Friday, July 13, 2012

SCAPEGOAT






Quote for Today - July 13,  2012


Scapegoat: "Someone who has to be there when things go wrong."




Eugene E. Brussell


Questions:


When was the last time you saw scapegoating taking place right in front of your ears?


Have you ever been the scapegoat - the one being blamed for a mess-up?


Have you ever accused another for doing something you knew they didn't do - or it might have even been your fault?


Do you ever spot this going on in political advertisements?


Have you ever spotted this in kids - in the playground or at school or at home?




















Thursday, July 12, 2012

COMPLAINING








Quote for Today - July 12, 2012




"Lyndon [President Lyndon B. Johnson] has a clock inside him with an alarm that tells him at least once an  hour to chew somebody out."




Anonymous friend of L.B.J.


Questions:

Are you like Lyndon B. Johnson or are you like the person who has the alarm that calls you to compliment  at least one person every hour?



Why would anyone approach a complainer or a fault finder - sensing they would then be on that person's radar screen?


Wednesday, July 11, 2012

FINGER POINTING




Quote for Today - July 11,  2012


"A reformer is one who insists upon his conscience being your guide."



Anonymous






Questions:

Do you have anyone who is always on your case?


Do you have anyone who is always correcting You?



Do you have anyone who wants to reform you?


Do you have anyone who is a "religious nut" - whom you try to avoid at all costs?


















SOW THE WIND, 
REAP THE WHIRLWIND


INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind.”

It’s from our first reading for today. It’s Hosea 8:7.

“Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind.”

I have heard that saying from time to time, but I never took the time to think about it.  


A question:  can I put in words, just what the proverb is getting at? 


So that’s what I decided to do last night for this short  homily this morning - for the 14th Tuesday in Ordinary Time.

MEANING

I assume that this saying from Hosea means: there are consequences. I assume it means: don’t mess with Mother Nature.  I assume it means: think before you speak or before you leap. I assume it means: Don’t go there! I assume it means: Don’t open Pandora’s Box.

Proverbs  11: 29 has a similar  message,  “He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind.”

EXAMPLES

Last week during the wind storm, someone opened our back door. In flew 1,000 old leaves that must have been desirous of  a new location. Once inside they flew everywhere till the door was closed. 


Have we ever had one of those portable window screens rattling because it was really windy outside. We think: remove the screen and then close the window. So we open the window a bit and the wind rushes in - and things go flying.

If you get a dog, who’s going to feed her or him - who’s going to take him or her out to do his duty?  What are you going to do when vacation time comes?

If I buy a sailboat, then ….

If you send in a check for a religious charity, expect a whirlwind of mail.

If I make a suggestion, guess who’s going to be asked to carry it out?

A man called up his neighbor at 3 AM and yells into the phone, “Your dog is driving us crazy. We can’t sleep.” Then he slams down the phone. The next morning at 3 AM the neighbor who got the call the night before calls the person who called the night before and says, “I don’t have a dog.” He then gently hangs up.

Drink or take drugs and then drive - or drive with a cell phone in hand - be ready for possible problems ahead.

Haven’t we all been at a gathering - for coffee - or a family picnic - and someone brings something up and we scream inwardly, “Don’t go there!” Sure enough someone goes there. “Sow the wind; reap the whirlwind.”

SO THE IMAGE IS IN OUR SCRIPTURES

One of the images of God in the scriptures is the wind. It’s invisible - but we see the trees shake. We see the balloon fill up. Then we hear it pop - but we don’t see what was in it. Then we do see  the red, blue, yellow pieces of the burst balloon fall to the ground.

In the Old Testament the invisible God is pictured as a Gentle Breeze. We know what that feels like on a hot day. We’ve seen images of what a tornado or hurricane can do to a house. We know what the winds do with fire in the forest. 

In the gospel of John, Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit as wind.

We pray, “Come Holy Spirit!” when we want light, insight, help in making the right decisions.

We’re told to breathe - and breathe - deeply - when we  might be in panic mode.

In today’s gospel, we meet someone with a demon. We can relate to this person, because we all have our personal demons. When they cause inner storms, it's then we need to ask Jesus to suck them out of us - and then pray that Jesus breathe fresh air and new life into us.

When in doubt, pause, catch your breath and breathe.

When in doubt, pause, hesitate, talk to a third party - before storming out of the room to go and tell someone off - who has been driving us crazy.  Otherwise, things might get even worse. As the saying goes, “Sow the wind; reap the whirlwind.”

CONCLUSION

Sometimes shut mouths, shut windows, shut doors, prevent howls and horror shows.























Tuesday, July 10, 2012

DEAD



Quote for Today  July 10,  2012

"The dead! Why can't the dead die!


Eugene O'Neill [1888-1953], Morning Becomes Electra [1931], The Haunted - Act. IV



Questions:

Who are your loved ones whom you are still mourning?

What was your toughest death?

Why is it that some people take longer than others to be able to make peace with their death?









what

Monday, July 9, 2012

THREE  WOMEN AND 
FOUR KINDS OF PRAYER




INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily or reflection for today is, “Three Women and Four Kinds of Prayer.”

We only know the name of the first woman. It’s Gomer - the wife of Hosea the prophet - whose oracles or utterings we have this week as our first readings. The second woman is the young girl in today’s gospel who was very sick and thought to have died - whose father was an official who came to Jesus to come and see and heal his daughter. The third woman is the woman with the bleeding problems who wants to sneak up and just touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak  so that she would be healed.

THE  9-1-1  GOD

Our God is a 9-1-1 God - no doubt about that. 

We call 9-1-1 for one reason: Help.

We pray for various reasons - one of which is “Help!”

In fact, I think the main prayer in life is the one word prayer, “Help!”

If someone doesn’t know how to pray, I simply say, “Can you say, ‘Help!’”

In the famous book, The Cloud of Unknowing, the writer says a person in a burning building doesn’t need to be told what to say. They simple scream out the window, “Help!”

Sometimes I want to say to people, “Put down your prayer books - stop saying all those prayers and simply scream, “Help!”

TODAY’S READINGS

In today’s first reading from the prophet Hosea we have the early part of that book of the Bible and he kept asking God for two things: “Help my wife and help me to forgive my wife.”  She was a temple prostitute and kept going back to it.

In today’s gospel - as already mentioned - the official comes to Jesus and says, “Help!”

In today’s gospel - as already mentioned - the woman with the bleeding problems - simply reached out to touch Jesus for help!

FOUR  BASIC PRAYERS

If you heard it once, you’ve heard it 400 times: there are 4 types of prayer: Petition, Thanksgiving, Contrition and Adoration.

I like to translate or convert those 4 words to 4 simpler words: Help, Thanks, Sorry and Wow.

The only one of those 4 words that does not seem to fit is the last word, “wow”. So to make it fit, I would add that the wow is a Wow to the one who wowed us.

I like to add that if we can’t say those 4 words each day to each other in many of life’s situations, then we’re missing something when it comes to having a prayer life.

I base that statement on the First Letter of  John, where the writer says, if can’t love each other, whom we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see.

So if we can’t talk to each other, whom we can see, how can we talk to God, whom we cannot see and hear.

So practice saying to each other those 4 words: Help, Thanks, Sorry and Wow.

Then you’ll find yourself praying.



















WORDS OF WISDOM



Quote for Today - July 9, 2012

             Most Important Words


Five most important words: I am proud of you.


Four most important words: What is you opinion?


Three most important words: If you please


Two Most important words: Thank you.


The least important: I.

This day.