Sunday Homily, April 29, 2007 – 4th Sunday of Easter

Readings: Acts 13, 43-52; Psalm 100; Revelations 7, 9-17; John 10, 27-30

Acts – More on the travels of Paul and Barnabas.

How do I know I’m hearing the "Voice?"

Nine days ago there was a small article in The Dallas Morning News, Friday, April 20, that noted that "Pope Benedict XV has reversed centuries of Roman Catholic teaching on limbo."

What I was taught as a child was that unbaptized babies went to limbo if they died. So now what?

Infant baptism was all important. I should even baptize a baby without the parents’ knowledge if I was in a hospital and a baby was dying. Limbo was not heaven, but it sure was not hell, sort of an in between.

I was reminded by the first reading and the gospel of another belief I was trained in as a child: if you are not Catholic you are going to hell. I remember thinking how sad it was that so many of my parents’ friends, all protestant, were not going to heaven. It seemed weird.

Paul & Barnabas say that because the Jews rejected Jesus’ word, they condemn themselves as unworthy of eternal life. Likewise, they say that those destined for eternal life came to believe.

In the gospel Jesus says his sheep hear his voice and he gives them eternal life. Not that I want to be a sheep. Sheep are scared of everything.

These are two items of belief that I was trained on and they are no longer credible. 50 years from now what other beliefs will end up in the dust bin of history? No meat on Friday ruled my parents’ lives. Where is it? Yes, coming back, I know.

If there is no limbo, how does this affect the idea of original sin? Is there an original sin? What about the statement that God the Father sent his Son to die for our sins? Is this true?

Which leads me to ask, how do I know? In the gospel Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice." How do I know among so many messages and voices that I am hearing the voice? I thought I was hearing the voice as a kid when I believed in limbo and the fact that only Catholics were going to heaven. Was the voice I heard divine or just some person who thought he or she knew? But didn’t. I do not want to be a sheep like I was in my youth, and follow anyone who thinks they know.

A couple of thoughts about discerning the voice.

First, I think the real voice gives my spirit peace. The other voices bring violence and turmoil.

I may not like what the voice whispers in my spirit, but ultimately I am peaceful. I may be dying. The voice says accept.      

Secondly, the voice gives me self-confidence. The false voices create doubts and lack of a sense of harmony. Like for years I doubted the limbo idea. Some well intentioned soul thought they knew. St. Augustine thought only Catholics go to heaven.

Like a sheep I could run from the questions. As a person listening to the voice I’ll face my questions.

Which brings us to The Question: What do you believe in; what are 5 things you believe in?

Download the homily as an mp3 file.

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  • Sunday Homily 8-10-08, 19th, Ordinary Time

    Readings: 1 Kings 19, 9-13 (or 1-15); Psalm 85; Romans 9, 1-5; Matthew 14, 22-33.

    1 Kings:  Even though 1 Kings focuses mostly on King Solomon & his accomplishments, the latter half of the work shows how at Solomon's death the kingdom split into two hostile & petty states, Israel in the north & Judah in the south around Jerusalem. 

    As I have pointed out concerning prophets, Elijah condemns the behavior, especially of the rulers, and promises punishment.  I am going to have all of chapter 19 read, because it is an interesting story.

    In chapter 18 Elijah has had a faith duel with 450 prophets of another god, Baal, a god whom the  king of Judah, Ahab honored.  Elijah not only triumphs over the 450, he also kills them all.  Ahab is impressed and spooked.  But not his wife, the famous Jezebel.  She wants to kill Elijah and tells him so. 

    Elijah is so afraid he runs away and wants to die.  Along the way Yahweh meets up with him and invites hims to hike up the mountain of Sinai (Horeb).  Here is what happens on the mountain.

    Rose & John Ascending mountain_1

    The Whispering Sound

    Just like Elijah and just like Jesus in the Gospel,  7 of us have been to the mountain the past two weeks.  We have felt the wind, felt the earthquake, and felt the fire.

    On our first day in we had to go about 6 miles from a place called Rowell Meadow to a camp area called Comanche Meadow.  There was a bear box at the campsite.  It was a long, hot uphill hike all day.  We were carrying food for 8 days in packs that ranged from fifty plus pounds to seventy.  The wind was what we did not have in our lungs. 

