Tuesday, August 3, 2021

PUT  YOUR  HAND
IN THE HAND OF THE MAN
WHO STILLED THE WATER,
PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND
OF THE MAN WHO CALMED  THE SEA.
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
 
Those are the opening words of a song written by a man named Gene Maclellan. It came out in 1971 – and sold well  over a million records. It was sung by Anne Murray, Donny Hathaway, The Platters and many others.
 
Its message and its meaning can be found in today’s gospel story: the storm on the lake.
 
Jesus tells his disciples to get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea. He gets rid of the crowds and goes up into the mountains to pray by himself. He retreats.    A storm comes crashing across the lake and is tossing the boat in the waves.
 
During the 4th Watch of the Night Jesus came walking towards them – walking on the water.
 
The disciples seeing him on the water were terrified – yelling out,  “It is a ghost.”
 
They were screaming. They were terrified.
 
Jesus says, “Take courage, it is I;  do not be afraid.”
 
Peter replies, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
 
Jesus says, “Come.”
 
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
 
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and beginning to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me!”
 
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
 
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.  Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
 
Take Jesus’ hand. Put your hand in his hand. “Put Your Hand In the Hand Of The Man Who Stilled the Water, Put Your Hand In the Hand of the Man Who Calmed the Sea.”
 
When you’re at the sea,  see.
 
What will you see,  if you walk down to the Atlantic today, what  will you see?
 
There are some nice benches down there.
 
There are some beautiful birds and boats to see.
 
In the first month of this century – January 2000 – We took a bus from the airport at Tel Aviv – and headed for the Lake of Galilee.  I was with 22 priests on a retreat to Israel. We got to our rooms in a Palestinian Hotel – then had supper – then walked about 2 streets to the lake.
 
Neat.
 
That moment touched so many scenes in the Gospels.
 
Two days later we went out on a boat named Matthew. A storm came up – quite windy – quite stormy.  We had to land in a non scheduled dock.
 
Today’s gospel came to mind big time at that moment.
 
Seeing, looking, watching is key to learning and praying.
 
The Lake of Galilee is worth being on – for growth in and with Jesus.
 
It’s the lowest freshwater lake in the world - 700 feet below sea level.
 
It’s 16 miles long and 9 miles wide.
 
Stephen Duffy – the Franciscan was our retreat director – read today’s gospel when we got on the boat.  10 minutes later – we were hit by the storm.
 
We felt phobia.
 
We felt faith questions.
 
We did what every kid does when scared – we put our hands in our father or mother’s hand.
 
It’s good to experience faith first hand.
 
It’s good to experience Jesus challenge us for lack of faith.
 
It’s good to experience Jesus – not as a ghost – but as a presence – as one we can touch and be healed.
 

August 3,  2021


Reflection

August 3,  2021

 

 

Thought for the Day

 

“The past is a foreign country; they do different things there.”

 

Leslie Polels Hartley


Monday, August 2, 2021

 August  2, 2021


Reflection

August 2,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“If you cry “Forward,”  you must make plain in what direction to go.”

 

Anton Chekov

Sunday, August 1, 2021

 

SAN  ALFONSO



 
The title of my homily is,  “San Alfonso.”
 
Today,  August 1st is his feast day, He died today – in 1787 – at the age of 90 – almost 91.
 
When I was stationed here at San Alfonso around 1975 I got a phone call from some guy who said, “I was driving by your place on Ocean Avenue this afternoon and I saw a sign on a brick wall saying, ‘Sam Alfonso.’ Well I said to myself, ‘That’s a big building.  Who the heck is Sam Alfonso?”
 
I guess he didn’t notice the big church on the front lawn that looks like the prow of a ship.
 
So I told the man - who was calling, “It’s San Alfonso – San – not Sam.” Then I added, “I’m sure you heard of San Diego or San Francisco or San Antonio.  San means saint – as in St. James – which is Diego in Spanish or San Francisco as in St. Francis or San Antonio  - St. Anthony.”
 
Alfonso’s father - Giuseppe was a navy captain working out of Naples Italy. His mom was Donna Cavalieri. Alfonso was their first child.  His dad wanted him to be well educated  - providing him tutors – to get him to become a lawyer – which he started at  - at 13 years of age – becoming a lawyer at 16 – 4 years earlier than most.
 
