moses first of all explaining that there is no need for anything beyond the laws he is giving and also selling them on how lucky they are to have such laws!

 

Letter of James

 

For five Sundays, starting this week, we are going to be reading the Letter of James as our second reading.  The author, James was probably the head of the church in Jerusalem, and at times is referred to as the brother of Jesus.  He is not one of the twelve apostle James, there were two of them!  The letter is not a typical “letter” in the same sense as Paul’s Letters, in that there is a very brief greeting, not the typical extended greeting, no information about the sender and nothing of the usual formulaic ending of letters of that time.

The letter was probably written before 62CE when James was stoned to death.  It is addressed to the “twelve tribes of the diaspora”, which refers back to the diaspora when the tribes were scattered following the Babylonian and Assyrian invasions.  In this case it is thought to be addressed to those churches outside of  Jerusalem made up of Jewish converts to Christianity.

The contents are a collection of moral observations and instructions, our reading today from Chapter One fits perfectly with the whole theme of todays Gospel, namely the need to interiorize what it means to follow Christ rather than to go through the motions.

 

 

Why am I here

I blame Vatican II.  Up until that time, the early 1960s we knew exactly what was a sin and what wasn’t a sin.  In fact George Carlin had great fun with his album Class Clown.  But after Vatican Council 2 everything seems to have changed and all the certainties we had before are gone.  You knew clearly that it was a sin to eat meat on Friday!  You knew that you had to fast from Midnight before receiving communion.  It was the kind of environment we find Jesus dealing with today.  The rules became everything.  I can remember in the early 70’s getting that phone call when a holy day fell on a Saturday.  “Father, if I go to mass on Saturday evening will that cover for the Holy day obligation and also the Sunday.”  It was the same as asking “what is the least I have to do to remain in a relationship with you?”

 

 

 

 

Before Vatican II the pathway was clear, follow the rules and you will get into heaven, or at least purgatory.  After the council, it seems that the ball was passed to each one of us.  We were responsible for our own relationship with God.  Catholics certainly began to take responsibility, aided greatly by the encyclical on Birth Control. 

The gospel today focus’ on rules for meals…but if we step back and really take a closer look at what is going on it is the way the rules are used by Jesus, versus the Pharisees.  They are going by the literal interpretation of the rules, kind of like slavishly following a recipe, where as Jesus is looking at the “intention” behind the actions.

 

 

 

We might well apply this discussion to our selves.  Why are you here today?  Is it because your parents made you come??? Is it because you will go to hell if you don’t come here?  Probably a more basic question could well be: What is the purpose of being here today?  Am I here just because of habit, or does what we do here each week have an impact on my life outside this “getting together”?

 

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin & Sabrina

Picture 2:  Mass helpers, an Old Geezer, Kevin, and Sabrina

Picture 3:  Birthdays, Melissa, Maureen, & Carl

Picture 4:  Birthdays, Jo & Jackie

 

 

 

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

 

Readings:  

 Deuteronomy 4, 32-34, 39-40,   The Lord is God in the heavens above.

Psalm 33,   Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 Romans 8, 14-17,   Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  (??)

 Matthew 28, 16-20,   Go and make disciples of all nations.   

 

 

 

Who let this critter in?  Are there things living in that garden?

 

 

Deuteronomy observations:

What:  This work is the 5th and last book of the Pentateuch/Torah.  The first 4 books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, & Numbers.  Deuteronomy has basically 3 speeches delivered by Moses before the people enter the promised land.  He reviews all they have endured the past 40 years and how Yahweh has shown his care and power to save them.

Author: Moses may have spoken some of the ideas in the speeches, but others have put the work together.  In fact, in chapter 34 the death of Moses is described.  Someone other than Moses probably covered this episode.

 

 

 

 

Welcome Home, Sophia, so nice to see you.

 

 

Date: 700 years before Christ.

Our Selection: the end of the first speech.  Moses is reminding the people of how Yahweh cared for them and why they must honor him for this as their one and only god.

 

 

 

Kevin & Ben, the candle team of the week.

 

 

Best line in all the readings?  Blessed the people the lord has chosen to be his own.

That's us.  Therefore, NO FEAR!

 

 

 

In Memory of Frank Hart

Last Sunday evening I attended a Rosary at Christ the King for my old coach, Boy Scout Master, and friend, Frank Hart.  Monday morning we had a Mass.  In honor of Frank and the Trinity I want to relate 3 moving aspects of Frank’s celebration.

First, Christ the King, a place that witnessed my growing up.  I have not been in the Church in over 15 years, when I did weddings there as a Jesuit.  It felt like coming home a bit and two unique memories hit me.

 

 

 

 

The Offertory team, Bernadette & Gil, Ray & Claire.

 

Right off the bat, where the podium is is where a good friend of mine, Jimmy Gannon, broke my left leg at football practice.  I had never spoken from that podium until that Rosary.  Frank did it.

Next, my dad attended 7:00 A.M. Mass daily.  I knew his pew.   I returned to Dallas to teach at Jesuit after never getting home for 7 years.   3 other Jesuits on their way to Jesuit, El Paso, & myself drove all night.  I arrived at 7:00 and rather than going home I had the guys drop me at Christ the King.  He was there.

 

 

 

The main aisle, Christ the King, podium on the left.

 

The second aspect of the event that touched me was the large number of fellow kids like me who showed up, especially classmates of Frank, jr.   As Don Zimmerman, another classmate of Frank and pastor of Christ the King said, “It was like a reunion of ex-Jesuit students.”  A big one, too.   A tribute, also, to Frank.jr.

The third aspect to the whole celebration was remembering how Frank had touched me into new life and new self-confidence.   Hang on.  You might have heard me talk about this, but it is relevant to all of us.

 

 

 

The main altar, Christ the King.

 

It was the summer after my 6^th year at Christ the King and I signed up to go to a week at Boy Scout camp on Lake Texoma.

Before we even left town some 8th graders let me know that they were going to initiate me.   They scared the poo out of me and as soon as I arrived at Texoma I played sick and came home.

I was humiliated.  I was so ashamed. 

 

 

 

 

A young Frank Hart. 

 

A year goes by and Frank has been hired by Christ the King to coach and be Scout Master.  Texoma again.  “No thanks,” I say.  My dad is now an unofficial assistant to Frank and he tells me he is going up to spend one night at Texoma as a helper to Frank.  “Want to come?” 

I knew I was in a bad place.  So I said I would go and return with him.

 

 

 

Mickey & Frank.

 

I’ll never forget the night we arrived.  It was dark.  Frank was sitting on his cot in the two person, short walled, canvas, Army surplus tent, a Coleman lantern hanging from the ceiling.  Frank did not even get up, but he greeted me with such a sincerely warm and non-judgmental simplicity that I turned a corner in my growing up.  I stayed for the rest of the week.

 

 

 

 

Bill Deor's comic charicture of Frank, the disciplinarian at Christ the King.

 

Who has touched you?

 

 

 

 

Rest in Peace, Dearest Frank and Dearest Mickey.

Jonah 3: The word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you."

1 Corinthians 29:  For the world in its present form is passing away.

Mark 1:  "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."