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, 20, I, John, heard a voice.
John 17, 20-26, I pray that they all may be one.
Sorry no homily today.
Tom escorting his daughter Katy. Richardson Women's Club.
Readings:
2 kings 5, 14-17, Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan 7 times.
Psalm 98, The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power
2 Timothy 2, 8-13, If we have died with him, we shall also live with him
Luke 17, 11-19, 10 were cleansed, were they not?
Welcome, Katy and Enza.
Homily
Because of a mix up on who was handling the homily today, we ended up with no one prepared.
Consequently, in the spirit of giving thanks, which is one of my favorite topics to share experiences, and which was the theme of some pretty good Scripture choices, I talked about my mom's advice when I got ordained in 1971, St. Rita's on Inwood Road, across the drive from Jesuit, in the old church.
Dani doing a reading.
I had received numerous gifts from people I actually did not know well, if at all. They were my mom's friends. And she had a lot! What to respond to the people who sent the gifts? I was all for simply accepting the gifts and moving on
Not my mom. She told me I needed to do the better thing, which was to send a note to every single person who gave me a gift. Ugh! This was pre-computers. I had to write a note, address an envelope, put a stamp on the envelope, and send it off. It took me forever!
Have you freely and without reservation come here to give yourselves in marriage?
Because of my mom's advice (not really, her demand), I have continued to try to thank every person who touches me or the community with a gift, and that includes God on a daily basis.
Katy reading her personal vows.
If the only prayer you say in your entire life is Thank You, that would suffice.
Meister Eckhart
A perfect setting & evening for a large & gracious wedding.
Welcome into a new and delightful life, Katy & Enza.
Readings:
Jeremiah 31, 31-34 , I will make a new covenant.
Psalm 51, Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Hebrews 5, 7-9, He became the source of Salvation.
John 12, 20-33, Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies.
Jeremiah observations:
What: We have not seen Jeremiah for a long time, since before Thanksgiving. Remember that he is one of the Big 3 Prophets (because of the size of the work, e.g. 52 chapters in Jeremiah), who are Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel. I love Jeremiah, he is such an attractive and transparent character.
Author: most of the work is put together by Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch. Jeremiah is described as the broken hearted prophet because of his heart rending life spent warning the people & kings that their behavior was going to be punished. The people hated him for this.
Time: ca. 555 before Christ, as an easy date to remember. Jeremiah speaks before and during the Babylonian Captivity. Like all prophets, he condemns before, and he consoles during the Captivity. This event is monumental in the life of the tribe and in the life of Jeremiah.
The Scene: Remember that the Holy Land had a north & a south, Israel & Judah. First, the northern kingdom, Israel, was defeated by the Assyrians, 622 BCE. These Hebrew tribes vanish into the DNA of the region, “The Lost Tribes of Israel.” Next, the Babylonians & Nebuchadnezzar defeat the Assyrians and threaten the southern kingdom, Judah, with the capital Jerusalem. Jeremiah is watching this and seeing it as Yahweh's punishment. In 600, more or less, the Babylonians do destroy Jerusalem and cart the Hebrews into slavery.
Today's selection, chapter 31. Jeremiah is consoling the people who are now in captivity. He suggests that God wants to make a new deal or, as it is called, a covenant. Yahweh is promising to forgive the people and treasure them. Jeremiah addresses the people right off using first person singular, I, meaning God.
Sources: Fr. Reginald Fuller, St. Louis U., Wikipedia; Answers.com; Encyclopedia of Judaism
Hate My Life?
I have a story this morning which I have told twice, once at St. Mark's, over 8 years ago and here about 4 years ago. Pardon me if you've heard it. Some of the best stories I tell over & over, they are so poignant. The story speaks to my point today, hate my life? I had permission for the story.
It happened many years ago when I was working full time as a psychotherapist out of an office at Jesuit. I think it was the first Monday morning of May. I know it was a beautiful morning. A boy came to see me who had been in my office on and off for about six years. He had just graduated from high school and enlisted in the Air Force. He had struggled since grade school with bouts of depression, and that morning seemed to be in great shape. We did not even spend more than 30 minutes together, his mood was so up beat and care free.
He left. Maybe two or three hours later a call came in. The boy had left Jesuit, crossed Inwood to the Lincoln Center complex at LBJ, drove up to the top of the four floor garage, parked his car, headed to the edge of the garage, and walked over the side. He landed on the cement street four floors below, face down flat.
Passerby saw it, called 911, and in a second the paramedics from just around the corner were on the scene. He was in Parkland in a flash. He lived.
It was not for about 3 weeks until I got to visit him. He apologized. I admit I was mad. I loved this kid. He fooled me. He said that he had been in a zone, happy because he knew he was out of there, meaning he was ready to go to the other side. He wanted to escape the pain of life and go to heaven. He said he had no fear in walking off that fourth floor, none of the hesitation you feel before you jump off the high diving board the first time.
You may guess why I tell this story. It exemplifies what happens when you take literally "whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life." This little piece of advice, taken the wrong way, can be so dangerous. This boy hated his life.
