WHAT ARE MY 

LIFE PRINCIPLES AND 

BASIC  SAYINGS?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “What Are My Life Principles and Basic Sayings?”

Today’s 2 readings have many prayer leads for personal prayer - as well as bringing up life principles and inner sayings.

                       Colossians 3: 12-17

                       Luke 6:27-38

Suggestion: read today’s readings and let what’s being said sink into your mind and soul. 

Then see which saying, which word, keeps bopping up to the top of our mind from the bottom of our soul, from out of our depths.

Hidden in the first reading is an excellent suggestion: “Let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you.”

We might add or ask: Which word? Which sentence of Christ, should we let dwell in us?

Once more I would suggest spending some time simply pouring these words into our soul through our eyes and our ear and into one's mind, into one's soul, into one's depths.

TODAY’S GOSPEL AND ALL 4 GOSPELS

All 4 gospels, but especially today’s gospel which gives part of Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount, have great words of Christ to dwell on.

We might call them one liners. We might call it bumper sticker theology. Yet, sometimes it only takes a word or a few words for something someone says to us for a new word  to begin to dwell within us.

It can be a positive or a negative word!

If it’s a hurt or an attack, it might act like a poison or an acid that eats at the inside of our mind and feelings.  If it’s a compliment, it might change our attitude towards ourself. It might help heal us.

TWO EXAMPLES

Augustine, whose feast we celebrated at the end of last month, kept hearing the words, “Take and read. Take and read.” So he took and read the Letter of Paul to the Romans and read 13:13-14.

Augustine then turned over the words of Paul in his mind and changed.

Before that he kept on saying two sentences: “I can’t do it. How can you give up sex?” That’s the first tape recording. The second was, “Well, if these young people can be chaste, why can’t I do it as well.”

Haven’t we all had someone say to us, “You know something you said to me ten years ago, really helped me. I never forgot it. Thank you.”

PROVERBS: LIFE PRINCIPLES, ETC.

If it’s a positive suggestion, a saying, a proverb, it can become part of our basic life principles.

Have you ever noticed that some people clearly have life principles that they go by? You know this because you often hear them quote these principles as they face a situation in which they are called upon to act.

For example, “A stitch in time saves 9.” “Buy cheap, buy twice.”  “People who live in a glass house shouldn’t throw rocks.”

EXAMPLES FROM TODAY’S GOSPEL

How many times have we heard people say,

“Turn the other cheek.”

“Do to others what you would have them do to you.”

“Do not judge, and you won’t be judged.”

“Do not condemn and you won’t be condemned.”

“The measure you measure with will be measured back to you.”

CONCLUSION

My suggestion is you take both readings to prayer and see what saying pops to the surface. Make it your own. Own it. Then live it. Then send out old words, unwholesome words to get lost, to become homeless - from from your mind. 

COMPLAINERS

Quote for Today - September 12, 2013

"Dogs bark at every one they do not know."

Heraclitus [c. 535 - c. 475 BCE]

SEPTEMBER 11th 

Quote for Today - September 11, 2013


“The moment to spend with a husband who loves me, or a sick friend, or a delicious new grandchild is here and now. Not some time later .... 

The nation learned this lesson all at once that horrible day in September 2001. 

The pictures stay with us -- the fires and falling debris, and, most hauntingly, the faces. 

Look how young so many of them were, people who thought there would be much more time, a lot of 'later' when they could do all the things they really wanted to do. 

I grieve for their families -- especially for those, like me, who haven't found any trace of the people they loved. 

But I grieve even more for the people who died that day. 

They couldn't know what we know now about the precious gift of time.” 

Cokie Roberts -  contributing senior news analyst for NPR News

BAPTISM:

PICTURE  THAT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 23 Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Baptism: Picture That.”

Picture the day we were baptized. We were in a church - or in the hospital or somewhere. We were surrounded by others - family, friends. We were called by name. “Elizabeth, Eileen, Evelyn, John, James, or George, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Picture that. Picture God the Father seeing that and saying what He said over Jesus at his baptism: “This is my beloved daughter….” “This is my beloved son ….”

