6th Sunday of Easter May 22, 2020

 

 

 

Rosemary's sister, Clare recuperating from knee replacement.

 

Readings:

Wisdom 18, 6-9,  You people awaited the salvation of the just.

Psalm 33,  Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own (Everybody?) 

Hebrews 11, 1-2, 8-19,  Faith is the realization of what is hoped for.

Luke 12, 32-48,  Do not be afraid any longer.

 

 

 

The Team says, "Welcome."

 

 

Observations on the Readings: note how there is one positive line and a whole bunch of fear focus.

 

Do not be afraid any longer, Little Flock

I would like this morning to pick up on that line from Luke, Do not be afraid any longer, Little Flock.

A week ago this past Wednesday I was coming home from working out at the Jewish Community gym.  It was about 7:00 A.M. and sunny.  It had been dark when I set out at around 5:30.  I parked in our driveway, turned off the Prius, and prepared to get out and enter our kitchen door.

 

 

 

So Ben goes off for summer vacation and returns 5 1/2 inches taller.   How did you do that, Ben?  Last time I measured I was 2 inches shorter.

 

Suddenly through the left corner of the windshield I noticed something white just off the cement and in the grass.  “Nuts,” I thought.  “I have forgotten again to leave at the J my hand towel used for sweat."  But, I had not noticed it when I departed.

As I exited the car I more or less kept my eye on the white spot when suddenly I saw a movement.  I walked over and the white towel turned out to be the prettiest little pure white cat.  It was lying on its left side, facing our back door, and its right hind leg twitched once in a while.

 

 

 

 

"Connie, I bet you are in the market for a mint condition red car."

 

It had obviously had a bad night. I thought I could see tooth marks on its neck and on its left shoulder an open wound.  It had somehow walked almost to our back door (to find help), lay down exhausted, and was dying.

 

 

 

The welcome team, Alison and Jan.

 

I ran inside to get Rosemary.  We decided to take her or him straight to the vet just around the corner.  We put a towel on a piece of cardboard.  Rosemary took some gloves and placed the little cat on the towel. 

 

 

 

Thanks, Leo, for a delightful second Homily.

 

I confess that I was scared to pick up the cat because I thought her spinal tendon might be damaged.  There was no obvious pain, but as she was picked up the little cat, it opened the sweetest little light blue left eye and looked at Rosemary.

At the vet’s office we all decided that the little cat needed to be euthanized out of her pain.  It had no ID and the vet said she was in bad shape.

 

 

 

Just in case you lose your way, Buddy's shoes will light your path.

 

I walked out of that office with tears running down my cheeks and for a couple of days the cat was on my mind and in my heart.

Let me now refocus.  I would propose that my heart goes out to that little cat only a tiny fraction of how God’s heart goes out to all of us.  Could we be God’s cats?

Do not be afraid any longer, Little Flock.

 

 

 

Sophia lights the candles while Buddy reads the blessing.

 

Could it be that all this emphasis on fear, on being caught off guard, and being punished (even forever) is partly the tribal leaders of the people trying to control the unruly tribe?

If you are plagued by this fear, what can you do to not be afraid any longer, Little flock?

 

 

The offertory team, Louis, Cheryl, Frank, and Mary.

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles  8, 5-8, 14-17, There was gret joy in that city.

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

1 Peter 3, 15-18, It is better to suffer for doing good, thank doing evil.

 John 14, 15-21,  If you love me you will keep my commandments.. 

 

 

 

Good Morning, Harper, and thanks for welcoming us all back.

 

Unconditional Love ?  Certainly !

Did you catch that Psalm 66 ?  Can you believe?!

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy!

Shout joyfully to God…, sing praise to the glory of his name,… proclaim his glorious praise.  Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!

I dream of Matterhorn Canyon, Yosemite, whenever I read or hear that last line.

 

 

She's back, Everybody, Sabrina, one of our most special people since she was a little girl.  Congratulations on graduation and double congratulations on the double magna cum laude.  Congratulations, also, to you two, John and Alison.

 

And while we are congratulating graduates, congratulations to Karen Anderlick on her graduation and especially with the summa cum laude.

 

This is a counter weight to the first line of John’s reading, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

I want to talk about how I went from being a fear based Catholic, Christian, human being, to living without fear. 

It all started in my first two years as a Jesuit novice in Grand Coteau, 1958-1960, 60 years ago next year.   It is the novice master’s fault. 

 

 

 

Congratulations to you, too, Shonda, on the Air Force uniform.  All these years we have known  each other and this is the first time I see your uniform.  You look Quite Striking!

 

Tony Mangiaracina was the novice master, about 5’1”, ramrod straight, did not walk, but marched in his cassock.  He could look very rigid and uninviting.  But underneath the rigid exterior, which was mostly what we saw for months, was a softy, all heart.  How many times we saw him in tears at special events.  Christmas carols always got him.

