Thursday, November 15, 2012

THE "WHY?" 
OF LIFE

Quote for the Day - November 13, 2012

"There's a time when you have to explain to your children why they're born, and it's a marvelous thing if you know the reason by then."

Hazel Scott, in Margo Jefferson, "Great (Hazel) Scott!", Ms. November 1974

"God! Hmmn?"

Monday, November 12, 2012


SIN HAPPENS! 
FORGIVENESS TAKES 
AN EFFORT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 32 Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Sin Happens!  Forgiveness Takes An Effort.”

Both readings for today point out that sin happens - mistakes are made - even by those in charge. [Cf. Titus 1:1-9]

Both readings point out the call for not sinning - especially not giving bad example to the little ones. [Cf. Luke 17:1-6]

The gospel points out the call to forgive. Now forgiveness is work. Forgiveness takes effort. It doesn’t just happen.

Sin silently and slowly happens - like water becoming hard ice cubes in the freezer part of our refrigerator. I was going to say, “Forgiveness is like filling up the ice cube trays. That’s one of those things that people seem to avoid. It’s more like a chore. However, the image and or simile limps when compared to the image of ice becoming ice cubes. Maybe comparing forgiveness is more like defrosting a freezer. That calls for effort and moving things around.

Today’s gospel has the number 7 in it - as in forgiving 7 times if 7 times are called for. It’s a number that appears with the theme of  forgiveness in the gospels. It must have been something Jesus said, because we find it in a couple of forms.

FORGIVENESS AND SIN:  SOME GENERALIZATIONS

We know what sin is and what forgiveness is - so I have nothing new to say. Let me toss out a few common thoughts about both - clichés and other wise comments.  Maybe one thought will trigger some thoughts in you - where you need to look at both sin and forgiveness.

Sin is tricky. Sin is at times, an, “It all depends.”

For some people, it’s easier to forgive our sins than to forgive others their sins.

For some people, it’s easier to forgive others their sins - than it is for us to forgive us our sins.  As priest I know that some people can’t let go of some sins from the past. It’s like having an expensive car - but then there’s that scratch. It scratches us every time we see it.  It’s like getting that ticket 27 years ago - and we still keep it on our record.  Bummer. Hint! Hint! The sin of pride might have snuck tagged along with a past sin - just to keep us humble. The sin of pride is a sneaky and becomes part of our repertoire of inner secrets.

So I’m seeing that one of the things I’m saying here is: “For different reasons,  it’s easier to sin that to forgive sin.”

Forgiveness is a choice - usually more of a choice than the choice to sin.

Forgiveness and sin - both are complex.

Then there is the sin of anger. Besides pride, anger is often part of the complexity of sin.

Sometimes the anger is directed at ourselves - for being so stupid.

Sometimes the anger is with others - because of sins against us. We’ve been hurt, accused, bullied, made fun of, been cheated on, by others.

So expect anger. It’s part of our story. To be human is to have anger issues in our life.

Anger can be heavy at times.

So anger and pride and not wanting to communicate are come alongs with sin. They are some of the quirks of being a human being.

FORGIVENESS TAKES TIME

Forgiveness is a choice.

Forgiveness takes work.

Forgiveness takes faith - which starts like a mustard seed - which starts with prayer.

Sometimes sins can be dumped in the sea like a mulberry tree - the one Jesus talked about in today’s gospel. We also heard about a mustard seed - so Jesus uses both these images. To me they are mixed up a bit in today’s gospel. We can forgive him - or whoever is doing the reporting of what Jesus actually said.

Forgiveness - most of the time - is a scar - and scars show us where we’ve been healed - as well as hurt - and we can scratch them in anger - or touch them and say a prayer of praise or sorrow about what happened and we moved on.

CONCLUSION

Today - November 12 - is the feast of St. Josaphat [c.1580-1623] - who is a witness to a long standing cut in Christian Churches - between the East and the West - with those united to Rome and those who aren’t.

Josaphat was axed - bludgeoned to death - by one Christian group with another.

From time to time the Eastern Uniate and Eastern Orthodox parts of our church - along with Rome and other groups - sit down to talk. It seems Jesus call for us to be united gets to folks. Both sides have to give. Both sides need to forgive and forget.

