KABUL,  AFGANISTAN 

HINDU KUSH MOUNTAINS 

Poem for Today - August 28, 2014

IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD 

The sky here is American like the blue of your eyes;

the folds of your eyelids the Hindu Kush mountain.

The rich vein of the Hindu Kush only a stony ridge

cutting across the parched soil of Afghanistan

on which the primal play of progress comes to pass.

II

Locked in, its people:

nomadic, peasant or simply pleasant,

green-eyed, blue-eyed, brown-eyed or simply wide-eyed.

Its great teacher: Noor Mohammad Taraki,

the proud translator of great works

into Pashto, Dari, Turkic and Uzbek.

Its cities: Herat, Kabul, Kandahar.

III

Assuredly, the pilgrims descend the emerald-strewn

Panjsher valley. They have come to water and tend

a young tree. Time is at hand, for the unhurried

descent of the Western offering,

whose yellow parachute will slow its fall.

And this tree, which will grow underneath the cluster bomb,

will hold up the pomegranate to the blue sky.

IV

The tick tock and whirr of metal and material

in the hidden azure vault of the air

has so far unleashed the American ahistoricality

upon the two tall Bamiyan Buddhas.

Ordained stone must give way to bared rock face.

Grieve not. Rejoice, for the spirit triumphs here.

V

When Kabul was as beautiful as Leningrad,

when our hearts hadn't grown weary,

when Taraki could take a stroll down

the streets of Kabul with a confident smile,

when he could still be Afghanistan's Maxim Gorky,

when our erstwhile bachelor could enjoy

the company of dancing girls like a mogul emperor,

when the way forward was the way forward.

VI

The uncertain exile is never to Rome—

no picture postcards of the coliseum to send home—

but to a mud hovel among other mud hovels

by the edge of the city of Islamabad.

For the uncertain exile has nothing to do

with the divine or with any other kind of comedy,

but with what has remained or with what reminds:

with the trace of terror that persists.

VII

In this part of the world the children know and have desires

to be a martyr, to enter paradise, to leave this life.

Of the twenty-nine different names for the garden,

they know all twenty-nine by heart.

For this part of the world began with a garden and

will end as an open ditch piled up with bodies.

VIII

Grant me Antigone's strength to forbear

for the sun has come unstuck from a blue sky gone black,

stolen for effect, and the veiled moon stands in,

for the mourning women standing next to platters of rice,

signifying the historically sound end of forgetfulness,

returning our agency to mourn

the collaborations of the merchant capitalist class

with the unlistening, ahistorical God.

IX

If only Gandhi's spinning wheel had spun

a million yards of cloth

we would have covered all our war dead.

And as for tents, we would have built

cities upon cities of tents to keep the rain out

for all our refugees. And then and only then

would we have mourned our war dead,

mourned our war dead.

© Raza Ali Hasan,

 "In that Part of the World"

 from Grieving Shias. 

(The Sheep Meadow 

Press, 2006)

Picture on top: 

City of Kabul

 which is 5,900 feet 

above sea level –

 in a narrow valley

 between the Hindu 

Kush Mountains.

Second Picture:

 the taller of the two 

Bamiyan Buddahs

 destroyed by the

 Taliban in 2001.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

August 29, 2014

Searching for a goat or for a child has always been
The beginning of a new religion in these mountains. 

© Yehuda Amichai

COMMUNION  AND 
COMMUNICATION 

Poem for August 27, 2014

MONSTRANCE MAN

As a boy he had trouble speaking,

past three before a real word preened

from his lips. And for the longest time,

malaprops haunted him. His older sister

did what she could to train the bitten seal

of   his brain to twirl the red ball

on the nose of eloquence, and his grandmother

tired of   insisting he utter the names

of   toys or foods — for every desire

was coded — and gave him whatever

he grunted and pointed to.

O, the man then a boy

thought, when I tower among them

I should invent my own speech

and leave others empty and afraid

that they did not know it, could not ask

or plead their case in the one tongue

that mattered. I shall have them

look upon the simplest things,

the man then a boy thought,

and fill up with stolen awe,

and point with their faces,

their pupils wide as blackened coins,

and hope with all the revenue

shattered heart-glass can muster

that someone had grasped

their need as need and not

as the monstrous coupling

of   sounds in a trance of whims.

