Saturday, April 18, 2020


April  18,  2020



Thought  for  Today 

“I am not sending messages with my feet.  All I ever  wanted was not to come up  empty.   I did it for the  dough, and the  old  applause.”

Fred Astaire

Friday, April 17, 2020

April 17, 2020


AGAIN


Our nets were empty.
Again ….


We had fished the whole night 
and caught nothing.... 
Again ….

Then in the morning 
he’s just sitting there 
and asks us if we caught anything. 

“Nothing ….” 

Again....

“Why does he always do that?” 
said one disciple to the other 
Hey …. He saw the paintings.” 

Then he says, 
“Try the other side.” 

We do that as on cue 
and the nets are full to breaking point. 

“Dang it! He always does that!” 
thinks one of the unnamed disciples. 

“Ooops!
Hope that thought isn’t caught in a painting.”



© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020
Painting by Duccio [1319], Siena
Gospel text: John 21: 1-14




April  17,  2020 



Thought  for  Today 


“A  four-horse chariot cannot overtake the spoken word.”

Tzu Kung
This aphorism
was quoted by
Confucius [c. 500 B.C.]






Thursday, April 16, 2020

April  16,  2020


SCARS,  CUTS,  CURSES


If we live long enough –
and if we go out the front
door each day – and if we
try to make every Entrance
better by the time we Exit,
then expect scars, cuts and
some curses – of course.

Now, if  we’re not in it for the
money or the perks, a “Thanks!”  
and some cookies can make
this Entrance – Exit job that
much easier. In the meanwhile
it helps to have tough skin
and the ability to duck.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020






April  16,  2020






Thought  for  Today


“Ten  thousand  flowers in the spring, 
The moon in autumn, 
A cool breeze in summer, 
Snow in winter. 
If your mind isn’t clouded 
By unnecessary things, 
This the best season of your life.” 
Wu-Men,
1183 - 1260

Wednesday, April 15, 2020




SCRIPTURE  CLING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Easter Wednesday  is,  “Scripture Cling.”

We priests  are in the business of Scripture Cling.

We know what static cling is. Cloth sticks to cloth and sometimes to skin.

We try to make scriptures cling to life’s experiences and life’s issues.

When we read the scriptures for the next day – in order to come up with a homily – all kinds of past sermons – come clinging with the words – we just read.

These words and phrases have lots of scripture cling:

Salt - Salt of the earth,
Mile - Extra mile,
Cheek –Turn the other cheek,
Good – Good Samaritan,
Cross – Take up your cross.
Rule  - Golden Rule
Judge – Judge not – but Judge Judy is moving in.
Seven – Forgive 70 x 7 times.
Stone – Let him or her without sin cast the first stone. –
Caesar – Salad and Render to Caesar the things …..
Two cents – Put your two cents in..
Martha -  Martha and Mary
Water – Walk on it or change water into wine.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel –Luke 24: 13-35 -  tells the Emmaus story – and we know it by heart – maybe using it as the talking that goes on at every funeral – people working their way and walking through the  stories of the person who died  to try to figure out the other person’s life.

I remember a high school retreat where the kids told me about a nun they nicknamed, Sister Mary Emmaus  - because in every religion class she brought up the Emmaus story.

There’s a great Community Life question: What scripture story, line, passage, clings to us. Tell us the story.  Which scripture passage do we own.

I remember Frank Miles -  a Jesuit – who told me he owned about 75 scripture texts.

He didn’t use the word “cling” but those 75 stories clung to him.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading – Acts 3: 1-10 – triggers for me a story about Father  Matt Meaghan.  A guy named Louis E. Pirnak was being made a Redemptorist Oblate - up in our church, Most Holy Redeemer, Manhattan, Lower East Side. Father Matt was preaching at a Mass for the occasion.  Matt chose today’s first reading from Acts – saying Louis was very generous. “Silver and gold Louis had and he gave generously to the Redemptorists and to a lot of other people.”

Check out the organ in our chapel downstairs.  It was donated to San Alfonso Retreat House in memory of Louis E. Pirnak and Anna Pirnak.

I remember all this whenever I hear this first reading and the words from Peter to the crippled man,  “Silver and gold I don’t have, but what do have, I give you: in the name of Jesus Christs the Nazorean, rise and walk.”

CONCLUSION

Now that’s what I mean by "Scripture Cling."



April  15,  2020


POWERLESSNESS

Me:
The power of me
The power of she
The power of he
The power to be
The power to become
a  We
and together
to
discover the power
of knowing we are powerless
in the long run.


© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020