Christmas Eve Homily, December 24, 2013, Midnight

 

 

 

Welcome in out of that 26 degree cold, Dear Emma and Dear Beth.

 

 

Readings:

Leviticus 13, 1-2, 44-46,  If a  man is leprous, the priest shall declare him unclean

Psalm 32,  I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble.

 Corinthians 10, 31-11, Whatever you do, do for the glory of God.

Mark 1, 40-45, A leper came to Jesus

 

 

 

I bet I can guess why Ben & Olivia are not here today.   Like 26 degrees!

 

 

On the readings:

• The book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible. Most of Leviticus is written as God’s speeches to Moses on Mt. Sinai which Moses repeated to the Israelites. It’s almost all about rituals and moral practices to follow in order to live in ritual purity. It describes the many ways you can be ‘unclean’; today’s reading is one example. Leviticus describes many rituals and rules to be followed. Like the stories in Genesis and Exodus these rules were created to give the Israelites a special identity, to help hold them together during the Babylon captivity in the sixth century B.C. And it worked.

 

 

Our dearest Candle Lighter of The Week in action.

 

 

• In First Corinthians Paul tells the early Christians in Corinth to not be obsessed about Jewish food laws when eating with others. In this same letter before today’s passage Paul said, “I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say?”
• Mark’s Gospel reinforces that caring for another is more important than rituals and rules. I’ll talk more later about how this might relate to how we practice Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday this week.

 

 

Who let these characters in here, Joe (Geri's brother), Geri, and Mike?

 

 

Homily:

 

Mark’s story of Jesus and the leper is a good example of how Mark used stories to highlight the Good News Jesus preached. From Leviticus we know a leper could neither approach nor talk to Jesus. As a leper, he was unclean and would have to stay totally apart from others in out-of-the-way places and speak only to cry out ‘Unclean’. So, already, Mark is telling Jewish followers of Jesus that the old rules no longer apply.

 

 

 

Hi, Leo.  You are looking terrific this morning.

 

 

This Gospel story turned Leviticus on its ear concerning the idea of being ‘unclean’. [Leprosy was incurable then, so their best survival practice was a strict quarantine. Since about 1880 we have known leprosy is caused by a particular bacteria; for over 60 years now it is treatable and curable with antibiotics.] The old rules said: lepers were ‘unclean’ and had to stay out of the way of others, and they were not to touch or be touched. In Mark’s story he has the man with leprosy not stay out of the way away and has him dare to speak out; and he also has Jesus talk to and touch one known to be ‘unclean’. So, in Mark the rules are changed, and Jesus is approachable by anyone.

 

 

 

 

The Best.
 

 

 

In Paul’s letter to Corinthians he turns the rules in Leviticus upside down by questioning the rules about food and the eating habits of Jewish Christians. Paul said they should relax and “eat your meals heartily.”  

So, considering these teaching stories from Leviticus and Mark and Paul, what do you do for Lent to prepare for Easter?

 

 

 

 

Somebody finally gave that man a job.  

 

 

1) Some may give up sweets or do something else healthy. In the 60’s every Lent I would say “I’m giving up watermelon.” (I even used to get a laugh, since back then everyone knew watermelon wasn’t available till summer.)

2) Some will go to south Texas to work with victims of Hurricane Harvey—people struggling to get their houses and lives back in order. You are the community sending those who go; they represent us and this community’s caring for those in need. They will come back to our community members with stories of fun and comradery. They may also have stories about primitive lodging. (Ask Bill what he’s taking ‘just in case’.)

 

 

 

Peace, Angela and Cathy. 

 

 

3) A third possibility is to consider a teaching quoted in Ash Wednesday’s Mass from the prophet Joel 2:13—a favorite Bible verse of Stack’s: “God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in kindness.” Why on Ash Wednesday?     This verse is also found in Psalms 86, 103, and 145; and in the books of Exodus 34:6; and Jonah 4:2; and Nehemiah 9:17.

