Readings:

Genesis 11, 1-9,   The Tower of Babel story.  This comes from the vigil Mass of Pentecost, rather than the Sunday Mass.  A great story, which is why I chose to have it read.

Psalm  104,  Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth

1 Corinthians 12, 3-13,  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same spirit.

John  17, 1-11,  Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Who let these Crazies in? Marsha, Cathy, and Connie.

 Genesis

What :  The first book of the bible, very entertaining because it is imaginative story telling.  It starts with the two stories of creation and takes off.   It responds to the little kid’s question, “How did we get here, daddy?”

Who: there are at least 4 author streams, two primary ones, the Yahwist and the Elohist, and two secondary ones.  The Greeks have the Iliad and the Odyssey.  The Israelites have the Yahwist and the Elohist.  Why these two words?  Simple.  It is the word the stream uses in talking about God. 

Time:  The Yahwist stream was put into a written form about 900 years before Christ.  The others were put into writing in later centuries.

Our Passage:  The little kid asks, “Daddy, why do people talk differently?”  This is the answer proposed, the Tower of Babel.  

These guys, too. Who let them in? John and Joe.

Pass The Spirit, Please

I want to start this morning with a question.  How do I get the spirit?  Let me tell you.  Today’s story of the week.

As you all probably know, on Monday evenings Rosemary & I go dancing at the Farmers’ Branch Senior Center.  There are probably 50 people who show up every Monday and many of them can really dance. 

Cowboy Cole says again, "Hi, Folks, Welcome in."

At 6:00 there is a couple who provide simple dance lessons, ball room, swing, country western.  They spend 6-8 weeks on each type of dancing.

At 7:00 a live band comes on and plays until 9:30 or 10:00, one week ballroom, the other week country western.   You got to be 50 to get in, so a lot of you folks probably can’t get in.  They will card you.  There are lots of people who come alone and I admire their courage at getting out.  There is even a blind woman, Janice, about whom I talked once.

The Girl in the Pink Ribbon, Zoe.

This past Monday night during the live music dance session, at one point Rosemary and I were sitting out.  We are watching everybody dance what was something like a swing. 

One couple whom I had never noticed before, I noticed.  They were not dramatic dancers, but they really had beautiful flow and creativity.  They might have been using a cha-cha step.  When they finished up, I got up, went straight to them, and complimented them on being terrific dancers.

Another Girl in Pink, Tori.

Well, they were touched by the compliment and gracious in their thanks.   They thanked me a bunch of times and we shook hands.  Guess who else was touched.  Yes, I was.

How do I get the spirit?  First, you already have it.  Secondly, it is augmented by giving it.  By giving a compliment.  What is the spirit?  New life, new peace.

Candle lighter buddies, Leo and Cole with Erin helping out.

I remember when Rosemary & I did a lot of dancing, 4-5 nights a week.  We were good in those days.  People would compliment us and I would just be pumped.   New life.   We would thank them profusely.  Compliments are spirit gifts.  New Life, new peace.

I have a compliment I am holding for a special person.  This is a black lady about 55-60 who works at the Tom Thumb on our corner of Preston & Royal.  I see this lady often at about 7:00 in the morning when I am buying bananas after my morning spin class at the “J,” the Jewish Community Center.

Chuck, Cole's daddy, and Mike waiting for their Cupcakes of The Week.

This lady I so admire because she gets up about 3:00 A.M. to catch two buses to come open this grocery store by 6:00.  We know each other by name.

Last Monday I was waiting in her checkout line while she finished with another lady.  My friend’s name is Sondra.  She was being her usual friendly self with this white, elderly lady.  “Good Morning” and everything.  As she finished, she thanks the lady, who had said nothing, and welcomed her back again.  The lady left saying nothing.  

Cupcakes of The Week to Diane, Teresa, Chuck, Mike, and Zach.

I want to compliment Sondra on her non-stop friendliness to a lady who seemed to be an early morning  curmudgeon.  I was really hurt for Sondra and we chatted about other things.  I want to return and compliment her this week.

How do I get the spirit?   By giving it.  A compliment is an amazing spirit gift.   The Prayer of St. Francis says that in giving we receive.  

