Author: Rosemary

Readings:                          

Acts  2,  1-11,  There appeared to them tongues as of fire.

Psalm 104,  Lord, send out your spirit and renew the face of the earth.

Romans 8, 8-17,    You are in the spirit.

John 20, 19-23,  Peace be with you.

Homily by Mike

Well, I just finished reading Bishop John Shelby Spong’s new book titled Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, which is a study of the Gospel of Matthew.  Bishop Spong is one of my prime mentors in understanding the Christian faith and the Christian Scriptures.  My main reason I picked a chapter of his book for us today is that it is on understanding the Sermon on the Mount in relation to Pentecost, which we are preparing to celebrate next Sunday.  Also, Bishop Spong’s book is on the Gospel of Matthew, and Matthew is our default reading source whom we read from most of this year (of Cycle C readings).  In his new book Bishop Spong teaches how Matthew composed his Gospel to match up with the festivals of the Jewish year, all celebrated in the synagogue.  In this chapter he shows us how Matthew matches the Jewish celebration of Pentecost or Shavuot with Jesus as the New Moses.  Moses was the most significant person in Jewish history.  The second major celebration of the Jewish liturgical year, after Passover, is Pentecost or Shavuot.

At Pentecost, or Shavuot, Matthew provides the liturgy readings that make it clear to the Jewish followers of Jesus that Jesus is the new Moses.  The Book of Exodus tells the story of how Moses went up Mount Sinai, received the law directly from God and announced it to the people.  In their acceptance of God’s law from Moses (The 10 Commandments) the Jewish people entered into a covenant with God.  Matthew, in his Gospel, has Jesus go up a mountain and then deliver to the people God’s new law—the Beatitudes.  In accepting this new law from Jesus, his followers enter into a new covenant with God.     

Remember, at that time most people were illiterate.  The Torah, the Books of Moses, were read at every Sabbath liturgy.  They read the entire 5 books of the Torah every year—compare that with our reading a mere fraction of the Bible once every 3 years. Shavuot or Pentecost was celebrated in a big way (it was huge!), with a 24-hour vigil, so they needed a lot of readings and songs to fill the vigil.  That’s where Psalm 119 came into play—the longest psalm of all with 176 verses (psalms were the synagogue’s hymnal).  This was the psalm sung at the celebration of Shavuot.  Psalm 119 is relentless in its praise of the beauty and wonder of God’s law and the covenant that sprang from accepting and keeping God’s law. The meaning of this covenant is what was renewed liturgically each year, and was what the 24-hour vigil was all about.   

Matthew combined Psalm 119 with the Sermon on the Mount to present Jesus as the new Moses.  Psalm 119 fits the Shavuot liturgy with stanzas for each of the 8 3-hour portions of the vigil.  Psalm 119’s first stanza has 8 verses and the first 2 begin with the word “blessed”.  The Sermon on the Mount also begins with 8 verses, each starting with the word “blessed”.  We call these the Beatitudes.  So Matthew used Psalm 119 as the basis on which to build the Sermon on the Mount. Next Matthew has Jesus give commentaries on each of the 8 beatitudes, 1 for each of the 8 3-hour portions of the vigil.  Matthew then has Jesus do a commentary on the 10 Commandments, going deeper into the heart of these original laws of God.

This whole Sermon on the Mount is a beautifully crafted interpretation of Jesus as the new Moses.  And it’s all organized around the psalm used at Shavuot, Pentecost.  This amazing take and understanding of Matthew’s writing of his Gospel knocks my socks off and I love it.

As we prepare for Pentecost, what is our commitment to the new law?  How do we renew our covenant with this understanding of Jesus as the new Moses?                                                                                                                                                              

Readings:                          

Acts  7,  55-60,  They threw Stephen out of the city, and began to stone him.

Psalm 97,  The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth

Revelation 22, 12-14, 16-17, 20,    I, John, heard a voice.

John 17, 20-26,  I pray that they all may be one.

Sorry no homily today.

Readings:

Acts  15, 1-2, 22-29,   Unless you are circumcised you cannot be saved.

Psalm 67,  Oh, God let all the nations praise you.

Revelation  21, 10-14, 22-23,  The angel took me to a great, high mountain.

John 14, 23-29,  Whoever loves me will keep my word.

Welcome home, Chloe, you are beautiful and special here.

 Acts observations again:

WHO: same as author of Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15 of 28

WHEN: late 60’s, before 70

WHY: To further Paul’s desire to make “The Way” of Jesus’ followers acceptable to people in the Greco-Roman world of his time.

Today’s reading from Chapter 15 of Acts gives us another example of how the followers of Jesus at that time were originally Jewish. We have no documents from the 20 years following Jesus’ death. Scholars conjecture that there were writings from that time that became sources for the authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Victoria, along with Zoe, they say, Welcome, Everybody."

My Peace I give to you

My Peace I give to you.  What a beautiful gift.  The Best.  How do you find it?   

I would like to talk about finding the peace this morning.  I would propose that the gift is all around us.  It is here in our community, it is in our homes, it is in Tom Thumb, it is in our city.  I would suggest that there are big and little packages of peace.  For example, some little packages that give me peace.

First, taking Aviana, our dog, for a walk.  Rosemary takes Aviana for two or three afternoon walks.  Along the way she gets to know so many of our neighbors. 

Brandon, the guy with all the personality, also says, "Hi, Folks."

I take Aviana for 3 walks in the morning, including her first walk at ca. 4:15.   Want to know what peace is?   Watching her do her business quickly, especially both of them on this 5 minute walk.  It is short because she knows that she will get her breakfast right away afterward. 