Then, the grind of   his teeth

vowed, then the plazas of my city

will fill with my name,

and their blood will matter

as little to them as to me.

(c) Ricardo Pau-Llosa,

2013 Poetry Magazine  

February 2013

THE  7  WOES 

OF  JESUS  CONTINUED 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my reflection for this 21^st Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “The 7 Woes of Jesus Continued.”

Yesterday we heard the first 3 of the 7 Woes of Jesus – as they are stated in the Gospel of Matthew 23. Today we heard 2 more and we’ll get the last 2 tomorrow.

We’re more familiar with the 8 Beatitudes in Matthew. We know the 7 Corporal  and the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy. They are not found in the gospels as  is. They have been lined up as good catechism – based on biblical texts. [1]

GOOD STUFF – BUT NOT ENOUGH GRAB

The 7 Woes here in Matthew – are good stuff – but in my opinion they are a bit clumsy for memorization and catechism.

For starters, I don’t think the word “Woe!” has enough grab and common usage.

The Greek word used is, “Ouai!”  It seems that English translators use the phrase, “Woe!” for “Ouai.” It’s an interjection or a shout out.

So “Woe” works.

However, last night I was trying to come up with a different word or expression than, “Woe!” For starters, I came up with these first draft nominations: “Shame, shame on you when ….” Or “Stop it when ….”  Or “No, no!” or “Whoa!”

7 WOES - SHORTENED VERSIONS

Using the words, “Shame, shame on you when you …” to begin each woe, here is my attempt to make the 7 woes more manageable and understandable. I want to stress this is a first attempt. This is what I am doing with the 7 woes this year – when this gospel came around.

Here they are in the order they are in the Gospel readings for these 3 days:

1.    Shame, shame on you – when you shut the door to the kingdom in people’s faces – and in the meanwhile you’re not getting into the kingdom of heaven yourselves.

2.    Shame, shame on you – when you search everywhere to make one convert and then you make that person twice a child of hell as yourselves.

3.    Shame, shame on you – when you swear on gold or altars or holy places on everything but God.

4.    Shame, shame on you – when you pay attention to the iddy biddy details of the law and neglect the heavy-duty matters of the Law – like justice, mercy and good faith.

5.    Shame, shame on you when you clean the outside of cups and dishes – but you leave the inside filthy and dirty.

6.    Shame, shame on you when you try to look like the upside of cemeteries -  beautiful white washed tombs – but underneath you really only dead bones.

7.    Shame, shame on you – when you’re snakes in the crass –talking about if you were around when the greats of the past were around – you too would be saints – but in the meanwhile right now you’re criticizing and verbally abusing the good people in our midst.

THE TWO FOR TODAY

The two woes – the two warnings – for today are basic. So once more here are the two woes – the two warnings – as heard in today’s gospel:

“Woe for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay your tithe of mint and dill and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law-justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practiced, those not neglected. You blind guides, straining out gnats and swallowing camels!”

“Woe  for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that it and the outside are both clean.”

CONCLUSION: IN OTHER WORDS

When it comes to trying to be a  follower of Christ – look in the mirror – look in your own eye – check out your own behavior. Look Jesus in the eye.  

Instead of being like the Pharisees and the scribes who were doing the tiny, tiny – to avoid the biggy bigs: mercy, forgiveness, justice, fairness, kindness,  go within. Spend your energy there instead your own eye - inside your inner room - with Christ - instead of criticizing everyone else but yourself.

O  O  O  O  O  O  O

NOTE

[1] I could not find in the Documents of Vatican II – and also the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church – the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy and the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy – per se.  Different popes like John Paul II in Dives in Misericordia [Rich in Mercy - 1980] and Pius X in Fermo Proposito [On Catholic Action in Italy to the Bishops of Italy p. 1905] mention them specifically.

