FEBRUARY 2^ND -

slideshowCANDLEMAS DAY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “February 2^nd - Candlemas Day.”

February 2^nd is also the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple - the main name for this day - as we see in today’s readings.

It’s also the feast of the Purification of Mary in the Temple - 40 days after the birth of Christ.

February 2^nd is the mid point between the shortest day of the year, December 21^st and the first day of Spring - March 20^th this year - the Vernal Equinox. Remember last December 21^st, the Winter Solstice - when according to some,  the Mayan Calendar indicated that the world was going to end that day. 

We’re still here.

I like the tradition of Candlemas Day - where we bless the candles at a Mass. Notice the last three letters - "MAS" in that word. It's the same as the "MAS" at the end of the word, "Christmas." It’s a reference to the Mass. On this day in this church we bless the candles.

Hopefully we also hear the call to all of us to realize Christ is the light of the World [Gospel of John 9:5 ] - that Mary brought that light into our world - and all Christians are called to be light to our world [Matthew 5:14].

Catholics use candles. 

CANDLE BOY

When I was a kid in OLPH Church in Brooklyn, I landed the great job of Candle Boy. It meant I got paid $2.50 a week. We worked on Saturday afternoon, all Sunday morning and Wednesday afternoon  - Wednesday being  the big OLPH novena day. 

Later on I could joke, “Don’t work for the Church. They don’t pay well.”

However, for me it was a great job because I didn’t need working papers - or be 12 years old. That was the age I had to be to get my first paper route working for The Brooklyn Eagle.

As candle boy I noticed people coming into church and lighting a 10 cent candle - which I assumed used to be the penny candle. I'd see them kneel there and say a prayer. 

The idea was you couldn’t stay in church forever, so you lit a candle to take your place and let it burn out before an image of Mary or Jesus.

DARKNESS

The key message I assume is the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can’t put it out.

I noticed in some research last night that the idea of a feast of light in the winter goes way back in history and deep into our psyche and soul as well.  We saw all those lights and candles in our windows and on our lawns and in our homes at Christmas time.  How many times do we hear each winter in the afternoon, “Do you notice we’re getting more and more light in the afternoon. It’s not as dark at this time as it was a few weeks ago.”

So today - February 2^nd - is called Candlemas Day for a reason. I spotted the information that before electricity, in Scottish schools this is the day kids brought candles to school - to make sure there is more light till spring comes - especially on dark cloudy days.

I noticed a German tradition about the badger - which I assume is the roots of the 4^th feast we celebrate this day: Groundhog Day. I assume all those Germans who migrated and landed in Pennsylvania made the back home Badger Day in Germany  - Groundhog Day here in America. As you know Groundhog Day is about shadow and cold - light and darkness - winter and the hope for Spring.

I noticed the following German proverb on several web sites:

“The badger peeps out of his hole 
       on Candlemas Day,

and if he finds snow, he walks about;

but if he sees the sun is out,

he heads back into his hole.”

Notice the connection of Groundhog Day with Candlemas Day!

I loved the movie, “Groundhog Day” because the message is: Sometimes we have to do it over and over and over and over again till we get it right.

CONCLUSION

So today we hear about Jesus the Light of the World being presented in the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus is bringing light  to his Jewish roots. We also honor  Mary as the Pure One - who brought Jesus into our world - to bring warmth and light - to take away shadow and doubt - to burn away sin and impurities - so we can shine as we bring his fire to our world. 

LIGHT ONE LIGHT

Quote for Today - February 2,  2013

"It snowed and snowed, 
     the whole world over,
Snow swept the world
     from end to end.
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned."

Boris Pasternak {1890-1960}, Doctor Zhivago [1958], The Poems of Yurii Zhivago, Winter Night, stanza 1.

Painting: Nocturn Grey and Gold Chelsea Snow, Oilpaintingsbank.com

PLANT SOMETHING!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3^rd Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Plant Something!”

