SPIRITUALITY & RELIGION

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Spirituality and Religion.”

Do you have a minute? Better, “Do you have ten minutes?”

I would like to address an issue that has been appearing in the news more and more. And if it’s appearing in magazines and TV, etc., I assume it’s appearing in your thoughts as well.

So I decided to pull together some first draft comments about “Spirituality and Religion”. Maybe we’re on the same page or maybe you’re somewhere else or what have you.

COMMENTS

You hear things like, “Spirituality is increasing; religion is decreasing.”

Or, “I go to church – but I get my spirituality from nature or music or exercising or reading or Yoga or breathing or Quiet Waters Park.”

Or, “I’m spiritual, not religious.”

Or there is the bumper sticker that Martin Marty, a Lutheran theologian, quotes in an article entitled, “Religion Makes Hospice Calls.” The bumper sticker he spotted said, “Spirituality doesn’t make hospice calls.”* Not true, but there is a tiny hint of something there.

CLEAR OR CONFUSING OR BOTH?

Spirituality and Religion: what are we talking about?

These are two vast topics that take in libraries of books and weeks of workshops and many Ph. D’s. They intermingle, don’t have to be contradictory, but can be confusing or vague at times.

How does one describe religion? How does one describe spirituality?

Can you give me nine minutes?

RELIGIONS

The four big religions of the world are: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Most people belong – at least in name – to one of these four groups. Christianity has about 2.1 billion members, Islam 1.5 billion, Hinduism 900 million, Buddhism, 376 million. There are many other “religions” and each group, as we know has branches and divisions – and there are interconnections.**

I’ve often heard people say, “It’s all the same.”

We are and we aren’t.

I’m tempted to ask, “How do you see Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity as the same?” I don’t ask, because most of the time, it’s neither the time nor the place to talk. It’s a wedding reception and people are drinking or what have you. I assume they are saying, “We all believe in God, gather to pray, and are trying to lead a good life.”

Since we’re here together in church today, I assume we are Christians following Jesus Christ – proclaiming our belief with our creed each Sabbath and each day by our lives.

We are Catholics, but at times there are Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. here at Mass. Welcome to all.

We have all heard people say of the different communities in Christianity: “After all, we’re basically the same.”Yes and no. We Christians have similarities, but we are different.

And we Catholics can be very different – from parish to parish, from Catholic to Catholic, from bishop to bishop, from pope to pope, and sometimes we can be very much the same. At times we hear about the so called, “Catholic Vote”. Is there such a thing?

The stuff of the different religions is the stuff of talk and thinking.

Sometimes we bring up the two “no no’s”: religion and politics. They are two out of the five big topics of conversation – the other three being the weather, sports, and #1, other people.

RELIGION

Let me move the microscope further away from different religions and get back to the topic of religion in general.

There are two definitions of religion in the singular that I like.

First definition: “Religion is recognizing God and acting accordingly.”

Translation. At this moment in my life, do I believe, accept, live, assume that there is a God. If I do, do I act differently than if I didn’t believe in God? Does recognizing God, accepting God, make a difference in my life?

When I say in the Our Father, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done!”, do I really say that with great meaning and significance and does my prayer then play out in my life?

Each person has to ask themselves from time to time:

Am I an atheist – someone who does not believe there is a God?

Am I an agnostic – I used to believe in God, but I don’t know any more?

Am I a drop out?

Am I sleep walking – a feeling I often have?

Am I indifferent?

Am I just going through the motions?

I believe in God, but what are the questions about church or different religions that I have?

If I really believe there is a God, if I recognize God, and this makes a difference in my life, then am I a religious person?

If I join or am part of a group, what group is it?

If I am a member of Christianity, that means I have been baptized and follow Jesus Christ.

If I am a member of a group within Christianity, what group?

If I am a Catholic, am I a member of a parish and go to a parish church, but what impact does it have on my life?


I overheard someone describing our parish this way, “We have 15,000 people plus in this parish.” Then they said there are another 15,000 Catholics in this area who are Catholic, but who don’t come to church – or they are not registered – or they are Easter and Christmas, funeral and wedding Catholics.

So what does it mean to say, “I am part of a religion or I am religious”?

Which religion?

My first point would be to make a decision where I stand with my religion. What do I say if asked at a hospital or if someone is taking a poll and asks me, “Religion? ________”

If I say "Catholic", then further questions arise. Couples getting married here at St. Mary’s and most Catholic parishes, are given a questionnaire and one of the questions is religion. Then comes the question about attendance. "Ordinarily, Sometimes, Seldom, Never."