 

 

 

Bill, updating the plans for a dozen or so of our community heading to Dickenson, TX to join Professor Jim Mahar of St. Bonaventure U. & his 50 or so students, to help with the clean up after the hurricane.  There is still lots to do.

 

 

What if everyone prepared for Easter by imitating that verse?—withholding acts of anger; performing acts of mercy and kindness.   What will you do for Lent?

 

 

 

 

An old geezer taking the Sunday off thanks to John Cade.

 

Readings:

Isaiah 8, 23 – 9, 3,   The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

 Psalm 27,  The Lord is my light and my salvation.

 1 Corinthians 1, 01-13, 17,   I urge you that there be no divisions among you.

 Matthew 4, 12-23,    Come after me and I will make you fishers of others.

 

 

Welcome in, Everybody!

 

Isaiah reminders, again—

 Author: This is Isaiah #1, the composer of chapters 1-39.  Even though Isaiah #1 lives before the Babylonian Captivity, he still sees that a great, bright day will come to the Jewish people, despite Babylon. 

 Date:  Ca. 555 before Christ, the composition.  The Jewish people of Jerusalem are about to be defeated and carried off into slavery.

 

 

Welcome in from me, too," sez Genevieve.

 

Subject:  A great day will come for you Jews.  A special leader will be born.  You will be a beacon to others, glorious, and a light to nations everywhere.  You might easily recognize parts of this reading.  From where?  The Nativity readings and Handel's Messiah, a favorite of mine.  

This is the last week we will have these Isaiah readings which I love.  I will miss them.  Until next Advent.

 

Welcome to you, Jean, and especially to you, Marge, all the way here from Vermont.

 

The people who have lived in darkness have seen a great light

I would like to talk again this morning on the same theme we touched upon last week, being a light.  I have a story, some of which you might have heard.  Here we go.

When I was in the 6^th grade at Christ the King, I joined the Boy Scouts in the Spring.  Because my birthday comes in late January, I suddenly became eligible.  So I start going to weekly meetings in the evening. 

 

There is a rumor around here that somebody is 77 and it looks like a party, for sure.

 

I was kind of interested in camping out, but nothing was scheduled that Spring.  Turns out that the first outing was to a Scout camp at Lake Texoma.  For a whole week.  Now I had never been away from home and Texoma seemed like another country.  Certainly the road there was not like today’s Central Expressway.  It was more like taking Tulip Lane to Texoma.

About 3-4 of my classmates had joined up because they became old enough.  So, off we went. 

 

 

Says Donna, "Happy Birthday to whomever that old geezer is."

 

It was not just my classmates on this trip, but also 7^th & 8^th grade guys.  We get there and, probably because I was bigger than my classmates, I was informed quietly that I was going to be initiated into the Scout troop in a special way. 

My self confidence in 6^th grade was pretty weak, so the threats of these 8^th grade boys scared the pooh out of me.  So, what did I do?  I faked being sick and was back home in Dallas Monday afternoon. 

 

 

Yippee, I love birthday parties!

 

Success, Yes?  Nope, I was ashamed, humiliated, and my self confidence totally vanished. 

At this point two lights came into my life.  First, my dad seemed to intuit that I needed extra care.  Secondly, a new coach, teacher, and Scout Master was hired by Christ the King.  This guy, Frank Hart, was especially non-judgmental and positive. 

 

 

"So when does the party start?, says Harper.

 

Slowly during the year and being coached and encouraged by Frank, I got enough self-confidence to go to the next summer’s Scout camp at Texoma, not for the whole week, but from about Tuesday night on.   

Why Tuesday night?  My dad had volunteered to be an adult extra for Frank at the camp and I went with my dad.  I can still remember walking into the camp that Tuesday evening.  It was dark, Coleman lanterns were on, and Frank and my classmates all seemed delighted to see me. 

 

 

Harper, Just this music alone is a party, and it is every week.

 

Frank is still alive.  He lives in a retirement house on the corner of Hillcrest and Northhaven.  He is mostly in bed all the time and  may not even recognize me when I visit him each Friday after Romeos.  

