KEEP TALKING! 

I'M TRYING TO 

LISTEN! 

Quote for Today - Tuesday - November 19, 2013

"The reverse side also has a reverse side."

Japanese Proverb

Japanese painting by trinifellah

LEARNING HOW TO PRAY:

TWO GOOD QUESTIONS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 33 Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Learning How to Pray: Two Good Questions.”

SURVEYS

In various surveys that ask people what they want us to preach about from the pulpit, I’ve noticed people want stuff on spirituality and stuff on how to pray.

This homily will give one more lesson on how to pray.

So the title of my homily is, “Learning How to Pray: Two Good Questions.”

THE FIRST QUESTION

The first question is in today’s gospel: And Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”

The blind man of Jericho wanted to see, so he called out to Jesus to take pity on him. He had heard Jesus was walking by. So Jesus heard him yelling and stopped to ask him, “What can I do for you?”

And the blind man answered the obvious, “I want to see.”

So, if you want one more lesson on how to pray, there it is. Find yourself in your place of prayer - whether its in church or in the Eucharistic chapel, whether it’s in a Lazy Boy chair or at the kitchen table.  Wherever, whenever, you pray, in your good place of prayer, car, church, chapel or chair - after acknowledging God’s presence, hear Jesus asking you, “What can I do for you?”

That’s the first question.

It’s like the salesperson at Nordstrom’s or a waitress or waiter at Macaroni Grill coming up to us and asking, “What can I do for you?” Or “What can I get you?” Or “What do you want?” Or "What are you looking for?"

So picture yourself praying. Picture Jesus asking us, “What can I do for you?”  

What would you answer?

Would it be, “I want more patience.” Or “I want to be more understanding.” Or “I want a better attitude towards my son-in-law.” Or “I want to love more.”  Or, “I want to laugh more.”  Or, “I want to pray better.”

THE SECOND QUESTION

The second question is not in the Scriptures as is, but here it is, Ask God: “What can I do for You?”  and then listen. Then pause. Then be quiet as you sit there in prayer. Then hear what Jesus says to you. It might be words like the following:

“Did you ever thinking of visiting that old lady two doors down. Nobody seems to visit her.”

“Did you ever think of really listening to so and so and not just being silent with her and then running?”

“Did you ever think you might be much happier if you stopped whining and complaining and you started celebrating each day of life as it comes - with a joyful spirit?”

"Did you eve take me serious when I said, ‘Stop  to see the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Okay it’s November. Well see the squirrels and hear the crunch of crisp brown leaves on the ground when kids love to pounce through the leaves or kick them up in the air or fall into them.’?”

CONCLUSION

So today’s homily provides a lesson plan on how to pray and I gave two good questions;

1) Hearing God or Jesus saying to us, “What can I do for you?”

2) Hearing ourselves asking God, “Hey God, what can I do for you?”

MORE OR LESS?

Quote for Today - Monday - November 18, 2013

"Less is more."

Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, On restraint in design, New York Herald Tribune, June 28, 1959

COMMENT AND QUESTIONS:

To which Robert Venturi said  in 1969, "Less is a bore."  Time Magazine March 3, 1986.

Which would be your comment?

More or less, what's your take on an egg?

YOU CAN’T DO THAT!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my for this homily - for the 33 Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C - is, “You Can’t Do That!”

How many times has that been the bottom line? We experience frustration or hurt or disappointment - and we say of God or others, “Hey you can’t do that to me!” 

We’re moving along and someone does something that we don’t want them to do. We don’t expect them to do what they are doing or have done.  And we scream inwardly or mutter outwardly, “Oh no!” 

Or we think: “Oh no - not again!” Or, “You can’t do that!” Or “Dang it!” Or much worse!

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings are these end of the year readings and every year when we come to them,  I think inwardly: “Oh no! Not again!”

Give me a parable or a healing story or a good moment about Jesus helping someone.

Nope. Once more - when I spot these readings I hear my moan: “Oh no! More bombastic apocalyptic language!”

