Sunday Homily 11-02-08, All Souls’ Remembrance

Readings: 

Sirach 35, 12-14, 16-18, He hears the cry of the oppressed.

Psalm 34,  The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

2 Timothy 4, 6-8, 16-18  I have competed well.

Luke 18, 9-14, Two people went up to the temple to pray.

 

Sirach observations:

Again we take
up one of the books of the Apocrypha, the 12 books written in Greek and not
originally considered part of the Bible.  This book is basically a
collection of Jewish wisdom statements and teachings, like, "A father who loves his son will whip him often, so that he can be proud of him later." 30, 1

Who:  Joshua, who was translated from Hebrew into Greek by his grandson.

Date:  ca. 200 years before Christ.

Our selection in chapter 35 talks about the nature of god
and what happens to the person who serves god.  It sets up Luke's parable
about the pharisee & the tax collector in the temple.

 Self-righteous,
Me?

I love this little parable about the two people who went up to pray in
the temple.  Two lines are especially
sneaky.  The first line is where Jesus
says he has a parable about people who are convinced of their own righteousness
and who despise everyone else.  That old
sense of superiority.

That’s me!  I’ll give you an
example.

I mentioned once that I think I am a hot bike mechanic.  Well, I also can think I am a hot shot bike
rider.  I have ridden the 5 Boro in NY, the Hotter ‘N Hell
Hundred, and I have ridden across Iowa for a week.  Hot Stuff.  Am I not super?

One morning this past summer Rosemary & I went for a ride around The
Lake, White Rock, The Jewel.  We picked
up the White Rock Creek Trail at Northwood Park on Royal Lane just east of
Central.  It is about 4 miles to The Lake. 

I have what I call “rabbits.” 
Rabbits are other bikers I want to beat, 
motivators for me to really push it. 

This particular morning as Rosemary & I are getting our bikes set up
at the parking lot, I see three guys go zooming by heading for the lake.  When I tell Rosemary that I think I see some
rabbits, she knows what that means.  We will
start together and I will race ahead to catch these characters.  Then I will wait for her at our arranged meeting
place on the north bridge over The Lake.

So I take off after these three bikers.   I can see them in the distance
occasionally.  They have all the colorful
clothing and good street bikes as opposed to hybrids.  They are a challenge.  I follow them under the bridges at Walnut Hill,
Fair Oaks, Abrams, Skillman, and even the Dart Bridge. 

I finally come up behind them just before the Northwest Hwy. Bridge.  I follow them for a bit, watching for an
opportune straight stretch so I can pass them. 
We are all moving at a good pace, 16-20 miles per hour. 

Suddenly I notice something about the third guy.  He has a withered right leg.  I don’t even know how he pedals his bike, let
alone pedaling at such a pace on this winding trail.  His leg is there and his foot has a shoe, but
it is like shriveled up.   He must use the leg as just dead weight to
push down the right pedal.

I cannot pass them.  I am
embarrassed at my own sense of superiority and impressed with his
achievement. 

Where they finally went I do not know. 
We parted when I stopped at the north bridge to wait for Rosemary.   I have never seen the guy again.  Was he some divine messenger sent to humble
me, to say to me ‘Whoever thinks he is superior will be humbled’?  The second good line.

A blessing hidden in biking is that just as soon as you think you are hot stuff, along comes somebody who rides by you like as if you are waiting for the Dart train.  Try, try, and try as I might, I cannot catch that person.

I confess I still chase rabbits, but I often think about the man with
the withered leg.  And feel appropriately humbled.  

Over whom do you feel superior?

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah  62, 1-5,     The Lord delights in you. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah III)

Psalm 96,  Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

 1 Corinthians 12, 4-11,  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit, different forms of service, but the same Lord.   (a good selection)

John 2, 1-11, There was a wedding at Cana.  ( a good story)

 

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.  It is so nice to be back after a long absence."

 

Isaiah observations:

When you see that today's selection is from the 62nd chapter, you may pretty easily guess  that this is Isaiah III.   The last 10 chapters of the work are from Isaiah III, that is, chapters 56-66.  

Remember that Isaiah III talks consolation and comfort for the people, most of whom have now returned from the Babylonian Captivity to a destroyed Jerusalem.

 

"Yep, Welcome Back, Cathy."

 

What is your gift?

