Sunday Homily, October 28, 2012, 30th Ordinary Time B
Readings:
Jeremiah 31, 7-9, Shout with joy.
Psalm 126, The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.
Hebrews 5, 1-6, Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God.
Mark 10, 46-52, Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the road begging.
Jeremiah observations:
Who: one of the Big 3 Prophets, 52 chapters, the “broken hearted prophet,” because he hated being so unpopular and having to condemn so much.
Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe seems to be who put down the prophet’s message. Jeremiah probably died in Egypt.
When: put together before & during the B.C., Babylonian Captivity, say 575 before Christ (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).
Remember, too, that time before Christ is counting downward or backwards.
Interesting Side Note: (another reminder) can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed? Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, this same time, i.e. ca. 575.
Why? The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians. They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry. Three special laws were established: 1. male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.
The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law. They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days. Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest. So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians. It worked, even down to today.
Subject: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.
Today: Beautiful message of peace and consolation. It is coming.
Sources: Bishop John Shelby Spong, The sins of Scripture; Wikipedia
She Danced through Life
Rosemary & I had the privilege and the honor Thursday to attend the funeral of another noble woman & friend, like Joan, Colleen Romero.
I calculate that Rosemary & I have known Colleen and her husband for ten years. We certainly knew them for a couple of years before we got married in 05/05/05. You will never guess how we met them. Dancing.
Somewhere along the line, a group of us noticed that Plano Parks provided a whole variety of adult classes, among them dancing. So Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette, Beth & Rob , and some others, we all decided, “Let’s go learn to dance.” And so we met Colleen and Fred.
They were our teachers. They were elegant, charming, and fun. I danced with Colleen a number of times. I would ask Fred how I was learning some special dance. He would laugh. Then Colleen would guide me to a point where I got it.
This is the first thing I see when I remember Colleen. She danced through life, charming, elegant, smiling, and having fun. She and Fred were even running dance classes at St. Gabriel parish for adults who had Parkinson’s or coordination problems.
A second aspect to Colleen I saw recently. It was a few weeks back when I got a notice that Colleen was not doing well and was in the hospital. We had not seen her and Fred for months, maybe a year. She had been struggling with various joint problems for some time, but this was supposed to be serious.
So, I called her straight up. She answered. She sounded groggy and stressed. In fact, she was experiencing nausea. So I made it quick, saying I loved her and sent her all my support. She said this may be her time and that she was okay about it.
A few more days go by and I get another note saying that the word is this really is it. This time we get in the car and go visit her at Medical City Plano.
I walk in and find her looking and sounding great. However, she says this is truly her time, that she wants no special treatment, and that she is totally ready. She was in that acceptance stage we talk about in stages of dying, the stage of peace.
Colleen was not like Mark’s Bartimaeus today. She was not blind. She could see. She danced her way through life and when her time approached, she accepted it.
Like I asked with Joan, how have you been blessed by people like Colleen?