August 1, 2019

Thought for today:  

"The past is no longer ours.  The future is not yet in our power.  We have only the present to do good."  

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

ST.  ALPHONSUS:

PATRON SAINT OF WHAT?

Those with arthritis ….

Those in wheelchairs ….

Those in their 80’s and make it to 91 ….

Those who are lawyers ….

Those who see the poor ….

Those who want simplicity ….

Those who had a tough dad and a soft mom ….

Those who want to practice loving Jesus Christ 

Those with great devotion to Mary ….

Those who can be scrupulous ….

Those who want to make a good confession ….

Those who want better sermons ....

Those who are Neapolitan Italian ….

Those who are Redemptorists ….

Those who write spiritual books ….

Those who use religious pictures and crucifixes ….

Those who want a balanced healthy Moral Theology ….

Those who pray the Stations of the Cross ….

Those who like Christmas songs ….

Those who spend time with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament …. 
Those who want to prepare for death ….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July 31, 2019

10 A.M.  APPOINTMENT

A high school junior had a     

10 o’clock appointment with God.

She was doing a term paper

on “Images of God.”

She wanted to know if God

had an image God liked.

She was there early - outside

the big door with her list in hand.

She went through her list: fire

water, baby, criminal on a cross.

Mom, dad, grandparent, brother,

sister, friend,  glass of cold water.

Mountain, valley, ocean, river,

outer outer space, inner inner place.

It was now 10:45 - and the door was

still closed and silence was everywhere.

At 11 another appointment arrived and God

opened the door and invited that person in.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA: 

MAY  YOU  LIVE  

IN INTERESTING TIMES 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “St. Ignatius Loyola: May You Live in Interesting Times.”

“May You Live in Interesting Times.”  

St. Ignatius of Loyola didn’t say that. But I thought of that as I began looking at the life and times of St. Ignatius last evening.

Some say, “May You Live in Interesting Times” is the English translation of a Chinese curse.

St. Ignatius Loyola - 1491 - 1556 -  founder of the Jesuits -  certainly lived in interesting times.

When I looked up his dates and background last evening, I began noticing the interesting people who lived in his period of time and history

Martin Luther - 1483-1546 lived at the same time.

So too Henry VIII - 1491- 1546.

So too Pope Julius II - 1443-1513.

So too Michelangelo - 1475 - 1564.

May you live in interesting times.

During Ignatius’ lifetime a lot of interesting  things happened.

The Pope was the famous Julius II - who commissioned Michelangelo to draw up and design his tomb.  It was to be quite large.  It was to have 40 statues - one of which is Moses. Interesting.

Next time you go to Rome, check out at the church of St. Peter in Chains.  Go downstairs and you’ll find the famous statue of Moses by Michelangelo.  When I saw it, I noticed that one  had to put some coins in a box to get electrical lights to go on. Since then they have put in new kinds of bulbs.

Interesting.

The shrine was to originally have a window nearby for light - but that light was blocked when a building was put up next door.

SPEAKING OF MOSES

The Moses statue had Moses with 2 horns - based on a mistranslation of Exodus 34 - our reading for today. Interesting. Moses didn’t have horns - but they were to be light radiating out of his head.

For the sake of reflection we could compare Moses to Ignatius of Loyola.

In Michelangelo’s statue Moses has the tablets of the 10 commandments - which many people go by. In the paintings of Ignatius we see him writing - either the Exercises or his Rule.

I prefer Ignatius writings to the 10 Commandments.

We could also reflect upon Pope Julius II - who commissioned that statue of Moses to be part of his tomb.  We could compare him to Ignatius. This pope was took on the role of a soldier who lead papal armies into  some battles. Julius II is described as gruff and grouchy and didn’t have a sense of humor.  Comparing Julius to Ignatius,  Ignatius earlier life was that of a soldier - but he changed his life style.  Julius II didn’t change as life went on.

Both were vain and self-centered when young - but Ignatius was wounded by a 20 pound canon ball and went through a long period of healing - of his legs and his outlook on life.