We could add other questions., "What is a good Catholic?"

Or we could ask questions like, “Agree or disagree? I think that I am a good Christian, but I don’t see myself as a practicing Catholic, etc.”

Second definition: “Religion is what I wrap my life around?”

This definition makes everyone religious, because we all wrap our life around something or someone. The word religion has the root word for “ligaments” in it – cords, bands, fleshy strings that keep the human body together.

This second definition is much broader – vaguer – but it can be very challenging. It asks questions like: "Where do I spend my time? Who is my God? What is my center? What’s important?"

SPIRITUALITY

That’s a few talking points about religion. Here are a few talking points about spirituality. Do you have 4 minutes?

I taught courses on spirituality for 9 years to future Redemptorists. And as every teacher knows, the teacher learns a lot more than the student. And as every teacher knows, it takes the teacher at least 4 to 5 years to figure out and really understand what he or she is teaching. I was blessed to figure out some stuff about spirituality in 5 years – and then I had 4 more years to develop this stuff.

So when folks talk today about spirituality, my ears perk up. When folks says, “I see myself as spiritual. Religious, no.” I am sitting there with my baggage and my background.

I just listen. I know that being spiritual or trying to be spiritual can mean so many things. It could mean they are trying to be good persons, but they just don’t see church as helping them to be good persons or they find in church some deep springs of spirituality.

I told you this stuff can be quite complicated and unclear.

SOME TALKING POINTS ABOUT SPIRITUALITY

Let me give 3 talking points about spirituality.

Do you have 3 minutes?

1) I hold that everyone has a spirituality.

When Jack walks into the room, he walks in with his spirit – his personality – his flavor. It’s the same with Jill. It might be a wonderful spirit, or it might be an ugly spirit. Just mention any person you know – and their spirit comes flying right at you – even if they are in Ocean City right now or in the south of France right this minute. When you hear the name of the priest who has the Mass or when you see a priest walk down the aisle and you didn't know who was on for this Mass, you give that priest a vote, an “Oh good” or an “Oh no” or “We’ll see!” vote. Relax! People don’t just do this for priests. They do it to you as well. So # 1, everyone has a spirit, a spirituality. What is yours like?

2) There are all kinds of “public” or “big” spiritualities.

Each spirituality has specific nuances or “attraits” as they call them. Clings. Specifics.

Let me explain.

For example, there is a spirituality called “Franciscan Spirituality.” If a person is in a Franciscan parish or school or they make a Franciscan retreat, they will hear about some of the stresses of St. Francis of Assisi and his followers. They will hear about the importance of simplicity, don’t get stuffed with stuff, a love for birds and creation, a sense of Jesus as Lord – that God became one of us as a baby and died as one of us on the cross.

For example, there is a spirituality called “Redemptorist Spirituality” and if you listen to us Redemptorists enough, you’ll hear the same songs and same tunes from us through the years: the importance of prayer, the importance of Mary, the Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, seeing Christ in the Eucharist, etc., being aware of the poorest amongst us. Our founder St. Alphonsus wrote over 100 books and those traits I just mentioned are in his writings and his followers.

There is also Buddhist Spirituality, Hindu Spirituality, Muslim Spirituality, Carmelite Spirituality, Jesuit Spirituality, Native American Spirituality, African Spirituality, Australian Spirituality, Filipino Spirituality, Humanistic Spirituality, Eco spirituality, feminine spirituality, masculine spirituality, and on and on and on and variations and arguments about each. Each would have its stresses, groups, writings, meetings, practices, etc., etc., etc.

3) Each of us is a mixture of all kinds of spiritual influences.

We are the spirit, the attitudes, the outlook, we picked up along the way from parents, friends, school, parishes, experiences, etc. I love the words of Ulysses in the poem by that name from Tennyson, “I am part of all that I have met.” I also like the comment by the Greek poet, George Seferis. When asked, “Who influenced you?” he answered, “Don’t ask who influenced me. Does a lion know what lambs he ate?”

However, I am a lifetime devotee of the examined life. I think it’s very important to figure out who has influenced us, what has influenced us, and pick out the best, and go for more of that. I learned that from the Jesuits! It’s called discernment. And if you listen to my sermons, you’ll hear me say at times. “I have homework for you.”

CONCLUSION

I just talked ten minutes on “Spirituality and Religion.”

Spirituality – developing a healthy and joy filled spirituality is obviously important. Religion – growing in our spiritual roots is obviously very important as well.

