DAMNED FUNNY
Quote for Today - Thursday October 18, 2012
"Genuine laughter is the physical effect produced in the rational being by what suddenly strikes his immortal soul as being damned funny."
Hilaire Belloc
Monday, October 15, 2012
A FEW THOUGHTS ON
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
IMAGES AND QUOTES
INTRODUCTION
The title of my sermon for today's feast of St. Teresa is, “A Few Thoughts on St. Teresa of Avila : Images and Quotes.”
I’m using the readings of the day - the 28th Monday
in Ordinary time: Galatians 4: 22-24,
26, 27, 31 - 5:1 and Luke 11: 29-32.
TODAY’S FIRST READING
Today’s first reading from Galatians gives us an image of the choice between being like either
of two women: Hagar the slave woman and
Sarah the free woman. It also gives us the choice of two covenants and two
mountains. Choices are made easier when they are easy to picture: 2 women, 2
covenants, 2 mountains, 2 choices.
I like Martha better. Teresa of Avila chose Mary.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel we hear about repentance and growth. St. Teresa of
Today’s gospel talks about wisdom - St. Teresa of
Yet she is very wise. I love her comment: I prefer
intelligent priests to stupid ones. She was a wise woman. Use your brains.
She talked about the spiritual life being like a garden. We
have to work to have a good garden. Those who know her writings like the image
of watering a garden. She says we can do that 4 ways. Buckets and watering
cans. Next, hose or build an aqueduct or channel. Third - use a stream or a
river. Fourthly, stand in the rain. Work, but then celebrate God sending down
his rain on you.
If you get to Rome make sure you see Bernini's famous statue of St. Teresa in ecstasy. You can see the rain of God coming down on her.
TERESA OF AVILA
Let me close by saying that Teresa of Avila is rather
quotable.
Why not find one of her quotes that grabs you and put it on
your fridge or on your mirror. You can find many of them if you go on line. Go
to Google and just type in: “Teresa of Avila - Quotes.”
Here are my 3 favorites:
“There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over
unanswered prayers.” Isn’t there a
country western song with that theme?
Here is the famous: St. Teresa bookmark;
“Let nothing disturb you,
let nothing cause you fear
All things pass.
God is unchanging.
Patience obtains all:
Whoever has God
needs nothing else.
God alone suffices.”
let nothing cause you fear
All things pass.
God is unchanging.
Patience obtains all:
Whoever has God
needs nothing else.
God alone suffices.”
And thirdly, here is my favorite, "God save us from
sour-faced saints."
NOTES:
[1] Ruth Burrows, Interior Castle Explored: St. Teresa's Teaching on the Life of Deep Union With God [Continuum]
Sunday, October 14, 2012
FITTING THROUGH
THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE
The title of my homily for this 28th Sunday in
Ordinary Time, B, is, “Fitting Through The Eye of the Needle.”
People have been thinking of the metaphor or image that
Jesus gives us in today’s gospel for almost 2000 years now. What’s your take on
what Jesus says: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God kingdom
of God
Some commentators say Jesus is referring to a small gate near a main gate in a city through which a camel couldn't fit. Some have said that a few Greek gospel manuscript writers used the word KAMILOS [cable] instead of KAMELOS [camel] Most manuscripts use the Greek word for camel. Whatever. I say that because it's still the same message of how difficult it is to get into the kingdom of God. [1]
Joachim Jeremias - my favorite commentator on The Parables
of Jesus - refers to a rabbinical proverb that Jesus might have been familiar
with: “You clearly come from Pumbeditha, where an elephant can go through the
eye of a needle.” [2]
Either way - Jesus is saying, “It takes an effort to get
into the kingdom
of God
I would add, “Here and hereafter.”
The hope of my homily is that you realize the life choice
Jesus is talking about - and how life can be different for us - once we fit
through the eye of the needle and experience the Kingdom of God
SHORT FILM CLIP
I once saw a short film clip of a someone walking down a
street with two suitcases and a backpack and some plastic bags in hand as well.
The man comes to a narrow doorway and
tries to fit in - stuff still in hand. He doesn’t fit. So he backs out
from the little he got in and continues down the street. As the film shows the
man walking away, a little kid comes running up the street - past the man - with
just himself - and goes right into the house - through that narrow opening.
End of film. End of scene. End of parable.
In the background one could hear the words from today’s
gospel about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God
THE MAN IN THE GOSPEL
The man in the gospel who runs up to Jesus asks Jesus the
big question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” What’s the secret of life - happiness. What’s
it all about?
We then find out that he keeps the commandments.
We then find out that Jesus looks at him with love.
We find out that Jesus then says, “You are lacking in one thing. Go sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
We then find out that the man’s face fell - that he walked
away sad - because he had many possessions.
It’s then that Jesus says how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God
It’s then that Jesus tells us about the camel finding it difficult to go through the eye of the needle.
