BORN AGAIN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Tuesday in the Second Week of Easter is, “Born Again!”

That idea, that image, that theme, comes from this 3^rd chapter of the Gospel of John - when Jesus tells Nicodemus, “You must be born again from above.”

And Nicodemus - like many of the main characters in the Gospel of John thinks literally. He doesn’t get the poetry and thinking patterns of Jesus. To him water is water. Wind is wind. And birth is your birthday - once.

CHANGE!

And Nicodemus - here in the 3^rd Chapter of John changes.  For him it's a process. In 7:50 we hear him speaking up for Jesus. In 19:39 he comes with Joseph of Arimathea who asked Pilate if they could remove the body of Jesus after his death. Like many of these main characters in the gospel of John, Nicodemus changes. He is reborn. It happens to the Samaritan Woman in Chapter 4. It happens to the cripple in Chapter 5. It happens to the Bread in Chapter 6. It begins to happen to the guards in Chapter 7. It happens to the men who want to stone the woman caught in adultery in Chapter 8. It happens to the blind man in Chapter 9. It doesn’t happen to the Jews who want to stone Jesus to death on the feast of the dedication in Chapter 10. It happens to Lazarus in Chapter 11.

Jesus is all about calling people to change - to be reborn. Just as water can change and become wine - and wine can change and become the Blood of Jesus -  just as wheat can change and  become flour and then can become bread and then bread can change and become the Body of Christ, so too we can change.

CHANGE OR REMAIN STUCK?

Jesus came and called people to change - to conversion -  to become brand new - to be born again.

When was the last time I have changed: how I see life, how I see another, how I see family members, how I see myself? When was the last time I changed? 

It should be happening every other day - like watching the winds shake the trees - like watching the trees come back to life in the spring - so too we should see ourselves shaking at times - budding at times - growing at times - becoming new a lot of times.

Last night I was talking to a couple at dinner and I said how stupid I thought the Russians were when it comes to tourism. I said they could make a lot more money if they didn't appear to look so cold and Stoic with their faces at  the customs and passport checking in places when we went to St. Petersburg in Russia. The husband said, “I said the same thing to some Russians once and they said to me, ‘Do you know how tough your custom agents are when we come into America?”

I thought for a moment and then said, “I never thought of it that way before. Thank you!”

Will I ever make my first statement again? I hope not. Time will tell.

We’ve all heard the saying that a cat has nine lives?

How about human beings?

I once heard a talk on Frank Sinatra. The speaker was saying that Frank Sinatra had 4 lives. Critics said he was finished when he broke up his marriage with Nancy to marry Ava Gardner for her third marriage. He was a national hero at that point. The bobby soxers swooned over him. When he fell in love with Ava,  he disappointed his fan base. However, it wasn’t his end - nor hers. The speaker told us that Sinatra had 3 more lives after that.

I always like to quote Glenn Close, as Iris Gaines, the old girl friend of Roy Hobbs - Robert Redford - in the movie, The Natural - how we all have 2 lives. 

Roy Hobbs said to Iris, “My life didn’t turn out the way I expected.”

Iris says, "You know, I believe we have two lives."

Roy says, "How ... what do you mean?"

Iris says, "The life we learn with and the life we live with after that."

Think about that one.

A relative once said to me, “You’ve changed in this new assignment." 

It wasn’t here. 

I was intrigued by that comment and asked, “How so?” 

“Well, you seem so different.”  

I couldn’t get a specific - so I didn’t find that comment too helpful. 

I would hope each birthday, each job, each assignment, each experience, can find us wiser or more experienced. So that comment was heard - and even though it wasn't specific, it got me thinking.

CONCLUSION

The Gospel of John keeps challenging us to growth - to new life. I love John 10:10b where Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life and that you live it to the full.”

Am I?

I think one practice would be to see ourselves as each character in the Gospel of John. Picture the Gospel of John as a mirror and see ourselves as Nicodemus, or the cripple,  or any of the characters in his story and then ask Jesus for help to be reborn into the image and likeness of God. Amen.