Secondly, try biking.  Sometimes riding my bike with Rosemary around White Rock and going down the White Rock Creek Trail, I cannot believe how delightful this is.   On The Trail I often think, 'I cannot really be in Dallas,' the scenery is so beautiful and natural.

Chloe put to work lighting the candles.
 

Thirdly, I find great peace in doing weddings and, in particular, getting together with each couple to plan their wedding.  Just this past Friday and Saturday I spent an hour with two delightful couples. Saturday’s couple was Lisa Anderlick, John and Karen’s daughter.  

These daily and weekly events, while being really profound to me, are what I could call smaller packages of peace.    Want to know about a Big Packages?

Sisters, Jessica and Renee.

First, how can I not be touched with peace every time we all come together?   Remember that morning that it was pouring rain at 9:30?  Rosemary and I both said that few people would find their way here in that storm. 

What happened?  We had 65 plus people.  The kids are a special event of peace.  Our music.   And just everybody.   The peace of our community stays with me all week long. 

The Quinn Girls,  Vivienne, Kiera, & Mikayla.

Secondly, Cinco de Mayo!   What?, you say.  Cinco de Mayo? 

This big Mexican feast is also a special day for Rosemary & me.  We are celebrating our 11th anniversary.  I know you figured Rosemary could not stand to live so long with this old obsessive bachelor.  However, we have made it and each day brings more peace and more fun. 

Another beautiful Sunday thanks to Shonda & Bethany, Ray & David.

One of the fun things  takes place most weekday mornings, when I return from the J at around 7:15.   I wake up Rosemary with coffee and newspaper in hand.  Then I return to the kitchen, get my cup of coffee, and proceed to hop on the bed where we talk and discuss the day.  Aviana is also part of the event.

Unfortunately, even though coffee is supposed to be a stimulant, when I drink it after working out, it has the opposite effect.  Ten minutes and I tell Rosemary I am falling asleep and think I will take a 15 minute nap.  Of course, I get a comment like, “What a fascinating conversationalist you are.”

Remember, Brent, the cupcake is for Reggie, your Souls Harbor manager and recovery story–his birthday.

What is the response to these little and big packages of peace?  Two things.   Awareness and Gratitude.

Where do you find The Peace? 

Readings:

Acts  14, 21-27,  It is  is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom.

Psalm 145,  I will praise you name forever, my king and my God, plus the great line (8), The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 

Revelation  21, 1-5, I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.

John 13, 31-33, 34-35,  My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.   

Leo and his best buddy, John, say, "Hi, Everybody, Come in."

Acts, a couple of observations:

1. Remember the three rings of Acts, Jerusalem, Palestine, the World (Mediterranean & Rome)?   Since we are at Chapter 28 of 28, you can guess in what ring we are today, yes, the World.  Paul and Barnabas are in the region of Greece.
2. The author, the same as the Gospel of Luke.
3. The date again, before 70

Genevieve and her best Mommy also say, "Hi, Everybody."

Love one another

As you may remember, one of my most favorite lines in all the Bible is the first line in the first stanza of our Psalm 145 this morning, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.   I read this and I add to it Jesus saying that, This is how they will know you, that you love one another. 

Is this real?   

Jan & Cindy have communion ready.  Choose wine or grape juice.

What is real is what I heard on the radio yesterday morning, really bad stuff.   Turns out that some professional bike riders were discovered to have developed motor enhanced bikes.  A small motor was inserted into the diagonal bar of the bike.  It was discovered in a race in Italy.

Now I know why these guys race past me at White Rock Lake.   Anybody know of anyone with a motor enhanced bike?  

More seriously, I look around and check out the news.  I read that towns all dear to me have been bombed by some really angry people, Paris, Brussels, Jerusalem.   People doing this think they are making the world a better place. 

Healing and Life for Angela.

Here at home we have what to me is a horrible political campaign going on.   

In our Catholic Church there is no shortage of hatred of fellow Catholics who disagree with policies or don’t conform to certain norms.   You all know that there are various Catholics who hate me for what I am doing.

Pope Francis is getting push back from Catholics who don’t approve of his ways and his message.  Francis took three refugee families into the Vatican and he got ridiculed.  His economic ideas are certainly meeting with hostility. 

Healing for Sandra.
 

So, they will know us by our love for one another?  The Lord is abounding in love?   

Is this just silly religious talk?  In my book, no, not completely. 

We have the examples of hate, which I would propose are often the result of hurt.  But we also have examples of love, respect, and care. 

Hue, our great sound man. 

Francis’ welcome of the 3 refugee families is for me an example.  The two picnics for The Love of Kids, another example.  We have been helping at those two picnics for years.  And there are hundreds of other people who contribute their time and even resources to help these under privileged and handicapped kids.

Look at Jim Maher who comes down here from St. Bonaventure with some students to help with the cleanup of the areas in Dallas that were his by the tornadoes.   They spend a week of their spring break here and they have been doing this for years.

Elevation.
 

Doug LeBlanc, Grace’s husband, together with other employees at Ericson, they all gathered on more than one occasion to help a fellow employee whose home had been wrecked by either a tornado or that hail. 

Did you read in the Dallas Morning News about the North Carolina judge who felt he had to sentence a vet with bad PTSD for repeatedly getting drunk.  He gave him 24 hours and then the judge spent the night in the cell with him.   Said he did not want to leave him alone with the PTSD. 

May I play that guitar, Daddy?  I think I can do it.

One final example of a person who inspired me by his grace in failure.  Jordon Spieth went from top of the leader board at the Masters to second.  He had a colossal melt down on the last day.  Nevertheless, he graciously congratulated the winner and helped present him with the winner’s sport coat.

This encourages me to know that there is lots of gracious caring in our world. 

Where do you see God showing his abundance of love?