The title of my homily for this Friday after the feast of
the Epiphany is, “Skin Deep.”
In today’s gospel Jesus touches the hand, the skin, of a someone
with a skin disease.
In Jesus’ times many skin diseases - “uneasies” with
other’s skin - were called leprosy. Most
of the Bible commentaries say the skin disease of leprosy or Hansen’s disease -
was not what these folks in the Bible had.
Whatever….
Whatever! People are scared of skin diseases in our times as well as in Jesus’ time …..
What I like is that Jesus’ touched skin - pressed the
flesh. He washed feet and let his feet be washed.
Without rubber gloves….
Of course we can catch stuff by touching stuff and
touching skin. In every hospital there are dispensers everywhere to squirt away
germs. They didn’t know about germs and microbes in Jesus’ time - like we know
today - but they had inklings.
SKIN PROBLEMS
As we all know there are multiple skin problems - skin
cancer, lupus, measles, acne, eczema, rosacea, cysts, cellulites, shingles,
psoriasis, rashes, cold sores, what have you.
Many of us saw Mikhail Gorbachev’s birth mark - called a
Port Wine birthmark or “nevus frameus”.
In our time there has developed a field in psychology
called, “psychodermatology”. In looking up stuff on this for this homily I read
an interesting story. In a conference on
skin - someone said there is no connection between skin and the emotions. A person who said there was a connection said
the speaker said that while his fly was open. The guy turned red - checked his
fly - but not his face - which had become red. It wasn’t true about his zipper,
but it proved the point - that our skin is effected by our emotions. We scratch,
we itch, we bite our skin. When I’m nervous - like in traffic, I scratch my neck and my skull.
JESUS IS A MODEL
Jesus models how to treat one another - no matter how we
look - no matter how our skin is - no matter how old and how wrinkled we are.
I assume that means how we treat others - and how we
treat ourselves.
I assume that means how we see ourselves in the mirror.
I assume this means how we reflect on issues of esteem of
self and others.
PIZZA - LIMA
I enjoy telling the story about how I once had to undergo
a skin treatment to deal with pre-cancerous skin on my face and my upper neck
and shoulders.
The skin doctor had me apply this white cream to my face
and neck for a month. I did and my face became red and speckled like a pizza. I
was on the road and preaching at the time - so the dermatologist suggested I do
this when work was slow.
I was preaching in other parishes - mainly around Lima,
Ohio at the time.
So there I was hearing confessions in the dark - on a
Saturday afternoon.
Nobody went face to face - but they could. Then the last
person was a lady who went to confession. She sat there 5 feet away in the
semi-darkness - making her confession face to face. She didn’t look up but at
the end as I said, “Go in peace” she reached out her hand and shook mine in
peace - but when she saw my face for the first time she panicked.
Ooops, she didn’t know what to. She then took her hands
and rubbed them on the side of her hip - as she walked out.
At that instant I knew what it might feel like to be a
person with leprosy.
CONCLUSION
I’ve read in Biblical Commentaries that some New
Testament writers are implying that Jesus was the most figured person of all
time - the ultimate leper - and the call is to reach out for him - more than
skin deep.
If you have ever seen the picture St. Alphonsus did of
Christ on the Cross, you’d get the message - seeing Christ on the cross - much
worse than the clean Christ on the cross up here. Amen.
January 8, 2016
CHAIRS
Guess they started with rocks
and tree trunks - then cushions.... “Wait, instead of walking further down forest trails, let’s sit and talk. Let’s finish the story?" ["Or argument?”] Guess chairs improved once people settled down - and stopped being migrants. Chairs! Chairs! Chairs! Sit down and tell me all your stories - all you heard late and deep into the dark night.
connecting. We're making just comment jabs, at least it seems that way. We're speaking words that seem to be sliding by - bye, bye, bye.
Wait a minute - that comment
you made the other day really cut me. It stuck right in my
middle - right in my gut. And sorry to say, it seems, better, worse, I think that’s what you intended to do to me - but sideways - on the sly. Come on now, let’s talk face to face, eye to eye.
The title of my homily is, “Epiphanies! There Are Moments
and There Are Moments.”
As you know the word, “epiphany” means a moment we see
differently. It’s a “showing” - a “revealing” - an “appearance” - a becoming aware of something that we were not seeing.
In theology, it’s seeing the presence of
God - seeing the miracle of God's creative power in everyday realities - like the shining from shook foil in the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins in his poem God's Grandeur.
In Christianity, it’s today’s feast - when the Magi - see
the Christ - in a baby - when the world changes because of the coming of Christ
in the flesh.
As everyone knows, a baby can change everything.
WE’VE HEARD
PEOPLE USE THE WORD “EPIPHANY”
We’ve all heard people use the word “epiphany”. Here are
a few examples - a few stories I’ve heard along the line.
