HOW LONG?

As we were walking around
the mile or so lake,
he was asking me questions.
Luckily I guessed he was really
talking out loud to himself.

“How long am I going to keep on
wallowing in my own mess?”

“How long am I going to keep
on repeating these same mistakes?”

“How long will it be before I can learn to

forgive myself for so much wasted time in my life?”

“How long do I want to sit
in my own s…?” It rhymed.

We were walking and walking.
He kept talking and talking.

We came to a beginning,
so I asked, “Do you want to walk
around the lake again?

He said, “Of course.
Thanks.”

And I said to myself,
“Well maybe by talking,
he was beginning to walk away from it all.”

Then the inner thought,
“I guess this is what friends are for….”

Then the afterthought,
“How long before I’ll be the one
walking in his shoes.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009

ICE CUBE

Caught in the confines
of this glass….
Sort of stuck in here.
Clinging to the top,
just floating,
listening, wondering,
refusing to sink,
dying to get out of here.
Looking through the glass
I know what’s out there.….
Seeing so many others
in this same situation …
floating here and there …
shaking at times.
Too many times
it really doesn’t feel
like a happy hour to me.
Wondering: is this it?
Is this what it’s all about?
Formed, created
in the refrigerator womb,
then clunked out here
into this world, floating, melting….
Then do I disappear into
the vast place called, “Nowhere”
or God am I missing something?

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009

PARTY PERSON

All alone in a crowded room,
a drink in my hand….
Do they call this the cocktail hour
before the big meal or is now
called preprandials?
How do you spell that?
Is it preprandial or pre-prandial?
Knowing nobody,
feeling like the stain
I just left when I put my glass
with ice down for a moment
on a wooden book shelf along
the wall of this enormous library
looking room. “Uh oh!” I uttered
or muttered out loud,
but nobody heard me.
"Ooops.!" A waitress did.
With a smile on her face,
with napkins in one hand
she wiped up the circle of my stain.
Then she offered me
tiny toothpicked hors d’oeuvres
on the silver platter in her other hand.
I took one piece of something
and said “Thank you!”
I looked at the big toothpick
that shishkabobed the “something”
and wondered about the
yellow cellophane paper
on the end of these toothpicks.
How do they make these toothpicks?
When she walked away
I looked at the wooden shelf.
No damage. “Phew!”
No ring was left behind.
Sometimes I wish disappearing
with a napkin wipe would work
as easy for me. But only sometimes....

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009

NEGATIVES

After Mass, standing there,
shaking so many hands
of so many folks shooting by,
“Hi!” “Good sermon.” “Thanks!”

Unfortunately, I’m human, so
I only remember negative comments.

“Too long!” “Can I make a suggestion?”
“No clue to what you were talking about!”

But today was different.
This lady stopped and said,
“Liked your sermon
on what it means
to be human.
You didn’t mention anything negative.
Liked that. Thanks.”

And off she went.
What a great sermon! Thanks Lady.
I still thinking about what you said.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009

WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?
THE CALL TO REACH OUT
TO THE DIVINE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “What Makes Us Human? The Call to Reach Out to the Divine.”

Paraphrasing today’s gospel: Go up Bestgate Road or down Bestgate Road and you’ll come to a light at Ridgley and Bestgate. Turn there and go down about 150 yards and then turn into St. John Neumann’s complex. Park and come into church – and you’ll find a large room furnished and ready for worship.

WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?

The other day on All Things Considered, a program on NPR radio, Jacki Lyden interviewed a Harvard Anthropologist named Richard Wrangham. He has a new book coming out entitled, “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human.”

That’s his thesis – eating raw meat can take an enormous amount of time, so cooking our meat sets us apart from the beasts. It’s the difference between 8 hours and 1 hour. Cooked food is easier to digest. Cooking also forced people to protect the food – which Richard Wrangham holds became the job of the males – the stronger ones – while the females did the cooking. He says this started some 1.8 million years ago and established roles amongst males and females.