Both don’t have to be in conflict with each other. In fact, those who drop their religion with the idea of developing their spirituality might be missing out on the rich treasures of spirituality in religion.

This week, take time to do some home work or heart work to pull together your thoughts on these two realities – and pray to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to fill your life with their Spirit so you can bring the spirit of their love to all the rooms you enter. Amen. ***
____________________________________________________________________

NOTES:

* The Life of Meaning, Reflections on Faith, Doubt, and Repairing the World, by Bob Abernethy and William Bole, and the Contributors to PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, pp. 191-193

** Two people asked me after my homily, "What about Judaism?" Type in Google, "World Religions" and then look for statistics in the menu. I just gave the numbers of the 4 highest. There are many more. For example, Sikhism has 23 million, Judaism has 19 million, and Baha'i has 7 million.

*** Reread today's readings. Judaism has given us these rich texts that nourish our religion and our spirituality. Today's first reading is from Zechariah 9:9-10. There is always hope. Christians can see Jesus as King and savior come riding towards us on an ass. What a fascinating vision, what a fascinating and humbling way to arrive at the peace table! Today's second reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans, 8:9, 11-13, voices the challenge to let our spirit be meshed and matched and married to the Spirit of God. And today's gospel presents a great vision from the Christian scriptures - the call from Jesus to "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." For those who see religion as a burden, Jesus is saying, what Christianity is saying is this, "Our religion is not primarily a set of rules and regulations, teachings and warnings, but a relationship with Jesus. Wrap your life around him!"

THE CLING OF BEAUTY

The rain remained on the green grass
just long enough for me to stop walking,
to gaze down, to be amazed at the cling
of beauty – and to remember your beauty
still remains, still clings, long after the rain,
long after the grass fades. It helps me see
why marriages last and what Isaiah longed
for after seeing too many dry blades of grass
pointing angry fingers at the sky for rain.

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2008
Cf. Isaiah 15:6; 45: 8

JULY 3, 2008

TENTH ANNIVERSARY

OF THE DEATH

OF FATHER BERNARD HARING,

REDEMPTORIST

Today, July 3, 2008 marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Father Bernard Haring, CSs.R. He died in the Redemptorist Community House in Gars-Am-Inn, Germany July 3, 1998. He was 85 years old.

Go to Google and type in, “Bernard Haring”. Be prepared for lots to read – and see where it takes you.

I met Father Bernard Haring once – just a hand shake and a “Hello” in a group setting. It was in the early 1960’s. He was invited to give a series of lectures in our major seminary, Mount St. Alphonsus, Esopus, New York.

The 1960s – what a tidal time to be in school? I was getting the old and the new – and both would help me all through my priesthood in understanding the old and the new! I was in my early 20’s – experiencing the wonderful excitement of theological dialogue and questioning.

Bernard Haring’s arrival at our seminary was a major event. Lots of energy was flowing. I knew his name – fragments of his ideas – and not much more. I knew that he had written The Law of Christ. It was in English. I was not studying Moral Theology yet, but many of us read some of it for spiritual reading – and I found it a breath of fresh air.

I sat and listened as he spoke. I watched and wondered.

Looking back it was the moment that I discovered the power of story and personal example.

The first life learning was an incident that Father Haring told us. He was on the Russian Front during World War II. Orthodox Christians heard there was a priest in the area and they wanted their children baptized. Rules and regulations said, “No.” He had to make a decision. He said, "No" at first. Then he realized one had to say, "Yes!"

I have in my Blog a homily about key scripture texts in one’s life. It was from Father Bernard Haring’s comments that I grasped my life long and my life time Bible message. It's Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens and you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Instead of pushing Biblical texts in other’s faces to win arguments, I learned that Galatians 6:2 is the text to wear on one’s heart – and not on one’s t-shirt. To me it sounded very much like what Jesus was saying in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite walked by the man who was half dead. They kept their law. The Good Samaritan stopped to help the man. He broke his law and followed a more important law. (Cf. Luke 10: 29-37.)

The second life learning that happened during that week’s talks went this way. In a Question and Answer period after one of the talks a priest said, “Because we are attending this conference, we don’t have to say all of the Divine Office.” It was something like that.

After lunch I headed to my room for a half-hour siesta, a wonderful custom we had inherited from our European roots. As I was closing my shutters, I looked outside. There was Father Bernard Haring outside walking along alone saying his breviary or prayers or Divine Office.

