BABEL, BABEL, BABEL

The title of my homily for this 6th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Babel, Babel, Babel.”

In today’s first reading we have the famous, “Tower of Babel” story from the Book of Genesis 11:1-9.

It’s a great story for so many reasons.

We know that the purpose of these early stories in Genesis is to try to answer basic questions:

• Where do we come from?;
• Who started all this?;
• If God makes only the good, where does evil come from?;
• How come people mess up and kill each other?;
• Why are there floods and natural disasters?; etc. etc. etc.

We were taught that this story evolved in an attempt to answer the question: where and why do the different languages of the world come from? If we all descended from Adam and Eve – how come we’re all speaking different languages?

Last night I checked how many languages there are in our world. The New York Times Almanac said there are approximately 100 languages in the world and Wikipedia on line said there were from 3000 to 6000 languages. That’s quite a difference. I assume it’s one more example of, “It all depends on how we’re seeing or understanding a question.”

The answer from the author of this text in Genesis explains it all by the sin of pride. Adam and Eve went it without God – and here now are people trying to build a tower to reach the heavens – on their own – without the help of God.

I did it my way!

We’ve all heard the saying: “The bigger they are; the harder they fall.”

We’ve seen little kids at the beach trying to build a bigger and better sand castle than the other kids. We laughed when the kid with the biggest castle was standing there – tall – filled with pride – and then the whole thing came crumbling down by a big wave. We didn’t know it then, but we were learning one of life’s big lessons: things crumble – especially when we think we’re solid sure and bigger and better than others.

The symbol for pride in the Tarot Cards is the tower.

Unfortunately and fortunately, it’s when we fall that we crawl to God. So it’s not just Christmas and Ash Wednesday that some people come to church and to God. It’s when they experience powerlessness and sickness and crumble and crash and crush. It’s when something has gone wrong with our body or our health or our family that we turn to God.

The sounds, “Uh oh” – are sometimes the beginning of real prayer.

It’s a no brainer that the human brain knows to tell us to fall on our knees when we know we need a power greater than ourselves.

It’s a no brainer that the human brain knows that those who imitate the proud, imitate them by sticking their noses up in the air. There’s the tower image again. And we know that the word for “humble” comes from the Latin word “humus”. We are made from the dirt of the earth and it will be rubbed into our foreheads this year on March 9th, 2011. That’s Ash Wednesday this year. And we’ll hear the ancient words, “Remember you are dust, dirt, earth, and into dust you shall return.”

Notice in today’s first reading that the people stopped building the tower – made of clay bricks – and each went their own way. Like everything, in time the tower disintegrated and disappeared. Remember towers of power, you are dirt and into dirt you shall return.

I dare say that this was part of the motive for the two times others tried to bomb the World Trade Center – the second time they succeeded and there was the horrible carnage and death that resulted. Obviously some thought: “Let’s destroy two great United States symbols of power: the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. What was the other target?

Let me close with a poem that tells the story of the Tower of Babel in other words. It’s called, “Blue Girls” A man saw some beautiful young school girls on a green lawn running and playing and dressed in Blue and it triggered for the poet, the memory of a beautiful woman who fell from grace.

Instead of saying a few words on how today’s gospel – Mark 8 to 9:1, where Jesus talks about just the opposite of pride, emptying and denying oneself, I would like to close with a poem.

The poem is by John Crowe Ransom – and it has a few words to explain before reciting and closing with this poem.

Sward – S W A R D – is a section of ground covered with grass. The word “sward” goes nicely with twirling and skirts.

Fillets - F I L L E T S – a fillet is a strip of material that is a headband – in this poem there are “white fillets” in the girls’ hair.

Seminary – is an old word for “school”.

Here’s the poem:

BLUE GIRLS

by John Crowe Ransom

Twirling your blue skirts, traveling the sward

Under the towers of your seminary,

Go listen to your teachers old and contrary

Without believing a word.

