CARAVAGGIO,  
CONVERSATIONS, 

AND  CONVERSION 

MOMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Caravaggio, Conversations and Conversion Moments.”

Today’s gospel triggered for me some thoughts - inner conversations -  about Caravaggio - 1571-1610 - an Italian Artist who died at the age of 38.

ROME 2011

In late September and early October, 2011,  I was on a Mediterranean Cruise. On September 30,  I was planning on taking a bus to Rome from the dock at Civitavecchia. My goal was to see our Redemptorist house in Rome - some of my confreres - and visit the shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. I didn’t think anyone would want to see that. Rome is Rome. I had been there for 5 weeks way back in 1984 - and saw all the big spots back then.

I get off the boat and head over to where the bus was. I spotted two ladies in our group - Winnie and Mary. They too were going to Rome - without knowing what they were going to do. I changed my plans and spent the day with them. I felt guilty on the bus on the way back to the boat - having walked them to death - one in her 80’s - the other in her 70’s. I didn’t ask their ages.

The bus dropped us off at St. Peter's. So that was the first and obvious place to see. Then we walked with nothing in mind - to see what we were to see in Rome. 

Well, there we were in the Piazza Navona....

We spotted a church - San Luigi dei Francesi. I never heard of it - never knew of - so we went in.

From the back we could see folks down front - off to the left - looking at something. We meandered towards them to see what was happening. There in the so called “Contarelli Chapel” - we discovered three of Caravaggio’s famous paintings:  The Calling of St. Matthew, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew and St. Mathew and the Angel.

I was to read after we got back on the boat: this was one of the 10 top places to see in Rome.

Well, I stood there and studied The Calling of St. Matthew. I then bought the book - on display and on sale inside the Church: The Bible of Caravaggio. Smart buy: I’ve gone to that book many times.

In the painting, The Calling of St. Matthew, we see Jesus - hand pointing - standing on the right calling Matthew - who is sitting off to the left - with red sleeves - same as Jesus. 

Matthew's head is down and he’s counting coins on the table.  

In the light is Christ - with a halo. We also see a young man with feathers in his cap. People speculate whether this is the Rich Young Man in today’s gospel who walked away from Jesus.

SURPRISE

The title of my homily is: "Caravaggio, Conversations and Conversion Moments."

Life is the surprises - like my changing plans that day when going to Rome. 

Life is the surprises - like walking into that church of St. Luigi dei Fancesi - the Church of St. Louis of France - and spotting 3 paintings by Caravaggio.

Those paintings got me into various inner conversation and wonderings these past few years about Caravaggio.  

Whenever I spotted an article about his paintings, I would check it out.

Caravaggio was a violent man. He killed a few people. He was often on the run. He died at 38. 

He came to Rome at the right time: they were building churches and palaces and they needed paintings. 

He also lived at the time when the Roman Church was coming to terms with the Protestant Reformation. Some in the Church called for a new way of thinking. Some were looking for painters who had a new message - a new way of seeing things. Why not show the human face - using ordinary people -  trying to figure things out - grasping for light in everyday darkness. Instead of eyes looking to the heavens, why not show eyes cast down counting coins at a tavern table?

Why not show Jesus in the rough and tumble situations of life? Why not show Jesus calling people to conversion in everyday situations? 

And in the articles and the conversations I read about Caravaggio -  I've read that his paintings are filled with light and darkness - in everyday scenes - with everyday people.

Of course - there were those who didn't like change. There were those who didn't like his style - or his scenes. For example, he did a painting of Mary that showed the bottom of her legs - her ankles and a tiny belly - as she was dying. It was a painting for a chapel and it lasted for a very short time in that chapel. If the owners kept it, it would be worth millions today.

Did Caravaggio change as a result of being in Rome and doing these religious pictures? Do preachers change as a result of being in a church and trying to paint pictures with words?

CONCLUSION

So what I got out of Caravaggio is that the story of our conversion takes place in the inner conversations we have with ourselves about the people and the situations that take place in our everyday life. 

In those inner chats we have with ourselves,  we experience light and darkness - confusion and clarity - inside us and all around us. 

Life happens at us - but it's not what happens that counts. It's what we become conscious of - and then what we talk to ourselves about - that counts. That opens the door to possible changes - conversions.

Everyday is filled with comments. There are bumps. There are fights. Anger erupts. Maybe comments about our tummy being bigger than we would like or the look of our ankles can cause comments and rejections. Hopefully, unlike Caravaggio we're not killing people. Yet people cut us off in our conversations or what have you and these can be conversion moments - calls from Jesus to be like him in those situations - to follow him.  

