DARK  NIGHT  OF  THE  SOUL

Quote for Today  - December 14,  2010


"In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning."


Francis Scott Fitzgerald [1896-1940], from The Crack-up [1936]. I wonder if he's making a reference to St. John of the Cross' work, La Noche Oscura del Alma, The Dark Night of the Soul, the title of his writings [c. 1583], based on his poem Songs of the Soul Which Rejoices at Having Reached ... Union with God by the Road of Spiritual Negation [c. 1578]. Today, December 14th, but in 1591, is the day John of the Cross died at the age of 49.

IT'S  PERSONAL

Quote for Today - December 13,  2010


"Everyone must row with the oars he or she has."


Proverb

WHAT JOB WOULD
TEACH A PERSON
PATIENCE THE MOST?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “What Job Would Teach a Person Patience the Most?”

Friday afternoon I was sitting in the front seat of a Dillon Bus coming back from Malvern, Pennsylvania, with some of our high school seniors. We had just made a 4 day retreat, called a “Kairos Retreat”. As we came around a bend – on Route 97 – here in Maryland – before hitting Route 50 – on the 2 hour and 45 minute trip back, suddenly we were in the traffic jam.

I began reflecting on the issue of patience. I wanted to get home by 4 P.M. I thought to myself: a bus driver better have the gift of patience – or develop patience skills. Then I began wondering whether some jobs demand more patience than other jobs. Would an impatient driver become more skilled in patience, if they became a bus driver – or would they quit and get another job?

Then I found myself wondering, “Are some jobs tougher to be patient in than others?”

I began thinking that teachers and parents of little kids – as well as of teenagers have a tougher job – with patience – than dealing with kids in the 4th and 5th grades. Is that correct? Is that an, “It all depends?” What about being a parent or teacher with kids who have ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder? What about parents with kids on drugs? What about parents whose kids are dating a disaster waiting to happen?

What about toll collectors on the Bay Bridge – going east? I always try to say something nice to those toll collectors, because I would think that’s a tough job – yet I never asked someone who did that for a living, “What’s it like to be a toll collector.”

What about being a Driving School Instructor? Would that be a tough job because you're sitting there with a person learning how to drive? I know some spouses go crazy with their other half - when the other starts blurting or yelling out, "Slow down!" or "You're too close to that car in front of you!" Patience! Patience! Patience!

What about Air Traffic Controllers? Is that the most stressful job on the planet?

What about people out of work – who have sent out 50 resumes and nothing comes in the mail but bills?

As I was thinking about all this – while crawling along in the bus, the bus driver spotted flashing lights ahead and said, “There’s the problem?” I was thinking it was Friday afternoon traffic heading for the Eastern Shore backing up – much further away than usual. Nope it was two cars who had a fender bender.

How about people who come out into a parking lot and find their car dented or hit by some stupid idiot? I remember someone telling me they found a note on their windshield, “Sorry I hit you. I have to leave a note because someone is watching me!” And it wasn’t signed.

TODAY’S READINGS

It’s the Third Sunday in Advent – and Christmas is getting closer and I figured I’d be preaching on “Rejoicing” or “Joy” because today is the so called, “Gaudete Sunday” or “Rejoice Sunday” - half-way through Advent.

I picked up today’s readings to see what to preach on and surprise the second reading from The Letter of James begins, “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.”

Then James chooses the occupation of farmer as an example of someone who needs patience. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains.”

Then I realized the whole second reading is all about patience – not complaining – not judging one another – but patience – so I said, “Why not a sermon on patience?” – and flesh out my thoughts from my bus ride on Friday afternoon a bit more.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most patient, how patient am I?

I have a long fuse – meaning, I’m usually calm – but behind the mask – behind the smile – I can be impatient at times. I know the things I don’t understand or can’t stand at times – the things that bug me.

ROBERT B. DAUGHERTY

Thinking about today’s second reading, I began wondering if the farmer has to be the most patient of jobs.

I remembered or recalled that I read an obituary in The Washington Post just a few weeks back about the inventor of those big circular irrigation systems I saw many times while working in rural Ohio and various other places – as well as from the air.

