Going to a Party. (2022-08-28, Sunday - 22)

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 2022-08-28 – 22^nd Sunday   

Title: Would you trade places with me?

● ● Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29  ● ● Psalm  68  ●●   Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a ● Luke 14:1, 7-14 ● ●

[__01 / 02__]  Would you like to go to a party, to a celebration? If you say, YES, now, you may need a reason later to “back out” or reverse course. I have used some of these excuses myself!

[__03__]      The Gospel writers frequently report Jesus and his disciples at parties, at social engagements. On the one hand, such parties “showcase” Jesus, connect him to people beyond his inner circle and these new folks and followers the opportunity to review or rebut him – thumbs up or thumbs down, kick his tires. Jesus is an invited guest. These celebrations are not just social events but also reminders that God has a banquet – that we are called to prepare for, to schedule ourselves for, and even move other things around so that we can make it.

            And, while many of our own social engagements and lives include a family, a spouse, children, when it comes to God’s banquet, you – I – each of us – is a party of one. Jesus is waiting to be invited into your life, your calendar.

             

[__04__] Are you committed to this Kingdom of God / party with Jesus? Am I committed? Would you, would I really like to attend?

 

[__05__]  I’d like to touch on this festive setting of the Gospel dinner party and the “selection of seating” in light of my own perception of a recent wedding reception, last Saturday in New Jersey where I am from.

            I with a regional accent from down there; I am not from around here.

            Of the festivities, there was [LOCATION]   ..  [PRESENTATION / PREPARATION] …. [PROCLAMATION]

 

[__06__]   [1^st LOCATION – Where is it?]

            My friend’s daughter was married in a Catholic parish last weekend. I was honored to be part of their journey both pre-nuptial and actual nuptials in church.

            Knowing this was my friend’s daughter, I also knew I would be invited to the wedding reception afterwards. Both the church and reception were about 1 hour away from my regular parish GPS, latitude and longitude. I had permission from the pastor to be away; i.e., I gave myself permission.

            Where is it?

            I must have checked and re-checked the location and route from church to the reception at least a dozen times, then a few more times for the rehearsal dinner location which was someplace else.

            After the wedding rehearsal, the night before the wedding, I asked my friend what route and roads he would take to the rehearsal dinner. He told me had not really thought about it much, but would just enter the restaurant address into the WAZE app or GPS and follow the instruction. I thought… what faith! What confidence!

            Of course, if I truly loved with all my heart and mind and soul Almighty God and my neighbor as myself, then, I would have been more concerned with the location of God for this couple and for rather than NJ-NY roads and traffic. I’ve been corrupted by sin and satellite street location. I should invite Jesus to my party of one.

 

 [__07__]      [2^nd  PRESENTATION– How do I look?]

            At this wedding, I’d be the priest celebrant of the Mass in church, for the bride and groom.  And also, several of my oldest friends were there.

            We had been to many weddings before together. I was always in the pew with them. Now I was on the altar, here.

           This led to another question about…

 [__08__]  [3^rd PROCLAMATION – What will I say?]

            Perhaps, more than necessary, I knew these friends also knew my every facial tic and gesture. So, I had better be “real” while also being responsible for the Gospel message.

            While including my own narration and perception, the true “animator” and “illlustrator” is not me but the Holy  Spirit.

             [][]][]

Marriage is a sign of stability, of peace.   The sacrament of matrimony is about stability – even in world that usually will throw every husband and wife, every mother and father, curveballs. When I was about 14 years old, I was one of the 1 altar servers at my NJ where there would regularly be “solemn”, “serious” weddings on a Saturday afternoon.

          At this time, I had truly never been to any wedding of any kind. The solemnity of these very first weddings impressed me.

I was very impressed at such a moment that the bride and groom were so impeccably well dressed yet they could hardly pronounce their own names.

They could hardly say the words of their vows and they might burst into tears at any moment.  Riding home on my bike, I thought, “That was weird.”   Then again I was 14.

I also realized that the solemnity, eagerness, anxiety of the couples – in real life – IRL as we text and say today – was more dramatic than anything on TV. Truth is stranger than fiction. This is the solemnity of marriage.   That is not my word but God’s word presented to me for me to pray about, think about. [][]][]

[][][]

 [__09__]  Jesus gives us something to think about, pray about, in this invitation to a party.

