Sunday Homily 10-23-11, 30th Ordinary Time

Says Our Dearest Emma, "Welcome in, Everybody."

Readings:

Isaiah 45, 1, 4-6,  I am the Lord, there is no other.

Psalm 96,  Give the Lord glory & honor.

Thessalonians 1, 1-5,  We give thanks to God for all of you

Alleluia,   Shine like lights in the world   (Great line)

uMatthew 22, 15-21,  Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?

Welcome in Denni, Charlotte, and Chloe, and Tom & Nora.  So good to see you all.

Isaiah observations :

Who : Can you guess which Isaiah this is in chapter 45?  1, 2, or 3?  A little more difficult than the last two Sundays.  This is Isaiah 2, going from chapter 40 to 55.

Today’s selection:  this is not Isaiah 2 at his best.  I like the line, I have called you by your name.  Otherwise, the passage is mildly comforting to the people who are living in Babylonian slavery, around 555 before Christ.

Welcome in to you, too, Dearest Zoe.  Just you wait.  We got something for you.  I have not forgotten.   Get ready,

Cyrus: So, who is Cyrus?          

 Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece.   He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.

Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem.  This is exactly what Cyrus does.  Where is Babylon?  Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River.  What is left?  Rubble. 

Note: Watch out for the alleluia verse.  A good one & I want to talk about it.

Hi, Diane, and welcome back.  Want to learn how to dance?   Diane is one of the best.

Shine like Lights in the World

This morning I would like to talk about the Alleluia verse, Shine like lights in the world.  The final questions are obvious, Who is a light for me, and For whom am I a light in the world.

I have lots of people who answer the first question.  You people, for instance.  What I would like to talk about, however, is two ladies, two black ladies, one of whom has died some years ago.

Our Candle Lighter of the Week in action.

First, ever hear of Juanita Craft?  In the ‘60’s & 70’s Juanita was the Dallas leader of the NAACP and a prominent activist.  She lived in South Dallas west of Fair Park. 

I was a Jesuit intern from ’65 to’68 at the high school.  The summer of probably ’67 I was looking at doing something different.  I talked with Juanita.  The next thing I know I am the only white guy on a Greyhound bus full of NAACP young people and their chaperons.  We were going to D.C. and then to the NAACP national convention in Atlantic City.  Remember this was another tense interracial time.  Sound familiar.  Martin Luther King was assassinated in May, 1968.   This was ’67.

The Best, Shonda, Ben, & David.

I learned two things from Juanita.   First, she was tireless in advocating for her people.  She used the media to help and she eventually was elected to the Dallas City Council.  Believe it or not, she was one of the inspirations for me gathering crowds for those years of planting trees.   Juanita was long dead by then and I had spent 10 years in East Africa.  It was like I would ask myself, ‘What would Juanita do with this dream?’

Secondly, a small thing.  Every time we got off that bus, Juanita would tell everybody to clean up every scrap of trash.  I was a bus driver for Jesuit, mostly sports teams.  I never thought of telling the kids to clean it up.  After the example of that old lady, I did.

To round out that summer I even spent the rest of it living in her little house in South Dallas and being active in the NAACP.

The Balloon Girls at work, Zoe & Tori.

The second black lady is named Sondra.  I see her once or twice a week when I go to our corner supermarket to buy bananas & milk & occasionally flowers.  She is the early morning cashier, is probably mid-‘60’s and should be retired,  She is very friendly and knows my name, Mr. John, and, get this, gets up ca. 2 A.M. to catch two or three buses from South Dallas to open up the store at 6:00. 

These two women shine like lights in my world.

Who are the lights in your world?

For whom are you a light?

Offertory ready with Carrie & Paul, Aggie & Allen.

Readings:

Genesis  9, 8-15,  The waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings. 

Psalm 25,    Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

1 Peter 3, 18-22,   Christ suffered for sins once.

 Mark 1, 12-15,   The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert.

Says Harper, "Welcome, Everyone, Come in out of the cold and rain."

