Readings:  Isaiah 63, 16-19, 64, 2-7, We are the clay, you the potter; Psalm 80, Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved; 1 Corinthians 1, 3-9, I give thanks to my God always on your account; Mark 13, 33-37, Be alert, you do not know when the time will come.

Isaiah: One of the big 3 Prophets, mostly because of the size of the book.  At least 3 writers put this book together and this is number 3.

Thanksgiving History: Everyone knows about the first Thanksgiving in 1602 with the Pilgrims and the Indians eating together, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock.   Here are 5 facts that people do not hear about usually.

1.  When did Thanksgiving begin?  Our ancestors have celebrated end of harvest feasts of gratitude for centuries.  Lincoln first focused on a national feast; FDR established the national holiday in 1941.

2.  The pilgrims did not know they were pilgrims.  They called themselves saints, and strangers were called non-saints.  The word pilgrim came along in the 18 hundreds, 2 centuries later.  They were not even Puritans, but separatists.  They split off from the Church of England, old Henry VIII's church, and the Puritans did not split off.

3.  The Separatists did not come to establish religious freedom.  They came for religious freedom for their religion and only their religion. 

4.  The Mayflower returned to England, was torn apart, and its beams were used to build a barn in Buckinghamshire (just north of London & east of Oxford).

5.  How did the Indians & Separatists communicate?   The Indians were Algonquians & one of them, Squanto had actually lived in England some years.  He returned to his tribe and taught his friend, Samoset English.  It was Samoset who communicated with the Separatists, & the Indians taught them to raise corn, to fish, and to hunt.  In the first winter half of the 100 Separatists died before the Indians taught them how to survive. 

How Prepare for a Marvelous Christmas

    When I returned to the States in the late 80's and began to work full time as a spiritual director & psychotherapist, I was struck every fall by a tension that I found in some people.  They were nervous about the coming Christmas season. 

    I remember people bringing this up as early as the beginning of the school year in September.  Certainly by October and most certainly by Halloween.  People were tense and anxious because of memories of bad Christmas seasons. 

    Because of this and because we are just beginning the season of Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas, I would like to review some ways to prepare ourselves for a marvelous Christmas.  I have 5 observations.

    1.  First, beware of fear and depression.  I read Mark's story about the man traveling abroad and I can  get spooked into thinking God is going to grab me when I'm not looking.  Nonsense.

    Depression seems to surface more during the Christmas season, because of at least one reason.  Expectations.  We expect more out of the Christmas season, peace, love, warm relationships, gifts.  When the reality comes in below the expectation I have, I get disappointed and maybe depressed.  Memories of disappointing Christmases can also depress me. 

    2.  Unlike Mark's warning about sleeping, I would propose that we need more rest at this darker time of the year.  Our ancestors used to sleep when it went dark.  Today we force ourselves to stay awake and lights keep us awake.  Doctors are saying we need more sleep in the dark days of winter and are recommending, get this, 9 hours.  Maybe try an extra hour.  Try a siesta.

    3.  Along with more sleep, try a little more exercise.  My internist tells me that he wants me to exercise every day.  I do.  Walk through the neighborhood.  Ride a bike.  Along the way look at the colors of the red oaks and Bradford Pear trees. 

    4.  Have you got anything special you do every year for Christmas, during Advent?  Something to get you into a Christmas spirit?  If not, what about finding something?  Two things I have got to do every year: take in a performance of Handel's Messiah and take in the Dallas Symphony Christmas concert.  I may get in an extra one or two of these, but I find this so touches my spirit.

    I know a few families who tour Christmas lights.  Here in Plano is Deer Park.  One of the best is Highland Park, Beverly Drive and Armstrong Parkway, both east and west of Preston.   In Deer Park, you may walk around.  In Highland Park there are horse drawn carriages. 

    5.  Finally, in line with Mark's gospel, watch, watch for the daily miracles and blessings.  Review your year for the biggest blessings, like I mentioned before Thanksgiving.  

    I hope you are not anxious about or nervous about the coming of Christmas.  If you are, even more relevent is my question, 'What are you doing to make  Christmas this year a beauty?'

Picture 1:    1st Sunday of Advent begins

Picture 2:    Mary & Nikki

Picture 3:    Advent candle lighting

Picture 4:    Barb & Ron after their 40th

Picture 5:    Norm

Picture 6:    Leo on the move

Readings:   Ezekiel, 34, 11-17,  I will look after and tend my sheep; Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want; 1 Corinthians 15, 20-28, Christ has been raised from the dead; Matthew 25, 31-46, The last judgement, He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Ezekiel:  I've mentioned how Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 Prophets, #3 after Isaiah & Jeremiah.  I also mentioned e how he lived smack dab in the middle of one of the two or three biggest tragedies of the Jewish people, the Babylonian captivity, from say 600 to 550 BCE.  He was there.

