[Today we commemorate the passion or suffering or the Beheading of John
the Baptist. Today’s gospel story from Mark 6: 17-29 - triggers thoughts about
different characters - some courageous - some weak. Hence this reflection on
courage vs. weakness.]
It takes courage to say, “You’re right. I’m wrong.”
It takes courage to say, “Help!”
It takes courage to say, “I had too much to drink.”
It takes courage to say, “I made a mistake.”
It takes courage to say, “I promised too much and I can’t
deliver.”
It takes courage to say, “I sinned.”
It takes courage to say, “I’m trapped.”
It takes courage to say, “Oops. Dumb me.”
It takes courage to say, “Lust took over.”
It takes courage to say, “Please forgive me.”
It takes weakness to hold onto a grudge!
It takes weakness to remain silent, instead of screaming,
“Stop.”
It takes weakness to say, “Get rid of him. Cut off his
head.”
It takes weakness to say, “I’m going to get you for saying
that.”
It takes weakness to say, “More wine.”
It takes weakness to say, “I’m only human – so I have to do
this - otherwise I’m going to look like a fool.”
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Note: Painting on top - Benozzo Gozzoli (1461-1462)
The title of my homily for this 22 Sunday in Ordinary Time
[C] is, “Dirt.”
Last Sunday I preached on just one word, one image -
“Doors” - and I found that helpful for meditation and reflection. I don’t know
if anyone else did, but I did. And I noticed doors all week. Maybe this week
I’ll be seeing dirt. I vacuum my room at least once a year.
When I read today’s readings, the theme
of humility jumped out at me and as we all know, the word “humility” comes from
“humus” - earth, dirt.
Humility is being down to earth - basic - knowing where
we come from. It means not being inflated - not being filled with oneself.
That’s the image of the hot air balloon - not down to earth - but trying to fly
higher and higher above everyone else.
So a homily on humility - earth - dirt - being grounded.
EARTH - DIRT
As you know there are two creation accounts in the first
few pages of the Bible. The first creation account has God creating us - male
and female - from a distance. “Let there be light….Let there be man and woman -
male and female - made in our own image and likeness.” [Cf. Genesis 1:1 to 2:4.]
In the second creation account in Genesis [Genesis 2: 5ff.]
- which follows the first - God - Yahweh - comes down to earth. God gets his
hands dirty - in making us. In this second creation account - the one that is
the older story - the more down to earth creation account - God is feeling all
alone, so God decides to make us and form
us and sculpt us out of the ground, out of the earth, out of the clay, out of
the mud, out of the dirt.
As we hear on Ash Wednesday - and it’s rubbed into our
skulls, “Remember you are dust and into dust you shall return.”
That’sTHE
Ash Wednesday sermon - THE Lent Sermon - every year - heading for Easter
- the Resurrection of the Body! Eternity baby…. eternity .... the plan is to live forever.
That gives me hope - in the recent experience of two stillborn
baby moments at Anne Arundel Medical Center.
Death. Life. Questions. Faith…. Why? Why? Why? Cry? Cry?
Cry?
Every funeral brings us down to earth - especially if the
person is our age or younger. Most Catholic funerals - whether it’s the casket
or the cremains - the ashes - has sort of a cover over the reality.
Yet the reality of death - time limits - the bottom line
- hits home every time.
The last Jewish funeral I was at - for a close friend of our family - Gloria
Goldberger - we all got to shovel some dirt and drop it down onto the casket
which had been lowered into the deep dirt cut hole in the ground. I’ve been at some Catholic funerals when we
did that as well. And in being handed the shovel we get some of that dirt on
our hands - as we shovel it down into the ground.
Yet death is not a dirty little secret. We know a good
bit about it - the longer we live. And faith helps…. Come Lord, Jesus.
TODAY’S
READINGS
Today’s first reading from Sirach says, “Humble yourself the more, the greater you are.”
Today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that when we approach God - it’s
like coming to a high mountain or a great city - Mount Zion or to the heavenly Jerusalem.
It’s enormous. It’s awesome - and we are speechless in comparison.
The big can make us feel small.
Today’s gospel from Luke tells us that everyone who exalts themselves will be
humbled. So when you are at a wedding banquet - sit in the back or the room. Sit
at table 23. Then someone might tell you to move up front - unless everything
is numbered - and sometimes that causes uppityness.
Today’s gospel has Jesus telling us, “When you hold a
banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind”. When you do that,
you’re not doing it for payback or to impress everyone - but to be nice to
everyone.
