Readings:    

 Wisdom  7, 7-11,  I prayed, and prudence was given to me.

 Psalm 90,   Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy.

 Hebrews 4, 12-13,   The word of God is living and effective.

Mark 10, 17-30,  Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

 

Wisdom:

Date of Composition: 100-200 BCE, which is why it is considered significant.  It provides a glimpse into the cultural & social milieu which prevailed just before & during the time of Christ.   We had Wisdom for our first reading 3 weeks ago.

Place of Composition: Alexandria, Egypt.

The Composer: a Jew who wrote educated Greek.

Unique Quality: Wisdom is one of a set of 12 (or 14) books written in Greek considered not part of the original 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, the O.T.  This blew up around 350 CE when St. Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Early Church, i.e., a church leader who influenced a lot of church dogma, said the books were not genuine.   He was opposed by St. Augustine.  It was the Council of Trent (ca. 1550), that declared the 12 books okay.  Another person doubting the validity of the books was Martin Luther. 

You probably won’t find these books in the Protestant Bibles.

Our Selection in Chapter 7: the book of Wisdom generally says that good guys get rewarded by God, bad guys don’t.  This selection personifies the virtue of wisdom, using the feminine pronoun she, and praises her as above all other values & pleasures.  I loved her even more than health or beauty, the composer declares.

 Sources: The Good News Bible, Got Bible Questions on line.

 

Sell what I have, give it to the poor, and follow Him?

This morning I want to talk about two things:

1.  Selling everything I have and giving it to the poor, then following the Lord;
2.  It being easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the kingdom.
   

   Zoe with her mom, Michelle

I  in no way mean to boast, folks, but I have been there, done that.  Three times, in fact. 

The first time was 1958, when I joined the Jesuits to become a priest.  I was all enrolled at Notre Dame.  I went instead to Grand Coteau, LA, the Jesuit novitiate.  I did this out of fear that if I did not, I was going straight to hell. 

The other two times I was not afraid.  Anxious, yes, but not afraid.  I went to East Africa in ’76 and Rosemary & I married  05.05.05.    Paradoxically one of the riches of that hundred fold that came to me was a lack of fear.   I was not afraid to leave the States and go to East Africa.  I was not not afraid to leave the Jesuit security and marry Rosemary.  This came about because of exposure to good thinking, good people, and rich experiences. 

I gave it all up to go to East Africa and I gave it all up when Rosemary & I married, an unfortunate lack Rosemary had to accept in marrying me.   What I did not give up these two times was inner peace and inner freedom.   In fact, it has deepened with each choice.

3 observations on Mark’s message. 

1.  Go sell what you have and give it to the poor is for real.  We are always challenged to do this.  This is also Mark’s infinite demand in plain view.  This is not an ‘and  follow the Lord.’  This is following him. 
2. Why give it up?  Yes, to help others and to follow him.  But, moreover, this is a ticket of admission into the kingdom.  You know what I mean by kingdom, a here and now, present event of peace and freedom.   The peace & freedom of this kingdom is a result, a consequence of my detatchment.
3. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom, the place of peace and freedom?   Hyperbole, Mark?  Yes. 

We are all rich, all of us.  Take our education alone.  In East Africa I could have given every material thing I had away, and I still would have been rich because of my education.

However, don’t discount Mark’s message.  It is difficult to detatch myself from my money & things, so that I can follow the Lord, help others, and arrive today in the kingdom of peace and freedom.  Do you see freedom or peace in people obsessed with money or work? 

 I have been truly blessed with my 3 give it all up events.  Yes, I have personally received the hundred fold promised.

Where are you on the spectrum of giving it all up, following the Lord, and entering the kingdom of peace and freedom?

 

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: Acts of the Apostles 1, 12-14 (post Ascension, Wednesday), Psalm 27  (good), I believe that I shall see the Good Things of the Lord in the Land of the Living;

also verse 4, One thing I ask of the Lord, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple.  

1 Peter 4, 13-16; John 17, 1-11

 

Acts:

Observations & a final review—(Author, Date, Place, Subject)

 Author: This is Luke, the physician, the companion of Paul, the Gentile writing for Gentile Christians, and the same Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke.

 Date: Around 65 years after Christ.  Probably just before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (70 C.E., a big date in Jewish history), or Luke would have probably mentioned it. 

Place: probably Ephesus, today a ruin on the west coast of Turkey south of Constantinople.  Once this town was a major Christian center.

 Subject: the material works like in concentric, expanding circles, beginning in Jerusalem and ending in Rome after touching Judea, Syria, Ephesus, & Europe.  It treats activities in the early Christian community, some of which may describe they way they wished things were.

Today's selection in chapter 1 takes place just after the Ascension of Jesus, which was officially celebrated this past Thursday.   

 Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, St. Louis U. Jesuits’ Liturgical web

 

That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord

 It may have been a year ago when I talked about Rosemary having a breakdown on her bike riding around White Rock Lake.  To refresh your memory, she had ridden around about half of the lake.  She is down at the south end near the dam.  Her chain fell off and she did not know how to fix it. 

 So she starts walking it in.  She may have phoned me, but I did not answer because I was riding.  People go by.  She walks.  Finally a guy asks if she needs help.  She says yes, he stops, and he puts her chain back on.  Simple.  But significant.

 I was so touched by this guy’s action, that I had decided that I would always ask people if they need help when I see them stuck beside the road.  I talked about it here and somebody special in our community actually assisted a woman whose car had broken down.

 This stopping can be hard, folks, especially for us obsessive compulsive bike riders.  I got to maintain my 16 or 17 or 18 miles per hour average.  Or I have to finish up and run home.  Whatever, for the past year I have pretty faithfully checked with people as I pass, often hoping they don’t need help.  And they did not.

 
 

Until this past Wednesday morning about 7:00.  We had already gone around the lake and were heading north on the White Rock Trail, which runs from the Lake all the way up to Valley View and Hillcrest.  I was passing just north of the Greenville Avenue bridge, going behind a building on Royal Lane, when I come around a bend and see a guy working on his bike in the grass. 

 I yell out, “Need any help?”  And he responds, “You got any air?”

Yes, I did have my emergency air pump and I knew how to work it.  So I stopped. 

 He had repaired a front flat tire with a new tube, but had no air pump.  So we pumped it up.  I took off the pump.   The tire went back down.  Whoa, bad news.  I think he pinched his tube when he put it and the tire back on the rim of the wheel.  The tubes are so skinny & fragile. 

 So I had to leave him.  He said he could call his wife and she would pick him up.  His car was at Valley View & Hillcrest.

 Folks, even though my efforts did not get the guy going again, I was so happy I had had enough resolution to stop.

 I talk about this because of the line in Psalm 27, which says, “One thing I ask of the Lord, to dwell in his house all the days of my life, to gaze on the loveliness of the Lord, and to contemplate his temple.

 
 

Two comments:

          1.  To be aware that we are dwelling in the house of the Lord, we are challenged to do what is mentioned in the last line, contemplate.  We are invited to be contemplative people, that is, to reflect, to stop and look, to appreciate.  I think this is what I was doing when I appreciated what the guy did for Rosemary.

 Contemplation focuses on the loveliness of people as well as the loveliness of the lake, the mountain, the flower. 

          2.  Secondly, when I was a Jesuit we were educated to be contemplatives in action, that is, appreciating the loveliness of the Lord and helping others to do likewise.  Comptemplation of my blessings leads to gratitude.  Gratitude leads to sharing.

 We are invited to appreciate the beauty of the lake and the bike ride, and to help others do the same.  It may mean simply stopping to fix a chain or pump up an inner tube.  

 

 When was the last time you contemplated the beauty of the Lord?  And helped someone do likewise? 

Picture 1:   Beginning, with Leo in Jackie McGrath's arms, Shonda & Ray

 Picture 2:   Offertory, Tom & Lynda

 Picture 3:   Leo joining the music team

 Picture 4:   Tom & Theresa Quinn with their daughter, Colleen & her kids, Quinn and Shannon

 Picture 5:   Alison is back!  With her husband John and Cliff

         

 

 

 

 Readings:  

 Isaiah  50, 4-9,  I gave my back to those who beat me.

  Psalm 116,  I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

 James 2, 14-18,   What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Mark 8, 27-35,  Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself. 

 

Harper and…

Isaiah Observations: 

Date of Composition:

A picture of the time span:

        1. Solomon (he of Wisdom, the temple builder, 700 wives, & 300 mistresses–if he really existed) dies ca. 900-1000 before Christ.

         2. The Hebrew kingdom divides into 2 parts, the north, Israel (Galilee today), the south, Judah, around 900 before Christ.