“It was a moment. It was an epiphany - a moment when I
knew, when I was sure, absolutely sure that God
was aware of me - and I was aware of God.”
“It was a moment - I was stranded at the airport - my
flight was cancelled. I knew I wouldn’t get home in time for Christmas. It was
my fault. It was the weather’s fault. It was nobody’s fault. I sat there on a vinyl
chair at the airport and heard people screaming at airline staff people at the
counter. I saw people - lots and lots of people - on their cellphones - talking
to people at a distance - using gestures. Lots of gestures. I was seeing an epiphany.
This is life. This is my life. I want to be with - really be with my family at
this moment and I can’t. I guess the unexpected hard, the difficult, the
problem, teaches us much more than the easy - the expected. I now know once
again that family and being there for Christmas is a top 5 value. I guess
drawbacks show us how to find drawbridges. When things are out of control, I
guess it’s then I try to control life and it’s then I find myself even more out
of control."
“It was an epiphany when our first daughter was born. Wow. I began to realize this is what
it’s all about. Up till now I never saw these moms and dads walking through our
streets - at the park - pushing a baby stroller - or a kid on a swing. Now it
was me. Wow.”
“It was at my 5th rehab for my alcoholism. I
failed every time. I had done the first 5 steps in AA 4 times - thinking this
was the time I would make it. It wasn’t
till I heard myself and my excuses and my lies to myself about myself that I had an epiphany. I got down on my knees - close to the floor - and said to God. ‘I
just realized you’re at the bottom of everything - and I guess I have to really
hit bottom to realize you are you and I am I and I can’t do this by myself. I
surrender. I had that epiphany 11 years and 4 months and 16 days ago - and I’m
still taking one day at a time. Hey, you never know.”
“It was in Vermont. We were on vacation. We were
backpacking as a family on The Long Trail and it rained every day for two weeks
in June. It was miserable. It was cold. It was wet. Looking back, it was the
best vacation we ever had as a family. We didn’t know it then, but we realized
a few years later, it was an epiphany. We played cards in our big canvas tent
every night. We laughed. We celebrated. We cursed the rain drip, drip, drip, as
it hit, hit, hit on our tent - all through the night - drip, drip, drip.”
“I was walking down the street and I saw someone coming
out of this small church - so I walked in. It was quiet, dark, empty in the
afternoon. I sat down. The candles were flickering. No sound of ambulances -
trucks - what have you - from the street came through those walls and stained
glass windows and as I sat there, I began to pray and I had my life’s
epiphany.”
THERE ARE
MOMENTS AND THERE ARE MOMENTS
The title of my homily is, “Epiphanies! There Are Moments
and There Are Moments.”
We know not all days are same, not all moments are the
same.
Isn’t that what makes life such a gift? Isn’t that why we
turn on and tune in to the evening news?
Isn’t that why we say to each other, “What’s new?” or “How was your
day?”
I was visiting a couple I had married. They were showing me their small apartment.
They didn’t have much furniture yet. In fact they had a fold up card table for
their dining room table. But in their bedroom they had a nice big king sized
bed and on a nice dresser and on the mirror of that wooden dresser was a
picture of a baby. I said, “Who’s that?”
The answer came back from both of them: “That’s what we’re aiming
for?” I got changed and didn’t visit
them for a few years. They had a dining room table by then and also a son. I’m
sitting there and little Charlie is at the window - holding onto the window
sill - and standing on the metal radiator below - making lots of noise - and
grasping at something coming through the window. I asked, “What’s he doing?”
And his mom said, “Oh he’s trying to grab the light.” Then she added, “Oh he does that all the
time.”
THE READINGS
We come to church to grab some light - to see better in
our darkness.
The readings for this feast of the Epiphany were grabbed
to tell us about the light - revelations - a star that points to Bethlehem.
In the first reading from Isaiah, it happens in Jerusalem.
Clouds breaking open and light shines through. Darkness disappears. Wasn’t it
nice to see sunlight on Friday after 5 or 6 gray days. So Isaiah tells us in
that first reading about the economy coming to life - business is great. Ships
have arrived in our ports. Caravans of camels have arrived packed with gold and
frankincense.
In the second reading we have the radiant light that happened in the mind of St. Paul.
In the gospel it happens to the magi from the East and
the new born baby in the crib.
In this homily I’m asking you when has this happened to
you: when you saw the light.
The title of my homily is, “Epiphanies! There Are Moments
and There Are Moments.”
CONCLUSION
This weekend - this week - this beginning of a new hear
take some time to look at the times in your life - when you have had epiphanies
about yourself, your parents, your family, work, health, the meaning of life,
God.
