Sunday Homily, September 2, 2012, 22nd Ordianry Time B

Readings: Ezekiel 37, 1-14 (1-11 not in lectionary); Psalm 130, With the Lord there is Mercy and Fullness of Redemption; Romans 8, 8-11; John 11, 1-45, The raising of Lazarus
 

Ezekiel 37, observations:  (Author, When, Message)

           Author: Ezekiel, for real.  He is unique because he was not only one of the Big 3 Prophets (along with Isaiah & Jeremiah), but he was also a priest working in the temple. 

          When: before & during the Babylonian Captivity, therefore around 585 before Christ.  His audience was these people. 

 

          Message: Like the classic prophet, he condemns, warns, and consoles.  We pick up on the consolation end.  I want to read the first verses which lead up to our selection, because it is the fun dry bones story, about which we have the Spiritual.  It is a shame the richer story is not included.  This is metaphor.  The dry bones can stand for the people in captivity; they can stand for me.  Get out of that tomb!

 Sources: New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Good News Bible, St. Louis U. with Reginald Fuller, Daniel Westberg, Larry Gillick, Jesuits.

  
 

Get out of that tomb!

 One of the blessings of travel for me is the deepening of gratitude in me for how fortunate I am right here.  Another blessing comes with meeting special people along the way.

 I met one of these special people in Normandy on our trip to France.  When we arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, we immediately took the train to a little village called Bayeux in Normandy. 

 

 The next day we took a moving tour of the June 6, D Day landings on Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, three of the cemeteries, plus a handful of other memorials. 

 The following day we visited a place I was to discover was one of the four Middle Age pilgrimage sites.  First off, I did not know of four.  Know the other three?   Jerusalem, Rome, & Santiago de Campostella in the NW province of Galicia in Spain. 

 The  place we visited was called Mont San Michel and has been a Benedictine monastery for centuries, since around 900.  It is built on a large rock off of the coast of France, reached only by a causeway because high tide surrounds the rock with water. 

 Visiting the monastery, which was actually used as a prison for about a century after the French Revolution in 1789, was moving.  Equally moving for me was the woman who took us out there, the second point.

 

 One of those special persons.  She was simply driving a hotel van from Bayeux to Mont San Michel.  She could have said nothing.  Instead, she was full of personality and information about everything.  I came to really admirer her, especially when she shared her story.

 She said she had gone through a painful lay off and could not find work.  So she went to plan B, as she called it, driving the van for the little Churchill Hotel in Bayeux. 

 She did not just drive.  She described everything along the way and shared more about the history of Mont San Michel than I had even read.  She became a friend to such an extent that we went out with her the next afternoon, after she did her morning drive, to a little town she told us we would love, Honfleur.  We did.

 Why talk about her?  Because she exemplifies what is being talked about here, getting out of the tomb where we are half dead and coming to fuller life. She said getting laid off just about killed her, especially when she could not find any replacement.  She was in the tomb, she was not alive.

 

 The message is ‘get out of that tomb.’  Where am I stuck?  We know the places, the addictions & the obsessions, the laziness and the over indulgence.  The goal is simply to be a person more fully alive.

 Where is your tomb?

 Picture 1:   The Community    

 Picture 2:   Leo & his daddy, Ray  

 Picture 3:   Maggie & her daddy, Tom

 Picture 4:   Mont San Michel, Normandy, France

 Picture 5:   Wedding of Jill Carleton & Stephen Egal

 

 

Readings: 2 Kings 4, 42-44; Psalm 145, The Hand of the Lord feeds Us; He answers all Our Needs; Ephesians 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15 

 

Kings: 4 observations–

Subject Matter: The Kings, naturally.  Especially Solomon after the death of his father, David.  But also treated:

    1.  The temple.  Solomon builds it.

    2.  The death of Solomon who held the nation together.

    3.  Division: Israel in the north breaks away from Judah in the south.

    4.  Israel destroyed completely by the Assyrians, ca. 720.

    5.  Fall of Jerusalem & destruction of the Temple; Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 585 BCE.

    6.  Cyrus of Persia releases the Jews to return to Jerusalem after defeating the Babylonians (remember Babylon was near present day Bagdhad).

Date: from 900 – ca. 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE.

Our Selection: There are 2 significant prophets, Elijah & Elisha, his son.  In this piece, Elisha it telling a man with 20 loaves of bread to feed a crowd.  This is a lead into the Gospel of John about feeding the multitude. 

Sources: Encyclopedia of Judaism, Wikipedia

The Miracle of Sharing My Food

I hate to do this to you folks, but every time I read this story about 5 loaves and 2 fish feeding a crowd of 5,000 men (to say nothing of the women), I am reminded of my days in Tanzania, East Africa.  You who have heard these stories, please forgive me.  They just clarify so much.  Here we go.

