PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS:
PICK A CHRISTMAS SONG
AND FIND AT LEAST
7 RENDITIONS OF IT
ON LINE AND LISTEN!
Monday, December 11, 2017
December 11, 2017
COVENANTS
Everyone has covenants with God
under glass in their soul - even atheists,
even agnostics, even religious folks.
They are not written down on parchment
paper or chiseled into stone - but they are
there. The key ingredient is expectations.
Wow do we have expectations of God.
Watch what happens when something
goes wrong. It’s then we scream, “God!”
Then - it’s usually only then - that we finally
ask God, “What are your expectations for me?”
It’s then we can figure out our covenants with God.
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
December 10, 2017
THE TRUTH
As Jesus said,
“Know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.”
As they say
in Alcoholics Anonymous,
“The truth will set you free,
but first it will hurt.”
But
how far, how deep,
how difficult it is,
to really know the truth,
so we can be set free.
So
the question is,
“Who knows
why we do what we do?”
Answer: when what we do
sets us free.
Or
will the moment of truth,
be the moment we die?
Is that the moment
when we finally see the truth?
Is that the moment
we will finally be set free?
Or
will the moment of truth,
be the moment we die?
Is that the moment
when we finally see the truth?
Is that the moment
we will finally be set free?
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2017
THE TIPPING POINT
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Second Sunday in Advent
[B] is, “The Tipping Point.”
That’s the title of a book by Malcolm Gladwell from back
in the early 2000’s.
The image is
simple. We’ve all built things with dominoes or pickup sticks or blocks or cards
as kids and at some point it tips over and all falls down.
So too political changes and moral changes and cultural
changes.
We might be seeing something dramatic going on right now
with this “Me Too” movement - with people coming out about people who abused
them.
The name of Gladwell’s book was: The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
The tipping point according to Malcolm Gladwell,
is "the
moment of critical mass or the threshold or the boiling point.”
I do a lot of weddings and I’ve noticed at a lot of weddings that men are
wearing brown shoes big time. When did this start? Was it deliberate? How did
they come up with enough shoes to sell?
It Gladwell’s book it’s hush puppies - a shoe that made a surprise return.
How many times have we heard: Save your flannel shirts and your suits and your outfits - the style will return?
I’ve never changed styles of haircut or clothes - and it worked. Well at least I have thought so.
TODAY’S READINGS
Today’s readings triggered thoughts
I had when I read Malcolm Gladwell’s book: The Tipping
Point.
The first reading from Isaiah 40 talks about the moment that the Jews in
exile in Babylon began getting the first wind - the first words - of a possible
return from Babylon to Jerusalem. Many were dragged into exile by the
Babylonians with the fall of Jerusalem in 587 and were allowed to start returning by the Persians in 537.
A voice cried out that the way out will be a straight highway through the
desert, Valleys will be filled in - mountains and hills will be leveled - the
rough land will be made smooth - and all will be well - again - that is when we
get home again.
When I go up to see my sister in Doylestown, Pennsylvania I like going over
the Bay Bridge - taking 50 / 301 and for this past year around the 60 mile mark in Delaware I’ve been noticing big
yellow bulldozers making a few bigger and better highways.
Today’s second reading from the Second Letter of St. Peter talks about a
day is coming. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, The
second reading is all about a tipping point - when all kinds of changes will
take place. The second reading talks about time - God’s time - it’s not
ordinary time. A day is like a 1000 years and a thousand years is like one day.
God does not wear a watch or have a clock on his wall.
And today’s gospel - the beginning of the gospel of Mark - our Gospel for
this church year - is all about the tipping point - in the mindset of a lot of
people - who hear about John the Baptist - in the desert - who is pointing out
a high way - a straight path to our God - and then John the Baptist will tip
people’s lives even more - when he says I’m not the one you are looking for.
One mightier than I is coming. And I’m not even worthy to tie the sandals on
his feet.
TIPPING POINTS IN OUR LIFE
As you know life is not a straight line.
Sometimes life is a scribble; sometimes it’s spaghetti.
Of course we want straight lines. We want a clear 3 lane highway to God, to
success, to happiness, to heaven.
Sorry that’s only in the mouth and the words of poets and the imagination
of our prophets.
We have Advent and Lent - Christmas and Easter - with the hope that these
special points will tip people back to God.
I don’t get angry too often, but I remember telling a priest, “Are you
crazy saying to Catholics on Ash Wednesday, ‘If this is the only time you come
to church - well okay on Christmas and Easter, then don’t come at all.’”
I rather work an extra hour or two on my sermon for those three days - Ash Wednesday,
Easter and Christmas - and throw in a prayer - besides - that this be a tipping
point for a few people present.
I like to say on the Sunday before Easter and Christmas - give your seat up
to a stranger next Sunday.
Today’s first reading begins with Isaiah saying, “Comfort, give comfort to
my people.” Let’s hope this Christmas
someone who shows up for Christmas Mass here at St. John’s will notice the new
cushy seat cushions - without the buttons - and say, “Nice!” Maybe I’ll come back….”
Hey you never know when tipping
points happen. Hopefully, they won’t go
to St. Mary’s. They have, I’m told, the most uncomfortable benches in any
church in the United States. They are hard. They are narrow. They are not easy
on the cush.
WEDDINGS, WAKES AND FUNERALS
Down through the years, weddings,
wakes and funerals have been the tipping point for various people who told me
one to one - that is what brought them back.
Have you noticed that a lot more people come to baptisms than in the past?
So too confirmations. My prayer is that
seeing - being - in the moment - that this moment will be a tipping point for
people wanting communion again - wanting to be in communion again.
If you are asked to be the eulogist at a funeral, tell those present that
the deceased went to church - if the deceased went to church. Tell about how
they were Christian - how they were good to their families and their neighbors
and the broken and hurting. If they
were, make sure you accentuate the positive about people.
In Tipping Point theory, they like to talk about the straw that broke the
camel’s back or the feather that broke the horse or the donkey’s back. In other
words be one straw, be one domino, be one good example, that is placed on the
back of the life of another.
CONCLUSION
We die at a moment, but a lot of quiet decay or cancer or heart problems
brings us down slowly.
So too marriages - so too buildings - so too car problems.
I hope thinking about the image of the Tipping Point - tips all of us more
and more towards God and living life more and more in keeping the Great
Commandment - to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength - and our
neighbor as ourselves.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Friday, December 8, 2017
December 8, 2017
IMMACULATE
IMMACULATE
How would God clean off a counter,
if God was a waiter or waitress?
How would God sweep the steps,
if God was a mom or a janitor?
How would God draw with crayons
if God was in kindergarten?
How would God clean a kids's cut knee,
if God was a loving Father?
How would God create a mother,
when God was creating Mary?
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2017
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