Tie the white fillets then about your hair

And think no more of what will come to pass

Than bluebirds that go walking on the grass

And chattering on the air.

Practice your beauty, blue girls, before it fail;

And I will cry with my loud lips and publish

Beauty which all our power shall never establish,

It is so frail.

For I could tell you a story which is true;

I know a lady with a terrible tongue,

Blear eyes fallen from blue,

All her perfections tarnished—yet it is not long

Since she was lovelier than any of you.

* Painting on top: The Tower of Babel [1563] by Peter Brugel the Elder [c. 1526 / 1530 - 1569]

SHARING OUR STUFF

Quote for Today - February 17, 2011

"We should not consider our material possessions our own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need."

St. Thomas Aquinas O.P. [c. 1225-1274]

Painting on top by Fra Angelico, also a Dominican [c. 1387-1455] Oooops! Maybe I should have looked for a painting of Thomas with more of a smile on his face. I read somewhere that he was a jolly person.

Suggestion to any Catholic who screams about socialism: reflect upon the above words of Aquinas in light of the Acts of the Apostles 4:32 as well as the great social encyclicals and documents of the Catholic Church: Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII; Quadragesimo Anno, Pius XI; Mater et Magistra, Pacem in Terris [Pope John 23], Gaudium et Spes, Vatican II; Populorum Progressio, Octogesima Adveniens, Paul VI; Laborem Exercens, Sollicitudo Res Socialis, Evangelium Vitae, Centesimus Annus, John Paul II; Caritas in Veritate, Deus Caritas Est, Benedict XVI.

BOTTOM  LINE

Quote for Today - February  16,  2011



"The bottom line is in heaven."



Edwin Herbert Land [1909-1991] Inventor of the Polaroid Land Camera. The above comment is his 1977 reply to someone who said that only the bottom line of the balance sheet shows the worth of a product.

“COMPLETE THIS SENTENCE:
I REGRET….”

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 6 Tuesday in Ordinary time is, “Complete This Sentence: I Regret….”

Those are words found in a book, How To Survive the Loss of a Love, by Melba Colgrove, Harold H. Bloomfield, and Peter McWilliams.

Would everyone give us an answer to that request?

Regrets can be like lobsters; they can bite us; they can really hold onto us.

We’ve all heard people being asked that question: “Any regrets?”

And we’ve all heard people in public say, “Nope. No regrets.”

But would that person – some night years later – with scotch or bourbon or wine in hand say, “Okay I have one regret.”

Does every person who has lost a loved one – have at least one thing they wished they said or did?

Haven’t we all put our foot – maybe even both feet – into our mouth – and said the wrong thing at the wrong time – and then – we made it worse – by repeating what we were really trying to say but even "worser" and there is no eraser for some "worser" words?

Did Jesus ever regret picking Judas or even Peter? How about Thomas? I’m sure he had no regrets about Andrew. But how about James and John?

DE-ENERGIZING THE BUNNY AND IT ISN’T FUNNY

Might-have-beens can be mighty draining.

Katherine Mansfield said regrets are “An appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in The Way to Freedom, wrote, “If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”

So do you have any regrets? Have you gotten on any wrong trains? Have you made any mistakes? How about sins of omission? How did it go with your marriage? How did it go with your family? How did it go with go with schooling, money, jobs? How about you and God?

AT LEAST 5 A DAY

At the end of the day, I have at least 5 regrets for that day.

But it’s the big ones that count – the lifetime regrets.

I regret that I didn’t ask my dad all the questions that I thought of after he died June 26, 1970 – but I’m happy I sat down with yellow pad and pen 5 or so months before he died and asked him questions that gave me about 40 pages of info and stories on paper – in hand.

I had some good conversations with my mom – and I’m glad I taped her before she died – April 7, 1987.

But there are still so many more questions.