    We spent two nights at Comanche, a third night at Roaring River, and the fourth night at Upper Ranger Meadow, one of the most beautiful campsites, beautiful because it was a lush moraine with groves of pine & fir surrounded by a cirque at the head, cliffs on two sides, and the valley we had climbed out of behind.  We camped as usual by a mountain stream.

    Next morning we got up before dark at 5:00 and started a 2 thousand foot climb up 11 thousand foot Elizabeth Pass.  We left early to take advantage of the cool early hours and to get to our next campsite in the middle of the afternoon instead of night.  It was on the ascent of Elizabeth that we felt the fire, in our legs.  There were steps four feet high in the trail and always up, up, and up some more.   The legs & hips would scream, "Enough."  But up we went steadily to the top, arriving around 11:00. 

    At this point one thinks, "I got it made now."  No way.  We had to descend 3 thousand feet in 3 miles.  This is the dangerous part because it is easier to slip on a loose rock or gravel and fall down.  Our packs were lighter, but here we felt the earthquake when we stepped off a step so high we had to turn sideways.  Boom, you land on one foot and the earth quakes right through the bones.

    Finally, about 5:00 we all reached an unplanned campsite beside a mountain stream and decided to go no further.  We were all gassed and ready to set down for a two nighter in the same campsite.

    This was how we felt in our bodies the wind, the fire, and the earthquake.  Unlike Elijah, for me, God was in all three.  Connected to all was beauty, exhilaration, and the awareness of the privilege it is to be able to hike through such remote high sierra spectacle. 

    For me also there was the whispering sound, the small voice.  Almost every day we would hear the sound of a jet flying overhead, perhaps heading to or from Oakland-San Francisco.  Frequently, I would search the sky, following the sound trail to find the tiny silver tube hurtling through the heavens.  Almost never did I see them  When I did see one, it was so small, so insignificant.  Yet, I knew that inside that little dart people like me were snoozing, reading, looking at the mountains below them, and totally unaware of me.  I had been in those darts and would be in one again in a few days.  I had such a feeling of smallness in the universe.  A blessing.

    Three relaxing in the mountains_1

    The blessing was doubled Thursday when I got into one of the little darts, which at Fresno looked pretty big.  I ended up in row 19 and in row 17 was a young family with a little boy about 4 or 5 and a little girl just learning to walk.  The little boy busied himself with stuff in his seat next to his father.  But the girl needed to move around, which the parents allowed.  She walked up the aisle, she crawled down the aisle.  And the parents watched over her, as did we all.  The gentleness of the parents juxtaposed upon my reflection that I was in the little insignificant dart moved me.  I could see me from below searching for this little dart by following its sound and I could likewise view the treasure of the family. 

    Once I told the husband and once I told them both that I admired they way they played with their kids. 

    Jesus went up the mountain to pray.  Elijah went up to meet the lord.  We 7 went up the mountain.  Unlike Elijah I found him in all the elements, the wind, the fire, the earthquake, and the whispering sound.

    Where do you find him?

    AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-08-10.mp3

     

     

     

  • Sunday Homily 2-19-12, 7th Ordinary Time

    Readings: Isaiah 43, 18-19, 21-22, 24-25, In the desert I make a way; Psalm 41, Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you; 2 Corinthians 1, 18-22, He has put his seal upon us; Mark 2, 1-12, They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 

    Laissez les bons temps roule!            Let the good times roll!

     This is Mardi Gras weekend. There’s lots of information online about Mardi Gras and its history. A few things:

    • There was a mid-February celebration in ancient Rome in the 2nd century honoring a Roman pastoral god. When Christianity arrived in a big way after the year 300 and Emperor Constantine, a Christian interpretation was given to that custom, gradually changing it to a festival prior to Ash Wednesday and the Lenten preparation for Easter.  As Christianity spread throughout Europe and the western world, Mardi Gras went with it.

    Mas Begins 2-19-12

    • Centuries later, when the French explorer Iberville landed near the mouth of the Mississippi River, south of what is now New Orleans, it was on March 3, 1699, which was Mardi Gras Day in France. Iberville named the spot where they landed and set up camp “Point du Mardi Gras”, Mardi Gras Point.

