21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 27, 2023

Acts of the Apostles 10:  To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.;

Colossians 3:  When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

John 20:  They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There will be a memorial service for Cindy Cramer on April 15th at 10:00 at Restland.

 

 

John Stack Ministries now meets at:  The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano

 

 

Acts of the Apostles 2:  They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.

1 Peter 1:  Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him,…

John 20:  Have  you come to believe because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

 

 

John  reading from the Acts  of the Apostles

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Ben

Readers,  Connie and John

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

       

Connie reading from the First Letter of Peter

 

Readings:  Download 04-16-23 Readings – 2nd Easter

Homily: 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                    

Shonda and Ben, the music makers

 

Remember these special people:

For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;  For Frank Esparza;  For Jan;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st;  For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

       

Connie helping with communion

 

 

Jackie's mom, 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 & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

John and Connie get a cookie  for their anniversary

                                          

Birthdays:  

Anniversaries:  Connie & John Doherty 4/21

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  450.00

Outreach: $  125.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

       

 

 

Dear Church Community:

Here is the initial list of our neediest families. Please send me who you would like to adopt. I will try to be timely in letting you know if a child/family has been taken by another church member.

We would appreciate getting the items back for the families by Monday, Dec. 14th.

Thank you so much ahead of time!

Becky

 

Download Families (1)

                                                                                           

Proverbs 8:   … then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day;

Romans 5:  … because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through  the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

John 16:  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.

Ben and David, our musicians today

Thanks…

Music,    Ben & David

Readers, Lynda & Tom

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,      Hue & Richard & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

Loretta, Connie and John join in the singing

 

 

 

Readings:  Download 6-12-22 – Readings – Trinity

Homily: 

                                       

 

 

Tom reading from Proverbs

 

 

Remember these special people:

For Sandra who has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma;   For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer and Kaliope, John Cade's Mother-in-law, with 2 broken vertebrae;  For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey in the hospital after a fall;    For Tom Good;  For a young man, 19 struggling with a brain tumor and cancer;     For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie & Jan; 

                           

 

The Kiss of Peace

 

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;     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; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & friends, Annie, a mom of 3 kids and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

The Kiss of Peace

                   

                  

Birthdays:   Alison DeGenova 6/12,  Mary Esparza 6/12,  Bernadette Delgado 6/17

Anniversaries:   

      

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $   750.00

Outreach: $     235.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

                    

                               

Communion line

 

Rosemary's Blessing:  

Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings.
Now, think.
What delight God gives to humankind
with all these things. . . .
All nature is at the disposal of humankind.
We are to work with it.
For without we cannot survive.

Hildegard of Bingen  (September 16, 1098 – September 17, 1179)

Readings:

 Isaiah 66, 18-21,   I come to gather nations of ever language.

Psalm 117,  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Hebrews 12, 5-7, 11-13,  Whom the lord loves he disciplines.

Luke 13, 22-30, Depart from me, you evil doers.

 

 Isaiah 66 observations:

Author: Isaiah III.  The book of Isaiah is one of my favorites.  Some beautiful passages.  Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters, and we are reading the very last.  Isaiah 1 covers chapters 1-39.  This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  This is because the works are the longest.  There are 12 minor prophets.

Time: ca. 700, before the Assyrians annihilate the northern Jewish kingdom, called Israel, vs the southern kingdom called Judah, where Jerusalem is.  10 tribes were lost in this destruction, the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel. 

Remember, there were 12 tribes.  Why?  Because of the 12 sons of Jacob, who was one of the 3 great patriarchs or founders of the tribe, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, who was also called Israel. 

 Message of Isaiah III: Mostly consolation after the catastrophe.   What is the basic activity of a prophet?  1.  criticism, 2. prediction of dire payment, 3. consolation.

Today’s message: this being the last chapter of the whole work, you might guess.  Yes, consolation and future unity.

Hebrews observation:

 The best thing about today's selection: we have to read Hebrews only one more week.  Awful reading today.

 

Will only a
few be saved?

I would like to speak today about this idea that only a few will be
saved.  In the past few weeks we have
been hearing this from Luke.  Basically,
the message is the same, yes, only a few will be saved.  In fact, you got to be on guard all the time
or the master will return, catch you napping, and off to hell you go.

I would propose that these metaphors about life are all pretty fear
based.  Today I think we are moving from
a fear based life metaphor to a peace based metaphor.   My metaphor is the Hotter ‘N Hell
Hundred.  Three points.  It is a journey, it is characterized by
mutual help, and a final point.

Yesterday as I rode along I thought about these readings and how life is
like a 100 mile bike ride.  First of all
there are people.  The other riders.  But, also, people like Bill who introduced me
to this marvelous ride.  Other friends,
like Doug & Grace, John & Connie make the ride more fun.  And there is the marvelous beauty of the day,
the surroundings, and simple joy of the ability to ride. 

Other riders whom I don’t know are fun. 
I tie a little beanie baby dog to the top of my bike helmet.  I started this at Ragbrai in Iowa, just for
fun and because I see a lot of such décor there.  The dog gets lots of comments, from, “Hey, do
you know you got a dog on your helmet?” to “I love the cute dog on your helmet.”  I tell people that I cannot leave my little
dog at home and she loves to ride.

A second point to this life metaphor. 
Lots of people help me along the ride. 
There are what are called sag wagons. 
These are roving pickups with trailers who collect gassed riders, broken
down riders, and riders with minor injuries. 
There is first aid everywhere. 

And then there are the marvelous rest stops.  These volunteers meet you with pitchers of
cold water and Gatorade, with cold & wet towels, and with tables loaded
with fruit.  But, my favorite rest stop
comes at mile 30. 

 A bunch of elderly women volunteers, many probably younger than I am,
they make cookies, boxes of them, about 5-6 varieties.  Every year I look forward to seeing them and
chatting them up.  I confess I ate 6 of
their cooking this year, a bit much considering the 70 miles I still had ahead
of me.

Finally, the third reason why the HHH is a life metaphor for me: everyone
who arrives at the end gets a medal. 
Everyone is a winner.  And, if you
fell out this year, you can cross the finish line next year.  No fear, peace.

In this life metaphor the ride is a marvel, the supporters are numerous
and beautiful, and everyone wins the medal. 

What is your life metaphor, peaceful or fearful?  Are
you saved?  Are you a winner?

 

 

1 Samuel 3: When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out as before. "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

1 Corinthians 6:  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.

John 1:  Then he brought him to Jesus.  Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas" –which is translated Peter.