Sunday Homily, June 29, 2014, Peter & Paul

Readings:  Isaiah 60, 1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3, 2-6; Matthew 2, 1-12 

Isaiah 60: 3 observations–

1.  This is Isaiah III who seems to have lived around the time of the Babylonian Captivity, i.e., 575 BCE., not at the time of Isaiah I (chapters 1-39) who lived ca. 800.   (& Is. II, chapters 40-50)

2.  Therefore, our passage from chapter 60 is addressed to Jerusalem which is in total destruction.          

3.  Isaiah is saying that your day is coming, Jerusalem, when you will return to being the most splendid city of all.  See the double meaning?  Jerusalem is a city & also a symbol of the Jewish people.

Psalm 72: 3 observations–

1.  King David is considered the author or at least the editor of the psalms.

2.  When written and sung the Jewish people were asking Yahweh to endow and bless their current king, i.e., Saul or David or later kings.

3.  The image of king over the years becomes a symbol, a symbol of the savior.  The expectation of the Jews was that a mighty King David type was coming.  Post Jesus the attributes of the king in this psalm are applied to Jesus.

Epiphany, The Coming of the Wise Men on January 6:

   3 observations–

1.  The word means an enlightenment, a WOW moment.

2.  Celebrated since ca. 300 & Constantine on January 6, 12 days from the birth, the 12 Days of Christmas.

3.  Considered a second Christmas, to the Gentiles, personified by the Wise Men, who were not Jews, but Gentiles.

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  I'll touch five points & end with a story.         

1.  The Wise Men.  Matthew uses them to  symbolize every man's search for truth & meaning in life.  They were like astrologers, searching the skies for meaning.  The search theme permeates this whole presentation and is Matthew saying, "Go, and do the same search."  You can sense in this story Matthew's esteem for how the Gentiles search and discover the savior, unlike his fellow Jews.

The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are Gentiles and they come from the east.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east he will bring new light.  Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising in this presentation, and the Gentiles. 

2.  The Jews are getting put down for their blindness.  Here in the city of David, Bethlehem, another symbol because this ties Jesus up with the lineage of King David, here in this special city the chosen people do not have a clue about what a monumental event is taking place.  Even in the great city, the city of pilgrimage, Jerusalem, the people are blind.

3.  The star.  It is mentioned as rising.  Where do stars rise?   Another symbol for the rising in the east. 

4.  The O.T. quote.  Even though the chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem knew their scripture, they don't go to Bethlehem.  They quote chapter 5 of the prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah III, who says, "Bethlehem, a ruler is going to come from you."  Micah thought of a ruler who would lift the Jewish people out of bondage, but Matthew turns it around, the ruler coming from Bethlehem being Jesus, not a powerful king, but a servant.  This is one of Matthew's most common tools of convincing his listeners.  He quotes O.T. passages to say that the passage is being fulfilled by this man Jesus, or baby in this case.  He is like a debater or attorney carefully crafting arguments for his case. 

5.  The 3 gifts.  Gold is given because it signifies royalty.  Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity.  And myrra signifies being human.  Myrra is medicinal.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu, and even herpes.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

The story.  A week ago today Rosemary and I had the privilege to bring gifts to the mother & daughter we have been supporting since I first met them in '86, when I studied Spanish in Cuernavaca.  We did not bring gold, but about $450 to help them with their little shop. 

Carina, the daughter, proudly informed us that this March they have been open for business two years.  Their merchandise is candles of all types, colors, aromas, and decorations, most of which they provide themselves.  They sell incense and herbs for coughs and colds.  They are both so grateful to everyone who has helped them out. 

We took them out to a simple restaurant twice and it was probably last year with us the last time they went out to eat.  Carina rides the local buses an hour to work and is open from 8:00-6:00.  It is a strenuous trip for her because of her being crippled.  In fact, she fell in the street earlier this year and is saving up enough money to either fix or get a new apparatus for her leg.  The old one, which we gave her some years ago, broke in the fall.

I am so humbled by this young woman's responsibility, her cleanliness in the little shop, her do diligence with the humble products she is selling.  While we were with her & Maria Luisa in the shop one afternoon, I saw how Carina graciously welcomed and chatted with a half dozen customers she had. Among other things, I watched her sell 4 three foot long white bees wax candles that she had decorated with a brown ribbon & bow & some decorations embedded in the wax.  She sold each for ca. $5.00. 

