Ascension of the Lord, May 29, 2022

Isaiah 22: I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim's shoulder; when he opens, no one  shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.

Romans 11: Oh, the depth of the riches  and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!

Matthew 16:  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, …

Mary reading from Isaiah

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Mary & Brent

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Brent reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans

Readings:  Download 08-27-23 Readings -21st Ordinary

Homily:  

Buddy reading the prayer for the lighting of the candles

Remember these special people:

For Jan Keszler's Family; For Sandra Pratt's family;  For Cindy Cramer's family;  For the family of Ron Senter;   For Meredith  whose cancer has come back;  For Tom Good;  For Tom  Quinn who had back surgery on November 21st; For Lambrini, John Cade's wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Madeleine, Richard Eshelbrenner's granddaughter;  For Hue; For Jackie;  For John's sister, Kathey recovering from a fall;   For Tom Good;   For Mary Hall's friend Cadence still suffering from a serious medical condition;   For Sir Charlie;  For Ron ;  For Teresa Quinn's niece, Maddie who has a brain tumor;

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren;  For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & the families of Annie and Michael ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

John reading from the Gospel of Matthew
                                          

Birthdays:  Teresa Quinn 8/29

Anniversaries:  

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  255.00

Outreach: $  

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Stack Ministries meets on Sunday for Mass at 9:30 at The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano, Texas.

 

 

JSM Mission-Faith Statement  

      Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total growth.  

      Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged & make the world we live in a better place to live.

 

1 Kings 19:  Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush. Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said, "Get up and eat!"

Ephesians 4:  Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

John 6:  I am the Bread of Life.  Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died.   But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever.

Readings: Wisdom 18, 6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11, 1-19; Luke 12, 32-48.

Wisdom: this book is one of the 12 special books only finally approved by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in 1546.  Martin Luther, for instance, did not think the 12 books were genuine.  Whatever the case, the 12 books are in a special section of our bible after the Old Testament.

The book we are reading from today contains traditional Jewish and Greek ideas about life, basically saying that God rewards those faithful to him & punishes you know whom.

What are You Afraid of?

When I was about sixteen, I came home from the old Jesuit High School one afternoon probably in the spring.  Nobody was home, not even my sister as far as I can remember. My dad was at work. My mom was at one of her afternoon bridge clubs and had gone with one of her friends because her baby blue Pontiac was in the garage. 

After hanging around a bit and getting bored, I decided I was going to go visit a friend and use my mom’s car. Mom, however, did not like me using her car, so I could not find her keys. Now in those days all of us kids knew how to run a car without keys. It was called hot wiring a car. You used tin foil on the back of the key slot under the dash. 

So I hot wired my mom’s big Pontiac, pulled out of the driveway onto Stanford, and turned toward Preston Road. Arriving at the corner the car stalls. For five minutes I am working on the key slot to start the car, all to no avail, when a car coming north on Preston turns into Stanford. A lady is driving.  I know that lady and sitting next to her, my mom.

The master had returned and the servant was unprepared. In fact, the servant was caught red handed.

I never got that car started and, in fact, had to pay my hard earned paper route money to get it towed and fixed. I had shorted out some wires. I don’t remember my mom ever saying anything, but I was humiliated. 

I remembered this incident when I read about the master & the servant. I have some observations about these readings.

First, I don’t see our God as a thief who is trying to catch us off guard. He is not a strict master who is looking to catch us red handed and beat us. 

Secondly, I don’t see us as servants. In fact, in John’s gospel Jesus says he does not call us servants, but friends. In today’s psalm it says, "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.  We are his chosen.  So is everyone.

To see this parable in a positive light, I would go back to last week when we talked about life being a gift.  When it says that the Lord will come at an hour we do not expect, I propose that the gift comes at moments and in packages we do not expect.  Appreciation is the goal and the process. It involves being sensitive and reflective.

One of the best lines in the whole gospel today is the very first line where Jesus says, "Do not be afraid any longer." This means I do not have to be afraid of God, afraid of death, afraid of getting caught red handed, or afraid of missing the gifts of the moment. 

I’ll always remember how stupid I felt when my mom came around that corner and saw me in her car, broken down. She did not tear into me, and neither do we have a god who is a thief or master who will beat us. 

So what are you afraid of?

Joshua 5:  On the day after the Passover, they ate of the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain.

2 Corinthians 5:  So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.

Luke 15: While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.  He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Expenses: $   1,270.00

Outreach: $    350.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

The Kiss of Peace

Rosemary's Blessing:

God,

Bless anyone who has asked me to pray for them

    and anyone that I have promised to pray for.

Bless anyone that I cannot get along with

    And anyone that cannot get along with me.

Bless the person who has hurt me deeply

    and anyone that I have hurt.

Bless the person that I cannot forgive

    and anyone that cannot forgive me.

Grant me the grace to live as a person of peace today

    and to treat all I meet today with dignity

Author unknown

So sorry, but Mass this Sunday, January 2, 2022 will be virtual on Zoom because of the current threat of the Omicron virus.

Keep safe.  Hope to see you all soon.

The Chain Bridge, Budapest

Isaiah 53:  Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many "righteous ones," as he himself carries the burden of their sins

Hebrews 4:  So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Mark 10:  It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.  Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.

Gardens in Nova Scotia

Another Reminder for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 20, 2024