SOLITUDE AND ISOLATION

Quote for Today - August 7,  2012

"Solitude brings life; isolation kills."


Joseph Roux, Meditations of a Parish Priest, Pt. v. No. 60

WHAT DOES THE FEAST 

OF THE TRANSFIGURATION  
MEAN  TO YOU?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily  for today’s feast of the Transfiguration is a question, “What Does The Feast of the Transfiguration Mean to You?”

Every once and a while we come around a corner and there is a celebration going on - that we are totally in the dark about?

It could be an anniversary - a birthday - a feast day for some group - or what have you.

I don’t know the why and the what of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona in Spain - part of the Fiesta de San Fermin. I looked it up in Google for a quick glimpse. San Fermin is the patron saint of Navarra in Spain. I know nothing - nada - about him.

The only Islamic feast - better fast - that I know about 1% of is Ramadan - when Muslims believe the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell are closed and the devils are in chains - and sins are remitted for those who fast with pure motives.

So if someone had no clue about the Feast of the Transfiguration and they asked you what it mean, what would you say?

TODAY IS THE FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

Having been going to daily Mass all my life I’m aware of the feast of the Transfiguration. It’s every year on August 6^th, but the scene of the Transfiguration is read several times every year. Today we heard Mark’s version. It’s also in Luke and Matthew.

What does the feast of the Transfiguration mean to you?

Every year I have a chance to preach on it - so I have various takes and lots of sermons on the scene - especially after being a priest for 47 years.

5 VIGNETTES

This morning I just sat there and said to myself, “Let me see if I can come up with 5 vignettes about the Feast of the Transfiguration.

Number One:  Today August 6 is the day the first Atomic Bomb was dropped - on Hiroshima in Japan. From 66,000 to 87,000 people died as a result of that bombing. The numbers were based on a census of the people who lived in the area that was destroyed. So they don’t know how many Korean workers and Japanese soldiers were also killed. I looked up on line Hiroshima and felt “woo! once more - and in the midst of the pictures was an image of Christ on the cross. This event - the crucifixion and the A-Bombing always lead me from the word “transfiguration” to “disfiguration”.  So that would be my first comment.

Second Comment:  Was September 11, 2001 our Hiroshima? Did we get a glimpse in a small way what it was to be like at Hiroshima?  I lost one cousin. I also met Father Michael Judge once.  What we experienced as a nation with the losses in New York, the Pentagon, Pennsylvania and with the passengers in those planes, Japan experienced - that August 6^th, 1945 - as well as so many other people whose lives were wiped out or changed in World War II.

Third Comment: When I saw the pictures of those burnt at Hiroshima, I thought of my cousin Patty’s daughter Jeanne. She was severely burned and had over 50 operations on her face, arms, chest. In spite of that she has become a beautiful woman. Those who just see her scars and marred skin might not think that. However, once you get to know her, you’d see her beautiful personality.  This morning while preparing this homily, I looked up the word “transfiguration”  in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations and found a quote from Victor Hugo that I need to ponder. “Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched.” From Les Miserables.

Fourth Comment: I noticed my first three comments had more to do with disfiguration than transfiguration. So let me give a very positive transfiguration moment. I had a spaghetti dinner once with 20 priests at a Franciscan Monastery on top of the mountain they think was the mountain of the Transfiguration. After we got up there in Mercedes Benz cabs,  we had a wonderful Mass to start the day off. Then we had an hour of silence. Then we had the Italian dinner. Several times up on that mountain we said in our hearts what the disciples said in the gospel, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” It taught me to say that sentence on many a mountain, at many a family celebration, on many a vacation, at many a transfiguration moment.

Fifth Comment:  Jesus taught me over and over again to see many of life’s moments in a new light. I learned that the transfiguration in the gospels is a glimpse of the resurrection - as we heard in today’s gospel. So thank you Jesus for the times I’ve experienced resurrection before the resurrection - especially in the Eucharist, in friends, babies, wrinkled old folks, spring buds and autumn leaves - in a snow storm - in sweat - yes sweat, when someone is really working hard to make a living. For example, driving up West Street on these hot, hot days, I’ve noticed that team of workers who are  building us better sidewalks lately and on and on and on.