I like to think at every mass - we are the poor, the crippled,
the lame and the blind - yet the priest gets the cushy chair up front - in a
higher place. Talk about higher hot air balloons. You have to laugh.
And in our own way, each of us is poor, crippled, lame
and blind.
We are here as Jesus’ guests at the celebration of the
Mass.
HUMBLE OF HEART
- HERE ARE 5 SECRETS OF HUMILITY
Jesus was off on being humble of heart - not humble of
show.
That was the Pharisees. That was the scribes - the ones
who could write.
So let me present 5 secrets - 5 steps of humility. There
are more. Enough already.
First: we have to learn to laugh at ourselves - and not
take ourselves too seriously. To be humble - we have to have a sense of humor.
Look in the mirror at least once a day and laugh at your nose or your ears or
your day.
I have never forgotten the story - a bishop told us - about
this very pompous archbishop in Brazil - head of the bishop’s conference.
Someone put a whoopee cushion under his seat cushion and all waited till he
finally sat down. And all laughed - except himself.
Two: It’s not all me. I am part of the whole world. I am
part of the whole universe. I am stardust.
It’s not by accident that the second creation account in
the Book of Genesis has God taking dirt, clay, mud, mother earth and forming
us. Then God breathed his SPIRIT - RUAH - LIFE - into us. That’s moving from humiliation
to exaltation.
We are the seed and egg of our mom and dad. We are our
mom’s body and blood. We were in holy communion with her for months. We are
what she ate. What she ate and drank came from the earth. We are broccoli and beef. The food from the earth we came from - each
time we eat - are microbes, atoms, particles from tree leaves, a disintegrated
king’s underwear from 1000 years ago - as well as a weasel that was grabbed by
a hawk and on and on and on. That should keep us humble as well as amazed.
If you use Google, type into the search engine, “What are
we made of?”
Surprise: we are stardust. We are part of the big planet
explosions of billions and billions and millions of years ago. Have you ever
read what’s on the side of the package of a loaf of bread or a box of Cheerios?
We are iron and a whole bunch of stuff.
The microscopes they will have 100 years from now will tell how much of us is
nickel, gold, uranium, and krypton. Eat your heart out Superman or Superwoman.
Our cells are replacing themselves all the time. Listen carefully. We lose 30,000 cells every minute - and a lot
more. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drop. Drop. Drop.
I read on Google
that 93% of the mass in our body is stardust. We are talking about humility
here. But how about that for being exalted?
Three: Be oneself and not try to be who we are not. Comparisons can crush us. The advertising
industry thrives on this issue. I love the saying: “Be who you is, because if
you be who you ain’t, then you ain’t who you is.”
I have discovered that some people are unhappy about
aspects of themselves. I have discovered some people are envious of those with
better looks and shape - cars and cash. I have discovered people know people
they don’t want to be or be like. I have yet to discover someone who really
wants to be someone else. I think we
know down deep: this is me for better for worse, for richer for poorer, till
death do I fall apart.
Fourth: Be it ever so humble, there is no place like
home. We need family, home, friends, who know us - who don’t let us get away
with being a phony. I’m not married, but I’m assuming marriage, the dining room
table, coffee cups left in the living room, nakedness - real nakedness - is
when another knows who we are and they still accept us and love us and laugh
with and at us - and at our love handles.
Fifth: The fifth key to humility is acceptance of all
this. Acceptance is a key concept in the
serenity prayer. Acceptance is a key to happiness - as well as humility. There
are things we can change and there are things we can’t change. And we need to
have the wisdom to know the difference.
Wrinkles, a bad back, a slip on a banana skin, dandruff,
aging, dripping, drooping, traffic jams, enjoying ice cream and spilling some
on our shirt and laughing and licking it after trying to lift it off our shirt with
our index finger - are all part of life - from 4 to 40, from 8 to 80 - and on
and on and on.
Visit nursing homes. Talk to young people and old people and all those in
between. Accept life’s realities. Listen and learn - and accept.
Pause while going by churches and cemeteries - and make
the sign of the cross - and laugh.
CONCLUSION
John Seldon (1584-1654) - long dead - wrote, “Humility is
a virtue all preach, none practice; and yet everybody is content to hear.”
SAINT AUGUSTINE
AUGUST 28TH,
HIS FEAST DAY
Patron saint of
hesitation….
Patron saint of putting off chastity….
Patron saint of
being late in loving God….
Patron saint of
journal keeping….
Patron saint of
Confessions….
Patron saint of
trying the different….
Patron saint of
being and becoming honest….
