SERMON SLEEPERS

Quote for the Day - June 2, 2010



"If the sermons that ought to be preached were preached, half the congregations of half the churches would get up and leave in indignation before half the sermons were over."


Sydney J. Harris, Pieces of Eight, 1982


Unfortunately this has only happened to me 4 times in 45 years of preaching - 3 times by people sitting there and once by a priest who was concelebrating the Mass - unless all those people whom I thought were going to the bathroom - were really heading for the exits! However, it has happened to me thousands and thousands of times - by people walking away in their minds. How can I say that? Answer: I notice yawns, people texting, looking at their watches, angry looks, reading the bulletin or from comments and notes handed to me afterwards. You can see an awful lot from the pulpit.

ON DESIGNING
ONE’S OWN FACE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “On Designing One’s Own Face.”

One of my hopes and prayers is that I don’t go through life having an unhappy face – a sad sack face – a “Gotcha” face – or “I’m going to get you!” face.

I don’t want to be a grumpy or griping old man.

So I hope being aware of that hope and fear – will be a reminder to avoid falling into that trap – if possible.

“But for the grace of God ….”

And I'm aware that I preach on this topic more than other topics - which gives me a hint that I am worried about this happening to me. Preachers preach to themselves - whether we are aware of it or not. Smile.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel – Mark 12: 13-17 – for this 9th Tuesday in Ordinary Time, triggered this topic and worry.

Today’s gospel is the “Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what is belongs to God” story that we’re all familiar with.

The gospel begins with the comment, “Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech.”

We see this happening all through the gospels – Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians – all trying to trap Jesus – to catch Jesus.

They are trying to play the “Gotcha” game!

Jesus challenges his critics at times and he walks away at other times.

In the end he loses in the ultimate “Gothcha!” He’s crucified on the cross!

WONDERING IF ....

Last night I was wondering – after I read this gospel - if Jesus ever vents to his disciples in the evening by saying something like this, “It was a tough day – eh? The Pharisees and Herodians were being so picky, picky, picky. The only cute moment was when I got that guy to take a coin out of his robe pocket. By showing me the coin, he was telling everyone he used a coin with Caesar’s image on it. I saw about 3 of the sharper Pharisees put that ‘Gotcha’ look on their faces when he was forced to show his hand. He wasn’t complaining about having Roman coins – with Caesar on their faces – but me. That ‘Gotta get him look’ can turn a beautiful face into an ugly one. Not good. Not good.”

And I wonder if Jesus ever vented to his Father later on in the night. “You made these people with your image and likeness on their souls and they are ruining that image with twisted thinking – giving tribute to neither you nor Caesar – but to their worst self.”

DESIGNING ONE'S FACE

Ongoing anger, complaining, downing conversations can turn down one’s face lines. We know the difference in face lines on the happy face vs. the unhappy face. [Make gesture with face.]

In other words, one has to be careful of the glue or cement power in cynicism, criticism, and complaint – because the lines of my face can become frozen in those postures.

LOOK IN THE MIRROR

Every once in a while it’s smart to look in the mirror – or to study photos of our faces - in candid moments - when a person with a digital camera is taking a picture of someone else and there we are with our everyday face exposed - off to the side.

What does my face look like?

Are we into bickering – griping – being ugly?

We, who go to church often, paradoxically often forget the old adage: The two main topics to avoid are religion and politics – especially when there has been some drinking.

I don’t know about you – but I’m wondering if this stuff is getting worse – or nastier.

"What kind of stuff are you talking about? "

I can feel my face tightening up when someone asks me a question - when both of us know it's a game - the "Gotcha Game" - when both of us know the other is not asking a question - but making a statement by using a question.

For the last year or so I’ve been thinking about these attack TV and radio programs. It seems to me the game is to try to trap people - to get someone who is tired or too liberal or too conservative to say something that that will prove to the host or questioner that he or she is right and this person being asked something is wrong - or on the other side.

When I'm alert and I sense this is a game, I try to smile and ask the person what they think the weather is going to be like tomorrow - or what day of the week is Christmas this year.

When I'm not tired sometimes I say, "Your mind is made up on this right? My mind is made up on this right? Do you want to talk about something else?"

In those kinds of meetings, I always hope I remember one of my life insight moments. I've mentioned this before. I was at a breakfast in New York City in the late 1960's on the drug problem in New York State. Governor Nelson Rockefeller was asked a question from the floor and his answer was a breath of fresh air. With a big smile on his face he said, "Are you crazy? I'm not going to answer that question. Next?" And everyone laughed - well maybe not the person who asked the question.

I wish all politicians and people who are questioned or are on talk shows had the smarts to say things like: "No comment!" or "Next question." or "I have to think about that - because I haven't done enough homework in this area to make a comment."

It seems to me TV and radio talk shows and hosts are more interested in making money and a name for themselves – than the content of their conversations. I am not sure about this, but I figure if you can line up a decent size audience – one can make money with a well defined niche – an audience of people with the same mind set – whatever side of the spectrum one’s ideas are falling on.