Once more we have  these end of the year - these near the end of  gospel - passages - before we get to the Palm Sunday and Holy Week and Easter readings.

We have them every year for about 3 weekends. “Ugh!”

They talk about earthquakes and fires. They talk about wars and upheavals. They talk about pestilence and persecution. They talk about end times. “Oh no! Not again!" And I can’t change the channel.

I inwardly think, “Hurry up Advent!” But then I discover that those Advent readings repeat some of these end of the world themes as well. They use them as we prepare for Christmas the first coming of Christ - to prepare us for the final coming of Jesus Christ.

Today’s first reading from Malachi is vintage apocalyptic language: “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the Lord of hosts.”

Today’s gospel talks about wars and insurrections, terror and horror. Then Luke talks about the followers of Jesus being arrested and put on trial - being handed over by even one’s own family.  

Sometimes converts to Catholism tell us: “This is what happened in my family when I converted.”

That’s an underlying theme in the New Testament writings. Expect difficulties when you become a follower of Jesus. 

Scholars think Luke was written after the year 70 - because it is talking about Jerusalem being destroyed. And we know from non-biblical sources that there was a destruction of Jerusalem around the year 70 A.D. The historian Josephus says that one million, one hundred thousand people died, in a long siege and 97,000 were carried away as captives.

YOU CAN’T DO THAT!

I’ve been in a few car accidents. I’ve seen some heavy storms, but I’ve never experienced  massive destruction like that mentioned in today’s readings - destruction by violence or fire or earthquake or armies.

I’ve seen on TV a tiny bit of what’s happening now in Syria - and still in Afghanistan - as well as still in Iraq - and in the various troubled places on the planet.   I’m sure folks experiencing horror say, “You can’t do that!”

Yet,  I assume violence, horror, wars and rumors of war, natural and human destruction will continue till the end of time.

And I expect most people utter to God and others in times of disaster those down deep words, “You can’t do that!”

IT MAKES THE NEWS

Horror stories are the stuff of the local as well as the evening news.

There was a shooting last night on X street and a fire on Y street and a water main break on Z street.

Horror stories hit our families - as well as our iddy biddy everyday experiences. They make our inner news desk. Daily irritations appear  on our inner monitor.

The person in front of us in the middle lane on Route 50 or 97 switches lanes and didn’t put on their blinker. We’re a blinker putter oner. So we say in the privacy of our car, “Dang it! You can’t do that!”

Someone in the family gets sick - or dies -  or leaves a marriage - or does something harmful - especially something that hits kids - and we say, “You can’t do that!”

In today’s second reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians we hear Paul saying he tried to give good example to the Christian community there. But - but - but…. There are people there who are out of order - people who are not minding their own business - people who are  interfering in the lives of others. Then Paul basically says, “Don’t do that! Work quietly and eat your own food.” In other words: Stay at your own plate!

SOLUTIONS AND HAPPY ENDINGS

We all want solutions and happy endings.

We want to control what’s happening in front of us - and behind us.

We want people to do what we expect people to do:  be nice, be good, do no harm.

We want the weather and the world to happen the way we would like it to happen.

We want our kids and our neighbors and our spouse to have our assumptions and ways to do things - and make things happen.

SURPRISE!

Surprise! They don’t.

So what I get out of these end of the year readings is not what happened 2000 or so years ago - but a question: "How do I deal with today - when things don’t go my way?"

I assume we all have our tricks - our ways - our patterns for doing life - when life doesn’t go our way.

We have our little sayings like: “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”  Or, “Hey, you never know.” Or, “Bummer!”  Or, “I guess this is my way of the cross.”

We have our songs like, “The Gambler” - sung by Kenny Rogers. You got to know when to play them - and when to walk away. You got to know when to speak up and when to shut up. 

Or we have that song by Mary Chapin Carpenter, "The Bug". Sometimes we’re the bat and sometimes we’re the ball; sometimes we’re the bug, and sometimes we’re the windshield. 

