St. Lambert Parish Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord May 13, 2018 The ascension of the lord Rectory: 8148 N Karlov Avenue Skokie, IL 60076 Phone: (847) 673-5090 E-mail: [email protected]St. Lambert Parish - Skokie, IL Website: www.StLambert.org Sunday Masses: (5 pm Sat) 8am, 10am, 12pm Weekday Masses: 7:15 am (Mon-Fri) 8am on Saturday Confessions: Saturday at 8:30am Religious Education : Gina Roxas [email protected]To Register as a Parishioner: Go to stlambert.org under “About Us” or by phone. Weddings: Arrangements must be made 6 months in advance. Baptisms: Third Sundays of the month at 1:30 pm. Baptismal Prep Class is the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm in room 103. For guidelines and to register email Debbie. From Mary we learn to surrender to God’s will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when hope seems gone. From Mary we Learn to love Christ her Son. -Pope John Paull II Pastor: Rev. Richard Simon Rev. Know-it-all: reverendknow-it-all.blogspot.com Deacon: Mr. Chick O’Leary Music Director: Mr. Steven Folkers Office Staff: Debbie Morales-Garcia [email protected]Mr. George Mohrlein
Transcript
St. Lambert Parish
Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord May 13, 2018
The ascension of the lord
Rectory: 8148 N Karlov Avenue Skokie, IL 60076 Phone: (847) 673-5090 E-mail: [email protected] St. Lambert Parish - Skokie, IL Website: www.StLambert.org Sunday Masses: (5 pm Sat) 8am, 10am, 12pm Weekday Masses: 7:15 am (Mon-Fri) 8am on Saturday Confessions: Saturday at 8:30am
Religious Education : Gina Roxas [email protected] To Register as a Parishioner: Go to stlambert.org under “About Us” or by phone. Weddings: Arrangements must be made 6 months in advance. Baptisms: Third Sundays of the month at 1:30 pm. Baptismal Prep Class is the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm in room 103. For guidelines and to register email Debbie.
From Mary we learn to surrender to God’s will in all things.
From Mary we learn to trust even when
hope seems gone.
From Mary we Learn to love Christ her
Son.
-Pope John Paull II
Pastor: Rev. Richard Simon Rev. Know-it-all: reverendknow-it-all.blogspot.com Deacon: Mr. Chick O’Leary Music Director: Mr. Steven Folkers Office Staff: Debbie Morales-Garcia [email protected] Mr. George Mohrlein
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Thank you for giving to Catholic Charities today
to help the mothers, children, and seniors from our community who are struggling.
You can also contribute online at
www.catholiccharities.net/donate or mail your check directly to Catholic Charities at 721 N. LaSalle St, Chicago, IL 60454. “I encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in the cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope. ”
– Pope Francis
Masses for the Week
Saturday, May 12
5:00 † Hernandez & Pulidio
Sunday, May 13
8:00 People of St Lambert
10:00 † Millie Sklena
12:00 † Leonardo Deza
Monday, May 14
7:15 † Elizabeth Roznai
Tuesday, May 15
7:15 † Monica Liu
Wednesday, May 16
7:15 † Mary Margaret Cooray
Thursday, May 17
7:15 † Jacob Kurian
Friday, May 18
7:15 † Jose A Cabasag Jr.
Saturday, May 19
8:00 † Nicolas Sahyouni
5:00 † Julia Guerrero
Sunday, May 20
8:00 People of St Lambert
10:00 † Jos & Marta Perez
12:00 † Remedios Villalon
The Ministers of Care visit and carry the Holy Eucharist to homebound parishioners. There will be a meeting for our St Lambert parish Ministers of Care on Sunday, June 3, 2018 in Roberts Hall after the 10 o’clock Mass. All current, Ministers are requested to attend. Parishioners who may be interested in becoming a Minister are encouraged to attend.
Friday: Acts 25:13b-21; Ps 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab; Jn 21:15-19 Saturday: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Ps 11:4, 5, 7; Jn 21:20-25 Sunday: Vigil: Gn 11:1-9 or Ex 19:3-8a, 16-20b or Ez 37:1-14 or Jl 3:1-5; Ps 104:1-2, 24, 35, 27-30; Rom 8:22-27; Jn 7:37-39 Day: Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25; Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Three questions from the Rabbi - part 3 Continued from last week… Here is your first question in fuller detail: (1) The Gospels teach that Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection. We are unclear, however, whether those appearances took place in Jerusalem or in the Galilee (or at both locales). According to our reading, the Galilean accounts seem to rule out prior Jerusalem appearances. Where did Jesus actually appear? If he appeared in Jerusalem, how should we read the Galilean accounts? Here is Dr. Brown’s response: I. Post-Resurrection Appearances: Galilee or Jerusalem? Brown admits that the apparent contradiction in records of the post-resurrection appearances is real. “It is quite obvious,” Brown writes, “that the Gospels do not agree as to where and to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection.” Just as the Jerusalem tradition leaves little or no room for subsequent Galilean appearances, explains Brown, “the Galilean narratives seem to rule out any prior appearances of Jesus to the Twelve in Jerusalem.” Brown declares his disapproval of the simple solution to the contradiction: “We must reject the thesis that the Gospels can be harmonized through a rearrangement whereby Jesus appears several times to the Twelve, first in Jerusalem, then in Galilee.” Rather, concludes the Church spokesman, “Variations in place and time may stem in part from the evangelists themselves who are trying to fit the account of an appearance into a consecutive narrative.” Brown makes clear that
the post-resurrection appearance accounts are creative, substantially non-historical attempts to reconstruct events never witnessed by their respective authors. Here is my answer to your question and my response to Dr. Brown: Dr. Brown insists that “We must reject the thesis that the Gospels can be harmonized through a rearrangement whereby Jesus appears several times to the Twelve, first in Jerusalem, then in Galilee” Why must we? It is quite possible that the first and final appearances of Jesus were in Jerusalem, and that at some time all the disciples of Jesus met at a designated place in Galilee. If we look at the resurrection account written by St. Paul about 20 or 30 years after the fact, we see that Jesus appears to 500 of his disciples at one time, and that at the time of Paul’s writing, most of them were still alive and available to refute Paul’s chronology of events. Certainly a gathering of 500 people would be a bit dangerous in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was all a-buzz with the strange events of the most recent Passover. Two followers of Jesus were getting out of town quickly on Sunday morning, quite possibly because they might have been relatives of Jesus. One was named Cleopas who seems to be the husband of one of the women who stood at the foot of the cross. He was quite possibly a relative of Jesus. His companion on the road was unnamed and there is some thought that it was his wife. Jesus asked them what they had been discussing. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” (the Gospel of Luke 24:18 ) We see lovely Easter cards of “a hill far away,” beautiful country scenes and flowery fields and gardens. These popular representations are nonsense. Jesus was executed and buried as close to downtown Jerusalem as possible. He was executed in full view of the northwestern gates that led from the upper city and the second quarter going west to Joppa and the coast. Romans and the Sadducees wanted to make sure
The Reverend Know-it-all “What I don’t know… I can always make up!”
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that people saw what was going on. Thus, He was killed and buried near the main westerly gates. Suddenly there are rumors about the guards and an earthquake and visions. I imagine that anyone who could walk would have gone to see if the tomb really was empty. It was not “on a hill far away” as the old hymn suggests it was right downtown, at least as close to downtown as you could get and still be outside the walls. The regime had already decided to cover up one so called resurrection. Jesus had raised Lazarus his very close friend from the dead just a few weeks before. How convenient! Jesus friend dies and Jesus raises him from the dead. A good trick, but certainly a trick. The authorities had decided to do away with Lazarus as well as Jesus at that point. (John 12:9-11) After all, to put over a fraud like that was just asking for trouble from the Romans! And now this! Would it never end? Jesus may have appeared to the twelve who were hiding in the Essene quarter for fear of the authorities and His uncle and aunt may have been hurrying out of town, but Jesus wanted to meet with all those He would send out. Where better than Galilee on the hill they had agreed on? Most of the disciples were probably in Galilee anyway. It was the twelve who were still hiding in Jerusalem. The empty tomb was no secret. Jesus didn’t appear to just a few. Take a look at Paul’s time line in 1st Corinthians the 15th chapter: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Paul uses the words eita, epeita and eskhaton, “then, after that and finally” these are words that are used to express succession in time. St. Paul was writing his letters to the Corinthian Church around 55 AD. That is only 20-25 years after the events he claims to be describing and earlier than