In those days we, too, lived a really Spartan life, silence except for three nights a week when we could talk at dinner, Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  These three days were also recreation days, like for touch football or handball games.  Other days we worked inside the building or on the farm, we studied, and we had periods of prayer.  A very monastic life.

 

 

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany, and David.
 

 

My awakening took place one afternoon when I went to get permission from the master to drink water.  Yes, we had to get permission to drink water at the beginning of each month.   We were told this was to teach us obedience even in the smallest things. 

Now it so happened that around this time an edict came out from Jesuit headquarters in Rome that smoking was prohibited for all Jesuits.  This was no burden for us 50 or so novices because we could not smoke anyway. 

But, guess who did smoke.  Yes, Tony Mangiaracina.

 

The Best Teammates, Georgie and Buddy.

 

On this particular day I went in to Tony’s office, I must have gotten my permission to drink and then chatted a few extra moments.   He had two large windows behind his desk, which faced me and the door I entered.  Suddenly I see against the light and even smell, guess what, smoke coming out of his right hand desk drawer. 

I never said a thing, but I was amused and touched.  Tony had put his cigarette into the drawer when I knocked to come in. 

At that moment I began to let loose of the fear that I was a sure bet for hell.   Like, here was my saintly novice master breaking a commandment that came all the way from Jesuit headquarters in Rome. 

 

 

Buddies, Cody & Ben, Paul & Carrie.

 

15 or so years later when I returned to Grand Coteau to establish a spiritual center, Tony was one of my team members.  And guess what. He still smoked.  The ban had been lifted a year or so after Vat. II.

I am grateful today to Tony and his human nature.  I figured bit by bit that if Tony was still going to heaven after being disobedient, I had a  chance, too.  I began to see that God’s love was not conditional, but unconditional. 

So, where are you going, Heaven?

 

More Buddies, Zoe & Harper

Sirach 27:  Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.

Romans 14: For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; …

Matthew 18:  Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often  must I forgive?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy -seven times."

 

 

Beth reading from the Book of Sirach

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,    Shonda & Ben 

Readers,  Beth & Rob

Homily,   John Cade

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Kevin

Final Blessing, Rosemary

                                      

Rob reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans

 

 

Readings:  Download 09-17-23 Readings -24th Ordinary

Homily:  Download 09-17-23 Homily -24th Ordinary

 

 

John reading from the Gospel of Matthew

 

 

Remember these special people:

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 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.

 

 

Linda helping John vest for Mass

                                          

Birthdays:   Mary Jane Stevenson

Anniversaries:  Lynda & Tom Fleming

                 

Community Finances:   

Expenses: $  455.00

Outreach: $  60.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

          

                        Connie and her son, Kevin                     

 

Readings:  January 18, 2015

1 Samuel 3,  3-19,  Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Psalm 40,    Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

1 Corinthians 6, 13-15, 17-20,   Your body is a temple of the Spirit within you.

John 1, 35-42,   What are you looking for?

 

 

 

1 Samuel observations:

What: 4 books about 4 big leaders of the People, Samuel & Saul, David & Solomon.  1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.

Who: Samuel is the first big leader of the people.  He is a judge and the last.  The following 3 are kings of the people, Saul, David, and Solomon. 

Time:  The events take place ca. 1100-1000 before Christ.  The compilation & recording of the events takes place ca. 555 before Christ.  Sound familiar?  Babylonian Captivity

 

 

Today's Selection: Yahweh is calling Samuel in a dream.  This ties in with the Gospel where three future apostles are called.  Samuel's mother was Hannah, and she is famous because of a touching story about how she came to have Samuel.  

I had the story of King David read the Sunday before Christmas and I talked about Samuel.

Hannah, Samuel's mother,  had promised Yahweh that she would dedicate to the temple her son, if she got one.  Consequently, our selection finds Samuel residing in the temple with Eli the prophet.  He would be about 12 years old.

Be aware that while these marvelous stories are mythological, the writer is attempting to convey to a simple people lessons in trust in Yahweh.

The Samuel reading, the Psalm, and the Gospel are all about call.  I would like to talk about this at homily.   As the Psalm says, "I come to do your will."  What is that?  What if it is just being  peaceful? 

 

 

 Big Calls and Little Calls

Like I mentioned, I would like to talk about calls this morning.  I would observe that there are big calls and little calls.  A big call would be like my call to go work in Tanzania and East Africa.  A little call could be like this.  Our story of the week.

So I go to the J this past Friday morning, the Jewish Community Center.  You know I go there Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for a 6 o’clock spin class.  The room has 25 stationary bikes and often the majority are occupied. 

 

 

I had not been to the spin class since the Monday 10-12 days before.  I had a low grade, almost cold during the cold cloudy period and I just could not get it to go away.  One of the things I do to get ahead of a cold, beside heat and hydration, is rest.  I do no exercise and I force myself to lie down for an hour in the morning and in the afternoon. 

