CIRCLES

Quote for Today - July 25, 2013

"He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in."


Edwin Markham [1852-1940], Outwitted.

LAYERS

There are layers and then

there are layers under that -

and then there are  layers

under that - so yes, I’ll listen -

honestly - I am listening to you,

but expect me to expect more,

and then some more after that,

and then some more after that,

because you and I and this

and that  are more than just

this or just that and that and

this and that and this and that.

So let’s keep going - keep

figuring out - who and what’s 

under that and then some more

under that and that and that.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2013

SING YOUR SONG 
EVEN WHEN THEY 
TELL YOU, YOU CAN'T 

Quote for Today - July 24, 2013

"Those who wish to sing always find a song."

Swedish  Proverb

VIOLENCE  AND GOD 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Violence and God.”

The topic was triggered from today’s first reading  from Exodus 14: 21 to 15:1. It not only tells of God as Savior - but also God as Warrior - killing the Egyptians - drowning them in the bathtub of the Red Sea.

Is God, Our Father,  also a God of violence? 

So when it comes to God, we all have to do our thinking and praying about violence and God - how we see and understand God.

I say that because I often hear people say when something goes wrong: "Is God punishing me?"

These are some first draft thoughts. I’ve never been able to reconcile Biblical  texts where God is described as both saving as well as killing people. I understand a bit - the violence of hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis - that people get killed by weather going wild. I see that as being part of the package called earth. I have problems saying God is part of humans killing humans  - and some of these stories in the scriptures where people are killed and saying God is doing this to kill our enemies - that I have not figured out.

Come Holy Spirit.

THE KORAN

Once upon a time, a Rabbi asked if I had read The Koran. It was at a wedding reception in Washington D.C.  I said, “No. I hadn’t.” And he said, “You better.” So I went to Barnes and Noble and checked out different translations - and purchased a copy.

When I held The Koran in my hands,  it did not have for me the feeling of the sacred - as I feel towards our Bible. Yet it did feel different than other books. And I know for some Muslims - holding The Koran in one's hands is sacred and for someone to disrespect or even burn a Koran, that is an act of violence.

An analogy that hit me was this. I hope it’s not too far fetched.  It would be like the difference between the following 3 pieces of cloth.  Imagine the feel of a United States flag for a U.S citizen compared to the feel that same person would have for a flag of Estonia or Ecuador - unless that is their roots - and then the feel of a table cloth. All 3 are different - all 3 are cloth - all 3 elicit different feelings.

As I read The Koran I saw red. Fire. So I got a magic marker and every time I saw the word, “fire” or “burn” I highlighted that word in “orange”. Those words appear  quite a bit. Now I can pick up The Koran and page through it and see “fire” - “orange fire” - on many, many pages.  

I also wondered how much of that was part of the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes - to burn down buildings and bring disaster. Was it from a religious motive? I think I hear Suicide Bombers saying that.

Surprise, after noticing the words "fire" and "burn" over and over again,  I began to notice mention of wars and violence and God striking people dead in our scriptures. It taught me that I could get a magic marker and do the same with our Jewish and Christian scriptures.

So the first comment I’d make is that our scriptures contain violence and God doing violent acts. Question: is it God or is it only us or what?

So when it comes to religions, I see blood and fire - as well as the good stuff.

SECOND COMMENT - EVOLUTION

In time there is an evolution of understandings about God as Warrior and God the Violent - to seeing God as a Peacemaker and God as Non-Violent.

In time some people discover that there are different evolving thoughts about what God is like. This can happen to religions as well as to individuals. We evolve!  Question: do I understand God today differently than I did many years ago? 

THIRD COMMENT - BOTH

At times we discover different voices and understandings of God from the same period and the same people. It happens with our understanding of Jesus as well. Jesus voices violence and gnashing of teeth - and at other times Jesus says, “Put down the rocks and put down the swords.”

FOURTH  COMMENT - VIOLENCE IN THE NAME OF GOD

If we study the history of the world, we’ll find plenty of violence done in the name of God. Moses will send men with swords into the camps and kill thousands.  In Jesus’ time people were crucified all the time. Down through A.D. times many are killed in the name of religion - not just Christians, but also Muslims - and who have you and vice versa.  Read history and you’ll read about religious wars - crusades and massacres.

