ME: 

A MIX OF CONSEQUENCES 

AND REPERCUSSIONS

Quote for the Day - October 23,  2010


"Everyone is the Child of his past."


Edna G. Rostow


Picture on top: Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009

COMMUNICATION: 

SEEING OTHERS 

AS  EQUALS

Quote for the Day -- October 22,  2010

"You can't expect a person to see eye to eye with you when you are looking down on them."


Anonymous

COMMUNICATION:

HOW  IT  WORKS

I was listening – but not at first –
I sense this is how this really works –
so I began listening. It might have been
her eyes – an almost tear, a squint –
extra blinks – skin tightening
around those eyes – at their edge –
at the top of her nose – at the tiny bridge there.
Or it might have been her nervous hands –
fingernails trying to get under fingernails.
Then as she dug and dragged out her story
I could hear my stories edging upwards –
but luckily I said nothing – just the inner warning: “Shut up and just listen to her, stupid.” I did. And at the end she simply said,
“Thanks for listening.” And as she walked away
I said to myself, “I guess this is how it works.”
Then the smile in my eye. Then the wondering,
“Now who wants to hear my story?
Who wants to see my tears and hear my fears?”

© Andy Costello Reflections, 2010

ANCIENT STORY:

GRACE AND SIN

Grace and sin just burst right in,
changing everything – at least
for a moment, a day, a month,
sometimes a lifetime, then it’s back
to plain donuts – dull traffic –
nothing really happening in my life.

Then sin slips in again with snake
rattling suggestions – what if’s?
Myopic me bites into the forbidden.
I say the wrong thing. I hurt another.
I’m selfish, self centered – blind –
just seeing my side of need –
hunger – thirst – empty – fill me. (1)
Then grace knocks in my night.
I’m blinded by Light on the road
to my Damascus. I hear my
“Take and read” moment in the garden.
And I scream, “Who are you I’m hurting?”
Then the whisper: “Jesus Christ.”
It’s you again and again and again. (2)

(1) Genesis 3:1-13

(2) Acts 9:19; Confessions of

Augustine, Book 8, Chapter 12;

Romans 13:13

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2010

"SEMI-"

He said out of the blue,
“I was just thinking,
‘Semi’ is a good word
to describe me.

“I’m sort of just
here, but I’m
always sort of just
sitting there – in
some other room –
in some other place.

“I’m sort of always
playing in the semi-finals –
semi-retired – semi in church –
but fishing in other waters.

“Yep, that’s me, ‘Semi-’.
Good. I finally
figured myself out.”

Ooops!” he then said.
“I think I just sort of
contradicted myself.”

And I sort of have
been thinking about
what he said that day
for a while now,
while thinking about
some other things.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2010

PAINTING
THE CRY IN 
THE NIGHT!

Quote for the Day - October 21, 2010

"For me,

painting is a way to forget life.

It is a cry in the night,

a strangled laugh."

Georges Rouault [1871-1958]

I found the paintings by Georges Rouault on top at the web site of The Art Institute of Chicago. They are part of his more than 400 pieces entitled, "Miserere" from Psalm 51 ("Have mercy on me, O Lord....")

FAITH AND DOUBT

Quote for Today - October 20, 2010



"I respect faith
but doubt
is what gets you
an education."



Wilson Mizner [1876-1933]

SECOND CHANCES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 29 Tuesday in Ordinary Time as well as the Feast of Sts. Isaac Jogues, John De Brebeuf and Companions is, “Second Chances.”

Sometimes – not all the time – we are offered second chances.

I guarantee you if you took a look at all the boats in Annapolis waters, you’d find a boat named, “Second Chance.” I’ve seen “Second Wind!”

Sometimes – not all the time – we are given second chances.

Sometimes we say the wrong thing. “Ouch!” and we live to regret it.

Sometimes we are given a second chance.

Some people are more forgiving than other people.

Sometimes after stubbornness or stupidity, people see and experience second chances. Resurrection is a possibility.

ISSAC JOGUES, JOHN DE BREBEUF AND COMPANIONS

Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf and Companions who were killed trying to bring Jesus and his Good News to Native American Peoples.

If they did their preaching today it would be different – especially because they are Jesuits. I say that based on their and other’s missionary work in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere.

Sometimes – not all the time – we are offered second chances – to do it different – and better – having learned by our experiences.

Today there is more listening – more respect – more awareness of the cultures of the people being visited by missionaries.

Today – some – not all – try to hear the people being visited – and they are evangelized by the culture and wisdom the native persons have to offer to the missionaries. The first step is to listen. The second step is to learn. The old model of: Observe, Judge and then Act is observed by some.

