CHANGING ONE'S MIND

Quote for Today - August 16, 2012

"To go through life
without ever being converted
to anything seems a mark 
of insensitiveness.
The ideal world would be
a world in which everybody
was capable of conversion
and in which at the same time
the converts would admit
the possibility that
they might be mistaken."

Robert Lynd [1879-1949]

ASSUMPTIONS 

ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Assumptions About Life After Death.”

The feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is very interesting.

It was not declared a dogma, i.e. something we’re asked to believe in as Catholics till November 1, 1950. Yet  it has been an understanding - an assumption - since at least  the 5^th and 6^th centuries. There are earlier documents - some of them are of  “iffy”  origin - which  talk about the Assumption of Mary.

Next there is the issue whether Mary died or whether Mary simply fell asleep - the so called “Dormition of Mary” and was asssumed into heaven. In the proclamation and declaration of Mary’s Assumption on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII cleverly worded the  decree leaving both traditions as possibles. From what I was taught and from what I have read, Mary’s death and then Assumption is the better position.  

Either way the Assumption is a Resurrection teaching. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, if Jesus wasn’t assumed into heaven, Mary wasn’t either. Mary is linked to Christ - obviously.

I’m assuming that this homily should be reasonably short, because folks have had long days and have to get some supper. So let me assume to put three possible ideas on your plate - to chew on for today - on this Feast of the Assumption.

As to the readings of the day, I can’t identify Mary with dragons and battles in the sky as we heard in the first reading from the Book of Revelation, but I can identify with her in down home story of Mary visiting Elizabeth - and then proclaiming the Magnificat.

FIRST IDEA - ON THE TABLE

Theoretically someone could put set up a series of folding tables in a big hall and put on each table various teachings of various peoples and groups about what’s going to happen after we die.

On one table someone could put one piece of paper with the words: “Nothing. That’s it. You die. That’s the end of you!”

On another table or tables could be teachings about reincarnation - and the various religious strains that teach and promote that.

On other tables could be teachings from various religions about an afterlife: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, etc.

At the Catholic Table - there would be the central teaching: “Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.”  That was the main refrain at Mass after the consecration from the 1970’s till 2011. It was the one we all knew - could sing easier - and it’s the one they dropped. On that same table would be a Greek ikon - a picture or image of Christ rising - because the Eastern Orthodox and Greek and Russian Uniate Christian Churches stressed the Resurrection more than the Western and Roman Church up till the 1950’s. There would also be a picture of Mary - being assumed into heaven. There could also be a copy of Dante’s Trilogy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso.

At other tables could be some really interesting off beat takes on what happens after we die.

If I was setting up the exhibit I would have a separate table for jokes about the afterlife. There are many. You’ve heard variations on the scenario that when you get to heaven you get a tour given by St. Peter. As he takes us by different rooms he goes “Shhh!” Then he gives us a peek into a big room filled with a lot of people.” Then he closes the door and we ask, “Who are they?”  “Shhh,” he says, “They are the Baptists and they think they are the only ones here.” Then they go by another room, “Shh!” and we find out they are Catholics. Some of them also think they are the only one’s there. And on and on and on - room after room - till we get to this really big room where everyone is laughing and eating. We ask Peter who they are. He says, “It’s a mix of folks from  everywhere.” Then St. Peter says, “Which room do you want to be in?”

That’s my first thought: the image of the tables - and the rooms and all the different known possibilities on what happens after death.

SECOND THOUGHT

The second thought would be to chew on and digest two biblical texts. Both are from Paul. Both are from 1^st Corinthians. In chapter 15   Paul is saying, “Everything is based on the resurrection of Christ. If he didn’t rise from the dead, the whole enterprise called our faith is fake - false. We’re a bunch of fools.”  The second biblical text is from chapter 2:  “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it ever really entered into the human mind, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

So the basic thing to chew on is what Paul is saying, “We are basing our whole life on Christ - here and hereafter.

