Shepherd Sunday

²²At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” ²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.”

John 10:22-30

MILLET, Jean-François

French, 1814-1875

Shepherdess and Flock at Sunset

1868-70

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Miracles are a retelling in small letters
of the very same story which is written
across the whole world in letters
too large for some of us to see.

~ C.S. Lewis

No one is useless in this world who lightens

the burden of it for anyone else.

                                                                  ~ Charles Dickens

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Domo Japanese Restaurant in Denver

http://www.domorestaurant.com/

A few members of our Rotary group hosted a

Group Study Exchange team from Japan at the restaurant.

Because they were from Iwate Prefecture, I decided to join them.

Team members:

Team Leader - Akihiko Kasai – Aki

Tomoe Mega - Tomo

Haruko Miura - Haru

Ryoji Sahara - Ryo

Shinji Hinata - Shin

Chef Gaku Homma is also the founder of Aikido Nippon Kan, located at the same address.

http://www.nippon-kan.org/index2.html

Aikido in a very large room at the restaurant.

Annette, Dori, and Liz in the museum part of the restaurant.

Dori with Aki-san

Tomo presenting Curt with a Japanese pin.

Tomo is Clerk of Iwate Prefectural Government.

Kampai!

Shin with his host family

Curt, Tomo, Aki-san, and Peggy (wife of our District Governor).

The Japanese team members were our speakers at our

Rotary meeting the next morning.

Ryo, the photographer

Assistant Professor, Doctor of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Aki-san, Past Rotary Governor, the team leader and

President of Hokuryo Co., Ltd (gas supplier) in Kitakami, Iwate

Ryo

Ryo and Haru work in the same building in Sendai but did not

know each other until they became a part of the team

sponsored by their local Rotary Clubs.

Shin was sponsored by the Morioka North Rotary Club.

I think that is the one my brother and I visited when he and Dottie

and I visited Robin and her family in Japan after I retired.

Shin is Clerk at Kuzumaki Town Hall in Iwate.

Shin presenting the Morioka Rotary Club flag to our club.

Carolyn with Haru who went to grade school and junior high

in the school nearest Ueda, where Robin’s and Kiyo’s children went.

Now, she is a Researcher: RIMCOF Tohoku University Laboratory, Sendai.

She graduated from university in Hokkaido.

She is also an avid snowboarder!

There are people who pray for eternal life

and don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday.

~ G. K. Chesterton

April 25, 2010    Fourth Sunday of Easter

Previous OPQs may be found at:      

          http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

“Why did the shepherd count his sheep each night as they went into the fold?"

Caleb, 6 years old, said, "So he could go to sleep."

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

We expect Jesus to say that the sheep follow him because they know him, but instead he says that they follow him because he knows them.  We long to be known –– to be understood at the deepest levels.  Profound intimacy bespeaks profound love.  This Gospel makes it clear that Jesus sees to the depth of the heart, and it is no wonder that the sheep perceive that and follow him.  Donovan