POWER AND  CONTROL 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Power and Control.”

Today is the First Sunday of Lent and I would assume that Lent is a time to do some deep thinking about some of the great issues of life: time, purpose, people, relationships, family, communication, power, control, "Is there a God?',  the past, the future, the here and now, the me that’s me and the you that’s you.

That's a brief list of some great issues in life. 

I was wondering: is there a list somewhere or does everyone come up with their own list?

Does it depend on what we’re going through and experiencing at the time?  Is Lent a good time to make a list and look at it and ask how we’re doing?

TODAY’S READINGS

When I read today’s readings - especially today’s gospel - the issue of power and control hit me.  I said, “Those are two biggies: Power and Control."

What else should I look at? 

I then said to myself, “Stick with power and control. Hey, sermons are supposed to be 10 minutes or under. So how are we doing with those two issues? Let's look at them this Sunday morning - especially as we begin Lent."

That’s the genesis of this sermon and where I’m coming from this morning.

The Gospel is about the Devil tempting Jesus in 3 ways. It’s from Luke 4: 1-13. We’re in the year of Luke.

Luke begins by telling us about Jesus' roots in Nazareth - then being born in Bethlehem - then going back to Nazareth to grow up with Mary and Joseph the Carpenter. 

We hear Luke telling us that Jesus - as he is growing in wisdom and age and grace - has one ear and one foot in Jerusalem and the other foot and ear in Nazareth. That’s Chapter One and Two of Luke.  

Next comes the adult Jesus in Chapter Three with stories of John the Baptist - and Jesus’ baptism.  

Today we come to Chapter 4. Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.

Luke is going to use the Devil - and his temptations - to try to tell us how Jesus was going to do life. I’ll tell you now: it’s not going to be the way we would want Jesus to be.

Nobody was there with Jesus in the desert, so what we’re getting is from Jesus filtered through Luke and others. Matthew and Mark give other takes on the order of the temptations and the issues involved in the temptations.

In this homily I’m sensing that the devil is using the issue of power and control to discover who this Jesus is and how he works.

Control?  How one uses control? How one use one’s powers to do life?

I’m sure when Pope Francis was elected Pope, different people in different jobs in the Church, wondered, “Who is this Francis and how does he work? How is going to try to run and control things? How will he use his powers? Skills? Tricks? Methods? How will he be different than the last two popes: Benedict and JP II?”  

Perhaps, without knowing it, we all sort of think about the question of power and control when it comes to jobs, church, organizations, bosses, remarriages, what have you.

The kid wonders how this new step-daddy my mom just married will be when it comes to what I can do and can't do in our home?

So how does this Jesus use his powers?

Let's look at the three temptations Christ faced in today's gospel story from Luke.

As I was preparing this homily I realized that I need more time to decipher and make these 3 temptations more real - more clear - to get a better grip on them - as well as how the devil used them to figure out Jesus.

Bottom line: What I got from today's gospel is this: Jesus does different.

FIRST TEMPTATION

The first temptation Jesus faces is: should I turn all these stones I see around here into bread? Hey there are lots of rocks and lots of hungry people!

Jesus doesn't snap a finger or pick up a rock and say, "You're bread!"

Jesus doesn't choose to take the easy way out. It takes work to come up with our daily bread.

One has to farm the earth, remove the rocks, plant the seeds, water the earth, then wait, wait some more, then cut down the wheat, crush the wheat, make the flour, make and bake the bread and then enjoy and break bread and drink good wine sitting down together in communion.

Most of us are not farmers. To give us our daily bread,  most have to go through the long process of going through school, get a job, get a  pay check, shop, cook, fix the table, and then sit down to enjoy eating our daily bread together.

SECOND TEMPTATION

The second temptation is to save people from having to face the temptations of the devil by bowing down and worshiping him.

Nope, daily temptations can sharpen our wit and our skills and our respect for what others are going through.

It takes a lot of living, a lot of mistakes, a log of living in the darkness before it dawns on us that Jesus came to be the light of our world.

It takes a lot of living and dying to self to discover that life is not about wanting to gain power and  glory - recognition and rewards - but to be the servant of us all - without looking for power and glory.

THIRD TEMPTATION

The third temptation is for Jesus to gain instant notoriety by standing up on one of the ledges at the top of the temple in Jerusalem and jump off and let the Lord our God send angels to catch him. That will wow everyone and you'll have the people eating out of your hand.

There is a world of difference too seeing life as show and splash  - "Hey world look at me!" - compared to staying low - and simply seeing life as serving one another.

THE CHOICE: BEING HERE FOR OTHERS NOT SELF

In this homily I'm trying to say: take a good look at how we are doing life - but surely we can do better.

How do we operate? How do we life?  How do we use our powers to control or deal with control issues in life?

That's the theme and question of this homily.

Everyone of us have some powers. Everyone of us has some things we can control.

However, one of life's biggest learnings is that we are basically powerless and there are a lot of things out of our control.

Sorry.

Question: When does a human being discover she or he is not in control?

Up to that moment, the baby thinks by simply screaming mom and dad will come running. But this time, nobody came running - and the poor baby stopped screaming, finally feel asleep, and woke up okay at 7:38 AM.

Up to that moment, the beautiful teenage girl who ensnared the handsome teenage boy - thought she had everything going perfectly. Then her whole world came tumbling down, when she sees him walking for another girl.

Up to that moment, the healthy, 6 figure salary MBA, thought all was in control, till the doctor said, “It’s cancer.”

Make a list, your list, when you discovered, you were not in control.

I realize it 10 times a day now.  I'm in the rectory - I’m telling my story - they heard it before - someone cuts me off, yawns, looks at their watch - and walks away. And I stand there with my story untold.

I’m not in control. Woo. Sometimes that hurts.

Here's another one. This is a real biggie. 

Somewhere along the line I heard someone say, “God is not in control.”

At first I said, “Wrong. Who the heck is controlling this universe - like clockwork?”

Of course, but then I realized God has given us total control to walk away. Hey Adam and Eve did it. Hey the Devil did it. Hey, turkey you’ve done it a thousand times - and God didn’t throw the clock at you.

The gift of freedom is key issue in all this.

It's central to any discussion of power and control.

Of course, freedom of choice is what makes love and attention and Valentine’s Day so special.

If the "I love you" is not real, if it's not free, then there is no impact.

If the other doesn't yawn, if the other looks us in the eye, if the other speaks from the heart, then love, the intention and attention of love,
can overwhelm us - on Valentine's Day and everyday of our life.

If the other has to give the card, if the other has to say, "Happy Valentine's Day" or "I love you",  it's  a balloon without any air or helium in it. 

It's the difference between have to and want to.

So too,  God must love it, when he meets so many people in daily prayer and attention, because they choose to do so - freely.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily was, “Power and Control.”

How well do we do with each?  Lent is a good time to reflect upon key life issues.

Control?

Power?

For starters it's nice when we are aware of our powers and we use them well. It's nice to have some things in life that we can control.

It's tough when we run into moments that are out of our control and we feel powerless about everything.

It’s also nice to know when it's loving and we give up the power and the control - the steering wheel and the clicker - and give full attention to others.

Let me end by trying to use all the 3 temptations Jesus faced in the desert. 

It's in moments of temptation and struggle, that the rock called our heart, turns to bread. It's then that the power and the glory we could have is handed over to another. It's then that others - being in our presence, feel that can fly. 

February 14, 2016

VALENTINE’S DAY

What’s with the heart? It’s just a pump.

Well, if you have to ask, then you

probably won’t “get” the answer.

When someone is in love, when

someone is emotional, when

someone is running to be with

the one they love, then the pump
jumps, the heart makes sense. 

And when someone shows up

to be with the one they love,

they have to bring a gift - hearts,

candies, flowers, what have you?

Now of course, those who sell cards and

trinkets know all this - so where have you

been that you don’t get Valentine’s Day?

February 13, 2016

RADIATOR ROARS

My brother always said,

“Only buy a house with

gas heat in the kitchen.

When you really want to cook,

elective ovens never do it.”

I’d say, “Only buy a house

with stand up cast iron radiators - 
waist high radiators that let 
you know they are there 

for you on a cold, cold 

February day like today. 

Bang! Crash! Crunk! Rattle! 

Rock and Roll! Listen to them

yelling to you, Get over here

and get your butt against me.
Baby it’s cold outside.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

QUESTIONAIRRE:

SELF CENTERED VS.

OTHER CENTERED RELIGION

As I read today’s first reading from Isaiah 58: 1-9a, I realized this is a document that our Church needs to read on a regular basis, especially at the beginning of Lent.  So here are 11 questions - to ponder before rereading Isaiah 58: 1-9 - as well as today’s Gospel - Matthew 9: 14-15 - today’s readings  which I placed at the bottom of  this questionnaire.

Who’s more important: you or me?

When I come to a door when I am walking with another person, do I let the other person in ahead of me?

When I come to a door and  another person is coming out, do I let that person out as I hold the door for them and then I go in?

Is the goal of our religion to save our soul or to be concerned for the welfare of our brothers and sisters.

Is the purpose of Lent to fast from food or fast from selfishness?

If Lent was seen as attending a wedding, would Lent be any different this year for you? How so? [Cf. today’s gospel Matthew 9: 14-15.]

Three people walked down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Who were they thinking about and aware of: self or the man who was beaten up and robbed? [Cf. Luke 10: 25-37]

When I hear the Parable of Two Men who went to the Temple to Pray, which of the two am I? [Cf. Luke 18: 9-14]

When I’m walking from my bench in church up to the front of church to receive communion, whom am I thinking of? Myself? Those I’m on line with? Those other folks whom I’m being brought into deeper communion into Christ with?

