SUFFERING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 23 Monday in Ordinary Time  is, “Suffering.”

Yesterday in The New York Times  - in the Sunday Review Section -  there was a front page article entitled, “The Value of Suffering.”

As of 11 AM  this morning there were 241 comments from all over the world - on line - expressing thoughts etc. about the article.

The article was by one of my favorite writers, Pico Iyer. I spotted the large print title of the article first - then noticed the author - who travels the world - making comments about life as it is lived everywhere.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Then I noticed this morning - in today’s first reading from Colossians - that St. Paul spells out some of his comments about sufferings.  He begins by saying,

“I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.” [Colossians 1: 24-26]

In the article on suffering by Pico Iyer, there is no mention of Christianity. However, there are a few in the comments by others that follow.

For the Christian, the cross with Christ on it is our symbol.

Christ on the cross stands center stage!

In our church here, Christ on the cross is loud and big and clear.

Christ on the Cross hangs there to help all human beings deal with suffering.

Paul is saying amongst other things - that he sees his sufferings working to help the rest of Christ’s Body - the Church - others - along with the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

Being a Christian - what are your comments - what are your insights - about dealing with the crosses and sufferings of life?

ST. PETER CLAVER

Today - September 9 - is the feast of St. Peter Claver. I checked out his life - from the angle of suffering - having had the first reading and Pico Iyer’s article coming together with the issue of suffering.

Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit - who left Spain as a young Jesuit - for Cartagena - which is now part of Colombia in South America - where he was ordained in 1615. [1]

Cartagena was one of the chief centers for slaves coming to this hemisphere. 10,000 slaves arrived every year.

Peter Claver took on the ministry of reaching out to these folks - a ministry he took over from his predecessor, another Jesuit, Father Alfonso Sandoval - who did that for 40 years.

Peter Claver then does that for 40 years - meeting slaves at the boats with “food, bread, brandy, lemons and tobacco”. He gave them hope. He gave them instructions in the Christian faith - baptizing over 300,000 slaves. He protested and pleaded for them.

After all that, he ended up with 4 years of sickness. He became disable.  Moreover, he ended up basically neglected - and looked down upon by anyone of importance.

Yet his memory continued and he was canonized a saint in 1888.

BACK TO PICO IYER’S ARTICLE

Pico Iyer is not a Buddhist - but he gives a bit about the Buddha’s take on suffering in his article.

Suffering is part of life. In fact it’s the first rule of life for the Buddha.

The article gives example after example of violence and suffering - children and parents dying - destruction by people and destruction by storms - and nature.

The article - if I read it correctly - makes various observations about suffering. Here are some of them:

• There is plenty of suffering.It can wake us up to what is really important - getting us to listen to ourselves down deep.
• It can wipe us out.
• People do stupid things.
• Who said, “Life is easy!”
• It’s part of life - like the dew on the grass in the morning.
• We can give up or we can do our best.
• We can change our heart and mind and deal with suffering.
• Suffering can get people to help one another.
• Sometimes we’re given an insight - or a sight - that gives us new understandings.

Near the end of the article he talks about the Dalai Lama - who at 23 - was told one afternoon to leave his home that evening - to prevent further fighting by Chinese troops and Tibetans around his palace.

He did.

He never did  get back home in 52 years. He left friends, home, a small dog. Two days later he heard all his friends were dead.

He realized being out of Tibet he had the opportunity to spend the rest of his life trying to make life better for others.

The article ends by saying two things: suffering has been around and always will be around - like the dew -  and there is always something we can do.

NOTES

[1] Leonard Foley, O.F.M.  Saint of the Day, Volume 2, “Peter Claver, priest (1581-1654) pp. 77-79. I make my comments based on what I read in this book.

GETTING IN TOUCH

WITH THE STUFF 

IN THE BASEMENT 

OR IN THE ATTIC!

Quote for Today - September 9, 2013

"A real book is not one that's read, but one that reads us."

W. H. Auden, recalled at his death, September 28, 1973

Questions:

What are your favorite 5 books?

Name a book that has read you - got you to go down into your basement or up into your attic - and you started talking to yourself about stuff you should have talked to yourself - a long time ago?

UNDERNEATH

THE BOTTOM LINE

[The following is a story homily for this 23 Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C. The Gospel is  Luke 14: 25-30.]

