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Readings:  Wisdom 1, 13-15, 2, 23-24; Psalm 30, I will Praise You, Lord, for You have rescued Me; 2 Corinthians 8, 7-15; Mark 5, 21-43.  

     

Wisdom: One of the 14-15 books of the deutero-canonical books of the bible.  Not part of the orginal Jewish bible, not part of the OT nor the NT, but in between and the subject of controvercy over the centuries.  Were they really part of the bible or not?  How do you know?  Catholic church accepts the books.

Author: not Solomon, but a Jew living in Alexandria, Egypt, who spoke and wrote excellent Greek.

Date: ca. 100-200 BCE.  How do we know these facts?  Because of text analysis.  For example, while the author wrote in Greek, he uses phrases and expressions that have a Hebrew flavor.  Also, he mentions rulers and places that reveal date and locale. 

Sources: Catholic Encyclopedia on line

This is Radical

There is a novel going around called Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See.  I recommend it. The novel tracks the lives of two middle class, educated sisters who are born in Shanghai in the 1920's or early '30's.   It follows them through a time in 1937 when the Japanese invaded China to the time when they end up in California as arranged brides. The novel has good character development and provides a view into a time just before & after the Second World War from the perspective of Chinese middle class women. 

What struck me in a unique way was the mother of the two girls.  She was, according to the girls, an old fashioned mother.  That is, she bound her feet so they would not grow.  From the novel I discovered what a barbaric & painful experience this was for women, young & old.  Imagine the pain of wearing shoes too tight or new.  Why?  Beauty?  I discovered in researching for our homily that another reason was to limit the mobility of women.  So they cannot run away or even run.  The reason for the demand was to limit mobility; the side effect was beauty, all because of male bias against women.

I remembered this novel when I read about Jesus healing two females.  Do you realize how radical this was, especially with the woman bleeding?  Leviticus, the third book of the Bible, has a lot to say about women who bleed.  For instance, a woman giving birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 7 days; a girl baby, 14 days (chapter12).

In Lev. 15 it says that during menstration, women were ritually unclean, which meant they were considered socially dead, not allowed in the temple, not allowed in the community, could not touch anyone and no one was allowed to touch them or their clothes or they, too, were ritually unclean.  So what does the lady in Mark do?   What does Jesus do?

Do you realize today how historic and universal this bias was against women?  Plato in The Republic says that Socrates asked, Do you know of any thing done by humans which is not done better by the male.

Hindus teach that a woman must immolate herself after her husband's death.  Buddhists consider it bad karma to be reincarnated as a woman.  Jewish men are taught to pray, Blessed be God who has not created me a heathen, a slave, or a woman.  Our Bible in Genesis blames a woman for the origin of evil in our world.

In 1873 in Illinois a case was decided against a woman.  She had passed the bar exam to be a lawyer, and the court would not grant her appeal to receive a law license.  A judge said that the place of a woman was in the home and that women did not have the fortitude to deal with such issues as the law.

The church fathers, as they are called, had their own bias.  St. Jerome says that when a woman wishes to serve God more that the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called a man.  You do not want to know what St. Augustine thinks about women.

So why this historic and universal bias against women by men (& women)?  One reason, from my research, blood.  Another is the male nervousness & weakness around women, beginning in adolescence.

So here comes Jesus along.  The woman touches him.  He could have had her killed by the crowd.  What was she doing in the crowd anyway?    And what does he do?  He calls her "Daughter," and heals her.  This is revolutionary.  He moves from bias to inclusion & acceptance.

In Galatians (Chapter 3) it says there is no male or female.  Just folks.  We are being called to get rid of the bias.  Women do not deserve to have their feet bound.

 

How is your bias barometer?  Any bias against women, men, a particular race, political party, a part of town, a school? 

Sources: The Sins of Scritpture, Bishop (Anglican) John Shelby Spong; Catholic Encyclopedia on line.

Audio on vacation this week & next, sorry.

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin & Noah helping

Picture 2:  Kevin & Noah

Picture 3:  Birthdays & Anniversaries, Sue Tomas, Rick & Jackie, Sandra & Chuck Pratt

Picture 4:  Birthdays & Anniversaries, Nina Waldron, Barb & Warren Wittek

 Mass:  Coffee & Donuts, Juice & Home Made Muffins on the house.

