Corpus Christi Sunday, June 22, 2025

Readings: Acts 5, 12-16; Psalm 118; Revelations 1, 9-19; John 20, 19-31

Acts of the Apostles

This book is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel. It tells the story of the spread of Christianity after Christ’s death.

Revelations

This book consists of a series of revelations that were encouraging to the early Christians who were being persecuted at the time.

A Fishing Pole

There is a saying that while it is necessary occasionally to give a person a fish to keep them from starving, even better is it to give them a pole and teach them to fish. I think I have a fishing pole story.

Christmas two ago Rosemary & I visited Karina in Cuernavaca. It is to her and her mother that we have been giving money to help them get through the year, about $200 a month. Karina is about 35 and horribly crippled because of childhood polio.

On this occasion Karina mentioned to me that if I could help her, she could set up her own little pharmacy. When her mother, Maria Luisa, is not sick with cancer, Karina works in a small Mexican pharmacy about an hour’s journey from where they live. It is a difficult process for her to walk up & down the hills to catch the bus.

I have often encouraged Karina to look into further schooling, because I sense how intelligent she is. So far it has been impossible.

Consequently, when I heard Karina’ idea, you would think that I would have jumped at the opportunity to help her become more independent. However, ever since I have worked in East Africa, I have had an automatic reaction to people who hit me up for money. It used to happen in Tanzania so much that I become immediately resistant when I hear that tone of voice.

Until I mentioned it to Rosemary, who said, Why not check out the numbers at least. So this past Christmas, a year later, Karina told us that she could rent a small place near a bus station for $50 a month and that she needed $2500 to open up her own pharmacy.

This is not you local CVS type pharmacy. In Mexico the local pharmacies have just a few tubes of toothpaste, some aspirin, and various popular needs. No prescription medicines.

Folks, I have decided I would like to help this woman. We have been giving her the equivalent of fish every Christmas. Without it who knows where they would be. Now there is an opportunity to give her a fishing rod.

I have passed this by the board for approval. For the next month, until Mother’s Day, I will put out a special little basket for Karina. I want to give her $3000, the extra $500 for her first few months’ rent. This will be separate from our Expenses and Outreach baskets. I don’t want to interfere with them. This money will be a pass it on loan. Every month or whatever we agree upon, Karina can help another person in need whom she knows.

Because you talked me into going back to taking pictures, the next time we are there, I hope to take some digital pictures of Karina’s pharmacy.

Who is the Karina in your life?

Download the homily as an mp3.

In Memory of Our Beloved Bill, who moved to the other side this past Wednesday.  This Sunday & next Sunday we will formally dedicate our celebration to Bill, Patty, and their beautiful family. 

A number of people in our community have expressed interest in taking part in the ceremony for Bill at the military cemetery in Grand Prairie.  I just talked with Patty & she says we are only allowed 10 participants and 10 minutes for the ceremony.  There must be high volume.  I've never had these restrictions in all the ceremonies I have done there.

Lynda Fleming is putting together a slide show of Bill's life.

Rosemary's Blessing:

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

Can music get any better, Ben & Shonda.

Readings:

1 Kings 3, 5, 7-12, God said to Solomon, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you

Psalm 119,  Lord, I love your commands.

Romans  8, 28-30,  All things work for good for those who love God

Matthew 13, 44-52,   The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,     Brent & Mary, & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel & Homily,  Doctor-Deacon Mike Carroll

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Richard & Ben

Final Blessing, Rosemary

Mad scientists?   Yes!  Richard & Mike.

Please Remember these special people:

For our Bill & his family;  For Cindy recuperating from a procedure 3-4 weeks ago;    For Carrie Bieda's son;   For Esparzas, Frank & Mary, who lost their son Jim to sepsis;   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 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 Michelle;

Another Mad Man?  Yes!

For Jackie's mom;  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;  for Virginia Mattingly.

Birthdays:  Dawson Dinsmore, 23, Cindy Ekes

Anniversary: David & Donna Dinsmore, 34th

A Crazy Gallery?  Yes!

Download Readings Week 7-26

A reading from the gospel of Matthew Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,which a person finds and hides again, 
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.  When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 

The gospel of the Lord.