Everyone who ever knew him, knew him to be the perfect gentleman: the perfect son, the perfect father, the perfect spouse, the perfect brother, the perfect neighbor, the perfect boss, the perfect person.

All his life - he did what was right - never once did he veer off course. Being and doing what is right - was what he thought was the bottom line. “Of course it is,” he thought. “Isn’t that what God wants of all of us?”

Yet, Jack thought, "Something is wrong!" 

There ... he said it to himself - “Something is radically wrong with me!” “Something is missing!” 

So down through the years - he felt - on and off - the itch - the inner sort of twitch - that maybe he should be making some kind of switch in his soul - for something more - or different - or what have you. 

But what?

That scared him - but never once did he tell any of this to his wife - or anyone else - about these inner scratches on the inside skin of his soul.

He went to every game his son - as well as every game his daughter -  played - as well as every art show his wife, Jill, exhibited her paintings. He gave nods to people in the car next to him at long red lights in city heavy traffic - as well as the guard at the front door at the bank he worked.

Enough of that - you got it - Jack was a straight A student and a straight A person.

So from the outside people saw Jack as one of those people who have life radically right. 

From the inside, at times Jack sensed that life was supposed to be different than this life he was living.

At Mass that September Sunday - when the Gospel was read - he heard the word “HATE”. 

"HATE!"

That was a foreign word to him.

It was like the name of a one word horror movie on the marquee movie listings outside the mall - a movie he would never see.

“HATE!”

Jesus was telling great crowds traveling with him that if they want to be his disciple,  they would have to hate their father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, and even their own life.

The priest preaching after that gospel tried to backtrack a bit. He explained that the word “hate” was a stark Jewish way of speaking in early Christian communities. Someone would  say, “Jesus said, ‘You can’t let your families - or reputation - or worries what others in the village might say, if you want to start following me.’”

The stress was: “If you want to follow Jesus you’re going to be considered different - strange - even laughed at. If you want to follow Jesus, you have to expect the cross. You have to expect death to self.”

Jack said to himself: “I have to think about this!”

“HATE!”

He kept thinking, “I can’t hear Jesus saying that - to hate even one’s family members - if you want to be my follower.  All my life I’ve been trying to love everyone - even the difficult ones. Now I have to hate even those I love. Something’s tricky here and I don’t get it.”

“HATE!”

The priest that Sunday morning was repeating himself. Jack thought that he too must be having troubles with that word “hate.” 

The priest said, “Look it up on your computer. Type into Google, ‘Hate. Luke 14: 26.’ You’ll find out that most  translate the original Greek word “MISEO” as hate. 

The priest that Sunday morning continued that the word “hate” is tough and rough - so some translations give notes saying that this was a Jewish way of speaking  - saying bluntly - that nothing should separate us from the love of Christ - that Christ should come first.

That rang some bells for Jack.  But he still sort of couldn’t hear Jesus walking around telling people, “Love me. Make me # 1. Make me first." 

He could hear Jesus saying to make his Father, God Our Father,  first, but not me, myself and I - first. No.

Jack could hear Jesus’ disciples saying that. He could hear St. Paul saying that. He could hear Matthew, Mark, Luke and John saying that, - but he couldn’t hear Jesus saying that. He could only hear Jesus saying: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Or “Love one another as I have loved you.”

“Love!”

“Hate!”

Jack then began wondering, “Does life boil down to love-hate relationships. Could both be the flip side of the other?”

He thought of his two kids when they were very little. If he held one, the other tried to squirm into his arms - till he learned to hold one in his left arm and the other in his right arm. That would work - for a time - sometimes - but one always seemed to want to be number 1.

So as he sat there in church,  as he was talking to himself about all this - lights kept going on. Question mark hooks kept hooking him.

He thought about his father - who was still living - but a couple of thousand miles away and retired. His mom had died 3 years ago: cancer. 

He thought, “I have give dad a call.”

He thought, “Jill and I have to go down to see him.”

He thought, “I have to get some alone time with him - to talk about these wonderings I have often had about him - from when I was small - what made him tick - what his questions were - what he wondered about me."

His father had been a president of a small company. A good education, good luck - as well as having the gift of being in a high energy family certainly helped his dad make it big in this world.

