Homily for June 18, 2017, Fathers’ Day & Corpus Christi

Readings: Genesis 14, 18-20; Psalm 110; 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26; Luke 9, 11-17.

The Miracle of Sharing

Years ago when I lived in Tanzania, East Africa, I suddenly one evening had to take the overnight train from the capital, Dar es Salaam (Harbor of Peace, on the Indian Ocean) to our Jesuit house near Kilimanjaro. Since I was late in getting a reservation, I had to simply pile into one of the 3rd class cars with lots of people, their kids, their luggage, and even chickens. I planned to sit up all night on my suitcase or on the floor. 

Suddenly about 1:00 in the morning the train stopped in the middle of a scrub nowhere and we were eventually told the train had broken down. We sat on that track until about 5:00 the next afternoon.  I even tried to sleep on the rocks of the train bed. Trouble was, thinking I would be home in the early morning, I had no food &, more importantly,  no water. This was just stupidity on my part. I had been around too long to neglect this. Breakdowns were common on train and buses. And there was nothing to buy anywhere.

The Tanzanians all seemed to have come prepared and I would have been given at least a drink by various people, because I could speak with them. They had little stores of food and drink tucked into the folds of their robes or in baskets. But, I did not want to drink their water. It was possibly not purified. Of course all the time I am thinking the train will start any moment.

Late in the morning I noticed an young white couple in the forward part of the train.  We got talking and they shared with me their water.They were Germans and later I was going to climb Kilimajaro with them on one of my 5 trips.

Later that afternoon I was really able to help them out because the guy, a real big guy in the German army, took a picture of a baby lying near us under a shade tree. Someone saw him, told the mother on the train, who told the husband, who told the whole train. They circled him and us and wanted to take him to the police, wherever that might have been. 

Instead I was able to get everyone to sit down and talk. Finally the family agreed to let the German cut off the piece of film. Naturally he just clipped the lead and gave it to them.

I talk about this because I often think about this event when I hear the story about Jesus passing around the bread & fish.  I propose an alternative miracle to the more obvious. I base it on my experience with people who would not likely go out for the day without taking provisions. There were no McDonald’s.  Moreover, normally the people would hide their food and hoard it. Who knows when they might need it? 

What Jesus does it take the 5 loaves & fishes and share them with the nearest people. Picture the scene.The first person gets the food, takes a little, feels guilty because he or she has more hidden away, then pulls out of a hiding place a bit of bread, and passes it on. The process continues all over the huge crowd and at the end there is food left over.

The miracle is sharing. 

I also read recently that strict observance Jews would have been among the crowd and they did not believe in eating with unclean people.  Morever, they would eat only ritually cleaned food.  According to the story, everyone ate.

When I was on that dead train I would have been helped by the Africans. They respect white folks, especially when they speak the language, and many were probably Catholics.  Fortunately, I did not need their generosity because the Germans had purified water (this was before the bottled water fad). They had no trouble sharing and I still remember how good their water tasted. 

How are you being challenged to share more?

 

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Readings: Acts 15, 1-2, 22-29; Psalm 67, O God, let all the Nations praise You; Revelation 21, 10-23; John 14, 23-29.

Acts:  a quick summary of the facts–

Author: Luke, a "doctor," a Gentile who converted to Judaism and then became a follower of Jesus.

Date: Maybe before, but more likely after the two big dates–

70 C.E.  failure of the Jewish revolt against Rome & destruction of the temple.

88 C.E.  the Jews who were followers of Jesus leave the synagogue and go on alone.

Material: story of the early Christian communities, not totally historical.

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

A Mother's Day Story

A year or so after I returned from East Africa, so around '88 or '89, my mom had to go into the hospital for some minor treatment.  She was living at home and I was living at Jesuit, though I went to visit her every day. 

On this particular day I was driving her west on LBJ from Preston to go to what was called at that time, Deadman Medical Center.  It is on LBJ between Marsh Lane & Webb Chapel.

As we ride along she reaches over with her left hand, pats me on the right leg, and says, "I'm proud of you."

Wow!  That blew me away.  I was really touched inside.  Here I am just back from about 10 years in East Africa.  I've been a Jesuit by then 30 years, more or less.  And my mom's affirmation still meant so much. 

