Special Announcement

Micah5:  He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by God's strength, centered in the majesty of God-Revealed. And the people will have a good and safe home, for the whole world will hold him in respect – Peacemaker of the world!

Hebrews 10:  When he said, "You don't want sacrifices and offerings," he was referring to practices according to the old plan.   When he added, "I'm here to do it your way," he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan –

Luke 1:   When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit,  and sang out exuberantly, You're so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed!

 A Note from Lynda Fleming concerning the Advent Tree for Seniors

Senior Citizens Angel Tree:

We are partnering again this year with the Wellness Center for Older Adults in Plano. There are a variety of ways you can help:

~ If you would like to sponsor a senior, please text Lynda Fleming at 972-754-0823 with the number of seniors you would like to sponsor and a budget amount. 

~ If you would like to make a contribution, please Venmo her @LyndaFleming and she’ll be happy to shop for you. 

~ if you would like to donate $20 gift cards, the most requested places are Walmart, Subway, Target and Aldi. 

Thanks so much for your support and generosity!!

 

 

 

 

 

Another Reminder for the 4th Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024

 Sorry the Blog is late.  Too much turkey!

 

 

 

Note: we are now meeting at Legacy Academy.  We will continue to post this map until after Christmas Eve. 

 

 

 

 

"I believe"

 

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

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

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

 

 

 

All kids welcome.

 

Readings:  

Daniel 7, 13-14, I saw one like a Son of man coming.

Psalm 93,  The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty.

Revelation 1, 5-8,  Jesus Christ is the faithful witness.

John 18,  32-37,  Are you the king of the Jews

Community Activities:  

 

 

 

"Welcome, All You Girls."

 

ROMEO MEET: Friday, November 30, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.  Let’s skip the day after Thanksgiving.

JULIETTE LUNCHEON  December Luncheon  

 

Note 1:  The Meyerson Christmas concert, December 13, Thursday.  Welcome.  Rosemary is filling the list. Tickets are $32.00.

 

 

 

 

Carrie & Paul are actually awake and  listening!

 

TRUE?

 

Two boys were walking home from Sunday school

after hearing a strong preaching on the devil.

One said to the other, 'What do you think about

all this Satan stuff?'

The other boy replied, 'Well, you know how

Santa Claus turned out.

It's probably just your Dad..'

 

 

 

Our Father 1.

 

What is going on in our Catholic world?

1.  Ignore the Vatican & their inactivity, National Catholic Reporter, November 13   https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/ignore-vatican-bishops-can-forge-ahead-stopping-abuse-cover?utm_source=NOV_13_CLOHESSY_FORGE+AHEAD&utm_campaign=cc&utm_medium=email

 

 

 

 

Peace, Everybody & have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

 

See you Sunday,

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

 

 

Ugh oh, here's trouble.

 

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.

Proverbs 9:  "Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on? Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me!   I've prepared a wonderful spread – fresh-baked bread, roast lamb, carefully selected wines.  Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning."

Ephesians 5:  Sing songs from your heart to Christ.  Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

John 6:  In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.

 

 

Another Reminder for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 18, 2024

 

Senior Citizen Angel Tree:

Daniel 7: …The  one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.

2 Peter:  …"This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 17:  And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.

    

Claire reading from the Book of Daniel

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Claire & 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 Second  Letter of Peter         

 

 

Readings: Download 08-06-23 Readings -Transfiguration

Homily:  Download 08-06-23 Homily -Transfiguration

 

 

 

John Cade sharing his homily

 

Remember these special people:

For Jan Keszler's Family; For Sandra Pratt's family;  For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Tom Good;  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 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 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 & the families of Annie and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

The musicians, Shonda and Ben

                                          

Birthdays: Lynda Fleming 8/8, Carrie Bieda 8/10

Anniversaries:  Hue & Linda Beavers 8/8

                         

Carrie gets a cookie for her birthday         

 

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  880.00

Outreach: $  260.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

The Beavers get a treat for their anniversary

Readings:

 Amos 7, 12-15  I was no prophet.  I was a shepherd.

Psalm 85,    Lord, let us see you kindness and grant us your salvation.

Ephesians 1, 3-14, In love he destined us for adoption

 Mark  6, 7-13, Take nothing for the journey but a walking stick

 

                      Says Kevin, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Amos  observations:

Author: Amos or his scribe.  He was a shepherd of sheep & tended sycamore trees.  One of the 12 minor prophets of the OT, minor because of smallness of the works.  Amos has only 9 chapters.  Usual pattern of prophets: 1. predictions of dire times for evil behavior; 2. predictions of better times in the future. 

Date: Ca. 777 (a memory help), after the kingships of David & Solomon, time of King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom, called Israel vs the southern kingdom, called Judah (where Jerusalem is).   