Genesis:  observations–

What:  First book of the Bible, starts with creation & ends with the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (Israel).

Author: Not Moses as was thought for centuries before people began to study the work.  At least 3 sources: 

• a Y (or J) source for the group that addressed God as Yahweh;
• an E for the group who addressed God as Elohim (Like two historians calling NYC The Big Apple or New York City, or Denver by its name or Mile High City);
• and a P group that focused on the priestly class, activities, & customs.

And Emma, too, says, "Hi, Everybody, It's warm in here, come in."

Time: compiled and put together from 950 to 500 BCE.

Today's Selection: the flood has just receded and Noah is receiving a promise (called covenant) from Yahweh that never again will people be wiped out by a flood.  Guess what the sign of the promise is.

And Leo says, "Yippee, I bet my dad gets a Cupcake for his birthday."

A Happy Lent

I want to talk this morning about having a happy Lent.  Why?  Because God created us to be happy. 

I admit again that this is my least favorite season of the year.  I always look for something positive to do and am never really satisfied with what I come up with.

Welcome to a happy Lent.

However, this past week I got something good.  During the week Diane McClurg sent me a facebook note that she had something.   Then she sent me another more insistent facebook saying she was waiting.  So I opened it up.  And am I grateful.

What she had sent was a copy of an article by a woman named Karen Ehman.  Karen Ehman says, ‘For this Lent don’t give something up; take something up.’  She has five ideas that are pretty good.  Here they are.

Cupcake of The Week to Diane for her birthday and for recommending the article on Lent.

1. Take up note writing to people with whom you don’t communicate that often, but who are friends.  She says she buys 40 cards, envelopes, and stamps.  Each morning she sends one out to a friend, just saying that she likes the person.
2. Take up the phone and call someone every day or once a week and tell them you are calling just to tell them thanks for being a good friend.  
3. Take up a simple gift for a friend or family member.  Like bring flowers to someone, bring a Starbucks, offer to wash the dishes, or clean or dust the house, mow the grass (welcome to Tulip Lane).  Invite someone to lunch.  This is a once a week or occasional take up.

23 years for Alison and John.

1. Take up a simple gift for a stranger.  Like the recycle men, the garbage men, the checkers at the grocery.  Compliment the checker on her finger nails, give $10 to each of the garbage men (watch out for their over the top gratitude). 
2. Take up visiting someone in retirement or in a hospital.  (This is my addition, not Karen’s)  We got lots of people you may choose from, starting with Rita. 

Brent and Meredith keeping warm.

As you can see, some of these suggestions are occasional or once a week ideas.  Plus, what we have here are only seeds.  Even while you were listening to the five I put forward, you may be been thinking about other possibilities.

How can you have a happy Lent?

Source: Karen Ehman, on line.

Life for Cowboy Cole and Emma.

Readings:

Isaiah  45, 1, 4-6,  I have called you by your name.

Psalm 96,   Give the Lord glory and honor.

Thessalonians 1, 1-5,  Grace to you and peace.

Matthew 22, 15-21,  Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?  

Mary Ellen and Mary say, "Welcome in, Everybody."  Sadly for all of us, Thursday Mary Ellen moves back to CT.

Isaiah observations :

Who : Can you guess which Isaiah this is in chapter 45?  1, 2, or 3.  A little more difficult than the last two Sundays.  This is Isaiah 2, going from chapter 40 to 55.

Today’s selection:  this is not Isaiah 2 at his best.  I like the line, I have called you by your name.  Otherwise, the passage is mildly comforting to the people who are living in Babylonian slavery, around 555 before Christ.

Cyrus: So, who is Cyrus?          

 Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece.   He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.

Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem.  This is exactly what Cyrus does.  Where is Babylon?  Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River.  What is left?  Rubble. 

Rob & Beth still celebrating their 40th.

