THE PRESENCE OF GOD

INTRODUCTION

The title and theme of my homily for this 16 Tuesday in Ordinary Time  is, “The Presence of God.”

The presence of God - SHEKINAH  is a key theme in Jewish Theology.

It basically means, “nest” - God wants to nest with us. God the Mother Bird builds a nest for us - for our home - for our security - to get us off to a great start.

God - nest - in the shape of cupped hands - presence - security - shekinah.

ALL THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES

We find the theme of God’s presence - SHEKINAH - all through the scriptures.

God creates the nest called, “The Garden,” - Paradise - for Adam and Eve and walks with them in the cool of the evening - till they mess up - and hide from the presence of God.

God asks us that question every evening - every day - “Where are you?”

We are in the book of Exodus right now - God is present to save. God is the Savior. God is the Redeemer. God is the Deliverer. God is the Warrior who will lead the Israelites through the waters - to get to the other side - and to freedom. We heard that in today’s first reading.

We’ve all stood at the edge of the ocean - or river - or bay - and we know there is another side - but we need a boat, a bridge, to get to the other shore. God parts the water for us.

We know that image at the time of death - when a loved one - is imagined over the waters of death - getting into heaven - and comes through and to the other sure and earlier loved ones before us - are waiting.

God opens golden gates, doors, penetrates walls, is the bridge to salvation.

That’s just 2 books in the Old Testament. Check the rest for more images.

The New Testament has the same image as today’s first reading - telling us Jesus is the New Moses - who will lead us through the waters - the great symbol of Baptism - and we come out of the waters as part of the New People - the New Israel.

Today’s gospel has us as brother, sister, and Mother of Jesus. With Christ we are God’s family.

We who come to Morning Mass - know that - we eat with Christ on the morning shore - spelled “shore” and “sure” - called “morning Mass”.

I love that post-Resurrection scene when the disciples realize Jesus is on the shore of Galilee where they began - and he tells them where to fish - and they catch 153 sheep - and someone yells, “It is the Lord.”

Talk about presence ….

PRESENCE

When we see ourselves as God’s family - when we eat the Eucharist with Christ and each other - we know what presence is.

We pray together here in church - we sneeze and others think and say and pray, “God bless you.”  We worry when a regular is missing.

We know the presence of each other in Chick and Ruth’s - and in the Parking Lot - and in the Mall - and in the next car.

Talk about presence ….

We know when the other calls - or comes in the house  - or is with us for a family week at Ocean City or the Outer banks.

We know each other - we are present with each other - when a family member dies and we experience friends and neighbors - stopping into Taylors, Kalas, Hardesty, Reece’s - to give us support.

Presence - talk about presence….

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily was “The Presence of God.”

I hold that we understand the presence of God better when we know the presence of others - starting as babies - starting with parents, baby sitters, grand-parents, friends, teachers, neighbors.

I connect Mass with meals and meals with Mass.

I connect Family Presence with God Presence.

I connect quiet time in church - with discovering and reflecting on God’s presence - in church.

I realize the conflicting issues in all this - I love to see people connecting with each other after Mass. I realize we don’t have a big lobby here at St. Mary’s - which was built - when the priest wasn’t present with folks after Mass.

I love to see clusters of folks talking with each other - not only in the lobby of St. John Neumann in church - but in different sections of the church.

I see the faces of folks - not too many - who give looks at talkers - after Mass - and don’t seem to see their smiles and exuberance.

They want to pray and the talkers are disturbing their prayers.

When they complain to me - I like to say, “Say a prayer of thanksgiving for their joy - their smiles - their continuing to be in communion with Christ and Christ’s brother and sister and Mother - in church today with them. Isn’t it great to have people who are present to us. Isn’t absenteeism one of the big bummers of life?

July 21st, 2015

BROKEN BREAD,

BROKEN HEART

If you’re going to break bread 

with someone, pick someone’s

whose heart you broke or vice versa.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015

IS GOD 

THE GOD 

I  THINK  GOD  IS?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Is God the God I Think God Is?”

This might be a very tricky homily, thought, and question.

Don’t accept my words. Look at your thoughts about this question: “Is God the God I Think God Is?”

KIDS IMAGES OF GOD

When we ask little kids to draw a picture of God, we get some very interesting looking pictures.

