Saturday, June 22, 2019

June 22, 2019



DEAD  BUG

I saw a dead bug
on a window sill.
It bothered me
more than a dead bug
caught in  a spider’s web
or one that hit my windshield.

I wondered, “Why?”
Maybe because
I didn’t know how
or when it died -
but those other two
deaths made more sense.

Is that the way it is
with death? Old age,
cancer, tough but
they make sense.
But to die alone like
a fly on a window sill?


© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

June 22, 2019



Thought for today:

“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe  photographs.”  

Ansel Adams


Friday, June 21, 2019

June 21, 2019


AT  EVERY  SABBATH


At every Sunday service,
at every Sunday Mass,
every person present
is either
one of two persons:
the one who sits 
and watches and judges others,
or the one who sits in the back
with and needing God.

Each of us is 
either the Pharisee 
or the Tax Collector?
  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019
Cf.  Luke 18: 9-14





June 21, 2019




Thought for today: 

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells  you  the less you know.”  

Diane Arbus

June 20, 2019



WHY  NOT?

For every act of selfishness,
anger, hostility, the finger,
not holding the door or a
space or place for another,
why not show some love,
an act of kindness, a smile,
a song,  a gathering with
others and to enjoy this
great gift of life. Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

June 20, 2019




Thought for today: 

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people to see  without a camera.” 

Dorothea Lange

June 19, 2019

GIVE  GOD  THE  GLORY 
NOT  ONESELF 

The title of my homily for this Wednesday in the  11th  Week  in Ordinary time is, “Give God the Glory, Not Oneself.”

This will be a one minute homily.

“Give God the Glory, Not Oneself.”

We’ve all seen the following while watching a baseball, football or basketball game. An athlete makes a great catch or play and raises his or her index finger to the sky - to give God the Glory.

This the message that Jesus is giving in today’s gospel - Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

“Give God the Glory, Not Oneself.”

I am trying to remember a scene from a novel about a Boston politician.  He went to Mass every Sunday. He would come down the main aisle - always one minute late - genuflect up front - near the 3rd of 4th row - reach into his pocket -  for his rosary - which would fall onto the floor - to the notice of everyone.

He wasn’t doing all this for God’s glory - but for himself.

“Give God the Glory, Not Oneself.”

That’s what Jesus is getting at in today’s gospel and we get that message.

47 seconds. Thanks for listening.