Wednesday, October 22, 2008

MONARCH


The monarch butterfly
with Tiffany stained glass wings,
works for his supper -
a king oblivious to others.
His term limit is months,
so he’s not concerned about polls
or public opinion.
He just does what butterflies do -
just worried about the next generation.
Now that’s the kind of king I’d vote for.




© Andy Costello, Reflections 2008
AFTER
THE PERFORMANCE

Three moments:
before and after the performance
and the performance itself.

The performance: a party,
a wedding, a picnic, an anniversary,
a funeral, the hard work
in putting and pulling
it all together, the invitations,
the food, the phone calls,
the double checking,
the letting everyone know,
so nobody will feel forgotten, left out,
yet knowing old family fights,
those still burning below
on the bottom of what look
like cold coals,
might burst into flames again.
I guess it’s part of the party,
part of the play. It's family.
Some people like being on stage.
Some people are repeat performances.
Too bad for them: I rather
concentrate on the laughter
the reconnecting, the celebration.

Three moments….
Some like the before.
Some like the performance.
I like the exhausted feeling
after a performance.
It’s finally over.
People have headed home.
We're off stage.
We are all alone again,
tired, but with shoes off ,
bread and wine or coffee and cookies in hand.
Exits can lead to Resurrection. Restoration.
We sit in soft chairs and taste
some of what we didn't taste at the banquet
and “Wow! The stories....”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2008

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

SO WHAT BOOK
ARE YOU READING NOW? *



INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “So What Book Are You Reading Now?”

I would like to challenge you in this homily or sermon to be readers.

QUESTION

Years ago I was at a family gathering and a family friend nonchalantly asked, “So what book are you reading now?”

“Ooops,” I thought. Silence. Pause. Then I said, “I’m not reading anything now.”

I was in my late 30’s and I was too busy with work – and I had forgotten the importance of reading.

Looking back I was very appreciative that this guy Marty asked me that question, because it made me face the importance of reading books. It got me back to reading.

If he asked me right now, I would answer, “I’m reading a book of poems by Mary Oliver entitled, New and Selected Poems, (Volume One). And I just finished reading, on my sister Mary’s recommendation, a book on Warren Jeffs, When Men Become Gods. It was about a fundamentalist off-shoot group from the Mormons. It was a page turner. The author is, Stephen Singular.

QUESTION

So if I asked you, “What book are you reading now?” what would you answer?

And I don’t mean school books. I mean a book that you can’t wait till you get back to it. I mean a book you finish your chores and school work and disappear into a corner – a favorite place – a back porch – or a secret place where you love to read.

I grew up seeing my dad read – as well as my sister Mary and my brother Billy. In fact, when my older brother Billy played baseball, when he got off the field, sometimes you could see him on the sidelines reading a book at times.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

The gospel I chose for today is from St. Luke. It’s the scene where Jesus came to his home town of Nazareth. He went into the temple on the Sabbath. Luke adds, “as was his custom”. Then the story says, “He stood up to read.” He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Then he unrolled the scroll and read that, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” He read how “he was anointed to bring good news to the poor … to proclaim liberty to captives … recovery of sight to the blind … to let the oppressed go free.” [Luke 4:16-19; Isaiah 61: 1-2].

As far as I know this is the only place in the gospels where it specifically says that Jesus read. In several places he asks people, “Haven’t you read in the scriptures…?” He also asked folks to read the signs of the times. [Cf. Matthew 16:3]

We know Jesus was very insightful - and aware of what others were thinking and saying. Joachim Jeremias in his book, The Parables of Jesus, writes about the background of many of Jesus’ parables – and connecting some of them to similar stories from the same time.

I love the story in Luke of Jesus being lost in the temple at the age of 12 and his Mary thought he was with Joseph and Joseph thought he was with Mary on their way home – but he was back in the temple “sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking his questions; and all those who heard him were astonished at this intelligence and his replies.” [Cf. Luke 2:41-50.]

And if one reads the gospels we read not only his stories – but also his wisdom sayings.

QUESTION

So what are you reading?

We have the elections coming up and I hear people saying, “We don’t know who a candidate is.” I say to myself, “Well, both John McCain and Barack Obama have books out. John McCain has a book, Faith of Our Fathers and Barack Obama has a book, Dreams from My Father. People often ask me if I read such and such a book. One recent book was Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope.

So what are you reading?

I noticed that Sarah Palin was asked what her favorite book was or what’s she reading now – and she paused for a moment and said, C.S. Lewis.

His books, Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters are books I recommend very highly. I’m sure some of you read The Complete Chronicles of Narnia.

What would you answer if someone asked you your favorite book or what book are you reading now?

I noticed in Time, Newsweek, People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and other magazines that athletes and stars are asked, "What book are you reading now?”

If you were asked that question, what would you answer?

POEM

I was looking for a poem the other day and came across a wonderful poem by Rita Dove which gave me the theme for this homily.

The poem is entitled, “The First Book.”

Bill Moyers in this book [Hold up book] The Language of Life asked Rita Dove the background of her poem, "The First Book".

She said she went into her daughter’s school and found out that the kids seemed to be scared of reading. She grew up in a family of readers, so she wanted to encourage reading. That’s the background of this poem. Let me read it from this book entitled, The Language of Life. [Hold up book]

THE FIRST BOOK

Open it.

Go ahead. It won’t bite.
Well … maybe a little.

More a nip, like. A tingle.
It’s pleasurable, really.

You see, it keeps on opening.You may fall in.
Sure. It’s hard to get started;
remember learning to use

knife and fork? Dig in:
you’ll never reach bottom.
It’s not like it’s the end of the world –
just the world as you think

you know it.


BOOK BAG

I have here a bag with a few books in it. I have a lot of books in my room, so I grabbed a few books as props for this sermon.

Rita Dove said books can take you into worlds you never thought of.

Here is a book entitled, I Will Bear Witness. [Hold it up] It’s by a man named Victor Klemperer. You can open up this book and find yourself inside another person’s diary. What would it be like to be a Jew in Dresden, Germany from 1933 to 1941? Open up this book and you can find out.

Well, there are lots of books like this. Just walk up and down the aisles of Annapolis Public Library on West Street.

Here is one of my favorite books. [Hold up book] It’s entitled, Reality in Advertising. It can take a person into the world of advertising. Years ago I read about this book and finally found a copy of it in a second hand bookstore. In the preface, the author Rosser Reeves, makes this remarkable statement. “I do not think it is out of order to say that it cost $1,000,000,000 to write this book.” How’s that for a catchy advertisement? How much is that? Anyone here good in math? How much is 1 followed by 9 zeros? A billion dollars. Then he adds, “We spent that much of our client’s money, and made many mistakes, to isolate these principles.”

CONCLUSION: WRITE

This homily or talk asked the question, “So What Are You Reading Now?”

I stressed the importance of reading. I would also suggest writing – not just for school – but for your own pleasure.

I have written several books – and a favorite story is that a former student that I had told me he saw one of my books in a used book store in Chicago for 25 cents. I asked him if he bought it. He said, “No.”

About a month later someone called me from somewhere wanting to buy a copy of that same book and I had to say I had no copies – that the book was out of print. I suggested they search for a copy on-line. After I hung up I went on-line to see if that was a good suggestion. Surprise. Surprise. Someone was selling that book for $127.00. If I had known that, I said to myself, I would have saved a case of them. I immediately called the guy who saw it for 25 cents in a Chicago bookstore – telling him that if he had bought it, he might now be able to sell it for $127.00 on-line.

So I hope from upi as students of St. Mary's, there will be some writers and that all of you will buy my idea of enjoying the gift of reading.
Read!

Now can I have one person who loves to read – not just for school work – but for enjoyment – give me the name of the book they are reading right now.

[Two students raised their hands. One person said they were reading a book about vampires and the other person said they were reading, The Call of the Wild by Jack London.]

* Surprise. I just heard that were further comments about my homily to our high school freshmen and sophomores. So the above is the written version of my homily to them. However, it should be noted that I left my written text in my room. I decided not to use this script for the homily. I did not stay in the pulpit. I walked around a bit while preaching trying to be energetic and alive as I pushed my message to read.

If you check my blog, there are not that many comments after individual pieces - unlike some blogs that have comment after comment after comment sometimes into the hundreds. This homily created some comments out in the real world of "buzz". If anyone wants to make a comment in the world of "blog", go for it. Thanks.

Monday, October 20, 2008


FOUR COINS


INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Four Coins!”

When you have some time, take a penny, a nickel, a dime and a quarter, and look at them. Study them front side and back. A penny for your thoughts?

All four coins have the image of a president on them: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR. All four have the word “Liberty” on them. All four have the Latin words, “E pluribus unum”. All four have the words, “In God We Trust” on them.