DIVINE MERCY 

Quote for Today - April 9, 2013

"If mercy were a sin, I believe I could not keep from committing it."

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153),  Life and Works of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, ed. by J. Mabillson

Drawing by some kid in St. Mary's Annapolis Elementary School

THY WILL BE DONE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Thy Will Be Done.”

When I read over the readings for the feast of the Annunciation - which was moved to today - because of Holy Week, - the phrase and prayer that I heard was, “Thy Will Be Done.”

The Psalm response we said was, “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”

The first reading from Isaiah is about asking the Lord for a sign - wanting to know what’s what, what does God want?  And Ahaz says stop wearying the Lord with requests - needing signs. Then he gives the great sign, the great quote, from Isaiah 7:14:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us!”  

Today’s second reading from Hebrews has the person praying saying two times loud and clear: “Behold, I come to do your will.”

And the gospel has Mary saying at the Annunciation that she is willing to be the Lord’s servant - the Lord’s handmaid.

So that’s why the title of my homily is, “Thy Will Be Done.”

WILL

If we listen to each other we use the word “will” all day long.

·        “I will do it?”

·        “Will you do me a favor?”

·        “Well, who do you think will do this?”

·        “I will try to get there by 3 PM.”

So what “will” means is very clear and very basic.

But what “will” means is sometimes not so clear.

Sometimes we don’t know what the other wants.  Don’t we say with some people, “Give me a clue please - just what you want me to do?”

And when it comes to God - what God’s will is - is often very tricky and very unclear.

Yet we pray in every Our Father, “Thy will be done - on earth as it is in heaven.”

I suggest you do some thinking about “will” - and I think it will bring good results.

I suggest you do some good thinking and reflecting on what “God’s will” means - and it will bring good results.

CONCLUSION

There are answers. Here are two: science and scriptures.

Most basic is science. Scientific reasoning teaches the message: do good and good things happen. Do bad things and bad things happen.  Not all the time - but in the long room, obviously yes. Sometimes someone makes it to 97 and they report that they smoked their entire life. However, in general I sense that smokers live 10 years less than non-smokers. If someone disagrees with that, it ain’t worth arguing about. Common sense days if you mess with Mother Nature - expect damaged earth and bodies. Drive while drunk, expect accidents. Don’t exercise - expect weaker health.

Second answer: scriptures. As Christians we read and hear the scriptures and we get good answers to what God’s will is.  So when we say, “Thy will be done!” we can mean it to say: I will try to be like Jesus and Mary. Live a live like theirs and I’ll be doing God’s will. I love the simple text in Mark. It was under a painting of Jesus in a retreat house where I was stationed: “He went around doing good.”

SHOWING 

DIVINE MERCY

Quote for Today - April 8,  2013


"Mercy to human beings
is more acceptable
than bathing at 
the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage,
and than all alms offered there."

Arjan - who died in 1606) in M.A. Macauliffe in The Sikh Religion

INTENT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Intent.”

When I sat down and read the readings for today - I found it interesting that the word “intent” hit me.

Intent.    I N T E N T   [Spell it out.]   Intent.

I don’t think I use that word in conversations - but maybe I use it in my brain - in the sense that sometimes - I’m trying to figure out someone else’s intent.

Why did she say that? Why did he do that?

Intent?

SUPREME COURT

While driving along alone - sometimes I hear on C-Span radio -  U.S. Supreme Court cases and I now remember hearing the different justices using the word “intent” quite a bit.

For example someone might say, “I don’t believe that’s the intent of the Second Amendment - which is part of the Bill of Rights - the first 10 Amendments - the right to Keep and Bear Arms.”  Or lately I’ve been hearing that DNA has become more important than fingerprints - in police investigations. Would that fit under the intent of the Fourth Amendment - part of our Bill of Rights to be protected against unreasonable search and seizures?

Intent.

If you’ve even been on jury duty and you’re deciding a case - you sit there tying to figure out the intent of someone else.

Someone is sick or just lost a loved one - and we go to the card section of a store looking for a card that says just what we want it to say. It has to match our intent - whether we use that word or not.