The image I thought of this morning for this position is from one of my favorite movies: My Cousin Vinny. Two young men - Bill Gambini and Stan Rothenstein  - are going through rural Alabama on their way to school in Florida. They are arrested and charged for a robbery and a murder in a small grocery store - Sack of Suds. One has a cousin, Vinny Gambini, who is a lawyer - and calls him in New York for help. Vinny at first is a disaster. The other kid goes with a public defender who also is a disaster.  It looks helpless. However, Vinny starts becoming spectacular and the non-nephew, Stan says “I’m  dropping my lawyer. Then pointing to Vinny says, “I’m with him. I want him.”

We want help. We want freedom, salvation, redemption, liberation, life after death and we Christians are yelling to Jesus, “I want you!”

THIRD THOUGHT TO CHEW ON AND DIGEST

The third thought or image to chew on and digest is that the Mass - is a glimpse and a foretaste of the heavenly banquet and table.

We come in here today - on Sundays - funerals - weddings - etc. because we believe it’s all connected.

But hopefully, there is no “Shush” if someone looked in the door and saw us here today. We’re proud to be in here - folks from all over the world - born Catholic Christians - as well as folks from many different religions - who believe God is calling all - to eternal life - and the eternal banquet - starting with Jesus - followed by Mary - followed by us. Amen.

ASSUMPTION: 

THE MOST NECESSARY 

OF ASSUMPTIONS 

Quote for Today -August 15,  2012

"That life is worth living is the most necessary of assumptions, and, were it not assumed, the most impossible of conclusions."

George Santayana [1863-1952] The Life of Reason [1905-1906], Vol. 1, Reason in Common Sense, a

Questions

If someone asked you what is the most necessary of assumptions, what would your answer be?

If someone asked you the greatest of assumptions, what would it be?

Would it be about the here or the hereafter?

What's your take on the Resurrection of Christ after his death on the cross?

Slowly read what Paul is saying in his First Letter to the Corinthians 15: 12-19 - better 15: 12 to 58.  Is he saying the Resurrection of Jesus is the greatest assumption we can make.

What's your take on the Assumption of Mary in light of that assumption?

What does Fulton J. Sheen preach as the key to what makes life worth living - the name of his TV Show?



Ikon on top: Up there near the ceiling in the Hagia Sophia Museum - formerly a Christian Basilica - in Istanbul. How come it and the ikons of Christ were not removed?

EAT THE WORDS
SO THAT
THE WORD CAN

BECAME FLESH 

AND DWELL 
AMONG US

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is from John 1: 14,"Eat The Words So That The Word Can Became Flesh and Dwell Among Us.”

In the Jerusalem Bible - there are lots of text references - next to the text -  more than most other Bibles. Along side John 1:14-15 there are 10 references - but there is no reference to today’s first reading from Ezekiel 3: 1-3. Well, I would add it so as to connect the 2 texts.

Ezekiel in the temple is told to take the scroll with its words and eat it - digest it - be satisfied with the words - experience them as sweet as honey - and then go and proclaim that word to the House of Israel.

MARY

Isn’t that what happened to Mary? She heard the word of God from the angel - the messenger. She said “Yes” to that word and she became pregnant with the Word of God - which was as sweet as honey - and she brought  forth Jesus 9 months later - to the House of Israel - to the world.

BIBLE STUDIES

Eating words - digesting words …. Isn’t that a great image for those who preach and those who attend Bible Studies? We eat up the word - we digest the word - the word becomes us - and we bring that word - Jesus Christ - to our world - in our flesh.

When I see folks eating donuts and cookies, sometimes - sometimes - I love to say what I heard some thin guy once say to his wife in a church hall, “A minute on the lips, a year on the hips” and of course she threw the rest of her donut at him - and we all laughed.

A word on our lips - a word in our ears - a word moving into our heart - and then that word can be in us not just for a year - but for a lifetime.

HOW MUCH OF THE BIBLE HAVE WE  DIGESTED?

How much of the Bible have we digested?  How much of the Bible has become us? How many times have we sat down at the banquet of the word?