She had to take out two loans of about $500 each to buy up her merchandise and she is diligently paying it back step by step.  The $450 we brought will help with either the loans or her leg apparatus.  Her mother is her buyer and they bring in the candles from the region around Acapulco. 

In a quiet moment I asked Carina how has she planned for when Maria Luisa dies.  She has already had three cases of cancer & is 66.  Carina told me she is more vulnerable than she looks and is sick often.  She also told me she has no special plans for when her mother dies.  She can continue to live in the garage they live in now.  And she can maintain herself with the candle shop.  Thanks to you all.  It may be impossible to save the world, but you have helped two people to survive.

What will we do next?

AUDIO:   http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-01-04.mp3

Picture 1:  Birthdays & Anniversaries–Tom Fleming, Rich & Carol Eshelbrenner, and Roy Strom

Picture 2:  Carina & Rosemary & Maria Luisa in Cuernavaca, Mexico

Picture 3:  Carina's Candle & Herb Shop

Picture 4:  Carina & John & Maria Luisa

Readings:  Isaiah 61, 1-11 (beautiful); Psalm is Luke 1, 46-54 (The Magnificat, beautiful); 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-24; John 1, 6-8, 19-28 .

Isaiah:This is Third Isaiah.  One Isaiah goes to Chap. 39; Two Isaiah, chapters 40-55.  From 40 on we have what is called the Book of Comfort, as I mentioned last week.  Our selection today is all about comfort.  The writer is consoling the Hebrews during the Babylonian captivity, which took place about 580 BCE, in other words about a century after One Isaiah wrote. 

The first marvelous couple of verses are repeated more or less in Isaiah 42, i.e., Two Isaiah.  Also, Luke puts these words into Jesus' mouth in chapter 4 of his gospel.  I will have all of chapter 61 read because it is so good.  For the reading, google The Bible at Your Fingertips.

Advent Wreaths: This little liturgical practice came to the Catholic liturgy, believe it or not, from the German Lutherans in the 1500's, the time of Martin Luther.  It was more than just decoration.  The circle symbolized eternity.  The greens, Christian life in a dead time of the year.  The candles represent each of the 4 weeks of Advent, each candle symbolizing the greater light brought by Christ.  Their color purple symbolized penance and purification for the Coming.  The Rose  candle says, 'We are almost there!'

Chosen Me to Bring Good News to the Poor

Last Sunday 15 of you donated blood.  Many of you chipped in to help with our adopted family.  Beth, who herself has donated a lot of time to this family, says we are close to having everything we need.  Others of you brought food.  And all of you brought food for the Anniversary Brunch, a feast, as usual.

A month or so ago I was honored to help bless the Habitat house that many of you helped to build.  

Every month you help to contribute $2,000 to our Collin County Adult Clinic, where everyone on the staff, doctors, nurses, technicians, and helpers, all work pro bono, gratis, without pay.  That is $24,000 you have donated to support this marvelous service this year.

The generosity of our little community, of you people often blows me away and always humbles me. 

Isaiah is talking about this.  He says Yahweh has chosen me and sent me.  He is obviously talking about himself, and the temptation is to leave it at that.  That's his job.  I would propose, however, that Yahweh is calling each of us.  We are chosen and we are sent to bring good news to the poor, to heal and to comfort.  The poor, the broken hearted, and the imprisoned are all around us.  If we don't bring them good news and comfort, perhaps nobody will.

When I lived in Tanzania & Kenya occasionally I would ask myself, "What on earth am I doing over here?"  This passage about bringing good news to the poor often gave me consolation and motivation.  I can remember reflecting upon the idea when I was traveling 4-6 lonely hours over dirt roads on my motorcycle to get to a center where I was going to conduct a week long or month long seminar for nuns and priests. 

In John's Gospel the writer is setting the scene, similar to Mark's reading last week.  He is using John the Baptist to make way for The Good News, the Jesus event that let's us know that Our God is accepting us, not condemning us.

The writer of this gospel is likewise crafting his work.  In a short space he identifies John the Baptist and prepares the reader for something greater.  Why is this important?  Because John the Baptist was popular, had his own group of followers, and could have been mistaken for the Messiah.  The gospel writer takes 4 steps.

Step 1.  John the Baptist's place in the drama: give witness to The Light, e.g., Jesus, The Good News.

Step 2.  A negative witness about who he is: not The Light, not the Messiah.

Step 3.  A positive witness about who he is: preparing a way & making straight the way.

Step 4.  Why is John the Baptist baptizing: preparing the people for One greater, The Light. 