FIFTH COMMENT - IF YOU TAKE A STAND FOR NON-VIOLENCE EXPECT VIOLENCE AT TIMES

If you take a stand for non-violence, expect a tough time of it.

It’s difficult to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to say from any cross to those who are violent in any way, “Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing.”

SIXTH AND LAST COMMENT

As I began this homily, I said that these are first draft thoughts. They are. The bottom line is mystery and the bottom line is the ability to say, “I do not know.”

PRAYING

Quote for Today - July 23, 2013

"If you can't pray - at least say your prayers."

George Bernanos [1888-1948]

ON RETREAT WITH JESUS: 

HOW DO I LOVE HIM?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “On Retreat With Jesus: How Do I Love Him?”

Today - July 22^nd - is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene is featured in today’s gospel - John 20: 1-2, 11-18.

We see her retreating into herself. She goes to the tomb that Easter Sunday morning. She experiences emptiness - an empty tomb - and then experiences someone she thought was the gardener. Then she - experiences and embraces Jesus.

The disciples are locked up in that upper room - filled with fear - and Mary is featured as going out and searching. Which of the two am I?

In spirituality there are those two movements: God in search of me and I in search of God. For me, Luke 15 - with its 3 parables - has always been the best example of those two movements. The Lost Coin and the Lost Sheep stories are God in search of us. The Story of the Prodigal Son is a story of God waiting for us. 

Abraham Joshua Heschel has those two books of his among many: Man’s Quest for God - 1954 and God in Search of Man - 1955 - that show these two movements.

Then there are those other possibilities - avoiding God at all costs or even running from God.

Then there is the great poem by Francis Thomson, The Hound of Heaven, in which he pictures himself running from God and God is running after him as a Hound.

DIRECTED RETREAT

Lots of people - especially women religious - are making retreats at this time of year. 

If you’ve ever made a directed retreat, a director would do well to give today’s gospel text from John to us. We’d spend 3 or 4 hours in silence reading, reflecting, reacting, to a text like this.

We’d break up the day of silence by walking and experiencing the grounds of a beautiful retreat house - by the ocean, a lake, or the woods - or the desert.

The hope would be that the retreatants would see themselves as Mary Magdalene in search of God.

I could picture the retreatant saying they can’t find Jesus. He is as if dead - buried - in a tomb.

I could picture the retreatant comparing herself or himself to Mary Magdalene and telling the director that - in a one to one session - which is a key part of a directed retreat.

I could picture the retreatant watching the director get up, go over to a CD player and playing the song, “I don’t know how to love him” from Jesus Christ Superstar.

I could picture the retreat director also handing the retreatant a poem, “How Do I Love You” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Sonnet 43 from Sonnets to the Portuguese and asking the retreatant to read it along with John 20: 1, 2, 11-18 again a few times - as well as remembering the song from Jesus Christ Superstar - "I Don’t Know How to Love Him" - and then to listen and be aware of what happens to the retreatant.

I can picture the retreatant realizing the thousand different ways she or he loves Jesus - not just an abstract Jesus - not a Jesus Christ Superstar - who is only a man in the musical -  but the Jesus in the Gospels, the Jesus in that person’s favorite of the four gospels. Then the Jesus of the Mass. Then the Jesus of the Mass extended in the meetings one has during the day - in neighbor, in seeing the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields as Jesus saw them - seeing a child and seeing the Kingdom of God in the way they see - all the times they experienced Jesus in the Cross - in the  stations of the cross on the walls of our churches and in the steps and experiences of our life - especially our falls, seeing Jesus when breaking bread with family and also in Eucharistic adoration, and on and on on. And like Mary Magdalene holding onto Jesus for dear life.

And then the person reports back to their director that they experienced Jesus pretty much like Mary did - and they cried out in prayer, “Jesus, Rabbi, Friend, Son of God” and Jesus embraced them.

ANGRY AND AFRAID

Quote for Today - July 22, 2013

"The angry people are those who are most afraid."

Dr. Robert Anthony