CIRCLES

Quote for Today - March 22,   2013

"Everything an Indian does
is in a circle,
and that is because
the power of the world
always works in circles, 
and everything tries to be round.
In the old days
when we were a strong
and happy people,
all our power came to us
from the sacred hoop of the nation,
and so long as the hoop
was unbroken the people flourished."

Black Elk [1863-1950] in Black Elk Speaks, 
the Life Story of a Holy Man
of the Ogalala Sioux, as told
through John G. Neihardt [1961]

Painting: "Circle of Life" 

WORK

Quote for Today  - March 21, 2013

"I don't like work - no man does - but I like what is in the work - the chance to find yourself. Your own reality - for yourself, not for others - what no other man can ever know."

Joseph Conrad [1857-1924] in The Heart of  Darkness [1902]


Comment: I disagree. There are some jobs that I enjoy - and I've learned from them - usually looking back.  How about you?  Yet Joseph Conrad does raise a question for me: "Which jobs do I learn the most from? Jobs I like or jobs I don't like?

CHEATING

Quote for Today - March 20, 2013

"The bonds that unite another person to ourself exist only in our mind. Memory as it grows fainter relaxes them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we would fain be cheated and with which, our of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we cheat other people, we exist alone.  Man is the creature that cannot emerge from himself, that knows his fellows only in himself; when he asserts the contrary, he is lying."

Marcel Proust [1871-1922] in Remembrance of Things Past [1913-1926]. The Sweet Cheat Gone

STUCK?  HAVE A PROBLEM?

SEE I AM DOING SOMETHING NEW

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of St. Joseph is, “Stuck?  Have a Problem? See I Am Doing Something New.”

The “See I Am Doing Something New” is a statement. It’s a Bible text. It’s Isaiah 43: 19. It was in last Sunday’s first reading, Isaiah 43: 16-21. However, I have some regrets that I didn’t preach on it. In fact, I felt guilty not even referring to the First Reading. It was because of that text and because it had some good stuff in it. I also noticed  the first reader in both Masses that I had,  read the text very well.

I preached on the Gospel mainly - the story of the woman they wanted to stone to death - because they caught her committing adultery - and they were using her to try to catch Jesus.

And Jesus did something new - he challenged the scribes and the Pharisees to police themselves - instead of policing others - to look at their within - instead of meddling in the life of another. A few women pointed out after Mass that the gospel doesn’t mention the guy she was caught with.

Then, even though I didn’t preach on the Isaiah statement about “See I Am Doing Something New!”, I felt stuck because that text has been on my mind.

EXILE AND EXODUS

In that first reading from last Sunday’s, Isaiah was speaking to people caught in slavery - exiled up to Babylon. He wanted to give them new hope. So he pointed out an image - which was an opening - a way - out of their trap, He told them their exit from their Exile could be like the Exodus of their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. He gave them images of water in the desert - rivers in the wasteland - so they too could escape and get back to the land of milk and honey - the Promised Land.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY?

That was Sunday. Today is Tuesday, March 19^th, the feast of St. Joseph - and there are different readings. Thinking about some different things that are happening today, I saw a way out of that feeling of being stuck about  something that hit me for Sunday, I saw  an opening to re-look at that theme and bring it to the forefront. It was like spotting a spring in a desert wasteland.

Today in Rome the new pope gets is officially blessed at a public Mass as pope - even though he’s an old man.

People ask priests, “What’s your take on the new pope?”

My first take is a hesitation: we’ll see.

My second take is positive:

·        I consider it good news that Benedict showed us that a pope can retire. That is a breath of fresh air.

·        I consider it good news that this new guy is not from Europe, that he’s a religious, that he took the bus with the boys - instead of the limo, that he seems more down to earth, that he seems more simple than elaborate.

·        I see it as good news that he took the name Francis and wants the church to get down to its primary vision of concern for the poor - as Jesus said in his inaugural address - quoting Isaiah - I sense the vision that Francis of Assisi had. Francis’ vision was the voice from God, “Rebuild my church!”  If there is anything the church needs to do, it’s right there.

My third take is my dream that he’ll cut down on hats and the rich frilly vestments and all that - and get about the real business of Christ.

So today March 19^th, he’s prayed over and officially blessed as our new pope. I never liked the word “installed”.

