Presentation of the Lord, February 2, 2025

Isaiah 45:  I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me.

1 Thessalonians 1: For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.

Matthew 22:  Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

 

 

John and Aviana

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

 

 

 

Wisdom 1: For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him.

2 Corinthians 8:  You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us – in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.

Mark 5:   He clasped the girl's hand and said, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, get up."   At that, she was up and walking around! This girl was twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Brown Family taking over??   Only Zoe on candles, Buddy on Blessing, and Georgie directing the orchestra. 

 

 

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

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

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

Notice:  Prepare yourself for a Mystery Guest Speaker.

 

 

 

 

Are you people crazy?  Here it is time to change our clocks, a good time to sleep in, and here you are!

 

 

Readings:  

 1 Kings 17, 10-16,  The jar of flour shall not go empty

Psalm 146,  Praise the Lord, my soul.

 Hebrews 7, 23-28,  Once for all he has now appeared

 Mark 12, 38-44,  This poor widow put in more than all the others.

 

     

 

 

Offertory Time with Bill, Marlene, and Cindy.

             

                                               

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, November 9, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.  

JULIETTE LUNCHEON  December Luncheon TBA 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Board Meet: is it time again for you to sing, Emma?

 

 

TRUE?

 

Download Cramer Old Folks' perks Blog Oct.24

 

 

 

 

Healing touch for Bern.  Thanks, too, Bernadette for helping with this memorial for the Pittsburgh special people.

 

 

Anything happening in our Catholic World?  

1.   The Caravan.  National Catholic Reporter,  November 3,   https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/theology-en-la-plaza/immigrant-caravan-wave-hope-america?utm_source=NCR+Weekend+Edition+Nov+3-4&utm_campaign=cc&utm_medium=email     

 

 

 

Healing touch for Beth.

 

 

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

 

 

 

Healing touch for Bernadette's Jewish friend who graced us with her presence this special day.

 

 

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, Beth, peace, Everybody.

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Samuel 3, 3-10, 19,   The call of Samuel by Yahweh.

Psalm402,  Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

1 Corinthians 6, 13-15, 17-20,  Your bodies are members of Christ.

John 1, 35-42,  What are you looking for?    

 

 

 

 

Thanks, John, for celebrating this week while Rosemary & I had a wedding for her youngest sister's son, Sean, in Mount, Laurel, NJ, just east of Philadelphia.

 

 

The reading from First Samuel tells a story of Samuel’s call by God and how difficult it was to hear it. The Gospel reading tells a story of the call of Peter and Nathaniel by Jesus. These stories are both dramatic in their details and their telling.

 

But even kids seem to hear a call on some level—they seem to identify with things bigger than themselves. I remember my grandson Leo, at about age 3, saying: “I want to be a scientist”, or “I want to go to ‘space university’”. At that same age, we heard how strongly he identified with something bigger than himself. Joey would tell Leo that he was going to go to Texas U.(her college), and Daniel would say that he was going to Oklahoma State (his college).

 

 

 

Sir Charlie, I don't trust you so close.

 

 

Leo’s speech was still rudimentary then and when we said, “Leo, when you grow up, you’re going to Texas U.”, Leo would say with great determination, “No, I’m going to ‘okeenokee steak’. Without even knowing what it meant, Leo, so young, had listened, heard a call, and strongly identified with a parent’s alma mater. He became a follower.

 

In the olden days, today’s readings about a call from God would be used to talk up vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Though the church still suffers from a clerical culture and a vertical patriarchy, we know all are called to priesthood, to minister—to serve and care for one another. So some calls are special, some are dramatic, like Samuel’s and like Peter’s and Nathaniel’s.

 

 

 

Hi, Beth, Hi, Emma.  So nice to see you.

 

 

I echo Stack in that the call to serve, to care, to follow—is most often a small voice, usually inaudible. We have to be listening for it. Problem: having a ‘habit of ‘listening’ is not automatic. We’re not born with it. But we can all learn to ‘listen’ and, by practicing listening, we all can develop it into a habit.

 

So, when we ‘listen’ daily to what we read or to what others say, or become attentive to random daily situations, we are developing the habit of listening. Our practice at the beginning of Mass to pause and ‘listen’ can be the beginning of developing the habit of listening.

 

 

Hi Tori, Hi, Zoe, So nice to see you girls, too.

 

 

There was the story on TV this week of a man who saved a stranger’s life by pushing her away from an oncoming car which then hit and killed him. This man and this woman had both stopped to help out another driver whose car was stalled. Like Samuel’s and John’s stories, this is a dramatic and amazing example of someone hearing a call, it’s a hero story—difficult, if not impossible, to identify with.

 

What the newscast doesn’t tell us is the back story, how this man and this woman likely lived their lives—my guess is they had a habit of listening for the many small daily calls to care about others in small ways, in ways we all can. This is within the reach of all of us: to develop a habit of listening for those small everyday calls to serve and to care for others.

 

 

 

 The Girls, Cheryl & Marilyn

 

 The question: Can you hear those small daily calls? And have you developed the habit of listening?