September 6, 2018 -
Thought for today:
“Assassination is
the extreme form of censorship.”
George Bernard Shaw
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
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
Monday, September 3, 2018
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!”
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