PRAYING ALL THE TIME

Quote for Today - October 29, 2013

"You see, 
the whole world is praying all the time.
The animals
and even the leaves on the trees
are praying.
The way to receive light from God
is through praying.
The only difference is that 
some people pray unconsciously,
some pray consciously,
some pray superconsciously.
You can walk into a restaurant
and see a person who says,
'I'm so hungry.
I need some soup.'
Deep down
his soul is praying to God,
'God,
please give me life,
I'm at the end.'"

Schlomo Carlbach

IMPOSSIBLE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of Saints Simon and Jude is, “Impossible!”

This morning -  Monday morning - I knew I had the 12:10 Mass - and the expectation is a short homily - so once more the question: “What to preach on?”

I read the readings - good stuff - good themes to think and pray about - but what to preach on?

Then I noticed Jude’s name - as in the Saints of today: Simon and Jude - and everyone - well not everyone - that would be impossible - but everyone knows Saint Jude is the Patron Saint of the Impossible.

What a great title! What a great task - for a little known about Saint and Apostle to be called: “The Patron Saint of the Impossible.”

So I named my homily, “Impossible” - because I wanted to think about that reality: the impossible.

IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS

We all remember the song, “The Impossible Dream” from the 1965 Broadway Musical, Man of La Mancha” - and how many preachers and graduation speakers used it in sermons and speeches.  Father Kevin Milton said he mentioned it just a few days ago in a sermon.

The song touched a cord - the reality of impossible situations.

They happen in family - with kids - with health - with money - with marriages. Sometimes it seems some things - some situations -  seem impossible.

Of course some things are impossible - some dreams, some stars, some possibilities are impossible - unreachable.  Death is always the other bracket of our life. Yet, sometimes there are surprises. Kings and popes can resign - and step down. King Edward VII - of England stepped down in 1936 - saying, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”  And we all saw, Pope Benedict step down as well - for health reasons and the good of  the church. That was something so many said is impossible. So who knows? I remember my brother telling me that Germany would never be reunited - and we were all surprised when the Berlin Wall came down. So one never knows. Yet some things remain impossible. We can’t change yesterday and it’s impossible for God to stop being God.

YET OR THE BUT

The yet or the but - are what is crucial.

Yet, but, there is resurrection.

Yet, but, there are healings.

Yet, but there are conversions.

And that’s where the energy of naming Jude the Patron Saint of the Impossible comes in.

Look at the list of characters in today’s gospel - someone who denied Jesus, someone who doubted Jesus - someone who betrayed Jesus.

That Good Friday night - after Jesus was killed on the cross - and all was dark - and despair - the Impossible filled Jerusalem and that Upper Room - but look at  today - Jesus has risen from the dead - the impossible happened - and these 11 who lasted - lasted long enough to bring Christ to our world.

Sometimes the impossible happens. Sometimes people make impossible dreams come true.

Simon and Jude - and all the rest of the Apostles - opened up that door and went for the more.

TWO STEPS

To make the impossible possible, there are two steps.  The  second step - is the opening of the doors that are shut and we get moving. The first step is the prayer and the decision and the choice - coupled with the Holy Spirit - to get moving again.

Judas dropped out. Judas gave up. Judas decided that Jesus wasn’t his dream - his life - and hung himself. The other Judas - Jude -decided differently in the dark of that upper room and then got moving in the direction of resurrection and new life - the possible.

CONCLUSION

The title of this homily is, “Impossible!”

The message is: to make the impossible, possible, say a prayer and then go out and do one’s best to make the impossible, possible. Amen.

HOW TO FAIL 

IN MARRIAGE,

WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

Quote for Today - Monday October 28, 2013

"It takes two to make a marriage a success and only one a failure."

Lord Samuel (Herbert Louis - first Viscount Samuel) 1870-1963, in A Book of Quotations (1947) page 115

A BAD REPORT CARD

INTRODUCTION

[I'm preaching this homily or reflection to myself for starters. Next: and if anyone here says to themselves, "I wish so and so heard this, I failed."]

The title of my homily for this 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “A Bad Report Card.”

When was the last time we got a bad report card - or a bad report?

We weren’t expecting it. It hits us in the gut. We stand there shocked. We don’t want anyone to know we failed - or we were fired.

Bummer! Ugh! Dang it! Disappointment….

Someone asks, “What happened? Is anything wrong?”

We don’t want to answer. We just want to be alone.

