Sunday Homily 6-6-10, Corpus Christi

Wisdom 18: The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers,  that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,  they might have courage.

Hebrews 11:  Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.

Annette reading from the Book of Wisdom

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben  & Shonda

John reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews

 

 

Remember these special people:

For all the people affected by the floods;  For the Ukraine and the Holy Land; For our new Pope, Leo XIV;  For John Stack;    For Adam, that the doctors may find a remedy for his seizures; For Meredith ;   For Tom  Quinn;   For Warren Wittek; For Becky and Tom Good; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Allen Stryker;   For Mike and Judy Carrell ; For Hue; For Jackie;   For Mary Hall's family and 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;    from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation,  the families of Annie and Michael and her neighbor, Marie and the family;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Jackie sharing her thoughts on the readings

Outreach: $   160.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Mary gets a cookie for her anniversary

Rosemary's Blessing:

Come, O Dancing God,

Spirit of Life and Love,

of  Beauty and Diversity,

stir up my soul,

bathe me in your light,

and unleash my own spirit

that I may dance with you

and be light for those around me

and reflect your love to all that I meet this week.

Edited and adapted from a blessing by Fr. Andrew M. Greeley

 

 

 

 

Ben gets a cookie just because

 

 

 

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.

Readings:

Acts 2, 42-47,  Awe came upon everyone.

Psalm 118,  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everylasting.

1 Peter  1, 3-9,  Although you have not seen him, you love him.

John  20, 19-31,  Unless I see the marks of the nails.

Leo says, "Welcome, Everybody."

Observations on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described.

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Tori also says, Hi, Everybody, Come in."

Our Selection: Luke describes and idyllic community, not a real community.  This was utopia, a vision Plato had of the perfect community.  It reminds me of advertisements Rosemary & I get for idyllic retirement communities, beautiful elderly people, smiling, hiking, enjoying excellent meals in charming dining rooms, all in perfect harmony.   Look at the struggles Peter & Paul had with each other’s view of Christianity and you get a view of today’s Christianity.

1 Peter observations:

Peter is writing to the first Christians in what is today Turkey and, get this, Syria.  He is encouraging them in their struggles.

Sources: Jerusalem Bible, Wikipedia

Harper lights the candle with her grandmother's help, Cathy.

 The Doubting Thomas Syndrome

This morning I would like to talk about the Doubting Thomas Syndrome.  The syndrome is usually dealt with like a sickness.  The medication and remedy, ‘Don’t doubt, just believe.’  I have heard this since I was a kid in Christ the King school.

The problem with this, of course, is that the remedy is really an invitation to hat check my God given, marvelous intelligence at the door.  A don’t think dictum.  Let me offer an example of how this can put you in an unpleasant mind set. 

Harper, the candle lighter.

You all know that I have been studying French since I was recuperating from my two new hips in 2010.  You also know that Rosemary & I just returned a week ago from 11 days in France.   I am sure you have also heard and believe probably the common opinion that French are all snobby and rude.  Here is what I saw on one occasion.

Rosemary and I are in a small market, like a small supermarket about the size of one of our convenience stores, but bigger and more like our supermarkets.   I get about 6 bananas and Rosemary gets some things for her evening snack.  It is about 5 P.M., so a number shoppers are wandering around.

Cupcakes of the Week for David, Denni, John, Jerry and, coming on the run, Cliff.

Once we have everything we want and have wandered the store enough, we get into the checkout line.  A young girl is there checking out, very polite and cordial.  I chat her up in French.  The items are scanned just like here until she gets to my six bananas. 

She holds them up, looks them over, and indicates something on the bananas.   Turns out it is not something on the bananas, but something missing, the cost, which should have been calculated back in the little produce department.

David and Denni up for birthdays.

This is all going on in French, of which I suddenly can’t remember squat.  There is a line now of about 3-4 others behind us.  I get the idea finally, but I don’t know where the scale is to calculate the price. I can see us holding up the line for ten minutes while I wander the produce department.

Suddenly, the professional looking French man behind us says in English he knows what to do and would be happy to solve the problem in a minute.  Which he does and we check out.  We depart with wishes to have a nice visit from people around us.   Nobody was impatient.

Emma coming in from the rain.

I was most touched and thought, ‘So much for the word around that all French are snobby and rude.’   Certainly these folks were just the contrary.

