A Thousand (2020-12-27 , Holy Family Sunday)

2020-12-27  Holy Family  Year B – Luke 2^nd chapter,  Gospel with Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna

●    ●      ●   ●  ●  Title:   A Thousand.

[_01_]    In the life of the American author and activist, Helen Keller, we see someone who lived in 1800’s and 1900’s.

          Helen Keller is the girl and woman who ultimately triumphed over the double learning disabilities, in that she was both blind and deaf due to a childhood illness, Helen loses her ability both to see and hear.

          What is troubling, then, for her and her parents is that Helen Keller has no language. She is an infant to whom no one has ever read or spoken.  She is in the dark in terms of her eyes and she is on mute in terms of her ears.

[_02_]        You can’t flip a switch to turn on the screen or sound back on for her.

          But, as you may know, Helen Keller does learn to communicate even to converse.

          You and I take words, sentences, vocabulary for granted.

          We send the words, deliver, text, delete. To us, you might say, “talk” is really cheap.

          And, our “inexpensive” words/talk often come with an unlimited plan that we can cancel at any time with T-Mobile or Verizon.

 

[_03_]   This is not true for Helen who as a young person and a student really learns to treasure really learns to value and treasure words and language.

          In the famous play – “The Miracle Worker” – about her life, a teacher comes on the scene to instruct her, to build a vocabulary and there is one particularly famous scene.

          The teacher – trying to get through to Helen without sound or sight – uses her sense of touch. She takes Helen to a water pump outside and lets the clear cold H₂O flow over her hand while simultaneously drawing the letters into the palm of her hand: W-A-T-E-R.  “water.”

[_04_]  It is a moment of great revelation that Helen now has a structure and intellect to connect a real experience.

          Or as one person wrote, revising the old saying: “For Helen, a word is worth a thousand pictures”.

          We have the original saying that images and photos and videos are very powerful, thus our phones and cameras and Instagram accounts are very active, and this means – in the original “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

          But, for Helen, the opposite is true: a word is worth a thousand pictures.

[_05_]  We read in the Gospel of John that “In the beginning was the Word and Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

          Jesus is the Word made flesh, the incarnation of God’s word.

[_05.01_]    What does it mean to give someone your word? It means that you are entrusting yourself, your heart to the other and that the other person is entrusting his or heart to you.

          One day, I read a text from a friend I was to meet that day, though we were both delayed. I received and the following message: “I’ll be there in 19 minutes”

          I was so impressed by the exact precision of the note. We laughed about this later because my friend simply meant to write “10” but accidentally typed “19”.

          I was focused on the “19” and its precision and this revealed something about my own desire for things to be just a particular way.

          The word was worth a thousand pictures  … of me.

          [*** Pause ***]

[_06_]    There is a particular word in this Holy Family Sunday Gospel which stands out in importance for both this Gospel and the entire Gospel:

          CONTRADICTION.

CONTRADICTION.

That’s a big, grown-up word, but it is being applied to this small infant child Jesus of whom we are told that he will be a “contradiction” or “sign of contradiction” to those around him.

 

[_07_]     The biblical scholar, Dr. Kenneth Bailey wrote this about this Holy Family Gospel. This Gospel – read at “Christmas” time is prediction for “Good Friday” and “Easter”.

          In this Gospel, Simeon refers to the sword which will pierce Mary’s heart and that this contradiction will reveal the hearts of many.

          And, at Calvary on Good Friday, everything is in disarray:

 

__ Pontius Pilate, thinks Jesus is innocent, but condemns him to die.

__ Peter, who has assertively identified Jesus as Messiah and personal friend, denies him 3x

__ Priests/ Pharisees – though impressed with his miracles and teaching, bolster these charges against Jesus.

 

[_08_]       The life and ministry of JC exposes contradictions.

          It is our consolation and our call to believe in God, but that does not mean it is always easy or simple to believe, to trust.

          This is true also in human relationships, as well, and in promises we make.

[_09_]    On the day of Baptism or the day of birth, parents and godparents say the word and say “I Do” to raise their children in the faith.

          Such vows also may be made at home or at the hospital.

          But is that word not worth a thousand pictures, a thousand decisions, a thousand actions to come.

