Corpus Christi, June 14, 2020

Say Cindy & Dee, "Welcome in, Everybody."

Readings: 

Acts of the Apostles, 5, 12-16,  Peter said, "we are witnesses of all."

Psalm 118,  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love is everlasting.

Revelation 1, 9-11, 12-13, 17-19, I, John, found myself on the Island of Patmos

John 20, 19-31, Jesus appears to the apostles in the upper room.

And guess who is also saying, "Come in, Folks," Tori & Harper.

Homily by Deacon Mike

The Father makes known to us, “He sent his Son into the world, not to condemn it; but rather, to redeem it; to grant it salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

So, Jesus, in like manner, said to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, I send you into the world, not to condemn the world but to grant it salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Emma with her Magic Touch lighting our Easter Candles.

Two Sundays ago the Church welcomed and empowered with the Holy Spirit tens of thousands of the Elect from all over the world to become a part of the Body of Christ; not to condemn the world; but to redeem it, to join with us to bring forgiveness to the world.

So, we ask you, the Church, to redeem itself. You have hurt yourself and us; for we are part of you, and we suffer, but we know that we must forgive you.

The Blessing of the Easter Candles read by Buddy who knows it almost totally by heart.

So, we forgive you for allowing predators to abuse our children.

We want to assist you, so we ask that you do the following: Pray over your plan of action.  Have you sought to realize that your plan must address predators who will seek to continue the abuse?  You must address who you choose to send to your parishes. Your plan must replace them with ordained married men, and women who seek to be deacons, priests and bishops.

Our Great Offertory Team, Cathy, Sandra, and Judy.

The Apostle Paul placed no walls or barriers between those who have received and are living the gift of the Holy Spirit; we are Jew or Gentile, slave or free man, male or female.  GOD HAS NO FAVORITES!  We are one body in Christ.

Welcome Home, Grace, from your visit to Amsterdam, the home of your ancestors.

Readings:   Malachi 1, 14-2, 8-10, Why do we break faith with each other?; Psalm 131, In you, Lord, I have found my Peace; 1 Thessalonians 2, 7-13, We were gentle among you; Matthew 23, 1-12, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.

Observations on Malachi:

 Interesting notes, a review:

                   1.  This is the last book of the Old Testament.    

                   2.  A little book, only 4 chapters.

                   3.  Last of the 12 minor prophets ( minor because of their small content )

 Author: Malachi means “my messenger.”  The writer’s real name is unknown.

 Date: 400-500 years before Christ.  This is deduced from the emphasis on the temple and the priesthood, and the word “governor” used one time.  Governors ruled after the Babylonian Exile, ca. 590-550, kings before.    

 The temple was rebuilt ca. 520 after the Israelites came back ca. 550 from the Babylonian Exile.  The Persian ruler Cyrus let them return & rebuild the old walls & temple. 

 Message:  Beware, you priests and people, because you are lax, corrupt, and cheating god of his rightful offerings.  

Today’s Message:

                   1.  Yahweh is speaking, actually to the priests, though in the official reading this reference is edited out.  I printed off the more complete reading. 

                   2.  You priests, I will curse you if you do not honor my name.

                    3.  I have made you contemptable because you don't follow my ways.  Again, note the Prophet's message: 1. condemn behavior, 2. promise punishment, 3. consolation after the conversion.

                   Sources:  Good News Bible; New Interpreter’s Study Bible; The Minor Prophets by Al Maxey (on line); & Wikipedia

All Souls Day

Let me give you bit of history and the thinking behind this All Souls' Day.  Five observations: the theology, purgatory-limbo, a legend, pre-Christian practices, and today.

1.  The Theology.  All Souls' Day is part of a package with All Saints.  The idea is: on All Saints' Day we honor all those who are enjoying the beatific vision, that is, heaven, the saints.  On All Souls' Day we honor those who have died but have not reached heaven because they had penance to do. 

What if we think they are all already in heaven?  Then we could pray to them rather than for them.

The old theology is talking mortal & venial sin here.  If the person died with mortal sin, they are you know where. Those with venial sins have to go through purification and purging, which brings us to All Souls' Day and purgatory.

2.  Purgatory & limbo.  People ended up in purgatory to purify themselves with suffering, before being allowed into heaven.  Limbo was for whom?  It was for people, especially children who died without being baptized.  They remained there how long?  Forever.  Can you imagine a baby there or even in the old purgatory?

At least the Catholic Church this year or last acknowledged that the limbo idea was bogus.  The pope said it does not exist and never did.  Though many consider purgatory to be in the same class, it still exists.  Want to know how we know?  The pope is offering indulgences.  The indulgence is for the soul in purgatory.  It speeds up the process.  There are partial & total indulgences.  We can win them for these souls and get them out or we can win them for ourselves. 

For instance, on the last feast of Peter & Paul, Rome offered an indulgence if you visited a church named after one or both of these two, and you recited a prescribed menu of prayers. 

3.  The legend.   It happened around 1000 A.D. that a monk, St. Idolo, from the French monastery of Cluny was shipwrecked on a desolate island as he returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, i.e., Israel.  On the island he met a poor hermit.  The hermit told him that among the rocks was a crevice from which came the anguished voices of the many suffering in purgatory.  Likewise, listening carefully you could hear the devils cursing that living people were speeding up the sufferings of these souls by praying and doing penance for them. 

Some time after this, i.e., 1000 A.D., the Cluny Monastery established an All Souls' Day.  Ca. 1300 Rome followed suit.  

4.  Pre-Christian times.  There is evidence that at least in Mexico numerous tribes had a day or period when the departed ancestors were honored.  The purpose was to honor them, remember their example, and to communicate with them.  Today in Mexico & in Hispanic families the Day of the Dead is still celebrated.  This custom has been celebrated for 3,000 years.

5.  Today.  Limbo has been discarded by Rome and many scholars consider purgatory a dinosaur idea from antiquity.  Consequently, All Souls' Day celebrates Samantha, my mom & dad, Rosemary's mom & dad, and all our loved ones pictured on the stage.  All Saints' Day handles the canonized and, I would suggest,  these people, too.    

What special blessing did you receive from one of these people pictured or whom you remember in your heart?

Picture 1:    Special altar & special display for All Saints & All Souls

Picture 2:    Mass Begins

Picture 3:    Sienna with Rosemary & Brian & Payton

Picture 4:    Leo & mom, Shonda

Picture 5:    Shonda, Bethany, Ray, & Jon

Picture 6:    Some of the Ekes, Marlene, Mabel, Cindy, Zaeli, & Bill

 Readings:  Isaiah 45, 1-6, Who is Cyrus?; Psalm 96, Give the Lord glory and honor; 1 Thessalonians 1, 1-5; Matthew 22, 15-21, Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

Isaiah observations: This selection comes from what is considered Isaiah 2, the author of the Book of Consolations, written after the first 39 chapters and during the Babylonian captivity.    Isaiah speaks from Yahweh's perspective and He is calling someone by name.

So, who is Cyrus?   Cyrus the Great of Persia, modern Iran, built the first great empire, which extended as far as Athens in Greece.   He was a benevolent emperor of his people and the people he conquered, for instance, the Israelites.

Isaiah 2 is championing Cyrus because he hears of Cyrus coming and hopes Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem.  This is exactly what Cyrus does.  Where is Babylon?  Try 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River.  What is left?  Rubble. 

Thessalonians:

• Time written: ca. 50 A.D.   Considered Paul's first letter, and, in fact, the earliest written document in the N.T.
• Place: Paul was writing in Corinth, Greece to the town in northern Greece, Thessalonica, at the northern corner of the Aegean Sea.  He had founded a community there.
• Purpose of writing: to comfort and encourage the new Christians of Thessalonica, most of whom were Gentiles.    He sent Timothy to see how things were going.   The report Timothy brought back was largely favorable—hence the warm tone of the opening thanksgiving, which forms the main part of today’s reading. But there were also a few problems in Thessalonica; we will meet them on the thirty-second and thirty-third Sundays.

Resources: The New Interpreters Study Bible; St. Louis U. Liturgical @ Liturgical.slu.edu

Matthew observation: Render to Caesar

Matthew lifts this story right out of Mark.  The story is a game that was popular among the intellectuals in Jesus time, like a game of verbal chess.  The object was to confound your opponent so that choosing either one of two answers springs a trap. 

Watch the smarmy language of the Pharisees and you can almost see them salivating at the impending kill.  

The trap: do you think it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not?  Jesus confounds them by choosing both.  Jesus wins the game. 

Why do Mark & Matthew use this story?  To show how Jesus is superior.  He is worthy of being followed and listened to.

Me, a Light in the World? 

I want to talk about the alleluia verse, “Shine like lights in the world.” 

After getting ordained at old St. Rita’s in June of 1971, I was sent to Miami to work as a chaplain in the big medical complex known as Jackson Memorial.  It was like Parkland and Southwestern Medical.  

The Jesuits of my southern province had a big parish right in the middle of downtown Miami, and part of the team worked the hospitals.  I was a summer helper and loved it. 

One day after I had been there about a week, a little blond  girl of 10 or 11 was brought into the burn ward.  Ever been in a burn ward, a children’s burn ward?  Tough places.  I spent a lot of time in these wards.

The girl, Anna, had been with her family on a sail boat.  Somewhere along their trip the boat had passed under a bridge.  Anna was standing on the edge of the boat with her back leaning against one of the guy wires.  

As the boat went under the bridge, the mast touched an electrical line.  The electricity went down the mast and the guy wire.  Anna was electrocuted and burned.  Fortunately, she was hurled into the cool water which helped to stop her burns.  

However, her back and the insides of her thighs and legs were seriously burned.  She would stay in Jackson for 2 to 3 months, even after I had to move on.  

I got really close to Anna & her family.  I visited her first & last every day and I was privileged to be allowed by the doctors to hold her hand when her bandages had to be changed.  Her parents had to leave the room.  You know how this is such a high tension time.  It used to leave me shaken.  

I talk about this because the alleluia verse tells us to be lights in the world.  I think this is what it means.  I was privileged to be with that little girl & her family in such a horrible experience.  It is reciprocal: she was a light in my world.

The good news is that Anna finally did leave the hospital all healed up.  I never had the opportunity  to see the family again, but I corresponded for years with the mom.  Somewhere during my time in Africa, the connection got broken.  I know that maybe 15 years later her mom wrote me that Anna had married and had a little kid.

In whose world are you a light today?  

Picture 1:    Mass Begins

Picture 2:    Bethany       

Picture 3:    Miguel

Picture 4:    Delgado Corner with Fred

Picture 5:    Justin

Picture 6:    Emma  

Readings:

Isaiah  55, 10-11,   My word shall not return to me void.

Psalm 65,   The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

Romans 8, 18-23,  We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains.

Matthew  13, 1-23,  A sower went out to sow.

Kevin says, "Welcome, Everybody, It is good to be back home.

Isaiah, The Great One, observations—

Who:  One of the Big 3 prophets, the greatest in my estimation.  Jeremiah and Ezekiel are the other two.  Actually, the book includes the work of 3 prophets.   Our selection is the last chapter written by Isaiah 2.

Time:  Isaiah 2 was living during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555.  Isaiah 1 writes before the Captivity, maybe 150 years.  Isaiah 3 writes after the return to Jerusalem.

Georgie also says, "Hi, Everybody, It is fun to be home again."

Subject today: better times will come.  I am expanding today’s passage, because it is so good.

Isaiah 2 has some of the most beautiful passages, many of which are seen as foretelling the coming of the Savior.  His readings are used all through the Advent & Christmas readings, as well as in Lent.  Handel uses Isaiah 2 in his marvelous work, The Messiah.

Both the Isaiah reading and Psalm 65 are beautiful.  

And Zoe, Tori, and Buddy all say, "Hi, Folks, it is so fun to be back again."

And My Seed Landed Where?

This morning I would like to talk about how Jesus is said to describe how the farmer’s seed is scattered on four different types of ground, the path, the rocks, the thorns, and the fertile.  Where did your seed fall?  Where did my seed fall?  I’m sure a lot of volunteers would be happy to let me know where my seed fell.

If you are a sinful gambler poker player you would look at this explanation and notice the bad odds, one out of four.  I would propose, however, that we all landed on fertile soil.  Let me offer some examples. 

I’ve shared this example once before, so you might remember it, but probably not. 

Cupcake of The Week to John on his birthday.

When I was a little kid about 5 years old, I was playing in the driveway of our house in University Park.  There were no fences and the drive went from the street, through the space between our house and the neighbor’s, and to the back up against the alley. 

The neighbor was Sam Berger, who owned a hat store in downtown Dallas.  He was Jewish and lived next to us all during the Holocaust.  I was oblivious to it all.  He & his wife had a big black lady who not only worked in the house, but lived in the back in an apartment attached to the garage, the servant quarters.  This black lady was not nice to me.

And a Cupcake of The Week to Beth on her birthday.

So this day as I am playing in the driveway, the lady steps out of the kitchen door & stands on the steps.  Without thinking, I say, “You are a big fat elephant.”

To the lady’s credit, she marches right across the drive and tells my mom.  My mom comes out of the house, drags me in, and spanks me.  Thinking back, I am impressed that my mom respected the lady.  The spanking, however, and her treatment of me confirmed my suspicions that my seed had fallen at least on the path or rocks, if not right on the thorns.   I definitely grew up with the belief that I was a bad kid. 

