Sunday Homily, December 2, First Sunday, Advent

Readings: Amos 8, 4-7; Psalm 113, Praise the Lord who lifts up the Poor; 1 Timothy 2, 1-8; Luke 16, 1-13

 

Luke’s Gospel, 3 observations:

 

1.  The Story.  The rich man and his steward.  The steward is  squandering the rich man’s property.  The rich man tells the steward that he is going to be fired after he prepares the accounts. 

 

 

The steward figures he will make friends with the debtors by cutting their debts to the rich man.  He cuts bills as much as 50%. 

 

 

The rich man, instead of berating the steward, praises him for his strategy.  

2.  What is going on here?  Looks like the steward is stealing from the rich man.   In fact, he is cutting out his commission, not stealing anything.  The Jews reading this parable would know this immediately.  The steward made his living by charging a service fee. 

 

3.  Any lessons here for us?

  a.  One of Luke’s favorite messages: Our God is merciful.  See the Prodigal Son & Good Samaritan.  The rich man praises the steward for being ingenious.

  b.  We are challenged to be equally ingenious.  Use our talents.

 

Extra point: watch out for taking a hit from the sayings at the end, trustworthiness, dishonesty in little things, 2 masters.  There might be a trap here: either/or spirituality. 

 

 

Sources:

Francis Vanderwall, The Liberating Stories of Jesus, chapter 4;

New Interpreter's Study Bible;

New American Bible, on line;

St. Louis U., The Center for Liturgy, on line

 

 

We Need a Mediator to Ransom Us?

 

 

Many of you know that this old geezer loves to dance.  In fact, it was through dancing that Rosemary & I met.  I was looking for the best dancer.

 

 

For the past year or more I have not been able to dance because I could not swing my hips or swivel.  For the past month or at least since I finished the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred, I have had it in mind that I would like to return to dancing, probably at some special event. 

 

 

The event took place last weekend at the wedding we did in Ashville, NC, for a girl very dear to me.  It was Friday night.  We had finished the rehearsal and gone to a bar-b-que place for the dinner. 

 

 

We returned to the hotel and what they call The Great Hall, the big stone lobby.  Playing dance music was a 3 piece group and a lady singer.  I had thought the wedding reception would be the fitting place to make our dancing debut.  But suddenly that Great Hall, the presence of others from the wedding, and the mood of the place made it the moment. 

 

 

We danced.  I could do it.  It was exhilarating.  Like getting back on a bicycle after a long lay off.  To top it off, the lady singing even complimented us by saying, “Good dancing.”  I was quite touched.

 

 

I talk about this event because I want to tie it into a line in Timothy that says more or less, “There is one mediator who gave himself as ransom for all.”

 

 

My Question: Do we need someone to ransom us?  Ransom us from what?  Did Emma need to be ransomed when we baptized her?  What about Chloe or Zoe or Georgie or Sam or Sean?

 

 

Many of us have been trained to think that we come into this life stained, imperfect, in fact, sinful, not because of anything we did.  But because some distant ancestors, Adam & Eve, sinned and we all inherit it.  If the baby was not baptized and the sin removed, it would go to where?  Not

hell, not heaven.  Limbo.

 

 

 

Folks, what if there is no limbo?  The Catholic Church now says it was just a concept, not a reality.  Go further.  What if we don’t need to be ransomed from anything?  What if there really is no original sin?  That when we see a little baby and think how good it is, our perception is 100% accurate. 

 

 

Biblical scholars and students of the history of religion are now suggesting that, just like Limbo, original sin is a concept thought up to explain imperfect behavior.  If this is so, could it be that none of us is in need of some kind of ransom?

 

 

That lady singer complimenting us on our dancing in The Great Hall was another glimpse into the goodness of people.  The wedding was overflowing with the goodness.  Parents, the marvelous couple, little kids, and even some old geezers.  No need for ransom there.

 

 

And if we don’t need to be ransomed, where does that leave us?

 

 

Picture 1:   Beginning of Mass

 

 

Picture 2:   Emily with her mom, Julie

 

 

Picture 3:   Communion preparation

 

 

 

 

Folks, You are witnessing a Changing of The Team, Kevin's last formal day, Leo's first formal day.  

