NOSTAGLIA

Quote for Today - March 7, 2011


"Nostaglia is like a grammar lesson. You find the present tense and the past perfect."

Anonymous, New Venture, June 1981

ON THE BALCONY

[This is a story homily for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A]

On the balcony they were holding hands – without even noticing when they reached out their hands to each other. It was something they did naturally – a lot more lately – especially when they were alone and more relaxed.

It was March 6, 2011.

The two of them were just sitting there on cold metal beach balcony chairs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Ocean City, Maryland.

It was cold.

“Good thing we brought our winter coats, Honey. Good thing we brought our winter coats.”

She thought to herself, “He often repeats himself. Doesn’t he?”

She remained quiet – cold and quiet – on the 6th floor balcony – and she didn’t see anyone else sitting outside in the cold – to her north or to her south – in these big cement – mountain cliff like condos – all along the ocean front.

He wanted to know if she was happy – that she was glad the two of them were here for their 40th Anniversary. It was a suggestion from their 4 kids – mainly their 2nd oldest – who was doing well financially so far with his job. He told them this time-share condo was open for them if they wanted it – for this week.

He stood up. He went inside and got a blanket. Then he came out and put it over her sitting there in the cold. “It beats Buffalo,” he said. “It beats Buffalo in early March.”

He sat down again – next to her – and once more both hands joined automatically.

Sunday afternoon – a couple of hours to just be - not much on TV – and they had taken a nice long walk in the morning along the boardwalk – after breakfast – after Mass – and they were going out for supper – to a crab place someone recommended.

You get beef in Buffalo. You get fish or crab cakes in Ocean City.

He sat there reflecting on life.

Without knowing it, he began thinking about the homily the priest preached that Sunday morning at the 7 o’clock Mass – in the nearby church – within walking distance of where they were staying. Nice.

The priest had talked about the readings for this Sunday being no brainers. He was saying, “Life offers the basic formula: build your house on rock or build your house on sand. One brings blessings; the other brings curses. It’s as simple as that.” And it was a very short sermon and both of them liked that. They were stereotypical early Sunday Morning Mass goers.

Bill and Helen certainly built their home on rock – not buying anything unless they had money to buy it. They learned that marriage was all about adjusting to and loving one another – having a good job and your own home and having good kids – and making sure they got a upbringing and a good education. And then enjoying grandkids – spoiling them – babysitting them – games – especially playing cards – and then watching their kids learn what they learned from having kids.

Bill and Helen learned about the importance of forgiveness and giving the other space when needed – and being there when needed. They learned from their mistakes. At times they forgot each other because of work or kids or outside interests – but they always recovered in time – making time for each other.

Nobody taught them – well marriage taught them – about the importance of good communication.

And their 4 kids are turning out okay so far – and all 4 are out of the house. A couple of their friends said that’s a big one. Jimmy, their second youngest, finally left – just last year – so they were all alone again – and they were discovering each other as two different people – but two people in their mid-60’s still in love – but in a love quite different than 40 years ago when they got married.

Still sitting out there on the cold balcony, Bill was wondering to himself: I guess these are the kinds of thoughts one has – when one goes away for a week with one’s wife – for a 40th anniversary get-a-way.

“Oops, Hon,” Bill said, “I’m sitting here doing all the thinking. What’s going on with you? What’s going on with you?”

Helen said, “Oh nothing. I was just thinking about the gospel we heard in church this morning – about building one’s house on rock or sand.

“Seeing the beach down there, the sermon got me thinking about my two brothers. When we were kids – we used to go to the beach in Cape Cold. I was thinking: Tom never learned. He always built his sandcastles too close to the ocean – and the tide would come in and wipe his out first – every time – and he would cry every time.

“Without knowing it then,” Helen said, “Tom always lived life too close to the edge – and no wonder his marriage and his family fell apart – and then he did it again with his second marriage – and that crumbled too. Ugh! Messy. Messy. Messy.

“On the other hand, Charlie my other brother, never was into sandcastles. He was always back in the house we rented for two weeks at Cape Cod in the summer – building his castles and his towers – but with Lego’s.

“I’m sitting here wondering: was that why Charlie became the architect and Tom became the stock broker. I don’t know.

Pause – another nice pause settled down on both of them like a blanket – neither of them looking at each other – both still looking out to sea.

Then Helen said, “That’s what I was thinking about. Why did you ask?”

“I was just wondering. I was just wondering.”

Another pause – another moment of quiet.

They just sat there – still – still looking out at the ocean – still holding hands – still being quite quiet.

Then Bill asked, “How do you think we did? How do you think we did?”

Helen said to herself – this time with an inner smile, “I wonder if he ever notices – he always repeats himself.”

Then she said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Then with a devilish impulse she repeated herself, “Bill I wouldn’t of had it any other way. We did well together – but let’s not come here to Ocean City, Maryland in March 2021 for our 50th Anniversary”

At that Bill held her hand even tighter and said, “Okay. - - - - - - - Okay. - - - - - - - We did well. We did well. And Helen – thanks for marrying me and loving me all through these years. Thanks for loving me all through the years. Amen. Amen.”