Homily by Mike Carroll

 A summary of the gospel readings these past three weeks has been this: The Lord came to redeem the world by sowing upon us his Word, the good seed.  Moreover, it was not his intention to leave us as orphans.  Instead he bestowed the Holy Spirit upon people like Bill Hammond, who welcomed and lived his buried treasure.

Today, we seek to remember with tears of love all the times that Bill brought forth, to not just this community, but to others too, his hands filled with the hidden treasure of goodness and kindness that he had buried in his human heart. 

When we heard today’s gospel reading about the hidden treasure, a much better translation of it is this:

“The kingdom of heaven is like adding to the store house within our hearts of what Jesus has revealed to us.”

I am going to give you five examples I put together that bind our hearts to one another. Each of them refers to the treasure of the Church. I will read each of them slowly; twice.

• Where our treasure is, our hearts will be there also.
• We are to carefully guard the treasure that lives within our hearts for from them we give life to others.
• The treasure of the Church is the Good News of Jesus Christ; moreover, it has been freely given to the whole world.
• The treasure given to us of the Holy Spirit empowers us to forgive others.
• The treasure we yearn for should be our daily bread, for the Word and the Eucharist are incapable of being separated.

The Good News of Jesus Christ.

Community Finances, July 26, 2020

Expenses: $900.00  

Outreach   $100.00     (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

Readings:

Isaiah 9, 1-6,  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

 Psalm 96,  Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord.

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

 Luke 2, 1-14,   In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus.

Christmas Eve, 2016, Welcome.

Isaiah observations:

What:  This is again Isaiah I (one of three).  Isaiah 1 criticizes the people for their sinful ways and forecasts doom, which will come in the form of the Babylonian Captivity.

When: Isaiah was warning the people ahead of the Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.  It was during the Captivity when the book of three authors was put together.

Today's selection: One of the all time beautiful passages promising light to people who have walked (or lived) in darkness.  

All of today's readings are consoling and dear.

Cody with his kids Ben and Olivia.

A Christmas Story

Despite the fact that I have told this story previously, I like it so much and it is so relevant, I would like to repeat it.  

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that.”

Jennifer and her beautiful little one say, "Merry Christmas."

My  Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight up with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted…."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go." 

The Beautiful Claire and her beautiful daughter, Chloe.

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world- famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's. 

Carrie and Paul with her granddaughter, her daughter and husband.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and whom on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. 

Hi to the Great Gerwer Clan.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter.

His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! 

Sir Charlie helping his grandson light up the candles.
 

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby." 

The Nativity Scene.

The nice lady smiled at me as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.

The music team of Shonda, Ray, and David with a special welcome back to Wendy.

Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

John reading the second half of the Eucharistic prayer.

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. 

The Team, Georgie, Kevin, Mike, and John

Sixty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were — ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and Grandma and I were the proof.

I still have Grandma’s Bible with the coat tag still tucked inside: $19.95.”

And The Angels.

Readings:

 Joshua 24, 1-2, 15-18, Far be it from us to forsake the Lord.

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

Ephesians 5, 21-32,   Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.

John 6, 60-69, There are some of you who do not believe.

"Good Morning, Dear Vivian, and welcome to your community that loves you."  Vivian makes her debut.

Joshua:

Who is Joshua and what is this booklet about:  Joshua was Moses' assistant, his lieutenant when the the Israelites wandered in the desert.  The booklet is the story of the Israelite invasion of Canaan under Joshua's leadership. 

Author: somewhat amusingly, the fundamentalists say that Joshua wrote most of the booklet.  More scientific scholars say the work is a compilation of a number of sources.

Genevieve says, "Welcome, Everybody, Nice to be seeing you all.

Date of composition: again fundamentalists state that the booklet was composed 1400-1370, i.e., while Joshua lived.  Scholars of a broader vision suggest that even if a Joshua existed the work was put together 800-700 BCE. 

The work combines a number of traditions about battles & destruction of cities to create a nationalistic narrative that justifies the Israelites' taking another peoples' land for their own.

