Thought for today:
“A small thing often makes a greater revelation of character than battles where thousands die.”
Plutarch [A.D. 46-120]
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
November 27, 2018
BLUE
Blue - easy on the eyes -
blue skies and blue eyes -
memories of the blue beach waters
of the Mediterranean and the Caribbean -
then there were those letters
written with bright blue ink
on white or yellow paper -
letters from my parents -
but mostly from my mom -
when at school - way, way back -
away from home - on my own -
blue - the color that calms
the heart beat in my chest
when I’m worried and restless -
when I’m agitated
like the wild red
fires -
destroying the coastal forests -
but I still don’t know why
when I’m feeling down
they call that feeling blue.
© Andy Costello, Reflections
2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
November 26, 2018
GIVE GOD THE GLORY
GIVE GOD THE GLORY
Did you ever see an athlete -
after a great catch or hit - pause
and raise his index finger to the
sky - and give God the glory?
Did you ever see yourself
after a great word or move -
pause and point your index
finger at yourself - to your glory?
Did you ever realize we all do that?
It’s such an embarrassing moment.
Quick, we head for the video tape
and erase our selfie moments.
© Andy Costello, Reflections
2018
SEEING OURSELVES
IN ANOTHER
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 34th Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Seeing Ourselves In Another.”
One of the more interesting things about us human beings
is that we see ourselves in one another.
We compare. We contrast. We judge. We imagine. We could
be wrong - but we still do this.
Other people are mirrors.
We see another’s house, car, clothes, looks, and we refer
right back to ourselves.
Another is thin; we feel we are not.
Another is generous; we feel stingy and cheap and not
that giving a person.
Another has a big house and a fat wallet and we don’t -
so we down neat and down beat on ourselves.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
I was trying to come up with some ideas for a homily for
today and I noticed one commentator saying that Jesus looked at this woman in
the temple and saw himself in her. I had
never heard that idea before. I never
thought of Jesus comparing himself to anyone. I have heard the opposite that we
compare ourselves to Jesus.
Here’s this poor widow who offers all that she has. Jesus said that she gave more than all the
rest….
Jesus saw that’s what he was doing with his life and was
about to do with his life. He was going to be emptied out - and poured out - on
the cross. He would be naked or almost naked - with beating marks - all over
his body.
If St. Alphonsus had a chance to work on the big crucifix
up here in our sanctuary, people would be shocked to see how bloody St.
Alphonsus would make it. Woo. Messy. Messy. Messy. Bloody red welts and cuts
covered his body.
When Jesus walked through Palestine did he see lambs -
cut for the suppers - for dinners - Passovers and everyday meals?
SO LIVE
I have not been a parent, but I’m sure parents hope their
kids pick up their good qualities -
serving their kids, giving, caring for - and that goes down generation after
generation after generation.
My dad used to take us to the park every Sunday - to give
my mom a break. I noticed my brother used to take his 7 daughters into Washington
D.C. most Sundays to give my sister-in-law a break. And I see these daughters
giving of themselves so the other gets a break.
Yesterday I had 4 baptisms and this one baby - Anastasia
- had this constant smile - and immediately looked at her parents faces to see
if they had a similar smile. Smiles beget smiles. Smiles are mirrors that hold the images of those
we see in their faces.
CONCLUSION
One of the lessons we often hear is: trust the process.
Kids pick up what they see in their parents.
So let us constantly work to give our best to one
another.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE
WHEN YOU GROW UP?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this feast of Christ the King is, “What Do You Want to Be When
You Grow Up?”
That’s one of those questions that has been asked to young
people since the beginning of time?
“What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?”
PARENTS
Parents certainly have high hopes for their kids. They
might make suggestions - but they don’t want to have kids who are unhappy for
the rest of their lives - because they end up trying to make their parents
happy - and they are not.
Yet - sometimes a
kid - later on - thanks a parent for being stubborn and for pushing them into a
career - they didn’t want at the time - or entering into in a family business
or what have you.
Different folks …. Different strokes …. Different stories
…. Different surprises.
I just heard a story the other day about a guy named
Steve. He finished college and with great joy he says to his dad, “Dad I got a
job!”
His father says, “What job did you get?”
“I’m going to be a garbage man.”
His father says, “I helped send you to a great college
and you end up being a garbage man.”
His son says, “Dad, there’s always going to be garbage!”
