WHO  DO  YOU SAY THAT I AM?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is for this 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “Who Do You Say That I Am?”

It’s a question Jesus asks of his disciples in today’s gospel.

It’s a question that pops up in many gospel stories as well as in Paul’s letters.

It took the church 7 ecumenical councils and various heresies to nail down some of the great understandings of who Christ is.

The Council of Nicea in 325 declared against Arius that the Second Person didn’t start with the Birth of Christ. Christ is co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Council of Chalcedon of 451 declared definitively that Christ has two natures: human and divine.

And as we heard in today’s second reading from Paul to the Galatians: we humans are called into the divine - first by being baptized into Christ -  becoming clothed in Christ - so we are no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, but we are one in Christ - becoming heirs to the promise. Now that’s a great message. No wonder Paul says all is hinged, all is connected to Christ’s resurrection. If he didn’t rise from the dead, forget about life eternal. [ Cf. 1 Corinthians 15: 12-19.]

Then there are the teachings of Aquinas - in the 13^th century - coming out of Aristotle’s Greek Philosophy and then the Scholastic theories that followed -  teaching about the perfection of the attributes of Christ - as well as  God.

Then came in the centuries that followed many warmer and more physical and  human images of Christ - as baby, as crucified, as heart, as Eucharist.

So there are many reflections, projections, images, paintings, statues, answers to the question of Christ to us: “Who do you say I am?”

And there are various possible heresies - missteps - mistakes - misperceptions of who Christ is - happening from time to time as well.

We now the reality of missed perception. We’ve all experienced people who think they know us, but we know they don’t really know who we are.

Haven’t we all said in frustration, “Who do you think I am?” and have we added to that, “Jesus Christ.”

GOD OUR FATHER

It’s Father’s Day - and we hear from Jesus - over and over again - messages, revelations, descriptions - about God Our Father.

And we hear in the Gospels various misperceptions according to Jesus about how people see God Our Father.

God  doesn’t cause blindness. He doesn’t only send rain on the good. Good and bad things happen to good and bad people.

In fact, Jesus also tells us over and over again, that he and the Father are one. He tells us: see me, see the Father. Hear me, you’ll hear the Father.

So it’s important to get to know Christ - if we want to get to know the Father. 

That is a central Christian teaching.

And it takes us a lifetime to discover Christ - God - Trinity - and then there is eternity - for more - the Great More called God.

We believe that God is a Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I don’t know about your spiritual experiences - but I know I have better understandings - perceptions - of Father and Son - than I do of God the Holy Spirit.

TODAY IS FATHER’S DAY

Today is Father’s Day - and we think about our dads - living and dead.

Every Father hopefully knows consciously - and unconsciously - the responsibility of revealing God - Love - Light - Goodness - Presence - Thereness - Food - Forgiveness - Mercy - to their child - to their children.

Every priest has the “If you ever knew my father” moment. It happens after Mass - usually - one to one - or on a high school or an adult retreat.

It wipes the priest out that day - that Sunday afternoon - that week.

It goes like this. Someone says to us, “If you ever knew my father, you would know how difficult it is, to hear God described as our Father. It’s hard to say the Our Father…” because of the dad I had.

Every priest also knows how difficult it is to be called “Father So and So” when someone tells them about a horrendous moment or experience with some priest.

Every priest also knows how difficult it is to hear someone cry, vent, as they talk about God abandoning them, because of the loss of a child, a spouse, a parent, a loved one - because of cancer, abuse, rape, accident, murder - or what have you.

So to be a Father - is quite a responsibility - as well as being a Mother.

In general, we don’t mention the tough stuff on Father’s Day or Mother’s Day.

OUR FATHER - OUR DAD

I have a sermon somewhere that I preached on some Father’s Day - and the gist of what I said was this.

If your dad was great, praise him and give him thanks - living or dead.

If your dad made some mistakes, forgive him - please, because if you don’t,  then you might be a repeat performance.

Instead of being a person with anger or breathing the aftertaste of disaster, become a better person - a better  father, mother, son, daughter, friend.

Jesus had a lot to say about this - with his turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, forgive 70 times 7 stuff.

THE LUKE 15 EXPERIENCE

Have you had a Luke 15 experience yet?  

Luke 15 is not today's gospel. That's coming up later on this year of Luke.

If you want to read one chapter of one book in the Bible, read Luke 15.