 

Readings:

Daniel 7, 9-10, 13-14,   His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Psalm 97,   The Lord is King, the Most High over all the earth.

2 Peter 1, 16-19,  This is my son with whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 17, 1-9,  The Transfiguration.

 

 

 

Even our Special Greeter, Genevieve, is back to honor her brother Leo.
 

 

 

Observations on Daniel

Who : a prophet foretelling better times.  Daniel is the hero, not the author, who is unknown.

Time: Babylonian captivity the scene, but put together ca. 160 before Christ during another persecution.

Subject: Dreams foretelling better times.

Today: A dream in which a great leader will come and rule with peace.

 

 

 

Can you find a brighter smile than that anywhere!  Peighton says, "Hi, Folks, Welcome.
 

 

 

Transfigurations Today

This morning I would like to talk about transfigurations today and propose that this phenomenon can be almost a daily experience.  Transfiguration moments create greater peace of heart, gratitude, and humility.

Guess where I saw this recently.  Yes, I had a whole week of transfigurations last week in Iowa riding my bike across that state along with 15 thousand other riders. 

 

 

 

Emma, you only get better each week as our Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

 

I have three example of how I was touched by the beauty of nature,  of people, and the beauty of trust. 

So, one morning about 6:30 I was pulling out of one of our first overnight towns, probably Spenser.  I was one of hundreds of bikers all heading into the coming sunrise.  The sky was crystal clear blue and there was ground fog.  On either side of us were green contoured corn fields and soy  beans.

 

 

 

After pedaling all week for ca. 500 miles, I find it overwhelming to come over a hill and look down suddenly on this marvelous, enormous  Mississippi.

 

At one point we were climbing a gentle rise and curving slightly to the left.  I could see a mile ahead and what I saw was the silhouettes of the riders in the fog against the brightness of the coming sunrise.   It was breath taking.  I was just so happy to be alive and where I was, riding my bike.  A transfiguration moment of beauty.  A moment of greater peace, gratitude, and humility.

Secondly, people.  Picture this.  It is time to eat dinner in about the 4^th or 5^th overnight town.  I choose to go to the Methodist church for scalloped potatoes, ham, a salad, and desert for $10, all you can eat. I was looking for lasagna, but could not find it.

 

 

 

We pass through beautiful rolling fields of corn & soy beans, gorgeous sun rises with early morning ground fog, even a national park with serious climbs & descents.   Arriving at this extraordinary, ancient river just takes my breath away.

 

 

So I walk in the side door, buy my ticket, and descend to the basement where they are serving and there are whole bunches of long tables, almost all full.  I find a seat in the middle of one of those tables, across from another older guy like me.  We get talking and the usual question comes out fairly quickly, “Where you from?’  Turns out he is from Iowa and very friendly.  At this point the people on both sides of us finish, leave, and they are replace by 4 guys & women on each side. 

The question gets asked and Michigan & out west all are represented.  One of the new guys even asks me how many Ragbrais I’ve ridden, the second most common question.  And, then, ‘How old are you.” 

 

 

 

Hungry for the salad/dessert bar at Hy-Vee grocery & food court?  Leave your bike, your helmet, and your gloves, all unlocked.   Don't forget where you leave your bike.  Return in an hour, all will be awaiting you.  Incidentally, poor Hy-Vee was completely overwhelmed with the tidal wave of bikers who came through their doors.  Even bikers pitched in to help bus tables (like yours truly).

 

 

That causes a ruckus.   Lots of congratulations and compliments. 

This was a people transfiguration.  I came out of there not only with a good meal, but also a sense of greater peace, hope in the goodness of people, and humility. 

Thirdly, a trust transfiguration.  I  have two favorite vendors in Iowa, a grocery store called Hy-Vee and a 7-11 type convenience store called Casey’s.  Casey’s has the best & cheapest coffee in the morning.  They are in every village.

 

 

A small piece of advice especially to first trippers, Do not ever forget where you have parked your bike.  

 

 

 

Let's say you find your bike.  Next question, Can you extricate it from the tangle of other bikes.  They are usually hitched to cables running the  length of the main street of each little village.

