RELIGIOUS VOCATION

Poem for Today - Wednesday -  June 11, 2014

TO A FRIEND 

WITH A RELIGIOUS VOCATION 

Thinking of your vocation, I am filled

With thoughts of my own lack of one. I see

Within myself no wish to breed or build

Or take the three vows ringed by poverty.

And yet I have a sense,
Vague and inchoate, with no symmetry,

Of purpose. Is it merely a pretense,

A kind of scaffolding which I erect –

Half out of fear, half out of laziness?
The fitful poems come but can’t protect
The empty areas of loneliness.

You know what you must do,

So that mere breathing is a way to bless.

Dark nights, perhaps, but no grey days ahead for you.

Your vows enfold you. I must make my own;
Now this, now that, each one empirical.
My poems move from feelings not yet known,

And when the poem is written I can feel

A flash, a moment’s peace.
The curtain will be drawn across the grill.

My silences are always enemies.

Yet with the same convictions that you have

(It is but your vocation that I lack),

I must, like you, believe in perfect love.
It is the dark, the dark that draws me back

Into a chaos where

Vocations, visions fail, the will grows slack

And I am stunned by silence everywhere.

© Elizabeth Jennings,

(For C.)
Painting on top: 
Three Nuns by
Dorothy Mary Braund (1926)
Australian, 1965

SEEING  YOUR GOOD DEEDS, THEN 

GLORIFYING 

YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 10th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Seeing Your Good Deeds, Then Glorifying Your Heavenly Father.”

Today’s gospel ends: “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

There’s 2 steps there: seeing and then giving God the Glory.

If I had to put these 2 steps into gesture it would be like this: two fingers pointed to the eyes. That symbolizes seeing. Coaches are telling players to be doing this all the time. See. See. See. Look. Look. Look. Be aware. Be aware. Be aware. Watch. Watch. Watch. Secondly, lifting that one hand – one finger pointed up to God – giving God the glory.

I’ve been noticing in sports these past few years that an athlete makes a great play or makes a great shot or what have you and then that athlete raises his one hand and index finger - signifying:  “Give God the Glory.”

TODAY’S 2 READINGS AND PSALM PROVIDE SOME KEY SCENES TO SEE 

First scene to see. There is mention in this first reading –  1 Kings 17: 7-16 - of seeing a dry brook – without rain – and then picturing that same brook – flowing with rain water after the heavens open up and pours down rain.

This is going to happen in the next chapter – 1 Kings 18: 41-46 – when torrential rain falls when Elijah calls on God for rain – and he succeeds whereas the priests of Baal – are weak – when calling upon their fertility gods for water.

I look out my window every morning and I see Spa Creek. Every day  it is still filled with water. It’s  looking good – all year long. Give God the Glory.

When I drive down Rowe Blvd – with the State House  in front of me - heading back to St. Mary’s – I always spot  the spot - there off to my right - where water is down below – under what is  the first of the two flat  bridges. There always seems to be water down there the whole year – even in August. I always look there and wonder, “Has that creek ever dried up?”

Next scene…. The first reading talks about a widow – this woman with one son – how she gets water for this wandering prophet on the run – and then bread and cake as well. The food doesn’t run out.

I think of all the people on the planet who help feed other people on the planet – people who help fill the food banks in local centers for the poor – as well as churches – etc. etc. etc. As well as countries and big organizations like the Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services – helping other countries after national tragedies. See people helping one another. Give God the Glory.

Today’s Psalm response is, “Lord, let your face shine on us.”

See all the people who see God’s smile on the faces of so many other people on the planet – every day. May we be the smile of God. May we be the joy of God. May we be the face of God for another today. Give God the glory. We all remember the comment the little kid made who said, “I want to see a God with skin on.” We are called to be the face of God – the hand of God - the lift of God - the smile of God – for those around us each day.

Today’s gospel – Matthew 5: 13-16 – part of the Sermon on the Mount - tells us that same message with our call to be salt and light to our world.  When we are that – when we are shaking salt, shining light, on others, then we are giving God the glory.  

CONCLUSION

Why do people give up, why do people dry up, why do people not show up – when it comes to being bread and water, cake, a smile, salt and light, for each other.

The answer ought to be: because they haven’t met us yet. Amen.

TO BE 

IS TO BE 

FOREVER 

Poem for Today -Tuesday -  June 10, 2014

I DIED

I died as mineral and became a plant,

I died as plant and rose to animal,

I died as animal and I was man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?

Yet once more I shall die as man, to soar

With angels blest; but even from angelhood

I must pass on: all except God doth perish.

When I have sacrificed my angel soul,

I shall become what no mind e’re conceived,
Oh, let me not exist! For Non-existence

Proclaims in organ tones, ‘To Him we shall return.’*

© Jalalu’ddin Rumi

Translated by R.A. Nicholson

*Koran 2:151

STREAMS  OF  LIVING  WATER 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 10^th Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Streams of Living Water.”

At the end of today’s first reading from 1^st Kings 17, I noticed the words, “he drank from the stream.”