Jack and his three sisters  and an older brother - also got the best of a good education  - at home and at schools - so they  too did well.

Jack's mom always thought they had the perfect family.

Yet Jack still had that itch - that maybe there was something more - something more under that bottom line - that bottom line of loving one another.

At communion time - at that same Sunday Mass - the one with the gospel about hating dad, mom, family, everyone - and putting Christ first - something else hit Jack.

To be bread, to be wine, to be communion, which enables Jesus to get into us - starting as food - for him to get into our very inner being - underneath our bottom lines - Jesus had to die - like wheat which has to be cut down, crucified, crushed to become flour - then mixed and baked to become bread. It's just like grapes also being crushed to become wine.

He received communion.  

Jack got back to his bench in church and sort of knelt and sat next to his wife and kids. 

At that Mass all these thoughts were giving Jack glimpses of the whole scenario - of Jesus. 

He realized the Mass was about to end.  

He would be told to go in peace.

Then he got one more glimpse - one more insight - one more glimpse of Jesus. He said to Jesus - “Okay, now I see why we have to do this over and over and over again - this communion after communion - this Mass after Mass - to be in communion with you.”

His tongue was trying to dislodge some of the communion bread he felt was still felt caught in his back upper teeth on the left. 

He laughed to himself. "There I am  trying to be perfect again, to look perfect - to have nothing caught between my teeth. I guess that's why I always floss and brush my teeth. I have to be perfect."

He laughed at himself - because  that Sunday morning - he got it. He was digesting Jesus. 

He was thinking to himself, "These tiny glimpses - like these tiny bits of chewed bread - still stuck and mushy in his teeth and in his mind - maybe this is how Jesus works. Jesus gets in there under out teeth, under our skin, under our bottom lines - and tells us to be in communion with him - in the messy - in communion with our mom and dad, brothers and sister, spouse, children, the guard on the way into the bank. We have to die to self - like wheat cut down and grapes crushed - ooh that hurts - so that others can rise and be in communion with us and all."

Jack got it that his dad and mom, brothers and sisters, his wife Jill, their children, neighbors, strangers, people at work, customers - were not who he thought they were.

"Now to be in communion with them, I have to hate - kill - cut down - all my preconceptions of them - like that of Jesus - and let them rise from those deaths before me- so that I  can discover who they really are."

“Whoa!” Jack thought. "I need more time here in church - in this moment - to go underneath all these thoughts  ...." 

His kids and his wife were moving out of their church bench - heading for the back of church - for the parking lot.

“Ooops!” Jack thought as he stood up,  “Who said things have to be perfect?”  “Who really knows what the real bottom line is and what’s underneath it."

"Wait,” Jack thought as he too headed for the church door to catch up with his wife and kids, "what just happened here?"

JUST LOOKING,

JUST LISTENING

Quote for Today - September 8, 2013

"Basic research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I am doing."

Wernher von Braun

CIRCLES:
GETTING OUTSIDE
THE CIRCLE
CALLED, "ME"!

Quote for Today - September 7, 2013

"The only war  is the war you fought in. Every veteran knows that."

Allan Keller, N.Y. World-Telegram and Sun, August 1965

THE OLD 

AND THE NEW

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 22 Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Old and the New.”

We hear about both in today’s gospel - new wine, new wineskins, old wine, old wineskins. New cloth, old cloth.  [Cf Luke 5:33-39]

The old and the new.

In today’s first reading from Colossians - we have some mysterious words about Jesus. He is described as the first born of all creation. [Cf. Colossians 1:15-20]

That makes Christ forever old. Yet he is listed as the first born from the dead. That’s the theme of resurrection - which is the forever new. As soon as we die, because of Christ we who believe - we believe he’ll make us brand new all over again.

Bye, bye wrinkles. Welcome in new skin - the skin of a new baby.

It’s a win-win situation.

The title of my homily is, “The Old and The New!”

LIFE IS BOTH

Obviously, we know life is both.

We go into any house and we see the new and the old - and the older we get - the older the old.  Yet there’s always that something new - somewhere - a new TV, a new refrigerator, a new ramp that leads to the car - because of a wheelchair - a brand new metallic red wheelchair.

