MY  FATHER 

Quote for Today - June 16,  2013

“That was how I would remember my father. There was never a place he walked that was not the better for his having passed. For every tree he cut down he planted two.” Jubal Sackett,  in A Trail of Memories, a book by Louis  L’Amour p. 27

PARENTING 

PRIORITIES

Quote for Today - June 15, 2013

"Get your priorities straight.
No one ever said
on his or her deathbed,
"Gee, if I'd only spent
more time at the office."

Anonymous

EARTHEN VESSELS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 10 Friday in Ordinary time is, “Earthen Vessels”.

For our first reading these days we’re going through 2 Corinthians - and the theme of Earthen Vessels here in Chapter 4: 7-15  is well know - especially for us Catholics after the St. Louis Jesuits singers put out a whole album entitled, “Earthen Vessels” - which ended up being sung in churches around the world - selling well over a million copies - in English and many of the songs were translated in various other languages.

The Earthen Vessel Album has 12 songs - 8 of which are in our present Breaking Bread Missalette.

THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS MAY FALL,

IF GOD IS FOR US,

BE NOT AFRAID,

TURN TO ME,

SING TO THE MOUNTAINS,

EARTHEN VESSELS,

PRAISE THE LORD MY SOUL,

SEEK THE LORD

These 4 aren’t:

TAKE LORD RECEIVE

IF THE LORD DOES NOT BUILD,

MY SON HAS GONE AWAY,

WHAT YOU HEAR IN THE DARK.

What a gift to our church and world. These songs have made it into Protestant hymnals as well.

THE COVER AND THE QUESTION

The cover of this second album of their songs, “Earthen Vessels” features just that: an earthen vessel.

 The question I ask is: Why is this theme of Earthen Vessels so popular?

Answer: we are earthen vessels. We hear on Ash Wednesday, “Remember you are dust and into dust you shall return.” [Cf. Genesis 3:19]

That message is taken right from the book of Genesis 2:7 where the author pictures God as a sculptor taking the clay of the earth and forming us out of it - and then breathing life  - the spirit of life into us.

And we know this body of ours is of the earth - being filled and fed with water and wine,  wheat and bread - as well as sheep and lamb - etc. and etc.

And we know as time goes on we crumble - bend over - creak and crack.

So we know at the end our ashes or our bodies - our earthen vessel - will turn to ashes and be buried and placed in the ground - [or sea or a shelf for some for a time].

CONCLUSION: THE BEAUTY OF WHAT’S IN THE VESSEL

But the key to the beauty of the message is what’s inside the vessel - us - God. That’s where the treasure is.

We all know about boxes and bottles and containers: it’s what inside that counts.

Paul is telling us here in his message that has been heard billions and billions of times: Christ is within. Then he adds: it’s when we ache and break - when we experience the passion, death, and crucifixion of Christ within us - it’s then that we don’t have to despair - in aging or suffering and dying.

That to me is why that message, that song, is so moving and so worth singing.

Every once and a while I spot the St. Louis Jesuits’ cassettes or records and even though the record may scratch or the tape might get stuck, the songs still sound out great songs - so too us. 

FATHER'S DAY 

IS THIS SUNDAY 

Quote for Today - June 1, 2013

"Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death of a sparrow in the corner of a barn."

Thomas Savage, Her Side of It, Little Brown, 1981



Comment and Question: In Matthew 10: 29 we read, "Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge."   If God notices an old sparrow in some wood in West Virginia die on a Tuesday morning in April, is he like a little child pondering the death of a great grandmother - all alone in a nursing home in Columbus, Ohio - dying on a Tuesday morning as well?

LEAVING SELF BEHIND

Quote for Today - June 13, 2013

"To greet someone,
you must leave 
your own place."

L:i Qu Li

PUT DOWN

Put down that book,

talk to me - be with me -

be novel - be non-fiction -

tell me your stories -

tell me who you are - what

you’re feeling, what you’re

thinking - or just listen - listen -

let’s just listen to each other

or else - or else we’re

somewhere else than

being here with each other -

right here, right now. Now.

Put down that cell phone -

turn off that iPod - you’re

smart  enough without

your smart phone - you don’t

have to be always talking

to someone else  - some miles

and miles and miles away from me.

Make me your facelook -

screen me in - don’t screen

me out. I’m here - no wires -

non battery,  non electronic -

just me. Simply me, me, me.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2013

Paintings by Dan Witz

SELF WORTH

Quote for Today  - June 12, 2013

"The reason was
that I kept trying
to make others
see my worth
instead of seeing it
for myself."

Steve DeMasco, Kung Fu Master