Ethical Question: genocide.  This is a bloody book.  Yahweh commands that the Israelites exterminate every breathing thing, including women & children & livestock. 

Sienna, too, says, "Hi, Folks, it is fun to be back and see you."

The battle of Jericho is characteristic.  For 6 days the Israelites marched around the city, blowing horns and menacing the people.  On day 7 they marched around 7 times and the walls came tumbling down, as in the spiritual.  Then every person except one woman & her family were slaughtered.  Lots of debate and rationalization over these events.

Our Selection: The last chapter of the booklet.  Joshua, who is dying, calls the people together at a place called Sechem and puts it to them.  Stick with Yahweh who has done all these things for you (which are mentioned in the text but are long & tedious) or choose another path of your own.

Sources: Good News Bible, Got Questions.org, Wikipedia

Brooklyn says, "This is super, I'm not the youngest around here anymore.  Where are those two little girls?"

Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord

Sounds good to me, Folks.   However, when I bring this up to Rosemary, what do I get?  “Want to start sleeping in the back yard dog kennel tonight?  Even my mom was not impressed with this little statement of Paul.  Just ask my poor dad. 

And guess what: I married my mom.  So much for the joy of being a married priest.

"Anybody planning a race over here?"  "No thank you.  We would rather sleep while that old geezer goes on talking."

Some years ago while I was waiting in a line to ride the roller coaster at 6 Flags I overheard a husband telling his wife to obey him because of this passage, he was the head of the house and the Bible says it.  I almost dropped my teeth. 

The family, mom, dad, and two young girls were trying to decide something.  Finally, even the wife says to the girls that they have to obey the man.  He is the head.

So, how do we handle this, especially when we are repelled by the idea?

Teamwork.  Vivian's mommy, Bethany taking care of Genevieve.  Does it get any more beautiful?

Perspective!   Traditionally there are three types of family relationships.  This is fairly simple.

    1.  Matriarchal: the woman/wife is the head of the family.  Culturally this has been established occasionally and in some places.

    2.  Patriarchal: the husband is the head. 

    3.  Equality: both are partners, husband and wife. 

         Brandon, the Ace Candle Lighter with his mom, Mary.

Paul's place:  guess which paradigm Paul comes from?  Paul lives in a culture which considered women & children little more than domestic animals.  In Tanzania I found the same paradigm among the ordinary people.  This paradigm has been followed more probably  because men are physically stronger and don’t hesitate to maintain control with physical violence.

Even though today Paul can sound wako & chauvanistic, what he says about husbands loving their wives as they love their own bodies, this was pretty radical.

           Cupcake of The Week Time: Payton and The Girls.

Today: all three of the paradigms are valid.  Among most educated people, however, equality between husband & wife, men & women is the more healthy.    Besides, as we know, women just won’t let us guys get away with it. 

Certainly with education for both men and women, there is equality.  And just this week, two women passed the Army Ranger training program. 

"Zoe, You look even prettier without those teeth."

So, again, beware of taking the Bible literally.  Check our blog from last Thursday to find some other interesting biblical statements.   Like beating your kids.

What paradigm do you prefer???

          And keeping us all together, Mary, Bethany, and Ray.

Readings:

Isaiah  62, 1-5,     The Lord delights in you. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah III)

Psalm 96,  Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

 1 Corinthians 12, 4-11,  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit, different forms of service, but the same Lord.   (a good selection)

John 2, 1-11, There was a wedding at Cana.  ( a good story)

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.  It is so nice to be back after a long absence."

Isaiah observations:

When you see that today's selection is from the 62nd chapter, you may pretty easily guess  that this is Isaiah III.   The last 10 chapters of the work are from Isaiah III, that is, chapters 56-66.  

Remember that Isaiah III talks consolation and comfort for the people, most of whom have now returned from the Babylonian Captivity to a destroyed Jerusalem.

"Yep, Welcome Back, Cathy."

What is your gift?

Want to take a trip to East Africa this morning, to my beloved Tanzania?  I want to talk a moment about our gifts and forms of service like are mentioned in 1 Corinthians.   To exemplify my thinking, I want to tell you a Christmas story that took place ca. 1980.   I was tempted to tell you about a wedding I did on the slope of Kilimanjaro, but this is just as good and we have only finished with Christmas a few weeks back.

