Author: Rosemary

Readings:

Isaiah 50, 4-9, I gave my back to those who beat me.

Psalm 116,    I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the Living.

James 2, 1-5, 14-18,  What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Mark 8, 27-35, Take up your cross.

 

Genevieve and her mom, Mary, say, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Isaiah:  observations

What is it about: 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd Isaiah?

1^st Isaiah, Chapters 1-39: predict doom for the Hebrews because they have not been faithful to their one god.  

2^nd Isaiah, Chapters 40-55:  this & the remaining chapters are called The Book of Consolation.  They try to assure the people who are now in exile that God will restore them to their former glory & peace.  In fact, in chapter 45 the composer even mentions the name of Cyrus, the king of the Persians who defeats Babylon & sends the Hebrews back to Jerusalem.  So the composer knew of Cyrus and a date can be narrowed down.

 

           Sienna, too, and her dolly, welcome everybody.

 

This 2^nd  Isaiah section presents 4 suffering servant songs, #3 being our selection today.  Jews see the servant to be the Hebrew people/nation.  Christians see the servant to be Christ. 

Isaiah 2 is considered maybe the most influential O.T. book.  On Isaiah 2 Mark built much of his gospel, especially the story of the crucifixion.

Handel's Messiah uses 2nd Isaiah for its lyrics.

3^rd Isaiah, Chapter 56-66: more assurances of a return to peace & glory.

 

Victoria would like everyone to know that she and her pet frog are also happy to see everybody.

 

 Mark: observation

I do not like the line in Mark where he says we have to take up our cross.  I have seen the negative result of this.  Which is not to imply that we do not have to struggle to reach goals, like, say, 175 lbs.  

 

 

                           Happiness is Victoria and her frog.

 

The 3 Beauties

This morning I would like to talk with you about 3 beauties I encountered the past ten days in Yosemite. 

The first beauty has to do with the spectacular scenery we walk through, up, and down.  We are ranging from, say, 7 thousand feet up to and beyond tree line, which is 10 thousand feet.  The Lodgepole Pines, the grassy meadows, the streams, the vistas from three 10 thousand foot passes, all take my breath away. 

 

                 Zoe says, "How about this Sigler, pretty nice."

 

This beauty is what brings me back time and again to the mountains, and especially to the Matterhorn Canyon trail that I discovered with the Jesuits maybe 20 years ago.

The second beauty is the memories I have of camping in the same places six, eight, or ten times in my life.  At two places I was actually moved to tears. 

 

      Emma and Sienna are experts at nurturing little critters.

 

At the foot of Matterhorn Canyon there is a gorgeous campsite.  You cross a shallow stream and on the left of the trail there is a pretty grove of trees and a grassy meadow in front of the grove. 

I probably camped here 3-4 times, until we realized we wanted to get higher up the Canyon so we had less climbing to cross over Burrow Pass.  I walked through the campsite with Mike and I could remember where I had put my tent one below freezing night.  I could remember our fire ring and a tussle the group had once over one guy eating all the group’s peanut butter.

 

                    "Harper, it does not get prettier than this."

 

I remembered a night the first time I camped there with a Jesuit friend who taught at Berkeley.  We had eaten dinner and were sitting around a campfire when a female deer came up behind me and put her head on my right shoulder.  I was stunned, but not scared.  Don Gelpi, my friend, had watched it all without saying a word.  Don Gelpi is now dead and I missed him there.

Another campsite, my most favorite of all my campsites in the world, Piute Creek, just after coming over the Burrow Pass.  It has the required creek.  But it is spacious and off the trail enough so that people cannot even see the spot.  It is grassy and shady.

 

                   Brandon and Leo at serious attention.

 

I camped in the same place where 6 years ago Tom & Lynda Fleming put up their tent, with Daniel’s tent just in front.  I remembered all sorts of people there, Poncik, Gene Cooley, Larry Pigeon, Beth & Rob, Ryan Malphurs, Paul Fulce, and Ron Kovatis, as well as the Jesuits.    I could see Fulce and Kovatis smoking cigars in a natural pool in the stream.  These memories touch me to tears. 

 

 

 

                 Music at Sigler Elementary, beautiful as ever.

 

The third beauty: the people I was with.  You may find it hard to see beauty in people like Ray and Mike, but Beth was there.  The beauty was the consideration each person showed for others.  Ray was always up first in the morning ca. 6:00.  He would fire up our little camp stove and heat water for coffee and oat meal.  Many a morning I got up, got my cup, my Starbuck’s instant coffee, and my MooMoo milks, and had my first cup of coffee of the day.  Ray also called the time for happy hour and cooked the evening meal prepared ahead of time by Rose Banzhaf.