I couldn’t remember the inventor’s name of course – but I asked myself, “Was he an impatient farmer – who couldn’t wait for rain – and wanted the rain to come to him?”

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

“Pray for corn, but make sure you plant?”

I went to Google and sure enough by typing in: “Obituary: Inventor of circular irrigation system” I got on the first hit, “Robert B. Daugherty – 88 – dies November 27, 2010, in his home near Omaha, Nebraska.”

I found out that he was a farmer from a farm family – who went to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. After serving as a forward artillery observer in the Marine Corps during World War II, he came home to start his life.

At the suggestion of an uncle, he invested $5,000 in a machine shop in 1946. He was one of three workers in the small business that built grain elevators and other farm equipment.

In time – with lots and lots of problems and lots and lots of adjustments and experiments his company developed the circular pivot irrigation system. The obituary said that 42 percent of all the irrigated farms in the United States that use irrigation systems, use the center pivot method that he developed. It added that 75 percent of some Western States – use his method. The article told me that he didn’t wait around waiting for rain as the farmer in the Second Reading did. He had the patience to work till he came up with a method of bringing rain and water – for irrigating farm lands.

I liked two stories in the obituary.

1) “Mr. Daugherty, who became a millionaire many times over, believed nepotism could ruin a successful business and would not allow any of his three sons to join his company.”

2) “By the mid-1960s, Mr. Daugherty had solved the manufacturing problems of the center pivot, and it quickly took hold throughout the Plains states and the West. Then the story added, “In 1972, he received an insistent call from former president Lyndon B. Johnson, whose center pivot at his ranch in Texas had stopped working. / ‘My oats are a-thirstin',’ Johnson said. / Mr. Daugherty dispatched a crew to make sure the president's oats got their water.”

Moral of the story: be patient, but make phone calls. Be patient, but don’t just pray for rain. Invent an irrigation system to get that water onto your land – when you need rain.

THREE CONCLUSIONS – BUT BE PATIENT – THE THIRD CONCLUSION IS LONGER THAN THE FIRST TWO

1) I would assume that some people are more patient than others – without any effort on their part. They got it as a gift. Is that true? I don’t know. I’ll patiently think about it.

2) I would assume that some people are more patient than others because of their job or their life situations. I would assume that women are more patient than men – because of their bodies and especially dealing with the 9 months it takes to sculpt and form a baby in their womb. Is that true? I’ll patiently think about it.

3) I would assume that some people work on being patient.

On this retreat I was on this week, I was sitting there in this big meeting room with about 50 kids and some small groups were not finished yet – and we had to wait for them.

Some boys found a ball - smaller than a soccer ball but bigger than a tennis ball and they were kicking it in the back section of the room – indoor mini-soccer and I found myself getting nervous that they might break something. It wasn’t my property – but the place is rather kid friendly. I didn’t say a word.

I thought about that. Was I being patient or was I refusing to be the grouch? I remember saying as a kid about a grouch on our block in Brooklyn when we were playing stick ball and the ball would go into his front yard and he would yell at us – and I said to myself, then and there, “I hope I’ll never be a grouch when I’m an old man.” I also remembered another time playing hit with a yellow plastic bat and catch with my nephew in my mom’s living room and my mom said, “Andrew you’ll never grow up so be careful!” And sure enough I threw a ball to my nephew and he swung and hit the ball and the ball broke a lamp. My mom laughed and said, “Told you so!” Life. Patience.

Down through the years I have lived with a few priests who were alcoholic and I learned experientially that there are people who stop drinking and become so called, “Dry drunks!” real pains in the rear and people who become sober because they integrated the spirituality of the 12 steps of AA and changed beautifully from within.

I remember hearing a talk on Mental Health once by a Jesuit priest psychiatrist, James Gill, who reported on a method of learning patience for people who are Type A people and tense up because of incompetence and stupidity and long lines – and they pay for it with pains in their hearts and minds and tight hands and blood vessels. They are told whenever they are in a store and there are a couple of lines, always stand on the longest line – and then when you get close to the front get off that line and go back on another line. Next, while standing on the line, you are to think of the names of grammar school classmates or the names of the players on some sports team from when you were a kid or what have you.