 

 

Hy-Vee has great, all you can eat salad bars for $9.  Trouble is, Hy-Vee is only in the larger villages.  We had 2, Spenser & Orange City.  You want to get something at one of these places?  Just ride up, find a place to park your bike, go in, spend 15 minutes or 60, come out, and your bike & helmet await you.   Nothing is stolen.

A trust transfiguration.

 

 

 

 

Still ready to join the music team, Genevieve?   Or ready to help Leo?
 

 

 

The Old Pro and The Rookie, Two Winners.  

 

 

A bonus transfiguration.    As a Jesuit I was challenged by the goal of the Renaissance man.  The man is well rounded, intellectually, spiritually, and physically.  I found one.

Intellectually the guy is not only a chemical engineer.  He is a car mechanic.   He plays the piano.  He is into model trains & camping.  Spiritually he is solid.  Physically he is a dynamo biker.  All of this & more I discovered about our own David Dinsmore.

Where do you find your transfiguration moments?   The last one?

 

 

A Renaissance Man, David Dinsmore.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Taken from IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

 

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915 
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Richard & Brent, Deacon Mike, & Buddy, the candle blessing

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Readings:

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

Psalm 27, I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

1 Peter  4, 13-16,   Rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ.

John 17, 1-11, I pray for them. 

 

 

Remembering……….        This was taken in Yosemite ca. 2003-2004.   A bunch of convicts on a week parole.   The good old days.  Quality went south after this trip: we went co-ed.  We were invaded by sorts like Rose, like Beth, & Nicole.

 

See pix of new rectory at bottom of blog.

 

 Reading 1

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles       

When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?  Is this the time?”  He told them, “You don’t get to know the time.  Timing is the Father’s business.  What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit.  And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”  These were his last words.  As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud.

So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem.  It was a little over half a mile.  They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place.  All of them agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the men and women alike.

Our word for today.

 

 

Across Camellia from our house on Tulip Lane 3 homes have been bulldozed including the big one owned by the hockey player, Tyler Sagan.  We should be out of our house in two months and into our new house (see below).  Our old house will be visited by the bulldozer.

 

Reading 2

A Reading from the First Letter of Peter

Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job.  Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced.  This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. 

If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate.  It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you, that brought you to the notice of others.  If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter.  But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought.  Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!

Our word for today.

 

 

3 homes demolished on this one corner of Tulip Lane & Camellia.

 

 

The Lord be with you.       A Reading from the Gospel of John  

Raising his eyes in prayer, Jesus said: 

Father, it’s time; display the bright splendor of your Son,

So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.

You put him in charge of everything human,

So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.

And this is the real and eternal life:

That they know you,

The one and only true God,

And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

I glorified you on earth, by completing down to the last detail,

what you assigned me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,

The very splendor I had in your presence

Before there was a world.

I spelled out your character in detail

To the men and women you gave me.

They were yours in the first place; then you gave them to me,

And they have now done what you said.

They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,

That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,

For the message you gave me, I gave them;

And they took it, and were convinced that I came from you.

They believed that you sent me.

I pray for them, not for the God-rejecting world;

They’ll continue in the world, while I return to you.

Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life

That you conferred as a gift through me,

So they can be one heart and mind, as we are one heart and mind.

The Good News of John.

 

 

 

 

Observations by Deacon Mike

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the words and actions of Jesus Christ come alive to us within the written gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

It is there that we become aware that the gift of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within our hearts, calls us to forgive others as we have been forgiven; to bring love to others as we have been loved.

In our gospel from last Sunday, Jesus invited his disciples, and us, to follow his way, his truth and his life; so that we can come to be in him as he is in his Father. 

We celebrate the Holy Spirit coming upon the Church

In the Feast of Pentecost; to begin the Church’s mission to the whole world; to Jew or gentile, slave or freeman, male or female, Catholic or Methodist, Baptist or Lutheran.

The Church today places a different emphasis in its selection of readings; they will now begin to come from primarily Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.

So we end our readings this morning that we have taken from primarily the John gospel during this past Easter season this way: “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent me so I send you.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. 

I will talk to the Father, and he will provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone who dwells with you and in you.  This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. 

The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him; but you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will continue to do so! 

Then, Jesus said to his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned.  I’m coming back for you.  In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me, because I am alive and you are about to come alive with me.