There have been lots of insipid or stupid sermons. There are 3 books that I haven’t finished. There are also 2 books on my shelf that I could not get a publisher for.

There are lots of people I didn’t visit – because of laziness – selfishness - and lots of excuses, excuses, excuses - all of which are sources for a lot of regrets.

CONCLUSION

What triggered this topic is the comment about God in today’s first reading from Genesis 6: 6: “God regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.”

How about regrets about women? Smile.

Of course, that’s a projection by the writer onto God. It’s what they call an "anthropomorphism".

Hopefully we have no regrets that a writer put this story of the big flood into the Bible – because it certainly has helped people who have been flooded out and drowned in stupidity – or what have you - to have hope after the big loss, after the big regret, to start again – and doing this life over.

And P.S.: going two by two or more, certainly makes life easier than going it alone - except for those two mosquitoes God let on Noah's boat. I regret them and a few other bugs. I know. Everything has a reason. But ....

REGRETS

Quote for Today -- February 15, 2010


"Regrets are as personal as fingerprints."

Margaret Culkin Banning, "Living With Regrets," Reader's Digest, October 1958

PASS IT ON 

BEFORE YOU PASS ON!

Quote for Today - Valentine's Day - February 14,  2011


"Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on."


Henry Burton [1840-1930], Pass It On, first stanza

THE JEALOUSY FAMILY

[Instead of a homily I made up this story for today's Mass for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time A. The Children's Lectionary only had a small part of today's long gospel from Matthew's Sermon on the Mount . It had Matthew 5: 23-24 instead of Matthew 5: 17-37.]

Once upon a time there was this family: “The Jealousy Family.”

There are some musicians who use the Jealousy name for their stage name – but in this family, Jealousy was their real last name.

You can check it out in the phone book – if you can find one, because most people don’t use phonebooks any more. Today it would be better to check it out on line: Jack and Jill Jealousy. And you’ll find it almost immediately, because there aren’t too many people with Jealousy for a last name.

Jack and Jill had 4 kids – 2 boys: Jack Jr. and Jimmy; and two girls: Janet and Jeri - Jeri with a J and one R – spelled J E R I.

Before Jack and Jill got married – friends had all kinds of jokes and fun with their names: Jack and Jill – but especially with that last name – Jealously.

Two generations back – a grandfather from Eastern Europe arrived in America in Baltimore with the name of Johan Jellonowski – and because everyone had trouble pronouncing and spelling Jellonowski – in fact, grandpa wasn’t so sure on just how to spell it out in English himself, so he changed the family name to Jealousy. Good thing he didn’t go with, “Jell-O”. “New country, new name!” he was fond of saying when asked, “Where in the world did the family name of ‘Jealousy’ come from?”

Because of their first names as well as their last name – Jealousy – Jack and Jill decided to name each of their kids as they came along with a J for their first name. They would joke saying, “Just in case one kid would feel jealousy that another kid got a better name than another kid – we gave all of you a J for a first name.

But to be serious – Jack and Jill had to deal with the question of jealousy as their kids started to grow. This was new to them – because when Jack and Jill dated – there wasn’t any jealousy. They knew they made for each other – from moment # 1 – meeting each other in Tio Pepe’s Restaurant on 10 East Franklin Street in Baltimore – quite by accident.

It just happened to be Valentine’s Day Evening – and neither of them were dating anyone at the time.

Both were there at Tio’s with two friends – and everyone - all 6 of them were wearing a Colts jacket – that was a football team that used to be in Baltimore – and each party of 3 were seated just at the next table. Since Tio Pepe’s was a more dressed up kind of place – suit jackets preferred for dinner – their blue and white Colts jackets stood out. The jackets got them talking table to table – in fact – they asked the waiter – if they could pull their tables together and they did.

Jack and Jill loved to tell that story. Jack and Jill always remembered that story – especially around Valentine’s Day.

Now back to Jealousy….