Surprise! These are life's choice moments. Sometimes we are like the rich young man - we think we can’t do it and we walk away. Sometimes we are like Matthew and we follow Jesus. Amen

STEP BACK

Quote for Today - August 19, 2013

"The winner is the one who knows when to drop out in order to get in touch."

Quoted by Paul Newman, The Table Talk of Marshall McLuhan, Maclean's, June 1971

Comments:

When was the last time I retreated?

When was the last time I stepped back and watched what was going on around me - especially in the lives I live and work with?

What am I seeing?

When was the last time someone said, "I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?" and we said, "Just chillin - just watchin - just seein - just thinkin - just wonderin.... By  the way, what's happenin with you?"

LIFE-CHANGING 

QUESTIONS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “Life-Changing Questions.”

Question: Has anyone ever asked me a life-changing question?

FATHER JAMES CONNELL

I never heard that question till I recently noticed it in an article on the back page of the National Catholic Reporter. The article was entitled, “Asking a Life-Changing Question.” [NCR, July 19-Aug. 1, 2013, p. 26]

The article tells the story of Father James Connell. In 2010 he was the vice chancellor of the archdiocese of Milwaukee.  He was publically accused of complicity in protecting abusive priests.

He said he was deeply stung by the accusation - which he denies.

The article then reported that Father Connell - instead of lashing out at the accuser, an abuse victim named Peter Isely, who was abused by a priest, - he asked himself a question: “What if I had been a victim of sexual abuse by a priest?”

He reported: that question changed his life.

He began meeting with Peter Isely and he began trying to clean up the mess in his diocese. He discovered that dioceses talk to lawyers more than the abused. He faced the clergy protecting one another culture - on the right and on the left.

One conclusion in the article: “One wishes someone would find the appropriate wall in the Vatican on which to affix the sign: It’s the culture stupid!”

As I read all this, I made a jump in my mind and said to myself: “Self interest runs the world!”

Now that's a bumper sticker statement. If the car in front of me at a red light said that, would I begin to agree or disagree with it?

STARTING WITH SELF

Now if self interest runs the world, I would assume the best place to start would be with self - to walk down the halls of self and read the handwriting on the walls of myself. What are my real rules on how I’m living life  - or killing time and life - scratched on my inner walls - the rules I might not even be aware of - that I go by?

Next thought: does the answer to how we see what's running our world depend on the view of the beholder - whether one is an optimist or a pessimist? Do I see the cup of life half full or half empty? Do I tend to spot the positive or the negative in others - as well as myself?

Or is the best answer to all this, the one from the Talmud, that says: “Teach thy tongue to say I do not know?”

I don’t know, but I do want to know more about life-changing questions?  I would think that is better than walking down the halls of self in the dark. That’s blindness. That gets us -  into wanting to sit down in some dark room along that dark hall - in a Lazy Boy or Lazy Girl chair. That’s self inertia. That’s self laziness. That’s self interest.

So maybe self interest does run the world. Maybe that’s what Jesus is getting at in all his statements about dying to self - being that wheat seed that dies - that is planted in the earth so that it might grow - so that it might become bread - become Eucharist - become us - so that we might then hit the road - accept the cross - be on the the Way and by the way - to stop to help our neighbor along the Way.

So I don’t know. I have to think about all this. 

In the meanwhile, let me start with self - and possible life changing questions - questions that would be smart to face, face to face, in the mirror?

MAKE A LIST OF QUESTIONS

Here's some homework. Please think about your life - and see if you can come up with some life-changing questions that have hit you.

Here are some of my questions for starters:

What is my most important interest in life? What do I want? What am I really interested in? What are my dreams? What gives me bliss? What do I inwardly scream about - when the opposite is happening - or nothing is happening?

Am I happy to be in the skin, at the age, in the house, in the job, in the family, in the marriage, in the church, with the face I got and the story I’m in right now?

What have I done with my life so far? Where am I right now? What’s next? What do I want to do with the rest of my life?  What do I want to do this afternoon, tonight  and tomorrow?

What about those around me? What’s it like - really like - to be in their shoes - in their skin - in their situations? What are their joys and exaltations? What is their answer to the blank at the end of the question: “I am happiest when _______?” What are their inner gripes and snipes and inner screams? What are their expectations? What are their expectations of me?

