If I could design my own flag, what would it look
like? Draw it….
As I get older, do I find myself saying, “I don’t
know about that….” a lot more than when I was younger?
How do swans keep so white?
How do black birds stay so beautifully bluish black -
especially in the rain?
When they moved from solid rubber tires to ones filled
with air, were people nervous?
Can people over 55 change?
How about 45?
Can I change?
Tell another - describe to another - with specific details - one
change I made in my life?
Does it take a cross to get God across to people?
Or does cancer and death create atheists?
Is there anything on the other side of all this?
Why do some ballpoint pens seem to last forever and some
don’t?
Which is the most important ingredient for a great meal:
food, people, place, other _____________?
Is the most important moment in life that moment of
hesitation before wondering whether to tell a lie or some gossip or to hurt someone with a
comment or to cheat?
Why does negative political campaigning seem to work
better than clear platform planks for the common good of all?
Tell another about someone whom I was amazed with?Because ….
Are zoos for people or for the animals - and do animals
mind?
Treats seem to be the secret in keeping pets happy; how
about people?
Do we always have to have flaws - things going wrong - some ugly stuff in every heart and every basement - and the possibility of selfishness always waiting in the wings?
Has anyone ever really written down their hoped for
legacy before they died? Have I?
Is prayer more speaking to God or listening in silence to
God - that is, if we believe God communicates values?
What do toll collectors think about when all alone on bridges, tunnels
and toll roads - besides worries about losing their jobs because of E-ZPass?
Does everyone have at least 3 life changing moments?
The title of my homily for this 7th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “I Want What I Want When I
Want It.”
Don’t we all?
Well, it all depends.
I read that it’s the addict’s creed.
It’s everyone’s need when someone does something we don’t
like or they don’t do what we want them to do. Like, for example, - pick up their dog remains and we step in it.
Or, for example, - they walk down the main aisle in the middle of a sermon and
the whole church is watching them - including the preacher.
Smile.
TODAY’S
READINGS
When I got the idea for this homily from today’s two
readings.
James is telling us in the first reading where wars and
conflicts come from.
They come from right here [Point to the heart and head]. Right inside this me that I am. We covet. We envy. We’re jealous. We want.
We want what we want when we want it.
In today’s gospel,
Mark 9:30-37 - the disciples are
fighting on who is the greatest.
They don’t want to hear that this Jesus enterprise brings
on the cross - the dying to self - the rising, the resurrection for others.
The call is not to be served, but to serve.
The gospel tells us about little children. They are all
surprise. They are out of our control. They need service. They need attention.
They need us. Talk about wanting what they want when they want it. Think of
children.
So too dogs. “I
want a treat! Woof. Woof.”
DESIRE
Buddhism is not the only religion that gets at desire.
Jesus challenges us to get in touch with what we want.
Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst….
We could also add, “Feeling angry - when you hunger and
thirst.
So once again, it all depends.
What we want is what we want: our will.
My will be done - on earth as it is in heaven.
This is everyday stuff.
I hate it to go to a restaurant or anywhere with another
- or be in the other seat in the car - and the other is going crazy - with the
line - with the waiting - with the traffic.
Where’s the waiter!
I want what I want when I want it.
I love the cartoon that says, “You want it when?”
Xerox that one. E-mail it to yourself. Hang it on your
mirror. Magnet it to your refrigerator door.
On the NBC evening news
with Lester Holt they have been featuring the long lines at airports to
get screened. In Chicago the line and the wait can be 3 to 4 hours and many are
missing their flights.
Talk about terroism.
This started big time with 9 - 11 and we have been dealing with the
after shocks ever since.
I don’t know about you. I am waiting for the tipping
point and figure out new ways of dealing with all the craziness of the human heart. You want that? When?
When I drive through those wide overhead E-ZPass go throughs - that can register 3 cars at once - I wonder if airports will come up with a massive bomb
sniffing xRay machine - that a crowd can walk through all at once.
THREE QUOTES
Listen to what James says again - but this time in the
first chapter of James, “Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be
perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” James 1:4-5
Anwar Sadat said, “Most people seek after what do not possess
and are thus enslaved by the very things they want to acquire.”
Logan Pearsall Smith wrote, “There are two things to aim
at in life: first to get what you want; and after that to enjoy it. Only the
wisest of mankind achieve the second.”
I would add a third: The really wise learn how to deal well with not getting what one wants.
I remember hearing the Jesuit psychiatrist and priest,
James Gill telling about a heart [or was it a stress specialist?] in California who urges Type
A people to do the following spiritual practice of how to deal the stress of long lines.
I have done this ever since.
It’s a simple trick. When you see 3 lines in a bank or supermarket,
always pick the longest line. Then when you get up to the front, jump off the
line and once more pick the longest line. I’ve been doing this in Giant -
Office Depot - wherever - ever since - even toll booths. I'm not a Type A person - but if one is - an added practice is to try to recall your high school classmates by name while standing or waiting on long lines - or the capitals of all the states in the U.S. or whatever.
CONCLUSION
The thought for the day is patience.
Key game plan would be patience;
Key ways of being patient: the ability to laugh - the
ability to wait - the ability to get there very early and close your eyes as
you move up on the line - and if you really want to confuse others - go back and start again - on the longest line.
May 17, 2016
AT EVERY WEDDING
At every wedding,
every woman present
is seeing her life walking
down the aisle; at every wedding every man - well
at least 53.6 % of the all
the men who are present - are still wondering what it’s all about.
We’re back to Ordinary Time - the 7th 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.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
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.