I would suggest there is a negative and a positive way to hate my life.
The negative is exemplified by this kid's story. This is often what is happening when you hear of someone cutting on themselves. If I hate my life and hate myself, I will want to punish myself. I am bad. So I cut myself. Or I may think that I am such a loser that no one will pay me any attention if I do not do something dramatic like spill my blood.
Even without such dramatic examples, I do not want to encourage someone who hates their body, hates their job, hates their family, hates their school, hates. Just thinking about this I recoil. There may be reason for the hatred. However, "There is a better way," I want to say and I would say it. I believe in talk therapy. Feelings are all okay. I just don’t want some to stay around.
You know someone depressed like this? Ask them if they are suicidal.
On the positive side, I would suggest two things.
First, the word hate can be considered as hyperbolic, a big word meaning exaggeration. It is like Rosemary telling me, "You get me up at 4:00 tomorrow morning for spin class & it is divorce!” Think she is exaggerating? I hope.
Secondly, I would suggest that this all has to do with being more alive now, in this life. The grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying fits in with this. For example: look at March Madness. Many of these players have died to themselves to achieve & to be better players. How many hours in the gym have they spent practicing free throws? When they could be hanging out, sleeping in, text messaging? And they love their lives. I’ve seen boys do this at Jesuit.
Goofy, but I hate my life to love my life. I don't want to get up early. I could sleep in to 11:00. However, I, get up and head over to the Jewish Community Center, 6:00 A.M. spin class. The result, I love life.
The boy who jumped is now okay, amazingly. It took him years of physical recovery. Two things did not happen that blessed him. He did not damage his brain and did not damage his spine. Every other bone, plus his teeth, were broken. Once he got strong enough he went to medical technical school, got his certificates, and now has good jobs in various hospitals in the city. I don't think he hates his life anymore. In fact, he loves it.
How do you love your life?
Sources: The Center for Liturgy, St. Louis U.; St. Raymond Catholic Church, Dublin, CA; Carmelite Order Web; Homilias Domincales.
1 Samuel 3, 3-10, Samuel was sleeping in the temple.
Psalm 10, Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.
1 Corinthians 6, 13-15, 17-20, Your bodies are members of Christ.
John 1, 35-42, Rabbi, where are you staying? Come & you will see.
Thanks to the Team
Music, Ben & Shonda
Readers, Connie, David, and Buddy, the candle blesser
Gospel, John Cade
Homily, John Cade
Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade
The Magic Zoom makers, Hue & Richard & Mike
Final Blessing, Rosemary
For hosting us at Legacy, Becky
And the Father will Dance, Beautiful exit hymn with Shonda & Ben
Homily by John Cade
Download Homily for January 10 2021
Please Remember these special people:
For Carrie's ex, Larry; For Alan Stryker; For Joe Sullivan; For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ; For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine & Carol's dad who passed this week; For Sheila Schultz Alverez hospitalized with Corona; For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique; 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 Loretta's aunt Alicia; For Sir Charlie & Jan; Shonda's mom & Cody & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; for Louis Schneider hospitalized with gall bladder problem (our rep. from Open Window)
Sez the Mockingbird, "Welcome to Legacy and our celebration."
Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn; For both Jean & Cliff Wright; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free; For John O'Donnell & Jean & their daughter, Molly; 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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little 4 month old boy undergoing an operation & for Rollie with Corona; for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.
Also, remembering the family of Geri Moran's friend, Elsa Billman, who passed this week.
Birthdays: Becky Good
Anniversary: Ray & Claire 50th
Community Finances, January 17, 2021
Expenses: $ 600.00
Outreach $ 150.00 (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)
Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.
Rosemary's Blessing
Thank you Lord for giving me
The brand new year ahead.
Help me live the way I should
As each new day I tread.
Give me gentle wisdom
That I might help a friend.
Give me strength and courage
So a shoulder I may lend.
The year ahead is empty.
Help me fill it with good things,
Each new day filled with joy,
And the happiness it brings.
Please give the leaders of our world
A courage born of peace,
That they might lead us gently
And all the fighting cease.
Please give to all upon this earth
A heart that’s filled with love,
A gentle happy way to live
With your blessings from above.
New Years Prayer by Charlotte Anselmo
Readings:
Genesis 2, 7-9, 3, 1-7, The Lord planted a garden in Eden.
Psalm 62, Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Romans 5, 12-19, Through one man sin entered the world.
Matthew 4, 1-11, Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Romans observations :
What : Paul writes this letter to the Roman community before he travels there. It is one of the most dense and difficult books in the New Testament. It is the longest letter. I find about 8-10 lines in the whole letter that touch me. Usually I dread seeing the letter as one of our readings. Today is one of those days.
Date: around the year 55
Genesis observations:
What: a great marvelous book about the origins of us people. It includes Creation, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah & the flood, the tower of Babel, the Patriarchs of the Jewish tribe, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and finally Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, and how Joseph ends up in Egypt, leading to the next book, The Exodus.
Note: the book is folk tale, myth, and fable. It is not literal.