Thessalonians:

• Time written: ca. 50 A.D.   Considered Paul's first letter, and, in fact, the earliest written document in the N.T.
• Place: Paul was writing in Corinth, Greece to the town in northern Greece, Thessalonica, at the northern corner of the Aegean Sea.  He had founded a community there.
• Purpose of writing: to comfort and encourage the new Christians of Thessalonica, most of whom were Gentiles.    He sent Timothy to see how things were going.   The report Timothy brought back was largely favorable—hence the warm tone of the opening thanksgiving, which forms the main part of today’s reading. But there were also a few problems in Thessalonica; we will meet them on the thirty-second and thirty-third Sundays.

And we begin.

Resources: The New Interpreters Study Bible; St. Louis U. Liturgical @ Liturgical.slu.edu

The Best Line:  the Alleluia verse, Shine like lights in the world.  Guess what I would like to talk about.

Leo and Cole solving world problems.

Matthew observation:

Matthew lifts this story right out of Mark.  The story a game that was popular among the intellectuals in Jesus time, like a game of verbal chess.  The object was to confound your opponent so that choosing either one of two answers springs a trap.

Watch the smarmy language of the Pharisees and you can almost see them salivating at the impending kill. 

The trap: do you think it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not?  Jesus confounds them by choosing both.  Jesus wins the game.

Why do Mark & Matthew use this story?  To show how Jesus is superior and worthy of being followed and listened to.   

Offertory, Jerry & Shirley, Judy & Mike.

Me, a Light in the World? 

I want to talk about the alleluia verse, “Shine like lights in the world.”  I apologize again for talking about this reading in a way I have talked before. It is just so perfect a fit.  It comes to mind also because of the ebola focus these days.

After getting ordained at old St. Rita’s in June of 1971, I was sent to Miami to work as a chaplain in the big medical complex known as Jackson Memorial Hospital.  It was like Parkland, Southwestern Medical, and Presbyterian. 

The Jesuits of my southern province had a big parish right in the middle of downtown Miami, and part of the team worked the hospitals.  I was a summer helper and loved it.

Hey, who let that Witch in? You do that, Harper? Must be Halloween.

One day after I had been there about a week, a blond little girl of 10 or 11 was brought into the burn ward.  Ever been in a burn ward, a children’s burn ward?  Tough places.  I spent a lot of time in these wards.

The girl, Anna, had been with her family on a sail boat.  Somewhere along their trip the boat had passed under a bridge.  Anna was standing on the edge of the boat with her back leaning against one of the guy wires.  

As the boat went under the bridge, the mast touched an electrical line.  The electricity went down the mast and the guy wire.  Anna was electrocuted and burned.  Fortunately, she was hurled into the cool water which helped to stop her burns. 

Don't mean to scare you, John, but you got a witch behind you.

However, her back and the insides of her thighs and legs were seriously burned.  She would stay in Jackson for 2 to 3 months, even after I had to move on.  

I got really close to Anna & her family.  I visited her first & last every day and I was privileged to be allowed by the doctors to hold her hand when her bandages had to be changed.  Her parents had to leave the room.  You know that this is such a high tension time.  It used to leave me shaken.  

Watch out, Harper, a witch is getting ready to touch you.

I talk about this because the alleluia verse tells us to be lights in the world.  I think this is what it means.  I was privileged to be with that little girl & her family in such a horrible experience.  It is reciprocal: she was a light in my world.

The good news is that Anna finally did leave the hospital all healed up.  I never had the opportunity again to see the family, but I corresponded for years with the mom.  Somewhere during my time in Africa, the connection got broken.  I know that maybe 15 years later her mom wrote me that Anna had married and had a little kid. 

In whose world are you a light today? 

Rosemary sharing her blessing, welcome after such crazy stuff.

Readings: 2 Maccabees, 7, 1-14; Psalm 19; 2 Thessalonians 2, 16-3, 5; Luke 20, 27-38.

2 Maccabees: The two books of Maccabees cover the history of Israel for about 50 years, from ca. 200 to 150 B.C.  The books are again part of the Apocrypha collection, those books separate from both the Old & the New Testaments.

