Special Announcement

Wisdom 12: And you taught your people,  by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind;

Romans 8:  Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought,  …

Matthew 13:  The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

    

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Shonda and Ben, the Best

 

 

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $    580.00

  Outreach: $        0.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

May you live a long life full of gladness and health,
With a pocket full of gold as the least of your wealth.
May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true,
The kindness you spread keep returning to you.
May the friendships you make be those which endure,
And all of your grey clouds be small ones for sure.
And trusting in Him to Whom we all pray,
May a song fill your heart every step of the way.

Grace E. Easley

 

Genesis 18:   For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.

Colossians 2:  … he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our  transgressions, …

Luke 11:  … how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

           

John reading from Genesis

 

Thanks…

Music,    Ben

Readers,   Connie & John

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,  John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,      Richard & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Connie reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians

 

Readings:  Download 07-24-22- Readings – 17th Sunday Ord

Homily:  Download 07-24-22 – Homily – 17th Sunday Ord

                  

                               

Cheryl sharing a beautiful blessing

                                          

 

Remember these special people:

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 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; 

                           

Ben sharing a blessing too

 

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, Kevin, John, Mary, Claire and Ray

   

Birthdays:   

Anniversaries:   David & Donna Dinsmore 7/26

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  325.00 

Outreach: $  50.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

                 

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

Genesis 15:  The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.  Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” 

Philippians 3:  But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 9:  Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” 

Another Reminder for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 16, 2025

 

 

Says, Tori, "Welcome in, Everybody.

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6,   Upon you the Lord shines

Psalm 72,  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Ephesians 3, 2-3, 5-6,  You have heard of the stewardship.

Matthew, 2 , 1-12  The Epiphany (the Magi)

 

 

 

Shonda, Ben & David doing it.

 

 

Isaiah 60:  observations–

1.  Who:  Can you guess which Isaiah this is, 1, 2, or 3?  Yes, this is Isaiah III who seems to have lived after the Babylonian Captivity, that is, 555 Before Christ
2. Today’s passage: chapter 60 is addressed to Jerusalem as a symbol, which is in total  destruction.  Isaiah  is trying to lift the spirits of the people who are depressed at seeing the mess that is Jerusalem.   He is saying that your day is coming, Jerusalem, when you will return to being the most splendid city of all, and by extension, the tribe.

Isaiah 3 should get a commission from the Jerusalem chamber of commerce.  

 

 

 

 

One of our Best Helpers, Leo.

 

 

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols:

2 observations & 2 postscripts–

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  I'll touch 2 points, each with 3 subdivisions.. 

1. The Wise Men

1. The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are Gentiles
2. They come from the east, considered the source of wisdom in the world of that time.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east or a star, he will bring new light. 
3. They are searchers & symbolize every person’s search for meaning in life.    Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising for not searching, and the Gentiles. 

 

 

Emma, our Candle Lighter of the Week, in action.

 

 

2. The 3 gifts. 

1. Gold is given because it signifies royalty. 
2. Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity. 
3. Myrra signifies medicine.  Myrra is for human health.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu, and even herpes.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

 

 

Suit up time.

 

 

 A post script.  People in Europe used to write an inscription over their doors, e.g. 20+C+M+B+18.  The numbers are our year.  The letters are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.   Christians made it say, “Christ Bless our house or Maison the year listed.

Another post script.  In New Orleans Epiphany starts Carnival season, which leads up to Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The parades are starting, folks.  Let's go.

 Sources: Reginal Fuller, St. Louis U. Liturgy; Biblical & Theological Resources, the Voice Institute, on line; Wikipedia; and other sources.

 

 

 

 

Suit up time continues.
 

 

 

An Epiphany Event

I would like to define epiphany as a giving & receiving of good news.  To exemplify this I have a story about a Christmas dinner I hosted one Christmas afternoon in the Jesuit house I used as a base in Tanzania.  I had been in East Africa at this time for about 7 or 8 years.  Because Christmas had often been lonely & sort of a downer, I decided this year to throw a dinner.

Since there were no turkeys available where I lived, I had to travel a day up north to Nairobi, Kenya.  I got a frozen turkey, returned and had to explain to the customs on both sides of the border.  Since, as a white guy who spoke Swahili pretty fluently, they passed me through probably thinking I was a bit crazy, like most wazungu, dizzy white guys in Swahili.

 

 

 

 

The Team, all suited up.

 

 

Next step.  Invite the neighbors on both sides of our house.  So I went to the father on the east side and invited him to come to my office.  He was a police chief, a very important person to have as a friend.

So, I said to him, “Mohammad, I want to invite you & the family to a special dinner on what we Christians call Christmas day.  On one condition: you get drunk, you may not come.”  “Oh, yes, yes, asante sana, (thanks, thanks),” he responded.

 

 

 

 

Offertory with Ray & Claire (whose mom just died today in New Orleans), Barb & Ron.

 

 

Christmas Eve I celebrate a late night Mass at the Capuchin sisters complex about 900’ up the south slope of Kilimajaro.  I almost live here because the sisters have a guest house with about 15 rooms.  I run 10 to 30 day seminars and retreats at their guest house.

Christmas day I travel the 2 hours down from the mountain.  It is summer time.  I pull into our dirt driveway and park under the canopy.  Behind me pulls in an old battered Land Rover.  Two guys get out and stagger toward me all buddy, buddy.  Yep, one of them is Mohammed. 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back Georgie.  So nice to see you again.

 

 

I am so disappointed and tell him, “Mohammed, you cannot come, Bwana.  We had a deal.”  This could have been a tough moment for me if he refused.  But, no, he apologized and the two guys drove off in their old Land Rover. 

I was a  little anxious about him coming anyway, but at 4:00 everybody started coming.  I expected maybe 10, but along with his wife and their two delightful little girls, extended family members showed up, a very common East Africa custom.

 

 

 

 

The minor elevation.

 

 

All this took place on our roof, from which you could see Kilimanjaro.  We had a partial Arab style house with a flat roof with cinder block railing.

The Epiphany is a giving & receiving good news.  The roof top dinner we had was a giving & receiving good news.

What are your epiphanies?

 

 

 

 

Guess what is coming!

 

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $  130.00

  Outreach: $   

 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Ray gets a cookie for his birthday