THE  MOTHER  OF 

THE  PRODIGAL  SON

[I’m sure in the  past  2000 years of Christianity,  someone  has written a story about the mother of the Prodigal Son, but I haven’t seen it. So here is my attempt at an imaginary story about  the mother of the Prodigal Son. She’s missing from the story - told to us by Luke.  I’ve often wondered why.   And I didn’t know whether to write this story in the first person or the third person. As you can imagine, that would  make a world of difference as well.]

She had a stroke about a year before her son took off for a foreign country. She had lost her ability to speak - as well as having trouble walking and working around the house.

The younger brother didn’t like his older brother - who was too goody good for him - always on his case - always on his back. Older brothers can sometimes be like that.  His mom - he had to admit - was too, too disabled - and he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life taking care of her.

His dad was understanding - mushy like mashed potatoes -  but the younger son didn’t mind that most of the time - because most of the time he got his way.  And the older brother - as you would expect - wanted his dad to be as tough as rock - especially when it came to the way he treated his younger brother.

In those days, one was grown up by the time one hit 17 - so this younger son asked his dad for coins - better for  his inheritance - and surprise his dad said, “Okay.”

And off he went to discover far countries - to see the world - and to figure himself out - and find himself - in the process.

He knew he didn’t want to be a caregiver.

He also knew he didn’t want to be a farmer. Besides that his older brother would get the most in the will.  Besides that - because his mom had the stroke - he was stuck doing most of the inside - in house work.

He took his coins and himself and headed for his first faraway place  - some 250 miles away from home. Immediately he had lots of friends - male and female.  He was  young - well dressed  - and noticed.

Coins - the sight and sound of coins - can do that.

He bought a sleek chariot - rented a great back room - right next to the best drinking spot in town.

Then his money ran out - along with his so called friends. He had to sell his chariot and his great pair of white stallions  - and he was thrown out of his digs.

He got a job at a local pig farm - little pay - no food - and a famine - a depression - had hit the area.

Stuck in the mud with pigs - smelling of you know what - starving - he got sick of pig slop and he started to long for home.

He began to do a lot of talking to himself.

Mud and mess can make the mind clear up.

He decided on going home and saying to his father. “I’m sorry I really messed up. I’m sure you’ll be embarrassed to have me still as your son. Take me back as a hired servant. I’ll take care of you and mom and do anything you want me to do - everything and anything.”

So he headed home.

In the meanwhile his dad worried every night how this disappeared son was doing.

His wife couldn’t speak - but she knew. She knew what he was thinking and feeling and crying and looking out the window to the west for.

She also knew what her oldest son was thinking. He would come and talk to her - but  she couldn’t answer. All she could do was to pray for her 3 sons: her husband and their two boys.

Then came the homecoming moment. His dad knew - looking up the road - just knew this was his son shuffling along in the distance - in the rising sun.

The old man could still move - as he ran up the road - and ran right into the body of his lost son.

The younger son had his speech ready about not being worthy to still be called his son.

The old man would hear none of that.

He started barking orders.

“Quick!  Get him cleansed.

“Quick! Get out his best robes - pink or purple.

“Quick! Find his favorite sandals - the soft ones.

“Quick!  Kill the fatted calf.

“Quick!  Cook up my son’s  favorite foods.

“Put a ring on his finger.

“Quick!  Line up some musicians.

“My son is back.”

Mom saw all this from the window.

Mom smiled as she hugged her son - but she worried about how his brother was going to take all this.

Her intuition was on the money.

When the oldest came back that afternoon - he wanted to know what the hubbub was all about - and the music - and the dancing.

When told that his brother was back - and your dad was throwing a party for your younger brother’s return, he became furious - and now he was at a far distance.

He wouldn’t go near the house.

He would not hear his dad’s words, “Hey, your brother was dead. He was lost. He has been found. Come on in and welcome him home. I have you always - but not your brother.”

The older brother yelled, “Are you crazy? All these years I never failed to serve you. I never ruined our family name. I never embarrassed you in front of your friends. He swallowed up your property with prostitutes. For him, you killed the fatted calf. For him you are throwing this banquet - and you never gave me anything.”

His father’s joy turned to sorrow as he told his older son, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate  and rejoice,  because your brother was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has been found.”

