4th Sunday of Lent, March 27, 2022

Rosemary's Blessing:

…and life is still a constant surprise to me.  We never know what will happen next, what we will see, and what  important person will come into our life, or what important person we will lose.  Life is change, constant change, and unless we are lucky enough to find comedy in it, change is nearly always drama, if not tragedy.  But after everything, and even when the skies turn scarlet and threatening, I still believe that if we are lucky enough to be alive, we must give thanks for the miracle of every moment of every day, no matter how flawed.  And we must have faith in God, and in the Universe, and in a better tomorrow even if that faith is not always deserved.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

Rosemary missed our celebration this morning because Aviana had gotten sick overnight and Rosemary took her to our vet.  Both are okay now.

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Hue & Brent, Deacon Mike, & Buddy, the candle blessing

Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Community Finances, May 17, 2020

Expenses: $350.00

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

Thanks, Everybody.  Your generosity is humbling.

I am both humbled and proud to announce that we put together two of our monthly contributions to Souls Harbor, i.e., $2000 & $1500, and donated them on the Giving Tuesday recently.  Yes, the amount was matched.  Thanks again, Everybody.

 

A Special Gift:

The Ask Dr. B. Good radio show can be located on 1160 am at 8 am Sundays. Why should you listen? Everyone needs to understand what is happening in public education, especially right now during COVID. Public education must become something different than what it’s been for the last 100 years. Stay up and stay tuned to what’s happening in public education! 

 

 

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles, 8, 5-8, 14-17,  They laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 66, Let all earth cry out to God with joy.  (Beautiful Psalm)

1 Peter  3, 15-18, Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.

John 14, 15-21, I will  not leave you orphans. 

 

 

 

Reading 1

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles

         Going down to Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah.  When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word.  Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day.  The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way.  And what joy in the city!

        When the apostles in Jerusalem received the report that Samaria had accepted God’s Message, they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit.  Up to this point they had been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus; the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them.  Then the apostles laid their hands on them, and they did receive the Holy Spirit.

Our word for today.

 

 

The cheese factory.

 

 

Reading 2

A Reading from the First Letter of Peter     

Sisters and brothers: Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention before Christ, your Master.  Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks, why you’re living the way you are, and always do it with the utmost courtesy.  Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.  They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, than to be punished for doing bad.  That’s what Christ did: he went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

Our word for today

 

 

 

The Lord be with you.       A Reading from the Gospel of John     

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you.  I will talk to the Father, and he will provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you.  This Friend is the Spirit of Truth.  The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t even know what to look for.  But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will be in you!  I will not leave you orphaned.  I’m coming back.  In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me, because I am alive and you are about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.    

The Good News of John

 

 

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, Dallas and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery;  ;  For Frank having hernia surgery this week;  For Joe Hogan with cancer,  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;   For Ryan, Rosemary's nephew, who had surgery; For Bill Hammond,    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie;  Shonda's mom;   For Gilberto:  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; 

 

Birthdays:  Sr. Mary Troy, 87, Rick Froebe, Debbie Ekes

 

 

 

Welcome in Everybody, and welcome to Advent.

 

Readings:  

Jeremiah  33, 14-16, “The days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will fulfill the promise I made.”

Psalm 25,  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

1 Thesssalonians 3,12-4,2, May the Lord make you increase and abound in love.

Like 21,  25-28, 34-36, There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars.  

 

 

 

Welcome from today's Offertory Team, Michelle & Gil, Carol & Rich

 

 

One Day on a Walker   

For a New Appreciation of People, Try a Walker

This morning I would like to talk about how I came to see again how genuinely good ordinary people can be.  Want a quickie answer to that?  Try lumbar stenosis which leads to lower back pain which leads to life on a walker.

 

 

Another Day on the walker.

 

Two examples.

Just after the doctor put me on a walker I had an 8:00 A.M. appointment with my skin doctor.  It was freezing dark, cold, windy, and I had to park in one of those ground level parking areas, like about ½ a mile from the double glass entrance doors. 

