GLAD,  MAD  OR SAD?

March  30,  2012

Quote for Today

"The repercussions 
of one person 
living in stubborn gladness 
are incalculable."

Martha Beck, O magazine, page 67, September 2011

ABRAHAM

INTRODUCTION

Both readings for today - and Psalm 105 - in between - talk about Abram or Abraham - so let me pull together a few comments about Abram or Abraham - on this 5th Thursday in Lent.

5 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT ABRAHAM

Since this is not an actual pulpit homily - I don’t have to worry about boring a reader with the following observations. If interesting, they might continue; if not interesting, they can simply push that X up in the corner and move on like Abram or Abraham did.

FIRST OBSERVATION: MANY APPEARANCES

In the New American Bible, the name Abraham appears 254 times - mostly in Genesis. Abram appears 63 times. So that’s 317 times.

It’s not as many as Jesus - who has 1049 name appearances or David with 1025 or Moses with 814 name appearances.

Yet Abraham must be noticed - and paid attention to - as one goes through the Scriptures - Jewish and Christian.

SECOND OBSERVATION: MODEL OF FAITH

In both the Jewish and Christian Scriptures - Abraham is seen primarily as an example of faith - moving forward - with trust - and without clarity what will happen next.

In the Jewish scriptures this message appears in the 12th Chapter of Genesis - when Abram’s name is the shortened version of Abraham and he is asked to move to a new land and a new life. The second big faith struggle takes place when Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

The so called, “Letter to the Hebrews” certainly proclaims this motif and message. We find it loud and clear in Chapter 11: 8-19.

THIRD OBSERVATION: COVENANTS AND PROMISES

If one wants to understand the Jewish and Christian religions, one must understand covenants.

We know the meaning of the words, “I promise!”

We know the meaning of, “Let’s make a deal?”

We know the meaning, “Let’s handshake on this.”

We know the meaning of, “I give you my word.”

We know the human sentiment behind the advice, “Get it in writing.”

Human beings make agreements, deals, contracts, covenants with each other. The Bible is filled with them.

The Jews believed that God made a covenant with Abraham - that God spoke to this man - which included the promise of a son - whose seed would fill the world.

FOURTH OBSERVATION: REVELATION

When talking about Abraham - when seeing him as one of the founding pillars and fathers of the Jewish religion, we’re accepting the concept of revelation - that God reveals Himself to some humans - in somewhat mysterious ways.

Artists and story tellers have to be creative on how they present this experience of revelation. Check out the You Tube version at the beginning of this blog piece.

FIFTH OBSERVATION: A LONG TIME AGO

When talking about Abram or Abraham, we’re talking about a long time ago. The story is in the bosom of legend and the ancient history of a people. The story develops in time - to become core religious tradition for a people.

Scholars place him sometime between 2000 and 1500 B.C.

CONCLUSION

I would suggest reading the material in Genesis on Abraham at first and then go to the Abraham material in the Letter to the Hebrews.

I would then suggest reflecting on the human condition of making promises, covenants, and wanting revelations and surety from God that we are moving in the right direction. Amen.

HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD

March  29,  2012

Quote for Today

"Big eat small."

Someone....

Someone else said, "Fast eat slow."

What's your take on what's happening?

REMAINING IN A WORD

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Wednesday in Lent is, “Remaining In a Word.”

In the beginning of the English translation of today’s gospel there is this interesting sentence, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples.” Next comes the famous comment, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It’s from John 8: 31-32.

DOODLING

When you were in school - and the moment was totally boring - and you began to doodle, what did you doodle? What did you draw? Was there a cartoon character - a number - a day - a date - a letter - a word - a name - that your drew over and over again?

If by any chance you still have your childhood notebooks, why not check them out - or textbooks - or what have you? You’ll find words underlined or highlighted or you might find question marks or comments.

A classmate of mine - who had a very, very, very high I.Q. - Jack Hamilton - used to draw a character - just his head - eyes, no ears - just his skull and hair line. He drew perhaps 100,001  sketches of this skull. Why? I asked him once and I forgot what his answer was - but I remember seeing him during many a boring class drawing his skulls. No,  he didn’t become a plastic surgeon or a skin doctor.

I used to write the number “5” and write it thousands of times. Why? I don’t know why. But I’ve drawn that number “5” on foggy windows and mirrors - and lots of pieces of paper. No, I don't play the lottery.

I also loved letters that I could put characters inside that letter - in the caves of an “O” or an “A” or an “D” or “g” or "e" or  “B”. I loved the shelves I could put tiny little drawings of tiny little figures of people on with the letters “E” and “F”.