            And, in this party, in his kingdom, there are going to be many guests we might meet along the way.

            Each guest is a party of one, like you, like me.

            At a large gathering, you may see people of whom you have not given a second thought. People may see you or me and realize that they have never given us a second thought.

            Now, the question is – do you want to be at this party? You may be outside your “comfort zone”.

            I am not invited by Jesus into a comfort zone, though I may end up looking for one.

            On my way to the wedding reception, I followed all the GPS instructions – and learned to have at least a technical confidence in these “commandments” .  Arriving at the reception, I immediately sought out my old friends, my people, the people I knew.

            I only had a limited amount of time. I had better make my presentation at this location worthwhile.  But, unfortunately, this also meant being more concerned about my seat than giving up my seat.

 [__10__] Jesus is inviting us to have a new attitude of love. What is love? Augustine’s classic definition is that love = to will, to desire, the good of another.

            The theologian Josef Pieper defined this equating the statement “I love you” with “it is good that you exist.”  And,  God’s love brings us into – holds us in – existence.

            What if the other person – what if another person – is very different from – or difficult to – me?

            Jesus challenges his disciples and you and me to consider what party we are in and what we expect to find there.

What if we encounter someone who is alone.

 [__11__]   There will be people who after this Mass will go home alone and whether you go home alone or not, you are called to pray for those whom you meet here and even for the parishioners of Immaculate who may not come to church.

            Jesus is asking you to give your place your prayer for such a person.

 [__12__]     Now, perhaps, you cannot explicitly trade lives or trade places in the way novels or some Hollywood movies might portray.

            But, are there not opportunities when you visit someone who is ill, or take care of someone who cannot much for himself or herself. In this way, you are trading places.  You are doing what you would you want done for you.

            Also, by fasting and going without food or something enjoyable for some period of time, even fasting for those who are hungry and homeless, you are trading places, taking a lesser seat .

             I am far from perfect in these practices.  Even when I am sacrificing, I may lack commitment and wish to cut out early.

            This why Jesus gave up his life for us.

            The party he is attending is not only a symbol of Easter resurrection and heavenly glory.

            It is also a symbol of Good Friday and our own suffering and difficulty and differences.

            Jesus Himself takes the lower place for our sins. He wants us to join him, sooner rather than later and to recognize that even if we have comforts in this life, even if we have “reserved seats”, we are really the crippled, the poor, the blind, the lame,we need God’s strength to be more like him, to find his location.  [__END__]    

Worthy. Worker. Worshiper. (2022-08-21, Sunday - 21st)

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2022-08-21 –21^st Sunday  &   

Title:  Being Worthy. Being a Worker, Being a Worshiper

● ●  Isaiah 66:18-21   ● ● Psalm 117  ●●  Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13  ●● Luke 13:22-30 ● ●

[__01__]         I’d like to reflect on this Gospel with these 3 ideas:

1.     Being Worthy

2.     Being a Worker

3.     Being a Worshiper

[__02__]  [WORTHY.]   I’m not talking about James Worthy the great L.A. Lakers basketball player but our own hope of true “greatness” and salvation. Being worthy.

      Recently I learned a true-life biography of  a man who spent more than a year – 400+ days - on the ocean by himself. This was not his GPS navigation plan!   The book title – “438 Days”.

This fisherman set out to fish one day with his motorboat engines, started his engines on the western coast of Mexico, on the Pacific. Though he was an experienced boat captain and fisherman and had been through many storms, and knew what to do and how to survive, he met a storm with wind and waves that prevented him from returning to his point of origin or returning anywhere near the west coast of Mexico.

His engines failed him, he had very little communication or emergency equipment.  Unlike many sailboats that are a “hybrid” of wind and diesel energy, he did not have sails. All he could do was float with the current and then float some more and pray.

On such a long journey for him (400 + days) – or in any crisis we may face -- it is natural to ask the question implied by the Gospel today “will I be saved?”.

The person approaching Jesus wants a number or a percentile or profile the “saved” of the “worthy”, but the real question for him, for you, for me – “will I be saved?”

This man – starting out in a boat in Mexico – and didn't talk to anybody on land or touch land for more than a year. After such a long time in his fishing boat, he really came to identify with the boat itself.

