CULTIVATE  PEACE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Cultivate Peace.”

We’re back to Ordinary Time - the 7^th Monday - and we have some great readings for today.

So some thoughts about cultivating peace….

The last sentence in today’s first reading from James 3:13-18 has James writing, “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.”

CULTIVATE

I don’t know if any of you are farmers. However, I’m sure we all have grown something - whether it’s a garden with gardinias or zucinni.

I remember as a little boy spotting those fingernail size black pits in a red watermelon and planting them - not knowing the difference between pits and seeds or what have you.  Surprise in time I saw green blades of new life.

Did I do any cultivation? Well, I watered and watched.

That was the extent of my cultivating watermelons. I don’t remember ever getting a watermelon in a clay dark orange brown flower pot as a result.

Cultivating - watering - raking - caring for - keeping rabbits away from the tomotato plants or what have you.

CULTIVATING PEACE

The title of this homily is, “Cultivating Peace.”

So I typed into google, “Cultivating Peace” and found lots of suggestions.

One blog gave 40 suggestions.

One blog gave 5 suggestions.

Another gave 7 suggestions or practices.

I have seen on various banners the words of Pope Paul VI, “If you want peace, work for justice.”

So if we want to cultivate peace, there are lots of practical steps we can follow.

For starters, Pope Paul the VI’s words from 1972 - on a world day for peace is a good place to start.

In his letter for that day, he urges respect for every person.

In his letter he stresses the vision to see every person and to help every person to see themselves as just that: a person - who is sacred - unique - to be recognized - to be seen and heard - and that they realize they are also responsible for this. When someone puts themselves down, we can challenge them and say, “Oh no, you can’t escape that easily. You have thoughts, feelings, experiences, learnings, observations, skills and you have to use them all.”

In his letter he stresses that every person has the right to express themselves.

We can cultivate those goals at every doorway find ourselves at - with other people  - in every conversation - in every setting we find ourselves in - with the people we’re with.

“Rita, you haven’t said anything yet. What’s your take on this?”

“Wait a second, it doesn’t seem fair - when we ________ “ [You fill in the blank.]

I remember hearing a good talk about peace. The speaker drew a pie and then cut it up saying that everyone is allowed to speak their piece, that everyone gets a piece of the pie and everyone a piece of the action - otherwise we won’t have peace.

I noticed on these blog pieces about peace the value of breathing, pausing, walking, plants, music, communication, listening, the outdoors, sunlight, exercise, etc. etc. etc.

Working with and on a few of them are ways of cultivating peace.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Here in today’s gospel, Jesus takes the time to be with this boy who has serious problems.

Presence - what’s that Woody Allen quote about just showing up? “Eighty percent of success is showing up

Jesus asks questions.  That’s another great way of cultivating peace.

I love the question from Jesus: “How long has this been happening to him.”

I can picture any of us saying that about strange behavior.

Jesus says with his action the need to be with each other.

Jesus says with his words, the need for faith and prayer.

Jesus did his part to help this kid.

CONCLUSION

Want peace, work for it.

Want peace, say the Peace Prayer attributed to Saint Francis, every day. Then put into practice all those ways the prayer states for being an instrument of the Lord’s peace.

Want peace, do the do of fairness - or what you see as the best way to cultivate peace. Just do it.

May 15, 2016

TONGUES  OF  FIRE

Spirit,

God,

Holy Spirit,

You call us

to be prophets -
that is people 
not scared to speak up.

You light a fire in us  -

to get us to ask,

to seek,

to knock
and then to listen -
then to do whatever it takes -

to get us to talk to each other -

especially when we don’t know

why the other is avoiding us -

or refusing to tell us
what’s burning them about us.

Come!

Send those tongues of fire

to both of us because 
it seems that the fire
called "love" has gone out -

and we feel like a burnt out case -
someone the other 
does not want to deal with.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

SHORT  PRAYERS!

SUBTITLE: COME HOLY SPIRIT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Short Prayers! Subtitle: Come Holy Spirit.”

“Short Prayers! Subtitle: Come Holy Spirit.”

Today is the feast of Pentecost.  Meaning: “Fifty” - meaning for us Christians, “Fifty Days  After Easter.”

Today - and in this time of the Church Year - we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit - on the Early Church.

TODAY’S  READINGS

The disciples, the followers of Jesus,  were down. They were locked in on themselves. They had lost Jesus their leader. And if you read the Gospels  -  like the gospel reading for today - you hear how Jesus the Risen One appeared to them - and spoke words of peace to them. “Peace be with you.”

Then Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Then Jesus said, “I send you.”

Jesus is sending us - after saying these short, short sentences:

·       “Peace be with you.”

·       “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

·       “I send you.”

But, then Jesus says something very deep. He gives a deep, deep revelation. “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained.” 

Instead of the word “retain”,  I’d rather translate the Greek word “KRATEO” into: “hold onto” and translate this sentence as follows, “Whose sins you let go of, they are gone; whose sins you hold onto, they are held onto.”

Wow!

If there is one thing I learned as a priest and a human being, it’s right there.

We all know that one.

When we human beings make mistakes or are mistaked on - blamed - or hurt by another, we can forgive them or ourselves at some point - hopefully - and experience “peace” in the upper room of our mind - or we can hold onto hurts or sins that can weigh us down for life.

Confession - forgiveness - doesn’t just happen in those confession boxes we have in Catholic Churches. But yet, yes, I’ve heard from the other side of the curtain at various times: “Phew!" [Make the sound of pushing out air] - It's the sound of letting out of bad air and bad memories and mistakes and sins and then I’ve heard the [Make gesture of sucking in]  the sound of sucking In of New Air. It's time for a new beginning.

That scene in confession boxes - and in counseling rooms - and in relationships and marriages and family - when forgiveness takes place - when letting go takes place - triggers the dawn of a new human creation.

It triggers the moments - in human evolution - when we humans evolved far enough to stop clubbing each other with angry grunts and stone sledge hammers - and sensed God - our God who bent down and breathed into the clay of earth from which we come - and we came to live and breathe in the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit.

The word used in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, The Beginning, is RUAH - the Hebrew word for Spirit, Breath, Life, Air, Wind, Breeze.

RUAH - you can hear the sound of Air, Breath, Spirit, Life in that word, that sound.

Come RUAH of God. Rush into us.

And if we read the Acts of the Apostles - as we heard in today’s first reading - the Spirit, the Wind, rushed on that hide out - that locked upper room - and shook up that building, those disciples - and they felt this strong driving wind - and they experienced “tongues” - “as of fire”  -  as the reading puts it - and these tongues of fire filled them with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in different tongues - as the Spirit enable them to proclaim.

I’ve heard various theories and ideas about “speaking in tongues” and instead of bringing folks together, sometimes it brings division - so I’ve decided on holding that a great understanding is that Love - Peace - God appears and can be understood in all languages - all tongues.

And that’s what we hear in the second part of today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles - that the Gospel of Christ - moved out of that upper room, out of Jerusalem,  and out into the Greek speaking and then into the whole Mediterranean basin, and world and all these tribes and people there.

And as our second reading from Paul to the Corinthians puts it: when brothers and sisters work together with Jesus as Lord, then all our spiritual gifts can be used in the service of all. We are one body - and when we are baptized into the one Spirit of Christ - all the different parts of that Body can bring - can breathe - that Spirit into our world.

 SHORT PRAYERS

Ooops!  A nice short word….  Ooops.

The title of my homily is, “Short Prayers! Subtitle: Come Holy Spirit.”

Let me try to be practical and get this done in a page and a half.

My goal is 10 minute homilies - which means about 4 ½ pages - 14 pica - 8 ½ by 11 inch paper.

I have a theory that every human being prays short prayers - atheists included - non church or temple going people as well.

Listen to people. Listen to their sounds. Listen to their screams.

“Oh my God, noooooooooooooooooooo!”

“Holy _________” You know part two - but notice “Holy” in part one.

“Jesus Christ!”

“OOOOOhhh No!” I hold that’s a prayer to the Power beyond our powers - when things happen that are out of our control. “Ooooooh NO!”

In Hinduism and Buddhism there is the basic sound: OM - spelled OM  or AUM - a sacred sound that has inner heart connection - connecting the prayer or the meditator with the FORCE - the Creator - holding this world together.

When I go into a funeral parlor - and the body is there - and there is a rosary in the hand of the deceased - I reach for one bead - and say a Hail Mary - with and for that person.  And if a loved one kneels next to me - I suggest to the spouse or child of the person who died, “Let’s pray a Hail Mary together.”

And I have been saying for years, “Rosaries aren’t just for Hail Mary’s - they are great worry beads.”

Where is your rosary?  Will they find it in your pocket when you die.