It’s a theory. Others would say what makes us human is our ability to make advanced tools, to stand tall, to contemplate, to feel, to think, to be self aware, to develop a morality – as well as freedom – to collaborate with others – to develop music, humor, art.

Lower animals use tools and sing – the morning birds and the crickets of night. They feel loss and hurt – but humans do all this much deeper. We have a bigger brain – and we are a lot more complex.

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings bring out another thing that makes us human: building places so we can worship and reach out to the divine.

I’ll have to look at the movie, “Planet of the Apes” again, to see if they do any worshipping. I don’t think so.

In today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses has a God experience and comes down the mountain and builds an altar with 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel. They offer up holocausts – animals – they have slain and then cooked. They made offerings to God and put half the blood in bowls and the other half he splashed on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud and the people said, “All that the Lord has said we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.”

That’s liturgy. That’s worship. That’s an attempt to reach God so God can help us.

Humans do this kind of stuff – primitive as well as advanced peoples.

We have to reflect upon these scenes in order for us to understand ourselves as humans, as Jews as well as being Christians.

In today’s second reading from The Letter to the Hebrews we hear more about worship – coming here to this sanctuary, sprinkling blood, and experiencing a new covenant – a new stage from our roots in Judaism.

In today’s gospel from Mark, we have Jesus giving directions on how to set up the upper room – so Jesus can celebrate the new Covenant Meal – with and for us. He meets to eat with his 12 apostles – his 12 pillars – at a table.

As we heard in today’s gospel and at every Mass, Jesus took bread and wine, and said this is my body and this is my blood. Then singing a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives.

To be human is to worship – to build places of worship – and if you search the world, there are places of worship – as well as ruins of temples everywhere – signs of what human beings did to reach the Divine – a power beyond themselves.

THE SOURCE

I remember reading James Michener’s book, “The Source”. It was close to 700 pages.

There is a scene in it where a woman planted a whole field of wheat or some crop. Humans were moving from just being hunters and gatherers to becoming farmers.

She almost has this whole field partly finished – planted – and she looks up and sees storm clouds headed her way. She has in her garments a lot of seeds for more planting and she instinctively yells out to the power in the storm. “Here take these hard earned seed that I picked and I sacrifice them if you save my field!” And she throws the seeds toward the storm clouds and the storm moves away in another direction.

James Michener is imagining what primitive people did in their search to control life and suffering.

He says that’s what’s behind all the sacrifices people make to try to get God to do good stuff for us, to protect us, to save us.

If we look at our lives, we do these same primitive things as well – to try to tell God to do what we want.

Worship makes us human. Building altars make us human. Prayer makes us human.

When someone in the family gets sick, we get to church. We get to God. We get praying. To be human is to pray.

I remember coming here to St. John Neumann for the 12:10 Mass one weekday and a family were just coming out of their car and they asked me if the church is open and if they could go in and pray. I said, “Great. Is everything okay?” “No,” they answered, “our mom is quite sick and we said, ‘We better go to church and pray.’”

WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?

What makes us human?

We can go to the zoo or watch Animal Planet on television – and see how animals do things that seem human. To some people, their cat or dog is their best friend.

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, deals with all this: there is Adam with all those animals – but he can’t find a suitable partner – till Eve is formed.

Dogs and cats – domesticated animals – are neat – and serve us – but we are called to evolve towards God – in whose image and likeness we are made – to be in communion with God.

I would posit that relationships with each other as well as with God are what make us the most human.

CONCLUSION: EATING TOGETHER

And one key human moment is eating together

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ. The Mass is basically a meal – a sacrificial meal – the Passover Meal and we want troubles to pass over our families and our homes.

The night before Jesus died he had a last meal, a last supper, with his disciples.

On the table would be the cooked Pascal Lamb – along with bread and wine. He chose bread and wine and said he was the Pascal Lamb that takes away the sins of the world. Take and eat. Take and eat.

