GARDENING

Quote for Today - July 26,  2012


"One of the great satisfactions of the garden is that you're the priest and attendant through this annual ritual of birth and departure."




Stanley Kunitz - quoted in The New York Times, August 29, 1993

AMEN!

Quote for Today - July 25,  2012


Be careful of simple words said often.


"Amen" makes demands
like an unrelenting schoolmaster:
fierce attention to all that is said;
no apathy, no preoccupation, 
no prejudice permitted.


"Amen": We are present. We are open.
              We hearken. We understand
              Here we are; we are listening 
              to your word.


"Amen" makes demands
like a signature on a dotted line:
sober bond to all that goes before;
no hesitation, no half-heartedness,
no mental reservation allowed.


"Amen":  We support. We approve.
               We are of one mind. We promise.
               May this come to pass. So be it.


Be  careful when you say "Amen."

Barbara Schmich

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

All of us are writing our own book,

          our own story,

          our autobiography ,

          chapter after chapter.

And the story contains every page

          of our lives,

          our parents,

          our family,

          and all the people and places

          we’ve touched so far.

And the first and most obvious thing

          we all would like to do

          is to rip out certain passages

          of our book,

          stories that sound so stupid,

          stories about broken relationships

          and sex,

          but we know

          we can’t tear out

          anything that is part

          of the pages of our life.

And then there are those sections

          we keep re-reading

          getting angrier each time,

          sections where we we’ve been hurt

          or rejected by parents or lovers

          or accidents that scarred us,

          sections that blur possibilities

          for our tomorrow’s,

          because we can’t forgive

          our yesterdays.

And every once in awhile

          we have to sit back from our desks,

          and ask ourselves

          the significant questions,

          the meaning questions:

What’s the plot?

          Am I doing  all this for myself

          or for others?

          Am I growing older

          but not growing up ?

          Does the God of Love,

          the Lord Jesus,

          appear in the pages of my life?

          Is my story just happening

          or am I making it happen?

          Whom am I writing this book for?

©   Andrew Costello, Listenings, page 76-77

          is here with us,

          at least one other person 

CAN I EVER SAY, 

“I KNOW YOU”?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Can I Ever Say, ‘I Know You”?

Yesterday, at the funeral for Kellie Thompson Shiley I felt relieved that I didn’t have to give the homily. And I felt that way for several reasons. I didn’t know her. It was too painful a funeral. And there were people there who did know her.

Deacon Leroy Moore preached - he knew Kellie from her marriage preparation and from her time at St. Mary’s. Then a good friend of Kellie’s from the 1^st grade onwards and then into their adult life - as well as Kellie’s brother Scott gave the eulogy. I listened to every word. These 3 knew Kellie very well. I read the obituary and write up in the paper and I had wanted to know more about who this person was. I had a wonderful seat. Many people didn’t. This church was packed.  Looking out from up here, I was watching faces and reactions. I studied her parents in the front row. What was that like to lost such a daughter? I watched her husband - praying for him - as he held his son. Tough stuff.

Many of the people in the church knew Kellie. Each of them could have pulled together their take on who the mystery she was.

THE POINT I’M TRYING TO MAKE

Then comes my question and the title of my homily: “Can I Ever Say, “I Know You?”  The point I’m trying to make is the mysterious reality of how much do we know the other person? I didn’t read the book on President JFK entitled, Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye - Memories of  John Fitzgerald Kennedy, but I’ve often said that about people who surprised me. “____ I hardly knew you.”

When some priests I thought I knew left the priesthood - or when a marriage broke up - or someone got caught in a crime or what have you - I have been surprised and I’m sure you have too. I found myself, saying, “X we hardly knew you.”

Someone once said to me about another priest: “You’re one of the two guys who know him. You were one of his only friends.”  That comment totally took me by surprise. I said to myself afterwards - and only to myself, “Well, if I’m one of his only friends, he doesn’t have any friends.” I thought that, because I knew I really didn’t know him. Nice guy, but I knew I didn’t know him. That scared me.

And so I’m asking, “Who knows us?” “Who knows this other person?” “Do we know this other person?”

