Sunday Homily January 22, 2017, 3rd Ordinary Time

Readings: Acts 10, 34-43; Psalm 118 (This the Day the Lord had made; let us Rejoice and be Glad); Colossians 3, 1-4; Mark 16, 1-7 (from Saturday night readings)

Acts: 

Author: Most likely Luke, who wrote the Gospel with his name and who followed and copied some of Mark's material. 

Date: ca. 70-100 A.D., therefore ca. 40 years after the death of Jesus. 

Subject: the ministry of Paul & the 12 Apostles after the death of Jesus.

        Chapters 1-8 deal with the Resurrection, Ascension, & Pentecost (Holy Spirit)

        Chapters 8- 28 deal with Paul's conversion & ministry.

Today's selection: Two visions/dreams have just occurred:

        1. Cornelius, a captain in the Roman army and a Gentile, has a vision in which he is instructed to go to a town called Joppa and talk with a man named Peter.

        2.  Peter has a vision in which a sheet held by its 4 corners comes down and is full of all kinds of animals.  A voice says, "Eat."  Peter refuses because of the law of ritual impurity, i.e., some animals are ritually impure and it is prohibited to eat them.  But the voice insists.  At this point three of Cornelius' people arrive and invite him to come to Cornelius' house.  This vision symbolizes that even Gentiles who are ritually impure are invited to the new Christian community.

Our selection takes up just after Peter arrives are Cornelius' house, finds a group of Cornelius' friends, is invited to speak to them, and he begins.  The following is what he says to the group of Gentiles gathered in Cornelius' house.

Meaning of the Word Easter: the origin of the use of Easter seems lost in history.  Probably not from Latin, which uses pasqua.  Probably not coming from a German goddess of spring, which some have suggested.  May have emerged from early Celtic converts (British Isles), who wanted to use their own words for Christian feasts, rather than Latin words.

The Easter Event Today

I think it was last Tuesday morning.  I had come out into the yard in front of our house to let Aviana do her business.  Suddenly around the corner comes a little black Prius which I recognize.  The window comes down and one of Aviana's favorite neighbors stops to give her a little loving. 

The neighbor who is so friendly asks how we are all doing and was I getting the spring weddings going.  I said that, yes, we had weddings for all the weekends of May except one and that one weekend we had two weddings.  I also mentioned that I was looking forward to a fun Easter Sunday with an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

She then mentions that Lent has passed by in a flash and that she has paid no attention to it and really did nothing special.  Am I hearing maybe some minor Catholic guilt?  I'm also thinking to myself that this woman is just terrific as she is.  She does not need to do anything special for Lent.  I mean she loves Aviana and she is friendly to me.  That in itself is extraordinary.  But she also goes back & forth in front of our house it must be a dozen times a day ferrying her 4 kids to numerous events.  On top of that, she teaches at SMU. 

I thought about this friendly lady as I started looking around in my daily life for a recent Easter event.  You know what I think an Easter event is.  It is something or someone which gives me greater peace and life. 

Initially as I looked back over the past six weeks since we started Lent, I thought of the week I spent in Galveston with the 50 kids from St. Bonaventure U. in Buffalo, NY.  That was a dramatic Easter event for me. 

Way back I had talked about making Lent a time of service and greater sensitivity.  I hit the jackpot with the Galveston trip.   The generosity and desire of those kids to donate their spring break to service gave me a ton of peace and life.  I still feel the effect of them in my life.

I am aware that I lucked out with the Galveston trip.  Just to be able to get away for the week.  Like Rosemary who is working now in downtown Dallas, the majority of you cannot walk away from your job for a week.  However, if Lent has passed you by quickly and you look back with any guilt, I would say, "Get rid of it." 

The sensitivity begins now. 

What is the Easter event in your life today?

AUDIO:  ttp://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-04-12.mp3

Picture 1:  Easter Mass with Noah helping

Picture 2:  Guess Who Made it!

Picture 3:  Second time ever!