And his mother heard and saw  all this through the window.

And that night - long after the party - long after her younger son - went to sleep - feeling overwhelmed at how wonderful his father was - long after the older son tried to sleep in the barn - with the pigs - because  he still wouldn’t go into the house - to the embarrassment of his parents.

Long after all had quieted down - the mother of these 2  prodigal sons - the wife of this loving father - held her husband tight - all through the night. She couldn’t  speak - but he knew  she knew - why he did what he was doing.  She remembered how years ago he had slipped away from her embrace. He fell for a time.  But she welcomed him back with open arms - and it took him the longest time to accept her forgiveness.

That night  - that father - understood both his sons - because he too had been both of them. He knew forgiveness sometimes takes a long time.

That night - that mother - knew that this story - happens in its own way in  every family - even when someone is left out - in the telling of the story.

[Painting on top: 

Woman at a Window (1822) 

by Caspar David Friedrich]

March 31, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“As long as you don’t  forgive,  who and whatever  it is will  occupy  a rent-free space in  your mind.” 

Isabelle Holland 

EXCUSES

Many are the ways I fake it -

avoiding interruptions, calls,

requests.  “Procrastination”

is a tattoo on the skin of my

soul …. Why? I don’t know, why.
As I said, I have my excuses.

I have my reasons: laziness,

too much to do …. Enough ….

How about you? Down deep

are you the same way?

Okay …. You don’t have to

answer. If you're like me, 

you have your own excuses.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March     30, 2019

Thought for today: 

“Beware of invoking the fear of Communism as an excuse for avoiding change in the structures which confine millions of the children of God in a sub-human condition.”  

Helder Camara [1909-1999]

March 29,  2019

DEW 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this First Friday in Lent, is, “Dew” - just that short  3  letter word: “dew”.

Mention of dew is made in today’s first reading from Hosea 14: 5, “I will be like the dew for Israel.”

I was thinking of going with the gospel - especially because it talks about the theme of the two Great Commandments to love - to use that  for a short homily. But then again - when I spotted that mention of dew in the first reading, I said to myself, “You’re due - D U E - to say something about D E W.”

I get that same thought every time I use the 2^nd Eucharistic Prayer - when the priest says, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray by sending down your Spirit upon these gifts like the dewfall.”

I always notice that prayer - that mention of dew - and it often hits me as sounding so  sort of  different.  I ask, “What is that about?”

Asking God to send down his spirit on us like the dewfall, that is  kind of different. It’s quite unique

So maybe it will sound a bit different to me in the future if  I do a short homily on it sometime - like now. We’ll see. Time will tell.

So that’s why I decided to see if I could  figure out a  few things about dew.

Dew does not appear in the New Testament - but it does appear some  42 times in Old Testament: mainly in Daniel, Judges and here in Hosea.

TASK

So I made it my task last night, to see if I could come up with a couple of thoughts  about dew for this morning.  

FIRST THE REALITY OF DEW WAS WATER

Dew is water.

Without water, there is no life.

Here in Maryland,  we often get dew on our car windows in the morning - and if it’s cold enough,  it’s frost.  Frost then is dew that got cold feet.

Here in Maryland - and many other places, if you walk out on grass in early morning you’ll  get wet feet and wet shoes.

That’s it. That’s dew  - landing especially on the ground  - on green plants and car windows - silently saying, I’m here.

SECONDLY: PRESENCE OF GOD

Dew - in Jewish theology - is like the presence of God.

Dew comes silently.

We hear rain - but dew is absolute silent - settling everywhere.

Carl Sandburg in his poem called “Fog” talks about fog coming over the city - quietly - like little cat’s feet.

Like waking up in the morning and walking outside to get the paper - we discover our feet got wet - may we feel the presence of God on our feet every morning  - like the dew.

THIRDLY: THE RESURRECTION

In Jewish theology,  the dew tells us that there is resurrection.

If there is only dust - dirt - and no water, there is no possibility of new life.

God made us of the dirt - the dust of the earth - along with water.

When there is dew on the earth - where so  many are buried - there is the possibility of new life. Dew tells us about  earth rising. Plants and the earth and the dessert can only bloom if there is bloom.

