32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 10, 2024

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.

       

                                                                       

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $  880.00

  Outreach: $   85.00

 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Deuteronomy 8:  … that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:  Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body,  for we all partake of the one loaf.

John 6:  This is the bread that came down from heaven.

           

The Ladies Lunch, Mary, Mary, Dana, Barbara, Claire, Connie, Barbara, Denni, Teresa and …

 

Dee and Jackie

 

 

 

John Stack Ministries now meets at:  The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Candle Team at work, Marilyn & Ron.

 

 

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

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

Place: Legacy Charter School,  601 Accent Drive, Plano, TX 75075

 

 

Happy 56th, My Dear Marilyn & Ron.

 

Readings:

Deuteronomy  30, 10-14, If  only you would heed the voice of the Lord.

Psalm 69,  Turn to the Lord in your need and you will live

Colossians 1, 15-20,  Christ is the first born of all creation.

Luke 10, 27-37, What must I do to inherit eternal life.

 

 

Consult time with Allen.

 

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, July 12, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.   

 

Juliets, July, TBA

 

 

 

Communion Team with Patricia & Mike, Lynda & Tom.

 

TRUE?

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

 

Confucius,   ancient Chinese philosopher

 

 

Our Father.

 

What's up in Ye Old Catholic Church?  Like…

Bishops, Where are you?,  http://corpus-blog.blogspot.com/2019/07/editorial-our-children-are-dying-at.html

 

 

Break Time.

 

See you Sunday,

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

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.

 

 

 Somebody please help poor Ben.

 

 

Acts of the Apostles 10, Peter proceeded to speak

Psalm 118,   This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.

1 Corinthians 5, A little yeasts leaven all. 

John 20, On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen  came to the tomb early in the morning.

 

 

Romeos, Welcome!    Jason's Deli, 1:00, Friday, March 26.  Required: vaccines, mask for entrance & departure. 

 

 

A reminder for those attending the 9:30 Easter Mass at Legacy: wear a mask (along with your vaccination).

 

 

Another Reminder for Sunday, April 4, 2021, Easter Sunday

Here are the links for Sunday:

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2, 14, 22-33; Psalm 16, Lord, You will show us the Path of Life; 1st Letter of Peter 1, 17-21; Luke 24, 13-35

 

Acts observations—(Author, Date, Place, Subject), a repeat from Easter

 Author: This is Luke, the physician, the companion of Paul, the Gentile writing for Gentile Christians, and the same Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke.

 Date: Around 65 years after Christ.  Probably just before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (70 C.E., a big date in Jewish history), or Luke would have likely mentioned it. 

 

Place: most probably Ephesus, today a ruin on the west coast of Turkey south of Constantinople.  Once this town was a major Christian center.

 Subject: the material works like in concentric, expanding circles, beginning in Jerusalem and ending in Rome after touching Judea, Syria, Ephesus, & Europe.  It treats activities in the early Christian community, some of which may describe they way they wished things were. 

 Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, St. Louis U. Jesuits’ Liturgical web

 

Mother's Day: a brief history–

1.  Greece & Rome: Cybele was the mother of all gods

2.  in the U.S.

    a.  Julia Ward Howe: during Civil War, ca. 1870,  as a counter to the tragedy

    b.  Anna Jarvis: 1912, pushed for 2nd Sunday of May, Mother's Day, with emphasis on the apostrophe, i.e., a single mother of a family, not all mothers.  Ended up regretting the day because of commercializaiton in the 40's before she died.  Hated Hallmark Cards' canned messages instead of personal notes.

  
   

c.  President Woodrow Wilson: 1912, made it a national holiday.

Sources: Legacy Project & Wikipedia

 

Cura Personalis

I have a Mother’s Day story for you.  It comes from of all places, Rosemary’s home, NYC, naturally.  We were just there this very hour last Sunday.

 The scene is this.  It is around 4:30 on a beautiful day, blue sky, 62 degrees.  The Ride began at 8:00, all 32,000.  We have traveled up 6^th Avenue from Battery Park in Manhattan, through Central Park & Harlem, into the Bronx, passed through Queens into Brooklyn, and the 40 miles came to an end in Staten Island, near the Staten Island ferry, which we took to get to the starting line in Battery Park. 

 

 We have gone straight north and returned straight south.  This has not been a race, like the Hotter ‘N Hell here at the end of August, rather a stroll or a promenade.  I have never ridden in a tsunami of people until this event.  90 percent of the time I rode shoulder to shoulder with other riders, scrutinizing their every move so that I would not crash.

 At 4:30 on this lovely afternoon Bernadette is just arriving at the last bridge, the famous Verrazano Narrows, a bridge that goes up a good way before it comes down into Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island and the finish line. 

 

 Bernadette is pooped as she begins this final ascent.  Everybody else in our group of 7 has already reached the end.  

 As Bernadette climbs bit by bit, she realizes that she cannot ride up to the top.  She gets off and starts pushing her bike up the bridge.  Remember, folks, this is New York City.

 Shortly after she begins trudging up the bridge a young man in his 30’s goes by.  Then he returns and stops.  “Would you like me to push your bike up the bridge?” he asks.  Remember this is New York City.  And this is a New Yorker, in fact, from Brooklyn, Bernadette tells me.

 Our New Yorker pushes Bernadette’s bike along with his own up to the top of the bridge. 

 

 When I was a Jesuit we were educated in a concept, cura personalis, which is Latin for personal care.  Advertising has made this term into a expression of narcissism, meaning my personal care.  In the Jesuits it was meant as a term for others, personal care of my brother & sister & my neighbor. 

 I would propose that this is a particular attribute of women, caring for others, which is what we celebrate today, Mother’s Day.  It is not limited to women, however.  This young man exemplified personal care.  In Luke’s story about the two guys on the road to Emmaus, who  is showing personal care?  Jesus.

 Today we honor the personal care of mothers.  We all, however, male or female, adult or kid, we all are called to personally care for our people.

 When was the last time you personally cared for yours?

 Thanks, Bernadette, for letting me tell your story.

 Picture 1:   Mass begins

 Picture 2:   Cameron & Nikki with their grandparents, Mary & Frank Esparza

 Picture 3:   Cora

 Picture 4:   Liam up, for the moment

 Picture 5:   Liam down & totally at home

 Picture 6:   Liam & Cora with their parent, Megan & Dave plus Megan's parents Rob & Beth