IT’S  EASTER  TIME! 

RISE  AND  SHINE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “It’s Easter Time! Rise and Shine!”

We’ve all heard the song or hymn, “Rise and Shine! Give God the Glory.”

“It’s Easter Time! Rise and Shine.”

WHAT IF’S

Life is filled with lots of “What if’s…?

What are yours?

I became a priest with the hope of being a foreign missionary and get stationed in Brazil. It never happened. Instead, my first assignment was the Lower East Side of Manhattan - during the hippie revolution.

So at times, I’ve wondered what didn’t happen in my life as a result - what that would have been like - thinking and speaking in Brazilian Portuguese. Don’t we all wonder about the “What if’s?” in life. The latest issue of Sports Illustrated has about 25 What if’s. What if Babe Ruth was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1920 instead of the Yankees? What if Tiger Woods followed his dream in 2005 and became a Navy Seal? So  I’ve wondered what Easter and Christmas are like - in the Southern Hemisphere - Easter in the Autumn and Christmas in the summer time.

Well, we’re in the Northern Hemisphere and Jesus rose from the dead in the Spring - in Palestine - which certainly makes for a more logical understanding of this feast day - Christ Springing and flowering into new life in his resurrection.

I’ve never been stationed in Florida - so does the geography and ecology and environment of being in 4 seasons affect our dispositions and our spirituality - and our way of thinking - more than 2 seasons - warm and warmer.

I remember asking my brother after he and his wife had a 2 week vacation in Barbados one February - what it was like - and his answer, “Well, they certainly didn’t invent the computer down there?” I hope there is nobody here from Barbados - but if there is, my brother is long dead if anyone wants to correct him.

LENT IS OVER

We began Lent some 40 days ago - and the Ash Wednesday readings - the Lenten readings - urged dying to self  during Lent.  Overcome selfishness  and self-centeredness - and rise to new life.

Are we any different today - April 16 - Easter Sunday - than we were last  Ash Wednesday - March 1^st?

Hopefully, some new life broke through the ground of our being - like crocuses in our gardens - like cherry blossoms on our trees - now that Winter is over and Spring is here. Did Lent 2017 make a difference in our way of living and doing life?

Spring is the season to spring into action - working our lawns if we’re blessed to have a front yard or a back yard.

Easter is a time to see and hear the scream and song  of birds and flowers and enjoy April Showers.

Did we get some deeper spiritual growth going on in the garden of our soul this Lent?

We heard the Preface of Lent: “For you will that our self-denial should give you thanks, humble our sinful pride, contribute to the feeding of the poor, and so help us imitate you in your kindness.”

Did it?

Hopefully some of that happened to all of us a bit better this Lent, this year - a  bit better than last year - 2016.

It’s Easter time…. Rise and Shine.

A HOMILY IDEA: MOVING THE STONES

In today’s gospel Mary of Magdala went to the tomb early in the morning - while it was still dark.  Surprise the stone was removed from the tomb. She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved.

They ran to the tomb.

Surprise the stone had been rolled back and the tomb was empty.

For a homily idea, how about looking at the stones that weigh us down - or the stone that blocks the way out of our tomb - here and hereafter.

We’ve all heard stories about people being trapped in buildings that caved in - because of an earthquake or a bomb blast or what have you.

Rescue teams get cranes and jack hammers - and this and that - are used to lift the stones and cement slabs that are locking and blocking a person from being rescued.

The gospels tell us that Mary of Magdala and the other disciples were wondering how to move the stone when they would get to the tomb. Who will move the rock?

Listening to people as priest, I hear people tell me about what’s weighing them down.

About a month ago about 10 or 15 people asked me if everything was okay.

I said, “Yeah, great.”

But when the 16^th person asked me, I asked myself, “Is everything okay?”

It hit me that I was worried about a few people with cancer - especially a niece. I was feeling “ug - ug - ugly!” about some people - including family who were not talking to each other.”

So I realized. I admitted to myself. Some things were weighing me down. I was carrying some heavy stones on my mind and they must have been showing up on my face  - pushing outwards from my talking brain.

Are you okay?  Do you have any family or work stones or life stones weighing you down?