 

            Genevieve, "Is that old geezer finished talking yet?"

 

As an aside, we ate exceptionally well.  Rose fixes casseroles and cobblers, freeze dries them, puts them in sealed packages, and we break out one set each evening.  Plus, I must confess, we have a half pound of cheese, maybe a piece of dark chocolate, and a pint of Jack Daniels. 

Mike & Andy, because they both have nimble feet, often helped me across slippery streams.  No way do I want to fall and mess up one of my special hips. 

 

 

             "Emma, please tell me that you too are not sleeping                             when I talk."

 

Three priceless beauties, nature, memories, and companions. 

Your priceless beauties?  

Readings:

 Isaiah 35, 4-7, The eyes of the blind will be opened.

Psalm 146,    Praise the Lord, my soul.

James 2, 1-5, 21-22, 27,  Show no partiality

Mark 7, 31-37, Jesus heals the deaf & mute man.

 

 

  

Homily:

 

Last Sunday Stack reminded us about how Moses told the people of Israel that they would have their own land promised by Yahweh.  And how after Moses’ death Joshua and others wiped out the Cannanite tribes who resided there, and just moved in. 

 

 

The theme today is that of healing.  During the week I was touched by two visuals of a lack of healing for people.  The first was the visual of a dead child lying on a beach in Turkey, whose family were trying to get from Syria to safety in Europe.  His family was one of thousands escaping from war torn Syria, escaping death by the King’s military, or by the rebel fighters, or by ISIS jihadists.  Newspeople often refer to them as ‘immigrants’–-yet their country is in civil war and there is hardly a safe place for anyone on any side.  They are refugees.  They leave everything behind.  They cross the Mediterranean in rubberized boats or rafts.  Many don’t even make it to the first stop in Turkey.  These thousands of refugees are leaving their homes, leaving their land, in search of a safe place for their families, for their children. 

 

 

The second visual that struck me this week was from a series of articles in the National Catholic Reporter on the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ and its impact on people over centuries.  The ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ is found in papal bulls beginning in 1436; that’s almost 600 years ago.  One example is a papal bull from 1493, after Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of the Americas.  This papal bull gave Ferdinand and Isabella “full and free power, authority and jurisdiction of every kind” over almost all of the Americas, except for part of modern-day Brazil and a few islands.  Some say this was the beginning of international law as each succeeding papal bull would quote or reference those that came before.  When, in the late 1400’s discoverers were finding lands far away from Christian Europe, they found these lands occupied with non-Christian peoples, tribes and civilizations.  The papal bulls gave Christian discoverers full power and authority over all non-Christian peoples in these lands.  This meant the land could be claimed by the Christian discoverer (like for Spain or for France, etc.) and the non-Christian people could be enslaved, made to become Christian, even killed if they resisted.

 

 

Fast forward to 1823.  This Doctrine of Discovery was legitimized in a ruling by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.  His ruling maintained that Native Americans had the right to ‘occupy’ land, but not have full ownership, and that tribes were dependent on the federal government.

 

 

So the two visuals that touched me this week were the thousands of refugees fleeing Syria, especially the little boy lying dead on the beach; and the millions of peoples in the Americas, Africa, the Pacific islands, etc., dispossessed of their lands, culture and religion, to a large extent due to a series of papal bulls and the Doctrine of Discovery. 

 

 

What would healing look like for the people of Syria fleeing war and devastation?  What would healing look like for the offspring of the indigenous peoples of North and South America? of Africa? of  the pacific islands?   

 

 

And how do I individually, or as a member of this Christian community, promote healing in my own world?

 

Readings:

 Deuteronomy 4, 1-2, 6-8, The commandments to Moses

Psalm 15,    The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

James 1, 17-18, 21-22, 27,  Every perfect gift is from above.

Mark 7, 1-8, 14-15, 21-23,  All these evils come from within.

 

 

                        Zoe says, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Observations on Deuteronomy

What is it about: Moses is addressing the people just before they are to enter into the Promised Land, the land of the Canaanites.  They have escaped from Egypt and have been wandering around in the desert for about 40 years.  Moses is dying and knows he will not go into Canaan.

The theme of the staged talk is that God has saved and blessed his beloved people.  To help them live better he has given them the 10 commandments and a whole bunch of other laws.  This is a book on the laws.

 

             Buddy says, "Last day here?  Dunno, I like it here."

