“EPHPHATHA!”

“BE OPENED!”

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

We have here in Mark 7: 31-37 a wonderful healing story by Jesus - healing someone’s hearing as well as one’s speaking.

The obvious message is to use those words for prayer.

How about keeping  that scene in mind each morning and pray those words. Hear those words from Jesus to help us to hear well this day - to speak well this day.

“Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

“Ephphatha!” is one of those dozen or so Aramaic words - the language Jesus spoke - that can be found in the New Testament [1]

Suggestion: take your hand and touch your ear in gesture prayer, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then touch the other ear praying, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then touch one’s tongue. Touch it and say, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

EARS AND TONGUE

I would assume it’s significance in this story is that it includes both ear and tongue - listening and speaking. Both ….

I would assume that the openness includes not just the mouth but the ears as well - and not just one’s ears and one’s mouth - but to open one’s mind and heart and hands.

AN AESOP FABLE

In preparing this homily last night I found a quote and an anecdote.

You might have heard this from Father Mahoney - because I got his room and some of his books.

Aesop the famous creator and gatherer of Fables and Anecdotes was asked what was the most useful thing in the world. He answered, “The tongue.” Then when asked what was the most harmful thing in the world, he gave the same answer: “The tongue.”

Then the book I found this in told Aesop's fable about the 3 bulls who were always together. A big lion kept watching them from a distance - hoping they would stray from each other and he’d have one, two or three great meals.

The 3 bulls never separated. What to do? What next? Somehow, it’s sort of contradictory in the story, the lion whispered into the ears of each bull some gossip and bad stories about the other 2. It worked. Jealousy and anger got them to avoid each other and sure enough it was easy pickings for the lion. He had 3 great meals - and that’s a lot of bull.

A community, a family, a group, a marriage, can fall apart when gossip or jealousy starts with little stories and the rest is history. Gossip and jealousy, whisper and whining - need a tongue and at least 4 ears. Gossip and jealousy separate people from people.

CONCLUSION: TODAY

Today: today - right now - we’re at the beginning of a new day and we’re using our tongues to pray to God and our ears to listen to God.

Today’s first reading - 1 Kings 11:29-32 - continues telling us of the breakup of the 12 tribes of Israel - when the whole tribal federation of North and South broke apart. They divorced and separated.

The key message in today’s Psalm 81 is to “hear the word of God” and not be “hard of heart”. When folks stop listening to God and listening to each other - when folks stop working and talking with each other - they do this because they have started to listen to false gods and selfish alternatives and individuals, families, tribes and nations fall apart.

Today’s gospel tells us to hear  and then ponder or meditate on the story of the person Jesus healed of hearing and speaking problems. Stop and think. Realize! It could be me!

So once more my suggestion: take one hand and touch one of my ears in gesture prayer, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then  touch the other ear and pray, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then one’s tongue. Touch it and say, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

*******       *******     *******

Picture on top: "The Deaf Man of the Decapolis,"  Mark 7: 31-37, Robert T. Barrett - Notice the "do!"

[1] Maranatha, abba, raca, ephphatha, mammon, Eli, eli, lama sabactani, Rabbuni, hosanna, korban, jot, title, sikera, Boanerges, Cephas, Tabitha, Bethesda, Golgotha, Gabbatha, Gethsemani. 

TAKE  ANOTHER 

LOOK  IN THE MIRROR 

February  10,  2012

Quote for Today - Tenth Day of Black History Month


“We look into mirrors but we only see the effects of our times on us - not our effects on others."


Pearl  Bailey   [1899-1974] 

BLUE 

COMMUNICATION 

February  9,  2012

Quote for Today - Ninth day in Black History Month

"You got to find some way of saying it without saying it." 


Duke Ellington, [1899-1974]

INDIGO   BLUE 

"Mood Indigo"  is the name of the musical piece on top played by Duke Ellington and his band.  The blues ....

TWO HANDS:

TWO CHOICES

INTRODUCTION

When we hear this story by Jesus,
the parable of the wicked tenant farmers [Mark 12:1-12],
we hear some terrible things:
people beating other people,
people hurting other people
people stoning other people,
and then people killing other people.

QUESTIONS

Whenever something terrible happens, especially one person hurting another person, people always ask the question: Why? Why do people do these things? Why do people do bad things to other people? Why?

But people should also ask the opposite question: Why do people do good things to other people? Why? Why? Why? [1]

ANSWER

And the answer at the bottom of all the wondering is that people have freedom of choice. We all have the power to do good or evil.

CHOICES GIVE CONTRASTS

We can help or hurt.

We can construct or destruct.

We can build or tear down.

We can love or hate.

We can praise or blame.

We can light a candle or curse the darkness.

