2nd Sunday of Easter, April 27, 2025

Readings:                          

Isaiah   66,  10-14,  Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad.  

Psalm 66,  Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Galatians 6, 14-18,     Peace and mercy be all who follow.

Luke 10, 1-12, 17-20,  The kingdom of God is at hand.

 

 

Says Dana, "Good Morning, Everybody, welcome in."
 

 

 

Readings observations: 

Isaiah 66:  This is the very last chapter of  The Great Isaiah, so you can guess it is upbeat and hopeful for the future.  The Israeli people have just returned from the Babylonian Captivity to discover a totally destroyed Jerusalem.  It will get better, he says, rejoice.

Psalm 66:  66 seems to be the number this week.  

Also, these two readings talking about joy and rejoicing are so apt for our July 4 celebration.  I want to talk about July 4.

 

 

 

Our Community mascot Mr. Gorilla, likewise, says, "Come in, You All."

 

Happy July 4

It is July 4 time and I would like to talk this morning about why I am happy to be an American.  I was sharing my ideas with Rosemary, an advantage to being a married priest (or maybe not), and she said, “Can’t you find reasons a little more dramatic, a little more universal?”  So, my reasons are just my own homey variety. 

I do claim a certain unique perspective because of living in East Africa for about 10 years.  I admit there were a few occasions when I was grateful I had the American embassy as a refuge in case I got into some trouble.  I can certainly remember looking at the American flag flying over the embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and being grateful and thinking, ‘Yes, that’s my country.”

 

 

Sez Sir Charlie to Kevin, "Kevin, wouldn't you like to buy cheap my almost  new, beautiful, smooth running Studebaker?"

 

 

So, here are 3 reasons why I am delighted to be an American this summer.   Natural beauty and people beauty with two parts.

First, the natural beauty.  There certainly are beautiful places in East Africa, for instance.  Like Kilimanjaro, which I climbed 5 times & the Serengeti game park.  Likewise, in Italy, the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre, even Rome. 

 

The Best Music, Bethany and David.

 

In the States we have the Rockies of CO, Grand Canyon, the beaches, like Gulf Shores, AL.  For me, there is nothing better than Yosemite.   But, you say, I live in Dallas.  Beware there is natural beauty here, too.  Try White Rock Lake, try the White Rock Creek trail.  I ride this trail and wonder sometimes, ‘Am I truly in Dallas,’ it is so wild and wooded. 

A few weeks ago, thanks to the Collin Classic bike rally, I just discovered in Plano the Oak Point Park.  Is this really Dallas?

I love the natural beauty we have in America.

 

The Offertory Crew, Laura (whom I knew when she was a nice little girl), Sandra, and Ann.

 

 

Then there is the people beauty.   Don’t laugh.  I propose the trustworthiness of people. 

Want to see an amazing phenomenon?   Park yourself on a corner of one of the small towns we will pass through in three weeks on the bike rally through Iowa.  You will see maybe more than a thousand bikes hitched to parking cables and lying on the ground, not one with a lock. 

I park in front of a grocery store, put my helmet on the handle bar, walk in, get what I want, and return to my unlocked bike. 

 

 

Today's community.

 

 

Want to see another phenomenon?  The hospitality of people.  Join me to ride the Hotter ‘n Hell Hundred the end of August.   There are 10 rest stops, like every 10 miles.  Each stop is loaded with bushels of volunteers overflowing with hospitality. 

I have my two favorites, 30 and 75.  At the 30 mile there is a group of elderly ladies (maybe many younger than I) who personally bake dozens of 6 varieties of cookies.  They positively blow me away and every year I tell them they are my favorite stop of all. 

 

 

Richard, this Bellvita goes to Carol with an abundance of love and powerful karma on her birthday, that she does well with the chemo beginning Friday.

 

 

What are you proud about this year?

Happy July 4.

 

 

Today's team.  All the world is on vacation this week, and certainly all our kids.  

Sez our dear Harper "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Isaiah, a review

Here is another of those passages which make me love Isaiah so much.  I have mentioned this before.  He is my favorite.  

Today we have Isaiah III talking to the Jews who have returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity, about 555 years before Christ.  It helps to picture the mood of these people. 

 

 

Away we go!

