ONE  HOMILY:

AND  WHAT 
I'M LEARNING FROM IT
SO FAR.

[Last Sunday - January 14th,  I preached at the 7 AM Mass at St. Mary’s and at the 11 AM at St. John Neumann.  I learned a lot from the experience. The following are some of my learning observations.]

INTRODUCTION

Because of what happened last week - especially because of the S H comments against Haitians and Africans - their countries and their homes -  I was wondering how preachers would deal with this - if they did. 

So far, I only found one video - on the Internet. It was preached by Pastor Maurice Watson of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Prince George's County, Maryland. Check it out. He did a much better job than I did on this.

I have since noticed that the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas made the following statement: "We find the sentiment behind the comments even more troubling and agree with the spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Commission who in his condemnation noted that the language is consistent with the racist decision making and attitude that has been expressed by this administration over the past year...."  

The Sisters of Mercy were referring to comments from Rupert Colville, U.N. human rights spokesman.

One reason I probably noticed that was because the Sisters of Mercy are mentioned. My dad  had 3 sisters who joined the Sisters of Mercy in Portland, Maine after they migrated to the United States from Ireland. However, the main reason was because of the issue involved.

The National Black Catholic Congress said it condemned the remarks made by the president of the United States. "As people of faith, concerned with the dignity of all of God's people, we deplore such racist and hateful speech."

The U.S. Catholic bishops instituted National  Migration Week. This year - 2018 - it is to be observed this year January 7 - 14. It is a call to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, immigrants, refugees and human trafficking victims. 

Then they said the following, "We call on the president to apologize to the people of all the nations he slandered and to the American people.... We ask members of Congress and other leaders to denounce these slurs. They do not reflect who we are as Americans." [These quotes and comments are in the January 6-February 8, 2018 issue of the National Catholic Reporter. pages 1 and 12.]

STILL PROCESSING ALL OF THIS

I am taking my time to process all this. It’s a rare experience to have people tell me they  walked out of church because of something I said.

ONE  SERMON  AMONGST  MANY

I have preached well over well over 4,000 homilies here at St. Mary’s Parish. The first Mass I said here at this parish was on August 14, 2002. For the record, I have that sermon and every sermon that I preached here on my computer.

However, I don't have all those sermons on my blog. I  didn't start my blog, "Reflections by the Bay" till June 17, 2007. 

But I do have all my Sunday Sermons on my blog as well as all my weekday sermons - all but three - out there in public - from June 2007. 

So if anyone wants to check out what I preach about, you can get a good glimpse of my thoughts and themes on record.

I also have a lot of stuff in print - in 5 published books - a column in U.S. Catholic for 2 years - that's 24 issues - and various other publications.

I report all this to challenge those people who told me what I am about, what I hold, where I stand, what I believe.

UPROAR

Till last Sunday's sermon I don't believe I have caused "uproar." However, at times people called me  "liberal" or "lefty" and obviously a democrat. 

Up till this homily, I believe I deliberately tried to avoid getting pegged or labeled - lest the gospel as a two edged sword get blunted. 

At times I have also been called sincere, transparent and authentic - as well as poetic and unclear - or what have you. 

When one stands up to speak in public - let's be honest - people think they can see right through you.  Sometimes they are right; sometimes they are wrong.

When one stands up for something - sometimes the only umbrella one can use for the rain of judgments is, John 8:7 or Luke 6:37.

When one stands up in public, one can be described as "naked to mine enemies."

That last statement is from Shakespeare's Henry VIII, "Had I but served my God with half the zeal / I served my king, he would not in mine age / Have left me naked to mine enemies." Henry VIII, III, ii, 456.

Have you been noticing lately a variation of that very theme is being told by many people who are re-telling Hans Christian Andersen's tale called The Emperor's New Clothes [1837]? 

It's interesting how much last Sunday's sermon is getting me in touch with a lot of stuff I've heard through life.

It's amazing how the same thing has happened to others. I noticed this in these e-mails I've received. Somehow my sermon got some people  in touch with a lot of their stuff and so they sent me  a tractor trailer full of comments and complaints about how they think I think and how I am - stuff I didn't even know about myself.

So being defensive I'm noticing that I'm filling up my tractor trailer filled with stuff - in reply. By the way, that's what this very long document is. It's a tractor trailer truck that I'm parking at their door step. In responding to their e-mails I have attached this document - at the various stages this document is  at. 

Smile.

I have two sayings - amongst many - that I go by: "Be who you is, because if you be who you ain't, then you ain't who you is."

This is who I am.

The other is from Shakespeare in Hamlet, "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man."

Moreover, I'm a writer as well as a preacher. I hold that the secret of good writing and good preaching, is that the reader or the listener, does not notice you. My hope is that nobody notices the person in the pulpit. I hope people only see Christ and the person in their body and in their skin and their bench at Mass as well as how they are with the people in their life.

Please read that last paragraph again, because I'm wrestling about that one with regards last Sunday.

In one way, the heart of the matter might be right there.  I don't know yet, but I'm listening and trying to figure out what is really going on with these attacks on blacks and Latinos - Haitians and Africans.  

I didn't cry because of the negative reaction by some from my one sermon. 

I am sad, however, that some have "kicked me out of the Catholic Church" - that this wasn't a Mass according to some  - that the Mass we were at was described as a political rally. 

I am sad that some said they didn't hear the Mass last Sunday because of one specific sermon. They told me that it wasn't a Mass. 

I disagree. It's difficult, but I forgive you for such a comment. 

I want to add that it’s not my Mass. It’s our Mass - our meal - our moment with Jesus Christ the Messiah -  Redeemer - Lord and Savior - on a Sunday.

