Sunday Homily, January 28, 2007 – 4th Sunday, Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66:  I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.

Hebrews 12:  So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.  Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

Luke 13:  For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Claire reading from Isaiah

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben  

The Kiss of Peace

Outreach: $  50.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary’s Blessing:

O God from whom all blessings come,

we thank you for this celebration and meal and community. 

We also thank you for the joys with which you have blessed us through the years. 

May our lives shine forth as bright lights of gratitude for all your gifts.

 

Edited and adapted from a blessing by Fr. Andrew M. Greeley

Readings: 

Isaiah 35, 1-6,   Be Strong,  fear not.

 

Psalm 146,  Lord, come and save us.

James 5, 7-10,  Be patient until the coming of the Lord.

Matthew  11, 2-11, What did you go out to the desert to see?

 

 

Isaiah 35 observations: 

As you may remember, the book of Isaiah has three distinct writers.  Isaiah I covers the first 39 chapters, out of 66 chapters.  Isaiah I has a certain amount of condemnation typical of prophets. However, as you can see from this beautiful reading, Isaiah I can share a vision of a beautiful future.

Date: written before the Syrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, around 700 years before Christ.  

 

 

Advent Wreaths, a reminder: This little liturgical practice came to the Catholic liturgy, believe it or not, from the German Lutherans in the 1500's, the time of Martin Luther.  It was more than just decoration.  The circle symbolized eternity.  The greens Christian life in a dead time of the year.  The candles represent each of the 4 weeks of Advent, each candle symbolizing the greater light brought by Christ.  Their color purple symbolized penance and purification for the Coming.  The Rose candle says, 'We are almost there!'  

All together the wreath represented and shed light in a dark world, a world with no electricity.

 

The Celebration

This past week has been momentous and touching for me and for many.  Twice we celebrated the life and vitality of Chuck Pratt, one of our most special friends in this community.  Wednesday evening was a memorial, and Thursday morning at All Saints, Pam’s husband’s brother, Joe, beautifully celebrated a Mass. 

I would like to talk about Chuck in January.  Today I would like to talk about the celebration.

 

 

At the memorial celebration Wednesday, Pam, Chuck & Sandra’s oldest child, told a story that comes from John Ruskin, a British academic and critic who lived until 1900.  The story has gone around, but is beautiful to hear it again. 

Picture this man.  He is sitting in his house one night with a friend, looking out a window.  He is an old man.  There is no electricity.  Many of you have been there.  Remember what it is like, no heat, no light.  He & his friend are looking across a valley. 

 

 

As they watch a light is going up the other side.  As the light goes, it lights other lights along the way.  The lamplighter.  They cannot see anybody, just the light moving and leaving light behind.

Ruskin says to his friend, “That is a good illustration of a Christian. People may never have known him.  They may never have met him.  They may never even have seen him.  But they know he passed through their world by the trail of lights he left behind him.”

At the celebrations there were an abundance of lights.  I want to tell you about two little lights who touched me. 

 

 

During the Mass I was seated in the second pew with the family on the right end.  At one point Amelia, Chris & Cecily’s 3 year old daughter crawled into the lap of the lady next to me.  For the rest of the Mass she played with the books and chatted. 

I’m sitting there with tears in my eyes half the time, but enchanted by Amelia’s happy spirit beside me.  She and her sister Olivia had also shared their light with us by bringing up the offertory.  I was most touched.

 

 

Which naturally made me reflect on the lights we have in our community, lights who chatter and clatter, walk around in the back, and occasionally walk shyly up here and put a toy on the altar. 

Chuck was a lamplighter.  He left lights behind him and they have become lamplighters in turn, two little ones and a bunch more.

Who are the lamplighters in your life?  For whom are you a lamplighter?

 

 

Readings: Jeremiah 20,10-13; Psalm 69; Romans 5, 12-15; Matthew 10, 26-33

Jeremiah: one of the 3 great prophets along with Isaiah & Ezekiel.  He lives just before the defeat & destruction of Jerusalem 650 years before Christ.  He foretells the catastrophe, warning the Hebrews that their sinful ways will lead to destruction.  He lives to see the event, but also prophesies that the exile will be temporary and that one day the people will return to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah was unpopular with the people because of his warnings.  Today's reading shows him bitter and complaining about the people. 

 

As Good as Sparrows, as Good as Aviana?

In February, when we put our little dog Naomi to sleep after 15 years, Rosemary & I debated whether we would ever want to get another dog.  Putting her to sleep was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. 

Around Memorial Day, however, Rosemary began to look on line just a bit.  Shih-tzus were our favorite, but we entertained other types of small dogs.   In fact, our vet had recommended a woman in East Texas who occasionally raised a litter of maltipoos, a mixture of maltese & poodle. 

