EVENING PRAYER

Poem for Today

EVENING

Here dies another day
during which I have had
eyes, ears, hands
and the great world round me;
and with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

IT STARTS WITH PAIN ....

IT ALWAYS DOES....

Poem for Today - January 31, 2014

THE MITE

I am the least

Of living things,

A cell, a seed,

A spiral chromosome,

A tendril in the sea.

I know how mystery began,

And why the roots

Of purpose feed on pain.

© Boynton Merrill, Jr.
On top a picture ofa yellow mite.
 I found it  in  Wikipedia. Check it out.
"Historically, mites have been difficult 
to study because of their minute size. 
But now, ARS scientists 
are freezing mites in their tracks 
and using scanning electron microscopy
 to observe them in detail.
 Here a yellow mite, Lorryia formosa, 
commonly found on citrus plants, 
is shown among some fungi. 
False color. Magnified about 850x."

BITTERNESS

Poem for Today - January 30, 2014

A BITTERNESS

I believe you did not have a happy life.

I believe you were cheated.

I believe your best friends were loneliness and misery.

I believe your busiest enemies were anger and depression.

I believe joy was a game you could never play 

        without stumbling.

I believe comfort, though you craved it, was forever 

        a stranger.

I believe music had to be melancholy or not at all.

I believe no trinket, no precious metal, shone so bright

as your bitterness.

I believe you lay down at last in your coffin none 

       the wiser and unassuaged.

Oh, cold and dreamless under the wild, amoral, reckless,

peaceful flowers of the hillsides.

© Mary Oliver, page 43

in New and Selected Poems,

Volume One, Beacon Press,

Boston, 1992

Questions: 

Did Mary Oliver think this as a silent eulogy for someone she knew - and died?

If this were me - and I read this - what would I do next? 

Does this sound true for someone you know? I've lived with priests who fit the description of the person in this piece - and I didn't know what to do. I felt very  sad. Wooooooo! I often wondered, "What happened to them that they turned out like this?"

MAN CAVE 

Poem for Today - January 29, 2014

THE CAVE

Sometimes when the boy was troubled he would go

          To a littIe cave of stone above the brook

And build a fire just big enough to glow

          Upon the ledge outside, then sit and look.

Below him was the winding silver trail

          Of water from the upIand pasture springs,

And meadows where he heard the calling quail;

          Before him was the sky, and passing wings.

The tang of willow twigs he lighted there,

          Fragrance of meadows breathing slow and deep,

The cave’s own musky coolness on the air,

          The scent of sunlight ... all were his to keep.

We had such places -- cave or tree or hill . . .

          And we are lucky if we keep them still.

© Glen W. Dresbach

“The Cave” 

by Glen W. Dresbach:

 from Glen W. Dresbach’s 

Collected Poems. 

the Caxton Printers, Ltd. 

Caldwell, Idaho.

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my sermon  is, St. Thomas Aquinas. In this sermon I just want to give 10 comments about St. Thomas Aquinas - hopefully interesting ones.  So this is what I came up with from my homework last night in preparing this short 2 page talk.

1) Today - January 28^th, we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. It’s not the anniversary of his death, but the date of the publication of his Summa. He died March 7^th, 1274 - about 49 of age.

2) He was a quiet Italian boy whose parents planned on him being a Benedictine - an abbot - probably in Monte Cassino.  Nope! He ends up a Dominican - with parents dead against that idea. He studies in Naples, Paris, Germany and teaches in Paris and Rome, etc.

3) During his last few days of life he could be seen on a donkey heading for the Second Council of Lyons. He bangs his head on the branch of a fallen tree - gets brutally sick and dies a short time later. I like that scene. It sort of follows the same path as Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem Palm Sunday - and then dies the following Friday.

4) He wrote 2 massive works - two Summa’s - or Summaries of what he was thinking and what he was teaching. First the Summa Contra Gentiles [1265-1264] and  then the Summa Theologica (1265-1274).  

5) His method was very thorough: state a question as clear as possible.  Then present the opposing positions - each with the best arguments. Then pick the arguments apart before you present what you believe to be the truth along with the best possible arguments.

