Sunday Homily for December 2, 2018, 1st Advent , C cycle

 

 

Says Tori, "Welcome in Everybody, and Happy Mother's Day.

 

 

Readings:  

 Acts of the Apostles 1, 15-17, 20-26,  The lot fell upon Matthias.

Psalm 103,  The Lord has set his throne in heaven.

 1 John 4, 11-16,  We must love one another.

 John 17, 11-19,  When I was with them I protected them.

 

 

 

They are back, Everybody.  Welcome Home, Bernadette, to you and Gilbert playing with the kids in the hallway.Welcome home to both of you from your around the world cruise.
 

 

Mother's Day History:

1905-08: Anna Jarvis of West Virginia began this celebration for her mother, Ann, who cared for wounded Civil War soldiers of both sides.  She campaigned to make it a national day and in 1914,  Woodrow Wilson made it national.

The spelling: always singular, according to Anna. 

Hallmark Cards: Anna hated them because she felt you know what.  

 

 

 

 

Welcome in, too, Tom & Teresa.  Are you ready for an around the world Viking cruise?

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day

This morning I would like to tell the story of how on one occasion I attempted to make up to my mom all that she had to put up with in me.  This took place when I must have been about 40, still living and working in East Africa, but on a home leave.  Rosemary says I have shared this story before.  Pardon me if I go here again.  It was one of the highlights of my life.

I had a couple of things I figured I owed her for.  The first was that she thought I was a bad kid, especially that afternoon the University Park Police came to our house looking for me. 

It just happened to be the very day on which my mom was hosting her whole bridge club. 

 

 

 

Sister team, Zoe & Georgie teaming up to light and bless our candles for the week.

 

 

The second was that I did not go to College (I was enrolled at N.D.) 
Instead, I joined the Jesuits in the days when we never came home.  It was seven years before I got back to Dallas, not to go home, but to teach at Jesuit.

To compound this event some 15 years later I agreed to accept an invitation to set up a spiritual center in Nairobi, Kenya.  For at least 5 or 6 years my mom never spoke to the Jesuits in Dallas.  She was convinced I had been sent.

 

 

 

The team special for today on Mother's Day & the special vow renewal.

 

 

So, at about 40 years of age I am on a few months home leave, when my mom asks would I be willing to come to Ireland with her and her two sisters, Kitty and Pauline.  “Sure,” I said.  I would be their driver.

So, we met up in London.  

We went to eat at The Irish Pub where we were seated in the basement.  Half way through the meal a victorious Irish rugby club tromps in.  There was a piano player doing Irish songs at the end of the room on a little platform.  These guys joined in with such gusto that I think they drove the poor guy out.

 

 

 

John reads the closing.

 

 

Guess who took up the piano, my Aunt Pauline from N.Y.  Eventually, all the guys and my girls got up, made a ring around the otherwise now empty basement, we held hands, and with my aunt playing we danced around in a counter clockwise direction.  It was one of the most memorable nights of my life and got us all off to a roaring start.

In Dublin we rented a little red car, took off to the north, and laughed our way through the next ten days.  We drove counter clockwise all the way over to and beyond Shannon.   

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Shonda and Ben, for singing & leading us in The Father will Dance, one of my most favorite hymns.

 

 

Our daily drill was breakfast around 9:00, in the car about 10:00.  At 12:00 we were looking for lunch until 1:00 or 1:30.  3:00 was time for tea, and by 5:00 I had to find a place to stay that was clean, had carpet, and had bathrooms connected to the rooms.  The girls stayed in one room and laughed until they cried every night.  If Ireland were not so small we would never have gotten anywhere.

This was probably the best time I ever had with my mom.

You?  What was the best time?  Or as a mom, what was the best time?

 

 

 

The Blessing of All The Mothers, actual or virtual.

 

 

 The Special Blessing.

 

 

Next Sunday we will have a service for Cody’s son, Caleb,  at 12:30 at the ArtCentre.  Family will be coming into town.  We would like to hep Cody and Shonda during this time by providing some food for the out of towners (15 – 20 persons) to share while here.  If you are able to bring some food to 3622 North Echo Trail, Plano TX 75023  on Saturday at 2:00, it would be appreciated.