This exemplifies in a small way how beliefs can be one hundred and eighty degrees off.  We will never know the truth if we simply have faith. 

My Jesuit training pushed us to question, investigate, and to doubt.  The alternative is to hat check my God given, marvelous intelligence at the door.   

Offertory procession, Nina & Kerry, Carol & Richard.

Got no doubts?  Robots & drones have no doubts.  They just do what they are told by someone else.

Got some good, healthy doubts?  How do you handle them?

How to enjoy a cookie! Leo with John.

Palm Sunday Procession begins.

Readings: 

Entrance, Luke 19, 28-40.

Isaiah 50, 4-7,  I give my back to those who beat me.

Psalm 22,  My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?

Philippians 2, 6-11, God greatly exalted him.

Luke 22, 14-23, The  Passion.   

Holy Thursday & Good Friday, 7:00, Marlene's, 2017 Keystone, Plano.

Palm Sunday procession.

Palm Sunday continues.

Buddy reading The Blessing of the Lenten Candles, all 5 plus 1.

Rosemary's Blessing

Good Morning!

This is God.

I will be handling all your problems today.

I do not need your help.

So have a good day!

Author Unknown

Remembering….

Readings:

Isaiah 55, 10-11, Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down.

Psalm 65,  The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest

Romans  8, 18-23,  The sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us,

Matthew 13, 25-30,  A sower went out to sow.

Download Reading Week 7-12

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Mary & Sandra & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel & Homily, Deacon Mike

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Richard & Tom

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Please Remember these special people:

For Cindy who faced a procedure Monday morning;   For our Bill;  For Carrie Bieda's son;   For Esparzas, Frank & Mary, who lost their son Jim to sepsis;   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 Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom;   for Michelle;  

For Jackie's mom;  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;  for Virginia Mattingly.

Magicians at work, Tom, Richard, & Mike.

Homily for July 12: The name given by the artist to the picture behind me today is Rhapsody. It has always hung on the wall in front of me, and I’ve enjoyed seeing it every day.  It could have been called Rapture, or a Taste of Paradise.

The picture moved me then and it still does now. I purchased it at a special evening auction given by the marriage partner of Richard Delong a few months after Richard’s death. The proceeds from the auction of Richard’s Art Collection was then given by his marriage partner toward continued research of the Human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

The two woman in the picture are in ecstasy, euphoria, elation.  If you could look at it closely, you would see that they are part the celebration of our sacred liturgy.

Are Ben & Shonda not The Best!

In our first reading from today’s liturgy, Isaiah the Prophet gives us a wonderful teaching from God to us his children: You will be filled with joy and led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Today’s words from our liturgy continue with a psalm of gratitude to God who prepares us for an expectation of a fruitful harvest of Words.

The second reading is the eager expectation from the Letter to the Romans revealing to us that those who have welcomed and are living to Good News, are the children of God, who have joyfully received the Holy Spirit.

Our gospel reading seeks for us to bear fruit; 100, or 60, or 30 times greater than what was sown for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Birthdays:  John Schanot & Caroline Grattifiori

Anniversaries:   Ron & Marilyn Ackerman, 57th

A temporary Altar while adjustments are made.

Community Finances, July 12, 2020

Expenses: $810.00 

Outreach   $425.00,   (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

Readings:

Ezekiel  17,  22-24.  Nope, actually a change this Sunday to 1 Corinthians 13.  Bet you cannot guess which great passage this it.

Psalm 92,    Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

2 Corinthians 5, 6-10,   We are always courageous.

Mark  4, 26-34,  On its own accord, the land yields fruit.

The Wedding in Mechanicsburg, PA with Sarah & Beth, and the United Church of Christ ministers, Karin and John.

Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is accepting

This morning I would like to talk about some things that struck me about the wedding we performed last week in Mechanicsburg, PA.  As I’ve mentioned, the wedding was between two women.

About 14 years ago I performed the wedding of Beth to a neat guy named Doug, a stocky Greek.  They had only been married 6 months when Doug died of a heart attack.  Beth is Rosemary’s niece, the daughter of Joe & Claire, who live in Hilton Head, where Rosemary & I love to go for Thanksgiving. 

                   The 3 Sisters, Rosemary, Patty, and Claire.
 

Beth decided to stay in the house she and Doug owned and stay in her job.  During the next few years she got involved with a very open United Church of Christ.  Sarah played the organ.  They got together and developed a warm friendship.  Eventually this lead to their marriage last Saturday. 