The hope is still the same as today’s first reading [Ephesians 2: 12-22] – to introduce Christ anew to our world – to bring those far off to Christ – to knock down walls – so that we can discover Christ – the Trinity – already and yet to come – in the place being visited. Jesus – the Incarnation – keeps coming into our world.

Vatican II grasped this message anew in its documents and decrees on missionary activity – for example Ad Gentes [1965] – as well as Lumen Gentium [1964]. We are now some 50 years later – and some Christian theologians of Latin America – Africa – Asia – have been developing these understandings – listening and learning from the culture of those whom the Church keeps reaching out to – keeps leavening.

Sometimes some scream at Asian and South American theologians when they do this.

Sometimes there is dialogue. Sometimes there are walls. Sometimes there are second chances.

Sometimes heads don’t have to roll. New martyrs are not necessary.

Of course hindsight is sometimes 20 – 20. Sometimes hindsight leads to foresight.

In case someone wants to scream at what I just said, I’ll give you a second chance to read Paul’s visit to Athens – as told in Acts 17 – and when he spoke to the Council at the Areopagus. He said that he walked around town and visited their holy places and found an altar with the inscription: “To An Unknown God.” Then he said I proclaim to you this unknown God whom you worship without knowing it.

Some in Athens said we’ll hear you later – at some other time; and some laughed at him and said, “Goodbye.” [Cf. Acts 17: 32]

He wasn’t killed in Athens. He didn’t end up starting up a Christian community in Athens. There is no Letter to the Athenians in the scriptures. There are in Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. He made the most of his second chances.

The history of life is assimilation and adjustments – struggles with darkness with mornings of light and insight.

The history of theology is often rejection of new ideas – or new looks at old stuff.

Early Church theologians like Clement of Alexandria used Plato to understand the revelation of Christ coming out of Judaism.

Augustine dabbled in a lot of different thinkers before he came to Christ.

Aquinas learned Aristotle by discovering him through Avicenna, the Arab-Muslim philosopher and physician. Aquinas got in trouble – but in time, people saw his wisdom and brilliance.

Life is second looks, second chances, sometimes.

CONCLUSION

Life is described in many ways. In today’s gospel the metaphor is a wedding banquet. Luke has Jesus telling us to be like those waiting for their master’s return from a wedding – so that when he arrives and knocks on the door, we will be open for him.

Sometimes we’re sleeping. Sometimes we’re foolish.

Today’s first reading and the Vatican Council announced the call of all to holiness. Wherever we are, whatever condition we’re in, Jesus often talked about second chances – better sometimes there are 70 times 7 chances to be forgiven and to start again. It’s never too late to hear the call into the vineyard or to enter the kingdom at the last hour. Amen.

Picture on top: St. Isaac Jogues and Companions

Comment: this is a first draft homily. Last night after reading the readings and thinking about Isaac Jogues and missionaries, this is what I came up with. I like preaching - because it often forces me to address questions that I have not been listening to. In this case: Theology of Missions. Theology of Evangelization. I am not aware of what discussion and dialogue is going on in India, Thailand, Africa, etc. concerning respect and understanding of the people the Church hopes to evangelize. This homily triggered for me areas where I am quite out of touch, etc. How about you?

STOP PRETENDING

Quote for the Day - October 19,  2010


"To give up pretensions is as blessed a relief as to get them ratified."

William James [1842-1910]

LUKE IS THE ONLY

ONE WITH ME

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Luke Is The Only One With Me!”

The title of my homily is a sentence in today’s first reading from 2 Timothy 4: 10 to 17 b. “Luke Is The Only One With Me!”

Paul moves away from theology and exhortations at the end of this letter he’s writing to Timothy and gives us some autobiographical details. It seems there were 4 guys with Paul: Demas, Crescens, Titus and Luke. 3 out of the 4 disappear. Demas deserts Paul for the world. Crescens goes to Galatia and Titus goes to Dalmatia.

Then comes the sentence, “Luke is the only one with me.”

Then Paul makes some very specific requests. He asks Timothy to come to him with Mark and bring a cloak he had left with Carpas in Troas. I love that detail. He wants a cloak. Was he cold in Rome in prison? He also says bring the scrolls, especially the parchments. Were these the Jewish scriptures and / or were they some documents that lead up to the gospels? We don’t know.

JUST LUKE

A question hit me: What would Christianity be like if we only had one gospel and that Gospel was Luke?

I think that’s an intriguing question. For starters Luke gives the context of Jesus – time, place, and background. We have the importance of Christianity coming out of Judaism – especially because Luke was writing for the Gentiles. We hear about Mary, Joseph and John the Baptist. We have baptism and Eucharist and forgiveness. We have the importance of synagogue and temple – and especially Jerusalem. We have the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

In other words we would have enough. An added key would be the question, “Would you bring Acts into the question?” Luke wrote Acts, sort of as Part II of his Good News.