          Saying the word -- “I Do” at the altar in marriage/matrimony is worth a thousand pictures.

 

[_10_]        As Catholics and Christians and followers of his way, we also testify to the beauty of family life, not only in the commitments but also in the contradictions.

          Of course, friendships are important in our life. And, spouses can consider each other to be friends.  I value my friendships with my siblings, my brothers and sister.

          But, there is something deeper and more significant than friendship between us. There is family which is even more important.

          And, family unites us even more because it pre-dates. To use a popular term today…”family” is our pre-existing condition, and pre-existing creation.

          The family existed even before we existed.

          And, even in the family relationship that we consider broken or incomplete, there is a reminder that we have bonds and connection and beauty that we were given, were given to us.

          We did not not create it. We did not create ourselves. In a similar way, we do not redeem or forgive only ourselves.

          We can apologize to each other, we can patch things up, but we really rely ultimately on God for forgiveness.

          We need a gift – the gift of Jesus loving us to the end – giving up his life for us to know that every stage of life, we are loved, we matter. Sometimes, life is a contradiction.

          A word is worth a thousand pictures.  [_fin_]          

Why He Came (2020-12-25, Christmas)

2020-12-25  Christmas  Title:   Why He Came

[_01_]  In New Orleans, there is a professor of law, who wrote this to his law school students, those studying to be lawyers, those aspiring to work for legal justice, because he wanted them to reflect on the reason that they had gone to law school.

          He gave this example of what happened during the Christmas winter / semester break in New Orleans in 2005.

          After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, hundreds of law school student volunteered to work in New Orleans and other devastated communities along the Gulf Coast during their holiday or time off.

          Several students helped out with a case in the lower 9^th ward in the very severely damaged city of New Orleans where hundreds of homes had been demolished without notice to the owner or an opportunity to be heard.

          Most of these homes had been literally swept off of their foundations by the brutal onrush of huge walls of tons of water when the levees broke. Many homes were upside down, some were sitting in the middle of the street blocks away from their “real address” and some were on tops of cars or even on top of other homes.

          So – what the city and government needed to do was to check – who owned these homes? Where did they belong? It was very difficult because they were scattered so far and wide.

          By the way, do you recall that MARTIAL LAW had been declared in New Orleans at the time? It was a terrible crisis.

          The law school students went out on a mission into lower 9^th ward neighborhood.

          Their goal for the homes was either to fix them up or remove /rescue personal possessions and objects of value. In teams, students went to each house scheduled to be demolished to see if they could figure out who the owners were. Then, the teams tried to contact the displaced owners.

 

[_02_]  At the end of the week of round-the-clock  work, the law school students met together to reflect on what they had experienced.

          Sitting on the floor, they shared their post-Hurricane-Katrina New Orleans neighborhood experience.

          As they went around the room, a number of students started crying.

          One young woman wept as she told of her feelings when she discovered a statue of the Madonna – Blessed Mother Mary – just like the one in her own mother’s home in California. At that moment, she realized her profound connection with the family whom she had never met. This was not a “case” but rather a “life”, a connected to her own.

          Another student told of finding a small hand-stitched pillow with the words stitched/printed as “Blessed are the meek.”  It told a lot about the people who lived in that small home. Not the usual sentiment celebrated in law school.

          The last student to speak was also overwhelmed with emotion. The student felt it was a privilege to able to assist people in such great need. He said the following: “You know, the first thing I lost in law school was the reason that I came to law school. This experience will help me get back on track.” It reminded him of why he had come to law school… the reason.

 

[_03_]  What is the reason we are here? What is the reason that we read about the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds at Christmas?

          Jesus comes to fulfill the law and the prophets, but also to write a new law on our hearts and to remind us that we are never far from Him.

          Some of our traditional regular reasons and rituals may have been interrupted …or they are about to be interrupted or disrupted.

          Our reason for Christmas joy can be celebrated by what we pay at the very beginning of Mass and every day: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…”

          In the Trinity, we celebrate and honor God as 3 persons with 1 divine nature, with 1 being.

          The persons of the Trinity – F, S, HS – are co-equal, co-eternal, one in essence, action, power, and will.

          What is something that will help us to see the existence of this Trinity-like equality or being “co-equal”.

