Tag: Old Testament

Rules and rules

A homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2, 2025

Malachi 3:1-4, Hebrews 2:14-18, Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32

In the brilliant and sorely missed comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” the imp and his stuffed tiger who comes to life often play Calvinball.

There is only one permanent rule in Calvinball: players cannot play it the same way twice.

That either confirms or directly conflicts with a child psychologist’s observation that, quite often, kids spend so much time picking teams and hashing out the rules of whatever game they’re about to play that they wind up not having time to play it.

There’s no doubt, however, that we live in a world of rules and rulers. Humankind always has.

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Proclaimed

A homily — or perhaps a sermon — for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 26, 2025

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-30, Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Many of us grew up when Catholics weren’t supposed to read the Bible. We heard passages from Scripture at Mass, and the priest — always a priest in those days — would share some insights and his learned interpretations, and we’d be enlightened by the Word of God.

‘Nuff said.

Most, if not all, of us had Bibles at home, but those stayed on the shelf, pretty much. If that Bible was a family heirloom, its inner front and back covers held the kind of birth and baptism and marriage and death information that Ancestry.com would drool over.

The pages in between, though … those didn’t get much of a looky-see. Sad to say, some of those family Bibles wound up being used as door stops or tools for pressing dried flowers.

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Security blanket

A homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, December 29, 2024

Sir 3:2-6, 12-14, Col 3:12-17, Lk 2:41-52

Nearly every day between Thanksgiving and Easter, I wear a scarf. They’re always warm and occasionally stylish, though I’m not really aiming for a GQ-kind-of image. 

I have a large, though not massive, collection of fuzzy scarves, and through the 26 weeks or so of Scarf Season, I wear all but one of them at least once. 

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Yule wisdom from E.T.

A wish for Christmas, December 25, 2024

Is 52:7-10, Heb 1:1-6, Jn 1:1-18

This Christmas, if the only gifts we give and receive are justice and fairness, hope and kindness, that will be enough. More than enough.

Oh, and throw in a bountiful measure of joy, and the present of our presence with other people, and our day and our season will overflow.

At the end of the classic movie “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” just before the alien botanist goes home, he gives little sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore) some powerful advice, in his scratchy-mechanical voice:

“Be good.”

Jesus, born this Christmas Day, said it first.

Be good.

Be kind.

Be loving, as God is love and God loves.

Yes: Be good.

Brilliant.

Merry Christmas!

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen!

Home stretch

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024

Mi 5:1-4a, Heb 10:5-10, Lk 1:39-45

Hope.

Peace.

Joy.

Love.

All four candles of our Advent wreath are glowing today, the candles symbolizing hope, peace, joy and love. Our season of preparation to celebrate the Nativity of the Prince of Peace is nearly complete.

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LED

A homily for the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete), December 15, 2024

Zep 3:14-18a, Phil 4:4-7, Lk 3:10-18

One winter holiday evening about 30 years ago, our extended family decided to go out light-peeping. As my sister-in-law suggested a few nearby places to check out, her son asked, “Can we go see The Hinges?”

The Hinges?

Kathy laughed and explained that, when she first saw how one house was decorated, she said it was lit up like the Hinges of Hell.

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Linear

A homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, December 8, 2024

Bar 5:1-9, Phil 1:4-6, 8-11, Lk 3:1-6

It’s been said that God doesn’t create in straight lines, and anyone who’s ever taken more than a second to look at the shapes of ocean beaches, lakefronts, leaves and flowers and trees and and and … realizes that.

Even the wind gets the twisties.

So what’s the big deal with straightening roads and flattening the landscape? If God created this world all curvy-hilly-bumpy, why do the prophets make such a big deal about paving some sort of interstate highway system over God’s handiwork?

What’s wrong with leaving it as is?
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Change

A homily for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 10, 2024

1 Kgs 17:10-16, Heb 9:24-28, Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44

The other day, I was at the bank to trade in my coins for a couple of greenbacks, but I had to wait behind a couple who were emptying two water-cooler jugs filled with coins.

Well, actually, the jugs had been filled at one point; I luckily arrived as the duo was down to the last third of the second jug and the bank teller had snapped empty coin bags into the sorting machine.

As I stood there with my quart-size Ziploc, I wondered what the couple might use the money for (it turned out to be a lot). Mortgage payment? Vacation? A new car or repairs on their old one? Bet MGM Casino on a new iPhone?

But then, years of hearing MYOB from my mother and the teachers at St. Leo the Great kicked in, and instead I wondered what I’d do with the 20-ish dollars I’d walk out with.

I must confess that a work of charity wasn’t the first thing that came to mind.

Shame on me.

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Two’s the charm

A homily for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 3, 2024

Dt 6:2-6, Heb 7:23-28, Mk 12:28b-34

It’s bumper sticker season. 

Likewise, it’s lawn sign season, and billboard season, and the season for enough political ads on TV that we probably welcome the commercials for Medicare Advantage and the little pill with the big story to tell.

For now, though, let’s stick with stickers.

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Hand up

A homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 22, 2024

Wis 2:12, 17-20, Jas 3:16—4:3, Mk 9:30-37

When our daughter was first breaking into the entertainment business, she did as many of her fellow performers did: She waited tables and worked other jobs at restaurants and bars.

She often covered the Early Bird shifts when she was working at Macaroni Grill. Early Birds … we all know what that means, right? Gaggles of Golden Agers.

Back then, Macaroni Grill was trying to shore up its bona fides as an Italian eatery by serving their pre-meal bread with seasoned olive oil, as legit ristorantes do. So Erin would bring out the crusty loaves and plunk them down alongside the olio d’oliva, and then head back to her station. She rarely was more than a step or two away before a patron would holler over to her: “Waitress, you forgot the butter for the bread.”

She learned quickly, really quickly, to carry a big stash of those little butter briquets in her apron.

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