Sunday, June 11, 2017

June 11, 2017



KNOWING  GOD

LEADER:  I don’t know You, O GOD.
      I don’t know You, O GOD.

ALL:          I don’t know You, O GOD.
      I don’t know You, O GOD.


LEADER:  I get glimpses of others
                  who they are and what
                  they need and what they
                  are about - but ….

ALL:          I don’t know You, O GOD.
                  I don’t know You, O GOD.

LEADER:  I sometimes understand
                 myself but often I have no
                 clue about why I do what
                 I do - but ….

ALL:         I don’t know You, O GOD.
                I don’t know You, O GOD.

LEADER: So Father, come looking for
                me to return, your prodigal;
                so Mother, find me your
                lost coin, your lost sheep.

ALL:         I don’t know You, O GOD.
                I don’t know You, O GOD.

LEADER: So, Lord Jesus, come knocking,
                come slipping through walls,
                arrive at my village, come into
                my synagogue, because ….

ALL:         I don’t know You, O GOD.
                I don’t know You, O GOD.

LEADER: So, Holy Spirit, come as wind,
                come as fire, come as gentle
                dove and land on the roof of our
                house and whisper because….

ALL:         I don’t know You, O GOD.
                I don’t know You, O GOD.



© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017


Saturday, June 10, 2017

June 10, 2017


COOPERATION

Some days - everything cooperates.
Red roofs, grey rock, white walls,
green leaves, blue skies and blue
waters - are all in sync together.

Some days - everything cooperates.
Tomorrow? No, I don’t want to go there.
Yesterday? No, I don’t want to go there.
Today? I  just want to do today, Lord.

Some days - everything cooperates.
What’s wrong or right with this picture?
Ooops! There are no people in it.
Nope. I don’t want to go there either.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017
Picture; Dubrovnik, Croatia


Friday, June 9, 2017


HEALING  TECHNIQUES 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 9th Friday in Ordinary time is, “Healing Techniques.”

Today’s first reading, from the Book of Tobit, has a very unique healing technique or method.

Tobiah’s father is blind because of bird droppings. Raphael, the angel, offers to rub the fish gall into Tobit’s blindness. His cataracts shrink and peel off from his eyes. And he is healed. He is able to see the light of day.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a weird, strange and different medical or healing technique.

And if you have been coming to Mass every day this week and you’ve been listening to the First Reading - you have heard some strange readings from the Book of Tobit.

This reading for today is one more example of a strange reading.

SICKNESSES

All of us have need of healing from time to time - inwardly and outwardly - of physical, spiritual and psychological hurts.

Live long enough and we experience various wounds and hurts.

What have been your health issues, questions, problems, or what have you?

Have you ever been seriously wounded?

The Bible talks about the incurable wound.

Don’t get one of those.

THE BIBLE ON HEALING

Medical researchers step back at times and look at how other cultures, places and times deal with specific medical problems.

The Bible is one great archaeological site for research into how people try to get healing. It talks about healing techniques from long ago.

The one in today’s first reading - the use of gall for healing - has often intrigued different folks.  Surprise. Look it up. People around the world still  use gall and bile for healing.  Doctors up till the 1800’s used fish gall for the healing of eyes.  One interesting component is that there is a bit of pain involved in the process.

Come to think about it, every once and a while we read about researchers using stuff from fish and sea life for healing. We also read about the use of plants and herbs and roots and seeds for healing.

We can fish through the Bible and get stories about healing processes from way, way back.

How about the use of leeches, marijuana, fish oil, and mold (from which Louis Pasteur came up with penicillin).

How about alcohol?

How about Jesus using spit or saliva in healing someone. That might draw an “Oooooh!” - but come to think about it, when we cut our finger, we often immediately put spit on the cut.

HOW ABOUT PRAYER

And if we look at healing practises from around the world - but especially from the Bible - we see people praying. We see the question of faith being brought into the desire for healing.

We also know that some religions won’t allow for the use of medicines.  They want to rely only on faith.

I love the saying, “Pray for potatoes, but pick up a shovel.”

I would stress, “If sick, pray for healing, but find a good doctor.”

We pray for doctors and nurses - but we also still anoint people with oil - something that medicine men and women have used down through the centuries.

CONCLUSION: A  QUESTION AND A COMMENT

Let me conclude with a short question and a short comment.

