Reminder for Sunday, November 27, 2016, 1st Advent

 

 

Special Reminder for Holy Thursday & Good Friday:

 

Place: Marlene's home, 2017 Keystone Place, Plano

 

Time: 7:00 P.M.

 

Thanks for the hospitality, Marlene

 

 

 

Guess Who!   Congratulations, Wendy, Brandon and Atlas Xavier Hartsell (8 lbs 15 ounces.)

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  8, 5-8, 14-17, There was gret joy in that city.

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

1 Peter 3, 15-18, It is better to suffer for doing good, thank doing evil.

 John 14, 15-21,  If you love me you will keep my commandments.. 

 

 

 

Good Morning, Harper, and thanks for welcoming us all back.

 

Unconditional Love ?  Certainly !

Did you catch that Psalm 66 ?  Can you believe?!

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy!

Shout joyfully to God…, sing praise to the glory of his name,… proclaim his glorious praise.  Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!

I dream of Matterhorn Canyon, Yosemite, whenever I read or hear that last line.

 

 

She's back, Everybody, Sabrina, one of our most special people since she was a little girl.  Congratulations on graduation and double congratulations on the double magna cum laude.  Congratulations, also, to you two, John and Alison.

 

And while we are congratulating graduates, congratulations to Karen Anderlick on her graduation and especially with the summa cum laude.

 

This is a counter weight to the first line of John’s reading, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

I want to talk about how I went from being a fear based Catholic, Christian, human being, to living without fear. 

It all started in my first two years as a Jesuit novice in Grand Coteau, 1958-1960, 60 years ago next year.   It is the novice master’s fault. 

 

 

 

Congratulations to you, too, Shonda, on the Air Force uniform.  All these years we have known  each other and this is the first time I see your uniform.  You look Quite Striking!

 

Tony Mangiaracina was the novice master, about 5’1”, ramrod straight, did not walk, but marched in his cassock.  He could look very rigid and uninviting.  But underneath the rigid exterior, which was mostly what we saw for months, was a softy, all heart.  How many times we saw him in tears at special events.  Christmas carols always got him.

In those days we, too, lived a really Spartan life, silence except for three nights a week when we could talk at dinner, Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  These three days were also recreation days, like for touch football or handball games.  Other days we worked inside the building or on the farm, we studied, and we had periods of prayer.  A very monastic life.

 

 

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany, and David.
 

 

My awakening took place one afternoon when I went to get permission from the master to drink water.  Yes, we had to get permission to drink water at the beginning of each month.   We were told this was to teach us obedience even in the smallest things. 

Now it so happened that around this time an edict came out from Jesuit headquarters in Rome that smoking was prohibited for all Jesuits.  This was no burden for us 50 or so novices because we could not smoke anyway. 

But, guess who did smoke.  Yes, Tony Mangiaracina.

 

The Best Teammates, Georgie and Buddy.

 

On this particular day I went in to Tony’s office, I must have gotten my permission to drink and then chatted a few extra moments.   He had two large windows behind his desk, which faced me and the door I entered.  Suddenly I see against the light and even smell, guess what, smoke coming out of his right hand desk drawer. 

I never said a thing, but I was amused and touched.  Tony had put his cigarette into the drawer when I knocked to come in. 

At that moment I began to let loose of the fear that I was a sure bet for hell.   Like, here was my saintly novice master breaking a commandment that came all the way from Jesuit headquarters in Rome. 

 

 

Buddies, Cody & Ben, Paul & Carrie.

 

15 or so years later when I returned to Grand Coteau to establish a spiritual center, Tony was one of my team members.  And guess what. He still smoked.  The ban had been lifted a year or so after Vat. II.

I am grateful today to Tony and his human nature.  I figured bit by bit that if Tony was still going to heaven after being disobedient, I had a  chance, too.  I began to see that God’s love was not conditional, but unconditional. 

So, where are you going, Heaven?

 

More Buddies, Zoe & Harper

Exodus 22:  Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.

1 Thessalonians 1: And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Matthew 22: He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 

 

Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal

 

Because someone attending Mass last Sunday has been diagnosed with the Covid virus, the Board would like to reinstitute some of the precautions that we were using when we first came together again as a Community for Mass.  

1. Masks.  We have all been wearing masks.
2. Observe the 6 foot rule.  Families may sit together but different families should maintain a 6 ft distance from each other.
3. No touching or wandering around.  At the Kiss of Pease, please wave or nod to each other rather than hugging and touching.
4. Sanitize.  There will be a bottle of hand sanitizer on the table when you come in.

 

We are all vaccinated and these extra precautions should provide a safe atmosphere to celebrate Mass.

 

Thank you.

 

Isaiah 22: I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim's shoulder; when he opens, no one  shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.

Romans 11: Oh, the depth of the riches  and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!

Matthew 16:  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, …

 

Sun rise at White Rock Lake

 

Mass:   Coffee, donuts, and specials on the house.  

Time: 9:30; Stack Celebrating 

Place:  Vines High School, 15th between Custer & Independence, south side

  
 

 Readings: Exodus 17, 8-13; Psalm 121, Our help is from the Lord, who made Heaven & Earth; 2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2; Luke 18, 1-8  
 

Community Bulletin Board: 

                                                                                 

Discussion after Mass this Sunday 

                                                                                

Dates to Check: 

 

October 30, Saturday: Our special day at our Habitat house.  Tom Fleming will explain Sunday. 

 

November 20, Saturday before Thanksgiving: help us feed the homeless like we did last year.  More information coming.

 

November 21, Sunday before Thanksgiving: our holiday food drive.                                                             

 

 

Thoughts on The Church:

 

1.  Where we  Catholics came from, NY Times, 10-7-10:  Download A Lesson from History 10-15-10 

                                                                                               

2.  Excellent article on the state of the Catholic world written by Anthony Padovano, a married priest & scholar.  The article is both excellent and long.  Issue #3:  Download Padovano #3 of 4, 10-15-10

                                                                          

 
 

        

True? 

People, even more than things,
have to be restored,
renewed, revived,
reclaimed,
and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.

Audrey Hepburn
 

Picture 5:   Kevin & Georgie at the pastry table

 

  

 
 See you Sunday, October 17

 J.S.   (214-783-0443)