22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 1, 2024

 

Don't forget to change your clocks on Saturday, March 8, 2025

 

Acts of the Apostles 1: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Ephesians 1:  May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,…

Luke 24:  And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you;…

                                                         

 

Connie reading from the Acts of the Apostles

 

 

Thanks…

Music,    Ben & Shonda & David

Readers, Connie & Hue

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,      Hue & Richard

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                                             

Hue reading from Ephesians

 

 

 

Remember these special people:

For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer and Kaliope, John Cade's Mother-in-law, with 2 broken vertebrae;  For John's sister, Kathey in the hospital after a fall;  For Jan Keszler's Mom in hospice, who will be 101 on 5/31;  For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

                                                                      

                           

Cindy and Dee

 

 

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 a young man who is suffering from depression;   For John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

Leo graduating from elementary school
                   

                  

Birthdays:  Shonda 6/3

Anniversaries:   

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $ 150.00

Outreach: $  

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

                                                  

                               

The Music Makers

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,

     no hands but yours,

     no feet but yours,

Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s

     compassion is to look out to the world,

Yours are the feet with which Christ is to

     go about doing good,

Yours are the hands, with which Christ is to 

     bless all people now.

From a prayer by Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Readings: Wisdom 18, 6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11, 1-19; Luke 12, 32-48.

Wisdom: this book is one of the 12 special books only finally approved by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in 1546.  Martin Luther, for instance, did not think the 12 books were genuine.  Whatever the case, the 12 books are in a special section of our bible after the Old Testament.

The book we are reading from today contains traditional Jewish and Greek ideas about life, basically saying that God rewards those faithful to him & punishes you know whom.

What are You Afraid of?

When I was about sixteen, I came home from the old Jesuit High School one afternoon probably in the spring.  Nobody was home, not even my sister as far as I can remember. My dad was at work. My mom was at one of her afternoon bridge clubs and had gone with one of her friends because her baby blue Pontiac was in the garage. 

After hanging around a bit and getting bored, I decided I was going to go visit a friend and use my mom’s car. Mom, however, did not like me using her car, so I could not find her keys. Now in those days all of us kids knew how to run a car without keys. It was called hot wiring a car. You used tin foil on the back of the key slot under the dash. 

So I hot wired my mom’s big Pontiac, pulled out of the driveway onto Stanford, and turned toward Preston Road. Arriving at the corner the car stalls. For five minutes I am working on the key slot to start the car, all to no avail, when a car coming north on Preston turns into Stanford. A lady is driving.  I know that lady and sitting next to her, my mom.

The master had returned and the servant was unprepared. In fact, the servant was caught red handed.

I never got that car started and, in fact, had to pay my hard earned paper route money to get it towed and fixed. I had shorted out some wires. I don’t remember my mom ever saying anything, but I was humiliated. 

I remembered this incident when I read about the master & the servant. I have some observations about these readings.

First, I don’t see our God as a thief who is trying to catch us off guard. He is not a strict master who is looking to catch us red handed and beat us. 

Secondly, I don’t see us as servants. In fact, in John’s gospel Jesus says he does not call us servants, but friends. In today’s psalm it says, "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.  We are his chosen.  So is everyone.

To see this parable in a positive light, I would go back to last week when we talked about life being a gift.  When it says that the Lord will come at an hour we do not expect, I propose that the gift comes at moments and in packages we do not expect.  Appreciation is the goal and the process. It involves being sensitive and reflective.

One of the best lines in the whole gospel today is the very first line where Jesus says, "Do not be afraid any longer." This means I do not have to be afraid of God, afraid of death, afraid of getting caught red handed, or afraid of missing the gifts of the moment. 

I’ll always remember how stupid I felt when my mom came around that corner and saw me in her car, broken down. She did not tear into me, and neither do we have a god who is a thief or master who will beat us. 

So what are you afraid of?

   

Revelation 7:  "Amen, Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever.  Amen."

1 John:  Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.

Matthew 5:  When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.  He began to teach them saying:…

 

The software used to build the Blog was going through maintenance and this weekend.  That is why the Blog is late.    Unfortunately, I haven't been able to put any pictures in.  Sorry.                         

John and Rosemary will be taking a vacation from 11/16 – 12/1.  John Cade will have Mass on Zoom,  Sunday, 11/20 and Sunday, 11/27.

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Aggie & Allen

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,  John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Richard & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

         

                  

                                                                  

Readings:  Download 10-30-22- Readings – All Saints

Homily:   Download 10-30-22- Homily – All Saints

 

 

 

 

 

Remember these special people:

For Jan; For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer and Kaliope, John Cade's Mother-in-law;  For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Donna and the Dinsmore Family after her brother, Dennis died  from pancreatic cancer;   For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;    For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

                                                                     

 

 

    

 

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;     For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

   

 

Birthdays:   John DeGenova 11/1, Karen Anderlick 11/4

Anniversaries:   

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $   565.00

Outreach: $  50.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

                 

 

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

Gracious God inspire us with the hope in the gift of shalom, the gift of wholeness and the promise of your presence.

Give wisdom to seek nonviolence as an answer to the violence of our lives and world.

Give us courage to seek wholeness in a fractured and divided world, to find reconciliation rather than revenge, to abandon the instruments of violence and death and entrust our lives, our homes and our families to you.

May your presence fill us and others with the thirst for unity, wholeness, and the desire to see all people valued as created in your image.

May we and others receive your shalom, that we might be faithful instruments of your love.

Blessed be your name forever,

Amen.

Rabbi Andrew M. Paley, senior rabbi with Temple Shalom, Dallas.  He emailed this letter to his congregation and gave The Dallas Morning News permission to publish it.

When I looked at the email this morning for the Blog, I realized the video for Earth Day was not included.  Please go to www.johnstackministries.com and pick up the video there.  Believe me, it is worth it.

 

 

Isaiah 6:  "Here I am," I said; "send me!"

1 Corinthians 15:   But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.

Luke 5:  When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

 

 

 

Thanks…Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,   Geri and Mike 

Gospel,     John Stack

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack

The Magic Zoom makers,      Hue, Richard & Mike 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

 

 

Central Railway Station in Amsterdam

 

The Board has decided to extend the Zoom only Masses through Sunday, February 6th.  The Board will meet again on Wednesday, February 9th to discuss when we may get together for Mass again.  I will let you know in the Blog for February 9th.

 

 

 

 

 

Amsterdam

 

 

Readings:  Download 02-06-22 – Readings – 5th Sunday Ord

Homily:  Download 02-06-22 – Homily – 5th Sunday Ord

 

 

 

House along the canal

                                           

 

 

Remember these special people:

For John Stack having a hard time right now with a bad back;  For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson  & 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 and for a friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan;  All of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy,

                            

                                                              

Kinderdijk

 

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 baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

                                                            

 

                     

Birthdays:   2/7 Geri Moran,  2/8 Tom Quinn,  2/11 Hue Beavers  & John Bresson

Anniversaries:   2/10 Bob & Debbie Ekes

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  300.00

Outreach: $  

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

                                    

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

From Pope Francis’ twitter:

Do not judge, Christ tells us. How many times do we not only pass along gossip or rumors, but consider ourselves justified when we are harsh in our judgement of others. We can be indulgent with ourselves, but inflexible with others.