Even saying that from up here in the pulpit– puts me in a niche – and that gives me an unwanted itch – and that itch appears on my face and touches the tones and sound of my words. Ugh – it gives me that feeling of ugly – that feeling of “Shut up yourself!” – that feeling of “Run!Get out of the pulpit with such driveling comments."

I assume these talk shows are entertainment more than news and education. I suspect they are a strategy for making money – creating a market audience – that will be used to get advertisements. I assume that modern technology has made some folks hungry for instant news – exciting news – the latest news - and ideas that I already agree upon.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, "On Designing My Own Face."

George Orwell's last words in his notebook were, “At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.” (1)

So at times – I better look in the mirror and study the face I’ve been designing down through the years.

And at times I need to be reminded that I have the image of God stamped on me. Do I reflect that image or have I distorted it?

I’m aware that Jesus once said to be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves. I tried those two attidudes in my mirror. Interesting. I was also wondering, "Did that idea hit Jesus after having a tough day like the day he experienced in today’s gospel?”

I also need to remember Jesus comment to be like a child – not a cranky child – lest I become a cranky old man - instead of a happy child as I move into my second childhood.





This was basically the homily I gave this morning - but I did some editing. It needed it - and my face is happier. Smile.




(1) George Orwell (Eric Blair) 1903-1950, in Last Words in his notebook, April 17, 1949, in Collected Essays (1968), Vol. 4, p. 515

MALE AND FEMALE EQUALITY 

Quote for the Day - June 1, 2010


"Equality is not when a female Einstein gets promoted to assistant professor: Equality is when a female schlemiel moves ahead as fast as a male schlemiel."

Ewald B. Nyquist, New York Times, October 9, 1975

BURIED  LOVE!

Quote for Memorial Day


"Every memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."


Thornton Niven Wilder [1897-1975], last lines in his book, The Bridge of San Luis Rey [1927].

AND NOW A WORD
FROM OUR SPONSOR

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for Trinity Sunday is, “And Now A Word From Our Sponsor.”

God!

God is our sponsor.

God sponsors us. God dreamed us up. God imagined us. God created us – with a little help from our parents. God keeps us in existence – with a little help from our heart and lungs – and ourselves.

God!

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.

Preachers stand before this feast – before our God – before Father, Son and Holy Spirit – like standing before Mount Everest – or the World Trade Center – after September 11 – and say, “Where do I begin?”

What does one begin to say about God?

What does one begin to say about God – when told God is a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

KATAPHATIC OR APOPHATIC

In theology there are two approaches when it comes to talking about God: the kataphatic or the apophatic approach.

These two words are not in the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary – which is on my desk, but they are two words that appear in theology and spirituality literature.

Kataphatic means “with words, with images – with descriptions.” “Kata” – K A T A – is the Greek prefix for “with” and “phatic” P H A T I C – means “to say”. So to say God is a like a mountain, or the ocean, like a Father or a Mother, like fire, like wind, like Father and a Son and the Spirit of love between them – is to be kataphatic.

Apophatic means silence. “Apo” A P O – the Greek prefix means “away from”, “separated” “detached”, and once more “phatic” means “to say”. We know words with "apo" up front. Apology means to move away from something that was said or done. Apostrophe is a tiny turned away mark that indicates letters are missing.

So to be apophatic is to say nothing about God, to be silent, to move away from saying anything about God.

Some call God Light; some call God "Darkness". In fact, I have a whole book entitled, “The Darkness of God.” (1)

So in this homily I'm probing how we see God. I'm talking out loud about two approaches to God: kataphatic or apophatic.

So when it comes to God – to speak or not to speak – that is the question.

And I'm trying to say there's something to say - paradoxically about either approach - more or less.

And the crowd at Mass screamed apophaticaly, “Enough already. Don’t say anything – or at least shorten thy homily.”

At a funeral we try to say something about the person who died – and sometimes someone says, “You got her! You captured him. You knew him.” Or sometimes we say, “Nope, you didn’t know him!” Or when John F. Kennedy died, who said, “Johnny we hardly knew you!”?

When it comes to God, I see the Bible is more kataphatic than apophatic – yet the command stands right there: "I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.”

What about you, when it comes to God?

Which is more you?

What about how you pray? There is kataphatic prayer – and there is apophatic prayer – words and silence.

What about churches you've been in? Do you like a lot in them or just sheer simplicity.

When it comes to images, statues, sculptures of God – the scriptures and the history of religions have people making statues and people knocking statues off their pedestals. Some thought statues are a good way to worship God; others thought you're moving into possible idolatry. You might be promoting false religion.

I’m sure we’ve heard somewhere along the line about Iconoclasm – the destruction of icons.

With the changes in the Church in the past 50 years, I’m sure we’ve all gone into churches other than Catholic churches. I’m sure some of you here probably have gone into Jewish synagogues – and maybe a mosque or two. When we were in Catholic grammar school we were told by the nuns and priests we can’t go into a Protestant church. I’ve also heard that Protestant kids were told they couldn’t go into Catholic churches. Yet every year on a certain day we headed for a Lutheran church to get free ice cream – and enjoyed every lick of Protestant ice cream.