Moral of this third and last point: one can learn to be patient.

Suggestion: ask us priests to make our sermons longer.

Smile! Just kidding!

CONVERSATIONS 

ONE TO ONE - 

ONE WITH SELF

Quote for Today - December 12, 2010

"Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius."

Edward Gibbon [1737-1704]

Painting: "Conversation" by Eastman Johnson - [1824-1906] - American Painter

ON  WRITING

Quote for Today - December 12, 2010


"If you are going to write, don't pretend to write down. It's going to be the best you can do, and it's the fact that it's the best you can do that kills you."


Dorothy Parker [1893-1967]

NOT KNOWING
WHAT  I  REALLY
WANT?

Quote for Today - December 10, 2010


"I know well what I am fleeing from
but not what I am in search of."


Michel de Montaigne [1533-1592]

READING

BETWEEN 

THE LIES

Quote for the Day -   December 9, 2010

"I keep reading between the lies."

Goodman Ace

IMMACULATE  

CONCEPTION

Quote for The Feast of the Immaculate Conception - December 8, 2010


"Indeed O Lord,
You and Your Mother,
are the only ones
who in every respect
are completly beautiful.
For in You, O Lord,
there is no corruption,
nor in Your Mother any stain."


St. Ephraem of Syria: Nisibene Songs: 27, 8, Fourth Century

Painting on top: Immaculate Conception, Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez, [1599-1660]

JURY  DUTY

Quote for Today - December 7,  2010


"A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the best lawyer."

Robert Frost[1874-1963]

A GOOD WIFE

AND A GOOD JOB

Quote for Today - December 6, 2010


"The secrets of success are a good wife and a steady job. My wife told me."

Howard Memerov, Writer's Digest, December 1988

HOPING FOR HOPE:
SHOOTS AND SPROUTS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Hoping for Hope: Shoots and Sprouts.”

We human beings are always looking for signs of hope. When we give up hope, call the undertaker. When we give up looking for signs of hope, it’s over. Lock the door. Hang up the sign, “Out of business,” Look for another job. Call the divorce lawyer. Stop going to the games. Switch the channel – find a better game.

Hope is one of the key messages for Advent.

Israel was always looking and hoping for a Messiah. They got a baby!

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings are all about hope.

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 11: 1-10, Isaiah – some time around 736 B.C. – preaches a message of great hope.

Isaiah begins with the image of a stump. It looks dead – and surprise he imagines a shoot shooting out from the stump of Jesse.

Israel looks hopeless! Isaiah says, “Don’t give up! Hope some more. Just as a little shoot sprouts off a dead stump – so a new king of Israel shall appear.

Haven’t we all seen a tree stump – almost parallel to the ground? The tree is gone – chain sawed down – and we’re looking down – and there we spot a small shoot shooting out from the edge of the stump. All we saw was death – the stump. We forgot about the roots below the surface – in the kingdom of the unseen.

The dreamer, the optimist, the one with hope, always hopes for such signs of hope in a marriage, in a work place, in the economy, in one’s kids. Recovery, resurrection, renewal, are in the DNA of the dreamer.

Isaiah says a leader with arise and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. He’ll have a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord does not mean a scary fear of one’s father or one’s God – but an awareness of our God and his hopes for us – that we live our life in love and service of one another. That’s God’s dream. That’s what God’s kingdom or will or whatever word we use means.

We know these words of Isaiah were planted in Jesus, because in his life we see them sprouted out and shouted out, when he began his journey of Good News of the Kingdom for Israel and our World. We know them from here in Isaiah 11 as well as from the very similar words Jesus used from Second Isaiah 61: 1-2 in his inaugural address as they appear in the Gospel of Luke 4:16-22.

Then today’s first reading gives the great dream of the Peaceable Kingdom. Isaiah paints the picture of it in words. We’ve seen images of this in pictures in Christmas cards – and art museums – and especially in the 61 (62) paintings by Edward Hicks (1780-1849) of the Peaceable Kingdom. The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the young lion, the cow and the bear, can all live together in each of us – as well as in our world – and a little child will guide us. We might growl or be catty or a sneaky snake in the grass from time to time, but we can also be the sheep and the lamb – the poodle and the pussy cat – and be a welcoming presence to each other. Woof. Woof. Meow. Meow. Moo. Moo.

