18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 3, 2025

Readings:

Genesis  18, 20-32,  What if there are ten there?  For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.

Psalm 138,  Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Colossians 2, 12-14,  You were buried with him in baptism.

Luke 11, 1-13, Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find.

 

Observations on the readings:

The first reading from Genesis is a familiar story about God’s mercy and forgiveness, how it is all encompassing and present to all. More in my homily about this.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians is his letter to the Christian community at Colossae (in present day Turkey), telling them to remember that, as followers of Jesus, they are made new and are called to forgive one another, called to peace and thankfulness. Remember, I said last week I was choosing a more inspirational part of this letter for us to hear (Chapter 3, 12-15)

In the Gospel reading from Luke we will hear about prayer. The prayer Jesus
taught that we are familiar with, and say in Mass, is in Matthew, Chapter 6.
Today’s version in Luke is shortened. Jesus’ parable of knocking on a friend’s
door is about God’s constant mercy.    

 

Homily

From the reading in Genesis, I want to talk today about mercy and forgiveness. In particular I want to talk about what I think makes it possible for us to forgive one another. Forgiveness requires first that I put away self-justification where I put myself above another, where I collect points that make me ‘look better’ than another, especially one whom I judge has offended me, hurt me (‘I am right; I am justified in my hurt’). In order to forgive, I give up the quest ‘to be right’. [This is
where that saying fits, ‘you can be right’ or ‘you can have love in your life.’]
If I need to ‘look better’ or ‘be right’ (self-justified, self-righteous),
forgiveness becomes difficult, even unlikely.

The second requirement for sharing forgiveness is accepting what I take as an offense, a hurt, as possible in the universe of my life. This means in the whole universe of possible happenings, I accept that this hurt, this offense, is possible, this can happen to me. If I treat an offense or hurt as unthinkable or unacceptable to me in my universe, I disallow it as possible and keep it at a distance, away
from me, therefore not forgivable.

The third requirement to forgive another is mercy. Mercy is the quality attributed to God in today’s reading from Genesis about God and the people of Sodom. The quality or spirit of mercy makes forgiveness possible, even predictable. As we listened to the story about God and the people of Sodom, didn’t we predict as each question was asked by Abraham, that God’s response would be mercy?

We are called to have mercy and to forgive, even giving up the safety of waiting to first be forgiven by another (when there is mutual hurt). We are called to forgive. On the other hand we are totally accepted wherever we are in the process of learning mercy and forgiveness in our relationships.  Sometimes it may seem easier to forgive another than to ask for forgiveness from the other. Maybe that’s because giving forgiveness seems to put us in the ‘good guy’ role. Asking for forgiveness can put us in a more vulnerable position, not knowing if we will receive mercy and forgiveness from the other.

 So, my questions today are:   

Am I ready to forgive hurts by another,
especially from those close to me?

Am I ready to accept myself, even if I am not
yet fully capable of forgiving?

Am I able to ask for
forgiveness from another?

 

Sez our dear Harper "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Isaiah, a review

Here is another of those passages which make me love Isaiah so much.  I have mentioned this before.  He is my favorite.  

Today we have Isaiah III talking to the Jews who have returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity, about 555 years before Christ.  It helps to picture the mood of these people. 

 

 

Away we go!

 

Are you a Cowboy Fan?  How do you feel about this year?  Multiply this by 10 and you have how the Jewish people felt after 50 years of slavery and  their town destroyed like New Orleans or parts of Preston Hollow. 

When he says Jerusalem or Zion, he is talking to these beaten down people.  Later centuries church leaders began to make these words have two meanings, the city and we Christians.  Jerusalem, then, applies to us.

Sources: Good News Bible, The New Interpreter’s Bible

 

 

Takes Zoe to really light a candle.

 

 

Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6,  The glory of the Lord shines upon you. (nice)

Psalm 72,  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Ephesians 3, 2-3, 5-6, God's grace was given to me.

Matthew 2, 1-12,  Where is the newborn king of the Jew?.

 

 

And to really get  it lit, it takes Victoria.

