The Baptism of the Lord, January 9, 2022

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.

Deuteronomy 8:  … that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:  Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body,  for we all partake of the one loaf.

John 6:  This is the bread that came down from heaven.

The Ladies Lunch, Mary, Mary, Dana, Barbara, Claire, Connie, Barbara, Denni, Teresa and …

Dee and Jackie

John Stack Ministries now meets at:  The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano

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

Mary reading from Joel

Music,   Shonda & Ben

Expenses: $   990.00

Outreach: $    140.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Michelle gets a cookie for her birthday

Rosemary's Blessing:

A Prayer For Growing Old Gracefully

Lord, Thou knowest better than I myself that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all; but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains; they are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cock-sureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet, for a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people; and give, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

Amen.

17^th Century Nun’s Prayer

And who let these girls out on the street this morning?!

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made.

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack. 

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075 

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The Best All Saints & All Souls team, Sandra, Geri, Denni, and Judy.

Readings:

Malachi  3, 19-20,  There will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

 Psalm 98,  The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.

 2 Thessalonians 3, 7-12,  See what love the father has bestowed on us.

 Luke, 21, 5-19,   When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified.

Flowers for Georgie and Buddy. 

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, November 11, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos,  you will fit right in.  

JULIET LUNCHEON, (aka.,just us ladies into eating together), December, TBA.   

Sir Charlie, you swiped those flowers!  I know where you are going.

Christmas at the Dallas Symphony

This year we are going to the Meyerson on Friday, December 16th at 7:30 pm.   We will have seats in the Orchestra section at approximately $45.00 per person.  Please let Rosemary (rosemary.mcginn@sbcglobal.net) know as soon as possible if you are interested in going.  As always we will gather at Tulip Lane before the performance.

Country Western Dancing anybody?

What is going on in Our Catholic World

1. Nothing this week.  

I know I am funny here sometimes, Buddy, but that funny?

True?

Pocock paused and stepped back from the frame of the shell and put his hands on his hips, carefully studying the work he had so far done.  He said for him the craft of building a boat was like religion.  It wasn’t enough to master the technical details of it.  You had to give yourself up to it spiritually; you had to surrender yourself absolutely to it.  When you were done and walked away from the boat, you had to feel that you had left a piece of yourself behind in it forever, a bit of your heart.  He turned to Joe, “Rowing,” he said, “is like that.  And a lot of life is like that too, the parts that really matter anyway.”

Boys in the Boat, p. 215. 

Healing.

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

Three generations, Peace.

JSM Mission-Faith Statement

Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for and challenges spiritual and total growth.

Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged and make the world we live in a better place to live.

Peace.

Isaiah 7:  Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

Romans 1:  Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to  bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles

Matthew 1:  She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

Christmas Eve Mass will be on Saturday, December 24th at 4:30 P.M.  There will not be a Mass on Christmas Day. 

John lighting the candles

Thanks…     

Music,    Ben

Readers,  Georgie and Kevin

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin & Lynda & Tom

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Kevin reading from Paul's letter to the Romans           

Readings:  Download 12-18-22- Readings – 4th Sunday of Advent

Homily:  Download 12-11-22- Homily – 3rd Sunday of Advent

It's Ben's birthday and he got a cookie

Remember these special people:

For Jan;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st;  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 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; 

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.

The Kiss of Peace

Birthdays:  Ben  12/18

Anniversaries:   

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  1,350.00

Outreach: $  80.00 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:  

The Christmas Story will always be the story of Emmanuel, of God-with-us, always and everywhere, in the everyday, in the chaos, in the flight into exile, in the love between a man and a woman and in the birth of a child. It is the story of God who heals, empowers and loves us just as we are – in our greatness and our foolishness. As we anticipate the joy, the love and the peace that are God's Christmas gifts to us, let us receive them with gratitude and be sure to unfold them and share them especially where they need to be more visible.

Sister Jean Amore, CSJ, Principal, Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, N.Y.