"There is something odd about the weakness which irreligious men feel for religion. Almost invariably it becomes their favorite topic."
Philip Guedella,
A Gallery, 1924
Friday, April 26, 2019
April 26, 2019
HAVE YOU
CAUGHT ANYTHING?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Friday after Easter is,
“Have You Caught Anything?”
Today’s gospel has Jesus asking his disciples, “Have you
caught anything?”
They were fishing all night long and they caught nothing.
Jesus tells them to throw their net to the right side of
their boat and they catch a great number of fish: 153 to be exact.
At that moment they realize it’s the Lord.
In a way it’s a variation of the story in the early part
of the gospels where they fill two boats with fish - thanks to the Lord, Jesus.
A GREAT QUESTION
I think that’s a great story. I think that’s a great
question: “Have you caught anything?”
In the gospelfor
today, Jesus says, “Let’s have breakfast.”
If Jesus invited you to the Double T Diner or Eggcellence and asked you, “Have you caught
anything?” what would you answer?
Shakespeare in one of his sonnets - Sonnet 2 - talks about hitting 40. He feels like he’s aging and sagging and wrinkling - and he’s wondering
about what he’s done with his life - and he doesn’t know what to say - till he
sees his kid running towards him in the yard - and he picks up his kid and
says, “This child stands for me.”
If anyone should feel his nets are full, it should be
Shakespeare - with his plans and poems.
Sitting there at the diner having breakfast with Jesus
would you take out your wallet and show Jesus pictures of your kids.I think a lot of people would feel even
prouder of their grand kids.If it wasn’t
for you they wouldn’t exist.
WHAT STANDS FOR YOU?
What stands for you?
Kids obviously.
BeforeI came to
Annapolis I worked out of our parish in Lima, Ohio.Most Thursday evenings - after the last
service of a parish mission, we would meet in the church hall or basement with
those who made the mission - to socialize.
There was usually the table with 15 women in aprons and
faces.It was before I had diabetes 2
and I would walk the cookie gauntlet.The rule for smorgasbord was always to survey the whole field before
taking a first of anything.Well I
couldn’t eat 15 cookies - on a paper plate - so I had to face the face of
someone who didn’t get my vote that her cookies weren’t my first or second of
fifth choice.
Before going to sleep that night did 5 of those women
thank God for having caught 35 cookie selectors in the church hall that
night?What about those who had no
takers.
Life: what have you caught?
Life: whom have you caught?
Life: who has caught you?
Life: has God caught you?
Life: does God want to have breakfast or lunch or what
with you?
CONCLUSION
As I was thinking about all this - priests get the
thought at times, “I hope someone out there will think, ‘Being a priest is a
good way to serve and use the gift of life - especially since most priests in
the Western Church don’t have kids.’”
Thinking further about that a good memory hit me. Back in
the 1970’s I was giving retreats in San Alfonso Retreat House in New
Jersey.One weekend a guy asked to talk
to me about life.He was around 45 years
of age. He had helped raise his sister’s kids with her - after her husband
died.
In the conversation he said, “When I was young I got the
thought at time to become a priest. Now it’s too late. The kids I helped raise
are in college, etc.
I said, “Too late. It’s not too late.”
Then I added, “Do you want me to contact our guy who
knows all about this?”
He said, “Great.”
Well was how this wonderful- 5 by 5 - short chubby guy from Jersey City,
New Jersey - with stubby short fingers - former Marine - became a wonderful
Redemptorist priest - gave over 20 years of his life as a priest.
Someone gave him the nickname, “Trixie” and it fit him
perfectly.
The title of my homily is, “What Have Your Caught?”
Did I catch this guy? No. God did, but I might have supplied
the net.
“Don’t wait for the last judgment - it takes place every
day.”
Albert Camus,
The Fall,
Knopf 1957
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
TEARS TELL SECRETS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily this morning
is: “Tears tell Secrets!”
When was the last time you cried?
What was going on?
LITANY
Tears give us information.
Tears tell us about family and
various kinds of relationships.
Tears give us the mood people are
in.
Tears bring out the tissues or the
handkerchiefs.
Tears tell us what we love and what
we value and what is important.
Tears tell us whom we love and whom
we value and who is important in our life.
Tears tell us about our joys and
sorrows.
Tears tell us about our fears and
hopes.
Tears tell us what tears us apart.
Tears tell us what we can laugh
about and what we can cry about.
Tears show up at funerals and
weddings. I was at a funeral yesterday and the son - talking about his dad -
stopped - and started to cry. A daughter had a reading. She began to cry.
Tears tell us that something deep is
going on here. Sometimes we know what it is; sometimes we don’t.
So as we wipe away our tears, bottle
them. Take them to prayer. Then look at them. They will tell us a lot about
ourselves.
Tears tell secrets.
