July  28, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“Each prayer has its own proper meaning and it is therefore the specific key to the door in the Divine Palace, but a broken heart is an axe which opens all doors.”  

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov 

(1700-1760),  Judaism.

July 28, 2019

13 WAYS  OF  WONDERING  

ABOUT  A  TISSUE  

A dad saw his brother in

a casket that day - and it

was such a sudden death -

and he reached for a tissue.

A mom saw her oldest - whom

she thought was so selfish - give

her youngest - the last piece of cake

and she reached for a tissue.

A family were at the airport

waiting for their grandmother

whom nobody has seen in 25 years

and each reached for a tissue.

A grandfather never cried in 25 years -

but he did cry at his grandson’s one

year anniversary  of sobriety in AA

and he reached for a tissue.

A great grandmother was at the baptism

of her first great-granddaughter and

she didn’t think she’d make it

and she reached for a tissue.

A guy went to confession for the first

time in 38 years and told it all and

the priest was great and he came out

and he reached for a tissue.

A dad was handed the first chocolate

chip cookie his daughter ever made

and it was burnt and horrible

and he reached for a tissue.

A 55 year old man received

a kidney from a total stranger -

but they were a perfect match

and his wife reached for a tissue.

A son gave his dad’s eulogy

and nobody had a clue how much

he loved his dad till then and

everyone reached for a tissue.

A mom and dad who never went

to church - did this time because

their daughter was the reader and they

sat there and each reached for a tissue.

A brother was at church and the gospel

that Sunday was the story of the prodigal

son and he realized he was the older

brother and he reached for a tissue.

A  dad saw his daughter graduate

from Princeton - and she was the first kid

in the family who went to college

and he reached for a tissue.

A garbage man got his first book

of poems published and at the

book signing at Barnes and Noble

his wife reached for a tissue.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July 27, 2019

A  TISSUE

A garbage man, 

yeah, one of those guys 

who pick up trash and toss it in the back 

of a garbage truck picked up a tissue

that fell from a big blue plastic garbage can -

a tissue he was about to ignore and just

leave  on the macadam street - but instead

he picked it up and pocketed it. After all,

isn’t this what garbage men do?

They pick up thrash.

A garbage man,

yeah, one of those guys

who pick up thrash found the

tissue in his pocket when

he got home and was about

to flush it down the toilet - but

instead - his imagination took

over and he wrote a poem

about 13 people who might

have tossed that tissue.

A garbage man,

yeah, one of those guys

who pick up thrash loved

to sit down at night and

write poetry - especially

about what he saw that day.

And he always liked  

Wallace Stevens poem:

Thirteen Ways of Looking

at a Blackbird.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  27, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“The experience of guilt feelings is of crucial interest  both to psychiatry and religion.”  

Jack Dominian, 

Psychiatry and 

the Christian, 1962

July 26, 2019

ONCE

Once I ran a half-marathon ….

Once I won a spelling bee ….

Once I got a great compliment ….

Once I saved a friend from embarrassment ….

Once I helped grill over 100 hamburgers ….

Once I bowled over 200 ….

Once I told God I thank YOU  for ….

Once I put down everything and ….

Once I released a mosquito into the night ….

Once in a while it’s nice to be positive ….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  26, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“No one can find out except by trying whether he needs prayer once an hour, once a week, or less often.”  

Richard Cabot, 

What Men Live By, 1915

SOME QUESTIONS:

DOWN TO THE THIRD

AND FOURTH GENERATION?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily  is, “Some Questions: Down To The Third and Fourth Generation….” 

The main thrust of this homily will be questions - as opposed to answers. 

When it comes to grandparents and great grandparents,   I have a lot of questions. How about you?

Today’s first reading from Exodus 20: 1-17 talks about punishment on past sins going down to the 3^rd and 4^th generations.  Does that really happen?

Today - July 26^th - we look at and celebrate the feast of St. Anne and St. Joachim - the grandparents of Jesus on his mother Mary’s side.

Their names are not in scriptures - but somewhere along the line - a tradition grew up that Mary’s parents were named Joachim and Anne.

We have their statues here at St. Mary’s - up there on the top  corners  of our old main altar - facing out - facing you.

What are your thoughts about Joachim and Anne?

And St. Anne’s novenas abound - and end today. I did the one at St. Anne’s in Erie, Pa. a few times.

SOME  QUESTIONS

What are your thoughts about your grandparents - and their parents and their parents?

What are your questions?

I like homilies that give me new questions.

What are your questions about your grandparents?

I only met one grandparent - my mom’s mom - but it was only on one occasion. The rest of the time she lived in Ballynahown, County Galway Ireland. She was wrinkled and wore heavy black shoes.

There is a book entitled, It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle.

The author Mark Wolynn is not a psychologist  but he probes this question of how past stuff affects us now.

The asks the question: does past stuff from our grandparents sculpt and shape us.

I only heard someone talking about that book - but it got me thinking. Reviewers say it’s nonsense - but it will get you thinking.

Is there a psychological and emotional type DNA?

Years and years ago, long before this book, I’ve heard people say if you want to change someone you have to change their grandmother.

I’ve always heard that suicide can be intergenerational.

If we read the scriptures we know this question comes up. In the 9^th Chapter of John,   people asked Jesus about a blind man.  Who caused his blindness, his sins or his parents sins or what?  Jesus said to that one, “Neither….”  Then Jesus healed him.

Next I would add the reality of example: good and bad.

We pick up on both.

And I believe reflection on that can get us thinking the following: “I  better be giving good example.”

I believe reflection on that can also get us grateful for all the good example that has been passed on to us.

I believe that is the value of saints: people from the past - who still give us good example.

I believe that is the reason there are statues and biographies and studying history.

I believe that is the value of autobiography

I know my mother’s mother went to Boston as a young lady - made some money - loved it - got manipulated back to Ireland to get married and ended up stuck there for life.  As a result, she made it her dream to get my mother and her 3 sons to America.

So yes, those in the past had some influences on our lives.

I think that’s enough for now:  what are your questions about your past?