How did he help me?  He just seemed to appreciate me as I was.  He was a light of acceptance.  I felt accepted and that acceptance helped me build  self-confidence.

 

 

And the Offertory Team, Judy and Karen, John and Dick.

 

My dad helped me.  Frank was a special light in my life. 

Who is a light in your life?  

For whom are you a light?

Readings:

Ezekiel, 18, 25-28, The Lord's way is not fair!

Psalm 25, Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Philippians  2, 1-11, Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.

Matthew 21, 28-32, Which of the two sons did his father's will?

 

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda (on Air Force duty)

Readers,   Connie & John Bresson & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  Deacon Mike 

Homily,  John Cade 

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike, Ben & Hue, Richard 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

 

Download Readings Week 26

 

 

 

 

John Cade's Homily  (above, Remembering…)

 

Homily on Priesthood  First, a little bit of history of the Christian priesthood; and second, a little bit on blessings in my life.

The Apostle Peter, In Chapter 2 of his first letter, vs 4, wrote, “Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you serve as priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God”.  And he continued in vs 9, “You are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him.”  (As far as I know, among Christian churches today, it is the Morman church that asks all its members to exercise their priestly role.)

        Saint Jerome, around 380 CE, gave his view of the Christian priesthood, derived no doubt from the traditions and practices of the early church. He wrote, “The priestly dignity is the personal possession of the Christian; it does not belong to the Christian because of membership in a church which has a hierarchical priesthood.  Rather, the layman’s priesthood, as all priesthood, is a sharing in the priesthood of Christ.” 

He continued, “It’s the reality of the Christian’s priesthood which distinguishes members of the ‘royal priesthood’ from the rest of humankind.  No distinction between one member of Christ’s priestly body and another, can be compared to the distinction between those baptized and confirmed and those not—there is a basic unity that underlies the threefold character of baptism, confirmation and priestly orders.”  It is clear that Saint Jerome placed the origin of priesthood in Christian baptism.  

But jump about 800 years ahead and you are into Medieval Scholasticism, in universities all over Europe.  Scholasticism was a ‘philosophy of learning’ with emphasis on reasoning to extend knowledge.  You take a topic and dispute it in the form of a question, with counter proposals and opposing arguments.  It began as an attempt to harmonize Christian theology with philosophical antiquity such as with the Greek philosopher, Aristotle.  One thing scholasticism was not based on was early Christian tradition and practice. 

Saint Thomas Aquinas became scholasticism’s most famous member.  One of the founders of scholasticism, Alexander of Hales (in England), obscured participation in the priesthood of Christ by the baptized/confirmed Christian.  For him priesthood no longer has its origin in Baptism, but in the separate sacrament of Orders.  His thinking and conclusion was approved in the Council of Trent, in 1550, and stands today.  

In our time, most of us who lived as adults during the papacy of John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council, had high hopes for a more collegial understanding of how leadership could be structured and lived out in the church.  Many of us today support a return to greater opportunity for service by all baptized & confirmed Catholics.  Opportunities clearly were there in the early church.  Don’t tell me we can’t figure out how to make it happen now.  Isn’t it time already, for greater inclusion and equality of opportunity in the church?  I can hear RBG, that extraordinary Jewish woman and Supreme Court justice, giving us, her own – Amen.

Secondly, a little bit on my personal history of blessings.  I experienced the call, in my mid-teens, to greater closeness with God—of course, to ‘save my soul from hell’. After two semesters in college, I entered the seminary, and eight years later was ordained a priest on Sept 30, 1961.  I felt then and feel now the blessing of that day.  I loved living and working as a priest, ‘saying’ Mass, doing homilies, being invited into others’ lives through counseling, visiting the sick, teaching in high school, and leading retreats.  