I compliment that couple on their dancing.  They get new life and new peace.  And their response gives it back to me.  

From whom have you received a compliment lately?

To whom did you give a compliment lately?  Next time?

Cole and Erin.

Readings:

Acts 1, 12-14,   All these devoted themselves to prayer, together with some women.

Psalm 27,  I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.  (good verse for homily)

1 Peter  4, 13-16,  If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you.

John  17, 1-11,  I pray for them.

Cole says, "Welcome in Everybody."

Reminders on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described.  

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Our Selection: Activities in the community after the Ascension.

Watch for two words in Psalm 27, gaze and contemplate, see the response above.

Sienna and one-eye Brooklyn say," Come in, Everybody, it's fun here."

 Gaze and Contemplate

I want to talk about two words that come from Psalm 27, gaze and contemplate.

This past week a great black lady died at 86, Maya Angelou  I wish I had known her better.  I memorized one of her poems once, but did not look her up. 

One aspect of her life stuns me.  She went silent for 5 years, from the age 7 to 12, more or less.  Why?  She had been abused by her mother’s boy friend, she told her brother, and a day or so later the boy friend was discovered beaten to death.  Maya was sure her words had caused his death and she was mortified into silence.

Celeste also says, "Hi, Folks, come in."

 It was her mother telling her that she was a special person that eventually convinced Maya to begin talking again.  Yes, I wish I had known her.

I was fortunate, however, to know my own Maya, a black lady named Juanita Craft, who lived in south Dallas, near Fair Park, and was a leader in the NAACP in the ‘50’s & ‘60s.  I got to know her really well because of three events.

Harper says, "Any extra cupcakes today?"

One, the summer of ’66 or ’67 I was looking for something special to do.  I was in the middle of a three year delightful internship teaching at Jesuit as part of my 13 year formation program to be a priest, a Jesuit priest. 

Somehow, I got to meet Juanita and next thing I know I am the only whitey on a Greyhound bus to the National NAACP annual convention in Atlantic City with stopovers in D.C. 

Cowboy Cole, the Candle Man, at work.

I was probably too dumb to know I was in some danger on the trip.  We had a large number of teenaged kids.  If the bus was headed toward Birmingham or Selma in those days, I may have taken a pass. 

One of the highlights of the trip was how the Jesuit community of Georgetown went all out in their hospitality to our group, even having us all into the community dining room for dinner and providing a bunch of cars and drivers to tour everyone around the city.

Sienna and Zoe solving World Problems.

Secondly, when I returned from the trip, I moved into Juanita’s little two bedroom, white frame house in South Dallas, and stayed for the rest of the summer.  I worked with her at her NAACP meetings, understudied her ways, and helped with kids in the neighborhood.  She called me her “white boy.”  I was ca. 26.

My poor mom was mortified by all this.  One evening when they had invited a number of their friends in for dinner, and I was asked to help out, she asked me if I would not tell people what I was doing and where I was living.  A few days later she asked me to forgive her.   I had to laugh.  My dad did not seem to be bothered.

Emma waiting to check out any extra cupcakes.

Thirdly, I learned how a simple person can make a difference.  As head of the Dallas NAACP, she helped integrate UNT, UT Law School, the State Fair, as well as other places like restaurants, theaters, and public buses.  I saw how she got the city to focus on the roads in her neighborhood and how she loved the kids.  She had none of her own and, in fact, I don’t think she ever married.  Juanita was elected to two terms on the Dallas City Council in the ‘80’s.   There is a Dallas park and a rec center named for her. She came to my ordination in '71 at St. Rita's in a squad car.  Impressed all the neighborhood kids.

How she affected me? 

She got me to gaze around and contemplate the neighborhood, see what needed to be done, and do it.  This eventually led me to the tree project.  The interest in tree planting came from Boy Scouts; the mental foundation came from Juanita.

Secondly, Juanita’s jovial personality got me to gaze at and contemplate the beauty and the loveliness of the Lord in people and nature, as Psalm 27 says it. 

Here they come, Emma, Tori, Buddy, and Zoe.

