Sunday Homily, October 23, 2016, 30th Ordinary Time, C

Readings:   Exodus 20, 1-17, God delivered all these commandments; Psalm 19, Lord, You have the words of everlasting life; 1 Corinthians 1, 22-25, The weakness of God is stronger than human strength; John 2, 13-25, He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple.

 

Exodus: 2nd book of the Bible & of the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible.

Date of Composition: put together ca 450-400 BCE, though elements come from 1000 BCE at least.

Author(s):  Moses, no.  At least 3 sources, maybe 4, e.g., the Yahweh (J) source, the Elohim (E) source, the Priestly (P) source, and even the Deuteronomy Source.

 Subject:  The 10 Commandments–observations:

 Our Subject today: 10 Commandments–Observations

 

1. Academics see 3 maybe 4 versions of the 10 commandments, Exodus 34 (the oldest), Exodus 20 (our selection), Deuteronomy 5 (the last)
2. The versions come from the sources composing at different times, for example these 4

• The Yahweh Source, 10th Century BCE, therefore, Exodus 34    
• The Elohim Source, 9th Century BCE, therefore Exodus 20
•  The Deuteronomy Source, 7th Century BCE, therefore Deuteronomy 5    
• The Priestly Source, edited all the sources in 6th Century BCE (450-400 BCE, at the end of the Babylonian Captivity).  The 7 Day Creation Story comes from this source at this time.

Source:  Bishop (Episcopal) John Shelby Spong (Excellent Biblical Scholar)

 

 

How to keep the Inner Peace

Some months ago Rosemary & I were flying back to Dallas from Toronto on the first Friday morning in October.  Canadians that morning were beginning the long weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving.  Everyone was taking off. 

Rosemary & I had gone to celebrate the event with Kay Reddick & her family the week just before Canadian Thanksgiving. 

Our plane was scheduled for sometime around 9:00, so we arrived very early, like 6:30.  We walked into the huge single room terminal and noticed a long line.  No problem, we had everything prepared.  We checked in and asked where we entered security, a one stop area like in Atlanta, everyone going through the same big security post.  The girl said the line was for security. 



 Wow!  Gulp!  This line must have been more than 100 yards long, running from one end of the terminal to the other with numerous double backs.

Initially I thought the line was just volume.  Nope. Turns out security is staging a labor slow down.  We are in that line over 5 hours, folks.  Naturally, we missed our plane.  Everyone missed their plane.  In fact, I thought we might not even get out that day.  Clearing security was only half the problem.  Once inside everyone was mobbing the service desks to change their ticketing. 

One thing about the day that really struck me positively was that I never saw anyone lose it or have a hissy fit.  On the contrary, people were friendly, joking, lying on the floor while waiting.  There were Canadians in that line near us who were missing their flights to Hawaii.  We talked to them in the waiting line and we talked to them inside where they had booked a flight to San Francisco that afternoon. 

 If I had been in Lagos, Nigeria, I would expect that I would have witnessed a riot.  Not in Toronto that morning.  I’ve seen check-in riots for a lot less. 

 I mention this event because it comes to mind when I see the story of Jesus getting all steamed up at the vendors in the temple.   I have to laugh.  Lucky he never flew.  Our experience and his probably had some common elements, like chaos and crowds.  

What is he so hyped up about?  Was he having a bad mood day?  Can he have bad moods?   If you look at these scenes with detachment, you might want to laugh.

On the other hand, Jesus might have had some significant reasons, like:

    1.  he was angry because the vendors were supposed to remain in the outer courtyard and they were inching into the inner sanctum, the holy place.  The law.

    2.  he was angry because he was watching the vendors cheat.  Injustice.  Maybe his mom had been cheated by one of these guys some years ago and he still was angry about that.

    3.  he was angry because he saw the obsession of some of these people with money.  He was seeing the Bernie Madoffs, the Stanfords, and the Ken Lays of his day.

 But, note that

 

1. it was customary for animals to be sold at the temple.  These animals were destined to be bought by people, taken to the priestly cast inside the temple, and given as a sacrifice.  These people were heavy into sacrifice.  The idea: I sacrifice something to God, I get something from God.  Maybe it was gratitude for already getting something. 

  2.  it was customary that the temple was a center for all sorts of trade.  People went there for sacrifice, giving thanks, and socializing.  The market naturally set up near, in, and around the temple.  The markets I saw in Tanzania when I lived there were probably similar and were fascinating events. 