A man in Ohio told me that for 23 years of his marriage he would drive home from work and wished the porch light would be on for him - but she never turned it on to welcome him home. 

I asked, “Well, why didn’t you tell her?” 

He answered, “Then I would say to myself, ‘She put it on because I told her to put it on’ and then it wouldn’t count - [pause] - as much as - if she put it on because she wanted to let me know she’s glad I’m almost home.” 

I asked him: “Well,  what do you do to let her know you’re home and you were dying to get home to be with her?” Or, “Okay, she’s not Tom Bodett, leaving the light on for you as in the Motel 6 ad, but what does she do to let you know she loves you and she’s glad you’re home? Is there anything you’re missing?”  

I got no answer to these questions. 

However, maybe they became life changing questions long after we talked. I don’t know.

Hey, it's many years ago when I heard that story, but I still remember that man and his desire for that light being lit on his porch as he came up his street.

Does God have a plan for me?  If God does, how specific is it? How particular is it?  If we talk to God about this stuff in prayer - say for example - taking a nice walk around 8 in the evening with our self and God - do we get answers? If we get answers, how do we know they are God’s answers?

Does anyone ever ask me what I want - where I’m at - how I’m doing - and they really are interested in my comments and figurings?

What’s it like to be at the Supermarket and the bill is enormous and money is tight and we’re nervous about our job - and our finances - and it looks like someone is getting a ton of stuff with food stamps - and we’re thinking, “What’s wrong with this picture?” But we don’t want to one of life’s complainers - and others are saying, “Oh no not again - with that conversation and those comments? No!”

What’s it like to be out of work and stuck and we have to ask for food stamps and for help?

LIFE CHANGING QUESTIONS

I framed those questions in such a way - so as to bring them back to self - to my way of thinking or not thinking - for more self awareness.

We’re surrounded by people. There are over 6 billion of us on the planet. And everyone has their own personal radio station broadcasting in their own brains - listening their own tunes and speeches - even though everyone seems to be plugged into all kinds of devices.

Do we know their inner sounds and signals?

Do we know our own?

Today’s gospel - Luke 12: 49-54] has Jesus telling us that he came to light a fire under us - not to bring peace - but the sword of division. At other times Jesus will tell us that he came to bring peace - and repentance and revision. [Cf. Matthew 11:28-30; John 20:20.]

Does it all depend on what we need now - where we are right now?

Is there a life changing question that would challenge us to change our life - to get us to move in a more radical way of doing life - a way of life that our family and neighbors might say of us, "He's crazy!” [Cf. Mark 2:21]

That’s what those who began following Christ experienced from family and neighbors and friends. They were thought to be crazy - and Christ’s way of doing life split some families right down the middle - three against two - two against  three.  

Sometimes to speak up or to change - to be into God - can get us in trouble - like Jeremiah in today’s first reading. He was put in a hole or pit or cistern - into a pile of mud - in hopes of silencing him - and eventually killing him.  [Cf. Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10]

He lucked out because someone came to his rescue.

MOVING TOWARDS A CONCLUSION

Today’s second reading from Hebrews has the image of the runner in a race. She or he has their eye on the goal ahead - and nothing is going to stop them - and Christ is that Goal. Keep our eyes on him. [Cf. Hebrews 12:1-4]

What’s the goal? What do I see as the finishing line? Maybe that’s the life changing question?

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Life-Changing Questions.”

This has been an easy homily. It’s mostly questions.

And last night after the 4:30 Mass a couple said to me, “The answer is easy: the life changing question is: ‘Will you marry me?’”

I laughed. However, after that - I still think it’s good to look at the life-changing question. The question is easy. Coming up with the answer is the challenge. 

Then the really hard part stares us it in the face. It's twofold: the answers to the question and then the actions - the changes I have to make after that.

I hope this homily turned one light on inside your house. I know reading that article entitled “Asking a Life-Changing Question” did for me.

MISTAKES

Quote for Today - August 18,  2013

"Life is very interesting if you make mistakes."

Anonymous

Comments:

It's even more interesting what we can learn from our mistakes.

What have been the 3 biggest mistakes in our life and what are 3 lessons we learned from each?

Is there a nickname for those who don't think they have made a mistake?

PROCRASTINATION

Quote for Today - August 17, 2013

"Always put off till tomorrow what you should not do at all."

Anonymous

DIVORCE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19^th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Divorce.”

