Sunday Homily, April 22, 2007 – 3rd Sunday of Easter

Readings:

Acts  14, 21-27,  It is  is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom.

Psalm 145,  I will praise you name forever, my king and my God, plus the great line (8), The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 

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

John 13, 31-33, 34-35,  My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.   

Leo and his best buddy, John, say, "Hi, Everybody, Come in."

Acts, a couple of observations:

1. Remember the three rings of Acts, Jerusalem, Palestine, the World (Mediterranean & Rome)?   Since we are at Chapter 28 of 28, you can guess in what ring we are today, yes, the World.  Paul and Barnabas are in the region of Greece.
2. The author, the same as the Gospel of Luke.
3. The date again, before 70

Genevieve and her best Mommy also say, "Hi, Everybody."

Love one another

As you may remember, one of my most favorite lines in all the Bible is the first line in the first stanza of our Psalm 145 this morning, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.   I read this and I add to it Jesus saying that, This is how they will know you, that you love one another. 

Is this real?   

Jan & Cindy have communion ready.  Choose wine or grape juice.

What is real is what I heard on the radio yesterday morning, really bad stuff.   Turns out that some professional bike riders were discovered to have developed motor enhanced bikes.  A small motor was inserted into the diagonal bar of the bike.  It was discovered in a race in Italy.

Now I know why these guys race past me at White Rock Lake.   Anybody know of anyone with a motor enhanced bike?  

More seriously, I look around and check out the news.  I read that towns all dear to me have been bombed by some really angry people, Paris, Brussels, Jerusalem.   People doing this think they are making the world a better place. 

Healing and Life for Angela.

Here at home we have what to me is a horrible political campaign going on.   

In our Catholic Church there is no shortage of hatred of fellow Catholics who disagree with policies or don’t conform to certain norms.   You all know that there are various Catholics who hate me for what I am doing.

Pope Francis is getting push back from Catholics who don’t approve of his ways and his message.  Francis took three refugee families into the Vatican and he got ridiculed.  His economic ideas are certainly meeting with hostility. 

Healing for Sandra.
 

So, they will know us by our love for one another?  The Lord is abounding in love?   

Is this just silly religious talk?  In my book, no, not completely. 

We have the examples of hate, which I would propose are often the result of hurt.  But we also have examples of love, respect, and care. 

Hue, our great sound man. 

Francis’ welcome of the 3 refugee families is for me an example.  The two picnics for The Love of Kids, another example.  We have been helping at those two picnics for years.  And there are hundreds of other people who contribute their time and even resources to help these under privileged and handicapped kids.

Look at Jim Maher who comes down here from St. Bonaventure with some students to help with the cleanup of the areas in Dallas that were his by the tornadoes.   They spend a week of their spring break here and they have been doing this for years.

Elevation.
 

Doug LeBlanc, Grace’s husband, together with other employees at Ericson, they all gathered on more than one occasion to help a fellow employee whose home had been wrecked by either a tornado or that hail. 

Did you read in the Dallas Morning News about the North Carolina judge who felt he had to sentence a vet with bad PTSD for repeatedly getting drunk.  He gave him 24 hours and then the judge spent the night in the cell with him.   Said he did not want to leave him alone with the PTSD. 

May I play that guitar, Daddy?  I think I can do it.

One final example of a person who inspired me by his grace in failure.  Jordon Spieth went from top of the leader board at the Masters to second.  He had a colossal melt down on the last day.  Nevertheless, he graciously congratulated the winner and helped present him with the winner’s sport coat.

This encourages me to know that there is lots of gracious caring in our world. 

Where do you see God showing his abundance of love?

 Readings:

 Isaiah  66, 10-14,  Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad.

Psalm 66,  Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Galatians 6, 14-18,  You are all called for freedom.

Luke 10, 1-12, 17-20, The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.

Brooklyn is back, but not awake yet.

Isaiah 11 observations & review: 

Author:  
Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters.  Isaiah 1
covers chapters 1-39.  This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along
with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  This is because the works are the
longest.  There are 12 minor prophets, authors who have small books.

