February  14, 2019 

Black History Month Thought for Today:  

“The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free.”  

Zadie Smith (On Beauty)

BE  AWARE  

THE VIDEO CAMERAS ARE WATCHING

Be aware!  The  video  cameras are on and they are watching.

The Lord God gave us the following orders: “You can eat from any of the trees from the garden,   except the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.”

And Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

Be aware! The video cameras are on and they are watching.

Every once and a while video cameras catch people cheating, sneaking, taking what doesn’t belong to them.

And we laugh - as long as it isn’t us.

Over in the high school  - in the corridor - someone spotted a small gift from a dog. The spotters said, “Hey we just got new video cameras. Let’s check out whose dog did this.”

They watched - and sure enough - it was Pepi - one of the priest’s dog. Someone stopped to start talking - and Pepi - used to moment to drop a gift to the main corridor.

Be aware!  The video cameras are on and they are watching.

[Short reflection for today, February 13, 2019, the 5^th Wednesday in Ordinary Time.]

February 13, 2019 

DEW 

Dew on tulip petals,

dew on morning grass,

dew on my shoes in the garden,

dew can be impatient,

dying to get back into

the sky, into the rain,

into the ocean, complaining

how boring it is to be clinging

to a tulip or it can be calm

and it  can wait its turn

to get moving again

seeing these moments

like patient subway riders
standing on the platform,

waiting for their train -

all of nature in due time.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

February  13, 2019 

Black History Month Thought for Today:  

“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” 

Maya Angelou

February  12, 2019 -

Black History Month Thought for Today:  

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

Maya Angelou

HOW  FAR ARE  OUR  LIPS 

FROM OUR HEART?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time  is, “How Far Are Our Lips From Our Heart?”

When it comes to religion and spirituality, this is a very important question.

It could also be a very important question for all our relationships.  Are we really talking to each other, looking the other in the eye, giving the other ear service and not just  lip service?

ISAIAH

I’m taking this message from a quote from Isaiah that Jesus mentions in today’s gospel.

Jesus quotes Isaiah 29: 13,

“This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.”

Listen to how the Jerusalem Bible translates that same text into English.

“Because this people approaches me only in words,

honors me only with lip-service while its heart is far from me,

and my religion, as far as it is concerned, is nothing

but human commandment, a lesson memorized….”

When Isaiah and Jesus use the word, “heart”,  what do they mean?

By heart Isaiah and Jesus mean  what we find all through the scriptures when we hear people using the word “heart”.

Our heart is our center, our command center, who we are down deep. Of course the heart is a pump, but in human understanding we know all about what one’s heart means.

We’ll see it full speed ahead this Thursday, Valentine’s Day.

It’s our red blooded feelings plus our cold blue brain. It’s the whole me that is the total me.

So Isaiah - and then Jesus - is saying, “We can mouth an “I love you” with our lips, but we can be 5,000 miles away.

We can be with each other - and really be somewhere - else.

Haven’t we all seen a preacher preaching - and  without thinking - he looks at his watch. We don’t know - but he might have just given us  a dead giveaway. His might be giving a memorized - outside his heart homily.

So too the prayers at Mass - so too - all communication - all receiving communion - with Christ and each other.  Do we have real presence - being there with all  our heart.

IT’S HARD TO BE WITH IT.

Today’s first reading is part of one of two creation accounts in the first book of the bible, Genesis. We can hear it - and not hear it. Our brains and our minds can be in the middle of this afternoon right now.

Creation is still going on. It’s ongoing. - but it’s difficult to be present to the whole of the universe  unfolding - as it’s happening.

The cook doesn’t always have her heart in her cooking.

Imagine if an artist was right here - with a big canvas - and he starts painting a picture of flowers, or a garden, or a whole street, or the planet.

Watching we could become mesmerized by the beauty being created right in front of our eyes.

Still someone might yawn. Someone might  look at their  watch. Someone might unpocket their cell phone to check a text.

Or the artist might be somewhere else - because this is the 65^th time he has done this same painting.

Or our eyes and our mind could be totally in sync with all of creation.

OR WE COULD BE TOTALLY OFF ON THE WRONG THING

In today’s gospel Jesus spots the Pharisees off on the picky, picky, little nonsense stuff and miss the whole of religion and life.

The example I always like to keep in mind is the moment we went to see the musical, No No Nanette on Broadway. It was a Wednesday Matinee and we couldn’t get good seats. We were off to the side up in those mini balconies - looking down on the front of the stage - as well as the orchestra pit.

Well, surprise, surprise, I missed much of the musical watching a cellist playing his instrument - but really reading the whole  of the New York Post, Sports Section included, all through his playing. He had it down.

It seemed to me that the other musicians were into the show, into the music, but not this guy. He was into his paper.

I am glad what I saw that day.

It became a valuable lesson for me

When I’m into the Mass, I want to be into the Mass - and into the readings - and into the prayers

I want there to be less there 1 millionth of an inch of  space between me and Christ.

Impossible? No.

Difficult - of course.

February 12, 2019

LONELINESS

Loneliness is a lonely word.

It sounds so lonely.  Was it

one person - all alone - who

came up with it? Was he or

she having a bad day? What

happened?  The dictionary

dates it back to 1607 - but

I assume it’s too late to find

out now what happened back

then - which is often the story

when it comes to loneliness.

Twoliness - 2019 - is a new

word to try out. Talk to me.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019