Many are a picture of a big tall man in long robes and a beard.

I don’t know if that is everywhere around the world.

If we ask teenagers to draw a picture of God, we start to get some geometry in the mix - circles, triangles, and boxes. Abstraction has entered the picture.  We also get images of a mountain, a fire, a bird, and even a stick figure of a man on the cross might appear  in the assortment of teenager’s pictures.

AN ASSUMPTION

How would you draw God?  How do you picture God?

I assume that everyone - who says they believe in God has ideas and images about God.

Words are easier than pictures - maybe.  

When describing God I’ve also heard words like, “Love, Caring, Light, Kindness, Forgiveness, Creator, Artist”.

Or maybe when reflecting on the presence of God in our lives, what would it be like to close one's eyes and listen to the silence or to listen to a philharmonic orchestra.

DESCRIBING SELF OR OTHERS AND WE’RE WRONG AND INCOMPLETE

If we ask others to describe another,  I assume we’ll get answers, but I’ll also assume that we’re always wrong - and/or do I say, “incomplete”.

When someone describes us to us - we get upset at times - because we know that others really don’t know us - or our motives  - or how we really are.

So why don’t we apply that to others?

It’s my experience that we don’t. I know I don’t.

Remember the comment after John F. Kennedy died, “Johnny we hardly knew you.”

We can say that of everyone.

I used to write obituaries. Let me tell you, there are many takes on people.

LET’S JUMP BACK TO DESCRIBING GOD

If we jump to God,  I make the loud assumption that it’s idolatry many times when we describe God.

No wonder there is a whole school of spiritual writers that call God the Divine Dark.

There is the apophatic-kataphatic approach to God.  Apo - means away from. Nothing we say about God is God. Kata - means with - as in with images of God.

Okay, God is love. God is King. God is Shepherd. God is light. God is life.

Yet behind all these words and images there is our take on love, kings, shepherds, light, life. So no matter how we go, we’re subjective.

In the meanwhile, God is God.

God is the great I am.

NOW WHY THIS TALK TODAY?

The reason for this topic today is because of a phone call as well as today’s first reading.

I was talking to a family member on the phone yesterday and this lady said that she doesn’t buy that the God described in some psalms, is God.

We can say the same of God in today’s first reading. There’s God slaying, killing, leading the Egyptians into traps - and they are killed.

I remember reading the Koran once and I kept on hearing about a God who burns, burns, burns.

I thought to myself, “No wonder Moslems are always fighting.”

Then I started to prepare a homily for the day - and there in our scriptures I read about “our God” burning and killing people and cities.

Somewhere along the line I decided on the way of thinking that says we project onto God our ways of thinking.

I heard while we studied the Jewish Scriptures there was an evolution of thought when it comes to God.

Our Old Testament professor said it was a breakthrough when Isaiah talked about God being a God not only of the Jews - but also of all people.

CHRISTOCENTRIC

We who are blessed with the Christian Faith know the teachings that Christ is the Image of the Father. As Jesus said, “The one who sees me sees the Father.”

Yet there are those texts where Jesus says to us, “Whom do you say, I am?”

Down through the centuries people have killed others in the name of God and of Christ.

What to do: I’m assuming that when we die and meet God we’ll fall on our face and cry.

When we were novices in the Redemptorists we were told to lay on the floor before Christ - and before God - and adore our God in total humility.

I always like that prayer during Holy Week, when we priests lay down on the sanctuary floor. Now that we are old, arthritic, and/or fat, it’s difficult to pray in this position But it might be a great preparation for heaven.

July 20, 2015

STRINGS ATTACHED

In May and October I’ve walked

by a house or two with open windows

and out came the strident sounds

of a kid - I presume it’s a kid -

practicing her violin. I also assume

it’s a young girl with black hair. I walk

down imagining her 20 years later

in a philharmonic orchestra -

still with dark black hair -

and a rich smile on her face - with

sweet sounds flowing from her bow

and violin -  she remembering

how much it took to get this far -

realizing life doesn’t come

with no stings attached.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

LIKE  SHEEP 

WITHOUT  A  SHEPHERD

  

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B] is, “Like a Sheep Without A Shepherd.”

