2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 14, 2024

 

 

 

Rosemary's sister, Clare recuperating from knee replacement.

 

Readings:

Wisdom 18, 6-9,  You people awaited the salvation of the just.

Psalm 33,  Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own (Everybody?) 

Hebrews 11, 1-2, 8-19,  Faith is the realization of what is hoped for.

Luke 12, 32-48,  Do not be afraid any longer.

 

 

 

The Team says, "Welcome."

 

 

Observations on the Readings: note how there is one positive line and a whole bunch of fear focus.

 

Do not be afraid any longer, Little Flock

I would like this morning to pick up on that line from Luke, Do not be afraid any longer, Little Flock.

A week ago this past Wednesday I was coming home from working out at the Jewish Community gym.  It was about 7:00 A.M. and sunny.  It had been dark when I set out at around 5:30.  I parked in our driveway, turned off the Prius, and prepared to get out and enter our kitchen door.

 

 

 

So Ben goes off for summer vacation and returns 5 1/2 inches taller.   How did you do that, Ben?  Last time I measured I was 2 inches shorter.

 

Suddenly through the left corner of the windshield I noticed something white just off the cement and in the grass.  “Nuts,” I thought.  “I have forgotten again to leave at the J my hand towel used for sweat."  But, I had not noticed it when I departed.

As I exited the car I more or less kept my eye on the white spot when suddenly I saw a movement.  I walked over and the white towel turned out to be the prettiest little pure white cat.  It was lying on its left side, facing our back door, and its right hind leg twitched once in a while.

 

 

 

 

"Connie, I bet you are in the market for a mint condition red car."

 

It had obviously had a bad night. I thought I could see tooth marks on its neck and on its left shoulder an open wound.  It had somehow walked almost to our back door (to find help), lay down exhausted, and was dying.

 

 

 

The welcome team, Alison and Jan.

 

I ran inside to get Rosemary.  We decided to take her or him straight to the vet just around the corner.  We put a towel on a piece of cardboard.  Rosemary took some gloves and placed the little cat on the towel. 

 

 

 

Thanks, Leo, for a delightful second Homily.

 

I confess that I was scared to pick up the cat because I thought her spinal tendon might be damaged.  There was no obvious pain, but as she was picked up the little cat, it opened the sweetest little light blue left eye and looked at Rosemary.

At the vet’s office we all decided that the little cat needed to be euthanized out of her pain.  It had no ID and the vet said she was in bad shape.

 

 

 

Just in case you lose your way, Buddy's shoes will light your path.

 

I walked out of that office with tears running down my cheeks and for a couple of days the cat was on my mind and in my heart.

Let me now refocus.  I would propose that my heart goes out to that little cat only a tiny fraction of how God’s heart goes out to all of us.  Could we be God’s cats?

Do not be afraid any longer, Little Flock.

 

 

 

Sophia lights the candles while Buddy reads the blessing.

 

Could it be that all this emphasis on fear, on being caught off guard, and being punished (even forever) is partly the tribal leaders of the people trying to control the unruly tribe?

If you are plagued by this fear, what can you do to not be afraid any longer, Little flock?

 

 

The offertory team, Louis, Cheryl, Frank, and Mary.

Jeremiah 33: That's when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem live in safety.

1 Thessalonians 3:  And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you.

Luke 21:  And then – then! – they'll see the Son of Man welcomed in grand style – a glorious welcome!

 

 

 

Another Reminder for the 1st Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2024

Welcome:  Catholic Mass with coffee & juice & specials on the house served afterwards. 

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack.    Again, Welcome.

Place: Vines High School, 15th between Custer & Independence.

 

 

 Readings:  –  from Thanksgiving Day 

 Sirach  50, 22-24,   May he grant you joy of heart.

Psalm 113,   Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever.

1 Corinthians 1, 3-9,   You were enriched in every way.

Luke 17, 11-19,  Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks? 

 

 Community Bulletin Board:   

1.   For the Love of the Kids, December 8.  You must sign up ahead of time if you want to help.  The link:   Loveforkidsinc.org

 2.   Next Community Brunch, December 9, Second Sunday of Advent, plus collection for Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center.  See the handouts for special needs.

3.    Want to serve Thanksgiving Dinner at Soul's Harbor, Thanksgiving Day?  Check with Brent, 214-596-8225, or with me.  Time, 8:00 to about 1:00. 

4.  Advance notice: Christmas Eve Mass, 4:00 P.M.

 

    

  What's going on in our Catholic World:     

 

1.   Bishops' plan B post election, National Catholic Reporter, November 11,  600 words,   Download Bishops' Plan B 11-16-12

    2.  Bishops' letter on U.S. economy, National Catholic Reporter, November 13, 750 words,   Download Bishops & Economy 11-16-12

True? 

No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.

Lou Sabin

 

 See you Sunday, November 18 

 J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

 JSM Mission-Faith Statement   

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

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

   

 

 

 

 

Welcome, Everybody!

 

 

Readings:  

 Ezekiel   17, 22-24,   All the trees of the field will know…

 Psalm 130,   Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

 2 Corinthians —  A special reading

 Mark 4, 26-34,   This is how  it is with the kingdom of God.  

 

 

 

 

Welcome to our Fathers' Day Special.

 

 

Homily by John Cade:  

Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is here all around us and, yes, it is miraculous, like the mustard seed or pine nut are miraculous. To Jesus’ listeners the gifts of nature, like the growth of plants, were a mystery, how they start out so little and somehow grow so big. This is how God’s Spirit works. From inside we are moved to grow, to mature, to share, to help create God’s kingdom. 