As I hobbled up to the doors, a guy and a woman jumped ahead of me and held the doors open for me.  I was most touched.

 

 

Leo the Candle Man in Action.

 

The same thing happened when I departed the buildings.

Other similar events happened all the time we were in Hilton Head.   But a special one took place at an Alabama highway welcome facility just departing Georgia. 

We stopped in the visitor space to visit the facilities.  As I approached the one story building I noticed that the host of the facility this particular morning was a black guy about 60.  He saw me and was immediately heading toward the entrance doors.

 

 

Buddy reading the Blessing of The Advent Candle.

 

We arrived about the same moment and I reached out to pull outward the right hand door.  Trouble was, I was coming at it from the left.  I was awkwardly pulling the door with my right hand when the guy opened the door and stepped out to help me. 

Lucky me, because I was planning on using the door handle with my right hand to balance.  Suddenly the door was open, the handle out of reach, and I am falling over—right into the arms of the welcoming station.  Yes, he caught me and graciously got me righted.

 

 

Yes, Harper, you look really pretty with your new shorter hair.

 

Then, even at the restroom door, truckers were holding it so I could enter and depart.

I have been most touched, folks, and feel privileged.

Any of you seen these people around lately? 

And the question I would ask normally, I don’t ask now because it is irrelevant.  You do this kind of activity every day.

 

 

Could it be that Leo's most favorite time of our Sunday Mass is the Cupcake of the Week time.

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe says, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

 

Readings:  

 

Exodus 16, 2-4, 12-15,   The whole community grumbled against Moses & Aaron

 

Psalm 78,   The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

 

Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24, You must no longer live as the Gentiles do.

 

John 6: 24-35,  It was not Moses who gave them the bread from heaven

 Ragbrai (honest, no bragging) report this Sunday.  Prepare yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

Important Board of Directors Meeting.

 

Exodus observations:

What:

 Exodus is a fun book and a good read.  It comes after Genesis & it has three main sections.

 One – the struggle between stubborn old Pharoah vs Moses & Yahweh.  Pharoah loses.  You can imagine the Passover had a significant impact. 

 

 

 

Every year the USAF comes to Ragbrai not just to ride, but to help, with dropped chains like me, flat tires, injuries.

 

Two – the time of wandering in the Sinai desert and the covenant, that is, the 10 Commandments

Three – the coming into the Promised Land. 

This all took around 40 years, and so we have stories in-between.  Today’s is one of these, showing Yahweh feeding his grumbling people 

 

 

 

 

USAF in action, bandaging up an injured female rider.

 

 

When written:

Toward the end of the Babylonian Captivity, around 550 before Christ

Who wrote it:

Not Moses, but people who lived centuries after this mythical character.  How much of this is historical is a question.  The story greatly encouraged the Jewish people enslaved in Babylon. 

 

 

 

 

At the final town of the week's ride, Davenport, this year the USAF riders enter in formation, as they told me.   145 strong this year, the most ever.  I remember 9-10 years ago they came with 45 riders.  I would be most moved to watch them enter 'in formation.'

 

 

Our selection:

An amusing account of the Jewish people grumbling against Moses.  They say they would prefer to be back in Egypt than in this infernal desert where they are wandering in the heat & sand.  We can sympathize with them in these days of 100’s.  They did not have a/c.   So Yahweh feeds them.  See how.

 

                             

 

After entering in formation, they take a group foto.

 

 

Want to get a people jolt, see their craziness, see their goodness?  Ride Ragbrai

For those of you not familiar with the Ragbrai event, it is a Sunday to Saturday bike ride across Iowa from west to east, from the Missouri River to the Mississippi, a distance of ca. 500 miles.  15 thousand are registered, another 15 thousand ride unregistered.  So it is crowded everywhere.