Often we know the other person’s interests.  We know their stories? We know their look. But do we really know the other person?

I’m pondering in this sermon basic human questions: transparency, friendship, intimacy, relationships, talking to each other, openness?

Have you ever picked up a book - and you opened it - and surprise there are a bunch of pages that are uncut - not opened - and obviously nobody ever read this book?  Is that me? Whom do I let into the pages of my life? Who reads me like a book? [1]

I used to write obituaries for Redemptorists who had died. When I had no clue who the guy was, it was difficult. I’d ask around, “Who knew the guy?” Then I would call those guys. I’d listen. With ballpoint pen and paper at hand, I’d jot down what I would hear.  One time as someone who knew a guy who had died, I was given the name of a guy named Ed Jackson. Ed was very insightful. He was the best. So after that - I’d call Ed first - and jot down his ideas and stories. Surprise guys who read an obituary of a Redemptorist who had died, would tell me that I really captured the person who died. I’d say every time: “It wasn’t me. Thank Ed Jackson.”

From that experience I decided that some people are much better than others in knowing and reading and capturing who the other person is. Are women better than men in this? I don’t know. Do long married people know each other?  Is there every a final date - when someone can say, “I know you”?

WHY DID I BRING ALL THIS UP?

Now why did I bring all this up?

I did - because if it takes time to get to know who another is -  how about knowing God?

As priest I have heard lots of people give me their take - their understandings - their perceptions -  of God. Sometimes I think to myself, “That’s interesting. That’s intriguing. That’s different. That’s helpful.” At other times, I say to myself, “That’s interesting, but I don’t agree with you.”

Being at all these Masses, we hear a lot of scripture readings. As a result we hear a lot of takes on God in the Bible. There are many. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wince when I read a sort of off handish God wiping out thousands and thousands. [2] Then in another text or verse, God grants kings and cities of sin - forgiveness and double figure years to come. Then I hear in other texts - God basically saying, “I don’t do these killings. It’s your fault.”

It seems to me that the Bible is like all of us. The writers are gradually sifting through God Talk and coming up with a composite picture of God that is more and more nuanced - and not just human projections on what God is like. So what I’m saying here is that this is a long process in getting to know who God is. Moreover, some takes are very different than others.

I have my preferences on takes. I like Luke more than Matthew. When it comes to Saints and their take on God,  I’ll take St. Philip Neri and St. Vincent de Paul - more than some tough birds who were Saints.

You’ve heard priests and their take on God.  I’m sure some of you disagree with takes on God and what a scripture text means from the pulpit.

I used to work with a Father Alfred Rush and he would often say, “I don’t think God wanted it to be that difficult.”

I’ll take that take on God.

CONCLUSION

In today’s first reading listen to Micah’s understanding of who and what God is like. God removes guilt. God pardons sin. God gets angry, but doesn’t stay angry forever - better God delights in clemency. God has compassion on us. God steps and stomps on our guilt.  Isn’t that a great image - like someone trying to disintegrate with one’s foot an old cigarette butt on the sidewalk. God casts all our sins in the depths of the sea. God shows faithfulness and grace. Nice.

In today’s second reading, the Gospel, Jesus tells us he knows us and sees us. Someone in a crowd said, “Your mother and brothers are outside and they want to talk to you.”  Jesus looks around and asks, “Who are my mother and brothers and sisters? It’s all and anyone who does the will of my heavenly father.”

I love Jesus’ words in the Gospel  where he says to Philip. “See me, you’re seeing the Father.” I use that as a guiding text on what and how God the Father is. I watch Jesus.  Jesus is telling us how God the Father thinks and sees. God knows us as family: we are all brothers and sisters and God is Our Father.

NOTES

[1] Cf. my next blog piece entitled "Autobiography," from my book, Listenings - page.76

[2] Ezechiel 32; Revelation 19: 11-21.

MARRIAGE

Quote for Today  -  July 24,  2012


"Husband and wife are like two wheels in the cart of life;  and vainly will one try to pull it without the help of the other."


