Sunday Homily, October 22, 2017, 29th Ordinary Time

 

 

Says Harper, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Readings:

Isaiah 61, 1-2, 10-11,   He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.  (Wow!)

Luke 1,  My soul rejoices in my God  (The Magnificat)

1 Thessalonians 5, 16-24,  Rejoice always.

John, 1, 6-8, 19-28  A man named John was sent from God.

 

 

 

And Welcome in to you two, Joe & Brent.

 

Isaiah observations– 

Who:   This is Isaiah 3.  Isaiah  1 goes to Chap. 39, Isaiah 2 goes 40-55.  From 40 on we have what is called the Book of Comfort.  Our selection today is all about comfort.  The writer is consoling the Hebrews after returning from Babylon to a destroyed Jerusalem  around 555 before Christ.

The first marvelous couple of verses are repeated more or less in Isaiah 42, i.e.,  Isaiah 2.  Also, Luke puts these words into Jesus mouth in chapter 4 of his gospel.

 

 

 

 

 

Tara, Welcome into the U.S from Iran and welcome to our Community.

 

 

 

Advent Wreaths: This little liturgical practice came to the Catholic liturgy, believe it or not, from the German Lutherans in the 1500's, the time of Martin Luther.  It was more than just decoration.  The circle symbolized eternity.  The greens, Christian life in a dead time of the year.  The candles represent each of the 4 weeks of Advent, each candle symbolizing the greater light brought by Christ.  Their color purple symbolized penance and purification for the Coming.  The Rose  candle says, 'We are almost there!

 

 

 

 

Zoe, Our Candle Lighter of The Week, lighting all 4 candles for Advent.
 

 

 

Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor

In the spirit of Advent, which means in Latin bring to or come to (the Lord), I want to tell you two more stories of being touched by goodness and feeling the Lord’s presence. 

I am a member of the Dallas North Rotary.  I have been a member since ca.1990, when I was adjusting to life in Dallas after the years in East Africa.  A guy invited me one time and I never stopped going.  Mostly because I have some good friends there, not that I even eat lunch.

 

 

 

 

Vesting up with the help of Jackie & Georgie.

 

 

Last Tuesday we were having our usual lunch at a delightful little café called Greek Isles on the southwest corner of Preston & Royal.  We were taking a few minutes to share brags or special news. 

One guy named Jerry, who may have been a college professor and who may be older than I am, unlikely as that may seem.  Jerry is telling how he went to the Chase Bank on the Northeast corner of Preston & Royal.  He comes out and notices a low tire.  He pulls a screw out of it, drives to the Exxon convenience store across the street, and discovers that the air pump is broken.

 

 

 

 

The Minor Elevation

 

 

So he leaves his car by the pump and walks over to attend the Rotary luncheon.   I don’t think Jerry has the skill or strength to put on his spare tire.

 I confess that at this point I am thinking that I could run over and put his spare on with no problem.  But I know I did not want to volunteer.  I did not want to leave the people and I did not want to spend the time after the luncheon.

 

 

 

 

Guess what is coming!

 

 

Suddenly, before my conscience kicks in, a guy named Gus says he can do it right away.  He gets up, leaves his lunch, and gets the keys from Jerry.   Out of the room he goes.  Gus just happens to be the gregarious, outgoing owner of the Greek Isles.  I was touched at his gesture and embarrassed at mine.

For me, an Advent moment.

An amusing footnote.  Gus is the owner of the café, but his son, Chris is the manager.  Gus gave the keys to Chris and I suppose it was Chris who eventually put the spare on Jerry’s car.

 

 

 

 

Can it get better that this, mom & daughter, Beth & Emma.

 

The second Advent moment was Thursday night at the Meyerson, the whole event.   Rosemary & I have gone to this Christmas concert for 20 years and every year I am so moved.  It was again this year a visual feast as well as an auditory feast.  Moreover, I was there with over thirty of my best friends.