Picture 4:  Good Friday Stations

Picture 5:  Good Friday Stations at the Robinson's house

Readings:

Acts 10, 25-26, 34-35, 44-48, God shows no partiality;

Psalm 98, The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power;

1 John 4, 7-10, Let us love one another; 

John 15, 9-17, I have told you this so my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Cole lighting our Easter Candle with his dad, Chuck

An introduction to today’s readings.  We continue reading in Acts. It’s called Acts of the Apostles, but only Peter and Paul are given any space. John is mentioned only 3 times, and for James only his execution by the Emperor Herod is mentioned. So it is more properly Some Acts of Some Apostles.

As Stack said before, we’re pretty sure that Acts was written by Luke who is also the author of the third Gospel. Luke was a Gentile (non-Jewish) from Antioch in Syria, and was a companion of Paul in his travels around Asia Minor, from Antioch, around through Greece, and to Rome. We know Luke was with Paul in Rome when Paul was in prison. Acts was probably written around the time Paul was put to death during his second imprisonment under the Emperor Nero in 64 or perhaps 66 CE.

Our Joanie with Erin

The other readings are from the First Letter of John and the fourth Gospel. Traditionally 4 books of the New Testament were attributed to John the Apostle: the 4^th Gospel, 3 letters and the Book of Revelation. Scholars say that the vocabulary, grammar and style of writing make it unlikely that Book of Revelation was written by the same person responsible for the 4^th Gospel. Some modern Bible scholars raise the possibility that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel and John of Patmos who wrote the Book of Revelation were 3 separate individuals. The First Letter of John reads like a summary of the 4^th Gospel teachings, and the time of writing is probably similar, in the latter part of first century, sometime between 80-100 CE. 

John Blessing all females

Homily

Today’s readings really speak for themselves.  That they happened to fall on Mother’s Day is serendipitous. In Acts we heard that the Good News is for everyone, without exception: “God shows no partiality.”

The Gospel told us what the Good News is: that God is love and is always with us, without exception. “Remain in my love”….”I tell you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be full”….“I call you friends.” 

Ryan & Jim sharing their blessings

And the Letter of John gave us the call to respond to the Good News: “Let us love one another…everyone who loves is of God…”  

On Mother’s Day we get to express love and gratitude in a special way for our mothers. Personally, I have never known a Mother who was not doing the very best she knew how. Not everyone, however, gets to have a Mother who consistently protects them, consistently nurtures and teaches them, and consistently loves them as they wish and deserve.  All mothers are somewhere on the continuum of consistency as mothers. All mothers I have known aspire to be good mothers, and good mothers aspire to be even better mothers. Some mothers were actually Aunts or Grandmothers or adoptive mothers. My mother’s mother died giving birth. So my mother’s mother was actually her Aunt Molly.

Torri, along with her mom & grandmom, being blessed

I think one of the reasons Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has received such honor and devotion from us down through the centuries is that, without knowing much about her life, we could easily project on to her an ideal of mothering for us to aspire to. I love it that we can do that today for all our mothers. Mothers aren’t perfect and don’t have to be perfect. We honor our mothers for protecting us, nurturing us, teaching us, and loving us as best they can or could.

My mother, a Methodist of Scotch-Irish descent, immigrated as a young woman from Mississippi to Louisiana in the 1920’s, to teach school in a very small town that was totally Cajun and Catholic. She left everything she knew and moved to live in a ‘foreign’ culture. There she met my father. They fell in love and married. My mother never felt fully accepted by all his family—remember this was 4 generations ago, when Catholics considered themselves the only true believers—everyone else was suspect. She of course had to promise that all her children would be raised Catholic. When my parents’ second child was born, a son, he died right after birth. My Mother was in a hospital in Abbeville where I later grew up, and my father was 10 miles away in the country, where they lived at that time on my grandparent’s plantation.