This meal – this Jesus – makes us fully human – fully divine.

Take and eat. Take and eat.

THEOLOGY AND THE TRINITY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Theology and The Trinity.”

This Sunday is called, “Holy Trinity Sunday,” so obviously some comments about God and God as Trinity are called for.

Let me take 10 minutes to make 5 points. Check your watches. However, as we all know, sometimes 10 minutes feels like an hour and sometimes an hour feels like 10 minutes.

FIRST POINT: EVERYONE HAS IDEAS ABOUT GOD

Everyone has thoughts, ideas understandings, “figuring”s, about God.

What are yours?

If I asked you to give 5 thoughts – 5 understandings about God – what would they be? You’re allowed to have doubts as we heard in today’s gospel from Matthew (Cf. Matthew 28:17.)

Even atheists have thoughts about God. God doesn’t exist.

Theology means “words about God”. Everyone is a theologian – more or less – because everyone has words about God.

How have our inner words of and with God developed, changed, grown through the years?

Have you ever heard someone say something about God and you found yourself saying, “I don’t agree with that.” or, “That’s not my God.” or “That’s not my creed.”?

Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Can everyone be right and nobody’s wrong when it comes to God?

What are your ideas and inner words about and with God?

SECOND POINT: ORIGINS – GOD IS OUR ORIGINS

We can assume that everyone in the world has a mom and a dad. As Descartes said, “Cogito, ergo sum.” “I think, therefore I am.” If I can think, I am here.

Well, then, if I am and I’m here, therefore I had to originate from a mom and a dad. That’s the way it works. See a person – see a mom and a dad.

We don’t say, “I believe you had a mom and a dad.” We know another has a mom and a dad.

We might have been adopted or what have you – but we still know we had parents.

Even if we know our parents, we might not know them as much as we would like – and hopefully we can get to know them better as life goes on.

Why don’t we apply these basic thoughts to God?

In my third year of college – in a philosophy course on God, called, “Theodicy,” I made a life changing move in my mind. I stopped believing in God – and I moved to saying in my mind, “I know there is a God.” I don’t say that to trigger a tiny tinge of the sensational, but with the hope you’ll think of the significant moments in your life when you had breakthroughs in your thoughts about and with God.

So I don’t believe in God, I know there is a God; just as I don’t believe you had parents, I know you had parents.

I was in my early 20’s when I took that philosophy course – and that realization has stayed with me ever since.

It is basically “The Watchmaker Argument for God” and it made sense to me.

And way before that moment in college, I remember when I was around 10 years old, I opened up the back of an old watch I found in a top drawer. It was stopped. With the back off, I wound it up by the stem. Amazing – tick, tick, tick – all those parts were moving. Amazing. It just didn’t happen. I wound that watch up. Also as a kid, I knew I didn’t make that watch. A watchmaker did. So when I see the stars and the deep night sky – also having gone to Hayden Planterium in New York City as a kid, having seen the Star War movies as well as 2001: A Space Odyssey, having seen the Moon Landings on TV, picturing the heavens all moving in wonderful sync, I say, “Wow! God! Universe Maker!” People coming into this church for the first time look at the ceiling, at the stars up here, and sometimes I’ve heard them go “Wow!” The hope is all will look out each night at the real thing and say, “Wow, God, wow!”

THIRD POINT: THEOLOGY AND SUFFERING

Figuring stuff out about God is what theology is all about. To become a priest I had 4 years of theology after college.

Then I had a whole life time as a priest to discover even more about God. My first big discovery after ordination is that many people discover “There is a God” from suffering.

In trying to keep this sermon to 10 minutes, let me sum up this third point about how people often come to God through suffering with a poem called “Fever” by John Updike who died recently.

FEVER

I have brought back a good message
from the land of 102 degrees.
God exists.
I had seriously doubted it before;
but the bedposts spoke of it with utmost confidence,
the threads in my blanket took it for granted,
the tree outside the window dismissed all complaints,
and I have not slept so justly for years.
It is hard, now, to convey
how emblematically appearances sat
upon the membranes of my consciousness;
but it is a truth long known,
that some secrets are hidden from health.