We’ve seen in our lifetime the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain come down – the Bear [Russia] and the Eagle (U.S.) are talking to each other from time to time – in spite of the comments in Wiki-Leaks, etc.

Today’s second reading from Romans gives hope. Paul begins by saying, “Brothers and sisters: Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.”

There it is, the word, “hope”.

We have seen in our lifetime Protestants and Catholics and Jews working together on translations and understandings of our common scriptures. We hope that the scriptures of our world can bring us together instead of being used to fight one another.

Today’s gospel from Matthew features John the Baptist – the prophet of the desert – where there is more sand than green sprouts – yet he too gives hope.

He describes the hard work that is involved in hope. It’s not just dream words. It’s putting the ax to the root of our problems – especially cutting down our inner trees that are not bearing good fruit. Pruning, clearing dead branches, gathering and burning dead wood, are all part of clearing the way to new life.

Hope calls for cuts – painful cuts – but how else can we renew the face of our earth?

The title of my homily is, “Hoping for Hope: Shoots and Sprouts.”

It’s December 5th and in 2 weeks and a few days it will be December 21st, the shortest and darkest day of the year – and longest night of the year – and then the next day the days get longer – but it’s not till mid-January we dream of Florida or crocuses and buds on trees – signs of spring. I love living in places where we feel 4 seasons.

A FEW EXAMPLES AND THEN AN AMEN

In the latest issue of America Magazine, dated December 6, 2010, there is an article by Maryann Cusimano Love, entitled, “Where is God?” It begins, “During Mass at the historic St. Mary’s church in Annapolis, MD., our 3-year-old song sang loudly with the music, admired the religious art and said to me, ‘Mommy! God is here in this church!’”

When I read that I said, “Praise God.”

I thought of the retreat and meetings that took place all day yesterday in the Carroll House – where people from the parish gathered to reflect upon all the work done by folks for the future planning of this parish. There is hope.

There is a notice on our board in the rectory that Father John Murray, former pastor here at St. Mary’s, who fell and is paralyzed – just starting having movement in his legs and lifted one leg – after months of hearing that it looks like he’s paralyzed for life.

Last night I went to a play, The Foreigner, put on by our high school. As I sat there watching these kids do a comedy, I said, “Wow. These kids have a bright future.” I’ve seen kids with lots of talents graduate and I found myself wondering, "Who will replace them?" And every time I see one of St. Mary's High School plays, I realize, "Here are the replacements." If you have time the last showing is this afternoon over in our auditorium at 2 P.M.

I’m sure many of you have seen the YouTube video of folks in a mall Eating Area or Food Court in Toronto. They begin standing up one by one and singing the Hallelujah's Chorus Handel’s Messiah. I understand it’s had over 10 million hits so far. I think I heard it’s part of a movement called, “Random Acts of Culture.”

Isn’t that a great sign of hope: “Random Acts of Culture”?

People are still being part of the Random Acts of Kindness moment – where you just do something randomly nice for the next person.

We are called to be part of Random Acts of Culture.

We are called to put into play, Random Acts of Kindness.

We are called to be Random Acts of Hope.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Hoping for Hope: Shoots and Sprouts.”

That’s us.

Am I a Random Act of Hope?

Hope is our calling.

Early last evening I was at a wedding reception and an old timer called me over. I knelt on the floor on one knee and she said, “I want to tell you something. Two years ago you said in a sermon that one can use their rosary not just for Hail Mary’s. You said, 'Just pick up a rosary and say on the 59 beads, "Come Holy Spirit!" It will only take two minutes.'" Then she said, “I’ve been doing that every morning for the last 2 years.”

Now that was a Random Act of Hope. Praise God. Amen.

ANGER

Quote for Today  - December 5, 2010


"The lion can be tamed and made obedient, but your own anger makes you wilder than any lion."

St. John Chrysostom [c. 347-407], Sermons on Matthew, IV


Painting: The Peaceable Kingdom - Edward Hicks [1780-1849

ENVY

Quote for Today  - December 4,  2010

"Envy is a coal come hissing hot from hell."