I want to get into the issue of growth:  the waiting - the time it takes - the hope it takes - the watering and the work -  and then the surprise of seeing the results or one’s planting and cultivating.

Today’s gospel story about the mustard seed triggered these thoughts.

PLANTING SEEDS

Imagine going through a whole lifetime without ever planting something.

I have a vague memory of being a little kid and noticing the seeds in a watermelon that my mom bought and brought home for us.

Picture a little kid seeing an enormous watermelon for the first time - the cutting it in half - and then the red slices. Wow! Did anyone look at my face and my eyes seeing the inside of a watermelon for the first time?

I asked my dad or mom or someone in the family - I’m the youngest of 4 - “If I planted these watermelon seeds will I get another watermelon?” Someone said, “Try it!” I planted the seeds in our backyard and all I got was some green sprouts - but I was thrilled when I saw those sprouts. I waited and waited - no watermelon.

I did the same with honeydew melon seeds - and once more I only got green sprouts. I wonder if either of those 2 plantings are still growing in Brooklyn in a backyard on 62 Street - between 3^rd and 4^th Avenues.

I also remembering spotting flower seeds somewhere along the line - along with grass seed. I planted both and got flowers - as well as grass growing - where there was none before.

What are your stories about planting and seeing the results?

When I got to the Minor Seminary in my hopes of becoming a priest I got in on picking tomatoes as well as picking grapes and strawberries. I also worked on the Lawn Crew for 3 years. I was also on the Lawn Crew in our novitiate year. I was also on the lawn crew in the Major Seminary for 6 years.

All this was good for a city kid. We had a front yard - which wasn’t that big - but we had nice hedges. I loved watching my dad cut those dark green hedges with  those big sharp hedge cutters - the biggest scissors I’ve ever seen.  We also had that small back yard where I had planted the watermelon and honeydew melon seeds. After I went away for the priesthood my father got into planting tomatoes and zucchini. I missed out on that.

In the major seminary I also took care of horses. A team of two guys would be on for a week, every 5^th week.  Twice a day we’d go down to the barn. It would be early morning before everything for feeding them and then again in afternoon after class. The afternoon chore was more extensive - not just feeding our 3 horses - but also shoveling horse manure. That would take 20 minutes and the smell demanded a shower afterwards. I noticed that things grew much better with fertilizer.

In the major seminary we also worked lifting rectangular bales of hay from our fields and tossing them onto a flat bed truck. We also picked apples.

So both the minor and major seminaries I went to were good experiences in learning to see how things go and how things grow - and experience nature first hand. It gave me a grasp on growth - and a better understanding of the scriptures.

JESUS

From the gospels I sense that Jesus liked to escape from the carpenter shop and explore fields of wheat and grape vines. He spotted sheep and goats, weeds and mustard trees - the birds of the air and flowers of the fields.

Jesus learned the lessons of how things grow - if we listen to him in the gospels.

US

A message from this homily would be to make sure we see the gifts of creation surrounding us - to plant and to harvest - to get a green thumb - and dirt on our hands.

We need to learn that life is a field with wheat and weeds in it - and without both - we do damage to ourselves. A good sin - a good mistake - could be the best teacher in our life. It can also give us the gift of understanding - that we blow it at times.

We need to learn how to plant - and maybe the tree of faith will start to flower and grow a good 30 years from now.

We need to plant something - to learn something.

I’ve heard people arguing about something at night. The next day I would hear them arguing with someone else - but this time they have the opposite opinion from the day before.  Something happened in their sleep - or they replanted their thoughts - while they were sleepless.

I’ve learned there are lots of dormant flowers and fruit and plants inside everyone - and the day comes when the good stuff blossoms. Amen.

INTEGRITY

Quote for Today - February 1, 2013

"Live so that the preacher can tell the truth at your funeral."

