THREE MOMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Friday in the 3^rd Week of Easter is, “Three Moments.”

It's not written anywhere, but I would think it would be safe to say that most people look at their life as moments - key moments, significant moments, defining moments.

These are the moments we wonder about - consider, reconsider - and talk to ourselves about - and sometimes share with others.

I haven’t done my homework on this - so I don’t know whether the majority of key life moments are negative or positive.  I would assume that the answer to that would depend on the person - and their history - as well as their attitude and their angles on life.

HOMEWORK

So before I begin with 3 key moments in today’s 2 readings - here are a few questions that ought to be considered. Do some homework. Answer these questions.

What was the most defining moment in your life? Falling in love? Meeting so and so?  A death? The accident? The hurt? A God experience?

To get at that: what would be the ten most significant moments in your life?   Then put them in order of importance or pick the top 3 moments and then THE defining moment of one’s life.

If possible, ask a spouse or best friend who knows you - or a close family member - but it must be a very significant person - and do this one to one. Have them list what they think is your most significant or key or defining moments - and a good way to get at this is to have them list 10 - and then put them in order of importance.

Do this for them as well - if possible - feasible - and doable.

THREE MOMENTS IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURES

First moment: what was it like for Saul [who becomes Paul] to be at the killing by stoning of Stephen.  Then to be on the hunt to rid Judaism of these Christians - and then what was it like to be knocked to the ground, blinded, hear voices, and to discover one is totally wrong in one’s assumptions about life and God?

Was that the most significant moment in Paul’s life? Was that his moment - when he felt knocked to the ground. He hits bottom. He discovers, “I’m totally wrong.” It might have been his moment - because we hear about it several times in the scriptures: here in Acts 9: 1-20, next in Acts 15, and also in Galatians 1:12-24.

Second moment: what was it like to be “Ananias - who was told to go to Damascus, to go to Straight Street, to ask at the house of a man named Judas for a man from Tarsus - named Saul and lay your hands on him so that he will be healed of his sight.

Was that the most significant moment in the life of Ananias? It’s basically the only one we know of. Was he talking about that moment for the rest of his life - especially the more Saul whom become Paul became famous?

Third moment: what was it like to have been sitting there in the synagogue in Capernaum and hear Jesus tell the crowd that we need to eat him up - to eag Jesus' flesh - to drink his blood - to chew -  to digest his life into our life - to become Christ?

What would it have been like to have heard that message that day? Did anyone of those present get this message and then follow Jesus?

CONCLUSION

Answers to these questions would be extremely valuable for us who are in this synagogue, this gathering place, this church today - we who will be receiving Jesus’ Body and Blood in communion in about 15 minutes. Amen.

DO IT!

Quote for Today - April 19, 2013

"Fools look to tomorrow; the wise use tonight."

Scottish Proverb

RUNNING WATER

Quote for Today - April 18, 2013

"If  you dam a river it stagnates,
Running water is beautiful water."

English Proverb

WOMAN

Quote for Today  April 17,  2013

"You don't know anything about a woman until you meet her in court."

Norman Mailer [1923-2007]

HUNGER AND THIRST! 

THE REALITY AND 

THE METAPHOR 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Tuesday in the Third Week of Easter is, “Hunger and Thirst! The Reality and the Metaphor.”

The last sentence in today’s gospel is, "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.'” [John 6:35]

THE REALITY

We all know the reality of hunger and thirst.

How many times have we said, “I’m starving!”? How many times have we said, “I’m thirsty!?”  Or "I’m famished!"

I remember when I used to backpack in New Hampshire as well as Colorado. After hiking all day, we'd be starving that night. Colorado was the toughest - because for 12 days we’d only have freeze dry food - the food we were carrying in our backpacks. So on the way back - once we got to our car - we’d head for Burger King or any food place - way before even a shower.

When was the last time we said, "I'm hungry" or "I'm thirsty?"

Would the greatest torture be to starve people?

We all know the Greek Myth of Tantalus . He had to suffer the eternal punishment of standing in a pool of water - and every time he wants water - it recedes. And above his head is a low lying branch with delicious fruit on it - and every time he reaches for some fruit to eat - the branches would go higher. Bummer. From Tantalus we get the word, “tantalize”.