We spot a novel - the new - but we see the classics on a book shelf.  

We walk into a house and we say, “What’s new?”  And we get the latest news about each other’s family.  We don’t want old news - but after the new news, we revert to telling the old. We tell the old stories about the time we went to Barbados or Barcelona or Boston. We tell the story about how we almost won the state Spelling Bee in 1943. We talk about what our salary was in 1950.

Obviously, life is both the old and the new.

THIS  PLANET

The planets in our Solar System are dated from 5 to 15 billion years old. But what will we know in 4013 that we don’t know in 2013?

How old is old?  How new is new  Maybe new galaxies are being born this very minute, this very million years.

Yet on this old earth, each day mosquitoes and mice are being born - and there is a new song and a new dance and a new procedure for arthritis and aneurisms.  The newspapers give the new - the news - otherwise they go out of business. So too television….

Yet sometimes we love the old - TCM - Turner Classic Movies - present in Black and White - a great movie. I noticed at weddings when the Golden Oldies are played, the Golden Oldies get out on the dance floor.

I noticed at Baptisms of brand new babies, the joy in grandparents faces because the kid is going to be baptized in a baptismal garment that is over 100 years and it’s a family tradition to use it.

The old on the new…..

The Annapolis Historic Society sticks to it’s Rules and Regulations to preserve the past whenever someone wants to make new an old house.

And Williamsburg and Annapolis, St. Petersburg and Rome, keep featuring the old to new customers.

ANY NEW MESSAGES FROM ALL THIS:  SOME BEHOOVES

Are there any messages here?

I would think that it behooves us to carefully preserve our past - gather the pictures. Label them. Make sure they are passed down to someone who will also preserve them.  It behooves us to put in the will not only who we want to have a special table or sewing machine - but also it’s history and story. It behooves us to write our autobiography, our memoirs, our story, for generations to come.

I would think that it behooves us to listen to each other tell our stories - our old - not just to write them down - but to share them with each other.

I would think it behooves us to not become a broken record or an old cold cheeseburger on a soggy paper plate at a picnic, but to read, to think, to go figure, to take long walks, to use TV and lectures well, to get fresh takes on life - and discover areas of life and the planets we don’t know much about.

I would think it behooves us to talk to Christ daily - about out future eternity with him and those who have gone before him - to picture heaven as the great wedding banquet - in which all will dance before the Lord. Amen.  It behooves us to have faith - because of Christ - that these wrinkled skins of ours - holding old wine - will one day rise - body and soul - and become brand new bodies - Risen Bodies - filled with the Newness of the Eternal Christ. Amen.

THERE IS A GOD!

Quote for Today - September 6, 2013

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

C.S. Lewis, on relinquishing atheism at the age of 31 in 1929, quoted by William Griffin, Clive Staples Lewis,  Harper and Row, 1986

ART FOR 

YOUR SAKE

Quote for the Day - September 5, 2013

"You use a glass mirror 
to see your face; 
you see works of art 
to see your soul."

George Bernard Shaw [1856-1950]

HURT  ME

Quote for Today - September 4, 2013

"Religion to me has always been the wound, not the bandage."

Dennis Potter (1935-1994)

Questions: Where does that comment by Dennis Potter take you? Talk to one other person - one to one - and compare your takes with that person on this quote.  Does putting a picture of a crucifix change the comments?

SEEING THE 

GOOD THINGS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Seeing the Good Things!”

This morning I would like to preach on today’s Psalm Response - and just part of it. It’s a bit long: “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” It’s from Psalm 27.

For a homily and for a thought for the day - why not try to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living today?

I don’t know about you, but some days, I spot the dust  and the scratches and miss seeing the strength and beauty of the chair and the rest of the furniture.

I’m more an optimist than a pessimist - but some days I forget that - and see  the chalice being half empty - and it’s good to be reminded to see the fullness of the Lord in each day.

So today, let’s spot the good things that will appear on your paths or on your plate.

LET ME TRY TO POPULATE A LIST OF GOOD THINGS TO SEE

Today - let’s see the person who holds the door for us - not those who shoot by us and don’t even know we’re on the planet.

Today - let’s see the people here in church with us - instead of worrying about the drop outs - especially amongst our kids.

Today - let’s see the smiles and not the scowls.

Today - let’s see the person who gives us the right of way in traffic - and not the person who’s trying win the Indianapolis 500 the Annapolis 5 M.P.H.

Today’s let’s spot the 50 shades of green on the trees and the grass that carpets and decorates our city and neighborhoods.

Today - let’s see the glass half full - rather than water we spilled when we missed our mouth in trying to get an ice cube in our mouth.

Today - let’s see what we got done - rather than what we don’t get done - because we stopped to smell the flowers or we took the time to call someone to see how their mom did in her operation.

Today - instead of feeling the weight of the cross on our back, why not spot the cross on the top of this church - and think of its history down through the years - giving sailors a signal - I’m not that far from port, harbor and home.

Today - let’s see the good things that surround us in this land of pleasant living.

Today - let’s think of all those people - who never make the news- because they are honest. As St. Gregory the Great - an early Christian saint and pope - whose feast day is today - said, “The universe is not rich enough to buy the vote of an honest man.”

Today - let’s walk in the light - and not the darkness we heard about in today’s first reading. [1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11]

Today - let’s notice the cries to the Lord of others - instead of hearing their demons - as we heard about that guy in today’s gospel. [Luke 4:31-37]

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily was: Seeing the Good things. I’m preaching good  news -  to be grateful for all the good things that are going to happen to us today - in the land of pleasant living. 

ARGUING

Quote for Today - September 3, 2013

"You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to."

Brenda Ashford, Guideposts, August 2012

ALL  WORK 

AND NO PLAY 

MAKES FRANK 

AN UNHAPPY BOY

Quotes for Today - Labor Day - September 2, 2013

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - and Jill a wealthy widow."

Evan Esar

Or: "A society that gives to one class all the opportunities for leisure, and to another all the burdens of work, dooms both classes to spiritual sterility."

Lewis Mumford

PROVERBS AND PARABLES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C,  is, “Proverbs and Parables.”

“Proverbs and Parables” ….

Today’s first reading from the Book of Sirach - which is one of the Wisdom Books in the Bible - and is a great collection of proverbs -  has this comment: “The mind of a sage - a wise person - appreciates proverbs and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.” [Cf. Sirach 3:29]

Today’s gospel from Luke - our gospel for this Church Year - has the comment, “He told a parable to those who had been invited….” [Cf. Luke 14:7]

There they are: Proverbs and Parables - the title and the topic of this homily.

QUESTIONS

So I have 2 questions: What are the proverbs you use in your life?  What are the parables you use in your life?

I am assuming everyone has proverbs and parables in mind....

Wouldn’t it be wise  to know our proverbs and parables - the ones that we inwardly say - when we’re doing our day - especially when we come to a crossroad or a check point or an itchy situation? 

Wouldn’t it be wise to know the proverbs and parables that others use - that they think work for them.

If the answer to those questions are yes - then I assume it would be the wise to be more conscious of our inner workings with proverbs and parables. 

That’s the message of this sermon.

FOR EXAMPLE # 1

For example, I once worked at a retreat house - 1969 - 1976 -  along the New Jersey shore - right on the ocean. We had this big storm and the boardwalk we had along the property right above the ocean, got ripped up and tossed onto  the lawn - going towards our house - away from the ocean.

No boardwalk. So I got a hammer and nails. I was younger then. And every afternoon for about an hour I would take the loose boards - or I would pull boards loose from the wreckage - and bring them down to frame foundation of the old boardwalk - and redo the boardwalk.  Well, one day while banging nails into a board,  I found myself saying, “Board by board the boardwalk is built.”

And in time we had a boardwalk. It was the only thing I ever built. I got transferred a year after I finished my masterpiece - and I came back a year later - and my boardwalk was gone - replaced by a much longer and better boardwalk.

Today’s gospel says: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The boardwalk no longer existed on the ground - but it had become built into my brain. I had constructed a proverb - which was also a parable.

For the rest of my life since then, I have often found myself chopping away at a task - step by step - saying inwardly, “Board by board the boardwalk is built.”

Page by page the book is read. Word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, the sermon is written. Dish by dish the dishwasher is filled. Dish by dish the dishwasher is emptied.

It’s the same message in any 12 Step Program. A day at a time. A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with that first step. Piecemeal brings peace.

FOR EXAMPLE # 2

That first example came from a personal experience.  My second example comes from an old priest I was once working with. There was this lady at the place - it was not here - who could be difficult. This old priest would often say - after an incident,  “As my father used to say, ‘I’d give that lady a wide berth.'” That was around 1980 or so and I’ve said that inwardly many a time since - about various men and women.

IT’S THE SAME WITH PARABLES

It’s the same with parables and stories.

Not only do we find ourselves saying proverbs inwardly, proverbs like, “A stitch in time saves nine!” or “Practice what you preach!” - but we also refer inwardly to a bunch of inner stories that we use for how to deal with life.

And sometimes proverbs and parables - are interconnected.

FOR EXAMPLE # 3

Once upon a time, I was working with a priest named Tom.  This was from 1994-2002. We worked on the road out of St. Gerard's Parish, Lima, Ohio. Once in a homily he was giving, he told the story about visiting one of our rectories - priest houses. He said he had walked in and this other priest really beat on him verbally. Off to the side, and later on, another priest who saw the whole thing, said to him, “How could you let that guy beat on you like that?”

Tom answered, “Oh that was Charlie just being Charlie.”

That to me is the Charlie being Charlie parable.

I always hope something I say in a homily would help someone all these years like that comment in that homily has helped me.

When a similar thing happened to me, I have found peace inwardly saying, "Oh that's X just being X."

I’m sure you’ve heard us priests get nonsense off or stuff you disagree with. I’m sure some of you when our babble gets too much - when our words are on sand paper - you have thought, “Oh that’s Father X, just being Father X.”

Tom's message had the same message as the parable of the scorpion - which I’ve read in a dozen versions. Evidently, it has helped many people down through the years.

An old man was walking down a road along side a stream. He stops and sees a scorpion out on a dead tree limb. Slowly he works his way down the bank of the river sort of crawling towards the scorpion.

Just then two men are walking down that same road and they call out to the old man - struggling to get out onto the branch towards the scorpion, “What are you doing?”

The old man turned and said, “Oh I’m trying to save this scorpion out here. He’s going to fall and drown.”

One of the two men says, “Are you crazy? He’s going to sting and possibly kill you.”

And the old man says, “Well, his nature might be to sting and kill. It’s my nature to help and save.”

And he continued to work his way towards the scorpion. In some versions he’s stung by the scorpion. But the main message is that we do in life what our nature is - while others go through life as stingers.

When I’ve dealt with folks who can give a nasty sting - with some nasty comments - I try to remember that saying and that story - about the scorpion and about Tom -  that proverb and that parable - whenever I’m dealing with stingers.

CONCLUSION: TODAY’S GOSPEL

That’s my homily - short and sweet - as the proverb goes - to do some homework on what our personal proverbs and parables are.

Ooops - I better mention that today’s gospel has both a parable and a proverb. The parable is a reminder to not get filled up with self and want to sit in the seat to be seen. Nope Jesus’ parable has the message to take the back seat - and have others tell us to step up. Today’s parable then has the great proverb, “Everyone who humbles themselves will be exalted and everyone who exalts themselves will slip on a banana peel.”

Ooops! And the banquet in today’s gospel is this Mass - and guess who the poor, the crippled, the lamb and the blind who have been invited are?

PROVERBS

Quote for Today - September 1, 2013

"A proverb is much light condensed in one flash."

Simmons

UNSELFISHNESS

Quote for Today - August 31,  2013

"If people knew how much ill-feeling unselfishness occasions, it would not be so often recommended from the pulpit!"

C.S. Lewis

Comments and Questions:

What happened to C.S. the day he thought that comment to himself? What would be a situation during which you might say that?  Is it a typo?

THE SUDDEN 
AND THE TOO LATE! 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 21^st  Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Sudden and the Too Late!”

I would like to preach on today’s gospel: Matthew 25:1-13. It's the Parable of Ten Virgins.

Today’s gospel is a warning. We can be too late. We can be sleep walkers. We can be unwise. 

So the messages are:  Don’t be late! Don’t be asleep. Be wise and wide awake -because Jesus might suddenly come into our life.  

JOACHIM JEREMIAS

Joachim Jeremias is his classic book on The Parables of Jesus - spends a lot of time on this unique parable about the Ten Virgins, the Ten Bridesmaids.

He says this parable might not be necessarily an allegory - but a true story that Jesus experienced.  And Jesus took the story - and applied it to staying awake - because sometimes we’re sleeping and the surprise happens.  We might miss God moments and God opportunities in life.

Then the Early Church made it an allegory - that Christ is the Bridegroom - and heaven is the Great Wedding Banquet.

In fact, Joachim Jeremias said that seeing the Messiah as the bridegroom was not a Jewish thought and image - before Christ. [1]

He also says that his dad - when he lived in Palestine in the early 1900’s saw the games and practices that people played at the time of a wedding. There would be all kinds of fun delays - for example, the family of the bride would still be haggling with the family of the bridegroom - over the price of the dowry and the worth of the bride. [2]

There were also dances and processions in the dark night - with lamps or candles - as the bridegroom was marched to where the bride was - and then let the celebrations begin.

So the Early Church - used this parable when talking about the Parousia - the Second Coming - the Coming Back of Christ - to take us all to himself. There is a lot of evidence in the New Testament that this world was going to end - and end quickly - and the Lord Jesus will return and march us all to paradise.[3]

It wasn’t happening - so one of the reasons for these parables and stories of Jesus was to help the folks - realize: there are delays.

SUDDEN AND TOO LATE

We’ve all had experiences of the “Sudden” and the “Too Late”.

Yesterday morning I was in deep sleep - deep, deep sleep - at my niece’s house in New Jersey. A loud knock on the door woke me - along with my nephew walking in the room and asking if the iron was in here. He wanted to iron his suit jacket. I had no clue what he was talking about. He and his sister were going to another funeral. We had just finished his dad’s funeral and I was still sleeping.

It was an experience of the sudden.

I wasn’t going to the funeral they were going to - but they could be late. That’s an experience we’ve all had - that of being “too late”.

As priest we get the view of the back doors of every church. We can’t help but see - who’s coming in late. 

As priest, I’ve been late - for various things. Now one big advantage of being late is this: we can learn to understand that sometimes it’s our fault when we’re late - and sometimes it's not our fault. There was a traffic accident or a wrong turn or someone got sick or what have you.

If being late leads us to understanding of others, great.

If being late leads us to understand that sometimes Christ comes at us suddenly - that's also a great message. So:  Be alert. Be awake. Be wise. Don’t want miss Jesus - who can be the best surprise of a lifetime - and eternity!

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, "The Sudden and the Too Late." 

Hopefully, we can grow from both - because we've had both experiences.

NOTES:

[1] Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, Scribner Studies in Biblical Interpretation, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1963, page 52

[2] Idem page 173

[3] The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, [1990] Prentice Hall, Englewood Clffs, New Jersey, 07632, Jerome H. Neyrey, S.J. "The Second Epistle of Peter, pages 1021, 1022,  Cf. #23-28; John L. McKenzie, S.J., Dictionary of the Bible, Macmillan Publishing Co.. Inc. New York, 1965, pages 638-640.

WHO  DO  YOU 

THINK  YOU ARE? 

Quote for Today - August 30,  2013

"The small-town boy who gone to fame and fortune decided to visit his birthplace after a 20 year absence, so he could gloat a little over his boyhood friends and surviving relatives.

"Half expecting an official greeting and a turnout of the town band, he arrived at high noon. Looking out the train window he saw empty streets, the same sleepy central square, and the old railroad station broiling in the sun.

"Getting off his train, his suitcase in his hand, he wandered over to the white-haired baggage handler and stood waiting for a sign of recognition and welcome.

"The old man shuffled forward, squinted in the sun, and smiled. 'Hello, Jimmy,' he said. 'Going away?'"


Somebody

ANGER

Quote for today - August 29, 2013

“Every time you lose your temper you advertise yourself.”

Anonymous

MISTAKES

Quote for today - August 28, 2013

“If tombstones told the truth, everybody would wish to be buried at sea.” 

John W. Raper

REFORMERS

Quote for today - August 27, 2013

“A reformer is one who insists upon his conscience being your guide.”

Town Journal

SECRETS

Quote for today - August 26, 2013

“Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.”

Benjamin Franklin