Readings:

Wisdom  9, 13-18,  Who can know God’s counsel?

Psalm 90,  In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

Philemon 1, 9-10, 12-17,  If you regard me as a partner, welcome Onesimus  as you would me.  

Luke 14, 25-33,   If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, he cannot be my disciple.   (Another awful Luke message.  A good one maybe for teens.   Wait for next week, a really good one.)

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

Observations on the book of Wisdom:

What:  Exploration of the meaning and value of wisdom.  The author is the first to express a hope for immortality, a Greek concept.

 Who:  A Greek Jew who wrote probably in Alexandria, Egypt.

Kevin, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Welcome."

Hate my Father and Mother?

I remember one Saturday morning in the summer of 1960.  I was 20 years old and in my second year as a Jesuit intern-novice.   I was also in a pirogue floating down the Calcasieu River in SW LA with one of my best fellow Jesuit novice buddies, Jerry McCaffery from New Orleans.  

Every summer for the 4 years I spent at Grand Coteau we Jesuit interns got to spend 2 weeks at a river camp near the village of Kinder.  For me it was paradise, swimming, boating, living in the two story screened in pavilion, beds on the second floor, dining room and activities on the first.  We were about 50 plus guys. 

Offertory with Bernadette, Richard, and Gil.

As Jerry & I floated down the river that Saturday morning, Jerry told me that at that very moment in New Orleans his brother was getting married.  He could not go.  That was policy.

We were instructed that when we entered the Jesuits we entered a new family and left behind our former family.  So we never went back home, for anything, weddings, funerals, Christmas, Thanksgiving.   The idea was that we were becoming companions of Jesus in a family devoted to that goal. 

The Best Music Team, Shonda, Bethany, and Ray.

This was how the Jesuits put into practice the message today about hating one’s father and mother.  We were not instructed to hate, just refocus our allegiance.   Today I am embarrassed to admit that I bought this message.  The Jesuit training has certainly mellowed since Vatican II.  However, there are still rigid groups & religious orders that take this literally. 

I would propose that this story exemplifies the negative approach to these ideas.  Is there a positive?   I would say ‘yes,’ if you make the father and mother symbols.  Symbols of things that hold me back from being truly alive, truly healthy, and truly spiritual. 

Welcome back, John and Mary Jane, so good to see you with us.  

Also the word hate may be taken as hyperbole or exaggeration. 

Therefore, what about these symbols standing for unhealthy eating, excessive drinking, over work, being lazy, or materialism? 

Certainly, if I had listened to my high school buddies, and even my mom, I confess, I would never have joined the Jesuits.

The Wedding of Lynn and Roger begins.

Likewise, I got a lot of push back about going to East Africa.

And certainly when it came to getting married, did I not get a lot of push back and even condemnation from my dear Jesuits and from the Catholic Church?

Look at the sports page on Saturday morning.  What takes up many of the pages?  High school boys playing football.  How many of these kids had to fight back against their natural tendency to stay in bed and skip practice in the heat?

I, Roger, take you, Lynn, in marriage

So, there can be healthy ways to listen to today’s readings.  No need to take ‘hate’ literally.  No need to take father & mother literally. 

How do you push back against those voices that encourage you to live ultimately less healthily, less spiritually, & less psychologically alive?

Unity Candle.   The wedding took place Saturday at the Little Chapel in The Woods at TWU, Texas Womens' University in Denton.  A delightful and hospitable venue for weddings.

Readings:

Isaiah  66, 18-21,  I know their works and their thoughts.  (This is the last chapter of the book of Isaiah.)

Psalm 117,  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Hebrews 12, 5-7, 11-13,    He scourges every son he acknowledges.

Luke 13, 22-30,  Strive to enter through the narrow gate.

 

Leo and Genevieve say, "Welcome in, Everybody."

 

Isaiah 66 observations:

Author: Isaiah III.  The book of Isaiah is one of my favorites.  Some beautiful passages.  Remember, 3 primary authors are responsible for the 66 chapters, and we are reading the very last.  Isaiah 1 covers chapters 1-39.  This book is one of the Big 3 O.T. prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  This is because the works are the longest.  There are 12 minor prophets.

Time: ca. 700, before the Assyrians annihilate the northern Jewish kingdom, called Israel, vs the southern kingdom called Judah, where Jerusalem is.  10 tribes were lost in this destruction, the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel. 

 

 

 

Leo and his buddy, John, also say, "Come on in, Folks." 

 

 

Remember, there were 12 tribes.  Why?  Because of the 12 sons of Jacob, who was one of the 3 great patriarchs or founders of the tribe, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, who was also called Israel. 

 Message of Isaiah III: Mostly consolation after the catastrophe.   What is the basic activity of a prophet?  1.  criticism, 2. prediction of dire payment, 3. consolation.

Today’s message: this being the last chapter of the whole work, you might guess.  Yes, consolation and future unity.

 

 

Buddy, our Candle Lighter of The Week, at work.


 

 

Psalm  117:  The best line in the whole bunch of readings.  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Hebrews observation:

 The best thing about today's selection: we have to read Hebrews only one more week.  Awful reading today.

 

 

Genevieve says, "Like my new dance step?" 

 

 

It is all Good News

You will never guess where I was this past Friday morning at 6:00.  Yep, you know me too well.   I was beginning spin class at the Jewish Community Center.  I have a special story about something that happened at that class.

Normally we have 10 to 16 or so people for the classes.  But Friday morning we had only about 7-8.  Plus we had a substitute teacher or directress of the orchestra, a lady named Alesia, whose style I like, a bit more laid back.

 

 

Becky and Tom, good friends. 

 

 

So, just as Alesia was instructing us to get started, I stepped away from my bike and made a sign to her that I would like to talk.  So she gave me the welcome sign. 