 

Are you a Cowboy Fan?  How do you feel about this year?  Multiply this by 10 and you have how the Jewish people felt after 50 years of slavery and  their town destroyed like New Orleans or parts of Preston Hollow. 

When he says Jerusalem or Zion, he is talking to these beaten down people.  Later centuries church leaders began to make these words have two meanings, the city and we Christians.  Jerusalem, then, applies to us.

Sources: Good News Bible, The New Interpreter’s Bible

 

 

Takes Zoe to really light a candle.

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6,  The glory of the Lord shines upon you. (nice)

Psalm 72,  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Ephesians 3, 2-3, 5-6, God's grace was given to me.

Matthew 2, 1-12,  Where is the newborn king of the Jew?.

 

 

And to really get  it lit, it takes Victoria.

 

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols:

2 observations–

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  Matthew carefully crafted this story to appeal to both his fellow Jews and the Gentile population.   I'll touch 2 points, each with 3 subdivisions..         

 

 

And to really get it all right, it takes Buddy to read the Blessing of the Candles.

 

 

The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are

1. Gentiles
2. They come from the east, considered the source of wisdom in the world of that time.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east or a star he will bring new light. 
3. They are searchers & symbolize every man’s search for meaning in life.    Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising for not searching, and the Gentiles. 

 

 

And then backing it all up is Leo singing.

 

2. The 3 gifts. 
3. Gold is given because it signifies royalty. 
4. Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity. 
5. Myrra signifies medicine.  Myrra is for the human.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu, and even herpes.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

 

 

Bringing the gifts Bernadette, her daughter Michelle, and Grace.

 

 A post script.  People in Europe used to write an inscription over their doors, e.g. 20+C+M+B+17.  The numbers are our year.  The letters are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, supposedly the kings' names.   Christians made it say, “Christ & you 3 kings bless our house or Maison the year listed."

 

 

And trouble with Richard, Cody, & Ben.

 

 

 Another post script.  In New Orleans Epiphany starts Carnival season, which leads up to Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The parades start, folks.  Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler.

 Sources: Reginal Fuller, St. Louis U. Liturgy; Biblical & Theological Resources, the Voice Institute, on line; Wikipedia; and other sources.

 

 

The communion team with Patricia, Claire, Geri, Grace, & Denni.   Thanks, You All.

 

An Epiphany Story

Rosemary & I once went to the exposition of some paintings of about six or eight artists. Among the artists and the reason we were there was my childhood buddy, Ed Lamberty, who gave the homily here on alcoholism & AA some years ago.  He was presenting some of his works.

 As we were wandering around we ran into another couple who are old friends.  We ask what brought them to this exposition.  They pointed across the room to a middle aged, middle class, blondish woman who was standing by some of her works.

 

 

Hi, Marlene, Mabel, & Cindy.  So good to see you.

 

 Here is the story the wife told me.

The couple we know are both academics on the university level.  Some years ago the wife had been teaching and came to know one of her students.  The student was a mother with a son about 8 years old.  At some point in time the father had abandoned them and left them with nothing.  They were living in the mother’s car.

 

 

Thanks, Rick, for all the good pictures.

 

My friend says to me that this so shocked her and she thought this cannot continue.  An Epiphany moment.  She described the situation to her husband and two sons who were about 10 & 12.  Guess what they did.

They invited the mother & son to live with them until they got on their feet.  The two sons moved into one bedroom and the mother & her son took the other.  Here they lived for almost a year until the husband found the woman a job. 

 

 

Peace, Everybody.

 

The woman now is successful and is developing as an artist, selling her works for big sums.  The son graduated from Jesuit, graduated from college, and now is married with a couple of his own kids. 

 Obvious from the fact that they were at the art exposition, my friends are still quite close with the mother & her son. 

 

Peace for 2020.

 

I would propose that this is what epiphany is, a light shines on a presence.  The presence is a challenge and, perhaps, involves care for others.   The presence may be the example of another person.

 Who is an epiphany for you?

 For whom are you an epiphany?

 

 

  

Rosemary' 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.

