DIPLOMAT:
YOU GOTTA KNOW
JUST WHEN....
Quote for Today - January 17, 2013
"A diplomat must always think twice before saying nothing."
Irish Proverb
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
WHERE ARE
OUR DESERTED PLACES?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 1st Wednesday in
Ordinary Time is, “Where Are Our Deserted Places?"
In today’s gospel - Mark 1: 29-39 - we have mention of a
theme we find several times in the gospels:
Rising
very early before dawn,
he left and went off to a deserted place,
he left and went off to a deserted place,
where
he prayed.
The title of my homily is, “Where Are Our Deserted Places?
I know I have preached on this topic and theme at various
times.
Where are my deserted places?
MAKE A LIST
Make a list of the places where you can go to in order to escape, to
find peace, to be alone.
My father loved the cellar.
A friend of mine built a chapel out of his garage. My niece told me
about a Muslim co-worker, who used a closet to get in some of her prayers. I know
of a lady who used to hide from her four sons under the kitchen sink. You’d
have to be in great shape to do that one. My sister-in-law used the bathroom -
to escape from her seven daughters when they were tiny. Fingernails from tiny
hands on a locked bathroom door can induce guilt.
Where are your deserted places? The Eucharistic chapel, a
corner in this church or St. Mary’s, a book, the library, a walk in the cold or
the warm, shopping, a drive, the back porch, the house when nobody is home,
Quiet Water’s Park, the Naval Academy, a museum, sitting with a journal,
painting, writing a poem, knitting, making Ranger Rosaries, etc.? Where are your woman caves, man caves, secret
places?
TODAY’S READINGS
Today’s gospel for starters triggers this topic, theme and
question about deserted places?
Today’s gospel takes place in Capernaum
- just off the Lake
of Galilee Capernaum
with ease - because I was there once.
Anyone who has been to Israel
knows this. Capernaum
is part of the bus ride - part of the tour. It has the Fourth Century synagogue
- whose restoration began in 1922-24. again in 1969, and 1984.
When I was there in 2000 with 22 priests, Father
Stephen Doyle, a Franciscan, who was leading the retreat and tour read today’s
gospel story in one of its versions, He told us that this roofless ruin of a
synagogue was possibly where this gospel took place - and then gave us a half
hour or a hour for quiet prayer. Wonderful.
Then we went to the gift shop and I bought this book by
Stanislao Loffreda, Recovering Capharnaum. I have stepped back in many a gift
shop in a place like Capharnaum - and noticed people often buying a pamphlet or
guild book about a place - perhaps to hold onto the holy - perhaps to be able to
go back there in memory - in some quiet place - in some quiet time - in the future.
CONCLUSION
Where are your quiet places?
How do you quiet down?
What do you do to grow and know the Lord and
yourself and others better?
What did
Jesus do in his quiet places?
The gospels tell us he talked to Our Father - and
I’m sure he figured out how to do what today’s first reading from Hebrews 2: 14-18 - tells us he did: how
to become like his brothers and sisters in every way.
That’s our Jesus. That’s
our brother! No wonder everyone was looking for him. They wanted to eat him up.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
I DIDN’T TURN OUT
TO BE THE PERSON
I HOPED TO BE
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “I Didn’t Turn Out To Be The
Person I Hoped To Be.”
Don’t we all?
That’s the thought that hit me when I read and reflected on
today’s two readings - as well as today’s psalm - Psalm 8.
When we’re young, we dream - we hope - we make big plans and
vast expectations for ourselves. Don’t we all? At some point - we face the
wrinkled truth: I didn’t get as far as I thought I was going to get.
The marriage - good - but it could have been better. We live
some more and change that “it” to an “I” as in, “The marriage - good - but I could have been better.”
At work - if things
fell apart - or people saw through my coffee breaks or solitaire escapes - or
if they saw my inadequacies and limitations -
if I was passed over - or if I lost my job, I could be deeply hurt by
these ughs of life.
Deeper and more painful there is that day - or afternoon - or sleepless night when I
realized, “I didn’t turn out to be the person I hoped to be.” "Lost time: I lost too much time!" That moment was a
bummer. It was down right hurting and depressing. These moments could also
teach us how to laugh at ourselves - which is an essential part of humility.
Sometimes the cake, the meeting, the conversation, the
vacation, the speech, the sermon, the date, the show down - one’s life - doesn’t
happen like I thought it would happen.
We might remember Judy Collins or Joni Mitchell singing the
following message:
I've looked at life from both
sides now
From WIN and LOSE and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
From WIN and LOSE and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
TODAY’S FIRST READING
Today’s first reading from Hebrews - Chapter 2 - quotes Psalm 8 - that we were made a little less than the angels. That’s a very high bar!
