November 3, 2016

LUCID

Not all my moments are lucid ….

Yet, sometimes I’m stopped

by the rough texture of bark on trees -

and the veins in soft transparent leaves -

and the turned on water coming out

of the tap seems so lucid - so clear ….

And there are times when I

see you - knowing so much

about you - we’ve talked -  but

there is still so much of the unknown

and too much is not transparent ….

Not all my moments are lucid….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

SOMETIMES I WONDER

INTRODUCTION

"Sometimes I Wonder!"

That's the title of my homily for today, All Souls Day.

THE LITTLE GIRL

Once in a while I remember and then think about people I have met - people in church, people in nursing homes, homebound as well as classrooms - as well as folks I've talked to on planes, trains and buses.

So I've met lots of people and heard lots of stories that I think about and pray over.

Isn’t it surprising what we remember? I like to take time to be alone and think about all that I remember. I think one of the best places for remembering is the car - alone - without the radio on.

This morning - on this feast of All Souls - I remembered a little girl from a classroom I visited while giving a Parish Mission in some parish in Pennsylvania - somewhere - way back when.

She was sitting in the first seat in the second row. I asked the kids, “Any questions?”

This little girl raised her hand and asked, “Is there life after death?” I wasn’t expecting such a question. I wasn’t expecting such a question from a kid in the second or third grade.

Luckily I asked back, “Why? Why do you ask the question?”

She answered, “Because sometimes I wonder.”

I don’t know what I said next. I probably said, “Well, sometimes I wonder too.”

Isn’t that interesting?  I remembered a little tiny kid I met in classroom filled with kids - and I remember her simple question.

“Sometimes I wonder.”

So I wonder why I remember what I remember and what I wonder about.

SOMETIMES I WONDER

I think that little girl stands for all of us. Don’t we all wonder at times if there is life after death? Don’t we all wonder if this is all that there is?

Sometimes I wonder.

Today we are celebrating “All Soul’s Day”. Isn’t that interesting? 

Yesterday we celebrated “All Saint’s Day” - “All Soul’s Day” - back to back feast days to get us thinking about all kinds of saints and all kinds of people whom we have met - who have gone before us?

We remember our dead especially at this celebration of the Eucharist. But don’t we all remember our dead, especially on cold November days when it’s raining? Don’t we remember our dead when we see their photo’s on our bureaus? We remember our dead when we are stopped in traffic for a funeral procession. We remember our dead when we go by a cemetery.

But don’t we all wonder at times, if this is all there is?

Sometimes I wonder.

DUTCH CATECHISM

I remember way back in the 1967 when various changes in the church were beginning to happen. I remember a new catechism appeared on the scene.  It was called, “The Dutch Catechism”. Conservatives panned it and wanted it banned. Liberals welcomed it - saying things like, "Finally a catechism that had a breath of fresh air in it."

I don’t remember anything in that book now - other than it not having a question and answer format as well as  a little story that it opened with.

“In A. D. 627 the monk Paulinus visited King Edwin in northern England to persuade him to accept Christianity. He hesitated and decided to summon his advisers. At the meeting one of them stood up and said: ‘Your majesty, when you sit at table with your lords and vassals, in the winter when the fire burns warm and bright on the hearth and the storm is howling outside, bringing the snow and the rain, it happens of a sudden that a little bird flies into the hall. It comes in one at one door and flies out through the other. For the few moments that it is inside the hall, it does not feel the cold, but as soon as it leaves your sight, it returns to the dark of winter. It seems to me that the life of man is much the same. We do not know what went before and we do not know what follows. If the new doctrine can speak to us surely of these things, it is well for us to follow it.” (p. 3)

JESUS CHRIST

Jesus is the one who helps us get beyond the wondering to faith.

Jesus rose from the dead. That’s our creed and that’s our faith.

STORIES

Yet, don’t we still wonder about whether there is life after death?

I think about the 7 or 8 million Jews as well as Christians, homosexuals, gypsies and handicapped people who were killed by the Nazis. They have no graves. Doesn’t justice scream for resurrection?

I think about the million and more Africans who died after being kidnapped for slavery and brought to the Caribbean and then to South and North America? They have no graves. Doesn’t justice scream for resurrection?

I remember reading  a book on the Irish potato famine and how over a million people were Holocausted by the British. Most have no graves. Then well over a million more fled to Canada, America and Australia, many of whom died and were cast into the sea. They have no graves. Doesn’t justice scream for resurrection?

I think of the millions of babies aborted, most of whom have no graves. Doesn’t their reality  scream for resurrection?