Baptism is something all of us here this morning have in common.

EARLY CHURCH

Picture people like we heard in today’s gospel hearing Jesus and then deciding to follow him - and Jesus calls various people by name. [Cf. Luke 6: 12-19]

Picture people heading for the Jordan river to be baptized - and called by name.

Picture the Early Church developing and evolving this beginning ceremony - this beginning rite - called “Baptism” - meaning “being dipped, immersed”.

Picture people standing there after a long tough training year - or years - learning the gospels - learning Jesus’ life and teachings - and then that night before Easter morning - they stood there and were walked to some steps - and went down them - into the waters - were immersed in the waters - washed in the waters - and walked up the steps on the other side - robed in white - and then celebrated as newly baptized Christians - people on the Way.

Picture that.

Picture people hearing today’s first reading  - a letter from Paul to the people of Colossae [Colossians 2:6-15]. Picture them hearing they are receiving and meeting and being with Christ Jesus as now the Lord of their life. Picture what Paul is saying here in today’s first reading. Baptism gets us walking with Christ and being rooted in Christ.  Baptism is being and having the house called me being built upon Christ - upon rock. Baptism gives us - better Christ gives us faith - and this leads to thanksgiving - because Christ has been established in us.

Picture, hear, grasp, deepen what Paul is telling us in today’s first reading. Christ has teachings and images and sayings and stories - but it’s seeing our faith not so much as a philosophy - but as a relationship - with each other in Christ. We’re called Christians.  We have been forgiven our sins. Jesus took upon himself all our faults - and graced us - and challenged us to make this a better world because of our presence in it.

ISTANBUL - THE BIG MOSQUE - THE FORMER HAGIA SOPHIA

Picture the big mosque in Istanbul.  It’s a tourist spot - like the famous Blue Mosque. This one is enormous. It’s the former Basilica called "Hagia Sophia” or “Holy Wisdom.”

I’m sure you’ve seen it on post cards or a James Bond or Alfred Hitchcock movie. It’s a big building.

Picture that building. It has history - going all the way back to its completion in 537 AD. It also has had fires - reconstruction - many roof repairs - more fires - earthquakes. It was a Christian center till 1453 - when it was taken over by the Moslems. It was a mosque from 1453 till 1931 - when it became a museum.

Picture a tourist coming in and looking around and seeing Moslem religious objects. Then they look up and see on its upper walls, big Greek Ikons of Jesus and Mary.

I picture myself - when I visited it in 2011 - going off to the side - and seeing in an alcove a baptismal font. I don’t remember what I read about it’s history - whether it’s the one I read about on line that was recently discovered and goes back to the 6^th century. The one I saw was about 5 yards all around. I climbed up the steps - nobody stopped me. I looked down into the empty stone tub. It was empty. Yet I pictured and celebrated with all those way, way, way back people who were baptized in this very stone pool. I came down those steps and looked around the basilica once more - thinking of all the famous saints - like John Chrysostom - as well as millions and millions of others - who were in this sacred place.

Picture sacred places on our planet - natural beauty shrines or human made shrines.

CONCLUSION

Picture the church where we were baptized and those who were baptized there. Picture all the churches that were closed as churches - like that one in Istanbul - and thank God for the good times - the sacred moments -  that were had there - and that they always be seen as sacred places.

Picture this place - and all those who were baptized into Christ Jesus here - and are still called by name by Jesus - and can continue to be healed by Jesus - and grow into Jesus - in this sacred place.

Picture people like us - in this sacred place this morning - in this sacred place - asking God for a great day today - and to walk out of here and bring Christ to our world today. Amen. Okay.

PURITANISM 

Quote for Today - September 10, 2013

"Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."

H. L. Mencken, "Sententiae," The Vintage Mencken, 1955

SUFFERING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 23 Monday in Ordinary Time  is, “Suffering.”

Yesterday in The New York Times  - in the Sunday Review Section -  there was a front page article entitled, “The Value of Suffering.”

As of 11 AM  this morning there were 241 comments from all over the world - on line - expressing thoughts etc. about the article.

The article was by one of my favorite writers, Pico Iyer. I spotted the large print title of the article first - then noticed the author - who travels the world - making comments about life as it is lived everywhere.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Then I noticed this morning - in today’s first reading from Colossians - that St. Paul spells out some of his comments about sufferings.  He begins by saying,

“I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.” [Colossians 1: 24-26]

In the article on suffering by Pico Iyer, there is no mention of Christianity. However, there are a few in the comments by others that follow.

For the Christian, the cross with Christ on it is our symbol.

Christ on the cross stands center stage!

In our church here, Christ on the cross is loud and big and clear.

Christ on the Cross hangs there to help all human beings deal with suffering.

Paul is saying amongst other things - that he sees his sufferings working to help the rest of Christ’s Body - the Church - others - along with the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

Being a Christian - what are your comments - what are your insights - about dealing with the crosses and sufferings of life?

ST. PETER CLAVER

Today - September 9 - is the feast of St. Peter Claver. I checked out his life - from the angle of suffering - having had the first reading and Pico Iyer’s article coming together with the issue of suffering.

Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit - who left Spain as a young Jesuit - for Cartagena - which is now part of Colombia in South America - where he was ordained in 1615. [1]

Cartagena was one of the chief centers for slaves coming to this hemisphere. 10,000 slaves arrived every year.

Peter Claver took on the ministry of reaching out to these folks - a ministry he took over from his predecessor, another Jesuit, Father Alfonso Sandoval - who did that for 40 years.

Peter Claver then does that for 40 years - meeting slaves at the boats with “food, bread, brandy, lemons and tobacco”. He gave them hope. He gave them instructions in the Christian faith - baptizing over 300,000 slaves. He protested and pleaded for them.

After all that, he ended up with 4 years of sickness. He became disable.  Moreover, he ended up basically neglected - and looked down upon by anyone of importance.

Yet his memory continued and he was canonized a saint in 1888.

BACK TO PICO IYER’S ARTICLE

Pico Iyer is not a Buddhist - but he gives a bit about the Buddha’s take on suffering in his article.

Suffering is part of life. In fact it’s the first rule of life for the Buddha.

The article gives example after example of violence and suffering - children and parents dying - destruction by people and destruction by storms - and nature.

The article - if I read it correctly - makes various observations about suffering. Here are some of them:

• There is plenty of suffering.It can wake us up to what is really important - getting us to listen to ourselves down deep.
• It can wipe us out.
• People do stupid things.
• Who said, “Life is easy!”
• It’s part of life - like the dew on the grass in the morning.
• We can give up or we can do our best.
• We can change our heart and mind and deal with suffering.
• Suffering can get people to help one another.
• Sometimes we’re given an insight - or a sight - that gives us new understandings.

Near the end of the article he talks about the Dalai Lama - who at 23 - was told one afternoon to leave his home that evening - to prevent further fighting by Chinese troops and Tibetans around his palace.

He did.

He never did  get back home in 52 years. He left friends, home, a small dog. Two days later he heard all his friends were dead.

He realized being out of Tibet he had the opportunity to spend the rest of his life trying to make life better for others.

The article ends by saying two things: suffering has been around and always will be around - like the dew -  and there is always something we can do.

NOTES

[1] Leonard Foley, O.F.M.  Saint of the Day, Volume 2, “Peter Claver, priest (1581-1654) pp. 77-79. I make my comments based on what I read in this book.

GETTING IN TOUCH

WITH THE STUFF 

IN THE BASEMENT 

OR IN THE ATTIC!

Quote for Today - September 9, 2013

"A real book is not one that's read, but one that reads us."

W. H. Auden, recalled at his death, September 28, 1973

Questions:

What are your favorite 5 books?

Name a book that has read you - got you to go down into your basement or up into your attic - and you started talking to yourself about stuff you should have talked to yourself - a long time ago?