He even renamed the boat. He was very proud that his vessel his craft had survived the initial storm that it was “seaworthy”.  Thus, he renamed his boat, the Titanic.  And, he was determined because his Titanic was better than that Hollywood Titanic, which was not just a movie, but a real event. And his Titanic makes it his Titanic is worthy.

His Titanic is saved. But along the way, there are many struggles, he has to catch fish to survive. He has to catch rainwater in thunderstorms. He's always worried about running out of water. He knows – as you and I know – ocean / saltwater is not for drinking.

I'd like to relate his story on the boat to our own struggle to reach salvation, and also to know God both now and in the future, in terms of three ideas,

·       being worthy,

·       being a worker,

·       being a worshiper.

[__03__]  [1^st BEING WORTHY.]   Do you ever wonder if you are worthy or valuable or good enough, we all have doubts at times about ourselves or the choices we have made. our Catholic faith reminds us that we are made good we are made in God's image. We are all works in progress. We pray at Holy Communion:  “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,  but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”.

Are we not tempted (I certainly am) to measure worthiness or value based on what other people say or or how they act? (N.b., I am not a mind-reader; I may “care” what people think, but I can only go by what they say or how they act).

One lesson of the 400+ days-floating- fisherman floating was that he could worry about what people said or did out in the middle of the ocean.

And that popularity or perception does not determine our worthiness or our salvation, it didn't determine his it's not going to determine yours.

[__04__]  [2^nd BEING A WORKER.]  

The floating man had to expend effort to survive, to work and also to be smart. It seemed that every chapter was filled with his knowledge – and fear – that the sharks were always near with their predatory ways and big teeth. Dangerous. So he had to work but he also had to stay in near his boat.

At times he was tempted to go out for a swim in the calm water or to do swim out and retrieve floating coconuts which were very valuable for nutrition and hydration. But, he couldn't afford to swim out for the coconuts because the sharks were there.

Yes, we are all called to work to go out and get what we can. But we also all have a calling to a place or to a family to a boat. This calling is not just going to be a duty it's going to be your salvation. It's going to be the reason you survive.

Peter the apostle is an example of this.   Peter showed a desire to get out of the boat, to walk on water, but he didn't have the faith to walk on water. He had to get back in the boat. He needed to stay in the boat, the boat was his salvation.

Whatever calling you have right now, to marriage, to family, to your own work. This is your salvation as hard as that might be sometimes to recognize. So stay in the boat.

 [__05__]  [3^rd BEING A WORSHIPER.]  

What do you do when you “worship“ ?  You bend your knee, you kneel or sit quietly, you say prayers …. You come to church. Worhsip means all of this and more. it also means to put our trust in Almighty God.

For example, to confess our sins to God, that's a form of worship. We are worshiping God when we confess our sins and receive His forgiveness, trusting in God. In this way, we know that God will recognize us at the end of our lives.

And this is Jesus’s message in the Gospel today, to ask us to reveal ourselves to God to go in His direction, now so that we will be recognized when we die.

Sometimes, we want to go in a different direction.There comes a point in all of our lives when we cannot do everything we want anymore. This could be due to a crisis, it could be due to age, due to income, it could be due to setbacks, due to illness. 

But this is why our worship is important to recognize that we don't determine our own worthiness. You don't determine your own worthiness, I don't determine my own worthiness.

[__06_-CONCLUSION_]

During his 1+ year floating, this man thought many times about the family he had started, but actually abandoned. He hadn't seen his daughter for than 10 years, and his daughter was a teenager, he knew that she might not know him or welcome him. But he prayed that she would the possibility of a reunion, over which he had no control, gave him purpose.

His “productivity” on the boat was not what enabled him to survive. It was his purpose. Purpose gives meaning and motivation.

Near the end of the story, he figures that his only hope is that he will serve but learn to survive by having to fish again. That was when he gets to land, he'll just have to get a job wherever he is, because …. Who knows where he's going to be? … he will find work “wherever” and go back to the ocean go back to the sea, since he had no identity or proof of where he was, he figured he might just be forgotten.

His salvation is not based on his worthiness to work again. He is not sent out to work again. I don't want to give away the end of the story.

