FEAST  OF  ST.  THOMAS 

IT'S  OKAY IF WE HAVE DOUBTS

INTRODUCTION

Today is the feast of St. Thomas the apostle. He is famous for being the one who doubted. Hence his nickname: “Doubting Thomas.”

So I decided to say a few words in this homily about doubts and doubting.

The classic message of the gospels seems to be: “Don’t be like Thomas. Don’t doubt. Have faith.”

So the message is we should not be like him.

THEOLOGY MESSAGE

That was the message that I heard from time to time when I was studying to be a priest. One should not have doubts. The old teachers and theologians  that I had seemed to be men that did not have doubts.

However, in my opinion, the day comes when we get to their age and we know the reality is: To be human is to doubt.

So we are all like Thomas. We have doubts.

Recently in the May 7, 2017 The Washington Post Magazine, there was an interview by Joe Heim of Paul  Scalia, Catholic Priest.

The subtitle of the section was Just Asking.  Father Paul Scalia - the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia - was asked, “Every person of faith that I’ve talked with has moments of doubt in their faith. Have you ever experienced those.?

His answer: “I’ve been blessed with having no doubts. Doubt is different from difficulty.  I think a lot of people confuse doubt with difficulty. They run into difficulties with believing, and they think that means that they doubt. But difficulties are there so we can trust God more.”

When I read that I said, “I have had doubts as well as difficulties. 

As to doubts, I have had them more about the divinity of Christ - about Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. I sense less doubts about the existence of God because creation tells me there is a creative force that created this universe - which could not exist without a creative “mind” behind all that we can see.

As to difficulties, I have difficulties with some of the answers the Church people gives  to theological questions like: ways and means to deal with divorce and re-marriage;  women priests, a married clergy, cardinals,  etc. etc. etc.

So when Father Paul Scalia says he has no doubts, I react by thinking, “best of luck guy”.

TO BE HUMAN

So my thought is this:  to be human is to have doubts - doubts about God, self, others.

Miguel de Unamuno said, “La vida es duda

y la fe sin la duda ex sola muerta."

Life is doubt,

And faith without doubt is nothing but death.

Wilson Mizner describes doubt as, “What gives you an education.”

FIRST: DOUBTS ABOUT GOD

The day we have doubts about God is a good day. I say this, because I would think that it could be the day we stop seeing God as a thing and we start thinking about God as a person. Hopefully, we then also start talking to him as a Person. That could be  the beginning of deep way of praying.

Many people are like all those people in the Bible who have gods made of stone or wood. And stone and wood are things that we don’t have doubts about. They are there. They are solid. We don’t give them a second thought.

We don’t have doubts about this podium being here. It’s solid. It’s marble. But the day will come when it might crack or what have you and it will need to be replaced or what have you.

Today’s gods are made of ink and paper - words - in books or in mind - solid - till they get cracks.

My words on this written document are first draft. In time I would hope I would make them clearer and with better theology.

SECONDLY - SELF-DOUBTS

We also have self-doubts, doubts about ourselves.

So what else is new?

We know this area better than anyone else. And as we get older, this experience of having self-doubts can return – the same self-doubts we had when we were teen-agers.

We’re talking with someone at a get together – and suddenly the person we’re talking to starts to drift away – first with their eyes – then with their body – and we’re standing there all alone. I pause and think to myself, “Am I losing it?”

That’s the basic thought that hits us. Then the feeling, “I guess there are other people more interesting than me in the room.”

Or we’re talking with someone and they start to fall asleep as we are standing there talking to them – and they are only 2 feet away. I have experienced this at various times doing a homily.  Like a funeral I had the other day. As I spoke, I was getting zero feedback from the body language of those in church. I don’t give up, but I wonder, “Is there anyone here who is listening or caring what I am talking about?”

THIRDLY: DOUBTS ABOUT OTHERS

We wonder about other people. Are they here because they have to be here?

Obviously, we can’t know the motive of others, but sometimes we wonder. 

Take this poem by G.K. Chesterton. I doubt it has anything about the child abuse problem - but we should have had a lot more doubts about signs and signals that some priests and possible perpetrators gave off. Here’s the poem of sorts:

John Grubby, who was short and stout

And troubled with religious doubt,

Refused about the age of three

To sit upon the curate’s knee.”

From Poems [1915] “New Freethinker.”

So we have or ought to have  doubts about others as well.

Doubts in this case has the benefit of getting us to talk to ourselves.

CONCLUSION: THOMAS IS IN OUR CORNER

So my points today, would be: it’s okay to have doubts. In fact,  it’s human to have doubts.

I sense that’s why Thomas is a favorite saint. Okay Jesus says it’s better to have faith than to have seen - but ….

In this sermon, I’m not telling you to have doubts, but to get in touch with the doubts that you have: the doubts that you have about God, self, and others.

It will bring us down a peg, to our knees, to the ground, to the humus. Isn’t that the truth - the reality -  that we come from the earth and go back into the earth from which we came?

We were made from the clay of the earth and into the earth we will return.

