Sunday Homily, Sept 9, 2007, 23rd in Ordinary Time

Readings: Zephaniah 3, 14-18; Psalm, Isaiah 12, Cry out with Joy and Gladness for among You is the Great and Holy One of Israel; Philippians 4, 4-7; Luke 3, 10-18

 

Zephaniah: date, author, subject, & our selection

 

    Date: two possibilities–ca. 650 BCE, before Babylon & contemporary with Jeremiah.  Or ca. 200 BCE.

 

  

Author: probably not Zephaniah himself, but someone recording what he said.  He is one of the 12 minor prophets, simply because his work is small, only 3 chapters.

 

   Subject: like all prophets, Zephaniah predicts doom and destruction to Jerusalem because the people are not good.  His purpose: alter behavior, especially the religious behavior, of his fellow citizens of Jerusalem.  A rather jealous and punishing god is presented.

 

   Our selection: last lines of the last chapter, a song of joy and rejoicing.  This is the only positive note in the 3 chapters.  Consequently, scholars think it may have been added to the original work.  This is the only time in the 3 year cycle that we have a reading from Zephaniah.  Take a good look.

 

Candle liturgy

Tony: We have lit the first two candles, one for hope and one for peace. Today we light the third candle, the candle of joy. This should be the easy one, because joy is all around us—in the children, the lights, the music, the gathering together. But how often do we let our preparations—or our memories—push joy to the side? Joy is like an underground spring that wells up within us, but joy is also a choice, an attitude. Like a muscle, it needs to be exercised. So today we open ourselves to joy, trusting that God has already planted it in us. All we need to do is give it care and offer it to share.

Three candles are lit

 All Sing

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

All: Loving God, we open ourselves to you,
trusting that this is how you made us:
you created us for joy-filled hearts and lives.
Show us the creative power of hope.
Teach us the peace that comes from justice.
Fill us with the kind of joy that cannot be contained, but must be shared.
Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you,
That we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen.

Tony: Rejoice in God always, and again I say, rejoice
For God has created you with the capacity for joy.

All: We will find what makes us joyful,
And make that our gift to the world.

Tony:  Trust in God’s good will for all of creation
and open yourself to God’s gentle, transforming love. 

All:  We will welcome new possibilities in our lives.
We will offer ourselves to God’s goodness.
We will go forth in hope, and peace, and joy.

 

 

 

A Christmas Story 

 

I have a Christmas story for you this morning.  It took place the first Christmas I was in Africa, 1977. 

 

The African continent is shaped vaguely like a heart.  I spent most of my time on the east side, Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda.  But my first Christmas I spent on the left side of the continent, the west.  The country I spent Christmas in was called Zaire in those days for ca. 30 years, now called the Republic of Congo, since ca. 2000.

 

The ruler at the time was a guy named Mobuto Seseseko and he was corrupt.  He took for himself all the money gained by selling off the country's considerable natural wealth. 

 

The capitol of the country is called Kinshasa and I was in a town near there called Kimwenza.  I had been giving seminars & retreats in Nigeria and ended up in Zaire at Christmas, how, I do not remember.

 

Three special memories remain with me from that Christmas.

 

First, I remember a midnight Mass.  It took place in a big but simple church on the edge of town.  There was probably a thousand black Zaire folks there and one white guy sitting up front on the left side with his eyes bugging out.

 

My eyes were bugging out because of at least two things.  First, the priest, a local young black Zaire man, he spent a lot of time dancing with a tall, cone shaped hat.  He danced marching in with the drums and the shakers going at it, he danced during the ceremony, and he danced on the way out.  In fact, he did not walk during the ceremony, he danced. 

 

The other thing memorable was when he finally danced out.  It was probably more than 3 hours since he had danced in.  And nobody was leaving early.  In fact, I discovered that Africans want to celebrate for at least a couple of hours when they come to Mass.  Consequently, a lot of music. 

 

The second memory I have is the incongruity I felt celebrating Christmas in a tropical environment, like celebrating Christmas in the summer.  Kinshasa has tons of flowers and they bloom all year because it is summer all year.  The bougainvillea, the frangipanni, and the jacaranda with their purple flowers making like snow on the ground, all were flowering along with their cousins.