I think of a woman I saw the other day. Her husband had a great job, was on TV, was making good money, and stopped all when his wife got cancer and she was down to 80 pounds and he is caring for her 24 hours a day, while on the next street a woman is also in bed, has two teen age kids, has MS, and her husband took off.  He couldn't handle the situation. Doesn’t justice scream for resurrection and new life for all - especially those who don’t have a full life or were gypped or walked out on?

I think of another book that I just finished. It was written by Immaculee Ilibagiza - with Steve Irwin. The title is, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidsdt the Rwandan Holocaust.  Close to a million Tutsis were killed in 91 days.

SAINT PAUL

Resurrection seems to have to be.

Yet, like that little girl, sometimes we wonder.

If that wonder doesn’t lead to faith, but heads in the direction of doubt, we need to listen to Saint Paul, who said that if Jesus didn’t’ rise from the dead, then we are stupid. We’re fools, we’re jerks. We are kidding ourselves. We’re here in this church, because of Jesus. We go through life the way we do life, with love, serving, committed, helping one another, all because Jesus told us this is the way to do life.

CONCLUSION

Yet that little girl, with her chin in her hands, speaks for all of us, “Sometimes we wonder.”

November 2, 2106 - All Souls Day

ALL  SOULS  DAY

Those who have gone before us

have left us many reminders from

when they walked with us. Dust settles.

Yes - there are many cemeteries.

Yes - there are many photographs.

Yes - there are many reminders.

A restaurant, a church, a park,

a vacation spot, a chair, a movie,

a song we loved, memories ….

But our memory is not a manicured

cemetery.  Bald patches of grass touch

stones leaning against broken stones,

But we are alive - and before dementia

clogs the blood flow of our memory, All

Souls Day, is a good day to remember our dead.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

November 1, 2016

HOLINESS:
ALL  SAINTS  DAY

Seeing all as sacred,

the sun, the moon and the stars,

the tiny baby’s fingers, the old lady’s

wrinkles, proof of her years.

Seeing all with respect,

the homeless and the homebound,

the other’s regular parking place, making

space so the little kid can see the parade.

Seeing the stations of the cross

in church and in people’s lives,

helping them carry their cross and

being with them when they are dying.

Seeing Easter, resurrection,

every day of the week… and being

there to greet the Risen Christ at

breakfast, lunch and supper. Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

ALL HOLY  MEN 
AND WOMEN, 

PRAY  FOR  US

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “All Holy Men and Women, Pray for Us.”

In the Rite of Baptism there is a short litany, that goes like this,

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

St. John the Baptist, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul, pray for us.”

Then the final petition is, “All holy men and women, pray for us.”

That’s where I got the title of this homily.

ALL SAINTS DAY

Today we celebrate all the saints and we ask all of them to pray for us.

And we also look to their lives and imitate their good example.

If you come to the Easter Vigil or if you’ve been at an ordination you know that the sung litany there is much longer and includes a lot more saints by name.

Today we’re simply celebrating - praying to - and asking all the saints - known and unknown - to pray for us.

UNKNOWN SAINTS

We know a lot of saints by name and we have our favorites: St. Teresa of Avila, St. Theresa of Lisieux and Mother Teresa of Calcutta - just to name three.

Today, on all Saints Day, we can look into our lives and name and celebrate holy people - not just saints in prayers, altars, holy cards, but also saints we know - saints who have been part of our lives - a grandparent, a wonderful lady on our street when we were growing up and old nun.

I remember someone telling me about a discovery she had. A lady next door to her mom dropped in every day to bring her mom soup, some oatmeal raisin cookies - her mom’s favorite, and 5 minutes of chat and a Hail Mary, an Our Father and a Glory Be together. Her mom lived in Wisconsin, and this other  lady just happened to drop in to see her mom while on a business trip. After this lady who just stopped in left, this daughter asked her mom, “Who’s that?” Her mom said she was a nice lady from next door. She asked her mom, “How long has she been doing that?” “About 2 1/2 years now,” her mom said. Then her daughter said, “ Two comments ‘Nice! And great oatmeal raisin cookies.”

There are a lot of saints like that in our world.

You can meet them as check-out counter ladies, doctors, nurses, lawn men, mechanics, physical therapists, book club members or what have you, in the St. Vincent de Paul Society.”

“All holy men and women, pray for us.”

SUFFISM

I remember hearing in a talk years ago that a very spiritual branch of Islam is Sufism. And one of the key teachings is to be a saint, but keep it quiet, and to become an unknown saint.

I think Christianity has that same branch on its tree.

All one has to do to be a saint is to simply love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

All one has to do is to live out the Beatitudes - that we heard in today’s gospel.

Saints come in all kinds of sizes, shapes and situations.

They are not thinking about waltzing into heaven in bright white garments. They are concerned about people in all kinds of outfits all around them.

Saints are sinners in a new edition.

I remember a talk a neat saintly priest once gave. He said something like this, “Sin is a stain on our souls. We know what it it’s like to spill and drop our food on our clothes and they cause stains.”

Then he said, “Sin is a stain….”

He paused and looked into his open hand and said, “I have 5 letters in my hand. An S, a T, an A, an I and a T.  “They can spell out the word “stain”. Then he added, I can throw these 5 letters up in the air to God and then he spinned around and said, “I can catch these 5 letters as they come back down to earth. But look,” he said, “This time they spell out the word, ‘S A I N T.’”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “All Holy Men and Women, Pray for Us.” 

October 31, 2016

AT  THE  TABLE

On the table, knives, forks, spoons,

glasses, big plates, small plates,

a big salad bowl, salad dressings,

bread, butter, roast beef, gravy,

mashed potatoes, peas, a pie,

cloth napkins, cups and saucers,

sugar. salt, Old Bay, honey,  pepper,

tabasco Sauce, two candles….

At the table 6 people - on 6 chairs -

with 6 cell phones - texting and

talking - with 6 people maybe at
other tables in far cities and towns -

all in communication with each other -

telling each other what they are

having for dinner with each other

and what’s happening around the table.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

ME TOO, O LORD

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 31^st Monday in Ordinary Time  is, “Me Too, O Lord.”

For years when I heard today’s gospel - Luke 14: 12-14 - when it talks about inviting into our lives the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, I have felt guilty - because I have not done this - that is, inviting the poor  inside the rectories I have lived in.

And from time to time I have read about people and places doing this - and I have not been able to say, “Me too, O Lord.”

In my first assignment, living and working on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City  - East 3^rd Street - Most Holy Redeemer Church and Rectory - we didn’t do this - but 2 blocks and less than a mile away - the Catholic Worker place did - with Dorothy Day.

We do it a tiny bit here in the winter for a week. If any of you do that, great and thank you. And the St. Vincent de Paul Society does a lot for the poor - and various parishioners volunteer at the Lighthouse Shelter, and this parish is very, very generous in helping the poor.

Still I feel guilty…. for not doing this - not hobnobbing with the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind - as Jesus tells us to do in today’s gospel and especially in the Gospel of Luke.

THEN ONE DAY

Then one day it struck me - living with other priests - we are the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind - and we live together - and are working at living with one another.

Then another day - some time after that first realization - I realized that I am poor, crippled, lame and blind.

Then I realized that could be a cop out from being with the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

Then I realized each of us and all of us Christians have to deal with this reality - this challenge - coming from the words of Jesus.

And I’m very aware in all the primaries and in the presidential debates, I don’t remember hearing a sentence or very little about the poor.

And I have heard enough people say the following: “With all the people in the United States, we couldn’t come up with better candidates in the primaries and the presidential debates.”  Notice  how I word that comment. I have problems with politics and the pulpit.

Of course - but we need to say, “Me too, O Lord.”

So that brings me back to my comment: I am poor, crippled, lame and blind.

Hence the title of my homily.

PRIESTS

I have lived with enough priests in the past 50 years to say we are the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

Look at the priest - kids abuse problem in our church. I’ve heard numbers from 2% to 6%. I’ve heard that the numbers are higher when it comes to sexual abuse in families, etc.,  etc.,  etc.  So there are crippled people in our midst - in all structures of life and society.

I have never forgotten the comment I once heard that came from a little old lady in Jersey City, New Jersey, “The 5 marks of the Catholic Church are. It’s one, holy, Catholic, apostolic and it survives its clergy.”

Being a priest I know about people’s complaints about us priests.

I know the comment about priests, “1/3 like you, 1/3 don’t like you, and 1/3 don’t give a dang about you.”

I’m sure that comment can be made of everyone - every family - every situation.”

SO THE FIRST STEP IS

The first step is to know that each of us is poor, crippled, lame and blind in our own way.

That first step can then lead us into this place, into this banquet, into this meal with Jesus - and to have the great feeling of being at home with Jesus the host - at Mass.

The second step is that like Jesus we then treat other poor, crippled, lame and blind others as he has treated us. In other words we take have begun to take on these wonderful qualities we heard about in today’s first reading: compassion, mercy, joy, love, unity humility, regarding and more interest in others as more important than ourselves. [Cf. Philippians 2:1-4.]

CONCLUSION

Today Halloween is a great feast day. We have in us ghoulishness, monsters, trick or treating others as okay if they sweeten us up - as well as having tomorrow’s qualities - our call to all of us being and becoming saints.