THE GIFT SHOP

There is a small gift shop, just off Main Street – in this narrow way.

You walk in and you start looking at the different gifts. You spot a gift. It intrigues you. You pick it up – look at it – but then you see the price tag. It’s too, too expensive.

You pick up another gift. It also looks interesting and good, but when you read the writing on the side, you go, “No! Too difficult.” Then you add, “Too expensive.”

You walk around the store looking at everything. You keep checking the different gifts – but you don’t buy anything. You end up walking out of The Gift Show without buying a gift.

You feel a tinge of sadness mixed with inadequacy in that place these feelings show up just below the Adam’s apple in your neck – with some similar bits and pieces of these feelings in your rib cage area.

You walk back up to Main Street where there are a lot more people and a lot more stores.

You see this one store. You’re tempted to go in. You feel an, “Uh oh!” – but you go in anyway. You look at what they have to sell and you start checking out the different items.

You pick up “Gossip!” You look at it very carefully. You say to yourself, “Maybe!” You think, “Well, I already have some of this!” Then you remember a comment someone made about someone the other day, “She’s such a gossip!” At that you put “Gossip” back in its place. You don’t want to be labeled, “A gossip!”

You pick up “Resentment!” Once more you say, “Well, I already have some resentments!” You put it back quickly saying, “Enough of that. Resentments can have a boomerang effect.”

You pick up “Envy!” It’s an ugly green color – and it doesn’t look like something someone would buy. You think, “Why would they think anyone would buy envy?”

You put it down quickly and pick up “Jealousy” which is right next to Envy. It’s a better color – a bright red. You find yourself trying to remember a question someone asked someone at lunch about two months ago – when they were trying to figure out the difference between jealousy and envy. You think the answer was, “Jealousy is worry about losing what your have and envy is wanting what someone else has.” You say to yourself, “I have to admit I have more envy than jealousy in me” and you then you put “Jealousy” back in its place.

You walk out of the store – once more with nothing. And once more you are feeling kind of crusty. You say, “Ugh” to yourself and then add, “I really don’t want any more of those things – but it looks like they sell more of these negative kinds of things on Main Street compared to what they are selling in The Gift Shop.

“The Gift Shop!” You say that out loud as you are walking down Main Street. Someone overhears you and gives you a puzzled face. You turn red a bit – and then turn around and head back towards The Gift Shop.

You turn off Main Street – onto this side street – up this narrow way.

Once more you walk into The Gift Shop and look around.

You pick up a gift called, “Respect!” You think to yourself, “Yeah, I would like to have the ability to show more respect to everyone.” You read the writing on the side of package. You whisper to yourself, “Pretty difficult. Pretty expensive.” You put it back on the shelf and walk deeper into the store.

You pick up “Compassion!” You think, “Now that’s a gift I really need. At times I don’t seem to have any compassion for my Uncle Frank who has been out of work for 4 months now. You remember saying behind his back with a few other members of the family, “Why doesn’t he just get up off his butt and take any job.” Or so and so was really looking forward to this lacrosse season and he ripped his knee and he’s already out for the season – and you realize you never showed him an ounce of compassion.

You put “Compassion” down and pick up “Understanding.” You read on the side of the gift that Solomon was asked by God to pick one gift and he chose the gift of understanding. And it really made an enormous difference in his life as a king. But you also read its implications – that you have to understand that old people are much slower and parents have to play the “Good Cop Bad Cop Game” in order to be good parents and you go, “No!” You put “Understanding” down. It too is too expensive.

You walk around and you spot “Chastity”. You notice it's also labeled “Purity”. “Uum,” you think. “Not that popular a gift among the young.” You smile because it has on the side of the package, “When Saint Augustine before his conversation was challenged with this he said, “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet.” So like lots of people, he put it off till he was older.

Then you come to a shelf where you notice the gift of “Forgiveness.” You think, “This might be just what I need to walk out of this store with. Forgiveness.” You read some of the endorsements on the side of the package. “Tough stuff.” You read that it means not only forgiving God and others, but also forgiving yourself. You think back to that teacher you had in elementary school – who flunked you – and you talked bad talk about her to everyone you met – how she was playing favorites – how she was out to get you – and down deep you knew she was right. You hadn’t studied. Then there was the coach who didn’t put you on the team – and déjà vu, you attacked him as well.

“It’s Lent!” you say to yourself. “Why not try forgiveness for Lent? It’s almost half over. Why not?” So you take the gift of Forgiveness – especially because you also read on the side of the package that Jesus said, “I come with the package! I’m with your all days.” You laugh picturing Jesus like the Verizon Guy on TV who says he comes with the package along with all kinds of backup people. “Yeah,” you think. “I know several people who are really forgiving.”

And you walk out of The Gift Shop – with gift in hand – and you feel a spring in your step and a “Yes!” in your voice.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I gave this as a homily for our St. Mary’s High School students on the 3rd Tuesday of Lent, 2009. The gospel contains the story in Matthew about Peter coming up to Jesus and asking, “Lord, when my brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him? Is seven times enough?” Jesus says, “Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.” Then Jesus tells the parable of the person who was forgiven a huge debt – but wouldn’t go out and forgive someone who owed him a tiny amount of money compared to what he had owed the man who forgave him. (Cf. Matthew 18: 21-35.)