In American history we can look back and identify special presidential leaders, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt.  They came forward in crisis times. 

Ezekiel was this type of leader in Jewish history.  He saw what had happened to other Jews of the the northern province of Israel (Jerusalem is in the southern province of Judah) after they had been carted off as slaves after a defeat by the Assyrians.  They intermarried and simply disappeared in the DNA of the middle east.

Ezekiel is in Babylon and is determined that his community would not lose its identity.  He did three things to help maintain the spirit of the community: he emphasized  1. observance of the Sabbath, 2. kosher diet, and 3. circumcision.

Eventually after ca. 50 years the community still was a cohesive unit and it returned to rebuild Jerusalem, at least most of them.  The Jews are one of the few peoples to be defeated and scattered, and still return to their original homeland.  They remained there until the Romans defeated them in 70 C.E., returning when?  1948, after the Holocaust.

Today's reading comes to us from an Ezekiel captive in Babylon, and has Ezekiel promising the people a return, a brighter day after the captivity.  He uses the figure of speach, I will.  But I is Yahweh. 

Giving Thanks & Giving Back

Occasionally we have a story that is so good it deserves to be repeated, like the Christmas story.  This event took place 2 or 3 years ago.  Some of you will remember it, but it is a lesson worth remembering.

It happened like this. 

The community had adopted a family for Advent, a mother with 3 little kids and a baby on the way.  Beth Robinson had coordinated our adoption of the family and we were collecting clothing, food, and money.  It was our response to Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as our response to how blessed we are and have been this year.  

After the Mass everyone was standing around having coffee and pastries.  Beth was there when a young boy, 6 or 7 years old,  came up and said he would like to help the family.  All he had was a dollar and he would like to give it to the family.  Beth accepted it graciously.

The boy is one of ours.  You know who it is?  Dillon.  The son of Bobbi Whitley, and Tony & Jo’s grandson.  The brother of Hunter & Audrey.   He is not with us this morning because he is a Boy Scout on a weekend camping trip.  He will be back & he knows I am telling the story. 

Dillon is a model for me and he exemplifies the two themes I would like to touch this morning, what we have to be thankful for and how we respond to the Matthew story about feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty.   

My belief is that the greatest prayer is gratitude.  I am grateful that living in our country we have this feast, my favorite.  It pulls me back over the past year and gets me questioning, ‘What is my greatest blessing or joy or gift?’  Rosemary & I even make a list.

Our response is easy, try to give back.  This is why we renovated Rita’s house a week ago.  It is why we have put together for the community a simple plan for Advent, call it A Gift a Sunday.  I will explain the idea at the end of Mass and welcome any helpful ideas.

Two observations about our gospel about the sheep & goats.  Actually, lefties like myself & goats don't do well here.

    1.  Beware of either/or spirituality.  We are both.  The temptation, of course: I am a goat & lost.  We are all goats.

    2.  Beware of letting fear enter your spirit and trying to do it all, feed, give drink, clothe, visit the imprisoned, and on & on.  Try moderation seasoned with gratitude.

What is your blessing of the year?  How are you giving back? 

Picture 1:    Mass begins

Picture 2:    John working out with Ray & Jon 

Picture 3:   Froebes, Richard & Morgan & Monica  

Picture 4:    Butterlies, Jim & Denise, Kara & James III   

Picture 5:    Buddy with his dad, Randolph 

Picture 6:    Brooklyn thanks everyone for welcoming her and accepts her baptism tree

Readings:  Proverbs 31, 10-31, When one finds a worthy wife…; Psalm 128, Blessed are those who fear the Lord; 1 Thessalonians 5, 1-6, You are not in darkness; Matthew 25, 14-30, The parable of the talents.

Proverbs:

Author: Not Solomon, the wise king, but, as usual, a compilation of sources.

Date of Composition: ca. 300 B.C.  It is recognized from the text that it is post exile, that is, after the Babylonian Exile, around 600 to 550 before Christ. 

Content: a collection of moral & religious teachings which  mostly deal with practical matters.   We have some of this folk wisdom, like the saying, 'early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise.   Let me give you six examples:

    1.  (Chapter 1, verse 7),  'Pay attention to what your father & mother tell you, my son.'

    2.  (13, 24),  'If you don't punish your son, you don't love him.'

    3.  (22, 15),  'Children naturally do silly things, but a good beating will teach them.'

    4.  (17, 22),  'Being cheerful keeps you healthy.'

    5.  (18, 6),  'When some fool starts an argument, he is asking for a beating.'

