18th Sunday, Ordinary time, 8-1-2021

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," sez Crazy Patricia.

 

Readings: 

1 Samuel 2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23,   I would not harm the Lord's anointed.  

Psalm 103,  The Lord is kind & merciful. (a good one, a favorite line)

1 Corinthians 15, 45-49,    The first man was from earth; the second from heaven.

Luke 6,  27-38, Do good to those who hate you.

 

 

 

" Welcome in, Everybody," from the whole team.

 

Observations  on 1 Samuel

Our 1st reading today is from the first book  in a fun & interesting 4 book series which is somewhat historical, somewhat metaphorical & imaginative.

The books: 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  The first two books center on 3 main characters, the first ever kings of the Israelites, namely Samuel, the first king, Saul, the 2^nd king, an insecure, jealous, and paranoiac man, and the Great King David, a colorful character. 

Ever hear of Bathsheba?   Check out David in 2 Samuel.

 

 

John reading his marvelous updating of today's Gospel.

 

The last 2 books, 1 & 2 Kings, describe the beautiful times of Solomon and the building of the temple.  The final book of the 4 describes the bad ways of the people which lead to the bad days of the Babylonian captivity.

Estimated time of composition, ca, 555, during the Babylonian Captivity.

 

 

Wake up, John.  Punch him, Karen.

 

Homily, February 24

When I was studying  theology in Toronto from ’68-’72, the fall of my second year we had to take a course in moral theology.  We were part of a consortium of seminarians.  We Jesuits were the biggest group with ca. 40 guys.  There were probably 6-8 other groups, even some individuals.   All guys.

We Jesuits lived in a large building in a northern suburb called Willowdale.  There were four classes with a total of probably 200, plus 6-8 Jesuit professors.  We had classes on the down town campus of U. of Toronto.  

 

 

Our bread baker and hostess with the mostest welcoming everybody to communion.

 

The fall of my second year our class had to take a course in moral theology.   Fundamentally it was how to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Confession, plus other moral questions.  For example, like torture, capital punishment, abortion.

The professor of this rather large class was a young Jesuit priest just graduated from Harvard, named Bryan.  I honestly don’t remember his last name.  Bryan was sharp, liberal, and not blessed with public relations skills. 

 

 

And hiding behind John, Allen & Aggie.

 

Bryan put off the majority of the class and a group even came to complain to him.  What did Bryan do?  He told them if they did not like him or his presentations, they could go somewhere else.  He did this with more blunt language than I use here.  So all these guys boycotted his class.

I give all this information as background to my interaction with Bryan in the spring semester of that same academic year.

 

 

Would someone please sit with Sandra.

 

At the end of our third year the Jesuit program normally had the moral theology exam.  Since my class had already covered the class requirements, some of us thought we would like to take the moral theology exam at the end of the second year.   Get it off the agenda.

So I get elected to go make the request to, take a guess, Bryan.  He not only denies my request and tells me to wait until the end of year 3, he tells me if I & my buddies do it anyway, he will flunk us all.   We did and he did.   I even went to the Jesuit rector to complain before we took the exam, which, incidentally was in Latin before a board of 3 of the Jesuit faculty.

So, if I am supposed to love my enemies, do I have to love Brian?   Yes.

 

 

Welcome Home, Beth, our Colorado Snow Bird of the Week.

 

Two comments.  We are dealing here in Luke with infinite demand.

At the same time, we are offered infinite acceptance.  For example, my favorite line showing up this morning in the Psalm, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in kindness. 

 

 

Help is on the way, Hugh.

 

+Says Louis, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Readings:

Genesis  18, 20-32,  Sodom!  Good story.

Psalm 138,  Lord, on the day I cried for help you answered me.  (a terrific psalm)

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

Luke 11, 1-13, "Ask & you will receive."

 

 

The Great Candle Team in action.

 

Intro to the readings:

1.   Another nice story about Abraham's relationship with God.  We can all place ourselves in Abraham's' shoes.

2.  The Gospel reading gives us an idealized version of how the Our Father came about.  With all these stories, you probably would not be far off if you suspected a ghost composer rather than Jesus. 