Six or seven years later, when I was in the psychology program at Loyola Chicago, I began to experience a deep loneliness…and also disillusionment with the American hierarchy’s negative reaction to calls for reform by Pope John XXIII and the Vatican Council.  Some of you will remember the great number of priests who left in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  I was one of them.  Having a psychology degree was a blessing, as I could continue one of the things I loved as a priest—counseling with people having a difficult emotional time.  I married and helped raise four kids, including two as stepfather.  Some of the big blessings:  my relationship with a marriage partner (twice), being part of a family with kids (and now grandkids), relationships with friends, mentors and colleagues.  My marriage relationship with Lambrini is amazing; we are a couple now for 28 years and counting.  Also, even with diabetes and cardio-vascular disease, I am blessed with overall health. It’s a huge blessing to be able to enjoy the Autuum time of life. 

An unexpected blessing came 15 years ago when you, this community, welcomed me back as a Catholic priest. Simply being part of this loving community, seeing the way you live your lives, is a blessing that keeps on giving.  Why?  Because every Sunday, and often between Sundays, you help me ‘see’ the blessings in my life, and you help me live with gratitude. 

My question:  How do you see yourselves as a ‘royal priesthood’, sharing in the priesthood of Christ?  How do you live with acceptance and love for others, and also see your daily blessings?   

                              

 

The Zoom Wizards at work.

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Alan Stryker;  For John Doherty with back pain; For Becky's dad who has moved to the other side;  For Cindy recuperating at home;    For David Dismore's bad shoulder from a biking accident; For Esparzas, Frank & Mary,  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 Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, Woodlands,  For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & all of Shonda's dear family;   for all the students and teachers and coaches returning to school, for Geri's sister with heart & circulation problems, David Dinsmore in a bike crash.

 

Ben bringing his Vitality to our music, alone today because Shonda has Air Force duty.

 

For Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For a friend & 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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer,  For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Mike working on elevating our Zoom quality.

 

Birthdays:  Judy Carrell (today), Leo (10), Tori & Buddy, (10) 

Anniversaries: John Cade, 49 years ordained, Fred & Patricia,10th; Erin McClurg & Greg, 3rd; Claire Z & Andrew,9th, Ron & Nancy Kovatis, 48th.

 

 

                                                

                 

Community Finances, September 27, 2020

Expenses: $450.00  

Outreach   $100.00    (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

Rivers do not drink their own water;

trees do not eat their own fruit;

the sun does not shine on itself

and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves.

Living for others is a rule of nature.

We are born to help each other.

No matter how difficult it is.

Life is good when you are happy

but much better when others are happy because of you.

Let us remember that pain is a sign that we are alive,

problems are a sign that we are strong and

prayer is a sign that we are not alone.

If we can acknowledge these truths and

condition our hearts and minds, our lives will be more meaningful,

different and

worthwhile.

 

Pope Francis

 

 

Just in case you missed our new address, 7017 Helsem Way  75230.   (notice the same Zip Code as Tulip Lane?)

 

Readings: Isaiah 49, 14-15; Psalm 62, Rest in God alone, my Soul; 1 Corinthians 4, 1-5; Matthew 6, 24-34.

Isaiah reminders—

 Author: This is Isaiah #2, the composer of chapters 40-55.  January 6 we had a first reading from this same chapter 49, verses 4-5, talking about Yahweh’s people being a servant and light to the nations.  I talked about the taxi driver whose son had been killed for his pickup truck in Cuernavaca.

 Date:  Ca. 575 before Christ.  The Jewish people of Jerusalem are defeated, crushed, & in the Babylonian Captivity.  Isaiah #3, chapters 56-66, is writing after the Babylonian Captivity.

 Today’s Message: Even though life is bad, Yahweh says he will never forget his people, somewhat similar to the reading from January 6.

Sources: Good News Bible

 

Don’ Worry About Tomorrow? 

 Yesterday afternoon I did a funeral celebration for a lady named Rebecca Sides.  It took place at Turrentine Funeral Home on Ridgeview.  She died of cancer at 58. 

 I did not ever know Rebecca personally.   I knew her through Jean Atwood’s son Sean, who married one of Rebecca’s three daughters, Terra.  Rebecca was the payroll supervisor for the city of Plano, so there were numerous Plano City people there, including her supervisor and an assistance police chief, both of whom gave excellent talks. 