Want to take a trip to East Africa this morning, to my beloved Tanzania?  I want to talk a moment about our gifts and forms of service like are mentioned in 1 Corinthians.   To exemplify my thinking, I want to tell you a Christmas story that took place ca. 1980.   I was tempted to tell you about a wedding I did on the slope of Kilimanjaro, but this is just as good and we have only finished with Christmas a few weeks back.

So, buckle your seat belts and let’s take off.

 

"Hi, Victoria, Hi, Buddy."

 

There is a town smack in the middle of Tanzania called Tabora.  It was on the east west railroad from Dar es Salaam, the capital, to Lake Tanganyika.   The Jesuits staffed a church in Tabora, not large, but with lots of people.  It also had about 20 spokes out from the main church, outstation churches built when more expatriate priests were around to man them. 

I was at one of these outstations for Advent and Christmas around 1980 to work on my Swahili.   Two Maltese Jesuits interns were with me (from the island of Malta, off the island of Sicily).  They were what were called scholastics, i.e., learning to be Jesuit priests.  Good guys,  Joe Xerri and Joe Pulicino. 

 

Want to hear The Best?  Shonda, Bethany, Ray, & David.

 

Later I visited Xerri at his home, not on Malta itself, but the island of Gozo, just off of Malta.  He eventually left the Jesuits.  Pulicino, got ordained, returned to TZ, worked with refugees, got captured by some Sudanese, and eventually was released.

So we three Jesuits are at this outstation, which was a fairly large, cinder block, rectangular building with a bell, a bell tower, and a corrugated tin roof.  I often thought about the priests who built the church and then had to leave it empty somewhere along the way.  It must have hurt.

 

 Zoe & Cole at work on our major life problems.

 

The little town where this church was situated was tiny, just a few houses with tin roofs, maybe even mud walls.  The church itself had an outstation, another little village even smaller.  I did a funeral in this tiny village and fell into the grave.  That scared everybody really good.

The people around the main church had not had a Christmas Mass in ages.  They wanted a midnight Mass and we offered to put together a Nativity pageant.  They jumped at it and we had a cast of dozens. 

 

And More Problems being solved.

 

So the night comes.  You got to picture the scene.  No electricity.  We had a few of the old kerosene lanterns.  I spent many an evening with those kerosene lanterns.  There was no heat other than campfires.   Christmas in TZ comes in the middle of the warm & dry season, just opposite to us in the northern regions.

We rang the bell.  People were literally camped out all over the place because many had walked for miles.  The church filled up.   There was plenty of music, basically drumming and shakers, and, of course,  great rhythm. 

 

A Cupcake of The Week to Georgie for being a Great Helper.

 

The one thing I never expected was the wave of June bugs.  The church walls were not totally closed, but had sections where cinder blocks with holes were used.  With the light in the church in the totally dark night, bugs came from everywhere.  Nobody seemed to be bothered in the least.

The Mass lasted probably 2 hours.  The Nativity pageant was super.   Nobody wanted it to end.

 

 Happy Birthday, Becky.

 

Why talk about this?  Gifts.  We had a gift and we shared it with everybody.  They had gifts of music and excitement and gratitude.  The kids pitched in with the pageant. 

You can say that Jesus had a gift and he shared it.  Mary, too, had a gift and she shared it, her son.

What gift do you have and how do you share it?

 

Cupcake of The Week to Cole for being The Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

Readings:  

Acts 2, 1-11, They were all in one place together;

Psalm 104, Lord, Send out your spirit and renew the face of the earth;

1 Corinthians 12, 3-7, 12-13, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit. 

John 15, 26-27; 16, 12-15, I Have much more to tell you.

 

Notes on the readings, Mike Carrell

 At the end of Luke’s gospel, the apostles receive instructions from the Lord. First of all they were told that he fulfilled the expectation of the Law, Prophets and Psalms for the coming of the Messiah. 

Then they were told that as the Father had sent him to bring forgiveness to humankind, he was sending them.

Finally they were told to wait in Jerusalem for the Father’s gift of the Spirit.  In our reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples receive this gift, that Christ is alive to them through the power of the Spirit.

 In the letter to the Corinthians we are reminded that God has no favorites.  The Spirit is alive within the hearts of all who welcome the good news and put it into practice by their words and actions.

Pentecost Homily, Mike Carrell

 If you haven’t heard the story of the Master violin-maker, I share it with you now.  His violins when used by a skilled violinist produced tones so true that they resonated within the hearts of those who listened to them.  Violinists traveled from all over the country to his workshop in the mountains to seek the opportunity to purchase or play one of his violins. 

