Sunday Homily 6-1-08, 9th Sunday of Regular Time

Readings:                          

Acts  7,  55-60,  They threw Stephen out of the city, and began to stone him.

Psalm 97,  The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth

Revelation 22, 12-14, 16-17, 20,    I, John, heard a voice.

John 17, 20-26,  I pray that they all may be one.

 

Sorry no homily today.

Readings: Isaiah 49, 3-6; Psalm 40, Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will; 1 Corinthians 1, 1-3; John 1, 29-34 (apologies for the wrong reading the past 2 blogs)

Isaiah reminders—

 Author: This is Isaiah #2, the composer of chapters 40-55.

 Date:  Ca. 575 before Christ.  The Jewish people of Jerusalem are in the Babylonian Captivity.

 Today’s Message: Hope and promise of a better time with emphasis on 1. being a Servant of the Lord, and 2. being a Light to the Nations.

 
 

A Servant of the Lord, a Light to the Nations.  Me?

 One day about a week ago Rosemary & I took a taxi to the bus station in Cuernavaca, Mexico.  Taxis cost about $2.00 normally, so many folks use the little white Nissan sedans roaming the city streets.

 As I always do with anyone I can question about anything in Spanish, I ask the driver how the new year is going for him.  He says it is going sadly, triste.  So, naturally, I ask him what is causing his new year to go so sadly. 

 

He tells me that 3 months ago his son who lived in Cuernavaca was shot for his pickup truck.  The son, who was in his 20’s, left behind his wife and two young kids, one only 9 months old. 

 I’m reminded of the same situation that happened with an acquaintance of Beth.  Also, some years ago I did a funeral for a recent graduate of A&M who had stopped by a convenience store on his way home from a Mavericks’ game.  He, too, was killed for his Mustang.  I did the boy’s funeral.

 Then, Rosemary & I read the news about Tuscon.

 I’m thinking, “What is going on?”

 

At the same time, Rosemary & I had been reading the selection from Isaiah II about being a light to people.  I am wondering how?  How can I make for a more peaceful environment?  How can I be like, say, Martin Luther King, whose holiday we celebrate tomorrow?  I am feeling overwhelmed. 

 We’ve come up with the following idea.  Any who has better ideas, please let us know.  I cannot expect to make a difference for greater peace in Tuscon or Cuernavaca.  I can expect to shine some light on my environment, Dallas, Plano, even our neighborhood. 

 And then I was struck by the insight that we as a community are a light to the nations.  The community supports CCAC which helps people who can’t get medical help anywhere.  You people help LifeNet, which provides housing for homeless.  The community supports our own members who cannot make it right now.  The community even supports a mother & daughter who had polio in Cuernavaca. 

 

This is only a short list.  Habitat, serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless.  There are others.  You people are bringing peace & light to a lot of people

 In a sad way the taxi driver in Cuernavaca was a light to me just by his sharing.  He certainly has me thinking. 

Who has been a light to you?

For whom are you a light? 

 

Picture 1:   Rosemary's Blessing 

Picture 2:   Christine & her mom, Diane  

Picture 3:   Zoe in her dad's arms and mom, Michelle  

Picture 4:   Georgie & Kate selling Girl Scout cookies

Picture 5:   Buddy & Torri

 

 

 

Readings: Isaiah 43, 16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3, 8-14; John 8, 1-11.

Isaiah – The scene: the Jewish people are captives in Babylon ca. 550 years before Christ. Isaiah the great prophet had warned the people that their bad ways were going to lead to this.

In this chapter 43 Yahweh reminds them of how much he has done for them in the past and lets them know that they are still his people. Their lives will get better.

The first 5 verses of this chapter are some of the best in the Bible, telling the people to not be afraid because he is with them.

Philippians – Philippi was the first church Paul set up on European soil. He is in prison. He is basically saying that for him nothing has any importance beyond his relationship with Jesus.

Judging

Our recent trip to East Africa was divided into two parts. The first half we spent in Tanzania visiting some of the world’s most marvelous game parks, like Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

The second half we spent time at place called Elsamere on the southern shore of a lake called Naivasha in the bottom of the Great Rift Valley. The place is somewhat famous because it was here that Joy & George Adamson made their home and where they raised a baby lioness named Elsa. Joy & George eventually let Elsa return to the wild, but while together they were the subject of the famous film Born Free, the story of Elsa.

The place is delightful, accepting at most 16 guests with three cottages spread out from the main house which is used as a dining room. It is here at Elsamere where we could not leave our cottage at night because hippos are grazing, one night right outside our window.

When we arrived, there were already 8 visitors, all Brits, 6 women in a group and a couple. Since they had already been eating meals together for a couple of days, we ended up seated at the second table with one of the Kenyan assistant managers.

As time went on, despite our efforts to get to know the Brits, nothing developed and I began to feel the ladies were ignoring us Americans. A couple of the ladies I had greeted seemed pretty disinterested in chatting. We had a good time with the couple. However, I was, as they say, put off by these women.

I know what it was that put me off. They never initiated a greeting and in the evening before dinner when we arrived with our guard from the cottage, they were all seated around the fire place. No welcome. In fact, they seemed totally involved in their own conversations.

Until the last night. Thirty minutes before dinner, snacks were served and we all made a big circle in front of the fireplace. All were departing the next morning. We three were split up around the circle.

Now they talked with us, especially a couple of them who had hilarious personalities. It was in this circle that we heard the story of the calendar (the women all belonged to the same organization that put out the famous calendar that was the subject of the movie "Calendar Girls"). We spent the time in hysterics.

The next morning I told them that my only disappointment at Elsamere was not having the opportunity to get to know them better.

I came close to judging and condemning these 6 Brit women, of judging the book by the cover.

Who is the Brit that you are condemning?

Download the homily for March 25, 2007 as an mp3 file.

Readings:

Malachi  3, 1-4,  Yes, he is coming, says the Lord.

Psalm 24,  Who is this kind of glory?  It is the Lord.

Hebrews,  2, 14-18,  That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.

Luke  2, 22-40, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to the temple to present him to the Lord.

 

Homily by Mike

Helen Roberta Marina Lazio was the woman that my Father married. What do I remember most about my mother? She loved to pray. She said the whole rosary every day of the last 25 years of her life.  The Joyful Mysteries were her favorites for they fit well with her prayer to Mary. 

Recall that the Hail Mary begins with words from the angel Gabriel [Hail Mary full of grace; the Lord is with you] at the Annunciation event and are followed by Elisabeth’s greeting to Mary at the beginning of the Visitation [Blessed are you among women; and blessed is the fruit of your womb]. 

 

 

The first two chapters of the Luke gospel give us the Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Our Lord, the Presentation, and the Finding of the boy Jesus in the Temple. Today’s Feast of the Presentation happens to be the fourth Joyful Mystery. 

To help us understand more fully today’s feast, let us take a short journey within the two chapters. It begins with the story about Zechariah and Elizabeth.  They are both Levites and he is also a priest. They are righteous before God and keep all the commandments of the Law; however she is barren. 

 

 

They represent Judaism that is not bearing fruit, they pray for its fulfillment and God hears their prayer. Their son will be John the Baptist, the messenger of our first reading.  Gabriel is now sent to Mary to announce that she will give birth to a Messiah king, and she comes to realize that the fruit she will bear fulfills the yearning and expectation of his coming given within the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. 

 

 

Gabriel tells Mary that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is not longer barren, and immediately she sets off to visit her.  Elizabeth greets Mary with the words, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’  Elizabeth and Zechariah know that Mary is to give birth to the Messiah, and they reveal the role of John the Baptist to prepare the people for his coming.   Now, recall the words of Christ, the Good Shepherd to Peter at the end of the John gospel. Three times he says, ‘Feed my Lambs.’

 

 

Lambs in the Gospel are those who have heard the words of the Good Shepherd and follow him.  So, we are now presented in the Luke gospel shepherds who are watching over their flock, lambs, when angels make them aware that the Christ child will be found in a feeding trough, a manger, wrapped in stripes of cloth, a shroud.

The shepherds are to perceive the Christ child as the Suffering Servant and Lamb of God of the Good News. The Word and the Bread blessed and broken are food for the lambs. The feast of the birth of Christ [Christ Mass is the Christ Liturgy] is a feast of the liturgy the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist: food for the soul.

 

 

The Christ child [the Word and Sacred Meal that fulfilled the written expectation of the Law, Prophets and Psalms] in the feeding trough, the Church, is now intimately understood by Simeon in the temple when he says Isaiah’s words, ‘My eyes perceive the salvation which God has prepared for the nations, a light to enlighten the gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.’  

 

 

 In that same way we are to manifest the Word and the Bread blessed and broken in our lives, to become the Body of Christ in the world!  Liturgically we put on Christ to become the Light of the World when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, receive a baptismal robe, and a candle lit from the Easter candle.  

Remember the song, ‘This little light of mine…’ Recall the Matthew verses of a baptismal liturgy: "You are the Light of the World. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden, and no one lights a lamp to put it under a bushel, they put it on the lampstand, where it gives light to all who are in the house.  In that same way, let your light shine before men so that seeing your good works they too may give glory your Father who in heaven.

 

          

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 43 1-5,  Do not be afraid for I am with you.  I have called you by your name, you are mine.  When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you.  Your troubles will not overwhelm you.  When you pass through fire, you will not be burned.  The hard trials that come will not hurt you.  For I am the lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. 

 Psalm 145,  Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

 1 John 3, 1-3,  See what love the father has bestowed on us.

 John 14, 27, 15, 9 & 11,  (27)Peace is what I leave you; it is my own peace that I give you.   (9)I love you just as the father loves me, remain in my love.  (11)I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Special readings in honor of All Saints.

 

Welcome to our celebration of our dear ones.  Happy All Saints & All Souls.

 

Isaiah observations:

Who.  This is second Isaiah, the best.  Handel's Messiah uses a number of lines from Isaiah 2.

Subject.  It is a time when many of the people of Judah are in exile in Babylon, crushed and without hope.  The prophet is proclaiming that God would eventually set his people free and take them home to Jerusalem.  (Note the Exodus theme, escape from bondage to find a new life, thus giving hope to those in Babylon.)

Our Subject.  Do not be afraid.  You will not be hurt.

 

 

Welcome in Everybody, say Georgie and Buddy.

 

All Souls Day observations–

Let me give you a bit of history and the thinking behind this All Souls' Day.  Five observations: the theology, purgatory-limbo, a legend, pre-Christian practices, and today.

1. The Theology.  All Souls' Day is part of a package with All Saints.  The idea is: on All Saints' Day we honor all those who are enjoying the beatific vision, that is, heaven, the saints.  On All Souls' Day we honor those who have died but have not reached heaven because they had penance to do. 

We are talking mortal & venial sin here.  If the person died with mortal sin, they are you know where. Those with venial sins have to go through purification and purging, which brings us to All Souls' Day and purgatory.

 

 

Wake up Buddy, you are missing all the good stuff.
 

 

2. Purgatory & limbo.  People ended up in purgatory to purify themselves with suffering, before being allowed into heaven.  Limbo was for whom?  It was for people, especially children who died without being baptized.  They remained there how long?  Forever.  Can you imagine a baby there or even in the old purgatory?

At least the Catholic Church recently acknowledged that the limbo idea was bogus.  The pope said it does not exist and never did.  Though many consider purgatory to be in the same class, it still exists.  Want to know how we know?  A previous pope was offering indulgences.  The indulgence is for the soul in purgatory.  It speeds up the process.  There are partial & total indulgences.  We can win them for these souls and get them out or we can win them for ourselves. 

For instance, on the last feast of Peter & Paul Rome offered an indulgence if you visited a church named after one or both of these two, and you recited a prescribed menu of prayers. 

