Sunday, January 10, 2021, Baptism of the Lord

Readings:

Acts 1,  15—17, 20-26,  They proposed two, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Matthias.

Psalm 103,    The Lord has set his throne in heaven.

1 John 4, 11-16,   If God so loved us, we also must love one another.

 John 17, 11-19, So that they may be one.

 

 

Acts: a review–

Author:  Luke, the author of The Acts & The Gospel

Date: ca. 50 years after the death of Jesus

Our Selection: Believe it or not, on this the last Sunday we read from Acts, we are now back to chapter 1 after getting as far as chapters 9 & 10.  What is going on is this.  The chapter opens with an introduction and then a description of the Ascension, Jesus going up in the sky.  Apparently the event took place about a half mile outside Jerusalem on the Mt. of Olives. 

Afterward, all the community come together in the room they had been hiding in. About 120 are present and Peter gets up to speak.  We read Peter's words. 

 

 

 

John's letter: There is a great line in this selection.  See if you can spot it when you hear it.  I'll tell you after the reading, but a hint, it is the last line.

Sources: Good News Bible; The New Interpreter's Study Bible

 

 

 

 

Our World, Good or Bad?

I like the line in 1 John which says that God is love.  This seems to go contrary to what our ancestors believed because they present a vision of a god who is certainly not into unconditional love.   I would like to believe God is loving.

However, there is another line in John’s gospel that I want to talk about this morning, the line that says we do not belong to this world.  Like, is the world bad?  What do you think?  Is the world bad or good and do we belong or not?

 

 

 

I propose that we do belong and that the world is good.  We make it better because we belong.  A story.

One morning recently I walked into the J (Jewish Community Center) at 5:30 to do my spin class.  As I walk in, another rider whom I like, Mike, comes in and we walk together down a long hallway to the room with the 25 stationary bikes. 

Somehow we get talking about his dad.  Mike is one of 12 kids and the family has done well.  The family came from Europe during the time of Hitler.  

 

 

 

At one point he tells me that during the holocaust his dad lost 70 to 80 first cousins.

I am stunned and shocked.  I have never known a person who has this experience in their family.  In fact, I have never known in my life so many Jewish people.  It is privilege and a pleasure. 

Mike’s story gave me two thoughts.  First, I was reminded of how horrible a time it was during the reign of Hitler and the 3^rd Reich.  A person living then, especially a Jewish person, could easily see the world as bad.

 

 

 

My second thought was that Mike was an amazement, not bitter, not seeking revenge, but a person who presents himself as peaceful, friendly, and accepting of the events that took place in his family.  You know me, I actually got choked up with him when we talked a bit more after the spin class.  Mike chooses to see the world as good. 

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I propose that the world is good, is beautiful, because of three phenomena, people, nature, and events.

 

 

Mike makes the world good, Romeos make the world good (sometimes, maybe), you people make the world good and beautiful.  The people I go camping with in Yosemite also make the world good and beautiful, at least some of them.

Nature?  I find the beauty of Yosemite so overwhelming I have to go back every year.  I can find a beautiful world sitting in a rocking chair on our back porch having a cup of coffee early in the morning, while I gaze at the grass & trees in our yard.

 

 

Events?  What about the marvel of our Sunday get togethers?  I go crazy over the beauty of Ragbrai, that bike ride I make the end of July west to east across Iowa, along with 15 thousand other crazies.  Talk about a people event.

What do you think?  Bad or good?  If good, what is your data? 

 

 

 

  

Readings:

Isaiah 25, 6-10, On this mountain the Lord will provide for all peoples a feast

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

Philippians  4, 6-9, I can do all things in him who strengthens me

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

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda 

Readers,  Tom & Mary  & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  Deacon Mike 

Homily,  Stack 

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike, Ben, Richard, & Welcome Back, Hue 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

 

 

 

Remember?  3 years ago, South Rim, Grand Canyon.

 

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. 

