Readings: 2 Kings 4, 42-44; Psalm 145, The Hand of the Lord feeds Us; He answers all Our Needs; Ephesians 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15 

 

Kings: 4 observations–

Subject Matter: The Kings, naturally.  Especially Solomon after the death of his father, David.  But also treated:

    1.  The temple.  Solomon builds it.

    2.  The death of Solomon who held the nation together.

    3.  Division: Israel in the north breaks away from Judah in the south.

    4.  Israel destroyed completely by the Assyrians, ca. 720.

    5.  Fall of Jerusalem & destruction of the Temple; Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 585 BCE.

    6.  Cyrus of Persia releases the Jews to return to Jerusalem after defeating the Babylonians (remember Babylon was near present day Bagdhad).

Date: from 900 – ca. 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE.

Our Selection: There are 2 significant prophets, Elijah & Elisha, his son.  In this piece, Elisha it telling a man with 20 loaves of bread to feed a crowd.  This is a lead into the Gospel of John about feeding the multitude. 

Sources: Encyclopedia of Judaism, Wikipedia

The Miracle of Sharing My Food

I hate to do this to you folks, but every time I read this story about 5 loaves and 2 fish feeding a crowd of 5,000 men (to say nothing of the women), I am reminded of my days in Tanzania, East Africa.  You who have heard these stories, please forgive me.  They just clarify so much.  Here we go.

I was on an overnight train.  I was traveling from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the capitol, to Moshi, a town near Kilimanjaro, where the Jesuits had a small one to three person house, which I used as a base when I was not traveling around Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda giving seminars and retreats.

I had arrived in Dar es Salaam late for some reason and could not make an advance reservation for a first class cabin, which was the only way to go.  You shared a little compartment with another guy.  Because I was without reservation, I had to buy a coach ticket.  These trains are marvelous old antiques from the colonial age, but travel by coach is mayhem.  They are packed.  Don't dream of getting a seat.  Just be grateful that you can get inside.  Which I did, sitting on my one small suitcase, expecting to be awake all night listening to the kids, chickens, ducks, and snores of the few who had a seat and the ability to sleep through it all. 

You board this train for a 7:00 P.M. departure.  You expect to arrive Moshi around 5:00 A.M.   This particular night the train came to a halt at about 1:00 in the middle of nowhere.  Naturally, nobody knew why we stopped and for how long.  We stayed in that spot all the rest of the night and all the following day until about 6:00 P.M. 

Everyone on that train had food & water hidden away, except one gringo, who tried to sleep on the rocks on the edge of the roadbed, knowing he would hear the train move and could get up and get back in.

I was actually rescued from dying of thirst in the heat of the day by a young German couple in the first class compartments, the only other white folks on the whole train.  I was afraid to drink the water of the Tanzanians because they often did not purify it. 

I tell this story because the Tanzanian people on the train I suspect would be similar to the Jews listening to Jesus in that crowd of 5,000 men.  People like these do not go away from their base unprepared.  Not only do they carry food & water, they hide it so as to not have to share with someone too stupid to bring his own.  The women, especially, can hide in their robes lots of things.  Hoarding in the cultures we are talking about is no sign of inferiority.  It is survival. 

What Jesus did that was confounding is that he got these country folks to share their cache.  He takes some of the bread & fish and passes it on.  The person who receives it takes some, but feels uncomfortable only taking.  So the person puts a portion of his or her own in the basket.  What do they end up with?  Twelve wicker baskets of leftover food.

This interpretation of the 5 loaves & 2 fishes is as old as when I got ordained back in 1971, and before that.  I find it fascinating because we can go and do likewise.  You & I cannot multiply bread & fish, but we can share treasures.  We can share and we can invite others to feel secure enough to share. 

I finally arrived home to Moshi in the middle of the next night.  I even caught a thief with his hand in my right pocket at a little kiosk lit with a kerosene lamp.  The train had stopped at some tiny station and a lady was selling little pieces of rice bread or something.  I pulled that man's hand out of my pocket, grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him back.  If I had yelled "thief!", he might have been killed on the spot.  I knew the custom and the language, and he knew I knew.  He ran. 

I also got to know the German couple, even climbing Kilimanjaro with them one of my 5 times.  So, folks, sorry for repeating a favorite story of mine.  The question, too, is the same.

How am I overcoming my temptation to hoard & sharing my food?

Picture 1:  Mass with T.J.

Picture 2:  Bill Carey & Ron Kovatis

Picture 3:  Ron donating $2000 to CCAC with Claire & Ray, Jackie & Cathy

Picture 4:  Barb & her sister Evie from Germany

 

Readings:  Jeremiah 23, 1-6; Psalm 23, The Lord is My Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want; Ephesians 2, 13-18; Mark 6, 30-34     

Jeremiah:

Author & Who: Jeremiah is called "the broken hearted prophet," because he felt compelled to say woe to the leaders & shepherds of the state of Judah.  He predicted tragedy for the people because of their unfaithful ways.  Because he predicted such catastrophe, the leaders & even the people hated him.  He hated his his prophet job and his unpopularity.