 

 

Thirdly, I remember that Mobutu was mad at the Catholic church for some reason and he decreed that Christmas could not be celebrated on Christmas day.  It was a week day and businesses and schools were all open.  He did not ban the Masses, but people had to pretend to be working and going to school.  I remember walking around the town Christmas day thinking how odd the whole experience was, summer time and the government banning the celebration of Christmas day. 

 

Fortunately, the government did not get nasty about the celebrating that took place, many of the city folks were Catholic.  In a goofy twist, Seseseko's own sons even went to the Jesuit college in Kimwenza.   Oddly I appreciated more the freedom I had to celebrate that Christmas Mass, and the people seemed to celebrate with even more zest. 

 

This year here in Dallas we have the freedom to make Christmas a spiritual festival.  

 

How are you doing it? 

 

Picture 1:  Mass begins

 

Picture 2:  Andy Vrabel, one of our own comes home

 

Picture 3:  Tony with Margie

 

Picture 4:  Tony with David Hoover 

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Genesis  18, 1-10,  Sara will then have a son.

Psalm 15, He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

Colossians 1, 24-28,  It is He whom we proclaim.

Luke 10, 38-42,  “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?  Tell her to help me.”

 

 

Introduction  

As Abraham gives, showing hospitality to the strangers in our first reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham receives. In like manner, Paul addresses the Colossians in our second reading to show mercy, kindness and pardon to others for they are Christ in the World.

 

Homily 

 When I would go on retreats with young people wanting to celebrate the Church’s sacrament of Confirmation they would receive a booklet with songs, prayers but also some blank pages.  I would say to them, ‘You will always receive the desire of your heart,’ and I would ask them what they thought this meant. 

It was not unusual to get a response like this, ‘The desire of my heart is to win the lottery; but since the odds of me doing that are slim to none, I do not believe that statement is true.’ ‘Before I give you an answer,’ I would say, ‘I want all of you to write down in your booklet what you would do if you actually won a lottery… say, a 100 million dollars.’

 They were to take their time and not share with others what they had written.  ‘What’s in your notebook is yours and yours alone today.’ When I perceived that they had all written enough, I would say, ‘What you have just written down is the desire of your heart!  Wanting to win a lottery is not a desire of your heart, rather it is a desire of the flesh. I hope that all of you shared your desire to show goodness and justice; tenderness and compassion to those less fortunate than yourselves.’

 To the degree we desire to give from our heart will be the degree to which we do give and receive.  Life-giving relationships are precious! To the degree that we are in relationship with one another, we are in relationship with God. Those who welcomed the stranger and visited the sick are those who inherited the kingdom of God.

 Often we informally invite others over to our home; other times we have a birthday or anniversary gathering.  We have family and friends over for Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas. But sometimes we might find ourselves getting caught up in all the details, decorations, and preparations, so much so that sometimes, when we don’t even expect it, you might hear or even say, ‘I’m glad that’s over and I won’t have to do that for another year.’

 When that happens our priorities weren’t in the proper order.  We forgot listening to, affirming, enjoying, and making friends. It happened to Martha in our reading from Luke today.  Picture Jesus saying to her softly and in private, ‘Martha, Martha, you worry about many things, Mary has chosen the better portion and it shall not be taken from her.’

 It wasn’t that Mary hadn’t been helping her.  She had.  But when Jesus came through the door that day, Mary made him the priority of her life. It was time to begin a lasting and loving relationship.  
 

Martha’s priorities had been which tablecloth should she use, should we
eat at the table inside or outside, should I sweep the floor again, should I
put all of the food out at once. Would Jesus recognize that the vegetables were fresh? 

 These things had become more important to her than Jesus’ presence.  Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his words that he wanted equally to share with Martha.  We have come to sit at table with God and each other. 

How have you been building relationships with one another since you entered here this morning.  Take a moment to welcome someone near you
that you didn’t acknowledge and embrace when you arrived.

 

 

 

Readings: Genesis 2, 7-9, 3, 1-7; Psalm 51, Be Merciful, O Lord, for We have sinned; Romans 5, 12-19; Matthew 4, 1-11.

 

First Sunday in Lent 2011– Intro to Readings

 Our first reading today comes from the Book of Genesis chapters two and three, and gives the second account of the creation of the world.  This is actually the older of the two versions. 

 The first chapter creation story was written around the 5^th century BCE and today’s one came from around the 8^th century BCE.  The story in today’s reading is primarily about the temptation by the serpent and the eviction from the garden.  There are just a few points I would like to draw your attention to about these creation stories. 