6) Some say the best book on Aquinas is called, St. Thomas Aquinas - The Dumb Ox  by G.K. Chesterton.  I’ve read the following: as  biography it’s weak; as to research, it’s also weak. However,  because Chesterton was a huge genius, he captures the essence of Aquinas, Next, for some,  the book can be a tough read. Yet, for some who read it, it becomes the best book on Aquinas and the best book of their life. It has helped lead various folks into the Catholic Church.

7) Staying with Chesterton, I like the comparison between him and Aquinas. Supposedly,  Aquinas was a big man. How big, how fat, we don’t know. Chesterton was also a big man. That we know.  G.K. Chesterton wrote, "St. Thomas was a huge heavy bull of a man, fat and slow and quiet; very mild and magnanimous but not very sociable; shy, even apart from the humility of holiness; and abstracted, even apart from his occasional and carefully concealed experiences of trance or ecstasy.” When Chesterton died, his coffin was too big to be carried through the door, so he  had to be lowered from the window like a piano. When they were trying to help Aquinas to escape from his own home and get to the Dominicans, supposedly he too was lowered out of window - but in a basket and to freedom.

8) Chesterton liked food. As a teacher and theologian, Aquinas loved to go from the stuff right in front of us - the stuff on the table - the stuff that we know from our senses. and have them bring us to God. His 5 proofs of God - go from the known to the unknown. See the earth moving, someone had to get it started. That Prime Mover is God. See a chair, know there is a chair maker. I read that the key Latin saying and principle that Thomas Aquinas used is: "Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuerit prius in sensu." (Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses). What we see, hear, taste and touch, cab move from the eyes - from the senses -  to the mind - to theology - to God. Speaking of people, how else would God come to us,  but  as a baby, Speaking of food, how else would God feed us, but by bread and wine. Jesus comes as the answer to human hunger and thirst for God.

9) Expect conflict in life! If we speak up,  if we think and then publish our thoughts, if we innovate, expect criticism. St. Thomas had some of his stuff condemned and blackballed. That’s part and parcel of the history of theology in the Catholic Church. It takes time and study - to come to the truth. This was the history of many theologians in the Catholic Church. Life: expect problems, struggles and controversy.

10) Conclusion:  In the long run St. Thomas Aquinas said, “In comparison to God, everything I wrote seems like straw.” Translation for me: Don’t take oneself so seriously.  Be able to laugh at life.

LIFE - A PIANO RECITAL

Poem for Today - January 28, 2014

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.

“At Becky's Piano Recital” 

by Carl Dennis, from 

New and Selected Poems 

1974–2004. © Penguin Poets, 2004. 

A CASE OF THE FURIES

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3^rd Monday in Ordinary Time is, “A Case of the Furies!”

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings triggered this topic for me. Have you ever had a case of the furies?

In today’s gospel - Mark 3: 22-30 -  we have the scribes, those who could write, those with education, training, those who perhaps have a better position in the community.  Well,  they start a whispering - a gossip campaign - against Jesus.

“He is possessed by Beelzebul …. By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” “He has an unclean spirit.”

Evidently Jesus rubbed people the wrong way. Evidently Jesus got some people furious!

In today’s first reading from 2^nd Samuel  5: 1-7, 10 - we hear more stories about David. This  time he’s has been made King. He ends up ruling  for 40 years - 33 years in Jerusalem. To get his positions and his power, he has to win lots of battles.  As we read about David and the stories in the Jewish scriptures,  we hear about a lot of battles, wars, fights, revolts, revolutions - division of kingdoms and what have you. We hear about a lot of people dealing with “a case of the furies”.

PEACE OR THE FURIES: WHO’S WINNING THE BATTLE?

Peace is often not given a chance.

Peoples inner furies are often released.

I’m sure the evening news for the past thousands and thousands of years has basically been the same.

I’m sure the family news in families has often been the same.

The human heart - is not that different - in all the different places of the world - in all the different moments of our histories.

GREEK THOUGHT

As you know Jewish thought - and Jesus’ thoughts - moved into the Greek World with Paul - and then the Roman World.

The same stuff of the human heart is found in all human hearts - expressed in different thoughts and words and images - and attempts at understanding, “What’s going on here?”

As I read today’s gospel especially - when I read about demons and Satan and unclean spirits - I said, “So what else is new?”

Then the word “furious” popped up - furious - from the Greek idea about the furies.

When was the last time we had a case of the furies?