          One event would be post-Katrina rescue effort by the law school students – they saw themselves as united with the people who needed their help.

 

[_04_]        Also – consider what happens with the birth of a child or the presence of a child in your life, in our lives.

          In your effort (our effort) to protect and nurture the child, we do so , acknowledging that the child is more than just another dependent being, or as being “other”.  Rather, caring for a child reminds us not that the child is “other” but that the child is a part of us.

          In fact, is it not true that very small children themselves do not even “get” the idea of a separation between themselves and a parent. Everything is about unity, union.  Putting them down to sleep, we do so very carefully.

 

 [_06_]    The reason we celebrate Christmas so explicity, so intentionally, is to recall that we can be and we are on the way to being in union with God.

          When we say that God sent his son into the world and Jesus came into the world, we are really saying that God came into the world in a human form, so people (you and I) could experience a personal relationship with him, build trust, and understand his love for all people.

          He came that we might also find a house and home with him at our own address and remember that Jesus is looking for us, searching for us at our home, wherever that might be. That’s our Savior’s way of practicing law. He will spend his Christmas break – and longer – waiting and searching for you.

          If your house or home feels “displaced” or “disrupted” or unmoored from its foundations, he is still looking for you, wherever you are.

          This the reason we came.

          This is the reason He came.  [_fin_] 

Bibliography Reference: William P. Quigley, “Letter to a Law Student Interested in Social Justice” Duke Law School Journal Fall 2007

Play to Pray (2020-12-20, Advent-04)

2020-12-20_  Advent (4^th)

●  2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16  ●   Psalm  89 ●  Romans 16:25-27 ● + Luke 1:26-38 ●

Title: Pray to Play .

Bibliographic Reference:

Romano Guardini, “The Playfulness of the Liturgy”  The Essential Guardini,  Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1997, pp. 147-252. Originally published, “The Spirit of the Liturgy” (1918) pp. 196-198.

 [_01_]  Imagine you are having lunch with 2 people whom you have known for a couple of years. You have been to parties with them, you have been away on vacation with them. You have bonded over mutual love of vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

          Together, they have also spent tens of thousands of dollars on you. The thing is – you cannot remember any of it – or at least you cannot put it into words.

          They are your parents.

          So, you cannot put those experiences into words early in life. The most dramatic moment of our lives is the day of our birth. We have no recollection of it. That leads up to our first steps (walking), our first words (talking), but most (if not all of us) have no specific recollection about any of these momentous events.

          It seems to have something to do with the human development of what we consider “memory.”

          It would be inaccurate to say that babies are not retaining anything. In fact, the infant brain is growing at an exceedingly rapid pace.

          We observe that a very young child cannot only learn words but even learn words from 2 different languages simultaneously.

          Many of us truly were “Baby Einstiens.”

          Also, while cannot actually say or state – in adult way – who his parents are, he certainly can identify them without being able to say anything about it.

          In other words, there is something happening on the inside, on the interior, what is unseen.

 

[_02_]  Coming to church and being a disciple of Jesus Christ – having a personal relationship with our Savior – is similar to learning to walk and learning to talk.

          Father Romano Guardini writing about the “The Spirit of the Liturgy” – i..e, the spirit of our Catholic worship – wrote that our worship of God and celebration of God’s power in our live cannot be said to be a plan of instruction or curriculum in the same way as going to school.

          This applies whether you are going to school at the school building or at home, on Google-Meet, or Zoom…

          In school, the instruction always has a plan, an outcome, for every desk, every # 2 pencil, every lesson, every equation has a purpose to help us to get to the next level.

          We learn grammar and sentences so that we can read literature.

We learn to measure so that we can understand geometry.

          We learn American history so that we can learn world history.

 [_03_]     All of these things are to help us “function” in society and to make us look good, or look better.

          It’s beneficial to look good, even to gain some credit or glory.

          But, so much of what we learn in school does not come out of us naturally.

          For example, we did not go to school to learn how to talk. We went to school to increase our vocabulary.

Some of that vocabulary is poured in from the outside.

          But, at school we learned other things – about triangles or angles or the Declaration of Independence – thee are important things to know, but we could not come up with them on our own.