CONCLUSION

So today I’m asking you to do your homework. What does the Feast of the Transfiguration mean to you? See if you can come up with 5 vignettes.

HIROSHIMA

Quote for Today - August 6, 2012

"Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima .... The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East."

Harry S. Truman [1884-1972], First Announcement of the Atomic Bomb [August 6, 1945]



Questions

What is your take and your ethics on the Atomic Bomb? It and even stronger bombs sit there around the world - ready for use.  What is your take on the Atomic Bomb?

When talking about nuclear bombs, why not bring Anton Chekhov's famous saying into the conversation? "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." Ilia Gurliand Reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov, in Teatr i iskusstvo 1904, No 28, 11 July, p. 521. commonly known as Chekhov's dictum or Chekhov's Gun. 

Have the presence of nuclear bombs prevented - or caused hesitation - in the minds of those who make decisions? Do fear factors on what might happen if there were a nuclear war prevent us from using them? If they have prevented bigger wars, do they factor into discussions on the "why" and "how" of smaller scale wars that are a regular occurrence around our world?

Should assault rifles and guns used by males who massacre people in schools and theaters and meetings be brought into the conversation as well?

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration. Should horrible transfigurations or disfigurations be brought into the conversation as well? 

Have you ever had a personal Hiroshima - or would using the word that way - "dishonor" the lives of those who were killed and obliterated that day - August 6, 1945?

MURMUR, MUMBLE,

GRUMBLE, GRIPE 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, is, “Murmur, Mumble, Grumble, Gripe.”

It’s a theme that was triggered from right there in the first sentence in today’s first reading from Exodus. “The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.”

The people are steamed. The people are screaming, “Why did you drag us out of Egypt? We’re starving. Here we are stuck in the desert - without food - without water.”

Murmuring, mumbling, grumbling were something Moses as well as Christ had to deal with. Don’t we all? And don’t we ourselves at times murmur, mumble, grumble, gripe - then snipe and become walking grudges as we walk down the street and into the rooms and situations we experience each day?

A BASIC QUESTION

Could something in a sermon about murmuring, mumbling, grumbling, griping, challenge us - challenge us enough to want to change - if we’re in that space and in that place too, too often?

Others might be inwardly screaming at us, “Enough already! Get over it!” But they patiently put up with us and put a smile on their face.

ANSWER

I don’t know about you, but I’d be interested in what could be said about this theme of: Murmuring, Mumbling, Grumbling and Griping. Sounds like a law firm, doesn't it?  

I’d want to hear something helpful - interesting - insightful - intriguing - new - something with a grab - something challenging.

Now that’s a challenge.

SOME OBSERVATIONS

The first observation would be the movement of the tongue. 

I once heard in a talk by Alan Watts that the tongue is always moving - even when we’re not talking - always ever slightly. It’s moving. He said our tongue is moving whenever we are thinking.

I didn’t know that. I still don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a fascinating observation. 

For 30 years now,  it’s  something I’ve been wondering if it’s true. Sometimes when I think about that,  I try to feel or sense - IS my tongue moving? 

So for starters I make that comment about the moving tongue from my moving tongue.

If it’s true - or if at least our mind is always moving - always thinking - inwardly agreeing - disagreeing - always trying to figure out what someone just said, then a clear wondering should be: “What am I talking to myself about most of the time?”

If it’s mostly complaining, griping, grumbling, mumbling, murmuring, then we might need to get over it - or bite our tongue or shut up with the complaining - even to ourselves. We don’t want to say that to someone who is always whining. However, we can face ourselves. If we’re always inwardly complaining,  think:  “Enough already!”

