July 9, 2016

MOOD  CHECK

There’s no weather channel to catch

the mood of the other - when meeting.

We listen to their voice. We look at

their mouth. We study their hands.

Angry again? Pleasant? Upset?
Absent? Down? Upbeat? “Uh oh?”

Maybe the only solution is to do

a mood check on self first. Then….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

July 8, 2016

MOVING  FROM  MAD  TO  GLAD

Jesus was right! Let the one without sin

cast the first stone. It seems it got the rock
throwers to stop and begin to look within.

And when we look within, we can see that

we can be mad at times - crazy. We can

spin out of control - crash - and kill others.

We take that extra drink and then that drink

drinks and drowns or drugs us and we end

up hurting others in our spiral splash.

So drop the rocks - turn them to bread - trans-

-substantiate yourself - become Jesus  - join
the Mass - be in communion with each other.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

July 7, 2016

O  SAY  CAN  YOU  SEE?

Some see the forest,

some see the trees.

Some see the leaves,

some see the green.

Some see the bark,

Some see the branches.

Some see the sky,

some see the ground.

Some see the newspapers,

some see the tooth picks.

Some see the homes,

some see the steps.

Some see the past,

some see the future.

O say can you see….

O say what you see….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

July 6, 2016

ARRANGEMENTS

There is something in some people that

they want to arrange and rearrange the

furniture in the other person’s room - in

their mind, in their way of thinking, in their

way of doing life - but guess what?  The

other person arranges and rearranges their

inner room back to where it was before - 

as soon as the other person leaves?

Photo: Einstein's Desk the day he died.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

July 5, 2016

ON THE SIDEWALK

On the sidewalk,

I see a slice of pizza.
It looks like it was thrown

away after just two bites.

On the sidewalk,

I see a dissed cigarette,

dented aluminum cans,

and a burst balloon.

On the sidewalk,

I still see your footsteps….

Thanks for the stroll for ice

cream a month before you died.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

SOW  THE  WIND, 

REAP  THE  WHIRLWIND 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 14^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind.”

We’ve heard that saying from today’s first reading. We get it, or we think we get it, but we don’t really think about it. Words can be like the car in the other lane - flying by us or we are flying by them. It’s there. It’s gone.

It’s a saying that shows up here in Hosea 8: 7.

We’ll also hear it again in Proverbs 22: 8  - “the one who sows injustice reaps disaster.”

Then there is Galatians 6:7, “Don’t delude yourself into thinking God can be cheated: where a man sows, there he reaps: if he sows in the field of self-indulgence he will get a harvest of corruption out of it; if he sows in the field of the Spirit he will bet from it a harvest of eternal life.”

Great quotes. I believe each clarifies the saying that much better.

You reap what you sow.

Spoil your kids, you spoiled your empty nest years.

What goes around, comes around.

Do nothing - expect nothing.

Do dumb things - expect dumb results.

Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.

HOSEA

Hosea the prophet reads the riot act to the kings and princes and tribes of Israel. He tells them, “You’re flirting with danger. When you pray to silver and gold idols, don’t expect the real God to show up when you need him.”

Sow the wind, expect the whirlwind.

You’re planting grain that has no ears - so don’t expect flour.

POLITICS AND THE PULPIT

Take the example of politicking from the pulpit. Now that’s a tricky topic.

It’s a fact that the scriptures - especially the prophets - and then the Books of Kings, Samuel and Chronicles bring in history and politics and what have you.

The other day I heard someone say that they want us priests to speak up about the current political drama that’s going on.  Yet I also know that if one does, one gets complaints about politics from the pulpit.

Basically, I let America Magazine speak up on these issues. There is a chance to write letters to the Editor or to cancel one’s subscription - if one disagrees with an editorial or an article and one has time to study it.

I know that I slip at times and let my bias, my positions, my political perceptions slip out - and every time I pay for it - by a comment someone makes to or at me on the way out of Mass. When will I ever learn?

I’ve heard people say: “Don’t make the church pulpit a bully pulpit - unless people have a chance to speak up.”  If they can’t speak up in church when they disagree with the preacher, they will be speaking up in the parking lot or on their cell phones or Facebook.

So what’s your take on November coming?  I’ve noticed that names come up in every conversation or coffee break that goes longer than 15 minutes.

STEP BACK AND WATCH

Perhaps the wisest stance is the stepping back and watching stance - that is - if one is able to keep calm, cool and recollected.

Statistics scream out that negative campaigning in the short run gives a candidate more bang for his or her dollar - or rant or rave or scream or scheme.

However, In the long run, the truth will win out. There are video tapes. There are ways to check sources. There will be biographies about each candidate coming out in 10 years.