So, buckle your seat belts and let’s take off.

"Hi, Victoria, Hi, Buddy."

There is a town smack in the middle of Tanzania called Tabora.  It was on the east west railroad from Dar es Salaam, the capital, to Lake Tanganyika.   The Jesuits staffed a church in Tabora, not large, but with lots of people.  It also had about 20 spokes out from the main church, outstation churches built when more expatriate priests were around to man them. 

I was at one of these outstations for Advent and Christmas around 1980 to work on my Swahili.   Two Maltese Jesuits interns were with me (from the island of Malta, off the island of Sicily).  They were what were called scholastics, i.e., learning to be Jesuit priests.  Good guys,  Joe Xerri and Joe Pulicino. 

Want to hear The Best?  Shonda, Bethany, Ray, & David.

Later I visited Xerri at his home, not on Malta itself, but the island of Gozo, just off of Malta.  He eventually left the Jesuits.  Pulicino, got ordained, returned to TZ, worked with refugees, got captured by some Sudanese, and eventually was released.

So we three Jesuits are at this outstation, which was a fairly large, cinder block, rectangular building with a bell, a bell tower, and a corrugated tin roof.  I often thought about the priests who built the church and then had to leave it empty somewhere along the way.  It must have hurt.

 Zoe & Cole at work on our major life problems.

The little town where this church was situated was tiny, just a few houses with tin roofs, maybe even mud walls.  The church itself had an outstation, another little village even smaller.  I did a funeral in this tiny village and fell into the grave.  That scared everybody really good.

The people around the main church had not had a Christmas Mass in ages.  They wanted a midnight Mass and we offered to put together a Nativity pageant.  They jumped at it and we had a cast of dozens. 

And More Problems being solved.

So the night comes.  You got to picture the scene.  No electricity.  We had a few of the old kerosene lanterns.  I spent many an evening with those kerosene lanterns.  There was no heat other than campfires.   Christmas in TZ comes in the middle of the warm & dry season, just opposite to us in the northern regions.

We rang the bell.  People were literally camped out all over the place because many had walked for miles.  The church filled up.   There was plenty of music, basically drumming and shakers, and, of course,  great rhythm. 

A Cupcake of The Week to Georgie for being a Great Helper.

The one thing I never expected was the wave of June bugs.  The church walls were not totally closed, but had sections where cinder blocks with holes were used.  With the light in the church in the totally dark night, bugs came from everywhere.  Nobody seemed to be bothered in the least.

The Mass lasted probably 2 hours.  The Nativity pageant was super.   Nobody wanted it to end.

 Happy Birthday, Becky.

Why talk about this?  Gifts.  We had a gift and we shared it with everybody.  They had gifts of music and excitement and gratitude.  The kids pitched in with the pageant. 

You can say that Jesus had a gift and he shared it.  Mary, too, had a gift and she shared it, her son.

What gift do you have and how do you share it?

Cupcake of The Week to Cole for being The Candle Lighter of The Week.

Readings:

Isaiah  25, 6-10,  On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines.  (One of my favorite all-time readings.)

Psalm 23,   I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Philippians 4, 1-14, 19-20,  I know how to live in humble circumstances.

Matthew 22, 1-14,  The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.  

 

Victoria the Witch says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

Isaiah observations:

Who:  Any idea which Isaiah this is, 1, 2, or 3?   We had Isaiah 1 last week talking about the vineyard.  That was chapter 5.  Pretty easy to guess, Isaiah 1.  But, this is chapter 25.

It seems out of character for Isaiah 1, who criticizes the people.  More like Isaiah 2, which John Cade loves and which we will read this Advent. 

Remember Isaiah 1 is pre-Babylonian Captivity, around 555 before Christ.  This selection is a marvelous vision of peace and sensual satisfaction, one of my favorites.

Yep, it is still Isaiah 1, all the way to chapter 39.  Basically he is saying that a great day will come, after you people have paid for your sinful, selfish ways. 

Tori's big sister, Georgie, also says, "Welcome, Everybody."