Like every family – the Jealousy family had to deal with jealousy – but Jack and Jill needed time to discover this.

When Jack Jr. was born, Jack Sr. – daddy – felt a tinge and twinge of jealousy that he was no longer the only other in the house with Jill.

When Jimmy was born Jack Jr. was jealous – that mom and dad were giving the attention he used to get – to the new baby. When cameras appeared Jack Jr. would pose for pictures – but everyone was taking Jimmy’s picture instead and saying, “Isn’t he so cute.”

Jack Jr. was too young to be able to say, “What am I? Chopped liver?”

At first when Jack and Jill began to notice Jack Jr’s antics to get attention from mom or dad, they couldn’t figure what got into Little Jack – but one day when Jill’s mom was visiting her, her mom said to her, “Isn’t it cute how Junior Jack – that’s what she called him – blocks out Jimmy whenever people want to see the new baby?”

“Oh,” said Jill, “now I get it. Okay.”
So she gave Jack Jr. some extra TLC – and this would calm him down - sometimes.

Then Jimmy went through the Jealousy scene when his new baby sister, Janet was born. He was now a middle child – and would be for the rest of his life. It wouldn’t be till he was in his 20’s when he could laugh, really laugh about that. Then Janet went through it when Jeri – the last of their 4 kids, Jeri with a J – Jeri spelled J E R I.

It’s interesting to note that Janet and Jimmy at some point would become the best of friends – without knowing why they were the best of friends. She had a long talk with Jimmy when he was 37 and she was 35 and had three kids of her own by then – and Jimmy had 5 kids of his own and they saw how little kids could be rivals and jealous – and also what it’s like to be a kid stuck in the middle – but all this is getting ahead of the story.

I guess you have to be older and a parent to see what you didn’t see when you are a kid.

Jealousy – it shows up in every family – you better get used to it.

It shows up in jealousy about whom gets the biggest piece of cake at a family birthday party – and unfair motives are laid on the cake cutter.

It shows up in whom gets the best seat in the car….

It shows up in comments about who’s the funniest or cutest or who takes the best picture or who goes to who’s sporting event.

It shows up with Christmas presents – but only when kids are between 4 and 10. After that jealousy about presents seems to disappear.

It shows up with whom sits next to mom and dad – at church – and the Jealousy family went to church every Sunday – celebrating and practicing their faith – a faith that was handed down from their grandparents both of whom came from Eastern Europe – where faith was very solid – and sometimes very difficult to practice – but grandparents on both sides kept the faith when they landed and settled in Baltimore.

Surprise – one Sunday – at Mass – The Jealousy Family were asked to bring the gifts up to the altar as a family at the Children’s Mass.

When they got to the back of the hall, all four reached out and gave a hand shake and then knuckled each other – and each said, “I’m sorry for being a pain.” Then they all walked up the aisle with the gifts – mom and dad – Jack and Jill – Jack Jr, Jimmy, Janet and Jeri – Jeri with a J – Jeri spelled J E R I.

Mom and dad walking behind them whispered to each other: “What was that all about?”

They didn’t get the answer to that question till they were in the car heading out for breakfast after Mass – which they did every Sunday morning – figuring the day would be coming – when their kids would be having lots of other plans than going out for breakfast as a family on a Sunday morning after Mass.

Sitting there mom said, “Why did you kids all knuckle each other before we brought the gifts up? That was nice, but why did you do that?”

Janet said dramatically, “Hello Mom, Hello! Didn’t you hear what the priest read out loud about Jesus – that he said, ‘When you come to bring your gift to the altar and you remember that your brother or sister has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar and go first and be reconciled with your brother and sister and then come and offer your gift.’ Mom. Hello!”

That night after the kids went to bed Jack and Jill laughed and cried and knuckled each other remembering that moment at Mass: “Wow we have great kids. It’s all worth it. It’s all worth it, babe! Thanks for marrying me.”

“Me too!”