Last Wednesday we took a trip to East Texas.  We had two ladies to visit, the one recommended by the vet and another who raised shih-tzus.  On the way we debated: yes or no.  We decided to just look.  

Well, so much for looking.  In fact, the hardest thing was coming home without one of each. 

Behold Aviana, a maltese-poodle mix whose name comes from the air base north east of  Venice, where we visited Michael & Lydia on our spring trip.  The base is Aviano; we made it feminine.

Do I have any doubts or reservations now that she is part of our family?  No, not one.  In fact, I am reminded every day why she is a special gift.  A couple of observations.

Do you realize that she is not afraid?  I think she is like all of us when we are born.  When do we begin to be afraid?  I know how Aviana could become afraid.  If I treated her mean & rough, and abused her.  Matthew recommends that we be afraid not of the person who kills the body, but of the person who kills the soul.  I would suggest the word spirit instead of soul.  Abuse kills the spirit.  At the least it wounds the spirit.

Yesterday I was working on line and Aviana was lying under my feet sound asleep.  Not on her tummy or on her side.  She was lying on her back with her legs and ears splayed out.  Talk about trust.  Lack of fear.

Matthew says that we need not fear because we are worth more than many sparrows.  Am I worth as much as one Aviana? 

Second observation is that I see the acceptance of God in the behavior of Aviana.  I saw it in Naomi.  I walk in the house and receive not just unconditional acceptance.  I encounter excited & joyous celebration.  I am amazed and touched.  We hear a lot about how we will be judged a sheep or a goat at the great roundup.  If I am lax, God will come like a thief in the night and hurl me into hell for being caught off guard. 

My preference is to see the acceptance of Aviana as reflective of the acceptance of God.  She is another of those little creatures we talked about last week.  She is another metaphor or parable about God's acceptance of us as we are. 

Aviana is not afraid of us.  She amazingly trusts us.  Moreover, she accepts and celebrates us just as we are.  

How does she symbolize or not symbolize your relationship with God? 

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-06-22.mp3

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah, 55, 6-9, As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways.

Psalm 1,  The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Philippians  1, 24, 27,  Conduct yourselves in a way worthy

Matthew 20, 1-16,   The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner…

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,   Mary Jane (Happy Birthday!) & John & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  Deacon Mike 

Homily,  Stack 

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike, Ben & Hue, Richard & Tom & David

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

 

Download Readings Week 25

 

When did you last see God?

Next Sunday after our Sunday morning celebration of life I have a baptism.  Remember the Braun family from St. Marks?  It was easy to see them because both Debbie & Don were tall.  In fact, Don must be about 6'10" and they were visible.   They have three grown kids, a boy & two girls.  I've done backyard baptisms for them.  Heather, one of the daughters has a baby daughter.

 

Mary Jane reading Isaiah.

 

For a long time I have always asked the people gathered together for the baptism, when was the last time you saw God.  This can be very touching.  Of course, probably everybody there says they saw God and see God now when they behold the little baby being baptized.

Reflecting upon this in my own life, I am stunned.  Two events have left me speechless and humbled.  Almost exactly a year ago, October 20 to be exact, Rosemary & I were visited by that tornado.  I cannot say I saw God's presence in the tornado.  No, it was the aftermath and especially the next morning.  Neighbors whose houses were not damaged came in waves to clear downed tree limbs, clean up all the junk dumped in our yard, and to offer us food.  Boys from St. Marks Boys' School brought bottled water & food.  

 

John Schanot reading Philippians.

 

Doug LeBlanc & Grace came with some of their friends, coming with plywood & tools which they used to board up the smashed bay window on our house.  Connie and John Bresson, Mike Moran, Andy, Tom Good, Tom Froelich and others moved tree limbs, cut branches down and generally cleaned up. Just that day was overwhelming itself.  But people continued to come every day, some of which were community members.  One day Loretta Garcia Williams fed a whole group of our community.  I still am humbled and grateful.  I saw God those days.

 

Deacon reading the Gospel.

 

A few days later a tall junior from St. Marks School and a neighbor kid from a big delightful family 4 doors down came to our front door and knocked.  It was a mild & sunny afternoon.   He said he wanted to simply tell us that he admired us and was happy we're his neighbors.  You know me, I was in tears.  

It was hard to leave the neighborhood, as you can imagine.  So I was not expecting anything special when we moved into our new neighborhood.  Dream on.  We took possession of the keys about 1:00 on Monday, the 31st of August from the delightful couple who had fixed the place all up.  Before long while we were bringing stuff in with Grace LeBlanc's help, neighbors began coming over to welcome us.  With welcome gifts.  We got food & wine.  We got a home made chocolate cake with chocolate chips!  It was so rich!  I saw God in those people, especially in the lady who brought the chocolate chip chocolate cake.

And you?  When was the last time you saw God?

 

 

The brains of our team, Hue, Richard, and Mike.