I learned how to pray in public from Juanita and those people.  I was usually in clerics and they called on me often for a prayer, something I was not used to.  I think I wore clerics then and on that bus to avoid being killed.  Likewise in East Africa, especially when crossing the borders, like between Tanzania and Uganda.  Otherwise, no clerics.

Today we are called to gaze and contemplate the beauty around us, White Rock Lake, Tom Woodward Park (which I have yet to see), our kids here, our community, Romeos (Maybe not!), and our families.  Jesuit spirituality got me started on this.  Juanita Craft helped me put it into action.

Who is the Juanita Craft in your life who helps you to gaze and contemplate? 

For whom are you the Juanita Craft?

Communion helpers.

Readings:

Acts 8, 5-8, 14-17   There was great joy in that city.

Psalm 66,  Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. 

1 Peter  3, 15-18,  It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

John  14, 15-21,  Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Happy Memorial Day."

Reminders on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described. 

CC and Kayla say, Welcome, Everybody, fun to see you."

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Our Selection: More growing pains in the early community.

Watch 2 readings today, the lovely Psalm 66, and the conditional love in John's gospel.  I would like to talk about unconditional love.

Emma and Sienna say, "It's fun here, come on in."

Could the Love be Unconditional ?

I would like to talk about conditional vs. unconditional love this morning.

It seems I hear a lot about unconditional love for kids, for animals, and for other people.  I like that.  I would like to be able to love unconditionally, at least, once in a while. 

Ever think about how the New Testament presents unconditional love?  In fact, I think the New Testament presents a conditional love.  The whole story of our redemption is based on conditional love.

Here comes The Family, Zoe & Tori & Buddy with their mom, Michelle, and granddad, Gilbert.

What does conditional love sound like?  When Rosemary tells me I will love you if you bring me coffee in bed.  Or I will stay with you another year if you mow the grass.  Look at the word John puts in Jesus mouth this morning, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

I would propose that God’s love and acceptance of us is unconditional.  I can see this love in people and I think people reflect the nature of God.   Let me illustrate the point with a little story.

"Did somebody say Cupcakes?", Sienna and Brooklyn.

As you know, Rosemary & I head to New York every first weekend in May for the 5 Bike Tour and for a big family reunion at her nephew Brian’s house in Essex Fells, NJ.  After all this is finished Sunday evening, Rosemary & I stay Monday to visit The City and to have dinner with one of her girl friends and classmates from her days at the College of New Rochelle.  Her girl friend is Juanita and her husband is Charlie, fun people.

Believe it or not, they are members of a community very similar to ours.  Anthony Padovano is the priest who coordinates the community.  It was this couple who mentioned they know you folks by name because they read our blogs.   Juanita rattled off the names of the kids, Zoe & Emma, Leo & Cowboy Cole, and others. 

Zoe just looking beautiful again.

So we are having dinner this Monday night.  At least they are and I am having a glass of wine.  I don’t eat after 4:00 and, therefore, don’t have to take meds for acid reflux. 

We were talking about blessings and good things in our lives, when Juanita says that about 4 months ago she had one of those special experiences.

They are getting ready for the beginning of their Sunday Mass when a new couple comes in and sits next to Juanita.   The celebrant welcomes the new couple and says that the man is Jack Egan, formerly a priest of their archdiocese.

Tori at work.

Juanita is immediately curious.  Her mother used to work at the local Catholic Charities and she remembered hearing her mother talk about this Jack Egan. 

As soon as their Mass is over she immediately asks the man if he ever worked at the local Catholic Charities.  He says, “Certainly.”  She says, “Do you remember my mother, Jo Torres.  She worked there many years.  And I remember that she liked you and mentioned your name often.  ”

Who is that Spider Man? Could that be Buddy?

“Yes, absolutely, I loved her.  In fact, I remember frequently coming into her office while she was working on a case study, tears just streaming down her cheeks.”

Juanita is quite touched and says that she never knew that about her mother. 

Jack Egan says, “What a special moment.  I did not know your mom liked me so much and you did not know how touched she was by the people.”

Cupcake of the Week to Maureen for being The Great Grandmother.

An illustration of unconditional love.  And this from human beings.   They receive the gift from The Source. 