Philip James Bailey [1816-1902], Festus, V, 1846

FAST,

AVOID THIS KIND

OF FASTING!

Quote for Today - December 3, 2010


"One of the marks of certain type of bad man is that he can't give up a thing without wanting everyone else to give it up. That isn't the Christian way."

C. S. Lewis, Christian Behavior, 1944

WHERE IS GOD 

IN ALL THIS?

Quote for Today - December 2, 2010

"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb."

English Proverb

Painting on top by Tom Roberts [1856-1931], Shearing the Rams c. 1888-1890. It can be seen in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.

ROSES IN DECEMBER

Quote for Today - December 1, 2010

"As soon

Seek roses in December, ice in June;

Hope constancy in wind, or corn in chaff;

Believe a woman or an epitaph,

Or any othe thing that's false, before

You trust in critics."

Lord Byron [1788-1824], English Bards and Scotch Reviewers [1809], line 75 - sorry ladies! I didn't say it.

FEET

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of St. Andrew the Apostle is, “Feet!”

I don’t remember ever preaching about “Feet!”

How are your feet?

They are our servants.

TODAY'S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading from Romans, for the feast of the most important of all the apostles, Andrew, quotes a text from Isaiah 52: 7, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news.” [Cf. Romans 10:15]

I hope somewhere along the line your feet brought you into a church where they sang that song or hymn based on these words. I’ve heard it at various times and I can’t sing, but I’ve loved the version where there is the echoed repeating of phrases, “How beautiful, how beautiful, on the mountains, on the mountains, are the feet, are the feet, of those, of those, who bring, who bring, good news, good news.” It goes a tiny bit like that.

I never thought about feet being beautiful. In fact I never notice my feet till they give me trouble.

How are your feet?

But feet are not the message. Good News is the message. Joy to the world is the message. One’s face, one’s smile, one’s being, is the message.

We get this message. We’ve been there – many, many, many, many, many times. It’s Life #101.

I get this message when I come down the aisle at Sunday Mass. I’ve seen faces that said, “Oh my God, not him again!”

And my face sinks towards my feet.

And those of you who are married – or those of you who have lost your loved one – I hope you still hear the sound of your loved one coming up the steps. I hope you still remember the moment you went down the aisle in a church with him or her – and out the church door to a new world – a new life together – a new life walking together - knowing life is easier with 4 feet. It’s Life #102.

I hope the day never came when you said, “Oh my God, not him again! …. not her again.”

But then again, the vows sometimes are not wows.

The title of my homily is, “Feet.”

Our text uses the Greek word, “PODES” – the plural of “POUS” for “feet”. In this Greek word we recognize in the genitive case of “POUS”, which is “PODOS”, the word “podiatrist” – a foot doctor. We also hear in this Greek word, “POUS”, the Latin word, “PED” which gives us words like "pedal" or "pedestrian". We also hear the Sanskrit word "PAD" – the most ancient of languages. It's the word for "foot". Every day we long for our pad where we can get off our feet, take off our shoes, and be ourselves.

The title of my homily is “Feet!”

ANDREW

There are two Gospel texts that tell us about the day and how Jesus called Andrew. They are both very different.

The powers that be – those who choose what Gospel to read for today chose the one I would not choose. Life #103. In today’s gospel, Jesus is walking along by the Sea of Galilee and he sees two brothers, Simon and his brother Andrew. He calls them – along with two other brothers – James and John – who also were fishermen – and all four would be his followers on foot – preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.

John tells the version of the story that I like better – of course – because Andrew is listed there as the first apostle whom Jesus meets. And he then brings his brother Simon to meet Jesus – and the rest is history and the rest is mystery. And my hope as priest is to bring people to Jesus. Here he is folks. Get a life with Jesus. Life #104

John in his gospel also has Jesus washing the feet of these 4 men in his gospel at the last supper – along with the other apostles – including Judas.

Did Jesus love it when his feet were washed by the woman in the gospel who washed his feet with her tears and dried his feet with her hair? Now that was a remarkable story – an incredible breakthrough – something that would be unheard of in the Mediterranean Basin countries in the time of Jesus and in parts of the Muslim world today.

