RUINING  

MY  REPUTATION

Quote for Today - January 31,  2013

"Glass, china, and reputation, are easily cracked and never well mended."

QUESTIONS:

Have I ever ruined another's reputation by reporting to the winds what another has done - along with our thoughts on the other's motives?

Has anyone ever ruined our reputation?

Have I ever ruined my own reputation?  

Has it been mended?  

What have I learned from my mistakes - and the consequences coming from them?

LAUGHING AT OURSELVES

Quote for Today - January 30, 2013

"When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves."

Katherine Mansfield [1888-1923]

MISTAKES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3^rd Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Mistakes!”

We all make them. Like steaks, some mistakes are rare; some medium; some well done. Mistakes!

The famous mayor of New York, Fiorello Henry La Guardia [1882-1947] when asked about an appointment he made that was a disaster said, “When I make a mistake it’s a beaut!”

Today’s readings trigger thoughts of that theme - especially the first reading from Hebrews. This section of The Letter to the Hebrews gets deeper into the theme of sacrifice, the human move to wash away sin - please God, somehow, someway, some day from my life. What I did was stupid and sinful, dumb and damaging. As Psalm 51- “The Miserere” says it for all of us: “My sin is always before me!” Ugh. Humans use blood - water - annual sacrifices of bulls and goats - anyway to wash away our sins.

Mistakes stay and stick. We know ours. We have memorized them.

Today’s readings stress that it’s God’s will that we be healed - freed - saved - redeemed from our mistakes.

Today’s readings have the theme of doing God’s will - in all three readings: First Reading, Psalm, and Gospel.

And when we go against God’s will - when we make a mistake - we feel it - sometimes for the rest of our lives. So we go to God - praying, begging, wanting his will to forgive us - wanting our sins to be washed away.

FORGIVENESS & LOVE

Being educated in becoming a priest, I heard a thousand times that love is the main message of Christianity. Then somewhere along the line I heard loud and clear someone saying that forgiveness is what makes Christianity different  - unique - from the world religions.  All stress love of God and neighbor as central. Christianity does that as well - but I heard that day someone saying that forgiveness is the big one.

I have thought about that. As I get older and listen to people, I discovered that for some forgiveness is central - is key - necessary.

So you hear me preaching that. Just the other day, someone said to me on the street: “You priests here - really stress - forgiveness and mercy.” I said, “Thank you. We’re supposed to. We’re Redemptorists and our motto is from Psalm 130 - the De Profundis Psalm, ‘Copiosa apud eum redemptio.’ ‘With him there is copious, fullness, plentiful redemption.’”

HAVE WE GOTTEN THAT MESSAGE YET - MACBETH?

Have we gotten that message yet? I’ve see Macbeth twice. I haven’t understood all that Shakespearean language - or all those lines - but I get the message that this famous Shakespearian play is all about guilt and the lingering horror that clings to us from evil done. It keeps us from sleep - causes us nightmares - and leaves us with lingering fears - and horrors in every dark corner.

Macbeth kills Duncan the king - and his wife is in on it. She moves the bloody daggers  over to the dead king’s body. King Duncan’s sons flee and are blamed for the murder of their father. Macbeth becomes king. Then the play plays on the theme of the ghosts of what they have done. Blood is on both Macbeth’s hands - especially Lady Macbeth’s and nothing will wash it off.

CONCLUSION: CHRIST THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD.

Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world - as we pray and hear at every mass.

In today’s gospel folks have filled the house Jesus is in. His mother and brothers - his followers -  are trying to get into the house to be with him. They send that message to  Jesus. Jesus says anyone who does the will of my Father is brother and sister to me. They are at home with me.

Isn’t that what we pray now at every Mass. Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof - just say the word and my soul will be healed. Jesus can heal us of these horrible memories we have from our past - our sins and our mistakes.

Go to him. Grow with him. Be in communion with him. Be at home - under the same roof with him. Amen.

FAILURES

Quote for Today - January 29,  2013

"Failure is God's own tool for carving some of the finest outlines in the character of his children."

Thomas Hodgkin

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The title of my thoughts is, “St. Thomas Aquinas.”

Today the Catholic Church honors St. Thomas Aquinas - so let me make a few comments about him. He died on March 7^th, 1274. His feast day was switched to January 28^th. I didn’t spot any reason. I assume it’s because his feast gets knocked out at times because it’s usually during Lent. They picked January 28^th, because that’s the date of the publication of his Summa.

He is a gift to the world and to our Church.

He had a great love of Jesus’ Presence in the Eucharist. I assume we do also  being here for one more weekday Mass.

