The Missing Person (2020-05-31, Pentecost)

2020-05-31 _ Pentecost

● Acts 2::1-11    ● Psalm 104 ● 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 ● + John 20:19-23 ●

 Title:    The Missing Person

 [_01_]  A missing person.  Is the Holy Spirit a missing person? 

          When my brother was about 4 years old, he wandered away from our summertime “base camp” on the Jersey Shore and was missing for about 25 minutes.

          Spoiler alert: we actually did find him.

          In my memory, that 25 minutes could be 2 ½ hours, 2 ½ weeks or 12 months long. For any parent or teacher or grown-up who has experienced such a momentary or more than momentary separation, the experience of being lost and adrift can be overwhelming.  It’s even overwhelming to think about such … a missing person.

 

[_02_] This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday and we read about the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in the form of the their speech, their language, their talking.  

          Why is the Holy Spirit manifested this way?

          Boston College Professor Peter Kreeft wrote that the Holy Spirit becomes one with us in the same way as AIR (oxygen) enters our lungs or respiratory system.

          The air is not visible, yet it can be measured. It is extremely close to us and absolutely necessary for both surviving and speaking.

          The air – or wind - which comes into us allows us to connect and speak with others.

          In the Gospel, we read that Jesus – who had also after his Passion and Death become a missing person – came and gave the Holy Spirit by breathing on his disciples.

          This may seem to be an odd image, especially in the age of COVID 19.  Shouldn’t the Savior the world be wearing a mask?

          But, it’s true that we are able to love, to prosper, to thrive, because of God’s love has been “breathed on us.”

          That’s often how we describe the turnaround of some difficult situation – like in the popular basketball documentary about Michael Jordan’s championships… a star player is said to “breathe new life” into his teammates.

          And, this breath creates not social distance but real intimacy.

                   The apostles are able to speak new languages because of the life breathed into them.

          Jesus teaches us about love and forgiveness – making us not only able to forgive others but making us willing to forgive, by helping us to know that our sins are forgiven.

          This ultimately enables us to speak.

[_03_]     One of the things I remember about the incident with my brother was that during those 25 minutes…nobody talked, there was only panic anxiety.

          The breath went out of us

          And, isn’t that what can happen to any of us at any time – and right now – that the breath can be knocked out of us.

          In prayer than, we are not simply explaining or exhaling all of our petitions to God, but also waiting and inhaling and receiving God into our lives, so that we can speak in love of God and of neighbor.

          The Holy Spirit is, then, a missing person we can find each day.

 

[*** PAUSE ***]

 

[_06_]  Recently, I read and saw a video about a successful and relatively new singer of both Christian popular music and secular music named Christopher Duffley.

          Christopher’s life and family history is an example of welcoming a missing person.

          Christopher was born to a father and mother unable to take care of him.

          Soon after he was born, his aunt – the sister of his biological father – intervened to adopt Christopher.

          This seems in retrospect an obvious transitional move  for a loving adult to make for her nephew. But, she also describes as a process of discernment and discovery…. “missing person” ?? reference?

          Christopher’s aunt – who really is his mother would learn –   

that  nephew had been born at 26 weeks, very premature at under 2 pounds in weight,  been born with the effects of cocaine addiction in his system and was totally blind, having 2 completely detached retinas in his eyes.

[_07_]   Christopher would not actually speak until was 5 years old. Christopher is also on the autistic spectrum.

          Early on his care, as part of the intervention, Christopher received music therapy, and therapist discovered that Christopher possessed a remarkable gift for music and and that was able to reproduce pitches and syllables of sound well before he could speak.

          If you Google-search, Christopher Duffley and the song “Open the Eyes of my Heart”, you will see a young boy about 11  years of age with a mature professional voice, on stage with a 12 piece band.

          Christopher discovered early on that he had perfect pitch and superb musical potential.

          But, it took a translation of words into action, a translation of disability into ability, a translation of pain into a petition for Christopher to be loved, to be welcomed.