                                                                                                                      

    • Much more recently, in 1827, when some college students returned to New Orleans from France, they brought with them the Mardi Gras celebration with the elaborate costumes. In 1872 the Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch Romanoff visited New Orleans and was given the honor of choosing colors for the Mardi Gras celebration. When he chose purple, gold and green, merchants purchased cloth and other merchandise in those colors. There is a story that LSU bought up most of the purple and gold cloth and that Tulane then bought up what was left, the green cloth. Today LSU’s colors are purple and gold and Tulane’s colors are green and white.

    Offertory 2-19-12

    • The biggest celebrations today, outside of New Orleans, are in Lafayette Louisiana, the Cajun area I’m from, Mobile Alabama and Galveston Texas, and of course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     A traditional food in Cajun Louisiana is boudin sausage, traditionally made from rice, chopped liver and  hot pepper spices. I brought some boudin to share after Mass.

     We also have Mardi Gras beads (thanks to Chuck and Sandra) which are symbolic of the joy we share through-out the Mardi Gras season, which runs all the way from the 12th day of Christmas (Jan. 6) to the day before Ash Wednesday. We will pass them out now for you to wear. I am wearing a fancy one given to me years ago.

     Lambrini 2-19-12

    A word about today’s readings.

    The reading from Isaiah has the author speaking for God saying, “I am doing something new. ..It is I who wipe out your offenses, your sins I remember no more.”

    The reading from 2nd Corinthians is Paul telling the community that Jesus was not sometimes ‘yes’ and sometimes ‘no’; he is always “Yes” for us…and that is what we say Amen to when we come together in liturgy.

    The Gospel of Mark is basically a Passion Drama with an extended introduction. The final 6 chapters out of only 16 are about Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem and his suffering and death. Today’s reading in Chapter 2 is one of those introductory stories that demonstrate the tension building between Jesus and the Pharisees leading up to the Passion Story.  It is also one of the stories about forgiveness freely given.

    Chuck 2-19-12

     

    Sermon, John Cade

         I have a few thoughts as we celebrate Mardi Gras time and prepare to enter the season of Lent and Easter. My thoughts come from memories of myself and my classmates at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans in the early 50’s. I have memories of the life I was living in the seminary—mainly of study, prayer, silence and a sense of austerity and seriousness.

         I remember well the ‘examination of conscience’ we practiced together in the chapel every night. I remember how I, and my classmates, spent that time in self-examination and really self-judgment about our faults and weaknesses and our bads. This could easily turn into a habit of diminishing ourselves, of judging ourselves as ‘less than’. I have questioned how helpful this was in becoming more sensitive to the goodness and blessings touching us every day.

    Mardi Gras Brunch 2-19-12
      

         I remember also how, on special occasions, we were allowed off campus. Believe me, this was BIG. We would put on our black suits, white shirts and black ties and black fedoras—the required outfit. Often I would visit my sister who lived nearby in uptown New Orleans. She and her husband had small children then and I remember my nieces and nephews as not just smart and talented, but fun and playful and full of life.

         Sometimes, when it was Mardi Gras weekend, I would join them on their own street, Henry Clay Avenue, or on Magazine Street or Carrollton Avenue, to view one of the many Mardi Gras parades. Those were exciting and fun times, full of festivity and life. When I returned to the seminary that evening, the contrast was tangible, almost like a time warp. 

    Brunch 2-19-12

        I have three thoughts that arose from those memories.

        First, there is a place for self-reflection and mindfulness and peaceful recollection that can enrich our lives and make for a deeper connection with our earth and universe and with God who calls us to forgiveness and connection. Of course, experiencing forgiveness and connection is more likely if I’m not stuck in negative judgment of myself. 

         Second, there is place for sharing our joy and peace, and our pain and struggles, as we live together in the circles of family and work and community. We can develop more sensitivity to our connection with others and with the Spirit moving in these circles of life. One ‘revelation’ is to discover, and hopefully accept, that the people in our lives are truly ‘other’; they are not me and need not become like me or what I want them to be.

