14th Sunday, Ordinary time, 7-4-2021

Readings:

 Amos 7, 12-15  I was no prophet.  I was a shepherd.

Psalm 85,    Lord, let us see you kindness and grant us your salvation.

Ephesians 1, 3-14, In love he destined us for adoption

 Mark  6, 7-13, Take nothing for the journey but a walking stick

 

                      Says Kevin, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Amos  observations:

Author: Amos or his scribe.  He was a shepherd of sheep & tended sycamore trees.  One of the 12 minor prophets of the OT, minor because of smallness of the works.  Amos has only 9 chapters.  Usual pattern of prophets: 1. predictions of dire times for evil behavior; 2. predictions of better times in the future. 

Date: Ca. 777 (a memory help), after the kingships of David & Solomon, time of King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom, called Israel vs the southern kingdom, called Judah (where Jerusalem is).   

 

 

                          And from Harper, too, "Hi, Folks."

 

Geography: Note the two kingdoms, Judah in the south, Israel in the north.  Amos tended sheep in a little town called Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, in Judah, the south.  He is sent by Yahweh to Bethel, a small but important town in the northern kingdom, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, to warn the people of Israel & their king Jeroboam that Yahweh was mad at them.  The wicked high priest of Bethel, Amaziah condemns Amos for his interference.

The Setting: a time of prosperity.  But Yahweh is mad at the greed of the wealthy and their oppression of the poor (which ties into our gospel talking about walking lightly through life).  We know the people of this kingdom of Israel are headed for annihilation by the Assyrian nation.  And they will disappear as a significant body.  

Our Selection, chapter 7:  Amos describes three visions or dreams he has.  Amaziah gives it to him for spreading these visions around.  Then, Amos responds and socks it to Amaziah with a hammer.

 

          And from Sienna, "From Brooklyn and me, Welcome."

 

Take Nothing for the Journey

I apologize this morning for telling you a story that some of you will probably remember.  However, the event so speaks to the gospel this morning that I can not pass it up.  Another African story.

One evening in Tanzania I boarded an overnight train in Dar es Salaam, the capital.  I would get off in the region near Kilimajaro where the Jesuit house was that I used as a base when I was not on the road giving seminars or retreats. 

 

       Some of The Cupcakes of The Week gang for this week.

 

I had bought my ticket just the afternoon of the trip.  No compartments were available, which were not much anyway.  Two shared the compartment and an upper bunk came down.  You had to be careful in the little stations, because thieves would look in the window and grab.  So, no big loss.

I had to take general booking.  This entitled me to a place on the train, not necessarily a seat.  It is not air conditioned and can be a bit warm. 

 

 

           Offertory with Mike and Judy, Sydney and Hugh.

 

I started out sitting on a suitcase I traveled with.  There were mothers with little kids and a few chickens all around my area at the end of a train car.   I expected it would be a long night, but I would get where I wanted to go and then sleep extra.

About midnight the train stopped, like in the middle of nowhere.  We sit there.  No explanation, nothing.   I finally join others getting off.  I lie down on the rocks on the edge of the track, my case under my head so no one would snatch it, and wait.  And wait.  We sit there with no explanation until about 7:00 the next evening. 

 

 

                      Wendy and Collin providing The Best.

 

Just like Mark recommends in the gospel today, I had boarded that train with nothing to drink or eat.  Looking back, I cannot believe I was so stupid.  Normally I would never have set out without water. 

Why did I not ask the Tanzanian ladies for a drink?  I could easily talk Swahili with them.  Trouble was, they did not often purify their water and I was afraid of it.   So there I sat, now in the shade.  I look around.  Everyone on that train is Tanzanian.  I am the only white guy, which by then I am at home with.

 

 

                                             Elevation.

 

Suddenly I see up the track maybe 4 or 5 cars ahead of me a white couple.  They have extra water.  Hooray.  They are Germans, but speak English with no problem.

We hang out.  They saved me, and let me tell you a quickie about how I saved them.

We were seated in the shade of a Frangipani tree I can still clearly remember.  All the passengers were seated along the train in the shade.  Next to us was a momma with her baby.  At one point the momma gets up and goes into the train.

 

 

                          Emma and Beth solving the World's problems.

 

The German guy who was about 6 foot 4 inches gets up and takes a picture of the baby.  Bad move.  Someone on the train sees him, tells the momma, she tells her husband, and he comes out yelling with a bunch of people.  He wants the camera.  He wants to take the German to the police, wherever that might be.

So, I stepped in.  We all sat down under the trees and I talked.   I finally got the father to allow the German to go to his compartment, cut off the baby’s picture, and give it to the man. 

 

 

                         Emma with one of her Best Buddies.

 

He cuts off just the end of the film, brings it back, and gives it to the man.  The crisis comes to an end. 

I ended up climbing Kilimanjaro with the couple, which ended up being amusing.  He was an Alpine Mountain rescue expert, like a 4 on a 5 scale.  He could crawl across your ceiling holding on with his fingernails.  When we got to the top of Kilimanjaro he got altitude sickness and I carried his back pack.  Of course, I teased him mercilessly. 

 

                                 Harper dancing to the music.

 

I never saw them again, although they were begging me to come to Germany on one of my homeward trips.  I wanted to see the Berlin wall and never did.  She was East German, he West.