© Andy Costello, Homily Reflections, 2009

IRISH BLESSING # 67

Today
may you hear a song inside your mind,
may you feel a dance in your step,
may you have a smile on your face,
may good words flow out of your mouth,
and may generosity jump out of your wallet.
Amen!

THE BLESSING
OF FORGIVENESS

INTRODUCTION

Let me say a few words on forgiveness – one of the great gifts to keep on our fingertips – to be handed out freely at key moments in our lives – especially when there are hurts. So the title of my homily for this St. Patrick's Day is, “The Blessing of Forgiveness.”

REFLECTION

The blessing of forgiveness is twofold – for the one forgiven, but especially for the one who forgives.

Today’s gospel talks about forgiveness – forgiving and being forgiven.

Today’s gospel tells the story about the day Peter asked Jesus the question, “When my brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him? Is seven times enough?”

Every time I read this – since my name is Andrew – who was the brother of Peter, I hear Peter’s question about forgiveness loud and clear.

And Jesus answers the question with a story – a story about a man who was forgiven a Madoff amount of money that he owed this other guy. As you know Madoff is the guy who made off with a lot of money. This guy doesn’t have to go to jail. He’s forgiven. He goes out side and won’t forgive this man who owes him a tiny fraction of what he was just forgiven. In fact, steaming, he starts screaming at the man, “Pay back what you owe me?” And just as he begged – this man begged him for time. He didn’t forgive like he was forgiven. Instead he had this man thrown into prison till he paid back the last penny that was owed. When word got out on what he did, his fellow servants screamed and went to the master who had forgiven this man in the first place. Well, of course the master had the man arrested and tortured till he paid him back in full.

Today’s gospel has as it’s bottom line: “My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother or sister from the heart.”

Today’s gospel basically spells out what we pray about in the Our Father, “Hey God, forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Anyone who knows Irish history knows that the land might be green on top– but underneath it’s red – red from the blood of invaders from the outsider as well as family and tribal feuds by insiders – as is the history of most lands around the world.

Anyone who has been to Ireland knows that Ireland is a land of saints and scholars, rain and rocks. Lots of rocks. Lots of heavy rocks. Lots of old rocks. Rocks everywhere.

Anyone who has been to Ireland knows that one of the key spots to visit is the Blarney Stone. Kiss the Blarney Stone and you’ll have the gift of gab for life. I kissed it in 1996 and it added 5 minutes to every sermon ever since.

There should be a statue sculpted for the person who came up with The Blarney Stone idea. It certainly helped the motel, bed and breakfast, and restaurants in that area of Ireland.

The title of my homily is, “The Blessing of Forgiveness.”

It’s a blessing that instead of throwing stones, people take stones in hand, kiss them goodbye – and drop them to the ground so they can shake hands with their brother or sister.

It’s a blessing that instead of holding onto ways we feel our brother or sister hurt us, we drop those resentments and hurts like dropping stones to the ground. Why do that? Well, anger, hurt, resentments, remembrances of ways we have been hurt by others – being cheated out of money in a will, made fun of behind our back, being dropped like a stone, are all heavy stones to carry.

If dropped, life is that much lighter … and the road of life is that much easier to walk and to enjoy the shamrocks and flowers along the way.

Are all the rocks of Ireland – rocks dropped by brothers and sisters who could have been “Fighting Irish”?

If forgiven, we are blessed.

If able to forgive, we are doubly blessed.

CONCLUSION: IRISH STORY

There is an old Irish story that tells about two friends walking through the desert. An argument began as they walked. One friend slapped the other friend in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking through the desert until they came to an oasis. “Water finally.” As the one who was slapped tip toed towards the water, he got stuck in mud and water and started to drown. The friend saved him. After recovering from nearly drowning, he wrote on a stone, “Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Obviously this was a story written by someone who kissed the Blarney Stone – but it has a great message on the importance of forgiveness.

IRISH GIFT BLESSING

When you feel your life is so, so complicated,
when you feel things are too, too intricate,
that at any minute your life could come undone,
that everything and every thread could unravel,
see the finished gift, see the final result,
see the shawl, the scarf, the Irish sweater,
and see the smile on the face of each person
who sees and welcomes you as their gift this day.

© Andy Costello, 2009, Irish Blessings

ANGER BUTTONS

INTRODUCTION

The title of homily is, “Anger Buttons.”

There are machines that exist right now that can tell a lot about our brain – but 100 years from now imagine a machine that will be able to look at a section of our brain where we have all kinds of buttons. And these brain researchers will begin to put labels on our buttons:
· Pleasure Button,
· Fear Button,
· Hunger Button,
· Thirsty Button,
· Escape Button,
· Comfort Button,
· Envy Button,
· Jealousy Button,
· Anger Button.

In this homily, I want to talk about the Anger Button.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

In today’s gospel Jesus walked into the temple and wow did he get angry at what he saw.

