SOME  DATA  ABOUT 

SOME  CHURCHES 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my sermon for this 25 Tuesday in ordinary time is, “Some Data About Some Churches.”

The main theme would be the “WHY?” of temples, churches. shrines.

ISRAEL

Israel starts with a tent  - as their Holy Place.

There was Moses’ Tent and then David’s tent and we read that God sent prophets to David to tell him, “You got a great house there David and I just got a tent, so how about building me a temple?”

How’s that for a great reading and a great message for a church building campaign?

So we know Solomon builds the first temple - sometime around the 10^th Century BC.

And when a group builds their first temple, they have arrived. They are established. I assume that’s one of the reasons - ONE of the reasons - for steeples and towers.

Solomon’s temple is somewhat destroyed and looted in the Babylonian Captivity - in 598 and 587 - by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, when he besieged Jerusalem,  and marched many Israelites into slavery and captivity.

Now in today’s first reading we have the story of Ezra and Nehemiah getting permission to rebuild the Solomon Temple. This is around 458 BC.  Darius, the Persians, beat the  Babylonians.

Ezra - Nehemiah - and many others pull this off and the Second temple is built.

It lasts till the year till 70 CE  when the Romans destroy it.

There are rumors till this day that the Jews would like to rebuild the temple.

SOME THOUGHTS QUESTIONS ABOUT CHURCHES IN GENERAL

There are enough temples, churches, shrines around the world - that prove something. What do the presence of holy places tell us?  How do agnostics, atheists, non-church people respond to the reality that human beings build holy places?

That’s my key question in this homily.

Next to more in and around that question, here are a few more questions.

What are the biggest shrines and churches and holy places around the world?

Do you have a favorite Church building or shrine or Holy Place?

Have you been to Lourdes? Fatima? Do you know the big Marian Shrines of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil and Our Lady of Pillar in Zaragoza, Spain or Our Lady of Lichen in Poland? How about the Largest Catholic church in the world, Our lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro on  Ivory Coast in Africa.

Have you been to Chartres? It was the most famous Marian Pilgrimage Church in the for the longest time in the world.

For size, how about big Catholic churches like the Seville Cathedral,, Milan Cathedral, Ulm in Minster, St. Peter’s in Rome.

How about the Mega Christian Churches on Nigeria, one holds 75,000. There is another one in Korea with  30,000 people. And there is another one in Georgia - Southern US, with 35,000  people in the congregation.

When I lived in Lima, Ohio I heard about people taking bus tours to old German Churches - that had great wood carved altars and church pieces. They could be found in far west central Ohio and mid-eastern Indiana.

The other day at breakfast we were talking about places we would like to visit. One of the guys said he’d like to get to Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I was able to say, “I saw both places and it was well worth the trip and the time.”

What about chapels  - like the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, Arizona?

This church here - St. John Neumann Church - looks plain like so many other churches and people seem to prefer St. Mary’s downtown - but don’t forget this church of St. John Neumann has those stained glass windows up there from Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 61^st Manhattan, New York City and Manresa - the former Jesuit retreat house here in Annapolis on the Severn River.

I could list about 5 ugly churches - but I prefer the beautiful ones - the great out-reachings of different communities of people for the Lord.

CONCLUSION

I grew up in Brooklyn New York.

Now Brooklyn has often been described as the city of bars and churches. Then the speaker says, “There’s a bar and a church on every corner.”

That statement is not true, more true for bars than churches, but there are a lot of bars and churches in Brooklyn.

We know what bars tell us of the needs of human beings - but what do churches tell us about human beings?

And that’s the question and the point of this homily. “What do churches tell us about human beings?”

And let me close with some shots from the parish of my childhood: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Brooklyn New York.

This past weekend they celebrated their 125 Anniversary.

September 26. 2017

BEFORE  YOU  DENY  CHRIST

Before you deny Christ,

turn your other cheek, shut up,

don’t retaliate, and forgive your

brother or sister for hurting you.

Before you deny Christ,

this day, go the extra mile for another -

especially when you don’t want to.

Before you deny Christ,
before you don't want to have him
as part of your life, give someone
a bottle of cold water on a hot day
or your gloves to someone without
gloves on the street on a cold day.

