July 4, 2018

FIREWORKS

Some people sparkle;

some people dud.

Some people light up the sky;

some people fizzle.

Some people are hot dogs;

some people are buns.

Some people are watermelons;

some people are a cold one.

Me?  I’m must be me and you’re just you.

Together let’s enjoy the picnic

and go “Wow!” with the fireworks
and enjoy the gifts of life together. Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

July 4, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“’One sacred memory  from childhood is perhaps the best education,’ said Feodor Dostoevski. I believe that, and I hope that many Earthling children will respond to the first human footprint on the moon as a sacred thing. We need sacred things.”  

Kurt Vonnegut, 

Wampeters, Forma, 

and Grandfalloons, 1974

Moon footprint: July 20, 1969

*

IF  IN  DOUBT, 

SPEAK  UP  
AND OUT  YOUR  DOUBT!  

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “If In Doubt, Speak Up And Out Your Doubt!”

Spit out. Doubt!

Today is the feast of St. Thomas - and he’s famous because of his doubt.

Hey, we don’t know too much about some of the other apostles - apostles like Barthomew, Simon the Canaanite  - [not Simon Peter], James The less, Jude, [not Judas] - also known as Thaddeus.

But we do know about Thomas - mainly because of his doubt.

And when it comes to religion, there are lots of silent doubts - unexpressed doubts - theological wonderings.  

Thomas gets sort of picked on by Jesus - for being the doubter. Then  Jesus uses him to praise those who make great acts of faith.

As we heard as the ending to today’s gospel, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

THE VALUE OF DOUBTERS

In this homily, I’m giving praise to those who doubt.

Do we have enough milk? Did anyone make sure the widows are closed?  Is the restaurant open on Monday evenings? Who’s in charge of making the reservations? 

Maybe Flint Michigan would not have  had so much lead problems with their water - if the city manager and those in charge did regular checkups.

Catholic Dioceses would have saved millions and millions of dollars if someone checked out their doubts about Father So and So.

A big benefit from the abuse problem in the Catholic Church is that parents keep a better eye on who’s trying to be with their kids. We took a horrible hit - kids getting hurt - and lots of folks not going to church because of the sins and bad example of others. Any of you who have volunteered for school and  teaching kids know you have to be certified. It’s a pain at times, but this doubt culture is protecting kids better.

In other words, having doubts can sometimes have benefits.

A FEW COMMENTS AND A FEW QUOTES

Galileo said, “Doubt is the father of discovery.”  If those in charge - of the thought police in the Catholic Church - would have had some doubts about their sureness that  Galileo was wrong, maybe we wouldn’t have been tagged as being so unscientific.

I love the saying - by someone named Francis Sayer , “Religion isn’t yours  firsthand until you doubt it right down to the ground.” Francis Sayer, Life magazine,  April 2, 1965

That fits in with Isaac Bashevis Singer’s comment, “Doubt is part of all religion.  All the religious thinkers were doubters.”

Rene Descartes wrote, “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things”  He said that in Principles of Philosophy, 1644.

But I better add that we need also to have doubts about our doubts.  I say that because when I was looking up ideas and comments about doubts the following  statement by a John Hutchinson, in Faith, Reason and Existence, 1956, hit me, “ There is  a measure of truth in the traditional doctrine that … all doubt is at bottom a dishonest rationalization of sin.”

CONCLUSION

That brings me full circle. 

So today  we celebrate the memory and the story of Saint Thomas the Apostle - which I believe is saying, “It’s good to have faith - but we’re also allowed to have doubts - and hopefully our doubts bring us find faith - especially in the wounds of Christ and the realities of life around us.

___________________

* Painting on top: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas [1601-1602] by Caravaggio (1571-1610)

July 3, 2018

BENCH

Single chair - bench - or couch?

A bench - as well as a couch -

says a lot more than a single chair.

Picture a couple on a park bench -

snuggling - or a grandpa reading

to his grand-kid on a couch.

Now picture an individual all alone

sitting there reading a paper or a

Pharisee sitting there far off - alone -  inwardly

complaining about Jesus with a dozen kids.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

July 3, 2018

Thought for today: 

“Any life … is made up  of a single moment - the moment in which a person finds out … who they are.”  

Jorge L. Borges

Homework: 

Jot down 

10 possible single

moments

and then pick

# 1 - that fits a

Jorge L. Borges

single moment.

July 2, 2018 

A  GRAIN  OF  SALT 

A couple of grains of salt 

were talking - wondering 

where they would end up. 

Me, I ended up on a big pretzel - 

a German one - not bad, but 

the licker really didn't taste me. 

Ah, that’s life, at least I 

didn’t end up being thrown 

out and trampled under foot. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

Cf. Matthew 5: 13

SOME TOUGH WORDS FOR TODAY

 INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 13^th  Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Some Tough Words for Today.”

Both our readings have some tough words and challenges.

I’m sure the listeners - to Amos from 780 -745 B.C.  and to Jesus - around the year 33 - listened with “Uh Oh!”  feelings.

AMOS

Amos spoke out about how people were treating people.  People were selling people for silver or a pair of sandals. The weak and the lowly were trampled and forced out of the way.

That comment triggered something a priest I had worked with in Wisconsin once told  me. He was working in Nigeria. The army would come down busy streets in jeeps and trucks. The military with hard black hoses would hit people who were in their way on both sides of the road.

Amos said fathers and sons would go to the same prostitute. People would curse each other using God’s name. People would be drinking in God’s house.

Prophets would preach politics.

If Amos was around today - and preached what he was preaching  - there would be uproar. There would be screams to keep politics out of religion. There would be letters to the Bishop and to the Editor of the Local Papers.

JESUS PREACHED ABOUT SEEING MORE THAN JUST THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD

That’s Amos. Now Jesus.

I’m sure you have heard the phrase: the hard sayings of Jesus.

In today’s gospel Jesus seems hard on people by saying “Let the dead bury their dead.”

Jesus cried when Lazarus died.

But Jesus also knew that some folks get caught up in death - and can’t rise to new life.

Death and burials in the time of Jesus were  much, much more difficult than our times.

Listen to these statistics. I found the following quote on page 211 of Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaug’s book, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels.

In the Mediterranean basin in Jesus time, “By the mid-teens 60 % would have died, by the mid-twenties 75 %, and 90 % by the mid-forties. Perhaps 3 percent  reached their sixties.”

I visited Israel in the year 2000. As a result, I picture much of the land when I read or hear the Bible - when it talks about Palestine.  So too I remember that text I quoted from Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaug’s book.

It would be difficult to picture this, but when Jesus was looking at people like I’m looking at you today, most of the crowd was young and most had experienced a lot of deaths.

Jesus must have seen a lot of people down in the dumps with their deaths.

Here he is telling people bury your dead and move on.

When people tell me about keeping ashes in their house - I just listen.  I am aware that some people have heard some priest say, “You’re not allowed to do that.”

I think they have to learn to bury their dead and move on - but I keep my mouth shut. I believe people have to learn some things by experience.

I remember our provincial saying to me when I was the priest at my mother’s funeral, “I don’t know how you could do your mother’s funeral!” That surprised me. I said nothing. But I thought. “Of course I’m doing it - even though she was killed in a hit and run accident. This is what one does and one moves on.”

Of course we mourn and cry, but we move on.  We don’t stay in locked upper rooms - like when Jesus was arrested and killed - but Jesus rises from the dead - comes through our walls - says “Peace” and “Go!” and “Move it.”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily for today is, “Some Tough Words for Today.”

I find them quite challenging. How about you?