I couldn't find specific dates for their origins. I did read about manuscripts as far back as 12th century listing works of mercy. Then there were wall paintings with the works of mercy on them from the 14th century. 

I noticed that 7's are important - as in the 7 Deadly sins and the 7 Works of Mercy. They were a good positive and negative examination of conscience for for folks. 

There were wheels with 7 spokes and on the 7 spokes there were lists of 7 this and 7 that.  There was also the Tree of Sin and the Tree of Life - one listing the 7 Deadly Sins and the other the Seven Works of Mercy.

Tree of Vices [above]

Tree of Virtues [Above]

Here is the usual listing of  the 7 Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:

The Corporal Works of Mercy:

·        Feed the hungry

·        Give drink to the thirsty

·        Clothe the naked

·        Shelter the homeless

·        Visit the sick

·        Visit the imprisoned

·        Bury the dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy:

·        Admonish the sinner

·        Instruct the ignorant

·        Counsel the doubtful

·        Comfort the sorrowful

·        Bear wrongs patiently

·        Forgive all injuries

·        Pray for the living and the dead

The Methodist Church lists 5 Works of Mercy:

·       Doing Good,

·       Visiting the Sick and Prisoners

·       Feeding and Clothing People

·       Earning, Saving, Giving All One Can

·       Opposition to Slavery.

 Check out Matthew 25: 34-46 for the first 6 corporal works of mercy according to Catholic theology.

THE SACRED, 

THE HOLY 

Poem for Today - August 26, 2014

WHAT IS SACRED

I have no idea what priests

dream of on Christmas Eve, what prayer

a crippled dog might whine before the shotgun.

I have no more sense of what is sacred

than a monk might have, sweeping the temple

floor, slow gestures of honor to the left,

the right. Maybe the leaf of grass tells us

what is worthwhile. Maybe it tells us nothing.

Perhaps a sacred moment is a photograph

you look at over and over again, the one

of you and her, hands lightly clasped like you

did before prayer became necessary, the one

with the sinking cathedral in Mexico City rising up

behind you and a limping man frozen in time

to the right of you, the moment when she touched

your bare arm for the first time, her fingers

like cool flashes of heaven.

© Lee Herrick, "What is Sacred"

 from The Many Miles from Desire. 

Copyright © 2007 by Lee Herrick,

 published by WordTech 

Communications LLC. 

CHRIST:  THE  PAUSE 

WHO  GETS  US  

BACK  ON  TRACK  

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 21^st Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Christ: The Pause Who Gets Us Back On Track.”

IMAGE OF TOY CAR OR ELECTRIC TRAIN SET

I don’t know about the girls here, but I assume we’ve all seen in our lives those toy racing cars that run around a track on a big piece of plywood board.  They spin around and around – but sometimes a car goes off the track or crashes in the rush.

Then there’s the pause.  Someone picks up the car that went off track and puts it back on board and the car gets rolling again.

We’ve all seen a similar thing happen with electric train sets.

Sometimes a train jumps the track and crashes.

Then comes the pause – the train is carefully put back on track – and it gets rolling again.

When it comes to those toy cars or electric trains – the kid with the control needs to know when to roll and when to slow down and pause a bit – to navigate the turns – and then speed up again.

Sometimes kids get so excited with speed they lose it – and crash, crash, crash.

TODAY’S GOSPEL: THE FIRST 3 WOES

Today’s gospel from Matthew gives us the first 3 of the 7 “Woes” of Jesus.

We often picture Jesus with the smile and being a warm fuzzy – ready to forgive and embrace everyone.

That’s more Luke. That’s a broad generalization, but Matthew can give us some of the hard sayings of Jesus.

Now let me connect the first part of this homily – the stuff about the pausing to get a train or a toy car back on track.

The title of my homily is, “Christ: The Pause Who Gets us Back on Track.”

Well, I translate “Woe” this way: “Whoa!” or “Stop!” or “Halt!” or “Wait a minute!” or “Pause.”

I’m assuming that Matthew is dealing with Pharisees in his local Christian community or church – and he uses Jesus’ confrontations with the Pharisees in Judaism – to challenge folks – who are off the track when it comes to religion.

