ECHO BLESSING
[At the outdoor Mass this morning in the schoolyard,
when Deacon Leroy was preaching, I could
hear the obvious echo of his words off the buildings. I thought it was neat -
sort of reinforcing his words - as with a yellow highlighter. I thought to
myself, if I ever have to preach at this Elementary School Mass, I’d preach on the theme of “echoes”. About 20 minutes after Mass, Leroy asked if
was going to the church service for our St. Mary’s Teachers and Staff - and if
I was, could I do the final prayer or blessing? Surprise! Here was a chance to
pull some thoughts together about the theme of “echoes” as they echoed around
my mind this morning. So here comes a reflection and a final blessing entitled,
“Echo Blessing.”]
ECHO BLESSING
The words went into those
tiny holes in the microphone.
They sped down wires -
lots of carefully placed wires -
at the speed of sound and
they bounced around - and
then when came out of the
speakers - they were echoes -
bouncing off walls - and
into our ears. Words…. Echoes….
The words echo into
corners - sit under chairs -
and there they rest for a
moment or sometimes
for years - words our mom
whispered into our ear
going into our first day
of school - or our 8th grade
teacher told us in a bus
on a memorable class trip.
Some words echo it seems
forever - a word with
a hurt in it - as well as
an, “I love you” - when we
thought we were all alone.
A teacher’s words in
school can white out
[what’s white out?] a put
down by a parent at home or vice versa.
A deacon’s words in a
pulpit, a principal’s words
in the opening moments of
a new school year or
the closing of a school
year - a grandma’s words
at a graduation - a prayer-
can remain as an echo
in our heart and mind and
memory forever.
And may these words of
Jesus continue to echo
in your soul each day:
“Love one another as
I have loved you.”
“Forgive 70 times 7 times.” “Turn
the other cheek.” “Go the
extra mile.” “And I am with
you all days, even to the
end of the world.” Amen.
© Andy Costello, June 8, 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment