We are sorry that the Blog has not been published these past 2 weeks.  We had a tornado and lost our internet connection among other things (we still don't have internet).  I am down at a neighbor's house who has internet.  Thanks Jane for letting us use your internet.

 

Homily:

 

All Saints, 2019-11-02

I want to talk about saints I’ve known, not from years ago, not from this year, but from last October 21, The Morning After.  For me a saint is anybody trying to dance a good dance.

First, a couple of young dads with their young sons.  Yes, I’ve already mentioned them last Sunday.

These guys just walked up and started moving tree branches from around the house to the curbs.  The house was battered and our trophy trees were stripped of their branches.  These guys worked all day.  These dads & their sons are saints for me.

Next, the St. Marks boys.  They started roaming the Preston Hollow neighborhood with water.  As the week progressed they began distributing food.  You realize that I say this as a former Jesuit student & teacher.  St. Marks was always our opponent in sports & debating, everything.

Some of the food the boys were distributing came from a corporate saint.  Central Market, which is just around the corner from us, a ten minute walk.  The store was devastated.  So what did they do?  They set up a large white canopy tent in the parking lot and they distributed breakfast, lunch, and dinner for four days, free! 

On Saturday Rosemary got 6-8 lunches which she shared with the truck drivers and chain saw workers who were cleaning up our debris.  And let me confirm, the meals were not just cold cuts and energy bars.

Then, of course, I saw 8-10 saints from our community, Tom Goode, Tom Froelich, Grace & Doug with his chain saw, John & Connie, Loretta who fed us enchiladas, Andy & Mike (Mike Moran??!!,  a saint?  Maybe I need to clean my lens a bit.)

Finally, another group of saints, the Dallas police, in particular the guys who spent their nights in the cars all lit up with red & white lights.  They were all night and day right at our corner of Royal & Camellia.  The guys’ flashing lights were a comfort, knowing we were safe.  I offered them coffee, but they always declined.

These are some of the saints I have been privileged to meet just these past 2 weeks.

Your saints?

 

 

Readings:

Proverbs 8, 22-31,  When the Lord established the heavens I was there.

Psalm 8,  O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth.

Romans 5, 1-5,  We have peace with God.

John 16, 12-15,  I have much more to tell you.

 

 

Observations on Proverbs

What : basically a collection of moral and religious teachings.  Pretty boring.  Some amusing like—

“The lord hates people who use dishonest scales. 11, 1

If you don’t punish your son, you don’t love him. 13, 24

Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than to have a
banquet in a house full of trouble.  17, 1

Children naturally do silly things, but a good beating will teach them.
22, 15

And my favorite….

Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife. 25, 24

Author: 
Who knows.  Not Solomon, as was thought for a long time.

 

 

A Trinity

Last Friday Rosemary & I made one of our usual morning bike trips around White Rock Lake.  We come down the White Rock Creek Trail from the north and proceed south, clockwise along East Lawther Drive by the Arboretum, to the dam, where we take a vista stop. 

 

The bike path running along the south shore of the lake and Garland Road is pretty high over the lake and the dam.  There is an observation deck extending out over the lake and dam, which is about 20 feet above the lake and the spillway.  We are looking north across the whole expanse of the lake at this observation point.

 

Friday when I rode up and stopped just ahead of Rosemary, there was a
young dad with his one or two year old little boy.  Dad had a trailer for the boy and he towed the trailer with his bike.

When I arrived the little blond haired boy with about two teeth was
being held by his dad against the black wrought iron railing.  The boy was throwing little sticks into the lake and watching them go over the spillway. 
He was squealing with delight and when I applauded he was more
joyful.  We talked a bit and I was enchanted.  

 

I want to talk this morning about the marvelous Psalm 8 we have just read. It is talking about us and God’s work in us when it says,

You have made people a little less than the angels,

And crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them rule over the works of your hands.

I looked at the nice dad and his delightful son and thought to myself, ‘What beauty.”

 

The psalm writer also talks about the work of His Fingers.  Another striking image.  I saw the work that Friday, also, in the beauty simply in the rich tones of green as we rode along the path in the woods.

