Sunday Homily, August 24, 2014, 21st Ordinary Time, A

Readings:

Isaiah 55, 1-11,  All you who are thirsty, come to the water.

Psalm, Isaiah 12,    You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

1 John 5, 1-9,  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God.

Mark 1, 7-11,   The baptism of Jesus.

Renee Elisabeth says, "Welcome in Everybody. I just got baptized."

Isaiah observations:

Who:  Can you guess, Isaiah 1, 2, or 3.  Actually, we have two selections from Isaiah, Isaiah 12 for the psalm and Isaiah 55.  Isaiah 12 is easy.  That is first Isaiah.  Isaiah 55 is in the middle of all the 66 chapters, and, yes, it is second Isaiah.  They write before and during the Babylonian Captivity.  Both passages are comfort passages.

Today’s passages: despite the different time each writer wrote, both are trying to encourage the people and let them know that their God is with them.  The first reading, Isaiah 55, is especially rich.  It contains beautiful images of food and drink, rain and snow on the earth.

Renee, the Packer Fan, also says, "Hi Folks, come in,' before returning to her witness protection area.

You are Beloved

Yesterday afternoon Rosemary and I had the privilege and the joy of baptizing a little 5 month old girl.  Her name is Renee Elisabeth.  She is the daughter & second child of Colleen and Carl Huval.  Colleen is the daughter of our John and Jean O’Donnell.  

I love baptisms and when I can and the little kid permits it, I love to carry her or him around and talk.  Renee Elisabeth was so peaceful and accepting.  At Saint Marks I used to pick these little kids up at the beginning of Mass and I would introduce them and have them welcome everyone. 

Zoe says, "Come in Everybody, where it is warm."

One Sunday I did this in the main church at the 9:00 Mass.  I had the little boy in my arms for maybe 10 minutes and gave him back to his momma.  After the Mass I am outside saying good-bye to everybody and I noticed I had a sour smell about me.  That little boy had barfed on my left shoulder and nobody told me.  I had to laugh and I really gave it to those people the next week for not telling me. 

When I did Renee Elisabeth’s baptism yesterday I did the two things I love to do.  First, I invite people to discuss when they last saw God and also where do they most find the presence and peace of God.  This brings in some really nice answers.  Of course, Renee Elisabeth was the place where many said they saw God.

"It's great here," says Megan.

After the baptism I like to talk with the little kids.  I told Renee Elisabeth that this baptism was her official welcome into the marvel of her new life.  And I told her that I had three things I wanted her to remember.

First, I want you to know, Renee, that you are like Mark says about Jesus, You are my Beloved.   In fact, you are beloved, you are beautiful, you are good, and you are perfect just as you are.

The pretty Georgie says, "That's my friend, Megan."

Secondly, you are being officially welcomed into a marvelous family that also thinks you are beautiful, good, perfect, and beloved.

Thirdly, you are being officially welcomed into a marvelous community (your numerous grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, at least), who also hold you dear, consider you beautiful and perfect.  She seemed to accept this.  

Emma learning to do yoga.

One of the reasons I love to have our kids present with us at Mass is that they may know that they are part of us, that we appreciate them, and that we and God loves them.

People have told me that their kids see me in the white robes and they think this creature is God.  When I was a little boy I probably thought the same thing, but that god figure did not like little boys, or at least me, and instilled in me a belief that I was bad.

Victoria says, "Cupcake time yet?"

This is why I will always welcome our kids.  I want them to know that God loves them, that they are good and beloved. 

Of course, I have tried to inform Rosemary that God does not do yard work and does not do dishes.  No luck with that.  In fact, God received for Christmas a new vacuum cleaner.  God had worn out the old one.  

How do you know that you are beloved?  Blessed?

Harper says, "I feel beloved."

From Jim & John, "Welcome in, Everybody." 

Readings:

Ecclesiastes, 1,2; 2, 21-23,  Pretty pessimistic.  Author having a bad day?

Psalm 90, If today you hear his voice, harden not you hearts.  

Colossians 3, 1-5, 9-11,  Think of what is above, not of what is on earth

Luke 12, 13-21,  There was a rich man

So good to have you back, Dee, especially looking so good.

The First reading from Ecclesiastes reminds us that when a person passes he or she can’t take any of their worldly things with them.

Our Second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians reminds us that greed is idolatry; for it is a love of wealth; rather than a love of God.

Good Morning, Patricia!

Homily on the Gospel reading:

Here in Chapter 12 of Luke, a nondescript man comes to Jesus seeking a favorable decision regarding some inheritance that he is hoping to receive from his older brother. Jesus used this event to address the crowd with the wisdom to be on guard against all forms of greed.

Watch out for this crazy guy, Everybody.  I knew him way back when he was a nice little high school, kid.

Following Jesus’ advice the older brother has put their extended family in mind.  He will not allow himself or his younger brother to fail in their responsibility to put their extended family ahead of their desire for possessions.   The older brother had taken a course of action to enhance the harvest from their father’s land.

Three of the Candle Lighting Team, Zoe, Tori, & Georgie.

Now, there is nothing more in Luke’s chapter 12 about the relationship between the younger man and his older brother; however Luke has no intention of forgetting about them!  Each of the gospels form two complementary stories.   We will encounter the brothers again in a chapter 15! There, the younger son said to his father, “give me the share of the inheritance that would come to me.  The father divided the inheritance between them…and a few days later the younger brother took his inheritance with him to a foreign land where he squandered it on riotous living.

Mike homilizing on the Luke gospel.

Recall that when the prodigal son came home asking to be forgiven, the story did not end. Is there a story like this in your immediate family? Harden not your hearts.

Married life: carry your cross??

Readings:

Wisdom  12, 13, 16-19,   You judge with clemency.

Psalm 86,   Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Romans 8, 26-27,  The spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.

Matthew  13, 24-43,  A farmer sowed good seed in his field.

Our first reading (Wisdom 12) is from the Book of Wisdom, written about 100 years before Jesus. Though the author is unknown, he was a member of the Jewish community at Alexandria in Egypt and wrote in Greek. Solomon did not write this book as we used to think; the author sometimes speaks as Solomon, a common artifice authors used to emphasize the value of their writings.

The second reading (Romans 8) continues Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Rome. This community was predominantly Gentile, though there were Jewish Christians there too. In this letter Paul is making a point that Christians were free of the Jewish law of Moses. Paul’s view was that Jesus and faith in Jesus was the only source of salvation and he was beginning to push Christian communities away from Judaism and toward a faith more compatible with Greco-Roman thinking.

The Gospel reading continues in Matthew (Matt 13). Most scholars date this Gospel as around the year 70, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem.  It points to a growing rift between the followers of Jesus and official Judaism. It is clearly anti-Pharisee and anti-scribe.  It quotes the holy books of Judaism a lot more than the other Gospels to show their promises were fulfilled in Jesus and that he is the Messiah. Matthew also writes about how Jesus was not accepted by most Jews but accepted by many Gentiles. It is clear that Matthew depended on Mark, written several years before. Matthew contains 600 of Mark’s 661 verses.

Homily 

I want to focus today on Jesus’ teaching that God is now and was always with us, and how we can see God. There’s that Bible verse in today’s Responsorial Psalm 86 vs.5 that says “You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness.” Stack has said it’s his favorite line in the Bible.  I decided to google this verse and found the same words in multiple places in the Bible.  Psalm 145: vs. 8-9 has exactly the same lines. And Psalm 103 vs. 8 has the same.  And it’s not just in the Psalms.  The Book of Exodus Ch. 34, verse 6 reads, “The Lord is a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness.” The Book of Joel Ch. 2, verse 13 has exactly the same line. And the Book of Jonah Ch. 4, verse 2 has the same.

The take-away from those verses that describe God as “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in kindness,” could be that whenever we see those traits and those behaviors, we are seeing God.  Jesus’ said the kingdom of God is here, and is experienced when we share mercy and kindness with one another.

On July 4^th I joined a group of family and friends for the Fair Park fireworks display. At the end of the evening Leo & Freddie, seeing fireworks for the first time, said, “This was the coolest ever.”

