Author: Rosemary

Readings: 2 Maccabees, 7, 1-14; Psalm 19; 2 Thessalonians 2, 16-3, 5; Luke 20, 27-38.

2 Maccabees: The two books of Maccabees cover the history of Israel for about 50 years, from ca. 200 to 150 B.C.  The books are again part of the Apocrypha collection, those books separate from both the Old & the New Testaments.

2 Maccabees emphasizes loyalty to the law, even in the face of persecution.  Our selection exemplifies this loyalty in the story of seven brothers & their mother.   This leads to the gospel story which also treats of seven brothers & one wife.

What to Die for; What to Live for

The date of this event was Nov. 16, 1989, 18 years ago this Friday.  The place: a Jesuit university.  The Jesuits have a residence for their men on the campus.  About 10 men live there and this evening six are at home.  Like most Jesuit residences they eat dinner about 6:00, then chat for a while, go off one by one to work on their classes or papers, and finally turn in before 11:00 or maybe 12:00.  A routine evening.

About 1:00 in the middle of the night the routine is shattered by 30 or 40 uniformed soldiers who bang on the door and barge in.  They wake everyone up and herd them into the patio.  While this is going on, other soldiers are crashing around the rooms, throwing books & drawers on the floor, and busting open cabinets.  A house keeper & her daughter are found in an adjacent apartment and they are taken into the patio with the 6 priests.

The searching and ransacking goes on for a couple of hours.  Meanwhile in the patio the priests and the women are made to lie face down on the grass.  At some point in the night while the group is lying down, each one is shot in the back of the head.

This took place at the University of Central America, San Salvador, El Salvador.

I am reminded of this contemporary event when I read in Maccabees about the mother with the seven sons.  Some comments about these events.

First, it is humbling to hear about people who believe so strongly about something that they are willing to die, even die being tortured.  These Jesuits at the university were attacked because they criticized the policies of the El Salvador government.  Some years before this event a gunman had walked up the main aisle of the cathedral in San Salvador and in front of everyone shot Bishop Oscar Romero face to face as he finished up a Mass.  He, too, had criticized the government for brutalizing the peasant people.  The Jesuits probably figured that the government would surely not murder a whole household of priests.  I stand in awe of the courage of these people.

Secondly, would that if we are called to defend our principles even to death, we could die defending the poor, struggling to bring peace, or demanding more equality.  While I admire the courage & integrity of the seven sons and mother, I am sad that they died over a law about eating pork.  Muslims today can kill infidels using a suicide bomb with the belief that Allah is pleased with them and they will have a special place reserved for them in paradise. 

It is like saying anyone who eats Blue Bell ice cream is going to hell, or eats it on Friday.  I am reminded of how I grew up being taught that I was going to hell if I ate meat on Friday.  People are trained to believe that drinking a glass of wine or dancing is sinful.  These laws are simply demands of other people who are like ourselves.  We let them mess with our minds.

Thirdly, let me suggest that there are two way to give your life.  The one, like the Jesuits, is swift and often violent.  One shot, end of story.

The second way of giving your life is exemplified by Ofelia’s husband, Luis, whom many of you saw at our two anniversary parties.  Both years Luis touched our hearts with his vows to Ofelia.  I, however, saw him every Thursday evening gently take care of Ofelia week after week, patiently being with her as she slowly lost her life.  For weeks he could not leave Ofelia alone, so he was house bound unless someone like Hospice showed up.  He told someone that last Saturday that he and Ofelia had fallen in love again.  Luis gave his life for Ofelia.

Most of us will probably not get shot in the back of the head for criticizing the government or fighting for peace.  All of us, however, are called to give our life, our daily life, to bring peace & life to another or many others.  Like, you teachers, you nurses, you drivers, you soccer coaches, you parents, you all.

For whom or what are you giving your life today?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-11-11.mp3

Readings: Special All Saints Mass of Remembrance using Sunday’s first reading & Luke’s Gospel with 2 poems as the middle readings.  Therefore: Wisdom 11, 22-12, 2; poems see links below; Luke 19, 1-10 (Zacheus).

The Mass begins with a poem read by Jackie Ritter: Download poem_1.doc

How was I blessed by These People?

I have known a Zacheus.  Zacheus is Everyone, a limited person.  We are all limited people.  This Zacheus gifted me in a variety of special ways. 