Time: around 555 before Christ, a
compiling that is taking place with the end of the Babylonian Captivity in sight or
already done. 

Sienna, too.

Message
of Isaiah 66: The profile of the prophet was usually 1. criticism, 2.
prediction of dire payment, 3. consolation. 
This is the last chapter, so guess which of the 3 authors and subject.  Yes, the third.  And…

Today’s
message: consolation, joy, song.

Leo catching Rick.

The Laborers
are Few ?

This morning I want to focus on the line that the laborers are few.  I disagree. 
I see lots of laborers these days. 
Let me give you 3 examples.

Professor Jim Mahar.  You remember
him.  He spoke to us a year or so ago, he
and some students. 

Jim is a finance professor at St. Bonaventure near Buffalo, NY, a
Franciscan college.  A competitor with
the Jesuit college in the same area, Canisius. 

Jan and Sir Charlie coming to cause trouble.

You could imagine that Jim as a professor would be spending all his time
with his students, teaching, testing, grading, and advising.  In summers he might do research and spend
some time at his cottage in the Catskills or on the NJ shore. 

Nope, not Jim.  He does all the
professor with the kids, but his second passion is relief work.  I first met him when Bill Hammond & I
drove down to Galveston to work with him and about 30 volunteer students a few
years ago.   We spent a week cleaning, tearing
down, building, and living side by side in dorms with the Baptist Men (another
great group) and other volunteers.

Hue, our sound tech.

After Hurricane Sandy hit NYC, where was Jim and his bunch of student
volunteers?   Right where it was the
worst, like Breezy Point.   They even spent so much time there that they
established a base house.

Where again was Jim and his gang after the OK tornadoes in May?  I can tell you personally he and his gang
worked hard, even working through lunch and up until sundown.  We ate finally at Central Market about 9:30,
closing the place at 10:00. 

Harper at 2 knows what Cupcake of The Week means for her, along with John.

Jim is not just a laborer.  He
invites and facilitates other laborers, like me.

Then we have the lady I talked about last Sunday, the vivacious real
estate agent who had a good month of June. 
She out of nowhere gives us $1000 to be used in whatever way we see
fit. 

Emma ready for a fun Mass.

I wanted to go personally with that check to work with Habitat Granbury
this coming week, but they are not working over the July 4^th
period.  Maybe our Habitat group?

Mentioning our Habitat, I had a good friend ask about working.  I suggested he work yesterday at our
house.  At about 8:15 he calls me and
says, “Where is everybody.”  Apparently
we also took the week off.

Zoe and her buddy.

That $1000 check so touched me that I decided I was going to give $20 to
each of the guys who pick up our recycle every Monday morning.  I usually do this at Christmas.   I did
so this time in connection with July 4^th and was so touched.  The three guys could not tell me often
enough about how grateful they were.

One word about our community.  Can anyone imagine how we would make it without all the people who bring the sound, coffee, pastries, wine cups, take pictures, read, and sing, just to mention a few of the labors that take place?

Torri arrives with her big sister, Georgie.

Finally, I know another person whose name will remain unmentioned.  I’ll whisper so she cannot hear.   This
woman goes for an exploration meeting at Meals on Wheels.  There she runs into an old friend and
neighbor who has moved out of the neighborhood and is likewise interested. 
Now they are a team delivering Meals on Wheels every Thursday.  I think I sleep with this person.

So, you, know any laborers in the vineyard?  And you?

Bethany and Ray.

Readings: Sirach 15, 15-20; Psalm 119, Blessed are They who follow the Law of the Lord; 1 Corinthians; Matthew 5, 17-37. 

Observations: on Psalm 119, on Matthew 5, and, first, on Sirach–

 Author: a Jewish teacher called Joshua.  The only identified author in the whole Old Testament.  He tells us who he is, that he is a teacher, lived in Jerusalem, and traveled a lot.  It seems he put his work together while running a school in Alexandria, Egypt.