 

 

 

 

Emma sharing one of  her special gift, lighting our candles.

 

 

Examples of people building the kingdom abound. We see each week this wall of portraits of people who were like us, regular people, and who also dared to love their neighbors however they met them: Like Mahatma Gandhi in India, standing for non-violent civil disobedience and for self-government for the Indian people; like Martin Luther King Jr. in the U.S., standing for racial equality and against unjust war; like Mother Teresa in India, serving the poor and outcast; like Oscar Romero in El Salvador, standing for his people against political tyranny and abuse; like Nelson Mandela in South Africa, standing for his native people of color against apartheid; like Cesar Chavez and Harriet Tubman in the U.S., Cesar standing against the unjust treatment of migrant workers and for the right to unionize, and Harriet standing for the freeing of slaves and risking her life supporting the ‘underground railroad’; and so forth with the others.

 

 

 

The Team.

 

 

These people were, like us, born as regular people. They had eyes like us to see, and ears like us to hear, and they, each in their own way, imagined how they could help build up the kingdom of God in their time. We tend to make our heroes seem other-worldly, bigger than life. We put them on a pedestal, just out of our reach, just a bit too super to imitate. But this is an overly idealized view. Most people who actively build up the kingdom of God don’t get known as super heroes, don’t get their portrait on a wall.

 

 

 

The Doughertys, Connie, John, & home from college, Kevin.

 

 

Like my sister-in-law who raised 2 children while working full time as a teacher and when her husband developed a brain tumor, being a caring partner in his journey. She now divides her time between helping her grown daughter, a single mom who has MS and a 3 year old son, and helping her 95 year old father, who is in failing health, to remain in his own home. 

 

 

 

The Best, Shonda, Ben, & David.

 

 

 

Or like two young men and fathers I know who, though their marriages did not succeed, stay true to their mission to be fathers to their sons, participating wholeheartedly in their growth and development.

 

 

 

The Bresson Offertory Procession, Kevin, John, & Connie.

 

 

These good people are builders of the kingdom of God visualized by Jesus. Look around. See all the ways people you know are building up the kingdom. How you help make the kingdom come in your time is limited only by the unlimited ways you can imagine it. It’s not how big a splash you make. It’s the love and courage and persistence of your choices and behaviors that make God’s kingdom come in our world in our time.

 

 

 

Welcome Home, Mary Ellen.  So nice to see you here with us all.

 

 

Who have you seen building up God’s kingdom, and you can imagine their portrait on the wall? And when did you last imagine how you could build up this kingdom in your lifetime?

 

 

Thanks for being special to us all, My Dearest Emma.

 

 

Sirach 50:  May he grant you joy of heart and may peace abide among you.

1 Corinthians 1: God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 17:  And one of them,  realizing he had been healed, returned glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.  He was a Samaritan.

 

John Cade and John Stack starting Mass

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben 

Readers,  Carrie & Paul

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Richard

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                      

Carrie reading from Sirach

         

 

Christmas Collections:

We will be collecting sweatshirts and hoodies for Soul's Harbor  on Sunday, December 10, 2023.

We will also have an Angel Tree.  More details to follow.

 

 

Remember these special people:

For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Tom Good;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Allen Stryker;   For Mike and Judy Carrell ; For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;   For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie;  For Ron ;  For Teresa Quinn's niece, Maddie who has a brain tumor;

                                                                                                 

 

Jackie's sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;  For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & the families of Annie and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

 

Paul reading from Paul's Letter to the Corinthians

                                          

Birthdays:   Cody Mashburn 11/19, Ron Ackerman 11/22, John Cade 11/25

Anniversaries:  John Cade – stop smoking

                 

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  3,455.64

Outreach: $  

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

                                        John Cade gets a cupcake for his birthday

Readings:

Isaiah 61, 1-2, 10-11, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

Psalm, Luke 1, My soul rejoices in my God

Thessalonians 5, 16-24, Rejoice always

John 1, 6-8, 19- 28,  A man named John was sent from God

 

John Cade will celebrate Laetare Sunday with his homily.

 

 

Here is information about ways we can help this Christmas. 

Soul’s Harbor.  As in years past we are collecting sweatshirts and hoodies for the guys at Soul’s Harbor. Please drop them off at Lynda Fleming’s house by 12/17/20.  (5 Vista Cliff Place, Richardson, TX 75080).

 

A note from Becky Good:

Legacy Preparatory Charter in Plano is looking for a few good church families to donate to our neediest school families.  If you're one of those who feels the need to answer this call please email me so that I can make you part of the document that will contain the list of our neediest families and their children with ages and sizes.

Should you want to donate money instead, email me and we will find a way to receive it if you don't want to drop off a check.

Families in need: Download Families (1)

Here's my email:  Bgood@legacypca.com

As always, Legacy and I thank you for your constant generosity.  You are making a difference in our school community.  Thank you again.

Checks and gifts/donations need to be dropped off by Monday, 12/15/20, so they can get it to the families.

 

ROMEOS, Friday, November 27, 1:00,  as usual.    Welcome!

ROMEOs' Virtual Jason's Deli BYOB lunch
This is a recurring meeting, Friday, 1:00 pm
Link :
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85798571623?pwd=NmFSTW1ocVMzRGdIc0QzUGxKdHM3dz09

Meeting ID: 857 9857 1623
Password: saladbar

 

Reminder for 1st Sunday Advent, November 29, 2020

Here are the links for Sunday: