11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 18, 2023

Acts of the Apostles 2:  Repent  and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 2:  When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.

John 10:  "I came so that they might  have life, and have it more abundantly."

The Kiss of Peace

Thanks…     

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Pat & Fred

Gospel,   John Cade

Homily,   John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

John gets a cookie for his birthday

Readings:  Download 04-30-23 Readings – 4th Easter

Homily:    Download 04-30-23 Homily – 4th Easter

and Denni gets a birthday cookie too

Remember these special people:

For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  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; 

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.

Our musicians, Shonda and Ben

Birthdays:  John Simari, Denni Zurchin

Anniversaries:  

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  230.00

Outreach: $  

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

The first Genesis creation story is included in this blog.  It is too long to read during the homily, so I invite you to read it prior to Sunday Mass when John Cade will talk with you about the story’s literary form.

Download 09-19-21 Genesis Creation Story 1

Acts of the Apostles 4, He is the stone rejected by you

Psalm 118,   The stone rejected by the builders has become the corner stone

1 John 3, Beloved, We are God's children.

John 10, I am the good shepherd and I know mine.

Thanks……

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,  John, Connie, & Buddy, our candle blesser

Gospel, Deacon Mike Carrell

Homily,  John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Richard & Mike–welcome home!

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

Welcome in, Everybody.

Readings for Sunday, April 25, 2021

Download Reading 4th Easter 4-25-2021

John Stack Homily

Download Homily Cornerstone 4-25-21

The Team.

Remember these special people:

For Alan Stryker;  For Joe Sullivan;    For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique;  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 

Here they are: Cathy & Cheryl.  How we have missed this.

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 daughter, Lisa;  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 girl named Ford undergoing an operation; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Connie reading from Acts.

Birthdays:    David Dinsmore, John Simari, Cliff Wright, & Denni

Anniversaries:    Randolf & Michelle

Community Finances,   April 25, 2021

Expenses: $ 250.00

Outreach: $ 350.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary sharing her Blessing of The Week.

Rosemary's final blessing

May we be blessed with the gift of contemplation of the blessings we have received and then put this appreciation into action to help others.

And may there always be someone on our life’s journey to help us on your way.     

Readings:

1 Samuel 1, 20-22, 24-28, Hannah conceived a son, whom she called Samuel. 

Psalm 84,  Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord

Colossians 3, 12-21,  Wives, be subordinate to your husbands.

Luke 2, 41-52, Jesus left behind in the temple.

Says our dear Leo, "Happy New Year, Everybody.

Samuel observations: who, when, what, our passage with a story

Who:

          –about whom: Samuel, the last judge ruler of the Israelites and the first of the Big Three, that is, Samuel, Saul, and The Great King David, a fascinating Old Testament character. 

          –by whom: not written by Samuel, but a compilation of numerous sources.

When:  being familiar as you are with the Big Three Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, when they did their prophet job,  and the influence of the Babylonian Captivity, around 555, yes, you are right if you guess that the work apparently was assembled at this same time.  The Jewish leaders were attempting to preserve their community as a tribe-nation.

What:  a Jewish history lesson, fantasized greatly, and attempting to give a divinely chosen character to the Israelites’ heredity.  Originally there were two books, Samuel and Kings.  Now there are 4.  How come?  A simple answer.

Apparently originally Samuel was one scroll written in Hebrew.  It was translated into Greek.  Hebrew has no vowels and therefore takes up less space.  Greek has vowels.  Therefore, two scrolls were needed to write out the book of Samuel and thus it became Samuel I and II.   Sort of amusingly simple.

"And don't forget me," says our dear Genevieve, "Happy New Year to You All."

The Story: (chapter 1)

          The 4 characters: Samuel’s mom, Hannah; her husband Elkanah; Elkanah’s second wife, Peninnah; & the temple priest, Eli.

          There was this man, Elkanah, who lived with his two wives in Ramah.  He loved them both.  Over the years Peninnah had numerous children, but Hannah had none.  Despite this, Elkanah had a special love for Hannah.

Peninnah used to laugh at and mock Hannah, who became depressed, often would not eat, and cried a lot.

One day Hannah was in the temple crying over her inability to have children.  At one point she promised that if she had a son, she would dedicate him to God’s service.  She continued to pray, whispering her prayer quietly.

Eli, the priest, was sitting in the back of the temple watching Hannah.  He thinks she is drunk and scolds her, “Stop making a drunken spectacle of yourself.  Stop your drinking and sober up.”

Hannah, of course, is mortified and defends herself, saying she is not drunk, but has no children and is miserable.  Eli believes her and tells her to go in peace and may God give you what you ask.

Guess what happens….

Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter's Study Bible, Bible Gateway.com, Wikipedia

"She's crawling," Folks, "beware."  Leo shows Genevieve how he used to climb up the pole to see better.

Paradigms for Families

I remember way back when Rosemary and I had been married a while, I told her one day that I thought this special line from the Bible was my new favorite line.  “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands.”  Sounded good to me. 

You know what I got, the look, the dog kennel look, the look that said, ‘There is a vacancy in the dog kennel in the back yard, bubba.’  So much for my new favorite line. 

We have one of the classic lines in Scripture here this morning.  “Wives,be subordinate to your husbands.”  I have talked about this probably numerous times over the past 25 years, but the message deserves to be heard occasionally.   It is relevant today.

Genevieve on tour, visiting Ray.

For instance, I remember one afternoon I was in line to ride the roller coaster or something at 6 Flags.  Ahead of me was a family, husband and wife with maybe two or three kids.  The couple were discussing two sides of some decision.  Then I heard the husband tell the wife that she should follow his opinion, because….   You know what he said.  I almost passed out.  I did not realize that contemporary, educated, middle class folks followed this just because it says it in the Bible.

Let me offer some perspective, a little history and the 3 models of family dynamics.

Historically, remember that the writer of the line lived not in the Middle Ages, but way before that.  Women were not considered equal to men in any way.  I saw this in East Africa when I lived there.  The man was the head and the wife, kids, and farm animals were all more or less on the same level.

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany, & Ray.

You may see the same phenomenon today.  Where?  Try Afghanistan or among many Arab or Muslim countries.  Women have no rights and are certainly not considered equal to men.  Because of this, women can be beaten like a child or abused with hardly any consequence.  The old dictum held, ‘A good beating never hurt anyone.’

The writer of this letter saw this and spoke to it.  Not only does he speak to the wife, he also speaks to the husband, “Husbands, love your wives.”  Pretty unique stuff for those days.  Wives, in other words, are human beings, not property to be told how to dress and behave.

A Cupcake of the Week to Hanna & David, "Welcome Home." 

Finally, let me remind you of the 3 models of family dynamics.

First, you have the patriarchy.  The father is the head, which today’s writer is aware of.  And accepts.

Secondly, you have the matriarchy, the wife is the head of the family.  This model has been used over the centuries in various places.

Thirdly, you have equality.  This model has more traction today because women and men are equally educated and often equally talented.  In this family the husband and wife share responsibility and consult with each other.

Cupcake of The Week to Kevin for years of faithful service.  Happy New Year, Kevin.

It is not so much that one model is better than the other.  Which model works?  

Which model works for you?

Readings:  January 18, 2015

1 Samuel 3,  3-19,  Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Psalm 40,    Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

1 Corinthians 6, 13-15, 17-20,   Your body is a temple of the Spirit within you.

John 1, 35-42,   What are you looking for?

Buddy says, "Wow, Look what I got at the Stuff Swap."

1 Samuel observations:

What: 4 books about 4 big leaders of the People, Samuel & Saul, David & Solomon.  1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.

Who: Samuel is the first big leader of the people.  He is a judge and the last.  The following 3 are kings of the people, Saul, David, and Solomon. 

Time:  The events take place ca. 1100-1000 before Christ.  The compilation & recording of the events takes place ca. 555 before Christ.  Sound familiar?  Babylonian Captivity

Who is that with a new, slightly used skooter?

Today's Selection: Yahweh is calling Samuel in a dream.  This ties in with the Gospel where three future apostles are called.  Samuel's mother was Hannah, and she is famous because of a touching story about how she came to have Samuel.  

I had the story of King David read the Sunday before Christmas and I talked about Samuel.

Hannah, Samuel's mother,  had promised Yahweh that she would dedicate to the temple her son, if she got one.  Consequently, our selection finds Samuel residing in the temple with Eli the prophet.  He would be about 12 years old.

Be aware that while these marvelous stories are mythological, the writer is attempting to convey to a simple people lessons in trust in Yahweh.

The Samuel reading, the Psalm, and the Gospel are all about call.  I would like to talk about this at homily.   As the Psalm says, "I come to do your will."  What is that?  What if it is just being  peaceful? 

Wow, I think that is our Beautiful Zoe.

 Big Calls and Little Calls

Like I mentioned, I would like to talk about calls this morning.  I would observe that there are big calls and little calls.  A big call would be like my call to go work in Tanzania and East Africa.  A little call could be like this.  Our story of the week.

So I go to the J this past Friday morning, the Jewish Community Center.  You know I go there Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for a 6 o’clock spin class.  The room has 25 stationary bikes and often the majority are occupied. 

And then there is our Beautiful Victoria cruising the stuff swap.

I had not been to the spin class since the Monday 10-12 days before.  I had a low grade, almost cold during the cold cloudy period and I just could not get it to go away.  One of the things I do to get ahead of a cold, beside heat and hydration, is rest.  I do no exercise and I force myself to lie down for an hour in the morning and in the afternoon. 

I knew what it was going to take and it did.  The sun came out Thursday, the temperature moderated, and, voila, the cold disappeared.  I could not wait for Friday morning.

Cupcakes of The Week for Ray & Claire at 44 and Kevin at 18.

So I get there, say, ten minutes early.  I walk in, say hi to the lady who gives me a locker key for the change room and a towel.  I walk into the change room and say hi to two other old geezers I like to joke with.  

All this time I am expecting that someone, at least the lady at the entrance, might say, “Where you been?  I’ve missed you.”  No, nothing, not even the two old geezers.

Happiness is a Cupcake of The week at 18.

So I walk down the hall and enter the spin room about 5:50.  Perhaps 8 people are there, including a lady who always rides on the bike immediately to my left. 

She is doing pre-ride exercises on the floor.  I say hi to her and talk with two guys I like, younger guys.  Yep, you guessed it.  No word about me being gone.  I was deflated.  I like the spin classes, but I equally like the people and I know pretty nearly everyone by name.  In fact, when I first started coming, people would just walk in, get on a bike, and start riding without a word to anybody.  Now I greet everyone and it seems like people are talking more. 

Jeanie & Jack with a welcome back cupcake, checking on their daughter, Wendy.

Eventually I just told people I had been gone almost two weeks because of a faint cold.  Then I had a couple of people say they had noticed I had not been around. 

The temptation?   Baloney on those people.  I have liked them, greeted them, and told them that I missed them when I noted that they had been gone, even for one class.  It is easy for me to notice, because the majority use the same bike each class.   I know some of them were flattered when I noticed.

Anad guess who, Wendy and Bethany with Vivian on the way.

That’s the temptation.  What’s the call?  Even a little call.  I think the call to me, at least, is to continue to greet these folks, to chat them up, and, yes, to tell them I missed them when they are gone for a class or two.  People are worth more than my deflation.

So, be sure to tell Rosemary and me how much you missed us the next time we are away for a week.  Only so much deflation I can handle, and you know Rosemary.

How do you handle being deflated like this?

Our great Communion helpers.

Readings:

Isaiah 61, 1-2, 10-11, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

Psalm, Luke 1, My soul rejoices in my God

Thessalonians 5, 16-24, Rejoice always

John 1, 6-8, 19- 28,  A man named John was sent from God

John Cade will celebrate Laetare Sunday with his homily.

Here is information about ways we can help this Christmas. 

Soul’s Harbor.  As in years past we are collecting sweatshirts and hoodies for the guys at Soul’s Harbor. Please drop them off at Lynda Fleming’s house by 12/17/20.  (5 Vista Cliff Place, Richardson, TX 75080).

A note from Becky Good:

Legacy Preparatory Charter in Plano is looking for a few good church families to donate to our neediest school families.  If you're one of those who feels the need to answer this call please email me so that I can make you part of the document that will contain the list of our neediest families and their children with ages and sizes.

Should you want to donate money instead, email me and we will find a way to receive it if you don't want to drop off a check.

Families in need: Download Families (1)

Here's my email:  Bgood@legacypca.com

As always, Legacy and I thank you for your constant generosity.  You are making a difference in our school community.  Thank you again.

Checks and gifts/donations need to be dropped off by Monday, 12/15/20, so they can get it to the families.

ROMEOS, Friday, November 27, 1:00,  as usual.    Welcome!

ROMEOs' Virtual Jason's Deli BYOB lunch
This is a recurring meeting, Friday, 1:00 pm
Link :
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85798571623?pwd=NmFSTW1ocVMzRGdIc0QzUGxKdHM3dz09

Meeting ID: 857 9857 1623
Password: saladbar

Reminder for 1st Sunday Advent, November 29, 2020

Here are the links for Sunday:

2. search for "john stack ministries"

 

 

 

 

 

Peace, Jerusalem

 

 

 

 

What's up in Ye Olde Catholic Church

 

1.  Biden & his stutter, https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/its-happening/how-biden-deals-stuttering-reveals-his-character 

 

2.  Other churches who took no precautions,  https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/health/churches-covid-1918-lesson-wellness/index.html