Rosemary – Page 131 – John Stack Ministries Announcements & Reminders

Announcements

ByRosemary January 24, 2016

Rosemary’s Blessing

Oh God of humor enable us to laugh at your mischievous plans.

Life can become serious during these cold winter months, and our hearts can become heavy and burdened with responsibilities, decisions and trying to keep everyone happy.

Let us look for the funny things that happen, the unexpected surprise that catches us off-guard, along with the incongruences that we encounter.

Smile, snicker, giggle, give a belly laugh, and spontaneously guffaw.

You will be amazed at how God works through laughter.

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Schweiger

Mary reading Nehemiah.

Our Special Thanks

For the Readings: Mary & Patricia
For The Team: Kevin & Georgie
For the Communion Bread: Alison
For the Wine & Cups: Jan & Charlie
For the Pictures: Rick & Connie & Beth & Mike
For the coffee and extras: Mike & Judy, Jackie, & Claire
For the altar & sound: Jackie & Hue
For the Music: Ray & Bethany & David
For all who helped with communion

Patricia reading 1 Corinthians.

Birthdays: Kevin, 19, & Chloe, 10 (both today, Sunday), David Ekes (55, Tuesday), Sir Charlie (Thursday), & Betty Myrick (Friday)

Rosemary reading her Blessing of the Week.

Please Remember these special people:

For Jerry who moved to the other side Saturday night, and for all the Gleason family; For Tom Good; For Lynda's mom who fell Saturday; For Loretta's brother, Don Garcia; For Laura's sister Claudia; For Bernadette's mom; For Dawn; John Simari’s friend, Ron; For Barb Wittek's broken shoulder & new grandbaby; For Frank; For Anthony; For a number of David McKeon's family who are having a rough time with health issues; For Frank & Mary's niece, Lisa, with cancer; For Stacey McKinley recovering from cancer; For Rosemary's sister, Patty and her husband, Lou; For John & Jean's son John Louis; For Jackie's friend Mary Moczygemba with cancer; For our good friend Kay in Ontario; For Connie's nephew, Fred; For Mary Jane Stevenson's son Philip, 34, sick & don't know why; The Quinn’s granddaughter, Mikayla; For Maureen’s daughter, Kathleen, with cancer; For Jackie Urbanczyk's continued recovery; For Jackie's friend, Barbara

Happy 19th Birthday, Kevin, & thanks for all you do for us.

For Nina Tucker's dad, Art; For Sr. Patricia Otillio, a nun I worked with for years in Grand Coteau; Judy Thompson's dad in the hospital; John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli; Charlie's brother in law with cancer; Beth Dugan's dad who just died; Frank’s sister, Grace Campos, 84, with stage one; Diane McClurg's mom having a hard time making the transition to assisted living; For Jean and Cliff with mutual operations coming up;

Really your birthday, Sir Charlie? Or are you just spoofing us to get a cupcake?

Dick Thompson's daughter, Teri Jill & her cousin Te rri. Barb & Warren's grandbabies, Leighton Elizabeth and Warren Phillip, & their friend Chris, plus Barb's dad & niece; Gilberto's mom and brother; Tom and Teresa Quinn's niece, Chawna, with cancer, plus Neva Flynn, Angel, and Diane Kreeitzer; Connie Doherty's mom and her sister, plus Kevin's cousin, Peter; for Mary Ellen; for our friends, sons, and daughters in the military, including Ryan McClurg and Chebino; cure for autism from Laura Chollick; for our President that he have great success and someday hold his grandchildren in his lap.

Zoe, thanks for doing such a good job lighting those candles.

Your Finances, January 24, 2016

Expenses: $1776.00

Outreach: $ 685.00

Donated today:

Thanks for your Generosity, Everybody.

Mike, Thanks for your special help this morning.

Have a Great Week, J.S

(214-783-0443)

Want to see a picture of Pure Winter Joy?:

https://www.facebook.com/nationalzoo/videos/10153837445042902/?fref=nf

Welcome to a terrific brunch.

JSM Mission-Faith Statement

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

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

Genevieve says (as she prepares to take off), "See you next week, Everybody."

Reminders

Reminder for Sunday, January 24, 2016, 3rd Ordinary

ByRosemary January 20, 2016

Want to start your week off on a beautiful note?

