Sunday Homily for December 23, 2018, 4th Advent, C cycle

Rosemary's Blessing:

O God, we thank you for the fact that you have inspired men and women in all nations and in all cultures. We call you different names: some call you Allah; some call you Elohim; some call you Jehovah; some call you Brahma; some call you the Unmoved Mover. But we know that these are all names for one and the same God. Grant that we will follow you and become so committed to your way and your kingdom that we will be able to establish in our lives and in this world a brother and sisterhood, that we will be able to establish here a kingdom of understanding, where men and women will live together as brothers and sisters and respect the dignity and worth of every human being. In the name and spirit of Jesus. Amen.

 

Taken from The prayers of Martin Luther King Jr.  by John Dear appearing in the National Catholic Reporter, January 15, 2013

 

 

 

The Production Team.

 

Thanks to the Team

Music, Shonda & Ben

Readers, Rose & Patricia,  & Buddy, the candle blessing

Eucharistic Prayer & Gospel, John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike & Ben & Becky & Richard & Tom

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Almost time, 9:30

 

Readings:

Exodus, 34, 4-6, 8-9, The Lord, gracious and merciful, rich in kindness & fidelity. 

Daniel (Psalm) 3, Glory & Praise forever.

2 Corinthians  13, 11-13, The Grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

John 3, 16-18,  God so loved the world…

 

 

On air.

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Jim Esparza, the son of Frank & Mary, who just passed Saturday with 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 Jim Esparza, the son of Frank & Mary;   For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;   For Ryan, Rosemary's nephew, who had surgery; For Bill Hammond,    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie;  Shonda's mom;   for Michelle;  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;  Virginia Mattingly

 

 

Becky & Tom.

 

Birthdays:  Shonda (last Week), Deacon Mike ordained '78, Bill Ekes, Alison DeGenova 

Anniversary:  The McClurgs, Diane & Kent, 48 years, & Diane's knee replacement this week.

 

 

 

On air with Ben.

 

This  week's Readings:

 

Download MASS 20 0607 Trinity Readings

 

 

Homily by John Stack

Here it is, folks, that line again, the one that says The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and abounding in love.  That summarizes for me who our God is.

I want to talk this morning about a black lady I knew when I was teaching at Jesuit '65-'68.  She was one of the first important black persons in my life who exemplified this description of God.  You ever heard of Juanita Craft?  A big lady with a big voice and a bigger heart.  She was elected to the Dallas City Council after I had departed Dallas.  She came to my '71 ordination in a police car at the old St. Rita.

Juanita taught me at least 3 lessons.   First she taught me how to take charge and get things done with grace.  This came about because she invited me to join her and about 25 young members of the Dallas NAACP on a greyhound type bus trip to the annual NAACP convention in Atlantic City.  I must admit that I gulped a time or two, then accepted her invitation.  I was the only white guy on that bus.  Juanita charged each of those kids to be the best  & clean that bus every time we got off that bus.

I was impressed as a fellow bus driver at Jesuit.  Never had I instructed my Jesuit kids on the bus to clean up.  I did that after.  Because of Juanita I realized I could organize a planting of 400 trees, put together a group of friends to visit Yosemite, and accept an invitation to work in East Africa.

Because Juanita was abounding in love, she taught me how to ask help from others.  Therefore I wrote to my Jesuit confreres at Georgetown and asked if they could shuttle two dozen black kids around D.C. for a day.  Not only did they supply about 5 cars and guides, they invited the whole bunch of us to dinner in the Jesuit dining room that evening.  The Jesuits were gracious and merciful

 

You will never guess what I did when I returned to Dallas from Atlantic City.   I accepted Juanita's invitation to move into her little house in South Dallas and help her with the NAACP youth group that summer.  I knew then, Black Lives Do Matter.

 

How do Black Lives matter to you?

 

Ben doing the Magic.

 

 

And a repeat:

Birthdays:  Shonda (last week), Bill Ekes, Alison, Deacon Mike ordained '78

Anniversaries:  McClurgs, 48 years & Diane has a knee replacement this week.

 

Communion for Mike.

 

Community Finances, June 7, 2020

Expenses: $825.00

Outreach:  $500.00  (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

This week we donated $1,500 to Soul's Harbor.

 

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Readings:  Wisdom 6, 12-16, Resplendent and unfading is wisdom; Psalm 63, My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord My God; 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18, Console one another; Matthew 25, 1-13, The 10 virgins at the wedding. 

  

    The first reading (Wisdom 6:12-16) informs us that when we lovingly yearn for and seek God’s wisdom we will not be disappointed. This reading is an expectation for the good news of Jesus Christ that we will receive today.

 

(prior to reading the gospel)

Picture the following plausible scenario: A father and mother determined two years earlier that their first son was in need of a wife, and they have been following closely the daughters that have come of age in their extended family when they gather in Jerusalem for the feasts each year.  Together they have chosen one.  The father sends a warm message to the girl’s father, who he knows relatively well, and asks the price he has in mind for his daughter.  They agree on one and set a date for the betrothal. 

    The father and his son arrive and are greeted warmly by her father. In front of the young couple, who have probably never had a conversation with each other, the fathers play their game of coming to the previously agree price—ten cows and a barrel of good wine, some of which the two fathers are now drinking. 

    Once the contract is signed they hand the groom a cup of wine taken specifically from the bottom of the wine the fathers have been drinking. It contains the particles that have settled…from the bitter skin of the grape.  The groom takes a drink from the top of the cup and hands the cup to the young woman. She has practiced what she now does. She downs the rest of the cup as a sign that she agrees to be his wife in good times and in bitter times. 

    The groom now returns to prepare a place for her.  Meanwhile the girl’s bridesmaids prepare her to be ready for his coming.  When they hear the cry that he is coming, they go out to meet him with the bride and her belongings and are led to his father’s house. 

 

(the gospel reading from Matthew 25:1-3)

Chapter 25 is formed from three parables.  This is the first. Their purpose is to give meaning to a teaching that ends Chapter 24 where Christ is teaching that his servants that he has put over other servants have the responsibility to remain wise (righteous) by always being alert to his words.  Each of the three parables gives a different facet of what this means. Since we are told again in this parable that Christ is the bridegroom. We are the bride, for which he paid a great price. His servants have the responsibility to prepare us for Christ’s coming by word and example.

    The dilemma of this parable is that only the wise have taken oil for their lamps.  The wisdom of the parable is that only those who are prepared for Christ’s coming have entered the wedding banquet.  Very briefly, why does the Lord say that he does not know the foolish (unrighteous) bridesmaids who have arrived to the wedding banquet after the door was closed?  In the third parable we are told that the Lord has divided humanity into two groups, the lambs and the goats, the foolish and the wise, those who have lived Christ’s words and those who haven’t. 

    The lambs (those who hear his words and follow them) are the wise who are prepared for his coming. He says to them, ‘I was hungry and thirsty, and you gave me food and drink. I was alone, sick and in prison and you came to visit me.’ And the wise will say, ‘When did we see you hungry and thirsty and fed you, or alone, sick and in prison and visited you.’ The Lord said to them, ‘Whenever you did this to the least among you, you did it to me.’       

    Of course he says to the foolish, ‘Whenever you did not care for the least among you, you did not care for me.’ (Symbolically: ‘You don’t know me, so how can I know you?’) The oil possessed by the wise symbolizes the presence of the Spirit that enlightens the wise, ‘to love one another as Christ loves them.’

 

So today, appropriately, we will be anointing the child of Erin and Payton twice during the baptism ritual with the oils of the Church praying that the Spirit always abides with her.  And I now invite them to bring this child forward with Godparents and other family to stand before the community with their request.

 

            Mike:

 

Erin and Payton, what name have you given to this Child?  (Brooklyn)

 

What do you ask this community for Brooklyn?  (To have her baptized)

 

You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility to bring her up by word and example to live the perfect commandment, ‘To love one another as Christ loves us.’ Therefore, will you accept the responsibility to be one of the wise bridesmaids in today’s gospel reading.  (Yes)

 

Likewise, (Godparents) __________ and __________, will you by word and example give witness to your faith in Christ?  (Yes)

 

Brooklyn, the Christian community welcomes you with great joy.  In its name I claim you for Christ our Lord by the sign of the cross. (+)  I now trace this cross on Brooklyn’s forehead and invite the parents and Godparents to do the same.

 

John:

Brooklyn, we anoint you with the oil of salvation in the name of Christ our Savior, may he strengthen you with his power, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. (+ with oil on the bare chest)

(+ bless the water) We ask you Father, with your Son, to send the Holy Spirit upon this water.  As you are buried with Christ in the death of baptism, rise also with him to newness of life.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(address the community) Let us stand and join with the parents and Godparents in the profession of faith of the Apostles Creed on page 81 of the missal.)

Erin and Payton, is it your will that Brooklyn be baptized in the faith of the Church which we have professed with you?  (yes)

(baptize the child) Brooklyn, I baptize you….

            (Lead the community in applause)

Mike:  Have parents and Godparents return to their seats

 

After the Great Amen

Mike:   I want to invite the parents to bring the newly baptized Brooklyn before us before we say the Lord’s prayer together.

Brooklyn, you are now anointed with the chrism of salvation (+ crown of the head) to be priest, prophet and king.

(have a Godparent place the garment over her) You have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the sign of your Christian dignity.  With family, Godparents, and friends bring that dignity unstained to everlasting life.

(have a God parent light the candle from the candle lit on the altar) Brooklyn, receive the light of Christ.  Parents and Godparents, this candle is entrusted to you to keep burning brightly. See to it by word and example that she walks always as a child of the light.

 

John:   Invite them to join hands and join with the community in the Lord’s Prayer.

 Mike:   Send them back to their seats during the Sign of Peace

Picture 1:    Leo with his momma, Shonda, Bethany, & Ben

Picture 2:    Mike offering the homily

Picture 3:    Brooklyn

Picture 4:    Baptism of Brooklyn

Picture 5:    Baptism with Mike

Picture 6:    Sienna with Brian

 

• Intro to Readings:

   

  Psalm 103 – In Psalm 103 we hear the psalmist’s description

  of God. This same verse is also in psalm 86 and 145, and in Exodus

   

  Ch 34 and Jonah Ch 4. It’s no wonder that, hearing these words,

  thanksgiving became one of the hallmarks of Christian communities.

   

  First Corinthians: Ch 1 Paul opens his letter to the

  Christian community in Corinth by giving thanks for the

  abundance of spiritual blessings they have received.

   

  Luke, in his Gospel, Ch 17, highlights how thanksgiving is

  the way to acknowledge blessings in our daily lives.

   

   

   

  Homily:

   

  Marv Knox is field coordinator for Fellowship Southwest, a

  ministry that provides services for people in the Rio Grande

  Valley, including refugees at the border, kids in public schools,

  disaster relief, and helping people avoid the unjust system of

  payday loans. His article in the Morning News on Friday inspired

  me. He wrote of the similarity between giving thanks and counting

  blessings. He proposes counting our blessings, as we do here

  every Sunday. People pretty much agree we’ve been living

  through hard times.

   

   It’s clear we are a nation divided. Some are still waiting to

  know the outcome of political races; when people are

  divided almost 50-50, counting and re-counting votes takes

  a lot of time.

   We’re still hearing of the forest-fire body counts, with

  hundreds still missing and unaccounted for.

   Refugees the world over, and at our own border, are hoping

  and asking for safety from danger.

   The chaos in Europe and confusion in our western alliance.
   Experiencing the results of global warming, with increased

  intensity and frequency of storms, floods and fires.

   The dropping and shaky stock market.

   The threat again of nuclear aggression from North Korea.

   These hard times, of course, are societal, shared by all;

  there are also the personal hard times we each live with,

  e.g., living with my sisters’ hurt and inability to speak with

  one another. You know your hard time—the anxiety, hurt,

  sadness or trauma you live with.

   

  Counting blessings moves our focus from the dark to the light.

  It helps us see what’s going right, even while we know much is

  going wrong.

   

  Counting blessings turns our attention away from ourselves to

  acknowledge the helpful actions of others.

   

  Counting blessings gives us hope. As we count blessings—

  and give thanks—we see that God is unchanging—ever faithful,

  loving, and abounding in kindness.

   

  Today, like every Sunday, we counted blessings in our lives.

  Imagine, rather than writing his letter to the Christian community

  in Corinth (Greece), Paul wrote to this Christian community,

  saying: I give thanks for your openness to God. There’s no end to

  what has happened in you; it’s beyond speech. The truth of Jesus

  has been clearly verified in your lives…. God will never give up on

  you. Never forget that.”

   

  So: How have you opened your eyes and minds to see and count

  blessings in your life?

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," sez Crazy Patricia.

 

Readings: 

1 Samuel 2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23,   I would not harm the Lord's anointed.  

Psalm 103,  The Lord is kind & merciful. (a good one, a favorite line)

1 Corinthians 15, 45-49,    The first man was from earth; the second from heaven.

Luke 6,  27-38, Do good to those who hate you.

 

 

 

" Welcome in, Everybody," from the whole team.

 

Observations  on 1 Samuel

Our 1st reading today is from the first book  in a fun & interesting 4 book series which is somewhat historical, somewhat metaphorical & imaginative.

The books: 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings.  The first two books center on 3 main characters, the first ever kings of the Israelites, namely Samuel, the first king, Saul, the 2^nd king, an insecure, jealous, and paranoiac man, and the Great King David, a colorful character. 

Ever hear of Bathsheba?   Check out David in 2 Samuel.

 

 

John reading his marvelous updating of today's Gospel.

 

The last 2 books, 1 & 2 Kings, describe the beautiful times of Solomon and the building of the temple.  The final book of the 4 describes the bad ways of the people which lead to the bad days of the Babylonian captivity.

Estimated time of composition, ca, 555, during the Babylonian Captivity.

 

 

Wake up, John.  Punch him, Karen.

 

Homily, February 24

When I was studying  theology in Toronto from ’68-’72, the fall of my second year we had to take a course in moral theology.  We were part of a consortium of seminarians.  We Jesuits were the biggest group with ca. 40 guys.  There were probably 6-8 other groups, even some individuals.   All guys.

We Jesuits lived in a large building in a northern suburb called Willowdale.  There were four classes with a total of probably 200, plus 6-8 Jesuit professors.  We had classes on the down town campus of U. of Toronto.  

 

 

Our bread baker and hostess with the mostest welcoming everybody to communion.

 

The fall of my second year our class had to take a course in moral theology.   Fundamentally it was how to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Confession, plus other moral questions.  For example, like torture, capital punishment, abortion.

The professor of this rather large class was a young Jesuit priest just graduated from Harvard, named Bryan.  I honestly don’t remember his last name.  Bryan was sharp, liberal, and not blessed with public relations skills. 

 

 

And hiding behind John, Allen & Aggie.

 

Bryan put off the majority of the class and a group even came to complain to him.  What did Bryan do?  He told them if they did not like him or his presentations, they could go somewhere else.  He did this with more blunt language than I use here.  So all these guys boycotted his class.

I give all this information as background to my interaction with Bryan in the spring semester of that same academic year.

 

 

Would someone please sit with Sandra.

 

At the end of our third year the Jesuit program normally had the moral theology exam.  Since my class had already covered the class requirements, some of us thought we would like to take the moral theology exam at the end of the second year.   Get it off the agenda.

So I get elected to go make the request to, take a guess, Bryan.  He not only denies my request and tells me to wait until the end of year 3, he tells me if I & my buddies do it anyway, he will flunk us all.   We did and he did.   I even went to the Jesuit rector to complain before we took the exam, which, incidentally was in Latin before a board of 3 of the Jesuit faculty.

So, if I am supposed to love my enemies, do I have to love Brian?   Yes.

 

 

Welcome Home, Beth, our Colorado Snow Bird of the Week.

 

Two comments.  We are dealing here in Luke with infinite demand.

At the same time, we are offered infinite acceptance.  For example, my favorite line showing up this morning in the Psalm, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in kindness. 

 

 

Help is on the way, Hugh.

Readings:  Sirach 27, 30-28, 7; Psalm 103, The Lord is Kind and Merciful, Slow to Anger, and Rich in Compassion (terrific line!); Romans 14, 7-9; Matthew 18, 21-35

 

Sirach: 3 observations

          1. Time: about 200-175 B.C. 

          2,  Author:  a Jewish scribe, called “The Philosopher,” wrote in Hebrew.

          3.  Subject: with its injustices and sufferings, life is useless.  He can’t understand the ways of God and says so.  Thus, his work is negative and depressing.  However, he advises people to work, and to enjoy the gifts of God as much and as long as possible.  

Get ready: in connection with our commemoration today the selection is powerful.

  
 

In Memoriam, 9-11 

At 7:30 that morning I was celebrating Mass in the Jesuit community chapel.  Rosemary was there.  Mary Ellen was there.  Sheila Madigan was there.  Plus a dozen others.

It was 8:00 when we finished and Fr. Jack Deeves who had been watching TV in the Jesuit community room across the hall before his first class, said a plane had hit one of the towers.  Being from NY, Rosemary was immediately interested and she and Mary Ellen joined Jack and they saw the second plane.

Remember where you were at this same moment?

 
 

So how has your spirit handled this event over the past 10 years?   What is a healthy response? 

Sorry to tell you this, but it is in the readings today, forgive, forgive, & forgive 77 times.   

3 Considerations: forgive big things, forgive little things, and the process.

    First, I have not had a lot of big bad things happen in my life.  Certainly, 9-11 is the biggest, and that did not touch me personally.  Are these readings serious about forgiving these guys?  Forgiving Osama bin Laden?  Yes and yes. 

The forgiveness is not for these guys.  It is for myself, for my own health, for my own inner peace.  Otherwise, I remain an angry person and I act out this anger like Mark Stroman who walked into the gas station on Buckner Blvd. Sept. 21. 

 He asked Rais Bhuiyan of Bangladesh where he came from.  Then he pulled up his double barrel shot gun and shot him in the face.  He also killed 2 other people. 

Is this not a metaphor?

 

    Secondly, little things.  They happen every day to us.  Road ragers, like the guy that Sunday morning in his Mercedes who got so impatient with my driving onto north bound Central that he floored it by us and waved sweet hand signals at us.  Sunday morning on our way to Vines.

If I am carrying a load of anger, it will leak out.  It will especially touch people closest to me.  I will overreact.  It has to be dealt with or I remain its victim.

    Thirdly, the process.  What do I do?  You’ve heard me describe this before.  Two things. 

          First, I talk about it with people whom I trust or with a therapist.  I got to talk about it.  Look for the feeling under the anger.  Often it is hurt.  Maybe hatred as in this event.  I could also be hurt by my friend or my parents or coach.   Forgiveness probably won't come here.

 

        Secondly, I got to stop talking about the hurt and put it out of my mind.  When I got kicked out of East Africa, I came home hurt.  I talked about it for a good while until I realized that talking about it was getting me worked up & I was far from forgiving.  I had to stop talking and put it out of my mind.  A few years later I realized I could talk about it without the toxicity and the anger.   I have forgiven and am at peace.

