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
Another Reminder for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 7, 2023
Here are the links for Sunday:
For Zoom ( the video conference, same as last week )
Readings: Isaiah 40, 1-11; Psalm 104, O Bless the Lord, My Soul; Titus 2, 11-14, 3, 4-7; Luke 3, 1-22.
Baptism & Original Sin: traditional & contemporary theology
Traditional theology on baptism & original sin:
a. Original sin: the 1 sin of Eve & Adam, the eating of an apple, ruptured the relationship between God & Humans.
b. Why we baptized: purification & removal of that original sin inherited by all babies. A new born baby was a sinner & would go to Limbo forever if not baptized before dying.
Contemporary theology on baptism & original sin:
a. Original sin:
1. no original sin
2. Genesis story of the fall is allegory, not fact. No Garden of Eden and no Adam & Eve.
3. from Darwin's Origin of the Species the idea has developed that in our human infancy, we needed certain behaviors to survive. For instance, killing another person & stealing (like food). As our ancestors formed communities, norms of social behavior emerged, for example, the 10 commandments.
4. St. Augustine, ca. 400:
–A major, if not the major influence on Christian/Catholic theology of original sin and human nature from his time to today
–After conversion from a rather lusty life at 32, he had a pessimistic view of human nature, different from early Christianity
–St. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), Pelagius, a British monk, & Julian of Eclanum, Italy, a bishop, all found nature good and fought against Augustine
–Augustine used all means to vanquish his opponents with their positive view that nature was good, even to sending a gift of horses to the pope to influence his decision. Augustine won.
b. Why we baptize today: (using the contemporary theology)
1. To celebrate a new life
2. To ritually & formally welcome the new person into a family, a community, and to a God famous for love and acceptance.
3. To cleanse after the journey
Sources: Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent; John Shelby Spong; Wikipedia
We are Getting Better
I have one more Christmas story to celebrate this baptism today.
There are three people in the story. My good friend, her little daughter, and her niece, who is about 16 or 17. The story took place at Collin Creek Mall one or two days just after Christmas. Guess what they were doing. Bringing things back.
It happened that the niece had offered to take the daughter to the mall to have girl fun while her mother went to the mall to return various items. After they had been there a while, the niece phoned to say that it was getting to be time for her to leave. So could she return the daughter?
They agreed that the easiest way to arrange the swap was for the niece to take the girl in her car, drive over to where my friend's car was, and then transfer the daughter & her car seat. So they met in the parking lot, my friend's car in a parking place, the other car in the aisle behind the first car.
Mother goes into the niece's car, unbuckles her daughter, and places the girl in her car. Then she disconnects the car seat and reconnects it in her own car, securing her daughter in place. Somewhere in this process she set her purse down. Yep, you guessed it.
Who knows where she set it down. Maybe by her niece's car, maybe by her own. But apparently outside.
She gets into her car and drives off. Almost immediately she notices her purse is missing. She calls her niece and asks her to look in her car. No purse.
So they both return to where the car was parked. They drive around, ask people. No sign of the purse. The niece finally departs and mom goes home. She calls her mom, then she calls the mall security. Nothing had been reported or brought in. Security says to call the police. The police do not know what to do. Was it stolen? Or was it forgotten?
She thinks of her credit card, of getting a new license, she thinks of her phone. So, using her mom's phone, she starts calling her phone hoping someone will answer No one answers.
Time passes. A few hours later in the evening, her mom gets a phone call. It is young boy, a high school aged kid. He has the purse. He says he and his dad found it in the parking lot and simply used the phone's incoming calls to call the number identified as "Mom."
The mom who got the purse back was Bobbi Jo Whitley, mother of Dillon, Hunter, and Audry. Bobbi's mom is Jo Whitley, who read this morning. The purse came back. Nothing missing.
Are there not lots of good stories like this? Are we not evolving into a better people? Scott Burns said so in his column in the Dallas MorningNews a couple of weeks ago. A great Jesuit geologist and paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, thought so, saying that the human race is slowly becoming more mature, more sensitive, more peaceful. I think so, too. For lots of reasons.
Acts of the Apostles 10: While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.
1 John 4: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
John 15: I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.
