Sunday Homily 9-28-08, 26th, Ordinary Time

Readings:

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12,  Give your servant an understanding heart.  

Psalm 119,   Lord, I love your commands.

Romans 8,  28-30,  We know that all things work for good for those who love God…

Matthew 13, 44-52,  Kingdom Parables

 

Kevin and John ready to start Mass.

                                               

Homily:

 

We heard of Solomon’s call to be king of people of God

We heard in Paul’s Letter our call to be “conformed to the image of Jesus” 

And we heard in Matthew the parables about putting the treasure buried in a field and the pearl of great price ahead of everything else we could have.

                                                                                                             

The Offertory helpers, Bill, Paul and Carrie.

                                                        

Our word for today is asking how we hear our call and how do we answer our call?

I remember the answer I was given growing up (long long ago), hearing it in sermons and in weekend retreats at Grand Coteau, Louisiana. We were told that we are called to be holy and holiness was presented as perfection— You know the quote from Matthew: “Be you perfect as your heavenly father is perfect”. According to Matthew Fox, in his book Original Blessing, the quote from Matthew’s Gospel, “Be you perfect…”, does not refer to moral perfection and does not have here the later Greek meaning of being totally free of imperfection. The word ‘teleioi’, translated as “be you perfect”, actually meant “to be full-grown, to be complete or whole”.

                                                                                                                                    

Our musicians, Celeste, Shonda and Ben.

                                                                               

Remember also how we were given the lives of the saints, in which they were portrayed as achieving perfection and we were taught to imitate those perfect people. The lives of the saints inspired me, but there was no way I could live up to the idealized stories of their lives of perfection. Going to seminary at age 18 and to a monastery at age 22 was how I chased after the ideal of holiness as perfection.

Remember also how we were taught to make an examination of conscience, detailing everything we thought or did wrong–not about what we thought or did that was good or generous or loving or courageous or compassionate, not how we were becoming more full-grown or complete. The implication was that we were lacking and in sin almost all the time; that was scary folks. We were told we were imperfect, not holy, and I took that to mean I didn’t measure up, I wasn’t good enough. We were taught that there was a time, in the beginning when our original parents were in a paradise and were good/perfect, and connected to God. But that in Adam we sinned and were separated from God.  

                                                                                                                                                         

Georgie and Mom, Michelle.

 

What if we came to learn in the last 400 years, like Matthew Fox did, that there was never a state of perfection in our world, that creation in our universe has been going on for 20 billion years and that our universe has been expanding all that time, and is this moment expanding at unimaginable speed. It’s not really about being perfect.

In all creation beauty and imperfection go together. Every tree is beautiful, but if you get up close you will see that every tree is imperfect. The same is true of the human body. Every human body is beautiful, but every human body is imperfect. In creation, in nature, imperfection is not a sign of the absence of God. It’s a sign that the ongoing creation we are part of is no easy thing. We bear scars from the living process, and we can and must celebrate those scars, those imperfections.

                                                                                                                                                                        

Georgie's sister, Zoe.

 

My take on updating the idea of holiness includes thinking about how we accept imperfection, including our own, and about how we are growing, not to be perfect, but to be more complete, more whole, more caring for ourselves and others and more caring for mother nature and our place in the universe.

Yesterday I was visiting a friend who, when I said I was doing the Mass today, asked what my homily would be about and I said holiness. My friend said, I just finished watching a Ted Talk by Ann Lamont, a favorite author of mine. She said “Laughter is carbonated holiness.”

 

Question: How do you think of ‘holiness’ in our time?

 

Georgie's sister, Tori.

 

 

And Georgie's brother, Buddy. 

 

Welcome in, Sydney & Hugh, you are early enough to find seats.

 

 

Readings: 

Isaiah 6, 1- 2,  3-8,   Whom shall I send? Here I am, send me..

Psalm 138,  In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.  (Good one)

1 Corinthians 15, 1-11,    I am the least of all the apostles

Luke 5,  1-11,  Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.

 

 

"Welcome in," says Ben, "we are ready to warm You up."

 

Observations:   Isaiah (I) 

This is The Great One.  The Prophet.  My favorite.  In general, this work has three parts put together by three different people.  It is time dependent: before, during, and after the, you guessed it, the Babylonian Captivity.  Keep 555 before Christ in mind as an easy date.  You can guess that this is Isaiah I, being chapter 6 (of 66 chapters)

Last week we heard the story of the prophet Jeremiah’s call by Yahweh.  This week we have Isaiah’s call. 

 

 

 

Cindy, too, says, "Welcome in, Everybody.  It is warmer in here than out there in that cold rain."

 

Psalm 138

Want to hear something beautiful?  Listen to today’s psalm.  Another of my favorites. Thanks, thanks, and more thanks.

1 Corinthians 15

In last week’s Corinthians’ reading Paul described his vision of love.  Today he continues talking to the people of his church in Corinth, focusing on how he was called by God.

So, today we have a theme of call & gratitude.  Even the gospel has a sub-theme of call.  Pretty neat.

 

 

Jim & John solving all our problems in life.

 

Sunday Homily

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart

We have been blessed the past few weeks because of so many good readings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and now Psalm 138, one of my favorites.   I can still remember when and where it was that I became aware of its beauty.   I was in Nairobi making a private retreat near an arboretum.  My subject today, therefore, is another of my favorite activities,  giving thanks.

 

 

Jan, our official greeter as everyone comes in, readies the home made communion bread and the grape juice.

 

About two weeks ago I got an Email from a young woman who wanted me to perform her wedding in October here in Dallas.  I have backed off of doing weddings almost every weekend.  Just too exhausting & I don’t have the old energy.

I do not remember this girl, but she wrote something that really hooked me.  She said that she used to attend St. Marks Cafetorium Masses and loved my homilies.  Naturally,  of course, I accepted her invitation, and was grateful that here is one person who has with me fond memories of some good times.

 

 

"Where is that crazy mike button?"

 

The second reason I gave thanks this week tied in with this girl who is called Kathleen.   Remember the monster kid who came to our Mass last Sunday?  Noah and his mom.  The kid whom I knew when he was just a little guy who helped me  as an Altar server in the cafetorium.  Within a couple of weeks I have remembered with gratitude the good times I had at St. Marks.

The thirst reason why I am giving thanks to the Lord with all my heart today is because  of the spinal surgeon who took away all my pain with his operation.   Thursday, exactly six weeks since the operation, he gave me a complete and total discharge.

 

 

Emma, you are so good, I think you could light those candles in your sleep.

 

I may ride my bike & return to the 6 A.M. spin classes at the Jewish Community Center.  I don’t even have to have a physical therapist.  According to him I am old enough and experienced enough to manage my continuing rehab.

 

 

Buddy, you have a gift for reading and you are developing a terrific stage presence.

 

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart.  

For what are you giving thanks this morning?

 

 

I give thanks, Sir Charlie, that you have not pulled a fast one on me in the last 5 minutes, or so I think, maybe, I hope.

 Readings: (4th Advent)

Micah 5, 1-4, He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock.

Psalm 80, Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Hebrews 10, 5-10, My prayer, that your love may increase ever more.

Luke 1, 39-45, When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb.

 

Micah: author, date, subject, our selection–

Author: one of the minor prophets (because of length,7 chapters), Micah is considered to be the author of these words.

Date: probably around 700-690 BCE, a contemporary of Isaiah, living in Judah.  He had witnessed the destruction of the northern half of the kingdom, Israel, by the Assyrians, ca. 720 BCE.  He watched Judah pay tribute to Assyria.  He forsaw the Babylonian disaster in 590.

Subject: like all prophets, he predicts doom and destruction for Judah because of the injustice of the people, especially the rich over the poor.  Micah learned from Israel's destruction by Assyria, which he attributed to God's anger with those people. 

Then, of course, in the prophet tradition, he predicts a return to peace and prosperity after the people are purified.  He speaks to Bethlehem as if to a person and says that a new ruler will come from the town and the good ruler will shepherd the people.  Why Bethlehem?  Because David was born there and the new David was supposed to come from the same royal village. 

Asked what God wants of us (like penance, sacrifices of animals, goods, even children), Micah states one of the great lines in scripture: "What God requires of us is: 1. act justly, 2. love tenderly, and 3. walk humbly with our God." (6, 8)  You people do that. 

Our Selection: God promises a good ruler will be born in Bethlehem, the place where King David was born, a royal village.

Sources: Good News Bible, John Shelby Spong, Wikipedia

 

A Christmas Story

This morning I want to tell you a Christmas story.  It took place in Tanzania the Christmas of my sixth, seventh, or eighth year living in the country.

First it is good to mention that Tanzania does not celebrate Christmas like we do here.  First of all, it is summer, being just south of the equator.  So, warm.   Moreover, people do not decorate with lights like we do here.  It is not the custom, nor do folks have the money.