Enough of that. What’s he getting at? What’s his intent in this sermon?

HOW TO READ THE SCRIPTURES: INTENT?

Well it hit me: why not use the intent question when it comes to reading the scriptures?

We just heard 3 readings - 3 different readings - as we do each Sunday - or 2 on each weekday. Why not ask: what’s the intent of this specific reading? Why did someone choose this particular text for this particular Sunday? 

Now with my new word,  I’ll ask: What was their intent?

In a way, it’s good that we don’t know, because that might limit homilies. If it’s left as unsure, then a lot more possibilities can be looked at. The jury is still out.

It’s like going to the movies with 3 other people and we’re having something to eat afterwards - and we’re talking about the movie and someone says, “Hey it sounds like we went to 4 different movies.”

I can also ask why did Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, the Acts of the Apostles or the Book of Revelation or any book or letter, put a particular story or comment into their story?  What was their intent?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

At the end of today's gospel from John he actually spells out why he put in his gospel what he put in his gospel. He says, "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name." Now that might be clearest statement of intent in the whole Bible. [Cf. John 20:30]

Looking at today’s gospel from John we hear the story of the disciples in the Upper Room after Jesus died.  Why did John add the detail that the doors were locked? Does that give a hint of his intent? He seems to indicate his motive or intent was the apostle’s fear of the Jews. They too could be rounded up and killed like Jesus.

Or was his intent that like Thomas - we’re allowed to have doubts - but blessed are those who believe even if they don’t see - if they don’t put their hands into the cuts and holes in Jesus’ hands? Up until the last  quarter of the last century, this Sunday was called Doubting Thomas Sunday.

Or was his intent mercy - divine mercy and forgiveness - that our God is a forgiving God with unlimited divine mercy? So since John Paul II, St. Faustina and EWTN, this Sunday is called Divine Mercy Sunday as well.

Intent?

In the meanwhile I look at the statue of Jesus as Divine Mercy with rays of colored light shining out of the center of his chest - and wonder: what is meaning of this? Now I might use the word, “intent”.

For years I’ve been wondering if it arose out of the forgetting of the image of Jesus with his Sacred Heart - seen outside his chest - as in the statue of Jesus here in our sanctuary. Did one die and the other statue rise? 

Intent?  What happened here?

Are both of them telling us the great message that it’s God’s intent that we know that he loves us - so he sent his Son to show us that and tell us that?

And we need to be reminded of that love - so writers from the very beginning put that message into words - so  artists from the very beginning of our Church - sculpted that message into images and statues - like the Good Shepherd - and the great ikons of Jesus in the Eastern Churches whose eyes seem to look right into us or through us at times - and the great message of the sacred heart we find in the messages of St. Gertrude and St. Bonaventure, then St. Marguerite Marie Alacoque and St. John Eudes - with the 12 Promises of Jesus - and the visions and the medals of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary that millions have worn - and promoted by the Jesuits and so many.

Intent? Is the bottom line simply:  God loves us?

Question: have we experienced that love and mercy yet? Have we heard that love and mercy yet?

US - OUR INTENT

Then it hit me. This sermon, this message can be popcorn compared to a steak or salmon or crab cake dinner - until we move it into our chest, into our heart, into ourselves?

There we are in our upper room - in our brain - in our being - and we keep that door locked - for fear of this or fear of that.

What would it be like if Jesus breaks through our thickness and says, “Peace!”

What would it be like if Jesus breaks through our walls and tells us who he really is - what his intent is?

It’s peace. It’s mercy. It’s forgiveness. It’s realization. It’s then being sent.

This is his intent - and a lot more.

Okay - and many of us are like Thomas - and we have doubts.

I sense that the intent of John in today’s gospel is saying, “You too. You who have doubts. Jesus is bringing you peace and forgiveness as well.”

You too are being sent.