FOURTH POINT: THEOLOGY AND MAPS

Of my 5 points this is the most important point – and if this doesn’t grab you, this homily entitled, “Theology and the Trinity,” flops.

After I got ordained I discovered the writings of C.S. Lewis – who wrote a long time before I was ordained.

When I had to sit down with someone who was interested in becoming a Catholic, I checked out various catechisms. This was before the R.C.I.A. program. By trial and error, headiness and head scratching, I found C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity great.

As in everything, the teacher learned more than the student.

C.S. Lewis wrote a lot of books. Many folks are familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia or The Screwtape Letters. I became very familiar with Mere Christianity.

It came out in 1943 and it was basically some radio talks he had given and then put into print.

If you want some clarity for your theology, C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity, is a good place to start. It’s a thin paperback – 190 pages still being sold in Borders, Barnes and Noble or on line, or check the library. It’s worth owning your own copy. Mark it up big time.

Let me give one example from this former atheist that has helped me immensely.

In Book IV of Mere Christianity, “Beyond Personality: Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity,” in the chapter entitled, "Making and Begetting,"* C.S. Lewis tells the following story.

He was giving a talk to some members of the R.A.F, the Royal Air Force, when “an old hard-bitten officer got up and said, ‘I’ve no use for all that stuff. But, mind you, I’m a religious man too. I know there’s a God. I’ve felt him: out alone in the desert at night: the tremendous mystery. And that’s just why I don’t believe all your neat little dogmas and formulas about him. To anyone who’s met the real thing they all seem so petty and pedantic and unreal!’”

C.S. Lewis then says, “Now in a sense I quite agree with that man. I think he had probably had a real experience of God in the desert. And when he turned from that experience to the Christian creeds, I think he really was turning from something real to something less real. In the same way, if a man has once looked at the Atlantic from the beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of colored paper. But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only colored paper but there are two things you have to remember about it. In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic. In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single isolated glimpse, the map fits all those different experiences together. In the second place, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map. But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.”

C.S. Lewis then says that theology is like the map.

People are deeply moved by God experiences whether at the ocean or on a mountain or at Mass or while visiting Christ in our Eucharistic chapel. They might have the kind of experience that the old R.A.F. guy had in the desert.

C. S. Lewis says that pious feelings are nice – but if you want to get further, then you need a map.

Theology is the result of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who brought up – talked about – their experiences of God. Theology is the result of Theologians dealing with God questions over a long period of time.

FIFTH AND LAST POINT: WHAT’S THE WATCHMAKER LIKE?

My last thought is a question: “What’s the watchmaker like?” This is where faith really comes into the picture.

I can figure out with reason that the Creator of this Universe likes math and movement – complexity and diversity – beauty and a lot of everything. There are millions and millions of mosquitoes. Why so many God? Why so many? They are ruining my picnic. And when it comes to “Why” questions, when it comes to suffering and surprises I don’t like, then I have to begin to rely more and more on faith.

And the big “WHY” questions are usually people questions – relationship questions – family questions. Why is so and so, so UGGGGROWLGROWLGROWLURRRZZHRZ!!???!!!!

Surprise the great Christian revelation is that God is Three Persons – who is One God – so in love with each other – that they wanted more in the Union. Hint. Hint. We are made in the image and likeness of God and when we three, when we are 3, 6 billion and are in union with each other and God, then we really are in the image and likeness of God.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Blessed Trinity. We can figure God out by reason – that God exists by reason – but what God is like calls for faith. Prayer is necessary.

We as Christians believe Jesus came to tell us what God is like: a Father, A Son, and A Holy Spirit – and they are love – every expanding love – that wants to bring us into the expansion.

Now that’s where mystery appears and that’s where faith is called for.

