18,  38, 12,

 INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 30^th Monday in Ordinary Time is, “18, 38, 12”.

This could be a good sermon - that is,  if it hits you and gets you thinking - if it gets you talking to yourself - about yourself.

I am not interested in hearing, “That was a good sermon.”

I am more interested if you say nothing to me - but you talk to yourself about the stuff of a sermon. It’s nice if someone says, “I liked your sermon - but I am not interested if a person then says, “I  wish my son-in-law could hear the message.”

I like the word “sermon” better than “homily”.  A sermon is a conversation. A homily is stuff about the scriptures - the Bible. And obviously, the key conversation speakers or preachers  want to trigger is self   with  self.

THREE SCENES

There are 3 scenes in the gospels that I have in mind with the 3 numbers I’m referring to -  the numbers I entitled my homily with, “18, 38, 12.”

In Matthew 9:20 there is a woman who has blood problems - hemorrhages - for 12 years. She says to herself, “If I just touch the   tassel of his cloak I        shall be healed.” She does it and she is healed. Nice.

In John 5:5, there is this man in Jerusalem who has been a crawler for 38 years. Many times he goes to the healing pool - the Sheep Pool - Bethzatha -  to be healed  - but he’s always too slow.  Jesus heals him and he walks away healed.

Here in Luke 13: 10-17, there is this woman who is bent over for 18 years. Jesus spots her and heals her.

Hence my title for this homily: “18, 38, 12,”

EXAMINATION OF   OUR  LIFE

How about a look into our lives?

Do we have a lifetime struggle?  Do we have an addiction?

Looking at the 7 capital sins: is one our predominant fault? Laziness, gluttony, lust, anger, pride, envy, jealousy?

Looking at our life, did we have a sin that lasted x number of years and praise God, we were healed?

I’ve done a lot of AA retreats. There was one in Olivet College in Michigan that I was part of every year in the summer.  Over 200 men would be there. One of the highlights was on Saturday night. We were in a big auditorium and one of the leaders would start, “Is there any one here who is sober for just one day?” And a couple of men would stand up. And all would clap.  Still standing the leader would ask, “If there is anyone here present  who is sober for at least 2 days?” And a few more men would stand and continue standing. There would be clapping. Then 3, then 4, then 5, then 6, then 7 days.  Then one month, then 2 months, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ,8, 9, 10, 11,  12 months.

People were left standing.

Then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, years. Then 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 75 years.

I’ve seen over 75 years of sobriety.

Could we do this with all the sins?

One of the saddest moments in my life was a statement at a workshop when a specialist said there is no cure for pedophilia as well as hephebophilia [with teenagers].

Wooo. Those guys - males mainly - who have these attractions need serious supervision and boundaries for the rest of their lives.

CONCLUSION TO THIS SERMON

The title of my homily is, “18, 38, 12”.

It refers to the amount of years 3 people in the gospel were suffering.

There is another story about a young man who had a serious problem. He would fall into fires and into water and he foamed at the mouth. I love Jesus’ question when he spots this. “How long has this been going on?” [Cf. Mark 9:4-29.]

His father says, “Since he was a child….”

I’m asking in this homily to have a conversation with ourselves and our Lord about sins and addictions we might have or had and how long and how we need  to do need for serious self-stuff, prayer stuff, therapy stuff ourselves, with others and with Jesus for healing. Amen.

October 29, 2018

PAUSING TO CUT 

OUR SPAGHETTI 

We  need night.  We  need back  benches 

of churches.  We  need to walk alone  - 
so we can - sort of  - sort out - some 
of what's happening in our thoughts 
and feelings, our calendars and schedules .... 

Otherwise we'll have spaghetti brain. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

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.”