                          

Place:  Vines High School on 15th between Custer & Independence.  Time: 9:30

Readings: Acts 1, 15-26; Psalm 103, the Lord has set his Throne in Heaven; 1John 4, 11-16; John 17, 11-19.

                   

Community Bulletin Board: 

 This Saturday, 7:00 — The Annual Anniversary Celebration:   Fairview Farms, Parker & Central, same corner as Costco; covered dish (R to Z please bring deserts; A to Q hors d'oeurves)  Welcome!!  About 12 couples will renew their wedding vows. 

Information on Rosemary's trip to the hospital Sunday-Wednesday: Rosemary just got out of the hospital today, Wednesday where she went Sunday with an old problem with rapid heart beat, called SVT, supra ventricular tachycardia, a pulse (180) that won't come back down.  She had a procedure yesterday that will stop this.  She is home now ready to celebrate Saturday night at our anniversary party.  J.S.

    

 

True?    To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings–it's all a miracle.  I have adopted the technique of living life from miracle to miracle.

Aurthur Rubinstein

Picture 1:  Daddy Ed Kless with Cara

Picture 2:  Georgie with her grand parents, Bernadette & Gilberto

Picture 3:  Marianne & George Elwell

Picture 4:  Dorothy & Jim Wedding

Picture 5:  Alesia & Gary Wedding

          

 See you Sunday, May 24

 J.S.   (214-783-0443)

Readings: Acts 9, 26-31; Psalm 22, I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people; 1 John 3, 18-24; John 15, 1-8

Acts: a review–

Date: 70-100 A.D.

Author: Luke wrote both the Gospel and Acts

Plan:Chapters 1-8 tell of the early community with focus on Peter & John and on the Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost.  The rest of the book focuses on Paul, his conversion and travels.

Our Selection: We finally have moved from chapters 3-4 with the focus on Peter & John and now in chapter 9 we focus on Paul.  What has happened is this.  In chapters 7 & 8  Stephen is stoned for being a Christian.  Paul is watching and approves.  At the beginning of chapter 9 Paul gets permission in Jerusalem to go to Damascus and round up more Christians so they can be put in prison and probably stoned.  

Just outside Damascus a bright light flashes around Paul and he falls to the ground.  A voice says, "Why do you persecute me, Saul?"  Paul asks the voice, "Who are you, Lord?"  The voice tells him to go into Damascus where he will be told what to do.  When he gets up he cannot see.  He spends three days in Damascus without eating or drinking.

Meanwhile the Lord appears to a Christian named Ananias and tells him to go bless Saul.  Ananias is afraid because he knows Paul's reputation.  But he goes and when Paul is blessed he can see again.  This is Paul's conversion and he sets out immediately talking in Damascus about what has happened to him.  Then Paul goes to Jerusalem and we read what happens there.

This selection talks about Paul, 3rd person, i.e., he did this, he did that.  Chapters 22 & 26 of Acts have Paul himself speaking, 1st person, about his conversion experience.  Biblical students suggest that Luke was not presenting an historical event so much as  emphasizing the power of the risen Lord.

Mothers' Day

In honor of Mothers' Day I have a story for all you moms.  The rest of you can tune out if you want.  In fact, you may go get a donut or a coffee or a juice.  Return after my usual 5 minute homily.

Let's say, for the story's sake, you have a son.  Say he's about 4 years old.  He tends to get into mischief. 

One day you are driving along in your car, not on a freeway but on a suburban street.  Your car starts to buck and cough.  What's wrong, you wonder.  It seems like the car is running out of gas, but the tank is more than half full.  Finally the car dies and you roll over to the side of the road.  You call AAA, they come, cannot get it started, and tow it to your garage. 

The man checks everything and it all seems okay.  Gas, oil, electric.  But it still seems to not be getting gas.  Finally, he checks the gas line for maybe a kink.  What does he find?  Water.  The tank had been filled with water.  Who did it?  Suspicions arise.  Mom goes home and begins to ask around.  "Anybody around her put water in my gas tank?"  Word has gotten around that this has caused a lot of trouble, so there is an atmosphere in the house.  Nobody says anything. 

Finally, with a little more questioning, a confession is forthcoming.  Suspicions were correct.  This 4 year old boy had filled the tank so his mom would not run out and have to pay the high price of gas.

What does mom do?