FEET STORIES

What are your feet stories? Share them today with those you love – with those who love the sound of your step – with those who love your feet, your face, and your being.

I have fond memories of getting hot water for my dad when his feet were sore after a long day of work at Nabisco on his feet – and he soaked his feet in that hot water with Epsom Salts.

I have heard people say how grateful they are of a daughter or a son trimming their toe nails or a granddaughter coloring granny’s toe nails in rich red or pink or even green nail polish.

What are your feet stories?

CONCLUSION

Today you walked into church on your feet; today walk out of this church on your feet and bring good news – joy – laughter – deep peace – the peace of Jesus Christ to those you meet today. And if you do, then of you it can also be said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!"

SORT OF LIKE

TRYING TO SQUARE

THE CIRCLE ....

Quote for Today - November 30, 2010


"God, surrounding all things, is Himself not surrounded."

Philo [c. 20 B.C. - c. A.D. 40], Fugitives, 14, Allegories

WHAT NOW? WHAT NEXT?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this First Monday in Advent is, “What Now? What Next?”

It’s the thought that hit me when I read today’s first reading [Isaiah 4:2-6] as well as today’s psalm [Psalm 122].

THE CITY AND THE TEMPLE

In today’s first reading and in today’s Psalm we see the importance of both Jerusalem and the Temple in Jerusalem.

The time is in the 750 to 700 B.C. – and Assyria is the power that is marching around beating up and destroying those in its path.

Now as the reading tells us, before those left in Jerusalem are called “holy” they first have to be cleansed – by fire – talk about Purgatory – because of the many sins of its leaders and its people.

The Psalm – Psalm 122 – is a Psalm that was sung by folks on their way to Jerusalem and the temple on pilgrimage. We said the Psalm response, “I rejoiced when I heard them say: let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Throughout history there has been a lot of destruction of cities, towns, holy places. I assume that everyone experiencing destruction then asks, “What now? What next?”

Security is Job One.

So we build with stone citadels and castles.

But we all know all can come tumbling down.

We all know at different moments in life we realize we saw our bodies as our protection – our fortress – and then we see from time to time our bodies slowly crumbling.
What now? What next?

What happens when our church burns down? What happens when our city is destroyed? What happens when one’s life, one’s center is destroyed?

Divorce, death, fires, floods, is the stuff of TV and Newspaper and life for people. What happens when a marriage falls apart or a spouse or a child or a parent dies suddenly?

What now?

What next?

AS CHRISTIANS – JESUS IS OUR CENTER

As Christians Jesus is our center – our temple – our city – our hope – someone who can’t be destroyed.

This is the message of Advent and Christmas – Christ came and called us to enter into his strength – in spite of our weaknesses.

That’s the Message of the Cross and Resurrection, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Somewhere along the line Jesus saw Jerusalem and the Temple and he said that both will be destroyed – but I won’t be destroyed. Around the year 70 the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed once again.

The Christian Community there had to flee to different places. Scholars place Jamnia – north of Israel as the place where Mathew’s Community settled.

WHAT NOW? WHAT NEXT?

The title of my homily is, “What Now? What next?”

What do we do after a fire or a flood? What do we do after a death or a divorce? What do we do after we find out we have Cancer or what have you?

Answer: we start again. We rebuild or resettle – or we pick up the pieces and go for resurrection over death.

That’s one reason we have the cross staring us in the face – especially here at St. John Neumann. This is life. This is what happened – but our prayer is not: Christ has died. Nope, we pray, Christ has risen. Christ will come again.

That’s a key Advent message. Amen.

SURPRISE ME GOD

Quote for Today - November 29, 2010

"Suppose someone is hiding. When they stir, they show their presence. God does the same. No one ever has found God. God gives God away."

Meister Eckhart [c, 1260-c. 1327]

WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “What Are You Watching?”

Today we start the season of Advent.

Along with waiting and wondering, waking up and welcoming, watching is an Advent theme.

What are you watching?

Am I watching myself walking more and more with Jesus Christ as the center of my life – putting on the Lord Jesus Christ more and more as today’s second reading from Paul to the Romans puts it – or am I still watching myself walking along alone with just myself?