          That’s why it is called studying or work…or homework.

          I’m suggesting that learning to be a disciple is – while requiring some effort on our part – is not really based on WORK, but based on PLAY.      

          You may think coming to church is work – the good news is…. it’s PLAY!

[_04_]     Reading Father Guardini, I was reminded that our worship and praise of God is not meant to be like work but more like “play”.

          And, what is play, what is play time?

          Our time at church and our time with God are designed to allow us to walk and talk at our own pace and to connect with God who is a father at play with us – who loves us for our own sake.

          Loving a child, we learn to love another human being not for what the child does – for the child not capable of much…but we love the child simply because he or she is, for existence. We love the child for his own sake not for any secondary purpose.

          We may – at times – be tempted to see God as a teacher or boss or coach or drill sergeant with a stop watch and clipboard taking down our every move and misstep.

[_05_]    But, this is not Jesus’ image of God. Consider the father of the Prodigal Son parable who waits playfully and joyfully for his son to return, even running out to meet him.

          If you have ever been part of a reunion or welcoming event for someone at your home, an important visitor, a surprise party, etc…yes, there is effort involved, but is this not more play than work?

          Or, consider the image of the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to go in search of 1 lost sheep – the 1 lost sheep for whom he might have to climb or look for in the dark.

Such a father/Savior is not waiting with a stopwatch and clipboard.

[_06_]   Such a father/Savior loves us for our own sake and waits for us to come at our own pace.

[_07_]    Our prayer to God [our worship, Sunday Mass…] is not work, but is more like play, more like learning to walk or talk.

          There is goodness inside of us. There is a law written in our hearts.

          Consider this – did someone really have to teach you to be honest, not to lie or steal?

          It is true that we can be tempted to think that dishonesty will get us certain rewards or enable us to avoid certain retribution (suffering). We may need to go through a learning process to catch on to “honesty” as the truly best policy.  However, after we learn about the honesty and truth, we realize that the honesty and truth come out from the inside…they are not theorems we memorize.

          So, by some trial and error, we have learned what is the right way? Sometimes, we learned by a seemingly aimless series of movements, but it all ended up in what we might call “conscience” or “God” or a “voice inside”.  It happened more like “playing” than “working”’ And, it comes from the inside out.

          Or, consider this – did someone have to teach you to forgive someone who deeply hurt you?  Certainly, no one can force you to forgive. But, inside, we can learn because we have been blessed by God that gift of forgiveness is better than grudge of revenge. It’s better not simply for the person who hurt me. It’s better for me.

          It may take a few missteps and falling down to learn this. I may have to forgive over and over again, like learning to walk, before I get it. But it’s in there, somewhere.

[_08_]     Father Guardini’s point is that with the aid of grace, we are given the opportunity to understand our fundamental essence of what we are à “children of God”. You are a child. I am a child. And, in the liturgy, God gives joy to our youth.

          We come to church not to learn super complicated theories and techniques, but to understand simplicity.

          There is nothing simpler than learning to walk or learning to talk. But, even simple things require a lot of trial and error. We are all learning to walk.

          There is also sometimes a lifetime – many years – of prayer and reflection required before we really learn how to talk – how to talk with truth, with love, with peace – before we really say what we really mean.  [_fin_]   

Wilderness / Character (Cast Away) (2020-12-13, Advent-03)

2020-12-13_  Advent (3^rd)

●  Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11  ●   Psalm  (Luke 1) ●  1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 ● + John 1:6-8, 19-28 ●

Title:  Wilderness / Character.

[_01_]  In the year 2000, Tom Hanks was the star of a movie called “Cast Away”

          What is “Cast Away”? Perhaps you saw the movie.

          In the movie, Tom Hanks works for the delivery service – Federal Express (FedEx)  -  and he is on a FedEx plane that crashes in the ocean. He is the only survivor of the plane crash. He is stranded on a deserted tropical island.

The movie is 2 hours long. Tom Hanks is on the island for 4 years.

Tom Hanks said this -- “I didn’t want to show a man conquering his environment, but rather the effect the environment has on him. I wanted to deal with subject matter that was largely verboten in mainstream movies, taking the concept of a guy trapped against the elements, with no external forces, no pirates, no bad guys, and tell it in a way that challenged the normal cinematic narrative structure.”