THERE ARE CHOICES WHEN IT COMES TO PRIESTS

Several said, "For now on, I'll check the parish web site and avoid your Mass."

If that was said to hurt me, it does a bit. 

Yet,  I have said from our pulpit a few times. "The benefit here at St. Mary's is that parishioners can check the web site and pick or avoid different priests or Masses. Some people in other parishes have just one priest, so they have to go to other parishes - if they don't like their parish priest."

I was wondering: "Musicians at St. Mary's and St. John's do you ever get blasted? I've only heard compliments for your ministry. Thank you for your study, efforts, training and work. I hope you only get compliments. "

I've also said at a Mass once, "I read somewhere. In any given situation, when one is in public, 1/3 like you; 1/3 don't like you; 1/3 don't care."

Obviously, it's nice to be liked rather than cursed. However,  that's not my focus. I too have to be aware of what St. Paul said in 1st Corinthians 3: 1 - 9. 

"And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.  I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh.  For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?  For when one says, 'I belong to Paul, and another, 'I belong to Apollos, are you not merely human?  What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted. Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.  For we are God's field, God's building."

That text became even more real for me when someone said in an e-mail, "Where is Father Flynn when we need him?"  

What a great compliment to Father Flynn. I've always read that the stuff of the New Testament is stuff that's happening in every local Christian community ever since.

This has become a very long and winding road of a reflection. I put that little tidbit in about Father Flynn - because someone might get this far and tell someone, "Did you hear what he said about Father Flynn?"

Being more practical, I would want to say here the following about Father Pat Flynn, "Where are you Father Flynn? You took a day of duty. You did most of the funerals. You did all that hospital work. You did lots of weddings. I get at least 3 people per week asking, 'How is Father Flynn doing?'"

And everyone knew what party he was in. Smile!

That was a sidebar or distraction - but relevant in my opinion. Back to the matter at hand ....

E-MAILS - AS FEEDBACK

I know what I said. E-mails pro and con tell me what some people were thinking.

Obviously the 12 or so e-mails that had attacking comments were louder for me than those that were positive.

I didn't want e-mails. However, I answered each and every one personally - that included a name and e-mail address. This  takes time. And I'm writing and re-writing this document which takes even more time.

I also learned loud and clear that there is a big difference between  a written document compared to a spoken presentation.

I felt good that from the feedback, the comments, and the letters, that some people understood some of what I said. Some clapped; some disagreed. Obviously, some heard me.

Most of the time when I give a homily, I have no idea what people are thinking about from what I said - if anything. Well with this homily, I found out that  this was not the case this time.

USING A SCRIPT

Before coming to Annapolis, I never used a script when I preached. I would type up a homily after I gave it. One e-mail seemed to poke a dig about my printed homilies - my scripts - as if I’m giving  a canned homily. That comment  hurt, because I work on every homily - try to make it my best - and it’s for that day - after I read and pray over the readings. I don't serve left overs. I don’t give old homilies. 

Another benefit that comes with a prepared,  written and worked out homily like on this past Sunday - is that I have what I said - in print. So if someone says I said something that I didn't say, I don't have the tape, but I do have the homily in writing. I  put it on my blog.  

Last Sunday at the 11 AM Mass at St. John Neumann, I did make one mistake. It was spontaneous  and not on script. I regret doing this. I made the following comment for a reason after my homily. “If I wanted to be political, if I was in congress, I would urge people not to show up for the State of the Union banquet - if there is one. That would be a more peaceful move. I had read somewhere that women are being told to wear black dresses in protest - like some did in the Golden Globe awards. Without really knowing what that's all about,  I would urge just not showing up - no protesting - no screaming like someone did at one of Barack Obama's speeches to  congress on Health Care a few years back."

So as soon as I said that,  I realized that was not a smart remark, because it was  off the point. It could make my homily sound like a political statement - like some attacked me for, compared to my point that this is a homily - a moral homily and not a political speech.

FOR THE SAKE OF TRANSPARENCY

Not to worry Andrew: the comment that really killed me was the statement I got blasted for. It was when I said,  “For the sake of transparency, I am a democrat.” 

That is in my script. 

I thought saying that would be a plus. I thought that was only fair.  

If you read my homily,  I would hope you would hear that I was saying I realized that we have a 40 - 40 - party split in this country - and somewhat close to that perhaps in our parish. We live in a Red/Blue - United States. I thought I was showing respect in recognizing and acknowledging who we are. 

Yet I'm still wondering if I should have avoided making my comment, "For the sake of transparency...." 

Various folks said to me:"Dumb move." 

Or I'm now thinking the following: I could have added, "For the sake of transparency some of you are republicans."

No e-mail made that suggestion so far. It might show a sense of humor in the midst of all the dread in some e-mails. Nobody gave me credit yet for saying, "For the sake of transparency, I am a democrat."

Guess what?  I believe we all need to be transparent - especially to ourselves for starters.

Some folks are republicans; some folks are democrats; some people are independent; some people are, "It all depends." Some of all these people come to church.

I AM A LOT MORE 

This is not to say, we're also a lot more. 

Tennyson has Ulysses say in a poem with that name, "I am a part of all that I have met;"

My sister Mary has told me how much a book entitled, "It Didn't Start With You" has got her thinking.

The book was written by Mark Wolynn. It has a quote from William Faulkner from his book, Requiem for a Nun. "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

A few e-mails implied that I represent all that they disagree with. I'm a poet and I speak like one at times. 