It would be like parents leaving their 17 year old in charge of the house for a weekend – with strict orders of “No parties”, “No going out!” “We trust you to watch your brother and sister aged 13 and 11.” It was mom and dad’s 20th wedding anniversary and they wanted to have a weekend alone together in New York City. Around 4 PM on Saturday afternoon they get a cell phone call in New York that dad’s sister in Virginia got sick and had to be hospitalized, so they headed back home, with the idea of driving to the hospital in Virginia on Sunday morning. Coming up to their house around 9:30 PM, they saw lots of cars and what looked like a big time party going on inside.

They walked in. Seeing the booze and this and that, they became furious and threw all the other kids out of their house.

In today’s gospel Jesus comes into the temple and sees the buying and the selling and the sheep and the oxen and the doves and he becomes furious. He makes a whip out of cords and drives everyone and everything out of the temple. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables yelling, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

And we’ve heard dozens of sermons that make the point that there is such a thing as just anger – because here is a case where Jesus got angry. Or the preacher makes the point that Jesus is not always meek and quiet.

I remember a single mother telling me every 5 years or so in raising her 5 kids she would destroy a whole set of expensive dishes – throwing them one by one or in bunches against the walls – smashing them on the floor. She added, “It scared the devil out of them and they knew who was boss for about six months.” She added, “It was well worth the price of the dishes!”

She’s dead now – but I’m sure her kids with a smile on their faces love to tell the story about their mom – way back when. I wonder if any of those 5 kids do the same with their kids and dishes from time to time.

I just spent 4 days on retreat with some of our junior high school kids, senior leaders and other adults – and once more I can say, “Parenting has to be a very rewarding, as well as a very tough job.”

WHAT GETS YOU ANGRY?

Imagine if those researchers who find this part of the brain where our buttons are – find out that there is also a deeper section under each button that has further buttons – like anger over fairness, or traffic, or injustice, or phoniness, or long sermons, or cold food, or drunk drivers or on how people vote or about dog poop that is not cleaned up. They find out that there are lots of little buttons there – and these specific anger buttons vary from person to person.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus lists not only the 10 commandments – but several other commandments as well.

Rules and regulations, commandments and laws, are the result of people getting together to put down on paper or stone – what they want and don’t want.

Parents when they settle down after discovering their kids had an unauthorized party while they were away, will say something like this, “When we put you in charge of the house and in charge of your younger brother and sister, we expected you to obey our commandment and not have a party when we are away. We have entrusted to you to take care of your brother and sister and our home. The police could have shown up instead of us. The neighbors might have called. There could be an accident or a lawsuit.”

Rules and regulations, commandments and laws, are often the Golden Rule spelled out more specifically. We don’t want someone trying to cheat with our spouse, so we better not cheat with someone else’s spouse. We wouldn’t want someone stealing our wallet or laptop or garden hose, so we better not steal someone else’s property. We wouldn’t want someone telling lies or bearing false witness against us, so we better not talk about our neighbor’s dirty laundry or rumors or spread our conjectures on what’s going on next door.

ANGER: 10 QUESTIONS

Anger is a good topic and issue to reflect upon during Lent. Here are ten questions:

1. What are my buttons? What bugs me? What bothers me?
2. Do I have a long or a short fuse?
3. What are my values? – Looking at my anger – revisiting the angry moments of my life can tell me what my values are.
4. Am I a lion at home and a lamb outside the house?
5. What should I be angry about and I’m not?
6. Am I holding an anger or resentment against someone for years? Who is it? What is it? Is it worth looking at or letting it sit. There is that old saying, “Let sleeping dogs lie.”
7. Am I aware of someone who is angry at me for something I did wrong from way back? Would that box be worth opening – or would it be a Pandora’s Box?
8. Do I see God angry and is God angry with anything about me?
9. Have I ever had a good discussion with my spouse or family or others about anger – what bugs each of us around the house or what have you – how we handle anger, how we see others handling anger, etc.?
10. Do I know someone who is always angry? What’s with them?

CONCLUSION: SOME BOTTOM LINES

Here are a few first draft conclusions about anger:

There are some things we should get angry about and there are some things we shouldn’t get angry about.

Communication skills help. For example, changing pronouns from “you” to “I” can help at times. Instead of yelling, “You are driving me crazy!”, say, “I go crazy at times when we’re supposed to be somewhere at 7 P.M. and I’m standing at the door or the car waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and we get to the meeting or the movie or the Smith house 20 minutes late every time.”

Specific complaints are better than general complaints. For example, instead of saying, “You’re making me nervous!” say something like, “I get nervous when we speed up and rush to get almost on top of the car in front of us and we have to brake every time – whereas other drivers seem to calmly let cars have 3 to 4 to 5 car lengths between each car if possible.” In other words, there are type A drivers and type B drivers and type A drivers have to get new brakes much sooner than type B drivers.

Then there is today’s second reading from 1st Corinthians which has a powerful statement that should intrigue all of us. St. Paul talks about Christ as God – showing us the power and wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is interesting. The all powerful God is crucified on a cross. This is a stumbling block to the Jews who wanted God to wipe out all enemies. This is foolishness to the Gentiles who are being told about a God who dies on a cross. Then Paul says, “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

Today we Redemptorists celebrate the life of one of our saints, St. Clement Hofbauer [1751-1820]. The story we always heard was about the time he went into a tavern looking for money for his orphans – and a guy seeing this priest enter the pub spits in his face and made fun of him. Clement responded by saying, “That’s for me. How about something for my orphans?” And wow did that work. His hat was filled with money.