 

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols:

2 observations–

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  Matthew carefully crafted this story to appeal to both his fellow Jews and the Gentile population.   I'll touch 2 points, each with 3 subdivisions..         

 

 

And to really get it all right, it takes Buddy to read the Blessing of the Candles.

 

 

The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are

1. Gentiles
2. They come from the east, considered the source of wisdom in the world of that time.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east or a star he will bring new light. 
3. They are searchers & symbolize every man’s search for meaning in life.    Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising for not searching, and the Gentiles. 

 

 

And then backing it all up is Leo singing.

 

2. The 3 gifts. 
3. Gold is given because it signifies royalty. 
4. Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity. 
5. Myrra signifies medicine.  Myrra is for the human.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu, and even herpes.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

 

 

Bringing the gifts Bernadette, her daughter Michelle, and Grace.

 

 A post script.  People in Europe used to write an inscription over their doors, e.g. 20+C+M+B+17.  The numbers are our year.  The letters are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, supposedly the kings' names.   Christians made it say, “Christ & you 3 kings bless our house or Maison the year listed."

 

 

And trouble with Richard, Cody, & Ben.

 

 

 Another post script.  In New Orleans Epiphany starts Carnival season, which leads up to Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The parades start, folks.  Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler.

 Sources: Reginal Fuller, St. Louis U. Liturgy; Biblical & Theological Resources, the Voice Institute, on line; Wikipedia; and other sources.

 

 

The communion team with Patricia, Claire, Geri, Grace, & Denni.   Thanks, You All.

 

An Epiphany Story

Rosemary & I once went to the exposition of some paintings of about six or eight artists. Among the artists and the reason we were there was my childhood buddy, Ed Lamberty, who gave the homily here on alcoholism & AA some years ago.  He was presenting some of his works.

 As we were wandering around we ran into another couple who are old friends.  We ask what brought them to this exposition.  They pointed across the room to a middle aged, middle class, blondish woman who was standing by some of her works.

 

 

Hi, Marlene, Mabel, & Cindy.  So good to see you.

 

 Here is the story the wife told me.

The couple we know are both academics on the university level.  Some years ago the wife had been teaching and came to know one of her students.  The student was a mother with a son about 8 years old.  At some point in time the father had abandoned them and left them with nothing.  They were living in the mother’s car.

 

 

Thanks, Rick, for all the good pictures.

 

My friend says to me that this so shocked her and she thought this cannot continue.  An Epiphany moment.  She described the situation to her husband and two sons who were about 10 & 12.  Guess what they did.

They invited the mother & son to live with them until they got on their feet.  The two sons moved into one bedroom and the mother & her son took the other.  Here they lived for almost a year until the husband found the woman a job. 

 

 

Peace, Everybody.

 

The woman now is successful and is developing as an artist, selling her works for big sums.  The son graduated from Jesuit, graduated from college, and now is married with a couple of his own kids. 

 Obvious from the fact that they were at the art exposition, my friends are still quite close with the mother & her son. 

 

Peace for 2020.

 

I would propose that this is what epiphany is, a light shines on a presence.  The presence is a challenge and, perhaps, involves care for others.   The presence may be the example of another person.

 Who is an epiphany for you?

 For whom are you an epiphany?

 

 

 

 

Welcome, Everybody. 

 

 

Readings:  

 1 Kings 19:4-8,  Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert.  

 Psalm 34,   Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

 Ephesians 4:30-5,2, Be kind to  one another

John 6: 41-51,  I am the bread of life

 

 

 

 

Emma doing her Candle Magic.

 

 

Kings:  a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel.  The Big 3 kings were Saul, David, & his son Solomon.  The 2 Books of kings follows the 2 Books of Samuel, which describe the lives of the the kings up to the death of the Great King David, my favorite.  1 & 2 Kings takes up the life of Solomon, David's son, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, that is, it divides and is conquered. 

Time Period:  from ca. 900 – 555 before Christ, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus.

 

 

 

 

Hue reading our Blessing of the Summer Candles.

 

 

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ. 

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah.  The kingdom has already been split.  Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel.  Time of severe drought.  The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel.  The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought. 

