A  PERSON  OR  A  PLAN? 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “A Person or a Plan.”

I want to use the word “person” in my title and my theme for today. I’m sure about that. 

However, I’m not sure yet what the other word could be for something I want to get at.

Right now I’m using “plan” - but it could be “program” or “system” or something else like that.

Maybe by doing this sermon - what I’m trying to get at - might become clearer to me. 

However, I’m not sure.

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

When it comes to Religion and Spirituality we have both ideas and persons.  

We have lists and we have people who follow those lists of what to do.

When it comes to spirituality we have systems or programs. For example: we have Jesuit, Franciscan, Carmelite, Redemptorist, Quaker, Buddhist, Confucian spiritualities.  Some dovetail each other at different points - but each has unique flavors - specific stresses - particular pushes or nuances.

A RELATIONSHIP WITH A PERSON

Of the two - persons or plans - I like to present persons as central - more than books or spelled out systems.

The call to be Christian is the call to relate, connect, marry, follow a person with the name of Jesus.

Then we have the system of that person.

So we have Jesus - the human and divine person - who gave us teachings and thoughts - parables and beatitudes - beatitudes and woes.

For example, someone or some early Christian Community put together Jesus' so called Sermon on the Mount. It's found in Mathew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  It's a great listing of some great teachings of Jesus.  It was a great teaching method - that Matthew sculpted or tweaked and put it into his gospel. 

Like a catechism it’s a great list of how to be a good Christian.

It's unique to Matthew.  Luke has some of those teachings in the so called, "Sermon on the Plain." [Cf. Luke 6: 17-49.] 

In St. Paul we have both. St Paul gave lists - like what love is - we hear his great listing of what love is at most weddings with the reading of 1st Corinthians 12: 31- 13: 8. 

But Paul also stressed my main point: Christianity is a relationship with Christ. Read:  “I live - now not I - but Christ lives with me.” [Cf. Galatians 2: 26.]

Or take St. Alphonsus whose feast is coming up on August 1st. He wrote over 100 books - but he summed up his main message in one sentence: “The whole sanctity and perfection of a soul consists in loving Jesus Christ, our God, our sovereign good, and our Redeemer.”  That's on the opening page of his book, The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ."

ANOTHER WAY  OF PUTTING ALL THIS

A person wants to be happy. A person wants to give up an addiction. A person wants to change.

He or she comes up with a plan or a program - like the 12 Step Program called AA or any 12 Step programs.

Now I think - it's my belief - that any spiritual program won’t last until one makes that program personal.

Unless one gets connected with a group or a community - until one starts relating to God as a Higher Power with others - then recovery won't make it or won't last.

For example: in  AA, one has to do one’s 5^th step with others - confessing one’s life to another - bouncing one's life off in a relationship with another.

So what I'm saying here is that I hold that systems won’t change us.  Persons change us.

For example, a person falls in love, marries, and in 10 years he or she is a new person - that is, if it’s a good marriage - a selfless marriage. People change people.  People change in relationship with people.

For example, a couple are self-ish or self-centered. They have a baby - and the baby changes them - gets them out of themselves - when they sacrifice  themselves for their child and their children.  If that doesn’t happen, we have a baby and then a person who goes through life hurt or damaged or complaining - maybe without knowing why  - without knowing or with knowing that their parent didn’t launch or love them enough.

CONCLUSION

I say all this on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22nd. She met Jesus. She fell in love with him.  She had a relationship with him.

She changed and grew as a human being - because as we hear in today’s readings, she loved Jesus.

I heard all this through the years when people explained the spirituality of St. Alphonsus.

St. Alphonsus said all this when he wrote in his book, The Practice of the Love of Christ: “Whoever loves me, says Jesus Christ himself, shall be loved by my Eternal Father: 'My Father loves you because you have loved Me.' (John 16:27). Some, says St. Francis de Sales, make perfection consist in an austere life; others in prayer; others in frequenting the Sacraments; others in alms-deeds. But they deceive themselves: perfection consists in loving God with our whole heart. The Apostle wrote: “Over all these … put on love, which is the bond of perfection” Colossians 3:14. It is charity which keeps us united and preserves all the virtues that render a man perfect. Hence St. Augustine said: “Love God, and do whatever you please;” because a soul that loves God is taught by that same love never to do anything that will displease him, and to leave nothing undone that may please him.”

Amen.

July 22, 2019

TASTE  AND  SEE

Some prayer or some psalm says,

“Taste and see how good the Lord is!”

Thinking about that, it’s good to see

parents playing  with their  little baby.

Thinking about that, it’s good to sip

through a straw a chocolate milk shake.

Thinking about that, it’s good to see

the sun rise or kids playing catch.

Thinking about that, it’s good to

get an end piece of birthday cake.