2 Maccabees emphasizes loyalty to the law, even in the face of persecution.  Our selection exemplifies this loyalty in the story of seven brothers & their mother.   This leads to the gospel story which also treats of seven brothers & one wife.

What to Die for; What to Live for

The date of this event was Nov. 16, 1989, 18 years ago this Friday.  The place: a Jesuit university.  The Jesuits have a residence for their men on the campus.  About 10 men live there and this evening six are at home.  Like most Jesuit residences they eat dinner about 6:00, then chat for a while, go off one by one to work on their classes or papers, and finally turn in before 11:00 or maybe 12:00.  A routine evening.

About 1:00 in the middle of the night the routine is shattered by 30 or 40 uniformed soldiers who bang on the door and barge in.  They wake everyone up and herd them into the patio.  While this is going on, other soldiers are crashing around the rooms, throwing books & drawers on the floor, and busting open cabinets.  A house keeper & her daughter are found in an adjacent apartment and they are taken into the patio with the 6 priests.

The searching and ransacking goes on for a couple of hours.  Meanwhile in the patio the priests and the women are made to lie face down on the grass.  At some point in the night while the group is lying down, each one is shot in the back of the head.

This took place at the University of Central America, San Salvador, El Salvador.

I am reminded of this contemporary event when I read in Maccabees about the mother with the seven sons.  Some comments about these events.

First, it is humbling to hear about people who believe so strongly about something that they are willing to die, even die being tortured.  These Jesuits at the university were attacked because they criticized the policies of the El Salvador government.  Some years before this event a gunman had walked up the main aisle of the cathedral in San Salvador and in front of everyone shot Bishop Oscar Romero face to face as he finished up a Mass.  He, too, had criticized the government for brutalizing the peasant people.  The Jesuits probably figured that the government would surely not murder a whole household of priests.  I stand in awe of the courage of these people.

Secondly, would that if we are called to defend our principles even to death, we could die defending the poor, struggling to bring peace, or demanding more equality.  While I admire the courage & integrity of the seven sons and mother, I am sad that they died over a law about eating pork.  Muslims today can kill infidels using a suicide bomb with the belief that Allah is pleased with them and they will have a special place reserved for them in paradise. 

It is like saying anyone who eats Blue Bell ice cream is going to hell, or eats it on Friday.  I am reminded of how I grew up being taught that I was going to hell if I ate meat on Friday.  People are trained to believe that drinking a glass of wine or dancing is sinful.  These laws are simply demands of other people who are like ourselves.  We let them mess with our minds.

Thirdly, let me suggest that there are two way to give your life.  The one, like the Jesuits, is swift and often violent.  One shot, end of story.

The second way of giving your life is exemplified by Ofelia’s husband, Luis, whom many of you saw at our two anniversary parties.  Both years Luis touched our hearts with his vows to Ofelia.  I, however, saw him every Thursday evening gently take care of Ofelia week after week, patiently being with her as she slowly lost her life.  For weeks he could not leave Ofelia alone, so he was house bound unless someone like Hospice showed up.  He told someone that last Saturday that he and Ofelia had fallen in love again.  Luis gave his life for Ofelia.

Most of us will probably not get shot in the back of the head for criticizing the government or fighting for peace.  All of us, however, are called to give our life, our daily life, to bring peace & life to another or many others.  Like, you teachers, you nurses, you drivers, you soccer coaches, you parents, you all.

For whom or what are you giving your life today?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-11-11.mp3

Readings: 1 Kings 19, 4-8; Psalm 34, Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord; Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2; John 6, 41-51

Kings:  a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel.  The Big 3 were Saul, David, & his son Solomon.  The Book of kings follows the Book of Samuel, which describes the lives of the the kings up to the death of David.  Kings takes up the life of Solomon, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, i.e., it divides and is conquered. 

Time Period: : from ca. 900 – 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus of Persia (Iran).

