Readings:  Genesis 18, 20-32; Psalm 138, Lord, on the Day I called for Help, You answered Me; Colossians 2, 12-14; Luke 11, 1-13

Seventeenth Sunday – Reading Notes

The first reading continues from last week’s with the Book of Genesis and shows us a rather interesting twist on the old adage of collective responsibility for a crime, and therefore collective punishment.  This was an accepted principal in early Israel. 

Today’s reading views this principal from the other side.  Can a few good people save the entire community?  We have a wonderful example of a type of prayer, a bargaining prayer.  It reads like a great story and we are left wondering what did happen!  I hope you know what happened!  Remember, Lot’s wife had to look back!

Our second reading continues our readings from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians.  The focus of today’s reading is the contrast between the effectiveness of circumcision and that of baptism, because of Christ’s death on the cross.  Everything is forgiven by that death.

 

 

Seventeenth Sunday – Homily

The main focus in our Gospel reading today is the Our Father.  Remember, in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is on his Journey to Jerusalem.  Luke gives us this section about Jesus praying and his apostles ask him to teach them to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray, and just as any great prophet would be expected to do. 

This prayer is the simplest version we have of the Our Father.  The version in Matthew’s gospel is a little longer, and there is a very early church document called the Didache, which means the Teachings, which has the version used today by most Protestants with the ending “for thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever.”  Luke’s version has two addresses to the Father, May your name be holy, and may your kingdom come,  and three about us; provisions, forgiveness and don’t test us.  The opening section is very similar to the Jewish prayer the Kiddish!

 

Growing up, most of us learned prayers by heart, or rote.  I still find myself using those prayers and they give me a sense of calm.  But if my prayer life stops there then my relationship with God will probably be very childlike. 

I came across a very helpful interview with Sister Joan Chittister on Prayer.  I have included the link to the site at the end of these notes.  She talks about prayer bringing her to a greater awareness of God’s presence around us.  If we look at the actions of Jesus, he was incredibly sensitive to those around him and their needs.  His level of prayer enabled him to know who was suffering and to bring relief to them, whether it was the pain of sins past or of current illness. 

 

As a community I think that we do show awareness to the pains of those around us in our Outreach Ministry.  But the question that should always be asked is, who else needs comforting.  Who around me, either in my home life or work, or in the marketplace could benefit from God’s love, which can only come through one of us. 

Last week John mentioned our desire to be a more welcoming and outreaching community to those who have felt rejected by the “official church” for whatever reason.  Those folks are out there, hurting for want of a loving healing community.  As you continue to pray, to get in touch with the all present God, keep an eye out for those ‘lost or rejected sheep”

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-haag/what-is-prayer-a-conversa_b_603667.html

Picture 1:   Mass with Tony & 2 servers

 

Picture 2:   Tom handing over our monthly donations

 

Picture 3:   Alison & Anthony running the celebration from the entrance

 

Picture 4:   The Sisters, Marlene & Cindy bringing up the bread & wine

 

 

 

Readings:  Sirach 3, 17-29; Psalm 68, God, in Your Goodness, You have made a Home for the Poor;  Hebrews 12, 18-24; Luke 14, 1-14

 

 

Introduction to the Readings

 

 

 

The first reading today is from the Book Sirach, which used to be better known as Ecclesiasticus.  It was written about the year 180 BCE by Jesus, son of Elcazar, son of Sira, and later translated by his grandson into Greek.

 

 

Sirach was a highly respected scribe and teacher, a person who traveled quite a bit, may even have been a diplomat to foreign courts.  Later in his life he started a school in Jerusalem where he tried to pass on to the young people the great love he had of the Scriptures combined with what he had learned from his own experiences about life. 

 

 

 

The book is part of the Wisdom literature and the reason for its older title, Ecclesiasticus is that in the past it was one of the most used and quoted books by the Church!   Our reading today fits well with the topic in the gospels, humility.

 

 

 

The second reading is from the Letter to the Hebrews.  The author is unknown, although for a long period of time it was assumed to be Paul.  But today most scholars agree that the style is too different and the Greek used is the best in the New Testament. 

 

 

 

The overall message of the letter is one of encouragement to hang in and not get too complacent with the faith.  Probably written late in the first century, the main theme is the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus.  This is the letter where we come across the many references to Jesus as the High Priest. 

 

 

 

I sometimes wonder if this focus was due to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (ca. 70 C.E.) and the end of the priesthood as the Jewish people would have known it, and so to fill the void the author holds up Jesus and his sacrifice as the one true sacrifice. 

 

 

 

Another important theme is the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem, and it is on this topic that our reading is taken from for today.

 

 

Homily

 

 

The theme of the readings today is humility.   From a careful reading of the gospel, I am left a little confused because it seems to me that the main point Jesus could be making is how to get more recognition by being humble.  That said, since I have nothing good to say about it, I want instead to take advantage of the fact that today we are going to be baptizing Emma and welcoming her into our community, and so would like to offer some thoughts about baptism. 

 

 

 

If we go right back to the earliest days of Christianity, we find baptism!  Early in Mark’s gospel Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan.  In Matthew’s gospel the apostles are instructed by Jesus just before his ascension to “go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit”.   And through out the Acts of the Apostles it becomes clear that baptism was the way to join this community. 

 

 

 

It was the Rite of Entry!  And all of the people who were being baptized did so after hearing the message or the teaching as Matthew puts it.  If kids were baptized, it was only because the family was joining. 

 

 

 

It wasn’t until the fifth century when St. Augustine stated that only the baptized could get into heaven that the focus and practice shifted.  This of course created a huge pastoral problem for those who died before being baptized.  It was only in the 12^th century that Peter Abelard came up with the notion of Limbo, for those who had died unbaptized. 

 

 

 

One of the consequences of all of this was that religion was taught to kids, and not to adults!!  When was the last time any of you were at a formal class or session on your faith, outside of mass?  Think about it! 

The catholic faith as most of us have it was given at a kid level.  This might have been fine at a time when most adults were not educated beyond the 6^th grade, if even that, but today most adults have at least completed high school and a large number even college. 

 

 

 

Let me be clear, when I take about “faith” I am specifically referring to our personal response to God, our relationship with God.  Our acceptance of the invitation from God, to love God.  The information stuff, the doctrines, etc., are secondary.  When we were baptized as infants, someone else made that decision for us.  Today while Emma is being baptized, can we take a moment to reflect on the decision made for us, and make it for ourselves!  What does it mean in your life today, that you are baptized?

 

 

Picture 1:   Emma's welcome into the community baptism

 

Picture 2:   Emma's family, godparents Bobby & Tanya, parents Tom & Beth

 

Picture 3:   Sisters, Megan & Emely Kite.  Megan off to teach in Spain for a year.

 

Picture 4:  Chloe

 

Picture 5:  Jackie & Cathy accepting from Mike our monthly $2000 donation to the CCAC

 

Readings:    

Jeremiah  31, 7-9,   Shout with joy.

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 men and made their representative before God.

Mark 10, 46-52,  Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the road begging. 

 

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 575 before Christ  (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).

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

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. 575.

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 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: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.

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

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

Leo and Cole

 She Danced through Life

Rosemary & I had the privilege and the honor Thursday to attend the funeral of another noble woman & friend, like Joan, Colleen Romero. 

I calculate that Rosemary & I have known Colleen and her husband for ten years.  We certainly knew them for a couple of years before we got married in 05/05/05.   You will never guess how we met them.  Dancing.

 Somewhere along the line, a group of us noticed that Plano Parks provided a whole variety of adult classes, among them dancing.  So Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette, Beth & Rob , and some others, we all decided, “Let’s go learn to dance.”  And so we met Colleen and Fred.

They were our teachers.  They were elegant, charming, and fun.  I danced with Colleen a number of times.  I would ask Fred how I was learning some special dance.  He would laugh.  Then Colleen would guide me to a point where I got it.

 This is the first thing I see when I remember Colleen.  She danced through life, charming, elegant, smiling, and having fun.  She and Fred were even running dance classes at St. Gabriel parish for adults who had Parkinson’s or coordination problems. 