I was usually pretty homesick at Christmas.  So this year I decided I would throw a Christmas day party American style, especially with a turkey. 

To get the turkey I had to not only go beyond the little town of Moshi, where the Jesuits had a house and where I was based.  I, in fact, had to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, the country immediately to the north. 

Despite the fact that most of the time I was away from Moshi on the road giving seminars and retreats, I still knew some people from the times I was in town.  So I invited a number of families. 

In particular, I invited the family who lived next door to us, a husband and wife with their two little girls, for whom I had a great affection.  The family was all Muslim and the father was a police chief.  It is always helpful to have a police chief as a friend in certain countries.  I assure you.

To invite the family I followed the more formal African protocol.  I invited the husband to come over to our house.  I had two rocking chairs ready in my office/bedroom.  We sat down and I offered him coffee or tea. 

Then I said, “Mohammed, I would like to invite you and your family to a special celebration of the Christian Christmas.  It will be the evening of December 25, beginning around 5:00.”  Then, I explained what was Christian Christmas.

Finally, I added, “We both know, Mohammed, that you have a problem with alcohol.  I request that you show up sober.  If you show up drunk, I will have to ask you to leave.”  Mohammed said he was grateful for the invitation for him and his family.  He would not arrive drunk and if he did I should invite him out.

Want to guess what happened?   You guessed it.

About 1:00 Christmas day Mohammed and his buddy arrived a bit early.  Yes, they were both drunk out of their minds.  We talked, I told him I was sorry, but he could not come to the party.  He, too, said he was sorry, he left, and I did not see him again that day.

Later, however, about 5:00, his wife and girls arrived with a surprise.  In the African tradition of hospitality, she had invited all her extended family and they all showed up together, about 15 of them. 

Despite all this, we had a fun American style Christmas, most of it, in fact, on the roof.  We had an Arabian style house with a flat roof.  A great place for parties and watching the sun set glow on Kilimanjaro nearby.

Why talk about this today?

First, to show you how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

Secondly, to show just how we are so fortunate to celebrate with such fan fare and warmth.   I am grateful to be here.

What has been your best Christmas ever? 

How are you celebrating this year?

 

 

 

Readings: Deuteronomy 8, 2-16; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58.

Deuteronomy: The fifth & last book of the Torah.  The scene: Moses & the Hebrews are in the desert just outside the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, whom they are going to kick out and kill.  Moses is reviewing their journey from Egypt.

The belief that Yahweh punishes and corrects us is not so common today as Moses suggests to the people.  We will read the whole section to get the sense more clearly.

The Banquet

A while back somebody asked me what was the best meal we had in Italy.  It took me a nano second to remember.  It took place the afternoon we arrived in Venice. 

We had just gotten off the train from spending two days with Chebino & Lydia in Pordenone & Aviano.  In fact, if I had eaten the two evenings with Michael I might have considered these meals some of the best, because when Michael walks into these 2 favorite places, the owner comes out and everyone greets him.  He gets all this affection because he is so friendly & outgoing. 

Consequently, everything was cordial & delightful & we received the best of everything.  My only problem was that I don't eat after about 4:00, to eliminate acid reflux without having to take pills.  So I just enjoyed the event and a glass of red wine.

In Venice, however, it was early afternoon when we walked out of the train station and onto the famous Grand Canal, leaving one world and entering one of my most favorite dream worlds.  We descended the broad stairs, turned left at the canal, and walked up one of the main pedestrian walkways of the Cannaregio suburb.  At a small fork in the walkway we went left, crossed a couple of small canals on up & down bridges, took a right across the last canal, and arrived at our convent. 

After we had been received with all sorts of hospitality and settled, I asked the portress Magda to recommend a good, reasonable cafe.  "Turn right out the door," she says, "cross the bridge to the left, and at the next canal go right and look for the tables on the edge of the canal.  The place is called Ristorante Diana on Fontamenta della Misericordia.  Ask for Omer."

When we get there, the guy is all friendly and we take a window seat inside because the sun is on the fondamenta tables.  I tell him we come with Magda's recommendation.  "What is good today?"  He recommends this and that, and we begin with a seafood salad, pasta, have two varieties of fish he said were caught that day, some dessert, and finish off with Samabuca, my first ever, and some small glasses of lemon liquor. 

