STICKS AND STONES 

AS TEACHERS

Quote for Today -  August 20,  2012

"You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters." 

St. Bernard (1091-1153)

TWO CHOICES:

WHERE ARE WE GOING TO EAT?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Two Choices: Where Are We Going Out To Eat?”

How many times in our life have we asked that question, “Where are we going out to eat tonight?” It could also be breakfast or lunch.

Where are we going to eat? There are choices. There is a menu. There are options?

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s first reading from the Book of Proverbs gives the image of two places to eat: the House of Wisdom or the House of Folly.

The first place - The House of Wisdom - sounds like a Chinese Restaurant,  doesn’t it?

We are given two choices: smart or stupid, wisdom or folly?

As Robert Frosts put it, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,..”  Right or left? “and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

Today’s first reading begins, “Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns; she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread her table.”

Picture that. Here’s the place to eat. Good wine, good table, good meat, let’s eat. 

Picture the next message. “She has sent out her maidens; she calls from the heights out over the city: ‘Let whoever is simple turn in here’; to the one who lacks understanding, she says, ‘Come eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.’”

Our first reading from Proverbs ends there - but the rest of that 9^th Chapter spells out the contrast between the two choices: eating at the House of Wisdom or eating at the House of Folly. Then the rest of the Book of Proverbs provides 21 chapters of wisdom proverbs. Most are in Reader’s Digest size quips or quotes.

The title of my homily is: “Two Choices: Where Are We Going To Eat?” Obviously the hope is that we eat at the House of Wisdom.

Today’s second reading continues with that theme of choice between being wise or foolish - being sober or drunk and you know where being drunk can lead us.

Today’s gospel continues with the theme of choosing Jesus as the bread that came down from heaven. If we eat this bread, this flesh, if we drink this blood of Jesus,  we’ll be eating and drinking in Christ who gives life to this world - as well as eternal life.

As we move through these 5 Sundays of the 6^th Chapter of John, we keep on hearing there is a choice: choosing to eat Jesus or walk to away from him.

Once more the title of my homily is: “Two Choices: Where Are We Going To Eat?”

HOUSE OF WISDOM: THE CHURCH AT MASS

The 6^th Chapter of John is rich in theology. It’s rich in its message about choosing Jesus as the one who brings us wisdom and nourishment. We have in it the basic structure of our liturgy: words and food, wisdom and nourishment. We have in it the basic structure of any meal: words and food, company and communion.

How many times have we heard in the last 50 years: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist? Eat from both pulpit and table.

How many times have we heard in the past 50 years that the Mass puts us into the Upper Room, the Last Supper - as well as the sacrifice on the cross the next day - on Calvary - as well as the resurrection? There’s the sacred triduum of Holy Week: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

This is big picture stuff - so we need Sunday after Sunday, Holy Week after Holy Week, year after year to make this part of our lives.

We become what we eat. We become what we meet.

7 COLUMNS: LOOKING DEEPER - THE STRUCTURE BEHIND OUR CHOICES - THE FOUNDATIONS UNDER OUR PLANS

Today’s first reading has an intriguing comment when talking about the house of wisdom: “she has set up her seven columns.”

To have a house of wisdom - one needs to know how to build a house. The author of Proverbs talks about having 7 columns to hold up that house.  It’s wise to know what our house is made of. We know that Jesus is a carpenter and he said to build our lives on his words. They are a foundation that will help us to stand strong in the storms of life. So here in the Book of Proverbs it would be wise to see what sayings, what words, what ideas, what’s the philosophy and theology we go by.

When hiking, if we’ve ever put up a tent, we know we have to have tent poles.

If we’ve ever been in on building a house, we know we need to have poles, columns, the framework, the foundation - on which the house stands and rises.

At St. Mary’s Parish we have what is called “The 4 Pillars.” They’re listed as Spirituality, Community, Financial and Educational.  It’s a way of dividing up aspects of our parish.

We’ve heard the wisdom saying, “Divide and Conquer.” We’ve heard, “A day at a time.”  “A step at a time.” So the question: How do we see, how do we organize, how do we line up our life, our weeks, our year.

Down through the years we’ve heard people divide up how their life should be organized in various ways: "work and play" or "There’s Monday to Friday and then the weekends" or  "There’s family and friends" or "Spouse and children" or "There's vacation and then the rest of the year".

We’ve heard the great commandment: to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

What is our platform? What is our plan? What are the 7 Columns - of 6 or 4 or how many that hold up our life? What are the foundation stones of our way of seeing?

I picked up a book yesterday that gave the 12 steps on the ladder of humility - which St. Bernard made key to his way of seeing and doing life.(1)   St. John Climacus had 30 steps on his ladder. AA has 12 steps. Guigo the 2^nd has 4 steps on his ladder: Scala Paradiso. Classic Christian spirituality has 3 steps: the purgative, the illuminative and then the unitive way of life.  Clean out the house. Buy new furniture. Then sit down in communion with the Lord.

Jesus talked about the Broadway and the narrow way. One way leads to life; the other way is a bummer.(2)

The Jewish and Christian scriptures - as well as the scriptures of our world - often tell to the Two Ways: this way leads to life;  this way of doing life will kill us.(3)

Question: do we have an overall way that helps us to plan our life. When we  step up to the plate - in softball or at the restaurant, do we have a plan or vision in mind?