THE GOSPELS
When we read the gospels, we hear
that Jesus cried.However, people seem
to have a thing for trying to find scenes in the gospel where Jesus is laughing
or where anyone is laughing.
I was wondering about this.Is it important to find people enjoying
life—laughing?
Is it important to find others
joyful, happy, laughing, peaceful .
We also spot it, when we see people
sad - mad - and not glad.
I’m sure you have seen a particular painting
or picture of Jesus where he islaughing. It’s a best seller, popular picture
of Jesus. It’s a gift shop best seller.
Today’s gospel has the question:
“Who are you looking for?” “What do people want or need? What are they getting
at? What are they looking for?
Are people looking for emotions,
feelings, affections?
If we can laugh, we can cry. If we
can cry, we can laugh.
So Jesus laughed!
Better, Jesus cried.
Jesus cried and cried and cried.
Everyone does. Read his life. Read your life. Read anyone’s life. Let us listen
to each other’s tears. If we would only shut up. We could hear each other’s
tears falling on the wooden floors of our souls. Let us listen, let us feel,
let us hear our each other’s tears. Let us begin by hearing our own.
Tears tell secrets.
JESUS
Jesus cried over Jerusalem (Luke
19:41). Jesus cried when Lazarus died (John 11:36). In mid-afternoon, hanging
on the cross, Jesus cried out in a loud voice (Matthew27:46).
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel, Mary cried.
Tears tell secrets. She loved Jesus.
She finally met someone who gave her unconditionallove. Jesus was her value system. Jesus was
her life. She finally met someone who
saw her as a person —someone—not something—not a role—not just a sister—not
just one more person on the planet or in the village. She was Mary!
She knew!
She knew Jesus!
She could cry!
She shed tears.
His death was tearing her apart!
Today’s gospel opens with prayer
words, “Mary stood weeping beside the tomb. Even as she wept, she stooped to
peer inside.”
PRAYERS
Prayer is about tears.
Prayer is about getting to our
deepest values—the stuff we can cry about—the stuff we fear—the stuff that we
fear losing.
Then somewhere along the line, we
discover that prayer is about a WHO and not a WHAT.
The what’s and the where’s and the
how’s and the when’s can all be replaced. The WHO’s can’t.
Thank God for resurrection.
Prayer then is about the question
the gardener asks in today’s gospel, “Woman, what are you weeping? Who is it
you are looking for?
Prayer is about responding:
“Rabboni”
Prayer begins with the “Who?”
question before the “What are we praying for?” question
Then we’ll go forth telling each
other with tears of joy, “I have seen the Lord!”
April 23, 2019
AILUROPHOBIA
Fear of cats.
Not everyone has ailurophobia ….
Scratch …. Scratch ….
Meow …. Meow ….
Cats can be so
playful,
so fun filled - while on the
other hand, we can’t figure them
out at times. Do they meow a big,
“Hey!” when someone calls someone,
The title of my homily is, “A New Heavens and a New
Earth.”
Today - April 22, 2019 - is Earth Day.
The call is to take good care of our earth - not just
today - but every day.
Today is Easter Monday - and Easter in this northern
hemisphere is tied into Spring - a season when nature shows up in bursting
beautiful new life.
COLOSSIANS
It’s not today’s one of today’s readings, but check out Colossians 1: 15-20
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominions, Sovereignties, Powers -
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled
through him and or him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.”
There is a spirituality and a theology in Christ’s
resurrection - that ties into creation.
Christ came to bring resurrection not just to humans but to all of
creation.
I don’t have my hands or my mind on this creation nuanced
theology.
I know what to avoid: pantheism - or “all is God!”
Some stuff - some places - some sounds - are heavenly.
However stuff is not God.
Yet, there is a call in scriptures to see the call to
sacredness in all people - and all life.
Each of us needs to ask: “How well do we humans take care of our plots in nature’s
fields?”
I kill mosquitos and swat flies - but I feel some
hesitation when I do so. I hear a tiny voice: “Come on give this fly another
chance to dance to fly.”
I know some religious teachers give a warning about
killing any kind of life - yet I eat hamburgers and corn on the cob - after
it’s cut down.
A COUPLE OF RANDOM
COMMENTS
We were just over to Japan in February. When our English
speaking guides spotted Cherry Blossom trees - then mentioned the Cherry
Blossom trees which the government of
Japan gave to Washington D.C.
We went to a tea ceremony - that took about an hour. I now have a new series of thoughts about
having a cup of tea.
We saw people washing their hands at washing stations
before going into the temple as well as sort of washing their hands in smoke
outside the temple.
Look into Irish Spirituality and you’ll get some glimpses
about creation centered spirituality.
Read Irish blessings and you’ll catch an awareness of trees and
mountains, shamrocks and roses, salmon and homes.
