THE BEST LAID PLANS 

OF  MICE  AND  MEN 
AND  WOMEN

SUB-TITLE: ON BECOMING

A BUS PHILOSOPHER

AND A SIDEWALK THEOLOGIAN

[This is sort of a story - a reflection coming out of today's readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - when vineyards don't work - and plans for the future go sour and get crushed.]

Justin was having a tough year.  His wife walked out on him and he lost his job.  As I was saying, Justin was having a tough year.

He got a new job.  It was in Washington D.C. and he discovered  that buses from and to his new apartment was a great way to get to and from work. The bus drivers weren’t singing - especially in the early morning commute - “And leave the driving to us.”

What to do on the bus on his way to and from work? 

It was the same bus at the same time every morning: 6:57 A.M.  It was the same bus at the same time every afternoon:  4:14 P.M.

He began to notice there were 4 different small communities on the bus - and he could overhear conversations and comments about sports and weather, politics and public policy.  Hey a lot of these men and women were government workers. He got to know different voices and different laughs and different exclamation points. He got to know who were loners and who Noah’s ark type folks - liked to travel two by two - and who were groupies.

He was a loner.  He was new to all of this.

He was still in a funk over his failed marriage. Thank God they didn’t have any kids. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about life and family - what’s new and where you’re  from?

So with book in hand - or newspaper - or magazine - and always a window seat - he remained quiet - giving signals,  “I prefer quiet right now in this ride to work or this ride home from work.”

He found it hard to read. He found it easier to just sit there and think.

Looking out the bus window, he saw a poster or an ad for something - that featured the statue called, “The Thinker.”

And so he started to see himself as “A Thinker”.

Then he changed that image and that title to, “The Philosopher” or “A Philosopher.”

He smiled because he remembered being tempted in college to take a course called, “Philosophy 101.”  He took 2 classes and then switched over to a history course of Southeast Asia instead.

“I wonder,” - he thought - “maybe I should have stayed with the philosophy.”

He bought a medium  spiral note pad - blue cover -  the ones with the wire along the side - 150 blue lined sheets - 9 ½ inches by 6 inches.

And to and from work he became a philosopher - jotting down life issues - like, “The Secret of Happiness,” - “The Meaning of Life” - "Sour Grapes and Vinegar" - “Suffering and Loss” - “Success and Failure” - “Men and Women”.

With those titles and themes on the top of the page - he then jotted down thoughts and questions that he philosophized about on his trip to and from work.

One day, on the top of a page -  he put down a title, “The Best Laid Plans”. He remembered that from high school - that it was part of a poem by somebody.  Sure enough - he was close. It was, “the best laid schemes”. It was part of a poem by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns - from way back in November 1785. It was about a farmer plowing  his field and ruining  a mouse’s house - and changing a  mouse’s  schemes for “What now?” "What's next?"

Smiling for the first time in a long time - he said to himself, “I’m becoming a philosopher. That’s me. When she left me - my whole life - all my plans - have changed. My nest and my next was ruined. Wow - imagine what all these people in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Florida, Houston, Southeast Asia - have to go through when their plans are ruined?”

Sometime while slowly becoming a philosopher  he slowly began to become a theologian. This was not from the bus - but from the sidewalk.

It was Spring and the weather in Washington was becoming beautiful -cherry blossoms were springing from the trees and flowers popping up from the ground. Resurrection and new life were appearing everywhere.

Instead of eating lunch at his desk - he decided on getting outside - feeling and sensing the sun and the spring light breezes. And he found a favorite bench - on the mall and he sat there - eating his sandwich - and an apple - and watching the world go by on the sidewalk.

Without knowing it, he was about to become a theologian. He saw two blocks down a church - and he could see folks going in and out - every once and a while.

So one Friday - he walked down the sidewalk - crossed an avenue - came to the church - walked up the steps - opened the door - and found himself in the semi-darkness.

He put his hand into the holy water dish. “Must be a Catholic Church,” he said to himself. “I haven’t been in one of these since my marriage.”