 

 

                          And from Harper, too, "Hi, Folks."

 

Geography: Note the two kingdoms, Judah in the south, Israel in the north.  Amos tended sheep in a little town called Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, in Judah, the south.  He is sent by Yahweh to Bethel, a small but important town in the northern kingdom, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, to warn the people of Israel & their king Jeroboam that Yahweh was mad at them.  The wicked high priest of Bethel, Amaziah condemns Amos for his interference.

The Setting: a time of prosperity.  But Yahweh is mad at the greed of the wealthy and their oppression of the poor (which ties into our gospel talking about walking lightly through life).  We know the people of this kingdom of Israel are headed for annihilation by the Assyrian nation.  And they will disappear as a significant body.  

Our Selection, chapter 7:  Amos describes three visions or dreams he has.  Amaziah gives it to him for spreading these visions around.  Then, Amos responds and socks it to Amaziah with a hammer.

 

          And from Sienna, "From Brooklyn and me, Welcome."

 

Take Nothing for the Journey

I apologize this morning for telling you a story that some of you will probably remember.  However, the event so speaks to the gospel this morning that I can not pass it up.  Another African story.

One evening in Tanzania I boarded an overnight train in Dar es Salaam, the capital.  I would get off in the region near Kilimajaro where the Jesuit house was that I used as a base when I was not on the road giving seminars or retreats. 

 

       Some of The Cupcakes of The Week gang for this week.

 

I had bought my ticket just the afternoon of the trip.  No compartments were available, which were not much anyway.  Two shared the compartment and an upper bunk came down.  You had to be careful in the little stations, because thieves would look in the window and grab.  So, no big loss.

I had to take general booking.  This entitled me to a place on the train, not necessarily a seat.  It is not air conditioned and can be a bit warm. 

 

 

           Offertory with Mike and Judy, Sydney and Hugh.

 

I started out sitting on a suitcase I traveled with.  There were mothers with little kids and a few chickens all around my area at the end of a train car.   I expected it would be a long night, but I would get where I wanted to go and then sleep extra.

About midnight the train stopped, like in the middle of nowhere.  We sit there.  No explanation, nothing.   I finally join others getting off.  I lie down on the rocks on the edge of the track, my case under my head so no one would snatch it, and wait.  And wait.  We sit there with no explanation until about 7:00 the next evening. 

 

 

                      Wendy and Collin providing The Best.

 

Just like Mark recommends in the gospel today, I had boarded that train with nothing to drink or eat.  Looking back, I cannot believe I was so stupid.  Normally I would never have set out without water. 

Why did I not ask the Tanzanian ladies for a drink?  I could easily talk Swahili with them.  Trouble was, they did not often purify their water and I was afraid of it.   So there I sat, now in the shade.  I look around.  Everyone on that train is Tanzanian.  I am the only white guy, which by then I am at home with.

 

 

                                             Elevation.

 

Suddenly I see up the track maybe 4 or 5 cars ahead of me a white couple.  They have extra water.  Hooray.  They are Germans, but speak English with no problem.

We hang out.  They saved me, and let me tell you a quickie about how I saved them.

We were seated in the shade of a Frangipani tree I can still clearly remember.  All the passengers were seated along the train in the shade.  Next to us was a momma with her baby.  At one point the momma gets up and goes into the train.

 

 

                          Emma and Beth solving the World's problems.

 

The German guy who was about 6 foot 4 inches gets up and takes a picture of the baby.  Bad move.  Someone on the train sees him, tells the momma, she tells her husband, and he comes out yelling with a bunch of people.  He wants the camera.  He wants to take the German to the police, wherever that might be.

So, I stepped in.  We all sat down under the trees and I talked.   I finally got the father to allow the German to go to his compartment, cut off the baby’s picture, and give it to the man. 

 

 

                         Emma with one of her Best Buddies.

 

He cuts off just the end of the film, brings it back, and gives it to the man.  The crisis comes to an end. 

I ended up climbing Kilimanjaro with the couple, which ended up being amusing.  He was an Alpine Mountain rescue expert, like a 4 on a 5 scale.  He could crawl across your ceiling holding on with his fingernails.  When we got to the top of Kilimanjaro he got altitude sickness and I carried his back pack.  Of course, I teased him mercilessly. 

 

                                 Harper dancing to the music.

 

I never saw them again, although they were begging me to come to Germany on one of my homeward trips.  I wanted to see the Berlin wall and never did.  She was East German, he West.

The story simply tries to show how literal reading of the Bible can get you into bad places. 

What  would you suggest is a positive in this story about traveling with nothing? Could this be what Francis is emphasizing when he talks about Less is Better? 

How is Less Better for you?