All of us are weighed down by our past - usually some major mistake. Or we’ve been hurt or what have you.

Who can take away the hurts or our world?

Who can take away the stones that weigh us down?

Who can take away the sins of our world?

This gospel text gives us great hope.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of our world.

Jesus is the stone remover - the rock roller.

Jesus is the Savior of our world.

Now right at this issue of who will remove the stone, we have a clear example of a great theological issue: who does what?

Is it all God?  Is it all me?

I have a collection of statements from various religions, which brings out that it’s an issue of co-operation.

I love the saying, “Pray for potatoes, but pick up a shovel.”

The Muslims say the same thing.  “When you camp for the night, pray to Allah - God - that your camel doesn’t run away - but make sure you tie him to your tent pegs.”

You’ve heard the funny one, “Pray to win the lottery, but make sure you buy a ticket.”

So we humans have our problems, moral,  physical, and mental struggles, issues and addictions.

We have to do our part  - all the steps necessary to take for recovery.

We can get help when things are weighing us down - physical help, psychological help (counseling, therapy, talking to a friend, or a priest or someone who is a good listener).

We have to do our best to get the best help - and ask the priest to come and anoint our dad or mom, etc.

Take the stones of gossip and talking about others.

People are rock throwers - they haven’t heard Jesus’ words about, “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”

Or  take the stones of jealousy and envy that can weigh us down.

Jealousy and envy- words that are often mixed up.

Jealousy has to do with having something and not wanting to lose it.  It can be another. It can be money. It can be our brain power.  We are nervous of dementia as we get older. That’s jealousy - this worrying about losing what we have - because of aging.

Then there is envy - which is a funny thing. We want something we don’t have. Yet even though it weighs next to nothing, wanting it can wear us out and weigh us down.

So we need Christ to help us in these inner struggles - with these heavy inner stones.

CONCLUSION

Death is somewhat the same. Easter can obviously trigger the issue of death. That’s a big stone - the tombstone of death - even before we die.

Fear of dying, not trusting God can wear us out.

But unlike getting a shovel to dig up potatoes, in death we have to totally let God dig us out of that one.

The act of faith is that  we’re dead in death - but God is alive.

At Easter we make the act of faith that God is at the other side of death - not us - because Jesus rolled away the stone of death.

Easter announces that. St. Paul said, What if Jesus did not rise from the dead. All else is dumb - without that faith . Resurrection is the great What if.

What if Jesus rose from the dead.  Now that makes the difference for us for all eternity.

I’m assuming after we die, we’ll be wasting away or what have you or however this happens for us - and we’ll hear the words on the other side of death, “It’s Easter Time. Rise and shine. Give God the Glory!”

_______________________________________________________________

Russian Icon on top: 15th Century

April 16, 2017 - Easter Sunday

DID  JESUS  KNOW? 

Did Jesus know when he died

on the cross that Friday afternoon

that he would wake up alive on

the Easter side of this disaster?

Wait, before you scream “Heresy!”,

let me ask you an obvious question,

“Why did he scream, ‘My God, my
God,  why have you forsaken me?’”

Read again the stories of that Friday as if

Jesus was only God, and tell me what 
you're thinking - Jesus was thinking - as he

fell on the street and died on the cross.

Tell me Jesus didn’t feel brokenness that Thursday when he broke the bread - looking at Judas - and when he drank the wine - having been with all of us these past few years of life?

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

JACKIE  ROBINSON

APRIL  15, 1947

Today Jackie Robinson - number 42 - began his big league career for the Brooklyn Dodgers. I've always been happy to say I saw a game that season at the age of 7 - in Ebbets Field, and I remember Jackie Robinson.

April 15, 2017

ROLL CALL

Each day,

life the great teacher,

calls out our name

as we meet at least

3 key moments or 1 key person.

Each day

this disciple called, “me”,

sits there in life’s classroom,

and we can  respond with

either a “Present” or an “Absent”.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

JUST  SITTING, 

JUST  THINKING, 

JUST  PRAYING 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Good Friday Service  is, “Just Sitting, Just Thinking, Just Praying.”

A little girl came into church one day - and saw all those people sitting there - and it was a very quiet moment in the Mass and she asked her grandmother, “What are all these people doing?”

And her grandmother answered, “Just sitting, just thinking, just praying.”

So the title of my homily is just that, “Just Sitting, Just Thinking, Just Praying.”

And if someone asks you, “Why do you go to church?” there’s a good answer. Simply say, “Just Sitting, Just Thinking, Just Praying.”

MOVIE - OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR

Around 1970 - during the Vietnam War - I went with a couple of guys to see the movie, “Oh What a Lovely War.”

Amazingly,  it was a musical. It was a shoot-em-up. It was a horror movie.

It contrasted what was going on back home in England during World War I to  what was happening in the trenches and the killing fields of Europe.

The war - dubbed “The War To End All Wars” - went on from 1914 to 1918.

We’re in the midst of its 100^th anniversary - right now - and not as much has been made of it - as should be made of it.

70 million military personnel were involved - 60 million European.

9 million combatants and then another 7 million civilians were killed.

The war ended in 1918 with the armistice.

The movie ended and something very unusual happened in that New York Theater that night. I heard after wards, it happened many times after the movie ended.

Nobody moved when the movie ended.  People were just sitting there. People were just thinking there. I don’t know how many people were praying there. Nobody was talking.

It felt like forever - till we all stood up - and quietly walked out of the theater into the night.

The final scene of the movie had 4 women dressed in white: a grandmother, two young women, and a young girl. They were sitting in this great big - enormous green hilly field. It was easy on the eyes and a welcome sight on the screen after two hours of seeing mud and water and rain and machine gun fire and bomb blasts and soldiers dying, dying, dying, just to get less than a hundred yards of dirt brown ground and holes.

And the little girl in white says to her grandmother in the presence of her mother and an aunt, “Granny, what did daddy do in the war.”

And the song that answers that little girl’s question has the refrain, “Oh,  we’ll never tell them, no we’ll never tell them ….”

And across the movie screen - across the big green field on the movie screen - comes a lone soldier - the war is over and he comes to a  place where there are 4 soldiers - laying there alive but not talking in the waving green grass - eyes closed or looking at the sky.

And the lone soldier plops himself down - without any words - on the grass - and then the 5 men fade and disappear  - and the field then has 5 white crosses and then the camera in this last scene in the movie - pans back the scene and the field now has  5 thousand - then 50 thousand at least - white crosses all lined up in perfect symmetry in this gigantic military cemetery.

It’s worth seeing this movie.

It’s worth seeing bits and pieces of this movie on You Tube snippets - especially that last scene - with all those crosses.

IT’S GOOD FRIDAY

Today we come to church to:  just sit, just think, just pray.

As priest I get to kiss the cross of Christ early on - up front - and personal.  Then all of you come up to kiss the cross as well.

I love to then sit back and watch.

I remember reading Karl Rahner - the famous German Jesuit theologian’s sermon - for  Good Friday. He thinks out loud about 10 or 15 people who kiss the cross and tells you what they might be thinking and praying about at that moment.

Tonight do the same. Watch each other. Think about each other. Pray for each other.

The big long gospel reading mentions 10 or 15 people whom we might  think about on Good Friday. Jesus the Nazarene entering a garden on the last night of his life - needing to find space and time to pray - but with his disciples and they bottom out and fall asleep. Then there is Judas and the Pharisees and the soldiers. What were they thinking? Then there was Peter who denies knowing Jesus. What did that do to him for the rest of his life? Did his failure make him a better first pope?  What about the chief priest? What was his take on the weak and easily manipulated Pontius Pilate?  What about Barabbas? Did he pinch himself when the crowd screamed for Jesus’ death and spared him that day? What about Mary and the Beloved Disciple under the cross.  What about those who heard Jesus say, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing?” What did Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea think - when they asked for Jesus body so they could bury him? Did their faith that day - die as well?

That’s a lot of people to think about - those at the time of Jesus, those who are with us in church tonight, those out there tonight in battle zones and in harm’s way in the killing fields or our world.

CONCLUSION

Picture a little girl coming into the back of this church tonight. Hear her seeing us here tonight and then thinking and saying, “What are you doing here in church tonight?  What  did you do in your life so far?”

And unlike the men in the movie, “Oh What a Lovely War,” talk to each other about life’s big questions - what you have seen so far in life - what you’re thinking about each day - and what you’re praying about. Amen.

April 14, 2017

GOOD  FRIDAY

People screaming at Jesus:

“Crucify him. Crucify him.”

As if he was running for office.

No.  And he was not running

for his life. He was standing up

and standing out for the Good.

After that it’s a mystery why God

became one of us and was willing

to lay down his life for his friends.

And enemies…. To scream out from

the cross “Father forgive them for

they don’t know what they are doing."

To voice from the cross - to God our

Father - what everyone feels while

suffering, “Why have you forsaken me?”

To pray: “Into your hands, my God,

 I hand over my spirit.” To hear back,

“Today, you’ll be with me in Paradise.”

©  Andy Costello, Reflections  2017
Painting on top: The Yellow Christ 
by Paul Gauguin, 1889

WEARING  A  CROWN 

  

The title of my reflection for this Holy Thursday Morning is, “Wearing a Crown.”

I think I’ve had this Holy Thursday morning reflection every year for the past ten years or so, so I look for something new every year from this short reading from Hebrews - Chapter 2 - verses  9b-10.

"We see Jesus crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, that through God’s gracious will he might taste death for the sake of all. Indeed, it was fitting that when bringing many to glory, God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make their leader in the work of salvation perfect through suffering." 

Last night I read this text a few times to see what would hit me. This year - it’s  the idea of being crowned. The reading begins, “We see Jesus crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.”

If Father Tizio was preaching this I’m sure he would have found a golden crown - like one from Burger King - or asked if they had a crown as a left over prop in our school.  He’s the best I’ve ever seen with props for preaching. I love the way he introduces a theme and then goes over behind the altar or a chair or the podium and brings out a prop we all can see.

From this reading I could see him holding two crowns: a gold one for a king - and a crown of thorns which Jesus gets tonight or tomorrow - when being ridiculed by the Roman soldiers who arrested him.

This week we see Jesus both in glory and honor -  and Jesus in sorrow and suffering.

On Palm Sunday Jesus is hailed as Prophet, Priest and King - coming into Jerusalem in honor and glory - but by Friday - Bad Friday - which was renamed Good Friday because on the cross - he dies and saves the world.

If we look at our lives there are days when we felt like a king or queen - for example on our 25 or 50^th birthday or anniversary  - or we were the one chosen to crown Mary Queen - in a Marian May Procession. We might have had a solo in a musical or hit a solo home run in a baseball or softball game - and we were the hero - or there was a game when we struck out or made an error and we were booed.

Life is both!  Life is  both successes and failures.

Which do we learn from the most?

Many say we learn the most from our mistakes - our sufferings - our failures - when we are hurting.

Many say we learn the most from our crosses.

It’s when we recover - when we rise.

That Holy Thursday evening Jesus sat down and ate his final meal with his disciples. He talked about the great themes - that he had preached and talked about - all through his trips through Palestine.

Life is all about being last - being the servant of all - washing feet - providing bread and wine - food for others - proclaiming what life is all about - saying to each other, “This is my body, this is my blood, I giving it to you, I’m being poured out in love for you.”

Do that yourselves in memory of me.

That Holy Thursday evening he needed his disciples to pray with him - at least for an hour - in the garden - but they didn’t get it - they still didn’t get what Jesus was about.  They were still sleeping.

That Holy Thursday evening he experienced betrayal by a kiss - when Judas arrived with those who gave him 30 pieces of silver - and Jesus was handed over - dragged away for trial - a scene we’ve seen on TV and news clips a hundred thousand million times ever since - from Calvary to Auschwitz to Tijuana.

That Holy Thursday evening Jesus experienced the crown of suffering - that would lead to his death - but we know the rest of the story: Easter - the rising - the being lifted up of Jesus - up out of the tomb.

This Holy Thursday morning I’ll close with our reading from Hebrews once again, “We see Jesus crowned  with glory and honor because he suffered death, that through God’s gracious will he might taste death for the sake of all.”