After communion am I concentrating on Christ within me - in the tabernacle of my body and being - or more with Christ in the tabernacles of all these people I’m in the church with today or with Christ in the tabernacle up here in the front of our church - the tabernacle behind the altar?

Whom does the Pope think he is in all of this?

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TODAY’S FIRST READING - ISAIAH 58:1-9

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; 
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins. 
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

TODAY’S GOSPEL - MATTHEW 9: 14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

February 12, 2016

February 12, 2016

WHAT’S WRONG 

WITH THIS PICTURE? 

Every time I talked to this person,

they would say, “What’s wrong with _____?”

        “What’s wrong with the world?”

        “What’s wrong with doctors?”

        “What’s wrong with pastors?”

        “What’s wrong with politicians?”

        “What’s wrong with people?”

And, ooops, I caught myself saying,

“What’s wrong with this person?”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

DEUTERONOMY 30: 15-20 

CHOOSING  LIFE  OR DEATH  

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Thursday after Ash Wednesday is, “Deuteronomy 30: 15-20: Choosing Life or Death.”

I’ve never been a Biblical Name and Number Dropper - but Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 is a good text to know and easy to remember.

Moses lines up all the people and says, “Take a good look what is right in front of you. This stuff over here will give you death and doom and destruction. This stuff over here will bring you life and blessing. Obviously, choose what gives life - not the stuff that can kill you.”

GEORGE WALD

I once spotted a discarded audio tape with a talk by a Harvard biology professor: George Wald.

George was born in Brooklyn - from Jewish parents - who came to America from Europe way back in the early 1900’s. 

He was in the first graduating class from Brooklyn Tech - a high school most kids from Brooklyn know was one great school. He went to NYU, Columbia, and various other schools in both the United States and Europe.

In other words he got a great education. For starters, that's one great way to choose life.

In the audio tape  talk he said his favorite text in the Bible was today’s first reading about how God sets before us both life and death. Therefore choose life.

George Wald did great work and research on the human eye - specifically the retina - and stressed the importance of vitamins.

I looked his biography and life stuff on Google and found out he certainly was for life - not destruction.

INNER EYE

He was off on inner seeing as well.

He thought we in the United States spend too much money, time and effort on how to kill better and better. He was early on against the Vietnam War and each battle the United States got interested in after that.

Many of us grew up seeing these battles going on in politics, newspapers, TV, etc. etc. etc. all through the 1900’s - the last century.

One of the benefits of being 76 years old is the ability to say what we think.

It took me a while to form my attitudes about what George Wald and so many so called “Lefties” and “Liberals” are saying.

I know people are pretty much stuck in their ways of thinking and seeing - about all this -  and politicians work to get their votes on these issues.

TODAY'S GOSPEL

Now to choose life isn't easy. Hello. It calls for sacrifice - dying to self. That's exactly what today's gospel is saying: that very message from Jesus. [Confer Luke 9: 22-25]

I would assume that's the key reason why we don't choose life - but death. It's laziness - the avoidance of tough love - it's the avoidance of hard work - not wanting to die to self - that is at the heart of why folks choose death.

CONCLUSION: BE SMART AND LIFE GIVING TODAY

The title of my homily is, “Deuteronomy 30: 15-20: Choosing Life or Death.”

I want to urge looking at this topic and theme not just when considering abortions - but at the whole run of life - building walls to block our immigrants, carpet bomb Muslims, etc. etc. etc.

In the pulpit, I try to avoid using the pulpit as a bully pulpit.

It’s my experience that people don’t hear anything else once the speaker or the preacher says the buzz words.

So I rather avoid the political stage and try to understand what Jesus was saying when he said, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.”

I rather reflect upon everyday decisions we all have to choose life or death.

By this I would mean eating right, walking, talking right - avoiding killer comments, gossip and all that.

I would rather look at this day - all that’s going to be right in front of me and decide: “Today I want to choose life. Today I want to be kind. Today I want to compliment people.”

For me being a Diabetic - second type - I simply have avoid  cookies and pie today - and walk and exercise. Amen.

February 11, 2016

DAILY PRAYER  FOR  LENT 

          

Lord, guide me

through these 40 days of Lent.

Protect me and direct me:

be a cloud above me this day

and a pillar of fire above me this night.

Remind me to take some moments today to go

with you into the mountains of prayer,

where I might see you transfigured before me.

Enter into my temple this day; walk around;

remind me when I’m too busy buying and selling;

and cleanse me of my idols.

Lord, help me this day to be like you:

a grain of wheat willing to die

so that others might live.

© Andy Costello,
Markings Prayers, March 1994