Once more the question I came up with was, “What would Christianity be like if we only had one gospel and that gospel was Luke?”

We wouldn’t have the great poetry and mysticism of John – but Luke is sometimes said to have the most polish of all 4 gospels – and the great parables that Luke alone tell us has certainly had a great impact on our world. For example, the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son stories – only found in Luke.

We wouldn’t have the conciseness and clear cut action scenes of Mark – but we have the development of story in Luke. For example, Mark begins with Jesus as adult – going into his ministry, but Luke brings us to Jesus’ beginnings. He writes about Mary saying “Yes” to the angel. Luke gives us these scenes and mysteries called, “Annunciation” and “Visitation” “Presentation and Finding in the Temple.”

A hesitation – one big hesitation…. If Luke was the only Gospel Christianity might not have survived – because Luke is the gospel of the poor and the outcast – the outsider and the rejected – and maybe the élite – the rich – the insiders – the clergy - down through the ages would reject the Good News of Jesus completely – because Luke focuses over and over again on the poor.

I don’t know.

CONCLUSION

But we have Luke and 3 other gospels – and in the meanwhile, I would like to know what was on those parchments that Luke wanted Mark to bring to him. Amen.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Quote for the Day - Feast of St. Luke - October 18, 2010


"Luke's gospel was written primarily for gentile christians drawn largely from the poor city dwellers of the Roman world. In every sense of the word these people were the outsiders. They were economically poor, of low social status, and had no share in the rich religious heritiage of judaism. Luke's good news was precisely that these outsiders were the special recipients of the kingdom; the community of men under the rule of God which was to be brought in by the messiah."

Duncan Macpherson in Luke, ACTA Foundation, Adult Catechetical Teaching Aids, Chicago, Illinois, 1971, page. 5.

PUSHY  AND PERSISTENT,
PRINCIPLES  AND  PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is “Pushy and Persistent, Principles and Prayer.”

On Friday, there was a retreat day for our high school freshman and freshwomen – 8:30 till 2:30 – here at St. John Neumann. From 10:30 till 12:00, the big group of 130 or so kids were broken into 4 groups. Then 4 of us were asked to take 20 minutes with a group of about 30 and do something – the same thing 4 times in a row. Sister Elise Saydah talked about her vocation as a SSND nun. Father Eric Hoog talked about being a Redemptorist. Ginny Dauses, our high school campus minister, talked about being a Christian, so I decided on asking our young people, “Do you have any questions, you would like to ask a priest? Here is your opportunity.”

One question that grabbed me was about preaching. It came up in 3 out of the 4 sessions I had with these kids. The question was either, “Where do you get your ideas on what you preach on?” or “Do you prepare beforehand or when you get into the pulpit?” or “Why do you preach on what you preach on?”

As they say in politics, “These questions were slow ball or meat ball or easy to hit pitches.”

I simply said, “I read the readings, say a prayer, see if anything hits me, and then I try to give something that I think will be clear, not boring, helpful and challenging – and coming out of the readings.”

TODAY’S READINGS

After saying a prayer and then reading the readings for this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, what hit me was this: See oneself as both the judge and the pushy widow in the Gospel. See oneself as Moses and Joshua in the First Reading. See oneself as Paul as well as Timothy in the Second Reading.

I learned that principle years ago – from a book by Louis Evely – That Man Is You. He took that title from the story about David in the Second Book of Samuel – Chapter 12 – when Nathan the prophet told David the king a parable – and David in anger asked who was this horrible character in the parable who did such a thing as stealing a lamb from a poor man – when he had lots of them himself. And Nathan said to David, “That Man Is You.”

David – with his harem – and his riches and his power as king – stole another man’s wife: Bathsheba. Then he had her husband, Uriah, placed in the front of the line in a battle so he would be killed. He was.

So I learned to read the scriptures and ask myself, “Which character in this story is me?” Or to ask myself, “How am I like or unlike each character in this story?”

This often happens in plays and parables, movies and novels. Which character is more me? We see ourselves in a mirror as Shakespeare put it.

So how am I like the judge and the pushy, persistent widow in today’s gospel? In today’s first reading, how am I like Moses on the hill in prayer with arms upraised and Joshua down in the valley in battle? In today’s second reading, how am I like Paul writing to Timothy and how am I like Timothy in receiving this letter?

GOSPEL: TOUGH JUDGE AND PERSISTENT, PUSHY WIDOW

All of us know the interior struggle of my will versus another’s will.

What are the principles we won’t budge on?
What are the issues we want those we live or work with to change their opinion and behavior on or about?