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Alan Stryker;  For John Doherty with back pain; For Becky's dad who has moved to the other side;  For Cindy recuperating at home;    For Esparzas, Frank & Mary,  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 Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, Woodlands,  For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & all of Shonda's dear family;   for all the students and teachers and coaches returning to school.

 

Shonda & Ben making the best music.

 

For Betty from Helsem; For Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For a friend & 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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer,  For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

 

Our Anniversary kids, Tom & Becky, 41 years!

 

Birthdays:  Mary Jane Stevenson, Sophia  (12), Ben's daughter 

Anniversaries:  Tom & Becky, 41

 

 

David double checking the out put.                                                     

                 

Community Finances, September 13, 2020

Expenses: $  580.00

Outreach   $  200.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

A new member of our community?

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

… May God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference
in this world, in your neighborhood,
so that you will courageously try
what you don't think you can do, but,
in Jesus Christ you'll have all the strength necessary.

"Troubadour: A Missionary Magazine," published by the Franciscan Missionary Society

 

Readings: Acts 14, 21-27; Psalm 145, I will praise Your Name forever, My King and My God (1st stanza, my favorite: the Lord is Gracious and Merciful, Slow to Anger and of Great Kindness); Revelation 21, 1-5; John 13, 31-35.

 

Psalm 145:

The book of Psalms is the hymn book and prayer book of the Jewish Bible. 

Composed over centuries, before Christ's time and probably assembled after the Babylonian Captivity, i.e. ca. 550 BCE

Authors: many.  Not just King David

Psalm 145: this psalm has one of those lines that is a special gem, a glimpse for me into a reality that I find a mystery.  The nature of God.  Something I can only approach by analogy and projection. 

I read the Bible and encounter a god who is jealous, merciless, and demanding payback.  I don't buy this.  I do buy, however, the image presented by the first stanza.  I even change it a bit to say, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is full of love.

Known Because we have Love for One Another

I would like to talk this morning about the Collin County Adult Clinic and how we all got involved with it.  You probably know that Julia Grenier was the founder of this clinic, but you may not know how she came to do it. 

I talked with her Thursday and got the story.  It started about 30 years ago, so in the early 80's, when she was hired by Elizabeth Seton Parish to be the parish nurse.  Julia just celebrated 50 years as a nurse.  This was a new position for a parish to have and Julia made it more unique in her special way. 

She ended up getting involved with PISD kids and with day laborers in the area.  At one point she was even working as a volunteer at the Day Laborer Center somewhere in Plano.

She told me that during this time she would meet with people who needed significant medical help.  She could handle the first aid cases, but she had to take the more serious into clinics and emergency rooms.  She said you could not get a patient looked at, say at PrimaCare, without a $100 up front payment. 

Julia paid these expenses out of the savings she and Al had put away.

 

The expenses mounted and so did the number of patients Julia was treating.  Enter St. Marks and Fr. Duffy.  There was an obvious need for a clinic.  Julia & Duffy worked out an agreement where St. Marks would let Julia use some space gratis and get help through Catholic Charities. 

They opened on a Thursday night in 2003.  Julia said 15 patients showed up the first night.  All the staff, doctors, nurses, support, all worked pro bono.  The second week twice that number showed up.  And then the word spead and the numbers soared, making it impossible to carry the load at St. Marks. 

Jerry Weis informed me that at this time Collin County set aside some money for health, did not really know what to do with it, and gave the clinic in 2004 about $50,000.  They banked it and banked another $25,000 the next year while they looked for a larger venue, which they found on Ave. K & Park.

A builder with Rotary named Jerry Huffman said he could put the space together for $275,000.  He finally did the job for $150,000 and the clinic opened in late 2005.  The patient load now on Thursday evenings was 70 to 90 every week. 

 

Meanwhile, Julia's health was deteriorating.  In 2008 she had to retire.  I remember thinking that this might be the end of the clinic.  Instead, the staff pulled together, hired a full time, paid director, John Ernst, and even expanded the service to Tuesday night.

Julia told me on the phone that she spends many week days in their home here in Plano, but weekends she & Al have a small horse farm in East Texas, which is why we don't see her on Sunday mornings.  She may make it for Mother's Day next week.

Jesus says in the Gospel this morning, "All will know you are my desciples, if you love one another.  I am amazed at how Julia took a small job and turned it into a large clinic because she saw people in need.  I am humbled at how Julia exemplifies loving others.

How do you show your love?

 

Picture 1:  Mass with Tony.

Picture 2:  Full service ministry at San Vino.

Picture 3:  David McKeon introducing the 9 couples renewing their marriage promises.

Picture 4:  Madge & Carl Smith renewing their marriage of 60 years, Carl with the tie he wore last on his wedding day

Picture 5:  Kim & Mike Burkhart (from Tuscon, formerly of St. Mark's) renewing their marriage of 25 years.