The title of my talk is “Great!” Today – November 10th - is the feast of Pope
Leo the Great – one of the three popes – called, “Great.” The three popes are: Leo, Gregory, and Nicholas. There might be a fourth, John Paul II.But time will tell if that becomes true. History takes time. There are lots of things said at the
time of a funeral – that those who lived with the person who died – know this
is just the much and the fuss at the time of death. The name “great” for a pope has never been an official
title.It comes by popular acclaim. That’s
the way saints used to be named – and popes were called up from the community. Canonizations and conclaves came later on. THE WORD “GREAT” The word “great” is used by all of us many times- perhaps once a week or for some once a day. It was a great movie. It was a great meal. I heard a great joke last night. It was a great game. The quarterback through a great pass. It was a great victory. We had two Redemptorists whose nickname became, “Great!”
Great Kelly and Great Kelly – 2 different guys. POPELEO THE
GREAT Pope Leo is the first of three greats. His dates as pope were 440 to 461. He met Augustine. I thought that was an interesting notice
as I read up about Leo last night. While deacon he served two popes as a deacon. Celestine 1st
and Sixtus III. Today’s gospel Luke 17: 7-10 we hear about servants.May we all be great servants. As I read Leo’s life, I saw that he was into fighting all kinds of heresies – and he
did well in those challenges. He got the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to declare that
Christ has 2 natures: human and divine. The fights and disagreements on how
Christ was Christ – that took a lot of theological struggles. Chalcedon goes
down as a great council for Christ!
He also pushed the Catholic position of seeing that the pope in Rome - takes the place of Peter - and the scripture messages of Peter as head of the Church continues in each pope. Leo, as head of the city and state of Rome, had to deal with great struggles
with outsiders. In 452 he met Attila the Hun and saved Rome from being sacked
and burnt. In 455 he met the head of the Vandals, Genseric, who invaded Rome
but Leo at least saved the great church buildings of Rome from being burnt - vandalized by them CONCLUSION That’s enough. Some think a sermon was great, because it
was short. So, this has been a few short comments on whyLeo was called, “Great!” We’ll save Gregory the Great [590-604] and Nicholas the
Great [858-867] for another day. In the meanwhile, may we be great. Great human beings.
Great friends. Great Christians.
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
November 10, 2020
SAYING WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY
Sometimes when we have something to say, we say nothing.We
pause. We remain silent. Oh, there are things to say, but we ask ourselves, “Does this other person really care – really listen?” Is there an age – say 55 or 65 – when another stops growing and starts growling? They have caved in. When we are young, we take in a lot, without knowing it or we’re like the 3 monkeys. Closed eyes, ears, mouth…. When we are old, we can get lazy and stop growing and stop wanting to know new things. Thinking takes time and work. Thanking takes becoming quiet and figuring out where we are. So if you’re wondering why I’m so quiet at times, I might be outwardly, but I’m talking to myself a lot
inwardly.
“No
one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the
stream of life, no one but you yourself alone.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Monday, November 9, 2020
November 9, 2020
LOOK ALIKES
At the next family get together, even if it’s on zoom because of the Corona Virus,look around for look alikes: noses, tics, hand movements, comments. Then there are the invisibles: values, interests, faith, hope, and hopefully charities. There are many more look alikes than there are look aways.
"The longer your life, the more you have to
remember, and I do have amazing memories. I feel particularly grateful that I’m
in a happy marriage. I love my husband. I love being with him. He’s a
nightmare, but he’s great, and I look forward to seeing him and miss him when
he’s not there. Not that I can’t live without him, because I can. But that is a
really nice part of my life, when I look back and think of what we’ve done
together. Family in general, I think. It’s not any of my doing really, and the
fact that I’m very close to my family is great."
Helen Mirren, she told
The Guardian.
Sunday, November 8, 2020
November 8, 2020
JEOPARDY
Life, if we’re given the gift, is filled with jeopardy. Make that double and triple and many more dangers. Life, the game of life …. What a blessing – especially if we’re a grateful – so many questions – so many categories. Life, coming up with answers, playing the game with others. Time, now that’s the major jeopardy. Enjoy the gift. It ends.
"There are
beautiful people in the world, and I think we can all recognize them. David
Beckham is spectacularly beautiful. Men or women, there is such thing as
absolute beauty. The rest of us, 95% of us, are not in that category, but we're
in other categories: interesting, funny, smart, brave, inspirational. I mean,
there are many, many different categories...,"