We also do not come to the door to find Jesus simply as his worker. We don't come because we are worthy become because we have worshipped and turned ourselves in his direction.  [__END__]      

Assumption (2022-08-15)

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2022-08-15 –  Title:  Assumption. Body. Soul

● ●  Revelation 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB  ● ● ●  Psalm 45  ● 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 ●      ● + Luke 1:39-56  ● ●

[__01__]   Arlington National Cemetery includes the burial / resting place of over 400,000 military veterans.

          More than 3 million tourists visit Arlington annually. Last year was a significant anniversary at Arlington because it was the 100^th Anniversary of the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”

          I’d like to connect this “Tomb-U.K.S.” to what we are observing with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The “Tomb-U.K.S.” is the most iconic memorial at Arlington. Since 1921 (i.e. 2021 was the centennial) it has been the final earthly resting place for one of America’s unidentified World War One soldiers from the early 1900’s

 

 [__02__]     And, there have been unknown soldiers added to the tomb in 1957 and 1984.

          It has always been a tragedy of war time that there have been large numbers of unidentified soldiers.

          It is happening in Ukraine right now, a country which also needs our prayers for peace, for Mary as Queen of Peace.

          So, there are unidentified soldiers due to injury, poor record keeping.  One example – in the United States Civil War (1861-1865), it’s estimated that nearly 50 % (half) of those who died in battle were never identified by name.

          The U.S. is not the only country with “unknown soldier” monuments; in London @ Westminster Abbey;  Paris @ Arc de Trionfe ….

[__03_]      In 1920, a U.S. Congressman and WW-One veteran (Hamilton Fish) proposed a law for an unknown soldier to buried at Arlington. And, this led to the transportation home of the casket of an unknown soldier from France to be buried in our country. It was both a homecoming and pilgrimage.  The goal was to “bring home the body of  an American warrior who in himself represents no section (i.e. no city or state or geographic place), no creed, on religion, no race, who typifies the SOUL  of American and sacrifice of her heroic deceased.”   (https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Tomb-of-the-Unknown-Soldier )

           Of course, the Congress cannot really make laws officially to protect our “soul”… but really only our body, but it’s nice that Congress seems to profess a faith in the human soul !

          That there is something enduring in the Tomb of the Unknown, something worthy of carrying forward into the present and future. The Tomb of the Unknown is not just about the past ..

          Going to a funeral is never just about the past !

 

[__04__]   At the tomb of the unknown soldier, there is even a special changing of the guard with an infantry soldier as sentinel.

          On November, 1921 – 100 years ago – when that unknown solder was brought to Arlington, there was a funeral procession and nationwide, Americans observed 2 full minutes of silence at the beginning of the ceremony.

 

[__05__]   Our Blessed Mother – our Lady of the Assumption- is of course not an “unknown soldier” in the fight for our salvation. Mary is identifiable, known. But I would like to suggest a parallel, given that I see there are also pilgrimages we make to places where the Blessed Mother appeared and where she lived.

          Father Ronald Knox, a British spiritual writer observed that we are inclined to honor the bodies and resting places of the deceased, of the dead. This is true for both “known” and “uknown”

          To jump right to the present day, I read that the cemetery burial place for L.A. Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna Bryant, is in fact “known”. That is, the cemetery is known. But…good luck finding the actual graves because there are not marked for the public to find …to keep adoring fans away and allow the family to have time to grieve and visit without fans.

          We place great value on the bodies of the deceased.

 

[__06__]   This is true in Christian / Catholic history – St. James (Santiago) de Compostela in Spain, Peter the Apostle and Paul the Apostle in Rome, and others.

          So…if there had been a grave, cemetery place for the Blessed Virgin Mary, it would be way more popular than Peter, Paul, James or Kobe Bryant!

          Why would the body of the Blessed Mother be important?

          Because it is from Mary that Jesus took his own body and blood. This does not mean that Catholics worship Mary as a goddess, but rather we revere Mary as the new Ark of the covenant who carried God’s word in her body and nurtured God’s word from infancy to boyhood and to adulthood.

          As Father Knox observed, for as long as Mary lived there would be a material keepsake in the flesh of Jesus’ own body and blood which he took from Mary’s flesh.

          It would then be such a natural thing for us to revere Mary at her tomb.

          But God planned otherwise.

          Because there is no tomb or final resting place for Mary.

 

 [__07__]      God planned otherwise to teach you and me something about the unity of body-soul.

          The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier touches on this by stating that the dead body of the unknown communicates something about the soul and spirit of the one who died and why.