And so many of us are not looking at Jesus and his mercy and his forgiveness - but only at our mistakes and our feeling of not being forgiven. We still haven’t heard his word from the cross: “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”

THE PAPER - FILL OUT THE PAPER

How many times have we gone to the doctor and the lady at the desk hands us a piece of paper - with tiny print - and tells us to check the boxes?

And we say out loud, “Okay” and inwardly, “Oh no!”

It hit me last night - while preparing this - wouldn’t it be great to have a great check list of intents?

Wouldn’t it be great to have a great check list of life motivations?

I remembered Abraham Maslow's 1943 triangle of the 5 levels of human needs - what people want. It starts with Physical Needs: food, shelter, sex, sleep. It moves up to Safety Needs - protection, job security, money. It moves up to Social Needs - belonging, family, society, intimacy. It moves up to Esteem Needs - achievements, respect, status, etc. It moves up to Self Actualization - personal growth and on and on and on.

Maslow has been criticized - as being too narrow and too one culture. What about the poor? Can’t they have some of the higher needs fulfilled - even though they are still poor? Others have made the triangle have 8 levels - moving transcendence and God into the picture a bit more and what have you?

Intent?

That’s his piece of paper. That’s other’s list of intents?

What would mine look like? That’s your homework for this week?

Jot down what makes you tick.  Jot down what do you want. What makes you run. What do you get out of the bed in the morning for - besides the bathroom?  I have to say that because that’s what all those over 65 say every time to that question?

Write down your list and then put a circle around your top intent - or top 3 intents? Check them off. To prime the pump. Write down all the intents and motivations that you can come up with?

CONCLUSION: CHECK OFF WHICH OF THESE ARE YOUR MOTIVATION

_____ Comfort.

_____ Control.

_____ To be loved.

_____ To love and be loved.

_____ Thy will be done.

_____ My will be done.

_____ To go out the door in the morning, easy drive, good work, stock market up, my teams are over 500, catch a smile or a chat or two that are life giving, to have a great spouse and family to come home to.

_____ To know what’s what, how things work, what’s going on around here.

_____ To be known.

_____ To have money in my wallet, gas in my tank and a great spouse and family to come home to,

_____ To not go it alone - but to be with another and others.

_____ To be right

_____ To be right and others to see that I’m right and they are wrong

_____ Life, liberty and a chance to pursue happiness,

_____ To have a bucket and to have my bucket list and to have a chance to check off, did that one, next, before I kick the bucket.

_____ Good food,

_____ Good movies and TV,

_____ Good games

_____ To not be controlled

_____ To forgive

_____ To be forgiven - as in trespasses as in sins,

_____ To have my daily bread -

_____ To help all have their daily bread,

_____ To do my fair share of the work,

_____ Assurance, blessed assurance,

_____ To get to heaven

_____ To avoid hell, here and hereafter,

_____ To know that I was here - I contributed - or to be known that I was here and I contributed.

_____ That others hear a great eulogy - when I die -  that I did loved and made a difference.

_____ To heal and be healed.

_____ To be appreciated.

_____ To be missed.

DIVINE  MERCY

Quote for Today - April 7, 2013

"Mercy is not ordinarily held to consist in pronouncing judgment on what has happened to others,  but in relieving their necessities; in giving aid to the poor, not in inquiring how good they are."

St. Ambrose, De Nabuthe, VIII, 40, 395

ADMITTING TO GOD 

"YOU ARE GOD!"

Quote for April 6,  2013

"I gave in, and admitted that God was God."

C. S. Lewis - "On relinquishing atheism at age 31 in 1929, quoted by William Griffin, Clive Staples Lewis, Harper and Row, 1986" on page 190 of Webster's II, New Riverside Desk Quotations, James B. Simpson, Home and Office Edition.

 WHAT HAVE

YOU CAUGHT?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Easter Friday is, “What Have You Caught?”

Someone sees someone getting out of their car or coming off a pier or a boat with a fishing rod in hand and they ask, “Caught anything?”

People turn on TV or their computer or phone - in mid-morning and/or 4 in the afternoon to see how their stocks are going or went that day.  “Caught anything?

People come home from work to each other and say, “How was your day?”