Two events happened in that car.  One, my mother used words to affirm me.  Secondly, she touched me in a tender, affirming way.  The result: inner peace, just what is mentioned in today's gospel, the gift, ultmate gift.

If you are like I was when I grew up, I did not have enough positive stroking and certainly I lacked touch. 

You mothers, daughters, married, singles, all of you.  You got the gift.  You can bring peace with two simple acts, a word and a touch.

With whom and how many times a day do you share your gift?   

Picture 1:  3 of the 8 men who all gathered to bless the foreheads of all the female members of the community as our entrance rite, Tony Bob, & Richard 

Picture 2:  Fred blessing Rosemary's forehead with blessed ointment

Picture 3:  Jeff Morrow & Bob McGrath blessing the foreheads of the female members of the community in their section

Picture 4:  Cole receiving his first communion with his mom, Gail

Picture 5:  Shelby receiving her first communion from her mom, Debbie

 

Readings: 1 Kings 19, 16-21; Psalm 16; Galatians 5, 13-18; Luke 9, 51-62.

1 Kings: This book continues the history of the Israelite kings begun in the two previous books of Samual. First was Samuel, a judge, then Saul, the first king, then the Great King David.  David’s activities make up a large part of this book.  When David dies the kingdom gets split into north and south.  Things go badly.  Along comes Elija the prophet.  This is a sign that times are bad.  We read in today’s section about the time Elija chooses Elisha as his successor. 

A Role Model

I would like to talk this morning about my Aunt Kitty with her glorious 100 years. She has always been a hero of mine and after our visit this past week she still is. We stayed in the retirement home where Kitty lives. Consequently, were able to make numerous small visits over the day & a half we were there. One attendant even asked me if I lived there now!

Since we had just been talking two weeks ago about the qualities of a peaceful & whole person, I was looking at Kitty with the 6 qualities in mind, e.g., curiosity & hope, gratitude & love, zest and, my own, humor. I spotted at least 3. 

Above all else, I was struck about how peaceful she was. At one point in our visits she said that while she had not wanted to live until she was 100, "It is not bad," she claimed. This said a lot to me, because over the past 10 years Kitty often told us that she did not want to live to 100. 

I asked her how she got to this peace & 100 years. "Golf", she replied.  She loved to play golf.  I think I see here that zest for living that I mentioned was one of the 6 characteristics of a whole & peaceful person. She, also of course, was famous for her yellow Buick convertible.  Which leads to the second quality I remember about her.

Her humor.  I can still remember her laughing at my uncle Frank and going into hysterics with my mom.  The two of them were close in age and spirit.  They laughed often over a time when the two of them as girls in Pittsburg were driving along behind a streetcar and went right out over a bridge. They had to get rescued. Kitty was notorious as an air head and my mom was right with her.   

One year when I was returning to East Africa from a home visit, I toured Kitty, my mom, and their older sister Pauline around Ireland in a little, two door, red economy sized car. Folks, it was lucky that Ireland is so small because we did not get started in the morning until about 9:30 or 10:00 and then we began looking for a place to stay around 4:00. Plus we stopped for lunch & morning & afternoon tea.  During all this time they laughed non stop.

During our visits Kitty often poked fun at her situation and age, when she remembered she really was 100. And when she did not remember, she laughed at herself. 

Besides humor and zest for life, Kitty loved her friends. While we were with her she said how much she missed her pals Jenny Gooch and Betty Lynch. Betty had three paintings on Kitty’s wall.  Especially she missed my mom. In fact, she was disappointed she had not heard from her recently.  Her long term memory is shaky. She did not remember that mom had died about 15 years ago.  She was even disappointed Pauline had not written her.  Pauline lived in NYC and died before my mom.

One moment after she forgot her age, however, she tuned directly into me and asked how I liked marriage, what was my relation with the Jesuits, and was I still working actively as a priest. Even though she became Presbyterian when she married my Uncle Frank, she has been totally interested in and supportive of my process.  And she remembed clearly. 

Of all the qualities my aunt shows, humor is her best. 

What is your best quality?

