Christmas Eve Mass & Homily, December 24, 2016

Acts 15:  It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.

Revelation 21:  The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.

John 14:  The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.

Tom reading from the Acts of the Apostles

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben

The Kiss of Peace

 

Birthdays:   

Outreach: $  300.00   

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Brent, thanking the community for a $2,000 check for Soul's Harbor

Rosemary's Blessing:

Grant us, Lord God,

a vision of your world as your

love would have it: 

a world where the weak are protected,

and none go hungry or poor; 

a world where the riches of creation are

shared, and everyone can enjoy them; 

a world where different races and cultures

live in harmony and mutual respect; 

a world where peace is built with justice,

and justice is guided by love.

Give us the inspiration and courage to

build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

From “Engaging our  Faith”, www.ucc.org

Welcome Back, Mr. Luke, and thanks for bringing John & Karen, your super grandparents

Readings:

Sirach  3, 17-18, 20, 28-29, Conduct your affairs with humility.

Psalm 68,  God, in your goodness you have made a home for the poor.

Hebrews 12, 18-19, 22-24,  You have approached Mt. Zion

Luke 14, 1, 7-14,  When you hold a banquet, invite the poor

And likewise to you, Dear Dee, welcome back.

Homily:

A story that touched me a few weeks ago, following the mass shooting in El Paso, was the story of Antonio Basco. His companion of many years was killed in that attack. Neither of them having family in the area, he was feeling really alone in planning the funeral.

Antonio invited the anybody who could to join him at the visitation and remembrance, thinking maybe a few well-wishers in El Paso would join him. What happened?

Our super candle lighting team in action.

Thousands showed up—yes, thousands!—and some came from hundreds of miles away. People heard the story. In their mercy they saw the pain of Antonio’s personal tragedy: he was surviving the loss of his long-time companion.

Their hearts went out to him, and they showed up to be with him in his loss and grief. Many others, who heard of the story, also felt mercy for his suffering and were with him in Spirit, in their hearts.

Watch out, Luke, you will get put to work bringing up our gifts.

From today’s readings, Mount Sinai is where Moses received the law from God – the ten “thou shalt not’s” for a people with a short memory. Those words and warnings scared me as a young person hearing them in catechism class and the special preparation for First Communion and First Confession—the stakes went up for us kids with the pressure of the exaggerated importance of those really big events—1^st communion, 1^st confession. (We definitely didn’t get M & M’s for our penance in First Confession.)

The Communion Team, Connie, Denni, Brent, Mike, and Cheryl.

Rather than the ‘thou shalt not’s’ from Moses on Mount Sinai, it’s ‘Love one another as I have loved you,’ from Jesus. Jesus spoke Good News—that we were never separated from God by Adam’s sinfulness or our own.

God is always with us, all of us. We always have access to God’s Spirit, all of us. The Spirit of God is within us, and is present in all our relationships, all of us. In his words, and in how he lived his life, Jesus brought the Good News.

Mike & Mike, our local sportscasters?

How do you acknowledge God’s Spirit—within you, and in every connection you have with others?  How do you acknowledge the Good News of Jesus and live it?

Our reps to the local Open Window organization, a group hoping to update the Catholic Church, for example permitting women to be priests.

Readings:

Nehemiah  8, 2-10,   Do not be sad and do not weep.

Psalm 19, Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.

 1 Corinthians 12, 12-30,  A body is one though it has many parts.

Luke 1, 1-4; 4, 14-21,   He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives.

  Victoria says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.  We got a brunch today."

Introduction  

 Our first reading is from Nehemiah, Ezra, a scribe and priest, reads and teaches from the written Torah in Jerusalem, brought back by those returning from the Babylon Exile. The Torah, of course, begins with the Book of Genesis and the creation story. 

Later the NT and then, Sufi Islam would make known that we are made in the image and likeness of God. A bond begins!  Our second reading from 1 Corinthians follows last Sunday’s teaching on the spiritual gifts.  Today’s reading describes how we are one in the Spirit as the body of Christ in the world.

Harper, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Come in."