My next observation would be a list. Does anyone have a list of the top 10 things people mumble about? 

I would guess # 1 would be the complaining that goes on when I don’t get my way.

I would guess another key issue would be politics and positions on different issues. 

Another would be the weather - complaining that it’s too hot outside and too cold inside - and vice versa in January. 

Other issues might be traffic, litter, noise, parking, sermons,  slow service in restaurants, people getting up and down in the seats in front of us in a movie or a play or a game. Where do people keep going?  It can’t always be the bathroom. I wonder if it’s for a smoke or for a phone call or for what? 

Is my tongue moving as I’m thinking about all this?

So, are there 10 top inward complaints? Are there 3 top inward complaints? Is there a # 1 inward talk show I’m always watching?

If I had to make a guess, I’d guess it’s either wanting my way or it would be the fairness issue, For starters I’ve heard kids who don’t get their way complaining over and over again, “It’s not fair. It’s not fair.”

Are there adults who are screaming that forever?  “It’s not fair.”

I haven’t listened to kids enough for a while  - but I used to think that kids were  also always yelling, “Look at me! Look at what I made! Look at what I can do!”

Are we all yelling inwardly to the world, “Look at me! This is what I can do? Look at my car! Look at my house! Look at my kids! Look at my salary! Look at my figure!”

Somewhere along the line I was in a playground with one of my nieces and there were a lot of Latino kids on the rides and I began hearing the word, “Mira!" "Mira!”  “Look! Look at me!” Are we too all screaming that with our tongues - loudly or silently - our tongue always moving?  Do we all want everyone to be for us  a big mirror - mirror - so we can see ourselves?

Is that the number one inner murmur and mumble? Look at me!

Or is the number one inner gripe and grumble:  resentments and regrets?

Want a good conversation starter? Ask each other: any resentments? Any regrets?

I have to think about all this a bit more. This is just a homily I began working on last night.

Reflecting on resentment and regret, at first glance I would think the difference between them would be that  regrets are deeper and more ingrained. I regret I never finished my degree. I regret I didn’t marry him or her? I regret I dropped out of the marines or didn’t take that job when I was offered it. I regret. I regret. I regret. Fill in the blank ________.

At first glance I would think resentments bring in others or another - while regrets are more about ourselves.

I resent a specific teacher or parent who told me I never would make it as a lawyer or a doctor or an athlete. I resent that clique - that gang - in high school who gave me that nickname and I never lived it down.

I’ve heard about priests who didn’t get picked to be a professor - and as a result they became a complainer and a sour face all their lives. I wanted to go to Brazil and never got assigned to the foreign missions so I heard that comment loud and clear.

IS  IT  I,  LORD?

One Bible text that I often use is from Judas. At the last supper when Jesus said that one of the disciples would betray him, Judas asked, “Is it I Lord?” Jesus answered, “You have said it.” [Cf. Matthew 26:25]

When I hear people murmuring, mumbling, grumbling and griping - when I hear people sniping and walking around with what looks like a grudge on their face or back, I sometimes think, “Is it I, Lord?” When I say that to myself, does Jesus say, “You have said it! You’re it!”

The Book of Exodus has Moses calling on the Lord for help with all the grumbling going on. He tells the people where to find food and water - but they complained about that as well.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 6, has Jesus providing bread and fish - and then the deeper bread - the Bread of Life - himself - but in the end most walked away from him. Is it I Lord? Is it I, Lord?

We’re here, because we believe Jesus gives us the both the Bread of Life and the Words of Life - to incorporate them into our way of thinking and being.

Isn't that the Mass? Isn't that every meal: words and food?

Take Jesus' words. Someone drives us crazy. There’s one in every situation. Jesus gives us words on how to deal with craziness and complaining. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile. Go underneath. Love one another as I have loved you. Don’t throw rocks. Die to self, so others can rise.

