A ROSARY 

MADE OF DAYS 

Poem for Today - October 7, 2014 

YOUR ROSARY OF DAYS

And I see you where you stand

With your life held in your hand

As a rosary of days.

And your thoughts in calm arrays,

And your innocent prayers are told

On your rosary of days.

And the young days and the old

With their quiet prayers did meet

When the chaplet was complete.

© Alice Meynell:

Soeur Monique:

a Rondeau  by

Couperin. (19th cent.)

Painting on top:
Rosary with Pomander
bu Barthel Bruyn
the Elder 9 (Circa 1493-1558)

IT’S  ALL  GIFT!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 27 Monday in Ordinary Time is, “It’s All Gift!”

Want to know one of the great secrets of happiness?

There it is: 3 or 4 words, “It’s All Gift.” or “It Is All Gift.”

Get that and you got a chance to have a very happy daily attitude.

It’s all gift.

FOR STARTERS

For starters, pinch yourself.

If you feel the pinch you’re alive.

And we had nothing to do with it: this gift of being alive, being me.

It’s all gift.

The gift of our parents embrace – our parents meeting each other – and their parents meeting each other – and in every conception – 250 million sperm in each moon shot – amazing.

One egg, one sperm, unless we’re a twin – and it’s me – conceived with their DNA and I’m on my way – entering into the great experience of life.

It’s all gift!

Making it to birth – making it to the bench you’re sitting in today – pinch yourself. You’re here. You’ve come a long way baby.

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

We open up the  Paul’s Letter to the Galatians today [1:6-12].

One key message we’ll hear from Paul as we listen to first readings from Galatians – is, “It’s all gift. It’s all grace.”

The Galatians had received the Gospel – the Good News about Jesus – but then they slipped back into B.C. – Before Christ.

All men who wanted to follow Christ had to be circumcised first.

All those who wanted to follow Christ had to keep the Law - the whole of the Law – to be saved.

The Law was like an accounting book.  If you do more good deeds in life than bad deeds – you are saved. Every time you kept the Law – you get a check mark for being good – sort of regardless of Christ..

The symbol of Christianity is not the scales – but the cross – the messy, messy, bloody cross – which tells us – we can be saved at the last minute – being a good thief and stealing the kingdom….. What a gift!

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel [Luke 10: 25-37] contains the great parable of the Good Samaritan.

It presents two men keeping the Law – a priest and a Levite. They were keeping the Law – rushing by a bleeding, hurting human being.  The foreigner, the Good Samaritan, not a person of the Law stops and saves the hurting human being.

That wounded person on the road was Paul.

Jesus stopped on the road to Damascus to heal Paul.

Paul got it – the gift of God’s life. He didn’t earn it. He just was gifted with it.

And he grabbed it – got up – and got moving.

The wounded person on the road is me – and Jesus stops to anoint and to heal me.

CONCLUSION

It’s all gift

-O-O-O-O-O-

Painting on Top: 

"The Good Samaritan"  

by Rembrandt (1630)

INNER  SHUSH!

Poem for Today - Monday - October 6, 2014

SILENCE

Sitting in silence,

Waiting for things to happen!

There's something in silence,

Waiting for things to happen,

That gathers drama.

Maybe a leaf falls,

Or a raindrop will deepen

The tint of a stone:

A honeybee stumbles

Among foxglove stalls.

A proud spirit humbles

Itself to this humour;

The life of the sod,

The root, the sky,

The quietly known

Presence of God.

© Richard Church

DOES  GENEROSITY  HAVE BOUNDARIES? 

[I like to write stories for these Young People’s Masses. So for my homily today I read Jesus’ story which we just heard about the man with the vineyard that grew grapes and made great wine. I read it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 times – trying to come up with a way of telling the story in a metaphor – other than a vineyard – the image that appears in today’s first reading from Isaiah 5:1-7 and today’s gospel Matthew 21:33-43. An “Uh oh!” sound hit me as I realized – besides coming up with a different metaphor - this is a very difficult message to tackle. Jesus’ story is a tough story – with a tough ending – and I’m supposed to have young people in mind. Still I wanted to try – so here goes – here comes a story entitled, “Does Generosity Have Boundaries?”]

Once upon a time a man and a woman had one son – and their son was like every other son – a nice kid – at least -  that’s what his mom and dad thought – and they told him so  – and each time he knew how to say back to them, “I love you too – mom, dad.”

Mom and dad wished they had other kids – but they only had this one son.

They thanked God for him and for the love they had for each other – as well as for their health and so many everyday blessings.

Life went on – work, weekdays, weekends, vacations, school – eating, sleeping – coughs and colds – flu shots – visiting cousins – their parents – friends.

They had normal gadgets and gizmos – “What’s a gizmo?” their son often asked. Yet - year after year after year -  they still used a paper calendar in their kitchen –– as well as magnets with notices and reminders on their kitchen refrigerator door.

Sometimes they envied other families – spotting bigger families in church or restaurants – or at baseball, football or basketball games. They both came from larger families – so they wondered and worried at times – about their son – being an only child.

So they loved it when their son brought other kids over to play in their back yard or house – or when their son was invited to play with other kids at their homes.

Life goes on. Sometimes there are surprises – like roads aren’t always straight – they have curves – and streets have around the corners.

Surprise – a big, big surprise – happened when this mom and dad hit the lottery. They hit the lottery big time. They were the only winners – with the right numbers - in that particular Powerball lottery. They won 221 million dollars. After taxes it was 164 million dollars.

Surprise. They didn’t move to a bigger house. They were happy with the house and neighborhood they were in.

Surprise. Another surprise…. One day – this mom - got an interesting idea. Behind their house there were no houses. But there were 10 empty lots – so they bought all 10 lots. On this land they had built a little league field – which could also serve as a football field. Then thinking winter and January and cold and snow - they had a big building put up. It had an indoor basketball court – plus a swimming pool – plus pool tables – plus ping pong tables -  plus a bowling alley – with 6 lanes - and with all their money - they were able to hire lifeguards, referees, and bowling alley attendants – cleaner uppers – etc. etc. etc.  And,  well, obviously, all the kids in the neighborhood could use the facilities – free of charge.

Well the kids loved this mom and dad – as well as this kid who was an only child kid. Kids and their parents aren’t stupid. They knew a good deal when they were getting a great deal.

And having money – lots of money -  – didn’t go to their head – or change their personalities. They were sort of quiet people – but also thought to be nice neighbors – before and after hitting the lottery.

And so – their son and all the neighbor kids - used this great sports complex 7 days a week – 365 days a year. Hey, it was free of charge.

Surprise – there was one little thing – there’s always at least one thing – and this one thing embarrassed their son from time to time: they named the sports complex after him – their only son.

Time moved on.

Their son – their only son – graduated from high school – went off to college – far, far away. His choice surprised the – but they told him – it’s your life. Go for it.

Since his mom and dad loved to see kids having the time of their life in their sports complex – they kept it going all through the years. It became part of the neighborhood and part of the town.

After college their son met a great gal – at his job – in another city.

They got married – and had 6 kids – 3 girls and 3 boys.

And mom and dad – always wanting to have had a big family themselves - were super happy to see their son and daughter-in-law so happy – having such a nice big family.

Now every story – well most stories have at times a negative twist or an ugly turn – like coming around a curb or corner – or over a hill - and traffic is stopped  - because of an accident.

One Thanksgiving – when their son and daughter-in-law – came to see mom and dad with all their kids– two of their girls went over to the gym – to play basketball.

Ug – ugly – boo - bummer – the kids there not knowing who the strangers were - wouldn’t let them into any games. They weren’t locals and they didn’t want new comers hoarding in on their good deal.

The two girls waited their turn – but the locals still wouldn’t let them into a game.

The same thing happened when they tried to bowl - play pool – or play ping pong.

So without saying anything – or who they were - they went back to their grandma and grandpa’s house.

Seeing their faces, grandpa said, “What happened?”

Not wanting to disappoint their grandparents, they said, “Nothing grandma. Nothing grandpa….”

They knew how proud their grandparents were of the Sport’s Complex – named after their father. They had overheard from time to time – how someone upon hearing that this couple had won the lottery  - would ask, “What did you do with the money?” And they would answer, ‘Oh we invested some of it – and we had built a great sports complex just behind our house – so kids could have a chance to play sports – all year round.”

Then they would add, “Oh – okay, we named the Sports Complex – after our son  – our only son.”

Next:  grandma and grandpa – pushed – to try to find out why their two granddaughters seemed a bit agitated and disappointed – after coming back from the field of dreams just on the other side of their backyard.

One of their granddaughters finally said that the kids over there didn’t like them and wouldn’t let them into any games.

“Whoa!” grandpa said.

Then he added, “Okay, go back over there and this time bring your other sister and your three brothers. I’m sure they will respect all of you – if you go as a family.”

Then he said,  “I’m sure they’ll get the message that if our family hadn’t had all this built and attended to – all these years – they wouldn’t have such a great sporting paradise for themselves. Fair is fair!”

All six went over – and went to the edge of the basketball court – waiting their turn for the next game.

The same thing happened again – this time even worse.

Rejections happen.

It’s not just poor people who get looked down on; it’s rich people as well – at times.

Sometimes when folks get something for nothing – they don’t respect it – as much as if – they had to raise money and pay for it  themselves.

The 6 then went to the ping pong and pool tables as well. Still no luck – no respect. Nobody stopped to say, “Hey kids. It’s your turn to play.”

So all 6 came back home to grandma’s and grandpa’s – kind of dejected and kind of depressed.

Grandpa – was really disappointed.

So he went to his son – and told him what had happened.

Then he asked his son to go over and talk to any parents over in the Sports Complex – and explain what their kids did to his kids.

He went over. He looked around. He spotted about 7 different small groups of adults - parents – here and there - around the different places in the complex.

Without pushing who he was – and what his name was – he told them what happened to his kids – and how disappointed and hurt they were – in not being given a turn to play.

They said, “Mister. Whoever you are. Kids are kids. They don’t know who your kids are. And they were there before your kids were there.”

It was then that he said, “My mom and dad built this place years ago for all the kids around here – so fair is fair. They built it so every kid could get a chance to enjoy playing together. I know I did when I lived around here.”

A man said, “Wait a minute. In reality – this is our place. We never see your mom and dad over here – so what’s your gripe? Just because you have money – if your parents hadn’t won the lottery – you’d be like the rest of us – so show us some respect.”

At that he walked away and went back home to his mom and dad and told them what had happened.

Does generosity and goodness have boundaries?

At that his mom and dad – became silent.

After his son and daughter-in-law and family left – his mom and dad became even more silent.

Then they made a decision. “We’ll move. We’ll sell the whole kit and caboodle – and move on.” Their son once asked, “What’s a caboodle?” and neither mom or dad really knew what a caboodle was.

Well, that’s what they did. They sold the whole kit and caboodle for millions and moved on. The land the sports complex was on had become prime real estate – and from time to time developers came to them with offers. This time they accepted a great offer.

And they moved to another state – closer to their son and daughter-in-law and their kids.

They added – “We’ll do this again in another place – but this time – we’ll hope – things will work about better – because we’ll be over there volunteering more with the kids. This next time we’ll be more involved.

Happy ending to this story? For some, “No”.

Happy ending to this story?   For some “Yes”.

Generosity sometimes has boundaries – sometimes it doesn’t. 

MOVE IT! 

DON'T STAND STILL 

SWIM UPSTREAM 

DON'T FORGET TO FLY 

Poem for Today - Sunday October 5, 2014

FOR POETS

Stay beautiful

but dont stay underground too long

Dont turn into a mole

or a worm

or a root

or a stone

Come in out into the sunlight

Breathe in trees

Knock out mountains

Commune with snakes

be the very hero of birds

Dont forget to poke your head up

and blink,

think

Walk all around

Swim upstream

Dont forget to fly.

© Al Young

WHAT BOOK 

ARE YOU READING 

LATELY? 

Poem for Today - Saturday - October 4, 2014

A GARBAGE CAN

IN BROOKLYN

FULL OF BOOKS

Schweitzer, The Teaching of Reverence Life,

Tich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle ofmindfulness,

Mortimer Adler, Ten Philosophical Mistakes.

John Stuart Mill in the familiar

formal attire of a Penguin Classic.

A few with psychoanalysis in the titles.

I see how it might get tiresome to have such titles

imploring you day after day to change your life.

It could easily plunge you into the classic

cycle of guilt and self-improvement, mindfulness

followed by depression, each glance at those familiar

spines reminding you of all the mistakes

you've made in the past, and the mistakes

to come. Who wouldn't want to clear the titles

from the shelves and return to the familiar

routine of a comfortable life

undisturbed by thought? A blissful mindlessness.

Throw away every last unread classic

(there's no such thing as a classic

anyway, they now say). Look, the whole mess takes

up only one can, though to undeniable fullness.

But wait. Digging down, I find the serious titles

have risen to the top like cream, or like the life-

preservers they're supposed to be (familiar

wisdom hauling us back up to the familiar

from uncertain depths). Or else these classics

have been placed on top deliberately, as if life

depended on concealing our ... mistakes?

No, just dozens of trash novels flaunting bold titles

and heroines with breasts of unreal fullness‑

like the fantasies our minds are full of,

hidden by good intentions--sound familiar?

What is this bizarre collection of titles

(quasi-porno side by side with classics)

but the unfinished, bound-to-be-full-of-mistakes

bibliography of someone's inner life?

© Jeffrey Harrison (2001)

Pages 200-201

in Broken Land,

Poems of Brooklyn,

edited by Julia Spicher Kasdorf

and Michaeld Tyrell.

New York University Press, 2007

AS EINSTEIN SAID,

"TIME IS RELATIVE."

Poem for Today - October 3, 2014

RELATIVITY

There was a young lady named Bright,
Who traveled much faster than light.
She started one day
In a relative way,
And returned on the previous night.

Anonymous

[P. S. I chose

this limerick

because I just

back from 

vacation

and I put a

 bunch of

stuff in there 

one night there

before I left -
but it feels
like the
previous night.]

CLOUDS 

OF ANGELS 

Poem for Today - Thursday October 2, 2014

OUR LOST ANGELS

Ages ago, clouds brought them near

and rain brought them to our lips;

they swam in every vase, every cupped palm.

We took them into ourselves

and were refreshed.

For those luckier generations, angels

were the sweet, quickening substance

in all light, all water, every morsel of food.

Until the day the sun changed some, as it had,

took them skyward, but thereafter

the clouds failed to restore them.

In time, streams gave up

every spirit, and the sea, unreplenished,

finally became the void we had feared

it would become, the void we had imagined.

And, as now, clouds brought only rain,

and the emptied rain

brought only the chill in which

we must now be wrapped.

© Scott Cairns, pages 152-153

in Upholding Mystery,

An Anthology of Contemporary

Christian Poetry, Edited by

David Impastato,

Oxford University Press,

New York, Oxford, 1997

GOING TO CONFESSION

Poem for Today - Wednesday - October 1, 2014

LEONARD REFUSES TO ATONE

The moon comes up, a white cow

grazing on limbo.

Today in the confessional I yelled,

Father, I am the deaf one, absolve me

in a voice I can hear.

But as usual, he mumbled in the curtain

and the saints cast their eyes

past me, into the cold space of the loft

when I knelt at their feet.

What sins have I done

that you should forsake me?

Again, I asked loudly.

The saints are far deafer than I.

Their ears, curls of plaster,

have grown closed from listening

to the organ's unceasing low sobs.

I sit where the moon rides up,

swollen and tender,

the beast of my burdens. Her back is broad

enough to carry my penance and yours.

When she moans, the whole sky

falls open.

My weight has done this,

My life an act of contrition

tor the sins of a whole town.

But now, when I let the weight fall,

she arches, a slender thing

shot from a quiver.

Oh white deer hunted into a cloud,

I was your child, now I leap down,

relaxed into purpose,

my body cleaves through the air like a star.

Make your wishes, small children.

You others, make vows,

quickly, before I snuff myself out

and become the dark thing

that walks among you,

pure, deaf, and full

of my own ingenious sins.

© Louise Erdrich, pages 229-230
in Upholding Mystery,

An Anthology of Contemporary

Christian Poetry, Edited by

David Impastato,

Oxford University Press,

New York, Oxford, 1997

Picture on top: Confessionals
in Santiago de Compostella
in Spain - which we just  visited
last Tuesday, September 30, 2014.

WHAT LOVE CAN DO

Poem for Today - Tuesday  September 30,  2014

TRUE LOVE

binds all wounds,

wounds all heels,

whatever. You can tell.

William Buckley,

Gore Vidal, Sampson

and Delilah. Paul

and the Corinthians.

You can tell.

It makes us fight

and bleed, takes us to the heights,

the deeps, where we don't

want to go. Adam and Eve. Noah

and Mrs., David,

Bathsheba, Ruth,

Naomi. You can tell.

The way light surges

Out of nothing. The Magdalene,

The gardener, God help us,

We are God’s chosen now.

© Kathleen Norris

in Upholding Mystery,

An Anthology of

Contemporary Christian

Poetry, Oxford  University

Press, New York, 

Oxford, 1997,

Pages 223-224

Painting on Top:

St. Maximilian Kolbe,

who gave his life

for another. 

PAIN: 

IT HURTS! 

Poem for Today - Monday - September 29, 2014

THE WAY OF PAIN

For parents, the only way

is hard. We who give life

give pain. There is no help.

Yet we who give pain

give love; by pain we learn

the extremity of love.

I read of Abraham's sacrifice

the Voice required of him,

so that he lead to the altar

and the knife his only son.

The beloved life was spared

that time, but not the pain.

It was the pain that was required.

I read of Christ crucified,

the only begotten Son

sacrificed to flesh and time

and all our woe. He died

and rose, but who does not tremble

for his pain, his loneliness,

and the darkness of the sixth hour?

Unless we grieve like Mary

at his grave, giving him up

as lost, no Easter morning comes.

And then I slept, and dreamed

the life of my only son

was required of me, and I

must bring him to the edge

of pain, not knowing why.

I woke, and yet that pain

was true. It brought his life

to the full in me. I bore him

suffering, with love like the sun,

too bright, unsparing, whole.

© Wendell  Berry 

in Upholding Mystery,

An Anthology

of Contemporary

Christian Poetry,

edited by David Impastato.

Oxford University Press,

pages 43-44

SECOND  THOUGHTS 

 INTRODUCTION

The title and theme of my homily today is “Second Thoughts”.

Part of being a human being is to have second thoughts.

Second thoughts.

“You know, I was thinking. Would it be okay if I a, a, a  ... changed my a, a, a  ... mind?”

Seconds thoughts.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

That thought hit me when I read today’s readings, especially today’s gospel [Matthew 21: 28-32].

A man has two sons. He asks the oldest son to work in the vineyard that day. And the oldest says, “I’m on my way” and he disappears. So the father asks the second son and he says, “No!”

But the younger son has regrets. He has second thoughts. So he changes his mind and goes and does the work.

And Jesus asks, “Which one does the father’s will? Which one does what the father wanted?”

And obviously, the answer has to be the younger son.

And obviously Jesus is pointing out that the prostitutes and the tax collectors, the sinners were the ones who had second thoughts and started to convert when John the Baptist preached repentance. The elders and the chief priests didn’t.

Second thoughts.

FRANK AND KATIE

Years ago I was preaching a parish mission down in Ohio. There wasn’t any room in the rectory so myself and the priest I was working with stayed in parishioner’s homes. Tom was with one family and I stayed with another family. Neat.

The couple I stayed with had three kids. Two boys were away at college -- Ohio University and the daughter was in her first year of college -- but living at home -- and going to a community college -- much to the delight of her parents. Three kids in college at once. Big time bucks!

Well, I came into the house -- in the back door on Thursday afternoon and Katie, the wife and mother was in the kitchen and she says to me, “Did you do the dishes?”

I said, “No!” but I lied. Katie said, “Oh!”

I went upstairs to change and I met Frank and he says to me, “Did you do the dishes?”

I said, “No!” I lied again. I didn’t have any second thoughts. I wanted Liz to get the credit.

Well, when I got downstairs a few minutes later for supper, they both said to me, “You lied!” Obviously they compared notes. Then they said, “Liz never does the dishes.”

Once more I lied.

There were only some cups and bowls and some plates from breakfast and I had washed them after I had a sandwich for lunch. I didn’t want to wear out my welcome.

Then at supper Frank and Katie said, “I guess we spoiled our kids.” Then Frank went on. I ask Mike to cut the grass and he laughs and says, “No!” Then I ask John and he says, “Yes!” but he doesn’t do it. Then surprise I come home and one of them just did it.  Then at other times neither of them cut the grass. Knowing that sometimes I then do it. But sometimes Mike does it fast and then I have to redo it. Smart kids.”

Well, when I read today’s gospel, I felt right at home. Very real stuff.

But wouldn’t it have been great if Liz had second thoughts and did the dishes?

LIFE IS SECOND THOUGHTS AND THEN ACTING ON THEM

Life is having second thoughts and then doing something about our thoughts.

We say the wrong thing. We do the wrong thing. We make a mistake. We become lazy. We get into patterns that the other knows like the plates in the kitchen. Isn’t it great when we surprise each other? Isn’t it great when we do the dishes or empty the dishwasher or cut the grass or clean the garage or put the seat down in the bathroom and surprise the other or others. Surprise! I was thinking .....

TODAY’S SECOND READING

In today’s second reading we have this great early Christian hymn that St. Paul presents to us -- the kind of thinking we should have --the kind of attitude we ought to have. It’s having the attitude of Christ. [Cf. Philippians 2:1-11]

God created the world and all was good.

Then we got our hands on it and messed it up.

Then God got angry.

Then God had second thoughts.

He called Abraham, Moses, the prophets.

Finally God had the great thought -- to send his Son to us -- in the fullness of time. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word become flesh, and lived amongst us. Then the Son had second and third and fourth thoughts -- becoming our servant, then dying on the cross for us. And because he did all this, the Father lifted him up.

Resurrection!

New Life.

Jesus is Lord -- the Lord of it all.

THE SECRET OF IT ALL

There it is -- the secret of it all. Being human like being God, we can have second thoughts. We can make changes -- significant changes.

We can have second thoughts and then surprise every one around us with new and better behavior.

Isn’t that the secret of a happy marriage? People start to do some thinking about their behavior. People start to have second thoughts. “Hey I can be better. I can give more of myself. I can start to serve rather than serving. I can start giving more than wanting to always get.”

Then the person does it. Surprise. Life. Resurrection. Exaltation.

That’s how people make it to their 25th, 30th, 40th wedding anniversary. Amen.

CONCLUSION

Let me give a small example to conclude this homily.

This is an example I saw in some book or a magazine somewhere. I used it a few times this year in our parish missions and I think someone said they also saw it somewhere. It’s a good example on second thoughts.

It goes something like this:

“Recently I witnessed a moment of deep soulfulness between two strangers. I was at a bus stop, sitting next to a woman reading a newspaper, but I was totally engrossed in the performance of a 14-year old boy on a skateboard. He had his baseball cap turned around with the bill in the back, and was skating beautifully and very fast. He buzzed by us once, then twice. When he came by a third time, he accidentally knocked the woman’s newspaper out of her hands. She said, ‘Oh, why don’t you grow up!’

“I watched him glide to the corner of the block, where he stood talking with his buddy. The two of them kept looking back over their shoulders at the woman. She hesitated for a moment, then rolled up her paper, tucked it under her arm and walked into the street, motioning to him. ‘Won’t you come here?’ she called. ‘I want to talk to you.’

“Very reluctantly, he skated over to her, turned his cap around with the bill in front, and said, ‘Yeah?’

“She said, ‘What I meant to say was that I was afraid that I might get hurt. I apologize for what I did say.’

“His face lit up, and he said, ‘How cool!’

“In that moment, I witnessed what is called in Spanish a milagro pequeno -- a small miracle. This small miracle was a holy, healing moment between generations, between two human beings who had just become important strangers to each other. The woman chose to shift the shape of her experience by moving out of reactivity to creativity. This kind of shape shifting is possible when we allow ourselves to speak directly from our soul.’” [1]

NOTES:

[1] p. 39 in Homiletics. From Angeles Arrien in “Walking the Mystical Path With Practical Feet,” in Nourishing the Souls, ed. Anne Simpkinson, Charles Simpkinson & Rose Solari,  (Harper San Francisco, 1995) p. 104