To me, prayer is to be a joy – not an obligation – a want to – not a have to – not a sin if we don’t do it, but a grace and a connection with God if we do take the time to pray.

Besides, The Law of Christ, Father Haring went on to write another 3 volume Moral Theology series, Free and Faithful in Christ. It came out in English in 1978. There it was: the stress on a relationship with Christ and each other based on love more than law.

He wrote many, many articles, around 100 books, and gave talks everywhere around the world.

I was lucky to see him in person that one week in the 1960’s – from a short distance.

Thank you, Bernard Haring.

In reading his biography on Google, I realized we had a few similarities. We both have the same birthday ... different years of course. He had three sisters who became religious. My dad did as well - and I have one sister who is a nun.  I also found out that he too wanted to go to Brazil and he too never got that assignment. And we are both Redemptorists - who like St. Alphonsus proclaimed a Moral Theology of the love of Jesus Christ.

What I have not experienced yet is attacks. He experienced throat. cancer. Worse, he experienced what theologians in our church often experience: theological attack.

We had a wonderful priest in our major seminary nicknamed, “Teddy."  Father "Teddy" Meehan  used to joke that he was sent into exile a few times like St. Athanasius in the Early Church. But it wasn't because of his theology. It was because he spoke up for students.  Teddy was sent to the Virgin Islands – not bad - but he would be brought back to teach Early Church History by popular demand. As we studied Church History – and as we went through the 1960’s, I discovered the history of the Catholic Church contains a history of attempts to silence its theologians and its thinkers and those who speak up.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1224 or 1225- 1274) was investigated. Excommunication threats went flying. For those who don’t believe this, simply find a copy of The New Catholic Encyclopedia – and look up in Volume XIV, “Thomas Aquinas” and “Thomism” or in Google type in "Thomas Aquinas".

When I was studying in the major seminary, 1960-1966, we experienced Vatican II taking place. We became familiar with attempts to silence people like John Courtney Murray, Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, Henri de Lubac, Francisco Marin-Sola.  Surprise they were some of the  people who had a great impact on the Council. There were also attempts to silence those who were “conservative”.

If there is anything I learned about Catholic thought and theology, it's this: expect this dynamic to continue. Or as Yogi Berra would put it: "Expect deja vu all over again."

We'll experince reading on page 5 of some Catholic newspaper that the official church apologizes for how it treated Galileo (1564-1642) way back when. Then we'll read on page 9 mention of some theologian being silenced or investigated today. Sitting there I put the paper aside and wonder if this person will be exonerated 200 years from now and someone new will be attacked.

Marie Joseph Langrange (1855-1938), a Dominican, struggled for years to move the Catholic Church forward in Biblical studies, founding the famous Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He too had to deal with attacks for years – but eventually the Catholic Church woke up and put him on the Pontifical Biblical Commission and his cause for being named a saint was started after his death.

Yves Congar, theologian, also a Dominican, was attacked, investigated, silenced and banned. Besides having a profound impact on Vatican Council II, he was made a cardinal before he died.

I found on the Internet the following very interesting comment: “Joseph Ratzinger, later Benedict XVI, was declared to be under suspicion of heresy by Pope Pius XII and the Holy Office.  His book, ‘Introduction to Christianity' was banned because of heresy by Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski."

I guess it’s life. Get used to it. Father Haring was in World War II as well as in the theological wars. Pope Pius XII attacked him and John the XXIII and Paul VI praised him. When I was at that series of lectures he gave at our seminary in the early 1960’s, some Redemptorists were praising him; some were attacking him.

Life.

St. Alphonsus, the founder of the Redemptorists, was criticized by some for being too strict and by others as too lax.

Life.

I find the same story in the Gospels – in the life of Jesus. He was loved as well as attacked.

So if I read anything in the writings and life of Father Bernard Haring, it's the presence of Jesus - and that includes sin and the cross - but especially the call to love - to bear one another's burdens - to trust one another - instead of screaming "No" and negative labeling each other when we're different from each other.

In the meanwhile, let's all smile, laugh and love life, as I saw Bernard Haring doing.

AFTERWARDS

You surprised me.
when you came over and asked,
“What’s happening?”
And you actually listened
to what I had to say.
Then, afterwards,
it’s always afterwards isn’t it,
I caught myself
talking to myself and asking,
"What’s happening?”
And I actually listened
to what I had to say to myself.
Then, afterwards,
it’s always afterwards, isn’t it,
I realized,
I need to ask others,
“What’s happening?”
and actually listen to them and
not spend my time looking over
their shoulders to see
who else is in the room.
I’m here. You’re here. That’s enough.
Thank you.
But I didn’t realize this till
afterwards.