In our travels – vacations – trips here and there – we’ve all been in churches. What were your observations about the insides of different churches. I didn't do any research on this, but I assume that in the past there were more obvious differences between some Protestant churches compared to some Catholic churches.

What do folks who are not Catholic see, taste, touch with their eyes – when they drop into Saint Mary’s Church here on Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, Maryland.

I’m sure we remember hearing in history classes about the Reformation in England when the Puritans dissolved and destroyed monasteries and shrines, pictures and paintings. In 1643 there were laws declaring the destruction of superstitious images – including crucifixes, pictures of the Virgin and the Holy Trinity and the Saints. (2)

There is something in religion where these two instincts appear – to paint on walls and to white wash walls.

Remember a few years back when there were TV news reports about the Taliban shooting shells and then dynamiting two great statues of the Buddha in Central Afghanistan. There was uproar from many. I remember thinking, “Are they crazy? If you want tourism down the line, you need religious places to bus people to – and then there is the trickle down economy of restaurants, motels and bus travel."

QUESTION

Where are you with these two instincts?

In this church there are three types of stained glass windows.

The ones up here in the sanctuary are the oldest – and there is one remaining of this same type in the back on your right. They go back to the church renovation of 1885. There was also a plan to put a round window up there in center above the altar. I understand there is an outline of brick work up there somewhere.

Then there are these 8 Mary windows along the sides – I think they are Munich stained glass windows. They were put in there in the renovation of 1917.

And then there are newer stained glass windows in the back – that extend up to the choir loft. They were put up in 1979.

What’s your take on these windows? Would you like clear glass and see the real sky? I believe that’s what the original church had. The 1885 windows seem faded to me.However, I wouldn’t lose sleep if new windows took their place. I’m sure the Annapolis Historic Society would scream. I personally like these middle Marian windows – and I don’t like the 1979 windows in the back at all. (3)

So if you're still with me, I'm probing, what’s your take on religious art? If you were an artist how would you sculpt, paint, picture God? If you were a poet, how would you put God into words?

If you are apophatic – silent, would your favorite scripture text from the psalms be, “Be still and know that I am God?”

Would your favorite classic spiritual reading book be, “The Cloud of Unknowing” by an unknown English spiritual writer from the middle ages – where God is the Great Unknown. We’ve been in airplanes looking out the window and seeing everything – and looking out the window and seeing only clouds. In this book, God is in the Cloud of Unknowing.

Would your favorite theology book be, “The God I Don’t Believe In?” – which gives a long list of ideas about God that the author doesn’t believe in. (4)
I have my list of images and ideas about God that I like and I also have my list of ideas and images of about God that I don’t accept in any shape or form?

CONCLUSION: TRINITY SUNDAY
I’m much more kataphatic than apophatic.

The title of this homily was, "And Now a Word from Our Sponsor."

Calling God a sponsor is kataphatic. It's an image.

Let me close with an image of the Trinity that has energy.

Today is Trinity Sunday. The other day at breakfast or lunch a few of us were talking about how tough it is to preach about the Trinity – with Trinity Sunday coming up.

I said to Fathers John Kingsbury, John Harrison and Blas Caceres, “Could I use the three of you as props or visual aids for my homily? I’d have the 3 of you come dancing down the aisle in unison.”

There was a great laugh and then Father Jack Kingsbury said, “Okay, but you’d have to let the three of us wear black tights.”

I said that because the dance – is a great image of God – and it's used at times in theology. In Greek Orthodox literature, the dance of the Trinity is called the “PERICHORESIS”. Literally it means the going around and around and around – as in the 3 persons in the Trinity are different but indwell in each other – like 3 persons dancing.

It’s a kataphatic image of God. We get it. We’re at a wedding and we see a newly married couple dancing their first dance and we pray that they will get to dance at their 25th and 50th weddings and their children and their children’s children’s weddings – and each dance is even more powerful.

We’ve also been at weddings where they did the chicken dance. There is a long line of dancers pulling people onto the dance floor – and all are one – many persons are one. It says to me that two people can be one. It also says, Trinities are possible . Family is possible. Community is possible.

Heaven – one of the images of what heaven will be like is that of the great dance – laughter, music, celebration, joy, God – at play as we heard in that first reading today -and God upon seeing us playing together has great joy. Amen.

Picture on top is the ceiling of the Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki Finland, 2010. That's a copper ceiling.

(1) The Darkness of God, Negativity in Christian Mysticism, by Denys Turner, 1995, Cambridge University Press

(2) 1992 - Book: The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580, by Eamon Duffy

(3) For more information about St. Mary's Church read, St. Mary's Church in Annapolis, Maryland, A Sesquicentennial History, 1853-2003, by Robert L. Worden, 2003

(4) The God I Don't Believe In, by Juan Arias -Abbey Press, 1974

I WONDER

Quote for the Day - May 30, 2010


"The starting point of the religious experience is wonder."


Harvey Cox, The Seduction of the Spirit, 1973

I DON'T GET IT? 

Quote for the Day - May 29 2010


"One man's 'simple' is another man's 'huh?'"


David Stone, Omni, May 1979