 Of all the things I heard about Rebecca the quality that struck me the most was the way she had her priorities in order.  Her number one priority was her family.  She seemed like the family matriarch, a magnetic force that brought members together, especially her 4 grand kids. 

 

 I talk about her because she exemplified what Matthew’s two lessons are trying to teach us today and what he has been trying to teach us all during this sermon on the mount.  Namely, getting our priorities in order.

 I want to say a word about each of Matthew’s points, serving two masters and not worrying about tomorrow.  One preliminary reminder.

 Matthew is again using exaggeration, hyperbole, and infinite demand to convey his message.  Do you not want to say, ‘Are you nuts, are you crazy?’  There is another half, infinite acceptance, like the line, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.”  Psalm 103 & other places. 

 

 First, ‘Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, your body, what you will wear.  All these things will be given to you.’  Everyone can see this is like crazy.  And this is the negative aspect.  So it all gets dismissed. 

 The positive is the word  ‘worry’ repeated four times and the reference to the birds and flowers.  We can have our priorities and goals without worry.  We can emulate the birds and flowers to a point.  Worry leads to anxiety, to high blood pressure, and to strokes. 

 Secondly, the idea that we cannot serve two masters.  The negative part of this lesson is that it is either/or, black or white, God or mammon.  More exaggeration. 

 More positively, do we not serve a number of masters in our life?  God may be an ultimate master.  Do we not have numerous sub-masters?  Could it be possible I am my own master?  I wonder.

 
 

 All these lessons seem to be telling us to get our priorities in order.  From what I heard, Rebecca had hers in order.

 What are your 3 biggest priorities in life?

 Picture 1:   Leo with his baby sitter, Lynda  

 Picture 2:   Marlene & Cindy

 Picture 3:   Penny

 Picture 4:   Zoe

  

 

Readings: Genesis 22; Psalm 116; Romans 8, 31-34; Mark 9, 2-10. 

Genesis:

Reminders: First book of the Bible, going from Creation, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah & the Ark, Tower of Babel, up to our selection today, the first of the 3 Patriarchs of Israel, Abraham (plus Isaac & Jacob, also called Israel).  Multiple authors, put together from, say, 1000 to 500 BCE.

Today's Selection: We jump from last week's story of Noah and the promise Yahweh made to him of no more floods, signed with a rainbow, to Abraham, the first of the 3 Patriarchs.  In some ways this is an astounding story.  Remember it is fable, a vision of God had by one person or a few people, then written down after it passed around orally for many decades. 

 

Transfigurations

Last Monday Bob McGrath, Bill Hammond, & I had lunch with 50 college kids in the yard of a Christian church in San Leon, Texas.  Folks, I bring you good news this morning.  These kids, from St. Bonaventure U., Buffalo, were dedicating their spring break week to hurricane recovery work in the the Galveston area. 

San Leon, which I had never heard of, is a tiny coastal village not on the Gulf like Galveston, but on the southwest corner of Galveston Bay.  The bay is shaped like a vertical football.  At the toe, right side or southeast, is Galveston slanting up the right side.  San Leon is just above the toe on the other side, the left side or south west.  It faces directly east into the bay.  Houston is a mass on the northwest corner or the upper left.  In September last year San Leon got hammered by Hurricane Ike and had water 6 to 8 feet high over the village.  It is a mostly poor community without even a police force.  So it had a lot of crack shacks, which were wiped out, to the local population's delight.

We were having lunch in the church yard after spending the morning picking up trash in the drainage ditches on either side of a 3 mile, straight road that headed directly into the bay.  At one point after the food had arrived, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and some granola bars, someone said, "Food is ready, come and get it."  And everyone got up and began helping themselves around the food table.

I was standing back a bit and noticed another boy was standing back with me.  I said to him, "You better get over there before all the food is gone."   His reply stunned me.  He said, "I'll let the others get their food and then I can get mine."  I was really moved by this tall kid's sensitivity and I told him so.  In fact, we had evening sharing sessions, some of which I got roped into coordinating.  I shared with the whole 50 what had touched me, one of my blessings of the day. 

