14th Sunday, Ordinary Time, July 5, 2020
Rosemary's Blessing
Lord,
May we never take our freedom for granted
and help us to strive so that this same freedom
may be experienced by everyone in our country,
especially the poor and the oppressed,
and eventually by all humankind.
Andrew Greeley A Book of Irish American Blessings and Prayers
Thanks to the Team
Music, Ben & Shonda
Readers, John & Mary Jane & Buddy, the candle blesser
Gospel & Homily, John Cade
Eucharistic Prayer, John Cade
The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Richard
Final Blessing, Rosemary
Please Remember these special people:
For Cindy facing a procedure Monday morning; For our Bill; 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; for Michelle;
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
Richard & Mike, this Sunday's producers.
Birthdays: Brent, 64; Paul Bieda, 59, Kim, Carol Eshelbrenner
Anniversaries: Jan & Sir Charlie, 58th
Sir Bieda, Is this what happens when you retire??
Community Finances, July 5, 2020
Expenses: $500.00
Outreach $100.00 (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)
Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. Winston Churchill
John Cade's excellent homily
Homily: I want to thank Stack for making known to us the beauty and power of a Biblical verse in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.” I now know that this same description of who God is, is also repeated in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in other Psalms.
- In Exodus Ch 34 we hear that when Moses received the 10 commandments the Lord came down over Mt. Sinai in a cloud and said, The Lord the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness.”
- In the Book of Numbers Ch 14, when the Israelites didn’t obey God’s commandments and just grumbled about life being difficult, God wanted to wipe them out, start all over and make Moses the head of an even greater nation. But Moses cried out quoting God with what he said about himself on Mt. Sinai, that ‘The Lord is slow to anger and rich in kindness.”
- At least three psalms repeat this description of God.
Psalm 86 says, “You, O Lord, are merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness.”
Today’s Psalm 103 says, “Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.”
Psalm 145 says, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.”
- The Prophet Joel Ch 2, says, “Gracious and merciful is God, slow to anger, rich in kindness.”
- Finally, the funny little story of the Prophet Jonah. He was told by God to go to Nineveh and preach to the people that they better repent or in 40 days they would be destroyed. In Ch 4 Jonah says to God that the very reason he didn’t want to preach destruction to Nineveh and tried to run away, was because, “I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and rich in kindness.”
Mike checking out the production.
My household of three persons are, for the most part, keeping the quarantine, so there aren’t as many opportunities to see God show up in person through the mercy and kindness of others, though I see plenty of it on the news. Here’s five instances I saw this verse, this definition of God, show up in others, all just this week:
- I was struck again by the graciousness and kindness of our Mass team. The tech squad, e.g., brings some of their own computers, and other electronic stuff I wouldn’t understand, and patch it all together to ‘make community happen’ through this online Mass.
- I went to get about a twice-a-month treat for me and Mama (what I call Kalliopi)—original chicken from KFC. I order the smallest bucket they have, 8 pieces which covers the protein part of two meals. When I got to the window, the guy says, I have a recommendation—when you want the 8 piece, order the 10 piece special; and it costs less. He did not have to tell me this little secret.
- Our AC guy came to perform a semi-annual check-up on our AC system. When he tested the unit’s cold air production he found it wanting and said he thought we’d need a pound of Freon @ $200/lb. But he stayed longer watching the gauge, and eventually said with a smile, “Well, waiting later, now it’s reading okay, so no added Freon is needed.” He did not have to extend the time of his check-up.
- Joey brought us some of the bulk vegetables she gets from an organic farm near Austin every week. She did not have to drive across town to bring us such a treat.
- Finally, when Joey came, Leo was with her wearing a t-shirt that said on the front in big print, “A little kindness can change the world.” Hello!? That inspired to recall how often others show up—in so many ways—wearing that Bible verse definition of God: The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
When was the last time you saw this verse show up in another person, or in yourself?