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee and juice and pastries, both bought and home-made, after Mass. Also, A Birthday Brunch and Memorial for Jerry.

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

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075

The Cafe' – Pattisserie will also help make for a sweet start.

Readings:

Nehemiah 8, 2-10, Do not be sad and do not weep.

Psalm 19, Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.

1 Corinthians 12, 12-30, A body is one though it has many parts.

Luke 1, 1-4; 4, 14-21, He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives.

The Girls.

Community Activities:

ROMEO MEET: Friday, January 22, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00. Welcome all wakos, you will fit right in,
JULIETS’ LUNCHEON (aka., just us ladies into eating together) , Friday, February 5, 1:00, Place undetermined yet. Please RSVP to Jeanne Vogel [pickincotton26@verizon.net] or Geri Moran at GeriinTX@gmail.com. Thanks, Jeanne, for organizing the outing.

3. Informaton on Jerry:

Visitation is at Aria from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Mass Will be Wednesday January 27th at 11:00 a.m. at Elisabeth Seton.

Cards may be sent to Jerry's house at 2609 Timbercreek Dr. Plano, Texas 75075. Sean lives there.

4. Brunch this Sunday: honoring Jerry and an old geezer's birthday.

Kayla, how did you end up with those 2 cupcakes?

What is going on in our Catholic World

Francis vs Trump, National Catholic Reporter, January 16, 910 words, Download Francis vs Trump 1-21-16

The Offertory with the Wyndhams, Bill, Ray & Claire & Kayla, and Barb & Ron.

True?

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family,

in another city.

George Burns

Carrie & Paul, Believe not a word Occhipinti is telling you.

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

Welcome to the Sigler Community.

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, Everybody.

Homilies

Sunday Homily, January 17, 2016, 2nd Ordinary Time

ByRosemary January 17, 2016

Readings:

Isaiah 62, 1-5, The Lord delights in you. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah III)

Psalm 96, Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

1 Corinthians 12, 4-11, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit, different forms of service, but the same Lord. (a good selection)

John 2, 1-11, There was a wedding at Cana. ( a good story)

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in. It is so nice to be back after a long absence."

Isaiah observations:

When you see that today's selection is from the 62nd chapter, you may pretty easily guess that this is Isaiah III. The last 10 chapters of the work are from Isaiah III, that is, chapters 56-66.

Remember that Isaiah III talks consolation and comfort for the people, most of whom have now returned from the Babylonian Captivity to a destroyed Jerusalem.

"Yep, Welcome Back, Cathy."

What is your gift?

Want to take a trip to East Africa this morning, to my beloved Tanzania? I want to talk a moment about our gifts and forms of service like are mentioned in 1 Corinthians. To exemplify my thinking, I want to tell you a Christmas story that took place ca. 1980. I was tempted to tell you about a wedding I did on the slope of Kilimanjaro, but this is just as good and we have only finished with Christmas a few weeks back.

So, buckle your seat belts and let’s take off.

"Hi, Victoria, Hi, Buddy."

There is a town smack in the middle of Tanzania called Tabora. It was on the east west railroad from Dar es Salaam, the capital, to Lake Tanganyika. The Jesuits staffed a church in Tabora, not large, but with lots of people. It also had about 20 spokes out from the main church, outstation churches built when more expatriate priests were around to man them.

I was at one of these outstations for Advent and Christmas around 1980 to work on my Swahili. Two Maltese Jesuits interns were with me (from the island of Malta, off the island of Sicily). They were what were called scholastics, i.e., learning to be Jesuit priests. Good guys, Joe Xerri and Joe Pulicino.

Want to hear The Best? Shonda, Bethany, Ray, & David.

Later I visited Xerri at his home, not on Malta itself, but the island of Gozo, just off of Malta. He eventually left the Jesuits. Pulicino, got ordained, returned to TZ, worked with refugees, got captured by some Sudanese, and eventually was released.

So we three Jesuits are at this outstation, which was a fairly large, cinder block, rectangular building with a bell, a bell tower, and a corrugated tin roof. I often thought about the priests who built the church and then had to leave it empty somewhere along the way. It must have hurt.