 This material must be understood for what it is and is not.  It is not accurate scientific information about the beginning of the world.  It is myth.  Now myth, properly understood, is not simply just make believe, but a style of writing which has a clear purpose. Myths are a society’s founding poetic narrative that provides the basic understanding of a society and its reason for being.  There are very similar stories found in other even earlier cultures.

 

 It is from St. Paul that we get the idea that this action by Adam and Eve of disobeying God was what we have come to know as Original Sin.  There is nowhere in the rest of the Old Testament that we have any suggestion that the people viewed the event as being “Original Sin”.  This idea was later taken up by St. Augustine and got its own legs from there.

 If we pay close attention to the story, there are several things worth noting.  The relationship between God and man, at the outset is perfect!  Everything has been made for man’s enjoyment.  Enter the serpent, and the temptation is “to be like God”.  The relationship was broken by the decision, and from that moment the relationship changed.  Remember that immediately after eating they hide from God.  The humans made the gap between the two.

 Our second reading takes up the same event, Paul to the Romans and this is where that idea of Original Sin is developed and then, as I mentioned above, greatly developed by Augustine and others.

 

First Sunday in Lent 2011 – Homily

 Welcome to Lent, a time traditionally to ask, so what are you giving up for Lent.  And my usual answer was something like, candy or homework!  Today I am not sure that I am giving up anything, I am going to try to take up something instead.  The original meaning of lent is Spring, and spring is a time of new beginnings. 

 Lent is also the time when those preparing for baptism and entry into the Church through the RCIA program begin their final steps, by signing the Book of the Elect.  I am pretty sure that just as an athlete will train for a competitive event, so too the Church sees lent as a time for us to prepare for Easter. 

 

Given that I have previously said just this past Easter that if you can understand the Resurrection you are probably committing some kind of heresy, then for me the easiest way to get my head around the whole death/resurrection event is to see it as some kind of sign of God’s unbelievable love for each one of us – and leave it at that.

 The gospel today gives us some ideas for lent.  It is the story of Jesus spending 40 days in the desert prior to beginning His public ministry.  Remember so much of Matthew’s gospel points back to the Old Testament, and we will then recall the 40 years of wandering in the desert. At the end of the 40 days we are told he is faced with three temptations.  The three temptations are best summarized as follows:

 

1. Change the rocks into bread.  It is a temptation to take the easy way out, there is no one else around, no one will see, no one will know.  We too can be tempted in this way.
2. Jump from the Temple, the place where surely God is most present.  He will save you.  How often do we tempt God?  In our heads how often do we see, if God doesn’t want this to happen, then it won’t.
3. Promise of power, if only Jesus will worship the devil.  The danger of abuse of power, it is such a tempting thing to have power over others.

 My plan for this lent is to focus on these three temptations, and reflect on my own life in terms of each of the temptations.  Perhaps Lent should be a time of reflection on this journey we call life, a time for a thorough examination of conscience.  Remember when NASA was sending rockets to the moon, there was a phrase used “a mid course correction”.  Maybe by taking time during lent, taking a closer look at our own lives, maybe we too could use a mid course correction.

 

Picture 1:   We begin

Picture 2:   Leo

Picture 3:   Emma

Picture 4:   The Pastry Shoppe

Picture 5:   Curtis & Mabel with Cindy 

  

 

 

Says Genevieve, "Happy Easter, Everybody.  It is my very first Easter."

 

Readings:

Acts  10, 34, 37-43,  You know what has happened all over Judea.

Psalm 118,  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

1 Corinthians 5, 6-8, A little yeast leavens all the dough.

John 20, 1-9,  Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark. 

 

And J.T. and his mom, Maria, say, "Happy Easter, Folks." 

 

 

Acts observations:

What:  This work describes the spread of Christianity though out the Mediterranean world.  The main characters are Peter & Paul.  It presents both an idealized view of the community and a look at the significant struggles that took place between Peter & Paul on policy.  

We will see Acts every Sunday until May 15, Pentecost.  

 

 

Kevin says, "Come on in, Folks, we are ready to celebrate Easter."

 

Resurrection People

This Easter morning I would like to talk about Resurrection people.  These are folks who have come back to life.  Some may not be local, others are right here in our marvelous community.   I have three people and a bonus.  Here we go.