It could have been better only if Rosemary might have made it.   That she did stay home in bed to recuperate from her congestion was a blessing in itself.

Another Advent event.

Yours?

 

 

 Kevin is home from college, Everybody, yeah, along with his mom & dad, Connie & John, and special friend, Sandra.

 

 

 

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

 

 

Readings:

Jeremiah  20, 7-9,    You duped me, Lord, and I let myself be duped

Psalm 63,   My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Roman s 12, 1-2,  Do not conform yourselves to this age.

Matthew 16, 21-27,  Whoever wishes to come after me, must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  

 

 

 

And Harper, too, says, "Come in, Folks.  Take this chair."

 

Jeremiah observations–

What:  I think Jeremiah is my second favorite O.T. prophet, behind Isaiah, mostly because he makes whining and complaining into an art form.  I need to take lessons from him.  Not that he did not have enough to complain about.   Jeremiah is one of the Big 3 with Isaiah and Ezekiel.  He is called the ‘broken hearted prophet.’  Here is why.

Time:  Jeremiah lived and prophesied in Jerusalem around 600 before Christ.  Why is this important?  It is some 50 years before the Babylonian Captivity.  Jeremiah had a heart rending life predicting punishment of death and destruction for the Hebrews for their sinful, selfish ways.  Jeremiah predicted disaster, and disaster came in the person of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon-Bagdad.

Jeremiah wore a wooden yoke as a visual aid to his message.  He may have been ultimately killed by the Hebrews.

Today:  Jeremiah is in top form.

 

 

 

The Best Music, even though they are slacking off, Wendy & Ben.

 

Deny Yourself, Take up Your Cross, and Follow Me

I want to talk this morning, folks, about the line in Matthew, Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.  I confess right off, I hate this line.  Can you imagine a loving God creating people to deny themselves and take up a life of suffering? 

Matthew’s line can be very tricky.  It can be approached healthily or in a rather sick way.  I can witness to the latter in my own life.  I have already described how as a young Jesuit I was expected to do penance and deny myself in various ways, like the practice of using little whips to scourge our backs and little chains with points to wear around our thighs.  This was supposed to bring me closer to God.

 

 

Two Very Special People, Wendy & Brandon 

 

 

I can laugh at this now, but I am humbled at how easily I can be snookered.  When I read this line and others like it in the Bible and remember my experiences, I now see the presence of an ancient philosophy that still influences a lot of religious activity today.  The philosophy: dualism. 

The idea is simple.  Reality comes in pairs, hot & cold, dark & light, order & chaos, and, in particular for this discussion, body & soul or flesh & spirit.  So far so good. 

 

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of The Week, Sophia (Ben's daughter).

 

The trouble enters with a judgment about the flesh & spirit.  Specifically, flesh is bad, spirit is good, superior.  Consequently, so that my spirit may reach an elevated plane of purity & perfection, and ultimately closer union with God, I attempt to subdue my flesh by disregarding the body's needs, ultimately aiming to live without it.  Do not give in to pleasure.  How about that!

A couple of facts.  Dualism is identified as far back as 1000 years B.C. and came out of Zoroastrianism, a religion that worshiped one god and believed in an afterlife.  Did it come from Egypt as so much did at that time?  No, from Persia, the area we call Iran today.  Zoroastrianism was widespread until Muhammad arrived on the scene around 650 and established Islam.  Through the ages lots of people picked up on dualism, for example, Plato, Augustine, Descartes, and the early Christians, like Matthew.

However, there is a healthy approach to the line.  A story to exemplify the healthy.

 

 

 

 

Welcome back Vivi, Quera, & Mikala, Teresa and Tom's grandkids.

 

 

Way back when I was living at Jesuit and working as a psychotherapist, a single, divorced mother came with her son, Michael, one day and basically said, “help!”  She had a really active boy about 3^rd grade.  He and his neighbor buddy, a black kid, used to race around our neighborhood and the high school on their bikes.  Great kids.

