October 29, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“Silence is God’s first language. Everything else is a poor translation.”  

A favorite saying of Thomas Keating - 

Trappist Monk - who died October 25, 2018 

in Spencer, Massachusetts

October 28, 2018

ROCK  OR  WATER?

Holding on to a rock - just one solid stone - 

is so much easier than grabbing a handful 
of water - which laughs as it slips out
of our hands and falls down into the sink -

into the drain - back into the water cycle - 
that goes around and around our  world.

Envy goes around and around our world
as well? Do rocks wish they were water.
Does water ever wish it were rock?

Me?  I would never want to be rigid rock?
I choose to be water: ocean, lake, river,
ice that cools a drink, warm water that

bathes a baby, snow,  steam, mist, dew,
frost, a waterfall breaking rocks below.... 
You? What are you: rock or water?

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

# 1 VERB: TO SEE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary  Time [B]  is, “# 1 Verb: To See.”

Since today’s gospel is about a blind man, Bartimaeus, I  began thinking about seeing as a theme for today’s homily. [Cf.  Mark 10: 46-52,]

The prayer of the Blind Man is a great prayer for all of us.

“Master, I want to see.”

Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is going by and he screams out for pity.

Jesus stops and calls him over to see him.

Jesus says to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man knows exactly what he wants, “Master,  I want to see!”

Is the number 1 verb in life: to see?

If there was an app on our phone that caught every word you said, every verb we used, for a week or for a month, what verb would win?

TEDDY MEEHAN

In the seminary, we had a great history professor: Teddy Meehan.

There was a time there we decided to count how many times in a given class period - an hour - how many times he would say to us - ask us, “Do you see?”

After class we compared notes. I had 243 times. Someone else said, “241”. Someone else said, “240”.

“Do you see?”

Teddy wanted to be understood.  Teddy wanted us to get, to know, to grasp, what he was talking about.   “Do you see?”

EVERYONE OF US

Every one of us is Teddy.

Every one of us is that blind man.

Every one of us wants to be understood.

Every one of us wants God to see what we see.

Every one of us wants to see what God is seeing.

Every one of us is asking God to see what we see.

Every one of us wants those we live and work with to see how we see.

Every one of us wants to understand how the other person understands.

Every one of us is trying to get the other person.

Every one of us wants the other to get us.

Every one of us turns on the television to  see who is sending bombs or shooting people in Pittsburgh.

Every one of us wants to see motives.

Every one of us wants to know.

Hamlet - according to Shakespeare - asks, “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

Is Hamlet, is Shakespeare wrong? Should he have said, “To see or not to see, now that is the question.”

Teilhard de Chardan - the French Jesuit - priest, anthropologist, paleontologist said, “The whole of life can be found in the verb to see.”

After I read that I began to notice now many times every day people say, “Oh I see!”  Or “See, I get it.” Or “She’s blind!” “No. I don’t get it.”

SOME OTHER HOMILY QUESTIONS FLOWING OUT OF THIS

Agree or disagree?  Nobody sees it the same way I see it.

Agree or disagree? When I say, “I see what you’re getting at, I really don’t.”

Agree or disagree? It would be better to keep asking, “What are you trying to say?”

Agree or disagree? Sometimes other people don’t know how and what they are seeing.

Agree or disagree? Pat Lynch who used to be a priest here at St. Mary’s. He once said in a sermon.  “Nobody has ever seen a motive walking down the street.” Then he took his fingers and walked them across the pulpit. Nope. Motives are invisible.

Agree or disagree? This week,  I’ll think about what you said this morning.

Agree or disagree? The # 1 verb is to see?

CONCLUSION

Do you see?

I think I see what you’re getting at?

I think you’re saying, “To ask, to beg, to listen, to try to see what others are trying to saying - to understand how others are seeing life.”

THE  BLIND  3rd GRADER

Once upon a time there was a 3rd grade kid . His name was Henry and he was born blind.

Blind.

Fortunately, for Henry, he had a twin brother, Charlie, who could see.

So in a way Charlie became eyes for Henry.

In Kindergarten Charlie learned  his colors and his numbers.

Numbers were easy - especially basic mathematics.

Charlie helped Henry get his numbers by using golf balls. They lived across the avenue from a golf course - so he went over there - told the manager that his twin brother was blind - and asked if he could he have a few boxes of used golf balls. He said  he could teach his brother math using them.

Charlie said to Henry, "Here's 3 golf balls. Here's 5 golf balls. Put them together and you have 8 golf balls. That's addition. Take away two golf balls and you now have 6. That's subtraction."

Henry got it.

Colors were difficult.

Blue was cold. Charlie taught Henry the color blue with ice cubes. 

Charlie taught the color red with hot water. It takes fire to heat up the water. 

Charlie used blades of grass to teach Henry about the color green.

Charlie taught his brother Henry what brown was like.  Brown was a football. 

White was paper. 

Black was a can of shoe polish - but don’t open it up - especially on a hot day. It was the color of night.

Yellow was a banana. Yellow was a yo yo. Why yellow for a yo yo? Well Charlie told his twin brother that this particular yo yo he was using was yellow and both yellow and yo yo begin with y.

It was complicated - but Henry got his colors.

Teachers were amazed at how much Henry learned because of his twin brother Charlie.

Of course blind people can learn a lot by listening, tasting, touching, and bumping into things.

If your eyes don't work, blind people tell us that their ears can become much sharper than those who have eyes.

By the time Henry and Charlie were in the 3rd grade they were both getting lots of A's and B's.

Charlie's mom and dad got Henry a tutor - who taught him braille every Saturday morning for 2 hours.

Charlie loved braille  so much - just by watching Henry learning how to read with braille dots - that he became as good at it as Henry.

When on elevators or at the hospital or any place that had braille dots, Charlie would close his eyes tight - rub his fingers on the braille’s. Dot, dot, dot writing. Then he would tell everyone what a sign or a message said.

But this was just a tiny bit of how Henry learned and here's the gist of my story - my reporting - about Henry the Blind 3rd  Grader.

Because Henry couldn't see, he picked up how people were - in his belly and in his feelings.

He could sense by tone of voice when their teacher was up tight or angry.

At school lunch he would stand back and become quiet and then he would ask to sit next to some kid whose heart was broken - because the kid's mom and dad were fighting and Henry could sense that this kid was about to have to deal with parents who were about to get divorced.

People who would go bowling with Henry - yes a blind kid could learn to bowl a bit.

People would sometimes experience Henry as a really okay kid, especially because Henry knew…. He just knew when this other kid was hurting or just felt rejected.

Henry became so good at sensing what others were feeling that he would say, "When I get older I'm going to become either a psychologist or a priest. People would tell me everything, knowing I can't see them."  I was thinking of becoming a jockey or a race car driver - but on second thought, I better not.

Friends loved him. They could be fat or have acne or forget to brush their teeth and have chocolate cake or spinach in their teeth  and they would get no grief from Henry - after all - he couldn't see.

Well, that’s Henry the  3^rd  grader - so far.

October 28, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“If you think  you  are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.”

October 27, 2018

YOU THINK YOU KNOW

You think you know what I’m thinking. 

You think you know why I’m doing

what I’m doing. Sorry! I don’t even

know why I’m doing what I’m doing.

And if you think that I made this up.

Sorry! Jesus said it first from up the

tree of the cross, “Father forgive them

because they don’t know what they’re doing.*

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

*Luke 23:34

October 27, 2018

Thought for today: 

“The best way  to  teach your kids about taxes is by eating  30 percent of their ice  cream.”  

Bill  Murray