          The life and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary communicates this even moreso.

 [__08__]  We know, or at least we learn , that the soul and body are meant for one another – we recognize at moments of crisis that our soul and body are not in synchronicity.

          Due to original sin, the sinfulness in our soul can affect our body… on a [+] positive note, when we are healed and forgiven of sin, this can also heal our body.

 

          As Father R. Knox reminds us, our Blessed Mother was not born with original sin. Her human nature  - body and soul – were perfectly integrated . They belong to one another as we hope ours one day will (Knox, p. 519)

 

[__09__]  The Blessed Mother and the unknown soldier are a parallel in that both are meant to represent not just those who lived before or during their lifetimes, but also to represent you and me who come later.

          The Blessed Mother also represents and is a spiritual mother to people of every race, language, creed, geographic section, background, health, wealth, woman or man, slave or free, Gentile or Jewish.

          The Blessed Mother represents all of us.  Recall that at one time the Church founded by Christ had exactly 1 member who was also the1 and only parishioner, reader of God’s word . That’s Mary.

          Our Blessed Mother – like the unknown soldier – belongs to all of us. We belong to her, as one race, the human race for him Her Son came to give his life..

          Jesus died for us individually whether we knew this or not so that we might also have a hope of our own reunion body and soul in heaven. [__END__]

Baptism by Fire (2022-08-14, Sunday-20th)

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2022-08-14 –20^th Sunday     Title:  Baptism by Fire

● ● Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10  ● ● Psalm  40 ● ●●   Hebrews 12:1-4  ● Luke 12:49-53 ● ●

 [__01__]     A few days ago, I was on my way to see an old friend from school for dinner, to eat at a restaurant. On the way, he called me to tell me he was not feeling well.

          While he is fine now, our visit to a restaurant turned into a trip to the ER … after I waited for him to get ready at his house.

I bring this up because the gospel this Sunday. In the Gospel of the Sunday Jesus refers to completing a baptism and also about bringing fire to the earth. This “BAPTZ” not = water baptism with candle and white that we know of…

Jesus was referring to the baptism and the fire regarding his own suffering, passion and death and resurrection.

 

Baptism is about rising again.

Also, you and experience – at times – what Jesus referred to – “baptism by fire”.

My friend – needing medical attention – was in a baptism by fire. We use the term baptism by fire to refer to a situation in which someone is fighting his or her way through a crisis, often doing so without much training, or an on the job situation.

EMS – P-D,  F-F, F-D experience baptisms by fire frequently, because every situation of your (my) public safety, even if there are no flames, or smoke, per se, may requires on the spot thinking.

I'd like to touch on baptism by fire as part of our own journey, our own conversion, and how it relates to three traditional practices in the church, fasting prayer and almsgiving and their goals:

FASTING à STILLNESS

PRAYER à STRENGTH

ALMSGIVING à SERVICE

 

 

 

[__02__]     [1^st. STILLNESS (fasting)]

While my friend was having a B_B_F  for his health, I noticed my own experience of the fire in my gut. I was hungry.

I did not want to sit still. We were supposed to be at dinner. Selfishly, I started to think about the meal I was not having. All I had to do during my fast was wait in my friend's house, wait while he checked his blood pressure so that then we could go to the hospital.

When you are “fasting”, it is difficult to sit still. Sometimes, during a fast, we want to do things to keep our mind off the hunger. Or, we want to take control in some other way. Fasting is a discipline and baptism by fire that teaches us to be still before God.

The 46^th psalm: “be still and know that I am God.”.

[__03__]     [2^nd. STRENGTH (prayer)]

After fasting, the 2^nd traditional discipline of conversion is prayer.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “We set forth our petitions before God, not in order to make known to Him our needs and desires, but rather so that we ourselves may realize that in these things it is necessary to turn to God for help.'”

In praying, we don't always come with the right words. We don't always bring we don't bring our own strength to bear, but rather we come because God's strength is here.

You are here in church today also because other people are bringing strength to pray, even if you don't have the strength, enough to pray yourself.

 

Jesus has a high standard for all of us, even warning us about being unfaithful with our eyes about the way we look at others, purity in the heart. This is why fasting and prayer are so valuable. They make us aware of what our desires are.  There are certainly countless screens, apps, video games, et cetera that lead us to believe that we need to be entertained whenever we ae still. But the strength we need is not in our own intelligence or technology.

And it is paradoxically a victory when we can be still rather than in perpetual motion. And paradoxically, a victory when we can draw strength from God's grace rather than from our own reserves. It doesn't all depend on us.

[__04__]      [3^rd . SERVICE (almsgiving)]

One of the problems with all fires – whether a forest fire or house fire…and and also a baptism-by-fire – is that they happen at unexpected times.

And, there was no fire drill.

Also, sometimes, the baptism by fire of someone else becomes a baptism by fire for you, or for me.

Maybe you do not want want to be involved. Truly, driving my friend to a nearby ER and postponing my dinner for an hour or so was not a big deal.

This was a slightly bigger deal…

At first, I did not want to be involved.

A few months ago, I received a text message from my brother with an image or flyer attached of his family dog. The dog's name is Ivy, I-V-Y, but the dog was not at their home in California. Rather, the dog had been transported by his daughter – my niece – a college student to her apartment in New York City where she is in college. So, the flyer and the text said,  in huge letters – IVY IS LOST ,  The dog is lost.

My niece was worried, which I knew she would be. I also knew that there were potentially other family members who could and other family members who owned dogs. Didn’t the fact that I am not a dog owner get me off the hook to help.

My father owned a dog as both a child and adult; my brother has a dog.

I was looking for a way out of this. This would be my baptism by fire as an experience of service of almsgiving I committed to go to NYC the next day. And once I said,

I made paper copies of the flyer to distribute to stores, apartment buildings, random people, because you never know who would see the dog. I had my own conversion experience through this baptism by fire. I went from being the indifferent outsider to being the doggy advocate.

Some people were so kind and generous. One person said he would put the paper flyer up all over his apartment building. That was nice.

Somewhere not so nice. 1 person said: you'll never find that dog people steal dogs.  I thought “you're mean” I didn't tell my niece. I was a doggy advocate now. After several hours of doing all this, going to the NYPD precinct to an animal shelter and a few stories we heard nothing. We found nothing. We did not find the dog.

I bought my niece a bagel and a coffee at Dunkin Donuts which she refused to eat. She could not bring herself to eat. She was fasting while I was almsgiving. We were a team. this morning and early afternoon activity. I left my niece who was still sad, but I couldn't do much changed that and is drove back here to NJ. About two hours after I arrived home. I was notified that IVY the dog who had been lost was now safe and sound and had been found. She even had a minor injury but she was really okay.

The baptism by fire was over. By the way the dog was found because the dog had run near and then onto the Columbia University campus. She was found in a corner by a building by some students, and the students reported it to campus security.

And this campus security called my niece. I treasure and cherish the time my niece and I had together looking for the dog. If I had waited a few hours longer, or if I had waited till the next day, there would have been no need to search. But I'm also aware that my “work” near 125^th Street had nothing to do with the dog who was at 116^th.  Dogs do not need GPS or maps, but know where to go.  My efforts in the baptism by fire were simply to be present. Perhaps that's all we can do to be part of a baptism by fire;

Fasting … is our stillness before prayer is seeking strength from God. Each day ….. and service by almsgiving and taking up our cross daily.

 

[__END__]  

Perfect Timing. Joy. Game (2022-08-07, Sunday 19th)

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2022-08-07  -- 19^th    Sunday   

Title: Perfect Timing.Joy.Game  

● ● Wisdom 18:6-9  ● ● Psalm  ____ ● ●●   Hebrews 1:1-2, 8-19 ● Luke 12:32-48 ● ●

[__01__]  Have you ever been in your own house or someone else’s house and living room or TV room when an important sporting event is on TV – maybe the baseball World Series, soccer World Cup, or Wimbledon. And, at such a time, everyone is supposed to lock in and be attentive to the watching of the game, even listening to the announcer as well.

          At such moments, you may have to be careful not to make noise, or walk in front of the flat screen TV.  People want not only to watch but also hear the announcer describing the events.

          Silence is golden at such a time. And, timing is very important.

[__02__]   I’d like to touch on this Gospel in 3 parts:

__ perfect TIMING

__ perfect JOY

__ a perfect game

[__03__]      I bring this up because Jesus in the Gospel speaks not only with VISIBLE ACTIONS but also with an AUDIBLE VOICE.  We are called to pay attention.