The years passed and I got to know Michael really well.  One afternoon when Michael was in 7^th grade at St. Monica, we were watering trees with the white truck and the old red water trailer.  I don’t remember who was driving us along the medians, but at one point I can remember to this day, he said to me that if he did not make the entrance exam at Jesuit, his life was no good.  

 

 

 

Let me not ask what these 3 are up to.

 

I did not say anything at the moment.  But later I told him that thinking was baloney.  I said Jesuit did not want kids who said their lives were no good.  If he made it, Jesuit would be a better place.  If he did not, another school would be a better place because they had a tremendous gift in their school. 

He did not get in. 

So Michael went to Bishop Dunne.  He played sports, worked hard to make good grades, and kept in contact with a neat guy who was the admissions director at Jesuit.

He got in as a sophomore.  He did excellently.

 

 

 

The Offertory with Louis & Sandra, John & Mary Jane

 

Next Michael wanted to go to A&M and join the corps.  He did not get in.  He does not test well.  So he went to Tech and joined the Air Force ROTC.  After 4 years there he invited me to the ceremony where he was to get his lieutenant bars.  

The ceremony was in a big auditorium.  Michael was the last.  On the stage with him were his mom and his girl friend, Lydia.  At one point in his personal ceremony Michael turns to the whole auditorium, asks their patience for a moment, turns back to Lydia, drops on a knee, and asks her to marry him. 

Talk about blowing the roof off of the auditorium.  Everybody went crazy.  She said yes. 

 

 

 

It does not get better than this, Vivi, Quera, and Mikala.

 

Now, Michael has long finished his flight training, part of which took place right up at the scene of the Hotter N’ Hell, Wichita Falls.  He has been stationed all over the world, like Aviano, Italy, where we got the name of our dog, Aviana, after a visit there.   He has a little boy and a girl, a beautiful wife in Lydia, and a platinum career as a jet pilot.  

Michael has denied himself a lot of quite legitimate pleasures to achieve some healthy goals.  Even now he continues to keep himself in good physical and intellectual shape.  

So, how do you deny yourself and take up a cross? 

 

 

Best buddies, Sophia and Emma.
 

 

Readings: Isaiah 9, 1-6; Psalm 96; Titus 2, 11-14, Luke 2, 1-14.

Isaiah: This is another of the great visions of Isaiah 1.  This comes from one of our ancestors who was reflecting some 800 years B.C.  We have enjoyed Isaiah all the four Sundays of Advent because of his marvelous vision.

The Gift of Life

Last Thursday I was at Baylor Hospital ca. 5:30 in the morning.  I was there to give a hug and a blessing to a woman & a friend who was coming to have an operation.  She was donating her left kidney to her sister in law. 

She naturally had some anxiety and we had talked about this earlier.  I felt privileged to be there with her.

Two comments on this event: the receiving & the giving. 

First, we are celebrating this evening the fact that we are the recipients of life.  My friend’s sister in law received life, rather dramatically.  Our parents gave us life, our teachers give us life, our companions give us life, you people give me life, God gives us life.  Even every day.

Secondly, like my friend, we are invited to give life, sometimes as dramatically, sometimes in small ways, probably daily.  In fact, without giving life, we likely stagnate.  This generation of life often involves anxiety, discipline, sacrifice, and pain.  Guess what: giving my life is reciprocal, i.e., I usually get back more than I give.

Looking back at 2007, what was the biggest way you received life & gave life?  And this year?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-12-24.mp3

Readings:

 Ezekiel, 34, 11-12, 15-17, As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. 

 Psalm 23,   The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. (good one)

1 Corinthians 15, 20-26, 28,  Christ has been raised.

Matthew 25, 31-46,  He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 

 

Ezekiel  observations and reminders:

I've mentioned how Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 Prophets, #3 after Isaiah & Jeremiah, 48 chapters vs 66 in Isaiah.  I also mentioned how he lived smack dab in the middle of one of the two or three biggest tragedies of the Jewish people, the Babylonian captivity, say 555 before Christ.  He was there.