At that moment you will know absolutely that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  

The Good News according to John

 

 

 

 

Please Remember these special people:

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;  ;  For Frank having hernia surgery this week;  For Joe Hogan with cancer,  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;   For Ryan, Rosemary's nephew, who had surgery; For Bill Hammond,    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie;  Shonda's mom;   For Gilberto:  for Michelle;  For a friend, a neighbor, & a doctor, Karen, with brain cancer; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free.;    For Hue;  For John O'Donnell;    For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini; 

 

Birthdays: Ray (80), Christi Occhipinti (45), Zaile Ekes, Shonda, Brent (13, AA), & Mabel (88!)

 

Community Finances, May 24, 2020

Expenses: $230.00

Outreach:  $120.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Welcome!  Our New Home, the New Rectory

Address 7017 Helsem Lane, same zip code, 75230,  Hillcrest Villas,

2.2 miles from 6107 Tulip Lane (to be bulldozed by the present owner, a former SMU student & basket ball player), S. of LBJ, north of Churchill, rustic motif in the whole subdivision (ca. 120 homes), car ports rather than garages. 

We are blessed with a corner lot, slab vs pier & beam, ca. 2000 sq. ft. (1900 at Tulip Lane, & so much for downsizing). 

The couple selling us their house said that Rosemary' personal letters letting people know we were interested in buying their house really decided them to call us.  A very  nice couple with 3 grown kids.

 

 

Happy Memorial Day from Helsem Way!

Readings:   2 Chronicles 36, 14-23, Whoever among you who belongs to any part of his people, let him go up; Psalm 137, Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget You; John 3, 14-21, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “the light came into the world.”

 

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 (what a fabulous name, 5 syllables)  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: Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

 

 

The Nature of God

Anybody here know Bartholomew Granger?  Or who he is?  I’ll tell you.  He is from Beaumont and 41 years old.  Last Wednesday morning he was waiting outside the Beaumont courthouse where he was on trial for abusing a member of his family. 

At some point he reached into his pickup, pulled out his gun, and started shooting.  He killed a 79 year old lady just passing there.  He wounded three others including his daughter whom he also ran over with his pickup truck in an attempt to flee the scene.

 

 Anybody hear about the 22 kids from Belgium on a spring break ski trip to Switzerland?  Killed in a bus that simply ran into a bridge returning to Belgium.  22 kids plus some adults.

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

First question, does God get angry and punish bad people?  The Bible certainly seems to say 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, 7 being a special number.
• 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. 
• For example, it is held that Jesus had to come and die on a cross and he did so 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?

 

 

 Were the kids on the bus bad?  Is Granger bad?  The little 79 year old lady?   What about Sargeant Robert Bales, who allegedly massacred a handful of women & children this week in Afghanistan.  Are they all such sinners 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?  What we are dealing with here is what you think the nature of God is.  Which leads me to my next question:

 

 

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

Obviously the man who killed the old lady and injured three including his daughter whom he ran over is bad.  He deserves what?  Sargeant Robert Bales?   Be condemned?  Forever? 

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

First, that nobody is bad, and nobody is good.  Everybody is both bad & good.  But what about Granger?  Bales   Are they not bad?  John says, "He who does wicked things hates the light."  They must really hate the light.

 

 

Secondly, I discovered that if I had grown up in the environment of many of these so called bad people and I had 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.  

                                                                                                    

And look what we are finding out about Bales, on his 4th mission, 3 of them in Iraq.

 

 

As a balance to this negativity and tragedy, let me remind you that we likewise see beauty in people.  I saw it in Ermy, the check in lady at the Jewish Community Center who greeted us cheerily Friday morning at 5:45 when we came for a spin class.  And the 20 or so friendly class mates.  I saw it in the courage of Michael Morwood yesterday who shared with us his own faith and understanding of the nature of God & Jesus. 

So, reconsidering Granger & Bales & the kids from Belgium and all the Bible stories about God being angry and punishing people, what do you think about the nature of God?

 

 

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

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah  43, 16-21,  See, I am doing something new

Psalm 126,  The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.

Philippians 3, 8-14, For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things.

John 8, 1-11,   The woman caught in adultery.

 

Says Genevieve, "Welcome, Everybody, where you been?"

