December 25, 2018
“We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up.”
Jesse Jackson, in his speech
at the
Democratic National Convention,
San Francisco, California, July 17, 1984
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Monday, December 24, 2018
UPSIDE
Someone said, “But there is a downside.”
I said, “I only want to look at the upside.”
Someone hearing me say that, said,
“Well, that’s crazy. That has a big downside.”
I said, “Well, then, you take care of downsides
and I’ll take care of upsides - and watch me smile.”
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018
CHURCH BUILDINGS
WE’VE
EXPERIENCED
INTRODUCTION
The title of my thoughts for today - Morning Mass December
24th - is, “Church Buildings
We’ve Experienced.”
DAVID’S PALACE - GOD’S TENT
Today’s first reading - 2 Samuel 7: 1-5, 8-11, 16, is all
about Nathan the Prophet nagging David for not building a house for God. “You
David are living in a great house built with cedar and God is living in a
tent.”
David, we have a problem here.
QUESTIONAIRRE: NAME 5 CHURCHES
We’ll human beings have certainly built great houses for
God.
Here’s my questionnaire: Name 5 favorite or inspiriting church
buildings you have entered or been in
and the story behind you getting there?
Since we’re all so different, I thought it would be a
great conversation. Don’t tell all 5 at
once. Tell them around the table or the
conversation one at a time - giving each person their choice - one by one.
Here are my 5.
FIRST: LOURDES
SECOND CHARTRES:
I once listened to a vinyl record by Charles Laughton and
on that record he talks about 2
significant times he went to Chartres Cathedral and how that impacted his life.
Well I got there - and I would recommend to everyone to
get to Chartres - the Marian Shrine in Europe since the 11th
century.
THIRD: SAGRADA FAMILIA
FOURTH: COLOGNE CATHEDRAL
LAST: SAINT
MARGARET OF CORTONA CHURCH - COLUMBUS
OHIO
CONCLUSION
What are your 5? I could
have picked St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City or St. Peter’s in Rome or St. Paul's in London - and I’ll probably
have 50 more - the more I think about this - but I thought these 5 would bring
out the point I wanted to make.
Thanks for listening.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
WHO AM I
IN THE MANGER?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Who Am I In The Manger?”
JOSEPH BREIGHNER
I picked up a copy of the Catholic Review magazine yesterday afternoon - before going into
the confessional. They were in the back of the church. I got there earlier than
usual, so I had time to page through the different articles. I stopped and read the article by Father
Joseph Breighner, “Jeers to Cheers”. Then people started coming in for
confession.
I always find Breighner’s writings wonderful. I had heard
him speak over at Millersville, a few years back. Excellent speaker.
In the article - he wrote the following, “As a philosopher put
it: ‘We look into other people’s eyes to see who we are.’”
I began thinking about that. I didn’t know people did that.
Do I do that? I had to answer: “I don’t know.” Then I added, “I’ll have to
think about that.”
So that to me is a good article - a good goal for a magazine
article - as well as a sermon: to do some good thinking.
Since it was a Christmas article I thought he was going to
say: “People look into the manger to see who they are.”
It didn’t.
But then I said, “That’s a good idea for a Christmas
homily.” I write a Christmas story every year, I’ll do that tomorrow, so I’ll give
a Christmas homily today with the title: “Who Am I In the Manger?”
Go up to the manger, the crib, the Christmas crèche here in
church or at home or on a Christmas card this Christmas and ask, “Who Am I In
the Manger?
THE BABY
The baby is front and center.
The baby is what it’s all about.
Carl
Sandburg said, “A baby is God’s way of saying the world must go on.”
“In Joseph Heller’s
novel Something Happened the main
character, Robert Slocum, says, `I know at last what I want to be when I grow
up. When I grow up I want to be a little boy.’”
Natalie Goldberg wrote, “We never graduate from first
grade.”
Doug Lawson wrote, “The aging process has you firmly in its
grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.”
Listen to yourself at this winter’s first snow fall. See if
you still have that urge to throw a snowball at someone. If you don’t, get with
it. Remember Jesus’ words, “Unless you be like little children, you won’t be in
the kingdom of God.” Through snowballs,
even if you’re in your nineties.
There’s an Iranian proverb that sort of says the same thing,
“Children are a bridge to heaven.”
Anonymous said, “Babies are such a nice way to start people.”
So when you see the manger, start with the baby and start to
see babies in the light of your life.
What was it like when I was born?
What were my parents thinking and saying and feeling? See parents caring for their kid and see our
parents doing all that for us.
What were my Christmases like? What was my growing up like?
Get out the pictures and study them.
Talk to each other about what growing up was like? Ask those still around, what they went
through and if they are much older than me, did they remember what I went
through?
So Number 1: when I see the baby in the manger, what do I
see in myself and in life?
NEXT: MARY AND JOSEPH
What do I see in Mary? What do I see in Joseph? What do I
see in my parents, living or dead? If I
am a parent, what is / what was / that
like?
What’s with Catholics and Mary and Joseph and the Saints?
This is St. Mary’s Parish. What is that about?
Today’s gospel has Mary going to Elizabeth? Both are now pregnant. Elizabeth says,
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
Do we ever say that to our mom for housing us - for
bringing us into the world? When in our
life, has our mom felt blessed, for having had us.
So too our dad.
There are a hundred things to think about when looking
into the manger - especially about our parents and being a parent.
NEXT: THE
ANIMALS
We might reflect upon the ox and the ass, the sheep and the birds.
I do a lot of baptisms. I often wonder what kids are
thinking when they see what they see.
Have we ever watched a child looking at a dog and
breaking out into a smile?
Have we ever felt like an ox, having to do all the work,
and nobody even notices - or says, “Thank you Ox.”
Have we ever felt like an ass?
I won’t go further than that.
SHEPHERDS AND KINGS
Sometimes we’re shepherds. Sometimes we’re kings.
Sometimes we’re called upon to care for others: like grand
parenting, babysitting, teaching, being a crossing guard. Every person should be a waiter or waitress at some point in one’s life. Everyone
should be a volunteer, an usher, a setter up with tables at a parish or a group
picnic.
And sometimes we’re king to queen, like at 25th
and 50th anniversaries or at a retirement party, when we get gifts:
a gold watch or perfume or Old Spice.
I like something Ginny Dauses - who is our high school
youth minister - says. She likes to say at the end of a high school
retreat, “When the 3 kings finally saw
Jesus, they gave their gifts, but went home a different way.
CONCLUSION
I would hope that by stopping to look into the Christmas
manger and seeing ourselves in the story, we would go away - and do life in a
different way - a better way.
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