My father’s sisters apparently told him that my mother wouldn’t want anyone going to the hospital at this time; that she needed time alone before she came home. When I was about 21 my mother confided in me that story, and she finished telling it with the words, “I never forgot it, and I never forgave him.” I share this story, even though it carries her pain, because of what else it told me about her: that even though my mother and father did not have a close/intimate relationship and their married life was a struggle, she was totally dedicated to our family and to being the best mother she could be for us 5 children. And her life was a testament to that.

Jessica, daughter of John & Connie, brother, Kevin, & sister, Renee

We do not get to choose our mothers. But today we get to honor them. However consistent they have been in protecting, nurturing and loving us, we honor all mothers today. We honor them for their dedication, and for their struggles, and for their efforts at mothering us the very best way they know how (or knew how).

The questions I have for us are: whoever mothered us, do we know and appreciate how she was mothered? What was her joy, and what was her pain and her struggle? And how do we honor that in our own lives?

John escorting Bressica, Thompson, CT, near Boston

Readings:

Deuteronomy  8, 2-3, 14-16,   He let you be afflicted with hunger, then fed you.

Psalm 147,   Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 10, 16-17,  We all partake of the one loaf.

John  6, 51-58,  Whoever eats this bread will live forever.

The Girls say, "Welcome, Everybody, Hats in honor of Cathy." Patricia, Carol, and Maureen.

Deuteronomy: The fifth & last book of the Torah.  The scene: Moses & the Hebrews are in the desert just outside the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, whom they are going to kick out and kill.  Moses is reviewing their journey from Egypt.

Date:  first put into some form around 750 before Christ, then put into a more final form, guess when, at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, around 555.

Jan with her hat of symbols, tree planting, peace, patriotism, friendship, and cupcakes.

Author: not Moses, even though the book is 3 sermons of Moses on the plains of Moab, just at the end of the period of wandering, and just before entering the land of the Caananites, or the Promised Land.  It is really tradition, stories of old times. 

Our Selection:  Moses is recounting the escape from Egypt and the years in the desert.  

The belief that Yahweh punishes, corrects us, and tests us with affliction is not common today as Moses suggests to the people.  You can still hear it from fundamentalist preachers.  Remember the huricane in New Orleans?  We will read more of the section to get the sense more clearly.

Geri and Marilyn say, "Hi, Folks, Come in."

My Guide through the Desert

We have just read about how Moses guided the Jewish people through the desert.  In honor of two of our most favorite people who are retiring from years in public education, this morning I would like to talk about people who guided us and me through the desert.

Two short stories, some of which you may have heard before.  It just seems to fit in here so well.

When I was in maybe 6^th grade, I joined the Boy Scouts at Christ the King around January, when I have my birthday.  Some of my classmate joined up in the spring.

Cathy and especially Harper accepting a special pastry for Cathy's retirement from public education.

First thing I know, along comes summer and we are heading to Texoma for a week of summer camp.  We get there, get our tents, and I overhear some of the 8^th grade guys planning to initiate me.  Why me?  Probably because I was bigger than some of my classmates. 

So suddenly I get sick.  I’m afraid.  I'm home sick.  I want out of there.  These guys were bigger than me and I did not feel safe, no way.  The scout master was a pretty passive guy I did not know well. 

Rick and Jackie accepting a special pastry for Rick's retirement from public education, Rick's 62nd birthday, Rick and Jackie's 39th anniversary, and for Jackie's marvelous recovery.

We had come in on Sunday.  By Monday night I am back home, and back home really feeling horrible about what I did.  I feel like a chicken, for sure.  I was embarrassed even in front of my parents.

The next summer comes along.  My dad, who had remained active along with me in the Scout troop, invited me to go with him back to Texoma.  He was going to spend the night as one of the adult overnight supports for the troop.  

With some trepidation, I decided to go.  We arrived at night and I still remember walking into the tent of my coach and teacher, Frank Hart.  He was sitting on his cot and there was a Coleman lantern buzzing.  He had always supported me.  Always encouraged me. 

Brian and especially two little mice accepting a Cupcake of the Week for Brian's 63rd.