 

This is the 5^th book of the original bible and the fifth of the Big 5, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy

Authors:  Inferring from the work, it is obvious that the judges and teachers of the people compiled the material.

Time composed: as with so much else, after the Babylonian Captivity, around 500 before Christ.

 

               "Hi, Tori, Want to see how you like Sigler?"

 

Observations on James

1.   We have James for 5 Sundays
2.   James was not an apostle, but head of the community after Jesus.    He gets stoned in 62.

 Sources: The New Interpreter’s Bible Study; The Good News Bible

        3.    Ever hear the story of Santiago de Compostella?    There is a large, ancient basilica in the Spanish province of Galicia, which, even up to today, has been a pilgrimage site for centuries, one of the big 3 sites in the world.  The other 2? Jerusalem & Rome.

The tale?  Briefly.  

 

 

        Genevieve says, "Well, it is all new to me.  Let's try it."

 

The Apostle James supposedly went from Jerusalem to the North West province of Galicia in Spain to convert the people.  He baptized with a sea shell which is his symbol on the pilgrimage route.

He went back to Jerusalem, was killed, and buried.  The angels transported his body to Galicia and buried it there.

One day a little shepherd boy was in the fields and a light shone from heaven on a spot.  A voice told him to tell the bishop to dig there for St. James' bones.  He did, the bishop dug up the bones, and he built a chapel over the site.  

 

        Leo says, "I like this place and I'll have fun at Sigler, too."

 

This was about the year 700, just after the time the Moors had crossed into Spain from Africa and swept all the way up into France.  From this time until 1492 when Queen Isabella finally kicked them back to Africa, the Moors lived a lifestyle and culture that was far superior to Spain and Europe in those times.

Meanwhile, James became the patron of the effort to remove the Moor. He was called the Matamoros, killer of the moors.

Over the years the chapel gave way to bigger and bigger until this large basilica was built.  It was a great economic boon, because thousands of pilgrims came.  Cures were apparently taking place.

 

           After 32 years working at TI, John is retiring.  Give that                       man a cupcake.

 

The basilica is famous for its huge thurible, which is swung at the end of most Masses from side to side in the apse, not the nave.  This was supposedly to lessen the aroma of the unwashed pilgrims who were allowed to shelter in the balconies around the basilica.

Rosemary & I & even Mary Ellen have visited Santiago de Compostella. Moreover, a former Jesuit classmate of mine from Washington State is this day making the pilgrimage which goes from Europe, like from Paris, over the Pyrenees, and along the northern part of Spain to Galicia.

 

 

            Harper says, "What is that man talking about now?" 

 

Grateful Reminiscing

Seeing that this morning we are doing our last regular Mass in our old home, I would like to do a little grateful reminiscing.  This started out pretty simple, then it got overwhelming, and finally I have narrowed it down to 4 main points.

First, remember the first time we celebrated Mass here, Thanksgiving weekend 10 years ago?  I can remember it clearly.  It had been about 5 months since I had seen most of you and certainly all those people who poured in that Sunday.  I was at the entrance greeting everybody with tears rolling down my cheeks.

 

                               Leo the Candle Lighter.

 

There used to be a middle aisle here.  Remember?  That Sunday I walked down the aisle, turned around, and then could not say anything for probably half an hour. 

That was one of the special events in this room and one of the special events in my life.

Secondly, three special events. 

1.  Christmas Eve celebrations with the little kids presenting the nativity.  Remember some of those days when we had a whole bunch of baby Jesus, both boys & girls?

 

                 Offertory, John & Jean, Louis, Judy & Mike

 

    Connected with that is the way the community has welcomed the kids     each Sunday, and the babies, like Genevieve and last week, Vivian.      Those kids give me so much spirit to my life.

1. Another special event was Fred’s memorial.  One of our best buddies. 
2. Then there is our music, with Ray and Shonda pulling it all together.   I get so high on what we sing I can dance all week.
3. After all this, thirdly, I have been touched by three special people who give me life, Mike, John, and Tony O’Donovan.

 

 

 

                           The Best, Shonda, Bethany, & Ray.

 

I remember that it was at Sigler one Sunday when his son Paul brought Mike to the community. 

Without John & his open spirit, I would really feel tied down.  You two help keep the community together.

With regard to Tony, do you realize that we would have been in a bind if he had not stepped forward before I was out some months with my new hips?

The final event I am grateful for is you folks, you people.  I am both touched that you keep coming back, week after week, and because of your presence I begin the week on a high, full of joy and sacred memories. 

Thanks for the 10 years of marvelous memories.

 

             Genevieve says, "Wake me up, please, when he is finished                   talking.