Readings: Acts 1, 1-11; Psalm 47, God Mounts his Throne to Shouts of Joy, a Blare of Trumpets for the Lord; Ephesians 1, 17-23; Luke 24, 46-53.  

Ascension  of the Lord – Intro to the Readings

Today, we have a whole lot of Luke and a reading from Paul, or someone who knew him very well!

Our first reading is from the beginning of Acts and because of the feast, we leave aside John’s Gospel today and hear about the ascension from the very end of Luke’s Gospel.

The Gospel of Luke ends as it began (Luke 1:9), in the Jerusalem temple.

Luke brings his story about the time of Jesus to a close with the report of the ascension. He will also begin the story of the time of the church with a recounting of the ascension. In the gospel, Luke recounts the ascension of Jesus on Easter Sunday night, thereby closely associating it with the resurrection. In Acts 1:3, 9-11; 13:31 he historicizes the ascension by speaking of a forty-day period between the resurrection and the ascension. The Western text omits some phrases in Luke 24:51, 52,  perhaps to avoid any chronological conflict with Acts 1 about the time of the ascension.

Homily for the Feast of the Ascension

Faith is one of those items, which, try as we might, we will never be fully able to explain.  But I think there is a clue to this challenge in our second reading today.  There is a little phrase in there about the eyes of the heart.   I have never heard of the phrase “eyes of the heart” before, but the more I thought about them the more it started to make sense to me.

For most of my life beginning with my first catechism my faith seems to involve learning stuff:  information, ten commandments, seven sacraments, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, twelve apostles names, mortals sins and venial sins.  The list goes on and on.  As humans, today, we are almost obsessed with information, data.  I don’t think that people at the time of Christ were quite so obsessive as this.  Here is why:

In our first reading today from the opening chapter of Acts, Luke tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after the resurrection.  Yet in the gospel reading, also by Luke, if we pay close attention to the last chapter of that Gospel, Jesus ascended to heaven the same day as the resurrection!  Both readings are from the same writer.  Both readings coming from close to each other in their respective books, the last chapter of the gospel and the opening chapter of the Book of Acts, and yet this contradiction did not seem to matter to Luke or his audience. 

The only conclusion is that the detail, the facts themselves were not that important.  The event was looked at thru the eyes of the heart.  As I said on Easter Sunday, the fact of the Resurrection cannot be proven; neither can the fact of the Ascension.  They can only be seen thru the eyes of faith, thru the “eyes of the heart”

This week I was watching a new TV program “Into the Universe” from Steven Hawkins, the world's most famous living scientist which is all about the origins of the universe.  Even as intelligent a person as Hawkins cannot find God in our universe, and I believe the reason is quite simple. 

He is not looking with the eyes of the heart; he is looking through the eyes of a scientist who looks for hard data.  Our God is outside all of that.  Our God is in a totally different world.  His is the world of caring, the world of loving, of taking care of the poor, the sick and the lonely.  Our God has one simple rule, love one another. 

This kind of stuff is only visible thru the eyes of the heart.  And so today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, we can only celebrate it emotionally, not intellectually, because the notion of someone rising from the dead and going up where-ever doesn’t make any sense from a scientifically observable point of view, but is easy to accept in the context of a God who loves you and me unconditionally.

Picture 1:  Fr. Tony Begins

Picture 2:  Fr. Tony & Buddies, Marianne, George, & Ron

Picture 3:  Coffee time, Curtis, Warren, Ken & Cindy, Teresa & Tom, & Mabel

Picture 4:  Old Geezers, Tony, Jerry, David, & Stack

Picture 5:  Backpacking talk, Lynda, Bill, Daniel, & Claire

Readings: Acts 15, 1-2, 22-29; Psalm 67, O God, let all the Nations praise You; Revelation 21, 10-23; John 14, 23-29.

Acts:  a quick summary of the facts–

Author: Luke, a "doctor," a Gentile who converted to Judaism and then became a follower of Jesus.

Date: Maybe before, but more likely after the two big dates–

70 C.E.  failure of the Jewish revolt against Rome & destruction of the temple.

88 C.E.  the Jews who were followers of Jesus leave the synagogue and go on alone.

Material: story of the early Christian communities, not totally historical.

Mother's Day: a brief history–

1.  Greece & Rome: Cybele was the mother of all gods

2.  in the U.S.

a.  Julia Ward Howe: during Civil War, ca. 1870,  as a counter to the tragedy

b.  Anna Jarvis: 1912, pushed for 2nd Sunday of May, Mother's Day, with emphasis on the apostrophe, i.e., a single mother of a family, not all mothers.  Ended up regretting the day because of commercializaiton in the 40's before she died.  Hated Hallmark Cards' canned messages instead of personal notes.

c.  President Woodrow Wilson: 1912, made it a national holiday.

Sources: Legacy Project & Wikipedia

A Mother's Day Story

A year or so after I returned from East Africa, so around '88 or '89, my mom had to go into the hospital for some minor treatment.  She was living at home and I was living at Jesuit, though I went to visit her every day. 