It’s then that Jesus tells us about true riches.
It’s being brother and sister to every person on the land.
It’s seeing all land as everyone’s land.
That’s what Jesus says is yours on the other side of the
needle - in the here and in the hereafter.
But first you have to dump the suitcases, the bags, and the
backpack and be like that little kid - fitting through the Narrow Way that leads to life.
THOMAS MERTON
Now a question hits me: as I read the rest of today’s gospel
when Jesus calls his disciples to let go of everything and come follow him, how
do we apply this to everyone - not just nuns and religious.
That’s my question.
The other day I read a great quote from Thomas Merton and I
said, “I’ll have to use that some day in a sermon.” Surprise! I can use it tonight.
Years ago there was a famous Trappist Monk named Thomas
Merton. He left everything and surprised everyone with his choice of entering a
very strict monastery - where everything is held in common and where there is
hardly any talking - except for prayers and emergencies. There is sort of,
“Total Silence” so as to hear God.
Someone I know tried that life but didn’t make it. He said
one of the toughest experiences for him was all wash was thrown together and
when it dried you just went down and grabbed your next supply.
I don’t know what the toughest part for Merton was - but in
the following quote he tells us an other side of the needle experience.
Merton was in the monastery for a few years and he had to go
to the doctor or dentist or for something, so he went to local town for the
first time. He was overwhelmed with what he saw. He had gone through the eye of
the needle.
Merton wrote about that experience - that trip back to the
other side of the needle he had gone through.
“It is a glorious
destiny to be a member of the human race, though it is a race dedicated to many
absurdities and one which makes terrible mistakes: yet, with all that, God
Himself glorified in becoming a member of the human race. A member of the human
race! To think that such a commonplace realization should suddenly seem like
news that one holds the winning ticket in a cosmic sweepstake. There is no way
of telling people that they are all walking around like the sun … There are no
strangers… If only we could see each other as we really are all the time. There
would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed… I suppose
the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other … the
gate of heaven is everywhere.” [3]
There it is both sides of the eye of the needle.
It would be like walking to downtown Annapolis and
seeing all those people at this week’s boat show, seeing all those weekend
people in Annapolis ,
that we’re all one. It would be like seeing everyone in traffic - in the next
car - all those people on TV - all those people at a football game - and
realizing I’m one with all of them. They are my brothers and sisters and God is
our Father.
To me it’s like walking into a wedding banquet. The place is packed 100 or
150 or 200 people - more or less. I know for starters only the bride and
groom. Slowly I get to at least say
hello to parents and families and friends. Soon I’ve gotten to know a tiny bit
about 20 or so of the people as I mingle. As I look around for starters others
might know 25 people at the celebration. They branch out and get know 40 to 50
by the end of the night - discovering different people’s connection to the
bride or groom. What helps is that everyone is there for the same reason.
Well, once we let go of preconceived ideas that we possess - attitudes about others that weight us down - and prevent us from getting to meet and greet and get to know each other - we are living in a walled world. But once we let go of self and security - which might actually be insecurity - once we go through the eye of the needled and discover that we are all one - young, old, tall, short, Moslem, Atheist, Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, tattooed or wrinkled old lady. We’re all one - on the other side of the needle.
That by the way is what the word “Catholic” means. It’s from the Greek. “Kata” means “all” - and “holos” - means whole. On the other side of the needle we are all one people - made in the image and likeness of God - and we’re here to celebrate the Marriage Feast of Life because the Son is with us.
And we’re all related. And we’re all connected.
CONCLUSION
At this Mass be like the man in today’s gospel. Have Jesus
walk up to you or you walk up to Jesus and ask him how to inherit eternal life.
See him look into your eye - see him slip through your eye - and enter into
deep communion with you - and experience a whole new way of seeing and doing
life.
That’s the kind of wisdom that God calls us to - that wisdom
we heard about in today’s first reading from the book of wisdom.
That’s what today’s word can do. It’s like a knife as we
heard in today’s second reading - it can cut open our soul and we can fit
through the eye of the needle. Amen.
OOOOO
NOTES
[1] C.S. Mann, Mark, The Anchor Bible, Doubleday, New York, 1986, page 402, # 25
[2] Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, Revised Edition, Charles Scribner’s Sons,New York , 1963, page 195, footnote 11.
[2] Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, Revised Edition, Charles Scribner’s Sons,
[3] Timothy Ratcliffe, OP, What Is The Point of Being a Christian?, Burns and Oates, A Continuum Imprint, New York, N.Y., 2005, page 141.
7 PIGGY BANKS
Penelope loved piggy banks. She had a lot of them. She had one
for every day of the week - and she must have had another 15 or 16 piggy banks
that were full - and she kept those ones under her bed.
Penelope - sometimes called “Penny” - was rich - and when her girl friends came to her house for a sleep over she showed them her 7 piggy banks - one for each day of the week.
And she would tell her very, very, very close friends, that
she also her hidden ones - which she kept under her bed. These were the piggy
banks that were filled to the brim - fat little piggies filled with coins. They were heavy and if you shook them you would hear very little sound - because they were full - and
heavy with lots of coins.
Her 11 aunts - her mom and dad both came from big families -
her 4 uncles - all loved - ever since Penelope was a little girl - to give her
quarters and dimes and nickels - even some pennies - but she liked silver - and
said so. Sometimes relatives would call her "Penny" - as they put loose pennies in one of her banks. That's when she preferred the name Penelope. She loved to watch people put those coins in the coin slot of her piggy banks. They would smile. She would
smile. She was smart.
Her grandmothers - whenever they traveled - wherever they
spotted an unique piggy bank - would buy it - and bring it back for Penelope.
Nobody had a problem with what to get Penelope for Christmas or her birthday: a piggy bank.
Her mom had collected thimbles - ever since she started
sewing with needle and thread when she was 13 years old. Penelope noticed how
proud her mom was of her thimble collection. An aunt collected decks of cards. A
grandfather collected bottle openers. Another uncle had a baseball card collection.
Another uncle saved baseball caps. He must have over a thousand of them - including
ones from a team called the Yankees - which nobody in the family liked. Another
uncle saved beer cans - never opened beer cans.
So Penelope didn’t seem odd with her piggy bank collection.
She kept her Sunday to Saturday collection on top of her bureau - and she tried
to put or get at least one coin for that day each day.
As I already mentioned she had her full piggy bank collection under her bed - and her dad had put shelves in her room for piggy banks people gave her. Those were all empty. They were for future fillings.
When asked what she was going to be when she grew up,
Penelope would always say with a great grin: “A banker.” Each teacher she had
was surprised when they heard her give that answer. Someone would come into the
class room and asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. They
heard the regular answers from the girls: veterinarian and oceanographer - and
professional football player and NASCAR Guy from the boys.
Her brother called her “Oinky” or to really annoy her,
“Oinky, Oinky, Oinky,” because of her piggy bank collection.
Well here is where the story has a dramatic change - an
amazing dramatic surprise. One evening Penelope was sitting there reading a
book and she overheard her parents being
very, very serious. They thought she was upstairs in her bedroom and her brother
was down in the basement with his trucks.
Mom said, “Well, maybe we’ll have to sell this house and
move. I know how hard you’re trying. Yet, if you aren't able to get hired soon - we’ll have to do
something. It’s 5 months now that you’re out of work. Maybe I should get back
to work.”
“No. I know things are tough,” said dad, “but we’ll make it. We’ll just have to keep praying and hoping someone likes my resume.”
Mom said, “We can’t ask our parents. They are already
helping Junior and Teresa - and those two families are much worse off than us.”
Penelope became very, very quiet at that. She had heard the
priest just yesterday talk about the rich man who couldn’t let go of his stuff
and fit through the eye of the needle. The priest had brought a real needle
into the pulpit - and a toy plastic camel. And he kept trying to get the camel
to fit through that tiny hole for thread - but nope, it just would fit. Camels
- even a tiny toy one - couldn’t fit through the eye of a needle.
Penelope had a plan.
That night after everyone had gone to bed - one by one she brought her piggy banks downstairs to the dining room table. It took her over an hour - quietly going up and down the 12 steps from her room to downstairs. Good thing they didn’t creak. Good thing the red rug softened her step. Good thing they had 2 hall lamps on.
That night after everyone had gone to bed - one by one she brought her piggy banks downstairs to the dining room table. It took her over an hour - quietly going up and down the 12 steps from her room to downstairs. Good thing they didn’t creak. Good thing the red rug softened her step. Good thing they had 2 hall lamps on.
She began with her Sunday to Saturday piggies first. Then she took all the full piggy banks from under her bed. There were 16 of them - full. She took each of them one by one - just in case one would drop and would wake up her mom and dad. She didn’t worry about her brother. Nothing woke him up. She never counted how much she had, but she knew she was loaded.
Then she got a piece of paper and a bright green florescent
colored magic marker and wrote this note: “Dear Mom and Dad, Here’s some money
to help us with our bills - till you get a new job dad. Thanks for all you have
given me so far. And I set up 7 new piggy banks on my bureau. I’ll start filling them up
tomorrow - but I’m not expecting any money from you - not even pennies. Thanks for everything. Love and prayers, Penelope.”
Then before she went to bed, she knelt down and said a
prayer. “Thank you God for being so good to us - but right now we're going through some tough times. Please help daddy a new job!”
OOOOO
NOTE: This was a story I wrote last night for our Children's Mass for this 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, with the Gospel from Mark 10: 17-30
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