Then he talks about the heavens and says,

When I behold
your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars which you set in place.

Have you ever done this?  Lie down on the ground on your back and look up at the sky? 

 

 

I do this when we are backpacking in the mountains and I find it
terrific. Whatever the sky is doing, clear blue, partly cloudy, or windy, it is
sensational.  I come away feeling humbled, awe-struck, and blessed to be here. 

 Why I never do it except in the mountains, who knows.  Every year I
intend to.

 

 Take a look at that marvelous Psalm 8.   When is the next time you will look at the sky?  When look at the colors of nature.  When look at a child, like the kids running around here,  and say to yourself, 'What beauty!'?

 

Readings: Amos (again), 6,1-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6, 11-16; Luke 16, 19-31 (Rich Man & Lazarus).

Amos: Just a reminder from last week.  Amos, a prophet, lives about 800 years before Christ.  A prosperous time for the Jews, but a prosperity built on defrauding the poor.  Amos warns the people that Yahweh will punish them for cheating the poor and amassing fortunes. 

In our selection today Amos is putting it to the rich.  Which leads, of course, to our Gospel on the Rich Man & Lazarus.

The Rich Man’s Sin of Blindness

Some months ago when we were getting ready to work on the Rowlett house, I met with the man from Lake Point Church to estimate what the house needed.  We were going to team up. While we were standing outside looking the place over, I hesitatingly mentioned the huge Sycamore tree leaning over the house.  Dangerous.  "Alex, do you have any people in your community who could take that tree down?"  "I’ll see," he says. Alex was pretty taciturn, so I left it at that. 

A couple of weeks later on perhaps our second Saturday to work on the house, we were all gathering at 8:00 when a line of about ten pickups arrives and one pulls a large enclosed trailer.  The Lake Point Emergency Team.  They open the trailer, pull out chain saws, ropes, equipment, hard hats, and head for the tree.  There must have been 15 people, including two young women.  We occasionally stopped work and stood in awe as they brought down some gigantic overhanging limb.  Three hours later they were done, thanked us for inviting them, declined to join us for lunch, and departed, leaving only a huge pile of Sycamore branches ready to be picked up by the township. 

I am humbled by this team and wish I could join them.  They go where they are needed in almost any emergency.  They look for places where their help is needed.

I thought of them when I read about the Rich Man & Lazarus.  As usual, there are symbolic elements to this parable. 

First, there are three clues that inform the people who are tuned in that the guy is very rich: he has not just food, but sumptuous food; he dresses in purple, which also meant he was holy; and he had a funeral, which meant he was in Yahweh’s favor. Being rich, of course, meant good and favored by Yahweh.

Secondly, Lazarus. He is the only person in all the parables to be named.  Meaning?  Predilection for the poor? He also is painted as such a wretch that even dogs licked his sores.

Then, watch the switch.  Both men die. Lazarus is in Abraham’s bosom. He is the rich one now. Only free people recline at table, especially on the chest of the host. The Rich Man, however, is in a place of torment.

So what was the Rich Man’s sin?  Being rich?  Not necessarily. The Rich Man did not care for the Lazarus at his door.  He did not even see him. Granted, the parable indicates that his richness contributed to his blindness.  He had to stop focusing on himself, look around him for the Lazarus nearby, and care for him.

We are rich, too, folks.  No way we can deny it or escape it, despite events in our lives that may cause poverty of spirit.  The people from the Lake Point Emergency team were rich.  They, however, are looking for the Lazarus in their lives, and they were caring for him.

Who is the Lazarus in your life and how are your caring for him?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-09-30.mp3

   

Readings: Acts 5, 12-16; Psalm118; Revelation 1, 9-10; John 20, 19-31

 

Second Sunday After Easter – Reflection on the Readings

 

  

Acts of the Apostles continues Luke’s Gospel by focusing on the spread of Christianity after the Resurrection.  The focus is first on the work of the Apostles and especially on the position of Peter, and then in the second half of the book, the focus is on the work of Paul. 