    6.  (25, 24), guys' favorite,  'Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife.'

Today's Selection: This chapter 31 is the last and most beautiful chapter.  A tribute to wives.  The editors of the lectionary have broken the piece up, but I have printed off the whole section.  Very nice. 

Notice anything especially obvious about the proverbs, even from the few I chose?  What do you think?  Written by men for men?

1Thessalonians

We have read this work for a bunch of Sundays.  You might remember one thing about it.  It is the first written document in the New Testament.

Sources: The New Interpreter's Study Bible, The Good News Bible.

The Parable of the Talents

I have to talk about something this morning.  I would call it a Thanksgiving event, an event that makes a difference.  Was yesterday not beautiful?  Even more beautiful was what about 20 members of our little community did at the house of Rita Dore. 

I am sorry the rest of you did not make it, but you can be proud of your community members, as I am. 

 We started about 8:00.  We had to scrape & paint three large walls and touch up the front wall, which Frank Reyes, a buddy of his, and I had painted in the summer.  There must have been twelve people scraping for two hours.  This is the painful part of a painting project.  By 10:30 we were rolling and painting vertical cracks.  By 12:30 we were 99% finished, and Jenny, Melissa, and Diane brought the pizza.  

Beth took off the handle & lock of the front door and painted it gloss white.  Jim McCabe & Ryan rigged up a block & tackle arrangement from a tree to each of the dead holly bushes and pulled them out one by one.  We even were able to buy and plant 8 Texas Sage bushes along the front of the house where the holly had been.  More drought tolerant.

Folks, later after everyone had left & I had finished cleaning up, Rita said she was overwhelmed with joy. 

I talk about this event because we are less than two weeks from Thanksgiving and because the event leads into the Parable of the Talents.  This is a crazy parable and commentaries by academics are not too helpful. One Jesuit at St. Louis U. mentioned, “Okay, what is the moral?”  I would like to touch upon 3 morals to the parable. 

The first moral.  Fr. John Foley, S.J. says the moral of the parable is obvious, ‘Make the most of what you got.  On the positive side, the moral can be a positive influence in my life.  On the negative side, it might influence me to take too many risks, like with drugs, like with motorcycles, like with money.  The first two servants are lucky they did not invest their talents with Bernie Madoff. 

The second moral.  You fear, you lose.  Observation: it is okay to be afraid.  It is a normal feeling.  It may lead to prudence, which is what the third servant may be praised for.  Or it may lead to paralysis if I let it run loose.  

The third moral.  Watch out for that mean God.  The property owner is obviously a symbol for God or Christ.  What about Matthew?  Could he have been criticizing the religious authorities, who were afraid of anything new, in this case, Jesus & his message? 

Ultimately, I would propose that the symbol for God is over drawn.  It goes contrary to where we are today with our image of God, namely, my favorite line,”He is gracious and merciful; he never gets angry and is abounding in love.” 

Renovating Rita’s house was a Thanksgiving event where a lot of talents were put to good use.  How are you sensitizing yourself and preparing for Thanksgiving? 

Sources: Fr. John Foley, S.J., St. Louis U. Liturgies.

Picture 1:    Mass Begins

Picture 2:    Chloe

Picture 3:    Cole

Picture 4:    Ryan helping scrape Rita's house with his dad, Jim

Picture 5:    Rob & Mike on Rita's house

Picture 6:    Bill Hammond replacing the dead hollies with Texas Sage, which are more drought resistant   

Readings:  Wisdom 6, 12-16, Resplendent and unfading is wisdom; Psalm 63, My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord My God; 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18, Console one another; Matthew 25, 1-13, The 10 virgins at the wedding. 

    The first reading (Wisdom 6:12-16) informs us that when we lovingly yearn for and seek God’s wisdom we will not be disappointed. This reading is an expectation for the good news of Jesus Christ that we will receive today.

(prior to reading the gospel)

Picture the following plausible scenario: A father and mother determined two years earlier that their first son was in need of a wife, and they have been following closely the daughters that have come of age in their extended family when they gather in Jerusalem for the feasts each year.  Together they have chosen one.  The father sends a warm message to the girl’s father, who he knows relatively well, and asks the price he has in mind for his daughter.  They agree on one and set a date for the betrothal. 

    The father and his son arrive and are greeted warmly by her father. In front of the young couple, who have probably never had a conversation with each other, the fathers play their game of coming to the previously agree price—ten cows and a barrel of good wine, some of which the two fathers are now drinking. 