I was touched again later that afternoon.  It was 3:30 and the 25 or so kids I was working with picking up the trash were pooping out.  I'm thinking we either call it a day or take a break and then put in another hour.  I pass out water bottles trying to get a feel.  Suddenly ahead of us a guy pulls out on the road with his little tractor & big trailer and asks help to clean the trash out of a forest off his property.  Like an 8 foot wave passed through & back leaving all sorts of garbage everywhere.  We talk about it and decide the group will split in two, half continuing with the drainage ditches, the other half cleaning the forest. 

Everyone jumps in with renewed energy despite the fatigue.  At the end of the hour during which we loaded the guy's trailer perhaps five times with mountains of trash, I am ready to call it, when the guys find a big pile of trash crowned by a fiberglass boat.  I am suggesting we leave it because the trash is endless, but those kids wanted to load the trailer one more time and get that boat out of there.  They did, and they even unloaded the trailer on the road edge.  (check Friday's blog for pictures of the boat and the lunch)

This spirit of generosity and sharing characterized the whole week and repeatedly humbled me.   The evening sessions carried us to a new level.  I felt I was walking sacred ground with sacred people.  In fact, I was. 

Two other phenomena touched me unexpectedly.  First was where we stayed.  University Baptist Church.  Apparently the month after Ike hit Galveston and volunteers started showing up to help clean up and repair, University Baptist, a small, probably 100 seat modern brick church, began to house volunteers.  When our 50 plus arrived there were already 17 members of another team on the premises.  What the church did for us was they handed over their church as a dormitory for the kids, a row of chairs down the middle, boys on one side, girls on the other, cots everywhere.  They had a trailer with shower rooms for males & females, 4 showers per set.  They had installed a portable building in which were housed another 30 people, including some of us.

This week the church plans to house 100 more university students spending spring break.  In fact, to help accommodate the number, I had a team of about 6 regulars and lots of passer bys sanding & painting 17 Army surplus bunk beds that would augment the cots.  I don't even know where the 100 will all go.  What I do know is that I was again humbled by the amazing spirit of this little community.

Then, finally, the group of 17 men.  They were Baptists from Springtown in Fort Worth, all old geezers who are retired or semi-retired.  They know plumbing, electricity, carpentry, all the needed talents.  They can do a make over in days.  In fact, the church where we ate in San Leon had been helped by a similar group.  In 5 days that group had demolished the remains of the former church building and built up a delightful, simple, brick facade church  with bathrooms and auxiliary rooms.

I bring good news this morning, folks.  I was hit over the head by these people.  I witnessed transfiguration.  Despite all the gloom these days, people, kids are transforming their environment and themselves.  At the beginning of Lent, I mentioned trying sensitivity and service.  I am privileged & have been made richer by this week.

Your Transfiguration?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-03-01.mp3

Picture 1:  Lunch in church yard, San Leon, TX, "Come & get it."

Picture 2:  Jim Mahar(Faculty sponsor), Rob (guy at lunch), J.S., Pastor Billy, Bob, & Bill

Picture 3:  Mike painting army surplus cots for 100 incoming spring break volunteers this week

Click on this link to see a Houston TV special on the work in Galveston:

 http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6686990&rss=rss-ktrk-article-6686990

 Readings:  Isaiah 5, 1-7; Psalm 80, The Vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel; Philippians 4, 6-9; Matthew 21, 33-43 

 

Isaiah:

• The biggest of the big 3 prophets not only because of the book's volume, 66 chapters, but because of the beauty of some passages.   The book is my favorite.
• Time written: before the Babylonian Captivity (ca. 590) chapters 1-39 seem to have been composed by the prophet.  After the Captivity (ca. 540) at least two followers seem to have composed chapters 40-66.
• Today's selection: talks about a vineyard worker who labors carefully to bring forth good grapes, but gets only weeds.  What does he do with the vines?  This story matches up with Matthew's parable.

 

The Crazy Landowner 

Picture 1:    Sacrament of the Sick

Picture 2:    Shonda, Bethany, & Ray