If I was cartoonist, if I could draw, I would would draw a crowd - with every person's head as a TV monitor. Some monitors would have Fox on, others CNBC, others CNN. 

I wonder when I hear some people, if they are speaking or is someone else speaking?

We are part of what we watch.

I am part of all that I hear. 

A few years back this was mentioned all the time with the comment, "We become what we eat."  

When I watch NCIS - if it's a re-run - I can often see the next scene before it happens. 

This triggers an, "Uh oh!"  I say that because I wonder how much else is in my brain that I don't know is in there.

I'm sure the ancients - have said this very thing - in many ways.

When you are with me - when I am with you - who else is with us?

How about grandparents, parents, life experiences, friends, teachers, being in the military, marriage, having children, the  books we read, the papers we read, the movies we've seen.  When we experience another, whom are we listening to?

This comment I just made - where does it come from?

Words become flesh.

I hope all these Gospel readings have become me.

I hope all these shoot em up movies I've seen from time to time, have not become me.

And various people yelled back at me in e-mails - I don't want you to be planting these words in my soil or my soul.

I get that ....

Notice there is a lot of stuff planted in your soil and your soul.

Check it out - as you checked out what I said.

I also hope you get that I'm saying I was not talking politics, but morality.

I thought it was wrong and is wrong for people to name call people and dehumanize them.

Obviously, based on the responses I've received, I failed to deliver that message.

So our memories are vacuums that picked  up all that we have experienced. 

Watch TV, and you'll be shown clips of things people said a long time ago.

Listen to people and you'll hear things from a lot of people from long ago.

A while back we had an open forum on the environment in Seelos Hall.  We talked about the local environment. I spoke on  Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment [Laudato si - May 24, 2015].

Before I began my comments, I said, “For the sake of transparency, I am a democrat." Then I added, "I'm saying that because I think that enters into one’s mind set in a discussion and study of all this.”  

I also said I am a Catholic - and that enters into my take on the environment and on and on and on.

And yes, there is a theology and morality that should be in the discussion of the environment - and if that was brought up in a homily - uproar could also arrive.

So I spoke last Sunday ....

Since it was not in a time of people voting - I was not worried - about people thinking I was trying to solicit votes for someone.

I wasn’t. 

However, I was trying to get votes and be a voice for those who have been made fun of and dehumanized .... 

Wow! Was I wrong in the eyes of some people, because of their reaction - saying that I was making being at Mass in a church a political campaign?

I hit buttons.  The plus in that is this: folks will know that one of the priests at St. Mary’s stood up and spoke out - on this moral issue. 

However that was not my motive.

For the sake of transparency - I am a priest and I was speaking out against the degrading of human beings.

KEN BURNS AND DAVID McCULLOUGH

If you got furious with me, would you get furious with this piece by Ken Burns?

Or David McCullough.

I listened to Ken Burns recently and he is not speaking as a democrat or republican but as a human being speaking up for other human beings - as well as for our country and our world.

ABORTION

Ken Burns and David McCullough said nothing about abortion - but I got attacked after Mass and in some e-mails that I was not against abortion. I am against abortion - have mentioned that in some homilies - and prayers. 

Someone even said that I have never mentioned abortion in a sermon. Stupid me countered: "Were you at every Mass I was at here at St. Mary’s/St. John Neumann?"  

And this person said, “Yes!” 

I closed my mouth at that. Evidently, he has me pegged - judged - and nailed down in his mind. Does he realize there are many democrats like me who are pro-life - as well as anti-abortion? I didn’t ask if he or the others who were venting the same comment at me - if they went to the Pro Life Marches in Washington D.C. and marched to Lawyer’s Mall here in Annapolis after the Pro Life Mass at St. Mary's - as I have many, many times. If they didn't could I say, "You're for abortion?"

Of course not ....

Many of the e-mails that went after me - brought in abortion.  That taught me that when challenged - perhaps some people - respond by bringing up other issues. At times, that's called "deflection". 

People deflect all the time.

For example, a couple are arguing about one forgetting an important visit to his or her family. The attack is that one is being so forgetful or selfish. The accused counters, "Well, two months ago you left the refrigerator door open."

Little kids play this game all the time.

Some people last Sunday also attacked St. Mary’s Parish for not mentioning abortion enough. I wanted to scream at that one.  "Hello."

Years ago.  Father Frank Pavone came to St. Mary’s and gave a talk on abortion and told the people that it should be mentioned in every sermon at every Mass. They he added, "If your priest doesn’t do that, let it be known."  

At the Q and A period I stood up and said, “I disagree with your statement and your principal about mentioning abortion at every Mass.”  

Words have impact!

I have listened to people who have had abortions and when someone who thinks the Catholic Church is a one issue Church, talking about abortions over and over again, it triggers a horror from their life - brought up over and over again. 

Moreover, if I drove people away from the Church last Sunday, let me tell you about how many people have been driven out of the Catholic Church because of this. And I can hear people respond to this by saying, “Good!” [Ooops, there I am - also using the counter attack method of communication.]

And if I said that last paragraph from the pulpit, the same thing as last Sunday might happen. Some might clap, some might  scream afterward, some might walk out  and some would send e-mails.

MORAL ISSUE OR POLITICS?

So good news: people definitely see abortion as a moral issue - and not a political issue - and it can be mentioned in a sermon.

The pro-life movement has certainly made that clear, clear, clear....

Once more: my main point in my sermon last Sunday was that I was not being political - I was being moral. 

Based on the 12 or more e-mails criticizing me, evidently, I did a poor job getting that message across. The negative e-mails described my sermon as a political speech. I am saying it was a homily - a social justice sermon - a Golden Rule Homily.  I would ask every one who criticized my comments to answer two questions: "Would you want someone calling your home and your homeland a SH?"  "Would you want someone calling you by a put down nick name?" 

