SAINTS  LOVE  SINNERS

Quote for Today - All Saints Day - November 1st, 2013

"A minor saint is capable of loving minor sinners. A great saint loves great sinners."

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov [1700-1760], Judaism

Questions:

Does that mean all those complainers about all us sinners are clueless - or  maybe just minor leaguers?

Does that mean: UNDERSTANDING IS THE #1 TRAIT OF A SAINT?

Is that what Jesus is getting at in so many Gospel comments?  For example:

"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." [Luke 15:3]

"If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." [John 8:7b]

"Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice." [Matthew 9:13]

THE FOUR HUNGERS

Quote for Today - October 31, 2013

"Every human being has four hungers; the hunger of the loins, the hunger of the belly, the hunger of the mind, the hunger of the soul.  You can get by a long time on the loins and the belly, but there is a good deal of evidence that even the meanest of men eventually crave something for the mind and the soul."

James Webb, in Arthur Goodfriend, What Is American? [1954]

Comment:

It seems that Pope Francis it trying to once again open up the doors of the Catholic Church to all human beings who have all these human hungers. So let's drop the rocks. Let's get back to business - that of Jesus' vision of bringing about the Kingdom - on earth as it is in heaven. Let's get back to love not law. Let's stop slamming the doors of our churches and our minds and hearts in the face of so many hungry people. Let's be honest: there have been too many unwelcoming gestures and speeches and comments - that have kept people down the other end of the street.

Picture on top: This is a picture I took on August 31, 2009 - a rainy day - in The Vigellandsparken Sculpture Park in Oslo, Norway. Check it out on Google. You'll see many of the sculptures of Gustave Vigeland [1869-1943] - which depict human beings with their hungers and their thirsts in the cycle of life.

THE WAY YOU LOOK

Quote for Today - October 30, 2013

"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope."

Charles Revson [1906-1975], in A. Tobias, Fire and Ice [1976], chapter 8

THE GREAT GROANING 

OF CREATION

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 30^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “The Great Groaning of Creation.”

I love the combination of today’s two readings - the first from Romans where Paul talks about creation groaning and then in the gospel of Luke, when Jesus makes comments about mustard seeds growing into big bushes and yeast being  mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough is leavened. [Cf. Romans 8: 18-25; Luke 13: 18-21]

GEORGE ELIOT

There is a comment made by George Eliot or Mary Ann Evans in her book, Middlemarch, that has always interested and intrigued me. “If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.”

QUESTION: WHAT DOES GOD HEAR?

I like to think - imagine - assume - realize -  that God hears everything:  grass growing - babies crying - the earth rumbling and rambling and the moanings of old folks in nursing homes!

I’m sure you’ve seen TV documentaries where scientists place microphones or listening devices into the deepest parts of an ocean and they pick up all kinds of sounds - the play of dolphins, the screams of whales and sharks, the purr of submarines -  the sound of water, water everywhere. I’m sure God hears all that!

I’m sure you’ve seen scientists listening to sounds from outer space - and they magnify the sounds.  I’m sure God hears all that.

Doctors put a silver stethoscope on our rib cage and they listen to the ticking of our hearts. Or they put it on the belly of a pregnant woman and they hear both the mother’s heart beat - along with that of her baby.   I’m sure God hears all that.

I like to picture churches as gigantic crying rooms - where we hear the sounds of children and babies - and then there are the screams and prayers, the tears and the thoughts of people - worries and wonderings -  here in church. I think of this happening at every Mass - and I’m sure God hears all that.

Put a stereoscope on a bible and if you listen in, you’ll hear the cries of the poor - the birds of the sky - and the moo of cows.

What does God hear?

As the weather gets colder I can still picture myself as a little kid down in our basement watching my dad put hard coal into our iron door furnace to get heat for our radiators - and soft coal in a smaller furnace to get heat for our hot water. I can hear the sound of the shovel on the hard cement cellar floor and the clang of the cast iron furnace door opening - and watching and hearing the roar of the fire. 

And that gets me thinking of what's below the surface of our earth. I can still see the pictures and illustrations from those science books we had in school. Somewhere underneath us is molten red lava - that erupts in and out of the earth from time to time. I can hear those sounds and squish - and picture that heat. I assume God knows and hears all that.

I think of all the people I have listened to as priest and person - voicing their joys and sorrows, hopes and despairs, victories and failures, sins and suggestions - groans and moans.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “The Great Groaning of Creation.”

Paul is telling us in today’s first reading - these are all the sound and stuff of the mix of our inner prayers with  God’s inner prayers. Listen.

Listen to the roar of that inner fire - deep below our surface - but above the core of each of us - as well as in God.

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