The question is the doctor’s question: "Where does it hurt?"

It’s important to get a good diagnosis - before we choose a prognosis.

The second step is the Kojac comment: “Talk to me!”

Pain and hurt can sometimes get us to talk to one another.

In fact, people often joke about old age being an organ recital.



It’s good to talk to others about who the best doctor is - or about some of the problems of aging.  It’s also good to practice some silence  -if all we do is talk about our health. 
June  9,  2017

WHAT’S INSIDE?
HEY, YOU NEVER KNOW….


We don’t like it when another
thinks they know what’s on
the other side the wall.

We hate it when another
thinks they know why we did
what we did.

We inwardly scream when another
puts down our autobiography
and they are only on page 23.

We love it when Christ
comes through our walls
and says, “Peace be with you.”


© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

Thursday, June 8, 2017

June 8, 2017


THE  MUSICAL  FLOW 
CALLED,  "LIFE". 

Drums and the base viola, horns,
saxophones and piano,  give off
vibrations - vibes that hum through
our walls - vibes that slide into our
bones a bit - including our skull -
proving there is such a thing as
karma…. music, sound, dance. Don’t
you know - every floor is a dance floor?
Slide, glide, ride with the flow.
Don't you know: different people 
give off different vibes? When they 
walk into a room, Notice and watch them. 
Pray for them. Pray for yourself. 
Pray: “Lord, make me an instrument
of your peace …." Yes, but pray for a 
lot more. Pray: "Lord, let me bring joy, laughter, communion, creativity, 
bread, wine, work, space, place, a vote."
We’re all moving on this spinning planet.
We’re all in this music and dance together.


© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

June 7, 2017

BINOCULARS

Our eyes, binoculars,
can focus on all that is around,
all that surrounds us:
people, scenery, the game.

Our eyes, binoculars,
twist, turn, adjust, trying to read
the signs and signals, the
meanings on faces and other’s eyes.

But our eyes want to know
more than what we see.
We want to know the I
behind another’s eyes.



© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017


Tuesday, June 6, 2017


INTEGRITY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 9th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Integrity.”

I was tempted to preach on the moment Tobit,  in today’s first reading loses his eye sight because of the bird who was simply doing his duty. [Cf. Tobit 2:9-14]

Better not, not to sure just what to say - but you have to admit it’s a great story…. 

So I decided to talk about integrity. I wasn’t sure just what word to use, but I hope integrity works.



TODAY’S READINGS

It fits in with what’s going on in both readings for today.

In today’s first reading Tobit accuses his wife Anna of being dishonest. He accuses her of stealing a goat. He gets her goat. She tells him that the goat is a bonus from the people she works making cloths for. She’s a weaver.

He doesn’t believe her and gets very angry. So she shoots back at him, “Where are you charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!”

Sounds like a husband and wife spat - that I sometimes hear about.

Thinking about that I said, “Integrity has honesty as part of it - but it’s more - a lot more. It includes love and kindness and  how we speak to each other. It includes not judging others - besides being honest and virtuous.

And in today’s gospel Jesus goes after the Pharisees for being hypocrites. They are after Jesus and are flipping a coin at him to try to trap him. They are not really interested in paying taxes as much as trying to catch Jesus.

EULOGY

In this short, short homily I want to reflect on integrity - and figure out what it means. I have never heard anyone described as being a person of integrity in a eulogy after they died - but wouldn’t it  be nice if we got that description?

It means that we won’t or don’t compromise - on our values or ethics.

It means we face the music if we make a mistake. In fact someone said just that: “There is no better test for our ultimate integrity than our behavior when we are  wrong.”

It means we don’t lie.

It means we are transparent.

If means what you see is what you get.

It means we’re consistent.

It means we don’t have a price.




STILL NOT SURE IF IT’S THE RIGHT WORD

The word “integrity” is not used in English translations of the 4 gospels.  However the theme seems to be there.   

I would think the gospel writers when talking about Judas, they are talking about someone without integrity. I would think that Jesus is described over and over again as a person of integrity. 

Who else? Other than Jesus the person whom I thought would be a person of integrity, would be Thomas. He said he wouldn’t believe till he put his hand into Jesus’ side. Then he would know it’s Jesus and he’s alive again - risen from the dead.

CONCLUSION

Enough.

While meandering through the moments of today, think about what integrity means to you. Amen.