John XXIII had some of that in mind with Vatican II - more is needed. Time.

In the future expect calls for unity and signs of disunity.

However, life is déjà vu.  Expect fits and starts, failures and refusal to listen to each other.

I like the Truth and Reconciliation Model that was used in South Africa - it has worked at times. I like The Forgiveness Project in Cambodia. It too has worked at times. Check those 2 out on Google.

Sin happens. Forgives can happen, but it takes an effort and it takes time.
BOREDOM

Quote for Today - November 12, 2012

"Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."

Bertrand Russell [1872-1970], Life magazine, February 1970

Sunday, November 11, 2012



JUST SITTING,
JUST WATCHING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Just Sitting, Just Watching.”

That’s what Jesus does in today’s gospel. Here’s how Mark put it, “Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.”

Jesus just sat there. Jesus just watched there.

If I read the gospels correctly, if I read the life of Christ correctly, he did a lot of just sitting there and watching there.

I think that’s where he got his wisdom. That’s where he got his observations about life. That’s where he got some of his parables. That’s where he got his insights. Just sitting. Just watching.

The tradition is that he didn’t start his public life till he was around 30. So I sense he sat in synagogues and the carpenter shop and watched. I sense he sat in some spot near the marketplace and leaned against a wall and watched. I sense he watched the birds of the air and the flowers of the field - along with grapes and wheat - and how they became bread and wine. I wonder if he saw merchants cheating with the scales - and merchants who loved to give the extra. Did he see a  women dragged to the elders so that she would be  stoned  to death for adultery - and the man gets away with it? Did he see the Romans crucify someone along some road as a warning?

How about you? How good are you at sitting? How good are you at watching? Where is your best classroom? What are your insights so far? Where do you love to sit and watch? Is it the mall? Is it the beach? Is it at church? Is it an art museum. Did you ever just sit there and watch the people watch the paintings?

The title of my homily is, “Just Sitting, Just Watching.”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

In today’s gospel Jesus spots a poor widow coming into the temple and putting two small coins worth a few cents into the poor box or whatever box it was. He noticed the others coming in - and making a big show of what they were putting into the temple treasury. He noticed that they were noticed. He must of watched the self satisfied glow on the faces of the givers - as well as the “wows” of the watchers - and the non-noticing of the poor and the little people.

Jesus calls his disciples over and says, “See that poor widow - she just put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. She gave from her poverty; they gave from their surplus wealth.”

Did he watch their facial reactions to that comment?

Someone remembered that moment and told that story and Mark got his hands on the story - for all of us down through the centuries to sit there and see it and watch it in our own minds - and see if we can take on Jesus’ take on life.

Jesus also saw the scribes. They are the ones who had education. They could read and write. They are the ones with the long robes - and the ones who got lots of recognition - and places and seats of honor - in public.

I love the humor in the Church making us priests  read this gospel text - we who have the long robes on - and get the comfy fat cat seat up front here in the sanctuary - and get recognition in the mall or Adam’s Rib - “Hi Father!” They make us read this reading out loud. Did anyone see my face as I read it? Did they see a “Gotcha!” in the wrinkles?

You can learn a lot by just sitting and watching. You can learn a lot by sitting and reading the scripture texts and try to figure out the scene and the situation - where Jesus noticed something he would talk about later.

HOW ABOUT US?

How about us? Where do we get our Ph. D’s in how life works?

Sitting here in church is not too bad as a place to watch.

Being priest I have great chances to see - if only I can learn.

Up front - here - I see a lot.

Like at weddings - I notice the moment when the bridegroom is the last man standing. The maid of honor has come down the aisle - the best man has left the bridegroom - and gone down the steps to meet her and  bring her up into the sanctuary. Then there is the pause. It’s a great pause - the moment that a lot of people have been waiting for. Sometimes a bride says she’s be waiting for that moment since she was a little girl. Then there is the music, “Here comes the  bride” or what have you and the bride and her dad come down the aisle. It’s at that moment the bridesmaids standing in the front row - facing the back - along with everyone else  - turn. I’ve noticed that they turn to see the face of the husband to be - when he sees his wife to be -coming down the aisle - dressed in  beauty - usually with her dad. A picture is worth a thousand words. That moment - that scene - is worth 10,000 words.