Maybe the strongest person is the person who shuts up and takes it all – like Jesus who was spit at when scourged and then killed on a cross – but in the meanwhile – sometimes we better scream when the Church has become a marketplace or our kids might be ruining themselves and our home – or when someone is driving while drunk or very dangerously.

Timing is everything. Wisdom is long in coming! Lent is a good time to be in God’s house to consider and reconsider these serious issues. Amen.

POWERFUL SCENES,
POWERFUL MOMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Powerful Scenes, Powerful Moments.”

What have been the powerful scenes, the powerful moments of your life? Everyone has them: what are your’s?

Lent is a serious time – a time to reflect on the powerful scenes and the powerful moments, not only in scripture – but also in our lives – and to connect the two.

These moments can be teaching moments – scenes that contain life’s lessons – some bitter, some sweet – important insights not to be missed.

A small moment of insight that I learned in life was from the life of Robert Coles – a remarkable Harvard child psychiatrist – who has written amongst other things on The Spiritual Life of Children. * If I remember correctly, on a TV documentary he once said, “I was talking to Anna Freud and she suggested that I go back and look at my notes that I had taken while interviewing kids many years ago.” He said he did just that and was amazed at all the things he saw now and missed back then.

What I got out of that simple story was the power of taking time to do homilies, prayers and reflections on the scriptures of my own life.

As priest I’ve gone through the Sunday scripture readings every year since 1965 – and every time I read these texts I’m hit with new stuff. Sometimes I’ve looked at sermons from way back when and I go, “Oooh!”

So too the scriptures, the stories, the powerful scenes and the powerful moments of my life.

Suggestion: Take a rosary – use just one decade – 10 beads – and finger the 10 beads and come up with the 10 most powerful scenes and moments of our life.

Next: can we say a “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit” for each of those moments?

It might take a car ride alone, a week, or all of Lent to do this. Jot them down - and read them 10 years from now as well - and I'm sure you too will see a lot that you missed.

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings have 3 powerful scenes, 3 powerful moments.

Today’s first reading in Jewish tradition and literature is called, “The Akedah” or “The Binding.”

Abraham is called upon to take his own son, Isaac, up a mountain, tie or bind him down, then sacrifice, burn, make a holocaust of him. Wooo! I’m sure you felt an “Oooh! when you heard today’s first reading. Why was Abraham going to sacrifice his son? Because God said so. Then God says, “Stop!” The test is over. Abraham passed the test. He was willing to sacrifice his first born son from Sarah because God had said so – the son of the promise that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sands on the seashore.

Powerful scene. Powerful moment. Jewish and Christian theologians have wrestled with this story ever since. But not only theologians, philosophers like Kierkegaard and Kant and Dirida and others have joined in the discussion.

The story triggers serious ethical questions.

Today’s second reading talks about God the Father not sparing his own Son. Isaac was not killed on that mountain. Jesus, the only Son of the Father, was killed on the mount of Calvary.

Then, surprise, even though Jesus was killed – was sacrificed – was wiped out, his descendants are now well over 1 billion.

Today’s gospel has a 3rd powerful scene, 3rd powerful moment: Jesus taking Peter, James and John up a mountain – just like Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain in today’s first reading, and Jesus is transfigured before them. It’s a powerful scene of light and voice and amazement. We are told that Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father. We are told to listen to Jesus. Then Jesus on the way down from the heights of the mountain tells his disciple to listen to him: “Don’t tell anyone what you saw up there until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” They listened and didn’t tell anyone about what Jesus said till after he had risen from the dead.

Powerful scenes. Powerful moments.

QUESTION REPEATED

What are the powerful scenes, powerful moments of your life?

Are they sorrowful or glorious, joyful or light bearing - or all of the above?

Some say that Abraham’s test was a powerful moment in world history – when the author or authors of this ancient story – a story with a very primitive idea of God – were trying to put an end to child sacrifice – a practice that existed in our world at that time.

What are the powerful scenes, powerful moments of our time and our lives?

In my last year in college, in a course on ethics, it came to debate time. The professor picked a series of ethical topics and randomly divided us by two for the issues he wanted us to cover. Randomly he also told one of us to be for an issue, one against it. A classmate from Paraguay and I were given the issue of Capital Punishment. Ray was told to be for it; I was told to be against it.

It was the luck of the draw. I often wondered if I was given the job of being for it, would I have been for it ever since? I don’t know.

Ray gave his presentation first. After finishing, our professor said, “Good job. Next.”

I lost the debate because just as I was getting into my presentation, our professor stood up and yelled, “Costello sit down. You’re wrong. We need Capital Punishment.”

I’ve thought about that moment at various times in my life – and recently with the issue of Capital Punishment here in the state of Maryland. Why are people for it? Why are people against it? Is it random – or have people thought it out? I have kept up my reading and research on the issue all through the years – and am more strongly against it now than when I first was asked to research the topic in college. I know it’s a hot button issue and just like my college professor who yelled, “Costello, sit down!” some of you might yell inwardly, “Costello shut up. We need Capital Punishment!”