Same mom, another day.  She has been working around the house.  Beautiful day, kids are playing all up and down the block because it is safe.  She goes in and begins to arrange things to prepare the evening meal.  Eventually everyone comes in and has dinner. 

Asking everyone how their day was, she finally asks her 4 year old.  He was playing with his little buddy a couple of doors down.  They are inseparable.  But toward the end of the afternoon his mom asked him to come get in the car because they were going to go out for a bit.  Our little boy could walk home on his own a couple of doors away.  Everyone finishes telling their story, they finish dinner, and the older kids go upstairs to finish homework while mom cleans up the kitchen with our 4 year old playing around on the floor.  All is peaceful.

Half way through cleaning up the doorbell rings.  The other little boy's mother  is outside and asks if she could talk for a moment.  Does she know where her little boy is?  Sure, in the kitchen.   

Turns out when the woman came home she opens the door and finds her bottom floor flooded with water.  She immediately thinks of a broken pipe or a toilet.  She runs around but cannot find where it is coming from.  Finally as she passes the front door, she sees the culprit.  The garden hose has been stuck through the mail box in the door and is running full blast.  She turns it off and has suspicion. 

She talks with her little boy.  Yes, they had been playing with the hose before they left in the car.  Yes, it probably was still on when they left.

The neighbor mother narrates this event to mom.  More suspicion.  The little boy has been listening and disappeared.  Finally, he comes out from where he was hiding and admits he had put the hose into the mail box.  Why had he done it?  He says he does not know.

What would you do, Mom? 

To aggravate the event, the family had to have the whole downstairs of their 2 story Tudor replaced.  The neighbor, however, never was irritated or critical, in fact, very forgiving and accepting.  Fortunately, her husband worked for an insurance company.

What would you do, Mom?

I see three possibilities. 

First, if you are really mad and embarrassed, after each of these events you might spank the boy, or get dad to spank the boy.  Got to teach him not to do stupid things. 

Secondly, if you are less mad, you can give him a firm admonition, dress him down, with, maybe, a threat of severe consequences.  Even make him stay home and not play outside for a week or so. 

Thirdly, you might accept that he does crazy things and does not know why.  And put your hands gently on him and hold him.  Maybe tell him it okay.  The touch of mom is so healing and comforting.  All women have it.

I am not the hero of these stories, but I have been there.  I know the guilty feeling and how lame it sounded when I said, "I don't know why."  A hint: this little boy grew up in West Hempstead, NY, the next to the last of six.

So, what would you like to do, Mom?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-05-10.mp3

Picture 1:  Beginning Mass, T.J. helping

Picture 2:  Birthdays, Stephen, Ron, Abby (17 today); Anniversary, Rosemary; 1st Communion, Ginny

Picture 3:  Mothers' Blessing left

Picture 4:  Mothers' Blessing right

Readings: 1 Kings 3, 5-12; Psalm 119; Romans 8, 28-30; Matthew 13, 44-52 (beautiful section)

1 Kings:

• Author & date of composition: a compiler who seems to have lived ca. 550, during the Babylonian captivity.
• Subject Matter: King Solomon, David’s son. 1 Kings was once considered part 3 of a 4 part series, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, all of which was called the Book of the Kingdom because the books all talk about the kings of the Hebrews after the rule of the judges.
• Sources of the Compiler: many, but in particular The Court History of David and The Acts of Solomon.
• Time Span of Kings: 450 years, from 9th century to 5th century B.C., King Solomon & the Temple to Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonian Captivity, one of the great Hebrew catastrophes along with the Holocaust.
• Today’s selection shows Solomon is so wise, as he is given a choice by Yahweh.

A Man Who was a Treasure: Tom Collerain

Last Sunday, you may remember, we had a touching Mass and a fun brunch.  And seated right up there behind Ken & Cindy, Kim & Lance was Tom Collerain for the first time in about a month.  Rosemary & I had missed him, wondered how he was doing, and called him the week before.  He said he and Alice had just returned from a cruise on the Rhine, which was why we had not seen him, and that he was looking forward to Sunday and seeing everyone again.  As usual, Tom was there with his warm, marvelous smile.

That evening he had dinner at 6:00 with Alice, was cleaning up, and went out with the garbage.  Alice wondered what was taking him so long.  She went out and found him lying in the flower bed.  He had gone to the other side. 