I was on an overnight train.  I was traveling from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the capitol, to Moshi, a town near Kilimanjaro, where the Jesuits had a small one to three person house, which I used as a base when I was not traveling around Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda giving seminars and retreats.

I had arrived in Dar es Salaam late for some reason and could not make an advance reservation for a first class cabin, which was the only way to go.  You shared a little compartment with another guy.  Because I was without reservation, I had to buy a coach ticket.  These trains are marvelous old antiques from the colonial age, but travel by coach is mayhem.  They are packed.  Don't dream of getting a seat.  Just be grateful that you can get inside.  Which I did, sitting on my one small suitcase, expecting to be awake all night listening to the kids, chickens, ducks, and snores of the few who had a seat and the ability to sleep through it all. 

You board this train for a 7:00 P.M. departure.  You expect to arrive Moshi around 5:00 A.M.   This particular night the train came to a halt at about 1:00 in the middle of nowhere.  Naturally, nobody knew why we stopped and for how long.  We stayed in that spot all the rest of the night and all the following day until about 6:00 P.M. 

Everyone on that train had food & water hidden away, except one gringo, who tried to sleep on the rocks on the edge of the roadbed, knowing he would hear the train move and could get up and get back in.

I was actually rescued from dying of thirst in the heat of the day by a young German couple in the first class compartments, the only other white folks on the whole train.  I was afraid to drink the water of the Tanzanians because they often did not purify it. 

I tell this story because the Tanzanian people on the train I suspect would be similar to the Jews listening to Jesus in that crowd of 5,000 men.  People like these do not go away from their base unprepared.  Not only do they carry food & water, they hide it so as to not have to share with someone too stupid to bring his own.  The women, especially, can hide in their robes lots of things.  Hoarding in the cultures we are talking about is no sign of inferiority.  It is survival. 

What Jesus did that was confounding is that he got these country folks to share their cache.  He takes some of the bread & fish and passes it on.  The person who receives it takes some, but feels uncomfortable only taking.  So the person puts a portion of his or her own in the basket.  What do they end up with?  Twelve wicker baskets of leftover food.

This interpretation of the 5 loaves & 2 fishes is as old as when I got ordained back in 1971, and before that.  I find it fascinating because we can go and do likewise.  You & I cannot multiply bread & fish, but we can share treasures.  We can share and we can invite others to feel secure enough to share. 

I finally arrived home to Moshi in the middle of the next night.  I even caught a thief with his hand in my right pocket at a little kiosk lit with a kerosene lamp.  The train had stopped at some tiny station and a lady was selling little pieces of rice bread or something.  I pulled that man's hand out of my pocket, grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him back.  If I had yelled "thief!", he might have been killed on the spot.  I knew the custom and the language, and he knew I knew.  He ran. 

I also got to know the German couple, even climbing Kilimanjaro with them one of my 5 times.  So, folks, sorry for repeating a favorite story of mine.  The question, too, is the same.

How am I overcoming my temptation to hoard & sharing my food?

Picture 1:  Mass with T.J.

Picture 2:  Bill Carey & Ron Kovatis

Picture 3:  Ron donating $2000 to CCAC with Claire & Ray, Jackie & Cathy

Picture 4:  Barb & her sister Evie from Germany

 

Readings:

 2 Kings 4, 42-44,  “They not only ate, but had leftovers.”  

Psalm 145,    The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Ephesians 4, 1-6,   “Pour yourselves out in acts of love; and be quick to mend fences.”

Alleluia – “A great prophet has risen in our midst.”

John 6:1-15 (also in Matt 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17) – “Jesus took the bread, and having given thanks, gave it to them.”

 

 

 

 

                   Genevieve says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome."

Introduction to the readings:

The Jewish people wanted to have a king like other nations had.  Wasn’t God’s idea; the people kept demanding a king; he let them have a king.  The idea was that the kings, starting with Solomon, would represent the sovereignty of God by being good kings. 

For 500 years there were 40 or so kings, and of course they were mostly rather pitiful, a few were pretty good.  Today’s reading is from the second book of kings, so during the time when kings ruled the Jewish people, starting with Saul about 1000 years before Jesus, and ending about 500 years later with the Babylonian captivity (555). 

 

 

       Leo & Shonda, too, say, "Good Morning, Folks, Welcome."

 

 There were prophets and holy men before there were kings.  They are the ones who kept tabs on the kings and represented God’s take on issues. 

Today’s reading introduces Elisha, a holy man respected by Joram, king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.  This little story of Elisha feeding a crowd of 100 with 20 loaves of bread was chosen to connect with the story of the multiplication of loaves in the today’s Gospel story. And the letter to the Ephesians teaches what sharing in the meal should signify and bring about in one’s behavior.

 

Emma, too, says that she and her buddy welcome everyone.