Zoe & Cole at work on our major life problems.

The little town where this church was situated was tiny, just a few houses with tin roofs, maybe even mud walls. The church itself had an outstation, another little village even smaller. I did a funeral in this tiny village and fell into the grave. That scared everybody really good.

The people around the main church had not had a Christmas Mass in ages. They wanted a midnight Mass and we offered to put together a Nativity pageant. They jumped at it and we had a cast of dozens.

And More Problems being solved.

So the night comes. You got to picture the scene. No electricity. We had a few of the old kerosene lanterns. I spent many an evening with those kerosene lanterns. There was no heat other than campfires. Christmas in TZ comes in the middle of the warm & dry season, just opposite to us in the northern regions.

We rang the bell. People were literally camped out all over the place because many had walked for miles. The church filled up. There was plenty of music, basically drumming and shakers, and, of course, great rhythm.

A Cupcake of The Week to Georgie for being a Great Helper.

The one thing I never expected was the wave of June bugs. The church walls were not totally closed, but had sections where cinder blocks with holes were used. With the light in the church in the totally dark night, bugs came from everywhere. Nobody seemed to be bothered in the least.

The Mass lasted probably 2 hours. The Nativity pageant was super. Nobody wanted it to end.

Happy Birthday, Becky.

Why talk about this? Gifts. We had a gift and we shared it with everybody. They had gifts of music and excitement and gratitude. The kids pitched in with the pageant.

You can say that Jesus had a gift and he shared it. Mary, too, had a gift and she shared it, her son.

What gift do you have and how do you share it?

Cupcake of The Week to Cole for being The Candle Lighter of The Week.

Announcements

ByRosemary January 17, 2016

Rosemary’s Blessing

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,

no hands but yours,

no feet but yours,

Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s

compassion is to look out to the world,

Yours are the feet with which Christ is to

go about doing good,

Yours are the hands, with which Christ is to

bless all people now.

From a prayer by Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Cheryl reading the Great Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah III)

Our Special Thanks

For the Readings: Cheryl & Claire
For The Team: Kevin & Georgie
For the Communion Bread: Alison
For the Wine & Cups: Jan & Charlie
For the Pictures: Rick & Connie & Beth & Mike
For the coffee and extras: John Cade, Jackie, & Claire
For the altar & sound: Jackie & Hue
For the Music: Ray & Shonda, Bethany & David
For all who helped with communion

Claire reading 1 Corinthians on gifts.

Birthdays: Becky Good (58, Monday), Erin Pack (Wednesday) & Sienna (6, Saturday)

Anniversary: Ray & Claire (45^th, Saturday)

Rosemary reading her Blessing of The Week.

Please Remember these special people:

For Jerry who moved to the other side Saturday night, and for all the Gleason family; For Tom Good; For Lynda's mom who fell Saturday; For Loretta's brother, Don Garcia; For Laura's sister Claudia; For Bernadette's mom; For Dawn; John Simari’s friend, Ron; For Barb Wittek's broken shoulder & new grandbaby; For Frank; For Anthony; For a number of David McKeon's family who are having a rough time with health issues; For Frank & Mary's niece, Lisa, with cancer; For Stacey McKinley recovering from cancer; For Rosemary's sister, Patty and her husband, Lou; For John & Jean's son John Louis; For Jackie's friend Mary Moczygemba with cancer; For our good friend Kay in Ontario; For Connie's nephew, Fred; For Mary Jane Stevenson's son Philip, 34, sick & don't know why; The Quinn’s granddaughter, Mikayla; For Maureen’s daughter, Kathleen, with cancer; For Jackie Urbanczyk's continued recovery; For Jackie's friend, Barbara

Kevin helping to run everything smoothly.