He walked down the side aisle - and slipped into a bench - and tears came to his eyes.

He began to pray - well just a one word prayer - “Help. Help. Help!”

In time it would become, "Christ, where are you?"

He sat there that first time in church in a long time - for a good 22 minutes - till he realized he should be back at work.

He ran - walked - ran - and snook into his desk - a good 15 minutes late - but nobody noticed.

That afternoon - he opened up his spiral pad - and wrote on a fresh page - just one word, “God!”

He jotted down two or three pages of words about his God Life” - but then he smiled and said to himself, “Wrong book!”

Getting off the bus he walked into a supermarket where he shopped. He  picked up some groceries, a shepherd’s pie for supper, and a medium size spiral pad - this one with a red cover - 9 ½ inches by 6 inches - 150 sheets - blue lines.

After supper he wrote on the top of  page one the word, “Theologian.”

He remembered he signed up in college for a course on Theology 101 - and he dropped out of that course after two classes as well.

He remembered the professor saying that Theology came from two Greek words, “Theos” meaning “God” and “Logos” meaning “word”. 

So under the word “Theology” on the top of page one he wrote a sub-title, “Words About God.”

And that professor said, “Philosophy comes from two Greek words, ‘Philos’ meaning ‘Lover’  as in ‘Philadelphia - City of Brotherly Love’  and ‘Sophia’ meaning wisdom.”

He got up and got out his other spiral pad and wrote on the top of page one, “Philosophy” - Subtitle: ”Wisdom Lover.”

Now he had those two books - one blue one red - that he kept in his small backpack - which he traveled with to and from  work.

He was a neat nick - the writings he did on the bus - he limited himself to wisdom and philosophy and the writings he did on his favorite bench and church near the mall, he limited himself to words about and with God.

He had a plan.

But in time - plans and schemes and subtitles change. He found himself back in church - on a regular basis - on Sunday mornings.

And oh yeah, he met this nice gal - on the bus - and time will tell when and what he’ll write again and what happens next.

October 7, 2017

FOUNTAINS

Who made the first fountain?
Who was the first kid who splashed
another kid with water from a fountain
and both laughed and laughed and laughed?
Who decided,  "Let's put a fountain
right here for  hot days like this one?"
Who came up with the idea of water
in the first place? Well, whoever you are,
"Thank you!"

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

FLUSHED  WITH  SHAME

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Flushed With Shame.”

I want to address the issue of shame today.

It’s a scary topic and theme.  It could trigger our upbringing - that we might have been shamed as kids - or it could trigger mistakes we have made on kids.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading from Baruch 1: 15-22  begins this way,

“During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles prayed:
‘Justice is with the Lord, our God;
and we today are flushed with shame,
we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,
that we, with our kings and rulers
and priests and prophets, and with our ancestors,
have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him….’”

After reading that I wondered if they actually used our understanding or idea of shame. So I looked up other translations.  The different translations I could find used words that seemed to capture our understanding of shame:  “public shame is upon us…. ” - “open shame is upon us….” - “to be shamefaced….” - “we are still covered with shame….”

This is a tricky text to get at - because it’s from the non-canonical literature in some Bibles - that is, Baruch is not in all Bibles.

So I would assume the people from 563 B.C. and then later - because there are rewrites - like most of scripture - were describing the human feeling called, “shame”.

What are your thoughts about shame?  Do you ever feel ashamed.

SHAME TODAY

Today’s first reading is from back then.  What do the writers and teachers and speakers and therapists and counselors of today say about shame?

If interested in this topic: type into Google, “Shame” and then listen to the short videos you can find there on YouTube and Ted Talks. Two speakers that are featured are John Bradshaw and Brene Brown

Better:  type into the Google search box: “Shame and Guilt.”

John Bradshaw was big 15 years ago. He’s dead now.

John Bradshaw talks in a language we can  all understand. He talks about the feelings that hit us when we are yelled at. Any one with kids knows what potty training is about: holding and letting go.