[_02_]  The writer of the movie – in preparation for writing the script – he collaborated with Tom Hanks – decided that in preparation for the movie he would do the following ..

          He himself spent several days alone in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez trying to fend for himself. He speared and ate stingrays, learned how to open a coconut, befriended a washed-up Wilson-brand volleyball, and tried to make fire, which ended up in the movie. His experiences led to an epiphany regarding the Tom Hanks’ character: “That's when I realized it wasn’t just a physical challenge,” the writer (William Broyles, Jr.) told The Austin Chronicle. “It was going to be an emotional, spiritual one as well.”

 

[_03_]    In his letter on Christian hope, Pope Benedict XVI writes that the Word of God is both informative and performative.  The Word of God not only INFORMS  us with information..but also PERFORMS  and helps us to PERFORM, to repent to go out of ourselves.

          The Word of God is meant to inform us – spiritually emotionally inside…

          And also to help us to perform, to carry out actions.

          Reading this Sunday’s Gospel or any of the John-the-Baptist accounts, we may focus on JTB as a PERFORMER, an unusual performer – or perhaps like he’s a “survivalist” competitor on the reality show Survivor – he eats locusts, wild honey, strange clothing, lives in the desert.

          But, John the Baptist’s message is not only about what we do VISIBLY on the outside (as performers) but also what we are called to do in our interior life – on the inside – reflecting on our lives and relationships.

          Several years ago, I saw this sign posted on the side of the road outside of a church. It read as follows:

          LOST ?  Are you lost?

          Come inside.

          In other words, come inside the church, to pray, to meet the Lord.

          But it also means, when we are lost …look inside of ourselves first for where we need God’s help.

[_04_]    The write of the movie Cast Away said that the ..

The film ends on an ambiguous note, with Tom Hanks at an intersection or crossroads in Texas, attempting to make a decision to either follow someone he has just met or go down a different path toward a new city.

          John the Baptist reminds us that you and I are at a crossroads each day ..not just a crossroads at Eagle Rock Avenue, Main Street and Harrison near Our Lady of Lourdes or the crossroads of 280 and the Garden State Parkway, but the crossroads

of how we are to use our gifts, especially when we may feel cast away, lost, or trying to survive.

          The writer of Cast Away said that the film is summarized in its last 2 words, the words spoken at the crossroads – Thank you ..

 “The idea of acceptance [of his fate], that there is no rationale for some of the things that happen to us. But finally there is gratitude.”

In our Christian view, there may be – at times – also no immediate explanation for the troubles we endure, but we also realize we are not lost, knowing that God has a plan for us.

[_05_]    St. John the Baptist is in some ways a “Lost” “Survivor” and “Cast Away” character, but he is also a saint who is encouraging us to endure in times of difficulty, times of loss and to recognize that the Lord does not leave us alone but always comes to us as we prepare the way to meet Him.   [_fin_]   

Contact Tracing. (2020-12-06, Advent Sunday - 02)

 2020-12-06_  Advent (2^nd )  ●  Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11  ●   Psalm  85 ●  2 Peter 3:8-14  ● + Mark 1:1-8 ●   Title:  Contact Tracing.

[_01_]  Wesley Autrey – aka in NY = "Subway Samaritan" or "Subway Superman". 

          In Jan. 2007, while waiting for a Manhattan NYC Subway at 137th Street with his two young daughters, Wesley noticed a young man, Cameron, having a seizure. Wesley borrowed and used a pen and used it to keep the young man’s jaw open.

          That was just the beginning of his heroic, but Wesley immediately stepped out of the crowd to do

something good.

 

[_02_]  John the Baptist is also someone who steps out of the crowd to do something good, to help people pepare the way of the Lord, to get ready of the coming of the Messiah.

          What we also receive from John the Baptist is message of repentance. But is this message delivered to me ..just to make me feel GUILTY?

          Judith Vorst wrote a book called “Necessary Losses” – it’s not a religious book ..but one in which she asks …and I might myself might also ask – am I only as good as my guilt?