I believe it was immoral to call the homes and people who lived in them - in Haiti and Africa with a put down word. X number of people said that he didn’t say those words.  I’m not going to argue with that. There has been enough evidence on TV that he put down Africans, Haitians, Mexicans and South Americans. If someone says that didn’t happen, they have to live with that denial.

We have two Redemptorists stationed here at St. Mary’s - who are from Africa. When I heard Africans attacked, I assumed it was Black Africans that he had in mind. I am not going to play games here. Father Pat Flynn is now back in Africa. I was not thinking of him - I was thinking of Father William Guri and my Redemptorist confreres in Haiti and Africa.

After this happened,   I remembered my sister Peggy, an IHM nun, who was once the principal of a Catholic Grammar School in Long Island.  Her order has in mind to serve the poorer folks - as well as people of color. When a decision was made to try to increase people of color in their school, she got blasted by a group in the parish - for doing that. However, the story that has made me cry with joy was when her superiors in Scranton called her up to come and meet with them. They said, “We’re behind you.” 

I remembered this after my January 14, 2018 homily when I spoke up for Haitians and others. I'm proud to follow in her footsteps. She once said that one of the best experiences of her life was when there was a black kid in one of her classes and she didn't even notice the kid as black. 

One of the best experiences of last Sunday was when a group of parishioners at St. John Neumann came over and surrounded me - when one guy wouldn't stop badgering me. It's nice to experience people having my back.

Moreover, the foundress of the I.H.M. Sisters was Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin. That's the community my sister was a member of. Well, their founder was born in Baltimore of a woman of Haitian roots - and a white father who never acknowledged her. She was at first one of the founders of the Oblate Sisters of Providence - the first congregation of women religious of color in our world - started in Baltimore.

So my buttons got pushed by this experience. I hope it has happened to many more people than me. 

TWO KEY QUESTIONS

Here are two key questions: If something is bad, wrong, immoral, sinful,  am I allowed to speak out about it?  Moreover, if something is immoral, do I have a human obligation to speak up?

One person came up to me last Sunday and said in the vestibule of St. John Neumann,  “Well Hilary and the Clinton Foundation took 90 cents from every dollar donated for Haiti.”  I heard that, but remained silent. Then it hit me afterward: "I don’t know if that is true.  By saying that Hilary and Bill’s Clinton’s Foundation was robbing Haiti, it sounds like you are saying that’s a wrong. Well, if you think it's wrong, is it politically or morally wrong? I rest my case.

Then I might also add, "Well if you’re using that to attack the Clinton's, are you also saying, 'Okay our guy is wrong, but so too Hilary."

I’ve been trying to figure out why he keeps on attacking Hilary and Barack Obama - a year after he was elected. What's going on there folks? What's going on there folks? Notice I didn’t put any of that in my homily.

Before the Presidential Election  I drove to my sister Peggy’s grave with my sister Mary up near Scranton PA. We saw a wooden cut out of Hilary being hung from a tree with  the message on it - “Hang her!”  I thought that was immoral.  Would I say that in the pulpit? I haven’t and don’t plan to - because I think it would hit people as a political statement. Once more: I see that as a moral issue and a moral statement.

Some might respond to that by saying, "Well he didn't say to hang her." I didn't find that comment on line.  However, in a comment in Wilmington, North Carolina on August 9, 2016, he did say "If she gets to appoint judges to the supreme court there is nothing you can do folks."  Then he added that given the Second Amendment,  "Maybe there is. I don't know."

Now that's a very clever statement that brings in Hilary, Supreme Court judges, the Second Amendment - guns.

Is he saying, "Shoot her?"

They were saying, "Lock her up."

For the sake of transparency, "Those sounds disturbed me."

If she was elected president, would the Secret Service knock on the door of the house of people who had such signs on their lawns, cut out figures hanging from their trees, and anyone who made such statements?

Hello!

I didn’t bring up the comments he made about Charlottesville. I sense that many Republicans were embarrassed with that weekend - and his public statements.

I hope they were.

I didn’t bring up his comments about Mexicans and Mexico,  not sending us their best. He called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers and on and on and on.

Likewise  I heard the President make the P comment coming off the bus - and that amazes me that people could have voted for him - especially women. That could be an in your face.  I didn’t make reference to that in my sermon.  People seem to be ignoring that. I don't get that. Or they say that comment he made coming off the bus in Las Vegas was years ago.  Hello, how many people have lost their jobs for past behavior? 

I didn’t bring up his attacks on John McCain, James Comey, the FBI, the military, the Muslim who was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star and his parents became Gold Star Parents - a soldier who died in service to our country.  For the life of me, for the sake of transparency, I’d expect Republicans and Democrats and independents to scream at this - instead of saying, "Fake news!" 

Notice I’m bringing in the word “Republicans” to scream.  That’s why I said, "For the sake of transparency, I am a democrat."

Nobody who walked out or sent critical e-mails said, "For the sake of transparency, I am a Republican."

I am not making that a flippant comment - but to make a point on why I said it.

They might respond, "... but not in church."

I did. I had my reasons. I believe I gave my reasons many times in this long commentary. It might not have been prudent based on their reactions. 

Then again, did any of the persons who complained about what I said in church ever read or hear Luke 4: 16-30?

Read it and read 3 times verses 28-30: "When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away."

I was brought up with Luke 4: 18-19 - the text right before the text I just typed - referred as a key Redemptorist text.