Divorce - like losing one’s house in a fire or experiencing the death of a child - or issues like alcoholism, suicide, homosexuality, gambling, abuse, are all abstractions - out there - happening to other people - that is,  till they hit home - till they hit our family. Then there can be pain, hurt, dark nights, anger, and the possibility of a lot of mis-understandings - and hopefully some new understandings, etc.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

The other day in a homily I quoted Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh and their book Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels - in order to grasp what was going on in Palestine in the time of Jesus regarding children. When today’s gospel - Matthew 19: 3-12 -  talks about divorce I went to their book once more to get a glimpse of how they describe what marriage and divorce was like in Jesus’ time.

Here are some of their comments. I realize this can be a bit complex.

Marriage in the first-century Mediterranean world and earlier was marriage more of two families - than of two individuals. “One family offered a male, the other a female. Their wedding stood for the wedding of the larger extended family.” (p. 121) Think families.

People at that time saw families arranging marriages - as well as seeing God as the one who arranges marriages. “And just as it is God alone who determines one’s parents, so too it is God who ‘joins together’ in marriage.” (p. 121)  So when it comes to a divorce, realize this is very serious stuff - because God is in the picture as we hear loud and clear in today’s gospel.

“In Matthew’s community,” - the gospel we’re hearing today - “what is prohibited is divorce and remarriage or divorce in order to marry again. It would be such divorce that inevitably would lead to family feuding, a true negative challenge to the honor of the former wife’s family.”  Think impact on families - families!

Next, our text uses the word “unlawful” - whereas the text Malina and Rohrbaugh use has the word  “unchastity” - when talking about  certain marriages - that can be broken because they are listed in Leviticus 18:6-23, as having “forbidden degrees of kinship for marriage.”  In small villages and towns - with many family ties - marriages and relationships with close relatives happened - and this is not smart - nor healthy - for very close blood tied marriages. These also can lead to family feuds and anger. (p. 121)

In other words - according to Malina and Rohrbaugh - divorce in Matthew’s community - had  very serious disruptions  - causing serious family feuds - and great disruption in town - because of shame  - dishonor. If the  man slept with a prostitute - that didn’t have the impact of having sex with a woman in another family. That’s serious adultery.

We get some glimpses of this in close families today - when there is divorce or cheating. It too causes feuds, screaming, anger and disruptions in the local community.

Malina and Rohrbaugh indicate that the rights of a wife and children had little weight in Jesus’ time.  When talking about divorce, we’re talking about impact on the males and on families.

SOME CONCLUSIONS

That’s kind of heavy. I don’t think it’s the stuff of a daily homily - a homily that is trying to tackling the issue of divorce because it was in the gospel. My goal was my desire  to jot down for myself - some random comments about marriage and divorce. Perhaps the following scattered thoughts would be more practical.

Today there is more awareness of women and children’s rights and considerations, 

Back then and today divorces are messy business.

What are we to do?

What are we to say?

For starters I always say to myself the old saying in the Talmud: “Teach thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know!’”

Then we can and must say some things.

Defend marriage.

Think of children - and their protection.  You heard what Anonymous once said, “Why didn’t they give the KID the house and let the parents take turns visiting.” 

In the meanwhile, make marriages stronger.

Give good example.

When kids vent to us about their marriage - listen - but recommend that they talk it would be better if they talk to  each other and talk to a third party if necessary. Counseling can help couples.

Tell them to write out what they are thinking and feeling.

Forgiveness, listening and loving one another, should always be in play.

In marriage - expect the bad times - along with the good. Isn’t that why that theme is in the vows? Expect  the cross to appear in our lives. The rosary doesn’t just have the Glorious and Joyful  mysteries. Sometimes we’ll be dealing with our own Sorrowful Mysteries of our personal rosary and hopefully there will be Light Bearing Mysteries as well.

Some people shouldn’t get married - as today’s gospel puts it.

Not everyone accepts Jesus’ words as we also heard in today’s gospel.

Not everyone accepts our words.

Not everyone knows what to say when it comes to divorce. I know I don’t. Sometimes silence - lots of silence as one listens - along with silent prayer - hopefully takes place - when we are trying to be present to another who is hurting.

Don’t forget today’s Psalm response: His mercy endures forever.

And lastly, as I began these rough comments about divorce, it’s good to try walking in the shoes of those who are dealing with a divorce - along with walking in the sandals and shoes of the children or divorce.

LISTENING

Quote for Today - August 16, 2013

"Choose a spouse more by your ear than by your eye."

Anonymous