MAUREEN McCANN

About 20 years ago I heard an example about listening in a talk by a Sister Maureen McCann – a Sister of Mercy from Dallas, Pennsylvania. Imagine remembering something from a talk from 20 years ago? I don’t remember what I preached on a week ago. She stressed the importance of listening to what we’re talking to ourselves about. She used the image of a radio receiver. It has lots of stations and lots of sounds. Just spin the dial. She talked about the importance of listening to the conversations that are going on inside our head all day long. She said to listen to oneself and listen to what bugs us, what we’re off on, what worries us, what our “ what if’s?” are, etc. etc. etc. Then she said to fine tune with the dial a clear something we’re concerned about. Then she added, “Turn up the volume.” Then she asked the key question: “What does that say to you about you?” For some reason that made a lot of sense to me back then as well down through the years.

The title of my homily is, “What Are You Watching?”

Instead of the image of listening to a radio – I’m using the image of what we’re watching, for example on television or in a movie, in this homily.

Catch yourself with the question I’m asking: “What are you watching?”

Hasn’t someone walked into a room where you’re watching TV and said, “What are you watching?”

Catch yourself with the second question Sister Maureen McCann asked, “What does that say to you about you?” What does what you’re watching say to you about you?

We've all heard the saying, "We become what we eat." Well, we become what we watch. It becomes us.

CUTE E-MAILSomeone sent me a cute e-mail about two weeks ago. A little girl is kneeling down at her bed – hands folded. It looks like she is saying her night prayers. She prays, “And dear God please send some clothes for all these women on grandpa’s computer. Amen.”

What are you watching?

What are kids watching about us when they are watching us?

THANKSGIVING WEEK

I just spent Thanksgiving week with my brother’s family. They rented this big house again this year in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. We had about 30 people – 15 adults and 15 kids. It varied a bit because everyone didn’t get there at the same time.

It was great sitting there watching what two generations below me were doing and saying – playing – laughing about – concerned about.

Each day a bunch of us adults took a good long walk along the streets of Dewey Beach and then doubled back on sand – right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

What did we talk about? What were we concerned about?

Family – of course – because we were reconnecting. None of my nieces came from the same state. So I heard about stuff from Arizona, California, New Orleans, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida. We even talked about our lost niece who lives in New Mexico. Location didn’t matter really. What mattered were jobs, education, stories, SAT scores, and funny and interesting things that were happening in the family.

What mattered was what we were watching in our lives?

One of my nieces told a story about 3 brothers. The middle brother is dating a girl the older brother dated last year. The older brother who is now in college told his younger brother to tell the middle brother that the ex-girlfriend is high maintenance.

Watching all this I began wondering what high maintenance means. I’ll have to watch for that – for examples of that – so I can learn just what “high maintenance” means. Would any of the priests in our rectory be described as “high maintenance”? Interesting question. Am I?

The title of my homily is, “What Am I Watching?”

AS I WATCH PEOPLEAs I watch people, I see people worrying about the economy.

As I watch people, I see people wondering about getting parking places, traffic, the weather and food.

As I watch people, I see people watching their cell phones and gadgets and youth and clothes and style and sports and exercise and weight.

As I watch people, I see parents wondering about their children – their marriages, their grandkids not going to church – not being baptized and what have you.

As I watch people, I see some people off and running into Christmas shopping already – trying to save money, getting bargains and a great gift for those they love. As I watched the evening news Black Friday night, I heard retailers and commentators talk about how it looks better than last year – and I said to myself, “Smart move. Get the economy going – before the actual statistics come in.”

As priest I pinch myself because I get to watch the big mysteries of life being played out in people’s lives: people getting married – new babies – anniversaries – as well the tough stuff of life.

As priest, I watch and listen and meet people who are dealing with divorce and drugs and drink.

As priest I pick up the phone. A woman has called the rectory. She asks for a priest. I make an appointment with her. She comes to the rectory. She talks. Death is knocking on her door. She knows it. It’s cancer again. It’s knocked 3 times already. Cancer sometimes is an angel of death – a messenger that announces, “Only so much time is left.” She sits there and talks about all this. She talks about her life. Most of it is wonderful. She talks about what she would like at her funeral. She asks about her desire not to be resuscitated. She asks if that okay to say that. She adds, “Hey I’m 88 and I’ve had a good life.”