Ever hear of Anthony Graves?  He is an exoneree.  What is that?  Anthony is a black guy who was pardoned or exonerated for a multiple murder near Bryan, TX.  He never committed the crime.  Anthony spent 18 years in prison, 12 of them on Texas death row.  The DA at the trial hid evidence and falsified testimony.  He has since been disbarred.  How could he live with himself!

 

 

Hi, Emma, is that an Easter package?

 

 

How do you think you would feel if you were released after spending 18 years in prison?  Anthony Graves came out not angry, not resentful, and not seeking revenge.  He came out grateful and at peace. 

As some recompense, Anthony was given 1 1/2 million.  Anthony would easily be excused if he just took the money and went off the radar screen. 

 

 

Hi, Ben, Love the metalic look.   Happy Easter.

 

As a matter of fact, Anthony has used the money for others unfairly imprisoned.  He has opened a free clinic in Houston where exonerees get medical help and counseling.  He also works on the cases of others he knows have been unjustly condemned. 

Anthony is a Resurrection Person for me.  

(Reference. Dallas Morning News, 3-20 & 23)

 

 

 

Hi, Charlotte, tell your daddy thanks for coming today & bringing you and Nora.  

 

There are others, too, closer to home and closer to me, members of our very own own community.  

Rosemary & I brought communion one Sunday a  year or so ago to Stacie when she was struggling with chemo and cancer recovery.   Stacie is now cancer free and this past February 17 we just celebrated Stacie’s wedding to Paul.   Guess where they had met?  On an airline flight.  They were seated together.  Stacie is one of my Resurrection People. 

 

 

Hi, Nora, thanks for coming today.  Remember Christmas?  Who was  Baby Jesus?      Ready for your baptism this Saturday?  

 

 

Also part of our community is Jackie.  She had one bout with cancer and I was with her when she danced in her driveway one afternoon after she had been declared free of that cancer. 

A year or so later, it returned.  After more treatment, the prognosis is positive and Jackie rejoices in being alive.  She has even become part of a small team of cancer survivors who share their stories with medical students at Baylor.  Jackie is one of my Resurrection People.

 

Happy Easter, Natalie.  You look terrific.

 

Finally, a bonus.  This person, who will remain nameless, had received a present from Santa of a new bike a couple of years ago.  A few weeks later on a beautiful Friday afternoon in January on a bike ride around White Rock Lake this person fell off of her bike and broke her left elbow so badly it needed 9 screws and a plate to put it back together.   Recuperation took some months.

You would figure, right?, that she would give up biking and take up walking the dog.   Nope.   She got back up on that bike and last summer rode around The Lake most weekdays.  In fact, she has become a wicked biker.  This is my special Resurrection Person. 

 

 

Anybody want to try to guess what Chloe & her grandmom, Denni  are plotting? 

 

Who are your Resurrection People? 

How are you an R.P?

 

An Easter Picture, Denni & her grandkids minus only Nora.

 

 

Readings: Genesis 9, 8-15; Psalm 25; 1 Peter 3, 18-22; Mark 1, 12-15

Genesis:  First book of the Bible, starts with creation, goes through Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah & the flood, the Tower of Babel, & ends with the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (Israel).

Author: Not Moses as was thought for centuries before people began to study the work.  At least 3 sources: 

• a Y (or J) source for the group that addressed God as Yahweh;

• an E for the group who addressed God as Elohim (Like two historians calling NYC The Big Apple or New York City, or Denver by its name or Mile High City);

• and a P group that focused on the priestly class, activities, & customs.

Time: compiled and put together from 1000 to 500 BCE.

Today's Selection: the flood has just receded and Noah is receiving a promise (called covenant) from Yahweh that never again will people be wiped out by a flood.  Guess what the sign of the promise is.

40 Days

I want to talk about Genesis.  Picture this.  It is night.  Moon & stars.  Sitting around a little campfire are 3 or 4 families, parents and a half dozen kids.  It is Maybe 1000 years before Christ.  It  is perfectly quiet except for the howl of a few animals out in the complete darkness.

A little girl says to her parents, "Where did that moon come from?  The stars?  Where did we come from?"  The parents tell her about the stories they heard from their elders.