Life as a Banquet

I apologize ahead of time for talking about these readings in ways I have done before.  Trouble is, some readings for me just have a special meaning.  They hit me in just a special way.  Here goes some observations you may recognize a little bit.

I had a Jesuit friend named Tom Barbarito who was in the class behind me.  Italian.  About 5 feet 5. Quite rotund in his early years.  No way athletic.  In fact would shudder at the prospect of exercise or physical work.  Intelligent and very amusing mostly at his own expense.  He was pastor of St. Rita for many years. 

And then there comes the girl with the Pink Ribbon, Zoe.

Our selection from Isaiah 1 about the banquet was his favorite reading of all time.  He loved to eat.  We used to have what were called first class feasts in the early years of my Jesuit life.  These were special meals on Christmas, Easter, and church holidays.  The meals were excellent Cajun cuisine put together by our cajun cooks from southwest LA, Opalousas & Lafayette.  And Tom was from New Orleans, as were many in the classes those days.  We got to talk in the refectory on the occasion of these meals, all 150 of us.

I can still picture Tom squaring off for one of these meals, his white cloth napkin tucked into the collar of his cassock European style, getting elbow room, and proclaiming that he was ready.  He used to declare that he could not wait for the heavenly banquet referred to here in Isaiah.  Today Tom is enjoying that banquet because he died maybe twenty years ago with a brain tumor.  And he died skinny, so he now may eat all his favorite foods without guilt. 

And then comes the girl with The Smile, Emma.

I think of Tom whenever this reading comes up.  Our readings today are so Tom Barbarito, eating, feasting, enjoying the wine running over.  Besides that, we got the king throwing a wedding banquet and getting mad because the invited did not come.  Then one guy gets kicked out for not having a wedding garment on.  What is going on?   Three observations.

First, remember for whom Matthew is writing.  He has an agenda when he composes parables for his work.  Initially he writes to warn the Jewish people about how they are losing it in not recognizing Jesus.  But equally he is addressing the Gentiles, letting them know that Jesus welcomes them also.

Watch out, James, you are surrounded by girls.

As in all parables, check out the symbolism of the gospel.  Obviously the king is God.  Who are the invited to the wedding feast?  The Jews.  Who are the good & bad street people? 

Second observation, we are invited.   There is a banquet out there, a feast on a mountain top, a feast of rich food and choice wine.  Tex Mex & Blue Bell?  We are invited, despite the fact that we are the street people.  In fact, I would propose that we are all street people, bad and good, Gentile and Jew.  The parable may be creating a false distinction.  The idea eventually says only those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved.  Only Catholics can go to heaven.  Not quite.  This was a common Catholic belief from my childhood in the 40’s & 50’s.

Nikki at 14 with her grandparents, Mary and Frank.

The third observation is that the banquet on the mountain top and the marriage feast are taking place today.  I can be tempted to think the feast takes place in the next life.  In fact, I think a lot of poor people and slaves were fed this nonsense so they would not try to fight back against oppression. 

This may be where the poor guy without the wedding garment fits in.  He gets treated pretty harshly, especially so after the king invites all the street people in, both good and bad.  To attempt an understanding, I think we go back to the symbolism which is the currency of parables.  What could he symbolize?  Perhaps the wedding garment symbolizes gratitude.  Maybe he was not grateful, but was critical and cynical, thinking he was entitled to all this, the attitude that seem to be so prevalent in our contemporary culture.  Consequently, the man was thrown out.  In reality the ingratitude never allows him in.  We can be the man without the wedding garment.

Cupcake of The Week to Richard on his birthday. The question: who gets it?

My friend Tom Barberito I am sure is enjoying his wedding banquet in the next life.  We are invited to enjoy this life's banquet with gratitude.

What is your banquet today?

Want to see a contemporary feast: (copy the link into your browser)

http://www.coolestone.com/media/10482/This-Is-What-Happens-When-Pranksters-/

Connie & Cathy. Don't forget you two troublemakers the cupcake is for Harper, who is sick at home. Can we trust them?

 Soul's Harbor Silent Auction, October 21, 2014, special notice:

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