2nd Sunday of Advent, December 4, 2022

Exodus 19:  Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob; tell the Israelites: You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself.

Romans 5:  Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Matthew 9:  Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

           

John Stack and John Cade begin the Mass

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Geri & Mike

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                                                              

Buddy reads the blessing for the lighting of the candles

                                                                    

 

Readings:  Download 06-18-23 Readings -11th Ordinary

Homily: 

                                                                                     

                                           

                   Mary receives Communion                          

                        

 

Remember these special people:

For Sandra Pratt's family;  For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Jan;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  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 Father's Day Blessing for all the men whether or not they are fathers

                 

                        

Birthdays:  Bernadette Delgado 6/19

Anniversaries:  

                                                              

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  405.00

Outreach: $   

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

Some more men receiving the blessing

 

Wisdom 1, God did not make death

Psalm 30, I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me    

2 Corinthians 8, You excel in every respect

Mark 5, Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well.

 

 

Welcome to the Ekes girls, Marlene, Mabel, & Cindy.

 

Romeos, Welcome!    Jason's Deli, 1:00, Friday. June 25.  

 

All of you who attended Mass on line this past Sunday are welcomed this Sunday.  We are circa 35 people.   

 

 

Happy Fathers' Day!

 

Another Reminder for Sunday, June 27, 2021.

Here are the links for Sunday:

Readings:  Wisdom 1, 13-15, 2, 23-24; Psalm 30, I will Praise You, Lord, for You have rescued Me; 2 Corinthians 8, 7-15; Mark 5, 21-43.  

     

Wisdom: One of the 14-15 books of the deutero-canonical books of the bible.  Not part of the orginal Jewish bible, not part of the OT nor the NT, but in between and the subject of controvercy over the centuries.  Were they really part of the bible or not?  How do you know?  Catholic church accepts the books.

Author: not Solomon, but a Jew living in Alexandria, Egypt, who spoke and wrote excellent Greek.

Date: ca. 100-200 BCE.  How do we know these facts?  Because of text analysis.  For example, while the author wrote in Greek, he uses phrases and expressions that have a Hebrew flavor.  Also, he mentions rulers and places that reveal date and locale. 

Sources: Catholic Encyclopedia on line

This is Radical

There is a novel going around called Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See.  I recommend it. The novel tracks the lives of two middle class, educated sisters who are born in Shanghai in the 1920's or early '30's.   It follows them through a time in 1937 when the Japanese invaded China to the time when they end up in California as arranged brides. The novel has good character development and provides a view into a time just before & after the Second World War from the perspective of Chinese middle class women. 

What struck me in a unique way was the mother of the two girls.  She was, according to the girls, an old fashioned mother.  That is, she bound her feet so they would not grow.  From the novel I discovered what a barbaric & painful experience this was for women, young & old.  Imagine the pain of wearing shoes too tight or new.  Why?  Beauty?  I discovered in researching for our homily that another reason was to limit the mobility of women.  So they cannot run away or even run.  The reason for the demand was to limit mobility; the side effect was beauty, all because of male bias against women.

I remembered this novel when I read about Jesus healing two females.  Do you realize how radical this was, especially with the woman bleeding?  Leviticus, the third book of the Bible, has a lot to say about women who bleed.  For instance, a woman giving birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 7 days; a girl baby, 14 days (chapter12).

In Lev. 15 it says that during menstration, women were ritually unclean, which meant they were considered socially dead, not allowed in the temple, not allowed in the community, could not touch anyone and no one was allowed to touch them or their clothes or they, too, were ritually unclean.  So what does the lady in Mark do?   What does Jesus do?

Do you realize today how historic and universal this bias was against women?  Plato in The Republic says that Socrates asked, Do you know of any thing done by humans which is not done better by the male.

Hindus teach that a woman must immolate herself after her husband's death.  Buddhists consider it bad karma to be reincarnated as a woman.  Jewish men are taught to pray, Blessed be God who has not created me a heathen, a slave, or a woman.  Our Bible in Genesis blames a woman for the origin of evil in our world.

In 1873 in Illinois a case was decided against a woman.  She had passed the bar exam to be a lawyer, and the court would not grant her appeal to receive a law license.  A judge said that the place of a woman was in the home and that women did not have the fortitude to deal with such issues as the law.

The church fathers, as they are called, had their own bias.  St. Jerome says that when a woman wishes to serve God more that the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called a man.  You do not want to know what St. Augustine thinks about women.

So why this historic and universal bias against women by men (& women)?  One reason, from my research, blood.  Another is the male nervousness & weakness around women, beginning in adolescence.

So here comes Jesus along.  The woman touches him.  He could have had her killed by the crowd.  What was she doing in the crowd anyway?    And what does he do?  He calls her "Daughter," and heals her.  This is revolutionary.  He moves from bias to inclusion & acceptance.

In Galatians (Chapter 3) it says there is no male or female.  Just folks.  We are being called to get rid of the bias.  Women do not deserve to have their feet bound.

 

How is your bias barometer?  Any bias against women, men, a particular race, political party, a part of town, a school? 

Sources: The Sins of Scritpture, Bishop (Anglican) John Shelby Spong; Catholic Encyclopedia on line.