And that’s why we read the scriptures and come to church – week after week after week – with the hope that our knowledge of this mysterious Three in One God keeps growing.

And that’s why we don't just come to church alone – but most of the time we come with each other.

And after we die, there is going to be a lot more – and God has that map. Surprise.

*C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, page 135-137

BREATHE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of Pentecost is, “Breathe!”

“Breathe!”

Breathe. Catch your breath. Pull yourself together.

Breath is one of three big images of the Holy Spirit in our scriptures – the other two being fire and the dove.

Today: my stress would be to reflect upon breathing.

Air – Spirit – Breath – Wind – the Invisible all around us. We don’t see air – but we see its effects. The shaking storm, the gentle breeze, the waving trees – the wind coming off the waters at the ocean.... Air – Spirit – Breath – Wind.... Without it – we wouldn’t be. Come Holy Spirit. Come all three Persons of God – into us. Come breathe New Life into all of us.

WHEN WE COME TO CHURCH

When we come to church, when we come to pray, one of the first steps is to be aware of our breath.

Spiritual masters, gurus, teachers, often suggest breathing exercises.

Christian Spiritual masters suggest when we come here to church – after we come in – after we symbolically wash ourselves in Holy Water – after we enter into this holy place – after we sit down – after we wave to those we know in our section of the church – many folks do find a regular place in church helpful – some don’t – sit down – catch your breath.

Sit down. Close your eyes. Feel your back against the bench and your butt on the seat. Feel your feet on the floor. Be grounded. Be aware of your body – be aware of your breathing. Relax.

Next take a second breath – a deep breath – Phew! I made it. Pull in and exhale some deep breaths. We know how to do this. It’s part of a physical exam when we go to a doctor.

Next with eyes still closed become aware of your breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Put your hand three inches from your mouth. Push air towards your hand. Feel the invisible bridge of air touching your hand.

I taught novices in our Redemptorist Community prayer and spirituality for 9 years - teaching 9 different groups – each for a year and a day – so I had to learn how to teach all this stuff – which I had learned here and there since I was in my early 20’s.

Spiritual teachers teach breathing as a beginning step in prayer. Catch your breath.

When you’ve had a long day – when you pray at night or at the beginning of a new day – I always taught – have a prayer chair – a quiet spot, a place where you won’t be bothered.
Take a moment. Scan your house or backyard of porch. Do you have a place with a good chair for prayer.

Get grounded. Become aware of your breath long before words and thoughts or this and that. Just be aware of your breathing.

GENESIS 2: 6 - 7

One of the most powerful scenes in the Bible takes place in Genesis. In a very primitive, very early – most basic creation account – God takes mud and water, spit and skill, and forms us out body. Then Genesis says, “God breathed into this creation, this clay creation,, this earthen vessel, and it became a living being."

The author of this creation account wasn't there, but his imaginative was there and he sculpted this creation account out of words and image. The author simply takes what human beings have done at the birth of a child since the beginning of time. Get that baby breathing. Get that baby breathing.

And somewhere along the line humans have given other human beings artificial respiration – when a person lost their breath or were dying – or they were drowning. It’s instinct. We know that a person who is not breathing is dead or close to death – and we know, “Get this person breathing again. Get this person breathing again.”

And we all know – just visit any nursing home – that when we get old and start to lose it – we lose our ability to breathe well. Hence the need for more breakthroughs in medicines and techniques to help older folks to breathe better. And we’re grateful for modern improvements in all this. Praise God.

I witnessed my dad’s last year of life – as his emphysema got worse. Back in 1970 when he died, he didn’t have a breathalyzer or oxygen. It was tough work – this breathing skill we started since we were babies.

Breathe.

Want to learn how to pray, breathe. Be aware of this great gift of life.

RU'AH
“Ru-ah” is the Hebrew word for Spirit. You can hear breath in the word itself.

“Ru-AH!”

When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, the word “pneuma” was used to translate “ru-ah”. We use the root of this word when talking about tires – pneumatic tires – filled with air. Somewhere along the line we blew up a balloon, or basketball or football – or an inner tube. We filled it with air.