© Andy Costello,

Reflections 2008

PETER AND PAUL

INTRODUCTION

[The title of my homily or reflection for today is, “Peter and Paul.” The scene is Rome. The year is 67 – the estimated year both Peter and Paul were killed in Rome.]

Good morning.

My name is Peter. [Step out of the pulpit to let Paul speak.]
And my name is Paul.

Both of us are here today to say something about ourselves. This is a little bit embarrassing – but we have this feast day named after us – so someone suggested we give a bit of a bio about ourselves and make a few comments.

I defer to Peter, our leader, “Papa”, or “Abba”, to speak first. [Step out of the pulpit to let Peter speak.]

Okay, thank you, Paul. Let me say a bit about myself – some background and then how I was blessed to meet Jesus Christ.

I was a fisherman – just an ordinary fisherman. My brother Andrew and I would have simply been fishermen all our lives – and we would have been part of the millions and millions and millions of people nobody ever heard of – except our families and our village.

Sometimes our nets were full and sometimes it seemed that the whole Lake of Galilee was empty of fish.

Then one day – we had just fished all night long and caught nothing – this traveling carpenter came along and spoke to the crowds not too far from my partners’ and our two boats. We were cleaning our nets and this Jesus was preaching. The crowd was building up the more he spoke.

Then this Jesus, to better reach the crowd, gets into my boat and preaches some more. We could hear his words – and we wondered who he was.

Then, surprise, he spots me and calls me over and says, “Let’s go out into the deep water and lower those nets for a catch of fish!”

I said to him, “Fish? Look, we spent the whole night fishing and caught nothing.”

Silence.

My brother Andrew was wondering what I would do next.

Well, there was something about this Jesus, that got me to say, “Okay.”

We go out into the deep water and we lowered our nets for a catch. The nets suddenly were full. I said, “Now we know where the fish were hiding.” The nets were almost breaking, so we called to our partners, James and John, who were on the shore. They jumped into the other boat and came out to help us. We filled both boats till they were almost sinking.

Suddenly, I felt a gigantic “Uh oh” filling this little boat called me. I said, “Lord, leave me alone. I am a sinful man.”

He smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid – from now on it’s going to be people whom you’ll be catching.”

So that’s how I got into his boat. That’s how I became his disciple.

It became quite a voyage. He netted me with one toss.

I saw it all – crowds wanting to make him king; scribes and Pharisees wanting to see him dead.

He went around preaching, reaching out, healing, helping, feeding, challenging folks.

Oh, I had my doubts at times. Oh, I put my foot into my mouth a few times – but Jesus could see right through me every time – and let me tell you, I learned first hand, that life calls for forgiveness, 70 times 7 times forgiveness – every day forgiveness.

At our Last Supper together he told us, he was going to be arrested and killed. If he knew where fish were, he knew where his enemies were.

Then he said to us, “When the shepherd is caught, the sheep will be scattered.”

At that I jumped up and said, “Even if every one of us loses faith in you, I will never lose faith.”

He spoke back words that still burn me like fingers accidentally touching a red hot coal. “I’m telling you right here, right now, before the cock crows tomorrow morning, you will disown me three times.”

At that I shot back, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”

Sure enough, I hate to admit it, that night I denied him three times. And every morning since, when the roosters start screaming, the memory of my sin starts screaming.

But, as I said, Jesus is all about forgiveness.

There we were fishing after his death – back up in Galilee. We're on the lake, he's on the shore. Once more we caught nothing. Once more he tells us where to fish. Once more our nets are full. At that I jumped into the water and headed for him on the shore.

Surprise. Jesus is always the Lord of Surprises. There he is – The Risen Lord - making breakfast for us – with fish! I often wonder where did he get that fish – and why did he tell us to fish?

I know – I know why he told us to fish.

Anyway, he the carpenter, told me the fishermen, to feed the flock. He was always doing that - mixing his messages with an array of images. He knew how to catch people like fish or find people who were lost sheep.

Well, I ended up preaching about this Jesus. This Jesus who is one of us and one with God – human and divine – truly “the Christ, the Son of the living God” and our brother – crucified but risen – dead but alive – gone but here – present in the broken bread and present in the starving brother or sister without daily bread.

