July 9, 2020

SOUNDS

I know phones, piano

binks and bursts, and

barks of dogs and trains

in the distance,  but I

wish I could hear, “Sorry,

I forgot it was your life.

I was next to and I

missed most of it.”

Yet, I need to hear my

own soul saying, “I under-

stand.  We’re not God.

Get that. Grasp that. 
And if and when I do 
that, there is a chance 
for peace and the sound 
of the down deep, “Aha! God!"

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020
Painting by  Gary Bunt

July   9,   2020

Thought  for  Today

“Talking  to  you is like walking through a minefield.  I never know when you’re going to blow up.”

Someone

July  8,  2020

HEARING  AID

He was getting much older – 

and his hearing was getting much worse – 

but what I wondered about was: 

what would he be hearing if he heard? 

I was hearing that he was losing it. 

I was hearing that he was getting older. 

And this was before his hearing was going – 

before he needed a hearing aid. 

He heard words. He said, “Yeah …. Yeah!” 

But he was a literalist. He didn’t get under 

words – behind words. He missed nuances – 

symbols - but he showed up like Willy Loman …. 

Like Willy Loman he had a right to be here.
He had a right to be heard – to be asked. 

He was with us – and he has a vote. 

By the way, “Who the heck  is Willy Loman?” 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

July   8,   2020

Unconscious   - Thought   for  Today

 “95% of what we’re working out is unconscious.”

Someone

July  7,  2020

“ATTENTION!”

I was never in the military, 

but I saw scenes in movies 

when different military folks 

said to one another: “Attention.” 

That blurted shout certainly 

got attention and folks saluted 

each other for a solid second. 

I’ve wondered about that. 

Is that the motive of a million kids 

wanting their mom or dad to stop 

what they were doing and give 

that kid a moment of attention? 

Is the author  of every novel, 

the painter of every painting,

the baker of every cake, 

standing there hoping for attention? 

I for one – don’t believe in a God who 
wants attention – but there are moments - 

like on a white bright Eucharistic moon 

filled night,  I hear a slight, “Hmmm!” 

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

July  7,  2020

Thought  for  Today

“Only two things are infinite, the universe  and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” 

Albert Einstein

SOME  COMMENTS 

ABOUT SAINT MARIA GORRETTI

INTRODUCTION

The title of my reflection is, “Some Comments About Saint Maria Goretti.”

14^TH MONDAY ORDINARY TIME

Today’s gospel- Matthew 9: 18-28 -  was not picked because this is the feast of Maria Goretti. It’s the continuation of Ordinary Time and it  just happens to tell a story about a young girl like Maria Goretti – but the gospel story is about a  girl who  is dying and Jesus calls her to healing and life.  Maria Goretti dies and this young girl lives – so the contrast is polar opposite.

And today’s first reading from Hosea 3: 16-22 - centers in on virtues other than those heard in the context of Maria Goretti.  We hear mention of right and justice, love and mercy – and fidelity. A preacher could make a case for forgiveness in that Maria Goretti forgives her killer before she dies and God wants Hosea to be the great forgiver of his wife as God is to Israel.

SAINT  MARIA  GORETTI

Saint Maria Goretti - an 11 year old girl -  was the victim  of murder – by a 20 year old guy. This a totally different story.

Maria Goretti  was presented to us when we were young as a model of chastity – death as a choice compared to giving in to lust.  I noticed in the literature that the message for today is different than what we heard in the early 1950’s.

In fact, the mind set – and the story of her killer – might be a good probe for a sermon.

Maria was a victim. But whatever words are used – her family was poor and they lost their dad in 1900 and they ended up moving in with another poor family – the Serenelli’s – who in the same situation. Maria saw the son Allesandro – as a brother not as a seducer – or abuser.

When he made his moves on Maria – we all know the story – she resisted and he went crazy with an awl – a knife like weapon – stabbing her 14 times – some wounds in her stomach.

It took them 5 hours to get Maria to the hospital which was close by and the operation took another 5 hours. No anasthesia and she dies of septic poisoning. This is 1902.

I spotted an Australian newspaper article that mentions the grounds for her canonization are not enough according to one writer. The article was entitled, “A Rush to Judgment”.  Yet she died in 1902 and wasn’t canonized till 1950. I thought her story should be part of the discussion on canonizations.

Her story has the great element of her forgiving Allesandro before he died. It took him 3 years to accept – and slowly change. He was given a 30 year prison sentence – was at Maria’s canonization – having become a Capucin brother.

Her canonization was one of the largest  - some 500,000 – in an outdoor ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican – with many young people as part of the crowd.

The Passionists run her shrine in Nettuno by water – about 45 miles south of Rome  - not too far from the beaches of Anzio of World War II fame – but I’m about to bring the Redemptorists into the scene.

CONCLUSION

In 1984  John Ruef took me to Maria Goretti’s shrine. It’s in the Province of Frosinone and we have a place in Frosinone where Clement studied and was ordained and sent from.  That was the main purpose of our trip.

For a comparison – the early Redemptorists had struggles with poverty and they also had to move a lot - like the Goretti family as well as the Serenelli families.  This was to be the lot of Clement and Thaddeus Hubl.