So check out shame and guilt on google.

For starters, you’ll find out some say: shame is much deeper than guilt.

For starters, some say there is good shame and bad shame.

For starters, bad shame or toxic shame  means I am bad - whereas guilt is the feeling - I did something wrong. Guilt is the aftertaste from doing something that is considered wrong.

I like the distinction: Guilt means I made a mistake; Shame means I am a mistake.

BACK TO THE READING

The people in today’s first reading from Baruch are in exile. They are slaves. They have been dragged out of Jerusalem and Israel and made slaves and servants of the Babylonians.

What would that feel like?

Was it like slaves captured and brought to the Americas?  What would it feel like to see so many die on the trip to America from Africa.

What was it like to be made to wear the yellow star of David?

What did the Jews and Poles and others feel like when stripped and dragged and pushed into prisons in Auscwitz etc.

What was it like for those women in France who slept with Germans to get food and anything they could get to survive - and they were put on chairs up on a stage surrounded by crowds of French folks - and their hair was cut off? Did they blush? Did they wish they were dead?

SHAME: LET’S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING

I have always read that the earlier the problem, the worse the problem.

Evidently adults use or have used the mantra: “shame, shame on you” on kids. That comment can last. It can become imprinted on a kid's psyche.

I don’t know what they are going to find in the physical brain of Stephen Paddock.

Years ago, when the Texas Tower killer Charles Whitman killed 18 people and injured 31, they found a brain that was abnormal. On July 31, 1966 Whitman wrote a note about his violent impulses, saying, “After my death, I wish an autopsy on me be performed to see if there’s any mental disorders.”

I read this on line, “The note then described his hatred for his family and his intent to kill them. That night, Whitman went to his mother’s home, where he stabbed and shot her. Upon returning to his own home, he then stabbed his wife to death.”

GUY AT TOBYHANNA

The worst shame story I ever heard happened at Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania.

It was Saturday night and on a men’s retreat an older man raised his hand. I acknowledge him and he stood up to speak.

He said something that went like this. I’ll never forget it. “My brother and I were in the kitchen sitting with our dad.”

“My dad said to my brother. You’re going to graduate from the 8^th grade soon. We’re going to get you into the best high school around here. You’ll go to high school and do terrific as you always do. Then you’ll graduate and go to a good college. Then you’re going to become a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer or architect. You’ll be a great success in whatever you do.”

“Well,” the man continued, “I asked my dad. ‘Dad, what about me? What about me? What’s going to come of me?’”

“You? You’ll never amount to anything. You’re as worthless, and he pointed to his shoe. “as the sole of my shoe. You're nothing.’”

Well we were all shocked and silent. The man was numb and hurting.

Then after this long period of silence, he said, “My dad was right. I never amounted to anything.”

That scene has been a rerun in my mind many times ever since.

CONCLUSION

Shame is underneath addictions and abuse.

A human being has to start with primal love.

I was a baby once and I deserved to be loved and honored and held.

A human being has to hug herself or himself and say, “I am worthy.”

A human being needs to feel God holding him or her - in love.

When I taught prayer I always said, “Prayer is taking time to be with God.”

Then I would add, “If you sit down and pray for a short period of time every day or at least once a week, many times it will be boring, but it’s my experience, if you take time with God, you’ll have God experiences."

I’m not scared to say I was once making a holy hour and I sort of spaced out and I experienced God as the Good Shepherd picking me up and wrapping me around his shoulders like a sheep.

The underbelly of a sheep has to smell ugly - being caked in pee and poo - and my flesh was touching the fleshy neck of Jesus.

That moment overwhelmed me.

That’s from Luke 15. Read that chapter over and over again.

Feel yourself like the lost sheep, baa, baa, baa till God finds you.

Feel yourself like a lost coin, keep going, “Ahem. Ahem, Ahem over here, till God finds you.”

Feel yourself like the lost son - who still smells like pigs - coming home to his Father and the Father embraces him.

