CHRISTIANITY: 

“A DANGEROUS 

LIBERATING MEMORY” 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 22 Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Christianity: ‘A Dangerous Liberating Memory.”

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s first reading triggers the question: being the natural person or being the spiritual person?

The difference is whether we have the mind of Christ - whether we understand everything with the Spirit which is from God - of if we just go by human wisdom.

Today’s gospel could get us to see ourselves as the man with unclean demons and we scream out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”  Do we know Jesus is the Holy One of God - who has come not to harm us, not to destroy us, but drive our demons out of us - and heal us?

We have choices.

JOHANN METZ

I noticed a theological point by Johann B. Metz last night when working on this homily.  I hadn’t seen his name in years - but there he was  - and still alive - in Germany -  in his 90’s [1924-  ]

He was drafted into the German Army as a teenager in 1944 and was captured and ended up in Maryland and Virginia. After the war he went back to Germany and became a priest and a theologian.

MEMORY

One of his key thoughts is the impact of memory on a human being - especially suffering.

Obviously, he reflected on how much impact the memory of World War II had on people. He reflected deeply  about the suffering - the war - the murders at Auscwitz - the cruelty  of people on people can be.

Recently, the papers talk about the abuse of young people and then the  coverups and the silence and the secrecy of bishops, cardinals and popes about how young people were abused.

Johann Metz’s thought would urge us to reflect upon how much abuse damages the psyche, the memory, of people for life. Then that person could have cuts and scars on their soul.

For life….

His theology and his teaching and writings and sermons spoke out about the poor of the world - how their lack - their hunger - their suffering impacts them for life. We can ask any person: “Where does it hurt?”

He used the word “solidarity” - Solidarity with others - a word John Paul II used which he grabbed from Heidigger and Existenialist writers.

We’re all in this together.

He is still alive and I have read very little of his material - my loss.

From the little I read last night - he would be totally against walls - in Germany there was the Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall - as well as around our worsld and around the world. He would want the richer nations and societies to take in the poor - all of them.

He would be for Solidarity - being in communion with the all of the world.

That’s the meaning of Catholic - KATA HOLOS - with the whole world - being in solidarity - that solid - with others - with all.

Let me tell you lots of Catholics fail here - including myself - over and over again. The world has been full of selfies long before digital phones.

EUCHARIST

Johnnan Metz saw the Eucharist - this Mass - this Meal - this Communion as central to life.  We all are welcome in this place.  We are all equal. This is our common table.

 I noticed that Metz would say the key words at the Mass are Remembrance - do this in Memory of Me - and the covenant to be with each other.

I noticed last night Metz saying that God is not apathetic - which is the complaint, the scream of so many - I’m suffering - I’ve had my Auschwitz's and my suffering and where is God? And God screams from the Cross: "I was born here. I am here. I came here. I suffered here - I was beaten and nailed and killed here - like what happens all over the world from the beginning of time. Just turn on the TV, just turn on the Cross, and I’m in your suffering."

CONCLUSION

Just as a horrible memory - for example,  abuse - can be with someone for the rest of their life, Metz would say the memory of Christ has to be just as deep, just as lasting, just as deep within us - all our life. It can’t be like a cloak - it has to be deep within.

St Alphonus - the founder of the Redemptorists - called all this the call of all of us to be a Living Memory - a Viva Memoria of Christ in our world.

Some people say they are abuse survivors. The hope for us Christians is that we see ourselves as Redemption survivors, Redemption thrivers. Hopefully we keep the dangerous liberating memory of Christ within us as we bring that memory into the world.

September 4, 2018

PEOPLE PRAY

People pray all the time,

not just as they think the plane

is going down, but when

they see a spectacular steak

or sunset…. O my God!

People pray all the time,

even when others think

all they do is play all the

time…. Oh no, they celebrate

a great catch or a block.

People pray all the time,

sometimes in church,

sometimes in the rain,

sometimes when a tiny baby

reaches out for their glasses.

People pray all the time,

sometimes when they are silent

and God is silent and both are

totally connected and love is

in the middle of the silent mix.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

September 4, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”  

Cesare Pavese

COULD  YOU  GIVE 

ME  YOUR  JOB  DESCRIPTION? 

  

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Labor Day is, “Could You Give Me Your Job Description?”

I don’t know about you or other countries, but I’ve often heard there are 3 American questions:  Family? Where do you come from? What do you do for a living?

Of course it  depends upon age and other things, but when we meet strangers, we often want to know who they are, where they are from, what their job?

