THE  WIZARD 

OF  OZ

Quote for Today - April 2,  2011


"No, Aunt Em, this was a real truly live place. And I remember some of it wasn't very nice. But most of it was beautiful. But just the same all I kept saying to everyone was 'I want to go home.'"



Dorothy's 4th last line in the 1939 Movie Script of The Wizard of Oz by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allen Wolfe - based on the book by L. Frank Baum.

HOTTER OR COLDER?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3rd Friday of Lent is, “Hotter or Colder?”

There is an old, old game kids play – called, “Hotter / Colder”. It’s very basic for kids up to 3 years old – but kids up to 5 still enjoy it.

You know the first rule for baby sitting: Keep them busy. I’m sure those of you who are grandparents – are in demand.

Knowing games helps big time.

In this game kids are asked to close their eyes and the hider hides something – a small toy, a penny, a piece of candy, somewhere in the room or somewhere in the house.

Then the searcher – the kid or kids – have to go find the hidden object. The person who hid the object keeps saying, “You’re getting hotter!” or “Colder!” Or “You’re freezing!” or “Hot!” or “Very hot!”

You’ll know the kid gets the game when he or she keeps asking as they move around the room or house, “Am I getting hotter or colder?”

I love hiding the object in the refrigerator – middle shelf – or kid's eye height - but behind something.

And when the kid finds the penny or candy or toy, they love it – especially if it’s candy.

And the hider claps and claps.

Little kids will tell you the truth without saying it, whether they loved the game or whether they were bored, if they say, “Let’s play again.” If they say that, hint, hint, they love the game. Better: they like having fun with you.

And you know you’re really into the game if the kid says, “Let me hide the quarter or penny or what have you and then you try to find it.”

And they love to say, “Hotter” or “colder” to adults as they do the searching. A cool adult will move in the wrong direction just to get the kid screaming, "Colder!" because they want the adult to find it – especially if he or she peeks to see where the kid hides the object.

ALL

All of us are playing that game. We want to know if we’re getting hotter or colder when it comes to finding the secret of life. Hotter… colder … hotter … colder.

The other day I had a funeral and I had no clue who the person who died was. I knew the name of course and the raw material of a short obituary. There was no wake, so I called the family. Well, I couldn’t get an answer to the question, “What was this person like?” I didn’t want to know what job they had or what have you.” I wanted to know what the person who had died was like. Who was this person who died? I asked on the phone, “Was he independent?” “Was he a character?” “Was he funny?” “Was he an introvert?” I couldn’t get an answer. Ugh. I figured some of the folks at church knew this middle aged man – and I knew if I said anything about his personality they would be thinking, “you’re getting hotter” or “colder”.

I didn’t know what to do, so I faked it.

I got to pick the gospel. Since I was trying to find and figure something out, I chose Matthew 13: 44-49 – where there are tiny three examples from Jesus about searching and sorting things out – which was what I was trying to do.

The first example was that of “The Lost Pearl.” Next came the “The story of the Finding of the Treasure in the Field,” and lastly, “The story of the Dragnet”. And I talked about life being a search – and at the time of a funeral – at the time of a death – we do some searching into the meaning of life – our own life and the life of the loved one who has died. I hadn’t thought about this idea of “hotter” or “colder” yet. If I did, I might have used it in my homily.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Well today’s gospel from Mark 12: 28-34 is about a man – a scribe – who is searching. He wants to know if he’s getting hotter or colder – when it comes to the meaning of life. He wanted to be right. So he asks Jesus some questions. In Mark and Matthew, Jesus answers the man’s question. In Luke Jesus asks some questions back. Either way, the guy says, “Good. I’ve been keeping these commandments all my life.” And Jesus says, “You’re not far from the kingdom of God.” In other words, “You’re getting hotter.”

CONCLUSION

The meaning of life is simple.

It’s to practice the 2 great commandments.

I sense that we’re all searching.

I sense that we’re all walking around each day trying to find the secret of life – trying to find the key to the Magical Kingdom – trying to do God’s Will – trying to live in God’s kingdom.

When we discover that the secret is to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves – we’re hot.

So the more we love – whether we’re 3 year old kids or 80 year old kids – we’re hot and getting hotter.

How about that?

APRIL

Quote for the Day - April 1,  2010


"April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."



T. S. Eliot [1888-1965] The Waste Land [1922]. I, The Burial of the Dead

BASEBALL 

AN ALLEGORY

Quote for Today - Opening Day of the Baseball Season - March 31,  2011

"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate and sober self-esteem (batting average). It is impossible to understand America without a thorough knowledge of baseball."

Saul Steinberg, "Chronology" 1954, in Harold Rosenberg, Saul Steinberg, 1978

THE PAST 

IS 

EVER PRESENT

Quote for Today  - March 30,  2011

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."

William Faulkner [1897-1962] Requiem for a Nun, 1951

FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness,
a skill, an ability,
difficult to practice, difficult to acquire,
difficult to make it an ongoing part of one’s life,
especially when the other doesn’t seem to change
or at least say or show some sorrow.

Forgiveness,
something that Jesus made central
to living his way of doing and loving life.

Forgiveness,
doesn’t mean you have to forget,
doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt,
doesn’t mean you want the other to continue
the stupidity or nastiness or what have you,
doesn’t mean it’s easy,
but it simply means to forgive the other –
and in time to learn what Jesus learned
and said from the cross to his Father
up above about those spitting and yelling at him
from down below, “Father forgive them
for they do not know what they are doing.”

Forgiveness,
knowing that retaliation usually doesn’t stop,
till I stop the retaliation, the regurgitations,
the comeback curses, the active and passive aggression,
knowing that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,
only seem to make the blind more blind
and the toothless to still have a bad bite
and a bad taste in their mouth.

Forgiveness,
having the hope that the one forgiven will get it
and then they will go out
and forgive those who have trespassed against them,
and then they go out and forgive those
who have trespassed against them,
and on and on and on,
hopefully continuing the cycle of forgiveness,
till it goes around and around our world and then back again.

Forgiveness,
also knowing and being aware
that sometimes we’re the one who needs forgiveness, 
because we’re the one who has failed;
we’re the one who blew up or lashed out or messed up;
but also knowing, we can say we’re sorry and start again,
knowing that God always forgives us
70 times 7 times and then some –
because God doesn’t count sins.
God only counts sheep and keeps looking for lost ones.

Forgiveness,
a liberating feeling – letting go of not only being hurt
but of letting go of the sin of pride –
allowing ourselves to have made mistakes
and started again – just like the person we’ve forgiven - hopefully.

Forgiveness,
forgiveness of all our sins,
sins from A to Z – avarice and abortion and affairs
to zig zagging when it comes to truth or zapping others with gossip.

Forgiveness,
a great gift from God
that helps us become more and more like God -
a God who is often blamed
for some of the worst things that happen.

Forgiveness,
knowing that turning the other cheek,
going the extra mile is not just poetry,
but the secret for resurrection and change,
knowing that forgiveness is all about dying and denial of self,
a crucifixion in oneself, so that Good Friday people
can rise and wake up as Easter people. Amen.

[This is a first draft reflection on forgivness I wrote last night for this 3rd Tuesday in Lent. I have preached often on this gospel story from Matthew 18: 21-35 - so I thought a change in pace would be helpful. Amen.]

(c) Andy Costello, Reflections 2011

REGURGITATION

TASTES UGLY

Quote for Today - March 29,  2011

"Forgive or relive."

Someone?

QUESTION AND  

ANSWER  PERIOD

Quote for the Day  - March 28,  2011


"It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers."

James Thurber, "The Scotty Who Knew Too Much," Fables for Out Time, 1940

TWO WOMEN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Two Women.”

FIRST WOMAN

The first woman is the woman in today’s gospel – the so called, “Woman at the Well” or “The Samaritan Woman” in the 4th Chapter of the Gospel of John.

Notice she’s not a Jew, but a Samaritan. John’s community is reaching out to Samaritans and Gentiles. Samaritans and Jews didn’t talk to each other.

Notice she’s a woman and it wasn’t a woman’s world outside the home in the Mediterranean Basin at that time – and in some places in the world – at this time. Women and men were not supposed to talk to each other in public. (1)

There’s two things we can learn from this gospel story – and there are many other observations. It’s always been a favorite for speculative scripture study.

