March 14, 2017

H2O FALLING

The flake of snow preferred

this state of being, this shape

of water - compared to being

a drop of rain or mist or dew

It loved the drift, the snow fall,

the sky diving moment, the

wondering where it would land.

Would it land in a flower pot or

on the edge of the lawn only to

become a snowman or a snow-

ball. Ouch! Fun! As long as it

didn’t hurt someone. Then the

long, slow,  snow time melt - the

journey to the sea, streams, river,

ocean, then like kids at the bottom

of a ski lift or folks getting into a

plane for more sky diving, the drop

of H2O said, “Let’s do it one more time

- but one more time as a snow flake.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

MEASURING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 2^nd Monday in Lent is, “Measuring.”

Today’s gospel - Luke 6: 36-38 -  is all about measuring!

Jesus says,

·       “Be merciful….”

·       “Stop judging….”

·       “Stop condemning….”

·       “Forgive….”

·       “Give….”

Jesus is challenging us to look at how we measure. Then today’s gospel closes with this strong message:   “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

Take your pick - what message - do you want to reflect upon - and pray over for today?

MEASURING

I’m choosing to reflect upon the human tendency to measure things.

I hold that we’re doing this all the time - like all the time - and everyday - with everyone and everything.

If there was a camera on us all day long, we could take the video - study it - and count how many times per day, we wince our eyes - with a negative vote.

A wince is tiny flinch - a tiny movement - a tiny squeeze with the top of our nose, the side skin around our eyes, sometimes with a tiny, tiny sound of disapproval - “uunh” -  an impatience - a not-liking something.

What we’re seeing with our wincing eyes is something or someone that does not measure up to our standard - our expectation.

Key to this theme of measuring is comparisons.

We are comparing another’s weight, hair, shape, clothing, manner, mannerisms, to the ruler - and I mean ruler - inside our brain.

Comparisons rule us - they can cruel us -  making us cruel judges.

We inwardly think or say or judge, This is a good look, a good outfit, a good hair due. This isn’t.

IMAGE

I love the image - it fits my standard on what a good image, metaphor, picture is - that Jesus gives in today’s gospel.

He must have spotted in the market place a generous, large hearted, big picture, big smiling merchant  - who would fill your sack or bag or cloak with flour or grain or with whatever you were ordering - to the utmost.  He would pack it tighter and tighter. He would tapped it down, shake  it up and down, each time putting and more into your bag or robe.

Jesus is telling us that’s how God is. God is big time generous with love and forgiveness and mercy.

I wince  whenever  I hear narrow minded judgers - criticizers - moral screamers.

I pinch myself with joy knowing Jesus said just what he said in today’s gospel.

I’m going to jump into his robes when I get to heaven.

I love Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story about the lady who spent her life, “Tch, tch, tching” others. Whenever she heard someone was sinning or what have you - that was her sound. This other lady said to her, “Go out and commit a big sin and maybe then you’ll understand the rest of us.”

I love that the motto of the Redemptorists is, “Copiosa apud eum redemptio.”  “With him there is fullness of redemption.”

I have learned to love the word “copious”.

With Christ there is copious redemption.”

Of course we have all met grouchy Redemptorists - that have forgotten the vision of St. Alphonsus.

When they get off judgments that are tough and narrow and ugly,  I wince.

And I’m sure I cause people to wince.

CONCLUSION

The title and theme of my homily was, “Measuring.”

Check out your rulers today.

March 13, 2017

HESITANT

Hesitation: good or bad?

It all depends.  I could be

at a red light - want to make

that right turn on red - but
I can’t see enough around

the SUV on my left and

there was that accident

I had three years ago.

It all depends. I want to say,

“Loosen up!” to this person

at work. “Loosen up. Take a

chance. Take the other job.

Money isn’t the issue in life

that you make it - even with

your family saying, ‘No, no….’”

It all depends. Just drop into

a church - a creaky bench old

church - or go to the ocean

and sit on a bench on a cold

winter’s day. Maybe God’s

in there or out there waiting for

you to drop in or spot a wave.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

Photo on top: David Sandford, Lake Erie Pictures
Check out his blog:
https://www.davesandfordphotos.com/blogs/news

NOT  FAIR

[The title of my reflection for this 2^nd Sunday in Lent [A] is on today’s gospel is “Not Fair.”  Cf. Matthew 17: 1-9.]

Sometimes Jesus is not fair.

Sometimes life is not fair. God is not fair. Others are not fair. Those we live and work with:  they are not fair.

And I guess it’s important to learn about fairness - probably from the very beginning - when we are little kids - when we begin to notice the size of the other kids’ pieces of cake or amounts or ice cream in their bowl - compared to ours - and that can be pretty early on - even in high chair and wearing a baby bib times.

