August 12, 2023

Reflection

 August 12, 2023

Quote for Today

"I'm don't say anything bad about people, so I'm not going to say anything about them."

 August 11, 2023

THE  CAKE

The cake means

there is a cake maker.

So what's the story

with Mount Everest,

the Grand Canyon

Niagara Falls

and the Redwood Forests?

Did God design these

or did God let them happen,

evolve, become themselves,

in time - through growth and upheaval?

© Reflections, Andy Costello

(C) Andy Costello, Reflections

 August 11, 2023

Quote for Today

"There is no hiding place from death and metaphysics."

 August 10, 2023 = Feast of St. Lawrence

LISTEN

 

The title of my homily is, “Listen.”

Just one word: “Listen.”

You heard a lot of things these three days: “What did you hear?”

RESOLUTION

At the end of prayer, at the end of a retreat, St. Alphonsus said the key step is  to make a resolution.

Sometime in the time of these 3 days, you got the thought, “When I get home I’m going to….”

That’s a resolution.

It’s what we do at the end of a year – before a New Year. We make New Year’s resolutions. And they last a few days – at least – hopefully. It’s also what people do in prayer. It’s what people do on retreats - especially – near the end of a retreat.

Father Ed gave us 3 questions yesterday morning in his homily,

I’m giving one question: What is one resolution you have made?

If you’re not sure – yet – here’s one: Listen.

Go home and listen.

Go home and listen to the stories of the people in your life.

Little kids: what happened in school today? Or at the park? Or I saw you playing Monopoly or Parchesi or Shahai Rummy. Who won? What was the best moment you had?

Or spouse – living or dead? Listen to them.

Any nursing homes near by – did you ever see all those people by the elevators – down in the lobby near the front door? Who listens to them? Who asks them questions?

 

BILLY – THE CONNOLLY BOYS

 

MY DAD – PITTSBURGH

 

WE’RE ALL STORY TELLERS = TOBYHANNA FLOWERS

 

PLUMBER = GETTING YOU MONEY

 

LISTENING – GOSPEL – SHUT UP – DIE TO SELF – LISTEN

 

BEFORE FALLING ASLEEP – SOMEONE LISTENED TO ME TODAY – IT WAS ME

 

GOD IS THE GREAT LISTENER    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 10, 2023

ANOTHER SURPRISE 

The other is other than you think they are.

You have to take time - you have to listen -

you have to be with another to find out who

they really are - and even then there is so much 

more to discover. It's called mystery - the mystery

of God - and time - the history of another person.

© Reflections, Andy Costello

 August 10, 2023

Quote for Today

"Fritz Perls, of Gestalt therapy fame, observed and pointed out that we human beings are members of the only species that possess the capacity to interfere with its own growth."