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH

Today March 19^th, is also the feast day of St. Joseph. I like the dream theme in today’s gospel - that Joseph is stuck - in a dilemma. His wife to be is pregnant - and she could be stoned to death for this. And yet he dreams big and takes her as his wife - and Jesus comes into our world saying over and over again the message, “See I make all things new.”

MARCH 19, 1863

The title of my homily is, “Stuck? Have a Problem? See, I Am Doing Something New!”

On this day - in this church - the Redemptorists who were rather new to Annapolis - building this church and big rectory - were rather stuck. It was Civil War time. Father Seelos and our provincial were worried about our students being drafted, so they brought Archbishop Kendrick down from Baltimore and ordained 20 students to the sub-diaconate today, the diaconate tomorrow, and the priesthood on March 21. According to Robert Worden’s book on St. Mary’s Church in Annapolis, Maryland, “It was the largest number of men ever ordained at one time in the United States up to that time.” Cf. page 59.] It was a creative way out of the dilemma.

CONCLUSION: SOME QUESTIONS

In this homily, I pointed out a few ways people got out of being stuck - and coming up with a new solution. Let me ask a few questions.

Are we stuck in some problem and we don’t know how to get out of it? Have we asked for help?  Are we stuck in the old? What new book have we read lately? Are we telling each other the same old stories?  What have we in our plans for some creative new adventures into Washington D.C. or Harper’s Ferry or what or where have you?  Have we thought of writing our life - looking at what has happened - so that we find ourselves opening up to some new happenings?

DOORS: 

TWO OPEN - THE REST CLOSED 

Quote for Today - March 19, 2013

"I compare human life to a large mansion of many apartments, two of which I can only describe, the doors of the rest being as yet shut upon me."

John Keats [1795-1821] in a Letter to John Hamilton Reynolds [May 3, 1818]

FAILURE

Quote for Today - March 18, 2013

"There is not a fiercer hell than the failure in a great object."

John Keats [1795-1821], Endymion [1818], preface.

Question: Is this true for you? How's your marriage going? How's your life going? These are heaven and hell questions here and hereafter. Eh?

IN THE TEMPLE AREA

*

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Sunday in Lent [c] is, “In the Temple Area.”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

         

Today’s Gospel - the story of the Woman Caught in Adultery - is one of the best known stories in the Gospels. We all know - we’ve all thought - we’ve all said Jesus’ famous words: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

It triggers for some the old joke that someone throws a stone and Jesus says, “Mother!” That’s an important joke because it means that we know the Catholic teaching that Mary is without sin. It also fits the principle that a joke should have surprise - and it does - because we know Mary wouldn’t do such a thing - but we do.

It’s also good that it has been embedded in our heads not to throw stones - not to judge - because we are with sin. We’ve all made mistakes - and the older we are - the more we’ve made - and the more mistakes and sins we’ve done,  the more we should understand the little nuance in today’s gospel story. The text says, “… they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.”

The older we get, the more we look backwards. The more we look backwards, the more we see the sins and stupidities of our lives. The more we see the sins and stupidities of our past - especially the sins of omission - the broken promises and unfinished love - the more we should understand others - and stop throwing stones at them.

It’s interesting that today’s gospel from John 8:1-11 is not in most of the oldest Gospel manuscripts. This gives scholars a chance to come up with theories why not - and why it made its way into the Gospel of John. Some think it’s such a radical thought - that we dare not tell me not to throw stones at women - and we know it’s still done today - with words and rocks.

Lucky for us this story about Jesus has been preserved for us - to challenge us - to get us to read in the scriptures one of Jesus’ major insights: the reality of the inner life and inner thoughts inside our skull - and how they are behind our actions.

We don’t know what Jesus wrote on the ground that day, but we do know what John - Matthew, Mark and Luke wrote - to preserve in writing for us the sayings and stories of  and about Jesus.

THE TEMPLE

To understand today’s gospel as well as the Four Gospels - as well as the whole Bible - the Jewish and Christian Scriptures - we have to know the centrality of the temple in the life of Israel.

If you go to Israel, if you go to Jerusalem, you have to go to the Western Wall - the Wailing Wall - and you stand there and pray - and think and watch - and experience something powerful. You stand there and put notes in the cracks - a few prayers - some hopes and messages to God. It’s not part of the old Temple. It’s part of the platform on which the temple was built.