It ends with an encouragement from Jesus to ask for what you want with persistence, "ask & you will receive."  Reminds me of my mom & her 8 day novenas.  One of those novenas was, I bet, that I would leave the Jesuits quickly and go to college like a normal kid.

3.  Psalm 139.  As much as I like parts of the readings, it is Psalm 139 that really touches me and has touched me for decades.  I would like to spend a couple of minutes explaining why & how it has played a role in my life.  All 4 stanzas move me.   The first line of the first stanza sums it up, "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart."

 

 

 

 

Leo joins the Music Machine.

 

I will give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart

This event took place 20 years ago or more.  Do you remember one Spring afternoon (think it was Spring), when Hillary Clinton came to Dallas?  I know not the reason, but come she did.  There was an ordinary motorcade somewhere in the Dallas area.  All was peaceful until one of the motorcycle policemen had an accident.  The policeman was killed in the accident.

 

 

We probably really don't want to know what is going on over there.

 

The man was a member of St. Marks Catholic Church, where I was saying every Sunday the 9:00 & 10:30 Masses.  I always said the English Mass in the cafetorium at 10:30, and the 9:30 was either English in the main church or Spanish in the cafetorium.  Seeing as the policeman was hispanic I probably knew him from the Spanish Mass.

The funeral which was huge was held at Restland on Greenvile Ave. & Forest Lane.  I went to the viewing to offer my condolences, but decided to skip the funeral, it being so huge.

 

 

 

Watch out, Sydney, for that Rosemary.

 

The family has 4 or 5 kids and the kids were in individual rooms.  I chose to visit with one of the daughters because I knew her probably the best.  She was around 13 and was seated with her girl friend at the back of a room and people were lined up to visit her moving clockwise through the room.

I got in line which started in the hall.  When I got in, the girl got up and ran over to me and we hugged.  I stayed in line and when I got to the girl she told her friend that I was her priest and that when she made her first confession, a process which I don't like, I gave her for her penance two Hershey Kisses.

 

 

 

Elevation Time.

 

I give Thanks to you O Lord with all my heart. 

I give thanks because that little girl got my message.  The message: that "your kindness, O Lord, endures forever."  (Stanza 4,line 3)   This was why I gave out Hershey Kisses instead of penances and even hugs to every kid despite the warning about "don't touch the kids."  I grew up without enough hugs. 

"The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in Love." Psalm 145 & other locations.  Another of my favorites.

Can you believe that?

 

 

 

Who let that Shropshire in here?

Readings: 1 Kings 19, 16-21; Psalm 16; Galatians 5, 13-18; Luke 9, 51-62.

1 Kings: This book continues the history of the Israelite kings begun in the two previous books of Samual. First was Samuel, a judge, then Saul, the first king, then the Great King David.  David’s activities make up a large part of this book.  When David dies the kingdom gets split into north and south.  Things go badly.  Along comes Elija the prophet.  This is a sign that times are bad.  We read in today’s section about the time Elija chooses Elisha as his successor. 

A Role Model

I would like to talk this morning about my Aunt Kitty with her glorious 100 years. She has always been a hero of mine and after our visit this past week she still is. We stayed in the retirement home where Kitty lives. Consequently, were able to make numerous small visits over the day & a half we were there. One attendant even asked me if I lived there now!

Since we had just been talking two weeks ago about the qualities of a peaceful & whole person, I was looking at Kitty with the 6 qualities in mind, e.g., curiosity & hope, gratitude & love, zest and, my own, humor. I spotted at least 3. 

Above all else, I was struck about how peaceful she was. At one point in our visits she said that while she had not wanted to live until she was 100, "It is not bad," she claimed. This said a lot to me, because over the past 10 years Kitty often told us that she did not want to live to 100. 

I asked her how she got to this peace & 100 years. "Golf", she replied.  She loved to play golf.  I think I see here that zest for living that I mentioned was one of the 6 characteristics of a whole & peaceful person. She, also of course, was famous for her yellow Buick convertible.  Which leads to the second quality I remember about her.