Mary reading from The Acts of the Apostles
Thanks…
Music, Shonda & Ben
Readers, Mary & Warren
Homily, John Cade
Eucharistic Prayer A & B, John Stack & John Cade
The Magic Zoom makers, Hue & Kevin
Final Blessing, Rosemary
Warren reading from the First Letter of John
Remember these special people:
For John Stack; For Shonda's Grandmother; For Meredith whose cancer has come back; For Tom Quinn; For Frank Esparza; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ; For Allen Stryker; For Mike and Judy Carrell ; For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter; For Hue; For Jackie; For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall; For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition; For Sir Charlie; For Ron ; For Teresa Quinn's niece, Maddie who has a brain tumor;
Jackie's 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 & the families of Annie and Michael ; for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.
John Cade sharing his homily
Birthdays: Pat Jansky 5/8
Anniversaries:
The Kiss of Peace
Community Finances:
Expenses: $ 1,255.00
Outreach: $ 00.00
Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.
Rosemary's Blessing:
Author Unknown
John Stack Ministries meets on Sunday for Mass at 9:30 at The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano, Texas.
JSM Mission-Faith Statement
Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth. Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we live in a better place to live.
For the family of Ron Senter who passed last week; For Frank Esparza who has been diagnosed with cancer; For Jan; For John Simari's mother who is not feeling well; 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 ; 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.
he Kiss of Peace
Birthdays: Geri Moran 2/7, Tom Quinn 2/8, Hue Beavers 2/11, John Bresson 2/11
Anniversaries:
Community Finances:
Expenses: $ 1,295.00
Outreach: $ 360.00
Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.
Hue receiving a remembrance for his birthday
Rosemary's Blessing:
What Is Success
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To give of one's self; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived – This is to have succeeded.
John receiving a cookie for his birthday
and Gilberto and Randolph get a cookie for their birthdays
JSM Mission-Faith Statement
Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth.
Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we live in a better place to live.
Acts of the Apostles, 6, 1-7, It is not right for us to serve at table.
Psalm 33, Lord, have mercy upon us as we place our trust in you.
1 Peter 2, 4-9, The stone rejected by the builders has become the building stone.
John 14, 1-12, Thomas said,Wed do not know where you are going.
Where is Everybody?
Please have the attached copy of “Jewish Liturgical Calendar” handy this Sunday, as John will refer to it in homily.
JEWISH LITURGICAL CALENDAR
Major Holy Days
Passover: Celebrates the beginning of the Jewish nation, when the Jews came out of Egypt and began to fulfill their national destiny. [April]
Shavuot: Celebrates Moses receiving the Torah from God on Mt. Sinai. Hebrew for Weeks – 7 Weeks after Passover. Also Pentecost – fifty days after Passover. [End of May or early June]
Rosh Hashanah: Celebrates end of time when Messiah inaugurates kingdom of God on earth. [Late September or early October]
Yom Kippur: Celebrates Day of Atonement, ten days after Rosh Hashanah, and together are called the High Holy Days. [Late September or early October]
Sukkoth: Harvest festival of Jewish year, a kind of Jewish Thanksgiving Day. This one is now overshadowed by bigger celebrations but, at time of Jesus a most anticipated and enjoyed holy day of Jewish year. [November]
Dedication-Hanukkah: Festival of ‘Light’, celebrating how the light of ‘true worship’ was restored to the Temple in 2nd century BCE. [December]
About three months after Dedication-Hanukkah, the Jews were back to the first month of their year (Nisan), and their liturgical cycle started all over again with Passover. The Jewish calendar should not surprise Christians who also follow an annual liturgical cycle of holy days, with the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost.
Please Remember these special people:
For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular locally, Cindy's staff at Presby; For John & Connnie's good froend, Bob, who just died of cancer & his grieving wife, Judy; For Joe Hogan with cancer, For Loretta's aunt Alicia; For Bill Hammond, For Sydney & her dear Husband, Hugh, who just moved to the Other Side, & For Sir Charlie recuperating from surgery; Shonda's mom; For Gilberto recuperating from his gall bladder operation: for Michelle; For a friend, a neighbor, & a doctor, Karen, with brain cancer; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free.; For Hue; For John O'Donnell; For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health; For Anthony & Sabrina; For a young man who is suffering from depression; John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini;
Tom and Teresa Quinn's niece, Chawna, with cancer, their granddaughter, Mikayla; plus Neva Flynn, Angel, and Diane Kreeitzer; Connie Doherty's mom and her sister, plus Kevin's cousin, Peter; For a number of David McKeon's family who are having a rough time with health issues, especially Mark Terain; for our friends, sons, and daughters in the military, including Ryan McClurg and Chebino; cure for autism from Laura Chollick; for our President.