 

 

 

 

The little Iowa villages have the most beautiful, shady central squares/parks.  Ideal for a nap, a snack, a mid-day break

 

 

Three highlights for me. 

First of all, a lot of families ride together.  Sometimes they have dad pulling two attached bikes.  One time I ride up behind this woman who has a carrier on her front wheel.  I suspect from behind that she probably has a little kid in the carrier.  As I come up beside her I greet her and ask her if she has room for one more in her carrier.  I look at the carrier again and cannot believe my eyes.  She has 3 little kids in the carrier and they are having a fun time playing and talking to people like me. 

Later in the afternoon I ride up on her again.  She and the kids probably passed me walking through one of the achingly pretty little Iowa towns, maybe while I was taking a nap under one of the huge shade trees.  This time the kids are all asleep on each other.

 

 

 

 

Every need is catered to.

 

 

Another thing I found touching and amusing was the presence of dogs in the ride.  For instance, one guy had a medium sized, black maybe shepherd-lab mix.  He pulled a little cart with one rear wheel.  The dog, which was well trained, sat on the cart and accepted homage from everybody.  Later I saw the guy climbing a high hill and the dog was trotting along side.

I think my favorite dog was a little white dog that looked like Aviana, all white, but was a little smaller.   This little doggie belonged to a young woman.   Where did she have the dog?  On her back, front paws almost up to her shoulders, back paws splayed out on her lower back. She was wearing like a small back pack with holes in the bottom.  This little dog let you know it was there.  I was barking constantly, first to the left, then to the right.

 

 

 

 

 

University of Iowa campus, Iowa City, the yard of the medical students' fraternity house.  We covered their yard.  We were 55 in our group and ca. 30 tents.  My tent, the green one with the towel on top.

 

 

 

The final story has to do with me dropping my bike chain one afternoon.   I was entering a small town and had to climb over a trestle.  At the top my chain jumped off when I down shifted.   Trestles seem to target me.  The only other time I remember having this problem was a few years ago coming in to Wichita Falls from the Hotter N Hell.

So I turn my bike over and start to replace the chain.  Almost immediately two guys ride up and offer to help.

The goodness of people.  These are two special guys in beautiful blue & white bike uniforms, USAF. 

 

 

 

 

All this luggage came out of that bus.  It is located at Davenport, the final town and will return some of this luggage and cover the roof with standing bikes.  On our way home to Ames.

 

 

There were 145 USAF riders this summer, up from 45 a few years ago, guys, girls, black, white, Hispanic. They come not just to ride, but to help riders whose chains have fallen off, who have flat tires, or who have gone down & injured themselves.  They are there on Air Force time to help.  I saw them everywhere and was always moved and proud.

 

 

 

 

How did I get in here?  How do I get out??

 

 

So, who wants to sign up for next year?  David and Dana are going.  Unfortunately, I cannot accompany you.  I don’t have the stamina I had even last summer.   It is time for me to hang up my Ragbrai medallion.

 

 

 

 

Good Morning to Iowa.

Readings:

Isaiah, 35, 1-6, 10,  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

 Psalm 146,  Lord, come and save us.

 James 5, 7-10,  Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you.

 Matthew 11, 2-11,   Are you the one who is to come?

 

 

Treat of The Week: Sabrina is home from college.  Welcome home, Sabrina.

 

Observations on Isaiah 35

What:  The passage is another from Isaiah 1, (Chapters 1-39)

Our selection:  Another beautiful passage about a bright future.

 

 

Sez Tori, "Yes, Welcome Home, Sabrina."

 

Then the Eyes of the Blind will be opened

I would like to talk this morning about how once in a while, of course, only once in a while, I can be so blind to other people.  This is an old story, but it is right on.

One mild afternoon afternoon I was sitting on a bench in front of Baskin & Robbins on the corner of Preston & Royal, just near our house.   In front of me were two handicapped parking spots, both empty.

 

 

"Welcome home from me, too, Sabrina."
 