Later I remembered some of what I saw and experienced about being gracious and showing kindness.

1. I got to Fair Park early and walked around, then sat on a bench eating a corn dog slathered with mustard. I saw a woman walking with 2 children and an infant in a stroller. The little one dropped a stuffed toy to the ground. Another woman saw it and, noticing the mother hadn’t seen it happen, called out to her and pointed to it.  They made eye contact and I saw them connect with a smile as the mother picked up the toy. This was a brief but gracious human contact.
2. At one point after our group got together at the lagoon, my nephew Merik, offered to take Leo and Freddie on a walk around the lagoon. He entertained them for 30 or 40 minutes, and his act of kindness allowed the other adults time to visit.
3. Gina, a close friend of my daughters Joey and Sam, came with her husband and 2 daughters, who are a little older than my grandsons. Gina thought about the 4 kids who would be there and brought snacks for all of them and also light sticks to make necklaces or bracelets or, like Freddie, just to wave around. The kids loved it and I took note of her thoughtful kindness.
4. Most of the group had gotten snow cones while walking around. So I decided to get in line for a snow cone for myself (I was told that there were sugar free ones) and for Gina’s daughter who had missed out on one. It was a really long line of more than 30 people. After a while I struck up a conversation with a woman in line. Later another woman, also in line, joined in the conversation. At one point the latter woman, who was sort of ahead of me and the first women (line not straight but uneven), offered that we both go ahead of her. Of course by this point we had all been in line a long time and had tired feet. That was another act of kindness and mercy.

 My question: when have you seen God lately?  And when do others see God in you?

Isaiah 9, 1-6,  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. (A beautiful passage from Isaiah 1, one of my favorites)

 Psalm 96,    Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord.

Titus 3, 4-7,   When the kindness and generous love of God appeared.

Luke 2, 1-14,   In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.

Sabrina and her mom, Alison, say, "Welcome, Everybody, Happy Christmas."

Isaiah 9 observations:

Who: Can you guess, Isaiah 1, 2, or 3?  Yes, Isaiah 1.  Rosemary & I heard this sung in the Messiah Monday night at the Meyerson.

Date: Because it is Isaiah 1 writing, you can expect that he is living before the Babylonian Captivity, around 555 before Christ.  

Our Passage:  Also you might guess that being Isaiah 1 and living before the Babylonian Captivity, he would be quite critical of the people, their ways of living, their disrespect, selfishness, and materialism.  On the contrary, this passage talks about comfort and peace.  Watch and listen.  

Emma says, "Merry Christmas, Everybody."

A Christmas Story

This evening I would like to tell a Christmas story that exemplifies how we move from darkness to light, like good old Isaiah 1 says.  The story is about a Christmas event.  Want to know what a Christmas event is?  I would propose that it is a special event that brings peace, joy, and light to people like us.

Ever hear of a guy named Nathaniel Kendrick, nicknamed Mr. Kent?  He is a crossing guard here in Dallas at Lakewood Elementary School.  He has done this job for over 10 years, twice a day, a couple of hours each time, heat, rain, snow.  Mr. Kent used to work for the city of Dallas and retired from that work. 

Our Angels.

The kids and parents at Lakewood Elementary all love Mr. Kent, an elderly black man with gray hair.   And he obviously loved them.

As the years passed Mr. Kent’s wife gradually had more health problems.  As she went down more and more, so did their finances.  Finally, a couple of weeks ago their car was repossessed.  The car Mr. Kent used to come to Lakewood Elementary.

Our Chloe.

Some of the dads connected with Lakewood learned about what had happened to Mr. Kent’s car.  They banned together, collected money, and eventually bought Mr. Kent a car.

So, one day while Mr. Kent was working his job as a crossing guard, two of the dads drove Mr. Kent’s new car into the crosswalk and stopped.  He came over and asked them to move on.  And they responded, “Mr. Kent, you might have to move it yourself.  From all of us at Lakewood Elementary, welcome to your new car. "

Zoe with Santa.