Again this Sunday we hear more humble metaphors of what the kingdom is like, like a fishing net, like a pearl, like a treasure.  Folks, Tom Collerain was a treasure.  For at least three reasons.

First, because he was fully alive.  He received the gift or treasure of life and fully experienced it.  On the Myers-Briggs personality indicator, he probably was a judging or type A personality.  He lived with order, working out every day at 9:00, eating at 12:00 & 6:00, nap at 1:00, and probably on time for everything.  That was his gift. 

He also celebrated life, for example traveling with Alice after his retirement.  In fact, they had just returned from the Rhine.  To celebrate even more, he had the joker in him.  For example, he could have given me the one about the couple who were 60 years old and celebrating their 40th anniversary.  They were in a nice restaurant.  Suddenly a little fairy appears on their table and says that because they were such a good & loving couple, they could each have one wish.  Like Solomon.

The wife, with the wisdom of Solomon when she had a choice, asked that she and her darling husband be given a cruise trip around the world.  The fairy said yes, and, poof, two cruise tickets appeared on the table. 

When the fairy asked the husband, he said that he had a wish which was not intended to hurt his wife, but he would like a new wife 30 years younger.  The fairy & the wife look and each other, roll their eyes, the fairy says, “Okay,” and, poof, the husband becomes 90 years old. 

Secondly, Tom was a treasure because he was, as Alice describes him, a gentle man.  He was a gentle man because he was at peace, at peace with his numerous friends, so many of which showed their appreciation of him Wednesday at his funeral service.  He was at peace with his terrific family, with himself, and with his God.  He was likewise at peace with animals, so many of which he welcomed under his roof.  His favorite golden retriever, Rowdy, even reflected his peace.  When a litter of abandoned baby kittens from the neighborhood were brought in, it was Rowdy who would pick the little kittens up in his mouth and carry them around. 

Thirdly, Tom was a treasure because he considered himself a roof keeper.  He took care, he watched over.  In fact, once he retired he developed a talent for cooking he had put on the shelf when he was working.  It is amusing to note that Tom gave Alice one of her first cooking lessons.

Before they got married and were living in Houston, Tom brought Alice a gift of fresh corn on the cob.  She put it away.  A while later Tom returned, saw the corn, and suggested that she cook it up.  “I don’t know how,” she responded.  Tom taught her how to boil corn on the cob. 

It also seemed so symbolic to me that Tom’s last act was taking the garbage out.  How symbolic of how he spent time making his world a better place in which to live. 

I can see Tom this morning walking beside his favorite dog Rowdy, like he did so many times.  Rowdy is introducing him to all the new neighbors, for whom the gentle man Tom will act as a roof keeper. 

We have only so much time, folks.   How are you appreciating the treasure?

AUDIO:   http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-07-27.mp3

Readings: Wisdom 18, 6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11, 1-19; Luke 12, 32-48.

Wisdom: this book is one of the 12 special books only finally approved by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in 1546.  Martin Luther, for instance, did not think the 12 books were genuine.  Whatever the case, the 12 books are in a special section of our bible after the Old Testament.

The book we are reading from today contains traditional Jewish and Greek ideas about life, basically saying that God rewards those faithful to him & punishes you know whom.

What are You Afraid of?

When I was about sixteen, I came home from the old Jesuit High School one afternoon probably in the spring.  Nobody was home, not even my sister as far as I can remember. My dad was at work. My mom was at one of her afternoon bridge clubs and had gone with one of her friends because her baby blue Pontiac was in the garage. 

After hanging around a bit and getting bored, I decided I was going to go visit a friend and use my mom’s car. Mom, however, did not like me using her car, so I could not find her keys. Now in those days all of us kids knew how to run a car without keys. It was called hot wiring a car. You used tin foil on the back of the key slot under the dash. 

So I hot wired my mom’s big Pontiac, pulled out of the driveway onto Stanford, and turned toward Preston Road. Arriving at the corner the car stalls. For five minutes I am working on the key slot to start the car, all to no avail, when a car coming north on Preston turns into Stanford. A lady is driving.  I know that lady and sitting next to her, my mom.

The master had returned and the servant was unprepared. In fact, the servant was caught red handed.

I never got that car started and, in fact, had to pay my hard earned paper route money to get it towed and fixed. I had shorted out some wires. I don’t remember my mom ever saying anything, but I was humiliated. 

I remembered this incident when I read about the master & the servant. I have some observations about these readings.