I would also ask anyone who wants preachers in the pulpits to limit their homilies to only what they assume should be spoken from the pulpits to read Matthew 25: 31-46.  Is any one of the issues spoken there about inside the church stuff? Every issue there is about outside the church stuff - life stuff: being hungry,  being thirsty, being a stranger,  needing clothes, being sick, being in prison, making people feel welcomed.  That's the stuff that puts people in heaven or hell.

Translation: on Monday evening or Wednesday afternoon walk into the corridor of St. Mary's rectory - near the offices - and look at the faces of the people in our parish who help the poor and the needy with support from the many, many generous people of our parish. Question: are you seeing heaven or hell?

I'LL PUBLISH YOUR COMMENTS 

You can find my homily on my Blog for January 14, 2018 - and if you want to respond publicly to my homily  - I will insert your response into my blog.

I have been putting my homilies on my blog since June 17, 2007. I am not scared being out front in what I say.

Let me add this human comment as well. I said this is a tractor trailer full  of comments.

If a baker made 4000 apple pies and some people  think one of them has rotten apples,   would they forget about the other 3,999?

Sunday was the first time anyone walked out of church - from something I said - as far as I know.  I have heard a preacher say  to us priests - “How come they don’t want to martyr us - like they did to Bishop Romero - and Jesus Christ for that matter?”  Then he added, “Check out your past homilies.”

If  you  walked out,  I said I was uncomfortable at that. I like to be liked. I don’t think acid works in preaching - but I listened to my heart and to my sense of Jesus and decided to preach what I preached that morning.

Walking out is one way to vote - with one’s feet and presence.

I took time to write my homily - and I believe I addressed - the reactions I thought might happen.

Wow was I right?

"Well, dummy, why did you preach it?"

"Because I thought the comments and a lot more - lies included - are immoral."

"But Obama and Hilary and every politician does it?"

Hello. Look in the mirror as you say that one.

I did not preach for applause and agreement - or to be liked.

I preached what I preached because I think this description of other human beings - where they live - their country etc. is wrong.

I repeat, I live with Father William Guri - who is a citizen of Zimbabwe - and I listened to his thoughts about what happened last week. 

A lady after Mass today who works in the White House said he didn't say this.  I am not going to argue with this.  It was obvious that her mind is made up.

Me too.

We have Redemptorists in Haiti and in various African Countries. I don't like them being described as they were - not just last week.

I watched some of the Republican Debates when our president  called Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, etc. and now Steve Bannon - put down names. I am not going to argue about that. That’s my ears that heard that and eyes that saw that. I believe - that in my homily - besides the abusive words towards Haiti and African countries - I only referred to adjectives the president used towards Republicans.

I did expect them to speak up on this issue - like John McCain today is challenging President Trump on his attacks on the press.  Hello America!

It was obvious  whom I was referring to. However, I didn’t mention the president by name in my homily.  I was only nasty in my description of one’s inner house - being a mansion,  having a golf course, tower.

So as I said, I have to live with the consequences of my homily.

You have to live with the consequences of your speech if you talked about my homily and blasted it - of if you said it challenged you and you see where he was coming from - and by saying that someone looks down on you.

Those who walked out,  have to live with the consequences of walking out.

I said in my homily that my name is Andrew and Andrew in the gospel for that day brings his brother Peter to Jesus.  But first he went to Jesus  who asked him, “What are you looking for?”  Andrew and his buddy ask Jesus where do you stay? And Jesus says, “Come, and you will see.”

Then we find out that Andrew tells his brother, “We have found the Messiah.”

Both follow Jesus - the Messiah - the Christ - the Savior ….

In my homily I began by saying Jesus starts in a stable - and you know what’s on the floor in a stable.

Then for those who continue with Jesus he’ll take them to greater and greater life.

Those who continue with Jesus will see how Jesus treated people.

And in my homily I said Jesus does not want us to insult people of color - or different skills or language or place of origin, and on and on and on.

In the e-mails that attacked me, some mentioned that they had their children walk out as well.  I won’t go there with that one. But please revisit that. Please remember that. Consequences  - maybe this or maybe that. Maybe your kids heard a priest stick up for people who were being put down - and they wondered what you were doing walking out.

ALL ARE WELCOME

A couple of people used the "All are welcome" theme on our outside signs to blast me - for not making them feel welcome. 

I forgive you for that comment - which I thought nasty. The point I was making was that our church and our pope and our bishop are saying "All are welcome" on our planet - and we have a lot to do for migrants and immigrants and the driven out and strangers amongst  us. And stop the bullying and calling people's homes the SH word.

Read the Social Justice encyclicals of our Catholic Church.

FATHER JOHN LAVIN - REDEMPTORIST 

Read the story of Lazarus at the door of the rich man in the Gospel of Luke 16: 19-31.

To the person who said, "Where is Father Flynn - when you need him?"  I would answer, "Where is Father John Lavin when we need him?" 

He had far more people than some folks at one Sunday Mass complaining about me - complaining about him. He had an eye - for where injustice and unfairness and the gospel was being avoided.

Read his book, Noticing Lazarus at Our Door.  He begins Chapter One of that book with this story. "It was a Sunday in August, 1967.  Two middle-aged Irish-American women were talking after Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Brooklyn. One lady said to the other: "Isn't it terrible what that young priest said in his sermon.  He's making the Puerto Ricans as good as the Irish!" The other woman responded: "I think he was o.k. Besides he's my son!"

COMMUNION WITH THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST

In the e-mails that attacked me, some said they skipped communion. If they did that to hurt me, it did, especially because I was trying to live up to how I see being  a priest. A priest - like Andrew in the gospel for that day - brings people to Jesus.