We are our parents' egg and seed. We are our mother’s blood and love. We are our parents' language, their words to us, their care for us. We are their values, their attitudes. We are their style. We are them and so much more: all the other stuff we have picked up in our lives.

As Ulysses says in Tennyson’s poem with that title, “I am part of all that I have met.”

We know the old saying, “We are what we eat.” Well, we are, but we are also what we read, what we have seen. We are all that example, all that education. We are all that mix called “me”.

I am what I remember. I am a walking library. I was moved with something I heard at the death of an 80 year older. The eulogist said, ‘When an old person dies, it’s like a library is burnt down.”

I ate that statement up. It became me. It made sense. I digested it. I incorporated it. It has led me to say, “We need to read each other. We need to listen to each other. We are talking books.  We need to ask old folks, ‘What was it like?’” It has led me to push and promote writing one’s autobiography.

How much of the Bible is us? We’d be amazed. We have done what Ezekiel has done in today’s first reading. Many of these texts are me, myself and I. These words of the Bible are in our DNA of our thinking - and our attitudes.

They are behind our behavior. They have helped and pushed us to love others - to forgive others - to love children - especially the neglected one’s as we heard in today’s gospel - to have compassion on the people who mess up - the lost sheep in our families and our lives - that we heard about in today’s gospel as well.

Today - August 14 - is the feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe. In 1941 he was in Auschwitz. Three prisoners  had escaped - so 10 prisoners were picked to be starved to death as a warning. Franciszek Gajowniczek screamed out, “My wife. My children.”  Maximillian Kolbe heard those words. He volunteered to take his place. When he was dying by starvation, to make room, they gave him a lethal injection of poison. Motive: what was his motive. Answer: Love. Answer the text: “Greater love than this no one had - but to lay down his or her life for his or her friends.” (John 15:13)

CONCLUSION

So keep feasting - keep digesting - keep on eating the word of God like Ezekiel did. A minute in the ear, a lifetime in our way of being for the rest of our years. Amen.

BIBLE - GET IT

Quote for Today August 14,  2012

"Many things in the Bible I cannot understand;  many things in the Bible I only think I understand; but there are many things in the Bible I cannot misunderstand."

Anonymous

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19^th Monday in Ordinary time is, “Close, But No Cigar.”

I was tempted to call this homily, “Go Figure!”  Isn’t that what we humans do all the time?  How many times a day are we trying to figure out what someone is talking about. At Mass we are trying to figure out what the readings are about - and we hope the preacher has some figurings that help us. In this homily, I suspect you’ll be trying to figure out, What in the world is he talking about?”

The title of my homily is, “Close, But No Cigar.”

How many times in our lives have we heard that phrase and know what it means - but in a way, we’re not that sure. There’s a bit of “Go figure!” in it.

I wonder if a TV Quiz Show called, “Cliché” would make it. Three contestants - after hearing where they are from are shown a cliché on a screen. The contest would be to write down and then tell the MC and the audience, what they think is the meaning and history of the cliché.

The best answer wins. The best answer gets points. The winner gets a trip to Hawaii or Honduras.

So what does, “Close, but no cigar” mean?

My guess was close - but it’s not exactly the correct answer. I don’t think I’d get the prize. I was close - but no cigar.

LOOKED IT UP

I looked it up on line - on Google -  and found the following answer: “To fall just short of a successful outcome and get nothing for your efforts.”

I was wondering about its origin and found the following: “The phrase, and its variant 'nice try, but no cigar', are of US origin and date from the mid-20th century. Fairground stalls gave out cigars as prizes, and this is the most likely source, although there's no definitive evidence to prove that.”

It goes on: “It is first recorded in print in Sayre and Twist's publishing of the script of the 1935 film version of Annie Oakley: ‘Close, Colonel, but no cigar!’”

That caught my eye, because I had been to Annie Oakley’s birth place near North Star Ohio while preaching in Greensville, Ohio where she died. She was born Phoebe Ann Moses - but her professional name became Annie Oakley.