When we meet people at meetings, or on cruises or at  parish picnics….  When we’re by ourselves on a plane or a bus, we often wonder about this other person next to us?

Where are they from? What do they do? Who is this person I’m rubbing elbows with on the bus into Washington?

Robert Fulghum, in one of his books, tells the story about a guy who didn’t want to socialize. On a  plane, he just wanted to rest - grab some sleep. He was tired.  So when asked the job question, the  guy would often say, “Oh I’m a brain surgeon.” The guy must have found out, somehow this quieted inquisitive other fellow passengers.

Well, this one time, the other person said, “Me to?”

It started up a lively conversation and the guy who wanted sleep didn’t catch up on it.

TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE

I love to collect types of people lists - usually, “There are two types of people….”

Why type of person are you? Quiet or inquisitive?

Outgoing or ingoing?

There are two types of people: those who like to brag about the job they have, how much their salary is. It seems that those with 6 figures like to drop that info more than those who make 7 figures. I’m not that sure about that, but that’s my guess. Then there are those who never mention how much their salary is.

There are other types of persons: there are those who like to brag about how well their kids are doing and those who like to tell how many kids they have.

There are two types of people: those who show you pictures of their grandkids and those who like to tell you about food.

TODAY IS LABOR DAY

Today is Labor Day so I wanted to trigger some thoughts about our work - about the jobs we do?

What’s important to you: the salary or the job title.

Some talk about where they live; some tell about where they work.

Some say,  “I love my job.”  Some say, “I hate my job.”

There are two types of people, those who tell you about their job and those who tell you about their family.

There are two types of people: those who love their work and those who love weekends - more:  they like Holiday Weekends and vacations even better.

There are two types of people: those who are very happy with their work and those who spend their life - filled with regrets and missed opportunities. There are two types of people on Labor Day: those who feel bad about those who are out of work - who can’t get a job - and those who see their job - whether it’s a street cleaner or street vendor as one great job.

There are two types of people: the happy and the unhappy.

If you are a check-out counter lady - how do the customers at Shoppers and Giant see you? Do people want to get on your line, even if it’s longer?

If you are a podiatrist or a pediatric nurse, do your co-workers or your patients love you?

It’s Labor Day - do you thank God for all the workers of the world - whom you benefit from: the illegal Latinos who picked the potatoes or the peaches, the factor workers who cleaned the vegetables or the fruit, the truck drivers, the stackers and the shelfers in the supermarket, the advertises who got notice to you about a sale. Then there is Amanda, the Down Syndrome gal at Graul’s who is always a delight to say hello to. She was one of the best altar servers here at St. John Neumann. And ooops, there is  the car mechanic who serviced your car and on and on and on.

It’s Labor Day - are you relaxing? Do you have a good cookout planned? Are you dying for your kids to get back to school?  Are you grateful for all those folks who answer the job description question with the job title: “Teacher!”

September 3, 2018

I  KEPT  ASKING 

I asked song - what are you about 

and it answered, “Tears.”

I asked drums - what are you about 

and it answered, “Heart beat.”

I asked hands - what are you about 

and it answered, “Reaching out.”

I asked feet - what are you about 

and it answered, “Meeting you.”

I asked money - what are you about 

and it answered, “Simplifying.”

I asked walls - what are you about 

and it answered, “Fear!”

I asked the body - what are you about 

and it answered, “Communion.”

I asked the blood - what are you about 

and it answered, “Sacrifice.”

I asked bread - what are you about 

and it answered, “Hunger!”

I asked wine - what are you about 

and it answered, “Thirst!”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

September 3, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“The first person  who’s  on your mind the  moment you open your eyes after a long sleep is the reason for either your Happiness or Pain.” 

Could not find author.

THE  HEART  OF  THE  MATTER 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 22 Sunday in Ordinary Time  [B] is, “The Heart of the Matter.”

The human heart is just a pump - but there is something about the heart -that it shows up in literature and basic human psychology -  as the center of a human being.

The heart is the heart of the matter.

We know this. We know this every Valentine’s Day - and every feast of the Sacred Heart.

How many sons and daughters - call up their mom and dad - and say they are dropping out of school or a marriage - and in that conversation they  say, “My heart isn’t in it anymore.”

That’s a whammer every time.

And sometimes we know what state there in - long before they get out a map - long before they know where they are in life or in their marriage.

Sometimes we put our hand over our heart when we are pledging our allegiance. Sometimes we put our hand on our heart when we scared or nervous - and life is in a tight squeeze and we’re in a tight situation or place.