Folks, we must have been there three hours, a bit beyond my usual finishing hour even though we had begun about 3:00.  It was the best.  Until I asked for the check.  I had never asked Omer just how much each course was costing, trusting in Magda and in Omer.  We paid over $75 per person for that meal, probably the most expensive I've ever had in my whole life.

I talk about this today for three reasons:

• It is Memorial Day & time for picnics, special meals, & banquets.
• We are celebrating the Eucharist today.
• The Eucharist is basically a banquet and cannot be appreciated for what it really is unless we throw a banquet occasionally.

I think a banquet involves three elements for it to come off, place, intention, & time.

• The place can be almost anywhere as long as it has some special quality, grandmother's dining room, a campfire in Yosemite, a Fondamenta della Misericordia in Venice, a Saturday afternoon on a patio, or a Sunday evening around a swimming pool. Even an El Fenix or a Chili's
• When I say intention, I mean somebody has to set it up, say, "Welcome, let's do it." Set a date, a place, and a time. Chebino sees his fly buddy and family in a restaurant and invites them all for dinner the next night.
• Time is probably the most important. It cannot take place in less than an hour, I would suggest. Two or three would be better & best. Trouble with some restaurants like Chili's is you get a bill dumped on your table just as you take the last few bites of the main course. In Italy you may sit there the whole afternoon and they still won't bring a bill until you ask for it. Taking time at the banquet is the exact opposite of fast food or eating while driving.

Never enjoy a long meal and you are missing one of the joys of life, and the Eucharist certainly can't be appreciated.

If we did not have a Eucharist ritual, I think I would invent one.  The Eucharist attempts to take a banquet or special meal and put it into a context where we place ourselves into contact with the God of the Universe.  It is based on knowing how to banquet.

When was your last special meal?  Your next?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-05-25.mp3

 

 

 

 

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," sez Our Dearest Tori, official hospitality team leader.

 

 

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made.  

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075

 

 

 

Yes, here we have our official disrupting team planning their activities for this morning.

 

Readings:

Isaiah 63, 16-17, 64, 2-7,    Why do you let us wander, O Lord

Psalm 80,  Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

1 Corinthians 1, 3-9,    I will give thanks to my God always

Mark 13, 31-46,,  Be watchful!  Be alert!  You do not know when the time comes!

 

 

 

Thanks, Zoe, for being Our Official Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

Isaiah observations and reminders–

Who: Guess which of the 3 composers put this section together.  A clue: chapter number.  Like, chapter 63.  A pretty high number, yes, Isaiah number 3. 

Where is he: if the author is number 3, he is back with the people in Jerusalem, a Jerusalem totally destroyed by the Babylonians. 

Today’s message: because he is back in Jerusalem, you would expect happiness.  On the contrary, he is bemoaning the state of affairs and is blaming himself and everybody’s sinfulness for the destruction.  But in the end he reminds Yahweh that they are his special people.  So…?

 

 

 

Georgie reads The Blessing Prayer of the Advent Candle while her sister Zoe does the lighting.

 

Be watchful!  Be alert!  You do not know when the time will come

 

I confess that every time I hear this line or ones like it, I have to speak about it.   I think I have spent the majority of my years as a Jesuit priest & psychotherapist trying to encourage no fear relationships with our God.   There were historical reasons why so much emphasis in the Bible is on fear and punishment.  

 For me it is not a relationship where God is eagerly looking for bad behavior so you can be thrown into the fires of hell, forever.  It is, rather an invitation to all the ways God is bending over backward to delight, to surprise, bring joy to all God's people.  I call them consolations moments.

 

 

 

Rosemary's shirt to me, similar to the shirt she designed and painted for her sister, Clare.

 

Here are 5  examples that happened to me while Rosemary & I spent Thanksgiving with her two sisters, the husbands, and the daughter of Joe & Clare, Beth, and Beth's partner, Sarah.  All in Joe & Clare's house in Hilton Head.  

First, the Thanksgiving meal, always a consolation moment.  A lot of my favorite items.  There were two special moments.  One was that Rosemary gave her sister, Clare a T- shirt with all 7 of her grand kids painted on the front and the word MomMom on the back.  It is similar to the T shirt Rosemary painted for me.

 

 

 

 

Talbird Live Oak tree, Hilton Head Island.  Check Thursday's blog for more pix.

 

Also, towards the end of the meal Joe asked everybody what was their blessing of the year.  Sound familiar.  It was a most touching consolation moment.  Mine?  You know well!  Rosemary.  As usual, I got too choked up to say her name.