Her humor.  I can still remember her laughing at my uncle Frank and going into hysterics with my mom.  The two of them were close in age and spirit.  They laughed often over a time when the two of them as girls in Pittsburg were driving along behind a streetcar and went right out over a bridge. They had to get rescued. Kitty was notorious as an air head and my mom was right with her.   

One year when I was returning to East Africa from a home visit, I toured Kitty, my mom, and their older sister Pauline around Ireland in a little, two door, red economy sized car. Folks, it was lucky that Ireland is so small because we did not get started in the morning until about 9:30 or 10:00 and then we began looking for a place to stay around 4:00. Plus we stopped for lunch & morning & afternoon tea.  During all this time they laughed non stop.

During our visits Kitty often poked fun at her situation and age, when she remembered she really was 100. And when she did not remember, she laughed at herself. 

Besides humor and zest for life, Kitty loved her friends. While we were with her she said how much she missed her pals Jenny Gooch and Betty Lynch. Betty had three paintings on Kitty’s wall.  Especially she missed my mom. In fact, she was disappointed she had not heard from her recently.  Her long term memory is shaky. She did not remember that mom had died about 15 years ago.  She was even disappointed Pauline had not written her.  Pauline lived in NYC and died before my mom.

One moment after she forgot her age, however, she tuned directly into me and asked how I liked marriage, what was my relation with the Jesuits, and was I still working actively as a priest. Even though she became Presbyterian when she married my Uncle Frank, she has been totally interested in and supportive of my process.  And she remembed clearly. 

Of all the qualities my aunt shows, humor is her best. 

What is your best quality?

Click here to download to an mp3 file:

Readings:                          

2 Samuel   12,  7-10, 13, David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Psalm 32,  Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Galatians 2, 16, 19-21     A person is not justified by work or the law

Luke 7, 36-8, 3,  The woman who bathed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.

 

 

Welcome into our beautiful world, Everet.  You are marvelous.

 

 

2 Samuel observations: (Following upon last week)

What :  2 Samuel is the second book in a 4 book semi-history of the early tribe of Israelites.  The books, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  The story goes from Samuel, the last of the judges, to Saul, the first of the kings, to King David (with Goliath, Jonathan, Mikah and dancing, Bathsheba & Solomon).

The two books of Samuel focus on Saul & David and their difficult relationship.

 

 

Victoria says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in.

 

 

When composed:   during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.  Why at this time?  Same reason why so much was composed at this time, to explain why the Captivity, to keep the tribal identity, and to provide hope for a brighter future.

Who composed:   Tradition said Jeremiah the prophet, but contemporary studies show at least 3 writers.

Today's selection:  the prophet Nathan is chastising King David because he has been really bad.  See the homily, a Bible story today.

Sources: New Jerusalem Bible, Wikipedia

 

 

 

The Team

 

A Bible Story

This morning I would like to tell a bible story.  It is about the great Jewish hero, King David.  I tell the story because it is background to today’s first reading from 2 Samuel.  More than likely you have not a clue about where today’s passage is coming from.

Here we go.  This is the way the composers put it together, not necessarily how it was.

 

 

Anybody notice?  Buddy has his own robe.  Congratulations, Buddy.

 

 

There was a man named Jesse who had 8 sons.  Samuel, the last of the judges is sent by Yahweh to find a successor to Saul, the present king who is misbehaving and Yahweh has decided to reject him. 

Read about Saul and you can’t help but see bipolar symptoms.

 

 

The Best Music.

 

So Samuel goes to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse, who has 8 of sons.  The first 7 pass by and Yahweh tells Samuel, "Not this one."   Eventually number 8 comes in, Little David.   When Samuel sees him, Yahweh tells him, “That’s the one.”

So, David is especially chosen by Yahweh, a hero quality.

David goes to Saul’s court and becomes a favorite.  Then in a fight with the Philistines, little David kills the giant Goliath.  Another hero quality.

 

The Play Center.

 

Time goes on, Saul gets jealous because David is so popular and he decides to kill him.  The second part of 1 Samuel details all the struggles between Saul and David.  David even has a chance to kill a sleeping Saul in a cave, but he simply cuts off a piece of his cloak to show Saul later.  Saul cries, swears he will stop trying to kill David, but then continues.  David’s mercy, another hero quality.