People come home from golf and someone says, “How did you do?”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

In today’s gospel story - John 21: 1-14 -  Jesus is standing on the shore of the lake and they think he’s gone forever - and they were fishing all through the night - and he yells out, “Have you caught anything to eat?”

And they tell him, “Nothing! We have fished the whole night long and caught nothing!”

And Jesus tells them to cast their nets over the right side of their boats and they do and catch a lot of fish.

At that they realized it was Jesus - the Lord!

And they come to shore with their catch - 153 fish to be exact - and they see Jesus there with bread and fish on a charcoal fire - and the celebration begins.

They have recaught Jesus - whom they had considered the catch of their lives.

FISH

They were fishermen. Jesus was a carpenter.

In the beginning of the gospels Jesus caught the first four of his disciples at the shore: Peter and Andrew, James and John and told them from now on you’ll be catching people.

Fish - became the early Christian symbol: Christians here.

Fish - in Greek IXTHUS - I standing for Jesus -  There is no J in Greek - X for CHRISTOS - Christ,  the Anointed one - TH standing for Theos in Greek - the word for God - becoming Deus  in Latin - the word for God - becoming Deity in English or God - U - for UIOS - Son - and S for SOTER - Savior.

Fish - IXTHUS - seen today on many cars. This person is a Christian - or trying to be a follower of Jesus.

THREE GOSPEL SCENES  

There are three scenes in the gospels about “What have you caught?” 

In Matthew 13: 47-48 - Jesus tells about the kingdom of heaven being like someone who throws their net into the sea and they catch all sorts of stuff. Then they sit on the shore and pick out the good stuff - and put it in a basket - and the stuff not wanted is put on a pile to burn.

In Luke 5: 1-11 we have the call of Simon Peter - who is washing his nets at his boat at the Lake of Gennesaret. Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and tells him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then Jesus preaches to the crowd from Simon’s boat. Then after speaking,  Jesus tells Simon to launch out into the deep waters and lower his nets for a catch.

And Simon says that they had been working hard all night long and have caught nothing - but he adds, "At your command I’ll do it."

He does and  their nets were tearing because of all the fish they caught. They called to their partners for help and they filled the other boat - along with his own boat - till they were in danger of sinking.

At that Peter says to Jesus - "Depart from me for I am a sinful man."

And Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you’ll be catching people.”

Our first pope happened that day!

The third story was today’s gospel: the Resurrection Repeat of that second story

WHAT HAVE YOU CAUGHT?

Down, down, down deep in the deepest part of the lake called my soul - every human being thinks about this question: "What Have I Caught?" What Have I Done With My Life?

If we make it to old age - that question sits there on the shore of our life.

If we are a Christian - we might fear Jesus at the last Judgment looking at our life: what have you done with your life? Are you a sheep or a goat? Have you loved your brothers and sisters? Have you fed the hungry? Have you visited the sick? [Cf. Matthew 25:31-46.]

We know, we have heard, the gospel stories about how nice Jesus is - how forgiving is the Father of the Prodigal Son. We know of God’s unconditional love and understanding of us poor suckers - poor sinners - but down deep - that fear question lingers at our lake.

What have I caught?

We know we go into eternity - naked as we came into this life.

We go without net worth, size of house, number of children, name of car, degrees, where we’ve been, whom we met?

We go with an empty feeling - an uh oh! feeling.

Everyone…..

Albert Camus once wrote something that hits me at the age of 73. “I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day.”  [The Fall (La Chute), 1956].

CONCLUSION

Erik Erikson is famous for his 8 Stages of Life.  I’m sure many of you studied them in college or read about them somewhere. They are really worth studying at any time.

The first stage of life is very significant. The little baby, the little child, their first task in life is to learn Basic Trust. When I cry, I’m held. When I’m afraid,  mommy or daddy are right there as my strong support. The opposite is Basic Mistrust. Imagine going through the whole of life with the inability to trust anyone?  I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard several times the statement, “The bigger the problem,  the earlier the problem.” 

I’ve also heard the comment:  "If you want to heal someone, you have to start with their grandmother."