Is that the most beautiful she’ll ever be in her whole life? Yes and no? Do the bridesmaids want to see the joy in the bridegroom’s face? Of course and 10,000 more things. If the bridesmaids are married, do they remember their day? If they are not married, do they long for that day?

I see the face of the father of the bride - walking down the aisle with his daughter. I have learned that’s one of the 5 top moments in a father’s life. At that moment I always remember what a dad said to me here at a wedding at St. Mary’s. “Five years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and was told it was terminal. I said, ‘No way. I’m going to live to walk my daughter down the aisle for her wedding.’”  Then he added, “In this same church I walked her down the aisle in my arms for her baptism.” He told me this Friday evening at the rehearsal. I watched his face and his glow and his tears and his pride the next day at the wedding.

The title of my homily is, “Just Sitting. Just Watching.”

We have a lot of funerals and weddings here at St. Mary’s. During the eulogy at a funeral - during the readings at a wedding - I look out and look at faces. I figure that there are many here who are not Catholic or have dropped out of church. What are they thinking? What goes through their mind at a funeral, a wedding, a Mass? Are they here? Are they somewhere else?

I see little kids loving the moment of putting a dollar bill or the envelope in the basket. When I was a kid it was 2 cents if that.

What’s going on inside people’s minds when they get back to their bench after communion? I’ve observed lots of folks just sitting back at Baptisms - wondering - wondering  - wondering. When I see them, I wonder about what they are wondering.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Just Sitting. Just Watching.”

I love airports and when I come to a red lights in a car - if it’s a busy intersection - with lots of people on the sidewalks. It gives me a chance to look around. I love to watch families - and couples and singles - folks at McDonald’s or Storm Brother’s Ice Cream or where have you.

There’s a learning moment there. A priest told me he was at a restaurant and he looked over and saw a family - a mom and a dad - and two kids. They all had their heads bowed in prayer. And he thought to himself, “Nice. Praise God!” Then he saw all four looked up when the waitress came to their table and all four had cell phones in hand. What’s the learning there?

There’s sight and there is insight.

Homework: what are your 5 biggest insights about life so far. Share them with each other - face to face - eyeball looking into eyeball.


NOTES:

Painting on top: James A. Christensen - 1988 - The Widow's Mites

2 cents worth of poetry

INTRODUCTION

The title of my reflections for today is, “2 Cents Worth of Poetry.”

I figure I have preached on today’s readings at least 15 times - that's 45 years. Yesterday afternoon and last night as I reflected on the readings, I got the thought, “What would it be like to look for poems that touch on some of the thoughts and feelings of the readings - especially the first reading and the gospel which talk about tiny things and tiny people?”

I hesitated because sometimes what I think is interesting is not other people’s cup of tea. People come to church for a good word - an inspiration - a challenge - and poetry can be esoteric or not what people need on a Sunday morning.

Then I noticed in the first reading these words from Elijah the Prophet to the widow of Zarephath, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose.” [Cf. First Book of Kings 17: 10-16]

SO

So looking at the readings I looked for poems that touch on the way Jesus sees - or at least as I think Jesus sees and thinks at different times.

In today’s gospel [Mark 12: 38-44] everyone is seeing the big contributors to the temple collection and treasury. Jesus sees the poor widow who puts in her 2 cents. Jesus then says she gave more than all the rest - because she gave from her poverty - and they gave from their surplus.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells his disciples to “Beware of the scribes - who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.”  

As a priest in long robes I get the thought, “Thanks a lot Jesus!” 


As priest I get greeted lots of times and sometimes get the best seat. Thanks a lot Jesus. 


I got a ticket once for speeding - going 39 MPH - coming down a bridge in New Jersey - with a broken muffler. No excuses. That time I got a ticket and I had my priest collar on.


Jesus also says, “They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthily prayers.”  I don’t know about the widows, but I have said long prayers and gave long sermons at times. “Thanks a lot Jesus.”