 

Sister Jean Amore CSJ, Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead,N.Y.  Adapted from Fr. John Thomas Lane, SSS

 

 

Part of

The Cheese Team, Becky & Tom

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Rob & Beth & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel, Deacon Mike

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky & Tom

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

The Music Team, Ben & Shonda

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Richard's dad who just passed;   For Carrie Bieda's brother, who also just passed the end of this week;  For Bill;  For Esparzas, Frank & Mary, who lost their son Jim to sepsis;   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;   For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie;  Shonda's mom;   for Michelle;  

For a friend, a neighbor, & a doctor, Karen, with brain cancer; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free.;    For Hue;  For John O'Donnell;    For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini;  Virginia Mattingly

 

 

 

Where is everybody??

 

From last Weeks:

Birthdays:  Shonda (last Week), Deacon Mike ordained '78, Bill Ekes, Alison DeGenova;  Bernadette, Ben's wife, Camile, Harper 9 

Anniversaries:  Sandra  & Chuck,  59th,  Barb & Warren 41st,  Rick Urbanczik, 45th & Rick, 68 

 

 

Download Readings Week 12

 

 

The Master Technician, Mike.

 

Deacon Mike's Homily

There was a rich merchant who had three sons.  The two older ones cared only for themselves. The younger son, however, cared little about the things of the world; instead he cared for his father’s workers with kindness and wisdom.  One spring day, the merchant told his three sons to meet him at the wharf; it was time for them to take over his business. The two older sons immediately ran ahead and began fighting with each other for the newest of his father’s three boats.  

The youngest son had prepared himself for this day. He knew the ones who worked well with one another; and the ones he trusted to help him read the weather, the maps, and the stories about other kingdoms. They were ready; and after bringing barrels of food on board they set sail.

One of their maps showed that they would come upon some small islands four weeks out on the direction they had chosen. When they encountered them they stopped at one whose sand looked to be pure white. Stopping there they realized that it wasn’t sand at all. It was salt.  Having extra bags that could be used for ballast they decided to take some of it home with them. A month or so later they came upon a fairly large kingdom; and they were greeted by its king.  He wished them well and fed them; but he told them that he wasn’t interested in trading for his father’s goods.

Undaunted, the younger son, after having eaten their food, paid a visit to the king’s kitchens, where he discreetly sprinkled salt, to the meat, onto the soup, over the tomatoes and into the bland custard. That night the king was amazed at the flavor of his food. Calling his chefs before him, he excitedly asked about the new technique they were using. The response was that the young man from the boat had sprinkled something called salt onto the king’s food.  The next afternoon, the merchant’s youngest son set sail for home with his crew filled with joy.  The ship was now laden with one bag of gold for every sack of salt he had left for the king.

With humility, kindness and love we too are to become the Christ by sharing the salt and light of the gospel, the treasure of the Church, to as many as we can.

 

 

The Mass continues

 

Community Finances, June 21, 2020

Expenses: $290.00

Outreach:  $XXX  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Says Our Dearest Emma, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Readings:

Isaiah 45, 1, 4-6,  I am the Lord, there is no other.

Psalm 96,  Give the Lord glory & honor.

Thessalonians 1, 1-5,  We give thanks to God for all of you

Alleluia,   Shine like lights in the world   (Great line)

uMatthew 22, 15-21,  Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?

 

 

 

Welcome in Denni, Charlotte, and Chloe, and Tom & Nora.  So good to see you all.

 

Isaiah observations :

Who : Can you guess which Isaiah this is in chapter 45?  1, 2, or 3?  A little more difficult than the last two Sundays.  This is Isaiah 2, going from chapter 40 to 55.

Today’s selection:  this is not Isaiah 2 at his best.  I like the line, I have called you by your name.  Otherwise, the passage is mildly comforting to the people who are living in Babylonian slavery, around 555 before Christ.

 

 

 

Welcome in to you, too, Dearest Zoe.  Just you wait.  We got something for you.  I have not forgotten.   Get ready,

 

Cyrus: So, who is Cyrus?          

 Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece.   He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.

Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem.  This is exactly what Cyrus does.  Where is Babylon?  Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River.  What is left?  Rubble. 

 

Note: Watch out for the alleluia verse.  A good one & I want to talk about it.

 

 

 

Hi, Diane, and welcome back.  Want to learn how to dance?   Diane is one of the best.

 

Shine like Lights in the World

This morning I would like to talk about the Alleluia verse, Shine like lights in the world.  The final questions are obvious, Who is a light for me, and For whom am I a light in the world.

