March 21, 2015

DE COLORES

Some people only see in black and white,

while others see all the colors of the rainbow.

Me, I see with my imagination – thanks be to

being born before TV – with only the radio.

I could close my eyes and imagine The Fat Man,

Sargent Preston, The Shadow and The Green Hornet.

I was able to picture Fibber McGee and Molly,

their closet and Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve.

I’ve often wondered if those brought up before

color TV see differently than those born afterwards?

How about those who read and never heard a radio,

a TV, black or white or color, how did they see life?

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015

March 20, 2015

WHERE IS HOME?

In a lifetime, we’re often asked,

“Where is home?” Where is home?

Is it Thanksgiving evening after the long meal

together with family – with nothing to get

us up to start cleaning the dishes and the 

silverware and put the leftovers for tomorrow

away today? And we're just sitting there talking

and laughing and telling old stories together....

Is it in our mother’s arms as a baby or at

Mom and Dad’s grave if they’re dead?

Where is home? Where is home?

Is it evening when we’re coming home

after a long hard day of work or school?

Is it in a church – coming back after years and 

years of being away – and someone at the church says, “Welcome home!” and there we are, being  together once again at home in church.

Where is home? Where is home?

Is it 500 miles away? Is it a quiet morning and

we’re looking out a train window to see familiar

faces on a platform – who are looking for our face –

and our suitcase – coming down those 3 steps?

Or is that moment after we die – in a far country –

and God our Father says, “Quick! Bring out 
the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on her finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we’ve been fattening, and kill it;we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.”  And they began to celebrate.

Where is home? Where is home?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

March 19, 2015

FULL OF GRACE

Joseph thought she was most beautiful woman in the village of Nazareth. She carried her water jar and she carried herself with so much grace whenever she walked to the village well for water. 

Well, one day Joseph made the comment to his friends: “There is the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world. Look at her. She is full of grace. She could turn water into wine."

Then with a spark in his eyes and a smile on his face he said, “That is the woman whom I’ll marry."

Then he added, "Wait till you see our first son. He’ll be the best carpenter in the world wide world as well.”

And from that day forward Joseph got a new title, “Full of Exaggeration.” 

In the meanwhile, whenever the young men and the young women of Nazareth, saw them walking together, they loved to whisper, “Wait till 'Full or Exaggeration' marries 'Full of Grace.' Guarantee: things will be different around here.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015

March 18, 2015

LOOKING FOR MORE NELSON'S

The poet said, "No one is an island!"

Unfortunately, he was wrong!

Too many of us are islands and we need to be freed
and join each other on the mainland.

Now that's communion. That's union. Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015

March 17, 2015

500 SHADES OF GREEN

Spring and summer are getting

closer and closer and closer.

Pause when they are moving

around in trees and plants,

and you’ll begin to see 500

shades of green and in between.

In buds and birds wings, in

flowers and every kind of plant.

Grass, background, and vegetables

sitting alongside a delicious steak.

Fern, moss, meadows and fields, you’ll

see everywhere the wearing of the green.

And, oops, on St. Patty’s Day, Look! you’ll

spot another 1000 shades of green.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015

ST.  PATRICK: 

SITTING  ON HIS SHOULDERS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “St. Patrick: Sitting on His Shoulders.”

One of the gifts of the saints is that they can help us to see better.

We can stand or sit on their shoulders and see what we can’t see from down below.

We put saints on pedestals.

Paradoxically, they can be pedestals for us to stand on and see above the crowd – to see what we might not be seeing. To see bigger and be better.

 A LIST OF SAINTS

Tell me your favorite Saint and you’ll be telling me about your values and your goals – your hopes and your ideals.

St. Peter teaches me that I can put your foot in my mouth and recover. I can make promises and not fulfill them – be forgiven and start again, 70 times seven times.

St. Thomas the Apostle teaches me I can have doubts and beg for an increase of faith. I hope we all say Thomas simple prayer: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

St. Andrew the Apostle teaches me about the importance of bringing people to Jesus.

St. Monica teaches us – even if a kid is messing up – even years of messing up – keep nagging – keep praying – keep giving good example.

St. Augustine teaches us we can make a lot of mistakes and still make it.

St. Therese of Lisieux teaches us keep it simple – or the kiss principle: “Keep it simple stupid.” The Little Way can be a humbling best way.

St. Vincent de Paul teaches us to be concerned for the poor – making sure they have food to eat  and a place to stay.

St. Martin of Tours teaches us to give the coat off our back – especially to the person who is cold.

ST PATRICK

What does St. Patrick teach us?

See God in all of creation. Irish and Celtic spirituality is very earth and nature center. Irish Blessings and prayers often talk about the ocean, the sea, lakes, the mountains, the land, the trees, the breeze, the smile, bread, beer, the wrinkled skin of a grandmother and the smooth skin of a child.

What does St. Patrick teach us?

To laugh and to cry. St. Patrick was born in England and think of all the problems the Irish had with the English and vice versa. You have to be able to laugh – to enjoy life. Pray for a sense of humor.

St. Patrick helps me to think big. Irish are everywhere – all around the world.  Why not celebrate that we are part of a history – a big history – that we are Christians – because of all those Christians whose shoulders we stand on.  There can be Christians who will have the gift of faith in the future because we are Christians now. Faith is learned by example. Faith is passed down.  Faith is needed for the journey called, “Life!”  We need faith for the twists and turns on the road of life – enjoying the journey when the wind is at our back – as the Irish Blessing puts it – and stop in to enjoy a pub or a friend’s house when the wind is in our face.

CONCLUSION

I get these thoughts big time because I think of why I am a Catholic in the first place.

 I have fond memories of being a little kid in a big crowd at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City on many a St. Patrick’s Day parade.  All I could see was legs till my daddy put me up on his shoulders and I could see the whole world – especially the parade going by – especially when I saw men in plaid skirts playing music and screeching strange sounds with their bag pipes and big burly guys banging big base drums with power and panache.     [P.S. That’s not a Gaelic word.]

Looking back St. Patrick helped all those Irish who move from one country to another – all those who were slaves of some sort or other – all those who were poor – all those who were looked down upon as dirty and stupid, poor foreigners, uneducated and outsiders, as humans, persons, someones. 

St. Patrick or anyone standing on his shoulders – anyone who starts from the bottom and rises upwards – on other people’s shoulders – hopefully they when they see all those below them – new immigrants, illegals, when they look down on them – it’s not in snobbish pride – but Christian love – and concern.

My dad gave me a great love of all colors and types of people – because those were the people he worked with at Nabisco in New York City – never making more than 100 a week. I saw how he interacted with everyone well. As well as my mom, - who was also from Ireland I had a great teacher my dad – whose shoulders I stand on.

LIFE: PEOPLE MEETING PEOPLE – 

RESULTING  IN  GOSPEL OR  BADSPELL

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4^th Monday in Lent is, “Life: People Meeting People – Resulting in Gospel or Badspell.”

Gospel as we know from church or the play “Godspell” means,  “Good News”.

“Badspell” – is a word I made up this morning – meaning “Bad News.” We’ve all said sometime in our life, “I’m going through a bad spell.”

So I really didn’t make up a new word.

Spell - without that second l – “spel” - is an old high German word. I saw it dated as before the 12^th century. It’s also a Middle English word – both the German and the English meaning is talk or tale.  It also is a word with a strong experience of enchantment and high energy in it.

LIFE

I like to stress that the key issue and energy in life is people – more than things.

The Catholic Church stresses people before stuff.

To be pro-life is to hold babies are more important than stuff for babies or for self.

To be pro-life is to have care and concern for all people – 8 months to 8 years  to 80 and beyond. You must have smiled about the comment in today’s first reading about making it to 100. Once more the text from Isaiah said, “He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years.”

To be pro-life for life is taking time to give time and presence to each other.

To be pro-life is to have in our hand another person’s hand – more than a TV remote.

TODAY’S GOSPEL: GOSPEL AND BADSPELL

Today’s gospel indicates that Jesus had some bad experiences – not just at Calvary – but in Capernaum and other places where people knew him as a small town carpenter.  Many rejected him.

There he was preaching good news – gospel – but he received in return – rejection: “badspell” – badnews.

In the Prologue of John we hear all this loud and clear:  “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.  But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God to those who believe in his name.” [John 1: 11-12]

In today’s gospel this royal official – perhaps not a Jew comes to Jesus – to have his son healed – and Jesus gives him “good news” “You may go. Your son will be healed.”

JESUS IS STRONG IN HIS CONCERN FOR KIDS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Often in the gospels we see Jesus’ concern for children and young people.

To be pro-life is not only concerned about putting an end to abortion – we get that – having heard it in church over and over again for all these years.

I would stress not aborting life and recognition and attention and love and respect for those we meet each day.

I don’t know about you, but I often don’t look folks in the eye – or I’m not listening – and I avoid difficult people.

Communion, connecting, being with others can be hard work.

And this is not just kids and young people but all people.

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Clement Hofbauer – the second founder of the Redemptorists – and we wouldn’t be in this specific church with these specific priests – if it wasn’t for him.

His goal was to preach the gospel anew.

We can preach the gospel anew every day in every way.

We can preach the gospel anew every day by being aware of the one’s we’re with.

We were brought up as Redemptorists hearing every year on Clement’s feast day – March 15 – that one day he went into a tavern begging for money for his orphans.  Someone in the tavern mocked him – laughed at him – and spit in his face.  Clement said, “That’s for me. Now how about something for our orphans.”

And coins filled his hat.

That’s preaching the gospel anew.

CONCLUSION

William Barclay commenting on todays’ gospel – John 4:43-45 says, “Here we have one of the great truths of the Christian life. The only real argument for Christianity is a Christian experience…. Effective Christian evangelism really begins when we can say: ‘I know what Christ has done for me’ and go on to say, ‘Try him, and see what he can do for you.’”

Try service. Try taking care of people. Try raising kids and raising old parents. Try communion.

Isn’t what why we’re Christians? Amen.