In American history we can look back and identify special presidential leaders, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt.  They came forward in crisis times. 

Ezekiel was this type of leader in Jewish history.  He saw what had happened to other Jews of the northern province of Israel (Jerusalem is in the southern province of Judah) after they had been carted off as slaves after a defeat by the Assyrians (Syria still).  They intermarried and simply disappeared in the DNA of the middle east.

Ezekiel is in Babylon and is determined that his community would not lose its identity.  He did three things to help maintain the spirit of the community: he emphasized  1. observance of the Sabbath, 2. kosher diet, and 3. male circumcision.

 

 

Eventually after ca. 50 years the community still was a cohesive unit and it returned to rebuild Jerusalem, at least the second or third generation.  The Jews are one of the few peoples to be defeated and scattered, and still return to their original homeland.  They remained there until the Romans defeated them in 70 C.E., returning when?  1948, after the Holocaust.

Today's reading comes to us from an Ezekiel captive in Babylon, and has Ezekiel promising the people a return, a brighter day after the captivity.  He uses the figure of speech, I will.  But I is Yahweh. 

Note on both Ezekiel, Psalm 23, and Matthew: There are two consoling readings this morning, Ezekiel and Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.  

At the very end of Ezekiel’s consoling passage and in Matthew there is talk of the sheep and goats.  Beware of taking this literally.  This is either/or spirituality.  Guess what: we are all goats.  I see heaven full of both sheep and goats.  And I can’t find any evidence of hell.

 

 

 Thanksgiving History: Everyone knows about the first Thanksgiving in 1602 with the Pilgrims and the Indians eating together, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock.  

When did our Thanksgiving begin?  Our ancestors have celebrated end of harvest feasts of gratitude for centuries.  Lincoln first focused on a national feast; FDR established the national holiday in 1941. 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

This morning I would like to talk about Thanksgiving and in particular I would like to tell you about my top three blessings of the year.

Rosemary & I have a habit at the end of the year of writing down all our blessings and gifts of the year.  We usually begin tagging them at Thanksgiving.  And since she is in Princeton, NJ, for her niece’s wedding, I get to say things about her I would not admit if she were here. 

Looking back over the year I have a ton of blessings, but in particular I have three I would like to mention.

 

 

Guess what number One is.  Yep, Rosemary.  I know, and Rosemary reminds me frequently, yes, I married up.  But this marriage  with Rosemary is one of the 3 biggest blessings of my whole life.  10 years in East Africa and my Jesuit career are the other 2. 

You people should have told me how good it can be.  I know, for sure,  all of you gave Rosemary about a year before she had enough of the old geezer bachelor.  However, because of living in community my 40 odd years as a Jesuit I really never was a bachelor.  I loved living in a community with other guys, like in a fraternity.   But it does not come close to life with Rosemary.  And this May we celebrate 10 years. 

 

 

 

My third blessing of the year is my splendid summer filled with fun events.  It started, as usual, with our 5 Boro bike tour of NY with the McGinn family reunion.  The next big one was the bike ride across Iowa with Bill Hammond and about 15 thousand others.  This event is like 8 days of 4^th of July, all the little towns overflowing with spirit and hospitality.  I just try to slow the clock down and absorb it all.

Then comes the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred bike ride the last Saturday of August, out of Wichita Falls.  This takes preparation and planning on how to survive.  Finishing that event produces such a spirit high in me.

 

 

 

Then in September came our 8 night back pack trip in Yosemite, my favorite National Park among all the ones I have seen.  This was as fun as ever, the campfires, the meals, the views, the quickie bath in the cold river or stream after a sweaty hike, and the exhilaration of climbing into my tent and and into my down sleeping bag on a near freezing night at about 10 thousand feet.