And in today’s first reading from the Book of Kings, we have the story of  the poor widow who has a son. She gives Elijah a little bit of the little she has - and she is rewarded. I love the poetic line, that because of her generosity to Elijah,  “the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry….”

God seems to notice the little people. We might not - but God does. Yet the little people sometimes say, “Where is God?”

And in the second reading from Hebrews, Jesus is presented as a priest. The author contrasts Jesus to the high priest in the big sanctuary in Jerusalem - who enters the sanctuary with blood that is not his own - but Jesus gives his own blood and his own life in sacrifice to take away our sins.  There is a world of difference between the big temple in Jerusalem - and the ugly dusty hill of Calvary where criminals are crucified. There is a world of difference giving one's own blood compared to a sacrificial animal's blood. [Cf. Hebrews 9:24-28]

To me a theme in these 3 readings is humility. 

It's the theme of smallness - the unexpected - the unnoticed - poverty - emptiness. These are values that we might not want - nor think are important. We tend to want to be noticed or feel important, so we do inflated things - or try to impress others with our things.

So I looked for poems that touch on what Jesus is getting at - when he talks about the scribes with their robes - the teachers with their looking for honors and prestige - the rich with their loud coins and contributions. I looked for a few poems that tell us what the small - the poor - the little folks might be thinking. So here goes.

1) NOBODY BY EMILY DICKINSON

The first poem is by Emily Dickinson - and is a favorite of mine. It’s called, “Nobody.” Ever feel this way?

Nobody

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you  Nobody  - too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d banish us - you know!

How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell your name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!

2) Ambition BY MORRIS BISHOP

The second poem is “Ambition”. This is for those with big cars and big needs to be ahead of everyone else.

AMBITION

I got pocketed behind 7X-3824;
He was making 65, but I can do a little more.
I crowded him on the curves, but I couldn’t get past,
And on the straightways there was always some truck coming fast.
Then we got to the top of a mile-long incline
And I edged her out to the left, a little over the white line,
And ahead was a long grade with construction at the bottom,
And I said to the wife, ‘Now by golly I got’m!’
I bet I did 85 going down the long grade,
And I braked her down hard in front of the barricade,
And I swung in ahead of him and landed fine
Behind 9W-7679.

3) An Old Jamaican Woman
Thinks About the Hereafter

The third poem is entitled, “An Old Jamaican Woman Thinks About The Hereafter”  by A. L. Hendriks. This poem is for all those want high places here and hereafter. Not everyone thinks that way. Here is another way of thinking.

An Old Jamaican Woman
Thinks About the Hereafter

What would I do forever in a big place, who
have lived all my life in a small island?
The same parish holds the cottage I was born in, all my family, and the cool churchyard.
                  I have looked up at the stars from my front verandah and have been afraid of 
their pathless distances. I have never flown
in the loud aircraft nor have I seen palaces,
so I would prefer not to be taken up high nor
rewarded with a large mansion.
                   I would like
to remain half drowsing through an evening light watching bamboo trees sway and ruffle
for a valley-wind, to remember old times but not to live them again; occasionally to have a good meal with no milk nor honey for I don’t like them, and now and then to walk by the grey sea-beach with two old dogs and watch
men bring up their boats from the water.
                    For all this,
for my hope of heaven, I am willing to forgive my debtors and to love my neighbor ... although the wretch throws stones at my white rooster and makes too much noise in her damn backyard.

4) IN CHURCH

This next poem is entitled, “In Church.”  This is for us priests. It’s by Thomas Hardy who can  be heavy in his writings. This shows a good sense of humor. The vestry is the sacristy where priests vest their vestments. And the vestry-glass is the mirror in the sacristy - so the priest can come out so beautifully.

IN CHURCH

“And now to God the Father,” he ends
And his voice thrills up to the topmost tiles
Each listener pervades the crowded aisles.
Then the preacher glides to the vestry-door,
And shuts it, and thinks he is seen no more.

The door swings softly ajar meanwhile,
And a pupil of his in the Bible class,
Who adores him as one without gloss or guile,
Sees her idol stand with a satisfied smile
And re-enact at the vestry-glass
Each pulpit gesture in deft dumb-show
That had moved the congregation so.