Notice we don’t have her name. John does this at times. We see this in the story of the Blind Man in Chapter 9 and the Sick Man at the Pool in Bethzatha in Chapter 5. For some, this helps people identify with these characters.

Notice the woman changes gradually. She’s a work in progress. Faith and understanding comes in stages. It develops. The plot thickens. It’s good story telling.

Notice the image and symbol of the well.

Notice the image and symbol of water.

Notice the movement from the literal to the figurative. The woman sees water as water. Slowly she sees the invisible besides the visible. Slowly she moves from the real to the symbolic. Slowly she realizes there is more to life than meets the eye.

Jesus triggers the big change when he brings up the question of the men in her life. Till she meets Jesus – there are 6 men in her life. Is John playing with the number 7 – a significant number in his gospel?

When Jesus brings her inside to her inner well – well she begins to change.

In her excitement, she then runs to the other members of the village to tell them about Jesus. This might be the Messiah.

The disciples saw her before she ran – in fact, did she run when she saw these men coming towards her?

The disciples then have to go through the same process – of moving from the literal to the imaginative, from the material to the spiritual, from the visible to the invisible.

They have to learn about deeper hungers – just as the woman had to learn about deeper thirsts.

Then the villagers arrive and it takes them two days to move through the same process.

A key text is when they say that they no longer believe on her word, but now that they have experienced Jesus for themselves, they know and believe.

An obvious message for the reading and listener to John, is that we too have to go through the same process.

We first believe on the word of others, parents, church, but hopefully the day comes when we experience Jesus for ourselves.

We too have to go through the growth and development process.

We too have to drink deep of the well called, “Jesus”.

Jesus offers the living waters that will quench our thirst.

Jesus offers the living bread that will satisfy our hunger.

THE SECOND WOMAN

The second woman is St. Teresa of Avila [1515-1582]. I chose her because her statue is here in our sanctuary.

I chose her because her life is one more example of the steps and stages of spiritual growth. You can read biographies of her life – or her Vida or autobiography.

You can read her book, “The Interior Castle.”

Today I would stress her image of water – and her garden. You can read this in her works – and the way I present it is sort of simplistic – but this is how I sort it out – having taught this stuff for years when I had a job called, “novice master.” I read the works of Teresa of Avila because St. Alphonsus our founder was a great fan and reader of Teresa. I would assume that’s why her statue is up here on our altar piece in parallel with Alphonsus. (2)

Here goes….

Teresa compares growing in prayer and a deeper spiritual life to watering her garden.

At first she uses buckets to bring water from a stream to her garden. She walks back and forth, back and forth, back and forth with the buckets.

Next, she uses a waterwheel with buckets on it. The buckets dip into the water and then she can water her garden a bit easier. I’m not too clear in picturing this. I looked for diagrams – but couldn’t find any.

Thirdly, she builds or digs a sluice or irrigation canal that runs to her garden from the stream. Neat. It’s makes work easier.

Fourthly, it rains. The water pours down from the heavens into her garden.

I love the progression. It’s how life works. Everything takes time. Learning takes time. Hopefully we keep growing spiritually, imaginatively, intellectually all our lives – and in the meanwhile without effort on our part, the skies open and the rain of God pours down upon.

Is one of life’s great delights to stick one’s tongue out and taste the rain or the snow on one's tongue and face as it falls?

CONCLUSION

So the lessons from these two women are: (1) You have to start the process by yourself. (2) You learn and grow by doing. (3) And don’t forget to stand in the rain in wonder and laugh at God and everything, because life and God is a God of surprises and twists and turns.

NOTES

The picture on top is part of the altar piece here at St. Mary’s Church Annapolis, Maryland.

(1) Confer page 98 in Bruce Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science on the Gospel of John [Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1998]

(2) Confer Libro de la Vida – the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. Confer Chapters 11-22.

COMEDY ON STAGE - 

TRAGEDY BACKSTAGE -

ONCE THE MASKS COME OFF.

Quote for Today - March 27, 2011

"Nothing disturbs, or surprises, man so much as the discrepancy between his professions and his actual behavior; in that discrepancy lies the mother lode of intellectual comedy."

Christopher Morley, Introduction, The Best of Don Marquis, 1939