Sometimes there is a kid that never seems to check  other people’s plates. They just seem to enjoy the grey oatmeal  that they get - while an older sister always gets the colorful Fruit Loops. They love the Christmas present they get - the seat in the car they get. Good. They don’t scream that so and so got a better deal  - a better job - a better husband - a better wife - better children - a better life - a better piece of roast beef - even one with too much gristle.

Sometimes Jesus is not fair.

He only took Peter, James and his brother John up the mountain that day.

It was a beautiful day to climb a mountain.

Not all days are the same.

Some people think God is unfair.

Judas stood there looking at the backs of Peter, James, John and Jesus - getting smaller as they went up the dirt and rock trail that day.  Not fair.

Not fair being left behind….

Judas often had this itchy complaint about Jesus. He would inwardly grumble: “It seems that Jesus favors Peter. He seems to be afraid of the way James and John complain - so he caters to them too. And Peter’s brother Andrew seems to get left out - till Jesus needs to find out - if anyone in the  crowd has some bread.”

Judas  tended to whisper behind people’s back. Jesus whispered to himself a few times. “I think Judas thinks he made a wrong choice in following me.”

Judas whispered  to Matthew - and then Thomas - and then Philip, “Jesus doesn’t seem to like criticism - especially the criticism that he plays favorites.”

Jesus knew his disciples wanted to be looked up to - by the crowds - just as Jesus was looked up to - by some people in some crowds. And when Jesus said something that angered folks, his other apostles would think, “Stupid. Do miracles. Come up with more bread and more fish. You’re coming up with too many complaints from too many people. You’re going to get yourself crucified one of these days - and then what about us? “That’s an uh oh!”  That’s a, “Not fair!”

So Jesus left the crowds that day - as well as the other apostles - and took Peter, James and John up the mountain.

The higher they climbed, the more they could see.

Things become clearer - plainer - high above the plains - up there above the down below.

Peter felt good about being with Jesus up there on the mountain.

Mountain air can clear the nostrils and the brain - but it can also go to one’s head  with big thoughts.

Peter  could see the Sea of Galilee down below in the distance.

The smell of fish was no longer on his hands or in his robes.

Too often he fished all night and caught nothing - but ever since Jesus caught him - with that great catch of fish that morning - this was a good move - following Jesus. 

People knew him by name now. Nobody knew him when he was just a fisher of fish.  Everyone now knew him as a fisher of people - now that he was working the net with Jesus.

James and John felt great - being the other two chosen ones - on the mountain that day.

Their mother wanted them to be number one and two with Jesus - when Jesus  came into his kingdom - or whatever he was about.  Here they were two and three. Mom take a look us now.  The other guys are down below - not knowing what Jesus had in mind for us today. “Look at us - moving up the ladder of success and fame.”

The four stopped. They rested. They looked. They listened.

They saw Jesus’ face shine like the glisten off the granite rocks on the mountain. Jesus was transfigured before them.

Moses and Elijah - two of the great Hebrew prophets appeared - on the scene with Jesus - and Jesus was talking with them.

Woo, the 3 of them, Peter, James and John, were in the presence of greatness - Moses, Elijah, and Jesus - big time, star time, greatness.

3 simple fishermen - from that sea down there - were now high on the mountain - at the edge of greatness.

Peter burst out with the words, “Lord, it is good that we are here.  If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Then this bright cloud cast a shadow over the whole scene and from the cloud they heard the words, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.”

This scared Peter. This scared James and John, known by those who knew them as the ‘Sons of Thunder.’”

They fell to the ground - very much afraid - but Jesus came and touched them and said, “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

They looked up and they saw no one else but Jesus.

The transfiguration of Jesus was over.

They had to climb back down the mountain.

What goes up, must come down.

The disfiguration of Jesus was about to begin - but Peter, James and John didn’t know that yet.

They wouldn’t know - what that day was about -  what his betrayal, his arrest and crucifixion - were about -  till way after Jesus was raised from the dead.

They walked back down the mountain - each of the 3 picturing themselves telling the other apostles - Peter telling his brother Andrew - James and John telling their mother and family members - what they saw that day.

They didn’t say to themselves, “Wow this will impress people!”

But they knew what everyone knows when they see a fire or a great movie or a great moment, “I need an audience.”

Jesus must have been reading their minds - he always seemed to do that to people - so Jesus said to them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

And all three - hearing that - dropped their heads - and inwardly moaned and groaned, “Unfair. Unfair. Unfair.”

March 12,  2017

STAIRCASE

I know of Frost’s two roads

diverging in a yellow wood -

and I thought about an elevator

as a metaphor. It has its ups

and downs - but an elevator

is too linear and too literal.

So it struck me - a staircase

could be the better metaphor -

the better image - to sit there

on a step - it becoming the top 
or bottom step - depending 
if I make the choice to take 
the steps upwards towards the
light or to descend downwards
on the dark steps leading to 
the locked basement door.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

A  PERFECT 10

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “A Perfect 10!”