 

 Isaiah Observations:

The scene: the Jewish people are captives in Babylon ca. 555 years before Christ.  Isaiah No.1  had warned the people that their bad ways were going to lead to this.   

In this chapter 43, which is Isaiah No. 2, Isaiah has Yahweh reminding 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 my favorites in the whole Bible.  Isaiah No.2 is telling the people to not be afraid because he is with them. It goes— 

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.  I have called you by your name.  You are mine.  When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you…  When you pass through fire, you will not suffer.   I regard you as precious, honored, and I love you.

 

Leo, The Candle Lighter of The Week, at work.

 

Philippians Observations:

Philippi was a town in Macedonia, now called Greece.  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.

 

 

 

The Chair Person of our Welcoming Committee.

 

Punishment or Compassion

I would like to talk this morning about the woman in the gospel, the one about to be stoned to death for being caught in adultery.   An example of punishment vs compassion.   The Law vs Jesus.  The brutality and the injustice of it smacks me in the face.  It is, also, so contemporary.

It reminds me of a very uncomfortable situation I found myself in when I was learning Swahili in Tanzania.   This would have been about ’77 or ’78, when I was just getting into the language. 

 

 

Alison preparing the communion cups.  

 

 

I was at an outstation church from an outstation church maintained by our Jesuit parish in a town called Tabora, smack in the middle of Tanzania, on the east-west train track.   This is the place where I later fell into the grave of a little lady I was burying and the place where I spent Advent and Christmas one year with two young Jesuit interns from the Island of Malta just off the Mediterranean tip of Italy.

On this occasion I was being shown around by the 4-5 men of this tiny village with a small, mud walled church.  I could not have been saying much because the language was still quite difficult for me.

 

Sir Charlie saluting The Queen Mother.

 

It was afternoon of a pleasant day.  We are way out in the bush and I remember the land was fairly green.  It was probably the period of the small rains, meaning, say, February or March.   The long rains come in our summer.  This is south of the equator.

At one point the men and I are wandering up a slope on top of which was a fairly large corrugated metal building, probably built by the government to help the villagers store their produce.

 

Offertory, Tom & Aggie & Allen.

 

As we get closer I can hear voices from inside the building and a thud or two.  Maybe the guys escorting me had explained what was going on and I did not understand.

Whatever the case, we are maybe twenty yards from a door at the corner of the building when, all of a sudden, the door opens and a few guys come out and with them staggers a man who has been beater.  He is dressed in nothing more than something like a towel or a skirt.  He has bruises on his shoulders and legs.  Because he is black I can’t see discoloring, but I see wounds. 

 

The Best, Shonda, Bethany, and Ray.

 

He has been caught cattle rustling.  He took one cow that he found out in the countryside near the village and attempted to get away.  He is a skinny older guy and probably not too smart.  They caught him easily. 

After teaching him a lesson, they are planning to walk him to the police station about 40 miles away in Tabora, the larger town I came from.  Along the way they will pass a few small villages where the inhabitants will also beat him.  If he makes it, jail will look pretty good.  And he does make it, I heard later.

 

Can that be a little mouse I see.  Looks like a familiar little mouse.

 

 

When this old guy sees me, he sees a savior and comes toward me with a begging gesture. 

I am ready to throw up and I want to tell the people to stop beating the man.   But I don’t know the language and I feel very awkward because these people are hosting me.  I feel paralyzed.

What do I do?   I did nothing.  And I was haunted by my doing nothing for years.  I had to forgive myself somewhere along the years.

 

Long time best buddies, Leo and John

 

Two lessons for me here. 

1.  Which is better, justice according to the law or compassion?
2. What do I do if I chicken out? 

 

Anybody recognize this foot?  Looks like it belongs to That Mouse.

 

Readings:  Isaiah 56, 1-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11, 13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15, 21-28.

Romans: For months we have been using as our second reading Paul's letter to the Romans.  I have not mentioned it or even included in the homilies for two reasons:

1. It is not related to the other two readings. The Gospel & the first reading attempt to follow a theme. The second reading continues the same book week after week and if it relates it is accidental.
2. It is dense. 7 letters are considered written by Paul who wrote this one probably around 55 A.D., while he was in Corinth, Greece, and in anticipation of a visit to Rome. It is the most complete statement of his understanding of the Christian faith. Some scholars consider it his masterpiece, but it is often difficult to understand.