We can do good or evil.

We have the power of choice.

We can gossip, curse, blame, ruin another’s reputation or we can compliment and expression our appreciation of one another.

KNIVES AND WORDS, STICKS AND STONES

We can use a knife to cut bread or cut someone.

We can use words to say to another, “Hey that was a neat thing you did yesterday for Charlie?” Or we can say, “You were really showing off when you drove Charlie to the mall yesterday.”

Words can lift or knock down.

We can use sticks and stones to build a home or to break windows and hurt the inhabitants.

LIKE

It’s like we have two rooms. The first room is filled with light and the other is filled with darkness.

We have the choice of whatever room we want to live in or dwell in most of the time.

LUCY

I remember a  Peanuts cartoon that went something like this. Lucy draws a big heart on a fence. Then she draws a line right down the middle of the heart to divide in two. She fills in one side with chalk. Then pointing to her drawing she says, “This is the human heart. One half of our heart is always fighting the other half.”

AMERICAN INDIANS

The American Indians used to say we have two dogs within us. One is a good dog; the other is bad dog. And they are always fighting each other.And then when a kid asked the teacher, "Which dog wins?" And the teacher says, "The one we feed."

CHOICES

The choice is always ours.

HANDS

Let me conclude with one of my poems. It’s called, “The Two Hands.”

THE TWO HANDS

I am a fist,
a sign of fear,
a sign of anger,
a sign of greed,
a sign of tension

I can pound a desk,
I can hoard money,
I can try to scare you,
I can punch you
in the mouth.

I am a fist.

What do you think of me?

I am an open hand,
a sign of calm,
a sign of ease,
a sign of peace,
a sign of relaxation.

I can dial a phone,
I can shake a hand,
I can change the diapers,
I can play cards,
I can break the bread,
I can heal the hurt,
I can write the poem.

I am an open hand.

What do you think of me? [2]

*****

NOTES


[1] Jacques Maritain [1882-1973] used to answer the Problem of Evil with the Problem of Good.

[2] Listenings, The Thomas More Association, Chicago, Illinois, (c)   Andrew Costello, 1980, p. 107

OFF ON:
THE WITHIN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5^th Wednesday in Ordinary Time is, “Off On: The Within.”

Jesus was off on many things.  Every once and a while it would be worth it to sit by oneself and ask, “What was Jesus off on?”

It would also be worth while to reflect on what people are off on.

We’re all off on various things: neatness, exactness, The Golden Rule, be calm, relax, be kind, no gossip, be on time.

If you have the courage, ask those who know you, one to one, “What do you see me being off on?”

Be ready for surprises.

On some things others know us better than we know ourselves.

You’ve heard us priests here at St. Mary’s. You know what we’re off on by now. People sit there at homily time and ask, “Okay, what’s he saying today?” You listen and then you say, “Okay today he’s off on …………….”

JESUS

Back to Jesus …. What was Jesus off on?

Sacrifice. Humility. Freedom. Truth. Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength - and love your neighbor as yourself. Visit the sick. Feed the hungry. Don’t block children from your life - they’ll show you what the kingdom of God is like. Don’t throw stones. Go the extra mile. Turn the other cheek. Put an end to any string of violence by stuffing it - even if it kills you. Don’t throw rocks. Forgive 70 x 7 times. Give your body. Give your blood. Give your time. Give your life for others. Etc. etc. etc.

WHAT IS JESUS OFF ON TODAY

When we hear the gospel for the day [Mark 7: 24-30], we can ask, “Okay, what is Jesus off on today?” 

That’s how I prepare a homily.  I read the gospel and ask that question. Or I read the first reading and ask, “What’s this reading getting at?”

Yet I know: just as two people looked out prison bars, one saw mud the other saw stars. So I know: two people read a bible text. One sees mud the other sees stars.

I quoted that “Two people looked out prison bars….” quote yesterday to a lady I was talking to and asked her which person was she like. She had been seeing mostly negative things in her family. She paused and said, “I see stars in the muddy puddle!” Then she laughed a great laugh. Then she smiled a great smile.

So what I hear Jesus off on today is the importance of the within.

GO WITHIN

Go within.

You’ve heard the quote: "A journey of 1,000 miles begins with that first step."

Sometimes the longest journey is the journey within.

That’s where we can meet the real me.

Bringing in today’s first reading [1 Kings 10:1-10] - we can ask who was the real Solomon? Who was the real Queen of Sheba? In today’s first reading, Sheba arrives with lots of gifts and lots of praise.  Don’t we hesitate when someone is pouring on the cream and covering us with butter. When someone gives us all kinds of praise and all kinds of gifts, don’t we wonder:  what does this person really want? What are they after?  And the writer of this first reading today accolades Solomon to death. Who was he really? Ask his wife? Smile. First Kings 11: 4 says he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Did anyone really know the real Solomon or the real Sheba?