Life is tantalizing - we hunger and thirst - and sometimes we discover nothing ever really satisfies us.

The story of Tantalus moves us to the metaphor of being hungry or thirsty.

SPORTS

In watching the Orioles this year, I hear Jim Palmer, Mike Bordick, Gary Thorn, Rick Dempsey, and Tom Davis saying, “The Orioles didn’t win it all last year, but they got a taste of victory. That should make them do better this year. They should be hungrier.”

There’s that metaphor: hunger and thirst.

If a team loses year after year after year, players give up sooner. They lose the desire, the dream, they had as little kids to make it to the top. If a player on the bench gets a chance to play - because someone is injured - and if they are hungry - there’s the opening - to show what one has.

If you remember the movie, The Natural, Roy Hobbs tells Iris, his childhood dream that was cut short, “I wanted to be the best. I wanted to walk down the street and kids would see me and they’d say, ‘There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was.’”

Now that’s hunger. That’s thirst.

MAKE A LIST OF THE BASIC HUNGERS AND THIRSTS

Make a list - of the human hungers - the human thirsts.

I preached a whole sermon on this just two Sundays a go - on this very theme - but I used the word “intent”. What’s my intent in life?

It’s one’s desire. It’s one’s passion. It’s one’s hope. It’s one hunger and thirst.

It takes a lot of living. It takes a lot of ups and downs. It takes a lot of failures. It takes a lot of successes - in life - to discover oneself - to figure out that the hunger and the thirst for food, for money, for fame, for name, help or seem to help at times, but down deep they never really satisfy the deepest desires and fires, hungers and thirsts - of the human heart.

I heard in several AA retreats - which I used to give - an alcoholic saying, “I was looking for God at the bottom of a bottle - and God was never there. And it took a lot of bottles and a lot of drinks to discover that.”

It takes a lot of experimenting - and emptying - to discover that our deepest hungers and thirsts - are only satisfied with persons - not things - not stuff - even if we get stuffed with plenty of stuff. It’s always persons.

The deepest happiness is always family - friends - spouse - children, grandchildren - and hopefully parents - especially when we can sit down with each other as adults - and share what our mom and dad what they learned, what happened to them - what they were about - back then - and we didn’t grasp it till now - and then in our turn to do that with our children - and then as grandparents - to complete the circles of life.

Down deep we’re all like kids with a box of broken crayons figuring it all out. With sit there with our paper on the floor or on the kitchen table - figuring.

The two key areas - circles of life - that Greg Pierce - a writer in Chicago - said are:  relationships and work.  That’s where we spend the time of our lives with.  Work can be great - but in a way it stinks if we can’t share what we’re doing with each other.

Relationships then gives us glimpses of God. Relationships can bring us to God.

Then the day dawns on us that God has to be relationships.

Relationships are all about hungers and thirsts.

Relationships give us glimpses with what Christianity came up with - God is Trinity - a Trinity of Persons. Who else could God be?

Christianity proclaims that God is a 3 way relationship - and then a 4 way relationship.

Three - God in God.  Four - God with us.

Three - so united - they are one. And we two’s, threes, fours, family, community, team, friendships, groups, when we are one - it’s then we can catch God - eat God - be in communion with God - and taste God at his table.

CONCLUSION

So it’s no wonder Jesus becomes food - because that’s a glimpse of our hunger and thirst for people - for relationships- to be all one in communion. Isn’t that why we’re here right here, right now? We’re here to sip and bite into God - who satisfies our hungers and our thirsts. Amen.

WITHIN

Quote for Today April 16, 2013

"Search yourself and you will find God."

Kurdish Proverb

PERCEPTION AND REALITY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Monday in the Third Week after Easter is, “Perception and Reality.”

At times I want to do a little more thinking on the question of “Perception and Reality” - but it’s my perception of myself that I don’t seem to be doing it.

When I read today’s readings that’s the theme that hit me - so I said to myself,  here’s a chance to do a tiny bit more homework on this question.

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 6:8-15] features Stephen. Some perceive him as a trouble maker - others see his face - as today’s first reading ends - as that of the face of an angel.  He was loved and he was hated.