 

Suddenly a guy in, say, his early 20’s pulls into one of the parking spots, gets out of his car, and walks into Baskin & Robbins.  I am thinking, ‘Hey, this guys is cheating. There is nothing wrong with him and he has no handicapped sticker in his car window.’  I’m thinking, ‘Why did I not give him my opinion while he walked by me?  I will give it to him whenever he comes out.’

I wait probably about five minute, when suddenly the door opens.  The man emerges holding the right arm of a little old lady who was barely able to walk.

 

 

Is that really you, Leo?

 

Thank God ‘the eyes of the blind will be opened’ before something stupid is said.  Classic judging the book by the cover, one of my favorite activities.

Want to know of another place where my eyes are opened every year?  The Love for the Kids picnic in Flower Mound.

 

 

Love for the Kids picnic, entertainers

 

Again this year we had about 20 volunteers from our home community.  1000 kids with their teachers and sponsors.  There was all the usual activity, horseback riding, bounce units, face painting, people dressed as super heroes. 

When the kids walk in they are given a bag of goodies.  When they return to their school busses, they find a special gift in their seat.

 

 

Bill, the horse whisperer and the kid whisperer, helping the kids ride the horses.

 

They get lunch, put together by a bunch of our people.  People are floating around with bags of popcorn in baskets to give to the kids.  Kids who needed or wanted a coat, they could get one.  Bike helmets were being given away, good helmets.

I go to give the gift of my time to these kids, but the kids gift me even more.  But it is the great number of volunteers that touch my spirit.

 

 

So, the question obviously is: who is cuter, the white guy or the pink pig?  

 

That guy outside of Baskin & Robbins, the kids, and the volunteers open my eyes to the good around me.

How are you blind & how are your eyes opened?

 

Hey, John & Connie, I think those cookies are supposed to be for the kids' lunches, not you guys.

 

Not only were the kids given jackets & coats if they were needed, but bike helmets were given and fitted to the kids' heads.  These were good helmets, like Specialized.

 

`

 

Sez Tori, "Welcome in, Everybody.  It is fun even for us kids."

 

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made.

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community & Stack with John 

Place: Legacy Charter School, Accent Drive, Plano, TX 75075

 

 

 

Sez Leo, "I agree with Tori."

 

Readings: 

Isaiah 40, 1-5, 9-11   Comfort, give comfort to my people.  (a good one)

Psalm 104,  Bless the Lord my soul.

Titus 2, 11-14, 3, 4-7,  The grace of God has appeared.  

Like 3, 15-16, 21-22,  He will baptize you with Holy Spirit.

 

 

And sez Harper, "I agree with Leo and with Tori.

 

 

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, January 11, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.   This old geezer will miss again Friday.

JULIETTE LUNCHEON: February, TBA 

 

 

All God's Children welcome.  Kids' communion.

 

TRUE?

There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day.

Alexander Woollcott

 

 

Our Father.

 

What's up in Ye Old Catholic Church?  Like…

1. Effort made to remove land mines from sites in Holy Land.  https://www.ncronline.org/authors/melanie-lidman 

 

 

 

Peace, John & John.

 

 

See you Sunday,

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

Peace, Jim.  Peace Cathy.

 

JSM Mission-Faith Statement: 

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

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

 

 

 

Peace, Everybody, and have a wonderful 2019.

 

Because someone attending Mass last Sunday has been diagnosed with the Covid virus, the Board would like to reinstitute some of the precautions that we were using when we first came together again as a Community for Mass.  

1. Masks.  We have all been wearing masks.
2. Observe the 6 foot rule.  Families may sit together but different families should maintain a 6 ft distance from each other.
3. No touching or wandering around.  At the Kiss of Pease, please wave or nod to each other rather than hugging and touching.
4. Sanitize.  There will be a bottle of hand sanitizer on the table when you come in.

 

We are all vaccinated and these extra precautions should provide a safe atmosphere to celebrate Mass.

 

Thank you.