Finally there was the Viking River cruise on the Danube with Rosemary.  I love riding trains.  But, listening to the water swish by our cabin window beat the train by a mile.  And more beauty.

Can summer get better than this?

 

 

 

And the final blessing, number two, this marvelous community, you people.  When I departed to get married, I never expected to be doing this, especially 10 years later.  I thought it was over.  You people are a treasure in my life and I will continue to celebrate with you like this until I get called to the heavenly homestead.  You are so much fun and make my life so rich.  Thank you.

And your Blessings of The Year? 

 

 

 

 

 Readings:

Isaiah 6, 1-8,  Whom shall I send?  Send me.

Psalm 138,  In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praises, Lord.

1 Corinthians 15, 1-11, I am the least of the apostles.

Luke 5, 1-11, They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

 

Leo and his best pacifier, John

For those who don’t have a decent Bible or a book of the readings, here are two links that I use,

The Bible at Your Fingertips (http://st-luke-church.org/bible-at-finger-tips.php) and USCCB, The New American Bible (http://www.usccb.org/).  

The difference?  The first is Protestant more or less, and the second is officially Catholic and has the 12 little books in between the O.T. & N.T., called Deuterocanonical or Apocrypha. 

Both are good translations. 

Buying a bible?  The Jerusalem Bible. 

 Isaiah 1

This is The Great One.  The Prophet.  My favorite.  In general, this work has three parts put together by three different people.  It is time dependent: before, during, and after the, you guessed it, the Babylonian Captivity.  Keep 500 before Christ in mind as an easy date. 

Last week we heard the story of the prophet Jeremiah’s call by Yahweh.  This week we have Isaiah’s call. 

Psalm 138

Want to hear something beautiful?  Listen to today’s psalm.  Another of my favorites. Thanks, thanks, and more thanks.

1 Corinthians 15

In last week’s Corinthians’ reading Paul described his vision of love.  Today he continues talking to the people of his church in Corinth, focusing on how he was called by God.

 

 

The Small Call

I would like to talk this morning about small calls.  Our readings are all about great calls, like Isaiah, to be God’s spokesperson.  These calls come once in life, or a few times in life.  I would like to suggest small calls come every day.   Let me illustrate.

In Mexico City there is this magnificent avenue, Reforma, modeled by the Empress Carlotta on the famous Champs Elysee in Paris, built during our Civil War, say 1860.  A week ago I was on Reforma one afternoon before returning to the U.S.

I was intrigued.  The government provides rental bikes.  Along the pedestrian islands that border Reforma are numerous racks of some 40 bikes which people can rent.  People are riding these bikes all over the center of Mexico City.  I wanted to know if I could rent a bike for a day. 

I had asked a few people, but no one was sure.  I was simply told that for $30 I could obtain a card which I could use to rent the bike for one year.

 

 At one point I am standing beside the check-in post reading the instructions.  You buy the card at a drug store, show proof of identity, and then swipe the card through the reader.  It tells you what number bike is yours.  You may return the bike to any of the numerous bike racks around the city center.

I finish unsatisfied, turn around, and watch a man ride up on one of the recognizable bikes.  He puts it in the rack down the way, then begins to walk in my direction.  He is middle aged, in his mid 50’s, trim, dressed neatly in business pants, white shirt and tie, and a small back pack. 

I ask him if he could help me.  I tell him what I want and he is sure I cannot rent a bike for a day.  In fact, he thinks only citizens can rent the bikes. 

We continue to talk.  I tell him how I admire Mexico City for installing the bikes, that my wife & I, who ride a lot, saw the bikes two years ago when we were in town.  He says he has seen them not only in Mexico City, but in cities in the States and in Europe.  This tells me something, he has traveled internationally.

 

We have a charming conversation for about 10 minutes.  As we part he tells me how he enjoyed conversing, welcome to Mexico, and, get this, he congratulates me on excellent Spanish!