Mr. Kent was so moved he was in tears, as were others gathered around. 

This is a Christmas event.  These parents gave more than a car to Mr. Kent.  They gave him peace, joy, and light.  They were recipients also, as was I.

Guess who is growing up. Yes, The Gerwers.

What is the Christmas event in your life?  How have you provided peace, joy, and light for someone in your life?

Source: WFAA.com 12/15/14

Santa's Helper, Darbyanna.

Another of our best helpers, Georgie.

Readings: 2 Kings 5, 14-17; Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2, 8-13; Luke 17, 11-19.

2 Kings:

• Time of the events: 900 B.C.
• Time when written: 550 B.C., during the Babylonian captivity
• Subject of 1 Kings: This book continues the history of the kings taking up with the death of King David and continuing through the story of David & Bathsheba’s son Solomon.  He builds the famous Temple of Solomon.  After his death the nation divides into the northern & southern states, Israel in the north, Judah in the south (including Jerusalem; remember by the "J’s").
• Subject of 2 Kings: This book continues the history of the decline of the two states until Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeats the people. 
• Subject of our chapter 5 (read it all, it is delightful): one of the leaders of the Syrian-Babylonian army goes to visit the prophet of the day, Elisha.  Naaman, the general, has leprosy.  Note the twist of the story at the end.  Thanks is a theme of this selection and it sets the stage for Luke’s story about gratitude.

Gratitude

Last Sunday after our Mass, after Rosemary had counted the income, and had put it on spread sheets, we got in the car to go out for the evening.  I dropped her off at the Royal Lane & Preston Tom Thumb to buy something, she gave me some letters to mail at the corner, and she gave me the two envelopes to deposit in the bank on the same corner.  We always deposit that money right away.

I drove through the parking lot to the mail box and dumped in all the envelopes. All the envelopes.  Namely, her letters and the two bank deposit envelopes.

I knew almost immediately what I had done and, in fact, wanted to reach down into the mail box to retrieve the deposits.  However, I realized I could go to jail for that.  So we typed up a special note with our phone number and put it in the mailbox and figured we would make contact with the Royal Lane post office early the next day before pick up.  Guess what Monday was: Columbus Day, a postal holiday. 

Tuesday morning I got a call from the main post office that they had one of our deposit envelopes and I could pick it up.  When I met the guy I confessed that I was embarrassed to admit that I was the person who put the deposits in the mail box.  He says to me that as a matter of fact it happens a lot on that corner and that a woman had actually put in 10 thousand dollars in cash. 

So we have gotten back the running expenses deposit and still are waiting for the outreach envelope, which he seems optimistic will show up.  The thing that touched me, however, was how this postal supervisor treated my brain dead behavior with such a light touch.  I thanked him for both, for getting the envelope and for making light of it all.  I was really grateful.

The two stories we have in today’s readings are all about gratitude. A few observations.

First.  The temptation is to think I am one of the nine who did not return to thank Jesus. Yes & No.  I would suggest again: we are both.  Lots of times we forget to thank.  Lots of times we thank. 

Second.  There could be symbolism in the nine and one.  Perhaps I am nine tenths ungrateful and one tenth grateful.  This is a pretty normal proportion. A lot of times, however, I am not so much ungrateful as just insensitive, totally unaware.  Perhaps the lepers who did not return just figured they were lucky and went on their way.  The other guy realized he had been given a gift by that stranger and wanted to respond.

Jesus  tells him his faith has saved him.  I would suggest that his gratitude transformed him.

Third.  How is it possible to rearrange the percentages?  Rosemary & I have a favorite little practice that we do every night.  I’ve mentioned it before. We ask each other what were the blessings of the day.  I recommend this. I even recommend it for sitting alone, while savoring the first cup of coffee in the morning, driving or riding the DART to work & back, getting ready to go to school.  Simple question: what were my blessings yesterday or this week?

In that main post office I could have focused on how dumb I was or that I did not get the second deposit back.  Fortunately I could appreciate the supervisor’s light touch and that I had gotten back one envelope, the larger.

You may start now: what were your three biggest blessings this week?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-10-14.mp3

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