“Like a Sheep Without A Shepherd,” is a phrase I noticed right there in the last sentence in today’s gospel. Did you hear it?  “Like a sheep without a shepherd.” [Cf. Mark 6: 30-34]

Today’s gospel is a gospel you can really feel on  a hot humid July day.

Jesus’ disciples had been out there preaching about him and teaching folks what he was teaching. These disciples must have looked really tired when they came back, so Jesus says, “Let’s get out of here. Let’s find a man cave - a disciples cave - in some deserted place and rest for a while.”

We need breaks, in betweens, other wise we will become broken.

People were coming at Jesus and his disciples in great numbers. Surprise Jesus takes a break.

Jesus and his disciples got into a boat and sailed to a deserted place.  

But that didn’t stop the people. If you’ve ever been to Israel, you’ve been to the Lake of Galilee in the north. You can see how the crowd could see where the disciples were headed. So Mark tells us, “The crowd hastened there on foot from the towns and arrived at the place before them.”

Going by foot was faster than going by boat.

FEELING A NEED FOR SPACE - WANTING TO BE ALONE

Have you ever felt that way? You want to escape the crowd. You want your visitors to go home. You want to get to your man cave.

It’s summer! Vacations are important.

A vacation: to vacate - to empty out - to escape - from work, from daily demands,  from school, from each other at times.

A priest I worked with got a call from a mom he knew. He said to her on the phone, “You sound funny. Where are you?”  She said, “In the cabinet under the sink. It’s big and I can fit in here and my four boys don’t know this is my best hide out.” 

I can’t picture that,  but I’ve heard various parents tell me they need hide outs. 

My sister-in-law said the bathroom was the only place she could escape from her 7 girls - when they were kids. “Thank God for locks. I’d go in there with a whole package of Vienna Finger cookies. The little girls would be scratching on the door, knocking on that door, but I wouldn’t open it till I finished my cookies and got a 15 minute break.”

So here in the gospel Jesus sees this vast crowd and Mark tells us, “… his heart  was moved with pity for them, for they were like a sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”

FIRST CONSIDERATION: THINK ABOUT THE FEELING OF BEING LOST AND ALONE

Think about that. Picture the gospel scene - when Jesus says he saw the crowd to be like a sheep without a shepherd.

I’ve lived in two places that had lots of deer. One was 500 acres on the Hudson River  - in Esopus, New York. It was a neat country a place. I also lived in the Pocono Mountains at a retreat house that also had a lot of deer.

I’ve seen little deer - fawn - who had lost their moms. They would be out near the highway - and run and take off because of car lights - and get killed.

Their little ones would be a fawn without their mother.

It happens at time with parents getting killed - and their kids are without their parents. 

For example, I remember hearing about a couple who had gone home for a funeral of a friend. They were able to get baby sitters. On the way back - on ice - in a storm - their car crashes and both are killed. 

What was that like? What’s it like to be a kid without her parents.

SECOND CONSIDERATION: THREE STORIES FOR TEENAGERS TO GET THEM THINKING

I’ve used to use three stories on retreats to  teenagers to get them thinking about the parent-child relationship.

The first was a short movie I saw somewhere along the line.

A mama bear brings her two little cubs to a tree and pushes them to climb the tree. They climb the tree and mama bear takes off.

The little one come rushing down and head in the direction of their mom. She would be standing there and give them a bear growl and the would turn and run back and get up the tree.

She would take off again and down they would come and once more growl - coming out from behind a rock - and they would rush back up the tree.

This would take place 4 or 5 times - mama bear  going further and further away - till the two little cubs would settle themselves up the tree - fall asleep - and in the morning come down from the tree and head towards where they thought mom was. No luck. They were now on their own.

Tissues.

I don’t know if always happens that way - and if it happens that way with birds and dogs and cats and mosquitos.

The second story happened on the New York Subway.

It was around 11 AM and I was heading to 42^nd Street and the Port Authority Bus terminal.

I got on the N Train at 59^th Street. The next stop was 36^th Street. In came a father and his little son and they sat there next to each other. The subway car we were on was not crowded.  The little boy seeing the train moving - got down from his seat and stood in the middle of the car - spreading his legs out -  shaking with the train - with a great smile on his face.

Ooops. The train started to brake and shake as we were coming into Pacific Street - and the little boy rain to the security of his dads legs - to hold onto his daddy for dear life.