 

Today’s reading from Chapter 5 comes immediately after the apostles have been brought before the Sanhedrin (the powers that be in the Jewish community) and told to stop their preaching about Jesus.  This is clearly a focus on the question “who will be in charge of the twelve tribes of Israel?  It also echoes back to Abraham and his being placed in charge of the tribes of Israel. 

 

   

Remember, we are dealing with a group who have only the Old Testament to turn to in their attempts to make sense of all that they remember or heard about Jesus.  The power of God, working thru Peter is now much stronger than even when Jesus cured.  All people need for healing is to have Peter’s shadow pass over them.  There is no need for any physical contact!  Luke is here building up the importance of the “new leaders” of the people, the apostles.

 

  

 

Our second reading is from the Book of Revelations; a much-misunderstood work, which I wish had never been included in the New Testament!  The work is primarily written in an apocalyptic style and its main focus is on the Roman Empire and the battle which the early Christians had with that entity.  There is nothing about the 21^st century in this writing, nor about how the world itself would end!  The writer had no idea of a place called the USA nor the Soviet Union!  

 

Second Sunday After Easter – Homily

 

Poor Thomas!  Actually thank God for Thomas!  It is comforting to know that someone else had doubts about the resurrection.  One week after our high point of Easter Sunday we are immediately given this wonderful little incident.  What I like about it is that it allows space for a very natural doubt to exist side be side with the faith in the Resurrection. 

   

Back in 1968 a book was published called Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Ratzinger.  The book was a through examination of the Apostles Creed.  I remember being surprised when he talks fairly early on in the book about both the believer and unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief.  At the time it struck me as quite surprising.  Remember I was a naive seminarian in my early twenties and everything was rock solid!  Oh for those nice innocent days!!

  

I have since grown up to recognize the truth in Ratzinger’s book, and in my own life.  If we remember back to the church before Vatican II we seemed to live in a world of certainty.  We were told exactly how everything was, now it seems things are messy!  It is what happens when you look behind the curtain, as happened to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. 

   

Doubting seems to be an integral part of our lives.  We would very much like the comfort of absolute certainty, and we do have it in a few things, like death and taxes, but for all the other areas of our lives we move from one doubt to another, all the while trying to either buy insurance or insulate ourselves in some other way against the uncertainties of life.  And belief in God is one area where there is lots of room for doubt, since God is mystery. 

 

 

  

So what can we begin to compare or faith in God to in our experience?  It seems to me that it is like being in love.  You meet someone and fall in love.  But the other person is free to respond or not.  The minute you force their response it is no longer love.  And so our most intimate of relationships with other humans is based on a hope that the other will respond and continue to respond.  If I think of God along those lines there is one major difference, God is going to love me, in this relationship; God is the only one taking the risk. 

 

Picture 1:  Tony begins Mass

 

Picture 2:  The Offertory

 

Picture 3:  Jim, Bob, Jackie, & friend 

Rosemary's Blessing

Let us approach the feast of the Holy Spirit with the confidence and conviction that the Spirit of God who has brought us this far is always ahead of us, calling us forward and offering us what we need.

 

Let us ask for the Spirit’s Gifts of:

Wonder and Amazement at God’s faithful, steady, unconditional love for us in all the planned and unplanned times in our lives

Compassion for those who are suffering, isolated, hungry or unemployed

Deep Peace and Calm when we are in the midst of anxiety, worry or loss

Courage in conflictual situations that call us to speak the truth with love

Trust and Confidence that God is with us as God beckons us forward in ways unknown.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill us with your Spirit that we may do our part in healing and transforming our world into the realm of God ~ A place of inclusive love, unity, reconciliation, justice and peace.

 

Adapted from a Prayer and Refection by Sister Jean Amore, CSJ, Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, New York

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Tom & Denni,  & Buddy, the candle blessing

Eucharistic Prayer & Gospel, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky 

Final Blessing for last day of May, Rosemary

 

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles, 2, 1-11, They were all together in one place.