I’ve learned life has its “Hot Button Issues!”

My mother was killed in a hit and run accident. It was a horrible scene and a horrible moment, but our family realized pretty soon, it would not be smart to let this ruin the rest of our lives. In fact, we believed that my mother would not want it so. We hope the driver learned from the tragedy. We forgave him. We certainly learned an awful lot – stress on the awful.

What have been the powerful scenes, the powerful moments of your life?

COMEDY AND TRAGEDY

Divine comedy and divine tragedy are part of life. Sometimes we laugh; sometimes we cry. Sometimes we do both.

Life – like in the rosary has joyful, sorrowful, glorious and light bearing mysteries. What are your joyful, sorrowful, glorious, and light bearing moments and scenes – the mysteries in your history?

Today’s first reading is not far fetched. People in this world do crazy things. These children – these men and women – who wear vests filled with explosives and kill themselves to kill others – are at times supported by their families. Crazy. Insane. And supposedly some are doing this in God’s name.

Too bad they don’t reflect upon the call to bring life and not death into our world. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that person, instead of killing themselves and others, became a person willing to sacrifice his or her life to be like Gandhi and to try to change the world by non-violence?

Take the horror of abortion. The one life killed stops a whole line of possible life to come. We pinch ourselves because our mom and dad gave us this great gift of life. Thank you, mom and dad.

One of the lessons for me on abortion has been that I have met people – men more than women - who are pro life – who sometimes don’t seem to have the sensitivity or the caring love for the horror someone who had an abortion has gone through. I have squirmed during some sermons and comments from the pulpit or from seeing posters in church vestibules that in my estimation would have people walk out of that Catholic Church never to return. I personally don’t think this is the best way to end a culture of death. I am well aware that others see this differently. Obviously, those who are pro abortion – don’t seem to see what those who think abortion is wrong are seeing. One great paradox for me is that some complain that Pope Pius XII and Christians didn’t speak up and march against the Holocaust – the killing of millions of Jewish people during the Nazi regime in Germany – as well as other genocides – and then when we speak up against abortion we are thought to be ignorant and wrong. Hopefully, when people look back at our time – say from 2109 – they will say we protested and stopped the killing of unwanted babies by abortion back in our century.

So my last life learning has been we all have life’s learnings – and once a mind is made up, a mind is made up. I have learned that we’re all pretty stubborn – and yet we are called to live together. That doesn’t mean I can stop doing home work on life’s issues. It does mean I have to stop seeing the spots I see in other people’s behaviors and logic and as a result I might be missing the log jam in my own logic and sinfulness.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is: “Powerful Scenes, Powerful Moments.”

Lent is a good time to look at them.

What are your life learnings? As you look at the powerful scenes and powerful moments of your life, what have you learned?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Painting on top, "Abraham Sacrificing Isaac", 1650, Laurent de LaHire. Tap your cursor on the painting to get a better close up.

* Robert Coles, The Spiritual Life of Children, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1990, pp. 358. I would recommend this book to not only those who teach children, but also to parents.

SITTING UNDER

THE STATIONS

OF THE CROSS





© 2009 by Rev. Andrew Costello, CSSR

INTRODUCTION TO THE
STATIONS OF THE CROSS

An older priest once growled, “The stations of the cross are a cross! Up and down! Up and down! Up and down.”

Then he added, “And I can’t stand these new stations. Why can’t they use the traditional, St. Alphonsus’ Stations of the Cross? They’re short and they get right to the point.”

The following “Stations of the Cross” are new. They are also longer than St. Alphonsus’ Stations of the Cross. And at times they also fit the older priest’s third objection of not getting right to the point.

Instead of up and down, up and down, quick prayers, when using these stations of the cross, I urge slow, quiet reflection. At home, in a quiet spot or at the computer say one or two of a few of them quietly. At Church, just sit under one or two of the stations and reflect on the scene. That’s how I wrote these stations -- just sitting there under each station and picturing what was happening. Through imagery and example, I try to evoke feelings that will bring Jesus’ stations of the cross right into everyday life.

However, my goal is the same as that of St. Alphonsus: to help all of us make the journey to Calvary with Jesus, to help us discover that Jesus is with us in our journey to Calvary, to realize that we are still crucifying Christ today in the ways we hurt our neighbor, and to realize how much Jesus loves and forgives us in spite of all the hurt.

These stations of the cross can be used alone or with a group, in Church or in your house. They can also be used while traveling to and from work in the bus or on the train. And who said that we have to use all 14 stations of the cross in one trip?

The Stations of the Cross are a cross. 14 stations. It’s a long train ride. 14 stations. We rather take the express train and get home faster.

The Stations of the Cross are a cross. 14 stops. It’s a long bus ride. 14 stops. Yet, it’s good to stop to reflect on all that God has done for us in sending us his Son, Jesus.