They say: Before people were here the earth was all desolate.  It was dark & cold & waters were raging.  God came along one day and decided to put some order into this mess.  So he got up the next morning and divided up the daylight and the dark.

The next day he got up and created the dome of the sky.  The third day he created the earth and starts plants growing.  The day after that he sets up the sun, the moon, and the stars.  On the fifth day he puts together fish and birds and tell them to multiply.  The sixth day he really has to work hard: animals and especially man & woman.  By now he is tired, so he takes the seventh day off and enjoys his work.  This is the first account of creation in Genesis.

Now at another campfire many miles away a little boy is asking his family the same question.  He is told another story.  One day, say, Elohim is walking on a dirt path (like everyone did.  No pavement).  He leans down grabs a handful, wets it, and molds it into a new form, something with two legs, two arms, and a head.  A man. 

This man is given life and gets put into a marvelous garden with only one command.  Don't eat from that tree.  Time goes on and animals are created which the man names.  However, the man is lonely, so God takes a rib out of his side and molds it into another human  form.  This one, however, is female and becomes man's partner.  The man names her Eve, the mother of all.  This is the second creation story.

At this point in time all is copasetic.  One day, however, while Eve is strolling around the Garden of Eden, a snake begins to talk with her.  Eventually the snake convinces her to try the fruit of the tree.  Uh, oh.  Then she shares it with the Man, now called Adam.  Later, God comes strolling along in the evening and has to call out for Adam & Eve, who are hiding.  He knows what they have done.  They confess and he tells them they will be forever punished with difficult living.  So they get kicked out of Eden.

Adam & Eve have kids.  Cain first, Abel second.  One day both boys make an offering to God.  Unfortunately for some reason, Cain's offering is rejected by God.  He is hurt and gets mad because his brother is accepted.  He kills Abel.  Then he, too, gets punished by God. 

Time passes and apparently many more of Adam & Eve's kids turn out like Cain.  In fact, God becomes so mad, so disappointed in his new creature man, that he regrets what he has done and decides to wipe everyone off the face of the earth–except one guy, Noah.  At this time, Noah is 500 years old.  He builds a boat and it rains 40 days.  Which takes us up to today's reading, where the water has receded and God promises he will never kill everyone with a flood again, signing his name with a rainbow. 

 

I tell these mythological stories for four reasons.

First, we seldom hear or read these marvels.

Secondly, though it is not in the Genesis reading we have, there is a thread between this part of Genesis 9 and Mark and today: the 40 days.  Forty is a special number in the old times meaning a sufficient number.  It rained 40 days.  Jesus is in the desert 40 days.  And we are spending 40 days of Lent.

Thirdly, when Jesus came out of the desert he really throws himself into his message, which contains 4 points in Mark:

• The Time is now.

• The Kingdom is here.

• Repent.

• Believe the Good News

Fourthly, for centuries up until Vatican 2, the 40 days of Lent focused on fasting and abstinence to imitate Jesus and to do penance for our bad ways.  It was supposed to be a cleansing before Holy Week and Easter and a test of character. 

Fasting usually meant giving up meals.  Abstinence meant giving up a particular item, like Blue Bell or chocolate chip cookies.  I found one amusing note:Thomas Aquinas, one of the great doctors of the Catholic Church who lived ca. 1250, suggested that the faithful abstain from meat, eggs, and dairy.  Why?  Because they were aphrodisiacs and generated lust.  Food, alcohol, tobacco, and sex were all targets of the Church.

Today Mormons fast 1 day per month.  Muslims fast dawn to dusk the month of Ramadan which is August 22-September 20 this year.  This fast often includes liquids. 

Last week I suggested for a positive Lent we might practice sensitivity and service.  This week we might fast, since this has been the hot topic.  Maybe a fast from guilt and stress.

How is Lent going for you?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-03-01.mp3

Sources:  Wikipedia on Lent & Fasting; Dominican Website; Creighton U. Spiritual Seminar; St. Raymond Church, Dublin, CA.

Picture 1:  Mass with Reed (3 weeks new)

Picture 2:  Reed with his momma Nikki & granny Jackie

Picture 3: Stacie McKinley, Reed with Jackie & Nikki, Ryan (Nikki's brother & Jackie's son); Rosemary, & Margie Duggan

Picture 4:  Mass with Noah helping

Readings:  

 Amos, 7, 12-15, The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.  (Expanding the reading)

Psalm 85, Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

Ephesians 1, 3-14 In love he destined us for adoption to himself.