He did that and moved up from picking up garbage to
picking up a pen and clipboard - to a great executive position in New York City
in the Sanitation and loved his job.
Don’t
you love the poster and the quote by Martin Luther King Jr: “If a man is called to be a
street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or
Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and
earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job
well.”
WHAT KIND OF A WORKER ARE YOU?
Hopefully we all do our job well and we give our employers
their money’s worth.
I remember hearing John Shea giving a talk in Chicago
about a talk he gave in Dallas, Texas.
He said something I have tried to keep in mind in every homily I give.
He was scheduled to speak at 10 AM at a convention in a big hotel. He goes down
for breakfast at 8 AM - gets his breakfast on a tray and looks for a table.
He sees a guy sitting by himself and asks, “Mind if I
join you?”
The guy says, “Sure.” Then he asks Jack Shea, “Are you
here for the convention?”
Jack Shea says, “Yep!”
But he doesn’t really introduce himself as one of the speakers or what
have you.
They get talking and the guy says to Jack Shea, “I always
look for two things when I come to these conventions. I also look for them in
most books that I read. I want to hear something about work and relationships.
That’s where we spend most of our lives - except for sleeping.”
Jack Shea said he finished up his breakfast - faster than
usual - said to the guy, “Nice meeting you. Thanks for your comments about work
and relationships.”
And he said he moved fast to get upstairs and revamp his
talk to include big time those two topics: Work and relationships.
So here I am in this homily talking a bit about work.
How are you doing with your work and your relationships?
What did you have in mind about those two areas as you
were growing up?
Did you want to be when you grew up: a quarterback, chef,
veterinarian, garbage man, teacher, engineer, airline pilot, nurse, window washer, stained glass window maker [now that would be a great job if you want your work to last - the windows on both sides of our church here are well over 100 years old], mechanic, spy, tennis champion,
photographer, farmer, race car champion….
Did you want to in your relationships to be a good friend
and to have great friends. Did you want to be married with a wonderful spouse
and great kids.
TODAY IS CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY
Today we celebrate Christ as King ….
But as today’s gospel puts it: it’s not a title that
Jesus seems to be after or sort of like….
Pilate says, “Then you are a king?”
Jesus says back, “You say that I am a king….”
We read in the gospels about Mary and Joseph wondering,
“What’s going to happen with the child.” The Gospel says that Mary pondered in
her heart all that was happening.
It’s the same story with John the Baptist and various
characters in the Old Testament.
Preachers on the feast day like to talk about what kind
of king Jesus was: he washed feet, healed people, fed people, helped people see
better.
Jesus tried to
point out what kind of king, queen, priest, prophet, we ought not to be: one who is all ego - all self - or one who gives bad example.
What do we want to be when we grow up?
What skills do we have? What do we love to do? What do we
hate to do? What do we have to do?
I can’t cook - but I can clean pots and pans. I watched the whole meaning of life take place
in one day - just the other day: Thanksgiving Day. I was with about 35 people -
family at Virginia Beach - and I saw my
nieces and their husbands going out and coming back with bags and making phone
calls to supermarkets to others about things they forgot - desserts bought and brought and baked. I saw
folks cooking and connecting - the whole story of life. We had a nice Mass at a
gigantic table in the beach house they were renting and on that same table we
had our meal.
Work and relationships….
The Mass is a meal and a key word for the Mass is
eucharist - which is the Greek word for thanksgiving.
That’s why we’re
here at Sunday Mass - to give thanks. That’s what this Past Week was all about.
Give us this day our daily bread - and turkey and
cranberry sauce and pumpkin pies.
Give us this day our daily words - our conversations - our
stories - our news. We talked about everything - yes politics - yes jobs, yes
trips, yes a new baby and another on the way.
I was wondering what these young college kids who had
graduated - what they were starting to do with the rest of their lives.
They were telling me some of the things they want to do
and be as they are growing up.
I hoped and prayed they would have religion - a
relationship with God - with Christ - probably not as king - but a servant - a
giver of his body and blood to us - a wisdom figure. I worry about a few of
them who find religion boring or they have left church because of the scandal
and all that.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily was, “What Are You Going to Be
When You Grow Up?”
Some of us are on our way - some of us have a long way to go - some of us look back and
celebrate our choices and some of us have our regrets - knowing we can still
wash pots and pans and feet.
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