COMING HOME:
THE IMPORTANCE OF PLACE
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this feast of Pentecost is, “Coming Home: The Importance
of Place.”
If you ever have the money, the time and the opportunity,
to get to Jerusalem, go.
And if you go to Jerusalem, as Christian, as Catholic, you’ll
probably visit a site, a holy place, called, “The Cenacle.”
I went to Israel once, January 2000, as a suitcase
carrier.
One of our older priests, Leo Dunn, whom I had been
stationed with in our retreat house in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, in the 1970’s, was asked by our provincial, “Leo, you never
get out, you never take trips, you never go on vacation, why don’t you take a
trip to some place you’d love to go to?”
And he said, “No!”
And the provincial said, “Why not? Leo you love the
scriptures, the Bible, wouldn’t you love to go to Israel?”
And he hesitated and then said, “I’d love to, but I’m too
old for that now.”
So George, the Provincial said, “I’ll get Andy to carry
your bags.”
After several more “no’s” and a lot more pushing, I got a
phone call and ended up being Leo’s suitcase carrier to Israel for two weeks.
Nice.
We first saw the north: Galilee, Nazareth, Capernaum,
Cana, the Mount of the Transfiguration - where we had a spaghetti dinner - and
many other places. We then traveled south - also by bus - to the Dead Sea,
Jericho, Bethlehem, Bethany and Jerusalem.
If you ever get to Israel, you picture these places every
time you hear them mentioned in the Bible readings for the rest of your life.
Neat.
In Jerusalem you’ll go to the Garden of Olives, the
Wailing Wall, the possible place of the crucifixion and the Cenacle - or Upper
Room.
It’s 2017. A lot of things have happened in Israel in the
past two thousand years. Jerusalem has been destroyed a few times. Buildings
have been leveled - and different places
are claimed to be the places for this and that.
Our tour guide, a Franciscan priest, Stephen Doyle told
us history, possibilities, and legends of each place.
Whatever….
TODAY’S
READINGS
I think of the Cenacle, the room of the Last Supper, the
place of waiting for what’s next, after Jesus was killed, the place where the
disciples were hiding behind locked doors, the place of the coming of the Holy Spirit,
whenever I hear today’s first reading
and today’s gospel.
As I stood there I
thought of what took place in the Upper Room, the Cenacle. Father Stephen Doyle read out loud today’s
first reading and possibly today’s gospel.
TITLE OF MY
HOMILY
The title of my homily is, “Coming Home: The Importance
of Place.”
We all have our places.
Father John Harrison grew up just down the road from
here. I’m sure when he drove home to St.
Mary’s - after saying Mass here at St. John Neumann’s, different things hit him - than hit any of us
who are from somewhere else.
Last weekend I was up in Danvers, Massachusetts for a
family wedding. I had never been there before - but I was with lots of family
members whom I had not seen in a while. Neat.
I was feeling down a bit - because the wedding had no
Catholic stuff in it - and being priest, of course that hit me. But it was good
to be there to be with family. Life has it’s pluses and misuses - half full and
half empty moments.
I wore my black suit and priest black shirt and collar
and did a reading - but that was the only mention of God. At the meal, it
didn’t look like they were going to say a public prayer before the meal, so I
sort of pushed my way into doing that.
Many parents and grandparents speak to priests about
their feelings at a time like that. Other than that, it was a good wedding in a
beautiful place - and it was great to see another member of the family marrying into another family. And it was a
nice moment in a sacred place - a field with a nice big pond to our right -
down a hill.
Gary, the husband of my niece Mary, told me that the day
before, since they were in Massachusetts for the wedding, they took a side trip
to the place where they had their first apartment after they got married. He
told me that they always went there whenever they were in that area and their
two sons made fun of their parents for doing this. Boring…. Boring…. Boring….
Just stopping a car on a strange street - getting out and walking around. This
time they saw a “For Sale” sign and they were without their sons and they were
able to get into a similar apartment to one they had lived in years ago. Neat.
The title of my homily is, “Coming Home: The Importance
of Place.”
Both their sons will someday know the importance of
coming home to their first home in Pennsylvania and their first homes - now
that they are married - Brian in Austin, Texas and Sean in Jacksonville,
Florida.
THE IMPORTANCE
OF PLACE
Where we went to school…. where we got engaged …. where
we went on our honeymoon …. where we were blessed …. where we were cursed ….
This week for homework: If you doodle on your computer or
if you use pad and pen - write out the top ten places on the planet that are
important to you - that are sacred to you.
Where are the places that formed and informed you - where
you became who you have become: jobs, homes, parks, playing fields, stage….
Are there any places that are no longer there?
The street I grew up on - is still there - 62nd
Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. is
still there, but our home - 326 - was
torn down to make way for an extension of the Gowanus Parkway - coming off the Verrazano
Bridge. Bummer….
But that house is still in my memory and still in my mind
- and it’s still in our black and white pictures.
Sort out your pictures and in good time, show your
grandkids where you come from - the importance of place - or take them there -
and let them see it - even if it is boring, boring, boring to them - but it brings
tears to you - and in time - hopefully, they will learn the importance of
place.
CHURCH
Just as Israel contains Jerusalem and various shrines of
our Christian roots, so too each person has in their mind and memory, churches
- places where they were baptized, made first communion, confirmation, were
married - and celebrated funerals.
Church places are important…. Today’s a good day to think
about all this.
I was up in New Jersey last week for a common retreat for
about 60 Redemptorists - at our retreat house. I was stationed there for 7
years of my life.
Two times - during the retreat - I went into the chapel -
when I could be all alone - and I sat
in different places and remembered talking with someone down the corridor in a
counseling room - about a family problem
or a marriage problem and I said, “Let’s go down to the chapel and say a prayer
over this.” And I had my favorite places
of prayer.
I remembered another retreat house where I spent another
7 years of a my life and I remember a former pro football player whose name is
well known. He came up to me once and
said, “I guess you wonder why I only sit in the back seat - over in the ride
hand - side aisle corner?”
I remained silent - and nodded my head. I never had
problems where people sit in church - because I have heard some wonderful
stories why people sit where they sit in church - including urinary problems -
and the need to shoot out to the bathroom. I remember one lady said she always
sits under the 4th station - because she wants Mary the Mother of
Jesus to be with her in the ways of the cross in her life.
Speaking of urinary problems, I remember once going back
to our childhood church - OLPH - in Brooklyn - and I noticed men on one side of
the confession boxes and women on the other side. I didn’t remember that, but
then I remembered as a little boy, I thought they were bathrooms.
Well, in a way, they are….. Smile.
Well this former pro football player said he sits where
he sits - because that’s where his mother sat in their local church for over 20
years - praying for him to come back to the faith.
And he said, “I finally did, thanks to my mother’s
prayers.”
CONCLUSION
This place here - St. Mary’s Church downtown Annapolis -
the churches of your life - especially your childhood - the places of the
stories of your life - are all important - and the beauty of being a human
being is - you can return to them in reality or imagination - and visit and
pray in any place we want. Amen.