On this particular day I was driving her west on LBJ from Preston to go to what was called at that time, Deadman Medical Center.  It is on LBJ between Marsh Lane & Webb Chapel.

As we ride along she reaches over with her left hand, pats me on the right leg, and says, "I'm proud of you."

Wow!  That blew me away.  I was really touched inside.  Here I am just back from about 10 years in East Africa.  I've been a Jesuit by then 30 years, more or less.  And my mom's affirmation still meant so much. 

Two events happened in that car.  One, my mother used words to affirm me.  Secondly, she touched me in a tender, affirming way.  The result: inner peace, just what is mentioned in today's gospel, the gift, ultmate gift.

If you are like I was when I grew up, I did not have enough positive stroking and certainly I lacked touch. 

You mothers, daughters, married, singles, all of you.  You got the gift.  You can bring peace with two simple acts, a word and a touch.

With whom and how many times a day do you share your gift?   

Picture 1:  3 of the 8 men who all gathered to bless the foreheads of all the female members of the community as our entrance rite, Tony Bob, & Richard 

Picture 2:  Fred blessing Rosemary's forehead with blessed ointment

Picture 3:  Jeff Morrow & Bob McGrath blessing the foreheads of the female members of the community in their section

Picture 4:  Cole receiving his first communion with his mom, Gail

Picture 5:  Shelby receiving her first communion from her mom, Debbie

Readings: Acts 14, 21-27; Psalm 145, I will praise Your Name forever, My King and My God (1st stanza, my favorite: the Lord is Gracious and Merciful, Slow to Anger and of Great Kindness); Revelation 21, 1-5; John 13, 31-35.

Psalm 145:

The book of Psalms is the hymn book and prayer book of the Jewish Bible. 

Composed over centuries, before Christ's time and probably assembled after the Babylonian Captivity, i.e. ca. 550 BCE

Authors: many.  Not just King David

Psalm 145: this psalm has one of those lines that is a special gem, a glimpse for me into a reality that I find a mystery.  The nature of God.  Something I can only approach by analogy and projection. 

I read the Bible and encounter a god who is jealous, merciless, and demanding payback.  I don't buy this.  I do buy, however, the image presented by the first stanza.  I even change it a bit to say, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is full of love.

Known Because we have Love for One Another

I would like to talk this morning about the Collin County Adult Clinic and how we all got involved with it.  You probably know that Julia Grenier was the founder of this clinic, but you may not know how she came to do it. 

I talked with her Thursday and got the story.  It started about 30 years ago, so in the early 80's, when she was hired by Elizabeth Seton Parish to be the parish nurse.  Julia just celebrated 50 years as a nurse.  This was a new position for a parish to have and Julia made it more unique in her special way. 

She ended up getting involved with PISD kids and with day laborers in the area.  At one point she was even working as a volunteer at the Day Laborer Center somewhere in Plano.

She told me that during this time she would meet with people who needed significant medical help.  She could handle the first aid cases, but she had to take the more serious into clinics and emergency rooms.  She said you could not get a patient looked at, say at PrimaCare, without a $100 up front payment. 

Julia paid these expenses out of the savings she and Al had put away.

The expenses mounted and so did the number of patients Julia was treating.  Enter St. Marks and Fr. Duffy.  There was an obvious need for a clinic.  Julia & Duffy worked out an agreement where St. Marks would let Julia use some space gratis and get help through Catholic Charities. 

They opened on a Thursday night in 2003.  Julia said 15 patients showed up the first night.  All the staff, doctors, nurses, support, all worked pro bono.  The second week twice that number showed up.  And then the word spead and the numbers soared, making it impossible to carry the load at St. Marks. 

Jerry Weis informed me that at this time Collin County set aside some money for health, did not really know what to do with it, and gave the clinic in 2004 about $50,000.  They banked it and banked another $25,000 the next year while they looked for a larger venue, which they found on Ave. K & Park.

A builder with Rotary named Jerry Huffman said he could put the space together for $275,000.  He finally did the job for $150,000 and the clinic opened in late 2005.  The patient load now on Thursday evenings was 70 to 90 every week. 

Meanwhile, Julia's health was deteriorating.  In 2008 she had to retire.  I remember thinking that this might be the end of the clinic.  Instead, the staff pulled together, hired a full time, paid director, John Ernst, and even expanded the service to Tuesday night.

Julia told me on the phone that she spends many week days in their home here in Plano, but weekends she & Al have a small horse farm in East Texas, which is why we don't see her on Sunday mornings.  She may make it for Mother's Day next week.

Jesus says in the Gospel this morning, "All will know you are my desciples, if you love one another.  I am amazed at how Julia took a small job and turned it into a large clinic because she saw people in need.  I am humbled at how Julia exemplifies loving others.

How do you show your love?

Picture 1:  Mass with Tony.

Picture 2:  Full service ministry at San Vino.

Picture 3:  David McKeon introducing the 9 couples renewing their marriage promises.

Picture 4:  Madge & Carl Smith renewing their marriage of 60 years, Carl with the tie he wore last on his wedding day

Picture 5:  Kim & Mike Burkhart (from Tuscon, formerly of St. Mark's) renewing their marriage of 25 years.