Here is a painting of Saint Maximilian Kolbe by a friend of mine, Al Pacitti. St. Maximilian Kolbe was killed in 1941 in Auschwitz, Poland. It was by lethal injection. Notice his prison uniform. He was a member of Conventual Franciscans. Notice his religious habit. He spoke out against the Nazis - and was imprisoned. In July of 1941 - 3 prisioners disappeared - and the German camp commandant chose 10 men to die by starvation. One of the 10, a Franciszek Gajowniczek screamed out that he had a wife and kids. At that Max Kolbe volunteered to take his place. "A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends." [Cf. John 15:13]
The title of my homily for this 19th Tuesday
in Ordinary Time is, “We Become What We Eat.”
That’s a 5 word bumper sticker truism if we ever heard
one.
“We Become What We Eat.”
TODAY’S FIRST
READING
Today’s first reading from the 2nd and 3rd
chapters of the Prophet Ezekiel triggers this homily.
Ezekiel is told to take and eat.
So he takes the scroll – which has writing on both sides
– eats it – digests it – then speaks it out in his homily. I get that. I do
that.
We get that image – because we do this very thing every day. Take
and eat. Take and read. So we’re familiar with Ezekiel’s words – because we’re
familiar with this everyday reality.
We’re all ears. We’re all mouth. We're all eyes. We spend our days taking it all in - digesting it - processing it - being effected by everything.
We become what we read. We become what we eat. We are the
evening news. We are Morning TV shows. We are our conversations. We are our
coffee breaks. We are our comments and our gossip. We are our phone calls. We
are our e-mails. We are out everyday conversations.
We are what we eat. We still remember those words we
heard years ago: “Garbage in – garbage out.”
“Good stuff in – good outcome coming out.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Today’s gospel - Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14 - has Jesus telling us to become like little
children.
Children hear English coming into their ears and English
comes out their mouths. So too Chinese – so too Russian and Arabic. We are formed by our environment - our surroundings - the atmosphere we breathe in - each moment.
Children hear love coming into their ears – and the
outcome is love.
Movies in, movies out.
I keep chewing on that scene in the movie, 42 – the life of Jackie
Robinson – when the little kid goes out to the game to see this new player on
the national scene – he goes out with excitement – and then he hears his father
screaming “Nigger” at Jackie Robinson. It shocks the kid – a possible hero is
crucified on the infield at Crosley Field, in Cincinnati. And then the kid - in imitation of his dad, also yells
out, “Nigger”.
We become what we eat; we become what we hear; we become our parents; we become
our teachers and out TV personalities.
Movies move us. News nudge us. We become what we see, and hear and touch.
Listen to people and you’ll hear reruns of the news.
THE MASS
So we get the Mass – that’s why we’re here. We’re here to hear. We’re here to eat. We’re here
for communion with each other and with the Lord. We’re here to eat. We’re here
to digest. We’re here to chew. We’re here to become one with Christ and the
Body of Christ.
So at each Mass we hear words and they become us. We eat
bread and drink wine and they become us.
We talk to ourselves about what we hear at Mass and at
Mass we talk to ourselves about what we heard last night – or today – all being
digested in the belly of our minds – as our belly is still digesting food from
our tables.
So we get the description of the mass as a meal - with two tables – the table of the word and
the table of the Eucharist. We get that
because we talk and listen to each other at tables – as we eat our Cheerios or
our meatloaf, eat our bread and drink our water or wine.
Even those who eat
alone – sometimes have a book or a newspaper or a magazine in front of them –
or the TV or radio in the background.
We’re always eating. We’re always eating two things: food
and words.
CONCLUSION
So we get today’s first reading – about Ezekiel eating
the scroll. So we get Jesus’ words about becoming little children. How becoming
is that. And we get Jesus ending words in today’s gospel – that all are to be
welcomed and celebrated at Mass – the Mass of humanity – as well as the 100th
sheep.
As priest if I have digested what I hear grandparents and
parents saying – what’s eating them up – is their worry about their lost sheep
– who have left the flock.
And what eats God up – It’s the same message. Hear again
the last sentence in today’s gospel: What eats God up is: “Just so, it is no
part of your heavenly Father’s plan that a single one of these little ones
shall ever come to grief.” Amen.
OOOOOOO
Picture on top: Pat Doherty, Plate of Donuts
TANGLED UP
Poem for Today - August 12, 2014
TANGLED UP PUPPET
I'm a tangled up puppet, Spinning round in knots, And the more I see what I used to be, The less of you I've got.