Someone cuts us off in traffic. Someone with a SUV or a big jeep or big pickup truck - any vehicle bigger than our vehicle - is pushing us - up the tail pipe of our car.  It’s icy. There’s less road with the snow. We’re being cautious.  We’re looking in our rear view mirror and we get a case of the furies. We scream: “Get off my back.” 

When was the last time we had a case of the furies?

Someone jumps ahead of us on line. One of our kids just won’t talk to us. Kids are living together without the benefit of marriage and we’re worried about the impact of that on our other kids.  Our neighbors are slobs. We’re trying to pray in church and people are talking. Someone in church asks us in church how we’re dealing with the death of a loved one. We answer. Someone goes, “Shush!” or gives us a dirty look!  And on and on and on.

We’re furious. Furies can run rampant - red hot rampant - ramming into our heart.

In Greek thought and myths there are the 3 goddesses of vengeance.  that means they are about pay back. They are about the wanting to get back at someone. Alecto is the goddess of anger - constant anger; Megaera is  the goddess of jealousy; and Tisiphone is the goddess - the avenger - of murder. They are some trinity - biting, growling dogs, unleashed within us at times. Someone wrongs us. Someone murders our reputation or our plans. Someone wants to diminish us or take what we have and the goddess of  jealousy appears.

We often mix up jealous and envy. Jealousy has to do with what we have; envy has to do with wanting what others have. I don’t know if they have a specific goddess of envy.

This stuff is in us.

We name them:  ugly feelings, furies, tensions, agita, demons, devils, unclean spirits, what have you.

They divide the kingdom called me.

The scribes begin by saying Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul - that was what folks called in his time: the prince of demons.

Jesus doesn’t smile or laugh at all this in us. It would be good if we did at times, if that meant we are facing our own craziness. Jesus cries. He  knew the human heart. Folks have trouble facing the sights in into their own soul. We prefer to concentrate on others.

We’ve all met people possessed by the demon of anger - ongoing anger. In Greek thought they are possessed by the fury called Alecto.

We’ve all met Megaera when we’re jealous.

We’ve all met Tisiphone  - the wanting to get back at someone who has killed something in us - usually our plans - our will - my way.

To use the words in today’s readings: these furies have become our king or queen.  They have become a stronghold in us. They possess us - putting a stranglehold on us - for 33 years or 40 years - just like David the king taking over southern Israel in his time.

CONCLUSION

Hearing all this we certainly need the Gospel. We need Jesus and his Good News.

Notice as we go through the Gospel of Mark these days. Jesus is walking into all kinds of situations and settings - and meets various people in various states or conditions.

Well, Jesus comes into us - into our city, into our heart, into our temples.

Mark tells me that when this happens, I should expect my furies to  become furious with him. We want to kill him - crucify him. That’s one more reason this cross is up here in front of us. We become like the two different thieves on the cross. We’re divided.

Our household - our family - our kingdom - our me - ourselves - won’t survive - with such inner division - unless Christ is allowed into our possession.

Surprise I got some new insights - at least for me - as I read about this scene in today’s gospel.

Redemption - salvation - help - the key to the door of peace - is right here in today’s gospel. It’s found right here in the paradox and puzzle of the unforgiveable sin.

Listen to the end of today’s gospel again:

‘Amen, I say to you,

all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

Notice the word “forgiveness” - as in “never have forgiveness.”

Notice the mention of the Holy Spirit.

What is this sin that can’t be forgiven?

Well, here is what hit me today. Unless we forgive those we have a case of the furies with, we will remain stuck in our anger, jealousy, or the wanting to kill others. We’ll  be stuck in our vengeance - in our wanting to get back - and wanting to throw stones at others.

God doesn’t do this to us. We can do this to us - if we don’t let go - if we can’t forgive - and we let our furies flame.

But if we forgive another - if we let the breath of the Holy Spirit - howl or shake or whatever - come into our upper room [1] - then peace can happen - because we have forgiven another or others. The Kingdom of God happens to us. We experience peace, serenity, the Kingdom of God. We can say, “Bye bye!” to the furies and the demons and unclean spirits than can ruin our days and nights.

But be careful - they can come running back another day, another time, like a polar or Arctic blast - and we can go crazy with another bout with a case of the furies this time seven times worse than we were before [2]

O  O  O  O  O  O  O

[1] Cf. John 20: 19-23; Acts 2: 1-4.]

[2] Cf. Matthew 12: 43-45]