If you go to the Bible you know how important it was to have a temple - a central gathering place - to experience each other - to experience God - to experience each other as a people of God.

If we go into our own minds - into our own way of seeing and understanding life - those of us in church here today - we know how important and central it is to have a church - our local church. We live around here, in some house - in some neighborhood - and we need a Sunday place to gather and worship and be with each other and be with our Father.

I see this significantly many Friday evenings at wedding rehearsals when people stand in the back of this church for the first time. I see folks with amazed faces. I see them surprised at the beauty of  this old 1858 Gothic Church called “St. Mary’s”. It hits them down deep somewhere in their being. I sense them getting the importance of sacred places called churches - temples - synagogues - mosques - cathedrals - basilicas.

I remember driving out to St. John Neumann Church for a 12:10 weekday Mass - a few years back. It was an ordinary day. As I was getting out of my car I saw two families getting out of two different cars and heading for the church as well. I was a bit early - which is rare for me - and I said to myself, “I’ve never seen these people before. I wonder what’s up.”

So I caught up with them and said sort of carefully, “Is everything okay?”  And probably an older brother said, “Our dad is dying and we need to say a prayer.”

So there is something needy and something sacred and something central about sacred places like churches.

And when we drop away - or drop out - when we’re worried -  then when we experience these sacred landmarks  - they trigger serious and sacred and challenging thoughts.

I like to walk in the afternoon - especially through the Naval Academy - along the water. It’s good to see teams practicing and to see young people running and exercising. It makes me walk faster - to fight aging. While walking there and walking back, it has hit me a thousand times the reason for church steeples. St. Mary’s tall useless steeple - probably costing millions in the long run for upkeep and maintenance - since 1858 - with the golden colored cross on top - glittering from the sun from different angles - depending on the time of day and the place of the sun - it sends off deep unconscious thoughts and feelings of the sacred. It’s lit at night - as well - and folks have told us that the lights were out for a while - especially folks coming over the bridge down below over Spa Creek.

I’ve done a lot of preaching in a lot of places - as well as a lot of traveling - and everywhere one goes - one sees sacred places. I’ve seen beautiful churches and ugly ones - but like family members they are ours. And from time to time people gather together for the big and small moments - of life in places called “churches” and “temples”.

And when we are alone and when we are together there are a lot of things going on inside our minds. And a lot of things outside our minds trigger a lot of things going on inside our heads. And that’s one of the things we do when we see churches and holy places - and when we are in holy places.

The title of my homily is, “In the Temple Area.”

IN THE TEMPLE AREA

Today’s gospel begins, “Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.”

It’s at that moment that the scribes and the Pharisees bring the woman caught in adultery and they want to nail him and stone her.

This morning I’d like to jump to another temple - our own.

When the priest or deacon begins the gospel, when he says, “A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John", he as well as everyone in church is making a small sign of the cross with their thumb - on their forehead, their lips and their hearts. I add a fourth cross with my thumb to my hands. The idea is to have the gospel in our minds, on our lips and in our heart - and I add in our actions.

Could you make the sign of the cross with your thumb again, but just on your forehead. +

This is our temple - this is our command center - this is our sacred space.  When the brain goes, uh oh!

Today think - this is where Jesus comes - into our temple.

When we are baptized we’re anointed on our forehead - and our parents and godparents and often those around us - bless us with a tiny cross with their thumb or finger. A college student told me recently that his mom did that to him most every night  - till he went off to college - and it finally hit him what she was doing - and he was grateful.

Jesus wants to come into this temple - into this temple area. [Gesture tapping forehead.]

And if I finally get Jesus and what he was about, I finally get the inside us Jesus reality. Read today’s second reading from St. Paul to the Philippians and hear this message loud and clear. [Cf. Philippians 3: 8-14]

It’s in this temple - in this skull - in this sacred space - called our brain - this place called “me” - in our thoughts - that Jesus likes to visit.

Jesus says murder - adultery - stealing - starts in here - in our thoughts. It begins with envy and jealousy and lust and fairness stuff. This where we first start throwing stones at others. People cheat on their neighbor, family, spouse, in here way before they act it out - out there. Grouches, gripers, complainers and cynics, are not just spitting out those words and throwing those sharp edged stony words for the first time - when we hear them. They have been doing that inwardly for the longest time.

