The title of my homily for this 15th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Who’s In Your Audience?”
Sub-title: “Who’s Watching to Find Out What Would Happen
to You?”
BOOK OF EXODUS
We’re in the Book of Exodus now. Jewish baby boys were to
be killed - as a way of stopping the Israelite presence and influence in Egypt.
This is before the Exodus. In fact it will be part of the reason for the Exodus.
So this little boy is born. He’s hid for 3 months. His
mom puts him in a papyrus basket - made it water proof - and then put it in the
water and pushed it towards where the pharaoh’s daughter would bathe. Good
story.
Then notice the sentence. The baby’s aunt “stationed
herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.”
That triggered my wondering comment for today’s sermon: “Who
has wondered what was going to happen to us?”
I assume that’s the background of Shakespeare’s famous
line: “All the world’s a stage.”
I assume we all had someone at our birth and our baptism
sitting there like an audience in a theater watching us - up there on the stage
of life - and wondering what’s going to happen to this baby - called “me”?
Our parents certainly did. Is it less watching and
wondering for the 4th child than for the 1st child? There’s always the comment: the camera didn’t
come out as much for the last child compared to the first child.
Growing up in the 40’s and 50’s - I never saw parents in
the stands at Little League games. I don’t
remember my parents being there for the first Mass I served as an altar boy.
Yes for my first communion and confirmation and graduation from Grammar School.
Come to think of it - on a contrary note - once I did go with
my brother-in-law to see my niece Monica play in a basketball game. She was this high
[make gesture] so it had to be around the 4th grade. The score was 0
to 0 at half time.
GOD SETS US
SAILING
Using our imagination what would it be like to picture
God sending every one of us down the stream towards our parents and they pick
us up? What would it be like to picture God cherishing us - marveling at us -
amazed at us - like all people - hopefully.
PS! What would it be like to hear, “PSSSSST! God is in
the audience?”
RADIO
While driving along the other day I heard on the radio
that a Jazz Musician had died. He had been left on a porch - I think I heard it
was Pittsburgh - when he was born and someone picked him up.
Like Moses did anyone watch and wait to see if someone found him? Did anyone wonder what ever became of her
baby?
I tried to find out who it was on Google and couldn’t
determine who this musician was? But I
did find the names of about 5 jazz musicians this happened to. I also found out that someone put a baby with
a note on her and left it at Dolly Parton’s doorstep. So too a priest. So too a lot of people.
I also found out that this story of Moses - they knew his
parents - is a story in many literatures of the world - Oedipus for starters.
CONCLUSION: HOW ABOUT US?
Last Sunday I preached on that wondering about how we’re doing as a
theme to think about in the summer. Once more that same theme - wondering about
our lives - in the context of: Who’s in our
audience? Do we see God in our audience?
July 14, 2015
JOY
Joy, not an itch, nor a flood,
not the ocean running towards
the shore - but maybe the sun rising or slipping into the ocean.
The title of my homily for this 15th Monday in
Ordinary Time is, “Adjusting.”
One of life’s great skills is the ability to adjust.
If someone asks us a question, “How’s it going?”, what
would it be like to answer, “Adjusting.”
Adjusting is the ability to compromise, to settle,
to rectify, rearrange, reconcile, balance, change,
conform, see which way the wind is blowing, adapt, accommodate, sort,
plea-bargain, give and take, make concessions, harmonize, weave, patch up, make
peace…..
Adjusting…. How
good are you in adjusting?
That’s the value of playing cards: to learn how to play
different hands. If you were buying a boat, would you want a power boat to just go directly through the water to your destination? Is that your personality? Or would you prefer a sail boat - that calls for a lot more adjusting - of sails - reading the wind and the waters? Is that more you?
TODAY’S FIRST
READING
Today’s first reading triggered the thought to say
something about adjusting skills.
Today we move into the book of Exodus - for our first
reading.
Many people can identify with the opening words of
today’s first reading, “A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power
in Egypt.”
Today we start a new story - a new problem. There is a
new king, a new pharaoh, and the Israelites have to adjust - from being liked,
welcomed, appreciated, to being persecuted.
Reality therapy….
Mom died. Dad is dating someone. Step kids have to
adjust. We have a new governor - a new coach - a new boss - a new next door neighbor - a new
principal in the school - a new pastor.
How well do I do
when it calls for adjusting.
It was raining two weeks ago. It’s evening. I’m driving
back home and the black rubber windshield wiper on my car - came off - and the
metal is scraping the windshield - and the rubber is flapping. I put off to the
side and try to fix it. I try to fit it back into the holder. No luck. I find a
pair of sunglasses someone gave me and I pull off the sunglass strap and wrap
the stretching material onto the wiper and the black rubber and it’s fixed
temporarily. I drive another 25 miles and it’s off again. This time I take my
shoe lace off one shoe - and that works till I get home.
Adjusting.
The Israelites had to adjust
THE RAILWAY MAN
Last week I saw the 2013 British-Australian movie, “The
Railway Man”. Strong movie. One guy told me he saw the beginning of it - but
had to walk out. Another guy told me, “You have to see the last 20 minutes.”
Without ruining the movie it’s all about being able to
adjust. Could I survive as a prisoner of war - being beaten, being starved.
Would I break? Could I adjust? Answer: I don’t
know.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel we hear about some of the struggles in
the early church - where families are split up because a son or a
daughter-in-law switches their religion. Oh my God, my son has become a
Christian?
Today it might be a son or a daughter not having their children baptized, or they are getting
divorced, or what have you. Every day
calls for new adjustments.
CONCLUSION
What to do?
Sometimes we can’t do nothing other than to say, “I don’t
know what to do. I don’t know what to say.” As M. Scott Peck begins his book, The Road Less Travelled, “Life is difficult.”
Secondly, sometimes all we can do is pray.
Thirdly, we can adjust
- so adjust.
Fourth, sometimes we need to look up to Jesus on the
cross and say, “Can I join you?”
Or fifth and last, and this is not gospel, we can sit
down and listen to the old Zen story. A man is up high on a cliff and
surrounding him - facing him - is the cliff and 3 hungry tigers.
He has no way out in front of him. He turns and looks
down off the cliff and it looks like is 300 miles to the bottom.
Surprise! Looking down the cliff he spots a branch
shooting out from the rocks - not that far from the top. He gets down on his knees
and lowers himself to that branch.
He looks down again - and sees the bottom of that
mountain cliff is 300 miles below. He’s hanging from that branch and he looks
up and sees the three hungry tigers salivating - drooling and flaying at him.
Just then he spots 3 berries on that same branch and he
takes one carefully and puts it in his mouth. Then the second berry. Then the
third.
And with a smile on his face, he thinks to himself, “These
are the most delicious berries he ever had in his whole life.”
July 13, 2015
HOW MUCH MORE?
Every once and a while we hear/see/read about
a voyager, a space ship, that has
gone out and
out and out into outer space - sending back
to earth pictures and sometimes radio sounds?
Is there a wall, an end, at the edge of the whole of the universe and we can't go further?
How about going the other direction - inwards - deeper and deeper and deeper into matter?
Will we ever come to the inner edge of going
further and further into the inner more?
How about the human person? Do we ever think we’ve gotten to the bottom of ourselves - to our very core - only to realize a month later in an elevator or a plane or on a porch on a dark night by ourselves that we are still more than what we thought we were? There’s more - and then still more to find out about ourselves.
God can You squeeze into the smallest, smallest, smallest part of us or fit into this vast, vast, universe we’re in - or will we always know there is more and then some more and then some more after that?
