June 22, 2018

Thought for today: 

“An egotist is  a  person who is ME-DEEP in conversation.”  

Anonymous

June 21,  2018

PROMISES  TO  KEEP

…. for better, for worse,

…. for richer, for poorer,

…. in sickness and in health,

…. in good times and in bad,

…. till death do we part ….

He never thought of the meaning

of these simple words till that moment,

as he was torn between past

and future, between his wife

becoming his wife that moment

and his parents twenty feet away,

and so he turned to them and said

with his eyes, “Thank you!”

and then without thinking kissed

and embraced his wife - and the

whole church clapped and his

wife hadn’t even made her vows

and promises to him yet - so now

it’s their turn to be repeat performances

of what their parents did for them before them.

Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

June 21, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“Egotism is the art of seeing things in yourself that others cannot see.”

 Anonymous

FAKE  NEWS  

ALTERNATIVE FACTS 

17,345,067  Catholics, 18,987,583 Baptists, 1,783,756 Jews, 1,563,592 Presbyterians, 4,567,342 Lutherans, 789,987 Muslims, 456,734 Buddhists, 978,000 Anglicans, 3,458,087 Methodists - and many more folks  from all sorts of religious groups and communities, headed for these holding cages along our southern borders.

Then non-church going folks joined the march south. This group was estimated to be well over 28,000,000 million people.

In all the different group there were young people. Parents wanted to show their children what was morally wrong - and what one needs to do when one sees sin on the borders and heartlands of our world.

In those groups there also  were ministers, bishops, cardinals, nuns, priests, rabbis, imams, and various other religious leaders.

In those groups there were mayors, psychologists, social workers and lawyers.  There were small business owners who were feeling the pinch and the loss of so many hard working people who were grabbed by immigration officials.

They went by car, train, plane, bus, motor cycles, bikes, wheel chairs and on foot.

They marched right at these detention centers - in tsunami sized waves of people - a gigantic wall of people - and the guards and police - just stepped back - opened all the doors - in fact - most joined them - and they rescued all the children.

Morality was in the air.  The Spirit of God blew through our land.

They embraced the children - held them - raised them on high -  brought them to the nearest McDonald's, Wendy’s, Burger King, ice cream stands, any and every food place in the area.

Doctors and nurses joined in to make sure each kid was okay - and which ones needed to get to a hospital.

Then the crowds, smiling, laughing, toasting each other, started to chant:

“Let’s make America great

once again, once again.

Let’s make America great,

once again, once again.”

Others chanted in response, “Yes we can. Yes we can. Yes we can.”

Then the people said, “Let’s find their parents and aunts and uncles, grandparents, relatives. Let’s set these people free.”

Accountants, organizers,  people with computers and laptops, set up lines and translators to figure out who these kids were - where their parents were - and how we can connect each other with each other once again.

Something happened to America once again.

You won’t believe this. It’s incredible. The Lady in the Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, smiled and started to dance, and her torch became brighter than 10,000 suns - and her light could be seen in Canada, Mexico, El Salvador, both Koreas, China as well as Russia - and all over our world.

Andy Costello,

and I take responsibility

for this fake news and

alternative facts.

SCREAMERS

AND DREAMERS

FOR

CIVIL RIGHTS

AND

HUMAN RIGHTS,

IT'S TIME

TO UNITE

June 20, 2018

Thought for today:  

Bishop  Boyd  Carpenter in his book, Some Pages of My Life (p. 117) writes: “When we were leaving Liverpool, after my father’s death, I went with my mother, as she wished to bid `Good-bye’ to Dr. Mc Neile. As we were leaving, my mother mentioned that I was to be ordained before long. `Oh!,’ he said, `I wish I had know that.’ Then, coming near to me, he laid his hand upon my shoulder, and he said, `At first you will think you can do everything, then you will be tempted to think you can do nothing; but don’t let yourself be cast down: you will learn that you can do what God has for you to do.’” 

(Hastings, Great Texts from the Bible, 

New York: Scribner’s, 1923,  p. 199)

Picture on top: Class of 1965 on our

ordination day - June 20, 1965 - with

Cardinal Spellman who ordained us.

STANDING  AT  A  CASKET 

He stood there at a casket.

He put his hand on the priest’s hand -

the hand that made the sign of the cross

at him in the dark anonymous confessional -

as he heard the priest say,

“I absolve you from your sins.”

He then said in the dark confessional box

in his brain, “You heard me confess my sins.

Please bring them now to God our Father

for continued forgiveness - before I get there.

Amen.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018