March 29, 2019

 CONSEQUENCES

Stop to say “Hello!” or stop

to buy an ice cream cone:

expect consequences.

Sticky fingers - what to do

with the napkin - ending up

with a lifetime relationship.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March     29, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“God enters by a private door into every individual.”  

Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]

March 28, 2019

A  PRIEST

A distant mystery - lots of projections ….

How aware is he of me and me of he?

We’re on different sides of the street.

We’re strangers - better another boat

in the water - another car on the road ….

Till death or a wedding or a sick call.

Then - sometimes - a wondering, "Oh

 I didn’t know that."  Or a  moment in

a church - a grace - a question

gets hooked to the hole in my soul ….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019 

March     28, 2019

Thought for today: 

“Lost is a place too.” 

Christine Crawford  [1939-    ]

GLIMPSES  OF  GRACE

The holding of a door ….

A 7 year old with a bow tie and a clarinet ….

A 6 year old with a bow and a violin ….

An old lady waving with her walker ….

People stepping back to let us out of the elevator ….

A couple celebrating their 50^th Anniversary ….

A skate boarder rolling down an empty street ….

Three generations playing cards together ….

An empty line at McDonald’s …..

The silent sound a bill going into the poor box ….

37 high school kids taking a bow at the end of a musical….

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March     27, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“The best creed we can have is charity towards the creeds  of  others.”  

Josh Billings [1818-1885]

March 26, 2019

WRONG  DOOR

Knock. Knock!

“Who’s there?”

“Oops! Wrong door.

Sorry! I thought ….”

We began to talk.

We discover another.

Knock. Knock.

Sometimes we discover ....

The wrong door

was the right door.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March     26, 2019

Thought for today: 

“The worst thing in the world is not sin; it is the denial  of  sin by a false conscience - for that attitude makes forgiveness impossible.”  

Fulton Sheen

7   LEARNINGS ON  FORGIVENESS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3rd Tuesday in Lent is, “7 Learnings on Forgiveness.”

Lenten homework:  Get a clean  piece of paper or a blank computer screen and come up with 7 learnings on forgiveness.

I picked the number 7, because 7 is the number in today’s gospel.

I did my 7 last night - to practice what I’m preaching. If you do this, it’s not like writing on sidewalk cement. Nope.  It’s an ongoing process, but come with 7 and then revisit your 7 every Lent or whenever you have time or you have trouble with forgiving someone.  

# 1: Everyone has to deal with the issue of forgiveness. Everyone has been hurt by someone out there: neighbor, family member co-worker. Someone gipped us, stole from us, talked about us behind our back. So number one: everyone has to learn to deal with forgiveness.  It can me major. It can be minor. It can be abuse.  It could be forgiving another. It could be forgiving oneself. Name your poison. Name your hurt. Name your daily, “bummer”. Everyone has to deal with the issue of forgiveness.

# 2: Forgiveness takes time - sometimes a long, long time. That’s number two.   Walk. Talk. Vent. Give yourself time to get over a mistake or a hurt or a cut - so that you can heal.

# 3: Everyone has hurts in their way back when - hurts that still affect us all these years. Like our dad wasn’t a hugger and his dad wasn’t a hugger and his dad wasn’t a hugger, so we got no hugs. I hear that one at times. Or we allow envy to eat us up - envy that se use comparisons to hurt ourselves - envy because  we weren’t the favorite. For some, we feel we’re still treated that way today.  Or some family member or classmate did much better than we did - and that reality and issue shows up in ways that still bother us.

#4: Sometimes we’re not fair - like the guy in today’s gospel. Some boss forgave us - even though we were as guilty as sin. Then we don’t catch forgiveness, and we don’t forgive others.  We might even say the words of the Our Father,  10,000 times, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass or hurt us” - but we don’t  trespass into that way of doing life.

# 5:  Sometimes we won’t forgive another as a way of  paying them back. Somehow we think we’re hurting them by ongoing anger or resentment and we hope they sense it or see it. Many times they have no clue this is going on.

# 6:  Learn to say what Jesus said from the cross, ‘Father forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing.’ People are dumb. We’re dumb. In one split second we can ruin something that took 20 years to build. In one short second we can mess ourselves up.