Homily by Mike  

Remember the story about the tax collector and the Pharisee who went to the temple to pray.  The Pharisee praised himself and ended his prayer by saying, ‘I am glad that I’m not like the tax collector standing over there.  The tax collector however was beating his breast saying, ‘Have mercy on me a sinner.’   The Pharisee was self-righteous instead of being humble. He chose to look down upon others as if they were morally inferior.  He committed the sin of pride, the first of the deadly sins and he, too, like the tax collector, should have been seeking forgiveness.

Hi, Cathy, Welcome in to you, too.  Thanks for bringing Harper.

Don’t be surprised when Pope Francis formally asks the Jews to forgive us for being self-righteous toward them for so many centuries prior to World War II.  Unfortunately we had a part in the Holocaust for our prior teaching that the Jews could not be saved unless they became Christians. 

Sez Genevieve, "I want to sing, too."   Watch out, Folks, she can almost walk.

Francis has been calling us to recognize the bond that exists between Jews and Christians; it’s called the Spirit, blows were it wills, and is present within the inspired writings of both Jew and Christian.  Jesus was a Jew. Most of the NT was written by inspired Jews who believed that the Messiah had come.  Francis is encouraging us to visual this graphic relationship: within every Christian there is a Jew. 

Buddies, Leo & Genevieve.

Today’s gospel is about what happened when Jesus entered the Sabbath synagogue service.  The reading for that day, as you have heard, were the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me….’  The one who gave the reading would then give a teaching on why and to whom Isaiah had said these words.

The entrance, Here they come, Folks.

 For example, Isaiah could have been referring to the Jews to whom Ezra was reading and explaining the newly written Torah that had been brought back from Babylon after the exiles had been set free by Cyrus the Great.   Instead the inspired writers have Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s words using them as an expectation for the coming of the Messiah.  In doing so, the structure of the Christian Liturgy of the Word would forever be identified: the words of Christ would fulfill the expectation of the reading from the Law and/or Prophets for the coming of the Messiah.  

Mike, sharing The Idea.

What Jesus said, of course, was, ‘This day these words are fulfilled in your hearing.’   Those in the synagogue who were receiving the good news, then, were the poor in spirit, the captive being set free, and the blind being given the opportunity to see. 

 Does it get any better?

So there is an intended spiritual harmony between OT and NT, between the Sabbath synagogue service and the Christian Liturgy of the Word, and between Jew and Christian.  Within every Christian there is a Jew.  Let us open our hearts to the words of our creed today that addresses all who seek to be led by the Spirit. 

 Buddies, Michelle & Georgie.

 Deuteronomy 4, This great nation is a wise and intelligent people.

Psalm 15, The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord

James 5,  Be doers of the word and not hearers only.

John 7,  All Jews do not eat without carefully washing their hands.

Ben bringing life.

Thanks……

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers, Mary Jane & John, & Buddy, our candle blesser 

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,     Richard & Hue & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy for all these years & will miss you enormously, Becky

Mary Jane reads 1st reading

Readings:

Download Readings 22nd Ordinary time 08-29-21

Homily by John Stack

Download Homily by Stack 8-29-2021

John Schanot reads 2nd reading

Remember these special people:

For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson baby & Frank;  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, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy,

Brent & Meredith, our cancer survivor

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren  ;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little 12 month old baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Peace Everybody

Birthdays:   Teresa Quinn & Maureen Macchio

Anniversaries:  

Ken & Cindy Cramer, 59th

Our Dear Ken & Cindy.

Community Finances,   August 29, 2021

Expenses: $1030.000

Outreach: $200.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary reads her Blessing.

Rosemary's Blessing:

Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people,

A heart that forgives the worst,

A mind that forgets the bad,

And a soul that never loses faith in God.

Unknown

Peace, Everybody.

Readings: 1 Kings 19, 4-8; Psalm 34, Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord; Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2; John 6, 41-51

Kings:  a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel.  The Big 3 were Saul, David, & his son Solomon.  The Book of kings follows the Book of Samuel, which describes the lives of the the kings up to the death of David.  Kings takes up the life of Solomon, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, i.e., it divides and is conquered. 