[][][]  Duffley's story as a popular entertainer began when a video of the then 10-year-old Duffley singing "Open The Eyes of My Heart" at the Capitol Center for the Performing Arts in New Hampshire went viral, garnering more than 8.7 million views on YouTube. News of his remarkable talent spread like wildfire, culminating in Duffley singing the national anthem for the Boston Red Sox baseball team at Fenway Park. Demand for Duffley to release a CD swelled, propelling the young YouTube sensation Christopher Duffley's new CD, Believer, released on August 16, 2015. singer and his family to travel to Nashville to work with Dove Award-winning producer, songwriter and  arranger Steven V. Taylor (Michael W. Smith, Natalie Grant, Kirk Franklin).  The result was an 11-song compilation of inspirational, patriotic and sacred songs, titled Eyes Of My Heart, that reaches deep into listeners' hearts and encourages them to see with new eyes. Duffley's followup project, Believer, released Saturday, August 15, 2015.

 "Although the circumstances have been difficult and we have had challenges, we have found much joy and so many more blessings," says Christine Duffley. "Family life is imperfect and

and messy, and it has been a journey of love, forgiveness and abandonment. Through it all, however, we are grateful that Christopher's biological parents chose life and, now, God is using this life to touch the world for Christ."  [][][]

          All of us have great potential. All of us benefit by recognizing that God is not a missing person out of reach, but a missing person already very close to us in love of God and of neighbor.    Come Holy Ghost.

[_fin_]   

The New Normal (2020-05-24, Feast of Ascension)

2020-05-24 _ 7^th Sunday / Ascension 

● Acts 1:1-11  ● Psalm 47 ● Ephesians 1:17-23 ● + Matthew 28:16-20 ●

Title:   The New Normal

[_01_]    In 2003, for eight days, I was not allowed to talk, not permitted to talk. Conversation was prohibited. It was a silent retreat.

I was on a silent retreat in which the only conversation I had was with a priest for confession or spiritual direction. My seminary classmates and I took this retreat together.

          We were also required to turn off our cell phones for the whole week and not make any calls. It was an adjustment. It felt, in the first few days, to be very difficult, unusual, abnormal. Then, I got used to it.

          For me, by the end of the eight days, I was used to the silence, and very gradually – re-entering “normal life.”

 The technology and television were not so important to me at that moment.

          My classmate and neighbor on the other hand was very eager to socialize, to see people, to talk. I recall that as soon as the retreat was over, he was sitting in a common area, watching TV, talking on his cell phone and talking to people as they walked by.

[_02_]   We all have different ways of adjusting to what is supposedly “normal”.

          Some of us may use – and may find it absolutely necessary to use – technology, social media, our phones – to stay in touch with people during this time of the pandemic and isolation.

          What I experienced in Omaha was, of course, quite a different scenario from our current one.   I was isolated only for 1 week and did so voluntarily.

          As a result, we hear people talking about what is supposedly a “new normal.”

[_03_]  Something that is a “new normal” is …. a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has become standard, usual, or expected.

          A pleasant “side effect” and side effect that is not medically caused of the pandemic is that some families come to know each other better.

          A child now knows better about how hard his or mother or father works, whether that work is in the home or outside the home.

          A parent may know better what the teacher-student relationship is like for the child.

          Husband and wife – under the same roof – come to know each other better.

[_04_]  One thing we all could remember to practice is this… that even if we have spent the all morning, noon and night together even if we are a little frustrated with certain details… even if we think we know exactly what transpired during that day ..is there not value in saying to the other person à how was your day? How do you feel right now?

In this “new normal” of being together so often, we may forget about the basic courtesy and communion of asking the other person about feelings, and experiences, and sharing our own.

If there is a benefit to the “new normal”, does it not remind us that everyone has an interior, independent life with God and personal relationship with God and Jesus.

[_05_]  On this feast of the Ascension, we read about a “new normal” for the disciples of our Lord and Savior.

          The Ascension is a feast that marks 40 days since Easter Sunday Resurrection. Now, Jesus is lifted up from the earth.

          What is the meaning and the new normal here?

          Benedict XVI wrote that this reminds that Jesus – in his full humanity and divinity – is now united with God the Father.

