DEAD TREE  -  LIVE  TREE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 6 Sunday in Ordinary Time is, “Dead Tree - Live Tree.”

When a preacher starts to work on a homily or a sermon he or she likes to come up with an opening story or an opening image - that everyone can picture - something everyone can feel and sense.

Today’s first reading from Jeremiah gives two diverse images: that of the dead tree and a live tree.

All of us have seen both - dead flowers,  dead bushes, dead branches, and dead trees - as well as their opposites.  Jeremiah describes a bush out there in the desert,  dead,  infertile, no longer producing life.

PSALM 1 AND JEREMIAH 17

Today’s Psalm has the same image: live tree near running water and dead leaves, blowing in the wind. It's from Psalm One - the first of all the psalms.

Jeremiah says to the people that  we have two choices in life: do you want to be a dead bush or a live tree? The choice is always ours?

Listen to these words again from Jeremiah:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,

who seeks his strength in flesh,

whose heart turns from the Lord.

He is like a barren bush in the desert

that enjoys no change of season,

But stands in a lava waste,

a salt and empty earth.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

          whose hope is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters

that stretches out its roots to the stream:

It fears not the heat when it comes,

its leaves stay green;

In the year of drought it shows no distress,

but still bears fruit.”

Which would you rather be? Obviously, we would all choose to be the living tree. We want 4 seasons? We want life? Who wants to be a deadbeat? The choice is always yours.

Jeremiah then, like any good preacher, gives the secret, the way to be the tree and the way not to be the dead bush.

The secret is basic: it’s trust. Down deep at the bottom of me, at the lowest levels of the soil of my soul, I have to ask myself, “What do put my trust in?” Or better, “Who do I put my trust in?” Is it God or others or stuff? So we have to do is to examine where we put our trust. What do I put my trust in?  Obviously, it’s in God - the Living God - who is living water - flowing deep within me.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel uses a basic human experience: that of blessing something or someone or cursing something or someone. We are very familiar with each. We bless and curse every day.

It's Luke's version of the Beatitudes - but he only gives 4, but then he adds 4 Badattudes as well.

Blessing and Cursing are 2 very basic human behaviors. We praise the other person -  or we curse him or her. We praise a day or we curse a day. We praise a meal or we curse a meal. We praise a movie or we curse a movie. We dread or rejoice. We curse the other driver for crawling along in the left lane or not using their blinker or we praise them for letting us out into traffic in front of us.

CONCLUSION: SECOND READING

The title and theme of my homily is, "Dead Tree - Live Tree."

The Good News is found in today's second reading from 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16 - 20.

Even if we're dead, we can come back to life.

February 17,  2019

 GOING TO COMMUNION 

IN THE DARK OF NIGHT

Sometimes when I’m at church

I look at the backs of heads - and

wonder about what’s going on

inside the dark of another’s mind.

Sometimes when I’m at church

I look at faces - as another comes

back down the aisle - after receiving

Holy Communion - union with Christ.

Sometimes when I wake up at

two-thirty in the morning, I walk

down to the back porch and look

out into the dark night - past the stars.

Sometimes if it’s cold in the dark

night I get out of bed and walk into

my inner room - close the door -

and enter into deep communion.

Sometimes in these moments of

Holy Communion,  I know you know,

what’s inside my mind and behind

the smile on my face in the dark.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

February 17, 2019

Black History Month Thought for Today:  

“Reading is important — read between the lines. Don't swallow everything.”  

Gweldolyn Brooks 

February 16, 2019

HISTORY

His story - her story - surrounds us.

Family history is all around us. 

Statues, gravestones, markers. 

mementos, scratches on furniture,

scars on skin,  glued vases all sit there.

Everything has a story and is part of one.

So the key questions are: "What happened?"

"Why here?" "Who were the key characters?"

"What impact did this have on your life?

"Did anyone write what happened here?"

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

February   16, 2019 

Black History Month Thought for Today:  

“People don't follow titles, they follow courage.”  

William Wells Brown

TALKING ANIMALS

The title of my homily for this 5^th Friday in Ordinary Time  is, “Talking Animals.”

As we just heard,  today’s first reading - Genesis 3: 1-8 -  has a talking snake.

As we all know, snakes don’t talk - but they still sneak and snake around in the grass and they still scare people.

And when we hear this story about the snake tempting and talking to the woman in the garden - we don’t stop listening. We listen because we know the truth that is told in this story.

We were taught, when we were taught the Bible, “Not every story is true, but every story contains a truth.”

We were also taught that in the 1800’s researchers  on ancient literature figured out it was often  a different kind of literature than what people were used to. Ancient history and ancient stories like the Iliad and Odyssey were telling us how things came to be historically - but with a different type of history.

Well when writers jumped to the  Bible, and used these same principles, upset happened.

Church guardians said, “Uh oh, we have to take these ancient stories about the creation of the world in 7 days - and God making woman out of the rib of a man - and the parting of the Red Sea in 2 and the 10 Plagues literally.”

But in time the Catholic Church for one said, there are different types of literature in the Bible. There are myths and legends like we find in the story telling of most cultures. There are factual stories and there are times when story tellers tell great stories - with great truths - but with a different kind of literature.

The title of my homily is, “Talking Animals.”

Actually we still talk this way.  Listen! People say things like, “You’re a sneaky snake. You are.” “Don’t bark at me.” “You’re barking up the wrong tree.” “Stop monkeying around.” “You’re a pig.” “What a stupid ass.” “Don’t be so catty.”

It wasn’t important that George Washington told the truth to his father - he didn’t lie about chopping down the cherry tree. It’s important that we don’t lie.  Paul Bunyan didn’t have to be a giant but we need big people to build big countries.

It was important to tell kids to beware of strangers - so someone came up with the story of Little Red Riding Hood - with its story of the Big Bad Wolf - who could talk.

Go into any local library and - go into the children’s section and you’ll find all kinds of stories about talking dogs and cats, lions and tigers, camels and kangaroos.

And read those stories to kids and  read the Bible to kids and they will get it when we tell them about God making us out of the mud and clay of the earth. They’ll find out about the big flood wiping out the whole world because of sin and saving just Noah - and yes God often wants us to start again.

Read today’s first reading about Adam and Eve and you’ll hear the story of every couple - listening to nonsense that will destroy them in the long run.  You’ll hear that people nibble on forbidden fruit.

People get this - but we get in trouble with science and modern history methods when we read the Bible literally in sections that are not literal.

The Catholic Church in its official teachings said all this in a great encyclical, Divini Afflante Spiritu in 1943 - and resisting these truths about the Bible having  different types of literature was criticized.

It learned: once people caught onto all this, they appreciated the Bible all the more.

And we have.

February 15, 2015

MORE SONGS

There’s always more…. 

There’s always more in us …. 

There’s that second song 

we  haven’t sung yet. 

There’s always that other 

who stands by us or off 

to the side and says, 

“What about singing …?” 

©  Andy Costello, Reflections 2019