His welcome that night was a turning point in my young life.  It probably prepared me for the day after high school, when I would walk away from the security of my family, join the Jesuits, and never return, even to Dallas for 7 years.

My second guide through the desert was one of the Jesuits at the old Jesuit High.  From as early as I can remember I detested clericalism and the piety stuff.  That was all I had seen until Jesuit.  Fr. Jules May was not clerical and not pious. 

He was our freshman football coach.  As coach he was out there in clothes as crummy as what we wore.  And as coach he got after us like a drill sergeant.  He cussed us.  He yelled at us.  He accepted us ultimately.  I remember my dad was somewhat shocked. I loved him. 

Buddy, the candle man, lighting up with the help of his mom, MIchelle.

I remember one day we were playing Highland Park on our upper field right next to Oak Lawn across from Holy Trinity.  My best buddy played center for Highland Park and I played center for Jesuit.   At one point in the game we were punting out of our own end zone, a chain link fence between our field and Oak Lawn.  I centered that ball over the kicker’s head, over the fence, and onto Oak Lawn. 

I was so humiliated and was waiting for Jules May to descend upon me with both feet.  He did not. 

Marsha, one of those from the "crazy corner."

Jules May was one of the reasons I decided to join the Jesuits.

These two coaches and teachers were guides to me through the desert. Cathy & Rick have guided tons of young people through the desert. 

Who was your guide?

Whom are you guiding today?

Zoe, as always, the style setter.

Rosemary's Blessing

Good Morning!

This is God.

I will be handling all your problems today.

I do not need your help.

So have a good day!

Author Unknown

Remembering….

Readings:

Isaiah 55, 10-11, Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down.

Psalm 65,  The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest

Romans  8, 18-23,  The sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us,

Matthew 13, 25-30,  A sower went out to sow.

Download Reading Week 7-12

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Mary & Sandra & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel & Homily, Deacon Mike

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Richard & Tom

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Please Remember these special people:

For Cindy who faced a procedure Monday morning;   For our Bill;  For Carrie Bieda's son;   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 & Jan;  Shonda's mom;   for Michelle;  

For Jackie's mom;  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;  for Virginia Mattingly.

Magicians at work, Tom, Richard, & Mike.

Homily for July 12: The name given by the artist to the picture behind me today is Rhapsody. It has always hung on the wall in front of me, and I’ve enjoyed seeing it every day.  It could have been called Rapture, or a Taste of Paradise.

The picture moved me then and it still does now. I purchased it at a special evening auction given by the marriage partner of Richard Delong a few months after Richard’s death. The proceeds from the auction of Richard’s Art Collection was then given by his marriage partner toward continued research of the Human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

The two woman in the picture are in ecstasy, euphoria, elation.  If you could look at it closely, you would see that they are part the celebration of our sacred liturgy.

Are Ben & Shonda not The Best!

In our first reading from today’s liturgy, Isaiah the Prophet gives us a wonderful teaching from God to us his children: You will be filled with joy and led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Today’s words from our liturgy continue with a psalm of gratitude to God who prepares us for an expectation of a fruitful harvest of Words.

The second reading is the eager expectation from the Letter to the Romans revealing to us that those who have welcomed and are living to Good News, are the children of God, who have joyfully received the Holy Spirit.

Our gospel reading seeks for us to bear fruit; 100, or 60, or 30 times greater than what was sown for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Birthdays:  John Schanot & Caroline Grattifiori

Anniversaries:   Ron & Marilyn Ackerman, 57th

A temporary Altar while adjustments are made.

Community Finances, July 12, 2020

Expenses: $810.00 

Outreach   $425.00,   (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

Readings: Amos 8, 4-7; Psalm 113, Praise the Lord who lifts up the Poor; 1 Timothy 2, 1-8; Luke 16, 1-13

Luke’s Gospel, 3 observations:

1.  The Story.  The rich man and his steward.  The steward is  squandering the rich man’s property.  The rich man tells the steward that he is going to be fired after he prepares the accounts. 

The steward figures he will make friends with the debtors by cutting their debts to the rich man.  He cuts bills as much as 50%. 