Time Period: : from ca. 900 – 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus of Persia (Iran).

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

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah.  The kingdom has already been split.  Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel.  Time of severe drought.  The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel.  The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.

There has been a contest: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain.  2 bulls were slaughtered.  Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered.  When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal. 

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah.  He is going to run away all depressed. 

We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.

Taste and See the Goodness of Life

The psalm today says to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord."  I would like to suggest that we taste and see the goodness of life.  I have a Yosemite story that exemplifies this.

The scene.  It is day 5 of our 9 day trip in the park.  We are at about 9,000 feet.  Our last campsite has been at a beautiful high altitude lake called Miller Lake.  No one else was around it but our group of 10.  It has rained every afternoon since we entered Yosemite, more rain than I have ever seen in all the years I have come to Yosemite.  

We have to descend from the lake, reach the bottom of Matterhorn Canyon, then climb up the canyon as far as we can go & still have shelter from trees.  I've told the guys in the lead to look for just the right spot to camp in overnight before we go over our third pass of the trip, the third of four, all above 10,000 feet, the first one above 11,000.  

When I arrive in the campsite the guys have chosen, it is close to the time for the rain to begin.  Everyone has set up their tent except me and one or two others.  I notice we are not in compliance with camping rules, but who am I to suggest that everyone move their tent 100 feet away from the trail and the mountain stream.  

So I set up my own tent in a wooded area with lots of vines & bushes, take a quick dip in the mountain stream to clean up, and climb into my dry tent for a brief snooze before the rain passes and we get out for dinner around 5:00.  

Just before 4:00 while the rain comes down a ranger lady arrives at the lower level of our camp.  She asks to see our permit, like happened on our second night with no problem.  This is the first time in years I see rangers again in the park.  Everyone tells her that Stack has the papers.  She arrives at my tent.  I open up she informs me there in the rain at 4:00 P.M. that we have to move our campsite.  We are too close to the trail, too close to the stream, we have built a small, illegal fire ring, and we even had a shower rigged up in a tree over the trail.  She could give us a dozen citations, even fine us, really me as the coordinator of the group.

No discussion would budge her.  Not the rain, not the hour, nothing.  She left saying she would go up canyon, then return later to see our progress.  I felt horrible.  I remember sitting in my tent thinking, "What next?"  I figured at least we could wait until 4:30 to see if the rain would stop. 

Meanwhile, on the lower level of the campsite, Rob & Ray spring into action, rain or no rain.  They head up canyon, at least we would be getting closer to the pass, and search out a campsite, across the river, which the ranger had suggested.  We had already waded 3 times the same mountain stream and each time had to put on sandals because the water was higher than our boots.  There was a little bit of resistance, with hope to find something on our side of the stream.

In the end we chose the site across the stream, everyone packed up wet rain flies, crossed the river, and set up on the broad grassy slope.  The campsite ended up being terrific when it stopped raining.

In many ways this experience could have turned our trip into a trip from hell.  As a matter of fact, looking back, there was a special beauty, a special good.  First, I did not have to initiate the change of camp.  Everyone pitched in with acceptance & without complaint.  Then we found an even more beautiful campsite which was a half mile closer to the pass than I have ever camped before.  And finally, after packing up wet the next morning, we climbed over Burro Pass and found my most favorite and the most beautiful campsite that I have ever enjoyed.  We dried out quickly and stayed here two delightful nights.

I could taste & see the goodness of life on this trip.

In your life, what are 2 places or ways you taste & see the goodness?

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin & T.J.

Picture 2:  Alexandra & her dad, David

Picture 3:  Cara & her mom, Christine

Picture 4:  Shelby & her mom, Debbie

Proverbs 8:   "The LORD possessed me, the beginning of his ways,  the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth,  at the first, before the earth." 

Romans 5:  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

John 16:  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.  He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.

David reads from the Book of Provers

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben 

Willow is baptized

Outreach: $   200.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Mary and Bernadette, the birthday girls

Rosemary's Blessing: