6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 16, 2025

 

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles 2, 42-47.   All who believed had all things in common.

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

1 Peter 1, 3-9,   You rejoice with glorious joy.  (Wow, 3 long sentences)

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

 

Homily unavailable this week, sorry.  Next week.

 

Have a good one, John & Rosemary in Dresden

Acts of the Apostles 2:  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

1 Corinthians 12:  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there  are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

John 20:  Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

           

      

 

John Stack Ministries now meets at:  The ArtCentre of Plano, 902 E. 16th St, Plano

 

 

Here are the arrangements for Sandra Pratt:

                       

Celebration of Life:  Thursday, 5/25,  6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

All Saints Catholic Church, Dallas, Fellowship Hall

5231 Meadowcreek Drive, Dallas, TX

 

LIVESTREAM INFORMATION for the Celebration of Life

The livestream will start about 5-10 minutes before it begins, and that is when the livestream will appear at the below links.

The livestream can be accessed at https://www.allsaintsdallas.org/livestream.  If you click on that link right now it will show that the next event is tomorrow’s 9 AM Mass (or today’s mass may still be on)… but that is the spot all livestreams can be found.

We simulcast to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/asccdallas) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@asccdallas).

Christ the King Catholic Church, 

8017 Preston Road, Dallas, TX

 

The streaming info for the funeral Mass is not available yet.

 

Some of our Community members  are in need of special prayers:

 

Jan Keszler  is in Chicago with her Mom who will be 101 on 6/31.  Her Mom  is now in Hospice Care and Jan asks for prayers for her and the family.

 

John Cade's Mother-in-Law, Kaliope, who is 96, fell and broke 2 vertebrae and is in the hospital.

 

Tom and Teresa Quinn were on a  river cruise on the Danube and the second day Tom tested positive for Covid.  They are now in a hotel room in Vienna and Tom is quarantined for 5 days and can't leave the room.  Teresa just hopes she doesn't get it.

 

Readings:                          

Proverbs  8,  22-31, When the Lord established the heavens I was there.

Psalm 8,  Lord, Our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth

Romans 5,1-5,    We have been justified by faith.

John 16, 12-15,  I have much more to tall you

 

John's Homily

The fruits or signs of the Spirit, what you see when a person lives in the Spirit of Jesus, are the behaviors that descrobe love, joy, peace, patience or tolerance, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness or self-control.

I have shared with you in the past my having sisters who no longer speak with one another and the pain this signifies.  Well, this whole past week I have experienced the signs of the Spirit.  Lambrini’s older brother George had never been to Dallas in the 22 years since Lambrini and I were married.

 On the occasion of his mother, Kalliopi’s, 90^th birthday, George agreed to come.  I already knew George as a man of love and joy and peace.  He lives with his wife, on their farm in Pelaponesia near a town called Crimidi.  In addition to love, joy and peace, George demonstrates amazing patience. 

 

 

Guess who lit candles today.

 

 

I’m able to practice patience in some aspects of life, but fall down, especially in the areas of mechanics and technology.  I lose patience with machines that I want to do something they won’t do.  E.g., my lawn mower ‘died’ last year at the beginning of mowing season.  I found someone who would cut my yard for a reasonable cost and didn’t buy a new machine.  This year I took it in and the shop guy said it wasn’t worth fixing, and he could sell me a new one for $300.  When George got here, he little by little found out what was wrong with it, and then fixed each problem, one by one. 

I was amazed.  George reminded me of what Scott Peck said in his classic book, The Road Less Traveled’.  He said that he, like many others, said “I can’t do this or that.”  Peck said what we mean is “I won’t spend the time learning how to do that.”  Anyone graced with normal intelligence can learn to do anything, if we exercise the patience required to learn how.

Then yesterday my family got together to welcome George to Dallas and to celebrate Kalliopi’s and Lambrini’s birthdays.  Lambrini’s sister-in-law Debbie, and her daughter Leah with her one year old son, flew in to be with George and the family.  Our two daughters and grandson Freddie also came.

 

Viking Sea docked at Stockholm, Sweden last night, a Spirit Event.

 

 

I experienced their love and peace and kindness with one another all day long.  Everyone showed their love for Leah’s 1-year old CJ, and Joey’s 5-year old Freddie—total acceptance and joy.  I saw Patience, which includes tolerance, in how the 5 carnivores and 3 vegetarians respected one another and showed great tolerance for our different life choices.  Faithfulness includes self-control, and I experienced this sign of the Spirit in their total lack of judgement in sharing personal stories with each other.  What a day of blessing.

I also experience this ‘Spirit event’ each week when we gather here to celebrate together.  Remember Stack talking about the ‘Christmas event’ and the ‘Easter or Resurrection event’.  At Pentecost time we celebrate the ‘Spirit event’.  Be on the watch for Spirit events; they are happening all the time.   

How do you experience ‘Spirit events’, in yourself and with others?

 

Sunset around 9:00 P.M. Saturday night, Stockholm.  The Ending. 

 

 Yes, we have just returned to Dallas, Ro & Jo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: we are now meeting at Legacy Academy.  We will continue to post this map until after Christmas Eve.

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Brown Family taking over??   Only Zoe on candles, Buddy on Blessing, and Georgie directing the orchestra. 