If we denigrate other people - one to one - as I see happening - as well as whole groups of people - being described the way I heard them described - then people are not going to communion with the Body of Christ - member for member.

Hello - Paul on the road to Damascus found out who Christ was. [Cf. Acts 9: 1-25.] He's not just bread and wine - Christ is the Body - the Church - the Mass of people around our world - in Asia, the Philippines, Haiti, Mexico, Africa, France, Italy, Ireland, Nova Scotia, North and Sound America. The Body is Christ - all Christians - member with member. [Cf 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31]

I am aware that nasty can beget nasty - so I hope I was not too nasty in this document.

I will continue to edit this. Wow, is it long? These are some of my reflections. They will develop and change - and hopefully grow and improve.

But this experience from last week - was something I decided needed my voice. I had received an e-mail the day after the SH comments about Haiti and Africa were made   from a woman of color in our parish  - asking if any of us priests would speak up for us blacks.

I did.

I could say a lot more. You could say a lot more.

I will continue to think carefully about what I say as priest - as a priest in this parish - as well as my obligations to speak up for the attacked and insulted.

If people want to get rid of me, go for it - but I won't let one sermon do that to me.

I joined the Redemptorists to go to a poor section of Brazil - our Campo Grande Province. I never got that assignment. 

The Redemptorists started because of Saint Alphonsus who saw that nobody was serving the folks up in hills of the Kingdom of Naples. He started us to work with the poorest and most abandoned - people whom other people thought didn't matter. 

We came to Annapolis when there was nothing here. 

My parents came from the edge of Ireland in Galway - right on the ocean - a place of rocks, rain, green grass and love.

When I saw where she came from, it was poor and rocky and I said to my dead parents, "Thanks for coming to America."

And anybody who knows the history of the United States, knows that we Catholics were called, "Dirty Catholics" and the different nationalities all were looked down on by the group in power - given nick names, etc. We know the history of how so many blacks were grabbed and chained and then sold into slavery in America and Haiti.

Knowing this I hope you would have been more upset than I was last week and you would want to get on a soap box or a pulpit - and scream: "I am proud of who I am and where I come from!" And "Enough with the put downs! All of us are Children of God - whether we are Muslims, Monks, Methodists, Democrats, Republicans, Slim,
Fat, Funny, Gay, Gorgeous, Wrinkled or Workaholics."

I am. 

CLOSING POEM

Let me add a closing poem by Bertold Brecht (1898-1956) translated by Tom Kuhn  (c. 1941)

THE BOOK BURNINGS

When the regime ordered that books with harmful knowledge
Should be publicly burnt, and all around
Oxen were forced to drag cartloads of books
To the pyre, one banished poet
One of the best, discovered, studying the list of the burnt
To his horror, that his books
Had been forgotten. He hurried to his desk
On wings of rage and wrote a letter to the powers that be.
Burn me! he wrote, his pen flying, burn me!
Don't do this to me! Don't pass me over! Have I not always told
The truth in my books? And now
I am treated by you as a liar!
                                           I order you:
Burn me!


I didn't rush to my desk, but I went to my desk and wrote my sermon of January 14, 2018, entitled, "What Are You Looking For?" and preached it twice.

Burn me!

TREATING ALL WITH RESPECT

AND DIGNITY IS THE FOUNDATIONAL

PRINCIPLE OF CIVILIZED SOCIETY

Archbishop Lori

Archdiocese of Baltimore

There has been much (justifiable) outrage over the President’s recent disparaging and insensitive remarks about some immigrants to the United States as well as his administration’s purgative immigration policies threatening the safety and unity of many immigrants and their families. What must not be lost in these statements and policy decisions is the underlying lack of acknowledgement of the dignity that is inherent in every human person. Sadly, this same seeming lack of regard for the dignity of every human life coming out of Washington has become all too prevalent elsewhere in our society.

The treatment of all persons with respect and dignity is the foundational principle of a civilized society. It is fundamental to who we are as a human family and is at the heart of the moral code that we live by as people imbued with the goodness of God, the Creator. Without that mutual respect, we begin to see those among us who are different, especially those living on the margins of society, as unworthy of respect, as “lesser” humans. This tragically flawed view of humanity rears its ugly head not only in discussions about immigration, but also the ongoing quest for racial equality. Coupled with the hopelessness and helplessness that are the byproduct of such societal judgments, too many citizens turn to lives defined by acts of despair and desperation.

Each of us has been given the gift of life, the most precious gift any of us could ever receive. And with that gift comes the capacity to love another, to contribute something of ourselves to the common good. When we begin to see and treat human life as disposable or we lose sight of that dignity possessed by all of God’s children, whether they are immigrants, the unborn, the elderly, the homeless, the addicted, or minorities, then we’ve lost our way as a human family and as a nation.

Archbishop Lori
Archdiocese of Baltimore

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE  104th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 2018

[14 January 2018]

“Welcoming, protecting, promoting and
integrating migrants and refugees”

Dear brothers and sisters!

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

Throughout the first years of my pontificate, I have repeatedly expressed my particular concern for the lamentable situation of many migrants and refugees fleeing from war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty. 

 This situation is undoubtedly a “sign of the times” which I have tried to interpret, with the help of the Holy Spirit, ever since my visit to Lampedusa on 8 July 2013.  When I instituted the new Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, I wanted a particular section – under my personal direction for the time being – to express the Church’s concern for migrants, displaced people, refugees and victims of human trafficking.

Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (Matthew 25:35-43).  The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future.^[1]  This solidarity must be concretely expressed at every stage of the migratory experience – from departure through journey to arrival and return.  This is a great responsibility, which the Church intends to share with all believers and men and women of good will, who are called to respond to the many challenges of contemporary migration with generosity, promptness, wisdom and foresight, each according to their own abilities.

In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that “our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate”.^[2]

Considering the current situation , welcoming means,  above all, offering broader options for migrants and refugees to enter destination countries safely and legally.  This calls for a concrete commitment to increase and simplify the process for granting humanitarian visas and for reunifying families.  At the same time, I hope that a greater number of countries will adopt private and community sponsorship programmes, and open humanitarian corridors for particularly vulnerable refugees.  Furthermore, special temporary visas should be granted to people fleeing conflicts in neighbouring countries.  Collective and arbitrary expulsions of migrants and refugees are not suitable solutions, particularly where people are returned to countries which cannot guarantee respect for human dignity and fundamental rights.^[3]  Once again, I want to emphasise the importance of offering migrants and refugees adequate and dignified initial accommodation.  “More widespread programmes of welcome, already initiated in different places, seem to favour a personal encounter and allow for greater quality of service and increased guarantees of success”.^[4]  The principle of the centrality of the human person, firmly stated by my beloved Predecessor, Benedict XVI,^[5] obliges us to always prioritise personal safety over national security.  It is necessary, therefore, to ensure that agents in charge of border control areproperly trained.  The situation of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees requires that they be guaranteed personal safety and access to basic services.  For the sake of the fundamental dignity of every human person, we must strive to find alternative solutions to detention for those who enter a country without authorisation.^[6]

The second verb – protecting – may be understood as a series of steps intended to defend the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees, independent of their legal status.^[7]  Such protection begins in the country of origin, and consists in offering reliable and verified information before departure, and in providing safety from illegal recruitment practices.^[8]  This must be ongoing, as far as possible, in the country of migration, guaranteeing them adequate consular assistance, the right to personally retain their identity documents at all times, fair access to justice, the possibility of opening a personal bank account, and a minimum sufficient to live on.  When duly recognised and valued, the potential and skills of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are a true resource for the communities that welcome them.^[9]  This is why I hope that, in countries of arrival, migrants may be offered freedom of movement, work opportunities, and access to means of communication, out of respect for their dignity.  For those who decide to return to their homeland, I want to emphasise the need to develop social and professional reintegration programmes.  The International Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a universal legal basis for the protection of underage migrants.  They must be spared any form of detention related to migratory status, and must be guaranteed regular access to primary and secondary education.  Equally, when they come of age they must be guaranteed the right to remain and to enjoy the possibility of continuing their studies.  Temporary custody or foster programmes should be provided for unaccompanied minors and minors separated from their families.^[10]  The universal right to a nationality should be recognised and duly certified for all children at birth.  The statelessness which migrants and refugees sometimes fall into can easily be avoided with the adoption of “nationality legislation that is in conformity with the fundamental principles of international law”.^[11]  Migratory status should not limit access to national healthcare and pension plans, nor affect the transfer of their contributions if repatriated.

Promoting essentially means a determined effort to ensure that all migrants and refugees – as well as the communities which welcome them – are empowered to achieve their potential as human beings, in all the dimensions which constitute the humanity intended by the Creator.^[12]  Among these, we must recognize the true value of the religious dimension, ensuring to all foreigners in any country the freedom of religious belief and practice.   Many migrants and refugees have abilities which must be appropriately recognised and valued.  Since “work, by its nature, is meant to unite peoples”,^[13] I encourage a determined effort to promote the social and professional inclusion of migrants and refugees, guaranteeing for all – including those seeking asylum – the possibility of employment, language instruction and active citizenship, together with sufficient information provided in their mother tongue.  In the case of underage migrants, their involvement in labour must be regulated to prevent exploitation and risks to their normal growth and development.  In 2006, Benedict XVI highlighted how, in the context of migration, the family is “a place and resource of the culture of life and a factor for the integration of values”.^[14]  The family’s integrity must always be promoted, supporting family reunifications – including grandparents, grandchildren and siblings – independent of financial requirements.  Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees with disabilities must be granted greater assistance and support.  While I recognize the praiseworthy efforts, thus far, of many countries, in terms of international cooperation and humanitarian aid, I hope that the offering of this assistance will take into account the needs (such as medical and social assistance, as well as education) of developing countries which receive a significant influx of migrants and refugees.  I also hope that local communities which are vulnerable and facing material hardship, will be included among aid beneficiaries.^[15]

The final verb – integrating – concerns the opportunities for intercultural enrichment brought about by the presence of migrants and refugees.  Integration is not “an assimilation that leads migrants to suppress or to forget their own cultural identity. Rather, contact with others leads to discovering their ‘secret’, to being open to them in order to welcome their valid aspects and thus contribute to knowing each one better.  This is a lengthy process that aims to shape societies and cultures, making them more and more a reflection of the multi-faceted gifts of God to human beings”.^[16]  This process can be accelerated by granting citizenship free offinancial or linguistic requirements, and by offering the possibility of special legalisation to migrants who can claim a long period of residence in the country of arrival.  I reiterate the need to foster a culture of encounter in every way possible – by increasingopportunities for intercultural exchange, documenting and disseminating best practices of integration, and developing programmes to prepare local communities for integration processes.   I wish to stress the special case of people forced to abandon their country of arrival due to a humanitarian crisis.  These people must be ensured adequate assistance for repatriation and effective reintegration programmes in their home countries.

In line with her pastoral tradition, the Church is ready to commit herself to realising all the initiatives proposed above.  Yet in order to achieve the desired outcome, the contribution of political communities and civil societies is indispensable, each according to their own responsibilities.