There was a time that you curled up in my lap;
like a child You'd cling to me smiling, yours eyes wide and
wild Now you slip through my arms, wave a passing
hello Twist away and toss a kiss, laughing as you go
You used to say "Read me a story and sing
me songs of love" For you were Princess Paradise like your wings
of a dove Now I chase you and tease you trying to remake
you my own But you just turn away and say "please
leave me alone."
And I'm a tangled up puppet All hanging in your strings I'm a butterfly in a spider's web Fluttering my wings
And the more that I keep dancing
And spinning round in knots The more I see what I used to be And the less of you I've got
You are a drawer full of makeup and rinses and
things You keep changing your moods like your earrings
and rings But tonight while we played tag for five minutes
in the yard Just for a moment I caught you off guard But now you write your secret poems In a room just for your dreams You don't find time to talk to me About the things you mean And what I mean is--
I have watched you take shape from a jumble of
parts And find the grace and form of a fine work of
art Hey, you, my brand new woman, newly come into
your own Don't you know that you don't need to grow up
all alone
The title of my homily for this feast of St. Clare is, “Regrets.”
What are your thoughts about regrets?
The gist of my homily would be this. I was tempted to
make it my title – but it’s much too long: “Regrets: Forget About Them – But If You Can’t
Forget Them, Then Learn To Accept Them.”
Easier – said than done.
THE FEAST OF
ST. CLARE
Today – August 11th – is the Feast of St.
Clare.
Ever since May of 1984 I associate St. Clare with
regrets.
Let me explain ….
I was in Assisi, Italy for one day. I took the train from
Rome. After arriving at the train stationI walked up to the gigantic church – the big basilica of St. Francis.
My plan was to walk to the Basilica of St. Clare (Chiara)
after seeing and being in the Basilica
of St. Francis (Francessca do Assisa.
While at the big basilica for Francis – I went down to the lower level to get to the
crypgt of Francis – and surprise I run into a Mass down there – for a German
youth group.
I stayed. It went well over an hour – even though I
couldn’t understand a word of German – ooops I also took time to look at all
the paintings by Giotta.
After that German Mass I headed out of the upstairs church
and then over to the town and up the street to the Basilica of St. Clare.
It was locked. It was siesta time. However, one could see
inside the church through the bars of the gate that locked the church.
I stood there – looking in - disappointed. I stood there regretting that I didn’t get into where Clare’s body or grave
was.
I still feel that mistake or choice. I still regret
missing out in not visiting Clare’s grave.
So that’s why I associate the feast of St. Clare with the
theme of regrets.
Ugh.
Well, maybe someday I’ll get back there.
REGRETS
Everyone has them
– at least one.
Everyone is hit with original sin – is there something we
might call, “One’s Original Regret.”
If you have some time, some space, some quiet, sit and
pray and come up with 10 regrets. Then
put them in order of feeling – One being the strongest regret.
To prime the pump….
If you’re married or were married - any regrets?
Children? Any regrets?
The gift of speech? Any regrets.
The use of time: any regrets?
Those who have died: any regrets?
Those who are living: any regrets?
Regrets can be dumb things we did or didn’t do. They
could be forgets. They could be sins. They could be missed opportunities.
So what are your regrets?
It’s a good question – because trying to answer questions
can force us to face our lives.
FUNERAL THIS
MORNING
At the 10:30 wedding this morning the wife of the man who
died in his sleep said, “Good thing we talked to each other that last night
because he never woke up. That was one thing I was very grateful for.
That triggers the need to look at blessings – besides the
regrets of life.
FORGIVENESS
If we have regrets towards another, if we can express the
sorrow we feel, great. At other times, sometimes it’s better to let sleeping
dogs lie.
If another is dead, we can talk to the other in prayer.
PHILOSOPHICAL
If we can’t shake a regret, we can become philosophical.
To be human, is to have regrets.
Regrets and angst are part of life.
Regrets are part pf the package, called life.
My dad was very quiet, He did a lot of walking, but very
little talking. I have fond memories of going with him to watch sandlot football games as a kid –
but we never talked enough.
In time, I have learned to accept he was a great father –
but also a quiet father – definitely – an introvert with a great smile – and
now years later – long after his death in 1970 - I’ve wondered what was he
thinking – what was he talk
CONCLUSION
So I regret not getting into St. Clare’s Basilica there
in Assisi – but I’ll take what I got so far – and if I get a break – I hope to
get to the Grave of St. Clare. Amen.