K. Beckstrom

RUINING  

MY  REPUTATION

Quote for Today - January 31,  2013

"Glass, china, and reputation, are easily cracked and never well mended."

QUESTIONS:

Have I ever ruined another's reputation by reporting to the winds what another has done - along with our thoughts on the other's motives?

Has anyone ever ruined our reputation?

Have I ever ruined my own reputation?  

Has it been mended?  

What have I learned from my mistakes - and the consequences coming from them?

LAUGHING AT OURSELVES

Quote for Today - January 30, 2013

"When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves."

Katherine Mansfield [1888-1923]

MISTAKES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3^rd Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Mistakes!”

We all make them. Like steaks, some mistakes are rare; some medium; some well done. Mistakes!

The famous mayor of New York, Fiorello Henry La Guardia [1882-1947] when asked about an appointment he made that was a disaster said, “When I make a mistake it’s a beaut!”

Today’s readings trigger thoughts of that theme - especially the first reading from Hebrews. This section of The Letter to the Hebrews gets deeper into the theme of sacrifice, the human move to wash away sin - please God, somehow, someway, some day from my life. What I did was stupid and sinful, dumb and damaging. As Psalm 51- “The Miserere” says it for all of us: “My sin is always before me!” Ugh. Humans use blood - water - annual sacrifices of bulls and goats - anyway to wash away our sins.

Mistakes stay and stick. We know ours. We have memorized them.

Today’s readings stress that it’s God’s will that we be healed - freed - saved - redeemed from our mistakes.

Today’s readings have the theme of doing God’s will - in all three readings: First Reading, Psalm, and Gospel.

And when we go against God’s will - when we make a mistake - we feel it - sometimes for the rest of our lives. So we go to God - praying, begging, wanting his will to forgive us - wanting our sins to be washed away.

FORGIVENESS & LOVE

Being educated in becoming a priest, I heard a thousand times that love is the main message of Christianity. Then somewhere along the line I heard loud and clear someone saying that forgiveness is what makes Christianity different  - unique - from the world religions.  All stress love of God and neighbor as central. Christianity does that as well - but I heard that day someone saying that forgiveness is the big one.

I have thought about that. As I get older and listen to people, I discovered that for some forgiveness is central - is key - necessary.

So you hear me preaching that. Just the other day, someone said to me on the street: “You priests here - really stress - forgiveness and mercy.” I said, “Thank you. We’re supposed to. We’re Redemptorists and our motto is from Psalm 130 - the De Profundis Psalm, ‘Copiosa apud eum redemptio.’ ‘With him there is copious, fullness, plentiful redemption.’”

HAVE WE GOTTEN THAT MESSAGE YET - MACBETH?

Have we gotten that message yet? I’ve see Macbeth twice. I haven’t understood all that Shakespearean language - or all those lines - but I get the message that this famous Shakespearian play is all about guilt and the lingering horror that clings to us from evil done. It keeps us from sleep - causes us nightmares - and leaves us with lingering fears - and horrors in every dark corner.

Macbeth kills Duncan the king - and his wife is in on it. She moves the bloody daggers  over to the dead king’s body. King Duncan’s sons flee and are blamed for the murder of their father. Macbeth becomes king. Then the play plays on the theme of the ghosts of what they have done. Blood is on both Macbeth’s hands - especially Lady Macbeth’s and nothing will wash it off.

CONCLUSION: CHRIST THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD.

Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world - as we pray and hear at every mass.

In today’s gospel folks have filled the house Jesus is in. His mother and brothers - his followers -  are trying to get into the house to be with him. They send that message to  Jesus. Jesus says anyone who does the will of my Father is brother and sister to me. They are at home with me.

Isn’t that what we pray now at every Mass. Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof - just say the word and my soul will be healed. Jesus can heal us of these horrible memories we have from our past - our sins and our mistakes.

Go to him. Grow with him. Be in communion with him. Be at home - under the same roof with him. Amen.