Jeremiah is considered #2 of the big 3 prophets, along with Isaiah, #1, and Ezekiel, #3.  They are considered the major prophets because of the size of their works, e.g., Jeremiah has 52 chapters.

Baruch, Jeremiah's secretary & scribe, is considered the person who wrote down & edited the Book of Jeremiah. 

Time: ca. 625-575, i.e. before the famous Babylonian Captivity and during part of it, which took place starting around 585 BCE.

Setting & Story: Catastrophe is coming in the person of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (near Baghdad, Iraq, of all places).  He has defeated the Assyrians who had destroyed the northern Jewish state of Israel (ca. 720 BCE) and is now looking at Judah, the southern state with Jerusalem the capitol.   The 10 tribes of the north were carted away and disappeared into the Middle East gene pool.  Intermarriage and lost culture. 

Jeremiah sees what is coming, predicts devastation, and blames it on the leaders & shepherds of the people of this southern state of Judah.  It happens as he foretold, and Jeremiah ends up going to Egypt, where he dies.  He also predicts the return of the people to Judah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Interesting Side Note: can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, i.e. ca. 575.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Our Selection: Jeremiah is saying woe to the leaders & shepherds of the Jews of Judah.  He is also consoling them that a better day will come when they will have good leaders and they won't have to fear and tremble.

Sources: Bishop Spong, The Sins on Scripture; Wikipedia

Shepherding

Every Friday morning since before 1990 I have had an appointment with a little lady about 4'11' named Elizabeth.  She is 93 this year. 

In the beginning she used to take the bus to Jesuit for our meetings.  In fact, one fall Friday morning she was walking along the main first floor hall, the bell rang for the end of class, the guys poured out, and one big kid, number 55 in his football jersey, knocked her down.  Uninjured and flattered by the attention of all the boys, she wended her way to the back of the property where my office was.

Some of you have met her because you have helped me move her from a second floor to a first floor apartment, then from that apartment to a condo she bought.  Npw she lives in the 3 Fountains retirement home a little off of Park Lane, east of Central and Northpark Mall.  She has always been a independent, bohemian lady with a literary bent.  She wrote a novel 80.

The church she always attended after her conversion and until she could not get around was Holy Trinity in the Oak Lawn area. This was where she lived most of her life.  While she was at Holy Trinity she met a couple in their 50's who used to bring her home after Mass. 

As Elizabeth got older the couple got more involved.  Really involved in a helpful way.  The husband, who seems familiar with real estate, found the condo that she bought, then found the retirement home for her, doing all the paper work.  He is selling the condo for her right now.  At first I though there was some kind of swindle taking place, because they were almost too good.  They were real, however. 

The wife continues to visit Elizabeth about once a week, taking her to the doctor and pharmacy, using a lot of her time.  This is depite the fact that Elizabeth can often be less than gracious.  I do not know how many times I have been sumarily kicked out and told not to return.  Elizabeth admits that she often treats the lady harshly.

This couple has been a life saver not only to Elizabeth, but also to me.  I did not know how I was going to help Elizabeth deal with her growing inability to get around.  She had said often she would never go into one of those old folks homes.  She had told me she wanted to die in her condo.  The couple somehow helped her over this obstacle.  What they did, I think, is they just took her to a couple of places they had checked out.

I talk about this couple today because they exemplify something I think the gospel is trying to convey, the meaning of being a shepherd, a care taker. 

Jesus does two things in the episode that I think are marvelous.  First, he shows care for his comrades.  These guys had been out sharing the message, had returned to share their adventures, and they were tired.  People were all around.  Jesus suggests that they all go away to a quiet place and rest.  This is shepherding or care taking one's closest, one's family, one's team. 

They get into a boat and cross some water, obviously the Sea or Lake of Galillee, one of the beautiful places of the world, a heart shaped body 21 miles in length & only 7 miles across.  Many of you could swim it.  The second marvelous thing Jesus does is take compassion on the people who have anticipated where he was going and got there first.  He changes his plans and tends to them.

This is our challenge.  The couple who care take Elizabeth is an example of what Jesus is showing us. 

Whom do you shepherd or care take?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-07-19.mp3

Picture 1:  Mass with Sabrina & Ruth

Picture 2:  Choir, Wendy, Shonda, Ray, & Celeste

Picture 3:  Ekes & Wittiks–Bobby & Debby, Barb W., Mabel, Marlene, Cindy, Curtis, & Warren W. 

Readings:  Amos 7, 12-15; Psalm 85, Lord, let us see Your Kindness and grant us Your Salvation; Ephesians, 1, 3-14; Mark 6, 7-13 

Amos:   

Author: Amos or his scribe.  He was a shepherd of sheep & tended sycamore trees.  One of the 12 minor prophets of the OT, minor because of smallness of the works.  Amos has only 9 chapters.  Usual pattern of prophets: 1. predictions of dire times for evil behavior; 2. predictions of better times in the future. 