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Readings: Isaiah 6, 1-8; Psalm 138, In the Sight of the Angels I will Sing Your Praises, Lord; 1 Corinthians 15,1-11; Luke 5, 1-11. 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Reflections on the Readings

 

A brief few words about our first reading from Chapter 6 of Isaiah.  This reading could in fact easily begin the book of Isaiah.  It gives us the call of Isaiah.  King Uzziah has died after reigning for over 40 years, 40 years of great security and prosperity. 

   

We are told of a vision, which the prophet sees of God, and notice the threefold repeating of the word Holy.  Only God is holy, all holiness.  The prophet proclaims that he is doomed because mere humans cannot look at God. 

 

 

In our second reading, from Paul, he reminds us that he too saw the Risen Lord, and his response, like Peter’s in our gospel reading, it is the same, unworthiness.

  

 The readings all show up the same response from humans when faced with God.  And in each case God is able to reach thru the response and draw the person into a relationship of discipleship. 

 

 

 

 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Homily

  

What happens when we come face to face with God?  In each of our three readings today this is what we hear about.  For Isaiah it is a vision of God who is Holy, holy holy! And Isaiah’s reaction is similar to Peter’s and later to Paul’s, one of unworthiness in the face of God’s goodness.  But God is able to reach thru that tendency to turn away and invite all three into a relationship of discipleship.

 

 

Our presence here today also comes from some kind of encounter with God, maybe not as Isaiah’s vision of God surrounded with angels, or Peter’s encounter thru the miraculous catch of fish, or Paul’s vision of Light, but in some way God has reached into our lives, whether thru the action of our parents having us baptized, or thru an encounter with someone as an adult, which caused us to want to be here, we each got up this morning and among all of the options available to us, we chose to be here! 

   

And as we celebrate our Liturgy together we too will acknowledge our own unworthiness, several times.  We start with our penitential rite, in the Our Father we ask God to forgive us, in the Lamb of God we sing “Have mercy on us” and before communion we say “I am not worthy”.  But God has managed to reach thru to us, which is why we are here. 

 

But now the question we need to start answering is “what does it mean to be a disciple?”  God enters my life, so what? 

 

  
 

Let’s take a simple example.  When two people become friends, their lives are different as a result, and depending on the kind of friendship, so too the effect on their lives.  When Gayle and I met, I was single and living in an apartment in Carrollton, and she was single and living in her home in Highland Village.  When we decided to be married, we both left the comfort of our previous lives and set off for California.  This had a big impact not just on our lives but also on the lives of our kids!!  I am sure each one of you can tell stories of how your lives were changed as a result of different relationships you entered into. 

 

So too with our relationship with God.  What is the change?  What does God want in a relationship?  For Isaiah, it was to be a prophet to the people of Judah, for Peter it was to become a “fisher of men” and for Paul, it was to tell the whole world, or as much of it as he could get to in those days, about God. 

 

Our instructions are equally clear, Love God and love one another.  How am I doing in that area?

  

In every relationship, one thing that has to happen is that we have to get to know each other.  Anna in the musical “The King and I” sings that lovely song “getting to know you”, and we too need to continue to ‘get to know God’.  We do so thru our presence here, by listening to his Word.  In any relationship, we will also go out for a meal.  And thru sharing food, we get to know each other better. 

  

And so we are here today celebrating a Memorial Meal with God.  We are reminded during the Eucharistic Prayer to “Do this in Memory of me”.  It is another way of our staying in touch with God.  As a people, we have heard the Church Bell, and responded by coming together as a People, to Listen to God’s Word and to “remember Jesus’ Last Meal with His disciples. 

  

 

What does all this mean for us today  We are called to be a people of Hope, of Love and Forgiveness, a kind of light of Joy to the World. 

 

In the words of St Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

 

Picture 1:  Mass beginning with Tony & Kevin

 

Picture 2:  Sean

 

Picture 3:  Gilbert with Georgie & Zoe in his lap

 

Picture 4:  Jo with Hunter, Audrey, and Dillon

 

 

Welcome, Our Dearest Michelle.

 

Readings:

Isaiah 25,, 6-10,  On this mountain  the Lord will provide for all peoples.

Psalm 23,  I shall live iin the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Phlippians 4, 12-14, 19-20,  I know how to llive in humble circumstances.

Matthew 22, 1-14,  The king throws a wedding feast for his son. 

