QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
Quote of the Day - October 9. 2010
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
James Thurber [1894-1951], Saying
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
THE DIVIDED HEART
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for today, the 27th Friday in Ordinary Time, is “The Divided Heart.”
SKILL
At the age of 35 I was playing a 3 on 3 basketball game. I’m a righty and I am standing out there past the foul line dribbling the ball with my right hand – planning to make a pass or a move towards the basket.
This other priest guarding me is not standing directly in front of me – but off to my right.
I say to him, “How come you’re guarding me like that.”
He says, “Because I was trained to watch the other player and you can’t go to your left.”
“Ouch!”
The title of my homily for today, the 27th Friday in Ordinary Time, is “The Divided Heart.”
SKILL
At the age of 35 I was playing a 3 on 3 basketball game. I’m a righty and I am standing out there past the foul line dribbling the ball with my right hand – planning to make a pass or a move towards the basket.
This other priest guarding me is not standing directly in front of me – but off to my right.
I say to him, “How come you’re guarding me like that.”
He says, “Because I was trained to watch the other player and you can’t go to your left.”
“Ouch!”
I didn’t learn that I didn’t have that skill till I was 35.
Well, after that I practiced going to my left and dribbling with my left hand as well.
Today I’m talking about “The Divided Heart!”
AMBIGUITY
Ambiguity is a neat word to think about. It means "both".
It takes skill to know how to deal with this human reality in the human heart. It's called "ambiguity".
We can be divided - pulled - in different ways.
It's a skill – that we need to learn.
Ambiguity - dealing with "both's" - is a skill we all need to develop.
CORONA BEER COMMERCIAL
I’m sure you’ve all see Corona Beer commercials on TV. You’re looking at a guy and a girl in front of you – lounging in beach chairs – looking out at the water from a sunny sandy beach. A beautiful gal walks in front of them and the guy starts turning his head to the left and is watching the bikini gal going down the beach. His girlfriend or wife sitting next to him reaches for the lemon on the top of the bottle of Corona on the small table between them and squirts him.
There you go – one of the most basic divided heart issues – the male female relationship – and the possibility of another – entering into the story.
There are a zillion songs about being torn between two lovers – breakups – falling out of love – and those of you who have been in relationships that have fallen apart know the pain. Splits …. Cheating …. Being dropped for another always hurts.
DIVORCE
Well, after that I practiced going to my left and dribbling with my left hand as well.
Today I’m talking about “The Divided Heart!”
AMBIGUITY
Ambiguity is a neat word to think about. It means "both".
It takes skill to know how to deal with this human reality in the human heart. It's called "ambiguity".
We can be divided - pulled - in different ways.
It's a skill – that we need to learn.
Ambiguity - dealing with "both's" - is a skill we all need to develop.
CORONA BEER COMMERCIAL
I’m sure you’ve all see Corona Beer commercials on TV. You’re looking at a guy and a girl in front of you – lounging in beach chairs – looking out at the water from a sunny sandy beach. A beautiful gal walks in front of them and the guy starts turning his head to the left and is watching the bikini gal going down the beach. His girlfriend or wife sitting next to him reaches for the lemon on the top of the bottle of Corona on the small table between them and squirts him.
There you go – one of the most basic divided heart issues – the male female relationship – and the possibility of another – entering into the story.
There are a zillion songs about being torn between two lovers – breakups – falling out of love – and those of you who have been in relationships that have fallen apart know the pain. Splits …. Cheating …. Being dropped for another always hurts.
DIVORCE
Those of you who have experienced a family breakup because of a divorce – know the pain. Do I side with mom or dad? It can happen every weekend. It can happen every conversation at the dinner table. And the breakup of mom and dad – many times – comes out of a divided heart – divided interests – divided relationships – and you might have seen it coming. Some kids even blame themselves.
BASIC
All of us know the basic reality of a divided heart. It happens amongst friends. It happens with time and energy. Everyone feels the pressure between work and play – sports and studies – school choices – time choices.
Choose you lose. Choose you win. Choice is about options.
I watch TV with some other priests. It’s fascinating watching people click back and forth between the news and a game. As a result we don’t see too many commercials.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel some people accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
Jesus counters the crowd by getting right into the issue of the divided heart. He’s saying, “If I’m on the same team as Beelzebub – why would I destroy the team by casting out a demon? That would be stupid – and counterproductive.” Then he goes on to say,
“Every kingdom divided against itself
will be destroyed.
BASIC
All of us know the basic reality of a divided heart. It happens amongst friends. It happens with time and energy. Everyone feels the pressure between work and play – sports and studies – school choices – time choices.
Choose you lose. Choose you win. Choice is about options.
I watch TV with some other priests. It’s fascinating watching people click back and forth between the news and a game. As a result we don’t see too many commercials.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel some people accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
Jesus counters the crowd by getting right into the issue of the divided heart. He’s saying, “If I’m on the same team as Beelzebub – why would I destroy the team by casting out a demon? That would be stupid – and counterproductive.” Then he goes on to say,
“Every kingdom divided against itself
will be destroyed.
House will fall against house.
If Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
how will his kingdom stand?
You say it is by Beelzebul
that I drive out demons.
that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God
that I drive out demons,
that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed
guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he
attacks and overcomes him,
attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor
on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Jesus gets to the heart of the matter right there.
ST. PAUL
St. Paul got Jesus’ message big time – about knowing the human heart and how people think. Paul knew about the divided heart.
In Romans 7:14-25 – Paul speaks for all of us when he says what we all know. We plan to do what is right – we resolve to do what is right – and then we go out and do just the opposite.
Everyone who has decided on a diet or fasting or avoiding some sin – knows what Paul knew: we do the opposite.
Paul says that the law doesn’t work. The law just tells him what he ought to do and ought not to do. Lists and laws are not enough.
Paul says in Romans what he says in today’s first reading from Galatians 3: 7-14. And in Romans and Galatians he tells us what he discovered. Jesus is the one who can rescue us from this dilemma and this division.
Anyone who is a 12 step program is challenged in the very First Step that I am powerless over alcohol or ______ and my life has become unmanageable. Then Step Two and I came to believe that I need a higher power – a power greater than myself who could restore me to sanity. For the Christian, it’s Jesus!
When we learn this – we learn this. It’s a life time struggle for everyone – this challenge on how to live with a divided heart.
At some point it would be worth reading the so-called, “The Big Book” of Acoholics Anonymous – as well as reading St. Augustine’s Confessions – at least Book 8 – because it's in his 30’s when he accepts this reality. In the famous scene in the garden he turns over his life to Jesus – after taking Paul’s Letter to the Romans and reading Chapter 13: 11-14,
“The night is almost over.
It will soon be daylight.
Let us give up all the things
we prefer to do under cover of the dark.
Let us arm ourselves
and appear in the light.
Let us live decently
as people do in the daytime:
no drunken orgies,
no promiscuity
or living with no sexual restraints,
and no quarreling and jealousy.
Let our armor be the Lord Jesus Christ
and forget everything
about satisfying our bodies
with all their cravings.”
Tough stuff.
NATIVE AMERICANS
I’m sure you all heard in some sermon or talk the same message from Native American wisdom. Wisdom figures or teachers tell young people that inside all of us there are two dogs. One dog is mean; the other one is good. And as we go through life they are forever fighting. And then someone from the crowd always asks, “Which one wins?” And the elder reflects for a moment and then says, “The one we feed the most.”
In some versions it’s two wolves. I’m sure the same story can be found in various images in most cultures around the world.
CONCLUSION
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his book, The Gulag Archipelago, addresses this issue when writing about making some people good and some people bad – sort of what the crowd was trying to do to Jesus in today’s gospel. Solzhenitsyn writes,
Jesus gets to the heart of the matter right there.
ST. PAUL
St. Paul got Jesus’ message big time – about knowing the human heart and how people think. Paul knew about the divided heart.
In Romans 7:14-25 – Paul speaks for all of us when he says what we all know. We plan to do what is right – we resolve to do what is right – and then we go out and do just the opposite.
Everyone who has decided on a diet or fasting or avoiding some sin – knows what Paul knew: we do the opposite.
Paul says that the law doesn’t work. The law just tells him what he ought to do and ought not to do. Lists and laws are not enough.
Paul says in Romans what he says in today’s first reading from Galatians 3: 7-14. And in Romans and Galatians he tells us what he discovered. Jesus is the one who can rescue us from this dilemma and this division.
Anyone who is a 12 step program is challenged in the very First Step that I am powerless over alcohol or ______ and my life has become unmanageable. Then Step Two and I came to believe that I need a higher power – a power greater than myself who could restore me to sanity. For the Christian, it’s Jesus!