Sometimes we’re the dog and sometimes we’re the grass. And you know what dogs do on the grass - and sometimes people don’t clean up and we step in it - and we scream to that unknown person, “Hey, you can’t do that.”

We have our philosophies: “KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.” Or “I choose to be an optimist when these things happen.” Or “This brings out the best in people, so I’m not going to let it bring out the worst in me.” The Stoics say: “Be stoical about it!”

We have our religions - which deal with this issue - big time.

The Buddhists say: desire is what kills us every time. So kill desire - wanting our way or scenario. Let it go!

The Christian says: “This is the cross!”  And “Lord, give me the strength to carry it.” Or, “Thy will be done.” Or, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace here!”  Or “God you are the Great Quiet - the Great Powerless One - hanging on a cross, nailed down by others, and you simply said, ‘Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.’" Or we say, "Into your hands O God, I hand over my spirit.”

CONCLUSION

So we pray. We philosophize. We think. We  walk on. We cry. We say, “Others have it worse.” We trust. We persevere. We try to help others. We try to let it go.

Instead of saying to God, “Hey you can’t do that,” we say, “Lord, help me to do what you do - give it time - and experience. Move me to work towards resurrection on the other side of death and destruction.”

Or we smile and say, “I wonder how many people say of me - when dealing with how I drive, how I handle things, how I do life: ‘Hey! You can’t do that!’”

ART 

AN ACTION 

AGAINST DEATH 

Quote for Today - Sunday - November 17, 2013

"All my life as an artist I have asked myself: What pushes me continually to make sculpture?  I have found the answer .... art is action against death. It is a denial of death."

Jacques Lipchitz, in Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1967

Sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz

MACBETH - EVERYMAN 

Quote for Today - Saturday November 16, 2013

"When you're a young man, Macbeth is a character part.  When you're older, it's a straight part."

Laurence Olivier, on playing Macbeth at age 30 and age 48, Theatre Arts, May 1958

Question:

What male or female character in what play or movie, could you say the same of yourself?

REMEMBER  LOT’S  WIFE! 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 32^nd Friday of Ordinary Time is, “Remember Lot’s Wife!”

This is a message for us from Jesus this morning in today’s gospel. [Cf. Luke 17: 26-37 - especially verse 32]

“Remember Lot’s Wife!”

Could you all repeat that after me: “Remember Lot’s Wife.”

Everybody in Jesus’ audience - who was Jewish - would get what that was all about.

It’s part of an old legend from the Book of Genesis 19:26 - stories about Lot - the nephew of Abraham. It was all part of Jewish culture.

The legend is that God destroyed some towns - but warned Lot and his family - to get out of town - before it happened. They did - but they were told to run and don’t look back.

Well, Lot’s wife looked back - and froze - at seeing the burning horror that  was happening back there - worse - she became a pillar of rock salt.

People freeze. People panic. People get stuck!

Haven’t we all seen what looked like people in trees and objects - in this and that - in the distance or semi-darkness? Well someone must have seen these stone pillars sculpted by the wind - down there near the Dead Sea - and came up with this legend that what they were looking at was once a person.

It’s the stuff of legend - and like lots of legends - there is a truth in it. That’s one of the purposes of telling stories and legends.

AND A MESSAGE IS: DON’T GET STUCK IN THE PAST

Don’t get stuck in a hurt. Don’t get stuck in a mistake.

We get hurt, but we better not identify ourselves as a hurt. We make mistakes, but we are not a mistake. There are disasters, but we are not a disaster.

Everyone has mistakes in their memory. We’ve memorized them - but they don’t have to mesmerize us for life.

We have a past. We have a memory. We know the stuff of our life - but along with the blessing of a memory - comes the memory of the mistakes of our past. Don’t get stuck in them.

People do.

People walk away from or want to walk away from the person who keeps on telling the story of a mistake or a hurt or a disaster they made for the 100^th time.

I still remember being in grammar or elementary school and I was on a PAL - Police Athletic League - baseball team: the Bay Ridge Robins. Walter Eckardt was the manager - and his little brother was on our team. Mr. Eckardt put his little brother in to play first base - my position - for every game of the season but one out. That’s all I got to play: one out - for a whole season. Bummer. Evidently I still remember it.

