3rd Sunday of Advent, December 17, 2023

Here are the links for Sunday:

Readings: Wisdom 18, 6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11, 1-19; Luke 12, 32-48.

Wisdom: this book is one of the 12 special books only finally approved by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in 1546.  Martin Luther, for instance, did not think the 12 books were genuine.  Whatever the case, the 12 books are in a special section of our bible after the Old Testament.

The book we are reading from today contains traditional Jewish and Greek ideas about life, basically saying that God rewards those faithful to him & punishes you know whom.

What are You Afraid of?

When I was about sixteen, I came home from the old Jesuit High School one afternoon probably in the spring.  Nobody was home, not even my sister as far as I can remember. My dad was at work. My mom was at one of her afternoon bridge clubs and had gone with one of her friends because her baby blue Pontiac was in the garage. 

After hanging around a bit and getting bored, I decided I was going to go visit a friend and use my mom’s car. Mom, however, did not like me using her car, so I could not find her keys. Now in those days all of us kids knew how to run a car without keys. It was called hot wiring a car. You used tin foil on the back of the key slot under the dash. 

So I hot wired my mom’s big Pontiac, pulled out of the driveway onto Stanford, and turned toward Preston Road. Arriving at the corner the car stalls. For five minutes I am working on the key slot to start the car, all to no avail, when a car coming north on Preston turns into Stanford. A lady is driving.  I know that lady and sitting next to her, my mom.

The master had returned and the servant was unprepared. In fact, the servant was caught red handed.

I never got that car started and, in fact, had to pay my hard earned paper route money to get it towed and fixed. I had shorted out some wires. I don’t remember my mom ever saying anything, but I was humiliated. 

I remembered this incident when I read about the master & the servant. I have some observations about these readings.

First, I don’t see our God as a thief who is trying to catch us off guard. He is not a strict master who is looking to catch us red handed and beat us. 

Secondly, I don’t see us as servants. In fact, in John’s gospel Jesus says he does not call us servants, but friends. In today’s psalm it says, "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.  We are his chosen.  So is everyone.

To see this parable in a positive light, I would go back to last week when we talked about life being a gift.  When it says that the Lord will come at an hour we do not expect, I propose that the gift comes at moments and in packages we do not expect.  Appreciation is the goal and the process. It involves being sensitive and reflective.

One of the best lines in the whole gospel today is the very first line where Jesus says, "Do not be afraid any longer." This means I do not have to be afraid of God, afraid of death, afraid of getting caught red handed, or afraid of missing the gifts of the moment. 

I’ll always remember how stupid I felt when my mom came around that corner and saw me in her car, broken down. She did not tear into me, and neither do we have a god who is a thief or master who will beat us. 

So what are you afraid of?

   

Two MORE important reminders:

 

1.  Saturday night: Daylight Saving Time begins.                                                                                                      
2. DAARC COLLECTION:    what to donate?  —  Download DARCC                                       Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center

 

Acts of the Apostles 5:  So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

Revelation 5:  To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.

John 21:  Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.

Simon, son of John, do you love me?

 

 

Connie reading from the Acts of the Apostles

     

 

 

Thanks…

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Connie & John

Gospel,    John Cade

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,      Mike & Hue & Richard & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

John reading from Revelation

 

 

 

 

Readings:  Download 05- 01-22 – Readings – 3rd Easter

Homily:  

 

 

 

The Community singing

 

 

 

Remember these special people:

For John Stack having a hard time right now with a bad back;  For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Lambrini, John Cade's wife who is dealing with cancer;  For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;    For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands and for a friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan;  All of Shonda's dear family;

                           

 

Shonda and Ben

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;     For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John'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.

 

 

Communion

                   

                  

Birthdays:  Denni Zurchin

Anniversaries:   

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  765.00

Outreach: $  65.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Communion
                                    

Rosemary's Blessing:  

 

Readings:

Isaiah 49, 3, 5 &6,  I will make you a light to the nations.

 Psalm 40,  Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

 1 Corinthians 1, 1- 3,  Grace to you and peace.

 John 1, 29-34,   John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him.

 

 

Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.

 

Isaiah reminders—

 Author: This is Isaiah #2, the composer of chapters 40-55.

 Date:  Ca. 555 before Christ.  The Jewish people of Jerusalem are in the Babylonian Captivity.

 Today’s Message: Hope and promise of a better time with emphasis on 1. being a Servant of the Lord, and 2. being a Light to the Nations.

 

 

"Come on in, Folks," sez Zoe.  

 

A Light to the Nations

So, Rosemary says to me, “Hey, we are getting tired of hearing you talk about the Jewish Community Center.  I was running past her my ideas about a homily for this morning.  Therefore, I request your tolerance.  One more time.

I went to this Center initially just to work out a bit, and especially to see how I liked spin classes.   Four houses down from our house lives a youngish  Jewish couple who have two kids now in college and a white dog, named Patty.  Guess with whom Aviana likes to visit. 

 

 

The excellent Candle Man of The Week, Ben.

 

The couple, Bud and Barbra, knew I did a lot of biking and kept encouraging me to visit the J, which is 10 minutes from our house.  When I discovered I could get in free with my United Health card, Silver Sneakers, I started going. 

For the first six months I found the exercise good but there was little camaraderie among the riders.  People came and went without as much as a word.  The next six months I began to learn names and started greeting everyone and talking.  Today there is a lot of camaraderie.

 

 

What a treat, Folks, Buddy is still awake.

 

So it happened one morning while walking to the room where the bikes are that I began to talk with a guy I knew and liked named Mike, a guy in his early 50’s, very personable, smiling all the time, and Jewish.