Jesus walked the road to Calvary alone surrounded by people. Since then, millions of people have walked with him by making the stations of the cross. If these new stations of the cross help you in your prayer along the way of the cross, then my prayers and my hopes will have been met. I will have done what St. Alphonsus did. He wrote stations of the cross to try to put the Good News of Jesus Christ in simple terms to help the people of his day.

© Andy Costello, Stations  2009
-.

FIRST STATION:
JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, just when you were getting started, everything ends. Everything goes wrong. Judas betrays you. Peter denies you. Your friends desert you. A crowd yells at you. Pilate, a puppet, whose strings could be pulled by fear or public pressure, sentences you to death in your early 30’s.

Jesus, you are condemned to death in the prime of your life. Unfair! Unjust! Who of us wants to die in our early 30’s? Imagine what might have happened, if you, Jesus, had 30 more years of life to live? Imagine the stories, the parables and the sayings? Imagine the healings?

1st STATION PRAYER – JUDGING OTHERS

Lord, too many times I’m like Pilate. I act as if I am on a balcony, overlooking life. I judge and condemn others without knowing their story.

Then I spend time and energy trying to wash the guilt off my hands because of the times I didn’t make an effort to discover the truth about another. Because of fear, I can be a puppet at times. I allow myself to be manipulated by the gossip or comments or fear of others. I keep on forgetting you came to put fear, judgment and rock throwing to death.

SECOND STATION:
JESUS IS MADE TO BEAR HIS CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you are made to carry a cross. Jesus, you are caught, trapped, forced, given no choice in the matter. Jesus, you are pushed and shoved out the gate and onto the street. Jesus, you are walled in by people on all sides who have no idea about who you are. All they want to see is news, as if you were an accident on the street.

Jesus, you are being led like a sheep to the slaughter. You are being sinned against as you are taking away the sins of the world. Jesus, you are caring, surrounded by apathy. You are sight, surrounded by blindness. You are awareness, surrounded by people not knowing what they are doing.

2nd STATION PRAYER – CARRYING THE CROSS

Lord, like you, each day, I have to walk down many streets and many ways, with many crosses and many people,
not of my choice. Lord, be with me on this road from birth to death. Help me to see life is all about how we deal with the surprises and interruptions that cut across our life.
Give me your strength and your power to carry my cross.

THIRD STATION
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you the one who told us that your yoke is easy and your burden light, could fall. You could crumble beneath the weight of a cross. All the pressures finally caught up to you: the long night of trials, the beating with whips, the crowning with thorns, and now the carrying of the cross. They finally wore you down to the ground.

Jesus, you emptied yourself of your divinity and we spend our lives trying to fill up our empty humanity. No wonder we fall. We spend so much of our time trying to lord it over everyone who gets in our way -- causing them to fall as well as ourselves. You, the creator of our world, could fall down to a gutter in our streets, to show us we can rise from our gutters and enter into your divinity.

3rd STATION PRAYER – THE FALL

Lord, here I am down at the bottom of myself. And Lord, out of my depths, I cry to you for help. At times, it’s hard to admit I too am human. At times, it’s hard to admit I fall.

Lord, at times, it’s so hard to admit I sin. I become proud, stupid, too big for myself. So I fall down to the bottom of myself, to the gutter of my own sins.

FOURTH STATION
JESUS MEETS
HIS SORROWFUL MOTHER

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus deep in pain, feeling all alone, sees only the stone street below. Then, looking up for a moment, Jesus sees his mother. Mary, a face crying in the crowd, tries to touch the tassel of his hurt. Jesus and Mary: eyes meeting eyes, trying to help one another.

Mary deep in pain, feeling all alone, sees only Jesus. Mary as mother sees the child she has brought into this world. “This is my body. This is my blood. She tries to change hurt into help – but she realizes she can’t stop the horror story going on before her very eyes. The sword of sorrow takes one more twist in her heart.

4th STATION PRAYER – THE MEETING

Jesus and Mary, teach us how to be there for each other in times of sorrow. Help us to take the time out to be present to each other. Help us to realize we don’t have to say anything to each other at the funeral or the hospital. All we have to do is to take the time out to be there - letting each other know we care when the sword of sorrow is twisting in the heart.

FIFTH STATION
SIMON IS MADE TO HELP
JESUS CARRY THE CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you never wanted to go or do life alone. You always asked for volunteers. Come and see. Come follow me. Come and be free.

Jesus, you needed disciples, friends. You are always pictured with others. It is not good to be alone. You called Peter, Andrew, James and John and so many others to come and follow you.

Here is Simon -- the one who was forced to help you to carry your cross. He is the one who just happened to be there. So often life is just happening to be there when another needs our help. Simon helped you and he is forever remembered in this fifth station of the cross.

5th STATION: PRAYER – THE HELP

Jesus, when I try to do it alone or to go it alone, send me someone to help me - a Simon. Keep on reminding me that it’s not good for any of us to be alone. Help me to learn, not only how to ask for help, but also how to receive help from others as we journey along the way of the cross.

SIXTH STATION
VERONICA WIPES
THE FACE OF JESUS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, your face is covered with blood. When cut, the face, the skull, seems to bleed so easily. Your face that looked at so many individuals is now almost blinded by blood. A woman named Veronica steps out of the crowd to help you. She saw your face. Too often we don’t see faces, we see crowds. Veronica took a towel and gently cleaned your face.