As priest I’m watching all this. As a human I’m wondering, “What will it be like when this hits me?” I think of all the people I’ve watched when they have been in the same situation.

I see myself getting older. I watch myself having senior moments. I noticed wrinkles– on the inside skin of my arms just below my elbow. I see that my skin is not what it used to be. I think of a guy I visited at a nursing home here in Annapolis – 102 years of age – good mind – but as I sat there – his skin just didn’t fit – it was hard and different and it seemed like leather covering and sliding and hiding his bones.

The title of my homily is, “What Are You Watching?”

ADVENTAdvent is a season the church unfolds every year – and every year it seems to get lost in the Christmas rush.

I see the booklets Saint Mary’s provides for folks and I watch people pick them up in the back of church and I hear people saying with good thanksgiving, “Thanks. I love these little books.”

Evidently some people make the most of this Advent Season – where we look at the first coming of Christ, the here and now presence of Christ – and the final coming of Christ.

I think of the Bishops’ Meetings that just took place this November in Baltimore. I was happy to read that the Bishops were watching a study made of Catholics in the United States.

It was sad to read that the studies said “that only half of young Catholics marry in the church, and that weekly Mass attendance has dropped to about 35 percent of Catholics from a peak of 78 percent in the 1960s.”

I was glad to read that instead of blaming others, some bishops said we need to look at ourselves. Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida said that the November meeting was a lot of “naval gazing.” He said that we were talking about budgets and assessments instead of thinking “about the number of people who are leaving the church and the possible reasons for this.” (1)Another bishop said of the November meetings that if he had “been watching the body’s televised sessions from the outside… we bishops ‘would’ve looked like fools.'”

Thank God someone’s watching.

As I watch myself, how do I see myself as a follower of Jesus Christ?

As people watch us, how do they see us as followers of Jesus Christ?

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “What Are You Watching?”

Advent is a time of watching.

The readings for this First Sunday in Advent challenge us to make dramatic changes in our lives – changing angry violent weapon words into healing words of peace – changing wasted time into servant time – waking up instead of sleeping – living in the light and not hiding in the light – realizing we only have so much time – and that we never know when “El Fin” “The End” is going to appear on the movie of our life.

What does that movie look like?

What are you thinking about yourself as you watch yourself?

What are those who are watching us – especially the generations after us watching as they watch us?




(1) I found this on the blog called, "Whispers in the Loggia." The piece is entited, "I'm Not 'Archbishop of America'", From the President's Desk, Tuesday November 23, 2010

SILENCE!

Quote for Today - November 28,  2010


"If you know the love that can lead you near to heartbreak, if you know not only the heights of ecstasy but the depths of pain, then you will know you stand before a mystery and you will be silenced."

Gerald Vann [1906-1963 ], The Heart of Man, 1945



Painting by Georges Rouault [1871-1958], De Profundis, Psalm 130, [1927]

HISTORIANS

Quote for Today - November 27, 2010


"God can't alter the past, but historians can."


Samuel Butler [1835-1902]

RADICAL 
OR CONSERVATIVE?

Quote for Today - November 26, 2010


"If a man is right he can't be too radical; if he is wrong, he can't be too conservative."

Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) [1818-1885]

HAPPY  THANKSGIVING

Quote for Thanksgiving Day - November 25, 2010


"Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks."


William Shakespeare [1564-1616] Hamlet, Act II, ii, 286

TIGER, PIG,
ASS OR NIGHTINGALE?

Quote for Today - November 24, 2010


"In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal activity."


Ambrose Bierce [1842- c. 1914]

WE'RE  ALL  ALIKE

Quote for Today - November 23, 2010


"Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this - that you are dreadfully like other people."


James Russell Lowel [1819-1891]

A  WORD
TO THE WISE:
BE KIND OF KIND

Quote for Today - November 22, 2010


"Wise sayings often fall on barren ground; but a kind word is never thrown away."


Sir Arthur Helps [1813-1875]