Solemnity of Mary

 Welcome back, Everybody, to our Community Blog.  We are back in business.

Thanks, John Cade, for covering so beautifully for the two weeks Rosemary & I were in France.

Hi, Zoe, so nice to see you after two long weeks of us being away

Readings:  

 Acts of the Apostles 10, 25-26, 34-35, 48-48,  God shows no partiality

Psalm 98,  The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.  

 1 John 4, 7- 10,  God is love.

John  15, 9-17,     If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.

 Note how conditional the love of God is presented.  Truly?

Hi, Harper, so nice to see you, too.

Sing to the Lord a New Song

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds, Ps. 98

I want to talk this morning about singing a new song to the Lord, because I am a richer person than the last time we were together.

I am richer because of our trip to south west France.  I am richer because of traveling with Rosemary and Mike & Judy.  I am a richer person because of a couple with whom we had dinner probably the 4^th night of our river cruise.

Emma, our super candle lighter, doing her magic, while Georgie reads the Blessing For Candles.

The couple, Leon & Karen, are retired and live in California.  Listen to Leon for a sentence or two and you know he does not come from Texas, not even the States.  He had the beautiful Brit accent.

Karen I could not place.  She was, in fact, German.  They both had been long gone from the countries of origin.  In fact, they met in Switzerland and had been married, I think, around 40 years.  

Two new community members in their doggie carrier?   Are we not an inclusive community or not!
 

As I listened to Karen I became more curious.  She was not only German.  I began to suspect we were very close in age.  In fact, we shared the same age, 78.  Knowing we were the same age and she was German, oh, no.   The Question immediately came up in me.  I hesitated.  I did not want to disturb Karen with a heavy, personal question when everything had been light and social.

Finally, sensing an inner peace in Karen, I asked, How were you affected by WW2?

And the excellent music plays on.

Calmly & without hesitating she responded with 4 experiences.

1. She remembers ’44.  She was 4 years old.
2. She lived in a town that was getting heavily bombed.
3. The family ran to the mountains of Bavaria.
4.  After the war her father returned from being captured and imprisoned by the British.  He was never the same.

The elevation with Buddy & Georgie helping.

As she tells me this, I am so moved I am in tears.  I am humbled.  How old was I in’44?  4 years old.  How come I was so blessed?  While Karen is running from bombs and enduring the reconstruction, little John is living peacefully and without a care in the world in the safe little village of University Park.  His next door neighbor is Sam Berger, a good friend of my dad and a Jew.

I have never met a person like Karen, a person who lived through the War in Germany.  And who was so peaceful.

I went to ask her permission to talk about her.  Of course, I got teared up just asking.  Without hesitation she said, “Sure.”

I am sorry we have no cupcake for you, Brent, but I am so proud that  our community can give you $2,000 a month for Souls Harbor.

I come back from this trip, humbled, touched, and singing  to the Lord a new song.

What is your song this morning?

Juliettes eating out.  Jason's Deli?

Genesis 22:  . . . I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; . . .

Romans 8:  . . . if God is for us, who can be against us?

Mark 1: Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, . . . 

Music,   Ben 

Donna sharing a Thank You card from the men at Soul's Harbor for the sweatshirts and hoodies.

Expenses: $   2024   900.00           

                    2025   390.00

Outreach: $   2024   600.00           

                    2025   130.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Lynda sharing a Thank You note  from the Plano Wellness Center for Older Adults for the gifts we gave them at Christmas

Rosemary's Blessing:

When the decorations of Christmas have been packed away then the work of Christmas begins:

Lord, help us

to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
and to make a little music with the heart…

Adapted from Work of Christmas Begins by Howard Thurman

Readings:

Numbers 67, 22-27,  The Lord bless you and keep you.

 Psalm 67,  May God bless us in his mercy

 Galatians 4, 4-7,  God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts.

Luke 2, 16-21,   The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God.

Genevieve, are you the little girl in the red dress who stole the whole show at our Christmas Eve celebration??

First reading: God blesses people in countless ways.  Today’s reading from the Book of Numbers is a priestly blessing given first to Moses by words that come to him from the Lord.

Second reading, Galatians 4:4-7: God sent his Son to redeem us so that we can become God’s adopted sons.

Brandon says, "Welcome in, Everybody.  Yep, she is the girl in the red dress."

Gospel reading, Matthew 25: 31-46:

John gave me permission to switch gospel readings. What you are missing is a small part of a metaphorical story about Mary, an angel, shepherds and the baby Jesus.

You might recall 15 or 20 years ago that the Liturgy of the Word, for each of the A, B, and C cycles on New Year’s Day, had as its gospel Matthew’s parable of The Last Judgment.  I imagine that its purpose was to encourage parishioners to incorporate some of its teaching into their New Year’s resolutions.

Alison, you know that the kids all love your home made communion bread and want more than one.

But I want you for a moment to think about where we live.  When we go shopping, to work, or to a movie or local restaurant, to Whole Foods or Target, it isn’t really clear to us if there is, for example, an orphan or a widow in our midst who needs our help.  

Simply put, we choose to support with taxes and contributions, governmental agencies and nonprofits, to provide food and drink to the hungry and thirsty and stranger twenty miles south of us. The fact is, whether we realize it or not, we distance ourselves from the needy.

Clear the way, Folks, here come Mike the Coffee Man.  

The meaning to today’s parable is this: When we distance ourselves from the needy, we distance ourselves from God.

I placed myself in the following scenario: I was in one of the poorer parts of South Dallas, around seven in the evening, in front of a drug store where I had gone to pick up some cough medicine.

Aiden with his grandparents, John & Jean O'Donnell.

When I got out of the car and pushed the button to lock all of its doors, I immediately noticed, about two yards from the entrance of the store a stranger, at least to me. He was homeless, for he was wearing too many clothes, unshaven, had dark hair and complexion, and he was finishing the last drink of water that he would get from a small plastic bottle.

Learning:  Big brother teaching little sister how to work a water fountain.

He was looking right at me, and I at him. As I approached him he addressed me in a language I did not know or understand.  Searching his face I sought his eyes and noticed a bit of a smile as he ran his fingers through his hair.  He reached to open the door for me.  What should I do? 

Mike ready to share his ideas in his homily.

In a split second I heard the question from the unrighteous in today’s parable, ‘When was it that we saw you a stranger and did not welcome you?’

Offertory, Cheryl, Carrie, & Paul.

Would I have responded with a joyful smile?  Would I have embraced him with his perfume of sweat?  Would I have kissed him on his forehead, taking hold of his arm to have him enter with me?  Would I have asked the people in the store if anyone knew his language so that I could find out why he was there and what he needed?  Would I have invited him to my home, offered him the opportunity to take a shower, laid out something for him to wear as I washed his clothes and prepared something for him to eat?   

Brandon, our Candle Lighter of The Week.

Jesus, an itinerant preacher, had a dark complexion and nowhere to rest his head.  Was he present to me here and now? The Lord in our parable was hungry, thirsty, a stranger longing for a visit.   Yes, every encounter we have with another is meant to be a holy encounter.  

Our School gorilla (know any other school with a pet gorilla at the door to the cafeteria?) says he is happy to see us back in the cafeteria after being in the gym for Christmas Eve.

When we name the other person God, we name ourselves.  We verify our name, the body of Christ in the world.

Acts of the Apostles 6:  The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, …

1 Peter 2:  You are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

John 14:  " … Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father."

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

Hello May

Acts of the Apostles 10:  To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.;

Colossians 3:  When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

John 20:  They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him.

There will be a memorial service for Cindy Cramer on April 15th at 10:00 at Restland.

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