CONCLUSION: TIME WILL TELL

In the meanwhile, we’ll keep on hearing the ancient proverb in various forms: “When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.”

Hot air is hot air. Balloons burst. The air dissipates and disappears and we discover there is nothing inside.

And Dorothy wakes up - at home - in Kansas.

TOUCHING  HIS  CLOAK 

INTRODUCTION

The title for my homily this Fourth of July is, “Touching His Cloak.”

WHO TOUCHED US?  MATTHEW  9:  18 - 26

In today’s gospel a woman says to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be healed.”

She does and she is healed.

The young girl whom all thought dead is healed as well.

In this homily I want to touch upon, “Who touched us? Who healed us? Who helped us? Who got us to where we have gotten?

FOURTH OF JULY

It’s July 4^th and today we celebrate a national holiday. We celebrate the day the Declaration of Independence was signed by some brave people.

Four were from Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone and Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Annapolis.

This morning I sat down and read the Declaration of Independence. It’s only 1,458 words. 

As I read it, I was touching history.

I could touch the words. They could touch me.

And I got in touch with the grievances of those who decided to revolt.

I read about the British practices and policies which they declared unfair.

It was like the time I read a whole book, Paddy’s Lament - by Thomas Gallagher.  It got me in touch with world history. It got me in touch with why the Irish rebelled against the British in the Easter Uprising and gained their freedom - for most of their counties. That book gave me an understanding that I didn’t have before. It got me in touch with the horror of unjustice and genocide.

When I read the declaration of Independence today, I got me in touch with a gripe the colonists had with the British that comes up at various times in our history. It is the attempt to stop immigration to this country.

For example, it states that the King, “has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.”

Those who have that gripe today - need to read the Declaration of Independence. They need to go to Liberty Island and read Emma Lazarus’ poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty. They need to go to Ellis Island and ponder the photographs and the stories of how the United States became the United States - because of immigration.

For the sake of transparency, my parents were immigrants and they spoke another language, besides English.

I didn’t like the Declaration of Independence’s take on our native Americans, but other than that, I was in on their take on grievances against the British.

Reading, meeting, experiencing life - we get in touch what we like and dislike, what we sense is right and what is wrong.

It’s good for our psyche and our soul to have historic days like today - to keep us in touch with who we are and where we come from.

LOU GEHRIG

I noticed on line today - that on July 4^th,  1939, Lou Gehrig gave perhaps the greatest sports speech yet. It was labeled the Gettysburg Address of Sports. It was only 453 words long.

They don't have the whole speech on line, but they do have the most memorable line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the planet."

Lou Gehrig is also first generation American - his parents Henrich and Christina Gehrig were immigrants from Germany.

The comment about his short speech, comparing it, to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. got me to go and read that as well. Like Lou Gehrig’s speech it too is quite short: 278 words - compared to Lou Gehrig’s speech which was 453 words long.

I knew that speech was somehow connected to July 4^th - only to discover it was given that November 19, 1863 - but the Battle of Gettysburg was from July 1, 2, 3, 1863.

I began thinking about how important short speeches are. They touch us a lot more than long, long speeches. That’s a message for me to hear. I remember hearing the Everett who gave the main memorial speech that day at Gettysburg, spoke 2 hours and his speech was 13,607 words.

TOUCHED

In this sermon or homily on the Fourth of July I’m wondering - because of gospel I read - about who touched us.

Obviously, being an American makes us proud - and thankful - for all those who built our country - all those who served our country - all those who still guide and guard our country.

What touches us?

What leaders touch us?

It’s easy to  be negative and find public figures who keep the talk shows going. Who are the positive leaders? I’ve met folks who talk about civic leaders who impressed them.

At 18 - this was in the late 1950’s - I was in Washington D.C. and they had the U. S. Senate hearings on labor racketeering and my brother Billy brought me to see the action. Up front were Bobby and John Kennedy and I remember when they were leaving the room, I reached out and touched Bobby Kennedy’s sleeve. And when he was killed, it did a number on me.

What life experiences have touched us?

What words of Jesus touch us?

What touching Jesus moments in Holy Communion have changed our lives?

What did our parents, others, who were they, who touched us and changed our lives?

Who touches us the wrong way.

Do we have the loving touch of Jesus?

Do people who touch our lives discover healing.

CONCLUSION

I stood at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. and also the Vietnam wall and I was touched. I’ve heard the Lou Gehrig line about being the luckiest person in the whole world - and was deeply touched.

Great people touch our lives.

Is there anyone who met us and they were touched for the better - because of our words and because of our goodness?


NOTES:

Picture on top - Woman touching the cloak of Jesus - found in the catacombs of Marcelinus and Peter, Rome.