"I used ... to keep a book in which I would talk to myself. One of the aphorisms I wrote was, 'The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.'"
Arthur Miller, [1915-2005 ] Playwright, Harper's Magazine, August 1958
Friday, March 23, 2012
CHRIST
THE STETHOSCOPE
INTRODUCTION The title of my homily for this Fourth Friday in Lent is, “Christ the Stethoscope.” Jesus stands there and listens to our heart. IN TODAY’S READINGS In today’s reading - the first from Wisdom 2: 1a, 12 to 22 and the Gospel for John 7: 1-2,10,25-30 - God and Christ are listening to the hearts and minds of folks. In both readings there is the sounds of violence in the human heart - the wanting to get rid of the Wisdom Figures in our lives. QUESTION If Christ put his ear to our heart - an ear like a stethoscope - what would he hear? As we read the scriptures - we hear the thoughts of the human heart. If we read the gospels we hear that Jesus knew what was in the human heart. What are our sounds? Sometimes we can read another’s mind - because we can see their face - we can see their clenched fists. Ronald Reagan said, “You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.” [New York Times, January 15, 1981] We get that that because we’ve seen each other eat. We’ve been around each other enough to know what eats us. We know each other’s complaints and whining - and angers. We will be in Holy Week soon - when we will be following along the long Passion Narratives and we’ll be asked to scream with the crowd that first Good Friday, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” If we put out stethoscope to the gospel readings especially during Lent, we hear the beginnings of that word “Crucify”. We hear “Crrrr!” If we listen to the angry, we hear them say, “Crrrr!” and “Crud” and “Crap” and “Christ Jesus shut up!” What are the sounds of our hearts? JESUS Jesus didn’t come to crucify us. Jesus didn’t come to take away the joy of the world inside us. Jesus didn’t come to chain us - but to set us free. His truth can do just that. Jesus is the Lamb who was slain on the cross the take away the sins of our world. His truths are about what can crucify us: wanting our will and way every day; not forgiving those who hurt us - and we can’t say, “Father forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing; not being able to take up the cross - when we’re on it - and suffering has come our way. Jesus wants to heal, help, and save us - especially from ourselves. CONCLUSION Have Jesus the Stethoscope put his ear to our heart today and let him see where we hurt. Hear him asking us to open our mouth and say, “Ah!” “Ah Jesus, you are my Lord and Redeemer.” Look up at the big cross here at St. John Neumann's and say that today.
MIND READING
March 23, 2012
Quote for Today
"I never thought I could feel this way And I've got to say that I just don't get it."
Gordon Lightfoot in his song, "If you could read my mind ...."
Listen to the song. Who are the people you allow to read your mind? Who are the people who allow you to read their minds?
Thursday, March 22, 2012
ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION
INTRODUCTION The title of my homily for this Fourth Thursday in Lent is, “Acceptance or Rejection.” Last night I watched for at least the tenth time the movie, The Shawshank Redemption. Each time I see it, I see something new or something different that hits me. Last night it was the moment when Red - Elllis Redding - played by Morgan Freeman - goes in to see the parole board of 5 people. They ask questions of a prisoner and then decide whether or not he is ready for parole. It’s a dramatic moment when you see the rubber stamp being pushed down on a piece of form - and then lifted. Then you see the word “APPROVED” or “REJECTED” filling the whole screen.[1] TODAY’S READINGS Then I read today’s readings and the theme that hit me was “Acceptance or Rejection”. I was wondering was it the movie that got me to see that theme in today’s readings. I don’t know, but I’d like to reflect upon them for a homily for today. In today’s First reading from Exodus 32: 7-15 and today’s Psalm 106: 10-23 we hear the sounds of rejection of God and accepting the Golden Calf - a statue of an animal - animals that eat straw - over ME. We hear the sounds of a parent talking - trying to induce guilt. “After all I have done for you.” “I have freed you from Egypt” - and “Did you ever think what the Egyptians will say - now that you have fallen apart as a people?” Today version would be, “What am I chopped liver?” Today’s Gospel from John 5: 31-47 has Jesus voicing the same feelings of how he feels for being rejected. WE’VE BEEN THERE We know what it feels like in being rejected. It happens all our life. The little kid experiences the disappearance of his or her mom or dad - when the bedroom door is closed in the night - and all is dark - and they are all alone. They experience it at school and in the playground. Teenagers experience it with teams and romances and not making the play or when they think the teacher favors so and so over them - with attention and marks. “Get over it!” they are told - but sometimes that’s easier said than done. Then there are adult relationships. Then there are jobs. Then there are family situations. Then there is marriage. She’s up in bed waiting to be held - but he’s downstairs holding onto the remote - clicking away looking for action on the boob tube. We’ve been there. We know about acceptance - but we know about rejection far more - because the negative often has far more power than the positive. CONCLUSION We know how it irks or hurts to be with someone and we’re telling a great story and they yawn or look at their watch or over our head at something more interesting. In prayer, there are distractions, but I assume if we work at giving God full attention in prayer and worship, we’ll find ourselves giving that same attention to each other and vice versa.