I preached about him in many places. I brought his presence to Antioch and to Rome. I ended up being the head guy – without wanting it. He knew that people would say this is real – because it was so unreal – a fisherman called to be the “papa” or “abba” - the first of the group – a sinner whom sinners could relate to.

Enough. I’m sure you much rather hear from Paul. But be alert while he speaks. I’m sure you heard about what happened when he was speaking one night in Troas. A young man named Eutychus was sitting on the windowsill while Paul was preaching. This young man fell asleep and fell out the window to three floors below. Here’s Paul. Hang onto your seats. (Cf. Acts 20:7-12) [Step out of the pulpit to let Paul speak.]

Thank you Peter for telling them that. I noticed while you were speaking a few people were sleeping. And by the way, the boy lived – and I went back upstairs and continued preaching till the morning.

Peter and I didn’t always get along – but that’s the beauty of this church Jesus started – so many different personalities becoming one body.

I was a tent maker who became angry with these followers of Jesus who were ripping the fabric of Judaism apart. I made it my goal to do all I could to stop them – to stop people from following Jesus. Then in the midst of my angry march to stop Christ, he knocked me to the ground. I couldn’t see, because I was so blind. My darkness which I thought was light, blinded his light – which I thought was darkness.

Slowly Jesus, the Risen One, dawned on me. Jesus pushed his way into my life and I began to see who he was and what he was about. Once that happened nothing could stop me. I found myself saying, “I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.”

I began to see Jesus in his disciples, in his followers, in everyone – that the church has all sorts of folks. It’s like a body – some are handy; some do the foot work; some are all heart; some are the backbone of the community; someone needs to be the head; some need to be ears, good listeners; some have to be seers, people who can see through things; some have to be mouth – proclaimers and teachers.

I was mouth and foot and ear. I went everywhere – watching first and then speaking – all though the Mediterranean Basin – trying to start communities, churches, bodies of Christ everywhere. I would go to Jewish settlements first. Some got the message that Jesus came to renew Israel not to destroy it.

Like Peter, I was jailed. Like Peter, I was chained. Like Peter, Christ was my strength. Like Peter, Christ kept rescuing me.

Like Peter I wrote letters back to Christian communities to encourage and to challenge them. They probably tore them up – but I hope they heard what I was trying to write to them.

Somewhere along the line it hit me: what about the rest of the world – the world beyond Judaism. What about the Gentiles? That was the big question – the defining moment and decision that had to be made. I know that you Peter had trouble with that one, but I did too. I’m glad we all saw the call to reach out to all. You reneged on this Peter, but that’s human nature, but then you rose to new life. Move two inches, go back one inch. Go three inches, go back one inch – but ever onwards.

We both realized the place to fish was not just the Lake of Galilee, but the whole Mediterranean Sea. And I hear there is an ocean beyond that - that we are to fish with Christ everywhere.

So here we are in Rome – pope and preacher. Here we are in the head city of the world and once more people want to kill Christ. Here we are – still fishing and still searching for lost sheep.

I guess that’s what this church will be doing till the end of time.

Calling on all to board the boat. Let’s go out into the deep waters and lower our nets for a catch – nets full of fish and nets full of sheep.

THE SPARROW’S WHY

This morning, walking up the street,
I spotted a dead sparrow on the ground.
Immediately came an inner blurt,
“God, why this sparrow? Tell me why?”
After all, you said, “None falls to the ground
without you knowing it.”*
Was it this one’s time to die
and no longer fly and twist and turn
in a morning sky?
Tell me the story
what this sparrow did
with the gift of his or her life?
Broken shells in a nest
speak nothing except unknown next;
broken ground in the cemetery
gives only the silent scream,
“We had our turn. We had our turn.”
And only we know the answer to our “why?”
And hopefully we know it before we die.
Only we can share the answer to each other

before others spot us in the ground.

© Andy Costello,

Reflections 2008

*Cf. Matthew 10:29;

Luke 24:13-35

*

RECOGNITION

AND

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

I would like to preach on the theme of “Recognition and Acknowledgement.”

It’s a theme that hit me as I reflected on today’s readings, especially today’s gospel.

I began wondering, “Where would this theme take me?” I ask you: "Where would this two step dynamic of recognition plus acknowledgment take you?"

AIRPORT

We’ve all had the experience of being at an airport and we see someone walking towards us or sitting there and we think, “Isn’t that?” We recognize someone famous – an actor, a politician, an athlete. That’s recognition.

If we go “Hi!” with a slight wave of our hand or a smile, that’s acknowledgment.