I remember being in the second year of high school and I had the lead in a play: East Come, Easy Go. I had to memorize over 500 lines. I got it done. Couldn’t do it now. Well, it was 4 pages to the end of Act One. Surprise! This other guy forgot his line. Silence. Silence.

Silence feels very long and very slow - when one is on stage.

Silence. So since I had the lead, I grabbed a line I had. The show must go on. And it went on perfectly to the end of Act One. Just after I got the play going again I could see the director in the wings - out of view of the audience - shaking his head and his arms - saying, “Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!”

Act One ended. The curtain closed. The audience clapped. I went right to the director and said, “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? You cut 4 people out of the play.” 

Then he added that their names are on the program and their parents are in the audience.

I have remembered that moment my whole life.

I always want to make sure I don’t cut people out of the play of life.

YOU KNOW THE FEELING

You know the feeling. You know what it’s like to slip or sin or fail. You know your miscues and mistakes. We know when we cut another up or out.

You are reading in public and you make a major mispronunciation or you’re driving and you get a ticket or you bump another car - or get cut from a team or you don’t make the team or the group or you get dumped by someone.

All bummers.

Some people get stuck in their mistakes.

Some people get stuck in a comment made by a parent or they get stuck in their parent’s divorce or disaster or put down.

For life.

Remember Lot’s wife.

Remember Harry Angstum in Rabbit Run - the 1960 novel by John Updike. Harry is stuck in his past - and keeps running away from his mistakes and his disasters. Rabbit, Run!

A car has that big windshield that helps us see where we are headed. It also has a small rear view mirror to show us what’s behind us.

We have the choice to concentrate on what’s ahead or what’s behind us.

We can look at mistakes and missed opportunities or we can look to make the next moment the right moment.

The field goal kicker can see the ones that went through the goal posts or the ones he missed.  He can practice, practice, practice for the next opportunity.

MOVIES AND PLAYS

Movies and plays play on this theme of the past and the future.

The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller….  On the Waterfront by Budd Schulberg…. The Greek Tragedies …. Shakespeare’s tragedies …. They all touch on getting stuck in the past - in the tragedies of our life - and the hope and the desire for a solution.

Rick [Humphrey Bogart] - and Ilsa  [Ingrid Bergman] in Casablanca always had Paris - but they had to make a major decision on the tarmac of the Casablanca airport.

The movie I like the best in all this was Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresne had it in his mind - all through his time in prison - to escape and to be free. He told Red: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Andy got busy living.

Remember Lot’s Wife! She was busy dying - looking backwards.

Andy Dufresne was busy planning a life after he escaped from prison. He finally escapes - crawling through 500 yards of crap. “That's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.” He did it. He made it. He set himself free - to move into a future - escaping his past in Maine and getting to Mexico!

Red [Morgan Freeman] says in Shawshank Redemption, “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

Hope is a virtue - a power - to have for the future. It can be dangerous - because it’s a not yet - and maybe that’s one more reason why folks get stuck in the past. They know the known; they don’t know the unknown.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Remember Lot’s Wife.”

The implication is to use the past - something that happened - to energize for the future.

It worked with mantras and slogans like, “Remember the Alamo” or “Remember Pearl Harbor” or "Do this in memory of me!"

Jesus is warning us with his words, “Remember Lot’s Wife” - to be prepared for the future - to get caught up in resurrection not destruction. Amen.

NOTES:

Painting on top: Lot's Wife by Edward Wheeler


Picture: "Mount Sodom, a hill along the southwestern part of the Dead Sea in Israel, is made almost entirely of halite (rock salt). It is about 5 miles long, 3 miles wide, 742 feet above the Dead Sea water level, and yet 557 feet below sea level. Weathering separated sometimes portions of rock formations. One such separate pillar is known as ‘Lot's Wife’, because the pillar resembles a woman wearing a cloak, with reference to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as mentioned in the Bible." -- From on-line.