The Light, The Lord, The Messiah that John's gospel talks about is the one who brings good news and comfort to the poor, the broken hearted, and the imprisoned.  He, however, cannot do it alone. 

This year each of you in our little community has helped out.  How are you bringing Good News and Comfort to the Poor today?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-12-14.mp3

Picture 1:  Serving, Lisa (Mom), & daughters Lorynne & Lacee

Picture 2:  Frank & Laura Reyes celebrating 26th

Picture 3:  Frank & Mary Esparza watched by Audry.

Readings:

Acts 2, 42-47,  Awe came upon everyone.

Psalm 118,  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everylasting.

1 Peter  1, 3-9,  Although you have not seen him, you love him.

John  20, 19-31,  Unless I see the marks of the nails.

Leo says, "Welcome, Everybody."

Observations on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described.

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Tori also says, Hi, Everybody, Come in."

Our Selection: Luke describes and idyllic community, not a real community.  This was utopia, a vision Plato had of the perfect community.  It reminds me of advertisements Rosemary & I get for idyllic retirement communities, beautiful elderly people, smiling, hiking, enjoying excellent meals in charming dining rooms, all in perfect harmony.   Look at the struggles Peter & Paul had with each other’s view of Christianity and you get a view of today’s Christianity.

1 Peter observations:

Peter is writing to the first Christians in what is today Turkey and, get this, Syria.  He is encouraging them in their struggles.

Sources: Jerusalem Bible, Wikipedia

Harper lights the candle with her grandmother's help, Cathy.

 The Doubting Thomas Syndrome

This morning I would like to talk about the Doubting Thomas Syndrome.  The syndrome is usually dealt with like a sickness.  The medication and remedy, ‘Don’t doubt, just believe.’  I have heard this since I was a kid in Christ the King school.

The problem with this, of course, is that the remedy is really an invitation to hat check my God given, marvelous intelligence at the door.  A don’t think dictum.  Let me offer an example of how this can put you in an unpleasant mind set. 

Harper, the candle lighter.

You all know that I have been studying French since I was recuperating from my two new hips in 2010.  You also know that Rosemary & I just returned a week ago from 11 days in France.   I am sure you have also heard and believe probably the common opinion that French are all snobby and rude.  Here is what I saw on one occasion.

Rosemary and I are in a small market, like a small supermarket about the size of one of our convenience stores, but bigger and more like our supermarkets.   I get about 6 bananas and Rosemary gets some things for her evening snack.  It is about 5 P.M., so a number shoppers are wandering around.

Cupcakes of the Week for David, Denni, John, Jerry and, coming on the run, Cliff.

Once we have everything we want and have wandered the store enough, we get into the checkout line.  A young girl is there checking out, very polite and cordial.  I chat her up in French.  The items are scanned just like here until she gets to my six bananas. 

She holds them up, looks them over, and indicates something on the bananas.   Turns out it is not something on the bananas, but something missing, the cost, which should have been calculated back in the little produce department.

David and Denni up for birthdays.

This is all going on in French, of which I suddenly can’t remember squat.  There is a line now of about 3-4 others behind us.  I get the idea finally, but I don’t know where the scale is to calculate the price. I can see us holding up the line for ten minutes while I wander the produce department.

Suddenly, the professional looking French man behind us says in English he knows what to do and would be happy to solve the problem in a minute.  Which he does and we check out.  We depart with wishes to have a nice visit from people around us.   Nobody was impatient.

Emma coming in from the rain.

I was most touched and thought, ‘So much for the word around that all French are snobby and rude.’   Certainly these folks were just the contrary.

This exemplifies in a small way how beliefs can be one hundred and eighty degrees off.  We will never know the truth if we simply have faith. 

My Jesuit training pushed us to question, investigate, and to doubt.  The alternative is to hat check my God given, marvelous intelligence at the door.   

Offertory procession, Nina & Kerry, Carol & Richard.

Got no doubts?  Robots & drones have no doubts.  They just do what they are told by someone else.

Got some good, healthy doubts?  How do you handle them?

How to enjoy a cookie! Leo with John.

 Readings:

Isaiah 6, 1-8,  Whom shall I send?  Send me.

Psalm 138,  In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praises, Lord.

1 Corinthians 15, 1-11, I am the least of the apostles.

Luke 5, 1-11, They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

Leo and his best pacifier, John

For those who don’t have a decent Bible or a book of the readings, here are two links that I use,

The Bible at Your Fingertips (http://st-luke-church.org/bible-at-finger-tips.php) and USCCB, The New American Bible (http://www.usccb.org/).  