CONCLUSION

By now, I assume you’re saying, “Enough already."  I’d be saying that. By now I hope you have this Jesus within message in your temple area. Let Jesus move from the Mount of Olives or wherever he is - in tabernacles or Bibles - and let him come into your temple area today.  

* Painting on top: Christ Writes in the Dust by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Commissioned for the Methodist Collection of Modern Art

IRISH WIT 

AND WISDOM

Quote for Today - March 17, 2013

To someone who committed 
some small fault - 
"Tis only a stepmother 
would blame you."



Irish Saying

Sorry to all step-mothers. I thought this was cute and Irish-a-ee

RESULTS

Quote for Today  March 16,  2013

"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant, It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."

Georgia O'Keeffe [1976]

Painting The Precisionist Moment [1920] by Georgia O'Keeffe [1887-1996]

Questions:

Still where were you born; Where have you lived? What did you do where you have been? Make an account of your stewardship!

REJECTIONS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent  is, “Rejections!”

Question: How well do we deal with rejections?

They happen.

TODAY’S READINGS

We find this theme in today’s two readings.

In the first reading from the Book of Wisdom 2:1, 12-22 - we hear that those who try to be just and fair and lead a good life - are rejected by those  who don’t want to go that way. Those who don’t cheat - those who try to be good - often make the bad feel guilty - and they want to retaliate.

In today's gospel  from John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-20 - we hear more and more about Jesus experiencing rejections. Folks want to kill him - the ultimate rejection.

SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

If you’ve seen the movie, Shawshank Redemption, you know the ongoing theme of "Red" - Ellis Boyd Redding - played by Morgan Freeman. He keeps on coming up for parole in the Shawshank Prison and every time he is rejected. You see the stamp come down on paper - with the word “REJECTED” stamped on the paper. “Rejected!” and the word seems to fill the entire screen.

When we are rejected we want to scream - to fill the entire scene with our scream.

NEWMAN STREET PARK

Yesterday I was walking by that little park at the bottom of the street down from St. Mary’s Church.

There are no kids or parents in the swing and climbing section - but there was a mother and two tiny little kids in the basketball area. The mother throws a soccer ball to the little girl - instead of to the little boy - who then throws a tantrum. Did he feel rejected by his mother? Will he be that way for the rest of his life - screaming when someone else gets chosen ahead of him?  I don’t know. Time will tell.

Rejection.

PART OF LIFE

Rejections are part of life.

A basketball team has 5 players on the floor at a time. A baseball team has 9 players on the field at a time. Lacrosse has 10.  Some players seem to spend their entire time as second stringers and never get into a game. Some kids don’t make the team.

People date and then break up - one is often hurt - feeling rejection.

People get divorced and sometimes their kids feel deep rejection.

“What am I, chopped liver?”

Some 115 cardinals were up for pope - only 1 got elected. It seems he was a surprise pick.  How did the front runners take it? Were they angry?

Not everyone gets into the school play. You can’t have two Dorothy’s or 2 Scare Crows or 2 Tin Men in The Wizard of Oz.  A kid thinks she does a great job in a play,  but nobody is there after the show to give her a dozen roses.  What does that feel like?

For the past 25 years or more I've seen kids get trophies - even though their team didn't win. Is that smart. Is it healthier if only the winning team gets the trophy and there are no trophies for second place?  Which helps people prepare better for the future?

How well do I do with rejections - or experiences which we interpret as rejections?

TODAY IS THE FEAST OF ST. CLEMENT HOFBAUER

Today - we Redemptorists celebrate the feast of St. Clement Hofbauer. If he didn’t become a Redemptorist - we wouldn’t be here in Annapolis. It was our place in Vienna, Austria that sent Redemptorists to American in 1832.

Clement Hofbauer and a buddy, Thaddeus Hubl, came down to Rome with the idea of joining a religious order and becoming priests. On one of their visits, one morning they decided to go to the church whose bells rang first.  It was the Redemptorist Church of San Giuliano’s.

They became Redemptorists in Italy and were told to go back and start the Redemptorists on their side of the Alps. They couldn’t get into Austria. They were rejected,  so they went to Warsaw, Poland. They worked there for 21 years - but were rejected and had trouble getting located anywhere.

St. Clement experienced lots of rejections - but never gave up.