The story simply tries to show how literal reading of the Bible can get you into bad places. 

What  would you suggest is a positive in this story about traveling with nothing? Could this be what Francis is emphasizing when he talks about Less is Better? 

How is Less Better for you?

 

 

               

Music,   Ben & Shonda

Expenses: $   510.00

Outreach: $    85.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

The Kiss of Peace

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

May God’s love and mercy encircle you today

With living laughter that renews and saves

May bright hope lead you further on your way

And in your life may you celebrate his word

And be a witness to a gentle and gracious Lord.

 

A Book of Irish American Blessings & Prayers    Andrew Greeley

 

 

Ezekiel 47:  This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.  Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
1 Corinthians 3:  Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
 John 2:   He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Shonda & Ben
Readers,  Pat & Fred
Homily,   John Cade
Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade
The Magic Zoom makers,  Hue & Kevin
The Organization man,  Richard
Final Blessing,  Rosemary

 

Remember these special people:

For all the people affected by natural disasters like floods, earthquakes etc;  For the Ukraine and the Holy Land; For our new Pope, Leo XIV;  For John Stack;    For Adam, that the doctors may find a remedy for his seizures; For Meredith ;   For Tom  Quinn;   For Warren Wittek; For Tom Good; For Lambrini, John Cade’s wife, who is dealing with cancer ;  For Allen Stryker;   For Mike and Judy Carrell ; For Hue; For Jackie;    For Ron

Jackie’s sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;    from Barbara, a little baby boy named Ford ;    for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Birthdays:   John Anderlick 11/14
Anniversaries:  Connie & John Bresson 11/14

Expenses: $  890.00
Outreach: $  105.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Rosemary’s Blessing:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch, Be yours to bear it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep tho’ poppies blow
In Flanders Field.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

 The Answer (One of many poems written in response to In Flanders Fields)

In Flanders Field the cannon boom
And fitful flashes light the gloom;
While up above, like Eagles, fly
The fierce destroyers of the sky;
With stains the earth wherein you lie
Is redder than the poppy bloom
In Flanders Field.

Sleep on ye brave! The shrieking shell,
The quaking trench, the startling yell,
The fury of the battle hell
Shall wake you not; for all is well.

Sleep peacefully, for all is well.
Your flaming torch aloft we bear,
With burning heart an oath we swear
To keep the faith to fight it through
To crush the foe, or sleep with you
In Flanders Field

The Answer, by Lt. J. A. Armstrong of Beloit.Wisconsin.

 

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

JSM Mission-Faith Statement
Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s
People, provides for & challenges spiritual & total
growth.   Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged &
make the world we live in a better place to live.

 

 

 

Hi, Emma, and Happy Christmas.  You look gorgeous.

 

 

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

Time: 4:00; Celebrate with the Community & Stack

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075

                       

 Note for bad weather Sundays:  If you wonder if we will have our celebration, call me (214-783-0443) and I will record a message.   I will also get a phone tree moving.  Check the directory for phone numbers.  If we know for sure the Saturday evening before, I can also post a blog.

 

 

 

Hi, Nora, I hear Santa  is coming to visit you tonight and maybe even this evening.

 

Readings:

Genesis15, 1-6; 21, 1-3    Look up at the sky and count the stars.  Just so shall your descendants be.

Psalm, 105,  the Lord remembers his covenant forever.

Hebrews 11, 8, 11-12, 17-19  By faith Abraham obeyed.

Luke 2, 22-40,   Simeon & Anna meet Jesus

 

 

 

 

Quiz: how many people are singing in the photo.

 

 

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, December  29, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos,  you will fit right in.  Apologies for the mix up last Friday.

JULIET LUNCHEON, (aka.,just us ladies into eating together),  January Lunch, TBA

 

Dickenson Trip:  February 23- March 3

 

 

 

 

Those Bresson kids.

 

 

What is going on in Our Catholic World:

1    The cruelty of the tax plan, NationalCatholic Reporter, December 14, 666  words,    Download THE CRUEL BUDGET 12-28-17- 

2.  Jesuit parishes as sanctuaries, National Catholic Reporter,   December 21, 654 words,    Download SJ PARISHES SANCTUARIES 12-28-17

3.   How to reform the Vatican, National Catholic Reporter,  December 21, 255 words, Download REFORMING VATICAN 12-28-31

 

 

 

 

I think I see some shepherds.

 

 

True?

The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.

Max Born

 

 

 

 

Under that bush, could there be a Cathy?

 

 

See you Sunday, December 31, 2017

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

 

 

Sez Sam, "Where is that Santa character?"

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Sez Tori,  "He's coming, Sam.  You just watch."

 

 

 

 

"I've seen him," says Zoe

 

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $  755.00

  Outreach: $   310.00

 

  Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

                       

          Barbara gets a cookie for her birthday

 

 

Special Reminder for Holy Thursday & Good Friday:

 

Place: Marlene's home, 2017 Keystone Place, Plano

 

Time: 7:00 P.M.

 

Thanks for the hospitality, Marlene

 

 

 

Guess Who!   Congratulations, Wendy, Brandon and Atlas Xavier Hartsell (8 lbs 15 ounces.)