September 1, 2023

EPHRATA

Today I arrived in a new place:

Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

New life, a new place to live.

It's from the word, "Ephrath".

That's the Syriac, Aramaic, Hebrew

name for Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

What will, what can, what hope 

do I have for this interesting name

of a place in Lancaster County, PA?

Our religious community, the Redemptorists,

came here in 1914.

Ephrata was started by another religious community,

a semimonastic order of male and female 

Seven Day Dunkers - back in 1732.

It's now a town of about 14,000 people.

Interesting! We'll see. What's next?

(c) Reflections, Andy Costello

September 1, 2023

 September 1, 2023

Quote for Today

"There are only two roads that lead to something like human happiness. They are marked by the words ... love and achievement .... In order to be happy oneself it is necessary to make at least one other person happy .... The secret of human happiness is not in self-seeking but in self-forgetting.

Theodor Reik

 August 31, 2023

Reflection

LITTLE  WORDS

There are a dozen little words

that can make for a better conversation:

or, but, yes, no, help, thanks, sorry,

please, why, how, what, when?

Some short sentences are also good:

"But you didn't ask!";

"You could have said....";

"Maybe there is a better way."

Then again, there is the old saying:

"Teach thy tongue say, 'I don't know!'"                                                                                                                             

 August 31, 2023

Quote for Today

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience:  this is the ideal life."

Mark Twain

August 30, 2023

Reflection

 August 30, 2023

Quote for Today

“Don’t let the past steal your present” 

Cherralea Morgen

 August 29, 2023

I DID IT

 

The title of this homily is, “I Did It.”

Right now, this week, here at San Alfonso, about 50 people are making a directed retreat.

A director works with a person for a week.  One of the tricks used is to give the person they are directing a scripture text – for example a parable or a story – and ask them to try being each character in the story.

Today’s gospel – Mark 9:17-29 – the gospel for today’s Mass – on the feast of the Passion of St. John the Baptist – is perfect for this method of Bible prayer and reflection.

See oneself as part of the crowd at Herod’s birthday banquet.  Look around the room.  See the scene. Picture all the characters in the room.

See oneself as Herod shooting off his mouth – promising the world to a dancing girl – because of lust or drink or the need to look good.

Have we ever done that?

Have we ever been cut down by another?

Have we ever been like Herodias  and  cut someone down because we are holding a grudge against them for years – because of something they said.

We’re at a dinner table and here is our chance to get back at them – because we’re just like Herodias – asking for John the Baptist’s head on a platter. So we say what we say – using a story or a secret or whatever to cut that person down.

Then we have to live with that mistake or cruel comment – like the grudge against them we’ve been carrying for years.

Human beings harbor a lot of stuff.

So in prayer and reflection – we look at our life – and our sins – and we say, “I did it.”