          There is a place for our humanity as well in God.

          Now, for many of us, whether in a pandemic or not in a pandemic, we may prefer to experience God from a distance, virtually or remotely.

          But the Ascension reminds not just of a departure but also of a future reunion for you and for me with God.

          It is also reminds us that Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit so that we can be united with God right now. That’s a new normal.

          He lives in our interior life.

          God is in charge.

[_06_]  This Sunday and the Ascension feast also coincides with Memorial Day. This Sunday is Memorial Day Weekend and we certainly recall the bravery and courage of soldiers, sailors, warriors and also the sacrifices and mission of so many of our trained first responders among our  police officers, emergency medical technicians, and firefighters, as well as nurse and doctors and medical teams.

          It takes bravery not only to save lives and protect lives but also bravery and faith to recognize that God is the lord of all life.

          At the end of his life, St. Paul summarize this in his statement to the younger Timothy:

          “For we brought nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry nothing out.”  (1 Timothy 6:7)

[_07_]  Those we honor this Memorial Day remind us that life is not only worth living for, but also worthy dying for.

This was also the witness of St. Damien of Molokai who was sent to the leper colony on the island of Molokai in the 1800’s, to a people living not only in misery due to their health but also in misery due to abandonment in so many ways. One of the ways Damien lifted their spirits significantly was by making sure they had a proper burial.

 “This had a remarkably uplifting effect on the community.”  (Brandon Vogt, Word on Fire,  Damien of Molokai and Solidarity, May 10, 2016)

          The normal thing for Christians – both old and new – is to remember that God is in charge of us in life and in death.

[_08_]   It’s also the new normal to realize that we are cared for and connected. Sometimes, we resist this. We think that is not normal for us to rely on our need the love others. We may think we need to earn the love of others or at least make sure that we don’t take up too much of it.

It might run out, like the all the other supplies. Love is purifying but it’s not like hand sanitizer.

[_09_]   A few years ago, my sister and brother-in-law had some difficulty getting their daughter settled in elementary school, kindergarten.

          The child was anxious about the new habitat and new normal: classroom, teacher, classmates, et cetera et cetera.

 [_10_]   And, does not every person experience this at some critical juncture, some critical point? It might not be the first day of school in kindergarten or first grade, but might be the first day in a new school, or high school, or college, at any age. Omaha?

It could be the first day – for any of us – the first day or first few days of a new job, or the first few days or years of being retired.

          After several months of this, my sister’s daughter (niece) began to feel more comfortable, happier, more peaceful about the PRESENT MOMENT, and could see that going to school was worth it. I will pay the price of going to school, it has VALUE. I’m on board with this.

          And, she announces to her mother, very independently, a can-do attitude - “Mommy, I’m OK at school now. I’m OK, you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”[**pause**]

          That’s independence. She was 6 years old. But, true stability and value is not something we turn ON or OFF independently at 6 or 76 or 96. We don’t grow out of it.

          Because God does worry about us, Jesus is concerned about us, and we benefit by God’s love and concern.  Heeding this concern, we learn things. And, we learn things by people being concerned about us. Their concern helps in our conversion.

          That’s the normal of being new in our relationship with Jesus  Christ.

[__fin___]

Wind Power (2020-05-17, 6th Sunday Easter)

2020-05-17 _ 6^th Sunday Easter  

● Acts 8:5-8,14-17  ● Psalm 66 ● 1 Peter 3:15-18 ● + John 14:15-21 ●

Title:  Wind Power

[_01_]   I really only know a very little bit about sailboats and sailing, but would like to use such a wind-powered example to connect to the Gospel this Sunday.

          If you know anyone with such a floating vessel – a sailboat – you know that sailors may have 2 choices. They can travel with their engine power or motor, or they can sail with the wind.

          It’s more difficult, challenging – but also more fulfilling – to sail with the wind.

          One sailor wrote:  there is nothing quite like the quiet absence of engine noise and the sounds of the water being sliced by the keel of the boat.

[_02_]   Now, Jesus and his disciples were also sailors and fisherman. While they did not have engines and motors, they had their own personal power with their oars in the water. It’s often easier to row than to sail. You have more control, but is that really the way to go?

          In the Gospel, this Sunday, Jesus is speaking at the Last Supper to his disciples about the Holy Spirit being a consoling presence – being the consoler.

          What does this have to do with sailing and the wind?

[_03_]   Actually, in New Testament Greek and among many ancient Christian writers, the Holy Spirit is symbolized by – represented by the wind, the flow of air, the wind of the Holy Spirit as a sustaining spiritual energy for you and for me.

          But, nevertheless – even though we have the energy and wind of the Holy Spirit, sometimes, we prefer to travel only by our own engine power.

[_04_]    2 Sundays from now, on May 31, we observe the Feast of Pentecost. And, as we read, the Holy Spirit arrives on Pentecost – in Acts chapter 2 – as a strong driving wind.

          The Holy Spirit is symbolized by the wind.

[*** pause ****]

[_05_]    In the Gospel, Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirt as a consoling presence.

Now, what does it mean to find or to discover consolation in our lives?  Because..the consolation which we find in discipleship is not simply a consolation that says we will are free of trouble or difficulty, but rather that there is a consolation beyond these circumstances, beyond this world.

          Also, while we are trapped in our houses – we also may feel “trapped” in ourselves, we cannot get out of our own way.

          This is my personal testimony or witness to this, not just for COVID 19 but in general.

          [** pause **]

[_05_]     I can be selfish. I can give in to fear. I can avoid sacrifices. I can worry excessively about what other people will say or think of me. I can and do say things that are uncharitable about another person, just to be amusing. I can get angry or upset about a problem that is not very important. I can avoid looking bad, but then do not always do what I can to make the best gift of my talents.

          And, that is just a short list.

[_05.01_]    I cite this as a short list of what I can do and be – or what any one of us can be – when we operate only by our own ENGINE power or by our own motors ..or when my whole person becomes about technology or achievement. Then, I become also just a “mobile device.” I may even by under the impression that I myself have “unlimited data.”

          We are reminded in this crisis – COVID 19 crisis – that you are not alone, that we are not alone. It’s true, we are not. But, how do we know?  Is it because we all have many of the same financial struggles, health concerns or that we are all “tripping out about the future”.

          Tripping out about the future can also be like taking an addictive substance.

          All of this true. But it’s not just because we are standing in the same queue or lined up in the same places, or on hold for the same services. That’s not what unites us.

           Every time we make the sign of the Cross … “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, we are asking the Spirit to guide us, even to pray for us when we do not know how to pray.

          Romans 8:26 ► “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings.”

[_06_]     Right now, it may seem that we are adrift on the water and we may want to throttle or rev our engines, or put the pedal to the metal.

          I suggest we need more than engine power right now. We also need the silence of the Holy Spirit, of prayer, to survive and thrive.

          You and I sometimes have to take some circuitous routes to catch the wind and to welcome and receive God’s spirit.

          Why is this important?

          I suggest it is important not only to recognize the meaning of living but also the meaning of dying.

          Jesus said:   “whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.”  (bible-ref___)

          In other words, it is consoling to see someone who is ready to give up his life, who is ready to die.

          However, we often limit this “readiness” or idea of this readiness only to those who are – say – very old or very ill.

          I’ll give you an example.

          When my grandfather was dying, my mother tried visited him frequently and tried to visit his hospital room one last time on the night he died.

          In fact, he died a little while before. There was a caregiver with my grandfather who told me mother, “He was ready; he went straight up …. ”

          That’s consolation. And we need the support of others in such times of crisis and illness and dying.

          That’s part of what makes this COVID 19 crisis and stay-at-home order very difficult….

[_07_]     We all need the help of the Holy Spirit, of God’s love, mediated through others, to help us realize meaning in our lives.

[_08_]     A final example:

          In my last semester of college, I was volunteering and was under the impression (my own impression) that I was doing a good job of being a volunteer college newspaper sports reporter for our college basketball team.

          After a few weeks of me tormenting and torturing the head coach of the team with my questions and interviews, I was told by the coach that my style could use some major improvement.