And a Cupcake of The Week to Harper for her 3rd birthday about 3 weeks late.

Despite the fact that you folks might agree with that assessment, I would propose that I was just a normal little boy doing silly things. 

This habit of doing silly, not bad things, can continue into adult years.  I know a guy who gets on his bike and rides off for an hour leaving the driver’s door of his car wide upon. 

I know a lady who last week let her Lincoln run out of gas in rush hour traffic.  Her husband, a bit nettled, brought gas, but then could not start the car.  It had to be towed.

Zoe seriously at work.

I know a dear friend who drove into her garage with a canoe strapped to the top of her car. 

You do this stuff and you begin to believe the bad news, ‘I am a loser, I am bad, my seed obviously landed in the ditch.” 

And then there are the malicious acts.  You know where I come in on this.  Kids hurt and abused grow up to hurt and abuse.  They are not bad.  They are damaged. 

So, who landed on fertile soil?  All of us.  God don’t make bad seed.

So, what do you think about all this?

Emma and her pal say, "It is so nice to be here."

Readings:

Wisdom  9, 13-18,  Who can know God’s counsel?

Psalm 90,  In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

Philemon 1, 9-10, 12-17,  If you regard me as a partner, welcome Onesimus  as you would me.  

Luke 14, 25-33,   If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, he cannot be my disciple.   (Another awful Luke message.  A good one maybe for teens.   Wait for next week, a really good one.)

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

Observations on the book of Wisdom:

What:  Exploration of the meaning and value of wisdom.  The author is the first to express a hope for immortality, a Greek concept.

 Who:  A Greek Jew who wrote probably in Alexandria, Egypt.

Kevin, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Welcome."

Hate my Father and Mother?

I remember one Saturday morning in the summer of 1960.  I was 20 years old and in my second year as a Jesuit intern-novice.   I was also in a pirogue floating down the Calcasieu River in SW LA with one of my best fellow Jesuit novice buddies, Jerry McCaffery from New Orleans.  

Every summer for the 4 years I spent at Grand Coteau we Jesuit interns got to spend 2 weeks at a river camp near the village of Kinder.  For me it was paradise, swimming, boating, living in the two story screened in pavilion, beds on the second floor, dining room and activities on the first.  We were about 50 plus guys. 

Offertory with Bernadette, Richard, and Gil.

As Jerry & I floated down the river that Saturday morning, Jerry told me that at that very moment in New Orleans his brother was getting married.  He could not go.  That was policy.

We were instructed that when we entered the Jesuits we entered a new family and left behind our former family.  So we never went back home, for anything, weddings, funerals, Christmas, Thanksgiving.   The idea was that we were becoming companions of Jesus in a family devoted to that goal. 

The Best Music Team, Shonda, Bethany, and Ray.

This was how the Jesuits put into practice the message today about hating one’s father and mother.  We were not instructed to hate, just refocus our allegiance.   Today I am embarrassed to admit that I bought this message.  The Jesuit training has certainly mellowed since Vatican II.  However, there are still rigid groups & religious orders that take this literally. 

I would propose that this story exemplifies the negative approach to these ideas.  Is there a positive?   I would say ‘yes,’ if you make the father and mother symbols.  Symbols of things that hold me back from being truly alive, truly healthy, and truly spiritual. 

Welcome back, John and Mary Jane, so good to see you with us.  

Also the word hate may be taken as hyperbole or exaggeration. 

Therefore, what about these symbols standing for unhealthy eating, excessive drinking, over work, being lazy, or materialism? 

Certainly, if I had listened to my high school buddies, and even my mom, I confess, I would never have joined the Jesuits.

The Wedding of Lynn and Roger begins.

Likewise, I got a lot of push back about going to East Africa.

And certainly when it came to getting married, did I not get a lot of push back and even condemnation from my dear Jesuits and from the Catholic Church?

Look at the sports page on Saturday morning.  What takes up many of the pages?  High school boys playing football.  How many of these kids had to fight back against their natural tendency to stay in bed and skip practice in the heat?

I, Roger, take you, Lynn, in marriage

So, there can be healthy ways to listen to today’s readings.  No need to take ‘hate’ literally.  No need to take father & mother literally. 

How do you push back against those voices that encourage you to live ultimately less healthily, less spiritually, & less psychologically alive?

Unity Candle.   The wedding took place Saturday at the Little Chapel in The Woods at TWU, Texas Womens' University in Denton.  A delightful and hospitable venue for weddings.

Readings:  

Deuteronomy 4, 32-34, 39-40, Ask from one end of the sky to the other, did anything so great ever happen?

