JUST DO IT!

Quote for Today  August 10, 2012

"This is the Thing that I was born to do."

Samuel Daniel [1562-1619], Musophilus  [1599], Stanza 100


Questions:

Have you ever said to yourself in private the quote given above?

If someone asked you, "Why were you born?", what would be your answer?

Did you ever say the above quote - but later learned to take it back?



Image on Top: Samuel Daniel, Front piece engraving from the Civile Ware [1609] by Thomas Coxson. 

ARGUMENTS

Quote for Today  August 9, 2012

"You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to."

Submitted to Guildposts - August 2012 - by Brenda Ashford

ILLUSION

Quote for Today  August 8,  2012

"Rob the average person of their life-illusion, and you rob them of their happiness."

Henrik Ibsen [1826-1906] The Wild Duck, Act. V.


Questions:

Is that line from one of Ibsen's play true for you - based on your observations about life - self and others?

If it's a life illusion, could someone know it before their end? 

Are there little illusions - besides big illusions - besides the big, big life illusion Ibsen might be referring to?  Have you experienced the unmasking or the discovery of some illusions - name them?

ALONE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 18^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time  is, “Alone!”

Last night I noticed the word “alone” in a sentence from today’s gospel: “When it was evening he was there alone.”

What thoughts and feelings does that word "alone" trigger for you? How do we deal with being alone at times?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Sometimes in the gospels we notice Jesus going it alone. It seems he needs space.  He disappears - hides - prays - needs to be all alone.

We also notice in the gospels that Jesus sometimes wants to be with others - to pray with others - to have companionship.

Sometimes he wants to be with others. When Jesus sent his disciples out, he sent them out two by two. When he climbed the mountain of transfiguration, he did it with 3 of his favorite disciples: Peter, James and John.

The Transfiguration scene was yesterday’s gospel. Today’s gospel has Jesus going off alone into the mountains.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, how good am I at being alone. 

The obvious answer is, “It all depends.”

A COUPLE OF QUOTES

Someone said, “Solitude is being alone when you want to be alone; loneliness is being alone when you don’t want to be alone.”

Is that true for you? Has that been your experience?

I noticed a quote yesterday from Anton Chekhov, “If you are afraid of loneliness, do not marry.”

Is that true? 

Answer: “It all depends.”

Sometimes it’s nice to take a good walk all by oneself - alone - and sometimes it’s good to take a good walk with others.

Which is worse: to be a shut in or to be shut out?

Answer: "It all depends."

GOD IN THE INNER ROOM

Epictetus [c. 50-120] the first century Roman slave  - who became a Stoic philosopher wrote, “When you close your doors, when you darken within, remember never to say you are alone. You are not alone. God is within. Your genius is within. And they don't need light to see what your are doing.”

Jesus said close to the same thing when he told us in the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 6: 6 “When you go to pray, [don’t pray to catch the attention of others]  - go to your private room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”

Sometimes when we pray we feel alone - even though we’re in a crowd. Sometimes when we pray - alone or with others God seems absent. Sometimes when we pray with others, we feel so absent from them. We don’t feel connection of community

Sometimes it’s worth reflecting upon Jesus in prayer. When he prayed in the garden the night before he died,  the others were close by - but asleep - and it seems he felt very alone.  We know how alone Jesus felt on the cross - even though Mary and John and others were  down below.

So the answer is: It all depends.

CONCLUSION

One answer for our reflections on what we think and feel about being “alone” is to bring our reflections to both God and to others.

Prayer is sharing.

Prayer is communicating and being in communion with God.

Communication is sharing with friends as well - whether on mountain tops or in gardens or when we’re on the cross.

And sometimes they walk on water and show up at our boat - and smoother sailing is the result. Amen.

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?