When it comes to the heart, we know when we’re in an “Uh oh!” situation. Things don’t look good. We also know when we’re in an “Oh yeah!” situation. That’s  when we think we just met our  heart’s desire.”

JESUS KNEW THIS

Jesus knew this.  In today’s gospel Jesus  quotes Isaiah - when challenging the Pharisees and some scribes. He says, that God says, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me ….”

We  know this.  We know when the preacher in the pulpit, the singer with the song - microphone in hand - has their heart somewhere else.

The distance from the lips to the heart can be 12 inches or 1,200 miles away.

We  know it  when the other person is somewhere else.

The eyes are a dead giveaway - and sometimes yawns.

A NO NO

Years ago I was with a group of co-workers from a retreat house in New Jersey at a Broadway matinee. It was a re-run of the musical - No No Nanette. The only seats we could get were off to the side - up in balconies of sort. We could only see the front of the stage - but looking down - we could see right into the orchestra pit. All through the musical, I’m sitting there watching a violinist. On top of his music  - on the music stand - he had the New York Daily News and he was reading it all through his playing. I’m sure he did that music 100 times at least.

I don’t remember anything about that musical - its plot or its songs - but I membered that violinist.

I got a life lesson that day. I have a choice to put my heart into my music or read the Daily News. I hope every time I’m tempted to stop listening to another - to stop being with another - I’ll scream, “No, No Andrew No”.

I’ve said Mass as priest since June 20, 1965. I’ve been going to Mass probably every day since 1947 or so - we went to daily Mass at OLPH grammar school in Brooklyn - at 7:30 AM  - Monday to Friday. It was a Requiem Mass - a Mass for the dead. The priest wore black vestments. And I was an altar boy - so I was at many more masses - after a while - they can be all the same.

So I’ve been to a lot of Masses - so yes, I drift - but I’m still trying not to be like that violinist.

I did play the trombone once - for about 2 weeks. Then I quit. My heart wasn’t really in it in the first place or the second place. When I started and when I gave it up….  Now if I was practicing for 2 years and my parents put a lot of money into music lessons, and I was dropping out, now that might  be a different story.

That’s the heart of the matter.

The secret of life is to find our heart’s desire and then to put our heart into that pursuit and play - and to enjoy the music.

That’s the heart of the matter.

INSIDE THE HUMAN HEART

Okay - sometimes we don’t know what’s going on in the other’s heart -  till we read about them in the paper.

Jesus in today’s gospel gives us a balcony view of the human heart.  He calls together the crowd and says, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from the outside can defile that person, but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

The scribes and the Pharisees were off on externals; Jesus was off on the internal - the human heart.

Then he gives the heart of the matter, “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly,  All these evils come from within and they defile.”

This is heart of Jesus’ message right there.

We know this - but we’re tricky - we human beings - because we can avoid the truth - the truth that can set us free.

Instead of looking within - we go after others - blame others - pick on others - gossip about others  - in order to not face ourselves.

Do that enough and we might kill the human heart - and stop enjoying playing the violin or the trombone.

SPEAKING OF DEATH AND FUNERALS

This week we had the death of Aretha Franklin and John McCain - and others.

On TV we had the blessing of being able to watch and to listen to people go up to the microphone and camera  and give their take on another human being - getting to the heart of the matter.

Yesterday,  I watched the funeral service for John McCain. The main speakers - his daughter, Joe Lieberman, George W. Bush, Barack Obama - looked down into his heart and tried to get to the heart of what mattered to him.

They said things like: He was honest. He had zest. He had a sense of humor. He loved to tell jokes - some jokes over and over again.  He was optimistic. He was independent - a maverick. He was imperfect and he knew it. He was a fighter. He forgave and asked for forgiveness.

George W. Bush told a story about him that took place right here in Annapolis - over at the Naval Academy. Here it is word for word: “One friend from his Naval Academy days recalled how John – while a lowly plebe – reacted to seeing an upperclassman verbally abuse a steward. Against all tradition, he told the jerk to pick on someone his own size. It was a familiar refrain during his six decades of service.”

When we die, all those we left behind will speak of our heart. They will sing of the familiar refrains of our life  - for all the decades of the mysteries of our rosary - our life.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily was, “The Heart of the Matter.”

I’m assuming we’ll all take the time to go heart to heart with Christ, with ourselves, and with those key to our lives - as we grow in grace and wisdom and strength,  Amen.

Drop into church or the Eucharistic chapel down below here at St. Mary’s and ask Christ about yours and other’s heart. 

Drop into your cemeteries in your heart or on West Street or the Naval Academy and ask John McCain or others, “What was in your heart? What really mattered?