          Visibly – in actual demonstration – he shows that he will lay down his life for us. He does not resist arrest when he is stopped and more than “frisked”.   Yet, he responds not with fury but forgiveness, even to those who put him to death.  Our Lord has perfect timing.

          I’d like to close with an example of a real-life person who died this past week – a famous MLB baseball announcer named Vincent Scully (Vin Scully) who died at age 94 after a very long career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as their “audible voice”. Vin Scully was known for his own perfect timing and telling of a baseball game.

[__04__] 1^st. PERFECT TIMING.

          Do you have a to-do list with tasks that you wished you had finished a long time ago? If so, I’m relieved because I thought I was the only one.

          It’s hard to have perfect timing when we have to manage many responsibilities and tasks.  What does it mean to have perfect timing in this regard? Is it even possible?

In CCC Catholic Catechism (1800,-1804) we read that by our prayer and sacrifices and pursuit of holiness we learn to do the good… with CONSISTENCY, with JOY, with EASE.

          The Lord is a model of this CONSISTENCY, JOY, EASE by being willing to serve and respond – even at inconvenient times -- with consistency, joy, ease?

          Do I practice this? In order to gain this we are called to regular prayer, to acts of self-denial such as fasting, to intentionally give ourselves …. This helps us grow in consistency, joy, and ease…and also to imitate it when we see it in others.

[__05__]  [EXAMPLE] Many years ago, I was coming home on a train on NJ Transit from NYC and it was about 9:30 pm at night. I was an adult, and – technically at least – quite knowledgeable of my route, what my station was and when my stop was. But that night I was not paying attention due to what I was reading or absorbed in. So, I missed the stop and ended up in the town of Waldwick. If you do not know where the Waldwick train station is, neither did I. It’s not that easy to find. And, this was before cell mobile phones and GPS. I called up my father whom I expected to be annoyed since it was late. But, he was not --- he was consistent, joyful, easy … though he had to read a map to find me.

          My siblings and I laugh about this because it demonstrated how much my father enjoys picking people up at airports, train stations anywhere – consistency, joy ease.

[__06__] 2^nd PERFECT JOY.   In Catholic tradition, St. Francis of Assisi calls this “perfect joy”. And I encourage you to Google/search St. Francis of Assisi for the complete explanation of the “perfect joy” episode. Essentially, “perfect joy” is when we can bear injuries out of love and think of Christ when we are suffering and also to think of the other person we are serving. This is perfect joy.

          As St. Paul ∑ - 1^st Corinthians 13 “love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things, Love never fails” That’s perfect joy.

[__07__]    So…when you or I are offended or trespassed against. When someone hurts us, it is a real virtue to forgive consistently, joyfully, easily.

          I have certainly had lots of practice NOT doing this, getting angry, and seemingly “exalting myself by  being frustrated and angry” . That’s not perfect joy, Jim Ferry.

          Perfect joy is also shown by our willingness to admit we are wrong, to trust in God’s love, even if our admission of guilt will cause us some embarrassment or shame temporarily, it is better to live in the light of truth. That’s perfect joy.

[__07__]   PERFECT GAME.   Vin Scully just died at age 94. Vin (Vincent) Scully of the L.A. Dodgers died at age 94. He was known to do his job with perfect timing, with perfect joy…and he once called a very memorable “perfect game”

          In 1965, he was he play by play announcer for a baseball game in which the great Sandy Koufax was pitching and going for a “perfect game”.   In the 9^th inning – i.e.,near the end of the game -- Scully went to the trouble of reporting not just balls, strikes, foul balls, but also noting the exact time on the clock …9:41 pm, 9:47 pm, etc … as the game reached its final moments. He said that he did this as a favor to Sandy Koufax himself who might appreciate this later. He figured no one else would notice. But, his reporting on the exact time made his words more memorable.

Scully was also a devout Catholic who was instrumental in having Catholic Mass offered at Dodger Stradium on Sundays so that reporters could go to church on game day. That’s perfect timing !

You and I are also striving for a perfect game.  It doesn't mean we're never going to fall down. We are made perfect by sin and forgiveness. We are made perfect by admitting our sins and by recognizing that you and I are made in God's image and that we are part of his timing, part of his joy.  [__END__]