First, like Zacheus, she shared her friendship with me.  I did not really get to know her until she had her last bout with cancer some years ago.  But every Thursday evening for the past few years we have talked and shared about so many things.  I looked forward to our Thursdays.  Through her friendship I came to know and love her, her husband and kids and even grandkids.  Two of her grandkids were in our Christmas drama last Christmas eve, the twin girls in the angel dresses.

Also like Zacheus, she was not very tall but full of energy and simple hospitality.  Zacheus’ height is symbolic of the shortness we all have.  My friend, too, was petite, but so full of vitality and cheer.  She was a joy to talk with for an hour. 

Especially, however, I was touched by her because she was a brat.  One night when I went to see her with Rosemary, I told her I had been learning how to do the salsa.  I showed her my classy steps.  Her response was, "Man, you dance like a gringo.  You don’t move your hips."

Another evening when it looked like she was getting ready to cross the threshold perhaps a year ago, I told her that when she met The Man she should tell him hello for me.  In fact, I told her if she ran into any trouble, just to say that Stack sent her.  Her response was, "Maybe I might be better off if I don’t tell him I know you."   She knew how to play.

My good friend Ofelia Lopez crossed the threshold this morning about 3:00 A.M..

She and all these people pictured on the stage have touched and gifted us into new life.

How?  What is The Gift you received?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-11-04.mp3

After Communion a poem is read by Joanne Languell: Download poem_2.doc

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Readings: Sirach 35,12-18; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4, 6-18; Luke 18, 9-14.

Sirach: Again we take up one of the books of the Apocrypha, the 12 books written in Greek and not originally considered part of the Bible.  This book is basically a collection of Jewish wisdom statements and teachings.

Our selection in chapter 35 talks about the nature of god and what happens to the person who serves god.  It sets up Luke’s parable about the pharisee & the tax collector in the temple.

I am Better than Whom?

In our neighborhood there is an elderly couple.  Their yard is full of weeds and they tend to mow only a few times a summer. They have a couple of dead cars in the driveway, and drive an old, partially rusted pickup.

Once while I was sitting at my desk in the living room I saw the lady come by our house in her truck, take a left away from me on the corner, stop the truck, and get out.  Next I saw our neighbor lady running across our yard going in the direction of the truck.  Her black lab had gotten out.  Guess who finally caught the dog.  Yes, the lady from the pickup.  I was impressed and a bit embarrassed at my judgmental attitude. 

I was doubly embarrassed a few weeks later in the spring when I was working in the yard.  The pickup pulled up to the curb and from the driver’s side window the lady says to me, "You really have a nice yard."  We chatted, I found out her name, and now we wave at each other whenever she drives by.

I am the pharisee in the parable about these two guys going into the temple to pray.  Let me make a few comments about the tax collector, the pharisee, and the setting.

The setting first.

• Prayer time was 9:00 or 3:00
• Others were probably present
• Prayer of soliloquy was normal
• The parable is directly addressed to the rule keepers and especially the judgmental rule keepers.  Are these people fear based, following whatever they were programmed to believe as children? 

The pharisee.

• Goes to the temple to pray.  Normal.  Considered a model citizen & temple member.
• Utters a prayer of gratitude.  Normal.  A great prayer form.
• Fasts twice a week and pays tithes on his whole income.  Above normal.  An outstanding temple member.  A paragon of virtue and worthy of all Yahweh’s blessings.
• But.  The prayer of gratitude is based upon a judgmental attitude.  He thinks he is better than.  Superior to.

The tax collector.

• Shock!  A tax man going into the temple.  Going to pray.
• Tax collectors were considered ritually impure, because of their job. They collected money from their neighbors to hand over to the hated Roman government.
• The tax collector could have been stoned for entering the temple.
• He does not confess his weakness, does not promise to repent, says nothing about restitution.  In fact, he could not give up his job.  Or would not? 
• Begs for mercy.  Nothing more.  His only hope is to be accepted by Yahweh.

The result: Escatalogical Reversal.  Big description for what takes place.  A flip.  Just the contrary to what the Jewish people listening would expect.  The Tax collector "went home justified."  God’s inconceivable love accepts someone who does not follow the rules?  See why they crucified him?

Who are three people you dislike?  And why?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-10-28.mp3