This master violin-maker had been taught by this father that the most important step in making a great violin was the choice, curing and aging of the very best wood available. This meant that the wood used to construct a violin was in a preparation process for years before the violin’s construction could begin.

 This master violin-maker wanted the process begun by his father to be followed after he had died, so he wrote it down and began instructing one of his skilled wood crafters everything his father had taught him.   One day in the dead of winter, he asked the one he was grooming to follow him to enter the forest with him for it was time to choose another tree for his wood cutter so that its wood could be to put into the process of curing and aging.

It was a cold day, with some snow swirling in from the north.  The master handed a compass to the younger man, and took a colored piece of rope from the wall of his office along with a ribbon to identify the tree.  The younger man walked with him until they reached a downward slope on the parcel of land that had been given to the master by his father.

It felt much colder now, and after placing the rope, that required a certain diameter tree to be chosen, around several trees, he choose one.  Now the trees along this slope were bent and rugged looking, not like the ones where the workshop was located. 

‘Why this tree,’ asked the younger man?  The master replied, ‘Look at the compass. You will see that these trees face due north. This tree has received for the last 100 years the brunt of the incoming north wind, snow and ice, and it has endured.  This wood is your friend: it is about to give its life to you. Its cross section will give witness to a life well lived for it has been pruned many times so the sound of your violins will be vibrant and true….  

Now, what is the meaning of the story? The wood that was chosen to make great violins is another metaphor of God’s plan of salvation for us.  Each of us is the young apprentice to whom the metaphor was explained, and the music played by the violinists, that resonates within our hearts, is the Spirit.   

 The teaching in which we find today’s gospel reading begins, ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,’ and that we are Christ’s friends because he has made known to us everything that he has heard from the Father.

We have been empowered by the Spirit to live what Christ has taught us.  So, we are reminded at this feast of Pentecost and the 50^th anniversary of Vatican II to be servants of the least among us who yearn to do God’s will. Continue to extend to them peace and justice, for we have all been made in the same image, to share the same bread, to have the same Father and to be bound together by the same Spirit.

 

 

  

Readings: 2 Chronicles 36; Psalm 137; Ephesians 2, 4-10; John 3, 14-21

Chronicles:

Author (s): Unknown

Date:  ca. 450-350 BCE, at least after The Babylonian Captivity.  You will see why. 

Subject:  a summary of the entire span of history to the time the people returned to Jerusalem, i.e., from Adam to the end of the Babylonian Captivity, 450 BCE.  Therefore, it begins with Adam & a genealogy up to King Saul and King David, through David's son Solomon & the building of the temple to the Babylonian Captivity with Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus the leader of the Persians who defeated Nebuchadnezzar & the Chaldeans and allowed the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem.  Note that Babylon was near Baghdad in Iraq, while Persia was Iran.

Our selection: this is the very last chapter of ca. 60 chapters, including Chronicles 1 & 2.  A bit of a summary chapter, it says that Yahweh was so mad he got Nebuchadnezzar to defeat the Hebrews and cart them off to captivity in Babylon.  Then some 50 years later he gets Cyrus to defeat Nebuchadnezzar and free the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem, which they do. 

Sources: Wikipedia, Catholic Encyclopedia.

Two Questions

Last week I saw a story that struck me.  A couple in their mid forties were at home watching TV Tuesday about 9:00 in the evening.  The husband's brother was with them and the couple's 3 youngest kids were playing.  The family lives in Pleasant Grove, which is about 5:00 o'clock on the circular map of Dallas. 

Suddenly the door was forced open and a kid around 24 came banging in demanding money.  The brothers work construction, but they had no cash on them.  The wife, Carmen, emptied out all she had in her purse, $2. 

The kid was angry and demanded that they get the money they had hidden.  He had a pistol and slapped around Alfredo, the father.  He tied up the brothers and shoved them into the bathroom.  He then said he would kidnap Carmen or one of Alfredo's daughters if he did not hand over more money.

So Alfredo and Carlos, the younger brother, in order to defend Carmen and the kids, tried to break loose attack the kid.  They were both shot dead on the spot.

Meanwhile, one of the older children, a boy, snuck out a window and ran for help to a neighbor.  They called 911 and the police arrived while the shooting was still going on.  The kid ran out the door, saw a cop, fired at him, and ran around toward the back of the house where he encountered a second cop.  This cop shot the kid and now he is in the hospital in critical condition. 