    Gerald 2-19-12

         Third, these places are not separate worlds. Our inner lives with ourselves, and our relationships with all the others in the circles of our lives, are intertwined and always connecting. Forgiving and accepting myself, and bringing that forgiveness and acceptance to everyone in all the circles of my life, is a way of saying “Yes” to life itself.  Next week John will share some concrete ways we can say ‘Yes’ for others in our larger community. Today, as we come together around the table, we are called to say ‘Yes’ to the possibility of forgiveness and acceptance for ourselves and in all our relationships.

         The question I leave for us today is: As we move from Mardi Gras to the Passion Drama and Easter, in what ways will we say “yes” to ourselves and to those around us? 

    Bethany 2-19-12

     Picture 1:    Mass Begins, John Cade celebrating

    Picture 2:    Offertory, Ray & Claire with CC & Kayla

    Picture 3:    Lambrini & Caliope

    Picture 4:    Chuck

    Picture 5:    Mardi Gras in person, Cathy & Diane at brunch

    Picture 6:    Brunch with Maureen & Fred, Joe & Sandra

    Picture 7:    Gerald & Charlie

    Picture 8:    Bethany & Ray

     

     

     

     

     

  • Sunday Homily 8-31-08, 22nd, Oridnary Time & Labor Day

    Readings:  Jeremiah 20, 7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12, 1-2; Matthew 16, 21-27

    Jeremiah: One of the 3 great prophets, called the "broken hearted prophet,' because he had a heart rending life predicting punishment of death and destruction for the Hebrews for their sinful ways. 

    He wrote from Jerusalem ca. 600 B.C. and his predictions came true when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in 588 B.C., defeated the Hebrews, and took them off to Babylon-Baghdad as prisoners.  Jeremiah wore a wooden yoke as a visual aid to his message.  He may have been ultimately killed by the Hebrews.

    Choir

    Deny Yourself, Take up Your Cross, and Follow Me

    This simple little line from Matthew can be very tricky.  It can be approached healthily or in a less than healthy way.  I can witness to the latter in my own life.  I have already described how as a young Jesuit I was expected to do penance and deny myself in various ways, like the practice of using little whips to scourge our backs and little chains with points to wear around our thighs.  This was supposed to bring me closer to God.

    I can laugh at this now, but I am humbled at how easily I can be programed.  When I read this line and others like it in the Bible and remember my experiences with such spirituality, I pick up the scent of an ancient philosophy that still influences a lot of religious activity which is not spiritually so sane.  The philosophy: dualism. 

    The idea is simple.  Reality comes in pairs, hot & cold, rich & poor, order & chaos, and, in particular for this discussion, body & soul or flesh & spirit or mind & matter.  So far so good. 

    The trouble enters with a judgment about the flesh & spirit.  Specifically, flesh is bad, spirit is superior.  Consequently, so that my spirit may reach an elevated plane of purity & perfection, and ultimately closer union with God, I attempt to control the flesh by disregarding the body's existence & appetites, ultimately aiming to live without it.  How about that!

    There is a healthy, in fact, a rich approach to the line.  But first a couple of facts.  Dualism is identified as far back as 1000 years B.C. and came out of Zoroastrianism, a religion that worshiped one god and believed in an afterlife.  Did it come from Egypt as so much did at that time?  No, from  Persia, the area we call Iran today.  Zoroastrianism was widespread until Muhammad arrived on the scene around 650 and established Islam.  Through the ages lots of people picked up on dualism, for example, Plato, Augustine, Descartes.

    I have two stories about people who healthily acted out self denial.

    M & M

    First, a girl I know who when she was 11 years old thought that she would like to join a swimming team here in Plano. She tried out, more than once, failing each time.  Undaunted, she practiced.  When she was 12 she not only got on the team, but she won the state championship in her age bracket. 

    She continued to swim through grade school and into high school, practicing 2 hours early in the morning before class and two hours after school.  She even went to Providence College on a swim scholarship.  This girl, Megan, whom I love tremendously could have slept in two more hours every morning when she was in high school, she could have come home after school and watched TV.  It would have been easier.  This is healthy self denial and because of it she is a girl more alive, more whole, more fully alive with a vibrant spirit.  She is now the mother of Liam, who was our Baby Jesus in the Christmas drama, and the daughter of Rob & Beth.