If we see a teenager going over to the famous person and ask for their autograph, that’s both recognition and acknowledgment.

If you’re looking for a conversation starter, just ask folks to mention famous people they have met. I’ve discovered everyone has their list of famous folks whom they have spotted.

I’ve seen Deon Sanders, Tiny Tim, Oscar Robinson, Billy Jean King, The Everly Brothers, F. Lee Bailey, Howard Cosell, at various airports and I don’t travel that much. Whom have you met?

Whom have we missed? Ooops! you can’t answer that one. If you can, you didn’t, didn’t see them.

QUESTIONS
A question: Who’s famous? Who should be recognized?

A second question: Who should be acknowledged?

We have all heard Andy Warhol’s famous quote, “In the future everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.”

Have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet? Did you want it? Did you have it all at once? Or are you accumulating it an instance at a time.

Or you might say: “Who cares?” Or, “What is fame?”

Do you really want to be on the American Idol show?

Isn’t it more important, that we are recognized and acknowledged by people whom we recognize and acknowledge: family, friends, neighbors, parishioners?

In a church this size, in a parish this size, is it important to sit in the same seat – or close to the same seat each time we come to a certain Mass? Doing that, we could get to know each other a tiny bit more each time. Isn’t it important to recognize, to acknowledge, to give a nod or sign of peace to each other when we are here?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Another conversation topic is accomplishments. Why not ask each other: “Did you ever do anything that was famous?” At some family get together – when there are several generations present, ask that question. Watch the faces of kids as they listen to the answers given off by us older folks. And afterwards, surprise, you might overhear kids telling other kids, “You aren’t going to believe what my grandmother did way back in 1937. She was in Paris and she went up in a hot air balloon that almost hit the Eiffel tower. There were pictures of it in all the papers.” Wow!

Or, “My uncle won a spelling bee and went all the way to the state finals when he was a kid.” “Wow!”

Or, “My mother had her picture on the front page of The Washington Post when she was a little girl. It was a parade and she was sitting on the curb. She even showed me the picture. She had it carefully saved in a see through plastic folder.” Wow!

TIM RUSSERT
I’m sure you heard that Tim Russert gave the commencement address here at the St. Mary’s High School graduation on May 22nd. That was just 22 days before his sudden death.

I lucked out getting a chance to shake his hand – look him in the eye for a hundredth of a second and get in a foursome picture with him. I was also just 6 feet away from him up on a small platform as he gave his address. Wow!

I’m saying to myself during his talk, “I hope these kids are thrilled that their high school commencement address is being given by Tim Russert." I had second thoughts two days later when I said to someone, “Guess who gave the St. Mary’s H.S. commencement address this year?”

“Who?”

“Tim Russert!”

“Who’s Tim Russert?”

But after his sudden death, a lot more people know who Tim Russert was.

When I get a chance I’m going to ask some of our high school graduates what they now think. I’d like to hear what they recognized and what they would acknowledge. But as Tim Russert said, “Who remembers what is said in commencement addresses?” Then he added, “Who even remembers who gave their commencement address?”

I laughed at that because I had given the commencement address last year.

TODAY’S READINGS
Today’s first reading is from Jeremiah. Stories about his life and snippets of his sermons can be found in the Bible in The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Evidently, different people recognized his words and experiences were significant enough to be acknowledged in writing.

Jeremiah was a strong character and a challenging prophet. He keeps on yelling to God: “Why have you put me in this position? Why do I keep on getting trapped and persecuted? Why are people whispering against me? Why do they love it when I fall?” Then he has his follow up theme – where he acknowledges God’s presence: “God, through all this, you keep rescuing me, saving me, pulling me out of the pits.”

Today’s second reading is from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans. It is recognized and acknowledged as his most important letter. In this letter Paul recognizes that sin is around us. The pattern of Adam, the Old Man, is still in all of us. The story of Adam and Eve is everyone’s story. We all are tempted to eat forbidden fruit. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. However, Jesus came to be the New Pattern, the New Adam, the New Man, the New Type of person God calls us to be. The New Story has the same words as the Old Story in Genesis, when the serpent tempted Eve and Adam to take and eat the forbidden fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden. Jesus says at each Eucharist, at each Mass, from the table and from the tree of the cross in the "center" of the church, “Take and eat.” Notice the Eucharistic words at the end of today’s first reading, “The grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus overflow for the many.”

But it’s today’s gospel that grabbed me the most with this theme of recognition and acknowledgement.