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

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah.  The kingdom has already been split.  Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel.  Time of severe drought.  The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel.  The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.

There has been a contest: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain.  2 bulls were slaughtered.  Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered.  When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal. 

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah.  He is going to run away all depressed. 

We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.

Taste and See the Goodness of Life

The psalm today says to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord."  I would like to suggest that we taste and see the goodness of life.  I have a Yosemite story that exemplifies this.

The scene.  It is day 5 of our 9 day trip in the park.  We are at about 9,000 feet.  Our last campsite has been at a beautiful high altitude lake called Miller Lake.  No one else was around it but our group of 10.  It has rained every afternoon since we entered Yosemite, more rain than I have ever seen in all the years I have come to Yosemite.  

We have to descend from the lake, reach the bottom of Matterhorn Canyon, then climb up the canyon as far as we can go & still have shelter from trees.  I've told the guys in the lead to look for just the right spot to camp in overnight before we go over our third pass of the trip, the third of four, all above 10,000 feet, the first one above 11,000.  

When I arrive in the campsite the guys have chosen, it is close to the time for the rain to begin.  Everyone has set up their tent except me and one or two others.  I notice we are not in compliance with camping rules, but who am I to suggest that everyone move their tent 100 feet away from the trail and the mountain stream.  

So I set up my own tent in a wooded area with lots of vines & bushes, take a quick dip in the mountain stream to clean up, and climb into my dry tent for a brief snooze before the rain passes and we get out for dinner around 5:00.  

Just before 4:00 while the rain comes down a ranger lady arrives at the lower level of our camp.  She asks to see our permit, like happened on our second night with no problem.  This is the first time in years I see rangers again in the park.  Everyone tells her that Stack has the papers.  She arrives at my tent.  I open up she informs me there in the rain at 4:00 P.M. that we have to move our campsite.  We are too close to the trail, too close to the stream, we have built a small, illegal fire ring, and we even had a shower rigged up in a tree over the trail.  She could give us a dozen citations, even fine us, really me as the coordinator of the group.

No discussion would budge her.  Not the rain, not the hour, nothing.  She left saying she would go up canyon, then return later to see our progress.  I felt horrible.  I remember sitting in my tent thinking, "What next?"  I figured at least we could wait until 4:30 to see if the rain would stop. 

Meanwhile, on the lower level of the campsite, Rob & Ray spring into action, rain or no rain.  They head up canyon, at least we would be getting closer to the pass, and search out a campsite, across the river, which the ranger had suggested.  We had already waded 3 times the same mountain stream and each time had to put on sandals because the water was higher than our boots.  There was a little bit of resistance, with hope to find something on our side of the stream.

In the end we chose the site across the stream, everyone packed up wet rain flies, crossed the river, and set up on the broad grassy slope.  The campsite ended up being terrific when it stopped raining.

In many ways this experience could have turned our trip into a trip from hell.  As a matter of fact, looking back, there was a special beauty, a special good.  First, I did not have to initiate the change of camp.  Everyone pitched in with acceptance & without complaint.  Then we found an even more beautiful campsite which was a half mile closer to the pass than I have ever camped before.  And finally, after packing up wet the next morning, we climbed over Burro Pass and found my most favorite and the most beautiful campsite that I have ever enjoyed.  We dried out quickly and stayed here two delightful nights.

I could taste & see the goodness of life on this trip.

In your life, what are 2 places or ways you taste & see the goodness?

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin & T.J.

Picture 2:  Alexandra & her dad, David

Picture 3:  Cara & her mom, Christine

Picture 4:  Shelby & her mom, Debbie

Genesis 14:    "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand."

Corinthians   11:  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

Luke 9:  They all ate and were satisfied.  And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

Mary reads from St. Paul's Letter to the Corinthians

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Janice & Mike get a cookie for their anniversary

Outreach: $   50.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:

 

 

 

 

John Stack Ministries meets on Sunday for Mass at 9:30 at The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano,

Texas.

 

 

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.