That’s what that old man at that retreat house needed, the embrace of  God that he is good, that he is loved. Amen.

October 6, 2017

COME AND GET IT

Where is everyone?
And when everyone
is with everyone will
everyone be really there?
And what's the IT that
everyone wants to get?
And will they know it
when they got it?
And can they lose it.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

FRANCIS   XAVIER   SEELOS

October 5, 2017

PRAYER FOR 

A SENSE OF HUMOR

Lord,

I can’t read hearts, but I can read faces.

Too many holy holies   - seem so severe  - so sad - so sour - when it comes to religion.  

Lord,

what happened to them - that this happened

to them? Give me two shakers: one marked

“forgiveness” -  the other marked “humor”.

And Lord,

let me shake the hell out of them and tickle

them with a sense of humor, so that they too

will bring forgiveness and laughter to our world.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

October 5, 2017

Feast of Blessed Francis Seelos
1819-1867

  Worn Seelos Bench 
in St. Mary's Garden,
Annapolis, Maryland

Seelos  Shrine 
in New Orleans

BLESSED  FRANCIS X.  SEELOS

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

is the one to pray to and with

for a sense of humor. 

Sit with him on his bench in St. 

Mary's Garden in Annapolis, Maryland

or his shrine in New Orleans.

Sit with him, go to confession

to him, and you'll laugh with

his easy penance requirements.

And before you leave, let him tell you

a joke - laugh at life - and head home

having sat with the big easy.

(c)  Andy Costello, Thought for the Day.

St. Mary's Assumption Church,
New Orleans, Louisiana

Seelos House
in Fussen,
Bavaria, Germany

"REBUILD MY CHURCH!"

Francis heard that whisper

in the wind that blew into

his ears - and at first he

thought it meant a building.

God keeps breathing that

command into our minds:

“Rebuild my people. Renew my

church - my world - day by day.”

October 4, 2017

THE WOLF

Everyone of us has a wolf within.

It howls. It growls. It's hungry.

I want what I want when I want it.
I want what I want today and every day

Everyone of us has a wolf within.

Okay some enlarge it, calling it,

"the elephant in the room" or small

it - calling it "the snake in the grass".

Everyone of us has a St. Francis within.

It's us with courage. It's us when we are

our best self - an instrument of peace.

It's us when we are fair with each other.  

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

PEACE   PRAYER 

OF 

ST.  FRANCIS 

IN 

SONG 

October 4, 2017

FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

PEACE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS

Lord,

make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

WHAT  SIGN  IS 
AT YOUR  DOOR? 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “What Sign Is At Your Door?

CHECK OUT THE SIGNS

Next time you’re at anyone’s door, check out the signs?

“Welcome!”

“Home Sweet Home.”

Or notice stores. Often small stores have a reversible sign they hang on their front door. It has “Open” on one side and “Closed” on the other side.

Which is more me?

Then there are signs that people seem to have hanging on their face:  

“Busy”  Translation: "Don’t bother me."

“Present.” Translation: "I’m here."

“Absent.” Translation: "Sorry:  I’m somewhere else."

.

“Interested” Translation: "I’m listening. Hi."

“Uninterested.” Translation: "Keep moving."

JESUS

Jesus saw a lot of signs.

“Leave! We don’t want you here in our town.”

“Feed us!”

“Heal us!”

“Do what you can do for us - what you did over there for them.”

In today’s gospel he goes into this Samaritan town - and they want him out of that town. James and John react. They want to burn the whole damn town down. No wonder they were called, “Boanerges” or “Sons of Thunder.”  Did you notice the message in today’s gospel: they were not welcome.

Then when  he finally  gets to Jerusalem, they welcome and celebrate him, big time on Palm Sunday. Then by the end of the week, they are screaming, “Crucify him. Crucify him.”

THIS WORLD

What’s your take on this world? How do you see what's going on.

Does that message boil down to two words: “Whites only!” or “Welcome everyone”?

“Whites only” or “Welcome everyone”?