    Saturday we celebrated with a parade in Parker another girl like Megan, Nastia, home from the Olympics.

    Flemings

    The second person is Thomas McGowan, 50 years old.  You might have read about him in the paper a few weeks ago.  He was just released from prison after spending half of his life there for a crime he did not commit.  The Innocence Project obtained permission to run a DNA match & he was exonerated. 

    I came to know more about him through an old friend and classmate of mine, Tony Levatino, who in his retirement works at the Holy Trinity Center, the outreach arm of Holy Trinity Parish, just like ours.  Tony got familiar with him because his sister works at Holy Trinity and happened to talk with her.  Turns out he could not find a job.  Tony had a connection with the Anatole Hotel and got him hired.

    Besides being moved by what Tony was able to accomplish, I was also moved whenTony said Thomas was an excellent man, cheerful, without anger, not wanting to blame anyone.  He accepted his fate while hoping for exoneration.  He was peaceful.  Thomas was a man who denied himself and took up a cross.

    These two people have both denied themselves.   Megan strove to achieve, Thomas accepted.

    How & why do you deny yourself?

    AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-08-31.mp3

  • Sunday Homily May 1, 2nd Easter

    Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2, 42-47; Psalm 118; 1 Peter 1, 3-9; John 20, 19-31

    Intro to the Readings – 2nd Sunday of Easter

     Our first reading today is from Acts of the Apostles.  Remember this is part 2 of Luke’s story of Jesus and the Early Church, part one being his Gospel.  In Acts, Luke picks up the story right after the Resurrection.  He repeats the short piece about the Ascension, but the main body of Acts deals with the spread of the Good News to the Gentile World.  Our reading today is early in the story and is a kind of interlude about the early Christian church in Jerusalem. 

     

    Penny 5-1-11 
    The few verses in today’s reading give us what I will call an idyllic view of that community.  And interestingly Luke, writing to a Greek audience uses a word in today’s reading, which only appears here in the Bible, but is commonly used in Greek literature to describe a kind of Utopian society.  I mention this because we could easily feel discouraged when we listen to what that early community was like and then reflect on our own community here today in 2011.  But for Luke’s original readers, this community is the one described by Plato, Ovid and other Greeks as the ideal community where all possessions are shared. 

     There is one other item worth noting in the reading and that is the four actions of this early community, the teaching of the apostles, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers.  These are a great summary too of what Jesus did in his life.

     The second reading today is from the First Letter of Peter.  It was written to the churches in what is today Turkey and Syria.  The communities are having a tough time due to their faith, although they are not being persecuted yet.  Peter’s letter offers them great encouragement.  He probably wrote it around the year 64 from Rome. 

     Offertory 5-1-11

    Second Sunday of Easter 2011 – Homily

    Today, after we pray the our Father and a few other short prayers I will turn to you and say “ the peace of the Lord be with you all” but what is that ‘peace’?  I think we have a clue from the gospel just read.  To get a better understanding we need to look closely at what is happening in John’s gospel. 

    Our reading today comes from the second half of Chapter 20.  Chapter 20 begins with the words “it was very early in the morning on the first day of the week, and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb.”  By the way, chapter 19 ends with Jesus being laid in the tomb.  So we know we are on Easter Sunday morning.  What John’s Gospel proceeds to do is show that faith in the resurrection comes slowly.  Jesus’ disciples were not expecting it.  So when Mary finds the tomb empty her immediate conclusion is someone has taken the body.  Peter and another disciple, the ‘beloved’ disciple show up after Mary told them what she had discovered, and we are told they saw the garments, and that the ‘beloved disciple’ saw and believed, nothing about Peter believing yet. 