I’m sure you’ve heard the story about W.C. Fields - about someone catching him reading the Bible. The other person said, “I didn’t know you were a church goer or a Bible person.”  And W.C. Fields said with his great smirky smile, “Just looking for loopholes. Just looking for loopholes.”

In Luke 15, we have 3 stories, 3 loopholes, 3 images. They are right there in the center of his gospel.

I’m meeting people wanting to know where are these special doors of mercy so they can walk through.

They say they want mercy, forgiveness, indulgences.

I want to scream out that the door is a metaphor.

I want to scream, "The door is Jesus. Walk through the door, the gate, the upper room, the temple called Jesus."

I want to scream, “Open up Luke 15 and enter into Jesus and have him tell you those 3 stories there.”

Eat up the 3 stories there: about being a lost sheep, being a lost coin, or about being a lost son or daughter.  Eat, chew on, digest those 3 stories and experience the Luke 15 experience.

In life sometimes I become a lost sheep. I stray. If lost, start baing. Start screaming,  “Baa, baa, baa,” louder and louder, till God the Good Shepherd finds us and brings us back to the 99 - to the flock.

In life, sometimes I am the lost coin. sometimes I lose my shine and don’t reflect the light. It that has happened, pray to God our Mother, that she will feel us - feel our coldness under her foot and rejoice and celebrate because she has found us her lost coin - and scream to everyone - that she has found us her lost coin.

In life, sometimes I am the lost son or daughter and I have wandered way far from home and God our Father has looked out the window and up the road a hundred days and a hundred nights hoping to see us in the morning light or the evening sunset - coming home - smelly as a pig pen. And Jesus is this one of his greatest stories says the father ran towards us - embraces us - celebrates us - clothes us - and has a dinner for us - even if other family members won’t celebrate our return - after all we’ve done to hurt our dad - ruin the family name - have people pointing towards our front door.

Jesus is telling us in that story about what God our Father is like.

Jesus is telling us in that story about what every dad should be like.

Jesus is telling us in that story what he is like.

Jesus is telling us in that story what every priest is to be like.

I love it  that Pope Francis is still telling us to smell like the sheep.

So have you had a Luke 15 experience yet.

I had mine years ago. I was simply sitting there in a church praying. I was picturing myself dying and appearing before God.

I began wondering what it’s going to be like appearing before God - what God will say about my life - my mistakes - my laziness - all the things I forgot - all my broken promises.

Then I said to God: “Wait a minute if you’re not like the Prodigal Father in the Prodigal Son Story, the hell with you. I’m going to go find that Father - the one your son Jesus told us about.”

Then I went, “Uh oh,” as I put my hand to my mouth.

Then I said, “No, that’s the God I want to meet. That’s the God I’m following and expecting the promise.”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Who Do You Say That I Am?”

I was talking to a father last night - just before the baptism of his baby son.

He was a little bit early, so we got talking.

I said, “Happy Father’s Day.”

And I said, “With Father’s Day coming tomorrow, I was thinking of my own dad - and maybe mention him in my homily for today.”

And this father said, “When I was a little kid, my father was perfect. When I became a teenager, and when I was leaving home, my dad wasn’t so perfect. Then when I got older, especially when I became a father,  I saw my father in a whole new light.”

You and I have heard that scenario a hundred times - at graduation addresses, 50^th anniversaries as well as at funerals.

So the answer to the question, “Who do you say I am?”  when it comes to our fathers, for starters, is, “It all depends.”

My dad died June 26, 1970 - a week after Father’s Day - and my answer to the “Who Do You Say That I Am?” question has changed since I preached his homily at his funeral.

My dad was Mister Quiet - Mister Smile - a reader and an observer - from the corner - always there - always quiet.

I had sat down with him before he died and jotted down on yellow legal pad paper all kinds of information about his growing up in Ireland, coming to America in 1923 - at the age of 19 - looking for work in Boston, Portland Maine, Philadelphia, and finally New York City.

Before my mom's death,  I used a tape recorder and asked her  about her life and my dad’s life and got even more answers about who my dad was. I was also in Ireland in 1996 and I talked to my dad’s brother about his brother. They told me if I went down to see him alone - in the afternoon - he would speak in English. In the meanwhile I have talked to my two sisters and my brother about our dad.

It’s good to hear answers and to go figure not only who Christ is, who God is, who our dad is, but also who we are. 