Mark 6, 7-13, Take nothing for the journey but a walking stick, no food, no sack, no money.

 

Amos:   

Author: Amos or his scribe.  He was a shepherd of sheep & tended sycamore trees.  One of the 12 minor prophets of the OT, minor because of smallness of the works.  Amos has only 9 chapters.  Usual pattern of prophets: 1.  condemnation of the people’s behavior;  2. predictions of severe punishment for the behavior; 3. promises of better times in the future. 

Date: Ca. 777 (a memory help), after the kingships of David & Solomon, time of King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom, called Israel vs the southern kingdom, called Judah (where Jerusalem is).   

Geography: Note the two kingdoms, Judah in the south, Israel in the north.  Amos tended sheep in a little town called Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, in Judah, the south.  He is sent by Yahweh to Bethel, a small but important town in the northern kingdom, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, to warn the people of Israel & their king Jeroboam that Yahweh was mad at them.  The wicked high priest of Bethel, Amaziah condemns Amos for his interference.

The Setting: a time of prosperity.  But Yahweh is mad at the greed of the wealthy and their oppression of the poor (which ties into our gospel talking about walking lightly through life).  We know the people of this kingdom of Israel are headed for annihilation by the Assyrian nation.  And they will disappear as a significant body, around 700 before Christ.

Our Selection, chapter 7: (reading all of chapter 7) Amos describes three visions or dreams he has.  Amaziah gives it to him for spreading these visions around.  Then, Amos responds and socks it to Amaziah with a hammer.

 Mark:  a couple of reminders–

 

    1.  Mark is the first of the 4 gospels written, ca 70 C.E.  Note: Jerusalem & the Temple were smashed by the Romans in 70, after a Jewish rebellion.  In 73 the famous Masada battle took place.  More about this event another day.  Just think, from this date until 1948 a Jewish state did not exist.

    2.  The first written documents were by Paul, his letters.

Sources: Grace Institute of Biblical Leadership; Catholic Encyclopedia; Wikipedia

 

Want to be free?  Travel lightly.

Ever been to The Bridge?  Know what it is?  The Bridge is one of the homeless shelters in downtown Dallas, just south of City Hall.  It was built by the City.  It serves 3 meals a day and houses about 350 people overnight. 

Rosemary & I have been there about 6 times this year to help serve meals.  My favorite job is the tray collector.  What I do is stand in a corner near the exit and a window into the dish washing area.  As each person finishes they walk up, give me their tray, and exit.  I empty into trash bins leftover food, pour leftover water down a sink, send the utensils through the window, and, this is why it is my favorite, I chat up each person, thanking them for coming in and wishing them a good afternoon or night. 

Frequently as the people depart they pick up bundles they leave by the door.  These bundles contain their earthly possessions.  I often ask them what they got inside.  Extra clothing, extra pair of shoes, toilet articles, maybe a momento.  That’s it.

I thought about these men and women when I read the instruction to take nothing for the journey.  Wow.  I can feel guilty.  I certainly cannot fit all I have into a bundle, let alone take nothing for the journey. 

I’ve touched upon some of this before, but let me remind you.   Three observations.

First, we have here another example of the spirituality of infinite demand vs. infinite acceptance.  This is hyperbole.  It is not meant to be taken literally.  We don't have to live like the people in The Bridge, one bundle with all our belongings

Secondly, having said this, there comes along the danger to discount the principle.  Spiritual & physical freedom is involved here. 

I confess I normally do not have much trouble with this principle.  By nature and by Jesuit training I do not like too much stuff in my life.  I can drive Rosemary crazy.  If I don’t use something for a year, clothes or book, whatever, I want to hand it over to charity.  Not always provident.

There is the cynical statement going around that he wins who ends up with the most toys.  Delusion.  This reminds me of the monkey & banana story.  The monkey is holding on to a banana in a cage.  He cannot get his hand out without letting loose of the banana.  He won’t let loose.  He is trapped.  We can be trapped by our stuff. 

Thirdly, the journey mentioned by Jesus is a metaphor.  It is not a journey like riding a bike across Iowa, which Rosemary & I will do next Sunday.  It is the journey of life. 

The challenge: travel lightly the journey of life.

What do you need to toss overboard to lighten your journey of life?