It’s life.

Redemptorists all know the story - we've heard it 100 times - about the time he went into a bar to beg for money for his orphanage. Some guy laughed at him and spit beer into his face. Clement says, “That’s for me. How about something for my orphans?" He got about 100 silver coins from the people in the bar.

How did those orphans feel having St. Clement and other Redemptorists caring for them.

CONCLUSION: JESUS CHRIST

Suggestion: when you have experienced a rejection find a cross. They are at the end of rosaries - or picture this gigantic cross here at St. John Neumann’s Church - and ask Jesus for help.

Picture stamped over this image of Jesus - in big red letters: REJECTED. 

ST. CLEMENT HOFBAUER

Feast Day - March 15

Reflection  by our former Rector Major - 

now Archbishop of Indianapolis.

RAGE

Quote for Today - March 15, 2013

"People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing."

Will Rogers  [1879-1935]

BEGINNINGS

Quote for Today - March 14,  2013

"The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings."

Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]

3 IMAGES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Wednesday in the 4^th Week of Lent is, “Three Images!”

Today’s readings give 3 powerful images for our consideration about our connection and our relationship to God.

1) TRAPPED

The first image is that of being trapped. We’ve all been deeply moved when there is a story of miners trapped deep in the ground – and they are saved.

Or we have been moved deeply when hostages are freed.

Or we’ve been moved with horror on seeing TV documentaries on Auschwitz, Dachau, Buckenald or any of those concentration camps where Jews were gassed and burnt to death. Then we rejoice when we see our soldiers or Russian soldiers getting there and freeing the men and women who survived.

Well, in today’s first reading from Isaiah, he gives the great image of prisoners being freed. Those in darkness, hear, “Come out. Show yourselves.”

In the gospel the same image is found and it’s even deeper. It’s the scream of God over all the graves of the world – the scream of God at every funeral – calling people to new life and resurrection.

Being liberated – being freed – becoming untrapped – rescued is a  very powerful image.

I think of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” – his unique opera on this powerful theme of the freeing of prisoners.  Beethoven was asked to write an opera on this theme. He was given a book that told the story about political prisoners in Spain. The main story line of the opera is “Fidelio” -  the fidelity of a woman with her love for her husband.

A man named Florestan is arrested in Spain because of his opposition to those in power. He is put in prison – and then in chains – he is brought to the deepest part of the prison. His wife, Lenore, poses as a young man and takes job after job, step after step, to work her way into the prison to save her husband.

Florestan’s arch enemy decides to kill Florestan with a knife – and Lenore jumps in front of her husband and holds off Pizzaro with a pistol. She stops the murder of her husband. She exposes Pizzaro for what he is.  She helps the political prisoners to be freed. She takes off her husband’s chains. There is a great trumpet call when the prisoners are set free.

Beethoven was an optimist that stayed an optimist – when Romanticism in Europe went sour and heads rolled.

So the first of the 3 images that I'm mentioning today  is that of being freed. We know that many people come back to God when they are stuck – in prison – caught in a problem – when they experience the death or sickness of a loved one.

2) MOTHER

The first reading from Isaiah has the second powerful image. It's that of a mother. Isaiah says what every mother feels: even if all forget you, I won’t. We know this. Stand in any place where there are small children and we'll see them children clinging to their moms. When scared we see little kids always running back to their moms at church, in the playground, in the supermarket.

And all our lives our moms remain central.

Well, Isaiah uses that image and says that God loves us with motherly love. In fact, he says, "If a mother forgets her child, I’ll never forget you."

Question: how am I like my mother?

3) FATHER

And the third image is that of a father. If you want to understand Jesus and his relationship to his Father, the gospel of John is a good place to start.

Jesus is always talking about his Father. Jesus sees life through the lens of his Father.  As today’s gospel [John 5:17-30] puts it, his fellow Jews want to kill him because of this. They make the leap that he is equalizing himself with his Father.

Today’s gospel - and much of the Gospel of John has Jesus doing just that. We see and hear that everything Jesus does is in light of his Father.

Today’s gospel is very Trinitarian. You can hear in its words the proclamation of John’s church that Jesus is the Son of Man and God is Our Father.

Question: how am I like my father?

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Three Images”.

I believe the 3 images that I pulled out of today’s readings: father, mother and being trapped are very powerful.