First, I don’t see our God as a thief who is trying to catch us off guard. He is not a strict master who is looking to catch us red handed and beat us. 

Secondly, I don’t see us as servants. In fact, in John’s gospel Jesus says he does not call us servants, but friends. In today’s psalm it says, "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.  We are his chosen.  So is everyone.

To see this parable in a positive light, I would go back to last week when we talked about life being a gift.  When it says that the Lord will come at an hour we do not expect, I propose that the gift comes at moments and in packages we do not expect.  Appreciation is the goal and the process. It involves being sensitive and reflective.

One of the best lines in the whole gospel today is the very first line where Jesus says, "Do not be afraid any longer." This means I do not have to be afraid of God, afraid of death, afraid of getting caught red handed, or afraid of missing the gifts of the moment. 

I’ll always remember how stupid I felt when my mom came around that corner and saw me in her car, broken down. She did not tear into me, and neither do we have a god who is a thief or master who will beat us. 

So what are you afraid of?

   

Readings: Nehemiah 8, 2-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12, 12-30; Luke 1, 1-21

Nehemiah – The book of Nehemiah takes place during the Babylonian captivity. Three main characters play roles, though the first two are not mentioned in today’s reading. Cyrus is the benevolent ruler of Babylon. Nehemiah is the Jew Cyrus puts in charge of restoring the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Ezra, the central character of today’s reading, is a priest & law scholar.

We arrive on the scene after Nehemiah has established Jerusalem. The people have assembled in the town center and asked Ezra to read to them the law that orders their new lives. We hear part of the reading, a part that emphasizes rejoicing.

1 Corinthinians – During the time of Paul the Greek city of Corinth was almost as significant as Athens. Paul had established a community there and in his letter he is offering his advice to the people.

Chapter 13 is Paul’s famous letter about love being kind & patient. Chapter 12, our reading today, offers an almost amusing analogy of the community to a body. We are parts of the body and consequently we are important, making our unique contributions.

Liberty to Captives and Sight to the Blind – It was 21 years ago that the Jesuit superior in Nairobi told me in a letter that I should go back to the States for good. I was shocked and downcast by the news. It took me some years to get over it.

This spring Rosemary, Mary Ellen, & I will return for my first visit. Something I had hoped I would do, but never knew for sure.

In my 10 years there, I did two basic things. First, I helped establish a spiritual center-retreat house on the edge of Nairobi, Kenya. We bought 39 acres with two houses on the edge of a stream across from the Nairobi game park. In fact one night coming in late, another Jesuit & I (Louie Lambert) saw a giraffe crossing our front lawn.

The second thing I did was to help create spiritual growth & human maturity seminars, which we gave to priests, nuns, and bishops in Tanzania, the country just south of Kenya. I coordinated a mobile team of 2-3 priests and a Dutch nun.

These seminars were residential and lasted 1, 2, or 4 weeks. They were marvelous events with all races and men & women. We even gave a number of the seminars in Uganda during the days of Idi Amin.

All during my time in Kenya & Tanzania, I used to reflect upon what I was doing over there. I did not want to be considered a missionary, because I saw the negative effects of the cultural imperialism that came with the missionaries. For instance, drums were forbidden at Masses some places because they were considered pagan.

What did motivate me was the line in today’s gospel, "I come to give sight to the blind and liberty to captives." This still motivates me. I take the line metaphorically, not literally. For instance, this is why I talk often about the fundamental option instead of mortal-venial sin. I know my spirituality has moved from blindness to better sight, from prison to greater liberty. Otherwise, I would not have had the courage to get married.

I suggest that we, too, are challenged to help others see better. We do it with little kids. We do it with senior citizens. What a gift to help a person see that they are good and not bad.

This is what Jesus says in the gospel that he is doing. It is what I hoped I was doing in Kenya & Tanzania. It is what we are all challenged to do today.

Name one person you can touch into better sight, greater liberty.

Download the homily as an mp3 file (8751.1K).

Special Thanks:
For reading, Alexandra & Mary Ellen
For the Altar Bread, Linda Fleming
For Serving, Carmen & Ashley
For the Altar & cake, Margie Dugan & David & Alexandra
For the Books & Communion Cups, Roy & Carol Strom, Beth  & Rob Robinson
For ushering & all sorts of jobs, Cliff Wright
For the music, Ray & Wendy & Hue