June 19, 2016

AT  THE  EDGE  OF  THE  WATER 

Every Sunday -  after Mass and after

breakfast - all through our childhood -

our dad took us down to the Narrows -

that water passage between Brooklyn

and Staten Island. This was long before

the Verrazano Bridge. It was water from

both the East River and the Hudson River

flowing to the Atlantic Ocean, past Coney

Island, and back to Ireland where he came

by boat at the age of 19 in 1923.

Looking back now - at the age of 76 -

my dad made it to 67 - daddy, I wish

I could hear what was going on in your

mind standing there with us 4 kids

in Bliss Park overlooking the Narrows.

You were the proverbial “Quiet Man” - but

as the other proverb goes, “Still water runs

deep.” Daddy. were you thanking God for us

or was your mind going over the waters back

to your home - back to your childhood?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

June 18, 2016

JUNE  4 PM

June afternoon - the sun still

sitting there. It will be at least

3 more hours before it settles

down for a long dark night rest.

June afternoon - runners in

the park - mothers pushing

carriages of ice cream

searching children - looking.

June afternoon - in my bus

wanting home - but I still have

an hour to go - might as well

see poetry or write this one.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

THE EYES  ARE THE WINDOWS 

TO  THE  SOUL 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 11^th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul.”

I wondered who said that, so I looked it  up on line. I found out that different commentators are not sure just who said that first - but it’s a proverb in various languages.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Some even think it’s from Jesus’ words in today’s gospel [Matthew 6: 19 -23] when here in the Sermon on the Mount he talks about  “The lamp of the body is the eye.”

Then Jesus talks about that metaphor: lights on or lights off.

At night while walking the dog or driving up the street or road where we live,  we can see windows with lights on within and where lights are out.

If we look into our own eyes we can ask  whether we are filled with light or if we’re filled with darkness. 

Looking at people's eyes, sometimes we spot sparkle; sometimes we see sadness.

We’ve all been to see an eye doctor now and then.

We enter a quiet room. The eye doctor looks deep into our eyes and sees so much in the light. She or he sees veins, cataracts developing, the pupil, and so much more.

Researchers like to point out that looking into an eye we can move deeper and deeper into our center - or another’s - just by studying the human eye.

The other day in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about going into our inner room to pray - to become quiet - silent - and see about our health: spiritual, mental, and physical.

It’s good to close our eyes in prayer - and go within. It’s good to take an honest and humble look at our within.

OTHERS

Without admitting it, we often look at the body -  the eyes, the skin, the face of the other person - to try to get a read on how they are doing today - what they are off on today.

We long for communion - holy communion - communication - connection with God - with Christ - with each other.

The eyes are the windows to the soul.

Every married couple should regularly stop and stare in the window of the other’s eyes and ask. “How’s it going on in there?

TODAY’S FIRST READING

A great way to read the scriptures is to meet a character on its pages.  Then look them in the eye. Have a conversation with that person. Thomas, Peter, James, John, who are you? What was it like to be with Jesus?

Take this woman named Athaliah in today’s first reading. Walk up to her and ask,  "Who are you? What was it like in 840 BC?" [2 Kings 11: 1-4, 9-18, 20]

Ask her: "Were you the daughter of Ahab? Was Jezebel your mother? Or were you the sister of Ahab."

 I noticed the commentators on the Bible don’t know for sure.

Ask, "Did you actually kill or give the command to kill 6 of your sons or grandsons? What were the nights and the sounds outside your doors like after that?"

What would it be like to get into the mind of someone who slaughtered someone - like the Orlando killer?

If we met Athaliah could or would we look her in the eye or would her face be down. Would we say, “I’ve never walked in your shoes. Who are you and what was it like? Did you kick yourself and say, ‘No wonder nobody ever named their daughter after me?’”

The eyes are the windows of the soul.

Writers and musicians like Jean Racine, Boccaccio, Mandelson, and Handle all came up with writings - or musical pieces - with Athaliah in mind.

We just heard the First Reading. It would certainly make a powerful movie.  

When they killed Athaliah it must have been a bloody mess. It is certainly a powerful scene in today's reading from 2nd Kings.

Gustave Doré, The Death of Athaliah

CONCLUSION: THREE GLANCES OF CHRIST

The title of this homily was, "The eyes are the windows of the soul."

In the Jesuit Exercises or the Cursillo, there is the so called  "3 glances of Jesus" exercise - where Jesus looks in the eyes of the Rich Young Man, Judas and Peter.

Check it out.

If Jesus looked in our eyes, what would he see?

Would he say that we are slowly gathering the treasures of heaven in our inner room or are we filled with decay?

June 17, 2016

THE PHONE CALL

For some reason - sometimes -

when the phone rings - we know

this phone call will change  -

everything. Fears are in the air

like dark birds on cell towers.

Are there unconscious phone calls

always ringing in our ears - worries

about mom 1,000 miles away or

a son or a daughter - yes we’ve

been worrying about them for years.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

June 16, 2016

FALLING  COINS

Coins falling, slipping, dropping -

from one’s hands - sound so

different when they fall on wood,

carpet, red brick, dirt, or water.

God, Woman, You slipped out of my hand,

out of my life, and I didn’t even hear

You go - Your image on my soul, nor
do I hear You - still searching for me.

Cf. Luke 15: 8-1

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

WHO  AM  I, 

WHEN  NOBODY’S  LOOKING?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 11 Wednesday in Ordinary Time is, “Who Am I When Nobody’s Looking?”

Who am I, when I am alone?

I think Jesus did a lot of thinking about this question.

Was it because he didn’t start his public life, till he was around 30?

Was it because he saw too much public posturing by the Pharisees and the Scribes, etc, etc. etc.

The scribes could write. They had the degrees on their walls.

The Pharisees were the religious purists.

When it comes to worship and religion, Jesus saw some tricky possible places where we can trip up. We heard about them in today’s gospel - and we hear about them at the beginning of every Lent.

FOR EXAMPLE

For example, he must have seen a lot of people praying to be seen praying. He said, “They are already getting their reward.”

For example, he must have seen lots of people putting money in the poor box - with loud coins or much fanfare.  Those who emptied out the poor box must have known human nature and how to get more coins and cash.

For example, he must have heard lots of folks bragging about their fasting - just as everyone on a diet - seems to let us know they are on a diet.

In other words, don’t toot your own horn.

Folks who toot their own horn must know the old saying, “If you don’t toot your own horn, your own horn goes untooted.”

INNER ROOM

Jesus discovered somewhere along the line the importance of one’s inner room, one’s inner temple, one’s inner sanctuary.

The title of my homily is, “Who Am I When Nobody’s Looking?”

When we are all alone, that’s the real me.

Who am I when I am alone?

We spend all our waking hours talking to ourselves.  Sometimes we don’t listen to what we are talking to ourselves about.

Sometimes we blot out those sounds with babble, with words, with prayers, and never stop to listen to ourselves as well as to our God.

Sometimes we keep talking so we don’t have to listen to God who surrounds us.

I was stationed in another diocese once and I often heard that when the bishop comes to a rectory, he does all the talking. I was there when he finally visited our place. Sure enough, he sat at the head of the table and controlled the whole conversation.

I wondered if he ever heard that everyone said behind his back he didn’t know how to listen.

In silence, in our inner room, that’s where we can meet the real God -  as well as the real me.

THE SINGER IN THE CHAPEL

Let me tell you about a favorite moment in my life. It was the early 1990’s and I was with our novices on a 3 day workshop. It was midnight and I was sitting in the corner in the back bench of a chapel in a retreat house.

It was dark and I was simply sitting in the dark in prayer.

The door opened.

“Uh oh!” I thought.

But whoever it was, the person didn’t turn the lights on.  So I didn’t know if the person was male or female, young or old.

The person walked carefully to the front of the chapel.

I kept quiet - so as not to scare the person.

The person sat down on the other side of the altar. I could tell that by the red tabernacle candle.

I heard the person open something. Click. Click. And I could then tell it was a guitar coming out of a guitar case. The person then began to sing a love song in prayer to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

It was obviously a young woman - a novice - in one of the religious orders of nuns - on the novice program we were attending.

She finished. She put the guitar back in the case and click, click, closed it.

I remained absolutely quiet and still.

After about 10 minutes of prayer I presume, she got up and walked out.

I was just privy to a sacred moment in another person’s life.

Did she do this every night?

What ever happened to that young lady? Did she become a nun?

CONCLUSION

One of my favorite quotes is from William Sloan Coffin -  - who was Senior Minister at the Riverside Church in New York City.  When asked if he enjoyed being a minister, he said, “Of course. It’s an honor being invited into the secret garden of another person.”

Obviously being a priest all these years and having had that experience all these years, I would like that comment.

It’s good to go into the secret garden of one’s soul. It’s good to go into the dark chapel - the dark inner room - of oneself and to sing and pray and be with oneself and with the Lord.  

The more we do that, the more we get to know who we are as well as who God is. Amen.