 His grandson translated the Hebrew work into Greek.  This Hebrew text was lost for centuries until the 19^th century, when 2/3 of it was found in Cairo.  Then other portions were found in Qumran and Masada, as late as 1964.

Date: composed around 175 years before Christ.  About 90 years before Christ the Jews put together their official bible, but excluded Sirach because they could not find the Hebrew version, only the Greek. 

 Christians accepted the book as part of their bible in the 2^nd century after Christ.  The Council of Trent officially accepted it, making it part of that extra 12 books called the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical.  Martin Luther rejected the book & so do many Protestant congregations today.

 Subject Matter: practical ethics, duties,

Subject today: you may choose good or bad.  A bit simplistic & Pelagian, that is, it is all up to you and you have all the strength needed to do what you want.  Pelagians thought that you had to EARN your salvation.  Therefore, the more religious stuff you did, like today, the more Masses, the more pilgrimages to the church & shrines, the more novenas & rosaries,  the more merit you win for yourself.

Psalm 119: the longest of all the psalms.  A focus on observance of the laws, decrees, and statutes.

Matthew 5:  a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount, like Tony talked about last week.  And like he mentioned, note the so called figures of speech called “antitheses,” namely, “You have heard it said, but, I say to you.”  4 even 5 times.  Matthew is trying to establish the authority & authenticity of Jesus.

Sources: Good New Bible; New Interpreter's Bible., Wikipedia; Reginal Fuller, S.J., David Westberg, S.J., & Larry Gillick, S.J., St. Louis U. Liturgies, on line.

Tear It Out & Throw It Away, My Right Eye?  You Crazy?!

 I think I have mentioned this once before, but it bears repeating because it is so relevant. 

 When I was studying theology in Toronto years ago, an article came out in the local newspaper.  Some guy had read the passage saying that if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  He did it, folks. 

 In this passage from Matthew there are five pieces of advice to the early Christians which taken literally can get a person all messed up.  Is there a positive as well as a negative to each? 

 One observation before I touch the five.  I have mentioned this before when we’ve talked about Christian spirituality.  Infinite demand and infinite acceptance.  Watch out here for a lot of infinite demand.  I’ll give a positive & a negative for each.

Matthew’s five pieces of advice are 1. breaking the least commandment, 2. getting angry and going to Gehenna, 3. looking at a woman with lust, 4. divorce, and 5. swearing.  Here goes.

1.  Matthew says that if you break the smallest commandment you will be the least in the kingdom.  Moreover, unless you are better than the Pharisees, you will not even get into the kingdom.  The positive here is that the bar is set high.  The negative is that all, all of us sinners will be kept out. It creates scruples or obsessive compulsive behavior.  Pretty discouraging.

 2.  Secondly, if you get mad at me and call me a fool, you are going to Gehenna.  I love it.  The positive here is the call to anger management.  I am challenged to know that all feelings are okay and need to be controlled.  The negative is that it gives me the idea that anger is not allowed, so stuff it.  Trouble is, it does not stuff well.  Not like a sleeping bag or tent.  It pops up in unexpected places.

 3.  Looking at a woman with lust.  The positive here is teaching respect for all people.  This advice, written by men for men, was attempting to gain some respect for women who were looked upon as property.  I found this  in Tanzania & Kenya.  Rosemary read me an article about some Muslim who cut off his wife’s ears and nose for reporting him for abuse. 

 The negative is that it teaches us that feelings are sinful.  In the old days, we thought we looked at a girl and we were going to hell.  This is doubly sad because current scholars consider hell to be non-existent, a cognitive creation by humans.   I agree. 

4.  Divorce is adultery.  The positive is that it reinforces the unity of marriage.  The negative is that people stay in abusive or addictive marriages long after it may even be safe.  Divorce is failure and we all fail sometimes even in tragic ways.  In order to escape using the word divorce the Catholic Church comes up with the more convoluted word Annulment.