 

 

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee & juice, and pastries, some bought, some home-made.

Time: 9:30; Celebrate with the Community &  Stack

Place: Legacy Charter School, Accent Drive, Plano, TX 75075

Notice:  Prepare yourself for a Mystery Guest Speaker.

 

 

 

 

Are you people crazy?  Here it is time to change our clocks, a good time to sleep in, and here you are!

 

 

Readings:  

 1 Kings 17, 10-16,  The jar of flour shall not go empty

Psalm 146,  Praise the Lord, my soul.

 Hebrews 7, 23-28,  Once for all he has now appeared

 Mark 12, 38-44,  This poor widow put in more than all the others.

 

     

 

 

Offertory Time with Bill, Marlene, and Cindy.

             

                                               

Community Activities:  

ROMEO MEET: Friday, November 9, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00.  Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in.  

JULIETTE LUNCHEON  December Luncheon TBA 

 

Note 1:  The Meyerson Christmas concert, December 13, Thursday.  Welcome.  Rosemary is filling the list. Tickets are $32.00.

 

 

 

 

Board Meet: is it time again for you to sing, Emma?

 

 

TRUE?

 

Download Cramer Old Folks' perks Blog Oct.24

 

 

 

 

Healing touch for Bern.  Thanks, too, Bernadette for helping with this memorial for the Pittsburgh special people.

 

 

Anything happening in our Catholic World?  

1.   The Caravan.  National Catholic Reporter,  November 3,   https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/theology-en-la-plaza/immigrant-caravan-wave-hope-america?utm_source=NCR+Weekend+Edition+Nov+3-4&utm_campaign=cc&utm_medium=email     

 

 

 

Healing touch for Beth.

 

 

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

 

 

 

 

 

Healing touch for Bernadette's Jewish friend who graced us with her presence this special day.

 

 

JSM Mission-Faith Statement: 

 Help create a Catholic Community that welcomes all God’s People, provides for and challenges spiritual and total growth.

Reaches out to help people who are disadvantaged and make the world we live in a better place to live.

 

 

 

 Peace, Beth, peace, Everybody.

 

 

Readings: Isaiah 7 10-14; Psalm 24, Let the Lord enter, He is King of Glory; Romans 1, 1-7; Matthew 1, 18-24 

Isaiah, a quick review:

Author: remember there are 3 contributors.  This is Isaiah I, composer of chapters 1-39.

Date: ca. 700 before Christ and before the Persians blotted out the northern kingdom, Israel. 

 
 

Today's material: as a sign to the unfaithful people, Isaiah predicts a virgin will conceive, will bear a son, and he shall be named Emmanuel.  Isaiah I is speaking to the Israelites who are going to get annihilated shortly by the Persians.  Matthew uses this passage to authenticate Jesus, saying it refers to him.  The virgin conceiving a god person goes way back in history, at least to the time of the Pharaohs in Egypt.

 

 

Home 

 The afternoon of the second or third day Rosemary & I spent in Hilton Head with her sister & brother in law I was finally rested out.  I decided I got to get some exercise. 

 So I grabbed my favorite bike in the garage, an old American style bike with no gears and a big white wall tires.  It is a sight, but it is great conditioning and much easier to ride than I expected. 

 I took off at about 4:30 knowing that I needed to be home by 5:30 when it would be dark.  And on Hilton Head Island, folks, it is dark at night.  No street lights.  Know why.  Turtle habitat.  Turtles use the beaches to hatch their young and the lights get them disoriented.  Therefore, you can easily see the stars at night, but perhaps not your hand in front of your face when there is no moon. 

 

 The circle ride I make takes about 40 minutes, probably 8-10 miles.  I had gone 15 minutes when I had that sensation.  Something was squishy.  Yes, I had a flat on my rear tire. 

 So I decided to walk it in, instead of calling home for a lift.  I had passed already the more open part of the trail, and had ahead of me the more forested part.  No problem, I know the trail well and light from the houses would guide me.

 Consequently, I’m walking along this long path through the woods and on both sides of me are the forested back yards of houses.  It was chilly, but comfortable.  As I walk along I can see into the kitchens and dens of all these houses, warm, inviting, and homey.

 

 Suddenly I am reminded of other nights walking along behind other houses that were warm, inviting, and homey.  Certainly in Tanzania & Kenya when I lived there.  But also, when I studied the four years in Toronto. 

 At the college in Toronto we had a half mile meandering drive to the main road.  On the right or north of the drive a line of nice middle class homes backed up.  I would walk there in the snow often and long to have a similar house, warm, inviting, and homey.  However, I thought it was not for me as a priest.

 Walking along that path in Hilton Head, I realized I am not lonely or homesick any more.  I am grateful that I do have what I was longing for, thanks to Rosemary and our marriage.  I went home and told her, again.

 

 As we approach one of the more home focused celebrations of our year, we might find that we are more homesick or we might be grateful that we have a place that is warm, inviting, and homey. 

 Where is home for you this Christmas season?

 What do you do to create a home that is warm, inviting, and homey?

 Picture 1:   Ryan lighting the Advent Candle

 Picture 2:   Done!

 Picture 3:   Communion preparation

 Picture 4:    Communion helpers

 Picture 5:    Margarita & Ashley