Then, if you want to throw three of them into a fountain for luck or all four of them for extra luck, go for it. That’s 41 cents. Next time you’re exercising or walking through the Bestgate Mall check out the coins in the water pool. I was surprised at all the quarters in there. A while back I heard someone broke in there one night to get those coins. With the way the economy is going, I hope the Mall is well policed with a good alarm system as well as cameras.


I chose the penny, nickel, dime and quarter – because these are the four coins we usually get as change when we buy something – unless we use plastic.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

In today’s gospel, when his adversaries are trying to trap him, Jesus asks to see a coin. If he says, “Pay the tax” they will attack him for supporting the Romans; if he says, “Don’t pay the tax” they will turn him in to the Romans for supporting the anti-Romans.

I’m surprised that the text says he doesn’t know who’s image is on the coin. They tell him, “It’s Caesar’s.”


And he gives his classic response: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

I still like the ring of the old translation: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” [Matthew 22:21]


CONFLICT

Today’s Gospel places us in the middle of a conflict situation.
How well do I deal with conflict?

Obviously, with the elections coming up, people are in conflict with others on moral and political issues. I can’t wait till Wednesday, November 5th, when this election is over – unless they discover hanging chads in some states.

Have you found yourself in the past year or so – on the spot – when someone brings up a voting question?

As priest various people have asked, “Is anyone going to say anything about the upcoming election from the pulpit?”

To me – stress on “to me”, that is an “uh oh!” question – as well as a “no no!” situation. For several reasons - one key reason being conscience - I am not in favor of endorsing or going after candidates for public office from the pulpit. Besides those reasons, the final vote count is not going to be 100 million + or so to 0 – so no matter what one says, other people are going to be angry – whether the final results are a 51 to 49 situation or 53 to 47 situation or what have you.

If you want to read a good document on the Catholic position for voting, read, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.” Tap, tap with your mouse the following www. to read this document.


Some folks will be grateful for this document; some folks will experience conflict with this document . I also assume the bishops had conflicts in hammering out the text.

Conflict is part of life.

Look at Jesus in today’s gospel. They might not have got him that day – but they nailed him another day.

As to ongoing conflict, this hasn’t been my experience. I don’t see myself as getting crucified. I follow the principle voiced in the German proverb: "A drop of honey catches more flies than a hogshead of vinegar." On personality tests that I have taken, I end up being a smiling, shifty, wimpy type - someone who doesn't like controversy.

I have been a priest since 1965, yet I have only been burnt or yelled a few times because of comments from the pulpit - as far as I know. When it has happened, it’s been because of spiritual issues I’m off on – like not killing prayer with too many prayers – rarely on how to vote.

Yet, I’m sure the current game that we’re all playing is trying to figure out how other people are going to vote. So I try to be aware of the bully pulpit as well as the angry pew.


A MISTAKE

However, I make mistakes. For example, last Thursday I mentioned the names of John McCain, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama in a homily at a Mass for our freshman and sophomore young people.

I was not trying to influence their minds on how to vote – because they are not old enough to vote. I was talking about the importance of reading. At one point in my homily I said that I've heard people say they want to know who a certain candidate is. When I hear that, I find myself saying inwardly, "Read! John McCain has a book out, Faith of Our Fathers [1999] and Barack Obama has a book out, Dreams From My Father [1995]. Read Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope [2006]. Read columns. Have an informed conscience. Listen to the debates etc."

My mistake was that I was totally oblivious to any adults in the church – in fact I really didn’t see them – only these two classes of kids – and I was trying to use as examples what’s going on in our country and world and not just the world of school and shoes and sports.

I heard afterwards there were comments. I didn't know if those who made them were joking, neutral, or angry.

Being sensitive, that word “comments” hit me.


Being defensive, I said, "Uh oh!"

My first reaction was the feeling that I was stupid. I know the reality that once you mention a person’s name – just their name – that can cause instant reaction. It can push another’s button. Dumb, dumb, me. That’s why some people wear political buttons – to push buttons. That’s why some people have bumper stickers, to bump people.

My second reaction was to examine my motives. Was I pushing a political candidate? No. I was trying to stress to these kids the importance of reading – not just school books – but books they find themselves looking for time to read. I asked if they have their quiet places – on a porch or a corner - where they can turn pages and enjoy the various places in the world and the human heart that books can take us to.

I thought the message of my homily was clear: the importance of reading. In hindsight, however, I didn't think it was that good a sermon. I didn’t feel much of a connection.

However, after I heard there were comments, I backtracked in my mind. Where did I get the idea to push the theme of reading from? I thought and thought. Finally I had an answer. While I was working on the homily for our high school kids, I was also working on a flyer for someone who had asked for help in putting together a prayer service for autumn.