Question: is every person like a child - feeing trapped and we cry out to God as our Savior, our Mother and our Father.

DANCING

Quote for Today - March 13, 2013

"If I could tell you what it meant, there would  be no point in dancing it."

Isadora Duncan [1881-1927]

TWO DREAMS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Tuesday in the Fourth Week in Lent is, “Two Dreams.”

Have you ever in your life time had a time when you were writing down your dreams? Some spiritual writers and directors ask folks to do just that. Then when you have them written down, you can look at them more clearly.

I have a loose leaf filler leaning against the wall next to my bed. Then when I wake up in a dream -sometimes I write it down. My handwriting is pretty bad - but my dream handwriting is 20 times worse. Then I go back to sleep. If the dream was very vivid, when I read it the next day - some of it comes back to me.

A FEW RULES

If you decide to write down your dreams, these are some of the rules I was taught.

1) You are the interpreter. You can calmly interpret what you saw means. Don’t let others interpret for you. It can make interesting breakfast talk - but you be the interpreter. There are books that tell you what water or trees or birds or boats in a dream might mean. You can look at them, but from what I’ve picked up, the dreamer of the dream is the best interpreter.  You make the associations. Remember Freud’s famous comment: “Dreams are the royal road into the unconscious.” Dreams can get us in touch with stuff we might not be looking at. If you think this is New Age or esoteric stuff, then think it’s esoteric and New Age. But remember both Josephs in the Scriptures were into figuring out dreams.[1]

2) Catch the predominant mood: fear or fascination - positive or negative energy. Ask what happened to you yesterday  or what you ate yesterday? What’s going on in one’s life, etc. etc. etc. lately.

3) Notice recurring dreams. Many people have a recurring or returning dream. Mine is - the church is filled - and I’m trying to find the right reading or prayer for the day in these big red books and I can’t find it. I remember one dream when I had about 50 of these big red books up here in the pulpit. A priest who taught us Patrology [Early Church Writers] used to tell us that his recurring dream was trying to find a church he was going to that weekend and couldn’t find it.

4) And sometimes dreams tell us exactly what’s happening. When I was living in a retreat house right next to the Atlantic Ocean in West End, New Jersey from 1969 to 1976 - I had a dream that I was being pulled into the ocean. A Nor’easter was raging outside and water had worked its way through a wall - and the leak soaked my floor and the water on the floor worked its way up into my bed - because the blankets were touching the floor and acting like blotters.

TODAY’S READINGS

Now why did I give that song and dance about dreams?

Well, one way to read the scriptures is to see some of the stories in them as dreams. Today’s two readings - especially today’s first reading from Ezekiel has water - lots of water flowing in the temple. At first it’s ankle deep, then knee deep - then waist deep. Then it  becomes a river - a river with fruit trees on each side - as well as fish. And the trees give fruit and its leaves are medicine.

Now that could be a great dream to have - a healing dream - a dream that tells us God wants to wash us, refresh us,  nourish us - and all is tasty and all is good, so don’t worry.

So too today’s gospel. What would it be like to have the same problem for 38 years. We feel crippled. Each time we crawl for help - everyone else slides by us and we’re not healed. And finally Jesus comes to us and heals us right now.

Today’s readings as dreams are already written down. Bring them to prayer as if they are dreams and they are happening to us.  Then ask Jesus to heal us.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Two Dreams.”  

Coming to church, don’t we want the church - this church - to be a healing place - where we experience God healing and feeding us? Don’t we want to be washed in the Living Water - that our faith in Christ is not just ankle deep, not just knee deep, not just waist deep, but we are river deep in Jesus Christ and in his love? Amen. 


NOTES

[1] Genesis 37: 5-11; Genesis 37: 19; Genesis 40 and 41; Matthew 1:19-25; Matthew 2: 13-15; Matthew 2: 19-20. 

PURGATORY

Quote for Today - March 12, 2013

"I had a dream that I was in purgatory and I ran across Bill Madlock with the ugliest woman I've ever seen.  He explained that this was his penance for all the sins he committed on earth. Then I saw George Steinbrenner with Bo Derek.  I couldn't believe it. George Steinbrenner with Bo Derek?  Until somebody explained to me.  'You don't understand. This is Bo Derek's penance.'"