    Once the contract is signed they hand the groom a cup of wine taken specifically from the bottom of the wine the fathers have been drinking. It contains the particles that have settled…from the bitter skin of the grape.  The groom takes a drink from the top of the cup and hands the cup to the young woman. She has practiced what she now does. She downs the rest of the cup as a sign that she agrees to be his wife in good times and in bitter times. 

    The groom now returns to prepare a place for her.  Meanwhile the girl’s bridesmaids prepare her to be ready for his coming.  When they hear the cry that he is coming, they go out to meet him with the bride and her belongings and are led to his father’s house. 

(the gospel reading from Matthew 25:1-3)

Chapter 25 is formed from three parables.  This is the first. Their purpose is to give meaning to a teaching that ends Chapter 24 where Christ is teaching that his servants that he has put over other servants have the responsibility to remain wise (righteous) by always being alert to his words.  Each of the three parables gives a different facet of what this means. Since we are told again in this parable that Christ is the bridegroom. We are the bride, for which he paid a great price. His servants have the responsibility to prepare us for Christ’s coming by word and example.

    The dilemma of this parable is that only the wise have taken oil for their lamps.  The wisdom of the parable is that only those who are prepared for Christ’s coming have entered the wedding banquet.  Very briefly, why does the Lord say that he does not know the foolish (unrighteous) bridesmaids who have arrived to the wedding banquet after the door was closed?  In the third parable we are told that the Lord has divided humanity into two groups, the lambs and the goats, the foolish and the wise, those who have lived Christ’s words and those who haven’t. 

    The lambs (those who hear his words and follow them) are the wise who are prepared for his coming. He says to them, ‘I was hungry and thirsty, and you gave me food and drink. I was alone, sick and in prison and you came to visit me.’ And the wise will say, ‘When did we see you hungry and thirsty and fed you, or alone, sick and in prison and visited you.’ The Lord said to them, ‘Whenever you did this to the least among you, you did it to me.’       

    Of course he says to the foolish, ‘Whenever you did not care for the least among you, you did not care for me.’ (Symbolically: ‘You don’t know me, so how can I know you?’) The oil possessed by the wise symbolizes the presence of the Spirit that enlightens the wise, ‘to love one another as Christ loves them.’

So today, appropriately, we will be anointing the child of Erin and Payton twice during the baptism ritual with the oils of the Church praying that the Spirit always abides with her.  And I now invite them to bring this child forward with Godparents and other family to stand before the community with their request.

            Mike:

Erin and Payton, what name have you given to this Child?  (Brooklyn)

What do you ask this community for Brooklyn?  (To have her baptized)

You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility to bring her up by word and example to live the perfect commandment, ‘To love one another as Christ loves us.’ Therefore, will you accept the responsibility to be one of the wise bridesmaids in today’s gospel reading.  (Yes)

Likewise, (Godparents) __________ and __________, will you by word and example give witness to your faith in Christ?  (Yes)

Brooklyn, the Christian community welcomes you with great joy.  In its name I claim you for Christ our Lord by the sign of the cross. (+)  I now trace this cross on Brooklyn’s forehead and invite the parents and Godparents to do the same.

John:

Brooklyn, we anoint you with the oil of salvation in the name of Christ our Savior, may he strengthen you with his power, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. (+ with oil on the bare chest)

(+ bless the water) We ask you Father, with your Son, to send the Holy Spirit upon this water.  As you are buried with Christ in the death of baptism, rise also with him to newness of life.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(address the community) Let us stand and join with the parents and Godparents in the profession of faith of the Apostles Creed on page 81 of the missal.)

Erin and Payton, is it your will that Brooklyn be baptized in the faith of the Church which we have professed with you?  (yes)

(baptize the child) Brooklyn, I baptize you….

            (Lead the community in applause)

Mike:  Have parents and Godparents return to their seats

After the Great Amen

Mike:   I want to invite the parents to bring the newly baptized Brooklyn before us before we say the Lord’s prayer together.

Brooklyn, you are now anointed with the chrism of salvation (+ crown of the head) to be priest, prophet and king.

(have a Godparent place the garment over her) You have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the sign of your Christian dignity.  With family, Godparents, and friends bring that dignity unstained to everlasting life.

(have a God parent light the candle from the candle lit on the altar) Brooklyn, receive the light of Christ.  Parents and Godparents, this candle is entrusted to you to keep burning brightly. See to it by word and example that she walks always as a child of the light.

John:   Invite them to join hands and join with the community in the Lord’s Prayer.

 Mike:   Send them back to their seats during the Sign of Peace

Picture 1:    Leo with his momma, Shonda, Bethany, & Ben

Picture 2:    Mike offering the homily

Picture 3:    Brooklyn

Picture 4:    Baptism of Brooklyn

Picture 5:    Baptism with Mike

Picture 6:    Sienna with Brian