 

 

Offertory with Mike & Judy & Mary.

 

3. The legend.   It happened around 1000 A.D. that a monk, St. Idolo, from the French monastery of Cluny was shipwrecked on a desolate island as he returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, i.e., Israel.  On the island he met a poor hermit.  The hermit told him that among the rocks was a crevice from which came the anguished voices of the many suffering in purgatory.  Likewise, listening carefully you could hear the devils cursing that living people were speeding up the sufferings of these souls by praying and doing penance for them. 

Some time after this, i.e., 1000 A.D., the Cluny Monastery established an All Souls' Day.  Ca. 1300 Rome followed suit.  

 

Pretty good, Hugh and Sydney; Rosemary does to me the same thing.

 

4. Pre-Christian times.  There is evidence that at least in Mexico numerous tribes had a day or period when the departed ancestors were honored.  The purpose was to honor them, remember their example, and to communicate with them.  Today in Mexico & in Hispanic families the Day of the Dead is still celebrated.  This custom has been celebrated for 3,000 years.

 

 

Guess who wears boots now.

 

       5.  Today.  Limbo has been discarded by Rome and many scholars consider purgatory a dinosaur idea from antiquity.  Consequently, All Souls' Day celebrates Samantha, my mom & dad, Rosemary's mom & dad, and all our loved ones pictured on the stage.  All Saints' Day handles the canonized.   Hell is also considered today a mental concept, not real.

So we say, What special blessing did you receive from one of these people pictured or whom you remember in your heart?

 

Do we have little mice crawling around around the floor of our community?  Little mice with boots?

 

Do not be Afraid

In honor of All Saints and All Souls I chose two of my favorite scripture passages.  Let me explain why.  

I will always remember the summer of 1970.  This was the summer just before I was ordained in 1971.  I came down from Toronto to work as an apprentice chaplain at Boston City Hospital.  

One afternoon I walked into the room of a guy who was dying.  He was elderly and a typical Boston Irish Catholic.  I asked him about his life, the positives and the negatives.  I asked him how he felt about dying. 

He said he was resigned to it even though he knew he was going to hell. 

 

Cole, our semi-pro candle lighter, at his craft.

 

I was stunned.  It seems he had married young and gotten divorced.  Then he married again and lived happily with his second wife for decades before the lady died.  He had never gotten an annulment. 

What was the Catholic teaching of these days, even though Vatican II had already taken place?  Yes, this was mortal sin and it would take him straight to hell forever.  He was stoic about paying the price.

Well, you can guess what I did.  I got another Jesuit, a priest, to visit him and send him home in peace. 

 

Recognize anybody in this picture?

 

This, folks, exemplifies the spirituality of fear that many of us Catholics lived with all our lives.  My dad had it.  Not so much my mom.  I had it, for sure.  Like I’ve mentioned here frequently, it was fear that I was going to hell with my buddies that convinced me to join the Jesuits. 

It was in Tanzania where I slowly and unconsciously learned the spirituality of unconditional acceptance and love.  It was definitely reinforced in my work with psychology.  

I would propose again that we have a God of unconditional love, not a God of punishment, especially eternal punishment.

 

 

Recognize anybody in this picture?  

 

We used to have limbo for babies who die without being baptized.  Even the Catholic Church admitted that this idea was made up by people.  Purgatory?  Protestants say this does not exist and is not in the Bible.  Made up by our ancestors.   So, what about hell?   Could it, likewise, be an idea and not a reality?  I, at least, think so.  

The readings I’ve chosen for this celebration of All Saints and All Souls focus on Do not be afraid.  They are some of my most favorite Bible verses.  Maybe the people who wrote in the gospels about eternal fire were simply trying to get people to obey. 

Lots of people have their favorite Bible verses.  Some verses focus on eternal fire.  Others talk of living without fear, certainly without fear of eternal punishment. 

 

 

What a team!

 

What is your belief?  A God of unconditional love or a God of eternal punishment?