 

HOMILY:

We have heard many times the reading about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish.  This is the only miracle story repeated in all four Gospels. 

How appropriate that feeding those needing food was the best miracle story known; it could be told today with equal impact.  I forget the stats, but it’s millions of people, including children, who are hungry every day and without food (who knows the number or percent). 

 

                  Harper says she thinks it is fun being here.

 

Also in each of these four repetitions of the story, there is a formula or ritual stated: “Jesus raised his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to his disciples.”

So first, the story is a story about Jesus performing a miracle, which is how writers in those days made someone ‘famously big’ or a ‘god to be reckoned with’. 

Secondly, this story was well known, since all four Gospel writers or compilers used it. 

And thirdly, one line in the story became part of the shared meal starting with early Christians all the way down to today. 

 

            Victoria having just too much fun with her mom.

 

The reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, liturgically, seems to teach what flows from sharing in this ritual meal.  And his answer is unity, recognizing that we are called to be one body, united in love.  Paul describes our call from God as pouring yourself out for each other in acts of love, accepting other’s differences and being quick to forgive.

 Three questions to mull over: 

In your family (at home, here, friends group) how do you see acts of love being shared, and differences accepted?  

How quick are you to mend fences and forgive one another? 

Do you make the connection between sharing bread here at Mass, and experiencing connection and oneness with others in your everyday life?

        

 

Genevieve, who has learned already from previous Sundays how to turn it off, says, "Wake me up when the fun begins."

 

Readings:

Sirach, 27, 30-28, 7, Hate not your neighbor.  

Psalm 103,  The Lord is Gracious and Merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in Love.  (Wow!)

Romans  13, 7-9,  Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

Matthew 18, 21-35   If my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?  .. not seven times, but seventy-seven times…

 

Tuning in.

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Patrica & Jackie & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  John Cade

Homily,  Stack 

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

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

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

 

 

 

Download Readings Week 24

 

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 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.

 

The new house amid the trees.

 

For Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer.

 

 

The Brain center

 

Birthdays:    Sandra Pratt, 80;  Claire Zurchin, 35; 

Anniversaries:  Tom & Lynda, 38th

Mark & Julie Anderlick, 8th

 

 

A cool neighborhood on a hot day.

 

Community Finances, September 13, 2020

Expenses: $ 2,830.00

Outreach   $  380.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

 

Has this broadcast team not arrived at new heights!

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

May the Lord grant you

       A tolerance for those who don’t agree with you,

       A refusal to judge others,

       A willingness to forgive,

       A calm and hopeful spirit in the midst of anxieties,

       And a holy anger for injustice in the world.

From Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiedwrkehr

 

 

Our new address,  7017 Helsem Way, Dallas 75230.   This enclave has TREES, unlike our poor, dear, tornado battered Preston Hollow neighborhood.  It is so special.

Readings:                          

1 Kings   17,  17-24, See, your son is alive.

Psalm 30,  I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Galatians 1, 11-19,    The gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

Luke 7, 11-17,  The dead man sat up and began to speak.

 

 

Welcome, Vivian.  It is so nice to see you.  You are gorgeous.

 

1 Kings observations:

What :  1 Kings is the third book in a 4 book semi-historical history of the early tribe of Israelites.  The books, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  The story goes from Samuel, the last of the judges, to Saul, the first of the kings, to King David (with Goliath, Jonathan, Mikah and dancing, Bathsheba & Solomon).

The two books of Kings focus on Solomon and his building of the temple and, finally, the split into two states, Israel in the north, Juda in the south with Jerusalem.  Ultimately, the story tells the defeat of the state of Israel by Syria and the disappearance of those northern 10 tribes. 

 

 

Harper, too, says, "Welcome, Vivian, and welcome, Everybody."

 

 

When composed:   during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.  Why at this time?  Same reason why so much was composed at this time, to explain why the Captivity, to keep the tribal identity, and to provide hope for a brighter future.

Who composed:   Tradition said Jeremiah the prophet, but contemporary studies show at least 3 writers.

Today's selection:  the prophet Elijah raises the dead son of a widow.

Sources: New Jerusalem Bible, Wikipedia

 

 

And sez Victoria, "Hi, Everybody, it is nice to be back." 

 

 

Giving Life

This morning we have two stories of people giving life.  First, Elijah brings back to life the son of a poor widow.  Similarly, Jesus brings back to life the son of another poor widow.  Of course, we all think, ‘Well, that does not apply to me.  I cannot bring people back to life.’

Two observations. 

 

She is back, Folks.  Welcome home, Cathy, from Turkey.

 

 

First, it was common currency for the people to give to their leaders, whether religious or political leaders, the power to give people life.  You were not much of a leader if you could not bring people back from the dead.