# 7:  Be creative in your pay backs.  Silence sometimes is a great weapon.  Or there is the Chinese Proverb: “If your enemy wrongs you, buy each of his children a drum.”  Or  sometimes our motive is: “This person is not going to learn, so my being screamful  isn’t going to work. Forgiveness might and that might hit them into feeling small, since you are being big with the way you’re forgiving that person.

CONCLUSION

That’s my homily. That’s my homework for you. Come up with 7 learnings about forgiveness.

The bottom line is that we all catch this main message of Jesus.

Let me close with a wonderful little story.

In a far corner of a New York Cemetery there is a small gravestone polished smooth by the wind and the weather.  The stone has no name on it - no date - but  it has one word on it -  “forgiven”

May that be all of us.

March 25, 2019

Homily

March 25, 2019

Thought for today: 

“A painting about which we were unable to separate fact  from  fiction was the ‘Virgin and child’ in the Paulin monastery at Czestochowa, in Southern Poland.  A Polish reader living in Leicestershire asked us to confirm the following story about the painting, knows as the ‘Protector of Poland’, and said to have been painted by one of Christ’s apostles.

“When Sweden invaded Poland in 1655, the Swedes tried to remove the painting in a horse-drawn wagon, but could not budge it an inch. Exasperated, two Swedish soldiers drew their swords and slashed the virgins cheek.  As soon as their swords touched the canvas, the soldiers fell dead. And nobody has since been able to cover up the scars.

“Although unable to confirm it to the letter, we were happy to find out that such a good story certainly was based on some fact.  Admittedly Our Lady of Czestochowa, first said  to have been painted by St. Luke, is now believed to be the work of an unknown Italian artist in 1383.  But the painting certainly took on a special significance after the heroic defense of the monastery in 1655, when the invading  Swedes were defeated after a 70-day siege.

“Following this miraculous victory, King Casimir of Poland proclaimed: ‘To touch Our Lady of Czestochowa is to touch the very soul of Poland.’ Whether by Swedish swords or not, the Virgin’s cheek remains scarred, and every year thousands of pilgrims go to see it.”   

Old Codgers’

MOST  VALUABLE  PLAYER

M V P:  now that’s  a  very tricky award! 

M V P:  now that could be very subjective. 

M V P:  now is that just for teachers or 

athletes, or necessary people? 

M V P: how about down syndrome folks? 

M V P: how about the handicapped? 

M V P: the blind, the deaf, and the lame? 

M V P: everyone has value. 
M V P: everyone is unique. 
M V P: everyone deserves notice. 

© Andy Costello, 

Reflections 2019

March 24,  2019

SECOND  CHANCE  

FIG TREES

[Instead of a homily for this 3^rd Sunday in Lent [C] I wrote this story yesterday. I used it for the Kids’ Mass this morning and the 11 AM Mass.]

The title of my story for today is, “Second Chance Fig  Trees.”

Once upon a time there was a farmer whose only fruit trees were fig trees.

And he had lots and lots and lots of fig trees in his orchard - thousands and thousands and thousands of them.

Now when he first started to grow fruit trees, he had orange trees,  apple trees, pear trees, but he  had his best luck with fig trees. So that’s what he settled on: fig trees.

He sold  his figs to Nabisco - for their fig newton bars - to Keebler and to Kellogg’s - for their fig newton bars - and his figs were the best in California - where he had his many, many fig trees.

His trucks brought his figs to bakeries all around the country and then ships brought them to countries all around the world.

He sold his figs to Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon.

Vegans loved his fig bars. They were perfect for snacks and power bars. In time creative bakers put in chocolate chips, blueberries and raspberries.  Then they came up with new products. The latest is organic dark chocolate fig truffle bites - brand new March 2019.

“Uuuum delicious.”

Now to the story about the day that changed everything for him and his fig trees.If a fig tree wasn’t producing figs, he had his workers chop that tree down - almost immediately.

 “No use ….”  he would say,  “No use  wasting time and space, land and fertilizer on lazy fig trees.”

“Cut em down!”

Then  one day, believe it or not, he gave the order to cut down this one little fig tree  - but something stopped him. He couldn’t believe his eyes, but this one little fig tree - seemed to be crying. He couldn’t believe his ears, but he seemed to hear this little fig tree saying, “Give me a second chance.”

