THE  INVISIBLE  POET

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “The Invisible Poet.”

Years ago there was a saying to put on refrigerator doors, “Inside every fat person, there is a thin person trying to get out.”

Could we say, “Inside every person, there is a poet trying to get out.”

THE LADY IN PENNSYLVANIA

I remember visiting a nursing home in Pennsylvania. It was part of a parish mission we were giving in a parish there.

I’m talking to this one lady, For some reason, I blurted out, “You’re a poet!” 

She smiled and pointed to a chair on the other side of her room. I headed towards her point [POINT]. Then she signaled to go behind the big cushioned chair.  I spotted a loose leaf filler and picked it up. She signaled with her smile. “Good!”

She then spoke, “Turn to page 16 or so.” 

The binder  was filled with poems. As I was looking at page 16,  she recited the poem from memory.

I said, “These are your poems?”

She said, “Yes!”

Then she recited a few more of her poems.

She was good.

EVERYONE A POET

Could we say, “Inside every person, there is a poet trying to get out”?

Does everyone have their loose-leaf binder of poems - or at least one poem somewhere?

I would think that all of us in our lifetime wrote a poem at some time.

Then there are those who try their hand at a poem at a wedding or with a Christmas greeting - or somewhere along the time line of their life.

TODAY IS THE FEAST OF ST. JOHN

Today is the feast of St. John the Evangelist - the writer of the 4^th Gospel.

If there is one thing, you can say of the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, John captures the poetry of Jesus - the most.

John’s symbol is that of the eagle - high above it all. Soaring way up above the earth with ox and lion below.

Jesus was a poet of sorts.

John was a poet of sorts.

It takes a poet to spot a poet.

A poet spots the invisible in the visible.

A poet lets us fly - make leaps - see poetry on the other side of a broken branch or a flower petal caught on a metal fence or in a loose-leaf binder - behind a chair - on the other side of a room.

John was a poet - and a poet sees the invisible.

John has preserved for us many of the great images of Jesus - images that give us insight into the hand behind the bread - or the mind behind the creation - the who and the why behind whatever we’re seeing: light, doors, water, shepherd,  wine, wind, walls, birth, tomb, stone, eyes, word, healing, night, gates, oil …..

See Jesus walking on the water; see Jesus in every body of water we see.  See rocks in the field; see the hands of rock throwers who have walked away. See Jesus in every piece of bread and cup of wine. Feel Jesus’ spirit shaking in the wind and the washing of feet.  Feel Jesus’ presence with Mary at every wedding. Stand in any cemetery and make acts of faith in resurrection and hope for new life.

I love to say there is a invisible difference between a postcard on a metal rack in the airport gift shop and a postcard in a book - with or without writing on it - and it’s been sitting there as a book mark for 27 years. So too there is a difference between a wedding ring on someone’s hand and that same ring years ago in a jewelry store. The one on the ring finger has mystery and history going around and around the music in its band.

This earth is filled with energies, jumping out of birds, flowers, cemeteries, churches, rings and dates.

For example, on the top of Main and Duke of Gloucester Streets here in Annapolis, stands the Maryland Inn. I go by it at least a dozen times a week - and each time I whisper a prayer for my niece Margie and her husband Jerry. That’s where Jerry proposed to her. And every time I’m at St. Andrew by the Bay, I remember doing their wedding there.

I’m asking you the question: what are you seeing, sensing, every day?

Today is December 27, 2013. For many it’s just December 27, 2013.

For others today is an anniversary of a loved one who died on this date or it’s a wedding anniversary. In fact, just this morning I did a marriage renewal of vows for a couple - Jose and Jamie - who were married right here in this church - exactly 10 years ago today. Today they stood with their two little boys. Jamie told me - pointing to her tiny son, “In the car, he asked, ‘Why didn’t you invite me to your wedding?’  ‘In a way,’ she said, ‘I did.’”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “The Invisible Poet.”

Inside every person, there is a poet, a Fourth Gospel, waiting to come out.

Don’t forget the last line in today’s gospel: “... the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.”

The invisible…. The poet in us sees all and believes. Amen.