THE CLASSROOM 

CALLED MISTAKES

May 26,  2012  Quote for Today

"Experience is a good teacher,
but she sends in terrific bills."


Minna Antrim

DON'T WORRY 

BE HAPPY!

May 25,  2012  Quote for Today

"Of all the things you wear,
your expression is the most important."

Anonymous

EULOGY: 

SHORT AND SWEET

May 24, 2012  - Quote for Today

EPITAPH  OF  SARAH  SEXTON

"Here lies the body of Sarah Sexton,

Who never did aught to vex one.

Not like the woman under

the next stone."

Written on a grave stone in a church yard in Newmarket, England. Thomas Sexton's first wife was buried under the next stone.

NO!

"No" in more than 520 languages

May 23, 2012
Quote for Today
"Learn how to say 'No!' - and it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin."
Charles Haddon  Spurgeon [1834-1892]

THE  HOUR 

HAS COME

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “The Hour Has Come” [John 17:1]

As you heard - or if you read along  today’s two readings from a book -  did any words grab you?

I read the readings the night before and see what words trigger wonderings. Then - I usually select a few that I want to know more about - or that I hear a challenge from. Then I put together a two page homily - for weekdays - and five pages for Sundays - 14 Pica.

Then when I hear the readings once more here at Mass, I can hear some people - including myself saying, “What does that mean?” or “Please explain that!” and I think, “Uh oh. Sorry! Not today!”  That happened yesterday with the text from Acts. I had put together 2 pages on the first sentence, but as I heard the readings, I found myself saying, “What about speaking in tongues?” Or on Sunday it happened with the gospel text about handling snakes and drinking poison? Can’t do it all. Sorry. Next year or some other time.

So today a few words on, “The Hour Has Come” [John 17:1].

WE KNOW THE FEELING

I was thinking, “We know the sound and the feeling of those words, ‘The hour has come.’”  When have we said or felt them? 

Many Saturdays I see this happening at weddings here at St. Mary’s. It’s 3 minutes to 3. The moms are about to come down the aisle - and then the bridesmaids - then the flower girls and then the bride.  It’s 3 PM. The hour has come. I go out into the sanctuary with the best man and the bridegroom. I’m thinking to myself that I saw this couple a year ago or so and here it is now - here it is vow time. It’s time for them to make the marriage covenant!

When else do we have that same reality of time’s up? The hour is here? Test results have just come in. We’re being prepared for the operations. We’re walking up the aisle for the graduation. We walk in the door for a job interviews. We see the car pull into the driveway. We’re about to meet a son or a daughter’s significant other for the first time.

We like to watch a ballgame on TV at night. It’s a significant moment when a kid comes up to bat or takes the mound for the first time in the major leagues. What a kid has waited for - perhaps for many years - is finally here. It’s show time. His or her parents are in the stands - which can add to the stress and the moment.

NUANCES AND VARIATIONS ON THE THEME

As I thought about all this I began trying to come up with variations on this theme.

There are moments we dread and there are moments we really look forward to.

A spouse or a parent is in hospice. The last few months or years have been tough. The hour has come. A loved one is about to die.

Someone in the military in Afghanistan is looking at their watch - 4 days and 22 hours I’m going to be on a plane out of here. This has been my 3^rd and last deployment. They start picturing the arrival and the airport - and family standing on the Tarmac. They too have been looking at their watch and clocks for months and weeks and now days.

Our high school seniors are about to graduate this Friday - so too the Naval Academy - and so too our grammar school - and so too the schools in the area. What is going to happen next. Time is ticking. The hour is coming. We see someone handed a diploma.

We can do what Jesus did. We can make it a prayer - by simply adding the word “Father” as Jesus did - making all these moments a prayer, “Father, the hour has come.”

CONCLUSION

Time is funny. Time is relative - as Einstein said - and people who have obnoxious relatives who visit them - know the clock moves slower with some people than with others.

Time is relative. I know I pray better after the homily at Mass than before it. Got that out of the way. Now I can move deeper into God.

Time is relative. I can’t wait for November 7^th - when we’ll have an end to obnoxious accusative TV ads and e-mails.

Time is relative. The hour is come. How long did this sermon seem to take? 

WHAT'S  REALLY  HAPPENING

May 22, 2012 - Quote for Today


"So I don't spend much time 
with the radio, television, 
and the daily paper.  
A car without a radio 
is a place for contemplation.  
When friends object 
that I don't know 
what is going on 
and am not concerned 
with the life our our society, 
I answer that they are deluded.  
History does not happen by the day. 
Once I read every copy
of a leading newspaper 
from January to September 1870, 
with the intention of discovering 
the nature of the historical forces 
of that period.  What I did discover 
was a host of superficialities, 
fleeting illusions, 
and enormous blind spots 
as to what was really going on ...."


George Peck, 1973

THE  PAUSE

THAT  REFRESHES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 7^th Monday in the Easter Season is, “The Pause That Refreshes!”

As I read this morning’s first reading from The Acts of the Apostles, I noticed in the first sentence mention of Corinth and Ephesus.

That triggered a slight pause. Something hit me that never hit me before. I’ve heard and read those words “Corinth” and “Ephesus” before. I’ve read the letters of Paul to the Corinthians and Ephesians before. What hit me that was new - was that since the last time I heard this reading I’ve been to Corinth and Ephesus. Last October 5^th  2011, I was in Ephesus. Last October 6^th I was in Corinth. It’s the same thing that happened to me as a result of being in Israel - Palestine - in January of 2000.  When I hear about the Lake of Galilee or hear about Jericho or Nazareth or Jerusalem - or the Jordan River - I pause and picture those places - based on my experience of these places.

THAT’S A DUH

That’s a duh - an obvious - duh! - but sometimes it’s good to hear the obvious. Duh!

Today is May 21^st. For most people it’s just another day - just another Monday. But for some it might be a birthday or an anniversary - or a death day. For Catholics in Mexico it’s the feast of a new saint, Saint Christopher Magallanes and 21 diocesan priests and 3 lay persons who were shot or hung between 1915-1937 for being members of a group that opposed the anti-Catholic government in Mexico during those years.

The title of my homily is, “The Pause That Refreshes.”

Knowing that places and dates might be more than we realize, it might be worth while pausing when we're with others. It might call for more listening. It might call for more awareness of the sacred.

This church - specific benches - specific parts of the Mass - all might be very specific to specific persons.

Hearing about these things - might cause us to pause. And those pauses might help us to be more aware of each other - and the specific realities all around us.

I was talking to a lady this morning and she told me about her rain coat. I had simply said, “Interesting raincoat!” She then told me where she bought it - when she bought it [10 years ago] - who she was with when she bought it - and how much it cost. It was on Sale!

What hit me after that was interesting - and surprising. I paused for a moment and thought: all those clothes in Goodwill Thrift Shops have a history. Every item. Wouldn’t that make a great imaginary movie? The store is closed and the different items begin telling each other how they got there - where they were bought - by whom - where they went in it: weddings, wakes and funerals, first communions, confirmations, cruises, what have you.

US

The title of my homily is, “The Pause That Refreshes.”

If what I’m saying - that every place and every thing has a history, so much more - us.

The first sentence in today’s first reading goes like this: “While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples.”

What hit me for this sermon is that I need to pause more and listen more and travel into the interior of the country of another. It’s not enough to know our  birthday and anniversaries and our birthplace and our job. There’s more - much more - the deep interior of another.

And I assume the more we get out of ourselves and into the interior country  - not just of stuff - but especially of each other - the more we will journey into the inner country of God.

God - the Great Pause - who refreshes. Amen.