If you’ve lost your rosary, find your rosary when you get home today and this week use it for prayers.

I suggest short prayers. Notice that’s the title of this homily.

Subtitle: “Come Holy Spirit.”

This week every day, say on the 59 beads, “Come Holy Spirit.”

That takes less than 2 minutes.

Or finger the beads and say, “Oh my God.”

Or, “Jesus Christ.”

Or “OM” or “Home”

Or, “Peace.”  Or if there is someone who won’t forgive you, say on each bead thinking of the other, “Peace be with you.”  Or, “I forgive you.”

Or breathe 59 times.

Or someone said the 2 most basic prayers are, “Help” and “Thanks”.

In the cloud of unknowing - that medieval English book - it says if you’re in a burning building - and you open the window - you’ll scream one word, “Help!”

Someone said, the secret of happiness is 3 short words, “Yes” “No” and “Wow”

Take your beads and say, pray, to God and a Good Life, “Yes” - that will take you a minute or “no” 59 times - or “Wow”

And watch what happens.

Amen.

Or “Amen” on each bead.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily on this feast of Pentecost was, “Short Prayers! Subtitle: Come Holy Spirit.”

FEAST OF PENTECOST

PENTECOST LITANY

                    

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Wind, Fire, Praise,

pour into us

surprise into us,

create into us new life today.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Breathe into us your gifts,

especially the ability of seeing your gifts,

shining in every person that we meet today.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Give old people young visions,

give young people old wisdom,

and give both the fire and the desire

to make their dreams come true.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Send a strong rushing wind

into the upper rooms of our minds,

replacing stale, paralyzing fear

with fresh, ongoing peace.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

 Help us to stop talking 

long enough to hear,

that we’re really not listening 

to each other,

but we're speaking in the language

of babbling that divides us.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Give us the gift of tongues,

give us the ability of speaking

in the language of love that unites us

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Help us to all work together

to build the City of God,

with Jesus as the Tower

and the Ladder that touches the sky

and takes us into the Kingdom.

© Andy Costello Markings

May 14, 2016

COME  HOLY  SPIRIT

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Come God, Spirit, Holiness.

Come to me as Wind, Breath, Air….

Come to me simply as a cool breeze -

so silent, here, invisible at the edge entrance

of my mountain cave …. my hiding place.

Or come to me as a loud wind, shaking me,

shaking my windows, pounding my doors,

getting me down to my foundation rocks

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Come God, Spirit, Holiness.

Come to me as Fire, Flame, Spark,

singeing my soul, scorching my selfishness,

reducing me to ashes, so I can rise to new

life, a new start, a new Church, a new next.

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Come God, Spirit, Holiness.

Come to me as Word Seed,

as you came to Mary,
as you jumped off the scrolls
of sacred scripture into so many,

come to me as you hovered

over Christ as a dove.  Let me also hear

your song: “You are my beloved son,

my beloved daughter, in you,

I am well pleased.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

May 13, 2016  - Friday the 13th

INITIALS

Why do initials carved in trees

and park benches and cement

bother me?  I was a kid once.
Does this mean that I have

become an adult - or a critical
crotchety old crocodile ? Or is more?

I don’t know. I just know I don’t

like anyone to announce to the

world by carving on a tree or a

bench or into new cement, “Jack

loves Jill”  or “Kilroy was here.”

Do it some other way!  Please.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

SAINT PANCRAS

Today - May 12 - is the feast of Saint Pancras.

When we took a train from London to Brussels, to get to sight see Bruges, we had to go to the station at Saint Pancras. That was where the train that went through the Channel Tunnel was: the Eurostar.

I began wondering what a train station in London - named after a saint - was all about.

I looked it up. 

Pancras was a 14 year old kid - who was beheaded in Rome for being a Christian. This took place way back around 304.

Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine - not THE  Saint Augustine - but Augustine who was to become Augustine of Canterbury - to England. He gave him some relics of Pancras to take along with him  - as he went there to bring Christ to England - way back when.  In time various churches named "Saint Pancras" appeared on English soil - if I have this correct.

In London, there was Old Saint Pancras Church. 

I could not find out for absolute surety, if that was where the Saint Pancras Train Station was built. It looks like a church is part of the whole enterprise.

Great train station - worth seeing if you go to London - even if you don't take a train.

It has great statues. It's a great place for people watching. It has great sounds. It's a great place for picture taking.

Check out the enclosed videos.

Amen.