The rich man, instead of berating the steward, praises him for his strategy.  

2.  What is going on here?  Looks like the steward is stealing from the rich man.   In fact, he is cutting out his commission, not stealing anything.  The Jews reading this parable would know this immediately.  The steward made his living by charging a service fee. 

3.  Any lessons here for us?

  a.  One of Luke’s favorite messages: Our God is merciful.  See the Prodigal Son & Good Samaritan.  The rich man praises the steward for being ingenious.

  b.  We are challenged to be equally ingenious.  Use our talents.

Extra point: watch out for taking a hit from the sayings at the end, trustworthiness, dishonesty in little things, 2 masters.  There might be a trap here: either/or spirituality. 

Sources:

Francis Vanderwall, The Liberating Stories of Jesus, chapter 4;

New Interpreter's Study Bible;

New American Bible, on line;

St. Louis U., The Center for Liturgy, on line

We Need a Mediator to Ransom Us?

Many of you know that this old geezer loves to dance.  In fact, it was through dancing that Rosemary & I met.  I was looking for the best dancer.

For the past year or more I have not been able to dance because I could not swing my hips or swivel.  For the past month or at least since I finished the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred, I have had it in mind that I would like to return to dancing, probably at some special event. 

The event took place last weekend at the wedding we did in Ashville, NC, for a girl very dear to me.  It was Friday night.  We had finished the rehearsal and gone to a bar-b-que place for the dinner. 

We returned to the hotel and what they call The Great Hall, the big stone lobby.  Playing dance music was a 3 piece group and a lady singer.  I had thought the wedding reception would be the fitting place to make our dancing debut.  But suddenly that Great Hall, the presence of others from the wedding, and the mood of the place made it the moment. 

We danced.  I could do it.  It was exhilarating.  Like getting back on a bicycle after a long lay off.  To top it off, the lady singing even complimented us by saying, “Good dancing.”  I was quite touched.

I talk about this event because I want to tie it into a line in Timothy that says more or less, “There is one mediator who gave himself as ransom for all.”

My Question: Do we need someone to ransom us?  Ransom us from what?  Did Emma need to be ransomed when we baptized her?  What about Chloe or Zoe or Georgie or Sam or Sean?

Many of us have been trained to think that we come into this life stained, imperfect, in fact, sinful, not because of anything we did.  But because some distant ancestors, Adam & Eve, sinned and we all inherit it.  If the baby was not baptized and the sin removed, it would go to where?  Not

hell, not heaven.  Limbo.

Folks, what if there is no limbo?  The Catholic Church now says it was just a concept, not a reality.  Go further.  What if we don’t need to be ransomed from anything?  What if there really is no original sin?  That when we see a little baby and think how good it is, our perception is 100% accurate. 

Biblical scholars and students of the history of religion are now suggesting that, just like Limbo, original sin is a concept thought up to explain imperfect behavior.  If this is so, could it be that none of us is in need of some kind of ransom?

That lady singer complimenting us on our dancing in The Great Hall was another glimpse into the goodness of people.  The wedding was overflowing with the goodness.  Parents, the marvelous couple, little kids, and even some old geezers.  No need for ransom there.

And if we don’t need to be ransomed, where does that leave us?

Picture 1:   Beginning of Mass

Picture 2:   Emily with her mom, Julie

Picture 3:   Communion preparation

Readings: 2 Kings 4, 42-44; Psalm 145, The Hand of the Lord feeds Us; He answers all Our Needs; Ephesians 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15 

Kings: 4 observations–

Subject Matter: The Kings, naturally.  Especially Solomon after the death of his father, David.  But also treated:

    1.  The temple.  Solomon builds it.

    2.  The death of Solomon who held the nation together.

    3.  Division: Israel in the north breaks away from Judah in the south.

    4.  Israel destroyed completely by the Assyrians, ca. 720.

    5.  Fall of Jerusalem & destruction of the Temple; Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 585 BCE.

    6.  Cyrus of Persia releases the Jews to return to Jerusalem after defeating the Babylonians (remember Babylon was near present day Bagdhad).