I stepped forward, turned a bit to include the class, and said that a very special person was celebrating her birthday that day, Haya.   I went over to her and gave her a gift of a little package of cookies called BelVita. 

 

 

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody." 

 

 

Haya is an older woman, which makes her special to me.  She is about 5‘1”, is a little hunchbacked, has a vertical scar on the back of her right shoulder, is very quiet and shy, speaks English with a foreign accent, and drives a gold Prius (as I say frequently, “Anybody who drives a gold Prius has got to be special). 

We finish the class, sing Happy Birthday, start drying off, stretching, and preparing to leave.  I feel a tap on my back.  Haya.  She thanks me for remembering her.  Then she says, “This is the happiest day of my life.”

 

 

Grace and Richard, more good friends. 

 

 

 I cannot believe what I just heard.  I am so touched.  On the one hand, I am touched that such a small gesture can mean so much to her.  On the other, does this say something about her life?  Could she be a victim of the Holocaust?  I discover that we are the same age, 76.  What has she seen in life that I have never seen? 

Why talk about her this morning?  Two reasons.   Because she is Good News.  The Psalm says, “Go out and tell the Good News.”  People are Good News.   I want to know her story.

 

 

 

The Best Music, Shonda, Bethany (guess who is expecting?), and Ray.

 

 

Secondly, I want also to contextualize the negativity of Hebrews and Luke. 

There was a strong belief in these times that God was definitely a conditional love God.  Why did the Babylonian Captivity take place?  The Israelites were bad.  Jeremiah says it, the Isaiahs say it.   And so it was written.  In fact, God scourges those who are his special people.

 

 

 

Offertory with Mike & Judy, and Mary.

 

Pretty much this opinion of God has been discarded.  But, remember Katrina?  Happened because New Orleans was bad.  So would you believe that God this past spring was punishing Garland, Blue Mound, and other Dallas suburbs when the hail and rain wrecked people’s houses?  Is sickness a penance for a sinful, bad life?

Me?  I believe and propose that people are The Good News, that you are The Good News.

 

 

 

Play station Number 1. 

 

 

And you?   A God who scourges and demands penance or a God who proclaims that people are The Good News?

 

Readings:

Jeremiah   38, 4-6, 8-10  They took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern.

Psalm 40,  Lord, come to my aid

Hebrews 12, 1-4,    Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.

Luke 12, 49-53,  Do you think I have come to establish peace on earth.  No.

(Less than amiable readings again this week.)

Cole & Genevieve say, "Welcome in, Everybody," and Gen. says, "Hey, Who is this nice guy?  I think I like him."

Jeremiah Observations:

Author:  really Jeremiah or at least his scribe.

Date:  after the Babylonian Captivity again, say 555 years before Chrsit. Jeremiah sees the Babylonian catastrophe coming and says it is going to be how Yahweh punishes the people for their evil and unjust ways.

Subject:  Jeremiah is the classic prophet.  He does the 3 things characteristic of a prophet.  He criticizes the behavior of the people.  He promises punishment from Yahweh.  He indicates that a better day will come.    Jeremiah lives to see the punishment, that is the Captivity.  Probably not the return from captivity.

Our selection:  Jeremiah pays the price of most real prophets.  The people are enraged, turn against him, and watch what happens.

Zoe, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Come in."

God establish Peace on Earth ?  YES!

Last Thursday when Rosemary & I were doing our early morning bike ride around White Rock Lake, I stopped at the north bridge, originally to stop racing and just appreciate the beauty of the lake.  Now days, however, I discover I also love to watch the dogs in their doggie park and in the water.

Dallas has constructed a flagstone platform at the edge of the lake where dogs and owners can play at dogs chasing objects thrown in the water.

Cole, our candle lighter of the week, at his specialty.

Thursday I spotted a generic, medium sized, white, short haired dog who was so full of life.  His tail never ceased to wag, whether on land, eager for a ball to be thrown, or even in the water.   That dog was a portrait of joy and excitement.

I climbed back on my bike touched with warmth and peace.

The Generations, Dad, daughter, & grand daughter, Gilbert, Michelle, & Zoe.

I get the same feeling when Aviana comes racing to greet Rosemary and me after we have been away a while, tail wagging, excited, and wiggling with joy.  Warmth and peace.

So, do you think our God is a God of peace or a God who brings strife, division, and conflict?   Peace, me.  Luke must have had a bad day at the office when he wrote up this 12th chapter.

Let me give you 4 other examples of where I find the God of Peace.

Buddies, Kevin & Harper. 

A month from now about 10 of us will go to Idaho for our annual 9 day back packing trip in the mountains.  God gives me nothing more marvelously peaceful than to sit around the evening campfire, eat a good meal, and enjoy the simple camaraderie.  I can feel the peace already.

Talking about camaraderie, our Friday Romeos and our Sunday mornings here together, both give me peace and joy. 

Does it get any better?  Shonda, Bethany, Ray, & David.

Then there is an elderly little lady at the Jewish Community Center gym..  The first time I saw her a week or so ago she was getting off the elevator with a walker.   Fairly disheveled she was dressed in a long cover all and had red sneakers.   What really struck me immediately was her wig.   Cancer survivor.  I was humbled.  So I said good morning and she responded with an upbeat, pleasant response.    She went over, sat down on one of the exercise machines, and started exercising.  

 From her I take peace and humility.

The Line up.  Can anybody identify these characters?

Finally, the big one for me comes in about 3 months, Thanksgiving.  Is there anything better than a feast for counting blessings, experiencing joy and peace?   We are blessed in America to have it. 

So, what do you think?  God brings division and strife?  Or God brings Peace and Joy?   For me, no question, God brings Peace and Joy.

What do you think?

The Offertory Team, John & Alison, Mary Ellen & Grace.