Thinking about that, It’s good to be pray,

“Taste and see how good the Lord is!”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July 22, 2019

July  22, 2019 - 

Thought for today: 

“The primary word I–Thou can be spoken only with the whole being. Concentration and fusion into the whole being can never take place through my agency, nor can it ever take place without me. I become through my relation to the Thou; as I become I, I say Thou.

“All real living is meeting.

“[…]

“No aim, no lust, and no anticipation intervene between I and Thou. Desire itself is transformed as it plunges out of its dream into the appearance. Every means is an obstacle. Only when every means has collapsed does the meeting come about.”  Martin Buber

July 21, 2019

KNOCK,  KNOCK,  ON  MY  DOOR

Every day YOU knock on my door….

Sometimes I hear YOU, O God.

Sometimes I feel the wind ….

Sometimes I catch the fragrance ….

Sometimes I feel the touch ….

Sometimes I hear the word ….

Sometimes YOU become flesh ….

Make it now, O God. Make it now.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  21, 2019 - 

Thought for today: 

“We cannot go where God is not, and where God is, all  is  well.”

 Anonymous

PICKING  YOUR  PART

INTRODUCTION

The  title  of my homily is, “Picking  Your   Part.”

50 years ago - today - as you know - the  first people on the moon landed at 4:17 in the afternoon - July 20, 1969 - but they didn’t step out of the landing module till 7 hours later.

Relax - it’s a hot day - and we’ll be out of here before that.

TITLE OF MY HOMILY

The title of my homily is, “Picking Your Part.”

On May 20^{th -}  I was in Washington Hospital Center for triple bypass heart surgery. My niece Patty drove to Annapolis from Reisterstown and picked me up here at St. Mary’s - that Monday morning at 3:45 AM. She got me to Washington Hospital Center at 5:30 and they prepped me for surgery at 6:30 AM. I woke up that night about 9:30 or so. There was Patty. It's great to have such a neat  niece.

That night and in the days to come I thought I was going to die. That night and in the days to come I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the parts I’ve  played in my life - especially as a priest and the scenes I’ve been in.

It’s now 2 months later - it’s July 21^th - and I have a lot of thoughts.

I just played the part of someone recovering from heart surgery.

Thank you God for a wonderful life and the chance to play the part of a priest.

Thank you God for all the wonderful people in my life - whom I have met on the stage of life. Priests meet a lot of people. Thank you for being some of those people.  Lucky me.

I think of Shakespeare’s line: “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

I don’t know what stage in life I’m in right now.  I know I just played the part of priest for 17 years here at St. Mary’s Annapolis. Thank you God.

Thank you all for being on stage with me - for supporting me - for being so nice to me. Thank you for all the prayers and cards and hopes I’ve heard from you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

BEING AN ACTOR

I was blessed with a good education.  I was blessed with a good life choice.

Was it my choice or what to become a priest?  I’m still wondering about that.

First you act out that part - then hopefully one becomes that part.

Before I came here to Annapolis, August 2002, I worked with a guy named Tom and I heard him once say in a talk - a sermon - that when he was a small kid in OLPH Brooklyn - he saw a priest being a priest - at an OLPH novena service. And he said to himself, “I’d like to do that.” Then he added, “I’d like to try that.” Then he said, “I’d like to become a priest and I did.”

I’ve often wondered if I thought the same way.  I’m not sure. I heard a priest come into our Catholic grammar school classroom and tell us about his work as a missionary in Brazil. Then he asked us to raise our hand if we’re interested in being a priest some day.

I raised my hand - and it’s still up.

At times I’ve wondered, “What did I do?”  It’s been tough these past few years with the priest scandal - priests on the stage of life - playing the bad guy. Ugh.”

In the seminary I was blessed with being in lots of plays.

In college, in a play, Dracula,  I played the part of Renfield. He was a  weird character - who worked for Dracula  - the one who ate flies.  Fun part. Yum .... Yum .... Yum.

In another play, this one was in high school,  I played the part of Reggie. In Act 1, I played the part of someone  in their 40’s. Then as the play progressed, I slowly got younger. My lines in the 3^rd act were the easiest:  “Goo Goo! Ga. Ga!” “Boo Goo Goo Ga!”  That’s all I remember.

I once had the lead in another  play. We were in the first act and someone forgot their line. As you can imagine a second of silence on stage - with a forgotten line - feels like 10 minutes. I quickly grabbed a line and got the play going again. "The show must go on."

Well - when I did that -  I saw the director in the wings - waving his arms - “Oh no!” “No No No!”  Finally Act 1 ended. The curtain closed. I headed right towards the director and said, “What happened?”

“What happened? What happened!  You cut 4 people out of the play. Their names are on the program. Their parents are in the audience. Ugh!”

I don’t know if anyone else remembered that moment. But I did.  I’ve often worried about cutting people out of the play of life. I do it regularly in conversations.

I thought of this again last week  when I heard that John Means - the only Oriole on the American League All Star Team - didn’t get into the game.