          I was stunned, but could not really argue with him. This is what the coach told me to do… after the next game, I was to observe what one of the professional reporters from a city newspaper did. Listen to his questions, I could learn something.

          And, I do recall vividly the reporter’s directness, diplomacy, effectiveness.

          I also realized at that moment – I would never ever have figured this out on my own.

          My engine – my motor – was not enough.

          I needed the example of another person.

          I also needed that example to connect something in me, inside. So, it was an inspiration.

          But, I’m suggesting that an inspiration is not something you and I create. It’s a gift.

          I treasured that gift, I’ve told people over the years about the gift and finally …just recently, I felt moved to write a note, an email to that reporter to thank him.

          I’m glad he was still around and accessible to receive it.

          This was his response:

I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciated your kind note, in large part because when you're 62 (as I am) you find yourself wondering if your life's work has mattered -- if in fact your life has mattered in any significant way. To know that something I did mattered to you means a great deal.

          Your live has meaning. Our lives have meaning. We may not always know the effect of our efforts.

          Through our faith, we not only have a new MOBILITY, a new freedom, a new energy, to guide us each day.

[_fin_]   

Gifts for Others (2020-05-10, 5th Sunday Easter)

2020-05-10 _ 5^th Sunday Easter   ● Acts 6:1-7  ● Psalm 33 ● 1 Peter 2:4-9 ● John 14:1-12 ●

[_01_]  A celebration and party that is spontaneous is often very good, but if it is a surprise party – like a surprise birthday party – the guest of honor is not supposed to do any actual planning of the event.

          The guest of honor is not supposed to know.

          In order to get my mother to come to – and to be dressed up and prepared for a big celebration that was really her birthday party – we had to tell her that she was going to someone else’s party.

          You know the drill. The guest of honor is brought to a location where she does not know what and who is on the other side of the door. Then, she opens the door, and everybody says “surprise”, sing happy birthday… and it’s a great moment.

          But, you have to get everyone there.  In this case, we also needed my brother to visit NJ from California for this and my sister to travel from Boston and to do all this and stay at my parents’ house.

          So, for one of the grandchildren, we planned to have the baptism, christening and post-christening party on a Saturday afternoon and evening.

          My mother thought the party – the celebration – was for her grandson.

          Believing the party was for him, she also started planning for the day.

          She started inviting people…and she told me later that she was wondering why people were not calling her back.

          She was thinking about this guest list on the way to her own party, but the guest of honor is not supposed to be planning…right.

          That’s what made it also a good surprise, that the celebration appeared to be for someone else.

          All of our gifts though they are ours are also for someone else.

          The word “gift” appears originally in the New Testament as the Greek word “charism” or charisma.

[_02_]        Pope Francis stated that … “A [personal] charism is more than a talent or personal quality. It is a grace, a gift that God gives through the Holy Spirit. Not because someone is better than the others, but rather so that he puts it at the service of others with the same gratitude and love with which he has received it.”

          We often hear the word “charism” as the root of another word --- “charisma” or charismatic.

          Many years ago, someone I worked with said the following to me…. You know ..you … are so easy to work with …. The person who was here before you. That person was so charismatic.

          In other words, I was being praised for NOT being “charismatic”…I think the other person was a bit mistaken about the full definition of “charismatic”.   I am human, I ws put off by this for a while …but then when I told the story to people, I realized that I could laugh about it.

          But, then again – I am also “mistaken” at times about the definition of “charismatic” or charisma. I need to be reminded that my gift to you is not my “charisma” –that should attract you to me, or remind you of me…but any gift I have is meant to lead you to God, to the Father, son and Holy Spirit.

          This is true for all of us and for all the disciples.

[_03_]        In our faith, we profess that the Mother of God who is the mother of Jesus our Savior is also our mother. She has a gift and a charisma to be shared.

          Her charisma is meant also to lead us to Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

          It is no accident that Catholic painting and sculpture will depict our Blessed Mother always in relation to Christ. At the Annunciation, the announcement birth of Christ, at the nativity, the actual birth of Christ, at the Cross, her attendance to his suffering,

And at the end of her life, her Assumption to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

          I’d like to touch on 2 gifts of

Mary as disciple and mother – her her comprehension and her compassison.

          1^st. Comprehension

          Mary is known famously for this verse, about comprehending and listening to God.

And, at the wedding of Cana miracle in the Gospel of John, she does have some instructions, but her final words are, of Jesus, “do whatever he tells you.” This is the charism and charisma of the mother of God.

          And, I would suggest that even your own mother – my own mother – gives you life not only by having us follow her exact instructions, but to prepare us to listen to the Holy Spirit in our lives.

          This is how our mothers give us both stability and strength. It is a vital sign that they share with us by listening to us and then by teaching us to listen.

          Listening is a charism, listening is a gift.

          Her comprehension is also based on her COURAGE.

Courage is also a gift.

The Blessed Mothers as the pre-eminent and original disciple is also the one who reminds us not to be afraid.

That was the message of the angel to Mary at the annunciation – Be not afraid for you have found favor with God.

          Boston College Professor Peter Kreeft observed that in Mary we see that fear can be overcome by surrender, by self-surrender.

          This is a paradox, isn’t it ..because logically think we “surrender” is something we do when we are fearful.

          But, I would suggest we do …when we are courageous.

          I can think of times – perhaps you can as well – when I have insisted or been very attached to having my own way, having things go my way …or simply being popular and being liked…  all of this is based in fear … fear of being alone, fear of poverty, fear of being weak.

          Mary – as mother and disciple – shows us the joy of being one with her Son and allowing God to work in

her life.  

[_04_]         In a crisis of uncertainty – just putting one foot in front of the other – just taking one day at a time as we are called to do in this crisis – is an act of both COMPREHENSION and COURAGE – both of these are gifts of the Holy Spirit, gifts we are given for understanding and wisdom, gifts to be given away, gift we receive not only for ourselves but for someone else.

          Gifts that help us to grow in compassion.

 [_05_]        

2^nd COMPASSION

An example.

          In 1977, the movie – Star Wars was released in movie theaters …and Jimmy Carter became the president of the United States…and one person who was a favorite of the media during his presidency was his mother, Mrs. Lillian Carter, a.k.a. Miss Lillian.

          This is an example of mother’s courage, comprehension, compassion

          Miss Lillian even lived at the White House, 1600 Pennyslvania Avenue. It must have made Mother’s Day dinner get-together so much harder. Background checks and all that.

 (Source: Jimmy Carter, An Hour Before Daylight (memoir / book)

          Jimmy Carter grew up in Georgia, southeastern U.S., in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression. At this time, his family had a working farm so they were relatively well-off.

          Meanwhile, there many individuals and families wandering the countryside, searching for food, for work, for shelter.

          They were like sheep without a shepherd.

          Some of them came to the Carter home and farmhouse. And, his mother – Miss Lillian – fed them.

          One day, Miss Lillian was at a neighbor’s house and was talking about these visitors and the food they asked for.

          Her neighbor responded, “Well I am glad they do not come here, because I do not want them and would not feed them.” Fear !

          This caused Miss Lillian to wonder why the Carter house received so many visitors so she asked some of them.

          They told her about the signal and sign that these vagabond travelers gave to each other, a sign of which the Carters had no knowledge. The visitors explained that the at roadside, where the mailbox was. In this area, the mailbox was not at your front door, but on a wooden post at the road. And, the visitors had intentionally scratched the post to indicate as a friendly home.

          It is our imperfections, even our faults and our desire to love God and neighbor that makes us who we are … who we are may be better known by others and by God than we know, And, is it not true that Jesus is recognized after the Resurrection not only his face but also by his wounds? We also have some rough edges and scratches…and falls.

          In order to be sure that the sign would remain, Miss Lillian told her family never to paint over the wooden post or to remove the scratches. 

          It is the wound of Christ that make him recognizable to his disciples – after the resurrection and to us. It is a vital sign an reminder, that in Jesus’ .. in His Father’s, there are many mansions and he goes to prepare a place for us.

          Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. 

          Spiritual communion prayer

[__fin___]