     Leo 5-1-11

     And then we have today’s reading.  It is the same day, but evening.  They are all in a locked room, afraid of the Jews.  So I have to wonder, how big an impact had this early ‘faith’ of the beloved disciple had on the group.  By the way, Mary did see a gardener whom she recognizes when he calls her by name, but I suspect her story was put down to the rantings of a grieving woman??  So Jesus appears in the room, and twice says “peace be with you”.  What is this peace?  He immediately breathes on them, and remember an earlier breathing – in the book of Genesis, when God breathes on the clay and forms man, we now have God again breathing and forming new men!  People filled with the Holy Spirit.  In human terms I feel that this “peace be with you” had the same effect as when a child wakes up in the night crying and a parent wraps them in their arms and says “its OK, I’m here with you”.  The child feels safe. 

     

     Wendy's Parents 5-1-11
    The resurrection, belief in the resurrection, makes us different people.  Yes it is the leap of faith, not a solid provable fact, but that faith gives us a hope, and a security that nothing can really harm us.  It is what gave the apostles the courage to go out and face that group of hostile Jews.  It is what brings us here this morning. 

     Remember in the first reading today from Acts, that little early idylic community which Luke described, we are not that different.  We come together to break bread, to pray, to learn the teaching of Jesus, and we do share our possessions.  This morning we will be giving anther $2,000 to the CCAC and also some money to the Plano Homes, and those are just two small examples of sharing our possessions.

     So today at our mass, when I say “the peace of the Lord be with you all” reflect for a moment before we offer each other the sign of that peace, do you feel like the child, wrapped and safe?

     IMG_0334 

    Picture 1:     Penny receiving a check from Bobby for Plano Community Homes

    Picture 2:    Offertory with brother & sister, Bobby & Marlene

    Picture 3:    Leo with Jackie

    Picture 4:   Wendy's parents

    Picture 5:   Gilberto preparing for the 5 Boro Bike tour with 2 of Rosemary's Nephew's kids, Emma & William 

  • Homily, Christmas Eve, 12-24-10

    Christmas Eve Readings: Isaiah 9, 1-6; Psalm 96, Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord; Titus 2, 11-14; Luke 2, 1-14

    A Review of Isaiah:

     Author: there are 3 writers of this work of 66 chapters.  Our writer today is Isaiah I.

    Charlie 12-24-10 

    Date of Writing & of Composing: the work was put together probably after the Babylonian Captivity around 550, a time when the Babylonians with King Nebuchadnezzar defeated the two tribes of the southern kingdom of Judah, where Jerusalem is.

    Isaiah I wrote much earlier, like around 700, before the Syrians annihilated the northern kingdom and led the 10 lost tribes off into captivity where they vanished in the DNA of the middle east with intermarriage.  He was warning them their evil ways were going to bring Yahweh's wrath down upon them.

    Our Selection: a prediction of an optimistic & hopeful future when the people will be freed from walking in darkness and gloom because a child will be born who is a God-Hero and The Prince of Peace.

     Bambini I, 12-24-10

    Where is He?  Who is He?

    Rosemary & I have a love of riding our bikes.  In particular, we love to ride around White Rock Lake, which is about 10 miles around.  We can access it close to our house where the White Rock Trail runs north crossing Royal Lane near Central and heading up past Medical City to Valley View.

    One sunny day we were riding as usual.  Most likely Bernadette & Gilberto and maybe Chris Phipps were with us.  We all go at different speeds and we meet half way at a boat house on the south end of the lake near Garland Road. 

    Bambini II, 12-24-10 

    On this particular day, I had arrived at the boat house and was waiting as people came in.  No sign of Rosemary.  I was beginning to get concerned when I see her approaching.

    She is fine, but says she was delayed because her chain fell off and she did not know how to replace it.  So she started walking.  As she walked numerous people passed her both riding bikes and walking or running. 

    Suddenly out of the stream of people a guy asks her if she needs help.  When she tells him her problem, he says, "No problem."  He can fix it, which he did. 

    She got back on her bike and continued on to the boat house.

    Angels 12-24-10 

    We are in the process this Christmas season of looking around and searching, searching for this God- Hero, this Prince of Peace.  Where is he?  What does he look like? 

    I would propose that the man who helped Rosemary is that person.  That is what he looks like.  That is what he does. 

    There is another example of this person's presence in the story by our friend Steve Blow in this morning's Dallas Morning News.  A repo man was so touched by the plight of a woman whose car he was repossessing that he got his buddies together & they bought her another car.. A good story.  Read it.