For Nina Tucker's dad, Art; For Sr. Patricia Otillio, a nun I worked with for years in Grand Coteau; Judy Thompson's dad in the hospital; John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli; Charlie's brother in law with cancer; Beth Dugan's dad who just died; Frank’s sister, Grace Campos, 84, with stage one; Diane McClurg's mom having a hard time making the transition to assisted living; For Jean and Cliff with mutual operations coming up;

The Wyndham Gang, Bill, Claire, Kayla, Ray, Ron, & Barb

Dick Thompson's daughter, Teri Jill & her cousin Te rri. Barb & Warren's grandbabies, Leighton Elizabeth and Warren Phillip, & their friend Chris, plus Barb's dad & niece; Gilberto's mom and brother; Tom and Teresa Quinn's niece, Chawna, with cancer, plus Neva Flynn, Angel, and Diane Kreeitzer; Connie Doherty's mom and her sister, plus Kevin's cousin, Peter; for Mary Ellen; for our friends, sons, and daughters in the military, including Ryan McClurg and Chebino; cure for autism from Laura Chollick; for our President that he have great success and someday hold his grandchildren in his lap.

Cole, our professional candle lighter at work.

Your Finances, January 17, 2016

Expenses: $1110.00

Outreach: $ 585.00

Donated today:

Thanks for your Generosity, Everybody.

Diane and her Candle Lighter.

Have a Great Week, J.S

(214-783-0443)

Georgie says, "See you next week, Everybody."

JSM Mission-Faith Statement

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

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

Reminders

Reminder for Sunday, January 17, 2016, 2nd Ordinary Time, C

ByRosemary January 13, 2016

Jackie getting everything ready to celebrate The Baptism.

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee and juice and pastries, both bought and home-made, after Mass.

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

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075

Welcome.

Readings:

Isaiah 62, 1-5, The Lord delights in you. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah III)

Psalm 96, Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

1 Corinthians 12, 4-11, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit, different forms of service, but the same Lord. (a good selection)

John 2, 1-11, There was a wedding at Cana. ( a good story)

Sacrament of Healing for Ken.

Community Activities:

ROMEO MEET: Friday, January 15, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00. Welcome all old geezers & young ones, too.
JULIETS’ LUNCHEON, Friday, February 5, 1:00, Urban Rio Cantina? 1000 E 14^th, Plano, Please RSVP to Jeanne Vogel [pickincotton26@verizon.net] or Geri Moran at GeriinTX@gmail.com? Thanks, Jeanne for organizing the outing.

Sacrament of Healing for Mary Ellen.

What is going on in our Catholic World

Review of the movie Spotlight by a priest, National Catholic Reporter, December 23, 900 words, Download Spotlight 1-14-16
Whitfield's Advent Homily at St. Rita, Download JOSHUA WHITFIELD

The Kerns, Mike & Stephen, Candy & Ben (13 years old), and Holly.

True?

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.

Mark Twain

Hi, Mommy, says, Victoria.

See you Sunday.

J.S., 214-783-0443

Our Father with Buddy, Bernadette, and Zoe.

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, Everybody.

And More Peace.

Homilies

Sunday Homily, January 10, 2016, The Baptism

ByRosemary January 10, 2016

Readings:

Isaiah 40, 1-5, 9-11, Go up to a high mountain, Zion, cry out at the top of your voice. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah II)

Psalm 104, Bless the Lord My Soul.

Pope Francis, Laudato Si:

A Reading from Pope Francis’ Letter on the Environment:

When we speak of the “environment”, what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it.

Nature, the environment, cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves, a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and in constant interaction with it.

Zoe say, "Welcome, Everybody, it is sunny and warm here."

It is critical to seek comprehensive solutions which consider the interactions within natural systems themselves and with social systems.

We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.

Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach: combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and protecting nature and our entire environment.

The words of Pope Francis.

Luke 3, 15-16, 21-22, The baptism of Jesus.

Angela, too, says, "Hi, "Everybody, welcome in."

Baptism & Original Sin: traditional & contemporary theology

Traditional theology on baptism & original sin:

Why we baptized: purification & removal of original sin inherited by babies. Baby was a sinner & would go to Limbo forever if not baptized before dying.
Original sin: the 1 sin of Eve & Adam, the eating of an apple, ruptured the relationship between God & Humans.

Two of our more studious community members, Brandon & Leo.

Contemporary theology on baptism & original sin:

Original sin: (first)
no original sin
Genesis story of the fall is allegory, not fact
from Darwin's Origin of the Species the idea has developed that in our human infancy, we needed certain behaviors to survive. For instance, killing another person & stealing (like food), to survive. As our ancestors formed communities, norms of social behavior emerged, for example, the 10 commandments.
St. Augustine, ca. 400:

–A major, if not the major influence on Christian/Catholic theology of original sin and human nature from his time to today

–After conversion from a rather lusty life at 32, he had a pessimistic view of human nature, different from early Christianity. This is part of the background to why priests were supposed to be celibate.

