PICTURING  WHAT I’M READING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Picturing What I’m Reading.”

When you hear the Mass readings - for today, the 6^th Monday in Ordinary Time,  can you picture what you’re reading?

If you’re the type of person who pictures what you’re reading, I’m sure you would find today’s first reading - Acts 16:11-15 - a gift of words. It pictures cities and places with fascinating names Samothrace and Neapolis.  It tells about the city gates and the river  where people gathered to pray.  We’d see Lydia - a dealer in purple cloth. Was that what she usually wore?

Do you think in pictures?

PERSONALITY TYPES

It’s been my experience from going to various workshops on communication skills - people usually love personality tests. I assume it’s because we want to know ourselves and others better. We know we are different - and we want understand our differences.

I like the work of Carl Jung - and his so called Jungian types. His first dividing line is: Some people are introverts; some people are extraverts. There are degrees of course. Next comes how we function or how we operate: Some people are dreamers; some people are doers. These are the intuitive creative types compared to the realistic practical types. These are the neat time conscious types  vs. the sloppy types like me who do various things at the same time. Then there are the thinking vs feeling types. Head or heart. Some people think their feelings; some feel their thinkings. All of us are combinations and a bit of this a bit or that.

I also like the Firo Test created by William Schultz to find out who is comfortable with whom if together in a submarine. It gets at how we use 3 factors: wanting control, wanting affection (one to ones) and wanting to feel included in the group or the team. One of these is our main desire. Some express their need; some have a need - but don’t express it.  For example - my number 1 of these 3 is the desire to control, but I don’t let that be known. Sneaky - and I usually deny it.

I also like the Enneagram - which is a 9 personality type way of looking at people. It gets at our sinfulness more than our strengths. Interesting. It has the 7 capital sins - plus 2 more. Each of us has one sin that predominates. Mine is the sin of pride - which I didn’t like to hear about. It’s a theory and a map that gets us to look at ourselves so we can know ourselves and grow ourselves.

ENOUGH OF THAT

All that so far is a preamble to get at a thought for the day on how we hear the words of the readings for Mass.

We hear them differently.

Someone came up with another way of looking at stuff.

There are three types: Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic

Audio types like to talk, to listen, to hear words and sounds and music to get in touch with what’s going on. They learn the best by questions and words.

Visual types learn best by pictures, writing, graphs, charts.

Kinesthetic types learn best by their senses - feelings, tasting, smelling, texture, colors. They want to see the big picture - as opposed to seeing the tiny details. They want to know where’s all this this going. What’s going on here?

WHY ALL THIS?

I’m saying all this to lead to one main point: we learn, we experience, we know, differently.

So we’re sitting here in church.  The readings are read - not everyone hears the same way. Some people want to have a Missalette in hand. Some want to close their eyes and hear the words.  Some people need to get a feeling about what’s going on in the gospel or the first reading to figure out the message.  Standing here in the pulpit I see all kinds of faces and I know from experience, I don’t know what’s going on here.

I’ve had lots of people say to me: I had no idea what you’re talking about. No clue.

Well, I keep cool about that - because 3 people later walking out of church - might say to me, “Thank you. You really hit home today.”

Same message - different people.

So today’s 2 readings. Some people will love today’s first reading:  telling us about sails, wind, names of cities, travel, scenes of people being baptized in water. Some people will hear the gospel and scratch their head - or sounds go in one ear and comes out the other ear.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T GET IT - OR SOMEONE DIFFERENT FROM YOU IS SPEAKINIG?

Close your eyes.  Look at the red candles flickering. Close your eyes till the consecration or communion. Smell the roses this afternoon. Taste the bread. Savor the wind. Really pray the Our Father. Laugh. Pray, “Come Holy Spirit.”