 5.  Swearing.  The positive is that it involves politeness and respect for others.  Even if I am okay with my anger I do not swear at someone.  The negative is that it tightens us up.  We forget the therapeutic value of cussing, maybe a healthy & fun way of releasing anger.  The healthy Jesuits I lived with certainly partook of this therapy. 

 The overall danger in these pieces of advice is that we really get messed up, forgetting two things.  First they are presenting infinite demand.  Secondly, they make no mention of infinite acceptance.

 The poor guy in Toronto who blinded himself is an example of how we can mess ourselves up with goofy religion. 

 What do you think about these ideas?

 Picture 1:   Mass Begins

 Picture 2:   Communion Helpers, Patricia, Nancy, Beth, & Jan

 Picture 3:   Dessert First with Mike & Holly

 Picture 4:   Landry & Leo with Loretta & Ray

 Picture 5:   Landry, whom we were praying for, with her mom & dad, Ashley & Zack, and her big brother, Cooper, in the stroller, along with Ray & Loretta

Readings:   Wisdom 12, 13-19; Psalm 86, Lord, You are good and forgiving; Romans 8, 26-27; Matthew 13, 24-43

Wisdom:

• Author: not Solomon, but an unknown Jew from Alexandria
• Original Language: Greek
• Time: 1-2 centuries B.C.
• Message: Yahweh rewards those faithful to him.
• Means: Greek Philosophy common in Alexandria (Platonism & Stoicism) and Jewish traditional  teachings (wisdom of Solomon).
• Uniqueness: one of the ca. 11 deutero-canonical books (not originally part of the Jewish bible).
• Today's reading from chapter 12 emphasizes a God who cares for all, is merciful, and kind, perhaps as a balance to the parable of the wheat & weeds in Matthew

How We Help Each Other Along the Way

    Last Friday morning Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette were riding around White Rock Lake.  It was about 7:00.  We had started at Royal Lane and had passed through the marvelously dense forest along the White Rock Creek Trail.  We had crossed Mockingbird & Northwest Hwy, and were going around the stunningly beautiful lake in a clockwise direction.  We had split up, each going at their comfortable speed until we meet up at the boat house on the south end of the lake near the dam, the half way point.

    I’m ahead and see a lady on the left side of the road with her bike down.  I ask if she needs help, hoping, I confess, that she will say no.  She says yes.  Ugh, oh.  So I slow down, turn around, and get off next to her.  Shortly after that Gilberto rides up.

     She says her rear tire is real low, she has an air pump, but she has never used it, and cannot get it to work.  The problem was she had her pump set for one type of inner tube valve and she had the other.   For bikers, she had a schraeder valve, and her pump was set for presta, the skinny tire..

     So we showed her the problem, helped her pump up her tire, and she took off with a hundred thank you’s.  

     Meanwhile, my phone is ringing non-stop.  I usually do not answer when riding.  An 18 year old riding with us once fell down when he answered a call from his mom.  

     On the phone is Rosemary.  You guessed it, she has a front flat.  She is behind us at the Bath House.  So I return and we start a pump and run strategy to help her get back to a good pick up point, which turned out to be the Dart station on Northwest. Hwy.  

     Twice as we return we encounter the lady.  The first time she even says to Rosemary, “You are a lucky lady!”   Yahoo!   The second time she is taking a break at the same place Rosemary has stopped to pump up her tire again.  

     After Rosemary departed on her run, she says again how grateful she is and she adds, “I really learned something special about myself this morning.  I normally hate to ask for help and when I did it today it was okay.  From now on I will always ask others on the side of the road if they need help.  But I will also let myself ask for help.” 

     We have here a metaphor for community, folks.  We are not alone.  We help and accept help.  It is how I would like to handle the three parables, one of which could scare you.  Actually, it was intended by Matthew to scare his young Christian community, because he thought some members were not always doing good. 

     I see two community symbols in what happened on the shore of White Rock Lake. First, what we did.  Secondly, what took place in the lady.

