3rd Sunday of Lent, March 20, 2022

Thanks to Cindy Cramer for noting an omission in yesterday's Reminder for Sunday.  Sorry about that.  

The Reminder: Brunch this Sunday celebrating our 9th Anniversary as a Community and the coming of The Nativity.  

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

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community  & Stack  &  John Cade  

Place: Legacy Charter School,  601 Accent Drive, Plano, TX 75075

Please pardon the Blog's absence.  We took a break and got away for 10 days.

Readings: 

Joshua 5, 9-12,  The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you."

Psalm 34,  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.  (Excellent!)

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

Luke 15, 1-32, The Great story of the Prodigal Son.

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, March 29, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.   The Old Ex will attend.

JULIETTE LUNCHEON:  April   -  Hi Everyone,

Can’t believe April is almost here.  We will be meeting Friday, April 5^th at 12:30 at Red Lobster.  It is Lent and most of us won’t be eating meat on Friday. Please let me know who will be joining us.  It is always fun and a special day to look forward to. Everyone is welcome.

Red Lobster

3501 Central Expressway (West side of the highway) Spring Creek and Central Expressway

Marilyn

972-491-7068

TRUE?

Cherish yesterday, Dream tomorrow, Live like crazy today.

Unknown

What's up in Ye Old Catholic Church?  Like…

1.     6 Years of Pope Francis,  

See you Sunday,  

J.S., 214-783-0443

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.

Ezekiel 17: It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar.  Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.

2 Corinthians 5: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,  so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.

Mark 4: It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.  But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

Barbara Wittek heard from her friend whose grandson, Ford we have been praying for.  She asks for even more prayers for Ford.

Here is the homily for Sunday.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel was the third great prophet with Isaiah and Jeremiah, because this author’s book is big like theirs, divided into 48 chapters.  Ezekiel is called by God to warn the Israelite people of their coming punishment and banishment to Babylon because of their infidelity to God and his law.  Ezekiel starts out about 600 years before Jesus lived and before the Babylonian captivity. Ezekiel’s prophecies continue through the captivity and the return of the Jewish people to Israel.

Homily

The book of Ezekiel is about warning people to get it together. The Gospel story has a similar directive to warn or confront a friend of their need for correction.  I want to say a word about that difficult directive.  The formula given in Matthew is 1) By yourself, speak your hurt to your friend and try to work it out; 2) take one or two others and confront your friend; and 3) take it to the community for mediation.  The smartest statement in Matthew may be admitting that these three steps might not achieve the desired end, and then you start over from scratch (or you drop it).  The point I want to make is that human relationship is probably the most difficult thing we do as humans and that healing hurt is what we’re all about.

An example is a personal case I have talked about before, between my sisters and me.   

1) Two of my sisters felt hurt and upset by each other’s actions in regards to our sister Carol’s care in a nursing home. Our older sister had been in charge of managing Carol’s care.  The sister who lives in the town where Carol’s nursing home was visited Carol and checked up on her every day. The older sister and the local sister didn’t seem able to speak respectfully to or listen well with each other. Often they would cancel out one another’s directives about Carol’s care. So Step 1 didn’t really happen.

2) Their inability to connect work together as co-caregivers led to step 2 and my involvement. Our older sister asked me to be present at a meeting with the local sister and our youngest sister, and an ombudsman representing Carol. This was an awkward meeting.  Since the home had complained about the local sister’s intrusive and disruptive behavior at the home, and threatened to ask us to remove Carol from the home, I and our youngest sister sided with our older sister in the matter. In theory this meeting had the potential of bringing us together for Carol’s sake.  In reality the process pitted two sisters and a brother against Carol’s local sister and set limits on that sister’s behavior as regards the nursing home and its staff.  No real listening to one another happened.

3) That takes us to Step 3: As Catholic Christians we no longer have a tradition of taking one’s hurts to the church community for mediation.  That venue in this time is the court.  Carol’s local sister took the matter to the court and she ultimately gained legal management over Carol’s care.  This result was probably beneficial to Carol as the push and pull about her welfare and treatment ended, and Carol’s local sister continued to visit and care for her till Carol died 1½ years ago. The family breach, however, hardened, and my sisters remain estranged from one another. 

Do I think I am alone in having family hurts that remain unresolved?  No, I don’t. In 44 years as a counselor, I have known many relationships that are stuck in their hurt.  Do I lose hope for them or for my own family relationships?  No I don’t.  Today’s second reading from Paul to the Romans, is a clue to our hope: everything is summed up by love, and there’s no accounting for how or when love will find expression. Period.

Finally, going back to Ezekiel, near the end of his book (in Chapter 37) Ezekiel talks about God’s promise, when times were the darkest, to raise up the people of Israel and help them get it together and walk back to their promised land.  His point was that, even if we are dead and gone and our bones are dried up, even then God is with us raising us up. Ezekiel’s poetic words were turned into a spiritual I remember singing as a child: “Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones….I hear the Word of the Lord” …  your toe bone connected to your foot bone, your foot bone connected to your ankle bone….

My question for you is: Who has been Ezekiel in your life, confronting you and giving you hope in stuck times?

And when have you been the Ezekiel in someone else’s life?

Wisdom 1: For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him.

2 Corinthians 8:  You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us – in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.

Mark 5:   He clasped the girl's hand and said, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, get up."   At that, she was up and walking around! This girl was twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy.

Information on Bill's Obituary and Memorial :

Obituary:

https://www.distinctivelife.com/obituary/481706/William-Hammond,-Jr/#obituary

You can attend Bill’s funeral virtually on Wednesday at 10:15 am by going to the link listed below. He will be buried with military honors followed by a short service.

Hammond Virtual Service

Wed, Jul 29, 2020 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM (CDT)

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/406331605

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States: +1 (786) 535-3211

Access Code: 406-331-605