In time I got to love the history of the development of letters - studying that “B” - which in Hebrew is “Beth” - the word for “House” - and I’d think, “Two Story House”. "Bethlehem" - meant "house of bread". I liked to dabble in and then doodle Chinese Characters - to see the reason for the curves and lines. Fascinating. That's another lifetime - along with Arabic script.

REMAINING

With the time remaining, I love to look up the origins of words - their parts, their roots, their possibilities - with prefixes and suffixes. If I have time - some extra time - when preparing a homily for the day’s readings from the Bible, I like do look up the Hebrew or the Greek - of a word that grabs me in the English translation.

What it does for me is trigger good stuff when I spot certain words that I spent time with in the past. Every time I read the Gospel of John I spot the word “REMAIN” - as in today’s gospel. I hear the Greek word echoing in my memory: “MENO.” I looked up the word in Webster's Dictionary. It  has for “remain” that it comes from the Latin word “remanere” - which comes from “re+manere” "to remain" - and Webster adds, “more at mansion”. At "mansion"  it tells me that mansion is about what is not destroyed, what continues unchanged - what stays. Then I also notice at  “mansion” - that it's from the Greek word “MENO” - dwelling, residence, manor, house. Next I noticed the very interesting comment in Webster under “Mansion” - “one of the 28 parts into which the moon’s monthly course through the heavens is divided”. Isn’t that very intriguing? Who had time to doodle those 28  images - while looking at the moon in the night sky?

What do I doodle? Where do I dwell? Where do I spend my time? What are the life experiences that remain?

If I read anything into the Gospel of John, it’s John’s desire that I remain with Jesus. It’s that we dwell in Jesus. It’s that this word “Jesus” - this person, Jesus, becomes flesh in me.

CONCLUSION

My name is Andrew and I love it in the Gospel of John that it was Andrew who is the first person there in the first chapter who goes up to Jesus and asks him, “Where do you live [MENEIS]?” and Jesus says to him, “Come and see” and Andrew went with Jesus “and saw where he lived [MENEI] and stayed [EMEINAN] with him the rest of the day” and the next day he went to his brother Peter and told him, “We have found the Messiah” - and the rest is history.

Okay, I have to admit - for the sake of honesty - besides you can look up the First Chapter of the Gospel of John as well,that it was John the Baptist who pointed Jesus out to Andrew. However, it was Andrew who made that first move …. and the rest is history.

So if you doodle, if you like to doodle words, doodle the word “remain” - draw yourself into those little caves in the small letters “e” and “a” or hide under the “r” or the arches in “m” and “n”. Remain with Jesus in there in prayer - and let Jesus - the word sent from the Father - become flesh and fresh in you.

And by the way, I don’t think this is too far fetched - have you ever stopped to look at Gaelic lettering - and monastic copies of the Bible? Those monks and those artists did some amazing doodling on their manuscripts. I’m sure monastery bells rang - and some monk was lost inside some letter he was painting and remained with it for the longest time - perhaps deep, deep in prayer, deep, deep in Jesus - missing a meal, but not missing Jesus..

+O*+O*+

Image on top: Portrait of St. John the Evangelist in the Book of Kells. It was a wonderful moment when on a trip with folks from this parish we saw some of the Book of Kells in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Notice that soft cushy chair John is sitting on. I was wondering: "Did the monk who drew this wish he was on a soft easy chair like that?"

Image on the bottom - below this: Ornamental text, "In principio erat verbum", Chapter 1, verse 1, of the Gospel of John - repeated in the bottom margin in a later hand."

Both Images can be found in  The Book of Kells, Forty-Eight Pages and Details in Colour from the Manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin, selected and introduced by Peter Brown, Librarian of Trinity College, Dublin, Thames and Hudson, 1980, pages 41  and 43.

P.S. This was a "Doodle Sermon" - didn't have to preach today - but I enjoyed fooling around with the word "remain" in today's gospel. Amen.

IF  I  WROTE  

MY SONG,

WHAT WOULD BE 

ITS WORDS?

March  28,  2012

Quote for Today


This is an English translation of the the Aria, "Nemico della Patria" an "Enemy of the Country" - which is the name of an opera by the composer Umberto Giordano. It  tells the story of Andrea Chanier [1762-1794] - who was executed during the French Revolution. It is sung by Andrew Costello - the famous baritone opera singer. I've been looking on the Internet for people with the same name as I have. This Andrew Costello is the third that I noticed.  I saw listed at least 50 more!


An enemy of his country?
An old fable that gladly
the public still swallows.
Born in Constantinople? A foreigner!
Studied at Saint-Cyr? A soldier!
Traitor! Accomplice of Dumouriez!
A poet? Corruptor of hearts
and of traditions!
Once I lived happily
in the realm of hatred and vengeance,
pure, innocent, and strong.
A giant, I believed myself!
I am still a servant...
I've only changed masters...
a slave to violent passions!
Ah, worse! I kill and tremble,
and while I kill, I weep.
I, a son of the Revolution,
first heard its cry
and joined it with my own.
Have I now lost faith
in that dream?
How illumined with glory
was my path!
The conscience of the heart
to reawaken in men;
gathering up the tears
of the oppressed and suffering;
making the world a paradise;
transforming men into gods;
and with a single kiss--
and with a single kiss and embrace,
to love all humanity!

*************

Some questions - [in an attempt to justify this quote - so as to get the singer with my name into the picture.]

What have I swallowed - and realized afterwards - it was bunk?

What life hats have I worn? Baby, child, student, teenager, wife, husband, mom, dad, grandparent, accountant, military, poet?

Was I ever filled with myself - feeling like a giant - till I was humbled? What happened?

Am I still a servant? Do I see life as a chance to serve or to be served? Which is more me?

What have been my dreams?

What have been my paths?

Have I ever been or wanted to be in on a revolution or a cause?

What kind of a conscience do I have? Strict? Lax? Social Justice Oriented? Guilt laden? Scrupulous?

What have I cried over?

Do I see Jesus as the one who can transform us into God - but the road is a strange one: that of self emptying.

Has my love for others expanded to love all humanity - or do I still have my walls and barriers - prejudices and misunderstandings of others.

REALIZING 

WHO JESUS IS….

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Tuesday in Lent is, “Realizing Who Jesus Is….”

A STORY ABOUT TWO PRIESTS

Two Redemptorist priests stationed in our house is Washington D.C. were known to argue from time to time on theological questions. To use labels, one was considered, “liberal” - the other “conservative”.

The “conservative” died and was laid out in our house chapel in Washington. That night around midnight another guy was in the small choir loft - looking down into the chapel - just dropping in to say a night prayer. The chapel door down below opened. In walked the “liberal guy.” He went up to the casket. He stood there in silence for a while. The other guy in the choir loft remained very, very quiet - nervous as not to scare the priest down below. Then the “liberal” guy says to the dead guy, “Now you know. Now you know I was right!”

That story has made the rounds in many a conversation amongst Redemptorists.

AFTER WE DIE

What hits me in this story are the questions: what will we know after we die? What will happen? How does it all work?

To answer these basic questions, to figure out my wonderings, I rely on three texts. The first is my own: “We have to die to find out!” The second text is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. “Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face” [1 Corinthians 13:12]. The third text is also from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, what things God has prepared for those who love him.” [1 Corinthians 2:9] All three quotes are based on faith - belief in what we cannot prove or see.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN - WHAT ABOUT DISCOVERING CHRIST BEFORE WE DIE?

Today’s gospel reading is from John. I don’t know about you, but I find the Gospel of John to be a very unique gift to our world.

I find the Gospel of John different - dreamy - difficult - compared to Matthew, Mark and Luke.

I worked with a priest for 8 ½ years before I came to Annapolis. He didn’t care for the Gospel readings after Easter that were from John. They seemed at times to be convoluted and repetitive and downright mysterious. He is not the only one I’ve heard who has this opinion.

So I’ve always been looking for a key to unlock the Gospel of John.

I think that key is in today’s gospel when Jesus says, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM….”

CONCLUSION: THEN THEY KNOW

I think some people don’t meet Jesus for the first time till after their death. Then they know.

I think some people discover Jesus when they are lifted up or nailed down to a cross - when they face their Good Fridays big time - a lot of suffering. It’s then some people really start to pray. Then they know.

I think John in his gospel present a whole series of people whom Jesus meets and then they know.

Andrew meets Jesus - then he knows. A couple run out of wine at their wedding, then they and those present know. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Slowly he knows. A Samaritan woman meets Jesus. Then she knows. A man paralyzed for 38 years at a pool is healed. Then he knows. A woman caught in adultery is not stoned but saved. Then she knows. A blind man is cured. Then he knows. A dead man comes back to life. Then he knows.

From time to time we run into people who say they don’t know God or they say they are atheists. I sometimes wonder what they would think if we told them we believe that a carpenter named Jesus, born of a Virgin, 2000 years ago, is the son of God and we know him - a bit - and we hope to get to know him even more before we die. And those who see us in our casket won’t be saying, “Now you know!” Rather they know, we knew Jesus. Amen.

*******

Painting on top, Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio [1573-1610]

THE  MEANING  OF  LIFE

March  27, 2012

Quote for Today

"The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection, even though it consist in nothing more than in the pounding of an old piano, is what alone gives a meaning to our life on this unavailing star."


Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946) Afterthoughts (1931)