Today we remember and honor the people lost & hurt in 9-11.  Rais Bhuiyan obviously came to a peaceful place with the man who shot him in the face and took his right eye. 

We have his and many others' examples.  Moreover, we are told that we have a God who is gracious & merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

 

On a scale of 1 to 5 where is your anger and where is your peace of spirit with the events of 9-11?

Reference on Rais Bhuiyan: neighborsgo.com, 9-9-11, Dallas Morning News, special weekly on Richardson, North Dallas, & Lake Highlands, p. 16.

Picture 1:    Mass Begins

Picture 2:    Offertory with Christine & her daughter, Megan, Grandmom Diane, & Betty

Picture 3:    Sienna & her sister,

Picture 4:    Sienna & her sister, 

Picture 5:    Brooklyn with Brian & Payton & Erin   

Picture 6:    The Gang, Mike & John & Geri

Readings:

Acts 2, 42-47,  Awe came upon everyone.

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

1 Peter  1, 3-9,  Although you have not seen him, you love him.

John  20, 19-31,  Unless I see the marks of the nails.

 

 

Observations 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: Luke describes and idyllic community, not a real community.  This was utopia, a vision Plato had of the perfect community.  It reminds me of advertisements Rosemary & I get for idyllic retirement communities, beautiful elderly people, smiling, hiking, enjoying excellent meals in charming dining rooms, all in perfect harmony.   Look at the struggles Peter & Paul had with each other’s view of Christianity and you get a view of today’s Christianity.

1 Peter observations:

Peter is writing to the first Christians in what is today Turkey and, get this, Syria.  He is encouraging them in their struggles.

Sources: Jerusalem Bible, Wikipedia

 

 

 The Doubting Thomas Syndrome

This morning I would like to talk about the Doubting Thomas Syndrome.  The syndrome is usually dealt with like a sickness.  The medication and remedy, ‘Don’t doubt, just believe.’  I have heard this since I was a kid in Christ the King school.

The problem with this, of course, is that the remedy is really an invitation to hat check my God given, marvelous intelligence at the door.  A don’t think dictum.  Let me offer an example of how this can put you in an unpleasant mind set. 

 

 

You all know that I have been studying French since I was recuperating from my two new hips in 2010.  You also know that Rosemary & I just returned a week ago from 11 days in France.   I am sure you have also heard and believe probably the common opinion that French are all snobby and rude.  Here is what I saw on one occasion.

Rosemary and I are in a small market, like a small supermarket about the size of one of our convenience stores, but bigger and more like our supermarkets.   I get about 6 bananas and Rosemary gets some things for her evening snack.  It is about 5 P.M., so a number shoppers are wandering around.

 

 

Once we have everything we want and have wandered the store enough, we get into the checkout line.  A young girl is there checking out, very polite and cordial.  I chat her up in French.  The items are scanned just like here until she gets to my six bananas. 

She holds them up, looks them over, and indicates something on the bananas.   Turns out it is not something on the bananas, but something missing, the cost, which should have been calculated back in the little produce department.

 

 

This is all going on in French, of which I suddenly can’t remember squat.  There is a line now of about 3-4 others behind us.  I get the idea finally, but I don’t know where the scale is to calculate the price. I can see us holding up the line for ten minutes while I wander the produce department.

Suddenly, the professional looking French man behind us says in English he knows what to do and would be happy to solve the problem in a minute.  Which he does and we check out.  We depart with wishes to have a nice visit from people around us.   Nobody was impatient.

 

I was most touched and thought, ‘So much for the word around that all French are snobby and rude.’   Certainly these folks were just the contrary.

This exemplifies in a small way how beliefs can be one hundred and eighty degrees off.  We will never know the truth if we simply have faith. 

My Jesuit training pushed us to question, investigate, and to doubt.  The alternative is to hat check my God given, marvelous intelligence at the door.   

 

 

Got no doubts?  Robots & drones have no doubts.  They just do what they are told by someone else.

Got some good, healthy doubts?  How do you handle them?