He bridges philosophy and theology - and I assume there will be revivals of Thomas’ writings on and off through the centuries - because of just that.  He can bridge science and theology - a much needed bridge. He said: authority is the weakest argument. Don’t just argue and tell me. Show me!

Those in authority tried to silence him in his time. This happens from time to time in our Church. I don’t know your take on that - but my take is: don’t just condemn, prove. Theologians are silenced from time to time. Then someone says: “Ooops!”

This happened to Dominicans and other theologians at the time of Vatican II. Rahner and Marin Sola and De Lubac and Congar - were silenced.Then surprise, they ended up being part of the formulations of the Documents of Vatican II. And some still bad name them.

This also happened to scripture scholars in the early part of the last century - till Pius XII came out with an encyclical on Scripture - Divino Afflante Spiritu. It opened up the doors and windows of Cagholic Scripture scholarship years before Vatican II. [1]

Pope Benedict 16 has experienced this as well when he was Joseph Ratzinger - Theologian.

Thomas is very practical. We learn through the senses. Don’t we all. The Catholic Church is very much sense based. The churches have statues and stained glass windows. We use candles and water - and oil and gesture.

I love his use of Aristotle and his 5 arguments for the existence of God. He stresses we know by our senses and then we reflect on what we learn with logic and reason - before faith. We can know a lot by reason - and I think this is the way to talk to young people - hoping and praying the gift of faith kicks in - stress on gift - in God’s good time.  For example, we know God exists by looking at the earth and stars - the Grand Canyon and the Big Dipper. We know that God is a Trinity by faith - and revelation.

As I was reading up about Thomas Aquinas this morning. Different articles about his life mentioned places he had been. I pinched myself because I have been to Cologne [1 hour ] - Paris [one day and a morning] - Naples [one day] - Monte Cassino [a couple of hours] - Rome [two times - once for 6 hours - once for a few weeks].  That hit me for some reason - and then I remembered a moment on a train from Rome to Naples with Father John Ruef. He pointed out the window at a stone tower. That’s the place where Thomas Aquinas was held captive for 2 years.

Interesting Saint. Check him out.  Just type into Google, “Saint Thomas Aquinas.”

NOTES

[1]  Cf. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1990, 72: 20-41.

Picture on top: St. Thomas Aquinas by Fra Bartolomeo

THE YAWN

Quote for Today - January 28, 2013

"It's a sad truth that everyone is a bore to someone."

Llewellyn Miller,  The Encyclopedia of Etiquette, Crown, 1968

Questions and Comments:

Have you learned that truth yet?

While preaching one gets used to yawns - folks looking at their watches - reading the bullentin - and holding a conversation with the person next to them. 

Have you ever watched the listeners - in a classroom, at a lecture, in church? 

MY LEFT FOOT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C  is, “My Left Foot.”

When I read today’s second reading - St. Paul’s words from his 1^st Letter to the Corinthians - about the many parts of the human body - and saying each part is important - and each part needs each part - I remembered the movie, My Left Foot,  from way back.

St. Paul says, “If a foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,’ it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.”  Then he goes on to say the same of the ear, the eyes, and the rest of the parts of the body. We’re all in this together.

Today’s second reading is a great reading to reflect upon - for a parish, for a family, for our world. We all need each other.

I read somewhere that Paul probably heard that message from Greek public speakers - who used that message to stress the need for everyone to make a city work.

We need people to speak up, people who listen, people who are handy, people who do the foot work, people who are the brains, people who are the eyes of the city and the neighborhoods.

THE MOVIE: MY LEFT FOOT

Some movies move us. Some movies entertain us. Some movies are forgotten. Some movies are part of the rest of our life.

I have never forgotten the story of Christy Brown in the 1989 movie, My Left Foot. He has cerebral palsy - one of 13 children of a Dublin, Ireland bricklayer and his wife Bridget. Christy’s father writes his son off as just a lump - a non-person - who lays on the floor - who crawls along on the floor. The only part of his body that is not effected by cerebral palsy is his left foot.

The big moment in the movie is when as a kid he picks up a piece of chalk with his left foot and writes the letter A. His father thinks it’s just a scribble. His brother and sister and mother see an A.

The day comes when he writes the word “MOTHER” in chalk on the floor. At that his father who had no hope in him is shocked and totally surprised. He picks up his 9 year old son, throws him over his shoulder and brings him to the local pub. He walks in and announces to everyone, “This is Christy Brown, my son. Genius.”