Religion can go crazy. So called “religious people” can get off on iddy biddy strange stuff.

Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, we have the 7 “woes” of Jesus.

Jesus is saying to people who come to church that they can be hypocrites, phonies, blind guides.

I hide from people who go to church who nick pick how I say Mass.

They can be like someone with a strainer trying to remove a gnat that got in the soup – but in the meanwhile they don’t notice the sink is overflowing. Jesus uses the metaphor of the camel. That must be a local joke.

I do get the image of someone who wants to look good outwardly – faking it with religious practices – but underneath they stink. They are like a nice graveyard – beautiful green lawns – bright white tombs – but underneath the stones and the grass is death.

CONCLUSION

Jesus gives 7 woes – 7 ways people get off track – and the title and theme of my homily is that Jesus is the Pause – that gets us to see this and pick up the pieces and start again.

JUST   LOOKING

Poem for Today - August 25, 2014

BOTH  SIDES,  NOW

Rows and flows of angel hair

And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now 
From win and lose and still somehow 
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now 
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

© Joni Mitchell, 1967

 Gandalf Publishing Co. 

THE  KEY!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, is, “The Key!”

Key: just a 3 letter word – one that is simple, clear, and a word we use and hear often. Key ….

·       “Does anyone have an extra key?”

·       “The key to the problem is …”

·       “The key to success is …”

·       “The key to a man’s heart is …”

·       “The key to a woman’s heart is …”

·       “What should I key in on?”

We get the reality. We know what a key is.  We get the metaphor. We know what the image signifies.

When you hear the word, “key,” what pops into your mind? Any memories? A lost key…. A found key…. The first time your dad handed you the keys to the car. 

I remember one of the first books we were presented with in our novitiate for growth in spirituality: Keys to the Third Floor, by Philip Dion. Later on I noticed the same title to a Super Mario computer game.

Once I learned something by accident – something I never heard in pastoral counseling classes. It’s this: when you’re sitting with one person who wants to talk to a priest and they take out their car keys – they want to get out of there. It’s obvious – but it took me a while to realize that. If people do that during homilies, I still haven’t seen that. Smile.

Keys: someone recently told me that a boss said, “The number of keys a person has is in reverse proportion to the amount of power they have.”

Is that true? I don’t know. I have to think about it. I have to ask others if they agree with that.

Key: something that opens a door or gate or closet or cabinet or desk drawer.

Key meaning:  clue, cue, secret, hint, lead,  tip-off, crack, opening, sign, signal, door, unwrap, unblock, uncover, unlock, explain, expose, interpret, translate, solve, spell-out, clear up, shed light on, decipher, indicate,  earmark, differentiate, feature….

Key….

COMMON EXPERIENCES

We’ve all had the experience of being locked out. We’ve all felt left out of conversations and decisions at times. We’ve all experienced locked doors and gates and rooms. It might be we’re trying to move up in a company or a government job. It might be trying to get a job in the first place – and we just don’t know why we’re not being hired. What's the key that I'm missing? Or it might be a group we’d like to be a member of – and nope - we feel ignored or locked or blocked out.

We’ve all had the experience of trying to figure out, “What’s really going on here?” We’ve wondered – “How do I reach my teenage daughter or my 22 year old son?” We’ve wondered: “How do I get to first base with this person?”  “How do I get so and so to open up the door?” "Or open up their mind or heart?"  We don’t have a key…. or a clue what to do. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

TODAY’S   READINGS

To come up with a homily for this Sunday, I do what I always do: read the readings out loud and look for a key to the readings.

The first thought that hit me from today’s readings was from the gospel - Matthew 16: 13-20. It's the question Christ asks each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”

If you want to go that way, you will have a really good key question to wrestle with this week.

This week ask yourself: “Who is Christ to me?” Have I changed my answers to that question down through the years?  Getting to know Christ is to enter into the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God – as Paul puts it in today’s second reading - from Romans 11: 33-36. And listen to how Paul concludes today’s short second reading: “For from him and through him and for him are all things.”

