THE  DOMINO  EFFECT 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for December 17th, is,  “The Domino Effect.”

It’s won’t be about the square pizza boxes with the round pizzas inside the box  – but those plastic tiny plastic rectangles – that are used in the game of Dominos.

GAMES, GAMES, GAMES

For the past 19 years my sister-in-law and my brother’s daughters get together for Thanksgiving week – with their families. They rent one of those big, big, houses at Virginia Beach, or Rehobeth, or Deep Creek Lake or the Outerbanks in North Carolina. This year we had lots of folks together at Virginia Beach. It makes for a great Thanksgiving Week.

In the generation before that we met as a family – but just for a few days every year at Thanksgiving in one of homes – one of which was a big retreat house where I was stationed in San Alfonso, Long Branch, N.J. – on the ocean.

And one of the things we do all week is play games – besides Turkey, food, a good walk every day – and talk every night – well into the dark.

I like to stand there – off to the side – and just watch our family in progress – and we’ve come a long way from babies.

Over there are 3 people doing a jigsaw puzzle. Over in that corner are 4 people playing cards: Shanghai Rummy, Over there are 4 people playing Boggle.  Over there are people playing Monopoly or Clue or what have you. Over there are 5 people playing dominos.

When we were growing up – we used to say the family rosary - together. It took about 15 minutes – but it felt like 15 hours. “Ugh!” at times. We also played lots of card games. That was a lot more fun – and we felt like we never had enough time.

There was a saying when I was growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s, “The family that prays together, stays together.” 

Looking back now I would also add, “The family that plays together stays together.”

THE DOMINO EFFECT

Today’s gospel – Matthew 1: 1-17 - is how the Gospel of Matthew opens up.  It’s a genesis. It gives the geneology of Jesus according to Matthew.

Matthew  starts with Abraham and goes to Jesus.  He gives this long list of names in groups of 14. Luke does it from Jesus back to Adam.

I love reading those fascinating names – many of which are hard to pronounce. We were told: “Just pronounce them with authority and loud and clear.” For example, Matthew’s list has “Abraham, Amminadab, Abijah, Asaph, Amos, Abiud, Azor, Achim….” And those are only the names that begin with “A”.

I hear some priests not liking this gospel when it’s read. I love it.

THREE LESSONS

Let me give three lessons from this gospel of Matthew.

But first me first talk about “The Domino Effect.”

Someone somewhere along the line must have had a box of dominos – but nobody to play – so they lined them up on their side – and then started a chain reaction toppling of the dominos.

What was created was the so called, “Domino Effect.”

Type into Google, “The Domino Effect” and you’ll come up with this Guinness Book of Records enterprise that people around the world like to do.

One YouTube will show some young people in Norway trying to set a domino effect fall of 150,000 dominos. Next someone tried to top that and lined up 250,000 and on and on and on.

I noticed last night that one domino effect set-up used 4 million, 491,863 domino. That’s a lot of dominos. It took some 90 people 2 months to line them all up.

It’s all filmed. Check it out.  Maybe we could collect all the unused dominos in Annapolis and find a big hall – and see what we could pull off. I’m sure they leave different sections separate just in case someone bumps one domino too soon – and the whole enterprise topples down before its time.

FIRST LESSON: THE GIFT OF LIFE

The first lesson from the Domino Effect for me is to realize all the people that are part of my line – to get me into existence for my turn at life.

Just like today’s gospel, someone begat someone – and on and on and on down to me.

Pinch yourself.

Each of us is like just one domino – on a long, long, long, long, long line of dominos.

I love to quote the comment by Groucho Marx.  “If your parents didn’t have any kids, chances are you won’t either.”

Pinch yourself – in a prayer of Thanksgiving for the gift of life.

As priest I get nervous that I didn’t have any kids – yet a priest is called “father”. That teaches me that it’s not just our parents who parent us. Teachers, coaches, aunts, uncles, priests, ministers, rabbis, all contribute to our upbringing. Yet that domino thing hits me every time. My line stops with me. “Uh oh!”

SECOND LESSON: THE GIFT OF FAITH

I notice family members who have dropped out of the practice of our faith.

I am a Catholic because my parents were Catholics in Ireland and I assume their parents were Catholic and back and back and back and back and back.

I wonder what if someone way back way back dropped out – and then came back again. Or was their one convert way back when?

I wonder about the larger number of Catholics who have given up their faith – or dropped out of going to Mass, etc. etc. etc. Are they stopping the Domino Effect of faith for people to come?

THIRD LESSON: THE LITTLE EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS

The third lesson concerns the little everyday interactions we have with each other.

Smiles beget smiles; scowls beget scowls.

Random acts of kindness beget random acts of kindness.

I remember seeing as a kid a cartoon about the Domino Effect.

A general calls in a Colonel – and yells at him. The Colonel then goes out and yells at a Lieutenannt – who then goes out and yells at a Captian – who then yells at a seargeant, who then yells at a private – who then goes out and yells or kicks a dog – and the dog then goes and starts chasing and barking at a car.

Is the angry person a long line of angry people – and we are just seeing one angry person?

I’m sure from time to time we’ve all experienced the Domino Effect in traffic, in school, at home amongst brothers and sisters.

CONCLUSION

Give this stuff some time and some food for thought. Amen.