Saturday, November 7, 2020

November 7, 2020



 ðŸ˜ŠðŸ˜ŠThought for Today

 “There is always some madness in love.  But there is also always some reason in madness.”  

 

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friday, November 6, 2020

November 6, 2020

 


BROKEN

 

What was my first broken?
 
Was it when a head came off one of my toy soldiers
or when my shoelace broke as my dad tied my shoes?
 
Was it when my juice cup fell off the table and
hit the kitchen floor with an “Uh oh! Oh no!”
 
Was it when Jimmy Hennessy’s died in the fourth
grade – and I didn't know what was happening.
 
I saw people crying – and silence was the only
feeling in the clumps of people who filled the room.
 
When was my first broken?
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

November 6, 2020


 

Thought for Today

 

“Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.” 

 

Sholem Asch,

New York Herald Tribune,

November 6, 1955

Thursday, November 5, 2020

 November  5,  2020



NOVEMBER  CROSSES

 
Slouching through the woods
on a  dark November day - 
hearing a Simon and Garfunkle
song in my soul - seeing empty trees,
feeling cold quiet - hearing the sound
and the shuffle of dead leaves 
on the hard ground beneath my feet. 
I have lost too many friends, Lord,
and too many family members –
as I walked under so many empty
crosses in these cold November woods.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020



November 5, 2020




Thought for Today

 

“The fault is in us.”

 

Hanna Arendt

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

November  4, 2020



CHARLES  BORROMEO:

INTERESTING BULLET  POINTS

 

 
[Instead of a homily – for today’s feast of St. Charles Borromeo, I spent my time reading up on the life of Charles or Carlo Borromeo – and came up with some interesting things about his life.  Here are some short bullet points.]
 
He lived 46 years of life. I don’t know how average that was back in his dates -  1538 to  1584.
 
Charles Borromeo came from a name family and from money. His  father was the Count of Arona. The family had a castle on Lake Maggiore near Milan.  His mother was from the House of Medici.
 
Charles was the third of six kids – two boys and four girls.
 
His mother – Margherita -  died when Charles was 9.  His father – Gilberto died when Charles was around 16.
 
He had to grow up fast.
 
At the age of 12 he dedicated himself to the church – connecting himself to  a Benedictine Abbey.  He got a good education – going to the University of Pavia.
 
He had a speech impediment all his life.  I don’t know if this was a stammer or a stutter.  First impressions were that he was slow – but as life went on people discovered he had a first rate mind and gave concise clear comments.  
 
He was put in charge of the household  - but continued his studies – getting a doctorate in both civil and canon law.
 
Like his dad he became a count.
 
On Christmas Day, 1559 -  his uncle – Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici - became  Pope Pius IV. Charles  was invited to Rome to work with the Pope – who made him a cardinal deacon then a Cardinal – and a full time adviser to the pope – a month later.  He was not a priest yet.
 
There he was – age 23 -  doing all kinds of administration work for his uncle the Pope. He worked with the Knights of Malta, the Franciscans, the Carmelites. He was administering the governing of the Vatican.
 
When his brother died – people figured he might take over running the family and care for its interests – possibly marry. Nope, he handed over the family to an uncle.
 
When he was made administrator of the church in Milan, he decided to become a priest in 1536. He was also named archbishop  of Milan – and his term  was from 1564- 1584 – then Cardinal.
 
His hand and his mind and his skills were used in lots of different church matters – not only in Italy, but in other parts of Europe.
 
He also played a major role in the Counter-Reformation against the Protestants – founding seminaries and pushed for great education of priests as well as getting them to clean up their act.
 
1576 – a famine hit Milan – and then a plague and he worked big time to help the folks in this endemic.  He was in on feeding 60,000 to 70,000 people a day.
 
He was shot at once, but the assassin missed.
 
At  46 he caught a fever – asked for the last sacraments – and died on November 3rd, 1584.
 
He was canonized in 1610.
 


 November  4,  2020



WANDERING AND WONDERING

 

God, I think I know,
what you do all day:
you walk around and you watch!


You wander and you wonder.


You stop to watch the faces
of new born mothers and fathers
with their first child – that first week
they got them – laughing and loving
the new adventure of parenting.


You watch kids on ferry rides –
or trying their new bike – or playing
their first game of cards with the adults –
or sipping some beer – or taking pictures
with cell phones like the adults do. 

Life is filled with so much 
wandering and wondering.


 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2020