At the United Nations Summit held in New York on 19 September 2016, world leaders clearly expressed their desire to take decisive action in support of migrants and refugees to save their lives and protect their rights, sharing this responsibility on a global level.  To this end, the states committed themselves to drafting and approving, before the end of 2018, two Global Compacts, one for refugees and the other for migrants.

Dear brothers and sisters, in light of these processes currently underway, the coming months offer a unique opportunity to advocate and support the concrete actions which I have described with four verbs.  I invite you, therefore, to use every occasion to share this message with all political and social actors involved (or who seek to be involved) in the process which will lead to the approval of the two Global Compacts.

Today, 15 August, we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.  The Holy Mother of God herself experienced the hardship of exile (Matthew 2:13-15), lovingly accompanied her Son’s journey to Calvary, and now shares eternally his glory.  To her maternal intercession we entrust the hopes of all the world’s migrants and refugees and the aspirations of the communities which welcome them, so that, responding to the Lord’s supreme commandment, we may all learn to love the other, the stranger, as ourselves.

Vatican City, 15 August 2017

Solemnity of the Assumption of the B.V. Mary
 

FRANCIS
 

---

^[1] Cf. Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia, Titulus Primus, I.
 

^[2]  Address to Participants in the International Forum on “Migration and Peace”, 21 February 2017.
 

^[3] Cf. Statement of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the 103^rd Session of the Council of the IOM, 26 November 2013.
 

^[4]  Address to Participants in the International Forum on “Migration and Peace”, 21 February 2017.
 

^[5] Cf. Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 47.
 

^[6] Cf.   Statement of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the 20^th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, 22 June 2012.
 

^[7] Cf. Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 62.
 

^[8] Cf. Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi, 6.
 

^[9] Cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the Participants in the 6^th World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, 9 November 2009.
 

^[10] Cf. Benedict XVI, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (2010) and Statement of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the 26^th Ordinary Session of the Human Rights Council on the Human Rights of Migrants, 13 June 2014.
 

^[11] Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons, 2013, 70.
 

^[12] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 14.
 

^[13] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 27.
 

^[14] Benedict XVI, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (2007). 
 

^[15] Cf. Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons, 2013, 30-31.
 

^[16] John Paul II, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (2005).

WE HARDLY KNEW YOU.

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 2^nd Tuesday in Ordinary Time is “We Hardly Knew You.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING - APPEARANCE

I got that title and this thought from today’s first reading from 1^st Samuel. The author has God saying  these profound words, “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him.”

That is referring to Jesse’s 7 sons that were presented to Samuel as a possible king and none of them had what Samuel thought God  was looking for. Remember Samuel was told by the Lord to go to Jesse - a man in Bethlehem - and anoint one of his sons king.

The Lord also says, “Not as man sees does God see - because he sees the  appearance -  but the Lord looks into the heart.”

So Samuel asks if there is anyone else?

That’s when they call for David, the youngest, the 8^th child - who is out somewhere tending the sheep.

When he walks in, the Lord said, “There - anoint him - for this is he.”

DAVID

This is now David is introduced into our Bible.

The year is around 1000 B. C.

The text from Samuel is dated between 630 to 540 B.C.

By the time the David stories are written down in the Jewish Bible that we use,  the spoken stories were first made better. The  legends took over - and the group that favored David gave him good press down through the years.

Whenever I read about David,  Richard Gere appears -  because he played David in the movie. That’s not bad - compared to Ernest Borgnine and also John Wayne both playing the part of the Centurion who says at Calvary, “Truly this  is the son of God.”

WHO IS THIS OTHER  PERSON?

Years ago - after John F. Kennedy’s death, there was a book called, “Johnny We Hardly Knew You.

I think of that book - it also became a song - as well as a movie: Johnny I/we hardly knew you -  whenever the question of who is this other person is or was.  

I think of my dad at times. He was an introvert - but too, too quiet - and I have questions I’d love to ask him. Daddy we hardly knew you. He was always there - the perfect gentleman - but I still have questions.

My mom and my only brother I knew the best, but not enough. My sister Peggy and I did not get enough chances to talk. The only one left, my sister Mary, I know the best and we’ve been working on this.

APPEARANCE

So this Bible text is relevant to me? How about you?

I’m not married, but I’ve been blessed that I have lived in a community most of my life as a priest. As a result I have been blessed to know some wonderful people.

Some obvious learnings are these:

We can be in the same house and not know each other.

We can hear people talk about someone we live and/or work with and we say, “We  hardly know you Johnny.”

I have done hundreds of funerals and I try to find out about another. I feel good when someone says, “You really captured her.”

I find out that some people can figure out another much better than others.

I tell myself - you better have people who know you.

I try not to judge others. I like the Native America saying more and more as I get older. Don’t judge another - until you walked a mile in their moccasins. And I add the last part of that word - and also say, Don’t judge.  You won’t  know another until you walk a mile in their sins.  As priest I have heard a lot of confessions - and I noticed in today’s first reading - “the Lord looks into the heart.”

CONCLUSION

This basic thought we all know. We’re surprised by it at times.

And the one story - and warning -  I have never forgotten is in the book, The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. It should be read once a year.

A doctor got cancer and died.  He never told anyone.  People said how brave he was. His family was furious. He never told them.

January 16, 2018

NEVER GIVE  UP

Thanks to all who have come up
with steps to growth: 12 of these
and 7 of that; 3 of these and 5 of
that. Keep stepping. Keep coming.
Keep climbing. Keep trying gal or guy.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018