5) AN EPILOGUE

The next poem is by John Masefield. It’s called, “An Epilogue” - and it contains one of the funny surprises of life that humble us.

AN EPILOGUE

I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men
          with ugly faces
And the gold cup won by the
          worst horse at the races,
So I trust, too. 

6) At Becky's Piano Recital

The next poem is entitled, “At Becky’s Piano Recital.”  It’s about the surprises of life - what another person is thinking. It might not be what we’re thinking - especially when we are wrapped up in self.

AT BECKY’S PIANO RECITAL

She screws her face up as she nears the hard parts,
Then beams with relief as she makes it through,
Just as she did listening on the edge of her chair
To the children who played before her,
Wincing and smiling for them
As if she doesn't regard them as competitors
And is free of the need to be first
That vexes many all their lives.
I hope she stays like this,
Her windows open on all sides to a breeze
Pungent with sea spray or meadow pollen.
Maybe her patience this morning at the pond
Was another good sign,
The way she waited for the frog to croak again
So she could find its hiding place and admire it.
There it was, in the reeds, to any casual passerby
Only a fist-sized speckled stone.
All the way home she wondered out loud
What kind of enemies a frog must have
To make it live so hidden, so disguised.
Whatever enemies follow her when she's grown,
Whatever worry or anger drives her at night from her room
To walk in the gusty rain past the town edge,
Her spirit, after an hour, will do what it can
To be distracted by the light of a farmhouse.
What are they doing up there so late,
She'll wonder, then watch in her mind's eye
As the family huddles in the kitchen
To worry if the bank will be satisfied
This month with only half a payment,
If the letter from the wandering son
Really means he's coming home soon.
Even old age won't cramp her
If she loses herself on her evening walk
In piano music drifting from a house
And imagines the upright in the parlor
And the girl working up the same hard passages.

7) MOTHER TO SON

The next poem is by Langston Hughes. It tells you what a poor mom is telling her son   - who doesn’t seem to want to get moving.

MOTHER TO SON

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks on it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
When there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down in the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now --
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

8) THE CURATES

The next poem is The Curates by John Horder. It fits in with the gospel again - those up front trying to be so up front.

THE CURATES

How impeccably well-dressed they are
These curates!
This one’s whole body
Is spruced up in a sort of corset
The expression on his face, contorted.

At what cost to himself and to others
Does he spend his whole life suppressing his vital energies.
At what a terrible cost.

9) BLUE GIRLS

The last poem is called, “Blue Girls.” It’s by John Crowe Ransom. I don’t know the story behind the poem. It’s about a woman. It seems he sees some teen age school girls. Perhaps they are talking away or seem  self centered on the grounds of their school - called a seminary. The word “sward” is a grassy patch and the word “fillets” are head bands or ribbons holding their lustrous hair.

BLUE GIRLS


Twirling your blue skirts, travelling the sward
Under the towers of your seminary,
Go listen to your teachers old and contrary
Without believing a word.

Tie the white fillets then about your lustrous hair
And think no more of what will come to pass
Than bluebirds that go walking on the grass
And chattering on the air.

Practice your beauty, blue girls, before it fail;
And I will cry with my loud lips and publish
Beauty which all our power shall never establish,
It is so frail.

For I could tell you a story which is true:
I know a lady with a terrible tongue,
Blear eyes fallen from blue
All her perfections tarnished - and yet it is not long
Since she was lovelier than any of you.


NOTES:


Painting on top: The Widow's Mite -2008 - by Liz Lemon Swindle
MY  OWN  DARKNESS




Quote for Today - November 11, 2012

"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people."

Carl GustavJung [1875-1961]

In a "Letter to a former student on reassessing relilgious values outlined to Sigmund Freud a half century earlier, quoted in Gerhard Adler ed Letters, Vol 1 Princeton 73" - page 189 in Webster's II, New Riverside Desk Quotations, James B Simpson, Home and Office Edition Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York, London, 1992

Saturday, November 10, 2012



THE WRECK OF
THE EDMUND FITZGERALD



Quote for Today  November 10, 2012



Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
Music and lyrics ©1976 by Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
(*2010 lyric change: At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said,)
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"


 Notes:

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank this day, November 10, 1975