So why was Jesus so angry?  Maybe he was caught off guard.  He expected better.  That was what amazed me about the Toronto airport.  Everyone was caught off guard.  Everyone expected better.  Yet, no one got so mad they lost it. 

There is a little trick that helps with this craziness.  I would call it expectation adjustment.  The idea comes not from my head, but from a man named Albert Ellis (American Psychologist, developed RET, Rational-Emotive Therapy, d. 2007, 93). 

 The idea is that I have an expectation about how a person should behave & how things should be.  If the expectation is frustrated, then I can go off.  What do you think is the dynamic behind road rage? 

Want to fix it?  Adjust my expectation, change it.  Or look at it positively.  It is another way of accepting.  A trucker is in left lane.  So what.  Someone is in such a rush they are right on my rear bumper.  I have to wait so long in security that I miss my plane.  Expectations?  Yes.  Hey, it could be worse.  Rosemary & I made it out, after all.  Jesus seems to have done some expectation adjustment, because in his condemnation by the Pharisees at the end of his life he does not fight back.  The result: my inner peace.



 

How do I react when I see someone going through the express check out with 18 items?   Or leaving the shopping cart in a parking place?  How do I react to road craziness? 

How do you respond to frustrated expectations?

 Sources:  Center for Liturgy, St. Louis U.; Alfred Ellis

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Taken from IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

 

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915 
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Richard & Brent, Deacon Mike, & Buddy, the candle blessing

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles, 1, 12-14, All devoted themselves to prayer

Psalm 27, I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

1 Peter  4, 13-16,   Rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ.

John 17, 1-11, I pray for them. 

 

 

Remembering……….        This was taken in Yosemite ca. 2003-2004.   A bunch of convicts on a week parole.   The good old days.  Quality went south after this trip: we went co-ed.  We were invaded by sorts like Rose, like Beth, & Nicole.

 

See pix of new rectory at bottom of blog.

 

 Reading 1

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles       

When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?  Is this the time?”  He told them, “You don’t get to know the time.  Timing is the Father’s business.  What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit.  And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”  These were his last words.  As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud.

So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem.  It was a little over half a mile.  They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place.  All of them agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the men and women alike.

Our word for today.

 

 

Across Camellia from our house on Tulip Lane 3 homes have been bulldozed including the big one owned by the hockey player, Tyler Sagan.  We should be out of our house in two months and into our new house (see below).  Our old house will be visited by the bulldozer.

 

Reading 2

A Reading from the First Letter of Peter

Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job.  Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced.  This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. 

If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate.  It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you, that brought you to the notice of others.  If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter.  But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought.  Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!

Our word for today.

 

 

3 homes demolished on this one corner of Tulip Lane & Camellia.

 

 

The Lord be with you.       A Reading from the Gospel of John  

Raising his eyes in prayer, Jesus said: 

Father, it’s time; display the bright splendor of your Son,

So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.

You put him in charge of everything human,

So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.

And this is the real and eternal life:

That they know you,

The one and only true God,

And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

I glorified you on earth, by completing down to the last detail,

what you assigned me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,

The very splendor I had in your presence

Before there was a world.

I spelled out your character in detail

To the men and women you gave me.

They were yours in the first place; then you gave them to me,

And they have now done what you said.

They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,

That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,

For the message you gave me, I gave them;

And they took it, and were convinced that I came from you.

They believed that you sent me.

I pray for them, not for the God-rejecting world;

They’ll continue in the world, while I return to you.

Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life

That you conferred as a gift through me,

So they can be one heart and mind, as we are one heart and mind.

The Good News of John.

 

 

 

 

Observations by Deacon Mike

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the words and actions of Jesus Christ come alive to us within the written gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

It is there that we become aware that the gift of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within our hearts, calls us to forgive others as we have been forgiven; to bring love to others as we have been loved.

In our gospel from last Sunday, Jesus invited his disciples, and us, to follow his way, his truth and his life; so that we can come to be in him as he is in his Father. 

We celebrate the Holy Spirit coming upon the Church

In the Feast of Pentecost; to begin the Church’s mission to the whole world; to Jew or gentile, slave or freeman, male or female, Catholic or Methodist, Baptist or Lutheran.

The Church today places a different emphasis in its selection of readings; they will now begin to come from primarily Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.

So we end our readings this morning that we have taken from primarily the John gospel during this past Easter season this way: “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent me so I send you.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. 

I will talk to the Father, and he will provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone who dwells with you and in you.  This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. 

The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him; but you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will continue to do so! 

Then, Jesus said to his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned.  I’m coming back for you.  In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me, because I am alive and you are about to come alive with me.

At that moment you will know absolutely that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  

The Good News according to John

 

 

 

 

Please Remember these special people:

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 Frank having hernia surgery this week;  For Joe Hogan with cancer,  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;   For Ryan, Rosemary's nephew, who had surgery; For Bill Hammond,    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie;  Shonda's mom;   For Gilberto:  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; 

 

Birthdays: Ray (80), Christi Occhipinti (45), Zaile Ekes, Shonda, Brent (13, AA), & Mabel (88!)

 

Community Finances, May 24, 2020

Expenses: $230.00

Outreach:  $120.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Welcome!  Our New Home, the New Rectory

Address 7017 Helsem Lane, same zip code, 75230,  Hillcrest Villas,

2.2 miles from 6107 Tulip Lane (to be bulldozed by the present owner, a former SMU student & basket ball player), S. of LBJ, north of Churchill, rustic motif in the whole subdivision (ca. 120 homes), car ports rather than garages. 

We are blessed with a corner lot, slab vs pier & beam, ca. 2000 sq. ft. (1900 at Tulip Lane, & so much for downsizing). 

The couple selling us their house said that Rosemary' personal letters letting people know we were interested in buying their house really decided them to call us.  A very  nice couple with 3 grown kids.

 

 

Happy Memorial Day from Helsem Way!

Rosemary' Blessing

May the Spirit within us

       Be a source of healing and consolation.

May the Spirit within us

       Strengthen us when we feel weak,

       Warm us when we are cold-hearted,

       Bend us when we are stubborn,

       Move us when we are uncaring,

       Guide us in the way of love.

May we allow the Spirit within

       To empower us in all we do.

Michael Morewood

 

 

Buddy reads our Summer Blessing

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben

Readers,  Denni & Tom & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel, John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

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

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Denni reads from 2 Kings.

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Richard's dad who just passed recently;   For Carrie Bieda's brother, who also just passed recently;  For our 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 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

 

 

Tom reads from Romans.

 

Birthdays:  None this week

Anniversaries:  

 

Download Readings Week 12

 

 

The Art of Zooming, thanks to Mike & Ben & Tom & Richard & Becky.

 

Community Finances, June 28, 2020

Expenses: $ 500.00

Outreach:  $ 200.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Tom monitoring our process.

 

Homily,  from a story Grace gave me:

It so happened that on this particular morning the drive through lane at this particular McDonald's was endless.  It seemed to go on forever.  Trouble was they had what this person wanted.  Plus nothing else would move as fast.

So the person gets on line and the line is moving pretty quickly.  Before you know it, the person is at the first window, the girl waiting for the order.   Trouble was, the order included 3 or 4 other people at home.  It was taking a little extra time to get the order straight.

Suddenly from the car next in line the horn starts blowing.  Hands behind the window are saying,  'Get moving,  Hurry up,  Get out of the way!

'Patience', the person thinks, 'Take the high road.'  'The person is just having a bad morning.' 

 

John reading from home.

 

Finally the first person moves on to the pay & collect window.  Both orders are sitting in the window, one big one & one smaller.

Now you have three choices.  1.  Pay for your order & get out of the way.  2.  Pay for your order and for the small order belonging to the person honking the horn.   Wave and depart.  3.  Pay for both orders and take both orders, which will force the person behind to have to go all the way to the end of the line and start  over again.  That will teach her to honk at older people!

Which is the better way and which would you do? 

Want to know which choice Rosemary would make?!

 

 

Theme Today: July 4th, Why I'm proud to be an American

Readings:

 Ezekiel  2,  2-5  Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels.

Psalm 123,    Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

2 Corinthians 12, 7-10, A thorn in the flesh was given to me.

 Mark  6, 1-6, A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.

 

Emma says, "Welcome in, Everybody, and meet my friend, Teddy, my dad's old special friend."