Thank God for grandparents who sometimes make up for horrors in the minds of little children.

Erikson’s other stages really hit me - but the 8^th, the one I’m in now, really hits me.

It’s Ego Integrity vs. Despair.

When I look at my life - as I walk my old age walks - or when I sit in my chair at the wedding banquet and see all  those young people and old people dancing the Chicken Dance - or what have you - I ask Shakespeare’s question: what stands for my life? What have I done? [Cf. Sonnet 2]

I love Jesus right there - he says we can enter the garden at the last hour. He tells the thief on the cross he can come into paradise with Jesus that Friday - so it really is a good Friday.

Looking at today’s gospel,  I hear Jesus saying, "Lower your nets into your life - and see what you have caught?"  Some good stuff and some bad stuff.

Celebrate a meal with Jesus enjoying the Good Stuff of one’s life. Celebrate with fish and bread. Even if we have caught nothing or very little,  Jesus will feed us.

Do we believe that?

I do!

THE LONG 

LITTLENESS OF LIFE

Quote for Today - April 5, 2013

"Magnificently unprepared
For the long littleness of life."


Frances Cornford [1886-1960], Rupert Brook [1915]

Question: Am I?

SPACE BETWEEN EACH OTHER

Quote for Today - April 4,  2013

"Once the realization 
is accepted
that even between 
the closest human beings
infinite distances continue to exist,
a wonderful living side by side
can grow up, 
if they succeed in living 
the distance between them
which makes it possible
for each to see the other
whole against the sky."

Rainer Maria Rilke [1875-1926], Letters, translated by Jane Barnard Green and M.D. Herter Norton

RESURRECTION FOR ALL

Quote for Today - April 3,  2013

"The risen Christ, when he shows himself to his friends, takes on the countenance of all races and each can hear him in his own tongue."  

Henri de Lubac [1896-1991], Catholicism, 1927

Linocut [1960], "He Liveth" Oseloka  O. Osadebe

GOD IS NOT MALICIOUS

Quote for the Day - Tuesday April 2, 2013

"The Lord God is subtle, but malicious he is not."

Albert Einstein,  [1879-1955], Inscription in Fine Hall, Princeton New Jersey

Picture: God Is Love from The Raw Canvas Gallery

JUST SAY "NO!"

Quote for the Day - April 1, 2013

"My unhappiness was the unhappiness of a person who could not say no."

Dazai Osamu Tsushima Shuji [1909- 1948]

Poster October 2001

STYROFOAM CUP

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Easter Sunday Mass is, “Styrofoam Cup.”

Easter Sunday has a lot of energy - so I figured I have to catch your energy attention quickly - because like the disciples in today’s gospel - we’re all on the run - sometimes physically, sometimes mentally. So like Father Tizio, our pastor, I looked for a prop. He’s the best I’ve seen using props to catch people’s attention. So I grabbed this Styrofoam cup.  What I want to say - is like a conversation at a coffee break more than at a conversation called a “homily” or a sermon.

So I have here a Styrofoam cup. [Hold it up!] It's iinteresting material. There are billions and billions of these thrown away each day. Styrofoam cups - just sit there in landfills - and will be there for hundreds and hundred of years to come.

The title of my homily is, “Styrofoam Cup.”

LAS VEGAS CONVENTION

A speaker at an annual invention and gadget convention in Las Vegas a few years back asked a question in his talk, “What was the greatest invention in the 20^th Century? Was it the computer, the microwave oven, the cell phone, the computer chip, the bar code, polio vaccine, etc. etc. etc.?”  

Then he said, “It was the Styrofoam cup.” That caught people’s attention - who might have been looking off to the side or thinking about something else in their mind or they were looking at pictures of amazing gadgets in brochures they picked up at the convention. Various folks like to pick up a bulletin before Mass - just in case the homily isn’t so hot. 

Then he said holding a Styrofoam cup in the air, [Hold cup in hand - as a prop!] “Why is this the greatest invention of the 20^th Century? Well you put a cold drink in it and it keeps it cold. You put a hot drink in it and it keeps it hot. [Pause] How does it know?”