A SELF EDUCATED PERSON

Quote for Today   March 6,  2011


"A stumble may prevent a fall."


Proverb

WISDOM!
BE ATTENTIVE!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 8th Saturday in Ordinary Time is, “Wisdom! Be Attentive!”

I’m sure you’ve heard at different times, in the Eastern Rite Churches, the reader chants before the readings, “Wisdom! Be Attentive!”

That’s exactly what Sirach – whom we’ve been listening to for two weeks now – as the First Reading – has been proclaiming – along with the so called, “Wisdom Literature” in the Old Testament.

“Wisdom! Be Attentive!”

And the Wisdom writers – tell their listeners – there is wisdom all around us – so be attentive to it. We can learn from nature – from creation. There are lessons in the trees and in the weather – along with watching people and learning from how life works – when people pursue what is right and just. There are consequences.

“Wisdom! Be Attentive!”

TODAY’S FIRST READING

In today’s first reading, Sirach – or his longer name, Jesus Ben Sirach – tells us to pray for wisdom in the temple – and to seek it like a grape becoming ripe. He also tells us the importance of having good wisdom teachers.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

That can lead us as Christians to praise Jesus – and to have him as a wisdom teacher.

Sirach said the seeker of wisdom has to open the gate and enter into wisdom. Jesus said he was the gate. And Jesus gives great wisdom once your enter into him.

Jesus said watch the birds of the air and study the flowers of the field. We will certainly be waiting for both – after this long winter.

Jesus said there are lessons in the skies and in the weather – in sheep and shepherds – in not being like the Pharisees and the scribes.

Jesus said to watch carpenters building homes on rock and not sand. We’ll hear that tomorrow in Sunday’s gospel. Jesus said to listen and learn – especially from his parables.

And the Pharisees and the Scribes – couldn’t stand it – that a carpenter – someone from nowhere in the north – Nazareth – had such wisdom.

The common folk picked it up – so this drove the Pharisees even into deeper frustration – till they realized they had to get rid of him.

CONCLUSION

So today – March 5th – 2011 – there is much to learn – there is wisdom to be gained and attained.

Today – March 5th - 2011 – there are questions hanging on trees and on people’s faces – ask them, "What's happening with you?"

Today – March 5th – 2011 – just like yesterday and just like tomorrow, we have two ears and one mouth – or as the German saying puts it, “The wise have long ears and short tongues,” so “Wisdom! Be attentive.”

MONOPOLY

Quote for Today  March 5,  2011


"Police arrested a Bensalem, Pennsylvania, man on charges of having fatally shot his friend with a bow and arrow. The two had been playing Monopoly and gotten into an argument when, according to the Bucks County district attorney, 'The defendant decided he wanted to be the car [game token] rather than the thimble or hat.'"

Page 258 in What Were They Thinking: Really Bad Ideas Throughout History, by Bruce Felton

STOP!
I’M NOT
WHO YOU THINK I AM

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 8th Friday in Ordinary time is, “Stop! I’m Not Who You Think I Am.”

How many STOP signs do we see in a lifetime?

How many STOP signs have we stopped at?

STOP! We know what STOP! means.

However, when it comes to people, when it comes to knowing and understanding other people, we often run the STOP sign.

We judge others. We think we know others. Surprise! I’m not who you think I am.

The title of my homily is, “Stop! I’m Not Who You Think I Am.”

The message of my homily for this morning is, “Before judging others, STOP! Before thinking that we know exactly what another person is like, STOP!

The message of my homily for this morning is: when you see another’s face, see a STOP sign on their forehead.

If I had the money, if I prepared this homily a month ago, it would have been nice to get printed up and then buy 100 or so little STOP Stickems and hand them out and have everyone have them stuck on our forehead. Imagine if all of you walked around today with a little STOP Stickems on your foreheads. That would get folks talking – sort of like Ashes on our forehead next Wednesday.

JOHNNY WE HARDLY KNEW YOU

After John F. Kennedy was assassinated I remember someone wrote a book or made the statement, “Johnny, we hardly knew you.” (1)

For some reason that stuck in my brain like a Stickem. I’ve often said that about other people. “I hardly know you.”

What makes you tick? What worries you? Whom do you love? What do you love? What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? What’s your favorite cake? What’s your earliest memory? What bugs you? What is the most interesting thing that ever happened to you? Where have you been? If you had to do it all over again, is there anything you would change? How do people see you? Do you laugh, because you know, they don’t really know you? Have you ever said, “If you only knew?”

The title of my homily is, “Stop! I’m Not Who You Think I Am.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading begins, “Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time” [Sirach 44:1].

Famous people – public people – sometimes are not the person we think they are. Sometimes they fall from their podiums and pulpits.

On a regular basis new biographies come out about our famous persons. Last Sunday I saw a book review of a new book about Wild Bill Donovan – a fascinating character in American history – who was asked by Roosevelt – FDR Roosevelt – to get into the spy business – and he’s background history for the C.I.A. and N.S.A., etc. (2) Then when the book reviews of a new biography come out – we sometimes read that the new biography is on the money or it’s “revisionist” history.

If they wrote our biography and those who knew us read it, would they say, “Jack, Jill, I hardly knew you”?

TWO SHORT STORIES

With that in mind here are two stories that mention famous Americans and one not so famous American.

The first story is entitled, “Haves and Have-Nots.”

HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS

In 1776, the independence of the United States foreshadowed what would occur later on from Mexico south.

To remove any doubts about the place of the Indians in the new nation, George Washington propose “the today destruction and devastation of their settlements.” Thomas Jefferson voiced the opinion that “this unfortunate race has justified its extermination.” And Benjamin Franklin suggested that rum could be the “appointed means” to get rid of the savages.

To rid any doubts about the place of women, the Constitution of the State of New York added the adjective “masculine” to the right to vote.

To remove any doubts about the place of poor whites, the signatories to the Declaration of Independence were all rich whites.”


And to remove any doubts about the place of blacks in the newborn nation, six hundred and fifty thousand slaves remained enslaved. Black hands built the White House. (3)

The second story is entitled, “Missing Father.”

MISSING FATHER

The Declaration of Independence affirmed that all men are created equal.

Shortly thereafter, the Constitution of the United States clarified the concept: it established that each slave was worth three-fifths of a people.

One drafter of the Constitution, Gouverneur Morris, opposed the provision, but in vain. Not long before he had tried, also in vain, to get the State of New York to abolish slavery, and managed to extract a constitutional promise that in the future “every being who breathes the air of this State shall enjoy the privileges of a freeman.”

Morris, a central figure at the moment the United States acquired a face and a soul, was a founding father that history forgot.

In the year, 2006, Spanish journalist Vicente Romero looked for his grave. He found it behind a church in the South Bronx. The gravestone erased by rain and sun, provided a platform for two large garbage cans. (4)

Gouverneur Lewis Morris [1719-1798] we hardly knew you.

Next time you are in a graveyard walk around and read the names. Then say a name out loud and then chant, "_____ we hardly knew you.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

As I read today’s gospel [Mark 11: 11-26], I said several times, "Jesus I hardly know you. I receive you in Communion. I sit at table with you. I hear your words, but Jesus I hardly know you. "

In today’s gospel Jesus spots a fig tree that’s not producing, so he curses it. The next morning they saw the fig tree Jesus cursed withered. Jesus, why did you do that to a poor fig tree? The gospel story even says it’s not fig season. Jesus I hardly know you.

In today’s gospel Jesus goes into the temple and turns over all the tables and scatters the doves and money changers and causes curses and havoc. Jesus why did you do that? Don’t you realize things like that could cause crucifixion? Jesus I hardly know you.

CONCLUSION

And Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Why in the world did he do that?

So let me close with a short piece – entitled, “The Ass”

THE ASS

He gave warmth to newborn Jesus in the manger, and that’s why he is in all the pictures, posing with his big ears beside the bed of straw.

On the back of an ass, Jesus escaped Herod’s sword.On the back of an ass, he wandered all his life.

On the back of an ass, he preached.

On the back of an ass, he entered Jerusalem.

Perhaps the ass is not such an ass after all?(5)

NOTES

(1) Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye by Kenneth O'Donnell

(2) Wild Bill Donovan by Douglas Walker

(3) Page 175 in Eduardo Galeano’s book, Mirrors – Stories of Amost Everyone, 2009, Nation Books, New York

(4) Page 175-176 in Eduardo Galeano’s book, Mirrors – Stories of Amost Everyone, 2009, Nation Books, New York

(5) Page 70 in Eduardo Galeano’s book, Mirrors – Stories of Amost Everyone, 2009, Nation Books, New York

RED  AND  BLACK

Quote for Today  March 4,  2011

BLACK BLOOD

"The first transfusions used blood from lambs. Rumor had it that they made you sprout wool. In 1670, such experiments were outlawed in Europe.

"Much later on, around 1940, Charles Drew came up with new techniques for processing and storing plasma. In light of his discoveries, which were to save millions of lives during the Second World War, Drew was named the first director of the Red Cross blood bank in the United States.

"He lasted eight months in the job.

"In 1942 a military directive prohibited mixing black blood with white blood in transfusions.

"Black blood! White blood? 'This is utter stupidity,' Drew said, and he would not discriminate against blood.

"He understood the matter: he was a scientist, and he was black.

"So he resigned, or was resigned."



From Eduardo Galeano [1940- ] in Mirrors, Stories of Almost Everyone, Nation Books, New York, pages 299-300, translated by Mark Fried, 2009

Picture on top: Charles Richard Drew [1904-1956]