Jesus says nothing is hidden. All is recognizable. There are no secrets. All will be revealed [acknowledged]. Uh oh!

Then Jesus gets into the question of fame, the Who’s Who stuff, the who’s recognizable stuff. Haven’t we all been driving along the highway and surprise, we see a whole flock of sparrows come sailing like a thousand Blue Angels twisting and turning right there to our right in the sky as we look out the front window of our car?

We go, “Wow!”

Haven’t we been in the barber shop and spotted all that hair on the floor or been in church and the person in front of us has beautiful hair – glistening in the sun – or the person in front of us is bald and the sermon is horrible and we start counting their hairs, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,” This guy has 11 hairs on his head. Does he know that? Then we remember Jesus’ words, “Even the hairs on your head are counted.”

Jesus is telling us in poetic ways that God knows us. God recognizes us. God acknowledges us. Don’t be afraid. We are more important than a whole flock of sparrows.

Then Jesus makes a switch in thought from us to himself. “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”Scary stuff.

The first step is the recognizing Jesus – recognizing God. The second step is the acknowledging.

Pearl Bailey once said, “People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him.” [New York Times, Nov. 26, 1967]

Imagine dying and saying to God, “I thought I saw you.”

Imagine dying and God saying, “I don’t recognize you”?

Wow! Now that’s a scary thought.

It seems so foreign to hear Jesus say that. If I read Jesus correctly, he walked down streets recognizing folks whom others rarely recognized. The Gospels are loaded with stories about Jesus recognizing people – little children, people who were blind or deaf or had leprosy – poor widows with only two small coins.

So I hope when I die Jesus will recognize and acknowledge poor me, even though I didn’t recognize and acknowledge him enough.

ANTHONY DRAGONETTI
I once gave a communion breakfast talk in Trenton, New Jersey. The guy who invited me to give the talk – did it as a way of promoting weekend retreats at the retreat house where I was stationed. His name was Anthony Dragonetti. After the breakfast he invited me back to his and his wife Philomena’s house for lunch. I noticed a whole collection of neat porcelain birds in glass cabinets in their living room. So I asked him about the porcelain birds.

He told me that he had a small store in Trenton and one of the things he sold was souvenir plates with, “Welcome to Trenton N.J.” on them. Then he told me, “One day a man dropped into the store and spotted the plates. He asked to see one of them and said, ‘This is good work. Do you know the person who makes them?’ I told him that I did.’ Well, the man said, ‘Anytime you want to work for me, just give me a call.’”

The man was Mr. Boehm and he made the famous Boehm Birds and the ones in the glass cabinets were some that Anthony helped design.

He took one out and handed it to me. I asked him how much this one was worth. He looked at it and said, “That one is worth about $1500 dollars.” “Ooops,” I quickly handed the glass bird back to him.

While driving home, while looking out the front window of my car, the words of Jesus hit me. “You are worth more than a whole flock of sparrows.” I remember saying there is a sermon here. I remember milking that experience in a sermon. We are worth more than a whole cabinet full of Boehm birds. I added, “Some people treat collector’s items and this and that as more important than persons.”

Somewhere along the line this theme of Jesus recognizing and acknowledging people has entered into my spirituality.

I got this from my dad and from so many others. Thank you.

Just yesterday, I’m standing there at the hors d’oeuvres part of a wedding reception. I find myself talking to one of the men who were serving us. I found out he was from the Philippines. I also found out he made the big ice sculpture on the table next to the dip and the veggies – a sail boat made out of ice. I also found out where he learned to carve ice and wood – all the while trying to be aware that his job was to serve.

And I get home last night and start reading today’s readings to get a sermon for today. Surprise! The first reading talks about Jeremiah recognizing he was going through some tough times – but he still acknowledges God. The Gospel talks about how Jesus recognized and acknowledged how everyone is more important than a whole flock of sparrows.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Recognition and Acknowledgment.”

Why do we come to Mass?

The first and obvious reason is that we recognize we need God and we want to acknowledge God. Lots of people recognize God. Not everyone acknowledges God. Being here is like being like that teenager who recognizes the famous person and goes over and asks for their autograph.

The second reason we come to Mass is to be challenged to go out from Mass and recognize not just the famous – but to see that every person we’re going to be with this week is worth being with this week. Spot folks this week – especially the little folks. Recognize and acknowledge them – even if you only look into their eye for a hundredth of a second. Amen.

* Boehm Chipping Sparrow

with Clematis

Porceline Sculpture