Date: guess. It seems to have been put together from at least 4 oral streams that were combined during the Babylonian Captivity, 555, before Christ. These stories were orally passed down, generation after generation for 900 years.
Authors: these people are shrouded ancient history. Some stories reflect folk tales of other groups of people, like the creation stories of Babylon.
Subject today: the second creation story, the one with the snake & apple tree. It was from this story that Paul came up with the original sin notion, a notion that Augustine picked up and gave it legs.
Matthew: Even today's gospel is mythical.
Sources: Good News Bible, Bishop John Shelby Spong, Wikipedia
Lent, Fully Alive
This first Sunday of Lent I want to talk about how to have a fully alive Lent in light of an event that took place this past Thursday in the lives of Rosemary and me.
Thursday morning about noon our postman, Doug, rang the doorbell. Rosemary went. Doug said that across the street and down one house the guy who lived there had not collected his mail in a few days and the garage had been open with the car inside all that same time.
I had noticed the newspapers piling up near the curb and driveway, but this guy who was really reclusive occasionally let them pile up before he would pick them up. I had also noticed the garage open a couple of days, but that, too, the guy did occasionally. From our house I could not see his garage because of a bush.
I had thought in the past years that this guy has no one that I can see. He is totally alone. He has never had a job, did not take great care of his house and property, but always drove a new Jaguar. Just in the last year I mentioned to Rosemary that the guy actually waved at me from his car on occasion.
So I decided to call the neighborhood police who patrol our large neighborhood.
Fifteen minutes later I see the police car. Then I see the fire truck. “This could be bad,” I mention to Rosemary. “Go see what is going on. I have a 1:30 luncheon with Kathey, my sister.”
Before I can even get into the car and back it out of the drive, she returns to tell me the guy is dead.
I am stunned. I feel horrible. How could I have lived for years across from a reclusive guy, not even know his name, and let him lie dead in his house for who knows how many days? Moreover, Rosemary & I are the Tulip Lane coordinators for the neighborhood organization. He is on Camellia, but he is just across from us, we being on the corner.
This all happened the day after Ash Wednesday and I thought to myself, ‘Is this a Lenten invitation to me?’
I’m thinking it is. I found out the guy was called Gary. Even his next door neighbors did not know his name. Our neighborhood coordinator knew it and gave me an emergency number to call, which I did. We are now in touch with his brother and the brother’s wife, both of whom said they knew this dreaded day would come some day. They, too, had not had contact with Gary in a bunch of years.
What this is saying to me is, in my life and in our community I will not leave any Garys to die alone, if I can help it.
I even asked my sister if she would like me to phone her the nights of her days off from work. She declined, saying she is in touch enough.
So, during this Lent, 2 challenges for me:
I figure you are not a Gary if you are here.
Therefore, who are the Gary’s in your life?
Exodus 16, The whole community grumbled against Moses & Aaron.
Psalm 78, The Lord gave them bread, bread from heaven.
Ephesians 6, You should put away the old self of your former way of life
John 6, My father gives you the true bread from heaven.
Today's Team, John & John
Thanks……
Music, Ben & Shonda
Readers, Carrie & Paul, & Buddy, our candle blesser
Gospel, John Cade
Homily, John Cade
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
Paul reading from Exodus.
Readings:
Download Readings 18th Ordinary Time 8-1-21
Download Homily John Cade 08-01-21
Carrie reading from Ephesians
Remember these special people:
For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson; For Alan Stryker; For Candice Taht, friend of Mary Hall; For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ; For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine; For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique, & Frank with shingles; 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 Loretta's aunt Alicia; For Sir Charlie & Jan; Shonda's mom & Cody & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy,
Richard with communion for Barb.
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 4 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.
A special sister celebration, Marlene with retirement & Cindy with her birthday.
Birthdays: Cindy Ekes & Linda Beavers
Anniversaries: Souls Harbor (1956)
Joe & Marsha, Peace & Happiness on your move to North Carolina.
Community Finances, August 1, 2021
Expenses: $1010.00
Outreach: $455.00
Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.
Rosemary sharing her special Blessing of The Week.
Rosemary's Blessing:
People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Teresa
Happy Birthday, Dearest Beth.
Readings: Jeremiah 20, 7-9; Psalm 63, My soul is thirsting for You, O Lord, My God; Romans 12, 1-2; Matthew 16, 21-27
Jeremiah:
Some short observations–
1. One of the Big 3, Isaiah, Ezekiel, & Jeremiah, big because of the size of the work.
2. Follows the classic prophet profile: denounce the behavior of people, threaten God's vengeance, and finally, consolation for the reformed.
3. Who are prophetic people today? Perhaps our 3 guest speakers.
Please catch today's homily recorded in the video.
Picture 1: Beginning of Mass with account of Hotter 'N Hell Hundred (as in miles & temp), a bike tour out of Wichita Falls
Picture 2: Cole with his grandmother, Diane.
Picture 3: Leo & Sophia, Ben's daughter
Picture 4: Delgados back in their corner finally.