Did you hear the last sentence in today’s Gospel:  “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Do we have to be a perfect 10 - as perfect as God is?

Woo, that would be a much tougher commandment than keeping all the all the 10 commandments all the time.

Did God ever try ice skating or gymnastics? Would God get a perfect 10 every time?

PROCESS

Life takes time. Growth takes time. It’s evolutionary. It takes practice. It’s developmental. It’s a journey. It’s a pilgrimage. So hopefully there is time for some Pilgrim Progress.

In the last 50 years a new word is “process” - as in “Process Philosophy” or “Process Theology”. 

Life is a process - an evolution - hopefully.

We’re not finished till we’re finished. That’s what process philosophy and process theology teach is. We’re in process. We’re not there yet.

MANY DRAFTS

Take the process of doing a book or an article or a serious letter. The first draft is rarely the final draft. We jot down ideas. We do a quick draft. We add. We delete. We add. We cut. We do lots of drafts.

The old image was walking into a room of a person writing a book and we see hundreds of pieces of crumbled paper on the floor. I was tempted to take a bunch of pieces of paper - mimic a person at a typewriter - and crumble paper and throw them on the sanctuary floor. Now that we have computers, I’ll have to come up with a new image.

Doing a term paper, doing a book, doing a painting, doing a poem, doing life, all takes many drafts. We usually don’t get it right the first time. We learn. We develop. We grow.

Life is a process. Becoming perfect - becoming like God - more and more - is a process. It takes time.

IMPLICATIONS

Now the implications of taking a process position as opposed to a perfection position are profound.

First of all, start with oneself. Do a “selfie” exam.

Picturing oneself, how well have I learned patience and compassion with ourselves.

We don’t have faith, hope and charity down. We grow. We make good moves and we make bad moves. We sin. We fall. We revert. But hopefully we convert on a regular basis. Onwards and upwards. Excelsior. Let him or her who hasn’t made mistakes, who has arrived, who is perfect, stand there and throw rocks and him or her who is still moving onwards.

Question: do our mistakes, our slips, our falls, our sins,  help us become more understanding of ourselves? As we age, do we age in patience—and compassion—bearing with ourselves lovingly? Or do we do a number on ourselves?

Can we admit that each time we sin, each time we fall, each time we don’t get an A+ or 100, we are not God. We are not perfect.

I think the advantage of marks teaches a kid that we usually don’t get hundreds. I think sports can teach kids that only one team wins the tournament. Only one kid wins the race—only one swimmer gets the gold medal. Very few gymnasts or figure skaters get a perfect 10.

So in the meanwhile, we have to learn to do our best, keep striving and keep training.

In the meanwhile, we need to enjoy the bus rides to different track meets and different stadiums.  We need to keep practicing and do our  homework.

In the meanwhile, we don’t kill yourself if you don’t get an A. Some students do that—for example, television or newspapers sometimes report that there is too much pressure in Japan to succeed, to be perfect.

Parents who stress that, often stress out their kids and themselves. Slow down and enjoy the flowers along the way.

Jesus will still eat with us, even when we sin.

WITH OTHERS

So that’s a first step. We can also develop, learn, evolve, with our ability to be patient and compassionate with the other guy - with each other..

The problem with the Pharisees was their hiding the reality of their imperfections under a veneer of false holiness, piety and prayer.

JOAN BAEZ

Joan Baez used to sing a song,  entitled, “Be not too hard”. It was by Christopher Logue-Donovan—whoever that is or whoever they are. The song lines are something like,

          “Be not too hard for life is short,

          and nothing is given to man.

          Be not too hard we will soon die,

          often no wiser than when we began.

          Be not too hard

          for he must manage as best he can.

          Be not too hard when he blindly dies

     fighting for things 

     that he does not own.

          Be not too hard

          for he will soon die

often no wiser than when he began.          

Be not too hard when he tells lies

or if his heart is somewhat like a stone.”

CONCLUSION

My message then is: we are all on our way. So let’s be patient with ourselves and with others. Aim for a perfect 10 - but hold one’s head up when we get a 2.

March 11, 2017

BLANKIE

Fill in the blank_______.

Did you have a security blanket, 
a toy dog, a teddy bear, that 
you had to have - if you wanted 
to go to sleep or anywhere as a kid?

I don’t know. I don’t remember.

I’ll have to ask my older sister,

because we’re the only two left

after all these years?

Then again we probably bit

our thumb nail a bit - when

our mom and dad died -

and when we lost the key

comfort people and objects

of our life - like it seemed we 
lost it all as we moved from our

last home to the nursing home?

Come to think about it,

I never thought of a Bible

or a rosary as a blankie -

and YOU too, O God.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017