ALTAR

 INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 12 Monday in Ordinary Time  is, “Altar.”

When I spotted the scene in today’s first reading from Genesis 12:1-9 - where Abraham builds an altar at Shechem and then another altar at Bethel - I began thinking about altars.

What are your thoughts about altars?  

What are my thoughts about altars?

What’s  the anthropology  about altars? Who has written the best stuff about altars?  I assume it would be in the various books I have by  Mircea Eliade. Maybe Rudolf Otto would have good stuff as well - in his studies about the non-rational - the holy. Then there's Clifford Howell's classic book: On Sacraments and Sacrifice.

Altars?  What does that word trigger?

As an altar boy and then as  priest I have been standing at altars all my life - so I should have some thoughts about altars.

RELIGIONS

Do all religions have altars?

I don’t know.

I do know that ancient religions - Judaism and Christianity - have altars.

They are places of sacrifice.

They are places where we go to - to connect with God.

They are places where we say to God, “I need you.”

They are places where we offer up a good to get a better situation.

They are sacred places.

JUDAISM

We can mine the Bible and pick up different scenes and situations where altars are central.

First of all there were altars where offerings were burned. They are called “burnt offerings” or “holocausts”.  The victim was completely burned - destroyed - no return. Is it any wonder that became the name of what happened to the Jews and others at Auschwitz, etc. etc. etc.?

Next there were altars where peace offerings were placed. It would be food. God got some, the priests got some, the offerors got some. It was a moment of communion. I assume if we get an understanding  of that, we will have a better understanding of the Mass as a peace offering. We want peace.

There were also guilt or sin offerings placed on altars. It was a way of trying to make amends to God.

A variation of some of these ceremonies were cereal offerings. Related to this was the Showbread ceremony. This included the offering of bread and the sharing of bread. One thought was that bread shows us the face of God.  Bread brings comfort and peace and connection with God and each other.

So that’s a short list of the use of altars in the Jewish Bible. Of course these ceremonies changed and developed in time.

THE MASS - THE ALTAR

Today’s gospel puts us into the New Testament.  Mention of altars is not in today’s gospel, but in the New Testament - in books like Hebrew’s especially, we have New Testament ideas about altars.

Ceremonies with altars continue with our Mass.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

These are just quick glances to look at - in an effort to understand the meaning of an altar.

I will have to do more homework on all this.

I know I have to make connections between altars and tables.

Jesus was at a table I presume at his Last Supper.

The altar is called a table at times.

The Mass is a meal

I think of the sacredness of the family table. I look back at our childhood and our kitchen table. It was where we ate,  where we prayed, where we played cards, where we did our homework, etc.

I have to do a lot more homework on all this.

I know -  that after baptisms - I like to have the parents of a baby come up to the altar and stand where the priest stands. I say to the couple that I am trying to make the connection between the Mass and Baptism. So I tell the parents to put their hand on their baby and repeat along with me, “This is my body. This is my blood. We’re giving our life to you.” 

Then I conclude by saying: "This is the sacrifice of the Mass - your life for your son or daughter. It’s all connected."

Welcome!

[I didn't mention this from the pulpit - yesterday Sunday June 24, 2017 - so I'm putting it here on my blog.]

The Catholic bishops of Maryland issued the following statement addressing immigration in Maryland on May 30, 2017

The issue of immigration continues to raise controversy at both the national and state level, often spurring passionate debate that offers little hope for reconciliation and resolution. This situation urgently calls for the Catholic Church and all people of faith and good will to come together in a spirit of compassion, prudence, and cooperation to address the challenges faced by immigrants, elected officials, law enforcement and our communities as a whole. The complexity of federal immigration enforcement policies and their effect at local levels is of particular concern. In Maryland, this is especially the case in light of the unsuccessful efforts to pass state legislation aimed at identifying uniform state parameters for cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents. As more and more local governments in our state take up this issue moving forward, we, the Catholic bishops of Maryland, urge all Marylanders to consider the following principles as a basis for engaging in dialogue as we work toward the common good.

Let us be guided by the words of Pope Francis, who in his historic address to the U.S. Congress reminded us: “[I]f we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us give opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.”

We urge state and local elected officials and lawmakers at the executive, legislative and judicial levels to enact and uphold immigration policies that:

• Respect the spirit of our country’s Fourth Amendment protection against apprehension and searches of persons or homes without probable cause, and against detention beyond normal criminal procedures, while at the same time respecting the necessary role of law enforcement to uphold laws and policies that keep our communities safe.
• Give priority to ensuring the integrity of families and the ability of working parents to support and care for their children.
• Build trust with our immigrant communities by establishing a clear division of duties between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents so that immigrants feel safe reporting crimes and cooperating in police investigations.
• Create safe environments by enforcing clearly established consequences for criminal violations of the law.
• Reduce fear among our immigrant communities by protecting their ability to congregate and move freely at their churches, schools and other community gathering places.

We urge Maryland’s Catholics, other faith communities and all people of good will to:

• Respect differences of opinion on this issue in a spirit of listening and understanding rather than accusation and name-calling.
• Engage in the political process and communicate your opinions to your elected officials. We encourage you neither to shy away from the political arena, nor to allow partisan and hyperbolic factions to dominate the political debate on immigration.
• Seek to learn more about the root causes of immigration and the challenges immigrants face in navigating our country’s complex immigration system.
• Develop personal relationships with immigrants in your communities and learn firsthand about their hopes and dreams, fears and sorrows.

In closing, we offer a word of hope to our immigrant brothers and sisters who have come to Maryland in search of a better life:

We pray that you will find in the Catholic Church and many other communities in our state places of welcome, fellowship and support. We pledge through our parishes and institutions to minister to you as you learn a new language; as you seek employment, shelter, food, clothing and healthcare; and as you celebrate your faith in a loving God. We thank you for your inspiring example of fortitude, industriousness, and strong family values, and for your contribution to the qualities of life that truly define the greatness of America. May the grace of God bless you and bless our work together to build communities of peace, prosperity and friendship.

HURT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time [A] is, “Hurt.”

H    U    R    T:  hurt.

Today’s readings triggered that thought - that theme - hurt.

We go to the doctor and she or he asks us, “Where does it hurt?”

I was at the dentist last Monday and he gave me the needle.

Then he took off his rubber gloves and took off  for a while. We know the feelings and the procedures that happen once we’re in a dentist chair.

Then he  came back -  put on a new pair of rubber gloves - and  asked if I was numb. 

I said, “Yes” - but when I jumped a tiny bit as he drilled - he said, “I guess you’re not completely numb….”

My mouth now had tubes and cotton in it, so I couldn’t speak or only go, “Gugg - gugg!”  I was trying to toughen it out.  So I gave a signal with my hand - flat - palms down - signaling “I’m so so -  but basically okay”. Keep drilling.

Where does it hurt? When does it hurt? 

Life has its hurts. It’s not good to be numb or dumb or anesthetized.

Hurts can help us. Hurts can tell us a lot.

We could ask  every human being, “Where does it hurt?”

Is that the background question behind the basic human greeting questions, “How are you?” “How are you doing?”  “Everything okay?”

We see little kids.  They seem to have three moods, three modes, three states they can be in: smiling, crying, and so so. [HAND GESTURE]  How about us?

Remember the psychology of Eric Bern and Thomas Harris of I’m Okay-You’re Okay fame. They simplified life into 3 general states of being for everyone. We’re either in the Parent Mode. That’s the should or should not mode. Or we’re in the Adult Mode. That’s the calm, cool, thinking mode. Or we’re in  the Child mode. The child state or mode is where we are emotional, feeling up or down, okay or not okay. The child state is the one that deals with hurt - I’m crying within - I’m screaming within. I’m not okay today. I’ve been hurt today. 

Where does it hurt?  What happened?  How did you get that boo boo?

Using hand gestures:

- the Parent Mode [Finger pointing and finger shaking]

- the Adult Mode [hand indicating calm - okay - waving with palm down]

- the Child Mode [tightened fists - or nail biting - nails scratching blackboard]

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading is from Jeremiah  20: 10-13.

In today’s reading he’s in a hurting mode. People are whispering against him. People are watching - just watching - till he trips or falls - or traps himself.

Like every little kid he screams to  his mommy or daddy - GOD -  to be there for him - to rescue him.

Whenever we make a mistake or whenever we sense people don’t like what we’re doing - and we see them looking at us - then using their hand as a wall to whisper something to another - we get it - and we don’t like it. To quote Robert Frost in his poem, Mending Wall, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,...”  They can make us feel unwanted, like little children sent to the corner or to  our bedroom - isolated - hurt.

TODAY’S SECOND READING

In today’s second reading from Romans 5: 12-15.  Paul tells us that the hurt of sin - has entered our world because of another. Sin keeps pounding our beach - wave after wave - breaking apart our sand castles - destroying our projects - taking our beach away from us.

We all know we all hurt because of  sins - the mistakes - the problems of others. We’re like every little kid who says, “It’s not fair.”

And we hear the adult inside of us say, “Who said life is fair.”

Those long lines at the airport - having to get there earlier - the cost of security - is the fault of others.

Or someone doesn’t get tires changed or tune ups and their car breaks down and we get stuck in long lines in traffic because of their neglect. Or someone was texting while driving and causes an accident….and we’re late for our very important dates and on and on and on.

But that second reading also says: the goodness and graciousness of others causes the opposite to happen. Life has its good moments - but we tend at times to not notice them.

I love the comment by Jacques Maritain, “People bring up the problem of evil all the time - and blame God for all the disasters - storms, earthquakes, etc. etc. etc. that hit our world - but they forget to bring up the Problem of Good.  Why is there so many good things happening every day around the world.”

That’s the child in us complaining when we don’t get the candy every time we go by that section of the store - and we don’t notice when out comes a neat apple pie with Breyer’s vanilla ice cream.

A full person sees the good things in life happening  - the wonderful moments at the beach seeing ourselves enjoying the neat waves of fun / water roll into our beach.

Everything effects everything. There are consequences.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

And today’s gospel gets us thinking about hurts as well.

Did you stop to hear Jesus talk about the birds that he often did?

Did you hear Jesus in today’s section of the gospel  - Matthew 10: 26 to 33 - tell us that there is darkness - yes -  but there is also light?

Did you hear him tell us, that there is death yes, but there is also life.

Or take birds, they are easier to spot. Jesus in other sections of the gospel of Matthew [6:26 - 8:20 -13: 4 and 13: 32] talks about  birds. Take  the beauty of birds in flight. We’re driving down the road past a corn field. We’ve seen that at times - a whole flock of  birds - doing tricks the Blue Angel planes  can’t do. We see hundreds and hundreds of sparrows doing there tricks together. Well, here in today’s gospel we have a sad scene we’ve all see from time to time. We’re walking along and we see a dead sparrow on the ground. Ooooh! That scene hits us and causes us a primordial hurt.

Oooh! Woo. What happened?

I remember driving along in the night - somewhere, sometime. It was on some street in Ohio and I hit a dog and I heard “thump!” and I saw something head off into the bushes. Woo. That hurt. I stopped and parked and went back - but didn’t see or hear anything or anyone where their dog was.

From time to time I thought about that moment.

Hurt!

OTHERS

So today’s three readings trigger for me the theme of hurt.

What do they trigger for you?  Hopefully, some of these words and images trigger some things inside the sky of your mind to ponder - otherwise my homily is a flop - a dead bird.

That would hurt.

I wonder how many people I have hurt like I might have hurt that dog or whatever it was in the night.

I wonder how many people I whispered about behind their back and I put graffiti on their reputation.

I wonder how many people were given bad example - by my laziness.  I hope my hard work at other times helped people.

I wonder about how many people didn’t get a challenge or a prophesy from God or the prophets because I wimped out.  Maybe I only whispered God’s name in a conversation - whereas I could have screamed his name and his love and his mercy from the rooftops or pulpit microphone.

Today’s readings trigger these thoughts.

CONCLUSION

How about you?

Where do you hurt?

Those of you who are married - when was the last time you had a good together about the state of your union?

What helps? What hurts?

When was the last time you had a great conversation together?

When was the last time you went to Holy Communion to each other?

June 25, 2017

STUCK

Sometime there in his 40’s he got stuck.

Till then he took staircases when it came to

understanding and figuring out the more of life.

Then he was hit by an invisible paralysis.

Now it was escalators.  He could move -

outwardly. Inwardly he was  stuck.

He remained in that mind set for about

15 years - same job, same car pool, and

same chatter on the way to and from work.

Then - around 60 - he became all eyes.

He  climbed on inner elevators - silently -

gradually seeing all - God, others, life, himself.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

June 24, 2017

HOLIER THAN THOU

Walking down the street

on a hot summer day,

I spotted - in front of me -

a gal wearing a blue 

summer dress with a

round hole in the back.

Neat! Some designer’s trick.

Couldn’t help but think:

“Next time I wear socks

with holes in them -  

when someone stops 

to tell me, 'Hey, you got

got holes in your socks.'

I'm going to say, 'Hey, 

I’m wearing designer socks!’"

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

June 23, 2017

SELF TEST  # 27

Some people are catchy.

They bedazzle the crowd

upon every entrance.

Some people are ugly.

They pit-bull the crowd

if allowed to come near.

Some people are sweet.
They smile the crowd

into liking them immediately.

Some people are you and me.
By the way, what do people do

when we come into a room?

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

June 22, 2017

ICE  CREAM  CONES 

There are seven ways,

and only seven ways

to enjoy an ice cream cone.

First:  top down lick, consuming the first cold

          sucks of a just bought ice cream cone;       

second: sideways licks around the sides

          but above the cone’s edge;

next: when outside on the summer sidewalk

         quick licks of melting drips

   and leaking ice cream;

next: bites - good teeth grabbing bites

         of small slabs of cold ice cream;

five:  slow, very slow, sucking and pulling

         into one’s mouth of mostly liquid

   ice cream - but with at least

   two paper napkins in hand;

sixth: sharing the same cone - but with

          two scoops to begin - with one’s beloved;

and seventh: sharing part two of one’s cone

          with one’s little kids. Ooooh good!

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017