The “he” refers to Elijah, the Prophet. He is thirsty and  on the run and is hiding from Ahab and his soldiers.

Elijah is hungry and thirsty and he hears the Lord telling him where to hide and where there is water – at the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.

A wadi is the bed or valley of a stream in dry regions. In rainy seasons that’s where the rain flows into. It’s a gully – a shallow depression in the earth. It’s from the Arabic word “WADIY” – meaning just that.

I read the readings to come up with an idea for a homily.

I’ve read and heard dozens of sermons on the Beatitudes, so I was looking at this first reading especially.

It hit me: “Ask what are and where are my streams of living water?”

TRIXI

One my best friends was a priest with the nickname of  “Trixie”. He was a fat little Italian guy. I was standing with him once in our old seminary in Upstate New York on a hot day. He says, “Let’s go down to the library and get a drink of cold water at the fountain there.”

I said, “There’s no fountain down there.” 

He says, “Yes there is, Fat People always know where there are cold water fountains.”

I said, “Thanks for the compliment.”

Well, maybe not any more with bottled water.

Where are our fountains, our streams of living water – the one that woman in the Gospel of John asked Jesus about? [Cf. John 4: 15]

A wonderful prayer is to say what that woman said, “Jesus, I want that water – that living water you’re talking about.”

SOMETIMES WE’RE DRY – SOMETIMES WE’RE IN A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT

Any of us – who are religious searchers – know what it is to be spiritually thirsty and spiritually dry.

It’s an image that is part of spirituality literature.  It’s part of marriage as well. We have dried up.  And marriage is also a powerful image often found in spiritual literature.

Another image is The Dark Night of the Soul and Senses and Spirit.

Basically they are the same.

SO WHAT ARE OUR STREAMS OF LIVING WATER

So what are our streams of living water?

It is wise to ponder this and see what are our answers to that question.

Why? 

So we can go to those sources. Any of you who have read The Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila – know of her 4 sources of water - so as to water our garden for the Lord - so as to be in union with God.

The first is the bucket. It's more us - the going back and forth to the well, lowering the bucket down into the well, pulling up the rope, and then walking back and forth to the garden from the well.

The second is the windlass. It's a bit easier than lowering and lifting a bucket up and down into a well. I went searching in Google, but I've haven't found a picture of this kind of a "machine" in Spain in the 1500's, so  I find this image the hardest to picture. The wind part of the word and the image is from a rope that winds around a piece of wood. One turns or winds a handle around and around to make it a bit easier to get water in a barrel from a water source.

The third image is the trench or canal one builds to let water flow from a stream into one's garden. Self first and then one sits back and lets the water flow and do its work.

The last image is simple: it rains. God does all the work. Let go, laugh, and let God drench us completely.

Anyone who has seen the famous statue by Bernini of St. Teresa in Ecstasy in Sancta Maria Della Church in Rome knows that image. She’s standing there in an ecstasy – as in a rain fall.

When people are deeply in love – when people are on their honeymoon – it’s like being in rain storm of love. I’m not married, but that’s my romantic image of it.

Any of us who have spent time in prayer – know moments of ecstasy.

So then the question: what are our streams of living water? What are our spiritual sources - that fill our reservoir.

CONCLUSION

The answer for me is time: taking time to read scriptures, taking time for Mass, taking time for a brief morning and night prayer. It’s taking time to go to Jesus the stream, the source, of living water.

Lovers connect. Lovers of God connect. 

 ANOTHER - MORE OR LESS

Sitting there on a plane or bus

or church or at a meeting - next to

or directly behind another person -

looking straight ahead at the back

of another person’s head. Interesting….

Who is this person?

What is he like?

What is she like?

Where is he or she right now?

To say “interesting” is not enough…

Where has he been?

What has she faced?

What are her thoughts?

What is his story?

To say, “mystery” is not enough….

Then the man next to me

on the plane said,  “Hi.

Where are you headed?”

And the two of us began to talk.

And the next hour took 17 minutes.

Now there is one less person

on this planet I didn’t talk to.

Now there is one more person

who has a glimpse of my planet.

Interesting …. Mystery …. More….

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2014

CHRIST THE FALCON!

POEM FOR TODAY - JUNE 9, 2012

THE WINDHOVER

To Christ our Lord

I caught this morning’s minion, king-

dom of daylight’s dauphin-dapple-drawn Falcon,

in his riding

Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing

In his ecstasy! Then off, off forth on swing,

As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl

and gliding

Rebuffed the big wind My heart is hiding

Stirred for a bird, - the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume here

Buckle! And the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion

Times told lovier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion

Shine, and blure-bleak embers, ah my dear,

Fall, gall themselves and gash gold-vermillion.

© Gerard Manley Hopkins

PRAYING FOR THE BREATH

OF THE SPIRIT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, "Praying for The Breath of the Spirit."

Today is the feast of Pentecost.

Pentecoste – is the Greek word for 50 days. Today is 50 days after Easter.