Date: from 900 – ca. 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE.

Our Selection: There are 2 significant prophets, Elijah & Elisha, his son.  In this piece, Elisha it telling a man with 20 loaves of bread to feed a crowd.  This is a lead into the Gospel of John about feeding the multitude. 

Sources: Encyclopedia of Judaism, Wikipedia

The Miracle of Sharing My Food

I hate to do this to you folks, but every time I read this story about 5 loaves and 2 fish feeding a crowd of 5,000 men (to say nothing of the women), I am reminded of my days in Tanzania, East Africa.  You who have heard these stories, please forgive me.  They just clarify so much.  Here we go.

I was on an overnight train.  I was traveling from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the capitol, to Moshi, a town near Kilimanjaro, where the Jesuits had a small one to three person house, which I used as a base when I was not traveling around Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda giving seminars and retreats.

I had arrived in Dar es Salaam late for some reason and could not make an advance reservation for a first class cabin, which was the only way to go.  You shared a little compartment with another guy.  Because I was without reservation, I had to buy a coach ticket.  These trains are marvelous old antiques from the colonial age, but travel by coach is mayhem.  They are packed.  Don't dream of getting a seat.  Just be grateful that you can get inside.  Which I did, sitting on my one small suitcase, expecting to be awake all night listening to the kids, chickens, ducks, and snores of the few who had a seat and the ability to sleep through it all. 

You board this train for a 7:00 P.M. departure.  You expect to arrive Moshi around 5:00 A.M.   This particular night the train came to a halt at about 1:00 in the middle of nowhere.  Naturally, nobody knew why we stopped and for how long.  We stayed in that spot all the rest of the night and all the following day until about 6:00 P.M. 

Everyone on that train had food & water hidden away, except one gringo, who tried to sleep on the rocks on the edge of the roadbed, knowing he would hear the train move and could get up and get back in.

I was actually rescued from dying of thirst in the heat of the day by a young German couple in the first class compartments, the only other white folks on the whole train.  I was afraid to drink the water of the Tanzanians because they often did not purify it. 

I tell this story because the Tanzanian people on the train I suspect would be similar to the Jews listening to Jesus in that crowd of 5,000 men.  People like these do not go away from their base unprepared.  Not only do they carry food & water, they hide it so as to not have to share with someone too stupid to bring his own.  The women, especially, can hide in their robes lots of things.  Hoarding in the cultures we are talking about is no sign of inferiority.  It is survival. 

What Jesus did that was confounding is that he got these country folks to share their cache.  He takes some of the bread & fish and passes it on.  The person who receives it takes some, but feels uncomfortable only taking.  So the person puts a portion of his or her own in the basket.  What do they end up with?  Twelve wicker baskets of leftover food.

This interpretation of the 5 loaves & 2 fishes is as old as when I got ordained back in 1971, and before that.  I find it fascinating because we can go and do likewise.  You & I cannot multiply bread & fish, but we can share treasures.  We can share and we can invite others to feel secure enough to share. 

I finally arrived home to Moshi in the middle of the next night.  I even caught a thief with his hand in my right pocket at a little kiosk lit with a kerosene lamp.  The train had stopped at some tiny station and a lady was selling little pieces of rice bread or something.  I pulled that man's hand out of my pocket, grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him back.  If I had yelled "thief!", he might have been killed on the spot.  I knew the custom and the language, and he knew I knew.  He ran. 

I also got to know the German couple, even climbing Kilimanjaro with them one of my 5 times.  So, folks, sorry for repeating a favorite story of mine.  The question, too, is the same.

How am I overcoming my temptation to hoard & sharing my food?

Picture 1:  Mass with T.J.

Picture 2:  Bill Carey & Ron Kovatis

Picture 3:  Ron donating $2000 to CCAC with Claire & Ray, Jackie & Cathy

Picture 4:  Barb & her sister Evie from Germany