HOPE SO
Quote for the Day - June 26, 2010
"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope."
Charles Revson [1906-1975], in A. Tobias, Fire and Ice (1976) Chapter 8
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
THE HAMMER AND
THE CHISEL OF PAIN
THE CHISEL OF PAIN
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 12 Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Hammer and The Chisel of Pain.”
We’ve all seen stone statues and sculptures in museums and cemeteries.
We might have been to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota or we’ve seen the Pieta or Moses statues by Michelangelo. So we’ve seen stone statues or sculptures.
But have we ever seen an artist or a sculptor with hammer and chisel in hand, hammer and chisel away at stone or marble? Hit! Chip! Bang! Metal hammer hitting metal chisel. Bing! Ping! Ring! Bang! Sweat! Work!
THE WORK OF ART CALLED ME
Hopefully we see ourselves – as well as each other – as works of art?
We have been created by God.
We have been made by our mom and dad – mostly our mom – but we have both their DNA and genes.
We have been formed in their image and likeness.
We are our parent’s smiles and laughs – accents and expressions – gestures and mannerisms – much more than we realize.
Yet we know who has made us – who we are and it wasn’t all us.
But we have also been made not just by who’s – but also by what’s.
What have been the experiences and moments that created us – formed us – sculpted us, molded us, chipped away at us?
The title of my homily is, “The Hammer and the Chisel of Pain.”
TODAY’S FIRST READING
Last night, when I read today’s first reading [2 Kings 25:1-12], it really hit me how easy I’ve had it. What would it be like to be living in a situation like today’s first reading – when the city we’re living in is under siege and then the walls are breached and our city is burnt and destroyed – and then almost everyone is made to leave all behind and move into exile?
What would it be like to have our leaders herded together and our president or governor or mayor stand there in terror and have our attackers kill their children in front of them and then their eyes are torn out so that was the last thing they saw?
People around the world grow up in horrible situations – poverty, war, greed, rape, violence, abuse.
How do those horrors sculpt, form, inform, affect and effect the person living in those circumstances?
The title of my homily is, “The Hammer and the Chisel of Pain.”
OTHER PAINS
Besides wars and mass violence there are those other pains and sufferings of life: rejection, spouses walking out, kids marriages and faith falling apart.
Death, cemeteries, scars, horror stories are in our inner landscape – in our inner library.
How have the hammer and chisel of those hurts and pains formed our lives?
Which has more impact: horror or the good stuff?
In this homily - because of that first reading - I'm reflecting on the tough stuff.
Those of you who have read The Shack – read the phrase, “The Great Sadness.” In the book it’s a child who has been kidnapped and killed.
Richard Rohr talks about “The Wound”.
Whatever it’s called, it’s pain, suffering. It’s part of the mystery of life - the mystery of wondering about the mind of God in creating life.
And pain can so hound us and weigh us down that we think the rosary of our life only has Sorrowful Mysteries –and no Joyful and Glorious Mysteries.
CONCLUSION
The hope I would assume is that we get into the Light Bearing Mysteries – that these hurts and horrors of life bring us some kind of light – and insight - understandings and compassion.
Why suffering? We don’t know - down, down deep knowing.
But we do know the cross stands there in front of us – sometimes as big as the gigantic cross in this church here – sometimes as small as the cross on our rosary. Whichever, we know the cross is ever there – and not just on Good and Bad Fridays.
We do know that suffering knocks at every door – and we as believers know that God sent his only Son into this world to knock on every door – to enter every stable – to enter into this mystery of life - this mystery of joys and sorrows, seasons of war and seasons of peace, into this mass of ups and downs and ins and outs, cuts and scars, because people hurt so much at times.
With faith we know that God entered into communion with us in all this – in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
FALLING IN LOVE
Quote for the Day - June 24, 2010
"When a man falls in love suddenly,
his whole center changes.
Up to that point he has,
probably, referred everything to himself -
considered things from his own point.
When he falls in love
the whole thing is shifted;
he becomes part of the whole circumference;
someone else becomes the center.
For example,
things he hears and sees
are referred in future instantly
to this other person;
he ceases to be acquisitive.
His entire life,
if it is really love,
is pulled sideways;
he does not desire to get,
but to give.
That is why it is the noblest thing
in the world."
Robert Hugh Benson [1871-1914], A Mirror of Shallot [1907]
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
LIBERAL CATHOLIC
Quote of the Day, June 22, 2010
"Daniel O'Connell was not a bigot in religion - he was a liberal Catholic. Do not misunderstand me - my idea of a liberal Catholic is one who is sincere and faithful in the profession of his faith, but who recognizes in every other human being the same right he claims for himself; but in modern times a liberal Catholic has come to be understood as a man who makes no distinction between one creed and another. O'Connell was neither of these; he believed in his religion, and from the period of his unfortunate duel to the close of his life he combined the dedication of a practical Catholic in his private moral life with the highest duties of a politician and a statesman, and that is what scarcely any other public man that I have read of has ever accomplished before."
Archbishop John Hughes: Lecture on Daniel O'Connell in 1856
Archbishop John Joseph Hughes [1797-1864] was the 4th bishop and the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. He was born in Ireland. He had the nickname of "Dagger John" because when signed his name, he would add a drawing of a cross as a dagger. He was also known for his sharp, quick, cutting personality.
Daniel O'Connell [1775-1847] was a lawyer who campaigned for Irish Catholic freedom in Ireland. He chose speech and debate as his method of protest against injustice. He said, even though 85 % of Ireland were Catholics, they had little rights. His nickname was, "The Liberator" because of his cause for Catholic Emancipation in Ireland.
The duel -mentioned in the above quote - is referring to a moment in 1815 that was to bother Daniel O'Connell for the rest of his life. After a famous speech - called "The Corpo" because in it, O'Connell said the Dublin Corporation was bigoted against Catholics and only served the established Protestants. Because of his comments, a man named John D'Esterre - a famous duelist - challenged O'Connell to a duel. The Protestants were very happy because they figured this would be the end of Daniel O'Connell for good. The duel was held at Dublin Castle - where the British Government administered Ireland. O'Connell hit D'Esterre in the hip - the bullet settled in his stomach - and as a result he died. Daniel O'Connell was haunted by this memory of killing another human being for the rest of his life. It left D'Esterre's wife and family in poverty. O'Connell offered D'Esterre's wife money - but she refused. However, she accepted an allowance for her daughter - which O'Connell gave for the next 30 years till he died.
In the quote above the phrase "Liberal Catholic" is nuanced 2 ways. How many other ways do people understand, "Liberal Catholic"? For those who want to read further on this topic, check out the Vatican II document Declaration of Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, December 7, 1965. For those who don't accept Vatican II, check out The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #'s 2104-2109. For those who don't accept that, check out Matthew 25: 31-46 and Galatians 6: 2. For those who still don't accept any of these comments, I will not duel you any further.
Pictures on top: Daniel O'Connell - a painting. Beneath him: Archbishop John J. Hughes.
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