11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 18, 2023

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

Isaiah 6:  And then I heard the voice of the Master: "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" I spoke up, "I'll go. Send me!"

1 Corinthians 15:  So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it's all the same: We spoke God's truth and you entrusted your lives.

Luke 5:  When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch."

 

 

 

 

 

Another Reminder for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 9, 2025

Isaiah 50:The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced;

Philippians 2: Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance,  he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

 

 

Music,   Ben & Shonda

 

Expenses: $   470.00

Outreach: $    110.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

The grass never sleeps.

Or the roses.

Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.

Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.

The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet,

and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,

and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.

Jesus said, wait with me.

And maybe the stars did, maybe the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn't move,

maybe the lake far away, where once he walked as on a blue pavement, lay still and waited, wild awake.

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not

keep that vigil, how they must have wept,

so utterly human, knowing this too

must be a part of the story.

Gethsemane  by Mary Oliver 

 

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

Isaiah 50:  And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this.

James 2:  For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved  and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you?

Mark 9:  Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.

The Blog will be on vacation until September28,2024

 

There will be no Mass at the ArtCentre this Sunday.  Mass will be on Zoom.  Please note new address below.

 

Another Reminder for 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 15, 2024

 

 

And who let these girls out on the street this morning?!

 

 

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

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack. 

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075 

 

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The Best All Saints & All Souls team, Sandra, Geri, Denni, and Judy.

 

Readings:

Malachi  3, 19-20,  There will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

 Psalm 98,  The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.

 2 Thessalonians 3, 7-12,  See what love the father has bestowed on us.

 Luke, 21, 5-19,   When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified.

 

Flowers for Georgie and Buddy. 

 

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, November 11, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos,  you will fit right in.  

JULIET LUNCHEON, (aka.,just us ladies into eating together), December, TBA.   

 

Sir Charlie, you swiped those flowers!  I know where you are going.

                        

Christmas at the Dallas Symphony

This year we are going to the Meyerson on Friday, December 16th at 7:30 pm.   We will have seats in the Orchestra section at approximately $45.00 per person.  Please let Rosemary (rosemary.mcginn@sbcglobal.net) know as soon as possible if you are interested in going.  As always we will gather at Tulip Lane before the performance.

 

Country Western Dancing anybody?

 

What is going on in Our Catholic World

1. Nothing this week.  

 

 

I know I am funny here sometimes, Buddy, but that funny?

 

True?

Pocock paused and stepped back from the frame of the shell and put his hands on his hips, carefully studying the work he had so far done.  He said for him the craft of building a boat was like religion.  It wasn’t enough to master the technical details of it.  You had to give yourself up to it spiritually; you had to surrender yourself absolutely to it.  When you were done and walked away from the boat, you had to feel that you had left a piece of yourself behind in it forever, a bit of your heart.  He turned to Joe, “Rowing,” he said, “is like that.  And a lot of life is like that too, the parts that really matter anyway.”

Boys in the Boat, p. 215. 

 

 

Healing.

 

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

Three generations, Peace.

 

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.

 

Peace.