          Judith Vorst observed: “while guilt [and sense of being guilty or becoming guilty] deprives us of numerous gratifications, we and our world would be monstrous minus guilt. For the freedoms we lose, our constraints and taboos, are the so called “necessary losses”   part of the price we pay for CIVILIZATION.”

          That is one way to look at guilt and repentance… and the reason we confess our sins.

 

[_03_]  Pope John Paul II and other Catholic writers and saints and have observed that the commandments are not given us simply to force us to be guilty and therefore to be …good.

          But, rather to invite us to follow a path of service that proves that we are truly free.

          To re-use the phrase of Judith Vorst – “necessary losses” – when we can overcome our own ego, our own desire…to do something for another person, to make a gift of ourselves, this is what makes us free.

 

[_03_]   The Commandments then are given to us not just to force us into goodness but also for us to know what our individual genius and origin is.

          And, part of our individual genius and goodness to know each of ourselves as either a son or daughter of God.

          The Catholic Church watches over this notion what it means to be a son or daughter, what it means to be a husband or wife, what it means to be a man or woman…not because the Church is tyring to force us into the straitjacket of gender-assigned or sex-assigned roles, but simply to affirm that there is a genius in all of us that is written into both our bodies and our souls.

          This does not mean that a woman cannot be assertive or affirmative or a man cannot be gentle and tender … but rather that each has a genius in him or her.

          There is both a masculine genius and feminine genius.

          I bring this up ..noting that the Christian Gospel – the Good News is given to us so that we will be in contact with the Good News with our whole being.

 

 [_0x_]    These days, in the pandemic of COVID-19, we are very consumed with what is called “contact tracing”.

          People diagnosed with COVID-19 are asked to identify everyone they had close contact with during the time they may have been contagious.

          Then, their contacts are “traced”, the dots are connected to advise others.

          Perhaps you have had an experience like this – you or someone you know tested positive or knew someone who might be positive.

          As a result, a test is taken by you – to see if your “contact” caused the disease.

          It’s also an example of conformity to an ideal state of purity, cleanliness, in order to stay healthy.

         

[_07_]    Of course, it is also a reminder that health and healthfulness and such stability are fragile – constantly changing states.

          It’s hard to remain in stability, in conformity.

          It is a challenge each day to conform ourselves and connect ourselves to the Gospel. Sometimes, the people we are in contact with …will help us to be more connected to Jesus and his word, sometimes, they will lead us in the opposite direction.

          So, we are always – “preparing the way of the Lord”..that road is always under construction.

          That road is also built to make contact traces.

What are the contact traces that I am making?

          We are also called to have the some attitude and concern for our moral and interpersonal choices.

          For example – does my anger or resentment also not have devastating impacts…does it not leave “contact traces” on myself and others?

          Does an act of dishonesty or slander not leave “contact traces”

          And, on the positive side, what about un-publicized acts of kindness, love, the gift you make to the parish giving tree to someone you do not know or any gift of generosity you make to someone you do not know.

          Does this not also leave positive contact traces?

          We can prepare the way the Lord, make straight his paths, the road which is always under construction. To conform to Jesus is our goal, even if we seem out of place compared to everyone else.

 

[_08_]     This is the complete account of Wesley’s heroics. After he helped the young man, the young man with the seizure stood up and then fell onto the subway tracks.

          A train was entering the station at that very moment. First, Wesley, tried to push the man back onto the platform. Then, realizing this was impossible, he pushed the man into a drainage ditch and held him down while the train – which was was slowing down passed over them.

          Remarkably, there was enough space so that the train did not harm….though Wesley was marked up pretty dark with a grease oil stain from the subway engine.

          Wesley was celebrated far and wide in NYC, internationally, nationally – the Mayor of NYC at the time said – “Wesley's astonishing bravery - saving a life in the face of an oncoming subway car - is an inspiration not just to New Yorkers, but the entire world. His courageous rescue of a complete stranger is a reminder of how we are surrounded by everyday heroes in New York City, and I am deeply honored to recognize one of them today.”    

          Does not our virtue also leave positive contact traces? Does it not leave a mark?

          We can prepare the way the Lord, make straight his paths, the road which is always under construction. To conform to Jesus is our goal, even if we seem out of place compared to everyone else.

 

 [_fin_]