The reality is: he’s Stephen - one of the early followers of Christ - the first to die as an adult for his faith.

Today’s gospel - John 6:22-29 - has this theme of perception and reality in bold form. Jesus tells the crowd that they are after him because of the food he’s providing - and not because of who he was: the Son of Man - who has the seal of God the Father’s approval on him.

The gospel of John - as I perceive it - features this issue of perception and reality over and over again. People are constantly not getting it. People are constantly missing the points that Jesus makes.

They are catching perceptions - but Jesus is after reality.

PERCEPTION AND REALITY

So the title of my homily is, “Perception and Reality”.

I have found myself saying inwardly to the leaders of our church: “You don’t get it. You don’t get it. You don’t get it. Perception is reality.”

In the child and teenage abuse cases - the perception of so many people is that you have not done your job. The perception is that you have hidden lots of stuff. The perception is that you don’t care about the children - only yourselves.

Then the leaders and/or their spokespersons say, “That’s not fair. We have done this, this and this. That’s the reality.”

And I say inwardly, “It doesn’t make any difference what the reality is - because the perception is that you blew it.”

I have found myself saying inwardly many times: “Perception is reality.”

As I thought about all this for this homily today, I found myself thinking: “It would be better to say, ‘Perception is reality - even when it’s not reality.’”

Upon further thinking it hit me that obviously the best thing to do is to work on realities and then see if they change people’s perceptions. In other words, perceptions are out of the bishop’s hands. Realities can be change.

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?

My perception on hearing all this would be to say, “What are you talking about?” It seems that you’re all babble. You’re all jargon. Hurry up. I got things to get to after Mass and my perception is that you’re just up there talking away. You’re getting off stuff that  I’m not getting or I’m elsewhere or you’re not clear.”

So here’s an attempt at clarity….

Take as an example a priest who comes from a rich family. His parents give him an $100,000 Mercedes.  I would think he would be wise to drive a Chevy Malibu - or a cheaper car - because the perception is that Jesus would not drive a Mercedes - but a donkey. And some might wonder where the money is coming from …. or you shouldn’t be a priest and travel in this style.

Bishops wear these expensive or “odd” outfits. The perception is that they are in this for the glory.  The reality is that Jesus died on the cross with nothing or with nothing but a loin cloth on.

The reality is that we don’t know why someone is into this religious style mode. Personally I think they are nuts to wear all these strange expensive outfits etc. In my opinion it doesn’t help their reality.  But I perceive others don’t think the way I think.

I think these thoughts - but by mouthing them - people might perceive me as a complainer or what have you - and want to stone me to death like they did Stephen when he spoke up.

I’m very happy now with Pope Francis. At present, the perceptions are that he’s interested in simplifying, simplifying, simplifying.

John the 23 went that way - and the opposite - the extravagant - had come back.  That’s my perception.

In my opinion, the glitter and the glamour can get in the way of the reality of the gospel.

I like it when the founder of the Redemptorists, St. Alphonsus,  was made a bishop,  he went very simple. For example, as bishop he was given a few rings and things - and they went the way of donations. We were told the stone in his ring was simply broken glass. He was strongly against elaborate meals, beds, carriages, and what have you. He said, “St Peter the first pope - he didn’t have a carriage.” 

Yet he did see a carriage would get him to places faster than on foot - so it better be a borrowed or a cheap carriage. [1]

This pope knows the life of St. Francis and these saints - so I’m optimistic that he’ll cut the stuff that Jesus cut - and the saints cut.

That would be my way with dealing with perceptions.

The reality better be the reality that Jesus, the gospel, and people must come first - especially the poor.

Otherwise just as ostentation and classy stuff can be deception - so too simplicity.

CONCLUSION

The bottom line is reality.

God, neighbor, self.

Birth, death, eternity.

Love of God and love of neighbor.

PICTURES

On top: Habit of St. Francis of Assisi

Next: A Bishop in cappa magna.

Next: Christ on the cross by Rembrandt

Next: Cardinal Burke in red.


NOTES:

[1] Theodule Rey-Mermet, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Tireless Worker for the Most Abandoned, New City press, 206 Skillman Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211, pages 507-623