I had been reading some fictional works on the Holocaust.  So I feel comfortable enough to ask Mike about himself.  “Where is your family from, Mike?”  “From Poland,” he responds.  “Wow,” I think, “the Holocaust was horrible in Poland.  Like Auschwitz is near Warsaw and Warsaw was the scene of the Warsaw Uprising.” 

 

 

I see you Ben, and I cannot say that a little mouse did not swipe your cupcake last week.  Be nice to me and we'll see what might happen.  Even Carol is watching you from behind you..

 

So I ask, “Mike, how was your family effected by the Holocaust?”  “We lost over 80 members of our extended family.”   I cannot believe what I am hearing.  I am struck dumb.  I am choked up.  I feel like I am walking on holy ground, next to a Jewish saint.  A bright light.

There is also a little lady named Haya in our group.  I found out her birthday, got the class to sing to her one morning, and gave her one of those little Belvita cookie packages.  I asked the lady who rides next to me how old she though Haya is.  She says in her 80’s.  So I ask her. 

We are exactly the same age, 76.

 

 

 

Offertory team: Sir Charlie (who released him from time out!) & Jan, Bernadette & Gil. 

 

I am stunned and really curious.  How different was her life than mine?  She speaks with an obvious European accent.  So I invite her to lunch with me and Rosemary.  I am betting that her first 18 years were a lot different than mine spent growing up in University Park .

We go to the Corner Bakery at Preston-Forest.  She says she was born in a small Polish town in 1940, the year after the Nazis had invaded and occupied Poland.  Her father and his two brothers had a business.  Her father, however, must have had a premonition about how bad it might get.

 

 

Here they come, Folks, let's start the celebration, Olivia and Shonda.

 

He took the family first to the Russian zone of Poland, and then managed to escape to Marseilles, France, on the Mediterranean.  From there they went to Israel when it was still a British holding.  Finally, they escaped to New York, where she grew up.  Her two uncles and all the extended family disappeared.

Again I am stunned and humbled to be in the presence of this person. 

 

 

Our Best Man, Cowboy Cole. 

 

I think all of us here and certainly myself, we hope to be light to others, like Isaiah promises.  Often it is the light of others that touches me.   Mike and Haya humble me, sensitize me,  and focus a whole new light on my own life, how blessed I am and have been.

Who is a light for you? 

And for whom are you a light?

 

Cowboy Cole, Take these Pagans out into the wilderness from whence they come and leave them.  No more love for you two.

 

 

Thanks to all who put together our Sunday Celebration: 

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Mary Jane & John & Deacon Mike with the Gospel

Eucharistic Prayer & homily, John Cade

Blessing of the Week, Rosemary

The Magic Zoom Makers, Mike and Becky and Ben

 

 

 

 

Reading 1 with John Schanot

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles

         At that time Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight.  Jesus of Nazareth, a man thoroughly accredited by God—the wonders that God did through him are common knowledge—this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you.  You pinned him to a cross and killed him.  God untied the death ropes and raised him up.  Death was no match for him.  David said it all: 

         I saw God before me for all time.

                    Nothing can shake me; he’s right by my side.

          I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic;

                    I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope.

          I know there will be no trip to Hades;

                    and no stench of death.

          You’ve got my feet on the life-path,

                    with your face shining sun-joy all around.

Let me be completely frank with you.  Our ancestor David is dead and buried—his tomb is in plain sight today.  But being also a prophet and knowing that God had sworn that a descendent of his would rule his kingdom, and seeing far ahead, David talked of the resurrection of the Messiah—‘no trip to Hades, no stench of death.’  This Jesus, God raised up.  And every one of us here is a witness to it.  Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received.  That is what, today, you see and hear. 

Our word for today.

 

 

Remember?

 

Reading 2 with Mary Jane

A Reading from the First Letter of Peter

        My sisters and brothers:  You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way.  But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

        Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.  It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in.  He paid with the blood of Christ, you know.   He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb.  And this was no afterthought.  Even though it has only lately become public knowledge—at the end of ages—God always knew he was going to do this for you.  It’s because of this Messiah, whom God raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust in God, that you know you have a future in God.

Our word for today.

 

 

 

A Reading from the Gospel of John with Deacon Mike

          On that same first day of the week, two of them were walking to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem.  They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened.  In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them.  But they were not able to recognize who he was.  He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”  They stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend.  Then one of them, Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”  Jesus said, “What has happened?”

         They said, “The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth.  He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by God and the people.  Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him.  We had our hopes up that he was the One about to deliver Israel.  And it’s now the third day since it happened.  Now some of our women have completely confused us.  Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body.  They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.  Some of our friends went off to check, and found the tomb empty, just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”

         Then Jesus said to them, “So thick-headed!  Why can’t you simply believe what the prophets said?  Don’t you see that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?”  Then he started at the beginning with the Books of Moses, and went through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.

         They came to the edge of the village, and Jesus acted as if he were going on.  But they said:  “Stay and have supper with us.  It’s nearly evening; the day is done.”  So he went with them, and here is what happened.  He sat down at the table with them.  Taking the bread, he blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  At that moment, wide-eyed, they recognized him.  And then he disappeared.  They said to each other, “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”                      

The Good News of John

Rosemary's Blessing:

                                                                               

Let us walk softly on the earth

With all living beings, great and small,

Remembering as we go,

That one God, kind and wise, created all.

 

Author Unknown

 

Your Finances: April 26, 2020

Sorry for the delay in reporting.  Once the community got messed up, everything got confusing.  Nothing was coming in.  This is our best week of income in a couple of weeks.

 

JSM expenses:  $775.00

Outreach (often Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.) $300.00

Thanks, everybody, for your generosity.

 

 

 

Remembering…..