It's called the Birthday of the Church – hang onto that word "birth".

It's the day – we believe as Christians - that the Holy Spirit came into our world in a new way.

BREATH

The title of my homily is, "Praying for the Breath of the Spirit."

We know what breath is like. We're breathing in and out all day long –whether we're aware of it or not. When the weather is cold – we can see breath coming out of people's mouths.

I’ve seen the Grand Canyon and the Grand Cayman Islands, but I’ve never seen the breath taking scene a birth of a new baby is. I’ve heard a dozen times that when a new baby is born, one of the first things to do – is to get that baby breathing.

When a person dies, the breath of life goes out of them.

When a person drowns – or they stop breathing – EMT people – or doctors or nurses – or anyone with training – they try to get the person breathing –giving them artificial respiration.

One of the first teachings in various religions – one of the first steps – in many meditation programs – is to ask people to become aware of their breath.

Breathe in! Breathe out! Breathe in. Breathe out.

BOOK OF GENESIS

The book of Genesis begins very dramatically when it comes to the creation of the first person: Adam — meaning earth.

One story has God from afar — giving commands — and there is light, sky, stars, water, the birds and fish and trees, and all kinds of animals and wild beasts, and then God made us in God’s own image — and all is good.

Then there is a second creation account when God makes — sculpts  - creates the first man from the clay of the earth — and then breathes life into that sculpture.

Then realizing this person is all alone — and it's not good to be alone — God creates woman — out of the first man. God casts the first man into a deep sleep and pulls out his rib and then fleshes out of that — the first woman — Eve — the mother of all the living.

It's very poetic — very dramatic — very visual — and in a certain sense — a very real way of picturing how we came about.

The writers of Genesis didn't know what we know today — about how we evolved — and we still don't know exactly how life — started. We just know it took billions of years — in a slow crawl till we got to the first humans.

When we are young our lungs are great. Breathing is as easy as the A-B-C’s.

When we are older, shortness of breath sometimes stops us in our tracks and we have to stop to lean on a banister, a tree, or a wall.

We need air to live — to breathe — to make this planet work — and everything is interconnected — water, oxygen, lungs, life.

SPIRIT

The next big observation about life is that people have good days and bad days.

People lose their spirit.

People run out of gas.

People lose their breath.

People get tired — sometimes tired of living.

Just as someone can see a sail on a sailboat — stop — just sit still —because there is no wind — and the boat won't go anywhere — just drifting on the waters — so too human beings drift — drag — down, down themselves.

Then people see the wind pick up and the boat starts moving — full sail —ahead.

So too we see people who were down come back to life. They get a fresh breath of life — a second wind.

Poets, preachers, teachers noticed these things and pointed this out to people.

FIRE

People know about breath and wind — invisible — but we can feel our lungs go in and out. We can see — especially here in Annapolis — sails billow out with wind.

Anyone who has played or worked with fire — knows that fire feeds on air and itself.

Watch boy scouts trying to start a fire. Watch someone trying to get a fire place going. Air is a necessity.

Anyone who has watched altar servers blow out the candles after Mass have seen them blow the wind away from the wick — or put one of those candle putter outers over the flame.

Watch fire fighters and see how difficult it is to deal with a fire when wind kicks in and up.

SO WHEN IT COMES TO GOD

So when it comes to God, we can't see God — except in Jesus — but Jesus liked to tell us about his Father — and also about the third person in God: the And two key images for the Spirit of God is wind and fire — breath and fire.

So Jesus talked about lighting a fire under people. Red — fire — igniting —passion — is something God wants of us — to be passionate about love and service and making life better for others.

So Jesus talked about breathing and sending a new wind — to shake us —to enliven us — to get us moving.

So when it comes to God — especially God the Holy Spirit — the key thing is to pray to the Holy Spirit for life — for courage — forgiveness — peace —passion — strength.

That's the stuff in the readings for this feast.

The disciples — the apostles — the friends of Jesus had lost Jesus. It was like the fire went out, the air was knocked out of them, they were filled with fear and this mighty wind shook the house where they were hiding out —and new life, a new fire came into them —and they burst out of that locked upper room and changed the world.

Their bodies got moving again — as if they were reborn — a new Genesis hit them.

In today's gospel they discovered that when we forgive ourselves and others — when we do that we receive a new Spirit —new life — but if we hold onto the past, the mistakes, we are dead.

CONCLUSION

This morning I preached a different sort of a sermon.

But let me end the same way.

I like to stress using our rosary – not just for Hail Mary’s.

Today I would suggest taking your rosary beads and simply pray on the 59 beads of one’s rosary, “Come Holy Spirit!”

Close your eyes and slowly try it. It takes about 4 minutes.

Or take your rosary and just say a one word prayer – 59 times.

What one word prayer. Today’s sequence for Pentecost has the famous Vene Sante Spiritus prayer. Notice it contains a whole bunch of one word prayers. Close your eyes and with rosary in hand, pray slowly these same words: Light, Shine, Comfort, Welcome, Solace, Renew, Heal, Forgive…..