I have lots of people who answer the first question.  You people, for instance.  What I would like to talk about, however, is two ladies, two black ladies, one of whom has died some years ago.

 

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of the Week in action.

 

First, ever hear of Juanita Craft?  In the ‘60’s & 70’s Juanita was the Dallas leader of the NAACP and a prominent activist.  She lived in South Dallas west of Fair Park. 

I was a Jesuit intern from ’65 to’68 at the high school.  The summer of probably ’67 I was looking at doing something different.  I talked with Juanita.  The next thing I know I am the only white guy on a Greyhound bus full of NAACP young people and their chaperons.  We were going to D.C. and then to the NAACP national convention in Atlantic City.  Remember this was another tense interracial time.  Sound familiar.  Martin Luther King was assassinated in May, 1968.   This was ’67.

 

 

 

The Best, Shonda, Ben, & David.

 

 

I learned two things from Juanita.   First, she was tireless in advocating for her people.  She used the media to help and she eventually was elected to the Dallas City Council.  Believe it or not, she was one of the inspirations for me gathering crowds for those years of planting trees.   Juanita was long dead by then and I had spent 10 years in East Africa.  It was like I would ask myself, ‘What would Juanita do with this dream?’

Secondly, a small thing.  Every time we got off that bus, Juanita would tell everybody to clean up every scrap of trash.  I was a bus driver for Jesuit, mostly sports teams.  I never thought of telling the kids to clean it up.  After the example of that old lady, I did.

To round out that summer I even spent the rest of it living in her little house in South Dallas and being active in the NAACP.

 

 

 

The Balloon Girls at work, Zoe & Tori.

 

 

The second black lady is named Sondra.  I see her once or twice a week when I go to our corner supermarket to buy bananas & milk & occasionally flowers.  She is the early morning cashier, is probably mid-‘60’s and should be retired,  She is very friendly and knows my name, Mr. John, and, get this, gets up ca. 2 A.M. to catch two or three buses from South Dallas to open up the store at 6:00. 

These two women shine like lights in my world.

Who are the lights in your world?

For whom are you a light?

 

 

 

Offertory ready with Carrie & Paul, Aggie & Allen.

 

 

Hi, Emma, welcome to our community for the first time ever.  Happy 5th month.

 

Readings:

 Jeremiah 31, 31-34,   I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.

Psalm 51,    Create a clean heart in me, O God.

 hebrews 5, 7-9,    He became the source of eternal salvation.

John  12,  20-33,   Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground

 

 

 

 

Hi, CC, welcome back home to Dallas for a visit.  You make My Day!

 

 

Jeremiah observations: 

What:  We have not seen Jeremiah for a long time, since before Thanksgiving.  Remember that he is one of the Big 3 Prophets (because of the size of the work, e.g. 52 chapters in Jeremiah), who are Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel.   I love Jeremiah, he is such an attractive and transparent character.  

Author:  most of the work is put together by Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch.  Jeremiah is described as the broken hearted prophet because of his heart rending life spent warning the people & kings that their behavior was going to be punished.  The people hated him for this.

 

  

 

Who is that??  Yep, it is Wendy and her little baby.  Congratulations, Wendy.

 

 

Time:  ca. 555 before Christ, as an easy date to remember.   Jeremiah speaks before and during the Babylonian Captivity.  Like all prophets, he condemns before, and he consoles during the Captivity.  This event is monumental in the life of the tribe and in the life of Jeremiah.

The Scene:  Remember that the Holy Land had a north & a south, Israel & Judah.  First, the northern kingdom, Israel, was defeated by the Assyrians, 622 BCE.  These Hebrew tribes vanish into the DNA of the region, “The Lost Tribes of Israel.”  Next, the Babylonians & Nebuchadnezzar defeat the Assyrians and threaten the southern kingdom, Judah, with the capital Jerusalem.  Jeremiah is watching this and seeing it as Yahweh's punishment.  In 600, more or less, the Babylonians do destroy Jerusalem and cart the Hebrews into slavery.

 

 

 

 

Say Tori, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Today's selection, chapter 31.  Jeremiah is consoling the people who are now in captivity.  He suggests that God wants to make a new deal or, as it is called, a covenant.  Yahweh is promising to forgive the people and treasure them.  Jeremiah addresses the people right off using first person singular, I, meaning God.