Or we can become angry - or numb - or dumb -  or blame - or spit out a denial. “There has to be a mistake.” “It’s not fair.”

Sometimes it all depends what we failed in. It could have been a math test. It could be a  cop coming  towards us about to give us a ticket for speeding or something we did wrong while driving.  It could be a doctor calling to tell us we failed a test - our numbers are bad. Our reactions might be different when it’s an all depends.

We might say the teacher is out to get us. It’s unfair. But maybe down deep - we’re blocking out that we are blocking out the truth. We know  we were lazy and didn’t prepare.

If it’s the cop - we first say, “Crud we weren’t speeding!”  Or “He’s out to get his quota of tickets at the end of the  month - and I’m the victim.” So we’re furious - but we know we have to sit there like a little child - when he asks for our driver’s license and registration.

So it all depends. Sneaky stuff sneaks around inside all of us.

Sometimes it’s hard to face the truth - or some truths - yet in general we don’t like to fail - in anything. We don’t like a bad report card.

We like to be right. 

And sometimes something else happens. It's when someone else fails - someone else gets arrested - caught - gets a bad report card. Ugh. That’s one of those ugly little human secrets that sometimes shows its ugly face. Sometimes we like it when someone else gets a worse report card than we got. It's hard to admit it, but sometimes we like it when there are others who are lower, less than us. We’re happy that there are those who seem to be society’s losers and ongoing failures. Ooops! We don’t like it when those human uglies ooze up and slide or squeeze out of our soul.

Jesus sometimes takes a chance and gets us in touch with these deep, deep sins.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

The kind of feeling I feel Jesus wants us to feel when listening to his words this Sunday is numbness - dumbness - silence - so that after our first reaction - of denial or anger or frustration - we decide to face the truth - so that we can be set free.

Of course, we could react and scream, “Crucify him!” or want to block Jesus out of our life - for life - or for a block of time and life.

Today’s Gospel presents two persons. Most of us are like the first person: the Pharisee. I know I am. And hopefully, after being honest with Jesus and myself - I’ll get what Jesus is saying. Then  I/ we switch to becoming the second person - the tax collector - the sinner - the one who just wants to slide into the back bench of the church - behind a pole - and just sit there in the semi-darkness of an afternoon - when nobody is around.

So hopefully, after hearing today’s gospel, we accept Jesus’ report - and in all humility - beg God for mercy - forgiveness - and then we start again.

Today’s gospel ends with a message that we have always given lip service agreement to: “For whoever exalts himself or herself will be humbled, and the one who humbles herself or himself will be exalted.”

We're here in church this Sunday Mass - along with maybe 400, 500, 600 million others. We'll all hear this simple gospel story - this clear parable - about what many of us say to ourselves - every day about others - up here in our temple - inside our skull. The NSA can’t record it all those silent sounds in our brains. It doesn’t have to. We know the sound and the script. Jesus simply Snowdenizes the comments and announces it once more to our world today.

So we know the tapes - the bytes- the words ….

Listen to them ....

“Thank God I’m not like so and so - the driver in the other car - the gal at the other desk doing nothing - the fat person walking slowly down the street - the teenager whose pants are half hanging off - the gal with the face piercings - the guy with the arm full of tattoos - the drunk - the always late for work boss - the lazy road crew - the idiots who can’t get the computers working - the other party - the other channel that rants and raves - the other who is so different, so wrong, so out of touch….”

“I go to church.  I bust my butt for others. I volunteer. My kids aren’t getting into trouble. I keep my house and lawn right. My car - my clothes - my look - my garage - the trunk of my car - they all look right….”

Then I notice whom Jesus tells us he’s addressing this parable to. Oh my God, he has my name on the envelope. Jesus is addressing his words to me today - because it’s addressed to those who are convinced of their own righteousness and despise every one else.

i say to Jesus: "We’ll I think I’m right." I say that because I’m convinced I’m right - so I accept that part of his words. But it’s that second part of Jesus’ words that I don’t accept. I don’t see myself despising everyone else. "Aaagh!" we scream.  So we say to Jesus. “That word ‘despise’ is a pretty strong word.”

Jesus remains silent. 

We get even more nervous and say, “Well not despise, but I do think some people are wrong - or stupid - or what have you.”

We continue talking to  Jesus: “You’re kind of strong here today. Aren’t we supposed to try to be holy - and not be greedy or dishonest or adulterous? Aren’t we supposed to be generous and tithe and donate to the needy?”