A big priest that I know - whenever we went to a buffet type restaurant - had a plan. He would say, "You guys get a table, I'm heading for the food."

It’s obvious with you being here today - that you have the Lord Jesus and coming to Sunday Mass as a central column and foundation in your life.

CONCLUSION

Today’s readings give us a daily choice. Where do we want to eat today: the House of Wisdom or the House of Folly?

We simply have to make that a morning prayer. “Dear Lord, help me to make healthy choices today - the ones that lead me to life and love and good energy and to avoid the drainers and the killers.” And at night, to say, “Lord thank you for this moment to look at my day - and see what decisions, what  steps that brought me life and love today. Also Lord, sorry for the bad decisions, for the bad steps. That moment crushed my spirit. Sorry. Help me to do better tomorrow.”

Today’s readings tell us we’re sitting here in this big house - this big restaurant where we rest and where we dine. We’re dining here today in the House of Wisdom - being fed with words and bread, wisdom and the Body and Blood of Christ. Amen. Thank you, Lord.

NOTES

(1) St. Bernard, In the Steps of Humility, London, The Saint Anselm Press, 2001

(2)  Cf. Matthew 7: 13-14; John 10: 9-10

(3) Cf. Psalm 1; Deuteronomy 30: 15-20

HOW WE SEE 

IS WHAT WE GET

August 19,  2012


"Guido the plumber and Michelangelo obtained their marble from the same quarry, but what each saw in the marble made the difference between a nobleman's sink and a brilliant sculpture."


Bob Kall

DIRTY  DISHES

Quote for Today - August  18,  2012

"Praise God for dirty dishes. At least you have food."

Words seen on a sign outside a Baptist Church in Paramus, New Jersey

THE  GREAT  DIVORCE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Great Divorce.”

That theme was triggered from today’s two readings - which present strong story and challenging teaching.

In the first reading from Ezekiel 16: 1-15, 60, 63, we have a powerful parable about Israel. She is pictured  being born as a little baby girl. She is thrown on the ground as something ugly. She grows and develops into a  beautiful young lady. Then God says that as I passed by you I saw you were mature and ready for love. I put a cloak over you to cover your nakedness. I washed you. I anointed you. I put on you the finest embroidered gown and leather sandals and robes of silk and a linen sash. I put on you jewelry - bracelets, a necklace. I put a ring in your nose, pendants on your ears, a crown on your head. They I fed you with the finest food. You were a queen. Then you forgot me. You became captivated by your own beauty. You became a prostitute. In spite of all this, God says He will forgive Israel. He’ll remember his covenant and his promise.

The gospel from Matthew talks about the question and the horror of divorce and applies it individual couples breaking a covenant. People can make wrong choices and hurt the other.

The title of my homily is, “The Great Divorce.”

BOOK: THE GREAT DIVORCE

That’s the title of a book by C.S. Lewis that began coming out in serial form in 1944-45. It was next put into a book. It has had an impact on many people - down through the years.

It’s short: 118 pages in paperback.  It’s an easy read - with a very challenging message.  It can still be found in libraries or on line - like the other key books by C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia and Surprised by Joy.

The Great Divorce is a parable. It’s also a great dream.

The Great Divorce would be separating and breaking up with God.

The main character - the narrator -  is in a grey zone - a gray area. Everything is vague - strange - unsure. The figures he sees are ghostlike figures. They are floating - moving along. It’s hell. It’s purgatory. It’s not heaven. Heaven is the bright light area ahead - that he and all are being called to - but the ghosts are hesitant to go there.

He senses his thinness of spirit. He’s feels his self-deception through and through. He feels called to go backwards. Yet he’s also called to move forwards towards heaven.

It’s a good read. It’s intriguing.

At the end he senses great blocks of something falling on him.

He wakes up. It’s books that have fallen in his room.

And much of The Great Divorce is interspiced and interwoven with ideas for other books: Augustine, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Dante, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and science fiction works. They are the books that can wake us up.

Except for the Science Fiction books, I’ve read them all. They are the type of book that I need to get back to - the classics - the great parables. If we keep those classics in mind, we can be inspired more by Ezekiel - and his parables and stories.

I gave a sermon here a bunch of years ago - about dying and waking up in the outskirts of heaven and we find ourselves heading for a bus stop - and we get a choice to take this bus ride and tour of heaven to make our choice where we want to get off. Surprise, I’m reading about The Great Divorce which I had read in the seminary - only to discover that C.S. Lewis used the image of the bus heading for heaven as well. It wasn’t plagiarism. I was a good bit different - but the major image was there in C.S. Lewis. After being humbled for not being that original, I got the message to keep reading good stuff - because it sticks to us.

CONCLUSION

Good news. The Great Divorce has been put on as a play in 2004 and February of this year - and is going to come out as a movie in 2013. I don’t know how major it will be, but I’m sure it will be around for us to see and be moved by - and allow it to become part of our thinking - so that we’ll avoid The Great Divorce: Hell, separation from God.

TRUST

Quote for Today - August 17, 2012

"If his word were a bridge, we'd be afraid to cross."


Yiddish Proverb - Anonymous

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]