Leo & Brandon, the Candle Lighters of The Week.

–John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), Pelagius, a British monk, & Julian of Eclanum, Italy, a bishop, all found nature good and fought against Augustine

–Augustine used all means to vanquish his opponents with their positive view that nature was good, even to sending a gift of horses to the pope to influence his decision. Augustine won.

Why we baptize today: (using the contemporary theology)

To celebrate a new life
To ritually & formally welcome the new person into a family, a community, and to a God famous for love and acceptance
To cleanse after the journey

Anybody know who these characters are? At Juliet's Restaurant?

The Beauty of Little Kids is for Real

I would like to continue to talk about why we baptize little kids, at least here in our community. I mentioned that what we are celebrating is new life. Moreover, we are welcoming the child into a family, a community, and a God who loves that child and thinks the child is the best, as good as it gets.

Sometimes we get distracted and don’t see this. The child may be crying a lot or we may still think of the child as a sinner. Appearances distract us and we judge negatively.

The Best, Shonda, Bethany, Ray, David.

This is pretty common and I have two examples, one of which you ladies who went to the luncheon will recognize. Rosemary shared it.

It happened this way. Rosemary was going to get something at Kohls this past week. She gets out of the car in the parking lot and starts walking in. Ahead of her a young guy with pants hanging low in the current fashion steps ahead of her.

As they walk toward the store, he is working at putting on a belt.

I admit that I don’t find this custom attractive when I see it in guys, which is exactly why young guys do it.

The Team cleaning up after communion.

Anyway, he finally gets his belt on and they arrive at the entrance door about the same time, he in front, Rosemary behind.

Guess what happened. The guy opened the door. Then he stepped back and invited Rosemary to go in. As Rosemary told me and probably told you ladies at Urban Rio, she was humbled and grateful. She had misjudged the guy.

A second event happened to us both this week. We have a nice mail man, Doug, easy going, faithful, and friendly. We are all on first name basis.

Elevation.

At Christmas we stuck a thanks note and a $20 in an envelope for him. Guess what happened. We get a hand written thank you note and card.

I was so touched. In fact, I felt pretty miserly giving him only $20. I was touched because I did not expect him to show gratitude in such a formal way. Rosemary said it is a sign that his mother trained him well. I remember my mother repeatedly saying to me, “Always thank every person who gives you something.”

In one week here are two people who have caused Rosemary & me to misjudge them.

Babies and little kids can be misjudged. That kid cries too much. That kid screams too much. Maybe the child is hurting.

Offertory, Bill & Zaile, Lynda & Tom.

This is why here I try to make our community especially welcoming and loving. I want all these kids, Genevieve & Leo, Brandon, Cole, Harper, Emma & Zoe, Buddy & Tori, all of these and the others who come occasionally to know & feel that they are loved, welcomed, and treasured. They are good, beautiful, and a gift to me and all of us.

Misjudge anybody this week?

Announcements

ByRosemary January 10, 2016

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

Beth reading The Great Prophet, Isaiah, (Isaiah II), a beautiful selection.

Our Special Thanks

For the Readings: Beth & Rob
For The Team: Kevin
For the Communion Bread: Alison
For the Wine & Cups: Jan & Charlie
For the Pictures: Rick & Connie & Beth & Mike
For the coffee and extras: John Cade, Jackie
For the altar & sound: Jackie & Hue
For the Music: Ray & Shonda, Bethany & David
For all who helped with communion

Rob reading from Pope Francis' letter, Laudato Si.

Birthdays: Bobby Ekes, 56, & Ben Farmer, 28, (Sunday, today), Cole Carey (23, Monday), Ben Kern (13, Wednesday), Doug Kite (61, Friday), Our Quads, the Gerwers (9, Saturday) (plus Tom & Connie & Georgie last week)

Anniversary:

Jackie & Rick (15^th, Wednesday)

Rosemary reading her Blessing of The Week

Please Remember these special people:

For Kate Banzhaf & Family, 2 years ago.