I knew what it was going to take and it did.  The sun came out Thursday, the temperature moderated, and, voila, the cold disappeared.  I could not wait for Friday morning.

 

So I get there, say, ten minutes early.  I walk in, say hi to the lady who gives me a locker key for the change room and a towel.  I walk into the change room and say hi to two other old geezers I like to joke with.  

All this time I am expecting that someone, at least the lady at the entrance, might say, “Where you been?  I’ve missed you.”  No, nothing, not even the two old geezers.

 

So I walk down the hall and enter the spin room about 5:50.  Perhaps 8 people are there, including a lady who always rides on the bike immediately to my left. 

She is doing pre-ride exercises on the floor.  I say hi to her and talk with two guys I like, younger guys.  Yep, you guessed it.  No word about me being gone.  I was deflated.  I like the spin classes, but I equally like the people and I know pretty nearly everyone by name.  In fact, when I first started coming, people would just walk in, get on a bike, and start riding without a word to anybody.  Now I greet everyone and it seems like people are talking more. 

 

 

Eventually I just told people I had been gone almost two weeks because of a faint cold.  Then I had a couple of people say they had noticed I had not been around. 

The temptation?   Baloney on those people.  I have liked them, greeted them, and told them that I missed them when I noted that they had been gone, even for one class.  It is easy for me to notice, because the majority use the same bike each class.   I know some of them were flattered when I noticed.

 

 

That’s the temptation.  What’s the call?  Even a little call.  I think the call to me, at least, is to continue to greet these folks, to chat them up, and, yes, to tell them I missed them when they are gone for a class or two.  People are worth more than my deflation.

So, be sure to tell Rosemary and me how much you missed us the next time we are away for a week.  Only so much deflation I can handle, and you know Rosemary.

How do you handle being deflated like this?

 

 

Link to our community Mass on Zoom:   

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7428208829?pwd=VERncTBxaWdkaFpkTUZKL3RROW81UT09

 

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles, 6, 1-7, It is not right for us to serve at table.

Psalm 33, Lord, have mercy upon us as we place our trust in you.

1 Peter  2, 4-9, The stone rejected by the builders has become the building stone.

John 14, 1-12, Thomas said,Wed do not know where you are going. 

 

 

 

Where is Everybody?

 

Please have the attached copy of “Jewish Liturgical Calendar” handy this Sunday,  as John will refer to it in homily. 

JEWISH LITURGICAL CALENDAR

Major Holy Days

Passover:  Celebrates the beginning of the Jewish nation, when the Jews came out of Egypt and began to fulfill their national destiny. [April]

Shavuot: Celebrates Moses receiving the Torah from God on Mt. Sinai.   Hebrew for Weeks – 7 Weeks after Passover. Also Pentecost – fifty days after Passover. [End of May or early June]

Rosh Hashanah:  Celebrates end of time when Messiah inaugurates kingdom of God on earth.  [Late September or early October]

Yom Kippur: Celebrates Day of Atonement, ten days after Rosh Hashanah, and together are called the High Holy Days.  [Late September or early October]

Sukkoth: Harvest festival of Jewish year, a kind of Jewish Thanksgiving Day. This one is now overshadowed by bigger celebrations but, at time of Jesus a most anticipated and enjoyed holy day of Jewish year.  [November]

Dedication-Hanukkah: Festival of ‘Light’, celebrating how the light of ‘true worship’ was restored to the Temple in 2^nd century BCE. [December]

About three months after Dedication-Hanukkah, the Jews were back to the first month of their year (Nisan), and their liturgical cycle started all over again with Passover. The Jewish calendar should not surprise Christians who also follow an annual liturgical cycle of holy days, with the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please Remember these special people:

For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular locally, Cindy's staff at Presby; For John & Connnie's good froend, Bob, who just died of cancer & his grieving wife, Judy;  For Joe Hogan with cancer,  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Bill Hammond,    For Sydney & her dear Husband, Hugh, who just moved to the Other Side,  & For Sir Charlie recuperating from surgery;  Shonda's mom;   For Gilberto recuperating from his gall bladder operation:  for Michelle;  For a friend, a neighbor, & 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; 

Tom and Teresa Quinn's niece, Chawna, with cancer, their granddaughter, Mikayla;   plus Neva Flynn, Angel, and Diane Kreeitzer;   Connie Doherty's mom and her sister, plus Kevin's cousin, Peter; For a number of David McKeon's family who are having a rough time with health issues, especially Mark Terain; for our friends, sons, and daughters in the military, including Ryan McClurg and Chebino; cure for autism from Laura Chollick; for our President.

Remembering.….

 

 

Isaiah 50:  The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced;

Philippians 2:  Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,  . . .

Matthew 26:  The Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There will be a Celebration of Life for Ron Senter on April 1st at 2:00 PM at Restland.

 

 

There will be a memorial service for Cindy Cramer on April 15th at 10:00 at Restland.

 

 

 

 

John Stack Ministries now meets at:  The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano