Thought for today: “You grow up the day
you have the first real laugh - at yourself.”
Ethel Barrymore [1879-1959]
May 21, 2018
CAN'T SIN
The silent lily, the green grass background, just standing there - shaking, bending, being there beautiful, but it can sin, therefore, it can't love, therefore, I rather be me.
“Don’t ever slam a
door;you might want to go back.”
Don Herold
Sunday, May 20, 2018
HAVE FAITH
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this feast of Pentecost - 50
days after Easter - is, “Have Faith.” When I read today's readings and that theme hit me, I said to myself, "What? Where is that coming from?" So here goes. Let me try to explain.
LARRY
A classmate of mine in August of 1966, said something to
me that has had an impact on my life
ever since.
Larry and I - as well as 13 other guys - were
ordainedpriests in June of the year
before.
I’m talking to Larry a year later and he says to me,
“Wow! I just realized I’ve been preaching the same sermon every weekend for the
past year. I’ve been saying to folks, ‘Have faith.’”
Then he paused and said, “I guess I was talking to
myself. I guess I need faith - deeper faith.”
So I asked myself, “What have I been preaching on?”
I didn’t have an answer as clear as his answer. I didn’t
know. I still don’t know after almost 53 years. Do I have the same message -
week after week after week - all these years? I do have some answers - as well as various
questions - about what I'm about and what I'm preaching.
HAVE FAITH
In a way I’ve thought about that “Have faith” question
and answer a bit.
I thought about that momentwith Larry when I read the first possible gospel for this
feast. [Cf. John 20:19-23]
It says, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and
whose sins you retain are retained.” That hit me. However, I
like the translation “hold on to” better than the word “retain” or “krateo” in
Greek.
To forgive another's sins.... Now that’s quite a power - to be a priest and forgive sins in
the name of God.
From time to time while hearing confessions, I’ve found
myself saying - especially when giving absolution, “Wow this is quite a belief
- that I am forgiving sins - here in
confession - because of sins that took place out there in homes, on the
streetor at work.”
It’s a scary thought. In reality, I’m making that act of faith and
absolving this person of their sins in a confessional.
That’s quite a belief.
Then I wonder, “Does this person confessing his or her sins believe?Do they make an act of faith - that their
sins are forgiven?" This is quite an act
of faith by two people. Pinch me!
Then it hits me: do we realize we all have the power to
forgive sins - or to hold onto sins - out there at home, on the street, or at
work.
I have learned that with or without the sacrament of
penance and confessionals - people hold onto hurts or mistakes they have made
or were made on them - all their life. Or at some point they make peace with their mistakes or their hurts.
Come Holy Spirit - bring forgiveness into our homes and
our hearts and minds.
Help this person coming to confession make this act of faith and accept forgiveness. In other words, "Have faith!"
MANY SUCH MOMENTS - CALLING FORACTSOFFAITH
As human beings we need to make many acts of faith in
life.
This is good water. This is good lettuce - I just read
the label. These other drivers are decent drivers.These school kids will not be shot today.
As human beings we have to make many acts of faith each day.
As priest I make many acts of faith. For example, I stand here in this church - at thataltar right there [POINT] and
at the moment of consecration I say, “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for
this is my body, which will be given up for you.”
Then, “In a similar way, when supper is ended, he took
the chalice and, once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples saying,
‘Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood,
the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and
for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.’”
This is quite an act of faith we make at Mass - when we believe the bread
and the wine become the body and blood of Christ.
I make that act of faith. You make that act of faith.
Over a billion people in the world - who name and claim themselves as Catholics
make that act of faith - those going to church and those not going to church.
In fact, many of those who drop out of church - come back
because this is what they are missing: the body and blood of Christ.
In fact, our Pope, Francis, and many others are wrestling
with this question of intercommunion - as in couples who are married and one
say is Lutheran and the other is Roman Catholic - both of whom have faith - why
can’t they both receive Communion when they come to Mass together?
Faith - have faith - is a big question dealing with very
big questions.
I think this evening of those 10 people who were shot and
killed in Sante Fe - Holy Faith - Texas.We hear people say they have gone home to God or they are with God - and
they are with those who have gone before us.
Now that’s a great act of faith - this belief in life after
death - because Christ has risen from the dead.
St. Paul makes that act of faith central to
Christianity.He says in 1st
Corinthians 15 that if Christ did not rise from the dead, we’re all a bunch of
fools. Our baptism means nothing.
Listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15: 17-19, “If Christ has
not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." Then Paul continues, "And what is more serious all who have died in Christ have perished." More, "If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people."
COME HOLY SPIRIT
Those of us who have faith in Jesus Christ - make
tremendous acts of faith.
We believe in realities that people think we’re crazy for
believing in. We pray for more faith.
Come Holy Spirit.
Today, Pentecost, we’re praying for more faith - for more
of the Spirit.
In the first reading for today, Acts 2: 1-11 - the disciples were hiding
out in the upper room, scared and afraid, and a strong driving wind blew into
that house and filled it - and tongues, splashes - as if they were of fire
filled each of them - and they were filled with the Holy Spirit of God - and
they went out into big crowds of people and spoke in the languages of everyone
there - people from everywhere - Galileans from where they were from - Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Romans, people from Crete and Arabs. All heard all.
All understood all.
Right now, this Pentecost - people around the world - in
all kinds of languages are hearing today’s second reading- 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13. It states that we cannot say, “’Jesus is Lord,’
except by the Holy Spirit.”
They are hearing we are one body - with many parts and
many gifts - because we have all been given to drink of the one Spirit.
CONCLUSION
This homily has gotten too long, so let me wrap it up this way. The title and theme of my homily for today is, “Have Faith.”
I’m saying that we have faith because of the Holy Spirit.
In the first book of the Bible we hear that God formed us
from the mud and clay of the earth like a sculptor and then breathed his Spirit
- RUAH - in Hebrew - into us.
When we let go of that Spirit, that Breath of God - we
die during our life - and at the end of our life.
So every day - pray, "Come Holy Spirit".
So every day - when you pray, breathe in, breathe out,
breathe out evil - bad spirits - and breathe in the fresh breath of God. Amen.
“It is not heroin or
cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh
reality.There are more television
addicts, more baseball and football addicts, more movie addicts and certainly
more alcohol addicts in this country than there are narcotics addicts.”
My little daughter
said, "Daddy, I am going to count the stars."
“Very well," I said, "go on."
By and by I heard her counting, "Two hundred
and twenty-three, two hundred and twenty-four. Oh dear!," she said, I had no
idea there were so many!"
I sometimes say in my soul. "Now, Master, I am going to
count your blessings." Soon my heart sighs, not with sorrow, but burdened with
such goodness, and I say to myself, "I had no idea that there were so
many.”
“The truth [is] that there is only one terminal dignity - love.And the story of a love is not important - what is important is that one
is capable of love.It is perhaps the
only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.”
Helen Hayes, Guideposts,
January 1960
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
ON LEAVING
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Tuesday of the Seventh
Week of Easter is, “OnLeaving.”
If I heard anything from other priests,it’s our “uunh” - a word that won’t make it
in Scrabble - when we read these post
Easter readings - especially from the Gospel of John. We say that because we
like to give a homily on weekdays - but there is too much repetition in these readings
- especially from John
It has a series of themes about loving, remaining in
Jesus’ love, this is my commandment, love one another asI have loved you - and we hear this over and
over again.They are wonderful - but
enough already.
TODAY’S TWO READINGS
So we read the readings a couple of extra times in hopes
something pops up that he have not touched upon lately.
I did that last night and today’s two readings talk about
leaving several times.That’s a
recurring theme: leaving.
So let me see if I can milk some comments about leaving.
LEAVING
That’s something we’re always doing in various ways throughout our life: leaving.
We leave the womb. We leave the hospital.
We leave for school that first time. Then for an
overnight with friends. Then we go off to college or the military or where have
you.
We leave for work. We leave relationships. We leave for
Marriage. We leave after death or a divorce. We leave jobs. We leave when we retire. We
leave for Tennessee or Florida. Someone dies, so we come back home again. Hopefully,
we get out and get moving and get leaving again.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
There’s lots of leaving …. lots of migrations …. lots of
moving in the Bible.Adam and Eve leave
the Garden…. Noah gets on the ark…. Abraham does a lot of moving…. Abraham’s
descendants are often heading elsewhere.
Joseph ends up being sold into Egypt.Moses leaves Egypt. He leads those descendants towards the Promised
Land. They finally leave the desert - and land in the Promised Land.
So there is not only an Exodus, but there’s also the
Exile.
THEN WE GET TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Jesus moves around in his early years.Then he settles into his quiet years. Then he
finally leaves Nazareth and gets going.
Then he calls disciples to drop everything, to leave home
and to follow him.
Then he leaves his disciples and leaves and ascends into
heaven.
Then we’re called to leave our inner perceptions on how life
is supposed to work.
LESSONS
With all these leaves of absence, we need to learn
something.
We have not here a lasting home here.
We need to learn to let go at times.
We can get stuck in stupidity or sin or regrets or
resentments. I preached on that last Sunday.
When we leave - we can look back from a distance - and see
what’s back home and who’s really important much better.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Out of sight, out of
mind can also happen.
We come to church; we leave from church - hopefully all the better.
CONCLUSION
Today - at the end of this day, to ask, “Did I leave a good
feeling in all the rooms I was in today?”
Or in Fortune Cookie Language: So leave that they wished you
stayed more than they wanted to see you leave.”
Thought for today: “Among animals, one has a sense of humor. Humor saves a
few steps, it saves years”
Marianne Moore, “The Pagolin,” 1941
Monday, May 14, 2018
CEMETERY
MOMENTS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Cemetery Moments.”
There are moments and there are moments.
What are your thoughts when you stand on cemetery grass -
and you look down on grey granite cemetery stones- or upright white marble tombstones? What
are your thoughts?What are your
wonderings?
There are stories here. A cemetery is a library - but
most books can’t be opened and read. They are closed books in boxes buried six
feet underground. We don’t know who this person was. Sometimes all we see is a
name and some numbers.
VIETNAM VETERAN’S MEMORIAL
It’s a human experience - this wondering about people
buried beneath our feet - on behind a wall - like the Vietnam Memorial Wall in
Washington D.C.
I’ve been to that Wall a few times. I remember going with
a Vietnamese Redemptorist: Hai Dinh. We were in Washington D.C. and this was
the one place he wanted to see. He was quiet as he stood there. His biggest surprise was - how far away from the Wall - the tall Washington Monument was. When he saw
the Memorial Wall on TV, he noticed the Washington Monument in the sky behind
the memorial.
My experience was different. Every time I’ve been there,
I deliberately looked for a name on that
wall - the brother of a Redemptorist who died in Vietnam: Thomas Francis
Campbell - 19 years of age. Born May 18, 1948. Died April 9, 1968. He was in
Vietnam just a few months: February 6
till April 9, 1968.
YOUR FAMILY STONES - YOUR FAMILY MEMORIALS
Where are your family stones? Who’s buried there?
Has anyone taken pictures and made a photo album of many
of the grave stones they know of in their family. Then they can sit down at
times with that album as a prayer book. It’s as good as an old person’s prayer
book getting fatter and fatter with the years with death memorial cards. Or
they can sit with that photo album and tell the next generation about who has
gone before them?
Does anyone ever take the little ones - or the next few
generations - to the stones and tell the stories?
More and more people are into cremation and some into
saving the cremains on mantle pieces or buried in back yards or at sea. It’s my
opinion that stones - memorial stones - tomb stones last longer that urns -
just as people give diamonds and share the word “forever” with each other.
FEAST OF SAINT MATTHIAS
Today is the feast of Saint Matthias: May 14.
The only thing we know about Saint Matthias is that he
took the place of Judas - and got chosen by a lottery of sorts.After that come the legends and the
traditions.
Some say he traveled to Ethiopia. Others list the region
of modern day Georgia - formerly of the Soviet Union.Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans honor
him.He is patron saint of alcoholics,
carpenters, Gary Indiana, and Great Falls and Billings Montana. There are
written fragments of the so called Gospel of Matthias - a 2nd
century document from a heretical group.
SISTER MATTHIAS
Now why am I mentioning all this?
When I was a kid, I went with my father to Portland,
Maine to visit his sister, a Mercy Nun, Sister Mary Patrick.We went to the graves of two of his sisters
who were Mercy Nuns as well, but they died in their 20’s - one as a young nun,
29, Sister Matthias, and the other as a
postulant who also got sick and died in her 20’s.
Well, a few years ago some of us from the parish went on
a cruise to New England and 2 places in Canada: St. John’s New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia.
On the day we stopped into Portland Maine I went off by
myself to St. Joseph’s convent - where my dad’s sister worked for 50 plus years
in the kitchen. I didn’t know where anything was, so I didn’t want to stick
anyone with a wild goose chase. Then I walked to a cemetery to find my father’s
sisters. I found 2 of them:Sister Mary
Patrick - and Sister Matthias.
I knew Sister Mary Patrick - but I knew nothing, nothing
about Sister Matthias.I found her grave
- but I didn’t find the other grave.
Anyway I was doing something in memory of Sister Matthias
Costello - and the only other thing on her stone besides her name was: 1884 -
1913.
CONCLUSION
It’s good to know that somewhere 100 years from now, our
names will be somewhere - in a graveyard, on a ship manifesto, in a telephone
book, on a memorial card, in a handwritten something, with the words, “Love”
and then our name.
It’s good to have been here - even if all we did was to
replace someone else - like Saint Matthias - and we did our best.
May 14. 2018
BOYS DO THAT!
Boys do that!
They see a worm.
They see a kid right in front of them.
They put that worm in that kids pocket.
Boys do that!
They see a stick.
It’s dueling season.
It’s hitting season.
Boys do that!
They see a rock.
They see a cow.
They throw that rock at that cow.
Boys do that!
They have been doing these things
ever since their parents told them
to go play outside the cave.
Boys do that!
What? You want them to stop?
Be thankful. They haven’t even discovered
girls yet. Get ready for what’s next.
Boys do that.
Haven’t you heard the old Latin saying,
“Sunt pueri pueri, pueri purerilia tractant.”
“Boys will be boys and they’re always going to be boys.”