For Betty's husband & the family; For Jerry's back; For Loretta's brother, Don Garcia; For Bernadette's mom; For Dawn; Michelle Simari’s sister; For Barb Wittek's broken shoulder & new grandbaby; For Frank; For Anthony; For a number of David McKeon's family who are having a rough time with health issues; For Frank & Mary's niece, Lisa, with cancer; For Stacey McKinley recovering from cancer; For Rosemary's sister, Patty and her husband, Lou; For John & Jean's son John Louis; For Jackie's friend Mary Moczygemba with cancer; For our good friend Kay in Ontario; For Connie's nephew, Fred; For Mary Jane Stevenson's son Philip, 34, sick & don't know why; The Quinn’s granddaughter, Mikayla; For Maureen’s daughter, Kathleen, with cancer; For Jackie Urbanczyk's continued recovery; For Jackie's friend, Barbara

Happy 13th Birthday, Ben.

For Nina Tucker's dad, Art; For Sr. Patricia Otillio, a nun I worked with for years in Grand Coteau; Judy Thompson's dad in the hospital; John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli; Charlie's brother in law with cancer; Beth Dugan's dad who just died; Frank’s sister, Grace Campos, 84, with stage one; Diane McClurg's mom having a hard time making the transition to assisted living; For Jean and Cliff with mutual operations coming up;

Happy Birthday to you, Tom.

Dick Thompson's daughter, Teri Jill & her cousin Te rri. Barb & Warren's grandbabies, Leighton Elizabeth and Warren Phillip, & their friend Chris, plus Barb's dad & niece; Gilberto's mom and brother; Tom and Teresa Quinn's niece, Chawna, with cancer, plus Neva Flynn, Angel, and Diane Kreeitzer; Connie Doherty's mom and her sister, plus Kevin's cousin, Peter; for Mary Ellen; for our friends, sons, and daughters in the military, including Ryan McClurg and Chebino; cure for autism from Laura Chollick; for our President that he have great success and someday hold his grandchildren in his lap.

Happy Birthday, Connie.

Your Finances, January 10, 2016

Expenses: $940.00

Outreach: $415.00

Donated today:

Thanks for your Generosity, Everybody.

Happy 15th, Jackie & Rick

Again, Have a Beautiful New Year, J.S

(214-783-0443)

Our Friend in winter dress says, "Welcome Back, Folks."

JSM Mission-Faith Statement

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

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

Reminders

Reminder Sunday, January 10, 2016, The Baptism

ByRosemary January 6, 2016

The Epiphany, the coming of the 3 Wise Men, the Magi, from the East

Welcome: Catholic Mass with coffee and juice and pastries, both bought and home-made, after Mass.

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

Place: Sigler Elementary, 1400 Janwood Drive, Plano, TX 75075

What? What do I see? A puppy? A little mouse?

Readings:

Isaiah 40, 1-5, 9-11, God up to a high mountain, Zion, cry out at the top of your voice. (another excellent reading, this time from Isaiah II)

Psalm 104, Bless the Lord My Soul.

Pope Francis, Laudato Si:

A Reading from Pope Francis’ Letter on the Environment:

When we speak of the “environment”, what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it.

Nature, the environment, cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves, a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and in constant interaction with it.

Must be a new musician or singer, joining with David.

It is critical to seek comprehensive solutions which consider the interactions within natural systems themselves and with social systems.

We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.

Wow! That is Genevieve, moving on her own, and she wants to help The Old Geezer.

Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach: combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and protecting nature and our entire environment.

The words of Pope Francis.

Luke 3, 15-16, 21-22, The baptism of Jesus.

The Offertory, Aggie & Allen, Lily & Scott

Community Activities:

ROMEO MEET: Friday, January 8, Jason's Deli, Collin Creek Mall, west side of Central, 1:00. Welcome all old geezers & young ones, too.
LADIES' LUNCHEON, will be Friday, January 8, at 1:00 at Juliet’s Luncheon, 1000 E 14^th, Urban Rio Cantina, Plano, Please RSVP to Jeanne Vogel [pickincotton26@verizon.net] or Geri Moran at GeriinTX@gmail.com?