And surprise - in the long run - when we practice that kind of love, the other, the person who breaks our spirit or our back - changes. And sometimes they  come to us and say, “Thank you for the patience and the support you gave me back then - when I was falling apart - and everyone was going crazy with me -  you didn’t. Thank you."

And at that moment we discover that Jesus' way to do life is THE way to live life.  

Life can be tough at times. We might have said 100 times about an alcoholic or a kid on drugs - what Jesus said from the cross, “Father forgive him for he does know what he is doing.” 

Surprise! There is a sunrise. There is a new day. There is an Easter Sunday Morning Moment. It might take 12 steps. It might take 12,000 steps repeated, but the other recovers. It's then we experience what Jesus was about: Resurrection and Recovery.

CONCLUSION

I need to conclude this somehow. Here’s 2 ways:

First way - words: to ask myself  - "If I could put a microphone or a stereoscope on my skull and listen in on my inner ongoing everyday conversations,  would I hear a lot of growling and grumbling inside me or would I hear the howl of laughter - that I’m filled with great gratitude to God and my parents for giving me the gift of life and all that has happened to me so far?"

Second way - bread: when we take Jesus in our hands and place him on our tongue or the Eucharistic Minister does that - why not  ask Jesus to feed us with his life, his Spirit, his way of being? And then, when we digest Jesus from our tongue which never seems to stop moving and  bring him into our body, into our being, we need to really hear Jesus say what he said at the end of  today’s Gospel, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

MURMURINGS

Quote for Today  - August 5,  2012


"I have seen
A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract
Of inland ground, applying to his ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell,
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul
Listened intensely; and his countenance soon
Brightened with joy, for whom within were heard
Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed
Mysterious union with its native sea."


William Wordsworth [1770-1850] The Excursion [1814], book IV, line 1132.

GIVE  THEM  BREAD 

Quote for Today - August 4, 2012


"Alas for the unhappy man that is called to stand in the pulpit, and not give the bread of life."




Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882] in an Address to the Senior Class in Divinity College, Cambridge, July 15, 1838

Questions


Did you ever want to tickle the preacher?


Did you ever want to tell the clown to sit down?


In sermons, can you tell the difference between bread and cake?


If you had 10 1/2 minutes in the pulpit, what would you say?

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD A SERMON 

OR A TALK THAT MOVED YOU 

AND YOU CHANGED?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is basic. It's a question to think about: “Have You Ever Heard a Sermon or a Talk that Moved You and You Changed?”

Having preached thousands and thousands and thousands of sermons - in my 47 years of being a priest - that’s a question I’d obviously ask.  It might not  be one of your questions. If you raised children, your question might be: “Did they learn anything from me?” I’ve heard that when parents wonder, “What did I do wrong?” when their kids have gone wrong - divorce - alcoholism - big mistakes - or what have you. I hear that question when it comes to parents telling me about their kids not going to Mass - and giving up on the faith - or switching their churches.

So as priest I’m asking the same question. Mine hits me with regards sermons at times. I don’t ask it - so that people will say afterwards: “That was a good sermon!” I ask it - so as to know how to prepare better - to do a better job.

QUESTIONAIRE

When I had a job as Novice Master - for 9 years - for 9 different classes - I used to hand out a questionnaire at the end of the year asking about the year: “Was their any homily that grabbed you?” 

Nope. I was fishing for feedback. I rarely ever got a nibble on that question. And that would be over 300 homilies that year. Bummer!

Then I asked myself the question that is the title of this homily: “Have You Ever Heard a Sermon or a Talk that Moved You and You Changed?”

SOME ANSWERS

I jotted down about 10 answers to that question. Here's 4.

I once heard Wayne Dyer giving a so called Motivation Talk. It might have been on public television - in connection with a fund raiser. He gave an example from an experience at a spa or some health resort where he was a guest speaker. This was a long time ago. What I remember was his mention of 10 wooden tubs filled with water. The water in each tub had a different temperature. The middle ones were the most comfortable and most people were in them. Then if you went this way, the next tub would be colder and so on down the line to the coldest. If you went the other way, the next tub was hotter and so on down the line to the hottest. Then he said that a person in charge urged people to take a chance, to take a risk, to go beyond one’s comfort zone - and try hotter or colder water. 