Apparently the kid did not know the family and just chose them at random.  All for $2.

Which, taking into account our readings today, leads to two questions.

First, does God get angry and punish bad people?  The Bible certainly seems to think so. 

• For example, Chronicles says today that the "anger of the Lord was so inflamed that there was no remedy."  As a result he had the Hebrews killed, burned out, and carried away as slaves in Babylon.  For a symbolic 70 years, which seems to suggest that the Hebrews had neglected to rest on the sabbath.

• For example, Yahweh got so mad at his earlier creation that he sent the great flood, killing everybody except Noah, his wife, and the animals.  

• For example, in John this morning you find out that you will be condemned if you do not believe in the name of Jesus.  So you better be Christian or even better Catholic according to the messages I heard growing up, or you are condemned.  To what?

• For example, it is held that Jesus had to come and die on a cross as he did so as to take away the Father's anger at us for our ancestors' sins.  Thus, the gates of heaven, closed up to that time, would be reopened.  True? 

Was the family in Pleasant Grove watching TV Tuesday night bad?  Had they sinned so horribly that they must be punished like happened to the Hebrews in Jerusalem?

So, what do you think, what do you believe?  Does God get angry and punish bad people as we see repeatedly mentioned in the Bible?  Which leads me to my next question:

Second question, who are the bad people?  Or who are the good? 

Obviously the 24 year old kid who barged in on the family is bad.  He deserves what?  Be condemned?  Forever? 

From my experience as a priest and as as psychotherapist, I have discovered two things. 

First, that nobody is totally bad, and nobody is totally good.  But what about that kid?  He is bad!  John says, "He who does wicked things hates the light."  That boy must really hate the light.

Secondly, if I had grown up in the environment of many of these kids and been forced to live in the horrible surroundings they saw daily, I probably would have done the same things.  I do not know how many times I have talked with people who have done similar things and discovered that they were horribly wounded people.  Inside they were deeply hurt.  Outside they vented their hurt through anger and, watch out, through violence.   

As a balance to this negativity and tragedy, let me remind you that we likewise see beauty in people.  Remember the 50 St. Bonaventure students who dedicated their spring break to hurricane relief work in Galveston.  Remember the heroic work of the Collin Co. Adult Clinic.  I even saw it on the DART train Thursday when I went downtown to have lunch with Rosemary.  Three times I saw a guy get up and offer his seat to a woman nearby.  I was moved.

So, reconsidering our Pleasant Grove family and all the Bible stories about God being angry and punishing people, what do you think?

Sources: The Center for Liturgy, St. Louis U.  Online Ministries, Creighton, U.  All on line.

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-03-22.mp3

Picture 1:   Mass with Hue on the sound, Wendy, Ray, & Celeste

Picture 2:   Birthdays–Angelo (Blair's boy friend), Bob McGrath (80!), Christine, & T.J.

Picture 3:   Ryan, Jackie & Bob McGrath, Tom, Morgan, & Tyler McGrath

Picture 4:  Tom & Daniel Fleming & Louie Federico

 

2 Kings 4, They shall eat and there shall be some left over.

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

Ephesians 4, ..unity of spirit through the bond of peace.

John 6, Where can we buy enough food for them to eat.  

 

 

Music Magic with Shonda & Ben

 

Thanks……

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Patricia & Fred, & Buddy, our candle blesser 

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,     Richard, Hue, & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy for all these years & will miss you enormously, Becky

 

 

Patricia reading 2 Kings.

 

Readings:

Download 07-25-21 R1 – PatJansky – 17h Ord (1)

 

 

 

Fred reading from Ephesians.

 

Homily by John Stack

Download Homily by John Stack 7-25-2021. 17th Ordinary Time

 

 

 

Today's Team.

 

Remember these special people:

For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson;  For Alan Stryker;   For Candice Taht, friend of Mary Hall;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique, & Frank with shingles;  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, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Loretta's aunt Alicia;  For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy, 

 

Who are these two beautiful girls?  How you have grown, Zoe, and, Wow!, Michelle, how you have really trimmed down.  Welcome home, Both of You!

 

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 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; from Barbara, a little 4 month old baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Happy Anniversary to you & David, Donna.  I wish I could be with David now beginning the first day of Ragbrai.

 

Birthdays:    Dawson, Cindy Ekes

Anniversaries:   Donna & David

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Dawson.