It's after that where we really need faith. Is this life all there is or is there more because of Christ - the resurrection and the life.  That's where we are called to be like Thomas - to put our finger into his side as we see Thomas doing in the Caravaggio painting on the top of this blog entry. Hi.

July 3, 2017

MAYFLIES

I read somewhere that mayflies

live or last for only 24 hours.

Woo! Not fair. House flies get

about 4 weeks - unless we zap

them with a fly swatter for being

such pests - with their constant

flyovers. Question:  What would I do

if I only got 24 hours. I’m a diabetic -

Type 2.  I would certainly sit and

sip the best milkshake in the area:

chocolate. I would flyover as many

places I want to visit. I would bug

those I love with many an “I love you.”

And I would find some church or

beautiful garden where I could sit

and ponder the two big questions:

Why am I here and is there anything

after this? And oops - the third question:

How much time do I have left?

And P.S. Besides letting you know they
are here, I also read, “In their short

24 hour life span,  they form groups

and dance on all available surfaces.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

A CUP OF COLD WATER

[The following is sort of a story homily. I’m just going to reflect on the closing words of today’s gospel.]

A disciple went up to the master and asked, “What shall I do as one of your disciples?”

The master said, “And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple - amen, I say to you, he or she will surely not lose their reward.”

“… a cup of cold water…? “That’s it? That’s all?”

“Yes,” said the master. “A cup of cold water. That’s all.”

That image - those words echoed into the disciples ears and seeped down into his well and he went out and gave other little ones cups of cold water.

It was summer.

It was very hot.

People were thirsty.

On a hot sidewalk, the disciple saw a very hairy dog - with a winter coat of hair on him. He was walking up the street and the dog looked thirsty. The dog also looked very, very hot and very, very  overdressed.

The disciple spotted a general store - walked in and bought a neat silver bowl and a 12 pack of bottled water. The water had to be cold. The master had added that word - loud and clear: “cold”.

He walked up to the top of the street and saw a Starbuck’s coffee shop. It was in the perfect location. But it had no customers at the time. It was hot summer - early afternoon.

He walked in and spoke to the two young people behind the counter.

“Could you do me a favor?”

They said, “If we can….”

The disciple said, “Could you put this silver bowl - just outside your front door - off to the side  - and keep it filled with cold water.”

Then he added, “And here is plenty of cold water” as he put the 12 pack of water bottles on the counter.

The two young people were surprised at the request.

The disciple said, “Wait, let me show you what I mean.”

So they walked out front. The disciple put the silver bowl near the front door, but off to the side. Then he went back and got one bottle of cold water and came back and poured half the bottle into the bright silver bowl.

The disciple added, “I noticed a lot of dogs look like they are looking for water today. It’s such a hot day.”

“Good,” said one of the Starbuck’s workers, “we’ll do this.”

Then he added, “It won’t effect the competion. Most dogs don’t drink coffee.”

Just then a dog on a leash spotted the water and drank up almost the whole silver bowl. Her owner, a spiffy looking young chick, said, “Thank you. Great idea.”

The disciple noticed that bowl of water was still there and it was late October - almost near the end of Indian Summer.

And one day, the disciple was in another part of town, and one of the Starbucks workers spotted him and said, “Hey you’re the dog water guy. Great idea. Business improved at least 20 % with that cold water at our door. Dog owners - especially with spiffy looking modern dogs - have money and drink Starbucks.”

And the disciple said, “Thank you.”

It was a hot day and the disciple spotted about 5  men working on a lawn. He stopped to watch them and it looked like they didn’t have any water, so he went and bought a 24 pack of cold bottled water and brought it back for the men. All five said, “Wow! Gracias! Hey man, that was nice. Muchas gracias.  Muy caliente today.”

Next, the disciple saw a short fat guy - who looked like he had shortness of breath - walking and then leaning on a fence - then walking some more - then leaning on a tree - going down the street.

Sweating.

The disciple caught up with him and said, “You need water. See this library here. It has a great cold water fountain just inside the door. Why don’t you go in - and cool off - and get yourself some nice cold water?”

And the short fat guy said, “They don’t have a cold water fountain in there. I go in there all the time.”

And the disciple said, “Let me show you.”

And the two walked to the library - the disciple pausing and leaning on a tree and then a post - every time the man stopped to catch his breath.

They went in. It had wonderful air conditioning. The disciple showed him where the cold water fountain was - around the corner from the front door.

“Wow, I didn’t know this was here,” the short fat guy said.  “I’m going to tell all my friends where this is. Thank you.”

And the disciple said, “I have to say the following very carefully. Haven’t you heard the old saying, ‘Fat people always know where the cold water fountains are.”

And the short fat guy laughed - patted his tummy - his pot - as he said, “Thanks for the compliment. Thanks for calling me thin. I didn’t know about this cold water fount.”

And both laughed a good laugh and the disciple got a good sip of cold water from the library cold water fountain and headed back to the street.

Next, the disciple was walking around town, It was another hot, hot day and he spotted the master on a park bench - feeding the birds of the air - and watching them dipping into the big water fountain - in the center of the park - bird after bird after bird.