Then surprise, I read the following about Lima, Ohio where I was stationed for 8 ½ years before I came here to Annapolis. “It appears in U. S. newspapers widely from around 1949 onwards; for example, a story from The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, November 1949, where The Lima House Cigar and Sporting Goods Store narrowly avoided being burned down in a fire, was titled 'Close But No Cigar'.”

QUESTION: WHY THIS TOPIC

By now I’m assuming you’re trying to figure out why I just gave that long “babble” about the phrase, “Close But No Cigar.”

The answer is this. Sometimes when we’re visiting a church, we look at the art work in the church. We start wondering, “What is that about?”  We are “go figuring!”

This happens to me all the time. I like to visit churches I’ve never been in before. A group of us are going to London in September and I have 3 churches lined up already. I like to walk around and study everything - stained glass windows - columns - gargoyles outside, etc. etc. etc.

Last year we went to Barcelona and a bunch of people said, “Make sure you see Sagrada Familia” - Holy Family Church. Four of us did. Fascinating. After walking around and looking at the church inside and out for  about an hour, we spotted a small museum inside the church. It was off to the side - like a sacristy. Two of us left. Two of us spent a half hour in the museum. It explained everything - well lots of things - on what the architect - Antoni Gaudi - had in mind - animals, trees, geometric shapes based on living cells in nature and on and on and on. Then we went out again and spent another hour looking at everything again. This time we were closer to what the artist was telling us.

The second time we were close to understanding what the art work was about, but no cigar.

THE SCRIPTURES

Are you still trying to figure out what I’m talking about and where I’m going.

Well, all that is an analogy to help understand some of the writings in the Bible - especially books like Daniel and the Book of Revelation.

It’s especially true when we come to the Book of Ezekiel the Prophet, which we begin today. Did you hear him talking about the 4 living creatures with wings. When they moved there was a mighty sound - like that of waters. Go figure that out.

Did you hear Ezekiel say the following?

Above the firmament over their heads
something like a throne could be seen,
looking like sapphire.
Upon it was seated, up above,

one who had the appearance of a man.
Upward from what resembled his waist

I saw what gleamed like electrum;
downward from what resembled his waist

I saw what looked like fire;
he was surrounded with splendor.
Like the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day
was the splendor that surrounded him.
Such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.

What is that all about? When we see the great cathedrals of Europe - Rome, France, Spain, England, when we see basilicas here the United States, we see that artists simply took passages from books in the Bible like Ezekiel and carved and formed their images into their buildings.

I hope you are now saying, “Oh, now I get it. That’s what you’re talking about.” But when we do this, we’re getting closer, but close but no cigar - because who can ever get into the heart and mind of another - and figure out what they are dreaming about.

However. I’m hoping by this long winding homily,  knowing this helps us to at least say, “Oh, okay, I get a tiny bit of this.”

Almost finished, let me suggest, if you ever get to Dublin, make sure you to Trinity College and see some of the pages of the Book of Kells. You’ll stand there looking at the pages of an ancient Celtic Bible. You’ll see the drawings on the pages. People go, “Woo! Interesting. Crawly animals. Many Winged birds. Wow.”

Then they might try to figure out what the images are all about. Go figure.

CONCLUSION

I’m trying to remember if I ever saw a stained glass window with the image in today’s gospel of the fishhook and the coin in the fish’s mouth. Okay. If I do, I now will say, “Oh that’s where that come from.” I’d be right - and maybe someone will give me a cigar for a correct answer.

COMMITTEE

Quote for Today - August 13,  2012

"A committee is a cul-de-sac into which ideas are lured to be quietly strangled."

Anonymous

Quoted by George F. Will, Washington Post Writers Group, August 16,  1992


Questions

Has this quote ever been your experience. Be specific about the issue, where this happened to you. Was it your idea that was strangled or were you the killer?

Have you ever had a good experience with a committee?  Was the old saying, "Two heads are better than one!" true in that situation - better 6 heads?