The movie is powerful, real, tough, and not easy to take. The language is very rough. Christy becomes adult - and Daniel Day-Lewis - now also of Abraham Lincoln movie fame - plays the part that Hugh O’Conor plays as the kid. Christy Brown becomes a writer and an artist and an alcoholic. Daniel Day-Lewis won the 1990 Academy Award - for best actor and Brenda Flicker won best supporting actress as his mother - in this movie.

The lesson I got out of the movie was the value of every human being - no matter the situation - no matter the handicap. It also got me to stop and wonder when I experience any person: who is this other person. Who is this person that I write off because of what they look like - or how they are dressed - or who I think they are?

Surprise! Every person is a surprise! Every person is a gift to be opened - heard, experienced, loved and appreciated. We are all part of the Body of Christ - member with member.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

This year - Year C - in the 3 Year Cycle of Gospel Readings - we have the year of Luke.

Today’s gospel reading is interesting.  It begins with the opening words to the Gospel of Luke and then jumps to Chapter 4. Here is the opening words to Luke - Chapter 1 - verses 1- 4.

Since many have undertaken

to compile a narrative of the events
that have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning
and ministers of the word have handed them down to us,
I too have decided,
after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,
most excellent Theophilus,
so that you may realize

the certainty of the teachings
you have received.

That’s the only gospel that begins that way. It gives motive, purpose and method.

We, the reader, are called, “Theophilus” - a lover of God.

After those 4 verses, Luke presents in his gospel, “The Infancy Narrative” - which we heard at Christmas time.  That leads us to  Chapter 3 where we hear about John the Baptist. He prepares us for the coming of the Lord. Then Jesus goes into the desert and he experiences the 3 temptations. We’ll hear them on the First Sunday of Lent - next month - February 17. Then - today - the 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear about Jesus coming out of the desert and going back to Nazareth - his hometown.

It’s a powerful scene. Jesus gives his Inaugural Address.

The scene is similar to today’s first reading when Ezra the scribe stands on a wooden platform - opens a scroll - and reads to the people from daybreak till midday.

Both texts are inaugural addresses - begin again stories.

Jesus’ reading is much, much, shorter than Ezra the Scribe’s reading. Jesus reads from the Isaiah scroll that is handed him. It’s unrolled and he finds the passage in Isaiah where it is written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

This year the scroll of Luke will be unrolled for us and we’ll hear Jesus reaching out to the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed - and he’ll heal and set them free.

We’ll meet people who are considered worthless and useless like Christy Brown. Jesus will call fishermen and tax collectors. He’ll reach out to the blind and the lame. He’ll ask us to see the widow who lost her only son. He’ll brag about the woman whom everyone saw as the sinner and Jesus saw her love and how she washed his left foot and right foot with her tears and ointment and dried his feet with her hair.

In Luke we’ll hear the great parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, Dives and Lazarus, the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the temple.

In Luke we’ll learn to pray and to invite Jesus into our homes and our hearts.

Luke is known as the Gospel to the Poor.

This year the call from Jesus through Luke is to see the persons in our lives - members of our families - people we work with - neighbors - people we pass by - people in this church - whom we might not be we’re not seeing.

CONCLUSION

Touch your left hand and then your right hand. Rub them. Perhaps the only time we notice them - the only time we’re aware of our hands - is when we cut a finger - or the cold weather dries out a finger tip - or we have arthritis.

Tap your right foot and then your left foot. Wiggle your toes in both your right and left foot. We notice them perhaps only when we stub a toe or have a corn or a callus or dry skin or someone steps on our toes.

It’s the same with our eyes and ears. We take them for granted - along with our nose and tongue - and the rest of the parts of our body.

I have a very fond memory of going to Tio Pepe’s Restaurant in Baltimore in February of 1986. My brother had lost all sense of taste with his cancer treatments - but his taste buds came back that month - and so it was a great meal together. A short time later - in the next month of March he died. I celebrate that memory and his life. He taught me to taste each bite of food - and enjoy the taste.

May we do that for all people being aware how tasty - how wonderful - how unique we all are - and how blind we can be of each other.

Who is that tiny pinky toe left foot person in our life whom we are not aware of? Who is the Christy Brown whom we’re not noticing? She’s in the nursing home. He’s next door. He’s in our family. He’s playing music on a street corner in Washington D.C. He’s under a bridge in Annapolis and baby it’s cold outside.

We come into this warm church and Jesus walks in and stands up front and says a few words to wake us up to see, to hear, to listen to, to love and to notice each other - especially the unnoticeable lady at the check out counter or the usher at Mass. Amen.