Everyone, please forward to anyone you think would be interested. If you let me know I will add their email to the list.

Carol

Communion. Welcome, Everybody, big or little.

What is going on in our Catholic World

U.S. Identity Crisis or not, National Catholic Reporter, December 28, 765 words, Download US identity crisis, 1-7-16
Fr. Whitfield's Advent Homily at St. Rita, Download WHITFIELD Homily Fr. Whitfield was formerly Episcopal.

The Brain Trust plotting to help Genevieve, Cole, Emma, Victoria, Zoe, & Buddy (or is that a frog?).

True?

Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Healing for Tom.

See you Sunday & again, Happy New Year.

J.S., 214-783-0443

The Coffee Shoppe, Geri, Mary Ellen, and Everybody.

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, Everybody

Homilies

Sunday Homily, January 3, 2016, Epiphany

ByRosemary January 3, 2016

Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6, Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem, Your light has come.

Psalm 72, Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Ephesians 3, 2-6, The Gentiles are coheirs.

Matthew 2, 1-12, Magi from the east arrived.

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

Isaiah, a review

Here is another of those passages which make me love Isaiah so much. I have mentioned this before. He is my favorite.

Today we have Isaiah III talking to the Jews who have returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity, about 555 years before Christ. It helps to picture the mood of these people.

"Hi, Folks, Welcome in, they are going to win today," says Cole, our Cowboy fan. Sorry, Cole. It has been a tough year.

Are you a Cowboy Fan? How do you feel at about this year? Multiply this by 10 and you have how the Jewish people felt after 50 years of slavery and their town destroyed like New Orleans or parts of NY & NJ.

When he says Jerusalem or Zion, he is talking to these beaten down people. Later centuries church leaders began to make these words have two meanings, the city and us Christians. Jerusalem, then, applies to us.

Sources: Good News Bible, The New Interpreter’s Bible

Does the Lord not shine on this little girl?

Upon you the Lord shines, because of 3 Magi

This morning I would like to propose that we have Magi in our lives and because of them the Lord shines on us, like it says in Isaiah.

I want to limit the selection to 3, like the guys in Matthew’s story. This was a bit difficult, because I see lots of Magi in my life. Magi for me are the wise ones, the good ones, the compassionate ones. I could start right here with you people in the community. I could easily mention Rosemary.

Ugh Oh, She has learned how to motor, like crawl. Beware, Everybody.

However, I chose 3 guys who are not quite as present in my life, but are wise, good, and compassionate. Here they are.

The first guy is Harold. I don’t even know his last name. I do know that he is going to be 90 shortly. I see him most mornings, Monday through Friday. He is in the shower change room when I come into the J (Jewish Community Center) ca. 5:30 to do spin class.

So, the questions is, 'Where is she going? To help with the singing (see podiums) or to help with the Mass?" Tune in next week for the answer.

He is quiet and understated. Despite working out 5 days a week, he is pretty plump. What he is, is friendly and congenial. He knows Rosemary & I go dancing Monday nights. He always asks if we are going and Tuesday he asks how dancing was.

The second person is my old coach & Scout Master from Christ the King, Frank Hart. Frank is 90. Notice how these 90 year olds are getting my attention. Rosemary & I visit Frank every Sunday after we leave Sigler. He lives in a house with about 8 other elderly people, all of them women except Frank. The house is on Northhaven near Hillcrest.

Emma and Zoe solving our world problems.

If I get to Frank before their lunch at 1:00, I usually find him in bed and asleep. He has his clothes on. He just sleeps a lot. I wake him up and despite his memory not being too good, he certainly remembers us and makes a big deal out of us coming by.

Frank was one of the more significant persons in my life as a grade school kid. He helped me get over being home sick when I went to Boy Scout camp, a story I've told here more than once.

Hi, Buddy, are you a frog today?

While Frank touched me when I was in grade school, the third guy touched me when he was in grade school and I was at Jesuit. His mother came by one day with her son and basically said, “Help!” This is Michael, about whom you have heard me talk before.

After doing a zillion Masses together at St. Marks in the cafetorium, an old friend, David has joined us in Sigler. Welcome David!

