October 6, 2016

ROPE

Neat - just sitting there - wrapped up
tight … ready to be grabbed and used

when needed  - from time to time.

But every time a piece of us is cut off

and goes here or there, it loses its value

of just sitting there waiting to be used.

So too you…. So too me …. Unused we

think we’re so neat, but once we're cut

we see our loss - our limits - our reality.

So we have a choice - to look good - new

clean, no tar on us - or to be here, there
and everywhere holding our lives together.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

FRANCIS SEELOS:  WELCOME!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my thoughts is, ‘Francis Seelos: Welcome!”

Let me say near the beginning of this new school year, “Welcome to our freshmen class - as well as any other new young people - and new teachers and staff.”

Welcome!

Today - October 5^th -  is the feast day of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos - a Redemptorist who was a priest here at St. Mary’s in the early 1860’s -around the time of  the Civil War.

He was inside this  very church. I don’t know if these are the benches that were here in the 1860's - but this is the shell of the church that goes back to 1859-60. 

So a saint, St. John Neumann blessed the cornerstone of this church and Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos - prayed and celebrated Mass and heard confessions in this church.

In 1866 he goes to New Orleans - also St. Mary’s Parish. He dies the following year, on October 4, 1867 - at the age of 48 - from a Yellow Fever epidemic that was hitting the city.

The title of my homily is, “Francis Seelos: Welcome!”

ONE THEME - ONE LIFE

When speaking - and preaching - about people - I like to come up with one main theme - that hopefully gives a portrait - better an impression of that person.

Like at a funeral…. I like to go to the funeral parlor - and if I didn’t know the person who died, I ask around to see if the person can be summed up with one word.

I hear words like: Generous…. Giving …. Caring ... Grateful…. Faithful …. Sense of humor…. Quiet …. Life of the Party …. Always there…. Understanding …. Forgiving…. Present …. A gift.

Of course, nobody can be summed up with one word.

But for the sake of focus - one word - like the center of a bulls eye - helps to target one’s thoughts.  

One of my favorite themes is, “Welcome!”

If I hear one thing from Pope Francis, it’s that we be a welcoming church.

A  WELCOME  sign is nice to see on a rug at the entrance of any home - so too every church.

“Welcome!”

I just preached on this theme the other day.

So as I thought about Francis Xavier Seelos - I see him as a very welcoming person.

He was known for being a great confessor. People felt welcome - when going to him for confession. In the literature about him, I read about the long confession lines of people here at St. Mary’s, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans.

Here in our garden at St. Mary’s we have a unique statue of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos. It’s under a nice tree  - off the brick path - and I’ve seen thousands of people just sitting there as if they are on the bench - sitting and talking with Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos. As I walk by that stature and there is a person resting there - leaning into Father Seelos, I like to say, “You can go to confession to him.”

Almost the same statue that we have here is in New Orleans at the Seelos Shrine, but the one there has arm rests that make the bench that much less opening for one more person.

So I’m saying here, when it comes to saints - speakers try to come up with one theme that describes that person.  We do it with homilies for the dead as well.

Like yesterday morning I had a funeral for a 98 year old lady Catherine Vacca. Her quality was awareness.  Her husband is still alive - at the age of 99 - heading soon for 100.

I was standing there looking at photos of Catherine being displayed on the big screen - one after the other.

I’m alone till an old guy stands next to me to watch the show as well.

I start to notice that this guy next to me looks like the guy in the pictures. Sure enough it’s Catherine’s husband. I say to him, “You’re her husband.” And he says, “Yes!”

I then asked, “What was your wife like?”

He says - pointing to his wife in a picture, “Nice!”

In the pictures you could see her nice face - welcoming eyes - and all around sweetness.

SELFIES

I remember seeing another slide show at another funeral.

I began spotting in the different pictures a face that was very sad and serious.

Now it could be that she had teeth problems - but all in all - she didn’t look like a happy camper in any picture.

Suggestion: go through your pictures -your selfies - and ask yourself, “Do I have a welcoming face?”

The title of my thoughts is, ‘Francis Seelos: Welcome!”

SOMETIMES THE WELCOME SIGN IS MISSING

As I'm sure you've heard, the National African American Museum has recently opened in Washington D.C.  When you have time make sure you visit the place. 

I'm waiting till the crowds have settled down to make my visit. I'm sure there will be lots of evidence of the years when African Americans were not made welcome in this country - and I hope there will be signs of welcome - change - and growth.

And 100 years from now - we'll all be dead - but there will be in Washington D.C. a Muslim American Museum  - where there will also be evidence of the time when they were not welcome and then the change. I say this not out of political posturing - most of you cannot vote yet - but because hopefully -welcome - is part of our religion - our love and our understanding of what it is to be a human being.

WELCOME FRANCIS SEELOS

The title of my thoughts is, ‘Francis Seelos: Welcome!”

Seelos was in imigrant. Seelos was a Redemptorist.  When he was stationed here, he wasn't always welcomed by his own confreres - because of personality differences. He had a great sense of humor. He had an easy way about him - and his confreres here at St. Mary's thought he was too easy going with our students and seminarians here. 

There it is: one of life's basic experiences. How do we respond to those who don't accept us as we are - with our personality - our specificness - etc. etc. etc.

Jesus' method was that of love, forgiveness, turning the extra cheek, going the extra mile with the other  - and in this way - we can change the world.

The theme for this year is to go make a difference. One specific "HOW" answer to that hope is to be a welcoming person.

CHURCH

I remember being out at St. John Neumann some 14 years ago.

A couple were there for Mass or something and I said, “Welcome.”

The husband said, “Thank you. That’s the first time in 9 years since we got to this parish, anyone said, ‘Welcome to us.”

I learned from that moment - from that experience - and  I like to say at every Mass, “Welcome to everyone and welcome to any visitors.”

At least I can do that at every Mass.

I hope all of you feel very welcome at Mass so far.

And I hope when I die and I get to heaven. I hope I hear folks there saying, “Welcome” I also hope that people at my funeral say, “Father Andy was very welcoming.”

CONCLUSION

The title of my thoughts is, ‘Francis Seelos: Welcome!”

I hope none of you - 25 years from now - will not say, “Looking back at my time at St. Mary’s, “I never felt welcome there.”

October 5, 2016

DON’T UNRAVEL

When at the end of your rope -

don’t unravel. To make a joke -

don’t get hung up. Say a prayer!
Tie a knot! And hang on for dear life.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

October 4, 2016

MY  WHY’S VARY 

God my why’s vary,

depending on what’s

going on in my gut.

But what about your

why’s? What are your

why’s shot back at us?

The content and the

quality of our dialogues

rarely sound like Job?

Yet there are nights

I ask, “Why am I still

alive and why, “Oh why?”

I know that goes back

to the day I heard that the

shortest poem was, “I / Why?”

And I responded well I’ll

write the second shortest

poem. It’s “You / Who.”

Yet I still scream, “God, you

must have taken down at least

one tyrant, well why not again.?”

“Why not give the children

in shell shocked Syria a

month of peace? A month!”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

PLAYING  THE  PART 

OF  ST.  FRANCIS  OF  ASSISI

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Playing the Part of St. Francis of Assisi.”

Today, October 4^th, is his feast day.

THE PLAY’S THE THING

One of Shakespeare’s most famous lines is in Hamlet - where he says, “The plays the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.”

That’s vintage Shakespeare because as playwright he would know that people watching a play - subconsciously or unconsciously - connect with the characters on the stage. Shakespeare would know what to do to try to catch his audience. He knew the tricks of the trade. He would know what to do to catch the attention, the spiritual life, the conscience, the reality of what it is to be a moral, a good, decent human being. So the audience would see good and evil on stage in front of them - and hopefully go for the good and to avoid the evil.

Those seeing a performance of Hamlet would discover that Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius killed his own brother, the king - Hamlet Senior. Then Claudius marries Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, the queen. Tough stuff for Hamlet Junior - to deal with, to get the facts, to makes sure he’s right and to get revenge on his uncle. So Shakespeare has Hamlet putting on a play within the play to catch the conscience of the king.

JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO

Cardinal Jorge Mario Begoglio of Buenas Aires, Argentina, went to Rome to elect a new pope.

He ends up becoming the new pope on March 13, 2013.

Now he has the choice to come up with a name.

He surprised so many by being elected. Then he surprised us all even more by the choice of a name: Francis.

He could have chosen Benedict or John Paul or Ignatius or Vincent de Paul or any name for that matter - even keeping his own name Jorge, George or even Mario his second name. Imagine Pope Mario,

Nope. He’s no dope. The new pope, A Jesuit chooses a Franciscan’s name. Pope Francis.

Surprise!

It ends up being a remarkable choice.

The story goes that a cardinal said to Bergogio just after being elected, “Don’t forget the poor.” So he chose the name of Francis - Poor Francis of Assisi.

I would assume that he was thinking about this long before that moment - that he had a great liking and got great inspiration from Francis of Assisi.

If you were named pope what name would you choose

The naming is just the first step.

It’s the next day that counts.

So from then on he has the choice to play the part of Francis - to be himself of course - but to play the part of Francis of Assisi.

We know the story.

We’re born, we get a name, and then in time we have the choice to be ourselves - to become ourselves. In Hamlet we also have the line, “To thine own self be true”. Polonius says that to his son Laertes.

So we’re called to be ourselves. There is only one of us - forever and ever.

But we also able to play as Shakespeare put it in his play, As You Like It, “All the world’s a stage,/ And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; / And one man in his time plays many parts.”

We’re called  to play the part of Jesus Christ, to be a Christian, to be a saint.  But we also imitate others - our parents, our pals, a nurse, a lawyer, a therapist, a salesperson, a teacher, what have you - and we watch how our parents loved one another, how teachers taught, how nurses cared for others - how fellow workers, work.

And so we play our parts. And hopefully we become the part - doing it with our personality - our gifts, our spirit, our learnings.

SO WHY THE CHOICE

So why did Pope Francis the First pick Francis as his name.

For starters - thinking of Hamlet - and Shakespeare - did Pope Francis pick that name to get us to look at the life of Francis and we too play that pert.

For starters - we know Francis was for the poor and lead a poor life. We’ll we’ve all read how Francis has tried to simplify, simplify, simplify - when it comes to shoes, clothes, space, travel.

For starters - we know that Francis of Assisi was called to rebuild the church and then did. And Pope Francis is certainly trying to do just that. and we can do the same every day.

For starters - we know that Francis of Assisi brings us back to Jesus Christ - the human Christ - the birth of Christ, the eucharist, the poor, the people, the death on the cross.

For starters, if we read the life of St. Francis we discover that he sang and glorified the beauty of creation - and we see the Pope has a whole big letter on that last year - Laudato Si’ - on the gift of this great home, garden, earth, which God has created for us.

 CONCLUSION

Be yourself - but be like Francis of Assisi - who brought Jesus to the poor - who renewed our church. Be like Pope Francis - reach out to everyone.

Smile. The pope certainly knows the power of a smile as walk down the miles of our life.

Pope Francis became Pope at 76. Wow. So lets hope all of us have much more life in our tank.

October 3, 2016

OCTOBER

October doesn’t get that much ink

from poets - or if it does - I’ve missed it.

Maybe it’s from where one stands or

what one’s doing - back to school -

serious work - high energy - catch up

stuff after summer and September -

and not enough time for poems or

pondering deeper things like frost and

the sight and sound of dead leaves.

Hints of things to come - cold rain -

winds - leaves changing here in

the north of the northern hemisphere -

but not yet - Indian Summer - always

an oasis - put back the sweaters and

the flannel shirts - don’t even think

of scarves or gloves or hats - yet.

October - here’s some ink - I’ve always

seen you as the best month of the mix.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

FROM JERUSALEM 

TO JERICHO

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “From Jerusalem to Jericho.”

ON THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO 

There is a gospel song - a country western gospel song - by Hank Williams Sr. entitled, “From Jerusalem to Jericho.”

I put it on my blog - along with this homily - as one more way of preaching the good news of Jesus.

The Good Samaritan parable is one of top 5 or 10 parables of Jesus. Some of the best known ones are here in the gospel of Luke.

Everyone - hopefully everyone has heard of the story of the Good Samaritan.

We hear it here in church - whenever this gospel is read - and we hear it in our conscience every time we pass a beggar or a hurting person by.

They wave their, “I’m hungry” sign. We feel a “Guilty, guilty” sign blowing in the wind.

We’re even aware of the so called, “Good Samaritan Law” - one more example of religion entering into civil life - just as the “Hail Mary Pass” has entered into football.

HOW TO READ THE SCRIPTURES?

We’ve all been taught that one way to read the scriptures is to picture ourselves in the text.  

Sometimes this is difficult to do. If so try another method.

However, this method is especially easy with the parables.

We simply say, “Who am I in this story?”

Of if there are a few characters, we go down the line and see ourselves as each character in the story.

So in this story, when am I the Good Samaritan, stopping to help my neighbor?

When am I the man beaten up?

When am I the priest or the Levite passing by those who have been hurt or robbed?

When am I the robber - say for example - robbing someone of their good name?

When am I the inn keeper - seeing people helping other people?

When am I the scholar of the law - testing Jesus about what it is to be a good person?

HANK WILLIAM'S SONG

In Hank Williams song, he makes all of us the guy who was beaten up.

Every day is a journey down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

He sings, “We are the fallen ones that lie along the way” and people pass us by - like the priest - every day.

He sings, “Who are the ones who stop to help us along the way - the ones who are kind and true?”  Who are the ones who care? Who are the ones who bring the hurting ones into their inn?

Listen to the song on You-tube at the top of this homily. 

CONCLUSION

Our first reading for today is from the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. At the end of Galatians, 6:2, we’ll have the message of the Good Samaritan Parable. It's my favorite bible text, “Bear one another’s burdens and in this way you’ll fulfill the law of Christ.”

Amen.