December 31, 2016

ENDINGS

Books have last pages….
Movies have, “The End….”

Ships set sail. Years end.

And I still haven’t…. Oh no!”

Well, they’ll have to leave

without me. “Oh no!”
"Well, you never know
what's might happen next!"

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

December 30, 2016

NUMBNESS

  

The needle of pain - or hurt - or insult -

can numb us - can inoculate us - from

feeling the pain, the hurt, the insults

another has experienced. They can

stop us from saying, “Oh no, Oh God.”

The cross of pain - or hurt - or insult -

can numb us - unless we pause on a

regular basis under a cross or drop

into any Catholic church and sit under

a station and feel the, “Oh no!" from God.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016
Painting on top: Doubting Thomas,
by Caravaggio

December 29, 2016

OLD  FRYING  PAN 

Her granddaughter - in the eulogy -

described her grandma

as an old frying pan - solid -

definite - with a sizzle - a woman

who filled the kitchen when making

great breakfasts - bacon, sausage,

fries and eggs - necessary - but

not noticed most other times -

just there - presence - one  who

kept us together - solid as a family,

solid as an old frying pan.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

December 28, 2016

YOU’LL GET OVER IT

That I believe in God,

you’ll get over it.

I have.

That I go to church,

you’ll get over it.

I have.

That I try not to gossip,

you’ll get over it.

I  have.

That I connect with the poor,

you'll get over it.

I have.

That I prefer reading to watching TV,

you’ll get over it.

I have.

That you don’t go to church,

you’ll get over it.

I'm working on that one.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

December 27, 2016

BOOK  SHELF

It was hard listening to him

with all those books behind

the words coming out of his

mouth. “I read that!” “Oh, I

enjoyed that book.” “Never

read that one.” “Interesting

title.”  So I closed my eyes

and began to listen to him -

and stop looking at the books

behind his head and sure enough -

hearing what he was saying,

I wondered, “When did he come

up with that conclusion? Was it

something we both had read?”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

BROKEN

 INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Broken.”

It hit me, here it is, just one day after Christmas, and the church hits us with the horrible feast of St. Stephen.

Couldn’t they have waited another week at least?

But no, here’s the feast of St. Stephen, killed for being a follower of Jesus, and it’s put just the next day after the sweet peace of Christmas day.

We hear in today’s gospel about the horrors of  brother handing over brother - and a father a child - because of Jesus. [Cf. Matthew 10: 17-22.]

And on Wednesday we have the feast of the Holy Innocents…..  baby boys killed because of Christ.

And we turn on the evening news - Christmas eve or Christmas night - and we hear of a shooting on the streets of Washington, Baltimore or many a big city.

BROKEN

The title of my homily is “Broken.”

The nice neat toy - the kid opens up the box and goes, “Oooooh” over it -  on Christmas morning - and then the toy is broken by 4 PM and the kid goes “Aaaagh!”

And we sit there with family on Christmas afternoon  after a great meal and we hear good news - accomplishments - about different members of the family -  but we also hear of a broken marriage or drugs or drinking. And our “Oooh” changes to “Aaagh.”

MESSAGE FROM STEPHEN

And the great message from the feast of St. Stephen is forgiveness.

The great message from the life of Stephen is that he got the message of Jesus from the cross and from the life of Jesus. Brokenness happens. Horror happens. “Aaaagh” and dread happens.

There’s a wisdom statement from Jesus that is hitting more and more - the older I get.

He said: what’s so great about being nice to those who are nice to us? Everyone can do that.  It’s when things are going wrong - when we are hurt - and we deal well with those hurts - brokenness  - it’s then we grow. Then we rise. Then we know how to deal with life better.

CONCLUSION

So a message from Stephen is that things break - people throw stones - people get hurt - and a hope is that we can be like Stephen and stop the cycles of hell hurts - by forgiveness and acceptance - and let the beginning of a better next start with us. Amen.

OOOOOOO

Painting on top: The Stoning of Stephen by Rembrandt Harmesz van Rijn 1609-1665

December 26, 2016

HURTING?

The person who is hurting

isn’t hearing anyone but

themselves - because they

are hurting. So … if you are

angry that nobody is listening 
to you, maybe you’re hurting too.

I’m listening. How about you?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016