Last Saturday he came by to visit Rosemary & me. He has his gorgeous wife, Lydia, and now two neat kids, Barrett and Abby. Michael is in the Air Force and I think the last time we met was in Aviano, Italy, when Beth & Rob were with us. He flies these little F-16 jets.

Genevieve, See these cool kids. Someday you will grow up to be as marvelous as they. The Gerwers.

Michael touches me because he overcame a number of blocks to, first, get into Jesuit, and then to have a great career at Tech after failing to get into A & M.

Remember our old friendly venue, Vines? With the Nativity drama and 300 folks, we will return to reminisce maybe twice a year.

What are the gifts they give me? Wisdom, goodness, and compassion.

Who are the 3 magi in your life & what gifts do they give you?

Announcements

ByRosemary January 3, 2016

Rosemary's Blessing

When the decorations of Christmas have been packed away
then the work of Christmas begins:

Lord, help us

to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
and to make a little music with the heart…

Adapted from Work of Christmas Begins by Howard Thurman

John Reading The Great Prophet Isaiah (III)

Our Special Thanks

For the Readings: John & Mary Jane
For The Team: Kevin & Georgie
For the Communion Bread: Alison
For the Wine & Cups: Alison & John
For the Pictures: Rick & Connie & Beth & Mike
For the coffee and extras: John Cade, Jackie, Martha, Sydney, & Beth Dugan
For the altar & sound: Jackie & Hue
For the Music: Ray & Shonda & Bethany & David
For all who helped with communion

Mary Jane reading Ephesians.

Birthdays: Tom Fleming (57, Monday), Jan (Saturday)

Anniversary:

Carol & Richard (41st, Monday)

Happy Birthday, Jan.

Please Remember these special people:

A special remembrance for two of our great men who both died in December of last year, 2014, Fred on the 4th, Curtis on the 7th.

For Betty's husband & the family; For Jerry's back; For Loretta's brother, Don Garcia; For Bernadette's mom; For Dawn; Michelle Simari’s sister; For Barb Wittek's broken shoulder & new grandbaby; For Frank; For Anthony; For a number of David McKeon's family who are having a rough time with health issues; For Frank & Mary's niece, Lisa, with cancer; For Stacey McKinley recovering from cancer; For Rosemary's sister, Patty and her husband, Lou; For John & Jean's son John Louis; For Jackie's friend Mary Moczygemba with cancer; For our good friend Kay in Ontario; For Connie's nephew, Fred; For Mary Jane Stevenson's son Philip, 34, sick & don't know why; The Quinn’s granddaughter, Mikayla; For Maureen’s daughter, Kathleen, with cancer; For Jackie Urbanczyk's continued recovery; For Jackie's friend, Barbara

Happy 41st, Carol and Rich.

For Nina Tucker's dad, Art; For Sr. Patricia Otillio, a nun I worked with for years in Grand Coteau; Judy Thompson's dad in the hospital; John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli; Charlie's brother in law with cancer; Beth Dugan's dad who just died; Frank’s sister, Grace Campos, 84, with stage one; Diane McClurg's mom having a hard time making the transition to assisted living; For Jean and Cliff with mutual operations coming up;

Welcome Home, Tom and Becky.

Dick Thompson's daughter, Teri Jill & her cousin Terri. Barb & Warren's grandbabies, Leighton Elizabeth and Warren Phillip, & their friend Chris, plus Barb's dad & niece; Gilberto's mom and brother; Tom and Teresa Quinn's niece, Chawna, with cancer, plus Neva Flynn, Angel, and Diane Kreeitzer; Connie Doherty's mom and her sister, plus Kevin's cousin, Peter; for Mary Ellen; for our friends, sons, and daughters in the military, including Ryan McClurg and Chebino; cure for autism from Laura Chollick; for our President that he have great success and someday hold his grandchildren in his lap.

Brent, the excellent director, receiving our contribution to Souls Harbor.

Your Finances, January 3, 2016

Expenses: $1450.00

Outreach: $ 330.00

Donated today: $2000 to Souls Harbor

Thanks for your Generosity, Everybody.

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany, David, & Ray, including Leo.

Have a Beautiful New Year, J.S

(214-783-0443)

JSM Mission-Faith Statement

Happy Memories of Christmas Eve at Vines.

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

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

Peace and a Wonderful New Year, Everybody.