 

Community Finances,   July 25, 2021

Expenses: $960.00

Outreach: $405.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Rosemary doing her blessing of the week.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Rosemary's Blessing:

 

Life is not a journey to the grave

With the intention of arriving safely

In a pretty and well preserved body,

But rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke,

Thoroughly used up,

Totally worn out,

And loudly proclaiming

—WOW—What a Ride!

 

Hunter S. Thompson

 

Readings: 1 Samuel 16, 1-13; Psalm 23, The Lord is My Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want; Ephesians 5, 8-14; John 9, 1-41. 

 

 

Fourth Sunday of Lent – Intro to Readings

 Our three readings today have to do with seeing.  In the first reading we have the account of Samuel being sent by God to find a successor to King Saul.  At this time, the succession of the kings was not by direct descendant, but they were chosen by God..  Recall that Saul was their first king, a king they demanded from God so that they could be just like every other people around them.  God gave them Saul.  Saul did not quite work out, and today’s reading is the account of God’s selection of his successor, David.  The account focuses on the fact that God sees people differently than we do.  You might say he shines a light through the cover of the book to see into the person.

 Paul’s letter to the Ephesians continues this theme of God’s light and introduces us to the well-known phrase “Jesus is the Light of the World”.  The Letter to the Ephesians is one of those letters where Paul’s authorship is strongly questioned.  The letter contains no references to companions, addresses no particular questions or issues in a particular community, and very closely resembles the Letter to the Colossians.  There is much reference to Baptism in the letter and it seems that some of the passages in the letter are taken from early Christian liturgies, particularly Baptism. 

 

Our responsorial Psalm today is the very beautiful Psalm 23 “The Lord is my Shepherd” and has two ideas: God as Shepherd and God as Host.  The psalm was probably part of a thanksgiving liturgy.

 Our gospel today is from St. John and originally I had intended to read the shorter version, but all of the commentators I read were so full of praise for the entire chapter and how it is one of the masterpieces of Johannine story telling, well what could I do!

 

 Homily

 Last Monday after work, I caught the DART train home.  When I got into the front carriage, there was a young woman at the front of the carriage speaking to everyone.  I sat down and immediately realized I was in for a sermon!!  Not what I needed at that moment.  I wanted the train driver to come out of his cab and toss her off the train!  But as she talked I listened.  She was telling us about how Jesus had come into her life and saved her, and Jesus would save us too, if we would only accept him.  In fact we were already saved. 

 As I listened, I started to do what the Pharisees did in today’s Gospel.  I wondered so what now, what is the big difference in her life, I wanted to know the “so what”.  Then I began to ask myself would I be willing to get up in front of a carriage full of people and share my faith in Jesus.  She was a very good speaker, she spoke clearly and calmly.  Then she sat down after thanking us for listening.  The man in the row behind her leaned forward and said something to her, I didn’t hear, but I could see that she wiped a tear from her eye.  The train rolled on and after a few stops she rose, turned to us all and invited us to have a “Blessed day” and got off. 

 

 Onto the train got a young man, who sat in her seat, about her age, dressed all in black, a black shirt with the word “neurosis” written across the front, long hair and a tattoo on his arm.  He had leather straps on his wrists with metal spikes on them, and a metal belt and chains around his waist, and a ring in his nose!!   Oh boy, did I have fun with the contrast as I thought about today’s readings!  I had jumped to all sorts of conclusions about the young man.  I was judging the book by the cover. 

 If I go back to my questions about what the young woman was saying.  So what difference was Jesus’ presence in my life?  I need to constantly be aware of my own blindness when it comes to other people.  I need to make sure I don’t fall into the trap of having a closed mind, which is what the Pharisees had in the gospel.  They were completely blind to the miracle, and only saw that Jesus broke the Sabbath law.

 

The blind man’s sight of who Jesus was is something that happened over time.  At first he saw Jesus as “the man Jesus”, then “he is a prophet” then finally as “Lord”.  So too for us, our sight, our faith, is a journey and we grow in our understanding of who Jesus is and what our response to Him is, as we live and allow Him into our lives.

Picture 1:   Mass begins with Tony & Kevin  

Picture 2:   Tony congratulating Bob

Picture 3:   Beth & Rob, Beth being today's photographer

Picture 4:   Cara & Sean with mom & dad, Christine & Ed  

Picture 5:   Leo joins the choir