Secondly, there is a rustic seafood restaurant on the edge of the marshes that every Thanksgiving Day serves all customers gratis.  A token of thanks.  When the hurricane messed up the restaurant pretty badly, the residents of Hilton Head pitched in and helped to rebuild the restaurant.    A consolation moment.

 

 

 

Want to stop for a little sunbathing?   Plenty of room.   This was my biking friend.    Rosemary even wants to take his picture.  "Smile now."

 

Thirdly, biking the marvelous wooded paths on the island.  The natural beauty is gorgeous.   Again, two consolation moments.  The first is the Talbird Oak.  Every day I rode, I would stop under the enormous drooping branches  of this centuries old Live Oak.  A consolation moment.

 

The other biking event had to do with an alligator.   There are lots of man made ponds on the island in the plantations.  And in those ponds are alligators who like to sun bathe on the shores.   I have a personal relationship with one of those alligators.  I see him or his parents every year.

 

 

 

No fun on this island at all!

 

 

There  is a tarmack path that  runs along the south west side of a pond with a fountain in the middle.  The path is not real close,  maybe 40 yards away.  The trouble is, the path winds back & forth along the pond's side.  It is my last day riding before departing.  A warm afternoon ideal for sun bathing.   So I decide I will stay on the road until I pass the popular place for my friend, then take a little spur path back to the main path that will put me about at the head of the pond.  

 

I get to the path and think I'll stop to see if the alligator is sunning in one of his usual spots.   No sign of my friend.   I put my foot on the pedal to begin riding, but take one last look around.  There, even closer, in front me, the alligator lying parallel to the path. 

 

 

 

Talking of food, our Advent Food Drive.

 

A consolation moment?  Absolutely!  For being watchful and alert enough to get moving and get out of there.

 

Finally, consolation moments knock me over here, with help coming from Emma and Leo, Buddy and Georgie, Zoe, Tori and Harper.

 

How are you watchful and alert enough to spot those consolation moments?

 

 

 

The Best Music Team!   A three-some or a four-some?

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  1, 12-14,  All devoted themselves to prayer.

Psalm 27,   I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. (a good one)

1 Peter 4, 13-16,  Rejoice.

 John 17, 1-11,   I pray for them. 

 

 

 

"Welcome in, Everybody, " says Harper.

 

To dwell in the house of the Lord

This past Friday after Romeos, I headed across Central to Plano Cycling, one of my favorite places to visit.  I wanted one of my service friends to check Rosemary’s rear bike brake.  She had told me it was soft.  I can fix a lot of things on a bike, and love doing it, but I would prefer a specialist work on her brake for safety’s sake.

 

 

So says Seth likewise, plus, "Wake me up after that old guy stops talking."

 

So I go in about 2:30 and this is why I love to go there.  I walk in and hear, “Hi, John” from numerous staff, or “Hi, John Stack” from the service manger.  I confess it means a lot to be known by name in a store.

I look for my specialist friends, Darrell or Lorinda.  Not there.  A bummer.  But a new guy is there, about 28.   He is working on a bike and apparently is alone.  I tell him what I want and he says, “sure,” he will fix it while I wait. 

 

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of The Week, Leo

 

Turns out Rosemary needs more than a cable tightened.  She has worn out her brake pads and needs a new set.  Joey says, “No problem,” he can fix that in a minute.

So we begin to talk.  “What's your name?  Joey.  How long you been working here?  About 2 months.  How do you like it?  I love it.  How did you get here?”

 

 

Offertory,Bernadette, Gil, and Diane.

 

He proceeds to tell me he had a good office job with good money.  But he was not happy.  He used to bring work home.  He is married, but did not mention kids.  Everything was good, but he was not happy.  He had known Plano Biking since he bought his first bike there as a little kid.  He loved to just visit.

One day he was talking with somebody on the staff and saying how he loved bikes & working on them and how his job was not satisfying.   “We’ll hire you,” the person said.  Joey jumped. 

 

Prep time.

 

This exemplifies what it means

To dwell in the House of the Lord,

To see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

And you? 

How do you dwell in the House of the Lord?

What are the good things of the Lord that you see in the land of the living?

 

 

 

And what for recessional?

 

P.S.   A note to all of you who are celebrating our Memorial Day weekend at your lake houses, on cruises, like to Alaska, Mike & Geri, and to points south, like Tom and Teresa, and to all points in between, you, too, are seeing and celebrating the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

 

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany for her last event, and David.