Folks, I could have done a backward somersault in the air.  I felt I could jump from tree top to tree top.  I was so full, ecstatic, grateful.    All the work I had put into Spanish over the years was worth it. 

This is the small call, what that Mexican did.  A compliment. 

 

I would propose that we get small calls every day.  A compliment, an offer to help, a thanks, an apology for a small mishap.  The girl at the checkout has fancy fingernails; I tell her I like them. 

These small calls fill others.  With life. 

What was your small call yesterday?  Your next one? 

                                                 

Readings:                          

Genesis  14,  18-20, Abraham gave Melchizadek a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110,  You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

1 Corinthians 11, 23-26,    Do this in remembrance of me.

Luke 9, 11-17,  Give them some food yourselves.

 

Welcome Erin & Diane & Cole.  So good to see you all.

 

Spirit Feast

I would like to talk this morning about 2 things.   First, what was my most favorite moment or experience on the Viking cruise.  Secondly, let me say a word about Jesus feeding the people.

This little story in Luke about the feeding of the 5 thousand men is one of my favorites.  I have talked about the story a number of times over the years, because I’ve been there & done that.

 

 

Welcome back, Marlene.  It has been too long since the days we did the 9:00 Spanish Mass in the cafetorium at St. Marks. 

 

The point I like to make is that  these country people would hardly ever leave home for the day without some food hidden  away in their robes.  They would not be in to sharing it. 

By telling his apostles to share their 5 loaves and 2 fish, Jesus gets the people to share their food, too.  He creates a spirit of trust.  I would call this a unique spirit event, which leads me to the first point I mentioned,  what about our cruise was the best.

 

Welcome Home, Ellen.
 

 

 As much as I loved being guided through so many cities I had read about and heard of my whole life, this was not my favorite.

I loved watching the water and watching the captain park this enormous boat, but this was not my favorite.

My favorite: the meals!   Yes.  But not in the way you are thinking,  the food, which was excellent, but in the sense of spirit.  Let me give an example.

 

This is it, the Viking Sea sailing out of the Norwegian fiord of Flam.  Stupendous beauty.

 

 

There was a couple named June and Steve.  We actually met them in the Heathrow Airport, where we were all part of a group of about 12 who missed our connection to Bergen, Norway because we had only 50 minutes between arriving from Boston and departing for Bergen in another terminal.

A bunch of us spent the night at a Holiday Inn, including June & Steve.   We rode the shuttle with them and had breakfast together. 

 

 

Docked at the Norwegian village of Flam from the exterior tables of the so titled "World Cafe," probably because from this 7th floor stern deck you can see the world.

 

On board we continued to see them and ate with them.   On one occasion we had dinner with them in my most favorite eating location on the boat, the World Café, as they called it.  It was on one of the top floors of the 8-9 floor boat, in the stern area, had no waiters, just buffet, and from each of the numerous tables on the port, starboard, and rear,  I could see the ocean.   A fabulous place to eat and appreciate just being alive and in that setting. 

This particular evening we were finally settled in and the ship was moving.  We talked about all sorts of things and we had a common spirit on so much.  We actually sat at that table and talked for 3 hours.  June noticed it when we were beginning to break up.  I had never even thought of the time.

 

 

The marvelous World Cafe from the inside.

 

 

That 3 hour meal was my favorite moment.  It was a spirit feast.

It is difficult to have these spirit feasts.  We are so busy.  It takes time.  I don't get to do this often.  At Romeos we don't take 3 hours, but we can take two.  On our camping trips we can take 3 hours.   This is one reason why I tote in every evening a pint or more of Jack Daniels and a pound of cheese for hors d'oeuvres.  Camaraderie.

 

 

 

The World Cafe.

 

 

This is what we try to do here at Sigler each Sunday.  And I think we succeed.   Even now without wine.

It is the feast of Corpus Christi.  When is your next spirit feast?  What about tomorrow, Memorial Day?  

 

Who let that homeless man on board?