most scholars put any of the Gospels. Paul’s is the first resurrection account and chronology. St. Paul does not mention the appearances to the women or to a woman. The Gospels don’t mention a first appearance to Peter (Cephas). Does that mean they didn’t happen? How often have I said, “To make a long story short...” Though I never quite manage. But as my wonderfully wise mother use to tell, “You must never lie, but you needn’t tell everyone everything at once!” The authors wrote the elements of the account that suited their narrative and the audience to whom they were writing. Dr. Brown and most scholars are looking through the Reformation/Protestant lens of which I suspect they are unaware in the same way that unless we really pause to notice, we are unaware that it is air we are breathing and the fish is unaware that it is water in which it is swimming. The fundamental Protestant and thus modern way to look at the Gospels is that they are histories. They most certainly are not. Ancient people trusted verbal accounts more than they trusted written documents. The Gospel was clearly transmitted orally. In Paul’s writings he always speaks of the Gospel which he preaches, not which he writes. The Gospel was well known in the Greek speaking Jewish world, though perhaps not as well known in the Aramaic speaking world of Babylonian Jewry. There was no need to write the story down in the first century. The Gospels were written to make certain points from the commonly known story and sayings of Messiah Jesus, not as tools of evangelism nor certainly as history. When we try to analyze something that is not a history with historical criterion we are just asking for trouble. More next week.
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The Ascension of the Lord Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved. — Mark 16:16
Photo credit: crs.org “Jesus reminds us how many people are persecuted simply because they struggle for justice… Unless we wish to sink into an obscure mediocrity, let us not long for an easy life, for “whoever would save his life will lose it” (Mt 16:25).”
-Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate Children make up more than half of all Syrian refugees. They have witnessed violence, lost homes or loved ones, and most have been out of school for years. Refugee children, especially girls, are also more vulnerable to human trafficking, early marriage, and forced labor. Providing opportunities for education is one way to reduce their risk of being trafficked. ACTION: Contact your Senators to co-sponsor the Protecting Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. Call (202) 224-3121 to reach the Capitol switchboard. For more information visit Catholic Relief Services’ site www.confrontglobalpoverty.org For additional ways to advocate for immigrants and refugees visit: www.CatholicsAndImmigrants.org
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Michelle Martin
April 25, 2018
Zoo day I’ve long thought that the most interes ng animals to watch in the zoo are the human visitors. That was definitely the case when I chaperoned Teresa’s second-grade class field trip to Brookfield Zoo in the middle of April. We got lucky by going on one of the few bright, sunny days of the month, and the kids were thrilled with their freedom. The bus dropped us off a li le a er 10 a.m.; the teacher told the chaperones to meet back at the entrance at 12:45 p.m., and off we went. They walked and skipped and ran from one end of the zoo to the other. It was a new place for many of the city-dwellers, who have been going to Lincoln Park Zoo since they were born. I was surprised by how willing everyone in my group was to enter the rep le exhibits. While some said they were scared of the snakes, or more accurately, “EWWW!”, they all stepped up to look. The monkeys, as usual were a big hit, as were the river o ers in the swamp exhibit. The swamp exhibit itself was a definite maybe when we walked in — there was the promise of an alligator, but the 8-year-olds in my group complained about the warm, fe d air and said swamps are full of dirty water. That, at least, was quickly corrected by a zoo docent, who proceeded to talk to them about how swamps filter water, and then told them which of the animals we were looking at could be found in Illinois. But the animals that got the most interest? The Canadian geese that patrolled the grounds, some wearing tags with ID numbers around their necks. Maybe that was because the geese were the most interested in the children. They waddled up behind us while we sat at a picnic table ea ng lunch, and trailed
us to the garbage can in hopes of ge ng scraps. None of the geese got fed, and all of the kids kept their hands to themselves, so no fingers were nipped. But when one of the kids asked why the geese were loose, we talked about how they didn’t belong to the zoo. It was more like the zoo belongs to them. The official reason for the zoo trip in April was its proximity to Earth Day, April 22, with the goal of having students learn something about the glory of crea on. I’m not sure how much academic learning took place, at least not in my group, but between the playground, the swinging monkeys, the waddling geese, the bathing grizzly bear and the napping ger, the kids spent a lot of me just glorying in the beauty of the day and the wonder of crea on.
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Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven Acts 1:9-11 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