While looking for a good poem on autumn to put in a flyer, I came upon a poem by Rita Dove entitled, “The First Book.” I had never read this poem before. It was in a book by Bill Moyers, The Language of Life [1995]. It has some poems I like and interviews about particular poems. He asked Rita Dove where the idea for her poem came from.

She said she went into some classroom of her daughter's school and discovered that various kids were scared of reading. She thought about growing up in a household where people loved to read, so she wrote the following poem.

THE FIRST BOOKOpen it.

Go ahead. It won’t bite.
Well … maybe a little.

More a nip, like. A tingle.
It’s pleasurable, really.

You see, it keeps on opening.You may fall in.
Sure. It’s hard to get started;
remember learning to use

knife and fork? Dig in:
you’ll never reach bottom.
It’s not like it’s the end of the world –
just the world as you think

you know it.


I thought that was a great poem. I used it in my homily and I told the kids that I didn’t really start reading till a high school teacher in the 3rd year of high school triggered a love for reading. I couldn’t find enough time to go through James Fennimore Cooper’s stories.

Then I mentioned a book by Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness [1998]. I said it was on the best seller list a few years back and my niece Maryna gave it to me as a Christmas gift. Books, I said, can take you to places you could never enter. Holding up the book I said, “This is the diary of Jewish man in Dresden, Germany during horrible times – 1933 - 1941. If you’re nosey and interested in other people, a book can take you into all kinds of places.”

I mentioned a few other books and felt great after Mass standing in the back of the church saying good-bye to kids flying by when one boy asked me, “What was the name of the author of that book about that man in Germany?” I said, “Victor Klemperer.” He said, “I’ll find it on line.”

Then the next day I felt crummy when someone said I was pushing someone for president in the pulpit.

CONCLUSION: FOUR COINS

I began this homily by saying, “The title of my homily is, ‘Four Coins.”

I then said when you have time take a penny, nickel, dime and quarter – and look at them back and front – and see what they trigger in you.

Let me make 4 closing points looking at these 4 coins.

1) The word “Liberty” might stand out. It’s a word on all 4 coins. Liberty is a great American button, buzz, value word. If they were making coins today, would the word be “freedom” instead of “liberty”? I think “freedom” is more current. Our big holiday is July 4th – a free day – our Declaration of Independence Day.

We hope that all peoples of our world can have freedom.

To St. Paul, Jesus, Isaiah, freedom, liberty is also a powerful theme. [Cf. 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 2:4; Isaiah 61:6, Luke 4:18]

Is it for me? Do I try to obtain the freedom of the glory of the Children of God? [Cf. Romans 8:21;

2) “E pluribus unum,” our national motto, is also on all 4 coins.

Our country is a plurality – yet we are called, “The United States”. We have to learn to deal with various viewpoints, a multitude of understandings. This can very difficult – but when we are one, this is our strength.

Our parish is many. We have to learn to deal with many viewpoints – understandings – many comments. This too can be difficult – but when we are one, it can also be our strength.

When there are mis-understandings, it seems that it’s better to talk to each other more than about each other. Here I am talking about something publically that happened to me privately. Here I am talking to people who weren't there. I'm making myself look better than a few people who made a comment. Moreover, I heard this secondhand. In fact, I don't know what the comments were or who made them. So the question: should I say this in a homily? Aren't I being defensive? Yes. Then I said to myself: This is a good example of a conflict situation. So I choose to use this as an example of conflict. Hearing the process behind another's motives or reasons, might bring out the importance and the power of pause and "Go figure." and "Go talk."


3) Four Presidents. There is a different president on each of these 4 coins. Each president is very different from the others – and we will have different ones to come. Will there be changes on our coins 1000 years from now? Will we even have coins? In 2003, the GOP in congress tried to get Ronald Reagan on the dime to take the place of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but it didn’t pass. Nancy Reagan was against it as well.

4) "In God We Trust." All four coins have “In God We Trust” on them. Religion is part of the fabric of life. That is the Christian position. It’s tricky. America was founded by some people who wanted to avoid the religious wars of Europe. If you really want to do some research, study this issue on line. We have quite a history.


I noticed that Thomas Jefferson had lots of issues about Christianity, priests, etc. Yet the nickel with his image on it - as well as the other three coins each have that great message, “In God We Trust.” Obviously, trust in each other is one of life’s big questions - in marriage, the market, in politics, in milk products. No wonder the last resort is, “In God We Trust.”