He also spotted a convenience store and he went in and got two large bottles of cold water from the refrigerator section. He paid for them and walked back to the park - walked up the master and said, “Want a cup of cold water?”

“Thank you,”  said the master. “Thank you.”

Just then a mom walked by - pushing a stroller with two kids in it. “Hey,” the master said, “Want a sip of cold water.”

“Thank you,”  the mom said, putting the bottle of water to her kids lips first - then her’s. And then she said, “Thank you. Muchas gracias." 

July 2, 2017

SNAPPY VERBS

Some writer said,

“One snappy verb outweighs

a pile of adjectives."

Okay then, lure with the words ….

Scribble those sounds ....
Toss the dart ….

Plant those trees ....
Flower power your garden ....

Blue the oceans ….

Empurple Lent ….

Leapfrog the rock ….

Prod me when I'm lazy ….

Shuffle the cards ….

Shun gossip ….

Squelch the rumor ….

Pamper the baby….

Egg on ….

Go figure ….

Magnify the Lord ….

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

July 1, 2017

CHURCHES

Sometimes I need crowded churches.

Sometimes I need empty churches.

It all depends. God what do you need

from us individuals and crowds - in these

many churches sticking up on the sky line.

It’s nice when there is a crowd - singing -

smiling - celebrating, “Give God the Glory!”

Brides coming down the aisle - babies

being baptized, folks praying together -

and sometimes crying at a family funeral.

It’s also nice to just sit there in an empty

church - in the silence - hearing creaking

benches - praying with tiny red candles and their

shadows on stations of the cross along with

embedded prayers on afternoon church walls.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

June 30, 2017

SISTERS  OBVIOUSLY

But what about sisters?

Obviously,

like brothers, like children,

like parents, sisters are part of

life’s blessings. Obviously ….

Obviously, people

are more important than things.

Obviously, it’s in relationships

where life struggles happen.

Unfortunately, these are those

key things we only deeply know

when another dies before we die.

Bummer! Obviously ….

 © Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

Peggy (in middle) - died November 5, 2013.
She went by the name of Sister St. Monica, IHM
and is buried in Moscow - which is
near Scranton, Pennsylvania.

My older brother died March 21, 1986
and is buried near Washington D.C.
Mary and I are the only two left.
Thank God for sisters.

BLOG 

10th 

ANNIVERSARY 

I just realized this is the 10^th Anniversary of this Blog: Reflections by the Bay.

For about 3 years I thought it would be a good idea to have some reflections on our parish web-site, but it wasn’t happening.

Then - it was 10 years ago - Norm Constantine suggested I put a homily on our web site or something like that.  Norm then jumped to the idea of my having a blog and he would set it up.

He did.

Thank you, Norm.

It started June 17^th, 2007. Is that 10 years?  I’m not good in math.

In this blog you’ll find lots of homilies, lots of short reflections, many of which could be labeled “poems” - as well as some quotes and poems by others.  For 4 years [2010-2013] I did a “Quote for the Day” and for another year a “Poem for the Day.” Other than those variations, most of my stuff is original stuff - so they don’t have to pass an editor - who can accept or reject something I have written.

As to published stuff I have 5 books out there - all out of print - and lots of magazine articles and this and that.  Those are the products of many re-writes.  My blog pieces are mostly in need of rewriting. Sorry.  However, this blog has gotten me in the practice of trying to get at least one thing written per day.

As of today there are 4879 blog entries. 

I get about 100 hits or reads per day - more or less.  So far there have been 226,545 hits. The blog tells me that without my having to count. Thank you to those who tell me at times, “I read your blog.”  

My blog gets readers from all over the world. The blog tells me that as well. 

People can make comments, but most don’t. Comments are made. Some are spam - which I dump [I hate that word] and most I publish. It’s a bit of a bother to put in a comment - but there are some 643 comments as of today. You can find them at the bottom of a piece - so comments, agreements or disagreements are welcome.

I consider myself “liberal” if I was to check off a Liberal or Conservative box.  However,  I try to avoid politics and pushing my agenda when it comes to putting a piece on my blog.

I also avoid “Hot Button” topics - because one can find my blog on the St. Mary’s Annapolis web site - and I have to be aware of my being part of the clergy, the parish, the diocese and the Catholic Church.

Catholic is a big net or basket - with all kinds of different fish. I don’t like sharks and piranhas - and when I write that I recall the words of Scripture, “Is it I Lord?”  [Matthew 26:22] 

However, I do hope when you read a piece on this blog, you’ll say at times, “It is I, Lord. This is me! He’s writing about me.”

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

P.S. # 1 Push my blog - if it helps you. It might help someone else.

P.S. # 2  I'm thinking of putting on my blog on Thursdays the three readings for the following Sunday - along with some questions to trigger reflections.  The hope would be that individuals as well as couples and/or families could read the three readings - give some answers and comments on the questions - and when they go to church on Sunday - they will have done a bit of reflection on the Sunday readings.