Psalm 33, Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Romans 8, 14-17, The Spirit bears witness to our spirit. 

Matthew 28, 16-20, Behold, I am with all days until the end of the ages.

Observations on the Readings:

1^st reading from Book of Deuteronomy (Chapter 4)

Deuteronomy is the 5^th  book of Bible and of Jewish Torah or Pentateuch. Though traditionally attributed entirely to Moses, modern scholars agree that it is a collection of Jewish traditions, later adapted to nationalistic reform and its final form coming after the Babylonian captivity in late 6^th century BC.

It is written as if from the mouth of Moses, who was considered the greatest of the prophets, for the authority his name gave the book. See last verses of final chapter 34. The most famous verses are Ch 6:4-5: “Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, our God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

3^rd  reading from the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 28)

This book is the second  gospel chronologically, and was written with the Jewish people in mind, to show  a direct connection between the Jewish Law and the Prophets and the teachings
of Jesus.

Homily

This  year we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the
Second Vatican Council in 1962. I recommend the article in the blog by Giovanni Franzone, a former Italian Benedictine Abbot. As an Abbot, he attended the Second Vatican Council as one of the ‘Fathers’ of the council. He is now 86, and his article gives a fresh “I was there” perspective. I want to talk a little today about Vatican II, which has been called the most significant event in the life of the Catholic Church in modern times.

 Pope  John XXIII became Pope following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. Less than a year later, John 23^rd announced that he would call an ecumenical council. You may remember his story of how he had a dream one night in which the church was coming together in a council to renew itself. He awoke thinking what a great idea that was and thinking “I must tell the pope about it.” And then he realized, “Wait a minute, I am the Pope.”

Some of The Jesuit Class of '58, reunion, New Orleans. 2 still active as S.J. priests, one in NY, one in Peru.

So he called the council to  bring together representatives of the church all over the world, including many great minds of the time, and including representatives of other Christian faiths and non-Christian faiths. The two main purposes were “aggiornamento”, a bringing-up-to-date of the Church, and a striving for Christian unity. In answer to someone’s question about the purpose of the council, Pope John once said:
‘to let some fresh air into the Church”. 

I didn’t just honor and give respect to Pope John 23^rd; I loved him—for who he was as a man, and what he did for the church’s world
community. And we also shared the same birth day of November 25^th.

Vatican II continued for a couple more years and eventually

Trinity Sunday Mass at Bob Baxter's house in New Orleans. Cathy Lichliter reading with her husband, Bill, on the left.

documents were approved by the council. Perhaps the five most significant were: The Constitution on the Church, The Decree on Ecumenism, The Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, The Declaration on Religious Liberty, and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Contemporary World. I will say just a little about the first three, and I hope we can look at more of them, and in more detail, during this 50^th anniversary year.

In the Constitution on the Church, the significant updating was, as
Mike said last week, a new (yet old) vision of the church primarily as the
‘People of God’, equal through Baptism, rather than primarily as a hierarchical and clerical structure. 

Gab Session after Mass. A uniquely moving class reunion of 20 plus men who spent many of their early years as Jesuit classmates. Now meeting with their wives.

The Decree on Ecumenism reached out to people of all
faiths and erased the old belief that you had to be Catholic to ‘be saved’—to be with God. Remember we read a lot from some Acts of some Apostles during the Easter Season.

In Chap.10 of Acts Peter said: ‘I can see now that God is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation anyone who reverences him and
does what is right, is acceptable to him.’ In other words, every human being who reaches moral adulthood chooses between what his conscience judges to be right and what his conscience judges to be wrong. If a person makes the basic choice for right as he knows it, he is in fact choosing God.

The Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops included the notion of ‘collegiality’ among bishops with the Pope, that bishops are not just advisors to the Pope, but co-deciders with him and the People of God. The Decree encouraged the formation of regional councils and, all the way down to the parish community level, councils were to be formed to allow participation in decision making by the community from the ground level up. How many of you ever served on a parish community council?

Sunday brunch after Mass

We have good reason to remember the aggiornamento begun by Pope John 23^rd. I remember following the sessions of the council closely with enthusiasm and optimism. My 50^th was last year, so I was ordained the year before the council opened. Stack was just a few years from ordination and no doubt also following it equally closely. Pope John died in 1963 less than a year after he opened the council, and was followed by Pope Paul VI. The article by Abbot Franzone in the blog provides a lot more information about Vatican II and about the role of Paul VI during and after the Council. 

Vatican II is the most significant event in the life of the Catholic Church in modern times. My question today is: how much do we know about it? and how are we living out its updated teachings and its spirit?