Bummer. But that was the part he was asked to play: to be there as a long reliever - just in case the game got tied.

HOW TO READ THE SCRIPTURES.

Without knowing it,  by being in plays, I was learning a great way to read the scriptures - to hear the Bible stories. Take the script. Read the parts.

Listen to the story - especially if it has characters - and ask, “What part am I playing?”  “What part would I like to play?”  “What part don’t I want to play?”

Many of the Bible stories were acted out - before they were written out. They were shown -  so people can see themselves on the stage called, “Life.”

I also learned all this from a book called, That Man is You by Louis Evely.

Evely pointed out what the prophet Nathan did to David the king. He told David a story about a rich man stealing a sheep from a poor man. David  upon hearing the unfairness in the story,  asked, “Who is the man who did this? If he’s a member of my kingdom, I’ll punish him big time.”

At that  Nathan told David, “That man is you! You stole another man’s wife.”

Today we heard the story of Martha and Mary.  Did you hear Jesus' words to Martha, "Martha, Martha,  you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

I was wondering, is that where I got the thought and the title of this homily: "Picking Your Part"?

So who is more me in the Martha-Mary story? 

What part am I playing?  Serving? Working my butt off - but spending my life complaining?  Worried about everything - but missing out on the essential?

Last Sunday in the gospel  we heard the story about the Good Samaritan.  Which of the characters is me? Do I feel hurt, beaten up in life?  Do I walk by the hurting - like the priest or the Levite? Do I hurt others?  Or do I stop and help my brother or sister in need?

So a great way to read and hear the Bible is to pick a story. Pick it apart. Pick a part. Or ask, “Which part am I playing right now?”

Then ask, “What’s the message here for me?”

GRATEFUL

I’m glad my parents chose the part to love each other and chose to have 4 kids - especially that last one: me.

I am grateful for all the folks I have met on the stage of life in New York City - New Jersey - in Wisconsin - - on the road - in Ohio - in Pennsylvania - in upstate New York - Annapolis and in so many other places.

AFTERWARDS

I don’t know about you, but I learn from afterwards - after the play is over.

As I said, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and thanking for the past two months.”

Next, I was totally surprised when I got a phone call telling me that I was being transferred to a retreat house in New Jersey.  

Bummer?

Blessing?

I'll find out.

But now I'll  have a chance to figure out what I’ll learned  from 17 years here in Annapolis - well over 300 weddings - hundreds of funerals - 1,000 baptism - and having met so many different people - some I’ll figure out afterwards.

This got me thinking of a story I heard from a guy named Marty which he told at a family get together.

He told us about a cousin of his who went to Brooklyn for a family gathering one Thanksgiving.  He was  asked to run over to the local deli to get rye bread and some cheese and stuff - and he meets an old friend named Carol.

“Carol it’s great to see you?”

“What’s happened in your life since when we were kids here in Brooklyn?”

She says, “Well, what happened to you?”

He says, “Well, I got married and moved to New Jersey and I work in New York and I have 3 kids.”

“Nice,” she says.

And he says, “And Carol, what’s happened to you?”

She says, “You know who I am, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you’re Carol Klein. What’s happened to you?”

And she says, “I changed my name when I became a singer”

“Wow he says, “What’s your singing name?"

And she says, “Carol King.” Then she said, “You don’t know me.”

He started singing and yelling, “Carol King. Carol King. Oh my God You’re my favorite singer and I went on a date with my favorite singer and didn’t know it.”

I’m like that. I figure out things afterwards. I’ll look back at many of you whom I met here at Annapolis after I’m gone and say, “Wow!”

CONCLUSION

From her 1971 Tapestry  Album, I'm dating myself -  Carol King sang in one song these words that sum up for me much of my life - but afterwards, “My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue / An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view / ….  A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold / A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold.”

In another song - “So Far Away”….  It’s in that same album, Carol King also sang, “Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore? / It would be so fine to see your face at my door / It doesn't help to know you're just time away.”

I’m about to play that part this August - the  part of a human being on this stage called “Life.” who is moving.  It’s called. “The moving part.”  We all play it and let’s hope we all play it well on this stage called “Life.” 

Sometimes we pick it;  sometimes it’s picked for us.

Let’s hope we all learn from it - afterwards - and the learning is gratitude - especially for the people whom we were on stage with. Amen? Amen!

July 20, 2019

REMEMBERING  ANNIVERSARIES 

Remember! 

Some people remember their past 

better than others. Like: “33 years 

ago today we were on a lake in 

Maine and a sudden storm came 

up. Remember? And I panicked 

and you stayed totally calm.” 

Remember! 

We’ve had our good times and bad, 

our moon landings and the bridges 

and  thresholds we’ve crossed. 

Thank you for all that you’ve done 

to fill my calendar to become part of 

my photo albums and history books. 

Remember! 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019