 

 

 

Welcome, Dear Sandra.

 

There has been a contest in chapter 18: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain.  2 bulls were slaughtered.  Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered.  When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.   

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah.  He is going to run away all depressed. 

 

 

 

 

What a Team!  It don't get no better.

 

 

Taste & See the Goodness of the Lord

I want to talk this morning about one of my favorite themes, namely that we can see, hear, and be touched by the presence of the Lord every day.  As the Psalm says & I believe, we can taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Two examples.

 

 

 

 

Our Special Ekes' Offertory Team, Cindy, Bill, & Marlene.

 

 

As you all know Rosemary with her buddy, Barbara, delivers Meals on Wheels every Thursday.  They visit 15 to 20 clients every week in the general area of Spring Valley east of Coit. Among their clients, whom they love, is a elderly Vietnamese.

While the apartment complex in which he lives is somewhat worn down, he is scrupulously neat and clean.  He has planted flowers and grass outside his door.  In fact, he trims the grass with scissors.

 

 

 

Elevation time.

 

The man heard about rental bikes and thought it would make his trips to the grocery store much easier.  A good idea until he discovered that a credit card was needed. 

There must be a Vietnamese radio station in town.  So he calls up to voice his disappointment.

Thursday when Rosemary & Barbara bring him his food for the day, what do they find in the living room?  A new bike, complete with a lock, an air pump, and bike stuff all from some family that was listening to the radio station.

Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord.

 

 

 

 

Play Station #1.

 

One final story from this year’s Ragbrai.  This story comes from David.

On Monday, the second day of riding, we rode from the overnight town of Dennison to Jefferson, a ride of 70 miles or so.  Along the route there are always vendors, both in the lovely little towns we pass through and just on the shoulder of the road or in a big field.  My favorite, of course, is the Amish site with ice cream & pie.

Another favorite, as you may imagine, is the craft beer garden.  There will be 3-4 scattered along the road and the crowds are enormous.  You have to be really careful riding by because of all the off going and in coming bikers.

 

 

 

 

 

Play Station #1 revisited.

 

 

Somewhere along the road to Jefferson David stops.  He gets a beer and is talking to a couple of guys from Grinnell College, just east of Des Moines (French for monks).  One of the guys is looking for a potty seat for his kid.

Why a potty seat on a bike ride of 70 miles.  From David: " Both guys had their families riding.  One of the families had a 2-3 year old girl who rode in a compartment on her mom's handle bar.  The little girl was potty training and the parents did not want to confuse her and loose ground.   They had a potty seat but it had gotten lost in their sag wagon pick up truck."   (Homily by committee.)

 

 

Our Special Welcoming Committee: Jan can do it all.

 

 

So they go on down the road and end up at the Catholic Church in Jefferson, our overnight town.   Guess why.  Lasagna!  I stopped, too, but later. 

One of the Church volunteers, a guy, hears that the Grinnell guy is looking for a potty seat.  He has one & it is not being used.  He can go get it.  “Be back in an hour & a half,” he says.  He lives 35 miles away.

When did you last Taste & See the Goodness of the Lord?

 

 

 

Our Beloved Music Team, Shonda, Ben, & David.

 

Readings:

 Isaiah 35, 4-7, The eyes of the blind will be opened.

Psalm 146,    Praise the Lord, my soul.

James 2, 1-5, 21-22, 27,  Show no partiality

Mark 7, 31-37, Jesus heals the deaf & mute man.

 

 

  

Homily:

 

Last Sunday Stack reminded us about how Moses told the people of Israel that they would have their own land promised by Yahweh.  And how after Moses’ death Joshua and others wiped out the Cannanite tribes who resided there, and just moved in. 

 

 

The theme today is that of healing.  During the week I was touched by two visuals of a lack of healing for people.  The first was the visual of a dead child lying on a beach in Turkey, whose family were trying to get from Syria to safety in Europe.  His family was one of thousands escaping from war torn Syria, escaping death by the King’s military, or by the rebel fighters, or by ISIS jihadists.  Newspeople often refer to them as ‘immigrants’–-yet their country is in civil war and there is hardly a safe place for anyone on any side.  They are refugees.  They leave everything behind.  They cross the Mediterranean in rubberized boats or rafts.  Many don’t even make it to the first stop in Turkey.  These thousands of refugees are leaving their homes, leaving their land, in search of a safe place for their families, for their children. 