Patron saint of reading, "Tolle et lege”….
Patron saint of
long prayers - a whole book….
Patron saint of honestly….
Patron saint of
those in love with loving….
Patron saint of
“Hear the other side.”
Patron saint of trying to grasp the Trinity….
Patron saint of trying to see the City of God….
Patron saint of
admitting to having dark corners in the mind….
Patron saint of
beauty - especially within ….
Patron saint of,
“Love and do what you want.”
Patron saint of,
“Believe in order to understand.”
Patron saint of, “the
desire in prayer is the prayer”….
[This is called
“The People Litany”. Here are 33 things we people do. If you accept - acknowledge - agree to any one of them - and you will try to keep these things going, vote
with a voiced “Amen” which means “Yes!” to that reality.]
People meet together. Amen!
People greet each other. Amen!
People cooperate. Amen!
People educate. Amen!
People keep secrets. Amen!
People build trust in our relationships. Amen!
People make mistakes. Amen!
People say, "I'm sorry. I made a mistake." Amen!
People forgive. Amen!
People build and protect families. Amen!.
People eat with each other. Amen!
People clap for others. Amen!
People acknowledge each other. Amen!
People listen for feelings underneath words. Amen!
People say, “Thank you” a lot. Amen
People change Amen! People grow. Amen!
People pray. Amen!
People respect people. Amen!
People create. Amen!
People speak with hands and eyes when ears don't work. Amen! People watch and learn from each other. Amen!
People read. Amen!
People do dumb. Amen!
People do smart. Amen!
People sing, dance and make music. Amen! People celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Amen!
People hopefully use rocks to build bridges not walls. Amen!
People challenge and ask questions. Amen!
People take time for old people. Amen!
People take time for young people. Amen!
People make time for each other. Amen!
The title of my homily for the 21st Tuesday in
Ordinary time is, “Picky, Picky, Picky.”
It’s the theme that hit me from today’s gospel from
Matthew 23: 23-26. Jesus challenges the scribes and Pharisees for being off on
tithing for mint, dill and cumin and neglecting the weightier things of the
law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.
So a sermon on not being picky, picky, picky.
For the sake of transparency, I am a slob. When it comes
to details, I tend to avoid them. I’m not the type who likes picking up after
me. Being a bachelor is not all that bad.
I realize this isn’t always the best way to go. I don’t want hair in my food. I don’t want to
pick up too many bugs. And I know details are very important at times - like
being careful with Waterford glass and the pin in a hand grenade.
RELIGION
When it comes to religion, picky, picky, picky can become
a problem.
I’ve seen this when it comes to indulgences and
novenas. The goal is union and communion
with God - not getting every iddy biddy prayer - word perfect - exact number of
times - or what have you.
I’ve seen it with this year of the door of mercy. People
want to know which door is it - that you have to come through. I know Matthew talks about getting every
letter, every part of the letter of the
Law correct. If I was with Matthew at the Last Supper or any supper, I think I would
want to be at the other end of the table from him.
I like to tell the
story about the lady and the altar cloth. She was sitting at the end of her
bench in the main aisle - 3rd row. I was sitting off to the side -
during the readings - and I could see her face was uptight about something. It
was the altar cloth. It was not on straight. Sometimes I’ve see an altar cloth
with four tiny red crosses on it - to make the exact 4 corners. We’ll this one
was lopsided in front and on the side. I
went over to the lady after Mass and asked if she was going crazy with the
altar cloth. She looked at me with a smile and said, “Yes. How did you know?”
I told her that It was written all over her face and I
could see how tense and nervous her jaw was.
I didn’t tell her to read the Martha Mary story a few
times every other day.
I remember reading about the Russian Revolution - but
I’ve never been able to find where I read this.
On one side of town - the Russian Orthodox Church were having a meeting
and the agenda was the length of surplices for Mass - and on the other side of
town Lenin was taking over the country.
WHAT JESUS WAS
OFF ON
Jesus was about inclusion not exclusion. Jesus was about
communion not excommunication. Now there are others who are off on exclusion and
excommunication - and you can find texts in the Bible to support these
positions,
Jesus was about two commandments - and not the 714 rules
and regulations of the Law.
Jesus was off on loving
God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and loving our neighbor as
ourselves.
Jesus was off on not straining gnats out of our soup -
but instead to spend our energy in serving soup.
Jesus was off on not seeing specks in our brother eye and missing the
camel - carrying wise men - heading for Bethlehem.