Psalm 104, Lord, send out your spirit and renew the face of the earth

1 Corinthians  12, 3-7, 12-13, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same spirit

John 20, 19-23, Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you." 

 

Please Remember these special people:

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 Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;   For Ryan, Rosemary's nephew, who had surgery; For Bill Hammond,    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie;  Shonda's mom;   For Gilberto:  for Michelle;  For a friend, a neighbor, & 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;  Virginia Mattingly

 

SPECIAL NEWS:  I have a good friend who has joined us at Romeos a couple of times over the years.    His dad is 93 years old.  His dad was diagnosed with The Virus.  He was hospitalized.   Recently he was discharged and declared healthy!  Amen!

 

 

Birthdays: Ray (80), Christi Occhipinti (45), Zaile Ekes, Shonda, Brent (13, AA), & Mabel (88!)

 

 

Community Finances, May 31, 2020

Expenses: $2000.00

Outreach:  $150.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Reading 1

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

        When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—and no one could tell where it came from.  It filled the whole building.  Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. 

There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world.  When they heard the sound, they came on the run.  Then when they heard, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck.  They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans?  How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues? 

        “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;

        Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,

        Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,

        Egypt and parts of Libya;

        Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;

        Even Cretans and Arabs!

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works.”

Our word for today.

 

 

Reading 2

 A Reading from the first Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

        Sisters and brothers:  No one would say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.  God’s various gifts are given out everywhere, and are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit.  God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God is behind it all.  Each person is given something to do that shows who God is:  Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. 

        You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body.  Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body.  It’s exactly the same with Christ.       By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives.  We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say.  Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink.  The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful.

Our word for today.

 

 

 

The Lord be with you.       A Reading from the Gospel of John

          Later on that first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together. Fearful of the Jews, they had locked all the doors in the house.  Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”  Then he showed them his hands and side. 

The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant.  Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you.  Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”

        Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them.  “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said.  “If you forgive someone’s sins, they are gone for good.  If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”

The Good News of John.

 

 

Pentecost Homily by Stack

We are celebrating The Spirit this Sunday and I have a question.  When was the last time you saw The Spirit?  Knowing you folks as well as I do, I would surmise that you have seen The Spirit often, but you may not recognize what you are looking at.  Let me tell you about 3 visits of The Spirit that I have seen.  See what you think.

First, say you are a girl about 10 years old.  May is your birthday month and with your mom’s help you always have had a party.  This year??  Your mom gets inspired.  All the girls you want to get invited will get invited to an afternoon party.  Each girl will come in the family car with her mom or dad or both.   Park on both sides of the street in front of the house.  

 

 

A street birthday for an eleven year old girl.

 

Instead  of coming into the house, each girl will sit in the car window or lean out of the sun roof or sit on the roof.  The birthday girl will walk up and down the lane talking with the girls on their perches.

I saw it, folks, really, while walking Aviana with Rosemary one afternoon.  For real.  There must have been 10-12 girls perched on their family cars and the birthday girl was walking up and down the lane.  I felt privileged to walk that lane.  Since then I have heard about other street parties in our Preston Hollow neighborhood.   Recognize The Spirit?

 

 

The Spirit also surprised me one other morning when I was walking Aviana.  I noticed that some yellow yard signs with red script  had sprung up. 

For instance.

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.  (yes, that's Aviana blessing the property)

 

 

I can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.

 

 

 

I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.

 

Catch the spirit?

 

 

My third example of the presence of The Spirit.  My parents have lived in this house in this Preston Hollow neighborhood since ’75.  Rosemary & I have lived here since 2005.  Never in this time have I seen so many families walking with dogs and little kids.  I’ve seen lots of little kids practicing to ride their learning wheel loaded bikes.  Rosemary knew personally most of the people who walk their dogs.   Now days, after the tornado destruction and the Virus, there are so many new dogs & dog walkers that we are overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed with delight!

Where is The Spirit in your life?

 

 

 

 

A Note from Becky: Song books will be available in the front office of the school in case anyone would like to come by and pick one up so they can sing along.