 

 

The second visual that struck me this week was from a series of articles in the National Catholic Reporter on the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ and its impact on people over centuries.  The ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ is found in papal bulls beginning in 1436; that’s almost 600 years ago.  One example is a papal bull from 1493, after Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of the Americas.  This papal bull gave Ferdinand and Isabella “full and free power, authority and jurisdiction of every kind” over almost all of the Americas, except for part of modern-day Brazil and a few islands.  Some say this was the beginning of international law as each succeeding papal bull would quote or reference those that came before.  When, in the late 1400’s discoverers were finding lands far away from Christian Europe, they found these lands occupied with non-Christian peoples, tribes and civilizations.  The papal bulls gave Christian discoverers full power and authority over all non-Christian peoples in these lands.  This meant the land could be claimed by the Christian discoverer (like for Spain or for France, etc.) and the non-Christian people could be enslaved, made to become Christian, even killed if they resisted.

 

 

Fast forward to 1823.  This Doctrine of Discovery was legitimized in a ruling by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.  His ruling maintained that Native Americans had the right to ‘occupy’ land, but not have full ownership, and that tribes were dependent on the federal government.

 

 

So the two visuals that touched me this week were the thousands of refugees fleeing Syria, especially the little boy lying dead on the beach; and the millions of peoples in the Americas, Africa, the Pacific islands, etc., dispossessed of their lands, culture and religion, to a large extent due to a series of papal bulls and the Doctrine of Discovery. 

 

 

What would healing look like for the people of Syria fleeing war and devastation?  What would healing look like for the offspring of the indigenous peoples of North and South America? of Africa? of  the pacific islands?   

 

 

And how do I individually, or as a member of this Christian community, promote healing in my own world?

 

Readings: Micah 5, 1-4; Psalm 80, Lord, make Us turn to You; let Us see Your Face and We shall be saved; Hebrews 10, 5-10; Luke 1, 39-45

Micah: author, date, subject, our selection–

Author: one of the minor prophets (because of length, 7 chapters), Micah is considered to be the author of these words.

Date: probably around 700-690 BCE, a contemporary of Isaiah, living in Judah.  He had witnessed the destruction of the northern half of the kingdom, Israel, by the Assyrians, ca. 720 BCE.  He watched Judah pay tribute to Assyria.  He forsaw the Babylonian disaster coming to Judah, the southern half of the kingdom, which finally took place in 590.

Subject: like all prophets, he predicted doom and destruction for Judah because of the injustice of the people, especially the rich over the poor.  Micah learned from Israel's destruction by Assyria, which he attributed to God's anger with those people. 

Then, of course, he predicts a return to peace and prosperity after the people are purified.  He speaks to Bethlehem as if to a persona and says that a new ruler will come from the town who will shepherd the people.  Why Bethlehem?  Because David was born there and the new David was supposed to come from the same royal village.

Asked what God wants of us (like penance, sacrifices of animals, goods, even children), Micah states one of the great lines in scripture: "What God requires of us is: 1. act justly, 2. love tenderly, and 3. walk humbly with our God." (6, 8)

Our Selection: God promises a just ruler will be born in Bethlehem, the place where King David was born, a royal village.

Sources: Wikipedia, John Shelby Spong

Jesus is Coming

Remember hearing the Christmas carol that goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a partridge in a pear tree"?  Ever wonder what on earth it means?  What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially a partridge in a pear tree have to do with Christmas?  Here is the rest of the story.

In England many years ago, the king, Henry VIII, got mad at the pope.  Know why?  He wanted to marry another wife, Anne Boleyn.  The pope would not grant him permission, so Henry banned Catholicism in England and destroyed churches & monasteries, collecting their money.  This started around 1550 and it lasted until about 1800, a long time.