Audio on vacation this week & next, sorry.

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin & Noah helping

Picture 2:  Kevin & Noah

Picture 3:  Birthdays & Anniversaries, Sue Tomas, Rick & Jackie, Sandra & Chuck Pratt

Picture 4:  Birthdays & Anniversaries, Nina Waldron, Barb & Warren Wittek

Rosemary's Blessing: 

 

HOPI PRAYER OF THE SOUL'S GRADUATION:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there,
I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight
On the ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there.
I did not die.

Special Thanks: 

• For Reading: Scott, Mary Ellen

• For the Communion Bread:  Christine & Megan

• For Serving:   Kevin Doherty & T.J.

• For the Books & Wine Cups & Cross: John & Allison & Rob

• For the Music: Ray & Wendy & Celeste

• For the Pictures: Jan & Beth

• For the altar & sound:  Mary Ellen & Hue

• For the donuts & coffee:  Jackie & Charley & Jan

Happy Birthday:  Laura McKinley (20), Melissa Meyer (18), Marilyn Ackerman, Joan Gleason, Emily Kite (15) 

 

Happy Anniversary: 

• Rose & Wally Banzhaf (38th)

Please Remember:   Rosemary's brother Peter who died Monday;  Bill Russell whose funeral I did yesterday, Saturday, with a jazz quintet at Sparkmen-Hillcrest; Cindy Cramer recuperating from her foot operation; Chris Phipp's mom with cancer; Cara Kless who had eye surgery Tuesday; Christine Drescher's Grandmother;   David Hoover's mom who is failing;  Ann Bivona with her broken leg;  Rita at home & recuperating; Jackie's friend Jack Brown with various cancers & Keith Beasley who fell off the 7th floor of a parking garage;  Julie Johnston who is dealing with a return of her cancer;  Margie Weynant whose lung cancer has returned;  Hugh Bivona's sick friends Bob & Bonnie; Rick Urbanczyk’s mom, Irene;  Richard Froebe's dad who had a stroke;  Warren & Barb's friends Jerry & and Mark, and a little baby, Reese who has tuberous sclerosis complex;   Mary Ellen's Christopher, Margaret, & Jim;  Tom & Teresa's friend Neva Flynn with cancer & Teresa's niece Angel;  Diane's dad Butch Uderman  & cousin Judy;  Margie's mom ; Donna & Cathy Goode's mom; our friends, sons, & daughters in the military, including Trey Bailey, Ryan McClurg, Matt Gardner, Chebino, Roy's son Chris, Lisa's nephew Kristopher on his 2nd Iraq trip; David Hoover; George & Marianne's sons & Linda's son and Marianne's mom Marguerite, plus Stacie & Ben White & their niece just diagnosed with leukemia; a cure for autism from Laura Chollick;  Dawn's friend Jessica & Aunt Ann & Hector; Fred's friend John with cancer; Casey & Rob plus Cameron  & Reid, Trey and Brady; for our President  that he have great success and someday hold his grandchildren in his lap.                  

Picture 1:  Mary Ellen reading Ephesians

Picture 2:  Joan Gleason on her birthday

 

Picture 3:  Community

 

Picture 4:  Frank & his Mom, Mela

 

Check out the Quads: http://gerwerbabies.blogspot.com   

 

Your Finances:

 

August 23:  Postponed until next Sunday because of the memorial in NY Monday

• Income for Running   Expenses: $ 
• Income for Outreach Expenses: $   

 Thanks for your Generosity!

 Have a Great Week, J.S    (214-783-0443)

 Mass:  Coffee & Donuts, Juice & Home Made Muffins on the house.

                          

Place:  Vines High School on 15th between Custer & Independence.  Time: 9:30

Readings: Acts 1, 15-26; Psalm 103, the Lord has set his Throne in Heaven; 1John 4, 11-16; John 17, 11-19.

                   

Community Bulletin Board: 

 This Saturday, 7:00 — The Annual Anniversary Celebration:   Fairview Farms, Parker & Central, same corner as Costco; covered dish (R to Z please bring deserts; A to Q hors d'oeurves)  Welcome!!  About 12 couples will renew their wedding vows. 

Information on Rosemary's trip to the hospital Sunday-Wednesday: Rosemary just got out of the hospital today, Wednesday where she went Sunday with an old problem with rapid heart beat, called SVT, supra ventricular tachycardia, a pulse (180) that won't come back down.  She had a procedure yesterday that will stop this.  She is home now ready to celebrate Saturday night at our anniversary party.  J.S.

    

 

True?    To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings–it's all a miracle.  I have adopted the technique of living life from miracle to miracle.

Aurthur Rubinstein

Picture 1:  Daddy Ed Kless with Cara

Picture 2:  Georgie with her grand parents, Bernadette & Gilberto

Picture 3:  Marianne & George Elwell

Picture 4:  Dorothy & Jim Wedding

Picture 5:  Alesia & Gary Wedding

          

 See you Sunday, May 24

 J.S.   (214-783-0443)

Exodus 22:  Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.

1 Thessalonians 1: And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Matthew 22: He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 

 

Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal