Sunday Homily, December 23, Fourth Sunday, Advent

Readings: Acts 13, 14, 43-52; Psalm 100, We are His People, The Sheep of His Flock; Revelation 7, 9, 14-17; John 10, 27-30

Acts:  a brief resume of what Tony has already explained, using the structure of who, what, when, and today's reading.

Who wrote: Luke, who wrote the Gospel.  He was a Greek speaking Gentile convert to Judaism.  He writes for Gentile Christians.  Writes about Paul, but did not know him nor his letters.

When: Big question.  Before or after 2 momentous events–

70 C.E: the Jews rebel against Rome.  Rome smashes them and destroys the most precious temple.  End of priests, beginning of rabbis.

88 C.E.: the Jewish Christians who have been worshiping in the temple or synagogue for decades split off. 

What about: story of spread of Christianity after Christ's death.  History or not?  Big question.  Idealized history?

Today: Paul & Barnabas scolding the Jews and affirming the Gentiles.  Is Acts pro Gentile?  

Revelation: a strange book

Some of my old Jesuit confreres were convinced the author(s) of this book was on halucinagens, undergoing an LSD trip.  What do you think?

The Good Shepherd

Want to know what a good shepherd looks like?

There is a couple.  They are celebrating 25 years of marriage.  They met in college in Pennsylvania.  Good kids.  The girl, Donna had spent a summer overseas doing service work in Calcutta. 

Know who else started out in Calcutta?  Mother Teresa.

The guy, John had also been doing summer mission work with the Glenmary Home Missionaries. 

So they got married and planned to have a family.  They tried and waited.  The news: they could not have kids.  So, one thing led to another and they adopted.

They adopted Rosa, a baby from an orphanage in Mexico. 

Then they adopted Natalie, a baby from Guatemala.

Then David, a baby from a local foster care family.

Then they adopted a 12 year old.  Maria Elena came from the same Mexican orphanage as Rosa. 

They had been living in a house in Philadelphia.  They moved to a church basement.  Then to an empty convent. 

All the while they continued adopting kids.  Just could not say no.  Donna was home schooling the kids.  John was working as an independent contractor—until they reached 11 kids.  Then he quit his job.  He was needed too much at home.

With the number of adoptions rising they found a 7 acre farm in south east Pennsylvania.  Here they could attempt more self-sufficiency.  They also were granted status as a foundation and took the name of St. Joseph House.

Today on the farm they have somewhere between 17 and 20 kids under their roof. 

How have they managed over these 25 years and 20 kids?  With the help of Catholic communities like ours right here. 

What kind of good shepherd are you?  Are we?

I found the story of John & Donna Kurtz in the March edition of The Anthony Messenger.   There is a picture of the whole bunch on the cover. http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Mar2010/Feature1.asp

Readings:  Isaiah 40, 1-11; Psalm 85; 2 Peter 3, 8-14; Mark 1, 1-8.

Isaiah 2: Remember that Isaiah is one of the Big 3 Prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  Because of its 66 chapters this work is the big one.  Remember, also, that at least 3 writers contributed to the book. 

The first 39 chapters are the main Isaiah and present a strong critic of the rampant corruption of the ruling class with their oppression of the ordinary people.  His counsel was that Israel & Judah (north & south) pursue a passive political & military policy versus Assyria, the threatening power of the time, ca. 700 BCE.  Moreover, the Hebrews should not form a military alliance with Egypt & Babylon.  Babylon was no threat at this time, but would be so ca. 590, when they would enslave the Hebrews.

Isaiah was not heeded and eventually the Assyrians defeated the northern state, Israel, and the people disappeared.  They intermarried and did not maintain their identity.  Today they are called the 10 lost tribes of Israel, the remaining two tribes surviving in Judah, the southern state, capital, Jerusalem.  Remember how I mentioned Ezekiel helped the Hebrews enslaved in Babylon ca. 580 maintain their identity with 1. sabbath, 2. kosher food, 3. male circumcision.

Side note: why 12 tribes?  Because of the 12 sons of Jacob, the third of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob.  Jacob was given the name Israel.  Israelites are the sons of Israel or Jacob.

For our purposes this second Sunday of Advent when we look forward to Christmas, we use the second Isaiah, which begins, guess where?  With our selection, chapter 40.  These chapters are called the Book of Comfort and you will see why.  Even though I as a backpacker would not like to see all the mountains & hills made low, we have a beautifully consoling reading.  Isaiah 2 is speaking to the Jewish people under siege.

Jim in the Blood Mobile

Good News in Strange Places

I did it again, folks.  Rode in car number 1, DART red line.  It was Wednesday ca. 12:00 when I caught the down town train at Forest Lane to have one of our occasional lunches with Dawn Schultz.  She got on at City place, but what happened before that was the event.

I was seated on the aisle, right side, third seat from the front, so I can watch the scenery ahead as well as beside me.  Somewhere like Walnut Hill Lane we stopped and the driver laid out the handicap bridge to let someone on.  In came an orange baseball cap covering a skinny old black man in an electric wheel chair.  He parked in the bay just in front of the seat on the left side, right in front of a white woman in her 30's. 

We  had not gone one stop when he started talking loudly enough to hear him all over the car.  He had his back to us but was asking people if they had a paper towel.  His nose was dripping because of the cold.  He was able to talk most directly to this white woman because he was near her and only needed to swivel around in his chair to face her.  She was  good.   Did not have a paper towel, but offered him a Kleenex.  Which he used to wipe his nose.

Then he proceeded to converse with her some more.  She responded graciously.  At one point, he says in his loud, gravely voice, "How old are you?"  I was really amused.  Smiling she said she was 33.  He said something I could not distinguish and she responded, "You are 30 years older than I am."

I was stunned.  He was 63.  5 years younger than I am.  Wow.  He must have lost count along the way, I am thinking.  He looks and sounds like 83.

This got me thinking on how our two lives have been so different from the beginning.  He was born into this world probably a poor black boy.  I was born into this world a rich white kid.  I've had every door opened to me, every opportunity.  I obviously have much greater health than he.  I've worked at it, no doubt, but I had so much help, starting with my parents and teachers who appreciated being well rounded.   When I returned from East Africa in '86 and began to have annual checkups, we Jesuits had total coverage and I had an internist that was the best.  He set me on a road to overall health in my older years that has been a priceless gift.  All this came to me as I listened to the little black man in the wheel chair on the red line.

The readings we have this morning all point at the coming of a priceless gift.  Isaiah and Mark talk about the coming.   In fact, Mark quotes Isaiah's very words saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord."  The Good News is coming.

So how does that effect me, us?  So what?  Two observations.

 Rose in the Blood Mobile 

First, the Good News that Isaiah foresaw and the Good New that Mark is trying to set up, it has come.  It is past tense.  We can take consolation from the knowledge that we are accepted.  Jesus has lived.

Mark is trying to convey this by creating for his readers  something special and he is working a plot.  He is writing in the 70's after Jesus' death in the 30's, Jesus a person whom he never knew.  He writes for Jews who became Jesus' followers and are being persecuted for it.  He is trying to show that Jesus it the one foretold by the prophets.  He begins with a three stage strategy, prepare, proclaim, test. 

In today's reading he is doing the first, that is, counseling the people to prepare for The Coming.  With Jesus'  baptism he proclaims The Good News.  The temptation in the desert is the test and the third part of the trilogy.

Second observation.  The Good News is not just past tense.  It is present tense.  I encounter it daily in big and small ways.  I encountered it on the red line.

Where or when do you encounter the Good News?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-12-07.mp3

1.  The Joy of helping with the Quads and meeting Casey and Robbie.  Truly gives hope for the future.

2.  I am Thankful for My Family, My Pets, the World, Jesus, and God.

3.  My Kid quit Smoking.

4.  I am Blessed to have known & loved Sarah Dixon Herbert during her short life.

Readings:                          

Genesis  14,  18-20, Abraham gave Melchizadek a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110,  You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

1 Corinthians 11, 23-26,    Do this in remembrance of me.

Luke 9, 11-17,  Give them some food yourselves.

Welcome Erin & Diane & Cole.  So good to see you all.

Spirit Feast

I would like to talk this morning about 2 things.   First, what was my most favorite moment or experience on the Viking cruise.  Secondly, let me say a word about Jesus feeding the people.

This little story in Luke about the feeding of the 5 thousand men is one of my favorites.  I have talked about the story a number of times over the years, because I’ve been there & done that.

Welcome back, Marlene.  It has been too long since the days we did the 9:00 Spanish Mass in the cafetorium at St. Marks. 

The point I like to make is that  these country people would hardly ever leave home for the day without some food hidden  away in their robes.  They would not be in to sharing it. 

By telling his apostles to share their 5 loaves and 2 fish, Jesus gets the people to share their food, too.  He creates a spirit of trust.  I would call this a unique spirit event, which leads me to the first point I mentioned,  what about our cruise was the best.

Welcome Home, Ellen.
 

 As much as I loved being guided through so many cities I had read about and heard of my whole life, this was not my favorite.

I loved watching the water and watching the captain park this enormous boat, but this was not my favorite.

My favorite: the meals!   Yes.  But not in the way you are thinking,  the food, which was excellent, but in the sense of spirit.  Let me give an example.

This is it, the Viking Sea sailing out of the Norwegian fiord of Flam.  Stupendous beauty.

There was a couple named June and Steve.  We actually met them in the Heathrow Airport, where we were all part of a group of about 12 who missed our connection to Bergen, Norway because we had only 50 minutes between arriving from Boston and departing for Bergen in another terminal.

A bunch of us spent the night at a Holiday Inn, including June & Steve.   We rode the shuttle with them and had breakfast together. 

Docked at the Norwegian village of Flam from the exterior tables of the so titled "World Cafe," probably because from this 7th floor stern deck you can see the world.

On board we continued to see them and ate with them.   On one occasion we had dinner with them in my most favorite eating location on the boat, the World Café, as they called it.  It was on one of the top floors of the 8-9 floor boat, in the stern area, had no waiters, just buffet, and from each of the numerous tables on the port, starboard, and rear,  I could see the ocean.   A fabulous place to eat and appreciate just being alive and in that setting. 

This particular evening we were finally settled in and the ship was moving.  We talked about all sorts of things and we had a common spirit on so much.  We actually sat at that table and talked for 3 hours.  June noticed it when we were beginning to break up.  I had never even thought of the time.

The marvelous World Cafe from the inside.

That 3 hour meal was my favorite moment.  It was a spirit feast.

It is difficult to have these spirit feasts.  We are so busy.  It takes time.  I don't get to do this often.  At Romeos we don't take 3 hours, but we can take two.  On our camping trips we can take 3 hours.   This is one reason why I tote in every evening a pint or more of Jack Daniels and a pound of cheese for hors d'oeuvres.  Camaraderie.

The World Cafe.

This is what we try to do here at Sigler each Sunday.  And I think we succeed.   Even now without wine.

It is the feast of Corpus Christi.  When is your next spirit feast?  What about tomorrow, Memorial Day?  

Who let that homeless man on board?

Readings: Isaiah 55, 10-11; Psalm 65; Romans 8, 18-23; Matthew 13, 1-23

Isaiah: The Great One lived around 750 B.C.  He is one of the 3 Major Prophets along with Jeremiah & Ezekiel, mostly because their works are larger than the 12 Minor Prophets.  Like all prophets he  condemned the behavior of the people, promised punishment from Yahweh, and foretold that a better day was coming after the punishment.

Isaiah has some of the most beautiful passages, many of which are seen as foretelling the coming of the Savior.  His readings are used all through the Advent & Christmas readings, as well as in Lent. 

Note, however, that there is evidence from different writing styles and length of time that three authors at least make up the book of Isaiah.

Both the Isaiah reading and Psalm 65 are beautiful.

What Kind of Soil Am I? 

One day when I was a little kid, so little I was not in school yet, I was playing in the driveway beside our house.  We had a driveway that ran from the street, along side the left side or east side of the house, all the way to the back where the two car wooden garage was.  We had no fence along that side of our back yard and the neighbor’s house had no fence. 

At some point in my play the lady who worked for the neighbors came to the back door.  I did not like this lady.  Actually, she had a small apartment attached to their garage where she lived when she was not working in the house. 

I do not know what it was that got me off on her.  Certainly she was not friendly, nor warm & fuzzy with this little boy.  So, out of the blue, I say to her standing there in the doorway, “You are a big, fat elephant.” 

Maybe I ran.  I don’t know.  But, I give that lady credit.  She marched right over to our house and told my mother.  And my mother went ballistic.  I got a spanking. Which certainly did not make me more fond of that lady.

As a result of this event, plus numerous other little behaviors that were unacceptable, I entered adolescence with the thought that I was a pretty bad kid.  My soil was rocky and I was probably on the express train to hell.  Which definitely played a role in my decision to enter the Jesuits and become a priest.  Save my lost soul before it was too late. 

I talk about this because it connects me with the parable of the sower, one of the many so called agricultural parables found in Matthew.  In the parable, Jesus says we got four chances to get the message and with three of them we don’t get it.  Not good odds.  I go along with this and suggest that the path, the rocks, and the thorns symbolize three ways we sabotage our process of getting the message. 

• First, I suggest the path symbolized a lack of gratitude. We take for granted all the blessings and beauty that make up our life and, in fact, often feel entitled. Our time is so limited that we never reflect.
• Second, the rocks symbolize our middle class obsession with stuff, toys, things. We have to have the latest thing, the biggest, the best.
• Thirdly, the thorns may symbolize the fact that I hear the wrong message. I pick up that I am bad, like I learned when I was a little kid.

What is really devious about these three, is that they are reciprocal.  They interact among themselves. Here is what I mean.

Say, I have the self image that I am bad.  If I am already bad, why make an effort.  Certainly, I don’t incline toward gratitude.  I do incline, however, toward toys & stuff.  The toys are medication for my disappointment in myself.  If I have enough toys, I think that others will think I am hot stuff. 

I was into toys as a teen.  No doubt.  One of the best things that happened was when I joined the Jesuits, I let go of it all.  I had no possessions to impress others with.  None of us in my class had possessions.  We were just guys. 

The reason this is pathetic is that while I am ungrateful and obsessed with toys because of my lack of self acceptance, I never achieve The Peace, which is where the rich soil is that yields a hundred fold of peace.  I don’t get the message.  The message is I’m okay.

How do I break this cycle?  I think I can intervene anywhere along the process.  I can focus on gratitude, I can detach from stuff & toys, and I can work on self acceptance.  Maybe all at the same time.  That is getting the message.

The beauty about all this is that ultimately, wherever I am, I am okay.  I am accepted.  I am not riding the express train to hell.  Jesus presents us with ultimate demands, and ultimate acceptance.

What is the challenge to you?  How do you get The Message?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-07-13.mp3

Readings: Isaiah 60, 1-6; Psalm 72, Lord, Every Nation on Earth will adore You; Ephesians 3, 2-6; Matthew 2, 1-12.

Isaiah 60: author, date, subject

Author: 3 Isaiah (responsible for chapters 55-66)

Date: ca. 400, after the Babylonian Captivity, ended ca. 550

Subject: lines such as, Rise up in splendor, the glory of the Lord shines, people from the east will come with gold & frankincense.

source: John Shelby Spong

The Great Debate: Myth vs Fact

I have just had an epiphany event in my life.  I was visited by an old friend, a wise friend, maybe a wise guy friend.  He says, "Stack, you are a fraud."  You folks have known this all along.  He says that the homily I gave before Christmas on the Partridge in a Pear Tree was not true.  Sorry to have to tell you this.  The history was wako, did not happen.  As you can imagine, I was quite deflated, but figured he was right because he is more of a researcher than I. 

So, folks, the old geezer fraud fesses up this morning.  I confess that I did not do any research on the subject.  Somebody sent it to me a few years ago, and I did not even save the name of the sender. 

So, using my friend's research and my own, I discovered that maybe the symbols were connected to the old Christmas carol ca. 1990.  Apparently nobody knows.  It was pointed out that these symbols did not need to be secret because of persecution.  The Elizabethan protestants shared most of the same symbols.  No secret needed.  Plus the carol may have come from France.  So, everyone, erase that homily and the history I gave you.  I blew that one. 

It struck me in the midst of this, could we be witnessing the creation of a myth?  100 years from now how many people will believe the version that I presented?  Could this be an example of what took place in the bible?  You have certainly heard that biblical scholars have determined that the nativity stories are the result of literary liberties taken by Luke & Matthew, not factual history.  I can give you two simple examples.

First, Bethlehem.  It is thought that Jesus was really born in Nazareth.  But Luke & Matthew, the only writers dealing with the nativity, wanted to connect Jesus with King David.  David was born in Bethlehem.  It is pointed out that it is a long way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, it was winter, and Mary was pregnant.  A woman researcher commented, "Only a man would imagine such a journey possible for a pregnant woman."

Why were people going to Bethlehem?  To be counted in a census of all the descendents of David.  David lived a 1000 years earlier, had many wives and mistresses.  His offspring would have numbered in at least the thousands.  No wonder there was no room.  And imagine how skitzy Herod would be with these thousands of potentially hostile subjects just a few miles from Jerusalem.

Why did the writers use such literary liberties?  They want to show that Jesus was special, he was the figure 1 Isaiah predicted, the God-hero, the wonder worker, the Prince of Peace.  They had heard so much about the adult Jesus that they wanted to make his birth a God-hero event.  So, connect him with the Great King David.

Finally, secondly, there is one small but significant mistranslation.  In Isaiah 7, 14, it is said, "A young woman will have a child."  Matthew, most likely intentionally to craft his point, mistranslates the word young woman as virgin, and says 'a virgin will become pregnant' (1, 23).  And so it has come down. 

There are three ways to respond to these studies.  One is to say, "No problem, God can do all that stuff.  He's all powerful."   The trouble with this is that the evidence is becoming overwhelming.  Like still saying the earth is flat.

Or I can simply toss out the whole and stay home.

A middle ground could be to recognize that literary liberties have been used.  And still celebrate the event.  The event, the Prince of Peace gives me peace and gives me a longing to share the peace. 

I goofed up by not researching the Partridge in a Pear Tree.  Sorry about that.  What we may be seeing here is a myth process similar to the biblical stories.  Myth or fact?  How can I be an educated, intelligent Christian?

What do you think about all this?  What do you feel about it?

Sources: John Shelby Spong; Harvey Cox, Future of Faith; Catholic Encyclopedia on line; Snopes

Picture 1:  Epiphany Celebration begins

Picture 2:  Mass with Kevin helping

Picture 3:  35th Anniversary, Carol & Richard 

Picture 4:  Chloe dances (see video)

Readings:

Acts 2, 14, 36-41,  About 3 thousand people were added that day.

Psalm 23,  The Lord is my shepherd (a good one)

1 Peter  2, 20-25,  When he was insulted, he returned no insult.

John  10, 1-10,  The shepherd calls his own sheep by name.

Georgie says, "Welcome Everybody, come in."

A reminder on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described.

Emma cannot wait to see everybody.

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Our Selection:  Peter is just trying to convince his listeners to sign up.