I don’t remember where I read that. I’ve never forgotten it - and thought, “Someday I’ll use that in a sermon, but how?”

THIS STYROFOAM CUP

Now something about this particular Styrofoam cup. [Hold it up again!] It was a Thursday evening - in a small parish on the Ohio River - right across from West Virginia. Another priest and I had just finished preaching a Parish Mission. On the last night of a parish mission there was always a social with cookies and punch, brownies and coffee or tea.

I’m standing there talking to this guy who told me the following story. A young girl was going to Potomac State College in West Virginia and she wasn’t doing too well. In fact, her marks were all in the failure zone. The academic dean called her in and asked her, “Why are you here?” Immediately she answered, “I came here to be went with, but I ain’t been went with yet.”

I said, “Great story!” Then I found myself  looking for something to write it down on. That’s when I grabbed this Styrofoam cup and asked the man to tell the story again and I wrote it on this cup. “I came here to be went with, but I ain’t been went with yet.”

I’m glad I wrote this on this Styrofoam cup - because if it was on a napkin or a piece of paper, it would have disappeared a long time ago. I brought this cup home and it was on a book shelf in my room in my last assignment in Lima, Ohio for a couple of years. Then it went on my shelf here in Annapolis. I always had the idea, I’ll use it in a homily some day. But how?

The title of my homily is, “Styrofoam Cup.”

A FEW GOOD MEN: COLONEL JAFFEE - JACK NICHOLSON

In the movie, A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson - as Colonel Nathan R. Jessep -  is being questioned in the court room by Lt. Junior Grade Daniel Kaffee - a young navy lawyer - played by Tom Cruise.

There is a pause - just before the most important moment in the movie when Jack Nicholson says to the young lawyer Kaffee, “Now, are these the questions I was really called here to answer? Phone calls and foot  locker?  Please tell me that you have something more, Lieutenant. These two Marines are on trial for their lives. Please tell me their lawyer hasn’t pinned their hopes to a phone bill."

Pause! There is another significant pause right then and there. Colonel Nathan R. Jessep - Jack Nicholson - steps down and the young lawyer, Danny Kafee says, “I’m not finished yet.” It hit’s Colonel Jessep button as he is told to go back to his seat in the box. It’s then that Tom Cruise hits Jack Nicholson with the big question - whether he ordered a Code Red or not - that these two men on trial were ordered to punish PFC William Santiago - who dies in the punishment.

That scene before that last comment challenges me big time - not every time - but many times - because I can sometimes hear people in church saying, “Don’t tell me you brought me into church on Easter Sunday morning to talk about Styrofoam cups - and a joke about something someone said in a Las Vegas convention. Tell me you have something more than that?

Pause -  long pause………………….

JESUS

I do.

It’s the question: who do you fill your life with?

[Gesture with Styrofoam cup!] Who do you fill the cup of your life with?

What do you fill the cup of your life with?

Much of the stuff we spend our time and life with will end up - lasting for hundreds of years buried in a landfill.

Question: Will we and the people we have spent our lives with end up buried in some landfill called a grave  - and that’s it. Is our life story simple: born, lived, died, buried - with a stone that marks the spot? Is that all there is?

Question repeated: We spend our life - here, there, and everywhere - and then we’re buried like a Styrofoam cup in a landfill. Is that all there is? 

Here is where we lawyer preachers better do a good job in this courtroom called church - to convince you the jury - about what’s what.

Here is where this speaker at this gadget invention and convention world - better speak up on what’s the best buy for you to make in this life.

Jesus came to us to be went with. Have we went with him yet?

Jesus came to Mary and Joseph. He came to Peter, Andrew, James and John, Martha and Mary - and Mary of Magdala - and many others.

Some  went with him as a great teacher - and some followed him because of his miracles. But check it out: in the end - when Jesus was being crucified there on Calvary, where were they - all those people who had been following him? Mary, his mother, John, a few others, and Mary of Magdala - as we heard in today’s gospel were there. But where were the others?

