Readings:  Numbers 21, 4-9; Psalm 78; Philippians 2, 6-11; John 3, 13-17.

The Feast of the Cross, Significant dates:

• 310: Emperor Constantine takes over in Rome

• 313: His Edict of Milan, religious freedom & Christianity almost the state religion.

• 326: His mother, St. Helena, who had prayed for her son's conversion, found the remains of the cross in Jerusalem & the sight is preserved and a church is built, the present day Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

• Sept. 14, 335: the day the church was dedicated 9 years after the discovery.  Rumor had it that Helena found the cross on the same date.

• 330: Constantine converts an old city, Byzantium, into his Rome of the east.  Eventually it is called Constantinople and, finally, after it is conquered by the Islamic armies, Istanbul.

Numbers: 

• The Story: the 40 years of the Hebrews wandering in the Sinai Desert before they enter the land of the Canaanites and expell them.

• Position in the Bible: 4th book of the Torah, following Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and before Deuteronomy.

• Significance of the Name: because of the census Moses took of the people twice in the desert.

• Today's Selection: The people are tired, frustrated with wandering in the desert, and they are complaining.  See what it gets them.

• For Today's Purposes: Consider the story a symbol of the journey of our life.  Stage one is life with less freedom, like when the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt.  Stage two is the change or transition, like this story of the wandering in the desert.  Stage three is the time of new life, new freedom, symbolized by the people entering the promised land.

Today's Homily will be presented by Ed Lamberty and will exemplify the journey of life from less to greater freedom & maturity.  Please listen via the audio.

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-09-14.mp3

Readings:  Ezekiel 33, 7-9; Psalm 95; Romans 13, 8-10; Matthew 18, 15-20.

Ezekiel:

• Place written: Jerusalem & Babylon

• Time written: 570's & 580's B.C.

• Audience: The Hebrews in exile in Babylon.

• Message: you are paying the price of your disobedience.  Reform and you will receive Yahweh's blessings again.

• Note: the Babylonians did not enslave the Hebrews like the Egyptians did.  Consequently, when they were given permission to return to Jerusalem, many remained in Babylon because they were peacefully settled.  They became the first of the Jewish Diaspora.

Our Marie Green

It was probably around the year 2000 when I first met Marie.  I was looking for someone with whom I could converse in Italian.  Jesuit was where I started searching and the teachers there put me in touch with the Italian Club in Dallas. I actually sat in on a few classes but wanted to move at a faster pace.  The teacher at the club gave me the numbers of a handful of people. 

As a result, one Sunday after celebrating the 10:30 at St. Marks I met two charming elderly ladies, Marie and Francesca.  We met in what used to be the old rectory across the parking lot and was then the house Rita used before she eventually moved into the house across Brentwood where she now lives.  We had an hour of fun conversation which was the beginningng of two delightful friendships for me.

A year or so later, Francesca had a stroke and returned to Padua, Italy, where her family lived.  From then on I visited with Marie at least once a week.  Every Thursday evening we had our hour to chat and often we met at socials & dinners.  She even became one of about a dozen of us who bought Dallas Summer Musical season tickets together.  She was always ready to go.

Let me talk about four things that I loved about her and that fascinated me.

1.  First, the story of her life.  It was marvelous. Marie was born in the north east of the U.S.  At an early age her father took the family back to Italy, in the region of Turin, the north western province of Italy, where they held the winter Olympics a few years back.  She grew up during the time of Mussolini, who came to power in 1922.

Her father, who worked with the railroad, became frightened by what he saw in Fascist Italy and moved the family back to the U.S. when Marie was about 16.  Marie did not speak English when she returned. 

Some years later, around 1950, a young man came into the place where Marie was working.  He was younger than Marie, Jewish, and had survived Hitler's death camps.  His name was Bart.  They married and had Stephen.  With Bart she lived in all sorts of places all around the world because of his work and language ability. Despite being younger than Marie, Bart died first. 

2.  Secondly, besides being fascinated by her history, I was touched by the courage she showed in life, especially in her relationship with Bart.  For example, imagine, she a Catholic married a Jewish man, and in fact, a man younger than herself by about a dozen years. 

Then, at a late age for having children in those days, Marie and Bart had the courage to conceive Stephen.  Catholics of that era were strongly discouraged from marrying those not Catholic.  In fact, the couple had to get all sorts of special permissions and make promises.

This did not deter Marie.  You know what the Catholic church demands even today of the partner who is not Catholic.  Kids, Catholic.  Marie seems to have been unintimidated by this demand and decided that for Bart & her it was better that Stephen be allowed to follow the Jewish tradition.  When I asked her how she could do this, she told me how they had talked it out together.  