 

Ezekiel observations:

Who:  Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 prophets.  Why?  48 chapters.  The other 2: Isaiah & Jeremiah.  These 3 have lots of chapters & material.

Ezekiel was born into the priest class.  He later was considered a prophet.  He got The Call from God.  When he was about 25 he was swept up in the Babylonian captivity, around 590. 

When: It covers the period of the Captivity, 600-550 before Christ, which Ezekiel lived personally.  But the work is composed toward the end of the Captivity, around 550.  This is Ezekiel’s material, but it has been saved and edited by his fellow priests.

 

The special magic lady of our neighborhood who puts together our July 4th parade and party every year, Patty Cody.  It is also her birthday.  Her helpers Aviana, The Queen Mother, and Larry.

 

Message:

1. Ezekiel criticises the people and warns them that their bad ways will be punished, for example, by being defeated and led into slavery and the Captivity.
2. He promises comfort and a brighter future for the captive people, especially envisioning a restored temple (which then lasted until when?  The year 70, when the Romans finally destroyed the temple & the priestly cast ceased to function, to this day).
3. An amusing vision: The Dry Bones, chapter 37.

Today’s selection:   Ezekiel gets The Call or invitation from God to go tell the Israelite people that God sees what is going on.  Which means, tell them they are behaving horribly and they will pay dearly for their misbehavior. 

 

                Happy 4th of July and welcome to our party.

 

2 Corinthians observations

1.  This second letter to Corinth is often called the severe or tearful letter.  Paul was upset with the Corinth, Greece community because of what he thought were false prophets undermining his authority.  These people could have simply been people who disagreed with him.  At points you can almost hear Paul playing his violin & singing 'Poor Paul.'

2.  He talks here about a thorn in his flesh.  So, what is that?  People have speculated for centuries.  Could it have been he was OCD (obsessive compulsive), bi-polar (mood swings from manic & dramatic to depressed), epilepsy, or something else?  Is there evidence in his writing for any of this?  Maybe. No way to really diagnose.  The patient has been dead for a few years.

Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, St. Louis U. Liturgy Studies, Wikipedia

 

            Will somebody decorate my bike like that for Iowa?

 

July 4th : Why I am happy to be an American

One of the nice things about being 75 is that I find myself looking back over the years and counting the special blessings of my life.  This 4^th of July week I it struck me that of my 75 years I had the privilege of living in East Africa for about 10 of those years.  While I was often critical of American foreign policies, I was happy to be an American. 

Why am I happy to be an American?  I have an East African story and two small contemporary stories.

 

 

             Engines are warming up.  Patriotic dogs welcomed.

 

When I lived in East Africa I based out of Tanzania.   I gave seminars and retreats also to priests and nuns living in Kenya and in Uganda.  This was the time of Idi Amin, a rather crazy tyrant who resided in Kampala, the capital.

One time my team & I had a program, probably a month long program in Uganda.  We were just down a dilapidated two lane, main highway going west from Kampala to the most western town, Mbarara.   There was a center run by some sisters on the south side of this highway.  We had probably 20 participants. 

 

 

                                   Who's having more fun here, Dad or Kids?

 

I used to run every day.  When I ran on the road I was in Idi Amin territory with occasional trucks passing with his soldiers.  When I returned to the center I was in the rebels’ territory.  The State dept forbade Americans from entering Uganda because of Idi Amin.  But in we went, anyway.

I never had any trouble with the soldiers on the road and, certainly no trouble with the rebels in the forests behind the center.

 

 

                          Away we go, just follow the fire truck.

 

My one trouble came when I was returning to Kenya & Nairobi, the capital.  I was at the border, Uganda side.  I went up to a Ugandan soldier at a low desk, showed him my passport, and made a mistake.  I spoke Swahili.  The guy went off.  I thought I was going to jail.  Why?  Swahili was the language of Tanzania and Kenya, both against Idi Amin.

I remember getting through, catching a country taxi into Nairobi, and getting out in the middle of the town to see the American flag flying over the embassy. 

 

                    Larry's favorite toy, and you should hear it.

 

Seeing the flag and what it stood for was like seeing a friend in a foreign land.  I would see it occasionally in Nairobi and in the capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam (which means harbor of peace in Arabic).

That was then.  This past week two special events took place.

 

Another favorite toy, especially for the kids, but perhaps for a few big kids, too.