The Book of Revelation - chapter 3 - has a very scary answer about where the others are. They have become like lukewarm coffee in a Styrofoam cup - just sitting there doing nothing - ready to be tossed out.  Have you ever picked up your Styrofoam cup of coffee and it's "uuh" and you spit it out - if you're alone and near a sink? Maybe Styrofoam cups are not the greatest invention of the 20th century. The author of Revelation writes, "The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God's creation, says this: 'I know your works; I know that your are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."

Question: when it comes to Jesus are you hot or cold or lukewarm?

Question: as the old Negro Spiritual put it? “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?  Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they put him in the tomb? Were your there when they put him in the tomb? Sometimes it makes me wonder, wonder, wonder, were you there …. when…?

We are here because we believe Jesus rose from the dead. We are here because we want to walk with him alive - that he is filling the cup of our life.

We are here because we want to come to church and meet him like Mary of Magdala met him that Easter Sunday morning - and she discovered him alive - thinking at first he was a gardener.

Today’s gospel is very interesting. It’s all about surprise!  It has a surprise ending - a Son Rise ending. The tomb was not the end - but the beginning. The church is not a tomb - it’s a beginning.

In today’s gospel from John,  this Mary of Magdala is the featured discoverer that the tomb is the empty. Jesus was buried in Chapter 19 of John. Chapter 20 begins with Mary of Magdala - of all people - going to the tomb. It’s empty. She runs to Peter and the other disciple - the beloved disciple - usually considered John - but it doesn’t say that. They run to the tomb. The other disciple runs faster and gets there first, but waits for Peter.

There’s a message there.

He lets Peter go in first - but the beloved disciple is the first to believe.

There’s a message there.

Some think the beloved disciple is  John. Some think it’s any person who falls for Jesus - who “went withs” Jesus - who believes in Jesus - and rises with Jesus.

It’s funny that those who put together our scripture readings don’t give us on any Sunday of the year reading -  the next scene in Chapter 20 of John. Peter and the other disciples go home. John Chapter 20: 11-18 - has this great story of Mary of Magdala hangs around. She sees someone outside the tomb. She thinks it’s a gardener. It’s Jesus who calls Mary by name. She experiences Jesus in a one to one relationship. She embraced Jesus with a great hug, a great embrace. Come to church this Tuesday morning you’ll hear the reading, but it doesn’t make it for a Sunday reading.

Why? I don’t know.

CONCLUSION

I think the question that the gospels are asking us is the same question the academic dean asked that girl who was failing at Potomac State College, “Why are you here?”

And adding one word, I think the answer many of us give is the answer that girl gave back to the dean, “I came here to be went with God and I ain’t been went with yet.”

The Easter message and Easter hope is that we all meet up with Jesus Christ here and we then go with him into our life - into our work - into our relationships - and we no longer feel like a failure - but a person alive - knowing we live here and hereafter. We have discovered Jesus is not a mere Styrofoam cut out figure - who died and was buried - some 2000 years ago. Nope we are those who believe he is risen - alive - and walking with people called Christians - who are going with him.  We believe He is God amongst us. Alleluia. Alleluia. 

EASTER  MEANS ....

Quote for Today - Easter Sunday - March 31,  2013



"Easter means - 
hope prevails over despair.
Jesus reigns as Lord of Lords,
         and King of Kings.
Oppression and injustice and suffering
can't be the end of the human story.
Freedom and justice,
peace and reconciliation,
are his will for all of us,
black and white,
in this land and throughout the world.
Easter says to us
that despite everything to the contrary,
his will for us will prevail,
love will prevail over hate,
justice over injustice and oppression,
peace over exploitation and bitterness."

Bishop Desmond Tutu, Crying in the Wilderness, 1982

ON THE OTHER SIDE

OF A TWIST OR A TURN

Quote for today - March 30, 2013

"In nature there are few sharp lines."

A.R. Ammons [1926-2001]

There's life,
there's death,
why not the twist
and the turn
in the story,
called "Resurrection"?