    Shepherds 12-24-10 

    I was so impressed with what the man did for Rosemary that it has made a small but significant difference in my own life.  I have resolved to ask people if they need help when they are broken down, especially on my bike, when I can get hooked often into an obsession with maintaining my average speed or whatever. 

    This evening as we look around, this room is full of people who are like our God.  This is what he looks like, like the man who helped Rosemary.

    Angels & Shepherds 12-24-10 

    Who is the Prince of Peace in your life?

    How are you a Prince of Peace to others? 

    Picture 1:   Charlie lighting the Advent & Christmas candles   

    Picture 2:    4 of the 5 Bambini, Sienna with her dad, Payton; Leo with his mom, Shonda; Buddy & Torri with their mom, Michelle; Beth 

    Picture 3:     All but Emma on the right

    Picture 4:     Angels

    Picture 5:     Joseph, Dillon, & Shepherd, Hunter

    Picture 6:     Angels, Chloe, & Shepherd with Mary, Georgie, & Joseph, Dillon

  • Sunday Homily, May 19, 2019, 5th Easter

    IMG_7276

     

    Welcome in Jan & Bernadette & our favorite Studebaker salesman, Sir Charlie.

     

    Readings: 

    Acts of the Apostles, 13, 21-27, They appointed elders.

    Psalm 145,  I will praise your name forever, my king and my God (excellent first stanza, one of my favorites.  The Lord is Gracious & Merciful, Never gets angry, and is Abounding with Love.)

    Revelation 21, 1-5,  Then, I, John saw a new heaven & a new earth.

    John 13, 31-35,  This how you will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

     

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    Juliettes on the loose, Mary, Sydney, & Geri.

     

     

    The Lord is Gracious and Merciful, Never gets angry, and is Abounding in Love.

    Eddie Aguilar is a 64 year old Viet Nam vet who enlisted in the Navy at 17, so he could get a good education, which he could not get with his family in Santa Barbara.  They did not have the resources. 

    After basic training he was posted to the USS Oklahoma City, the flagship of the 7th Fleet off the Viet Nam coast.  Being an intelligent kid he was assigned to a 5 person team in the radio shack.

     

    IMG_7284

     

    How many girls does it take to light up our Easter Candles?  At Least, 3, Zoe, Tori, and Georgie, to not mention Buddy who is reading The Blessing.

     

    Eddie says that the guys saw and heard a lot of highly secret crypto material.  They could not talk about any of it—ever.  Eddie and the team was together for 2 years off the coast,’73-’75.  They all became good friends and buddies, which helped because they lived in really tight quarters.

    On getting released from the Navy in ’75, they continued to stay close and even put together some reunions, all except one, the Little Texan.  They had lived through Viet Nam in a unique position, the radio shack.  They could not talk about it, but it helped to be with the team that  experienced  the same horror of the war.

     

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    I'm jealous!  John & Connie just returned from biking from Pittsburg to D.C., crossing the eastern Continental Divide, all in one week.

     

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    Music don't get no better than with Ben & David.

     

    The years passed and Eddie continued to search for the ‘good ole boy from Texas.’  Eddie says T.J  was a sweetheart of a guy, a salt of the earth guy.

    As the years passed Eddie continued to search on and off all to no avail, until this year, their 45th reunion at Las Vegas.  Eddie now lives in San Antonio and remembered recently that he thought he heard T.J. mention he came from a town called Garland in Texas. 

     

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    Communion Team ready.

     

    Knowing that Garland was a suburb of Dallas, Eddie contacted The Dallas Morning News and Sharon Grigsby took up the search.  Using her search tools it did not take her long to find a name she was looking for.  She left a message and lo and behold TJ called her back.  Success yes, but TJ confessed he was just not ready yet to reunite with his former buddies.

    I would bet that Eddie will continue to welcome TJ back into the group whenever he is ready.

     

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    Worn out!!

     

    For me Eddie is a personification of a Shepherd-God who is Gracious and Merciful.

    Where & when do you find this Gracious and Merciful God who Never gets angry and is Abounding in love.

    Ref. Dallas Morning News, Metro, 5-14-19

     

     

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    The Best Teamwork.