Masses were forbidden and people were hung for breaking the law, especially during Henry's daughter's time, Elizabeth the daughter of Anne.  A number of Jesuits snuck into England at this time, celebrated secret Masses, were caught, tortured, and killed.  Rosemary & I even visited a delightful little town called Shrewsbury near the border with Wales.  A series of fun novels is written about a Brother Cadfill who lived in the Shewsbury monastery.  We saw the remains of the monastery destroyed by Henry's men.

What Catholics had to do was speak in code.  This Christmas carol is all code.  It was like a catechism for the people.  Here is the symbolism explained:

   The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus.

• Two turtledoves were the Old and New Testaments.
• Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John.
• The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
• Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
• The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
• The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.
• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed.

Whenever Catholics sang this Christmas carol they were singing about what they believed despite the danger to themselves. 

How are you celebrating the freedom we have to openly sing our Christmas carols?

Picture 1:  Advent Altar

Picture 2:  Mass beginning with Kevin

Picture 3:  Nikki & Sabrina

Picture 4:  The Cookie Shoppe with Nikki & her brother Cameron & Angela in the background

 

 

 

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," sez Beth & Emma.

 

Readings: 

Acts of the Apostles, 5, 27-32, 40-41  We gave you strict orders to stop teaching in that name.

Psalm 30, I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Revelation 11-14, I, John, heard the voices of many angels.

John 21, 1-19, Jesus appears to the apostles at the Sea of Tiberias.

 

 

 

Watch out, Bill, you are a marked man. 

 

 

I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

I would like to talk this morning about how the Lord has rescued me.  Like from my fears.

There was this happy hour.  About 6 to 10 of us first year Jesuit theology students put it together our first semester in Toronto.  Probably all of us had spent the last 3 years teaching in various Jesuit high schools from Seattle to NY, through Chicago, and Dallas where I taught at Jesuit.

It was great fun squeezing into each others’ small bedrooms for a drink and chatter about 5:30.  Lots of laughter & camaraderie.

 

 

 

Sophia & Georgie, you make a great candle lighting team. 

 

As the second semester began a number of us began to be a bit concerned that we were drinking a bit much.  Like one drink on week nights, 2 or three on weekends and holidays.   

So we decided to replace the happy hour to bundle up (Toronto gets lots of cold & snow in January) and run our half mile driveway to the entrance gate & back.  I even stopped drinking at this time for about 6-8 years, until I went to East Africa.

 

 

 

And John, Hue, Connie, and Patricia, what an offertory team you make.

 

Our property was a beautiful east west park like campus.  On the north side was the back yards of a row of, say 10 nice middle class houses.  Our drive passed along the row of houses.

Though I loved my Jesuit buddies and even enjoyed running  through the snow in the dark under occasional street lamps, I was sad that I would not have a warm house, kids, and a wife, like lived in those houses.  I even got close to a local Catholic family who had 6 kids.

 

 

 

A bikers' consultation.

 

Looking back now, the Lord was rescuing me, whispering in my spirit, You do not have to give up this life to be okay and to make a difference.

The next time I got the message was when I went to East Africa and saw how lots of good priests, bishops, and even a cardinal had common law wives.  The people cheered them for being normal.

 

 

 

Charlie, are you looking in somebody's pocket?  I caught you!

 

 

 

Getting kicked out of East Africa sent me back to the States different, open to a relationship, but certainly not knowing anyone .  I got into dancing and guess who came along, Rosemary.

And now a little story about our relationship which some of you have maybe heard piecemeal.  

 

 

Would you trust your cupcake with these two?

 

I asked Rosemary if she would marry me in 1990.  There was one enormous condition: that we wait to formally marry until 2005, when I would be 65.  Why?  Because once I  left the Jesuits I would have no insurance.   I had seen some of my guys leave, have a disease or accident, and cripple that marriage.  Guess what.  She agreed and this morning, Cinco de Mayo, we celebrate our 14^th. 

How has the Lord rescued you from your fears?

 

 

 

What a handsome group  of Romeos.  Eat your hearts out, Juliets.