        3.  Assyria destroys Israel and obliterates the 10 Hebrew tribes located there, ca. 700.

        4.  Babylon carries into captivity the Hebrews of Judah, the 2 remaining tribes, ca. 600.

Contemporary scholars conjecture that this work could have been composed over a period of 400 years, i.e., 700-300.  It obviously begins by predicting disasters, typical of prophets.  They happen, 2 of the biggest tragedies in Jewish history up to the Romans' destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 years after Christ) and the Holocaust, that is, the Assyrian destruction & the Babylonian Captivity.  4 big tragedies.

Author (s): obviously it was composed by numerous people.  Isaiah himself is considered behind chapters 1-39.  In fact, line 1 identifies Isaiah as the author of the ideas.

What is it about: 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd Isaiah

1^st Isaiah, Chapters 1-39: predict doom for the Hebrews because they have not been faithful to their one god.

2^nd Isaiah, Chapters 40-55:  this & the remaining chapters are called The Book of Consolation.  They try to assure the people who are now in exile that God will restore them to their former glory & peace.  In fact, in chapter 45 the composer even mentions the name of Cyrus, the king of the Persians who defeats Babylon & sends the Hebrews back to Jerusalem.  So the composer knew of Cyrus and a date can be narrowed down.

This 2^nd  Isaiah section presents 4 suffering servant songs, #3 being our selection today.  Jews see the servant to be the Hebrew people/nation.  Christians see the servant to be Christ.  Isaiah 2 is considered maybe the most influential O.T. book.  On Isaiah 2 Mark built much of his gospel, especially the story of the crucifixion.

Handel's Messiah uses 2nd Isaiah for its lyrics.

3^rd Isaiah, Chapter 56-66: more assurances of a return to peace & glory.

 

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself and take up his cross

I would like to say a few words this morning about denying myself and taking up my cross.

A story from our CO trip last week.

The day is the third of our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The 7 of us have left a delightful campsite and are headed over a pass, Flat Top Pass, right on the Continental Divide, about 12 thousand feet high.  We are climbing one to two thousand feet. 

As we climb the weather is getting nastier & nastier, cloudy skies, wind, and cold.  We come across a series of what I describe as receding ridges.  I see a ridge up ahead.  I get to it only find another ridge 200 yards further up.  We must have had 15 of these.  

It begins to sleet and rain.  The group of us is stretched out over a few hundred yards.

Suddenly I look up and see somebody coming down the trail by himself.   Even from a distance I see he has on only running shorts and a light pack, not like ours.  He is jogging down this rough trail and has already crossed over the pass in the sleet, rain, and wind. 

I am astounded.   Rose Banzhaf says that his whole trip is about 30 miles.  She calls him The Mean Running Machine. 

I mention this event to make a distinction about denying myself and taking up my cross.  Unhealthy and healthy.  Observations.

 

Unhealthy.  In my early years as a Jesuit I think we had some unhealthy attitudes and behaviors influenced by this demand.  I am embarrassed to admit that, yes, we had little scourges that we were supposed to use on our backs and we had chains with little spikes we were supposed to wear on our thighs. 

Once we joined the Jesuit community we never expected to return home.  I did not return for 7 years.  I came back to teach for 3 years at Jesuit, not go home.  At the time I never thought anything about it.

In my years as a spiritual director especially for priests & nuns I found a lot of guilt for not being hard enough on myself.  I personally can still feel guilty if I take a 15 minute morning break or a day off.  Rosemary is good for me on this.  She calls me to relax.

Healthy.  Self discipline to achieve a goal.  The runner obviously has some kind of goal.  Look at high school sports and how strenuously so many kids drive themselves.  Look at education, the discipline to achieve a Ph.D., to be a doctor.  What about Alcoholics Anonymous or giving up smoking?  The reward: inner peace.

Finally, let me remind you of that gospel dynamic I mention so often, infinite demand plus infinite acceptance.

I would suggest that the runner I met at 12 thousand feet in sleet was denying himself and carrying his cross.  Hopefully he has a healthy goal. 

How do you deny yourself and take up your cross? 

 

 

 

 

 

You ready to read, Buddy?

 

Readings:  

 Jeremiah 31, 7-9,  The Lord has delivered his people.

Psalm 126,  The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy

 Hebrews 5, 1-6,  Every high priest is taken from among the people.

 Mark 10, 46-52,   Bartimaeus, the blind man.

 

 

 

 

While Emma lights the candles, Buddy reads the Blessing of The Candles, a first time ever for Buddy.

 

Jeremiah observations:

Who:  one of the Big 3 Prophets, 52 chapters, the “broken hearted prophet,” because he hated being so unpopular and having to condemn so much. 

Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe seems to be who put down the prophet’s message.   Jeremiah probably died in Egypt.

When: put together before & during the B.C., Babylonian Captivity, say 555 before Christ  (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).

Remember, too, that time before Christ is counting downward or backwards.

 

 

 

Our Belief.

 

Interesting Side Note: (another reminder) can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, this same time, i.e. ca. 555.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

 

 

 

The Healing Touch

 

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Subject of the work: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.

Today's subject: Beautiful message of peace and consolation.  It is coming.

Sources: Bishop John Shelby Spong, The sins of Scripture; Wikipedia

 

 

 

The Healing Touch for Emma.

 

 

Homily:

 

 

 

 

 

Readings: Acts 1, 1-11; Psalm 47, God Mounts his Throne to Shouts of Joy, a Blare of Trumpets for the Lord; Ephesians 1, 17-23; Luke 24, 46-53.  

Ascension  of the Lord – Intro to the Readings

Today, we have a whole lot of Luke and a reading from Paul, or someone who knew him very well!

 

 

Our first reading is from the beginning of Acts and because of the feast, we leave aside John’s Gospel today and hear about the ascension from the very end of Luke’s Gospel.

 

 

 

The Gospel of Luke ends as it began (Luke 1:9), in the Jerusalem temple.

Luke brings his story about the time of Jesus to a close with the report of the ascension. He will also begin the story of the time of the church with a recounting of the ascension. In the gospel, Luke recounts the ascension of Jesus on Easter Sunday night, thereby closely associating it with the resurrection. In Acts 1:3, 9-11; 13:31 he historicizes the ascension by speaking of a forty-day period between the resurrection and the ascension. The Western text omits some phrases in Luke 24:51, 52,  perhaps to avoid any chronological conflict with Acts 1 about the time of the ascension.

 

 

Homily for the Feast of the Ascension

 

 

Faith is one of those items, which, try as we might, we will never be fully able to explain.  But I think there is a clue to this challenge in our second reading today.  There is a little phrase in there about the eyes of the heart.   I have never heard of the phrase “eyes of the heart” before, but the more I thought about them the more it started to make sense to me.

 

 

For most of my life beginning with my first catechism my faith seems to involve learning stuff:  information, ten commandments, seven sacraments, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, twelve apostles names, mortals sins and venial sins.  The list goes on and on.  As humans, today, we are almost obsessed with information, data.  I don’t think that people at the time of Christ were quite so obsessive as this.  Here is why:

 

In our first reading today from the opening chapter of Acts, Luke tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after the resurrection.  Yet in the gospel reading, also by Luke, if we pay close attention to the last chapter of that Gospel, Jesus ascended to heaven the same day as the resurrection!  Both readings are from the same writer.  Both readings coming from close to each other in their respective books, the last chapter of the gospel and the opening chapter of the Book of Acts, and yet this contradiction did not seem to matter to Luke or his audience. 

 

The only conclusion is that the detail, the facts themselves were not that important.  The event was looked at thru the eyes of the heart.  As I said on Easter Sunday, the fact of the Resurrection cannot be proven; neither can the fact of the Ascension.  They can only be seen thru the eyes of faith, thru the “eyes of the heart”

 

This week I was watching a new TV program “Into the Universe” from Steven Hawkins, the world's most famous living scientist which is all about the origins of the universe.  Even as intelligent a person as Hawkins cannot find God in our universe, and I believe the reason is quite simple. 

 

 

He is not looking with the eyes of the heart; he is looking through the eyes of a scientist who looks for hard data.  Our God is outside all of that.  Our God is in a totally different world.  His is the world of caring, the world of loving, of taking care of the poor, the sick and the lonely.  Our God has one simple rule, love one another. 

 

This kind of stuff is only visible thru the eyes of the heart.  And so today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, we can only celebrate it emotionally, not intellectually, because the notion of someone rising from the dead and going up where-ever doesn’t make any sense from a scientifically observable point of view, but is easy to accept in the context of a God who loves you and me unconditionally.

 

Picture 1:  Fr. Tony Begins

 

Picture 2:  Fr. Tony & Buddies, Marianne, George, & Ron

 

Picture 3:  Coffee time, Curtis, Warren, Ken & Cindy, Teresa & Tom, & Mabel

 

Picture 4:  Old Geezers, Tony, Jerry, David, & Stack

 

Picture 5:  Backpacking talk, Lynda, Bill, Daniel, & Claire