The message was: try new things. Take risks. Stretch yourself. Most people don’t.

Why did I remember that image and that message? Obviously, we all like our comfort zone. Yet one of life’s secrets is to take some risks: try eating squirrel or get out on the dance floor to try a new dance. As preacher what I got out of it was this: people remember what they can picture - as well as when they are challenged - to try the new or to get out of the old tubs - and to be baptized in new water.

Next: I once heard a talk by Robert Coles. He’s the famous child psychiatrist at Harvard. He made a confession that when he was in a rich private school as a young man - we were self centered - and wrapped up in ourselves. Years later, now a professor, on a test, he asked his students to write down the first name of staff people who  clean bathrooms and corridors. Many couldn’t.

Why did I remember that? That was me too. So ever since then I try to get people’s names. 

That triggered another story - a memory - something I heard a priest once say in a sermon. He covered a hospital for two weeks for a priest who was a hospital chaplain - who went on a two week vacation. During those two weeks dozens of nurses - all young, all pretty, stopped him and asked where Father So and So was. “On vacation,” he answered. The preacher then said that didn’t really hit him till about a month later he covered another hospital for 2 weeks for another priest who was on vacation. These 2 weeks all the bathroom cleaners and corridor and stair cleaners asked where Father So and So was.

The learning I got from that was: “Whom do I spend time with? Whom do I listen to? Who would miss me?”

Let me give one last message I heard from a talk. It was given by  a Swami talking on a radio talk show. He said the message of Hinduism is that the ego has to go - to die. Then he paused and said, “E  GO!”  And then he laughed.

What I learned from that for preaching is the KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid.  

I also learned to ask myself, “How did Jesus say that same message about the ego going?” And the answer was, “The grain of wheat, the seed of wheat, must die, must be planted in the ground, and die and be buried and deal with the mud and muck of life - if it wants to make it to the table as part of a loaf of bread. [Cf. John 12:24]   

Every time I see those tiny packets of flower seed or grass seed in Home Depot etc. I think to myself, that’s me when I’m just sitting around doing nothing - not dying to self - not growing. I think to myself, “I have hundreds of poems in my head - but it takes time and effort and sacrifice and writing and rewriting - and letting the half finished product sit there for a while - in half shape - and then get back to it. I have to work at dying to laziness and rising to creativity. 

I know two family members who have the talent to paint, but don’t. And I say, “Why don’t they?” Now I catch myself and say, “Why don’t I write the poem? Why don’t I finish the book that is just sitting there in my brain or half finished in my computer?”

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s first reading from Jeremiah 26: 1-9 has some stuff about the great prophet and preacher Jeremiah. He does something that I don’t like to do: to say something that challenges folks so much they want to kill you. They threw Jeremiah down into a cistern of mud. [Check out Jeremiah 38: 1- 13.]They killed Jesus on the cross.  In sermons I’ve gotten a few folks angry in my time - but my weakness is the desire to be liked. Besides vanity and ego, this is a big sin of many a preacher.

Today’s gospel - Matthew 13: 54-58 - has the crowd he’s preaching to - wanting to kill him by dissing or dismissing him. He’s too smart for us. Hey we know where he came from. He’s one of us. Bottom line: we don’t want to leave our comfort zone and move into a hotter or colder new life.

CONCLUSION

To prepare this homily I just sat there and went into the storehouse of my memory with the question that is the title of this homily: "Have You Ever Heard a Homily or a Talk the Moved You to Change?" I remembered a few examples from talks and sermons I heard.  Then I asked myself: what did this example or message like the hot tubs or knowing the names of those who do the little stuff in life for us or the play on the word "E GO" teach me?

Chalenge: I suggest you do the same sometime…. Amen.