3.  Thirdly, Carol Hogan, one of Marie's best & most faithful of friends, reminded me of another quality that I try to emulate.  Her generosity.  She coupled this with old world hospitality.  Never could I visit Marie that she did not want to share with me a glass of wine, usually some cookies.  Sometimes she would even want to give me something from the house. 

For me a special aspect of her generosity was her constant positive affirmation of my Italian.  I progress with positive strokes, and every time I talked Italian with Marie, I came away elated at how well I was doing, whether true or not.  With that elation I would return to my study with even more energy. 

4.  Finally, I would observe that Marie was always & justly proud of Stephen.  During our visits I always got the latest news of Stephen, whether he was in the U.S. or the three years spent in Korea. 

These are ways Marie blessed and enriched my life. 

How did Marie bless your life?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-09-07.mp3

Readings:  Jeremiah 20, 7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12, 1-2; Matthew 16, 21-27

Jeremiah: One of the 3 great prophets, called the "broken hearted prophet,' because he had a heart rending life predicting punishment of death and destruction for the Hebrews for their sinful ways. 

He wrote from Jerusalem ca. 600 B.C. and his predictions came true when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in 588 B.C., defeated the Hebrews, and took them off to Babylon-Baghdad as prisoners.  Jeremiah wore a wooden yoke as a visual aid to his message.  He may have been ultimately killed by the Hebrews.

Deny Yourself, Take up Your Cross, and Follow Me

This simple little line from Matthew can be very tricky.  It can be approached healthily or in a less than healthy way.  I can witness to the latter in my own life.  I have already described how as a young Jesuit I was expected to do penance and deny myself in various ways, like the practice of using little whips to scourge our backs and little chains with points to wear around our thighs.  This was supposed to bring me closer to God.

I can laugh at this now, but I am humbled at how easily I can be programed.  When I read this line and others like it in the Bible and remember my experiences with such spirituality, I pick up the scent of an ancient philosophy that still influences a lot of religious activity which is not spiritually so sane.  The philosophy: dualism. 

The idea is simple.  Reality comes in pairs, hot & cold, rich & poor, order & chaos, and, in particular for this discussion, body & soul or flesh & spirit or mind & matter.  So far so good. 

The trouble enters with a judgment about the flesh & spirit.  Specifically, flesh is bad, spirit is superior.  Consequently, so that my spirit may reach an elevated plane of purity & perfection, and ultimately closer union with God, I attempt to control the flesh by disregarding the body's existence & appetites, ultimately aiming to live without it.  How about that!

There is a healthy, in fact, a rich approach to the line.  But first a couple of facts.  Dualism is identified as far back as 1000 years B.C. and came out of Zoroastrianism, a religion that worshiped one god and believed in an afterlife.  Did it come from Egypt as so much did at that time?  No, from  Persia, the area we call Iran today.  Zoroastrianism was widespread until Muhammad arrived on the scene around 650 and established Islam.  Through the ages lots of people picked up on dualism, for example, Plato, Augustine, Descartes.

I have two stories about people who healthily acted out self denial.

First, a girl I know who when she was 11 years old thought that she would like to join a swimming team here in Plano. She tried out, more than once, failing each time.  Undaunted, she practiced.  When she was 12 she not only got on the team, but she won the state championship in her age bracket. 

She continued to swim through grade school and into high school, practicing 2 hours early in the morning before class and two hours after school.  She even went to Providence College on a swim scholarship.  This girl, Megan, whom I love tremendously could have slept in two more hours every morning when she was in high school, she could have come home after school and watched TV.  It would have been easier.  This is healthy self denial and because of it she is a girl more alive, more whole, more fully alive with a vibrant spirit.  She is now the mother of Liam, who was our Baby Jesus in the Christmas drama, and the daughter of Rob & Beth.

Saturday we celebrated with a parade in Parker another girl like Megan, Nastia, home from the Olympics.

The second person is Thomas McGowan, 50 years old.  You might have read about him in the paper a few weeks ago.  He was just released from prison after spending half of his life there for a crime he did not commit.  The Innocence Project obtained permission to run a DNA match & he was exonerated. 

I came to know more about him through an old friend and classmate of mine, Tony Levatino, who in his retirement works at the Holy Trinity Center, the outreach arm of Holy Trinity Parish, just like ours.  Tony got familiar with him because his sister works at Holy Trinity and happened to talk with her.  Turns out he could not find a job.  Tony had a connection with the Anatole Hotel and got him hired.

Besides being moved by what Tony was able to accomplish, I was also moved whenTony said Thomas was an excellent man, cheerful, without anger, not wanting to blame anyone.  He accepted his fate while hoping for exoneration.  He was peaceful.  Thomas was a man who denied himself and took up a cross.

These two people have both denied themselves.   Megan strove to achieve, Thomas accepted.

How & why do you deny yourself?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-08-31.mp3