What is your image of Our God’s  love for you and acceptance of you?  Conditional or unconditional.  How do you know?

Source: Thanks, Juanita, for letting me share your story with our community.

Who is that Cupcake Thief? Why, that looks almost like Leo. Impossible.

Readings:

Acts 6, 1-7,   The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly.

Psalm 33,  Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

1 Peter  2, 4-9,  You are a chosen race.

John  14, 1-12,  Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Buddy says, "Welcome, Everybody."

Observations on Acts:

What : The second half of Luke’s work, the first part being his gospel.  Acts starts after the Resurrection.  We will read Acts all through May and read the last selection June 1, then June 7, Pentecost.  The work focuses on the spread of the early church with special attention given to Peter and Paul and their conflicts over who was to be a Christian, and Jewish laws, like circumcision.  The conversion of Paul is described.

Cole says, "Come in, Folks, you are welcome."

Who: Luke, an educated and civilized Jew who wrote in Greek.

Date:  around the year 65, or about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

Our Selection:  growing pains in the early community.

Watch for two special lines in today's readings.  "Do not let your hearts be troubled" and "You are a chosen race."  They are not in Acts.   I want to talk about these lines.

Cole lighting the Easter Candle

Do not let your heart be troubled.  You are a chosen.

I would like to talk this morning about those two lines I mentioned.  “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and, “You are a chosen race.”   I have two propositions.

1.  You and I are the chosen race.  

2.  Everyone, all humans are the chosen race, even those hurting and doing mean things.  

I have seen this.  You have seen this.  Simple things, things we don’t even take account of at the moment.  They come up when we reflect on the blessings of our day or when we take a moment to contemplate.  Here are three little vignettes about people who are chosen, just like you.

Cole says, Hey, somebody just swiped my new hat."

Recently Rosemary, Aviana, and I went for an evening walk on a new stretch of bike trail.  It is a northern extension of the White Rock Creek Trail, our favorite.  It starts at the Hillcrest & Valley View parking lot, goes west under the Hillcrest bridge, takes a right, and follows the White Rock Creek north up to Spring Valley, running behind the large Greek Orthodox Church on Hillcrest.  It will be a delightful trail when it gets finished.

Want to see a picture of trouble, Gil and Sir Charlie.

The evening was one of the few warm ones we had this spring and the trail was longer than we expected.  By the time we got back to the car, Aviana was gassed and thirsty.  We had no water.  We looked in the park.  The water hydrants were turned off for the winter.   

I went off to check some other hydrants.  Rosemary & Aviana stayed near the first hydrant and near the car.  Families and kids were everywhere having picnics and playing. 

Suddenly a Hispanic man came out of the crowd and offered Rosemary a bottle of water for Aviana. 

Offertory, Mike and Judy, Bill and Jerry

This past week our across the street neighbor, Joyce, who is 85, full of life, and whom we visit every day, Joyce goes to Walgreens.  She is checking out and tries to pull her credit card out.  It came out, but with it are all her other cards. 

The cashier tries to help her stick them back in her bag.  Without knowing it, Joyce drops a few of the cards on the floor, one of which is her Chase Bank card.  She pays and leaves.

Cupcakes of The Week to Fred, Doug, Monica and Richard, Cole and Hue.

She crosses the parking lot and is approaching her car.  Suddenly from behind she hears a man saying, “Ma’am, ma’am.”  She turns around and a tall black man is coming toward her.  He is bringing her dropped cards to her, including the Chase card.  He gives them to her and even refuses to take a cash reward she offers.

The third vignette took place in Strasbourg, France, another French story, again in a little grocery shop, again at the checkout counter. 

Rob & Beth, "Who made that noise??"

This time Rosemary & I are approaching the counter with maybe 2 or 3 items.  We arrive a step behind a little French lady with a cart partially loaded.  She does not push on ahead of us.  Instead, she smiles at us and invites us to go first. 

I am touched by all three of these events.  They take place every day and everywhere.  We live with a chosen race.  Don’t let your heart be  troubled, because you are part of the chosen.

Where and when do you see this?

Shonda, singing God Bless America at The Ballpark in Arlington this afternoon, sees herself on the jumbo screen.