Jesus, once more a woman in the crowd reached out to touch you. But this time, power went out from someone else to you. Jesus, once more you experienced the care of a woman who had the courage to step out of a crowd to wash you. This time it was not with hair, but with a towel. This time it was not your feet, but your face. Cleaning your face of blood, Veronica saw your shining face.

6th STATION PRAYER – THE VEIL

Lord, I pause to thank you for each person in my life story who has touched me in a special way – the Veronica’s in my life. I thank you for the unique power that came out of each of them. I thank you for each person who was willing to put aside their veil and step forward to help me.

SEVENTH STATION
JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you fall again a second time. You crumble down onto the stone street below you. The wood of the cross clumps down on top of you.

Jesus, where are you? What are you thinking about? Are you still wondering, as you did in the garden, why you are being asked to drink this bitter cup of sorrow? Are you saying, “Why me?” Are you asking, “Why does life and death have to go this way?”

Or are you still concerned only about others -- wondering about all these people along the side of the road as you are crawling your way of the cross to Calvary?

7th STATION PRAYER – THE AGAIN

Lord, each time I fall on the way of my cross, help me to rise above myself and become more and more aware of all the gifts you have given me.

Give me courage to drink the chalice you are asking me to drink. Give me the strength to stand up straight once again, take up my cross and follow you.

EIGHT STATION
JESUS SPEAKS

TO THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you trudge forward. You stumble forward. You are more and more numb, more and more dazed by the loss of so much blood. Yet, you keep on seeing faces along the way. And some of those faces are women’s faces. Once more women are sensing the horror and the shock of how cruel we human beings can be to each other.

And Jesus, as you look into the faces of these women along the way of the cross, both of you know what they are feeling, what they are harboring. Both of you know that what is happening to you, could happen to any one of their children. So you reach out with words of concern, “Weep not for me, but for your children.”

8th STATION PRAYER – TEARS

Lord, the road to Calvary seems to be every street. This eight station of the cross seems to happen every day. Help us to weep so deeply, that the ocean of sorrow that fills so many of us, will drown the violence of the world and bring peace

NINTH STATION
JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.


LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you are almost there, almost to Calvary. The soldiers keep pushing you beyond your control and you fall once again: the third time.

Jesus, you are experiencing the push of people who don’t stop to realize what they are doing. You are experiencing the cruelty that happens, when people just want to get a job done without thinking about how it effects the people they are pushing. The soldiers aren’t aware of you. They just want to get you to Calvary as soon as possible. They just keep pushing you along this way of the cross and you fall the third time.

9th STATION PRAYER – AGAIN

Lord, in this moment of prayer, I have two prayers: First of all, “Father, forgive me, for I don’t know what I am doing.”

Secondly, “Lord, that I might see” - that I might see how cruel I can be in the way I treat others in the rush and push of life and that I can rise above that cruelty.

TENTH STATION
JESUS IS STRIPPED
OF HIS GARMENTS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you finally arrive at the place of the skull: Calvary. The soldiers strip you of your clothes to prepare you for your execution on the cross. You stand there like a sheep being sheared of its wool. You stand there like a lamb being prepared for the slaughter.

Jesus, you stand there humiliated, completely helpless, like a person who has been abused or raped by another. You stand there silently. Are you also filled with silence within? Are you at the stage of being so weak, that you just want to get all this over with as soon as possible?

10th STATION PRAYER – STRIPPED

Lord, I stand here naked with all my weaknesses showing. I see myself as I really am, stripped of all my defenses.

I stand here today praying for the gift of being so sorry for the way I have treated others, that I won’t treat them that way tomorrow.

ELEVENTH STATION
JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you are nailed to a cross. You are held down in place. A man with a hammer slams a nail through your hands and into the wood of the cross. How could anyone do such a horrible thing to another? How could anyone nail another to a cross?

Jesus, you are then lifted up, nailed to a cross, high above the crowd. Your executioners are like fishermen showing a crowd the fish that they have just caught. You hang there cringing, twisting, bleeding. You slowly bleed to death in this horrible method of killing called crucifixion.

11th STATION PRAYER – NAILED

Lord, I look at you nailed to the cross and ask pardon for all the times I have blamed others for the mistakes that I have done myself.

Lord, I look at you lifted high up on the cross. I see you hanging there on the tree of good and evil. I ask you to give me a true knowledge of the good and evil in myself. Unlike Adam and Eve, help me to stop behind blaming others for the sins I have committed.

TWELFTH STATION
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS
Jesus, you hang high on the cross transfigured before us. On this new mount of Transfiguration called Calvary, the vision of you, the Suffering One, can’t be hidden. The whole world sees the cross. Everyone suffers. Everyone deals with dying words. Everyone has to deal with death.

Jesus, you hang there on the cross talking about forgiveness and feelings of being forsaken, talking about thirsting and taking care of each other, talking about paradise and letting go.

Jesus, you finally die into your Father’s hands. You go into the place of darkness and death, trusting in the promise of Resurrection and new life.

12th STATION PRAYER – CRUCIFIED

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to die to myself each day in order to bring new life to others.