What are the issues and behaviors others want us to bend or change?

It could be politics – going to church – sermons – noise levels – the TV clicker – how we drive or others drive (Type A or Type B Drivers) – always braking – always on the person in front of us’ bumper or going too slow – using or not using blinkers – weight – overweight – eating habits – smoking – how we or other’s dress – tattoos – jewelry – language – parking – lawn care – house care – bathroom neatness – not budging when people want to get into our bench in church – etc. etc. etc.

How do we try to get our way? What are our tricks and tactics? Silence? Nagging? Yelling? Passive aggression? Communication? Start another battle – one which we think we’ll win? Pay backs? Prayer?

I love today’s gospel. It shows Jesus’ sense of humor. You can picture the judge talking to someone else, “This lady is driving me nuts. I’m going to settle in her favor, just to get her off my case.”

Did Jesus make this story up or did he know a judge who had this experience? Was there a lady next door who was like this lady in his story? Did the disciples when they heard this story whisper to each other afterwards, “I know whom he was talking about?”

Today’s gospel and next Sunday’s gospel are about prayer. What’s my experience with prayer? Does Jesus really want us to just sit there and bug God with prayers? Or does he want us to pray and then get off our knees or backside and do something? Action! Go to the doctor? Communicate with the person who is driving us nuts? Exercise? Eat right? Accept realities that we all age? People get cancer, wrinkles, hemorrhoids, arthritis and what have you?

What would Jesus’ take be on the following saying? “Pray for potatoes, but pick up a shovel.”

Or to say the same thing in light of the Chilean mine disaster: "Pray for the miners - but drill baby, drill!"

TODAY’S SECOND READING

Today’s second reading has Paul writing to Timothy. Paul tells Timothy and us to learn from the Scriptures.

A few questions: What scripture texts grab us? What texts challenge us? What texts bug or nag us? What texts inconvenience us? What scripture texts wear us out? What text makes us feel guilt?

I remember Father Benedict Groeschel telling us in a course on how to be a spiritual director, “If you want to know about a person, ask them their favorite scripture text.” I was giving a weekend retreat after that and I asked people their favorite Bible text. There was this one guy who was ultra rigid in my opinion – who had a litany of complaints about any priest who had an inch or a pinch of liberalism in him. So I asked this guy his favorite Bible text. His immediate answer was: “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves” [Matthew 7:15] If he had asked me in return what my favorite scripture text was – he didn’t – he wasn’t into dialogue – only monologue – but if he did, I would say immediately, Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Today’s second reading challenges us to see how we use the Bible – and what that says about each other. You hear us preach from the pulpit. What do you see as our take on the scriptures of the Sunday compared to your take on the Sunday scriptures? All of us hear the same readings. What’s your homily to yourself today from today's readings?

TODAY’S FIRST READING

I’ve said a few times from this pulpit that a rabbi once asked me if I had read the Koran and I said, “No!” He said, “We better!”

So I got myself a copy of the Koran at Barnes and Noble and read it and I started noticing the word “burn”. At that I got an orange magic marker and highlighted every time I saw the word “fire,” or “burn”. It was constant. I wondered if that was in any way behind September 11th. Wooo! Then I’m reading the Bible and surprise I began noticing how many times there is killing in its pages as well.

Recall the last line in today’s first reading: “And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” There was Moses up on the hill in prayer – with Aaron and Hur holding his arms up – and as long as those arms up were raised up – those down in the valley in battle were slaying their enemies. The scriptures are loaded with killings. The history of religions is loaded with killings. What is the mind of God? As long as Jesus’ arms are raised on the cross – do we down below in the valley kill each other or forgive each other – or do we really know what we are doing to each other? Father forgive us!

At some point in adult faith, we discover that we can grab scripture texts to justify our positions – and this has been done down through the ages as well. It’s not just the devil who can quote scriptures as the saying goes, but the devil in each of us can do as well.

We know Jesus talked about the sword as a metaphor and we know he talked about putting away our swords. We know that Jesus was crucified on the cross and proclaimed forgiveness – for our stupidity in hurting and killing one another.

CONCLUSION

How do I conclude this sermon entitled, “Pushy and Persistent, Principles and Prayer”?

I don’t know, but let me do it this way.

Each of us needs to know what our principles are – where we are rock solid and where we are rock stubborn – and sometimes rock stupid.

Each of us needs Church and Scriptures – tradition and an informed conscience to make our everyday decisions and behavior loving and compassionate.

And each of us needs to bring this to prayer and then get up off our knees and onto our feet and bring the Christ within us out into our language, driving, work, family, fun, and street. Amen.

THE BIBLE

Quote for the Day - October 17, 2010

“Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those that I do understand.”


Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) [1835-1910]