THE  PAUSE  THAT 

CAN  MAKE  US  A  SAINT 

  

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “The Pause That Can Make Us a Saint.”

TO BE HUMAN

To be human - means we pause.

To be smart - means we take time out - when needed.

It’s wise to say, “Give me some time.”

It’s wise to say, “Wait a minute. Let me think about this.”

It’s wise to say, “Wait a minute.  Wait a moment.  Wait.  Let me think about all this.”

That’s what I did - so as to prepare this homily - this sermon - these comments.

I paused and thought about what might be helpful for today.

A retreat day is a pause.

The junior retreat which is coming up - is a pause.

The Kairos Retreats are a pause.

PAUSE WORKS - OR CAN WORK

Years ago - when a kid was being bad - parents might spank them.

They figured the kid was being dumb - but he or she would /could feel hurt - on their back side - and maybe then they would think before they act.

Someone else said, “Wait a minute. Pause. Think about it.  Wouldn’t it be better if the kid was punished by being asked to sit in the corner - or ‘Go to his or her room’.  Maybe then they would pause and think about what they did to others - or that they lied - or were not being cooperative.”

Someone else said, “That didn’t work for my kids - but a good spanking did work.”  Others said, “That never worked for me nor for my kids - but the silent treatment  often worked.

What works for you?

Pause and think about your life.

PAUSING - TAKING TIME OUTS IS A SKILL

Taking time outs is a skill.

In sports you only have so many time outs - and if you challenge a call - and they look at the video tape - sometimes the coach who screamed - ends up losing a time out.

A pause - a time out  - a thinking about it - can help.

PRIEST IN ERIE PENNYSYLVANIA

A significant moment in life happened one Sunday morning in Erie, Pennsylvania. I was preaching at all the Masses for a weekend - about attending a week long parish mission in that parish.

Evidently the pastor forgot to tell a “helping out” priest for the 9 AM Sunday morning Mass that I was going to be preaching.  He came into the sacristy about 8:40 AM and asked who I was.  I said, “Oh I preaching at the 9 AM Mass about attending the upcoming parish mission.”

His face tightened up and he turned and walked out.

I immediately said to myself, “Uh oh. I guess the pastor didn’t tell him that I was preaching this weekend.”

He came back at 5 to 9 and told me, “Sorry. I didn’t know that you were preaching.”  Then he added, “I have a short fuse, so I learned to walk away when I am about to explode. So I just walked around the block two times.”

After Mass he told me that he had been in Atlanta the night before and didn’t get back till 10 PM - did a little work on a homily  and then got up that morning at 6 AM to finish his homily. If I knew you were preaching I would have gotten a lot more sleep.”

I said, “Ooops. Sorry.”

Well, his homily to me was, “Instead of losing it, walk away from explosive mistakes and catch one’s breath.”

Translation: “Pause!”

SAINTS

Ginny asked me to talk a little bit to you about saints.

So let me talk about the power of pause in the lives of a few saints.

The priests in this parish are Redemptorists.

Our founder, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori was a lawyer.

Once he lost a big law case and he went into the pits.

We were taught that he missed a key thing in his study in a law suit about land. Later on we heard a theory that the other side bribed someone and got the case settled in their favor. This is what killed Alphonsus.

So his life went into pause mode. He went into his room and cried a few days. Depression sunk in.

In that devastation, he decides to become a priest.

He becomes a priest, works his butt off, becomes sick, so to recover his friends suggest he take a vacation down on the Amalfi Coast. He does and while there, someone tells him there are goat herders up in the hills above Amalfi - that no priests seem to care about and what have you.

He checks out the story and discovers folks up in the hills who could use a priest  much more than folks in Naples.

That pause at Amalfi changes his life. In 1732 he forms a group of priests and brothers who are to go to places where there are no priests.

That’s how we got to Annapolis. There were no priests here before 1853. Jesuits would come up at times and say Mass at the Charles Carroll property.

The second saint would be a guy named Saint Clement Hofbauer. He paused and looked at the need for priests in Vienna Austria in the 1780’s - who were not in control of the state. He paused and looked at his life. He went down to Italy and he and a buddy, Thaddeus Hubl,  said they would go to the first church whose bells they heard on a Sunday morning. They went to a Redemptorist Monastery and the rest is history.

They were ordained in 1785 and went back to Vienna - but couldn’t get through the red tape to be priests in Vienna - and under control of Emperor Joseph, so they went to Warsaw and started our community up there.  They grew and grew but were booted out of Poland.

So Clement went back to Vienna and started us up there - and we steadily grew - but with a lot of struggle. Clement died in Vienna on March 15, 1820.

In time the bishop of Cincinnati wrote to Vienna and asked if some of our priests could come and help the Germans there. There was a shortage of priests.

Sure enough in 1832 six Redemptorists came to the United States and the rest is history.

The next saint would be Saint John  Neumann who came to the United States to become a diocesan priest in New York. He was ordained on June 25, 1836 and was sent way up to churches near Buffalo New York.

He worked hard - but he paused. He realized he wanted companionship and community  - so he joined the Redemptorists and was professed on January 16, 1842.

Next would be an almost Saint, a priest name Blessed Peter Donders. He wanted to come to the United States as a missionary - but that didn’t work at first - but someone told him about Surinam in South America. He paused and thought about it - and that’s where he was sent - arriving in Paramaribo on September 16, 1842.

Then someone in Rome said, “Let’s let the Redemptorists do the whole place, so Peter Donders would have to go back to Holland.

He was working hard with people who had leprosy, with Native people  besides Parish work. So he became a Redemptorist in 1867.

PAUSE

All these men had to pause to look at life and people in need.

If you want to be a saint, I’m suggesting in this homily to pause and look around you.

From time to time, pause to look at mom’s face or dad’s face or a teacher’s face and watch how they are doing. Then approach them from time to time and ask them how they are doing. Ask them can you help them with their work.

From time to time pause to look at how other kids in the bus or car or van are doing. Learn faces. Ask folks how they are doing.

From time to time, if you have  great chocolate chip cookies or what have you and dare to share with them.

I think about my dad. He was the quietest person I ever met.

As I look about on my life, that’s a regret that I didn’t talk to my dad enough. But as I look back I realize he said a lot without words.

Every Sunday he took us to the park. He did that to give my mom a break from us four kids.

I noticed that we complained.

But I noticed that my brother did the same with his 7 daughters. He would take them to DC on Sunday morning to give his wife, Joanne, a break. And they complained. And I noticed they have done the same with their kids.

Pause. Giving oneself or others is a wonderful break to give people.

Pause. Stopping to look at one’s life is a smart move.

Pause. Looking around when you pause is a smart move.

CONCLUSION

I have a theory that God is the great pause.

He created this great big world of ours and now he’s pausing to see how and what we’re doing with his gifts. Amen. 

April 6, 2017

AHEAVENISTS  

AND  AHELLISTS 

There are some who don’t believe in a

heaven or hell - an afterwards - becoming

atheists-  throwing out God - to boot.

There are some who don’t know

they believe in a heaven or hell -

here and now - in their inner circus.

There are some, you can follow them -

and you’ll hear them say, “The hell

with you!” - or “Go to hell - you ____.”

There are some, you can watch them.

They want Paradise - Heaven - Love -

here and now  - in their inner circle.

There are some - who learn, who change -

who convert - moving from hell to heaven -

and some who give up and go to hell.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

I made up two new words for this reflection:
ahellists and aheavenists.  We all know the word
atheists.  All three words begin with the
so called, "Privative Alpha".  Alpha is the first
letter in the Greek alphabet.
Alpha-Privative words are words that have
the prefix "a" before a consonant and "an"
before a vowel. Notice the word privative.
The privative-alpha takes away from the
rest of the word. Some examples:
agnostic, without knowing. We are
unable to have knowledge of God.

Abyss - means without a bottom.

Anorexia - without the desire for food.

Amorphous - without a form.

April 5, 2017

SPRING ENVY

The dead dry leaves caught in

the bushes on the edge of the

lawn envied the young budding

leaves of Spring in the trees.

Officially,  they said to one another,

“Been there, done that, back then.”

But the creep of envy underneath

their comments could be felt by all.

Going to weddings, seeing couples

holding hands, the rich getting richer,

my team didn’t improve, envy

breezes through the air every Spring.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

TO KNOW 

WHAT’S KILLING US

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “To Know What’s Killing Us.”

Have we ever said, “This is killing me!”?

It could be work - overdoing it. It could be - being out of work - and we are feeling the stress of not being able to get a job. It could be laziness, no exercise, letting our bodies sink deeper and deeper into couches or Lazy Boy chairs.  It could be our kids on their cell phones - all the time - and nobody is listening to anyone - and that causes us agita - agita. It could be alcohol or overeating. It could be addiction to solitaire - or TV - or porn - or what have you. Name your poison.

It could be aging parents - and nobody in the family is helping - and I feel stuck with that job. But helping them is not what’s killing me. What’s killing me  is that the my brothers and sisters don’t do squddily squat - and my parents are always raving how good they are.

It  could be envy, anger, fear, worry, lack of trust - negativity - negativity - negativity.

Have we ever said, “This is killing me!”?

TODAY’S READINGS

In today’s first reading from the Book of Numbers it’s the saraph snakes in the desert. They are killing folks.  People are being bit and they are dying.

So Moses orders that someone make a bronze snake and mount it on a pole and point at it and tell the folks, “This is what is killing you - being bit by this snake - this serpent. So watch where you walk and check your tent site.

In today’s gospel Jesus says sin is what is killing you. Not believing who Jesus is - is what is killing you - but if I be lifted up - if you realize that I am the Son of Man - if your realize I AM - the one sent from the Father - if you believe in me - then you will be saved - and not condemned.

TITLE OF MY HOMILY

The title of my homily is, “To Know What’s Killing Us.”

We need to know that - as well as knowing what will save us - better who will save us.

So the medical profession puts the snake on the pole as their emblem - that we go to the doctor to find out what’s killing us.

So our Christian churches put images of Christ on the Cross to tell the world, “Christ is the one who will save us.”  Christ is the great doctor and healer of our souls.

So they point to Christ on the pole saying: this is what we do to each other when we do nasty to each other - but we can also hear from the cross - the great message of forgiveness. We don’t know where we are doing.

THE PARADOX

The paradox of the cross is that awareness of what’s killing us - what killed Christ - can save us.

We are daily Mass goers, so we know the scriptures better by hearing them over and over again.

How many times have we heard the gospels say, “The Scribes and the Pharisees were looking for ways to kill him.”

Spending their time plotting venting nasty innuendos against Jesus backfired - it always does - and killed the Holy Spirit within the Pharisees. They were able to get Jesus killed - but they killed true Judaism and true religion in their own hearts and minds.

CONCLUSION

Keep your eye on Jesus - and he’ll point out what gives life and what causes the death - especially of the Holy Spirit within us.

April 4, 2017

ENTANGLEMENT

How and when, do rosaries

and necklaces, string and thread,

get tangled up? I don’t know.

Maybe it's when we are looking 

for something else in the top 

drawer - tangle happens.

Then again I don’t know why.

Our mind is a top drawer 
with all sorts of ideas 
and images, memories 
and moments - each next 
to or under each other, and

without looking tangle happens.

Then again I don’t know why.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

EVEN  THOUGH  I  WALK 
IN THE DARK VALLEY 

I  FEAR  NO  EVIL; 
FOR  YOU  ARE  AT  MY  SIDE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5^th Monday in Lent  is the psalm response for today’s Mass, “Even Though I Walk In the Dark Valley I Fear No Evil; For You Are At My Side.”

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings both have  the situation of a woman being accused of adultery and men want to kill them - stone them to death.

In the first reading from Daniel  it’s 2 Dirty old men who lust after Susanna and in the gospel it’s the woman caught in adultery - who  the Scribes and the Pharisees want to use her to kill her and Jesus as well.

The Psalm reading for today is Psalm  23 - which is very appropriate - because in both stories - each woman needs God to be at their side in such a horrible situation.

In the first reading it’s Daniel who saves Susanna. In the gospel it’s Jesus who saves this woman caught in adultery.

WHEN WE ARE IN A DARK VALLEY AND EVIL WANTS TO STONE US.

Everyone from time to time finds themselves in situations where others want to condemn us.

Till this day in India this same situation happens - because of male domination. Culture, custom control whom you can date and marry.

To this date in Islamic cultures where Sharia Law is imposed, sometimes women are stoned to death because of whom they date, want to marry, whom they fall in love with.

Back in the time of Puritan New England we had amongst the Puritans the same type of laws. We’ve all read or heard of Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlett Letter.

In our families there are stories about judgment for whom someone wants to marry.  He’s a Muslim. She’s of another color. He has tattoos and jewlerly.

He’s a mechanic or a maintenance man or a butcher or a baker or what have you.

STEPPING BACK AND SEE THE BIG PICTURE

In listening to people I have discovered some good news. It’s when people are worried when they become too judgmental.

To get the big picture, we need to say, “I don’t know why so and so is doing such and such a thing.”

There’s an interesting new book out, It Didn't Start With You: The Mystery of Inherited Trauma by Mark Wolynn.   It’s worth reading because of his thesis - that perhaps we are still influenced by what our great-grandparents have done.

He walks people back 3 or 4 generations.

The dark valley is a long dark valley.

I have to think about that. I did remember hearing, if you want to change someone, you have to start with your grandparents.

Maybe we picked up attitudes, religion, strictness, legalism, from our parents who picked it up  from their parents and they picked it up from their parents and on and on and on back.

Maybe we have to pause and realize God is at our side - walking with us - all through the generations.

Maybe once we sense God’s presence in our life - perhaps our God whom we think is fast asleep - we have to wake God up or let God shake us up and begin to influence us and others for the better.

Many of you worry about faith and grandkids.

Keep practicing your faith. Someone is picking it up.  Maybe today we are influencing 4 generations to come. Amen. 

April 3, 2017

SPACE

Space - that place - empty -

where we place stuff - chairs -

words - sounds - that fill the

silence - the donut hole in

the gold links of a necklace

chain - just sitting there on a

naked neck - not noticed until

or unless silence becomes irksome -

and someone wants to run out into

the night and stare at the black

vastness of the universe and

scream, “God where are You?”

 © Andy Costello, Reflections  2017