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to trust in your Father, when it comes my turn to die.

THIRTEENTH STATION
JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN
FROM THE CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

They take out the nails and then they take Jesus down from the cross. Mary holds him. She is not a statue made of marble or stone. She is flesh and tears and sorrow. She holds her dead son, Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb. The sword of sorrow twists once again in her heart.

Thank God she is not alone. First of all, there are the women friends of Jesus, the women who have been faithful up to the end. Then there is Nicodemus, the man who came to Jesus in the night. He is there in this night of sorrow. Next there is Joseph of Arimathea. He went to Pilate and arranged for Jesus’ burial. Lastly, there is John, another close friend of Jesus. He is the one Jesus asked to take care of his mother after his death. They all stand there trying to help one another in this place of horror - the place of the skull: Calvary.

13th STATION PRAYER – PRESENCE

Lord Jesus, be with us in our moments of tragedy:
when we have to deal with sickness,
when we have to deal with death,
when we have to deal with helping others in their moments of sorrow.

FOURTEENTH STATION
JESUS IS PLACED IN THE TOMB

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you are buried in a new tomb. You are locked in by a big stone. And as you cried and called out to Lazarus in his tomb, your Father cries out to you, “Jesus, come forth.”

And the echo of the Father is heard throughout the halls and hills of eternity. “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!” Resurrection! Alleluia! Jesus returns to the Father in glory. There is a Heavenly Palm Sunday parade down through the streets of eternity! Resurrection and Ascension together. The Son returns to the Father. Bring out the finest robes and put them on him, “because this son of mine who was dead has come back to life.” Let the banquet, the music and the dancing begin. “And the Father will dance.” Bring in your older brother. Go out to highways and byways and invite all your sisters and brothers into the eternal banquet.

Resurrection! Alleluia! Jesus is given the name, “Lord,” a name above every other name. Jesus is Lord! The Son, who emptied himself, is once again filled with the fullness of God. Alleluia! “Amen! Come Lord Jesus.”

14th STATION PRAYER – RESURRECTION

Lord, don’t let me stop at Good Friday. Help me to move toward Easter.

Call to me, as you called to Lazarus when he was in the grave, “Come forth.”

Lord, stand on the shore of my life, especially when I have the feeling that I have worked the whole night long and caught nothing.

Invite me to the banquet of life. Amen! Let me to come to you, Lord Jesus.

STEVE

I forgot that I asked him,
but he remembered.

“Remember last year
when you asked me
why I am always smiling?
Well, I’ve been thinking
about that for months now
and I came up with an answer.
It’s this: ‘I am able to receive
the body and blood of Christ. Amen.’”

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009

VICIOUS CIRCLE # 6


“You remind me of my father.”

“There you go again.
What do you mean by saying,
‘I remind you of your father?’”

“Well, you remind me of my father.”

“Now, that’s stupid.
He and I are two totally different persons.”

“Well, you are so like him.”

“Listen. Years ago, someone said,
‘Be careful of women who say,
you remind them of their father.’”

“Well you do."

“Well, I don’t. You’re just being stupid.”

“There you go again.”

“Wait a minute. If you’re so smart,
tell me how I remind you of your father?”

“Well, when he talked, he talked at me.
He kept on saying I was stupid.”

“Well, if you think I’m like your father,
then you are stupid.”

“There you go again - calling me
stupid just like my father."

Silence!

“Well, I never liked my mother
and you remind me of my mother.”

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009

LENT

Lent
is forty days of annual leave
from being self centered.

It’s a time to repair
broken relationships
with God, with others
with self.
It’s a time of prayer.
It’s a chance to sacrifice time and money
for the forgotten and the poor.
It’s a forty days journey
with Christ to Jerusalem.
It’s a time to stop along the way,
to listen to his parables
and his teachings,
to help his body,
to be present to all we meet,
along the way.

It’s a journey with Jesus
towards the Father,
towards the cross,
to die with Him,
to rise with Him,
to a new way of living,
year after year after year.

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009

BACK BENCH PRAYER


Lord, here I am in this back bench again.
To be honest,
I don’t know how to pray.
To be honest,
I don’t know what to say.
To be honest,
I wish I could pray like that person
up there in the front of church,
but I can’t. In fact, right now
I want to run. I have this crank
in my soul that keeps mumbling,
“What’s the use? I keep repeating
these same old sins. I keep making
these same mistakes and resolutions
over and over again.”
Yet, here I’m am Lord – half sitting,
half kneeling – half present
with all these back bench folks in churches,
each of us repeating and praying
the same old prayer the man
in Luke chapter 18, verses 9-14
whispered,
“God, be merciful to me a sinner.”
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

© Andrew Costello,

Prayers, 2009

WARM AND COLD

Some people
wearing smiles
that warm my heart.
Other people
sour and dour,
wearing heavy coats
over their souls.

© Andy Costello,
Reflections, 2009

PERVADING

If rainy, snowy, dark January
or February days slide into
and invade our bones,
how much more does
a cold look, a nasty word,
or worse, the deadening
quiet of a frozen relationship
pervade us? If, and when, 
they happen, then prepare 
oneself for a long cold winter.

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009