Before you deny Christ,

take a rosary and say on all 59 beads,

the words of the  father with an epileptic son,

“Lord, I have faith;

help me with the little faith that I have.” [Mark 9:24]

Before you deny Christ,

sit off to the side at any Sunday Mass

and watch people’s faces as they come

up the aisles to receive holy communion.

Before you deny Christ,

go to the graveyard of the Sisters of Mercy

in Portland, Maine, the IHM nuns 
of Scranton, PA, the Sisters of St. Joseph 
of Brentwood, Long Island,

and study the stones and the numbers on the stones and ask at each grave, 
"What was it like with Christ in your life?"

Before you deny Christ,

volunteer to help with the 
St. Vincent de Paul Society

in any parish that helps the poor and the hungry.

Before you deny Christ,

save up your money, and make the 30 to 35 day

walking pilgrimage from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port

in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Before you deny Christ,

get to Galilee, take off your shoes,

sit on a rock or the beach,

and let the lake waters wash your feet as Jesus

washed his disciples feet at the Last Supper.

Before you deny Christ,
stand there with Peter
after denying Jesus three times,
and hear Jesus say three times,
"Feed my sheep."

Before you deny Christ,

close your eyes

and let his eyes look into your eyes,

hold each other and

listen to each other for one hour.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

Painting on top:
Seeing Through the Darkness:
Georges Roualt's Vision of Christ

Too many people have dropped away
from Christ with very little thought -
like rain hitting one's shoulders
and we simply move on.

THE  ROAR  ON

THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  SILENCE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 25 Monday in Ordinary Time  is some words from one of my favorite quotes. It’s some words from Marian Evans Cross [1819-1880] - better known as George Eliot. It’s in her book, Middlemarch, which some say is better than her better known book, Silas Marner, she says something quite profound.

Here’s the quote: “If we had a keen vision of all that is ordinary in human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which is on the other side of silence.”  George Eliot, Marian Evans Cross, [1819-1880]

Who of us have paused to hear the grass grow or the squirrel’s heart beat?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Let me read today’s gospel once again - with George Eliot’s quote as background music, “Jesus said to the crowd: ‘No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.  For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

PROFOUND

There’s some profound stuff here.

If you have back porch and you sit there watching a squirrel and you pause and listen poetically, emotionally, spiritually, to that squirrel’s heart beat, you’ll start to hear a lot more. More will be given you as Jesus just said in today’s gospel.

If you sit there and watch the grass wave in the slight September breeze and you hear it growing,  something profound happens - you start to get a greater sense of God - God’s presence - God at work - creation creating and crumbling.

You’ll see elephants walking on the ground - with all 4 big feet - stomping on a 100 ants per step.  You’ll sense the poor of the earth being stepped on by the big of the earth.

You’ll see the vigil light stands in this church or any church and you hear the prayers of people for their children and their marriages and their cancers.

“No one who lights a lamp and then conceals it - and you enter into the prayers of each candle.

I was a candle boy as a boy in OLPH Brooklyn and as a kid I heard a priest talk about the penny candles - which became a dime in time -  and to enter into each prayer.

Once you get a sense of the invisible, the hidden, the secrets of the human heart, it makes you a very sensitive person - a very understanding person,  a very forgiving person.

You’ve walked in their shoes, in their mistakes, in their sins.

CONCLUSION

I sense this is what Jesus picked up.

He looked at rain, water, falling to the ground around the vines of Galilee and saw water becoming wine.

He looked at bread being eaten - and becoming the body of another.

He saw little kids - scared - afraid - touching the hem of their mother’s cloaks and becoming reassured.

He saw fishermen walking down to their boats with empty nets - but seeing in them the hope for full nets of fish.

He saw deaths and burials and funerals - of prisoners on crosses along the roads of Palestine - of widow’s husbands and sons - and he saw them being greeted by God, Our Father, in Paradise.

September 25. 2017

CAREFUL WITH THE WORDS

Our words mean different things

at different times. As E.E. Cummings

would have put it: Be of words a little

more careful than anything. He said

that of love. I’m saying that of words.