 

Monday Rosemary & I set out on the White Rock Creek Trail to go ride our bikes around White Rock.  Almost at the end of the trial, the south end, just before it goes under Northwest Highway, Rosemary hit a pot hole and had two blow outs.  Both tires at the same time.  A very unusual event.

I came along and we determined that I should ride back to Royal Lane, get the car, and pick her up a point about half way back on the trail.  She would walk the bike back. 

 

                               Patriotic golf , Anybody?

 

When I picked her up, she said she was touched.  People kept passing her.  11 men and 5 women.  Of those people 7 men and 4 women asked if they could help her.  One woman even asked Rosemary if she would like her to tow Rosemary’s bike.  I, too, was touched.

Finally, yesterday morning, July 4^th.  We have an annual parade and picnic every July 4^th morning.  Preston Hollow elementary school yard is the scene.  A fire truck leads the parade and police cars are scattered here and there.  The parade circles around the neighborhood, and returns to the school, where there is a petting zoo, face painting, snow cones, a DJ with patriotic music, and refreshments provided by The Queen Mother.  Guess what the biggest treat is: donut holes. 

 

It is always embarrassing to run into a former Jesuit student.  He knows too much. 

 

The kids are beautiful, the families are beautiful, and the lady who coordinates all of it is The Best.

Why are you happy to be American?

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Acts 7, 55-60,  They threw Stephen out of the city, and began to stone him. 

Psalm 97,  The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth.

 Revelation 22, 12-14, 16-17,  I, John, heard a voice speaking to me.

 John 17, 20-26,   I pray that they all may be one. 

 

Mothers' Day Notes:

• The idea originated, ca. 1870, with 3 women who had worked in hospitals during the Civil War. 
• Julia Ward Howe (Battle Hymn), Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis, & her daughter, Anna Jarvis wanted a Mothers' Day of Peace because of the horrors they had seen in the military hospitals.
• Woodrow Wilson, 1914, established the national holiday.

A Mother’s Day Story

I want to share a Mother’s day story with you this morning.  It is not about a woman, but about a caring that was maternal and which we all share, even us guys.

As you probably know, last weekend Rosemary & I went to NYC for her big family reunion and to ride in the Sunday 5 Boro Bike Tour of the city.   To say nothing about celebrating again our 8th on Sunday, Cinco de Mayo.

 

So, it is 6:30 Sunday morning, a beautiful but chilly 48 degree day.  We have just arrived on Staten Island where we plan to park our vehicles, a sedan and two big diesel pickups loaded with bikes.  We are driving up and down the hilly streets.  Cars are already parked everywhere.

At some point a guy passes us, turns left at a corner, stops his old station wagon, gets out, and yells to us, “You wanna place to pahk yo cah?”   Newyorkese.  Rosemary can translate.

“Sure,” Brian says from the driver’s seat of the truck Rosemary & I are in.  Brian is Rosemary’s nephew and it is at his nice house in Essex Fells, NJ where we have the reunion.  He also rents the bikes for us.

So we follow the guy,  probably a middle aged Italian construction worker.  But we are uneasy.  Even Brian, who has a construction company, says he has doubts about the guy. 

Suddenly we spot an empty space on a tree covered hill with little cottages.  We dive in.

Joe, however, who is following us, continues following the guy and eventually parks where the man indicates.  It turns out the place is in front of the guy’s house and the truck is so long it covers they guy’s driveway.  He tells Joe that it is no problem.  He is not going out.

The car parks somewhere else, and we all mount up and ride two, three, or four miles down the hill to the Staten Island Ferry.  This ferry is a national treasure.  It is run free by NYC, it heads straight into the southern tip of Manhattan, you pass the Statue of Liberty, and you can see the skyline as it comes closer, including the new World Trade Center.

As I’m riding the ferry in a state of marvel, I am thinking to myself, “We could return after this ride to find that pickup without wheels, the seats all gone, and even the engine extracted.  Just the shell”.  But, what to do?  Go ride.

By noon we have all finished up with the marvelous ride and are again on Staten Island.  We head up the hill to retrieve the vehicles.  What do you think we found? 

The truck was sitting right where it had been left, whole and entire, completely safe.  The guy has been for real, no fraud, no car thief, just a guy in the spirit of the bike ride.  He cared and he wanted to help out.

I was most touched and I felt guilty for judging again the book by the cover. 