Time goes on, Saul actually commits suicide, and David becomes the popular king of the Jewish nation.  His army is defeating all their enemies.

 

 

 

Sandra with her granddaughter, Maddie, from Nebraska who now goes to TCU.

 

One morning our hero king is strolling on the roof of his palace.  While walking he spies a beautiful woman on another roof taking a bath.  He invites her over for dinner and, behold, she becomes pregnant.  David is already married to Saul’s daughter, Michal, but Yahweh has rejected her because she mocked David for dancing before the people in a victory parade.  The woman, Bathsheba. 

So David decides to invite Bathsheba’s husband to dinner.  Her husband, Uriah, is with the army in the field.   David gets him drunk and tells him to go home to his wife.  Then Uriah will assume that Bashsheba’s baby is his. 

 

 

 

Leo the Candle Lighter of The Week.

 

However, Uriah tells David he won’t sleep under a roof while his men are sleeping in the field.  So that plan won’t work. 

Then David tells his commander to put Uriah on the front line, get into a battle, then pull the other men back, leaving Uriah.  So Uriah is killed.

 So David, our hero king, invites Bathsheba to join his household. 

At this point the prophet Nathan of our story is told by Yahweh to visit David.   Nathan tells David a little story.

 

 

Guess who now walks.  Beware.  "Good Morning, Genevieve."
 

 

There were two men, a rich man who had everything, large flocks and every convenience.  The second man, a neighbor had nothing more than a little lamb which he had bought.  The man loved the lamb and even slept with it.

Two visitors come to the rich man’s house.  Instead of preparing a meal from one of his own lambs, the rich man takes the poor man’s lamb for his meal.  Nathan asks David what should happen to that rich man.  David says he should be severely punished. 

 Nathan says, “You are that rich man!”   David is stunned and goes into penance and mourning.  This is where our story comes in.  All this happened before our little reading.

 

 

 

Collin Classic Bike Rally.

 

A lesson?   Even the hero, the chosen of Yahweh, fails and commits sin.  We are all King Davids.   

Lesson 2: Yahweh forgives and accepts.  This theme is exemplified by our gospel, the woman bathing Jesus’ feet with her tears.  Forgiveness and acceptance.

I would suggest it also involves self forgiveness and self acceptance when we fail to be what we would like ourselves to be.

 

 

Crossing the dam at Lake Lavon. 

 

David was accepted by Yahweh and Bathsheba, although she loses her first child with David, goes on to have another son, who is considered the ancestor of Jesus.

How good is your self acceptance?

 

Rest stop # 3 on the shore of The Lake.

 

 

 

 

Readings: Zephaniah 2, 3-3, 12-13; Psalm 146, Blessed are the Poor in Spirit; the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs; 1 Corinthians 1, 26-31; Matthew 5, 1-12 

 

Zephaniah observations:

 The 3 chapters of the little book of Zephaniah were compose about 600 years before Christ.  Therefore, he is writing shortly before the Babylonian defeat of Jerusalem and the Captivity.  Because of the book’s shortness Zephaniah is considered one of the 12 minor prophets. 

His theme is the prophetic line:

            1. You people are bad.

            2.  You people will be punished by Yahweh.

            3.  You people, after being punished, will return to a happy place.

 

Today’s selection focuses more on how the humble of spirit will pasture their flocks with no one to disturb them. 

 The psalm & Matthew today both focus on how the poor in spirit will be happy, receiving the kingdom of heaven.

 I am struck that in the readings there is a quality of wishful thinking.  For example, in the psalm,  the lord sets captives free, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, and raises up the bowed down. 

 I can see someone skeptically asking me, “Stack, are you crazy.  You believe this really happens?  Look at history.”  I would like to talk about this in the homily.

 

Poor in Spirit?  Get Real!

 You remember last Thanksgiving when about 35 of us went to help feed the homeless for LifeNet?  Well, while I was helping out, I liked to go around and chat up the people at different tables.