Secondly, I would propose that, despite what you are thinking, you and I all have the gift to bring people back to life.  One example. 

 

 

The Team with special help from Buddy.

 

Fr. Duffy.  I never had the opportunity to memorialize Duffy or attend his memorial because Rosemary & I were out of town.  Here is how Duffy gave life to me and to the people of St. Marks. 

Before Duffy arrived at St. Marks I had worked for some years saying the 9:00 A.M. Mass in Spanish in the cafetorium or the English Mass in the church and, of course, the 10:30 cafetorium Mass.  Only once in those years did I ever enter the rectory.  That was because the bishop came to dinner one evening.

 

 

College is out.  Welcome home Dana and Dawson.  Your mom is happy.

 

 

When Duffy settled in, guess what.  The rectory was wide open.  Welcome, everybody.  I remember when I would finish the two Masses I was exhausted.  I would cross the patio and head to the rectory.  I would go upstairs to take a 20 minute nap in an empty guest bedroom. 

Then I would come down to the kitchen where Rita had made chocolate chip cookies big as dinner plates and homemade vanilla ice cream. Yes, you know it.  Wow!   I had a cookie and ice cream seated at the big dining room table where Duffy held court.  This continued even after he had his medical problems and did not say Masses.  He welcomed everybody.  It was like a train station in there.

 

 

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany, David, and, of course, Vivian.

 

Before he got sick he totally turned on the people of St. Marks.  He welcomed.  He, also, had an amazing gift for the comic and camaraderie.   

Remember the first communion Masses we used to have on Saturdays?  Remember the two special ones?

 

Offertory, Mary & Frank, Grace and Cheryl.

 

 

Duffy used to ask the kids who was Jesus’ mom, and his dad.  You got the answer, you got a dollar.  Then, who is the holiest priest in St. Marks for five dollars?   Who was it?  Duffy, of course.  No way.  Duffy calls a little girl.  She whispers, “Fr. Stack!   This, of course, brought down the house and Duffy, of course, put on a dance. 

This happened two years in a row.  The second year I was concelebrating.  When another little girl said Fr. Stack and Duffy started dancing around, I came down from the altar platform and gave the girl $5. 

 

 

"Oh, No," sez John, "I forgot to pick up the coffee."

 

Life at St. Marks with Duffy was so much fun, full of life, and always, “welcome, everybody!”   Duffy gave me life.  Duffy gave us life.  Duffy gave the people life. 

Who has given you life?  Who gives you life?

To whom do you give life and how? 

 

Special Thanks edition for Sunday's celebration and birthday brunch.

 

 

A colorful community for a colorful room at Legacy

 

 

Welcome this Sunday: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made. 

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community  & John Cade, Mike Carrell,  &  Stack  

Place: Legacy Charter School,  601 Accent Drive, Plano, TX 75075

 

 

WOW!  Where to begin.

 

We have heard that people discover that the Blog has stopped coming.  Typepad tends to drop people for no reason.  So if this happens to you, just sign up again by going to www.johnstackministries.com

 

 

I would like one of each, please.

 

Readings:

Malachi, 1-4,  I am sending my messenger to prepare the way.

Psalm 24.  Who is this king of glory?  It is the Lord.

Hebrews 2, 14-18,  He was able to help.

Luke 2, 22-40, The Presentation

 

 

Thanks, Jackie, for The Best Cake.

 

Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, January 31, 2020,   Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.  

 

 

Better hurry up before it is all gone!

 

JULIETS

Lunch with the Juliets

Hi Ladies

We all are looking forward to a great Valentines Luncheon Friday, February 7th at 12:30.  We will meet at Cafe Amoire 600 N. Coit Road Richardson (Coit and Arapaho) It is a BYOB.  

Please let me know who will be joining us. Looking forward to celebrating Valentines Day.  Per the owner, reservations are required.

Have a good day,  Marilyn

972-491-7068

 

 

Anything left?

 

True?

60 MIGHT BE THE NEW 40, BUT 9:00 IS THE NEW MIDNIGHT…   (and 80??)

 

 

Kenny, did you eat all the guacamole?

 

What's up in Ye Old Catholic Church?  Like…

Francis is dragging the Church into the new century,

https://international.la-croix.com/news/francis-is-dragging-the-church-kicking-and-screaming-into-the-20th-century/11521

 

 

 

Here comes trouble!

 

Swap Sunday, February 16th, "It's still good, but I don't want it, you can have it".  Gather all your good stuff that you can't use anymore and bring it with you on 2/16.  Everything's free.  

 

See you Sunday, J.S.

214-783-0443

 

 

Anybody know these characters?

 

JSM Mission-Faith Statement: 

 Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for and challenges spiritual and total growth.

Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged and make the world we live in a better place to live.

 

And the banner says, Aged to Perfection.  No laughter, please.