That’s one homily thought….

Then I saw a second homily thought in the second half of today’s gospel. After Simon Peter answers Jesus’ question on who he was – by saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,”Jesus says to Peter amongst other things, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

To have the keys is be the one who is in charge – to be the papa – the father figure – the pope – the boss. 

Notice statues of Peter.

When people get to Rome, they visit the big basilica of St. Peter’s. On the right we’ll spot the big dark bronze statue of Peter. He has keys in his hands – but most notice his right foot. Compared to his left foot – which is back a tiny bit and you can still see the individual toes – the right foot is worn smooth. The tradition is to rub it or kiss this 13^th century statue – perhaps by Arnolfo di Cabio.

If you can’t get to Rome,  check out our dark wooden mahogany communion rail which has all the apostles. Some have with missing limbs and symbols – probably from cleaning and being bumped down through the years.  Peter is right down there just off the center – the one with the key in one hand and a book in the other.Notice that his right foot is visible – with all his toes. I’ve never saw anybody rubbing or kissing it. That would be too tricky - and it's kind of dusty. His left foot can’t be seen – probably a practical trick by a sculptor or carver.

And we hear that same message about receiving the key to the house in today’s first reading as well. Isaiah says of Eliakim, son of Hilkial, “I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.” [Cf. Isaiah 22: 19-23.]

Matthew’s gospel tell us that Peter was told by Jesus, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

To me this is a key church text – because it’s evidence that Peter has the first place  in the church between 80 and 90. Those are the dates scholars place the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew comes after Mark’s Gospel [64-69], but before the year 110,  because Ignatius of Antioch knows of the Gospel of Matthew – and he’s as early as 110.[1]

So for starters a second homily thought for today is how we see not just Christ, but also how we see the pope.  A key to Christianity  - at least according to the Catholic Church – is how we see the Pope. Who do you say the pope is?  And then his successors. So starting with Peter, our first pope or papa, there have been 266 popes.

Looking at that list of 266, there have been some winners and some losers, some saints and some sinners, some scholars and some soldiers.

Number 266 – Pope Francis seems to be doing well. I’ve only read one life of him so far: Pope Francis, Untying the Knots – by Paul Vallely. On the cover is a review from the British Catholic Magazine, the Tablet: “Read this book, forget the rest.”

Having written lots of obituaries, having preached at lots of funerals, having met lots of people, it’s my experience – that it’s difficult – very difficult -  to answer the question: “Who do you say, I am?”

When it comes to Christ I can answer the question from the scriptures and the creeds and prayer. But I know my answer will be very different from the day I meet Jesus Christ, please God, in eternity when I die.

What this pope is like – or any pope is like – is a very difficult question to answer.

Who would know him: his family, people he has worked with, who? Who would know the key to understanding his personality?

Paul Vallely in his biography of Francis - makes the point that a key to understanding is his strong interest in a painting of Mary - entitled "Mary Untier of Knots." When he spotted that painting - he was handed a key to himself - that he was the type of person who needed to untie a lot of knots. [2] 

So that leads me to my third and final point for the homily

START WITH SELF

Before answering the questions – whom we think Christ is, whom we think a pope is, perhaps sit down this week and answer the question: who do I say I am?

What are the key ingredients that make me up? What have been the key moments of my life? Whom have been the key people in my life?

After doing that – ask spouse or family or a close friend – one to one: “What do your think are the keys to me?” “What do you see makes me tick?”  “What the keys to open me up – and see what’s happening inside?”

Some answers might hurt? Some answers might be wrong? Some answers might be challenging? Some answers might be eye openers? Some answers might be life changers?

And maybe someone in return might ask right back at us, the question Jesus asks in today’s gospel, “Who do you say, I am?”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “The Key.”

If you don’t have your keys in your hands right now, maybe there’s a key to some deeper spiritual growth here in this homily. Amen.

NOTES

[1]  Benedict T. Viviano, O.P, "The Gospel According to Matthew," in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 631

[2] Paul Vallely, Pope Francis Untying the Knots, pages ix -xii