 

 

Remembering…..

 

Download Readings Week 28
 

 

Homily:

As a boy, Jesse was a chicken plucker.

He stood on a line in a factory and spent his days

pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us

wouldn't have to.

It wasn't much of a job, but at the time

Jesse didn't think he was much of a person.

His father was a brute of a man

thought to be mentally ill,

and treated Jesse roughly all his life.

Jesse's older brother wasn't much better.

He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up.

Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in

West Virginia.  Life was anything but easy,

and he thought life didn't hold much hope for him.

That's why he was standing in this chicken line

doing a job that few people wanted.

Jesse was always sick.

Sometimes it was real physical illness,

but often it was all in his head.

He was a small child, skinny and meek.

That didn't help the situation.

 

 

Remembering….

When he started to school he was the object of every

bully on the playground.

He was a hypochondriac of the first order.

For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something he

looked forward to.

 

 

But he had a dream. He wanted to be a ventriloquist.

He found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with

sock puppets and saved his hard-earned dollars until

he could get a real ventriloquist dummy.

When he got old enough, he joined the military,

and even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms

persisted, the military recognized his talents and

put him in the entertainment corps.

That was when his world changed.

He gained confidence.

 

 

The Wizards Hue & Rich.

He found that he had a talent for making people laugh,

and laugh so hard they often had tears in their eyes.

Yes, little Jesse had found himself.

You know, the history books are full of people

who overcame a handicap to go on and make a success

of themselves, but Jesse is one of the few I know of

who didn't overcome it. Instead he used his paranoia

to make a million dollars and become one of

the best-loved characters of all time doing it!

That little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred

his nervousness into a successful career, still holds the

record for the most Emmys given in a single category.

The wonderful, talented, nervous comedian

who brought us

Barney Fife (The Andy Griffith Show)

was

Jesse Don Knotts.

(July 21, 1924 – February 24, 2006)

There is a street named for him and his statue in

Morgantown, West Virginia, his home town.

At this stress filled time in our lives, how are you reaching out  to peace & beauty?

 

 

Remembering….

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Alan Stryker;  For John Doherty with back pain; For Becky's dad who has moved to the other side;  For Cindy is recuperated!!;    For David Dismore's bad shoulder from a biking accident;  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 Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, Woodlands,  For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;   For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & Leo & all of Shonda's dear family;   for all the students and teachers and coaches returning to school, for Geri's sister with heart & circulation problems, 

Richard & Mike Zooming. 

 

For Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For both Jean & Cliff Wright;  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, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer,  For the students, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Birthdays: Bill Hammond, Celeste Colmanero, Rich Eschelbrenner

 

 

 

Hammond, you are so missed around here!

 

Community Finances, October 11, 2020

Expenses: $710.00 

Outreach   $180.00    (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

Rosemary's Blessing:

 

 

Just in case you missed our new address, 7017 Helsem Way  75230.   (notice the same Zip Code as Tulip Lane?)

 

 Welcome Home, Sabrina!

 

Readings:

Micah  5, 1-4,  He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock

Psalm 80,    Lord, make us turn to you, let us see you face and we shall be saved

Pope Francis' Laudato Si, 

A Reading from Pope Francis’ Letter on the Environment:

Whether believers or not, we are agreed today that the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, meant to benefit everyone. Hence every ecological approach needs to incorporate a social perspective which takes into account the fundamental rights of the poor and the underprivileged.

The principle of the subordination of private property to the universal distribution of goods, and thus the right of everyone to their use, is the first principle of the whole ethical and social order.  

 

 

Welcome, Everybody, the music is wonderful.

 

The Christian tradition has never recognized the right to private property as an absolute, and has stressed the social purpose of all forms of private property. 

The natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity, and the responsibility of everyone.

The words of Pope Francis.

 

Luke  1,  39-45, Mary set out and traveled to the hill country. 

 

Welcome home all you Dinsmores, David, Dana, Betty, Donna, and Dawson.

 

Micah: author, date, subject, our selection–

Author: one of the minor prophets (because of length, 7 chapters), Micah is considered to be the author of these words.

Date: probably around 700-690 BCE, a contemporary of Isaiah, living in Judah.  He had witnessed the destruction of the northern half of the kingdom, Israel, by the Assyrians, ca. 720 BCE.  He watched Judah pay tribute to Assyria.  He forsaw the Babylonian disaster in 590.

 

Candle Lighter of The Week, Cole.

 

Subject: like all prophets, he predicts doom and destruction for Judah because of the injustice of the people, especially the rich over the poor.  Micah learned from Israel's destruction by Assyria, which he attributed to God's anger with those people. 

Then, of course, in the prophet tradition, he predicts a return to peace and prosperity after the people are purified.  He speaks to Bethlehem as if to a person and says that a new ruler will come from the town and the good ruler will shepherd the people.  Why Bethlehem?  Because David was born there and the new David was supposed to come from the same royal village. 

 

Does it get any better?  Leo & Brandon.

 

Asked what God wants of us (like penance, sacrifices of animals, goods, even children), Micah states one of the great lines in scripture: "What God requires of us is: 1. act justly, 2. love tenderly, and 3. walk humbly with our God." (6, 8)  You people do that. 

Our Selection: God promises a good ruler will be born in Bethlehem, the place where King David was born, a royal village.

Sources: Good News Bible, John Shelby Spong, Wikipedia

 

And from Marlene, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

 

A Christmas Story

This morning I want to tell you a Christmas story. I am reminded of the event partly because Tom & Teresa just visited Mombasa, Kenya, where I passed some time while I was living in East Africa.  Also I thought about it at the Christmas concert Thursday evening.

 I have talked about this event before, but it seems to fit here again.  It took place in Tanzania the Christmas of my sixth, seventh, or eighth year living in the country.

 

 

 The Brain Trust, Zoe, Emma, & Victoria.

 

To begin, it is good to mention that Tanzania does not celebrate Christmas like we do here.  First of all, it is summer, being just south of the equator.  So, warm.   Moreover, people do not decorate with lights like we do here.  It is not the custom, nor do folks have the money.

I was usually pretty homesick at Christmas, both in the Jesuits and more so in Tanzania.  So this year I decided I would throw a Christmas day party American style, especially with a turkey. 

 

Beautiful Advent Colors.

 

To get the turkey I had to not only go beyond the little town of Moshi, where the Jesuits had a house and where I was based.  I, in fact, had to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, the country immediately to the north. 

Despite the fact that most of the time I was away from Moshi on the road giving seminars and retreats, I still knew some people from the times I was in town.  So I invited a number of families.

 

The Community.

 

In particular, I invited the family who lived next door to us, a husband and wife with their two little girls, for whom I had a great affection.  The family was all Muslim and the father was a police chief.  It is always helpful to have a police chief as a friend in certain countries.  I assure you.

To invite the family I followed the more formal African protocol.  I invited the husband to come over to our house.  I had two rocking chairs ready in my office/bedroom.  We sat down and I offered him coffee or tea.

 

Everybody partakes at this communion, kids, too. 

 

Then I said, “Mohammed, I would like to invite you and your family to a special celebration of the Christian Christmas.  It will be the evening of December 25, beginning around 5:00.”  Then, I explained what was Christian Christmas.

Finally, I added, “We both know, Mohammed, that you have a problem with alcohol.  I request that you show up sober.  If you show up drunk, I will have to ask you to leave.”  Mohammed said he was grateful for the invitation for him and his family.  He would not arrive drunk and if he did I should invite him out.

 

Communion Helpers, Beth & Rob & Mike

 

Want to guess what happened?   You guessed it.

About 1:00 Christmas day Mohammed and his buddy arrived a bit early.  Yes, they were both drunk out of their minds.  We talked, I told him I was sorry, but he could not come to the party.  He, too, said he was sorry, he left, and I did not see him again that day.

 

Kevin & Georgina

 

Later, however, about 5:00, his wife and girls arrived with a surprise.  In the African tradition of hospitality, she had invited all her extended family and they all showed up together, about 15 of them. 

Despite all this, we had a fun American style Christmas, most of it, in fact, on the roof.  We had an Arabian style house with a flat roof.  A great place for parties and watching the sun set glow on Kilimanjaro nearby.

 

 The Team.

 

Why talk about this today?

First, to show you how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

Secondly, to show just how we are so fortunate to celebrate with such fan fare and warmth.   I am grateful to be here.

What has been your best Christmas ever? 

How are you celebrating this year?

 

Don't forget to hug the gorilla on your way out.  He loves hugs.

Readings:

Acts 1, 12-14,   All these devoted themselves to prayer, together with some women.

Psalm 27,  I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.  (good verse for homily)

1 Peter  4, 13-16,  If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you.

John  17, 1-11,  I pray for them.

 

 

Reminders on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described.  

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Our Selection: Activities in the community after the Ascension.

Watch for two words in Psalm 27, gaze and contemplate, see the response above.

 

 

 Gaze and Contemplate

I want to talk about two words that come from Psalm 27, gaze and contemplate.

This past week a great black lady died at 86, Maya Angelou  I wish I had known her better.  I memorized one of her poems once, but did not look her up. 

One aspect of her life stuns me.  She went silent for 5 years, from the age 7 to 12, more or less.  Why?  She had been abused by her mother’s boy friend, she told her brother, and a day or so later the boy friend was discovered beaten to death.  Maya was sure her words had caused his death and she was mortified into silence.

 

 It was her mother telling her that she was a special person that eventually convinced Maya to begin talking again.  Yes, I wish I had known her.

I was fortunate, however, to know my own Maya, a black lady named Juanita Craft, who lived in south Dallas, near Fair Park, and was a leader in the NAACP in the ‘50’s & ‘60s.  I got to know her really well because of three events.

 

 

One, the summer of ’66 or ’67 I was looking for something special to do.  I was in the middle of a three year delightful internship teaching at Jesuit as part of my 13 year formation program to be a priest, a Jesuit priest. 

Somehow, I got to meet Juanita and next thing I know I am the only whitey on a Greyhound bus to the National NAACP annual convention in Atlantic City with stopovers in D.C. 

 

 

I was probably too dumb to know I was in some danger on the trip.  We had a large number of teenaged kids.  If the bus was headed toward Birmingham or Selma in those days, I may have taken a pass. 

One of the highlights of the trip was how the Jesuit community of Georgetown went all out in their hospitality to our group, even having us all into the community dining room for dinner and providing a bunch of cars and drivers to tour everyone around the city.

 

 

Secondly, when I returned from the trip, I moved into Juanita’s little two bedroom, white frame house in South Dallas, and stayed for the rest of the summer.  I worked with her at her NAACP meetings, understudied her ways, and helped with kids in the neighborhood.  She called me her “white boy.”  I was ca. 26.

My poor mom was mortified by all this.  One evening when they had invited a number of their friends in for dinner, and I was asked to help out, she asked me if I would not tell people what I was doing and where I was living.  A few days later she asked me to forgive her.   I had to laugh.  My dad did not seem to be bothered.

 

 

Thirdly, I learned how a simple person can make a difference.  As head of the Dallas NAACP, she helped integrate UNT, UT Law School, the State Fair, as well as other places like restaurants, theaters, and public buses.  I saw how she got the city to focus on the roads in her neighborhood and how she loved the kids.  She had none of her own and, in fact, I don’t think she ever married.  Juanita was elected to two terms on the Dallas City Council in the ‘80’s.   There is a Dallas park and a rec center named for her. She came to my ordination in '71 at St. Rita's in a squad car.  Impressed all the neighborhood kids.

How she affected me? 

She got me to gaze around and contemplate the neighborhood, see what needed to be done, and do it.  This eventually led me to the tree project.  The interest in tree planting came from Boy Scouts; the mental foundation came from Juanita.

Secondly, Juanita’s jovial personality got me to gaze at and contemplate the beauty and the loveliness of the Lord in people and nature, as Psalm 27 says it. 

 

 

I learned how to pray in public from Juanita and those people.  I was usually in clerics and they called on me often for a prayer, something I was not used to.  I think I wore clerics then and on that bus to avoid being killed.  Likewise in East Africa, especially when crossing the borders, like between Tanzania and Uganda.  Otherwise, no clerics.

Today we are called to gaze and contemplate the beauty around us, White Rock Lake, Tom Woodward Park (which I have yet to see), our kids here, our community, Romeos (Maybe not!), and our families.  Jesuit spirituality got me started on this.  Juanita Craft helped me put it into action.

Who is the Juanita Craft in your life who helps you to gaze and contemplate? 

For whom are you the Juanita Craft?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Readings:  Isaiah 61, 1-11 (beautiful); Psalm is Luke 1, 46-54 (The Magnificat, beautiful); 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-24; John 1, 6-8, 19-28 .

Isaiah:This is Third Isaiah.  One Isaiah goes to Chap. 39; Two Isaiah, chapters 40-55.  From 40 on we have what is called the Book of Comfort, as I mentioned last week.  Our selection today is all about comfort.  The writer is consoling the Hebrews during the Babylonian captivity, which took place about 580 BCE, in other words about a century after One Isaiah wrote. 

The first marvelous couple of verses are repeated more or less in Isaiah 42, i.e., Two Isaiah.  Also, Luke puts these words into Jesus' mouth in chapter 4 of his gospel.  I will have all of chapter 61 read because it is so good.  For the reading, google The Bible at Your Fingertips.

Advent Wreaths: This little liturgical practice came to the Catholic liturgy, believe it or not, from the German Lutherans in the 1500's, the time of Martin Luther.  It was more than just decoration.  The circle symbolized eternity.  The greens, Christian life in a dead time of the year.  The candles represent each of the 4 weeks of Advent, each candle symbolizing the greater light brought by Christ.  Their color purple symbolized penance and purification for the Coming.  The Rose  candle says, 'We are almost there!'

Chosen Me to Bring Good News to the Poor

Last Sunday 15 of you donated blood.  Many of you chipped in to help with our adopted family.  Beth, who herself has donated a lot of time to this family, says we are close to having everything we need.  Others of you brought food.  And all of you brought food for the Anniversary Brunch, a feast, as usual.

A month or so ago I was honored to help bless the Habitat house that many of you helped to build.  

Every month you help to contribute $2,000 to our Collin County Adult Clinic, where everyone on the staff, doctors, nurses, technicians, and helpers, all work pro bono, gratis, without pay.  That is $24,000 you have donated to support this marvelous service this year.

The generosity of our little community, of you people often blows me away and always humbles me. 

Isaiah is talking about this.  He says Yahweh has chosen me and sent me.  He is obviously talking about himself, and the temptation is to leave it at that.  That's his job.  I would propose, however, that Yahweh is calling each of us.  We are chosen and we are sent to bring good news to the poor, to heal and to comfort.  The poor, the broken hearted, and the imprisoned are all around us.  If we don't bring them good news and comfort, perhaps nobody will.

When I lived in Tanzania & Kenya occasionally I would ask myself, "What on earth am I doing over here?"  This passage about bringing good news to the poor often gave me consolation and motivation.  I can remember reflecting upon the idea when I was traveling 4-6 lonely hours over dirt roads on my motorcycle to get to a center where I was going to conduct a week long or month long seminar for nuns and priests. 

In John's Gospel the writer is setting the scene, similar to Mark's reading last week.  He is using John the Baptist to make way for The Good News, the Jesus event that let's us know that Our God is accepting us, not condemning us.