A  second aspect to Colleen I saw recently.  It was a few weeks back when I got a notice that Colleen was not doing well and was in the hospital.   We had not seen her and Fred for months, maybe a year.  She had been struggling with various joint problems for some time, but this was supposed to be serious.

So, I called her straight up.  She answered.  She sounded groggy and stressed.  In fact, she was experiencing nausea.  So I made it quick, saying I loved her and sent her all my support.  She said this may be her time and that she was okay about it.

A few more days go by and I get another note saying that the word is this really is it.  This time we get in the car and go visit her at Medical City Plano. 

I walk in and find her looking and sounding great.  However, she says this is truly her time, that she wants no special treatment, and that she is totally ready.  She was in that acceptance stage we talk about in stages of dying, the stage of peace.  

Colleen was not like Mark’s Bartimaeus today.  She was not blind.  She could see.  She danced her way through life and when her time approached, she accepted it. 

Like I asked with Joan, how have you been blessed by people like Colleen?

 

 

Readings:

Exodus 3, 1-8, 13-15, The Lord appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush.  (One of the great stories)

Psalm 103,  The Lord is kind and merciful. (One of the great lines)

1 Corinthians 10, 1-6, 10-12,  Do not grumble.

Luke 13, 1-9,  There was a person who had a fig tree.

Exodus observations:

 

What: this is the second book of the Bible and Torah, following Genesis.  It is a story about how the Jewish tribe of people escaped from slavery in Egypt.

Who:  the story is about the Jewish people and their reluctant leader, Moses.  It was put together, not by Moses, as was thought for centuries, but by a group of the priests even centuries later.

When:  it is put together at The Time in Jewish history, yes, during the Babylonian Captivity, say 555 years before Christ.  It is a mostly mythological story about how God helped his special people out of slavery eons before Babylon.  Do you see a parallel between the slavery of Egypt and Babylon?  Could this be a reason for developing the Egypt story, that is, to encourage the people enslaved in Babylon?

Our selection:  like the call stories of Isaiah and Jeremiah, here is another call story, this time Moses.  Unlike the booklet which edits out part of the story, we will read it all.

 

 

Psalm 103 observations:

This psalm has one of my most favorite lines in all of scripture, The Lord is gracious and merciful…. 

There are so many pictures of God presented by the Bible, some of which are quite demanding and unpleasant.  Note, for example, the story of the fig tree in Luke this morning.  Each of us is challenged to put a face on our God according to our own searching and experience.  This line, which is seen in other places in the Bible, is my vision of God.

 

 

Joseph with the Beautiful Coat

I bet you don’t know why the Jewish people ended up in Egypt and became slaves.  This is a Bible story Sunday.  Here we go.  

Let me tell you the story of Joseph with the beautiful coat.  We pick up Joseph living in Canaan, which the Israelites will say later that God gave them.  He lives with his 11 older brothers. 

His father is Jacob, the third of the Big 3, the 3 patriarchs of the Jewish tribe, namely, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or Israel, father, son, & grandson.   Jacob loves his 12^th son in a special way and because of this the other brothers get jealous.  Unfortunately, Joseph has told on his brothers, informing his dad that they are not taking care of the live stock.

 One day Joseph goes looking for his brothers in the fields.  They see him coming and decide they will kill him.  Reuben, the eldest, persuades them to sell Joseph to some guys running a camel train by on their way to Egypt.  Price: 20 pieces of silver.  Sound familiar?

 So Joseph ends up in Egypt and is sold to the captain of the king’s guards.  He does so well the captain puts him in charge of his affairs.  Unfortunately for Joseph, the captain’s wife develops a crush on Joseph.  When Joseph refuses her, she gets mad and tells her husband Joseph tried to seduce her.  Joseph goes to prison.

While in prison he interprets dreams of the prisoners, one of whom is the king’s wine steward and who is released.  For two years Joseph stays in prison.

 One day the king has a dream that worries him.  The wine steward tells the king about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams.  The king calls him, Joseph interprets the dream.   The king loves Joseph and makes him the governor of all of Egypt.  Joseph is now in his 20’s.

Meanwhile, the 11 brothers and Jacob are experiencing severe drought in Canaan.  They decide to go to Egypt and ask the king for aid.  They arrive and are shown to the office of the governor.  Guess whom they see.  Joseph.  They don’t recognize him.  He, however, recognizes them and really messes with them.   Read it, a fun story.

Finally, Joseph reveals who he is with many tears.   Old Jacob and all the brothers reunite with Joseph, who lives in Egypt until he is 110 years old. 

This is how the Israelites got to Egypt.  How they became slaves?  The Bible says not a word, but they did multiply like rabbits to numbers which threatened the security of a later king.  And, then, along comes Moses and our reading this morning.

Why talk about this story?  Three reasons.

1.  We Catholics don’t get the Bible stories read to us.  Even as fables they are marvelous.  It is nice to cover them on occasion.
2. The writers of this story are attempting to convince the Jewish people that God watches over them and protects them.  He watched over Joseph and watched over the enslaved Israelites in Egypt, sending them Moses.  He even watched over Moses.  And Babylon?
3. Finally, in our life we are each challenged to find out who God is, what is his way of proceeding.  These stories give us an image.  And so does my favorite line from Psalm 103.  Read about how God punishes, pays back, demands sacrifice, sends us goats to everlasting fire?  Keep the line near you or in your head,

The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love. 

On this third Sunday of Lent what is your image of God?

 

Video: Cupcakes of The Week to Jackie and Chuck

  

Readings: Entry Reading, Matthew 21, 1-11; Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 22, My God, My God, why have You abandoned me?; Philippians 2, 6-11; Passion, Matthew 26. 

 

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday 2011    

Intro to the Readings

 Today we will be celebrating both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday – two extremes – the one an occasion of great joy and celebration with the palms, when Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem being hailed as King, the other is our reading of the Passion of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel.  Each of the evangelists gives us an account of Jesus’ last days.  It might help to put it into perspective by considering, particularly for those of you who were alive and can remember the assassination of President John Kennedy, the time lapse between the event and the writing of the gospel narratives.  Our views of president Kennedy have been affected by time.  So too the account of Jesus’ death is influenced by the events taking place when these accounts were written.

 

 In brief, Matthew and Mark are very similar and present a Jesus who has been abandoned by all!  The disciples do not come off too well, they fall asleep on him three times, Peter denies him three times, and Jesus’ last words from the cross are “My God, why have you abandoned me. 

For Luke, Jesus is not abandoned, the disciples appear in a much more sympathetic light.   The people are not against Jesus, three times Pilate declares Jesus innocent, and in Luke, Jesus heals the soldier whose ear is cut off.  He prays for the women of Jerusalem, he forgives those who persecute him, promising the good thief heaven and finally prays, ”Into your hands I commend my spirit”. 

 John has a Jesus who is able to declare “I lay down my life and I take it up again, no one takes it from me”.  On the cross his royalty is proclaimed in three languages, Pilate declares him King of the Jews, his Mother and beloved disciple are with him at the foot of the cross, and his final words are “it is finished”. 

 How are we to understand these different presentations?  Not as contradictions but as different sides of a diamond, because we will need Jesus differently in our different circumstances, at different times in our lives.  Sometimes we will feel abandoned, sometimes in need of comfort and other times assured of God’s infinite power.

 

 Homily

I want to use this time for the homily, very briefly.  A question I would have you consider as we listen to the gospel reading today – who are you in those readings? 

Are you one of the crowd on Palm Sunday cheering wildly as Jesus rides into Jerusalem?  Are you one of the disciples who abandoned Jesus when things got tough, or Peter who denied him three times, or Judas who betrayed him?  Are you Pilate, who declares his own innocence by washing his hands of the whole thing? 

 
This may seem a bit of an extreme question, but remember, the way the gospel story is presented by each of the evangelists is colored by the circumstances in which their account has been written.

Picture 1:   The Passion with Claire Occhipinti helping

Picture 2:   The Kiddos, Georgie, Natalie, J.E., and Kendall

Picture 3:   Offertory, Tom & Teresa Quinn

Picture 4:   Communion helpers, Rob & Beth Robinson and Mike Carrell

Picture 5:   Communion helpers, Joanne, Tom & Lynda Fleming 

 

 

Readings:  

 1 Kings, 19, 4-8, Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you.

 Psalm 34, Taste and see the Goodness of rhe Lord

Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2, Be imitators of God and live in love.