I don’t know how you all feel about same sex marriages.  I personally would have loved to sit down with Beth and have her tell me how it all came about, first marrying a guy, now marrying her best friend.  Whatever, I did not have the chance.  However, I am convinced from all my years of experience with gay people as a priest and a psychotherapist that no gay person really chooses this path.  I have worked with so many who agonized over coming out.  It involves hatred and abuse, even from family members.

Cupcake of The Week to Georgie for the do.  "I may tease you, Georgie, about the do, but I admire your spirit of exploration. Keep it up.  Keep dancing.  And keep swimming

The first thing that struck me at the wedding.  Did you recognize the 1 Corinthians passage?  I confess that after performing so many weddings where I heard the passage read, I eventually was put off by it.  Until a few years ago.  I suddenly realized it is helpful for me to be reminded of what love really is. 

At the wedding I heard Beth’s sister read the passage with such feeling and tears that I and lots more of the 200 more or less people there, we were all in tears.  Kristine herself took 30 minutes because she was in tears.   I was so touched and so struck.

                                                      What a team.

The second thing that struck me was the cordiality and warmth of the present pastor, John, and the previous interim pastor, Karin.  I thanked them and told them how I sensed a kinship of spirit among us. 

Karin was the one who suggested we go bare footed as a sign of respect for the sanctuary where we were performing the wedding.   It was a first for me.  Should I do the same here?

                  Zoe & Buddy say, "Hey, don't forget about us."

The final thing that struck me was the whole hearted acceptance of Beth on the part of, not only her parents, but all the McGinn Clan.  Rosemary had 3 brothers and two sisters.  One brother died a few years ago.  All these siblings have kids and all of them were there, most of them with their kids.  Their support was total. 

Kristine’s reading about love being patient & kind, the pastors John & Karin, and the total McGinn family acceptance of Beth.  A powerful, moving weekend. 

Where are you on the whole phenomenon of same sex marriages?

Readings: Sirach 3, 17-29; Psalm 68; Hebrews 12, 18-24; Luke 14, 1-14

Sirach: this book was written after Jesus died.  It is basically a compilation of traditional Jewish wisdom material.  Our reading focuses on being humble and wise.

Humility a Side Effect?

A good friend of mine told me recently about a trip he made to Central Market. It was a week day, so the store was not so crowded. He went to the deli counter and there about a half a dozen people waiting.  Normally, when it is more crowded, customers take a number and wait to get the number called to get served. 

Because of the small number of customers this afternoon, people were not taking numbers. My friend said that often in a case like this people might try to jump ahead or get the sales person’s attention before it went to another customer. However, on this occasion people actually told the sales person, "No. It is not my turn. He is ahead of me." And everyone was doing this. No jumping the line. Waiting with patience and courtesy.

In Luke today he talks about taking the first place.  In fact, it is suggested that you take the second or last place so that you may be called up to the front of the line.  Some observations about this.

First, when I was going through the 2 year Jesuit novitiate emphasis was put on being humble.  Folks, I never felt comfortable with this.  Today I would rather focus on healthy humility being self acceptance.  Humility is really a side effect of self acceptance.  Self acceptance says, "Who cares whether I am first or last."

Second, I would even propose that if I have to be last or first, that need could be a symptom of something else, like a low self image or a sense of inferiority.  Maybe religious scruples or a religion addiction.

Thirdly, I would suggest that if I am choosinjg the last place or acting humbly so I will win esteem, whoa.  As the (famous?) poet David Budbill says,

I want to famous so I can be humble about being famous.                                                              What good is this humility when I am stuck in this obscurity?

Fourth, about inviting the guests to dinner. Rosemary says that the reason I get invited to so many dinners is because I fulfill all the requirements: poor, crippled, lame, and blind. 

Not to beat the acceptance idea to death, but I think a possible healthy approach is through acceptance of others as well as myself.  Ultimately, it is irrelevant whether you or I are rich or poor.  We are all rich and poor.  If I only focus on the materially rich or white or being from Plano Senior High or whatever, then maybe I got a problem and this may be the leading symptom.  Remember low self image?

Those folks in Central Market seem to have had some level of humility or acceptance. 

So, how are you doing accepting, yourself & others?

Megan, our September bread baker:

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