The writer of this gospel is likewise crafting his work.  In a short space he identifies John the Baptist and prepares the reader for something greater.  Why is this important?  Because John the Baptist was popular, had his own group of followers, and could have been mistaken for the Messiah.  The gospel writer takes 4 steps.

Step 1.  John the Baptist's place in the drama: give witness to The Light, e.g., Jesus, The Good News.

Step 2.  A negative witness about who he is: not The Light, not the Messiah.

Step 3.  A positive witness about who he is: preparing a way & making straight the way.

Step 4.  Why is John the Baptist baptizing: preparing the people for One greater, The Light. 

The Light, The Lord, The Messiah that John's gospel talks about is the one who brings good news and comfort to the poor, the broken hearted, and the imprisoned.  He, however, cannot do it alone. 

 

This year each of you in our little community has helped out.  How are you bringing Good News and Comfort to the Poor today?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-12-14.mp3

Picture 1:  Serving, Lisa (Mom), & daughters Lorynne & Lacee

Picture 2:  Frank & Laura Reyes celebrating 26th

Picture 3:  Frank & Mary Esparza watched by Audry.

Readings: Joshua 5, 9-12; Psalm 34; 2 Corinthians 5, 17-21; Luke 15, 1-32 (The Great Prodigal Son Story) A pre-homily Sunday.

Joshua

The scene: Moses has died just as the Jewish people are getting ready to enter their new land. Joshua takes the leadership. This book describes the defeat of the Canaanite people, and the division of the land.

In our chapter the Israelite people are camped outside Jericho before attacking the town. Yahweh is saying that he has removed the shame of the people for being slaves in Egypt. They are feasting.

2 Corinthians

This section of Corinthians informs the people that in Christ they are new people, a new creation.

The Prodigal Son: A Work of Art

This story is my favorite of the whole Bible. Note one thing: this is story, not history. The author carefully crafts his work of art to show how much God loves us. Let me give you three observations about the son, three about the father, and an extra three to show you how astounding this story is.

First, the younger son:

1. He has no right to ask for inheritance. None. By asking he is saying he wishes the father and the older son dead. A symbolic murder. Father can kill him for this.
2. He works feeding pigs instead of asking for help from the temple. This means he rejects the religious tradition and is considered a traitor not only to the family, but to the religion.
3. So as a horrible failure as a son of the family and a son of the religious tradition, he decides to return. He makes up his little speech and heads home. He is hungry to the point of dying. Do this or die. Many listening Jews would say, Die.

The Father: he actually commits as many crimes and sins as the son:

1. He runs down the road to the son when he sees him coming. A very undignified action. Outrageous.
2. He embraced and kissed the son. Huge violation of Jewish religious custom and law. By doing this the father positions himself outside of the religious & cultural community. He is a reject like the son.
3. He cuts the son’s speech off before he can say finish, eliminating the last sentence, "treat me as you would one of your hired workers." And to make it worse, he orders the servants to bring the finest robe, ring, and sandals.

The robe, the ring, and the sandals:

1. The robe: restores the son’s dignity.
2. The ring: gives authority to the son, even equal to the father and certainly more than before he left.
3. The sandals: gives the son freedom. Slaves were not given sandals so they would not run away. The father is doubling the message he gave when he cut the son’s speech off before he could say the third part about being treated as a servant.

A word about the older son, because we so often identify with him.

1. That he tells his father how he feels. Great. In those days, it meant the father can kill him. Today: communication.
2. What is his challenge: acceptance of his brother, his father, and himself; focus on gratitude for all he has; move from trying to be a good boy to loving? Any one of these? Or all? All.

I apologize for so much data. There is even more. The point is that the story is a carefully crafted work of art attempting to describe how totally loving our God is, toward us.

How does this image of God reflect your image of God?

Download the homily as an mp3 file for your iPod.