Month: February 2022

MYOB

A homily for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 27, 2022

Sir 27:4-7, 1 Cor 15:54-58, Lk 6:39-45

I’ve been blessed — or cursed — with good peripheral vision, as well as a really quirky ability to see certain things really quickly. It manifests as words or phrases literally jumping off a bulletin board or something similar when I pass, and then I have to stop and read the whole poster or memo to find out where “Donald Duck” or “#6 Sub” was referenced.

And when I say “I have to stop,” I mean this phenomenon literally freezes me in my tracks. I can’t resist.

Training back in my Boy Scout days added to this. Long before “See something, say something” became the American mantra, we Scouts were taught to be highly aware of our surroundings. I recall our scoutmasters actually brought in experts from Fort Monmouth to run the workshops. The military chant is “Stay alert — stay alive!”

I must concede that being highly aware of your surroundings is a great skill to have on the Parkway at 80 mph at 8 a.m.

But back in Catholic school, during the other hours of my day, Sister Raphael Marie browbeat us nonstop with a totally opposite message:

MYOB

Mind. Your. Own. Business. (or Beeswax, when somebody was going for “cute”)

Don’t stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong.

And MYOB seemed diametrically opposed to WWJD.

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Yorktown

A homily for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 20, 2022

1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23, 1 Cor 15:45-49, Lk 6:27-38

According to legend, Lord Cornwallis, the British general whose troops lost to George Washington and his forces at the Battle of Yorktown, ordered his regimental musicians to play a satirical song during the formal surrender ceremony, and not a tune honoring the Colonists’ victory.

Instead of an American melody like “Yankee Doodle” or some military march long since lost to history, the Redcoats played “The World Turned Upside Down.”

Though the song — composed in England originally as a protest against bans on making merry at Christmas — was written in the 1640s, it could have been written by or for Jesus in the First Century.

Because it’s clear the Messiah’s ministry came from the Land of Topsy-Turvy.

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Yin and yang

A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 13, 2022

Jer 17:5-8, 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20, Lk 6:17, 20-26

When we think back to a banquet or an awards dinner or a wedding, what do we remember right off the bat?

Probably the dessert.

And there’s a scientific reason why we remember the wedding cake. Psychologists call it the serial position effect.

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Somebody’s gotta do it

A homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 6, 2022

Is 6:1-2a, 3-8, 1 Cor 15:3-8, 11, Lk 5:1-11

We who used to be children probably grew up with Dad Jokes and Mom-isms.

(There were Dad-isms too, but they mostly were some variation of “Listen to your mother!”)

Mom-isms were deeply concerned with what kind of underwear to wear and when, where to cross the street and when, who to play with and when, and homework.

And Mom-isms weren’t always straightforward or direct. For example, when Mom might happen upon a filled-up kitchen sink, she’d say, “Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves.”

And we got the hint.

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Idle hands (not a homily)

Photo by Ricardas Brogys on Unsplash

Has it been three months already?

On the Friday morning after the Tuesday when New Jersey’s governor was re-elected, on the Friday morning after the Thursday evening when our staff celebrated with good wine, great food and matchless camaraderie, I officially joined the ranks of the consciously uncoupled from the working world.

It wasn’t my first retirement, but it was my first voluntary one.

Continue reading Idle hands (not a homily)