Read the October 9^th, 2017 issue of Time Magazine. It has an article about Syrians heading for Germany - because Mama Merkel - in Berlin - welcomed a lot of them - back in the summer of 2015. They were being destroyed in the civil war in Syria. Hospitals, schools, homes were destroyed. Parents saw no future for their children.  On August 31, 2015,  German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that her country was prepared to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. She said, “We can do this.” She called it “a national duty” to support those in danger.

And she paid dearly for her open attitude - in the last election. She won but she lost some of her power, because the anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany, won almost 13 percent of the vote. Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union came in first, but went down from 41.5% - the numbers in the previous election - to 32.9% in this latest election.  

Time will tell how much this move brings blessings or what have to these families and to Germany.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “What Sign Is At Your Door?”

I will not argue with people about this issue of welcoming people - especially immigrants. I think those who are anti-immigrant, want walls, are xenophobic, isolationist, have to find out for themselves why they think the way they think.

Moreover, I don’t consider the issue political - or what have you. 

I think of the ethics involved. I think people need to read the gospels - especially Matthew 25 and be challenged by the Word - that it become flesh, that they see  Christ at our door. 

I think the darkening of America is happening and will continue. 

I hope nobody takes down the Statue of Liberty at our door - with its light and its message.

I hope enough people keep the attitude that we are a nation of immigrants - starting with migrants from Asia coming across the ice bridges of Alaska some 30,000 years ago and they will keep coming. 

For the sake of transparency, I am a First Generation, American. Growing up my mother often said, “Ireland has nothing.” When I saw  the rough and rugged and rocky place where she and my dad came from, I said to her in prayer, “Thank you mom. Thank you dad.”

I hope and pray for the blessings our family received to be received by all families.

October 3, 2017

⇄
BACKSTORY

Hey, what's the backstory on the word, "backstory"?

I never heard anyone use that word before 1990.

But I hear it a lot these past few years.  I do.

Maybe things are happening too, too fast.

Maybe we know everything can be out of context.

Maybe this is a way of showing more listening.

Maybe if I hear your backstory,  you'll hear my story.

Okay, your story is that you hurt your back. Uh oh.

That backstory changed your story, changed your life.

Then what happened? Tell me the rest of your story.

© Andy Costello, Reflections

GUARDIAN

 ANGELS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Guardian Angels.”

That’s the title of today’s feast: “The Holy Guardian Angels.”

I’m going to make two points about angels: first, they protect us and second, they bring us messages.

FIRST: THEY PROTECT US

The theology of the Guardian Angels is that God has angels watching over us. I’ll take them. I‘ll take that protection.

Many images of angels in religious art - especially for children - has an angel flying or walking with a child.

And if we were brought up as Catholics we were taught that childhood prayer, “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom his love, commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.”

As you know there is also in theological story and tradition the story that Lucifer - the Light Bearer - a very powerful angel - sinned - dropped God and God dropped him.

Instead of serving others - he was into himself.

And his sin is often described as pride - which is often described as the worst sin - that Lucifer could not take anyone above him.

Contrast with that: yesterday’s second reading from Philippians - that God humbled himself - becoming human - became even lower - became a slave and a servant - and lowered himself even more - dying the death of a criminal.

So the first message we can get from Angels - is that they are for serving us, protecting us - not themselves. We see that in the good angels - and in contrast in the bad angels who did not serve us - but they were into themselves - in to pride, power, having great lights. That can blind us - and we need the opposite humility - the ability to serve others.

SECOND THINGS ANGELS DO: THEY BRING MESSAGES TO US

The second message about angles is that they are messengers.

That might be the clear basic reasons in the scriptures for angels. They bring messages to Gideon, to prophets, to Mary and Joseph.

They bring messages from God to people.

CONCLUSION

In you look around at religious art - statues, pictures, stained glass windows - angels seem to be floating around - with wings or on wheels.

My favorite image of an angel is Clarence - the angel apprentice in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

He protects Jimmy Stewart and he brings messages to him.