 

 

Welcome in, say our Dearest Tori & Zoe, and The Great Gilbert.

 

Two beautiful readings this morning, Isaiah 25, and Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd.

 

 

 

Our Dearest Candle Lighter of The Week, Emma.

 

Isaiah observations:

Who:  Any idea which Isaiah this is, 1, 2, or 3?   We had Isaiah 1 last week talking about the vineyard.  That was chapter 5.  Pretty easy to guess, Isaiah 1.  But, this is chapter 25.

It seems out of character for Isaiah 1, who criticizes the people.  More like Isaiah 2, which John Cade loves and which we will read this Advent. 

Remember Isaiah 1 is pre-Babylonian Captivity, around 555 before Christ.  This selection is a marvelous vision of peace and sensual satisfaction, one of my favorites.

Yep, it is still Isaiah 1, all the way to chapter 39.  Basically he is saying that a great day will come, after you people have paid for your sinful, selfish ways. 

 

 

Does it get more beautiful than this, Beautiful Scene, Beautiful Couple.

 

 

On this mountain the Lord will provide for all peoples, the Lord will wipe away the tears from every face.

This morning, Folks, I would like to talk about this line in the context of our lives.

Last week after having been privileged to take part in the beautiful wedding of Paul and Carrie on the very edge of the South Rim of Grand Canyon.  And after having the joy of sleeping in for a couple of mornings when the temperature was in the 30’s both outside and inside through our wide open glass door.  And after having spent one whole day just walking around and doing nothing, a very rare event in our lives. 

After being moved by all this, we turned on the radio in our rental car early Saturday morning to begin our 3 hour drive back to the  airport in Phoenix.  Just catching up on current news.  I was immediately depressed and even angry, which is pretty rare for me. 

 

 

Communion on the South Rim.
 

 

I have caught myself here a few times lately and have decided I do not want to be here.  So I returned to a decision I made to simply turn it off and focus on the beauty and how the Lord provides. 

Let me give you 4 little examples on which I am still dwelling here at home.

First, I was touched by the example of lots of the tourists around the South Rim.   There is a shuttle bus system on the South Rim, three routes, one east, one west, and one in the center.  The west bus and the center bus are new for me since I came here in the ‘90’s.

 

 

 

The South Rim Wedding.

 

 

Rosemary & I took them all and occasionally they were full, especially the west bus.  One time I am seated and the aisle is full of standing people.  So I get up and offer my seat to somebody.  After I stand up I happen to look toward the back of the bus.  What do I see?  A half dozen other guys were all getting up.  Many of them were Japanese. 

Rosemary even was bummed later in the day because some guy got up and offered her his seat.  “He must think I’m an old lady,” she grumps to me later.

 

 

The Stack Wedding Tree

 

Two more neat events took place on our flight experience.  First, at our SWST gate there was a special desk with 3 ladies.  We were at the end of a long corridor and probably 200 passengers were waiting for flights to Dallas, San Francisco, & two others. 

One of the girls started talking to the mass of people and then asked, “Anybody celebrating a birthday today?”  Across from us Isabella, a shy girl about 11 put up her hand.  The SWST girl got the whole gang to sing to her and then gave her a $25 gift certificate.  Then the SWST girl went through about a dozen trivia question with $25 certificates for the winners.  It was delightful.

 

 

 

The Best Team, Georgie, Buddy, & Leo.

 

 

Then on the plane which had come in from somewhere like Jackson Hole, guess whom we saw, Patricia & Fred.   Guess what, the whole plane gave them a rousing round of applause for their 7^th anniversary.  Patricia must have told the flight attendants.  Who else?

Besides these events, blowing me away most of all, the wedding.  Beautiful place and beautiful people.  It was The Best.

And just to show Paul & Carrie how appreciative I am and we are for the memories, and that I told them that I would give them a special gift when we got home, I have The Gift.  A young Shumard Red Oak, a Stack Wedding Tree. 

 

 

 

Only One Cupcake today??   Yep.

 

Let me remind them, because they have probably already forgotten, the little tree says two things when you look at it.  First, are you having fun together?  From my experience, if you are having fun in your marriage, you won’t end up in my office. 

Secondly, it says that this old geezer truly loves you.

Thanks for The Memories.

 

 

Number 1 of 2 elevations.