Psalm 23:  The Lord is my shepherd.  One of the good ones.

Zoe lights the Easter candle with her mom, Michielle, helping.

Me, a Shepherd ?  No Way !

In honor of Mothers' Day today I would like to talk about the Good Shepherd.  Instead of focusing on the way the scripture paints a portrait of the in group and the out group, I would like to focus on the fact that there is only the in group.  We are all in it.  Plus, we are called to be shepherds.  The story of the day comes again from our visit in France a month ago.

In Paris Rosemary & I have a favorite little pedestrian only street called Rue Cler.  It is in the same neighborhood as the Eiffel Tower and on the left bank of the Seine River.  There is a small cross street called Champs de Mars.  The street eventually goes to the park by the same name where the Eiffel Tower is situated.  Our little hotel, Champs de Mars, is on the street.

Remember the Holy Saturday wedding in Grandbury, published in the Easter Sunday blog? Here they are, Robb and Rebecca celebrating their 3rd week anniversary. See below the gift they gave the community.

Two of the corners formed by Rue Cler and Rue Champs de Mars have cafes where the tables and chairs spill delightedly out onto the two streets.   One of the corners has a little grocery and the fourth corner has a deli, bakery combination.  The deli is open on the two street sides.

Rosemary & I went there one afternoon to buy something for our two o’clock lunch-dinner. 

Cupcake of the Week to Dick and Judy for 11.

There are two counters facing Rue Cler, both containing all sorts of bakery goods and deli specialties. 

We go up to the first counter, look around a bit, and then ask the woman for some quiche and maybe a ham & cheese sandwich.   The young woman who is about 35 and attractive with olive skin and brown hair acts somewhat impatient and brusque. 

She gives us what we want and we go to the second counter where the cash register is to pay another woman who could be the first woman’s twin sister.

Cupcake of the Week to Sam on his birthday with his mom, Pam.

This young woman is even more impatient and even rude.  We depart and Rosemary says, “I wish I had told her, ‘Don’t talk to me like that!’”  Don’t get New York Rosemary mad.

So I lied that second Sunday of Easter when I told you we had never met rudeness in France.  This was the first time.

We were talking about it later that evening when I decided I would return and let them know how we felt.  I memorized a little two sentence statement in French, so I would not get tongue tied, and we returned at 7:00.

I walk up to the second woman still at the cash register and when she sees me she immediately says, “We are closed.”  Twice.  And immediately sells a baguette to a guy who had walked up just behind me.  I decide I will wait, when suddenly I saw the other woman. 

Cupcake of the Week for Barb on her birthday.  Barb is the mother of Rebecca and Pam.

I walk over to her, say I would like to have a word, and make my little speech.  I say, “We just bought your food here this afternoon.  It was excellent.  However, I am sad, because for the first time in all my years coming to Parish, this is the first time I met two people who were impolite.” 

She is all apologetic and asks, “Who?”  “You,” I say.  And still she was apologetic.  I told her I accepted her apology, thanked her, and left feeling pretty happy.

I know not what bad experiences with Americans or men or poor French speakers they had had in their lives.   I do know the girls had moms and maybe they are moms.  

Cupcake of the Week for a Great Grandmother, Mabel.

Even though the girls were impatient with Rosemary and me, I propose that these two women are part of the shepherd’s group and that, in fact, all of us, everyone is part of the shepherd’s group.  Some people in the group are more wounded and brainwashed.   Their hurt leaks out in their behavior.  Are the Boko Haram people, the Nigerians who kidnapped the girls, are they part of the group?  Yes.   I have lived in Nigeria and I know how brutal it can be.

Despite the in and out quality of the good shepherd scriptures, I propose that all of us here are part of the group.  We are blessed because we have had good secondary shepherds in our lives, good moms, teachers, coaches, friends, and fellow community members.

We are, also, definitely called to shepherd others. 

Who and How?

Celebration Cross, made by Robb for their wedding and donated to our community by Robb and Rebecca.