AIPIOPHOBIA
Fear of bees ….
Their buzz and their
quiet silence - make
for one scary creature.
Yet, they give us honey, honey -
flowers too, honey.
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
TEARS TELL SECRETS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily this morning
is: “Tears tell Secrets!”
When was the last time you cried?
What was going on?
LITANY
Tears give us information.
Tears tell us about family and
various kinds of relationships.
Tears give us the mood people are
in.
Tears bring out the tissues or the
handkerchiefs.
Tears tell us what we love and what
we value and what is important.
Tears tell us whom we love and whom
we value and who is important in our life.
Tears tell us about our joys and
sorrows.
Tears tell us about our fears and
hopes.
Tears tell us what tears us apart.
Tears tell us what we can laugh
about and what we can cry about.
Tears show up at funerals and
weddings. I was at a funeral yesterday and the son - talking about his dad -
stopped - and started to cry. A daughter had a reading. She began to cry.
Tears tell us that something deep is
going on here. Sometimes we know what it is; sometimes we don’t.
So as we wipe away our tears, bottle
them. Take them to prayer. Then look at them. They will tell us a lot about
ourselves.
Tears tell secrets.
THE GOSPELS
When we read the gospels, we hear
that Jesus cried. However, people seem
to have a thing for trying to find scenes in the gospel where Jesus is laughing
or where anyone is laughing.
I was wondering about this. Is it important to find people enjoying
life—laughing?
Is it important to find others
joyful, happy, laughing, peaceful .
We also spot it, when we see people
sad - mad - and not glad.
I’m sure you have seen a particular painting
or picture of Jesus where he is laughing. It’s a best seller, popular picture
of Jesus. It’s a gift shop best seller.
Today’s gospel has the question:
“Who are you looking for?” “What do people want or need? What are they getting
at? What are they looking for?
Are people looking for emotions,
feelings, affections?
If we can laugh, we can cry. If we
can cry, we can laugh.
So Jesus laughed!
Better, Jesus cried.
Jesus cried and cried and cried.
Everyone does. Read his life. Read your life. Read anyone’s life. Let us listen
to each other’s tears. If we would only shut up. We could hear each other’s
tears falling on the wooden floors of our souls. Let us listen, let us feel,
let us hear our each other’s tears. Let us begin by hearing our own.
Tears tell secrets.
JESUS
Jesus cried over Jerusalem (Luke
19:41). Jesus cried when Lazarus died (John 11:36). In mid-afternoon, hanging
on the cross, Jesus cried out in a loud voice (Matthew 27:46).
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel, Mary cried.
Tears tell secrets. She loved Jesus.
She finally met someone who gave her unconditional love. Jesus was her value system. Jesus was
her life. She finally met someone who
saw her as a person —someone—not something—not a role—not just a sister—not
just one more person on the planet or in the village. She was Mary!
She knew!
She knew Jesus!
She could cry!
She shed tears.
His death was tearing her apart!
Today’s gospel opens with prayer
words, “Mary stood weeping beside the tomb. Even as she wept, she stooped to
peer inside.”
PRAYERS
Prayer is about tears.
Prayer is about getting to our
deepest values—the stuff we can cry about—the stuff we fear—the stuff that we
fear losing.
Then somewhere along the line, we
discover that prayer is about a WHO and not a WHAT.
The what’s and the where’s and the
how’s and the when’s can all be replaced. The WHO’s can’t.
Thank God for resurrection.
Prayer then is about the question
the gardener asks in today’s gospel, “Woman, what are you weeping? Who is it
you are looking for?
Prayer is about responding:
“Rabboni”
Prayer begins with the “Who?”
question before the “What are we praying for?” question
Then we’ll go forth telling each
other with tears of joy, “I have seen the Lord!”
April 23, 2019
AILUROPHOBIA
Fear of cats.
Not everyone has ailurophobia ….
Scratch …. Scratch ….
Meow …. Meow ….
Cats can be so
playful,
so fun filled - while on the
other hand, we can’t figure them
out at times. Do they meow a big,
“Hey!” when someone calls someone,
“Hey!” when someone calls someone,
“catty?”
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019
Monday, April 22, 2019
A NEW HEAVENS
AND A NEW EARTH
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “A New Heavens and a New
Earth.”
Today - April 22, 2019 - is Earth Day.
The call is to take good care of our earth - not just
today - but every day.
Today is Easter Monday - and Easter in this northern
hemisphere is tied into Spring - a season when nature shows up in bursting
beautiful new life.
COLOSSIANS
It’s not today’s one of today’s readings, but check out Colossians 1: 15-20
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominions, Sovereignties, Powers -
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled
through him and or him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.”
There is a spirituality and a theology in Christ’s
resurrection - that ties into creation.
Christ came to bring resurrection not just to humans but to all of
creation.
I don’t have my hands or my mind on this creation nuanced
theology.
I know what to avoid: pantheism - or “all is God!”
Some stuff - some places - some sounds - are heavenly.
However stuff is not God.
Yet, there is a call in scriptures to see the call to
sacredness in all people - and all life.
Each of us needs to ask: “How well do we humans take care of our plots in nature’s
fields?”
I kill mosquitos and swat flies - but I feel some
hesitation when I do so. I hear a tiny voice: “Come on give this fly another
chance to dance to fly.”
I know some religious teachers give a warning about
killing any kind of life - yet I eat hamburgers and corn on the cob - after
it’s cut down.
A COUPLE OF RANDOM
COMMENTS
We were just over to Japan in February. When our English
speaking guides spotted Cherry Blossom trees - then mentioned the Cherry
Blossom trees which the government of
Japan gave to Washington D.C.
We went to a tea ceremony - that took about an hour. I now have a new series of thoughts about having a cup of tea.
We saw people washing their hands at washing stations
before going into the temple as well as sort of washing their hands in smoke
outside the temple.
Look into Irish Spirituality and you’ll get some glimpses
about creation centered spirituality.
Read Irish blessings and you’ll catch an awareness of trees and
mountains, shamrocks and roses, salmon and homes.
I just received the following prayer in an e-mail the other day from Martin O'Malley, our former governor, who was big on caring for our earth. It’s a
poetic prayer by Patrick Kavanagh:
Sometimes when the sunlight
comes through the gap,
These men know God the Father
in a tree.
The Holy Spirit is the rising sap,
and Christ, the green leaves at Easter
that will come
from the dark and sealed tomb.”
I just had a funeral this morning and the prayer on the
back of the memorial card for Philip J. Maher had the following Irish Blessing
that we all know. Notice the earth stuff.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise up
to meet you,
May the wind be
always at your back.
May the sun shine
warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft
upon your fields,
and until we meet again
may god hold you
in the palm of his hand.
It’s Easter - don’t forget to see and smell the beautiful
flowers at the altar and the beautiful earth and flowers outside.
We’re at Mass - right now - close your eyes and see the evolution
and the path of bread and wine - becoming bread and wine and then becoming Christ.
April 22, 2019
EARTH DAY
Well, everyday is earth day.
It doesn’t check a
calendar.
Yet, okay, give it a day, if
that means we’ll all pick out
one place, or one moment,
or one thing about the earth
that amazes us - that evokes
a wow - a wonder - or a “Wooo!”
How about the round globe
tummy of an about to give birth mom?
How about the sounds of a
rain forest in nowhere Brazil?
How about a pasture with a
dozen cows in Wisconsin?
How about water running down a
cobble stone empty street at night.
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019
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