He told his workers, “Give this tree here extra water. Give it extra fertilizer - and if by this time next year, it doesn’t start producing, more and better figs, then cut it down. Why should we let it do nothing?”

Sure enough,  it started producing great figs - the best he ever tasted.

Sure enough, something else happened, not just to his fig trees, but to his personality.

He was known to be a really tough boss - always grouchy - always yelling at his workers.

He was also -  always yelling at  his kids - never, ever, ever, giving them or their teachers of their coaches or anyone a second chance.

Well after giving that fig tree a second chance, he didn’t notice this about himself, but he  started to be nicer to drivers on the highway - to people on line - in the supermarket - to neighbor and family members who just wanted to talk about nothings.

Surprise his kids saw this change in their dad and they gave him a second chance.

And this is not the end of the story. A twist turned things around a bit more.

His dad died - his dad who had started their fruit tree business - way, way back, and a long time ago.

Now  he was always tough on his dad - for not being busy enough - for not doing enough - for not figuring out - fig trees were the way to go.

Now the priest who was doing his father’s funeral didn’t know any of this. He was just trying to come up with a homily for the funeral. He did know that the family was famous for their figs.  So he looked up in the bible the two stories about Jesus and fig trees,

In one story, the figs were not given a second chance.  In the story we heard this morning, the fig tree got a second chance.

Well,  the priest who preached at the funeral of the father of the man who gave that fig tree a second chance - used that second story of Jesus for his homily and he said our God is a God of second chances.

He really didn’t know anything about that farmer - and his father -  but when that farmer heard that story that Jesus gave,  he was hearing about himself.

He started coming back to church - giving church and Jesus a second chance. He gave himself a second chance. He really didn’t like himself.

But most importantly  - his whole life changed -   giving lots of people - lots of chances - second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seven times seven chances.  Amen.

March 24, 2019

CORNERS

Some people seem

to have been sent

to sit in the corner ….

My hope is that  they

meet someone there

who feels the same way.

And then the rest of us hear

them laughing and we wish we

too were sent to sit  in the corner.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019 

March  24, 2019

Thought for today: 

“We  must  reserve a little back shop, all our own, entirely free, wherein to  establish our true liberty and principle retreat and solitude.”  

Montaigue [1533-1592]  

French essayist 

March 23, 2019

 EYES

Horses eyes, cows eyes,

elephants eyes, cats eyes,

alligator eyes, fish eyes,

we stare into them ….

They stare into us ….

We pause - we hesitate -

then we breathe easier,

because we know all eyes

are so different from

looking into the human eye.

We know there is nothing

to worry about inside animal

eyes - but so much behind

the human eye - what they know

know about us what we know

about another.  “Uh oh!”

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March     23, 2019 -

Thought for today: 

“The possession of a book becomes a substitute for reading it.” 

Anthony Burgess [1917-1993]  

New York Times Book Review, 

December 4 1966, page 74.

March     22, 2019 

Thought for today:

 “You can tell the ideals of a nation by its   advertisements.”   

Norman Douglas [1868-1952], 

South Wind (1917) Chapter 6.

March 22, 2019

I’LL  ANSWER  THAT  QUESTION

Sometimes it’s bugs and bothers us

when we’re watching the evening news.

We’re  hearing the story of a couple

sifting and sorting through the rubble

of their burnt out home, picking up

mementos, photos, keepsakes  then 

we  see a microphone stuck in their face,

“How do you feel?” Then sometimes 

there’s a surprise reply: A person says, 

"Well I guess we just got to start all over 

again .... just start all over again.”  And then

the news jumps to a plane crash, 197 killed -

 and someone with a microphone heads for 

their relatives waiting for them at the airport.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March 21, 2019

MAGIC

Sometimes  children and old people 

are magicians. They make our problems 

disappear. We just have to attend to their 

show - do something for them - care 

for them - and before we know it our 

selfishness or loneliness vanishes.  

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

March     21, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“I trust everyone. It’s the devil inside them I don’t  trust.” 

John Bridger in the 2003 

version of the movie, 

The Italian Job.