 At one table during the second or third seating over by the windows opposite the side door I ran into 3 elderly white, nicely dressed little ladies.  Folks, they absolutely reminded me of my mother, who would have been mortified to have been eating there. 

 

The ladies were quite friendly, obviously educated, and lived in Richardson.  Were they homeless?  Were they without money, social security, family?  I only knew that they would not have been there had not LifeNet vetted them as being authentically in need. 

 My heart went out to these ladies and I mention them this morning as a lead into the notion that blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.  This statement strikes me as really precarious.

 I would propose that there is a healthy and an unhealthy poverty of spirit.  The poverty of these 3 ladies is unhealthy, spirit killing, depressing.  Unemployment, homelessness, all kill the spirit.

 The same is true of Larry Sims, the 60 year old black man exonerated Friday of a crime for which he has spent 25 years in jail.  DNA proof.  Can you imagine being put in jail for 25 years of your life for something you did not do?  I think I would be mad, bitter.  The amazing reality is that these men are all accepting, forgiving, and grateful.  They humble & amaze me. 

 The same was true of the 3 little ladies.

 

 Mr. Sims is number 35 exonerated in Dallas according to my buddy & old classmate Tony Levatino who helps these men adjust to their new life through Holy Trinity Parish down on Oak Lawn.

 This unhealthy poverty of spirit has been so common down through our history as humans.  Suffering has characterized so many lives.  Slavery, holocausts, genocides, wars.

 I have spent my life attempting to raise up people in this poverty.  We are doing it in this community. 

 What then is healthy poverty of spirit?  From my perspective it is two things: acceptance and gratitude.  This brings about peace of spirit.

 I am astounded, but Mr. Sims and the 3 ladies seemed to have acceptance and gratitude.  I do know others who were dying of depression or discouragement.

 

 Can a person work through the unhealthy poverty of spirit to the peace of acceptance & gratitude?  Apparently so. 

 On a scale of 1-10, where is your poverty of spirit, your acceptance and gratitude?

Picture 1:   Mass with Kevin helping

Picture 2:   Emma walking

Picture 3:   Georgie & her sister Zoe

Picture 4:   Zoe with her dad, Randolph & grandmom, Bernadette

Picture 5:   Michelle, the mother of Georgie & Zoe, with Torri & Buddy, the twins, and Gilberto, Michelle's dad

 

  

 

 

Readings: Isaiah 43, 18-19, 21-22, 24-25, In the desert I make a way; Psalm 41, Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you; 2 Corinthians 1, 18-22, He has put his seal upon us; Mark 2, 1-12, They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 

Laissez les bons temps roule!            Let the good times roll!

 This is Mardi Gras weekend. There’s lots of information online about Mardi Gras and its history. A few things:

• There was a mid-February celebration in ancient Rome in the 2^nd century honoring a Roman pastoral god. When Christianity arrived in a big way after the year 300 and Emperor Constantine, a Christian interpretation was given to that custom, gradually changing it to a festival prior to Ash Wednesday and the Lenten preparation for Easter.  As Christianity spread throughout Europe and the western world, Mardi Gras went with it.

• Centuries later, when the French explorer Iberville landed near the mouth of the Mississippi River, south of what is now New Orleans, it was on March 3, 1699, which was Mardi Gras Day in France. Iberville named the spot where they landed and set up camp “Point du Mardi Gras”, Mardi Gras Point.

                                                                                                                  

• Much more recently, in 1827, when some college students returned to New Orleans from France, they brought with them the Mardi Gras celebration with the elaborate costumes. In 1872 the Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch Romanoff visited New Orleans and was given the honor of choosing colors for the Mardi Gras celebration. When he chose purple, gold and green, merchants purchased cloth and other merchandise in those colors. There is a story that LSU bought up most of the purple and gold cloth and that Tulane then bought up what was left, the green cloth. Today LSU’s colors are purple and gold and Tulane’s colors are green and white.

• The biggest celebrations today, outside of New Orleans, are in Lafayette Louisiana, the Cajun area I’m from, Mobile Alabama and Galveston Texas, and of course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 A traditional food in Cajun Louisiana is boudin sausage, traditionally made from rice, chopped liver and  hot pepper spices. I brought some boudin to share after Mass.