Ignatius took on vows - for example of celibacy and Julius II had a mistress and at least 1 kid off to the side.

Looking back, they had interesting times - and I’m sure all of us would rather be Ignatius over Julius II, Henry VIII, Martin Luther. 

None of us will be Michelangelo or Moses - Martin Luther or King Henry VIII -but we can be like the saint in today’s liturgy: St. Ignatius.

It would be smart and wise to read about the life of St. Ignatius.  After all,  it was reading the lives of the saints that Ignatius was converted.

CONCLUSION:

I began by saying that the saying, “May you live in interesting times” might have come from a Chinese saying. May our times be a blessing to us - and not a curse.

Don’t watch TV.

JULY 31, 2019

Thought for the day:

"Whatever you are doing, that which makes you feel the most alive ... that is where God is."

Ignatius of Loyola

INSIDE THE HUMAN TEMPLE 

CALLED THE SKULL 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 17 Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Inside the Human Temple Called the Skull.”

In this homily, I want to think out loud  - using words as I try to figure out what’s going on inside my temple - inside my tent = also  called my skull, my head, my brain - with thoughts in the form of words released through my mouth.

I’ve heard various people tell me that one of their thoughts - inside their head - is wondering what goes on inside the homes they walk or drive by.

“Who and what is behind that front door?” “What’s happening behind those window curtains?”  “Who lives under that roof?” Knock, knock, who’s in there?

We have this temple here [touch head  with fingers] - our head - our brains - our skull - and it’s not that big - but like a computer - it can have millions of bytes - and lots of Random Access Memory.

There are 100 people in the room - at times -  wouldn’t we like to know what everyone is thinking and talking to themselves about? Or do we only wonder about a few people when we’re in church or in a crowd?

We find out who’s who and what’s what at times by talking - by communicating - by Holy Communion with each other. As we heard in Sunday’s gospel - by knocking, asking and seeking.

At times Jesus asked his disciples what they were talking about among themselves - what were they arguing about - as they walked the roads of Palestine.

What was Jesus thinking?   WWJT  What was Jesus thinking when he chose Judas?  What was Jesus thinking when he went into the same temple as an adult that he went into as a kid?

TODAY’S FIRST READING

I got this thought and these wonderings from today’s first reading from Exodus 33 and 34.

It’s the story of Moses leaving the camp and going to the meeting tent.

There he prayed. There he consulted the Lord. And when people saw smoke at the entrance to the meeting tent when Moses was inside, they would go stand at the entrance of  their own tents and meet the Lord.

And in these meetings with God in the tent Moses discovered that God is a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,

And in those meetings with God he deepened his understanding of the Ten Commandments.

Exodus is telling us what Moses was thinking and doing when he took the time to enter the tent that was the temple before there was a temple.

OTHERS AND OURSELVES: WHAT’S IN OUR BRAIN

Like the TV commercial that goes, “What’s in your wallet?” - a possible reflection for today would be this:  “We probably won’t ever know what the other people in this tent, this church, are thinking when they are here.”

However we can take some of the time we are in church to reflect upon what we talk to  God about when we are in here - or if we do this at home - say on a porch or in a prayer chair - keeping Jesus’ message that we all have an inner room - that ought to be a house of prayer.

What do I talk to myself about?  What are my conversations with myself and with God like?

The first step might be we need to clear our temple up - getting rid of our weeds - what we heard about in today’s gospel. 

Next we might use the WHY question - asking why - not of others in our mind - but the WHY question about ourselves.  

Or we can ask the Kojak question: “Who loves ya, baby?” Isn’t that a regular question we all ask? 

So  I think today's first reading challenges us to do want Moses did: visit and go into our inner temple. 

July  30, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“God is mysterious, and so (for that  matter) is the universe  and one’s fellow man and one’s self and the snail on the garden path; but none of these is so mysterious as to correspond to nothing  within human knowledge.”   

Dorothy  L. Sayers, 

The Mind of the Maker, 1941