I just received the following prayer in an e-mail the other day from Martin O'Malley, our former governor, who was big on caring for our earth. It’s a
poetic prayer by Patrick Kavanagh:
Sometimes when the sunlight
comes through the gap,
These men know God the Father
ina tree.
The Holy Spirit is the rising sap,
and Christ, the green leaves at Easter
that will come
from the dark and sealed tomb.”
I just had a funeral this morning and the prayer on the
back of the memorial card for Philip J. Maher had the following Irish Blessing
that we all know.Notice the earth stuff.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise up
to meet you,
May the wind be
always at your back.
May the sun shine
warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft
upon your fields,
and until we meet again
may god hold you
in the palm of his hand.
It’s Easter - don’t forget to see and smell the beautiful
flowers at the altar and the beautiful earth and flowers outside.
We’re at Mass - right now - close your eyes and see the evolution
and the path of bread and wine - becoming bread and wine and then becoming Christ.
The title of my homily for this Easter Sunday is "Baptismal Certificate".
One of the key themes for Easter Sunday is Baptism.
Last evening thousands and thousands and thousands of
people around the world were baptized-
and became Christians.
How many I don’t know.I’ll do my homework.
Christians:meaning the Anointed Ones.
Anointing with sacred oil is part of the ceremony - as
well as for those who were confirmed.
Baptized: meaning the Dipped - dipped into the waters.
Today at all Masses we renew our baptismal vows.
MOM AND DAD’S BAPTISM CERTIFICATES
I’m the youngest of 4 kids.
My sister Mary and I are the last 2.
My sister Mary is sorting out family papers - saving some
- getting rid of others.
Who has and where are your family papers?
When couples bring their babies to St. Mary’s for Baptism
they are handed a baptismal certificate and I always say, “Do you have a
fireproof safety box for your sacred and significant papers?”
Where are your significant family papers?
For the sake of transparency I have stocks in Office
Depot.Just kidding.
Some files are saved somewhere electronically.
Father John Harrison when he was stationed here put all
of St. Mary’s Baptismal, Marriage, Confirmation and other books into our
computers. It took him a few years, but he did it.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore have all our books right now
and are electronically storing them.
I keep wondering when we are going to get them back.
I have heard that records in some Catholic Churches in
Ireland have been lost - through fires.
So when my sister Mary showed me about a month ago two
baptismal records - my dad and my mom’s - handwritten - quite fragile and quite
beaten up - from 1904 - I knew I was holding somethingsacred in hand.
[SHOW AND TELL]
I XEROXED them and put them on my computer and hope to
get copies to my nieces and nephew - with the secret agenda for all of them to
think and feel the importance of their and their parents and their ancestors
baptismal records and then hopefully they will look within and wonder about
their baptism.
PAPERWORK - DEGREES - DIPLOMAS - CERTIFICATES
From time to time one hears that we are moving towards a
paperless society?
I don’t know.I
still see copies of Doctor’s Degrees and certificates on office walls.
Graduations are coming towards us soon.What will happen to all those diplomas and degrees that people will walk
up steps to stages to receive in hand? What about Marriage and Birth and
Baptismal certificates?
Do you ever notice inspection papers on elevators?How about clipboards in turnpike rest stops -
that the bathrooms were cleaned 2 hours ago?Aren’t there FDA rules and regulations on paper about food
and medicines inspection?
What’s in your glove compartment?License and registration please?
I remember reading in a newspaper years ago - during the
horrible wars - in Bosnia and Herzegovina - how in some places, the different sides would invade a small town
and burn the town records - birth, marriage, what have you.I remember thinking, “Now that’s a sin!”I save newspaper clippings that grab me, but
I don’t know if I saved that. Next time I have time, I’ll try to find that on
computer. Google is great - but so too actual paper copies of our records.
CONCLUSION: EASTER HOMILY
Question: but is this the stuff of an Easter Sermon or
Homily?
I wondered about that. A sermon is all words - that
disappear pretty fast after it is given. Hot air …. Cold air …. So so words -
that slide under benches and out of people’s thoughts.
I’m the only one with a copy of my homily - and I find lots
of these old sermons folded in sixes - and then tossed out next week or so.
But I do put them on my blog - along with quotes and
reflections - knowing that papers are tossed - but not all. I showed you two
baptismal records from 1904.
Why not scan or photo your degrees and certificates - and
send them on line to family members?Maybe someone will save them without knowing it - and then future family
researchers will go to your grave and say,“Thank you” - facing your name and numbers in stone?
And maybe someone will look at their baptismal
certificate and reflect upon being certified, “Hey I’m a Christian. Hey I was
baptized 33 years ago in Topeka, Kansas.Hey I got to wake up and reallywalk this and really live this way of life. Amen.”
April21, 2019
Thought for today:
“The entire character of a man’s life depends on whether he answers ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the historic
fact of the Resurrection.”