The difference?  The first is Protestant more or less, and the second is officially Catholic and has the 12 little books in between the O.T. & N.T., called Deuterocanonical or Apocrypha. 

Both are good translations. 

Buying a bible?  The Jerusalem Bible. 

Who's that under that table? Emma!

 Isaiah 1

This is The Great One.  The Prophet.  My favorite.  In general, this work has three parts put together by three different people.  It is time dependent: before, during, and after the, you guessed it, the Babylonian Captivity.  Keep 500 before Christ in mind as an easy date. 

Last week we heard the story of the prophet Jeremiah’s call by Yahweh.  This week we have Isaiah’s call. 

Psalm 138

Want to hear something beautiful?  Listen to today’s psalm.  Another of my favorites. Thanks, thanks, and more thanks.

1 Corinthians 15

In last week’s Corinthians’ reading Paul described his vision of love.  Today he continues talking to the people of his church in Corinth, focusing on how he was called by God.

Zoe on a mission while watching the    Brunch Table.

The Small Call

I would like to talk this morning about small calls.  Our readings are all about great calls, like Isaiah, to be God’s spokesperson.  These calls come once in life, or a few times in life.  I would like to suggest small calls come every day.   Let me illustrate.

In Mexico City there is this magnificent avenue, Reforma, modeled by the Empress Carlotta on the famous Champs Elysee in Paris, built during our Civil War, say 1860.  A week ago I was on Reforma one afternoon before returning to the U.S.

Buddy, "Yeah, brunch time. I'm ready."

I was intrigued.  The government provides rental bikes.  Along the pedestrian islands that border Reforma are numerous racks of some 40 bikes which people can rent.  People are riding these bikes all over the center of Mexico City.  I wanted to know if I could rent a bike for a day. 

I had asked a few people, but no one was sure.  I was simply told that for $30 I could obtain a card which I could use to rent the bike for one year.

Cowboy Cole. How did he get ahead of the crowd? With his mom, Erin.

Cupcakes of The Week: Geri, Kevin, and his dad, John, plus 4 others.

 At one point I am standing beside the check-in post reading the instructions.  You buy the card at a drug store, show proof of identity, and then swipe the card through the reader.  It tells you what number bike is yours.  You may return the bike to any of the numerous bike racks around the city center.

I finish unsatisfied, turn around, and watch a man ride up on one of the recognizable bikes.  He puts it in the rack down the way, then begins to walk in my direction.  He is middle aged, in his mid 50’s, trim, dressed neatly in business pants, white shirt and tie, and a small back pack. 

I ask him if he could help me.  I tell him what I want and he is sure I cannot rent a bike for a day.  In fact, he thinks only citizens can rent the bikes. 

The Great Brunch, ready.

We continue to talk.  I tell him how I admire Mexico City for installing the bikes, that my wife & I, who ride a lot, saw the bikes two years ago when we were in town.  He says he has seen them not only in Mexico City, but in cities in the States and in Europe.  This tells me something, he has traveled internationally.

Brunch Time, Out of the Way!

We have a charming conversation for about 10 minutes.  As we part he tells me how he enjoyed conversing, welcome to Mexico, and, get this, he congratulates me on excellent Spanish!

Folks, I could have done a backward somersault in the air.  I felt I could jump from tree top to tree top.  I was so full, ecstatic, grateful.    All the work I had put into Spanish over the years was worth it. 

This is the small call, what that Mexican did.  A compliment. 

Ye Olde Brunch.

I would propose that we get small calls every day.  A compliment, an offer to help, a thanks, an apology for a small mishap.  The girl at the checkout has fancy fingernails; I tell her I like them. 

These small calls fill others.  With life. 

What was your small call yesterday?  Your next one? 

Acts 10:  To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.

Colossians 3:  If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,  where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

John 20:  On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

John Cade's Homily:  Download 04-20-25 Homily – Easter Sunday

Music,   Ben 

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Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Randolph and Michelle get a cookie for their anniversary

Rosemary's Blessing:

Joyous Time of Year 

May the glory
and the promise
of this joyous time of year
bring peace
and happiness to you
and those you hold most dear.

And may Christ,
Our Risen Saviour,
always be there by your side
to bless you
most abundantly
and be your loving guide.

Author Unknown    found on xavier.edu/jesuitresource webpage