March 14, 2015

ROCK, PAPER, 

SCISSOR’S BLESSING

May you be surrounded by rocks,

people who surround you with strength,

stability and security.

May you have beautiful gifts of paper

in your secret bottom drawer: love letters,

a poem that got wows in high school,

and the letter that let you know you were

accepted into the school or job of your dreams.

May you have in the place it always is:

your pair of scissors, which  you can take out

when you have to cut our your picture in a

newspaper because you won a spelling bee,

the state championship, your marriage

announcement – and mom and dad’s

obituary after a long and wonderful life

5 kids, 65 years of marriage

and 45 grand and great-grandkids.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

March 13, 2015

EMPTY CRUCIFIXES

Empty trees, empty crucifixes ...

in this cold empty forest....

Where are our dead, O Lord?

Where are our dead?

Where are you O Lord?

Where are you as well?

In the last few years

I have lost too many neighbors,

too many friends, too many family members.

To quote Shakespeare, is this “the winter

of our discontent?” Will March,  march on

and bring us buds and new bursts of life,

ending winter, ending Lent, beginning

Easter, Spring, Resurrection and new life?

Then, when the first bud buds,

when the first blade of grass greens,

please let me hear, “Hmm!” “Hmm!” from you,

so I can say, “O Lord, there you are again.

Be with all of us on this journey 
from winter to spring,
from crib to crucifix, 
from crucifix to empty cross - 
to resurrection and new Life, 
Eternal Life, O, Lord Jesus."

© Andrew Costello, Reflections, 2015

March 12,2015

THE  WOLF  IS  AT  THE  DOOR

We give names to dogs and cats,

so why not give names to wolves -

the wolves at our door. Why not? 

They howl.They are our fears – fears 

with names like: “Gossip,” “Accusation,”

“Bankrupt!”  “Rejected.” “Fired,” "Cut".

Names like, “Cheat, “Caught,” “Cancer.”

“Disliked,” “Dropped,” "Addiction."

Yes, why not give names to the

wolves at our door? Sometimes we hear
their paws making scratching sounds
standing there on our wooden porch 
just outside our door. "Oh no! Not again."

© Andy Costello, Reflections

March 11, 2015

THERE ARE MOMENTS

There are moments

and there are moments.

Some seem better than others.

There are struggles 
like when we feel like we're crawling 
along the valley floor,

and then there are moments of exhilaration like coming 
to the top of a mountain - after a long, long climb.

There's the nine months of a tough pregnancy

and then there's the moment 
when we see the face of our new born baby

There's the fixing a flat tire on a busy road

and then there's the moment of finishing 
the job and jumping back into the car and driving away.

There's the tilling the soil, planting the seed,

and then there are moments when we see the harvest.

There's the taking a kid to a thousand practices, and then there's the years later when we see her win 
the bronze, silver or gold medal.

There's paying tuition bill after tuition bill after tuition bill,

and then there's the moment we see our kid 
graduate from college with a 3.87 GPA.

There are moments

And there are moments.

© Andy Costello, Reflections

JUST  THE  FACTS  MA’MM

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Tuesday in the 3^rd Week of Lent is, “Just The Facts Ma’am.”

That’s listed by some as one of the 100 best lines on TV.

Joe Friday – on Dragnet - the Los Angeles TV detective  - loved to say those words.

“Just the Facts MA’AM.”

FORGIVENESS

The theme of today’s gospel is forgiveness.

In today’s gospel Peter asks Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother – if his brother sins against him. Then Peter gives a possible number: “As much as 7 times?”

Jesus adds, “I say to you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Then to reinforce his message Jesus adds a parable about a king who does an audit and discovers someone who owed him a huge amount.

The king is a good king and forgives the guy – then the guy won’t forgive someone who owed him a tiny bit. The king is told this and then takes back his forgiveness – throws him in prison - and makes the guy pay the king what he owed him in full. I always wonder if that was smart – because he could be working to get the money.

FORGIVENESS PRO BONO

Have you figured out why Jesus is so strong on forgiveness?

Is it because it’s to our benefit. If we forgive others – we are throwing away poison that can kill us or holding onto stones that weigh us down.

Harboring hurts and resentments and grudges can wear us out and destroy us. They can weigh too much. They can drain us. They can insane us  - getting us to do dangerous things that backfire and do us damage.

ONE GREAT SECRET

The title of my homily is from Dragnet and Joe Friday, “Just The Facts Ma’am.”

When it comes to forgiveness, we need to say what Jesus said from the cross: “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they do.”

We can add to that, “Even if I don’t know why they did what they are did.”

We all know the old Native American proverb, “Never criticize another till you walked a mile in their moccasins.” 

I like to reword that a bit and say, “Don’t hold back forgiveness till you’ve walked a mile in another’s sins.” Sound familiar? That’s basically what Jesus said: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”

I love saying reading and reflecting upon the  following words from Graham Green’s novel, The Heart of the Matter. Here’s the quote: “Scobie said sharply, ‘Don’t talk nonsense, dear. We’d forgive most things if we knew the facts.’”

I also think that he person who can’t forgive – can be forgiven – more – even if he or she refused to go dragnetting for the facts.

Forgiveness is complicated. It’s the heart of the matter – and the one person who knows about sin and its intricacies – and the long list of facts involved in sin – is us – and we expect God knows – what lurks in the hearts of man – even if God is only a shadow to us. Now that’s another detective story as well.

CONCLUSION

We don’t know all the facts.  Non-forgiveness makes for the messy funeral.

March 10, 2015

IF YOU LISTEN

If you listen,

you might hear a cry behind the smile.

If you listen,

you might hear the cause behind the effect.

If you listen,

you might hear the love behind the hate.

If you listen,

you might hear the story behind the hurt.

If you listen,

you might hear the fire behind the desire.

If you listen,

you might hear the want behind the whine.

If you listen,

you might hear the meaning behind the supposed stupidity.

If you listen

you might hear the hope behind the curse.

If you really listen,

you might hear someone hearing you.

© Andy Costello Reflections, 2015

IN  500  WORDS  OR  LESS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “In 500 Words or Less.”

ST FRANCIS OF ROME

Today is the feast of St. Francis of Rome. 

I looked up the Life of St. Francis of Rome in the Catholic Encyclopedia and a few books that give short lives of saints.

Descriptions of her life are roughly the same.

What struck me was the story of her life or any saint’s life could be summed in 500 words or so.

Then it hit me: Why not try to sum up everyone’s life in 500 words or less?

Born – died – and what happened in between.

Place of birth – place of death.

People in one’s life.

Key events in one’s life.

SUMMING UP THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS OF ROME

Born in Rome – died in Rome.

Dates: 1384 to 1440

Died this day – March 9, 1440.

Wife, mother, founder of a religious community of Oblates – who lived in common without religious vows.

She had an arranged marriage. She was only 12 years old when they married. He was older – rich – a soldier.

She had 3 sons. 2 died early.

I loved one line about her that is in one of these 500 words or less type biography. “Although the marriage had been arranged, it was a happy one, lasting for forty years, partly because Lorenzo admired his wife, and partly because he was frequently away at war.”

Like many saints she was very caring for the poor, the sick and the stuck.

Wouldn’t be a great sentence to hear in someone’s obituary or at their funeral?

Her life as a saint has the typical legends and miraculous material.

She’s listened to her guardian angel and is reported to have a wonderful connection with that guardian angel.

BENEFIT IN DOING THIS

In reading another’s life, we become aware of our own life.

In making it short and to the point, we are apt or able to pick out the key ingredients in another’s life – and hopefully our own.

CONCLUSION

Just do it.