 We also have Mardi Gras beads (thanks to Chuck and Sandra) which are symbolic of the joy we share through-out the Mardi Gras season, which runs all the way from the 12^th day of Christmas (Jan. 6) to the day before Ash Wednesday. We will pass them out now for you to wear. I am wearing a fancy one given to me years ago.

 

A word about today’s readings.

The reading from Isaiah has the author speaking for God saying, “I am doing something new. ..It is I who wipe out your offenses, your sins I remember no more.”

The reading from 2^nd Corinthians is Paul telling the community that Jesus was not sometimes ‘yes’ and sometimes ‘no’; he is always “Yes” for us…and that is what we say Amen to when we come together in liturgy.

The Gospel of Mark is basically a Passion Drama with an extended introduction. The final 6 chapters out of only 16 are about Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem and his suffering and death. Today’s reading in Chapter 2 is one of those introductory stories that demonstrate the tension building between Jesus and the Pharisees leading up to the Passion Story.  It is also one of the stories about forgiveness freely given.

 

Sermon, John Cade

     I have a few thoughts as we celebrate Mardi Gras time and prepare to enter the season of Lent and Easter. My thoughts come from memories of myself and my classmates at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans in the early 50’s. I have memories of the life I was living in the seminary—mainly of study, prayer, silence and a sense of austerity and seriousness.

     I remember well the ‘examination of conscience’ we practiced together in the chapel every night. I remember how I, and my classmates, spent that time in self-examination and really self-judgment about our faults and weaknesses and our bads. This could easily turn into a habit of diminishing ourselves, of judging ourselves as ‘less than’. I have questioned how helpful this was in becoming more sensitive to the goodness and blessings touching us every day.

  

     I remember also how, on special occasions, we were allowed off campus. Believe me, this was BIG. We would put on our black suits, white shirts and black ties and black fedoras—the required outfit. Often I would visit my sister who lived nearby in uptown New Orleans. She and her husband had small children then and I remember my nieces and nephews as not just smart and talented, but fun and playful and full of life.

     Sometimes, when it was Mardi Gras weekend, I would join them on their own street, Henry Clay Avenue, or on Magazine Street or Carrollton Avenue, to view one of the many Mardi Gras parades. Those were exciting and fun times, full of festivity and life. When I returned to the seminary that evening, the contrast was tangible, almost like a time warp. 

    I have three thoughts that arose from those memories.

    First, there is a place for self-reflection and mindfulness and peaceful recollection that can enrich our lives and make for a deeper connection with our earth and universe and with God who calls us to forgiveness and connection. Of course, experiencing forgiveness and connection is more likely if I’m not stuck in negative judgment of myself. 

     Second, there is place for sharing our joy and peace, and our pain and struggles, as we live together in the circles of family and work and community. We can develop more sensitivity to our connection with others and with the Spirit moving in these circles of life. One ‘revelation’ is to discover, and hopefully accept, that the people in our lives are truly ‘other’; they are not me and need not become like me or what I want them to be.

     Third, these places are not separate worlds. Our inner lives with ourselves, and our relationships with all the others in the circles of our lives, are intertwined and always connecting. Forgiving and accepting myself, and bringing that forgiveness and acceptance to everyone in all the circles of my life, is a way of saying “Yes” to life itself.  Next week John will share some concrete ways we can say ‘Yes’ for others in our larger community. Today, as we come together around the table, we are called to say ‘Yes’ to the possibility of forgiveness and acceptance for ourselves and in all our relationships.

     The question I leave for us today is: As we move from Mardi Gras to the Passion Drama and Easter, in what ways will we say “yes” to ourselves and to those around us? 

 Picture 1:    Mass Begins, John Cade celebrating

Picture 2:    Offertory, Ray & Claire with CC & Kayla

Picture 3:    Lambrini & Caliope

Picture 4:    Chuck

Picture 5:    Mardi Gras in person, Cathy & Diane at brunch

Picture 6:    Brunch with Maureen & Fred, Joe & Sandra

Picture 7:    Gerald & Charlie

Picture 8:    Bethany & Ray