The train started up. Next stop DeKalb avenue. The same thing happened - but quickly. Then out onto the floor again - and the long trip through the tunnel and then to Canal Street. When the train started to brake - it was back to his dad - especially with more people coming onto the train.

Next stop 14^th Street, then 34^th Street, then I got off at 42^nd Street and I got off and wondered if that went on till they got off - and will that be the story of their life?

The third story was about The Wild Dogs of Africa. A male and female had 6 pups - and they traveled together as a family.

Suddenly the female dog gets killed - caught by another wild animal.

The male picks another female to travel with. She gets pregnant and in time gives 5 more pups.

Well the movie shows that the new mom didn’t like the first sets of dogs and kills them all - except for one - whom the film makers name “Solo”.

The story gets even worse because the second mom prevents Solo from eating with her pups. Solo stops growing - and her legs are stunted.

Eventually Solo drops out of the picture and the family because she can’t keep up with the family.

What would it be like to be Solo - to be all alone in a family - with a new mom and step kids. What’s that like - and then to be treated as an outsider.

HOW ABOUT LOSING GOD - BEING ALL ALONE WITHOUT GOD?

What’s it like to be cut off from God?

What’s it like to feel like a lost sheep  - lost not only from family but also God.

Recently I was sitting there and some folks were talking.

One lady said, “I’m upset with my kids - dropping out of church - moving away from God.”  She added, “We got them a good Catholic education. We went to church all through their growing up years - and now they are gone.”

Another woman spoke up, “Don’t worry. They will be back - when they start to have problems. Don’t worry.”

CONCLUSION   

Is that how it works?

Do we come back to our Father when the train of life starts to shake?

Do we come back to the Shepherd - when the valley becomes dark as death.

I remember coming here to St. John Neumann for the 12:10 Monday Mass and I see a family I’ve never seen before heading out of their cars and heading for the church like I was.  I said to them at the courtyard out there, “Everything all right?”

I could tell by their eyes, everything wasn’t all right.  The father said, “We just were at the hospital and mom is dying.”

I’ve often wondered about couples coming into a church for a funeral. If the person who died was around 45 to 50, I’ve often seen couples coming into church holding hands.

Is it in our DNA - to want to go it alone at times but when there is cancer or trouble, we know it’s not good to go it alone?

July 19, 2015

A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW

Come to think about it, I don’t ever remember

stopping outside my house in Brooklyn as a kid

to see if a light was on for me. Did I? Does

everyone stop to see if there is a light in

the window for them - to let them know,

“All are welcome in this place,” as the church

hymn puts it? Well, I don’t remember ever

not be welcomed. So is it only when a light

was not on that we notice lights in the window

for us? Maybe it’s only the negative that we

notice - the solid dark - and that long afterwards.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

On top is a painting by Andrew Wyeth. It’s entitled, “Evening at Kuerners”. Andrew Wyeth did over 1000 paintings and drawings of buildings, people, and objects on this farm in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. It was about a mile from his home growing up.

Next, I found the some comments about his painting by Andrew Wyett. I found them in another blog - Bloffinger by Paul Goldfinger.  Here are Andrew Wyeth’s comments about this painting,

 “There are few studies for this because that was the year that Karl was very ill. Many evenings with the light burning there quite late, I had a foreboding that this might be the end. I’d go over there evening after evening and just watch. I’d hear the water and see that light in Karl’s room, and I’d lie in bed at night thinking about that square house sitting in that valley with the moonlight casting such a strange liquid light on its side. The light in the window, which is pure paper, by the way, seemed to me to be Karl’s flickering soul. For me it’s very emotional picture. I saw Helga for the first time when I was doing this.” Andrew Wyeth

Comments about that light in the window triggered this piece for my blog.

July 18, 2015

7 BILLION PORTRAITS

How would I be portrayed -

if a painting of me is hung

in a grand art museum 100

years from now? Would it

be a picture of me at the

check-out counter in a

supermarket or sitting in a

church in the late afternoon

with red vigil lights burning

in my face? Would it be a

picture of me at the opera,

with pearls and beautiful skin

or would it be a picture of me

as an old wrinkled beggar

lady with a shopping cart on

the corner of 6^th and Main -

not seeing the world go by?

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015