Lakshmi Bai Tilak

MICAH’S  

THREE COMMANDMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Monday in Ordinary time is, “Micah’s Three Commandments.”

In today’s first reading we have Micah’s three commandments.

JEWISH THEOLOGY

If we study Jewish theology, one of the things we would learn is that different prophets and people in the Jewish scriptures came up with different answers to the question: “How do you sum up the Law?”

There are 613 commandments revealed to Moses. Some are positive commandments and some are negative commandments. In other words, “Do’s and Don’ts.”  If we knew Jewish theology, we would know that there were 365 negative commandments - one for each day of the year. There are also 248 positive commandments - one for each part of the body [based on one count of one’s body parts].

Next Jewish theology and Rabbi’s like to present a list of how different prophets and Biblical characters narrowed down the 613 Commandments to make them more manageable. For example, here is a short listing:

·        David had 11 principles; [Cf. Psalm 15]

·        Isaiah had 6 principles; [Cf. Isaiah 33:15-16]

·        Habakkuk had 1 principle [Cf. Habakkuk 2:4]

·        Micah had 3 principles or commandments; [Cf. Micah 6:8]

REFLECTION

It would be wise for us to reflect once and a while on what principles, no no’s and do do’s - that guide our lives.

It would be wise to jot down what we come up with. Then compare them with other people’s lists.

At the big funeral at St. Mary’s this morning, the brother of Kellie Shiley said he received a poem at St. Mary’s - a long list of guidelines for life. Then he added that he gave them to his sister who taped it on her door. Then she put them into practice. I don’t have a copy of what the list was, but a few would be these - depending on how good my memory was. “If you think you can’t, you probably won’t. If you think you can, you probably will.” “Do it today, because you might not have a tomorrow.”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel talks about how people look for signs.  Has that been your experience? People often want signs from God. They look to the heavens. They look to the waters. They look to prayer and they light candles looking for light.

In today’s New York Times there is an article about a tree in West New York, New Jersey. Some people are seeing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the tree trunk. Some think this is bunk or crazy or idolatry and some swear by it. Whatever, the article says it’s costing the police $1,000 a day.  I think the cost of a similar happening in Conyers, Georgia was costing the area a lot of money because of traffic and the crowds. [1]

Every once and a while you’ll notice the same story of people seeing Jesus or the Virgin Mary in doors, barns, donuts and vegetables.

When I was a kid I remember going with lots of people to a church about 20 blocks away. It was supposed to have an image of Mary on the wall.  In time it was a water stain on the wall that looked like an image of Mary.

When it comes to these kinds of events and signs, I would hope people would see God and Christ in us. I would hope we would be a sign of the presence of God and his love.

CONCLUSION

How do we do that. That brings us back to our way of doing our life - what commandments, what principles, what plan we’re following. We know that Jesus was asked to sum up the Law and the Prophets and he gave the Great Commandment to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength - and then to love our neighbor as ourselves [Confer Luke 10:25-28]

Another answer would be Micah’s Three Commandments - the title of this homily - the message he gives at the end of today’s first reading - the famous Micah 6:8 quote. His words are translated in various ways. I prefer to list his 3 commandments this way:

1) To do life justly - to be fair with one another;

2) To love mercy - to do the works of mercy each day;

3) To walk humbly or modestly with our God.

NOTES

[1] Confer New York Times, July 22, 2012, “In New Jersey, a Knot in a Tree Trunk Draws the Faithful and the Skeptical” by Nate Schweber; confer Google, Conyers, Georgia, Apparitions of Jesus and Mary. If you’re really interested in doing research on “apparitions” just type that word into Google or your favorite search engine.

RESPONSIBILITY

Quote for Today - July 23,  2012


"It was up to me to bring my nerves to heel."


Albert Camus, The Stranger


Questions:

When another upsets our day, how much is it our responsibility on how we deal with others and ourselves for the rest of that day?


Can a person bring their nerves to heel?


Is there anyone whose day I ruin - someone I bother? Is it my fault - or both our faults - or just the other's fault? Can we talk about it with this person?