     The first thing, normal for community, we stopped to help someone.  Simple.  What about people who are unemployed or sick?  We help them, too.  What about fear?  You hear the parable of the wheat & weeds and immediately see yourself heading for the furnace.  

     Naturally, we all see the weeds in ourselves.  Everybody does because we all see our weeds.  In a caring community we hear that we are both, not either/or, wheat or weeds.  You might even hear that one old priest doubts that there is a furnace.  After all, it has been admitted that limbo was imaginary.  What about purgatory?  Enough with fear of me going to hell.

     Secondly, what happened inside the lady is symbolic.  One little community event has touched her into new sensitivity and acceptance.  Even deeper peace.  Can you see the mustard seed growing, the yeast expanding in her spirit?  

     Can you give me one way you are richer because of community and one way you make community richer for another?

 Picture 1:   Mass

 Picture 2:   Georgie with Buddy & her dad, Randolph

 Picture 3:   Zoe with her mom, Michelle

 Picture 4:   Hugh & Sydney Bivona

 Picture 5:   The Girls, Gayle, Jackie, & Mary Ellen 

Welcome to The Team this Sunday, Mike.

Readings:

Exodus 17, 8-13,  Joshua mowed down Amelek and his people.

Psalm 121,  The Lord Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven & earth.

2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2,  Remain faithful to what you have learned.

Luke 18, 1-8,  The persistent widow & the ornery judge.

Georgie helping Leo with the candles.

He is beside you at your right hand: In praise of Pete Wacks

It often strikes me as disappointing when I hear or give a eulogy.  Why?  Because the person has no say, like ‘He’s lying,’ or ‘Why did you not tell me all those good things while I was alive?!’

Pete Wacks was one of my best buddies at Christ the King grade school and at old Jesuit.  Moreover, he is alive and most of this story I have told him. 

Ben, I'm envious of your Zeke Elliott do.   Maybe if I could do that with my hair Rosemary might love me a little bit.

When we were adolescents Pete was the guy I would like to have been.  He was well built without even working out.  This was the age of flat tops.  His was the best.  He was one of the guys we all hung around together.  Which scared me when Msgr. Bender thundered one Sunday, “If your friends are going to hell, you will too.”  One story why: the German Shepherd event.

It was a Friday night football game at Highland Park, our junior year.  As we walked out of the stadium early we saw a friendly German Shepherd on a chain under the north stands.  We, the three of  us, got into my dad’s black & white ‘54-‘55 4 door Chevie.  I used it for my morning paper route. 

Welcome home, Kevin.

Going east on Lovers Lane we got the red light at Preston.  Lo and behold, right in front of us was the German Shepherd in the University Park dog wagon.  We did not think twice.  Pete seated next to me and Jerry in the back both jumped out and let the Shepherd out, he jumped into the front seat next to me, and off we headed north onto Preston.  We had not gone 20 yards when, bam, we are engulfed in the red lights of the University Park police.

It takes a community to get suited up around here.

The cop told us to follow him to the station and there we were asked to get the dog out, which we did.    After grilling us we spent 3-4 hours in a jail cell.  Meanwhile Jerry had been begging them not to call his parents.  His mom was just on the verge of delivering her 9^th or 10^th child.  About 12:30 they released us.

The police never called our parents.

This is just one of the episodes that characterized our adolescent years.  See why I joined the Jesuits?

Welcome in, David.  When I was a young Jesuit teaching at Jesuit in the '60's, David was one of our star assistant principals. 

Guess what: I recounted this story to Pete last Monday when we visited him in Chicago.   He could not remember it!  Instead of joining the Jesuits, Pete joined up with the F.B.I. & worked for 35 years.  He also got into running, doing the Chicago Marathon ca. 12 times, plus the Boston, N.Y., and some others.

Pete retired in “97 .    He is now bedridden and has amyloidosis, plus a few other conditions. I know our loving God is waiting to embrace him.

Welcome in, Catherine, Becca, and Grace.