John 6, 24-35, I am the bread of life. 

Kings:  a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel.  The Big 3 kings were Saul, David, & his son Solomon.  The 2 Books of kings follows the 2 Books of Samuel, which describe the lives of the the kings up to the death of the Great King David, my favorite.  1 & 2 Kings takes up the life of Solomon, David's son, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, that is, it divides and is conquered. 

Time Period:  from ca. 900 – 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus.

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE. 

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah.  The kingdom has already been split.  Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel.  Time of severe drought.  The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel.  The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.  

There has been a contest in chapter 18: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain.  2 bulls were slaughtered.  Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered.  When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.   

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah.  He is going to run away all depressed.   

We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.   In fact, I want to tell  you the story in Chapter 18, such a special story.    

 

Taste & See the Goodness

This story takes place in Marshalltown, Iowa.  It is the fifth of eight layover towns on our west to east bike ride across Iowa, a trip called Ragbrai (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride across Iowa), 10 thousand people this year, its 40^th.

We had just had a lasagna dinner at a Christian Church in the town center.  We are getting our campsite & gear ready because a storm was predicted.  The temperature had been above 100 and rain & cooler temperatures were approaching.  In fact, we could see big clouds building in the west and heading toward us. 

At 8:30 a shower hit.  8:45 it tapered off.  I took a bag of water bottles to a nearby pavilion to fill them.  I fill them and prepare to return when it went chaotic.  The rain came down in sheets, the wind blew every which way, and suddenly two gigantic gusts blew everything over, tents, bikes, gear.  People poured into the pavilion.

I could not see Rosemary & Aviana, but I know Rosemary well enough.  She can cope & would be okay. 

After 30 minutes of this torrential rain, it began to lessen.  Then the police arrive & tell us we are being evacuated to a school because of tornadoes & hail coming our way.  Not good.

I run & get Rosemary & Aviana.  Our tent has collapsed, so we roll it up wet and put it in the back of the van.  We end up in a Lutheran Church because the school could not fit everyone.   It is dark by now, still raining lightly, but cooler. 

I can still remember entering that Lutheran Church.  First of all, it was air conditioned.  Wow, so nice.  Secondly, the pastor was at the entrance welcoming everyone, saying we could use every room & corner.  We did.  It was wall to wall people.  We all spent the night on the floors, which were carpeted. 

Lying on that floor in the middle of a crowd in the middle of the night, I considered chucking the remainder of our trip.  So much of what we had was soaked.

The next morning about 5:30, however, it was spectacularly beautiful, cool and sunny with light, left over clouds.  People were in great humor.  One guy said to me with a laugh in the parking lot of the church, “It’s just Ragbrai, let’s ride!”  And I did.  And Rosemary did.  And so did Aviana, who had been the queen of those sleeping in the church. 

There were a gazillion lessons that struck me & Rosemary from that adventure.  Let me single out 3. 

First, we were homeless and taken in, sheltered, and shown warm hospitality, by a Lutheran Church.  Yahweh showed hospitality & care for Elijah.  We attempt to show hospitality as a community.  Look at Habitat.  Look at the Katrina refugees.

Secondly, like Ephesians says excellently today, there was no bitterness, anger, fury, or shouting.  In fact, generosity & love emanated from the Lutheran community and we returned it in a small way.

A basket had been put in the back of the church part of the complex and it was filling with $20’s.  Rosemary sent a thank you note to the pastor.

Thirdly, taste & see the goodness of the Lord.  I love this line and what it calls me to.   I could savor the goodness some at the time.  But I had a list later with Rosemary. 

The ability just to ride my bike.  And we got the car fixed easily (dashboard light came on).

The cooler temperatures and the needed rain, which produced a glorious day.

The evacuation so peacefully accepted by so many, and especially the Lutheran Church, which was so gracious.

Folks, we take bunches of trips in our lives.  We taste & see the goodness of the Lord every day.  Occasionally we have an adventure like Marshalltown.   At the time of the adventure and even more so later, we really taste & see the Goodness.

What happened the last time you really tasted and really saw the Goodness?