An “I love you!” can mean very different at a

25^th Wedding Anniversary compared to a

Wedding Day - so too a so, so day in the 16th

year of a marriage with a quick “I love you”
while looking at the mail instead of the other.

So words mean different at different times,

but especially words that once were sweet,

but now have become meaningless  -

looking back on the moments of a life and

a relationship that has become a blur dull.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

September 24, 2017

BATHROOM  MIRROR

My face didn’t look too bad,

once I realized it was steam,

and toothpaste - that blocked

my view of myself in the

bathroom mirror. Too bad I

couldn’t clean off my soul

as easy as cleaning my mirror.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

MISTAKEN   IDENTITY

[I wrote a story - instead of a homily for this morning - because I have preached on this gospel  - lots of times - and the message is always - how we all yell to and at God down deep, “Not fair. Not fair.” I assume every sermon around the world this Sunday will be on that - fairness  and God - so I decided to see if I can get at these scripture questions by a story. So here goes: a story called, “Mistaken Identity.”]

Mistaken Identity….

This happened a long time ago.

It was a total accident - unplanned - not noticed - and life went on for these two baby boys. Both went home from the maternity ward at the hospital on the third day with the wrong mom and dad and families - but nobody knew it - till a long time afterwards.

A substitute nurse’s aide - was simply washing the babies around 4 P.M on the day after they were born - perfect births - no problems. 

Another nurse walked in - also a substitute -  and said, “I’m here. Your shift is up.”  Then she put the wrong white little t-shirt on the wrong kid as well as his identification tag, hat, blanket and what have you.

The next day they were both checked out of the hospital and got all the hugs and feedings and recognition a new born baby would get.

Through the years neither mom nor dad ever said, “I wonder if we took the wrong baby home when he was born.”

When things go funny with kids, parents at times have said that - but not with these two boys.

Jimmy  became one of 5 kids - the 4th brothers and then came the baby of the family, a sister, Molly.  Jason was an only child.

Jimmy’s family was mid-range poor; Jason’s family was mid-upper rich.

How much does being part of a big family effect who we are compared to being an only child?

How much does having new stuff - the best of stuff - effect who we become, compared to getting hand-me-downs.

Jason went to a private school - Catholic - and got a great education.

Jimmy did okay. He went to public school. One older brother, Mike, helped him with his math homework - every time.

Jimmy and Jason went to different high schools - and they actually played against each other once there - in a Friday night football game.

Jason’s dad was always on the road - but he did get to this one game.

That night Jimmy scored 3 touchdowns. He was a great wide receiver - fast - and had great hands. Jason played defensive back, but couldn’t keep up with Jimmy.

Jason’s father seeing Jimmy’s quick moves  - saw himself - back in his high school days - and he wished he had spent more time with Jason - practicing, practicing, practicing - like his dad had done with him. Maybe Jason has an inner wide receiver dying to get out.

Molly - once - seeing Jason getting out of his BMW - thought to herself. Lucky guy. His family must have money. Then the thought, “Wow he looks familiar.”

Jimmy’s family had their fun and they had their fights. They had their struggles and their successes.  Jimmy’s two older brothers got into the Naval Academy - and did very well.

Jason’s family was different. In fact, Jason was raised more by a nanny than by his parents. Dad was a vice president of a big company - and he was always on the road. Mom was the CEO of a small chain of perfume stores.

Oh they loved Jason and Jason never got into any problems - but he was often lonely and wondered at times, what it would be like to be in a big family.

Jokingly he said to himself: “When I get married, I hope we’ll be able to have lots of kids.”

Jimmy sometimes said the opposite. He was able to do fairly well in the local community college - but he wondered - if mom and dad had more dollars - he might have been able to get into a college down south - where he could pursue football - maybe - if he had  the opportunities.

Sometimes in the midst of all this, both Jason and Jimmy, would sometimes say in-loud to themselves, “Life is not fair.”

Someone said, “Teenagers say that 8 ½ times every day. It’s not fair.”   

Then they would add, “Nah, mom and dad are doing their best - and people in other places - have a lot more struggles than we do.”

At 27 years of age, one of Jason’s cousins asked him, if he or anyone in the family ever got their DNA tested?

Jason said, “Why? What? I heard about that. How does it work.”