The Assumption

This past Friday the Catholic Church celebrated one of its big feast days, the Assumption of Mary into heaven.  The meaning: Mary, after she finished her time on earth, was taken bodily into heaven.  Let me talk about this feast.  4 observations.

1.  The history of the belief.  The idea that Mary was taken up bodily into heaven got going by at least the 5th century.  People thought that she was rewarded for her role in redemption by this action on God's part. 

2.  The history of the declaration.  In November, 1950, Pius XII declared this event to be a dogma of the Catholic Church, that is, you have to believe it if you are a Catholic.   It was the first and only doctrine declared under papal infallibility, a doctrine proclaimed by Pius IX in 1870.

The story behind both of these dates is quite interesting.  1870 is the date of Italian unification.  Up to this time there was no united peninsula, no Italy like today.  There were at least three big parts: north, south, and right in the middle the Papal States. 

The people wanted those states to be part of the whole.  Pius IX was adamantly against ceding an inch of his property.  When the people won the property deal , Pius withdrew into the Vatican, declared himself a prisoner of the Vatican, appealed to France who did not help him, and finally declared that what he said as pope on faith & morals was infallible, despite the advice of the majority of his consul tors.

In 1950 the Second World War was finished and the world was stunned into shock by the revelation of the Holocaust.  Pius XII himself was downcast by the Holocaust.  Moreover, he was getting some heat because he did not stand up more strenuously to Hitler.  He had been Vatican ambassador to Germany during the build up of the Third Reich, so he knew the atmosphere well.  On top of that, there was evidence that at least one senior vatican official was complicit in sending Jews to the death camps. 

Pius XII might have experienced some shame.  In the face of the brutality of the Holocaust, Pius decided to make a dramatic statement to show the sacredness of the human person, body included, by declaring the assumption of Mary's body into heaven a dogma. 

3.  The basis in Scripture for the doctrine.  There is none.  What is taking place here, is that Pius is articulating what has been considered a belief for centuries.  It has been believed for, say, 10-15 centuries.  Therefore, it took place.  There is a weakness here, of course.  What can be asserted a fact without evidence, can be discarded without evidence. 

 

4.  The Assumption in my life.  50 years ago Friday I walked into the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA.  30 of us entered more or less together.  Two of my classmates celebrated Friday in New Orleans or Mobile when the Jesuit Province gathered to celebrate anniversaries. 

On that day 50 years ago my life took a 180 degree turn from being a typical  bratty teen ager to a monk.  From days spent with friends, girls, music, cars, and radios, I entered a world of silence, meditation, physical work, and study.  Feast days were eagerly anticipated and the Assumption was one of the big ones.  I took vows twice on August 15 and the date is still big with Jesuits.  It comes at a convenient time at the end of the summer and before the school year. 

I still celebrate August 15, and in 2004 I did it in a special way.  You may have heard.  This is the story.  It was earlier that week that I returned from the annual Yosemite trip and was told unexpectedly that I had been suspended by the bishop because of an anonymous letter saying Stack wanted to get married.  Why then?  Who knows?  I had been saying this for years, ever since returning from East Africa.

August 15 that year was a Sunday.  Where was I always on Sunday mornings?  St. Marks.  10:30 that morning, when I would have been starting the cafetorium Mass, Rosemary & I were watering trees at Fretz Park, Belt Line & Hillcrest.  I had gotten out of the truck to repair a tree, got up, and went into a disassociation state that lasted until about 5:00 that evening.  I woke up looking out the bay window of the living room on Tulip Lane.  Rosemary & Libby had taken me to the emergency room, thinking I had a stroke.  I had been released when they found nothing.  It was stress induced.  I have run into this defense mechanism in people over the years as a priest & psychotherapist.  I never thought that I might try it, but you never know totally what your inner spirit is feeling.

The stress, of course, was over getting suspended, being turned away by St. Marks, and facing another 180 degree turn around in my life. 

Guess what: it was all worth it and I could not be happier.  Actually, both 180 degree turns in my life were special blessings. 

The Assumption was the feast Friday.  What do you think about it?  What do you believe?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-08-17.mp3