Jesus remains silent - letting us get out our inner stream of consciousness that we see ourselves better than so many others in our world - other nations, other religions, other people who are non-religious - others - whom we’re glad we’re not.

Jesus then continues - with his report - about the other person - the tax collector - the one whom people saw as shady - and greedy - and dirty - and sinful. 

Jesus tells us how that person prays - how he’s thinking - and what he’s doing here in this same Sunday Mass as I am. This other person has this same inner temple - a brain - a mind of one's own as I do. 

Jesus is telling us, “This other person can’t look God in the eye - but he does beat his breast and begs God, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’”

That sinks in. Jesus is sort of praising him and dissing me. In fact, Jesus gives me a failing mark - a zero for all my efforts - when he says, “I tell you, this second guy goes home justified - but not the first guy.”

Then Jesus hits me with another sledge hammer of a comment: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself for herself - will be exalted.”

Now we become very silent.

CONCLUSION

Then we say to Jesus, “Okay -  I get it.” Or “I think I'm getting it.”

We start saying, “I guess  I got to start again and again and again. I guess I have to stop putting myself up front  when it comes to thinking who’s right and who’s wrong and who’s a good human being and all that.”

We say, “I guess I got to stop giving out report cards - with failing marks to those I look down on - and simply come to You and say, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

MISTAKES

Quote for Today - Sunday October 27, 2013

"There is nothing final about a mistake, except its being taken as final."

Phyllis Bottome, Strange Fruit, 1928

LET IT GO!

Quote for Today - October 26, 2013

"For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe."

Anonymous

YETZER  HARA

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 29 Friday in Ordinary Time  is, “Yetzer Hara.”

It’s a Hebrew term for the inclination or impulse to evil.

I first heard about it when reading Bill Moyer’s book on Genesis. It’s in reference to Genesis 4:7 where we hear about Cain and Abel and the comment about  sin lurking at one’s door like a crouching beast ready to devour us. Then it says you have to master it.[1]

In the traditional Hebrew belief system, Yetzer hara is considered as an essential part of human nature.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading from Romans - Chapter 7 -  triggers my memory of reading that comment in Bill Moyer’s book years ago. Paul’s famous words should resonate with every one of us. Paul says we plan on doing good - and yet we walk out the door and do just the opposite. Then he adds: ”Why do I do this?”

How many times have we said, “Why, why, why? Why am I so stupid, stupid, stupid?”

Then Paul says that we don’t do evil, but the evil within us does evil.

We can all relate to this - because we all do this - whether it has to do with gossip, sexuality, dieting,  money - walking away with a nice ballpoint pen at the Funeral parlor - or what have you.

How come: sin is at our door - trying to sneak in like a mouse or a cat.

We’ve all heard the American Indian similar take on all  this. They had a folk tale that inside every person there are two wolves [or dogs]: the bright one and the dark one.

American Indian wisdom teachers tell their kids that these 2 are always fighting inside us. Don’t we know it?  And when asked, “Which one wins?” the answer is: the one we feed.[2]

In a Charlie Brown cartoon, we see Charlie,  when told about the two dogs fighting within each person, stopping and listening and then he says, “I can hear them fighting in there right now.”

I have type 2 diabetes and I’m very good in not eating cookies and cake - ice cream and candy - but I also have bad skin - and I tend to pick it - if it’s uneven. Why do I do this? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  Yet I do it every time.

CONCLUSION

Saint Paul here in Chapter 7 gives the classic text on all this - and it has helped folks ever since. Saint Augustine grabbed onto this - because he knew it was so true - and in his Confessions he talked about this reality of the pull towards self destruction - when it came to his lusts. Paul calls it a war - a battle - or the law of sin - and how can we be saved from this dynamic” make good choices - as well as communion with Jesus Christ.

Anyone familiar with the 12 Steps in Alcoholics Anonymous spirituality - know the first 2 steps. In Step One we admit I’m powerless over alcohol or some addiction. In Step Two I ask a Higher Power for help to move towards a healing.  Christians simply call their Higher Power God or Jesus Christ as Paul states it here in Romans 7. Amen.

O O O O O O O

NOTES

1) Bill Moyers, Genesis, Doubleday, New York, 1996. This is the comment made by Rebecca Goldstein,  “In the Jewish tradition, there’s a notion of the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. It’s almost an externalization of your evil inclinations, waiting there to attack you.” page 78

2) Here’s the Cherokee Parable of The Two Wolves

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

“One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

“The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

“This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”