“Well,” his cousin said, “In this one company all you do is send away for a kit - use your credit card - and you get this little tube you spit in. You send that away and 6 weeks later you get the results.”

Nobody - nobody asked the obvious. “Were there fingerprints?”

Jason’s dad said he heard about the DNA test from a guy at work, so he said, “Tell me when you get your results.”

6 weeks later - almost to the day - Jason found out that he was 92 percent Irish and 8 percent Iberian peninsula.

“That’s funny,” his mom said, “That’s really funny.  I always thought your dad and I were 100% Italian.”

His dad said the same thing.

It bothered his mom - and then his dad - enough - for them to get their DNA tested as well.

They called in, got their DNA kits in the mail, sent their spit, and surprise, 6 weeks later, back came the results.

“Uh oh!” Jason was definitely not their son.

They had to tell Jason - which was both a funny - but a nervous funny - moment as well as a big “Uh oh!” moment.

Jason’s dad - wasn’t a lawyer - but he was the type of guy who would dig into a situation like this big time.

Mom and dad made an appointment with an executive at the hospital - showed the results - and the hospital executive went, “Uh oh!” with his face.

They asked the hospital guy, “Has this ever happened before?”

“Not that I know of,” came the response. “But I heard it happening in Omaha, Nebraska once - or maybe it was Columbus, Ohio.”

Silence?

Then the executive said, “Do you want to pursue this any further?”  There can be possible big time and far reaching consequences on your son - and even on the your real son - if that happened?”

Silence.

The hospital executive continued, “We’re sorry - if there was a mix up - obviously. Why don’t you talk this over with your son - and explore the implications?”

They did.

They decided - to further explore - what might have happened - otherwise it might bug them for the rest of their lives.

Then dad said, “But what about someone else’s family - and some other kid -  if this is what happened - or what happened. Fair is fair.”

All three said, “Okay, let’s put this on pause. Let’s let this sit for a month.”

They did but it had begun to bug them.

So they went back to the hospital and asked if the hospital could do the research - any other boys born that day - on Jason’s birthday and go from there.

The hospital - fearing law suit - but also respecting the wishes of Jason’s family - said they would do an investigation.

They did. They narrowed the possible babies born that day - and that time - to four boys. They send two social workers to find these 3 other boys. They were very circumspect. This could be a bombshell of a newspaper story and give the hospital and this family - two families - unwanted notoriety. Two out of three were really shocked - made nervous - and only Jimmy was willing to go through the tests.

He was married at the time and had their first son: Jimmy Jr.

They were a match on both sides - and so yes - a mistake was made in the hospital - just after they were born.

Both fathers said, “What are we going to? We both love our sons.”

“Let’s get to know each other?

They became cookout friends and then better friends.

One day there, Jason’s father was looking at scraps from Jimmy’s high school days - and he spotted the newspaper clipping of  the night he saw Jimmy catch those 3 touchdowns as wide receiver.  Then looking around, he said to Jason’s father, “I sure wished Jimmy was my son that night - but don’t tell Jason that.”

In time both families had to deal with what happened. It was unique. Was it unfair? In the long run, both sets of parents were able to see the uniqueness of their situation. This would be a very, very rare occurrence. But many a family has that thought at times.

Through the years Jason and Jimmy would meet from time to time and compare notes - about comparisons - and what if’s - and even if this didn’t happen we would still have to deal with fairness questions, what if questions - and Jason said once there, “Wow, I have become blessed - no longer being an only child - but now a child in a family of five kids. Lucky me.”

At that Jimmy said, “Any time you want to get rid of your BMW, think of me Bro.

FROM A FUNERAL PROGRAM

I spotted this on a program left in a bench from the funeral Mass here this morning for Edwin Wintermuth, IV at St. Mary's Annapolis, Maryland  His dates were October 8, 1933 till September 3, 2017. 

FROM LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA

BY GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

If I knew today 
would be the last time I’d see you,

I would hug you tight and

pray the Lord be the keeper of your soul.

If I knew that this would be the last time 
you’d pass through this door;

I’d embrace you, kiss you 
and call you back for one more.

If I knew that this would be the last time 
I’d see you,

I’d tell you I love you and

would not just assume foolishly 
you know it already.