When the Greek scriptures were translated into Latin, the word “Spiritus” was used for “pneuma”.

When the scriptures were translated into English the words “spiritus” and “ghost” were used. We often think that word “ghost” means “ghost” - as in scary Halloween Ghosts. It’s more a word that describes a gust of wind. So the Holy Ghost is the Holy Gust of wind.

Whatever. If you want to learn how to pray, after catching your breath, after relaxing, you might want to pray inwardly the ancient prayer, “Come Holy Spirit.”

I like to suggest using a rosary when praying – not just for Hail Mary’s. If you want a nice morning or evening prayer, simply find a quiet place, get settled, close your eye and say 59 times – using your beads to say, “Come Holy Spirit.” You can do a whole rosary of “Come Holy Spirit's” in 5 or 10 minutes – if you can find 5 or 10 minutes of escape time.

Try this for this coming month of June – and see where that takes you. A variation on the prayer is to breathe and while breathing pray, “Come Holy Spirit.” – praying that the Holy Spirit come into our life in a new way.

But if it’s complicates prayer in doing two things at once, breathing and praying, go with just one.

COMMON AIR

Just as fishes die when they are removed from water, so too we would die, if we had no air, if oxygen disappeared.

Another thought is to realize that all of us in this church, in this upper room, are breathing common air. Ooops, should I breathe out that comment, because that could make those who worry about getting the Swine Flu because of the Sign of Peace or drinking from the one cup – become even more nervous?

I’m not sure how common air works, so I’ll have to do some more reflection upon that as a metaphor.

Every parish, every marriage, every relationship, every work site, needs fresh air.

When John XXIII called the Vatican Council he said we need to open up the windows of the church and let new life - fresh air - flow in. And that he did.

Come Holy Spirit.

SUCKS THE AIR OUT OF THE ROOM

We’ve all heard the phrase, “sucks the air out of the room.” It sort of has the same meaning as “the elephant in the room.”

Today’s first reading and today’s gospel takes place in the Upper Room – the scene for Pentecost.

The disciples were filled with fear – and fear and death can suck the air out of our lives.

The Pentecost Feast challenges us to face our fears – name the elephants – deal with what is draining us – what is sucking the air out of our upper room – our brain.

Come Holy Spirit. Help.

Notice in today’s gospel it says, “And when Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them. “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

We all have this forgiveness power – to let go of anger and hurt from ourselves or others and breathe peace into the situation – into the relationship.

However, let me also give a warning. Trying to initiate a reconciliation is tough stuff – especially if it is a family split that has been going on for years. Consult. Prepare well. Think twice about this. Sometimes reaching out can make matters worse. It can open up old wounds. The old saying: “Better let sleeping dogs lie!” is often the best advice.

But also notice the Early Church burst out of that Upper Room and brought this message of peace and forgiveness, love and understanding, to not only their fellow Jews – but also to all these other women and men in so many different groups.

As the result, the early Christian communities had in the room not only folks they knew, but also, as we heard in today's first reading from Acts, "Parthians, Medes and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt, the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the might acts of God."

How’s that for a text to challenge those of us with xenophobia or wanting everyone to speak our language – or that everyone look like us? Surprise: Catholics come in all the different sizes, shapes, colors and languages of the planet.

Come Holy Spirit. The word "Catholic" – "Kata Holos" in Greek – means with the whole world.

Come Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION

I don't know how to end this, so let me put together a prayer to catch some closing hopes.

Breath of God
breathe on me.
Fill me with your freshness.

Breath of God,
breathe on me,
be a wind that shakes me,
wake me, stir me, prune this tree called “Me,”
knock off all my dead branches
that are not giving life..

Breath of God
breathe on me,
fill my empty sails
and take me to new depths, new shores, new life.

Breath of God,
breathe on me.
Pentecost me.
Pentecost us,.
Re-Church us. Amen.