Only later did Rosemary tell me that another caring act had taken place.  Joe, who was driving that truck, left $20 bucks under the windshield wiper of the guy’s old station wagon.

The station wagon man showed he cared.  Joe showed he cared.  How do you show you care this Mother’s Day?

 

 

Readings:   Wisdom 12, 13-19; Psalm 86, Lord, You are good and forgiving; Romans 8, 26-27; Matthew 13, 24-43

Wisdom:

• Author: not Solomon, but an unknown Jew from Alexandria
• Original Language: Greek
• Time: 1-2 centuries B.C.
• Message: Yahweh rewards those faithful to him.
• Means: Greek Philosophy common in Alexandria (Platonism & Stoicism) and Jewish traditional  teachings (wisdom of Solomon).
• Uniqueness: one of the ca. 11 deutero-canonical books (not originally part of the Jewish bible).
• Today's reading from chapter 12 emphasizes a God who cares for all, is merciful, and kind, perhaps as a balance to the parable of the wheat & weeds in Matthew

 

How We Help Each Other Along the Way

    Last Friday morning Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette were riding around White Rock Lake.  It was about 7:00.  We had started at Royal Lane and had passed through the marvelously dense forest along the White Rock Creek Trail.  We had crossed Mockingbird & Northwest Hwy, and were going around the stunningly beautiful lake in a clockwise direction.  We had split up, each going at their comfortable speed until we meet up at the boat house on the south end of the lake near the dam, the half way point.

     
 

    I’m ahead and see a lady on the left side of the road with her bike down.  I ask if she needs help, hoping, I confess, that she will say no.  She says yes.  Ugh, oh.  So I slow down, turn around, and get off next to her.  Shortly after that Gilberto rides up.

     She says her rear tire is real low, she has an air pump, but she has never used it, and cannot get it to work.  The problem was she had her pump set for one type of inner tube valve and she had the other.   For bikers, she had a schraeder valve, and her pump was set for presta, the skinny tire..

     So we showed her the problem, helped her pump up her tire, and she took off with a hundred thank you’s.  

 

     Meanwhile, my phone is ringing non-stop.  I usually do not answer when riding.  An 18 year old riding with us once fell down when he answered a call from his mom.  

     On the phone is Rosemary.  You guessed it, she has a front flat.  She is behind us at the Bath House.  So I return and we start a pump and run strategy to help her get back to a good pick up point, which turned out to be the Dart station on Northwest. Hwy.  

 

     Twice as we return we encounter the lady.  The first time she even says to Rosemary, “You are a lucky lady!”   Yahoo!   The second time she is taking a break at the same place Rosemary has stopped to pump up her tire again.  

     After Rosemary departed on her run, she says again how grateful she is and she adds, “I really learned something special about myself this morning.  I normally hate to ask for help and when I did it today it was okay.  From now on I will always ask others on the side of the road if they need help.  But I will also let myself ask for help.” 

     We have here a metaphor for community, folks.  We are not alone.  We help and accept help.  It is how I would like to handle the three parables, one of which could scare you.  Actually, it was intended by Matthew to scare his young Christian community, because he thought some members were not always doing good. 

     I see two community symbols in what happened on the shore of White Rock Lake. First, what we did.  Secondly, what took place in the lady.

     The first thing, normal for community, we stopped to help someone.  Simple.  What about people who are unemployed or sick?  We help them, too.  What about fear?  You hear the parable of the wheat & weeds and immediately see yourself heading for the furnace.  

     Naturally, we all see the weeds in ourselves.  Everybody does because we all see our weeds.  In a caring community we hear that we are both, not either/or, wheat or weeds.  You might even hear that one old priest doubts that there is a furnace.  After all, it has been admitted that limbo was imaginary.  What about purgatory?  Enough with fear of me going to hell.

 

     Secondly, what happened inside the lady is symbolic.  One little community event has touched her into new sensitivity and acceptance.  Even deeper peace.  Can you see the mustard seed growing, the yeast expanding in her spirit?  

     Can you give me one way you are richer because of community and one way you make community richer for another?

 Picture 1:   Mass

 Picture 2:   Georgie with Buddy & her dad, Randolph

 Picture 3:   Zoe with her mom, Michelle

 Picture 4:   Hugh & Sydney Bivona

 Picture 5:   The Girls, Gayle, Jackie, & Mary Ellen