Sources: Fr. Reginald Fuller, St. Louis U.; Encyclopedia of Judaism;Wikipedia; Answers.com; 

 

 

 

Hi, Peighton, Welcome in.  So nice to have you here.

 

Hate My Life?

I have a story this morning which I have told twice, once at St. Mark's, over 8 years ago and here about 4 years ago.  Pardon me if you've heard it. Some of the best stories I tell over & over, they are so poignant.  The story speaks to my point today, hate my life?  I had permission for the story.

It happened many years ago when I was working full time as a psychotherapist out of an office at Jesuit.  I think it was the first Monday morning of May.   I know it was a beautiful morning.  A boy came to see me who had been in my office on and off for about six years.  He had just graduated from high school and enlisted in the Air Force.  He had struggled since grade school with bouts of depression, and that morning seemed to be in great shape.  We did not even spend more than 30 minutes together, his mood was so up beat and care free.

 

 

 

 

The Best, Ben & David.

 

 

He left.  Maybe two or three hours later a call came in.  The boy had left Jesuit, crossed Inwood to the Lincoln Center complex at LBJ, drove up to the top of the four floor garage, parked his car, headed to the edge of the garage, and walked over the side.  He landed on the cement street four floors below, face down flat.

Passerby saw it, called 911, and in a second the paramedics from just around the corner were on the scene.  He was in Parkland in a flash.  He lived.

 

 

 

 

Kayla with her favorite grandmother, Claire.

 

 

It was not for about 3 weeks until I got to visit him.  He apologized.  I admit I was mad.  I loved this kid.  He fooled me.  He said that he had been in a zone, happy because he knew he was out of there, meaning he was ready to go to the other side.  He wanted to escape the pain of life and go to heaven.  He said he had no fear in walking off that fourth floor, none of the hesitation you feel before you jump off the high diving board the first time. 

You may guess why I tell this story.  It exemplifies what happens when you take literally "whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life."  This little piece of advice, taken the wrong way, can be so dangerous. This boy hated his life.

 

 

 

 

Elevation time.

 

 

I would suggest there is a negative and a positive way to hate my life. 

The negative is exemplified by this kid's story.  This is often what is happening when you hear of someone cutting on themselves.  If I hate my life and hate myself, I will want to punish myself.  I am bad.  So I cut myself.  Or I may think that I am such a loser that no one will pay me any attention if I do not do something dramatic like spill my blood. 

Even without such dramatic examples, I do not want to encourage someone who hates their body, hates their job, hates their family, hates their school, hates.  Just thinking about this I recoil.   There may be reason for the hatred.  However, "There is a better way," I want to say and I would say it.   I believe in talk therapy.   Feelings are all okay.  I just don’t want some to stay around. 

You know someone depressed like this?  Ask them if they are suicidal.

 

 

 

 

Georgie reading the Blessing of the Candles while Emma does her magic with the candles.

 

 

On the positive side, I would suggest two things.

First, the word hate can be considered as hyperbolic, a big word meaning exaggeration.  It is like Rosemary telling me, "You get me up at 4:00 tomorrow morning for spin class & it is divorce!”   Think she is exaggerating?  I hope.   

Secondly, I would suggest that this all has to do with being more alive now, in this life. The grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying fits in with this.  For example: look at March Madness.  Many of these players have died to themselves to achieve & to be better players.  How many hours in the gym have they spent practicing free throws?  When they could be hanging out, sleeping in, text messaging?  And they love their lives.  I’ve seen boys do this at Jesuit. 

 

 

 

 

Sez Buddy, "Is it not Cupcake of The Week time yet??"

 

 

Goofy, but I hate my life to love my life.  I don't want to get up early.  I could sleep in to 11:00.  However, I, get up and head over to the Jewish Community Center, 6:00 A.M. spin class.  The result, I love life.  

The boy who jumped is now okay, amazingly.  It took him years of physical recovery.  Two things did not happen that blessed him.  He did not damage his brain and did not damage his spine.  Every other bone, plus his teeth, were broken.  Once he got strong enough he went to medical technical school, got his certificates, and now has good jobs in various hospitals in the city.  I don't think he hates his life anymore.  In fact, he loves it. 

 

 

 

 

 Sez Emma, "Is that old guy finished talking yet??"

 

 

How do you love your life?