Tommy Lasorda, New York Daily News, February 7, 1982

FAITH AND SIGNS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent is, “Faith and Signs.”

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings - like so many readings in the Bible - bring up the question of “Faith and Signs”.

In the first reading from Isaiah 65: 17-21  we have a great promise - the day is coming when there will be no more crying - no more tears. Babies won’t die and old people will make it to 100 years of age at least. 

Did you smile - did you laugh - when you heard Isaiah say,

“He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,
and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.”?

And in today’s gospel - John 4: 43-54  - we have the 2^nd of the 7 signs in the Gospel of John about Jesus. # 1 Cana, #2 The Healing of the Royal Official’s Son, # 3 The Healing of the man paralyzed for 38 years at the Pool of Bathsaida, #4 The Feeding of the 5,000, # 5 The Healing of the Blind Man in Jerusalem, # 6, The Raising of Lazarus, and # 7 The Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead.

With paradoxical humor today’s second sign - the Healing of the Royal Official’s Son - begins with Jesus saying, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

US

What is our faith built upon - signs and wonders - or faith and wonderings?

Last week I was with 60 some teen agers on a Kairos Retreat.

I noticed from time to time kids as well as the adults brought up signs - personal signs - that helped their faith - helped their belief.

That brought up to me faith and wonderings. If we try to convince people to have faith based on miracles or signs - if they don’t get any, will they then reject faith?

I’ve took a piece of paper and tried to figure out how many times I’ve received communion in my life since my First Communion. My guesstimate is 21,000. Only 2 times in all those receptions of communion - did I get a sign - and they might have been mere coincidence - mere subjectivity - what have you.

The first time was in our seminary and there was this guy I didn’t get along with - and we were the last 2 receiving communion at one Mass and the priest had one host left for 2 guys. So instead of going to the tabernacle for one host, he broke the one he had and gave each of us half. That was a message communion. Be in communion with each other.  Accident. Coincidence. Of course. But then …. afterwards thinking about it - we began to become friends - by being friendlier to each other.

The second time was in upstate New York in a parish mission. I was giving out communion and I began to notice hands: rough powerful hands - maybe a auto mechanic; the wrinkled hands of an old lady with a walker; a teenage girl with a ball point penned name of a boy on the palm of her hand; and a girl who had just the palm of her hands - with tiny, tiny skin beads where fingers should be. It hit me rather strongly that Jesus reaches out to everyone to feed.

I also remember a moment during Eucharistic adoration in our retreat house chapel at Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania. I got stuck in the sacristy doing something after the Saturday night Mass. I had put Jesus in the Bread in the Monstrance - and put it on the altar. The practice there for was everyone clear out of the chapel - except one person who knelt in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. They would pray for 22 or 25 or 32 minutes all through the night depending on the number of people on retreat. The lights in the chapel were made very low - mainly from candles on the altar. Well, I finally finished my task in the sacristy and walked out into the sanctuary - to  head towards the door in the back of the out of that chapel. Surprise. I tripped over a body on the floor in the semi-darkness. I was younger and caught myself on a bench. I didn’t know who the person on the floor was, but he did say, “I’m sorry.” I said, “Okay, no problem.” 

The next day a guy said to me, “Sorry, I might have hurt you last night.”  I said, “No problem.”  But I asked him, “What were you doing on the floor.” Len, this enormous guy, a plumber, says to me, “That’s how I pray in front of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, it’s a long story. We were digging this big ditch and my son was down in a hole. We should have used a caisson. My mistake. Well the sides caved in on him. He was buried and everyone was screaming. I said a prayer to Jesus and to save my son. I grabbed a shovel and dug  furiously. Finally the shovel hits his head and I saved my son. Well from every moment after that Jesus has been present to me - especially in the Eucharist. He saved my son! Why wouldn’t I fall down on the ground every chance I get and adore him.”

If we look back on our life, I think we all have those kinds of signs - subjective signs - surprise signs - much more than so called “miracles’.

CONCLUSION

What is your faith build upon?

If it’s just the signs you want, what do you do if you don’t get them?

If you get surprise signs, take them, but build your faith on faith in Jesus Christ - and start shoveling. 

WON'T CHANGE

Quote for Today - March 11, 2013

"Forgiving the unrepentant is like drawing pictures on water."

Japanese Proverb

Question: Agree or disagree?