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NOTE
[1] I thought it said, "Accepted" or "Rejected" till I looked it up on Google - where I found the YouTube scene that I put in the beginning of this Blog piece. Surprise the word in the movie is, "Approved". Then I went looking to see if the word was "REJECTED" in the earlier scenes - and I found the following YouTube piece that puts three scenes together. The texture of the film is not as good as the one on top. Check it out.
PICKING A CHURCH
March 22, 2012
Quote for Today
"Ask yourself, 'What kind of a church would ours be if everyone was like I am?'"
Someone
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
THE CRY FOR FREEDOM
INTRODUCTION As I read the readings for today - this Fourth Wednesday in Lent - the human cry for freedom is the theme that hit all my buttons. The first reading from Isaiah talks about prisoners being released. The Gospel talks about the dead being released from the tombs. I have been stopped by those Eastern Christian Icons of Jesus descending into the realms of death at Easter and releasing the dead. That’s how I read the words of the Apostle’s Creed, “… suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven,….”
FIDELIO - BEETHOVEN When I read today's words from Isaiah 49: 8-15 - about prisoners: “Saying to the prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness: Show yourselves!” I recall the Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio”. The plot is simple - basic - universal - and has appeared in 1000 variations - before and after. Florestan is imprisoned - unjustly. Lenore, the woman who loves him, disguises herself as a young man "Fidelio" and gets a job in the prison to try to free him - to get him out of the darkness - and bring him back out into the light - to break his chains. Beethoven evokes the feelings those who have watched all those plays that portray people who are trapped - stuck - caught in situations where they are crying for freedom. It could be Les Miserables or The Shawshank Redemption - or A Christmas Carol - or The Natural - or Big - or the story of anyone who is trying to lose weight or what have you. REDEMPTORISTS Being a member of the Redemptorist Congregation in the Catholic Church - having Psalm 130 - “Out of the Depths I cry to you O God” as the place where we have our motto and foundational text: “With Christ there is copious redemption” (Copiosa Apud Eum Redemptio) - I am moved every time to promote FREEDOM - when I sense someone is in the depths of despair or the pits of problems! It's the cry of every heart - la voz de la humanidad - that Waltraud Meier as Lenore and Fidelio - sings in the You Tube piece at the top of this reflection. EVENING NEWS We watch the evening news - with the hope of hearing Good News - to find out about an experience about someone who is freed - trapped in a coal mine cave in - or to hear Good News that unemployment has dropped another 2 percent - because we know people who are out of work. We hope for a story about someone who is freed from abuse - or a war ends - or a person who had been in prison wrongfully convicted is released from prison - and on and on and on. As priest, unfortunately, I hear about darkness. I keep on hearing what we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel - Bad News from John 3 - when Jesus says, “… that the light came into the world, but people prefer darkness to light….” I keep on hearing about people hiding in the dark addicted to porn or alcohol or drugs or stealing or envy - and on and on - and they are crying to be redeemed - to be freed - to get out of those prisons - and the Good News is that like Lenore in Fidelio, Jesus disguised himself as one of us and came into our prison to help us to escape - to remove the chains - to set us free. CONCLUSION Beethoven's Opera, Fidelio, ends with Schiller’s Ode to Joy. Joy to the World - the Lord has come. Joy to the World - Christmas and Easter - the Lord Jesus came as a baby and came again an the Risen Lord after death to help us rise to new life - and keeps on coming to those who cry for freedom through and with and in Christ. Amen.
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On Top: Waltraud Meier - a mezzo-soprano singing in Valencia, Spain.
RELIGION TEST
March 21, 2012
Quote for Today
"It is a test of a good religion whether you can joke about it."