Ideas for food:  cheese plates, small sandwiches, salads, pasta, deviled eggs, hors d’oeuvres, the usual luncheon things.

Cody’s Mom will bring dessert.

Thanks to all.

Denni reading from 1 Samuel

Music,   Ben & Shonda

The Kiss of Peace

Expenses: $   550.00

Outreach: $    110.00

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

Dear Lord, please give me

 A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;

A work to do which has real value,
     without which the world would be the poorer;

A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed; 

A sense of humor;

Time for quiet, silent meditation;

The patience to wait for the coming of these things,

Amen.

Anonymous

 

 

 Readings:

 Deuteronomy  30, 10-14,  If only you would heed the voice of the Lord.

Psalm 69,  Turn to the Lord in your need and you will live.

Colossians 1, 15-20,  He is before all things.

Luke 10, 25-37,  A Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.

 

 Deuteronomy observations:

 

The Scene: the desert outside the promised land.  Moses is talking to the people about all that has happened to them since he led them out of Israel and through the desert for many years.  Now, as they prepare to enter, Moses is dying.  He is simply exhorting them to love Yahweh and obey his laws. 

The Author:  not Moses.  A compilation put into three discourses.

Date:  guess when?  Yes, after the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555 before Christ.

Subject today:  Moses talks about a command, but never mentions exactly what it is.  Watch for the answer in today's gospel.  The Great Command.

 

 

The Good Samaritan

I would like to talk a bit about the Good Samaritan parable this morning.

There may have been two meanings.  Initially this parable looks like simply an encouragement to help others, which it is.
 

However, there is a second meaning, perhaps more profound, especially for the Jews who are listening. It has to do with prejudice.

 

The setting. A Jewish lawyer is asking a question about his justification. Where does one draw the line in helping a person? Who is my neighbor? Some observations.

First, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous and plagued with thieves. That this man was alone is significant.  People would travel in groups for safety. Was he an outcast?  Friendless?  Not too
intelligent or not so innocent?

Second, the man was stripped. For the lawyer this would signify that the man was without identity, of no identifiable class. In other words, he might not be anything, not even a Jew. He was Every Person.  A human being.

 

Thirdly, the priest & the Levite (a priestly class). The lawyer would know why they did not stop to help. The Law. They would have been on the way to the temple and they could not cause themselves to be ritually impure or dirty.  In the temple they had to be pure, no contact with dirty people or they could not offer their sacrifice.   Organized religion still follows this practice? 

 

Then, fourth, along comes the Samaritan. To the Jewish lawyer & the Jewish listeners Samaritans were considered scum.  Samaritans were Jews from Israel thought to have intermarried with pagans, i.e., people who did not recognize Yahweh as the name of their God, probably Assyrians after 700.    They did not get swept up in the Babylonian Captivity. They would defile the temple just by entering. In sum, they were vile and dirty, certainly not capable of performing an act of love.

 

But, to the surprise of the lawyer & the audience, it is the Samaritan who performs the act of love.  He even risks his own life by rescuing the man. Jesus further twists the knife by showing how the Samaritan goes beyond the call by setting the man up in an inn and promising to cover all his expenses.

The composer of the parable goes further and plays with two elements used in the temple sacrifice: oil and water.  The Samaritan employs these elements to clean (purify?) the victim.  The author knows what he is suggesting in using these items.

Jesus is responding to the lawyer's question, "Who is my neighbor," by saying "Everybody."  No prejudice.

 

Know anybody like that Samaritan?  How about you?     

Sources, Francis Vanderwall, Jesus, The Parable of God (Francis will speak here September 28-29)

 

                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

Thanks…     

Music,   Ben

Community Finances:   

  Expenses: $    1,290.00

  Outreach: $     380.00

 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Connie, John and Denni help with Communion

 

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people,

A heart that forgives the worst,

A mind that forgets the bad,

And a soul that never loses faith in God.

Author Unknown

 

 

 

Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend.  Don't forget to set your clocks back on Saturday night.