June 20, 2023
WHICH?
Which
would you want?
To find or you’re still looking?
To be on the journey or
to have reached your destination?
Which would you want?
To love or be loved?
To give or to get?
Which would you want?
To speak or to listen?
To have or to want?
Which would you want?
To know or to ask?
To tell or to be told?
Which would you want?
To ask the question
or to give an answer?
Which would you want?
© Reflections, Andy Costello
© Reflections, Andy Costello
3 STORIES:
A NEW
TRANSLATION
OF
MATTHEW 5: 38-42
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “3 Stories: A New Translation of Matthew 5:38-42.”
That’s today’s gospel.
I hesitate to do this - because in the last
place I was stationed – St. Mary’s Church, Annapolis, Maryland – whenever I did
this – if it was the 10:30 Sunday morning Mass – a guy named Tom – an usher at
that Mass – would come up to me at the end of that Mass and say, “Father, your
sermon was 12 minute and 37 seconds.” Or “It was 11 minutes and 16 seconds.” Then he
would add, “I didn’t get your message and my wife didn’t either.”
Still - I like to read the scriptures and then try to put
what’s said there into stories.
FIRST STORY: 3 CATS
Once upon a time there was a lady who had three cats. Their
names were: Wonderful, Ugly and Tubby.
Wonderful was wonderful.
That’s why she got that name. She loved to cuddle. She was friendly. She
was nice. She was wonderful.
Ugly was ugly. He would make ugly sounds – ugly “Me-ows!” He would scratch the legs of the furniture.
You wouldn’t want to be stationed with him.
And Tubby was just that: tubby. He would rarely move – just
sat there – checking out the room – wondering – when there would be snacks,
meals and treats.
The lady - who had these three cats once called the Animal
Shelter where she got these cats and asked if it were possible if she could
talk to the former owners of these 3 cats.
They gave her 3 names – the 3 former owners of these 3
cats.
She found out Wonderful was always wonderful; Tubby was
always lazy. “We called him ‘Fat Cat’; and Ugly was always mean and scratchy.
“That’s why we gave him that name and got rid of him. Sorry.”
SECOND STORY: AN ANDREW JACKSON
Thirty three kids were lined up for a bus ride to an amusement
park. It was summer and it was a beautiful day.
The kids were screaming happy.
The bus driver – a pro from 23 years of driving – was
sitting there in her bus driver seat. Her kids were grown up – and living in
another state – so
she loved driving kids to the rides at Ride-A-Matic –
Amusement Park.
With these kids, she was a mom and a grandma again.
She saw the moms and dads and grandparents – outside the
bus - hugging and kissing their kids “Good-bye.”
She saw one mom – fist closed and tight – shaking hands
with her kid – and then hugging her kid.
She realized the mom just gave her kid a fiver.
She turned the bus off – kept the keys in her hand – and
said to two teachers – chaperones, “I’ll be right back.”
She went outside and over to the mother who gave the fiver
to her kid.
She asked her, “Did
you just give your kid a five dollar bill?”
Pause.
Then the bus driver said, “Would you mind if I asked,
‘Why?’”
The mom hesitated.
Then she said, “Well - when I was a kid – we were poor –
really poor – and I always said, “When I become a mom I’m going to make sure my
kids always had some extra money to
share with their friends – so I always give them some money when they go on a
trip.”
The bus driver hugged her and said, “Beautiful!”
Then she added, “I was poor too and I always envied kids
who got a dollar or a 5 dollar bill from their parents.”
Then the mom said to the bus driver - with a smile – “Times
have change, honey. I didn’t give my kid a 5. I gave him a 20 – an Andrew
Jackson.”
THIRD STORY: AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH
In a small Dutch town - there is a painting – in the only art
museum in town. It goes back to the early 1700’s.
It’s title is: “Matthew
5:38-42.”
People upon seeing it are stopped in their tracks.
They get the painting. They get the message. And it changes
and challenges people for the rest of their lives.
It’s a painting – but it’s also a story.
In the center of the painting is a white washed building.
A wide path runs up the center of the picture going towards
the house. Then it divides into a path to the right and a path to the left.
On the right side there is a sign above the double door
there. It says in Dutch: “Eyes!” It has
people going into the building with their heads down – and their back to the
viewer – and then people coming out of the other side of that double door with
a bandage over one of their eyes.
On the left side there are people marching to the double
doors over there. It has a sign in Dutch saying “Tooth.” Like the Eye side - people are coming out – the other double door
there - with white bandages and blood on them – over their mouths.
On the road before the house there are people who seem to
be screaming - fists
shaking – at those going up to the house. People get up close to the painting
and notice these people are all missing an eye or a tooth.
People in that town have said, “The painting has worked
ever since the early 1700’s. People have
stopped poking out people’s eyes and punching people in the mouth. That
painting has opened up a lot of minds.”
And just in case people don’t get that the painting is based on the words of Jesus’ in Matthew 5: 38-42 – the road sign that gives the mileage to next few towns – has the mileage listed – and then a plus one.
June 19, 2023
IN THE
DARK
Do they have these dark scenes
in movies to save money or are
they there for atmosphere or to
capture the inner feelings of all
those involved in the story?
Turn on the lights – when the
other Is keeping you in the dark.
Start talking – when you feel
the relationship has become
silent and lonely and one sided.
It seems that too much of life
is being lived in the shadows
and it’s only after the divorce
or the two iceberg period that
people admit death and differences.
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
June 18, 2023
PRESSURES
They are not expected – these pressures:
time, others, emotions, demands, fears,
the expectations that come at us from life.
Yet they are life – as life comes at us –
sometimes like a speeding runaway car –
sometimes the so called elephant at the door.
I guess the words to notice are, “Uh oh!” –
and “Oh no!” – “Not again!” and “Help!”
I guess the skills to have are a phone
to call a friend or put on one’s shoes
and go and talk to someone who listens.
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