Date: Ca. 777 (a memory help), after the kingships of David & Solomon, time of King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom, called Israel vs the southern kingdom, called Judah (where Jerusalem is).   

Geography: Note the two kingdoms, Judah in the south, Israel in the north.  Amos tended sheep in a little town called Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, in Judah, the south.  He is sent by Yahweh to Bethel, a small but important town in the northern kingdom, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, to warn the people of Israel & their king Jeroboam that Yahweh was mad at them.  The wicked high priest of Bethel, Amaziah condemns Amos for his interference.

The Setting: a time of prosperity.  But Yahweh is mad at the greed of the wealthy and their oppression of the poor (which ties into our gospel talking about walking lightly through life).  We know the people of this kingdom of Israel are headed for annihilation by the Assyrian nation.  And they will disappear as a significant body.  

Our Selection, chapter 7: (reading all of chapter 7) Amos describes three visions or dreams he has.  Amaziah gives it to him for spreading these visions around.  Then, Amos responds and socks it to Amaziah with a hammer.

Mark:  a couple of reminders–

    1.  Mark is the first of the 4 gospels written, ca 70 C.E.  Note: Jerusalem & the Temple were smashed by the Romans in 70, after a Jewish rebellion.  In 73 the famous Masada battle took place.  More about this event another day.  Just think, from this date until 1948 a Jewish state did not exist.

    2.  The first written documents were by Paul, his letters.

Sources: Grace Institute of Biblical Leadership; Catholic Encyclopedia; Wikipedia

 

Traveling Light through Life

A couple of weeks ago I called this guy from the city of Dallas.  The city provides a special service for people with lawn sprinkler systems.  They come out, check it, and offer recommendations for how to make it more efficient.  One of our neighbors told me about the service and I thought, "Why not?" 

So I get our system as efficient as I think possible, fix all the heads so they are not watering the street, have the grass all clipped, and invite the man out.  He comes in a fancy painted up little car and turns out to be a great guy, very affirming. 

He checks each of our three zones, notes how everything is working well, compliments me on how everything functions, gives me a print out, and departs.  I am feeling pretty great because I got into this sprinkler business a number of years ago when I found out how expensive even just a visit from a professional is.  I discovered that sprinkler systems are basically like Lego toys. 

So I take the print out and am scanning it.  I see that he has noted the amount of water one zone puts out per minute.  I had seen him out at the curb checking the meter.  I read the amount, then read it again unable to believe that it can be correct. 

The paper says one zone uses 100 gallons per minute.  There must be a mistake.  I add it up.  I usually run a zone for 10 minutes. That is 1000 gallons of water.  I got 3 zones, so I am watering my St. Augustine for 30 minutes.  3000 gallons every time I water!  I want to throw up. 

Making it worse, I had just read an on line info about water shortages coming.  Like El Paso and San Antonio are running out of water.  I am scrupling over using a toilet that consumes 3 gallons.  And here I am watering a our precious St. Augustine with 3000 gallons. 

I was reminded of this when I read this passage from Mark, part of which I have liked for years.  Where he says, "Take nothing for the journey."  Two thoughts.

First, this is obvious exaggeration, hyperbole, the old spiritual principle of infinite demand plus infinite acceptance.  If I had taken nothing for the journey on any one of the trips I took by motorcycle in Tanzania, you would not be stuck listening to me here today.  I've talked in past years about taking a journey or two where I did not travel prepared, like when the train broke down & was out nowhere for about 48 hours.  And I had not even brought water.

Second, I take this word journey as symbolic.  It  could mean a trip we take to Houston or Europe.  For me, however  it means the journey of life.  It is a challenge to walk lightly through the journey of life.  It means minimize stuff and toys.  It means travel free, be free.

By nature I am pretty comfortable with traveling light through life.  I did it for years in in East Africa.  Living as a Jesuit with a vow of poverty, which shamed me, also sharpened my sensitivity to simplicity. 

Yet here I am faced with watering St. Augustine with 3000 gallons of water.  This is going to be hard to simplify.  Even normally I only water 2 times per week.  Now I want to water once a week.  I got to look at zero landscaping.  Achieving simplicity & freedom on this is going to be difficult

There is a cynical saying going around that he wins who has at the end the most toys.  Delusion!  He with the most toys is probably the most trapped.  In the Jesuits we had an image we used sometimes, the monkey & the banana.  The banana is in a cage.  The monkey holds it but can't get his hand out while he holds it.  Stuff can be our banana.  Jesus says, "You want to be free?  Travel light."  I'm wondering if my St. Augustine is my banana.

What is your banana?  Your St. Augustine?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-07-12.mp3

Picture 1:  Beginning Mass with Lorynne & T.J.

Picture 2:  Anthony & Sabrina

Picture 3:  Maggie

Picture 4:  Chloe with her mom, Clair