"It snowed and snowed, the whole world over, Snow swept the world from end to end. A candle burned on the table; A candle burned." Boris Pasternak {1890-1960}, Doctor Zhivago [1958], The Poems of Yurii Zhivago, Winter Night, stanza 1. Painting: Nocturn Grey and Gold Chelsea Snow, Oilpaintingsbank.com
Friday, February 1, 2013
PLANT SOMETHING!
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 3rd Friday in Ordinary Time is,
“Plant Something!”
I want to get into the issue of growth: the waiting - the time it takes - the hope it
takes - the watering and the work - and
then the surprise of seeing the results or one’s planting and cultivating.
Today’s gospel story about the mustard seed triggered these
thoughts.
PLANTING SEEDS
Imagine going through a whole lifetime without ever planting
something.
I have a vague memory of being a little kid and noticing the
seeds in a watermelon that my mom bought and brought home for us.
Picture a little kid seeing an enormous watermelon for the
first time - the cutting it in half - and then the red slices. Wow! Did anyone
look at my face and my eyes seeing the inside of a watermelon for the first
time?
I asked my dad or mom or someone in the family - I’m the
youngest of 4 - “If I planted these watermelon seeds will I get another
watermelon?” Someone said, “Try it!” I planted the seeds in our backyard and
all I got was some green sprouts - but I was thrilled when I saw those sprouts.
I waited and waited - no watermelon.
I did the same with honeydew melon seeds - and once more I
only got green sprouts. I wonder if either of those 2 plantings are still
growing in Brooklyn in a backyard on 62 Street
- between 3rd and 4th Avenues.
I also remembering spotting flower seeds somewhere along the
line - along with grass seed. I planted both and got flowers - as well as grass
growing - where there was none before.
What are your stories about planting and seeing the results?
When I got to the Minor Seminary in my hopes of becoming a
priest I got in on picking tomatoes as well as picking grapes and strawberries.
I also worked on the Lawn Crew for 3 years. I was also on the Lawn Crew in our
novitiate year. I was also on the lawn crew in the Major Seminary for 6 years.
All this was good for a city kid. We had a front yard - which wasn’t that big -
but we had nice hedges. I loved watching my dad cut those dark green hedges
with those big sharp hedge cutters - the
biggest scissors I’ve ever seen. We also
had that small back yard where I had planted the watermelon and honeydew melon
seeds. After I went away for the priesthood my father got into planting
tomatoes and zucchini. I missed out on that.
In the major seminary I also took care of horses. A team of
two guys would be on for a week, every 5th week. Twice a day we’d go down to the barn. It
would be early morning before everything for feeding them and then again in afternoon
after class. The afternoon chore was more extensive - not just feeding our 3
horses - but also shoveling horse manure. That would take 20 minutes and the
smell demanded a shower afterwards. I noticed that things grew much better with
fertilizer.
In the major seminary we also worked lifting rectangular bales of hay from our
fields and tossing them onto a flat bed truck. We also picked apples.
So both the minor and major seminaries I went to were good
experiences in learning to see how things go and how things grow - and
experience nature first hand. It gave me a grasp on growth - and a better
understanding of the scriptures.
JESUS
From the gospels I sense that Jesus liked to escape from the
carpenter shop and explore fields of wheat and grape vines. He spotted sheep
and goats, weeds and mustard trees - the birds of the air and flowers of the
fields.
Jesus learned the lessons of how things grow - if we listen
to him in the gospels.
US
A message from this homily would be to make sure we see the
gifts of creation surrounding us - to plant and to harvest - to get a green
thumb - and dirt on our hands.
We need to learn that life is a field with wheat and weeds
in it - and without both - we do damage to ourselves. A good sin - a good
mistake - could be the best teacher in our life. It can also give us the gift
of understanding - that we blow it at times.
We need to learn how to plant - and maybe the tree of faith
will start to flower and grow a good 30 years from now.
We need to plant something - to learn something.
I’ve heard people arguing about something at night. The next
day I would hear them arguing with someone else - but this time they have the
opposite opinion from the day before. Something
happened in their sleep - or they replanted their thoughts - while they were
sleepless.
I’ve learned there are lots of dormant flowers and fruit and
plants inside everyone - and the day comes when the good stuff blossoms. Amen.
INTEGRITY
Quote for Today - February 1, 2013 "Live so that the preacher can tell the truth at your funeral." K. Beckstrom
Thursday, January 31, 2013
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?
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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]
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
MISTAKES
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 3rd 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