I did a little research last night and read that the
translation we have here - that we were made a little less than the angels - is
from the Greek Septuagint scriptures of the Psalms. The Hebrew text of that
psalm raises the bar much higher because it says we’re made “a little less than
God.”
The higher the expectation, the higher the “Uh oh! Oh no!”
depressive feeling we might feel when we
realize - like Adam and Eve we didn’t
reach God’s goals for us. I don’t know about you, but when I make a mistake -
when I put my foot in my mouth - when I lay an egg - the only person on the
planet that I’m with at that moment is me.
TODAY’S GOSPEL - MEANING - TODAY’S GOOD NEWS
Today’s gospel - along with that first reading - point out
it’s not all me - it’s not all - I, I, I. Surprise, Jesus can arrive in our
village - in our mind, in our temple - and if we’re humble enough - down enough
- we can celebrate being like the guy in the gospel, the guy with the unclean
spirit. We can know who Jesus Christ is
and he came to be with us. Jesus can be for us the one who fills the gaps - the one who fills
the holes in our life - can understand and heal the disasters in our pages -
our story.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “I Didn’t Turn Out To Be The
Person I Hoped To Be.”
If we reached 25% of our life goals - praise God - Jesus can
be the other 75%. If were minus 35, Jesus can be plus 135.
When we look at our life - hopefully we can laugh more than
cry.
As we’re sitting in the back seat of a limo on our way into
heaven and we give our best Marlon Brando imitation: “I could have been a
contender.”
When we die, others might see us entering paradise with a
smile on our face and we only worked 1 hour in the vineyard - or might have
been like the Good Thief - we got on the right side of Jesus just as we died.
This might tick people off who got 90’s all their lives.
We can smile, because we made it. We can be like the
Prodigal Son and find ourselves welcomed back home no matter what. In heaven
they will even throw a party for us. We’ll sit down to eat the fatted calf with
only one regret: others will be mad at God for this. Then Jesus will welcome us
too and tell us not to worry about older brothers who never messed up. Surprise,
they have all eternity to get the hints from Jesus about mercy and forgiveness
and love.
STRAIGHTFOWARD
OR
SIDEWAYS SPEECH?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this first Monday in Ordinary
Time is, “Straightforward Or Sideways Speech.”
Another title could be, “Direct or Indirect Speech.”
QUESTIONS
Is most communication sideways, indirect, backdoor, giving
the other time to discover or notice or figure out the message?
Is 99% of communication body language and 1% words?
Is most communication unconscious speaking to unconscious -
and we only figure out who the other and what they are saying 25 minutes or 25
days or 25 years later?
How many times have we heard in the past 25 years someone
saying in a sermon the following words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi,
“Preach the gospel; sometimes use words.”
STORIES
Two of my favorite stories are basically the same story.
The first is from The
Fiddler on the Roof when Tevye asks his wife, Golde, if she loves him.”
She gives a list of all the things she’s done for him for 25 years of marriage - cooking, cleaning, but he still asks, “Do you love me?” She won’t give a direct answer - but moves to, “I suppose I do.” Then both sing, “After 25 years it’s nice to know.”
She gives a list of all the things she’s done for him for 25 years of marriage - cooking, cleaning, but he still asks, “Do you love me?” She won’t give a direct answer - but moves to, “I suppose I do.” Then both sing, “After 25 years it’s nice to know.”
The second story is also from Broadway. In a play a little
girl is whining that nobody around here ever tells her that they love her.
Someone says, “You’re wrong. Last night at supper you aunt said that she loves
you.” The girl says, “She did not. When did she say that?” The speaker says,
“She said, ‘Don’t eat too fast.’”
TODAY’S READINGS
Today first reading - Hebrews
1: 1-6 triggered this homily.
The writer says that in the past God spoke in partial
ways. The writer says that God speaks in
partial ways and in various ways. Then he says that God speaks directly through
his Son. The author also uses the word “imprint”. I didn’t get a chance to look
up what the Greek word is - but I’m sure it has the idea that if you see
footprints, someone was there - if you see fingerprints on the glass door,
someone was there. Then the author of Hebrews adds the verb “sustains”. God
sustains all.
If you want to get in touch with that last theme of
“sustaining” - read The Book of Job -
especially The Lord’s Speech - Chapters 38-30. It tells us about how God is
keeping the vast enterprise - this big house going. This is a powerful theme to
keep exploring. This planet is around 4.5 billion years old. There’s a message here
somewhere.
Today’s gospel - Mark 1: 14-20 - is an example of straightforward and direct speech.
Jesus comes up to four fishermen, Peter and Andrew, James and John, and says,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Straight Forward Or Sideways
Speech.”
Today - let’s open our eyes and our ears and see and hear
Jesus’ calls to us - calls that are direct and indirect, straightforward and
sideways.
Today, we’re already saying a lot with our feet by being
here. It’s indirect and sideways - but God understands all languages.
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