Jesus was saying you’ll meet me on the road to Jericho -
beaten up - and needing help - or in a stable in Bethlehem - because there was
no room in the Inn or the temple. So you’re
more apt to see me in service more than services.
Jesus was about feeding the hungry and giving drink to
the thirsty - instead of making sure our food is kosher.
It’s not what people are wearing at Mass - but that we’re in communion at Mass
- in Christ Jesus. Okay Matthew has
Jesus showing up and telling us we better be wearing our wedding garment at the
wedding banquet:
When it comes to prayer and worship together, it’s good
to be neat and organized - but the New Testament likes to stress - watch out
for Phariseeism.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Picky, Picky, Picky” and if you’re Neat, Neat,
Neat, it probably sounds like I’ve picked on you. Of course I have. I’m Sloppy,
Sloppy, Sloppy.
So enough with being fussy, finicky, fastidious, ultracritical, quibbling, cynical, hairsplitting, picayune, precise - except
when it comes to Zica Mosquitos.
Monday, August 22, 2016
August 22, 2016
TEARS
Tell me too about your tears.
What’s tearing you apart?
What causes you to cry?
Some tears are tears of joy -
like scenes in certain movies
that trigger tears every time.
They too are truth tellers.
Funerals and weddings -
like salt and sugar - demand
tissues or a rub with the hand.
Then there are lakes within -
where drownings took place:
divorces, disasters, deaths.
Turn them to ink. Write a letter
to yourself or someone and
tell them what happened and how it's taking lots and lots of time to accept how it still hurts.
Today we’re celebrating Mary under the title of Queen.
As I was thinking about that, it hit me that some titles
of Mary grab me and some don’t.
How about you? What titles of Mary grab you? What titles
have no impact?
Mary - hey she’s been around for some 2000 years now - and she entitled with many titles and she is pictured with many
descriptions .
PLACES AND JOB
DESCRIPTIONS
As I thought about titles, I realized - without enough
time and reflection and second thoughts - that titles of Mary for places don’t grab me.
For example, Our Lady of Częstochowa, Our Lady of Lourdes,
Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Medjugorje, Our Lady of Montserrat,
Our Lady of Knock - don’t grab me. Maybe if I was from one of these places, it
might or it was the name of our church, then maybe.
Then when I thought about Pope Francis’ favorite title of
Mary, Our Lady of the Knots - now that has some grab - in my opinion.
I get knots. I’ve had knots - like knotted rosary beads,
like knotted shoe laces, like knotted appliance cords.
I began wondering: are there 2 kinds of people - those
who are patient, calm, and have the ability to slowly unravel knots; and people
who go ape with knots and start pulling at them only to make it worse - as in shoe lace knots?
I get knots as a metaphor - that we people get our lives
knotted up and it takes an effort to unravel the knots of life. Then - as with
shoes - learning to tie our knots right and tight - we end up with less
problems.
It was then that it hit me: find some more titles of Mary
that have the energy and specificness as our Lady of the Knots.
Slowly they came:
Our Lady of Sorrows - people have swords that pierce
their hearts.
Our Lady of Good Counsel - people need wisdom and good
counsel.
Our Lady Help of Christians - of course.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help - why not go for it all? We
need all sorts of help - and maybe it has appeal just because of that - or
because we are all like kids needing mommy and we run even though we didn’t get
a chance to tie our shoe.
LITANY OF
LORETTO
I looked at the Litany of Loretto - and most titles
didn’t grab me: like Queen of Angels, Queen of Prophets, Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Martyrs. How about Mystical Rose, Tower of David, Ark of the Covenant? Nice but nope. Our Lady of Mercy? Virgin most prudent? Virgin most chaste? Yes to those three.
Virgin Most Powerful? Yes. Seat of Wisdom? Yes. Refuge of sinners? Yes. Gate of
Heaven? Definitely.
How about some new Litany of Loretto entries like?
Mary, Opener of eyes. Pray for us.
Mary, Opener of ears. Pray for us.
Mary, Opener of minds. Pray for us.
Mary, Opener of hearts. Pray for us.
Mary, Opener of hands. Pray for us.
How about?
Mary, The One Who Opens Doors. Pray for us.
Mary, The One Who Removes walls. Pray for us.
Mary, The One Who Is Not Afraid to Ask Questions. Pray for us.
CONCLUSION
Conclusion: you have time on your hands, pick a title for
Mary - one that grabs you - one that gives you wisdom, perpetual help, and
unties your knots. Amen.
August 21, 2016
SHOW ME
Show me the trunk of your car….
Show me your garden….
