21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 25, 2024

Nehemiah 8:  Then Ezra praised God, the great God, and all the people responded, "Oh Yes! Yes!" with hands raised high. And then they fell to their knees in worship of God, their faces to the ground.

1 Corinthians 12:  You are Christ's body – that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything.

John 2:  God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free,  to announce, "This is God's year to act!"

 

 

 

Another Reminder for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 26, 2025

Acts of the Apostles 3:  The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.

1 John 2:  But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

Luke 24:  . . . he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"  They gave him a piece of baked fish;  he took it and ate it in front of them".

 

Isaiah 40:  Thunder in the desert! "Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God.  Fill in the valleys, level off the hills, Smooth out the ruts, clear out the rocks.

Titus 2:  But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in,  he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit.

Luke 3:  After all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life." Son of Adam, Son of God

 John Cade's Homily from last Sunday: Download 01-05-25 Homily – The Epiphany of the Lord

 

 

 

 

 

Another Reminder for the Baptism of the Lord, January 12, 2025

Jeremiah 20:  Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!

Romans 5:  …how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.

Matthew 10:  Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.

 

           

Denni  reading from Jeremiah

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Denni & Tom

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                                                              

Tom reading from Paul's letter to the Romans

 

                                                                    

 

Readings:  Download 06-25-23 Readings -12th Ordinary

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  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 Kiss of Peace

 

                        

Birthdays: 

Anniversaries:  The Wittek's 6/25

                                                              

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  180.00

Outreach: $   

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

The Kiss of Peace

Mary commenting on the homily

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $  330.00

  Outreach: $   

 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

John and Connie

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

Loving God, through the gift of our fathers,

you reveal your wisdom, love and care.

 

Continue to bless and guide these holy men

you have given to us in our lives.

 

Support them in their call

to lead holy lives of faithfulness, respect and integrity.

 

May their witness of faith and love

shine from them and on their children and families

giving hope and encouragement to all.

 

Bless them for all the ways they lift their children to achieve their dreams.

Bless them for their sacrifice, their forgiveness and their guidance.

 

Bless grandfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins, teachers and coaches

who have shown us love and support.

 

For those fathers who have lost a child or spouse,

give them your loving touch of healing

consoling them with your gentle care.

 

For those fathers who have gone before us,

bring them to your eternal banquet of joy and peace;

bring them the fullness of union with you

and communion with us as we remember their love for us. Amen.

 

(Adapted from Fr. John Thomas Lane, SSS)

 

 

Happy Father’s Day

Readings:  

 Isaiah, 35, 4-7,  The eyes of the blind will be opened

 Psalm 146,  Praise the Lord, My Soul

 James, 2, 1-5,  Did not God choose those who are poor?

 Mark, 7, 31-37,  Immediately, the man’s ears were opened.

  

  

A few words about today’s readings 

1^st reading from Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Ch. 35

You know well how the Old Testament prophets operated: telling the Jewish people, “You’ve done wrong”, then prophesying “Yehweh will punish you”, and then prophesying “there will come a time of repentance and blessing from Yahweh who is merciful”. In today’s reading Isaiah is prophesying a time of healing and blessing.

                                                                                                    

2^nd reading from the Letter of James,  Ch. 2

As Stack said last week, James was the administrator of the Jerusalem Christian community.  Paul refers to him as “ the brother of Jesus”. His letter was probably written around the year 50 AD which would make it the earliest writing in the New Testament, still over a generation after Jesus.  It was written to the “dispersion”, that is, to Jews who were followers of Jesus and were scattered outside Israel. The letter of James is one of 5 small books in the New Testament that were disputed in the early church, and were not accepted as inspired books of the Bible until the early 5^th century, The other 4 were the second and third letters of John, the second letter of Peter and the letter of Jude. The Letter of James acquired special significance at the time of the Reformation in the 16^th century when the priest Martin Luther said this letter’s emphasis on good works contradicts Paul’s doctrine that we are justified by faith.  Luther also disagreed with the Council of Trent that the Letter of James refers to the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. James Ch 5:14 reads, “Is there anyone sick among you? He should ask for the presbyters of the church. They in turn are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

 

3^rd reading from the Gospel according to  Mark,  Ch. 7

Mark’s Gospel was written with non-Jewish readers in mind. We know this because there are very few quotes from the Old Testament in Mark, he explains particular Jewish customs, and he translates any Aramaic expression into Greek, as in today’s reading where the Aramaic word “Ephphatha”, is translated into the Greek word for “Open” or “Be opened”.

                          

                                                                                                      

                                                                                            

Homily        

For over twelve years, John Cade, in addition to his private practice of counseling, has worked in an agency setting with victims of violence, including victims of sexual assault. Currently he serves on the board of the non-profit Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center or DARCC. Since the theme of our gathering today is healing, John invited Monica Urbaniak, a bi-lingual counselor at the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center (or DARCC) to speak about the work of DARCC. Monica will talk about what DARCC is, what they do, and what they need from the community to maintain and enhance their services.