When we learn this – we learn this. It’s a life time struggle for everyone – this challenge on how to live with a divided heart.
At some point it would be worth reading the so-called, “The Big Book” of Acoholics Anonymous – as well as reading St. Augustine’s Confessions – at least Book 8 – because it's in his 30’s when he accepts this reality. In the famous scene in the garden he turns over his life to Jesus – after taking Paul’s Letter to the Romans and reading Chapter 13: 11-14,
“The night is almost over.
It will soon be daylight.
Let us give up all the things
we prefer to do under cover of the dark.
Let us arm ourselves
and appear in the light.
Let us live decently
as people do in the daytime:
no drunken orgies,
no promiscuity
or living with no sexual restraints,
and no quarreling and jealousy.
Let our armor be the Lord Jesus Christ
and forget everything
about satisfying our bodies
with all their cravings.”
Tough stuff.
NATIVE AMERICANS
I’m sure you all heard in some sermon or talk the same message from Native American wisdom. Wisdom figures or teachers tell young people that inside all of us there are two dogs. One dog is mean; the other one is good. And as we go through life they are forever fighting. And then someone from the crowd always asks, “Which one wins?” And the elder reflects for a moment and then says, “The one we feed the most.”
In some versions it’s two wolves. I’m sure the same story can be found in various images in most cultures around the world.
CONCLUSION
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his book, The Gulag Archipelago, addresses this issue when writing about making some people good and some people bad – sort of what the crowd was trying to do to Jesus in today’s gospel. Solzhenitsyn writes,
“If only it were all so simple!
If only there were evil people
somewhere insidiously
committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only
to separate them
from the rest of us
and destroy them.
But the line
dividing good and evil
cuts through the heart
of every human being.
And who is willing to destroy
a piece of his own heart?”
In other words, it’s us. We have divided hearts and we need skills in dealing with this everyday struggle. Amen.
In other words, it’s us. We have divided hearts and we need skills in dealing with this everyday struggle. Amen.
This was a homily for our St. Mary's H.S. seniors and juniors this morning at a school Mass. I didn't use a script and the homily didn't come out as organized as I would have liked - so I'm putting the written script here in my blog. It's a very important topic to ponder. Amen.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
THE ROSARY AS MEDICINE
Quote for the Day - October 7, 2010
Feast of the Holy Rosary
"Some people do not like to take the medicine that would heal them, and call it nonsense. The rosary is exactly that medicine which cures an amazing deal of nonsense. Call it spiritual homeopathy if you like. Many a proud spirit has been brought down by it - many a faddy spirit has been made patient by it. Many a queasy spirit has been made strong by it. Many a distracted spirit has become recollected by it."
Archbishop Ullathorne [1806-1889], Letters in the Oscation (19th century).
I have a whole series of meditations on the Rosary on this blog. Check them out.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
HAVING A SENSE
OF WONDER -
AND A SENSE
OF WORSHIP.
Quote for the Day - October 6, 2010
"The man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder (and worship), were he President of the innumberable Royal Societies ... is but a Pair of Spectacles behind which there is no eye."
Thomas Carlyle [1795-1881], Sartor Resartus, 1836
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
SEELOS AND LINCOLN
Quote for the Day -- October 5, 2010
Feast of Blessed Francis X. Seelos, Redemptorist
"Next Monday I go to Washington City to see, if possible, Father Abraham and have a talk with him about the draft. If I do not succeed in obtaining a release from that unjust injunction, we will rather go to prison than to take up arms. As for paying the bounty for each Redemptorist in the draft, to pay for so many, we are not able."
Francis X. Seelos [1800-1867], as found on page 211 in Rev. Michael Curley's biography of Francis Xavier Seelos's life, Cheerful Ascetic. Seelos did get to see the President, Abraham Lincoln and wrote "I liked President Lincoln very much when I went to see him. He spoke to us in a sincere, free, and friendly manner." [also on page 211].
Monday, October 4, 2010
WISDOM FROM ST. FRANCIS
Where there is charity and wisdom,
there is neither fear nor ignorance.Where there is patience and humility,
there is neither anger nor vexation.
Where there is poverty and joy,
there is neither greed nor avarice.
Where there is peace and meditation,
there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
From The Counsels of Holy Father St. Francis, Admonition 27
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