The real Jesus seems to be off on the inner room stuff. Who am I when I’m alone?  Who am I when I’m in my tabernacle? Who am I when I’m on my own cross - and nobody else is down below or next to me on either side on my Calvary.

CONCLUSION

I learned from St. Alphonsus - in that aloneness - invite Jesus into our inner room - or enter into that inner room of Jesus.

And surprise what happens next. Alphonsus, who could be very testy at times or all scruples at times discovered the love of Jesus Christ - to love Jesus and feel his love for us. The Introduction to his classic 1768 book: The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, with this statement which I end my homily with: “The whole sanctity and perfection of a soul consists in loving Jesus Christ, our God, our sovereign good, and our Redeemer.”

MALE  MEN

February  8,  2012

Quote for Today - Eight Day of Black History Month

"No two men can be half an hour together but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other."

Samuel Johnson [1709-1784], combating the theory that all men are equal. [James Boswell [1740-1795], Life of Johnson, 1776

INSIDE AND UNDERNEATH

THE WORDS AND THE PRAYERS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Inside and Underneath The Words and the Prayers.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING

In today’s first reading, (1 First Kings 8:22-23, 27-30) Solomon is in the temple that he helped build. He stands there before the altar of the Lord - praying out loud in the presence of all the people.

We can picture the scene. We can hear his prayer. Our first reading gives us the words Solomon prayed.

The same thing happens here in church. We can see each other praying. We can also see a priest praying up front at an altar - saying words and prayers out loud in front of the people.

The title of my homily is, “Inside and Underneath The Words and the Prayers.”

I’m sure you have heard some of us priests voicing our frustration with this new translation. Some might have said it out loud - and some of you might have seen it in our faces.

I have various thoughts and questions - some of which I am still trying to figure out for myself. The outside of many of these prayers are tongue twisters with words that are foreign to my ear. However, the words and prayers are now set - so I hope as time goes by we somehow get used to these prayers - so we can pray the prayers and not just read them - or fumble through them.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel (Mark 7:1-13) has a central issue that Jesus is off on: not being a Pharisee, not being a hypocrite, not being an actor - not just being muttering words with our lips while our heart is in a far country.

Have you seen the TV commercial where a guy is sitting down with his wife or girlfriend at a table in a restaurant. It’s a romantic moment. A woman and a man at a small table. He’s looking down and she says, “Were you just looking at your phone to get the scores?” And the guy lies and says, “No, well, no, no, no…” or something like that. The ad is for buying some new kind of great fast cell phone or gadget.

We’ve all seen priests in the middle of a prayer or a sermon look at his watch. We were taught in the sermon classes is deadly dumb.

How good are you at reading minds - or understanding another’s motives?

Women are supposed to be better than men in multi-tasking. Can someone have their mind on two or four things they are doing at the same time? Can a wife be kissing her husband while watching the boiling water on a stove - shaking a lid? Is a kiss just a kiss - a word just a word - or is much more or less. “As Time Goes By” the truth from underneath will finally boil over.

I remember going to see a matinee of a musical on Broadway. We got some seats in one of those small balcony boxes just up the side aisle. We couldn’t see the whole stage - but we could see the orchestra pit below. It was very interesting watching a play for the whole musical. I began noticing that a violinist had on his music stand a copy of the New York Daily News and he read from the newspaper the whole matinee.

I remember hearing priest gossip about so and so somewhere who was always looking over people’s shoulders as he scanned and worked the room - as he was supposedly talking to someone up close and personal?

Where are we when we’re talking to each other? Where are we when we are praying? Sometimes - as we all know - we are not where we are.

I preached about distractions being part of prayer on Sunday.

However, I found myself thinking afterwards a corrective. Is prayer also an attempt to say to God, “I’m giving you my undivided attention and then trying to do just that?”

In doing that - does that better help us to give each other our undivided attention all day and vice versa?

Tricky stuff. We’ve all heard each other’s stories many, many times. We’ve all said our prayers many many times.

So maybe there is a crazy value to all these prayers in the new translation. We have to stop and think more about what is really being said. Time will tell.

CONCLUSION

Where are we this morning - right now - in this temple - at this Mass right now.

Where are dental hygienists when they are in someone’s mouth? I don’t know, but I hope they are not with the gunk between in between my far back lower teeth. I have a cleaning this Thursday morning at this time. I’ll have to ask.

In the meanwhile, let’s mean what we say and sing what we sing - and enjoy the presence of our God with each other.

“Play it again Sam.” “As time goes by.”