He never lost a case in his first 8 years as lawyer.
 
His father arranged a marriage for him – but that didn’t happen.
 
In 1723 he was hired as a lawyer in a real estate case.
 
We heard that he missed out on a key clause in the legal wrangling – in the paper work. As a  result he fell apart – and locked himself in his room for a couple of days. Years later we heard that it wasn’t  a mistake. It was a manipulation of the records and Alfonso was on the wrong side.
 
He used to visit a hospital – to visit the sick.  It was called the Hospital of the Incurables – not  a great name for a hospital. He had to decide whether to remain a lawyer – find someone else to marry or what.

An inner voice said to him 2 times: “Leave the world and give yourself to me.”

Like we heard from John McGowan yesterday, Alphonsus like St. Ignatius went to a church – put his sword on an altar decided to become a priest.

He studied theology at home and was ordained a priest at the age of 30.

He spent 2 years preaching all through the kingdom of Naples.

Someone said of him,  “It’s a pleasure to hear your sermons. You forget yourself and preach Jesus Christ.” 
He was neither strict nor pompous.

He worked out of his home – but at 33 he left home and became chaplain at a college that trained missionaries for China.

He met a bishop named Thomas Falcoia – who pushed him towards starting a new group of priests for preaching around Naples.  This bishop also asked him to check out by giving a retreat to a nun who was starting a new order of nuns. He did and they seemed legitimate. In 1731 they became the
 Redemptoristines – with a different name at first. They wore red and blue habits.  They were contemplatives.

In 1732 Alphonsus began the Redemptorists – called at first the Congregation of the Savior. In 1749 – when we finally got approval by Rome – we got the name Redemptorists – because there already was a group called the Congregation of Our Savior.

Alphonsus was preaching all over the Kingdom of Naples – especially in small towns. There were a lot of priests at the time – but they liked Naples - the big town. So his group went to the forgotten – the neglected – the poor.Since Alphonsus and his group became so successful – he was criticized.

In the meanwhile Alphonsus wrote a lot of books – 111 in his lifetime.

In the meanwhile Alphonsus and his congregation grew – even though there were dropouts.

Alphonsus put out a Moral Theology textbook – which began as notes on the work of a Jesuit with the name of Busenbaum. Alphonsus stressed God’s mercy.

Alphonsus  steered a middle course between the rigorism of a theology called Jansenism and big time laxity. As a result of staying in the middle  – he was criticized from both the right and the left.

In the meanwhile Alphonsus did music, painting and lots and lots of preaching.

In the meanwhile Alphonsus became a bishop – of a small diocese in Italy  called St. Agatha of the Goths.
After retiring from being a bishop, Alphonsus came back to the Redemptorists.

In time he got serious arthritis and needed a wheel chair – as you see him in the statue out on the lawn between the conference room and the dining room.

In time a guy named Clement Hofbauer came down from Vienna, Austria – became a Redemptorist and was sent back to Vienna – to start our group up there on the other side of the Alps.

We started in Naples in 1732.  By 1832 – some of those Redemptorists from Austria were sent to the United States.

We reached 9,000 plus – but we’ve shrunk a little to around 5000 at the present time.

I joined the Redemptorists to go to Brazil – but never got that assignment.

We are all around the world – pushing the ideas and ideals, the vision and vocation, of St. Alphonsus. “Forget yourself and preach Jesus Christ.

A key book that Alphonsus wrote was: The practice of the Love of Jesus Christ. He said:  “Sanctity – the whole of it can be summed up in the practice of the  love of Jesus Christ”– which we hope everyone who comes here to San Alfonso Retreat House – hears and gets – and brings home Christ  to our world. Amen
.

 August 1,  2021



                SWEET   AUGUST  JAZZ


Taking  it  easy -
Swinging slowly on a hot August Evening  -
In a hammock -
On a porch - 
Eyes closed -
No rain -
Falling asleep -
Late on a long slow night -
The kind of night that tells me -
who I am -
who I am on a hot August night.


(c)  Andy Costello,  Reflections