Tag: Prophet

Gilt-free

A homily, sort of, for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 19, 2023

Lv 19:1-2, 17-18, 1 Cor 3:16-23, Mt 5:38-48

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily /
To throw a perfume on the violet …/
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

If you haven’t heard this week’s selections from Scripture proclaimed in a house of worship, or if you haven’t used the links above to read them, please do.

There’s absolutely nothing I can add to make them more understandable or clearer. There’s no call to action I can write or shout from the rooftops that these passages don’t deliver.

Continue reading Gilt-free

Oh, grow up!

A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 12, 2023

Sir 15:15-20, 1 Cor 2:6-10, Mt 5:17-37

Oh, well, a young man
Ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
…
But you know, nowadays
It’s the old man
He’s got all the money
And a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days

— “Young Man Blues,” by Mose Allison

 

My Nana Zapcic, who lived downriver from Harrisburg and thus not far from Lancaster County Amish country, had a cheesy old refrigerator magnet that opined, “Ve get too soon oldt undt too late shmart.”

Well, I thought it was cheesy when I was 17 or younger. Now, not so much.

Continue reading Oh, grow up!

Solo? No.

A homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 29, 2023

Zep 2:3; 3:12-13, 1 Cor 1:26-31, Mt 5:1-12a

After 9/11, the phrase was everywhere. On bumper stickers and license plates. On flags and posters. On lapel pins and T-shirts. Spray-painted as graffiti.

United We Stand.

United.

We.

Stand.

Only we didn’t. We don’t.

Continue reading Solo? No.

Shine on

A homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 15, 2023

Is 49:3, 5-6, 1 Cor 1:1-3, Jn 1:29-34

I’ve written and spoken before about my “unchurched” years in college and thereafter, about how I was not being nourished spiritually at the parish of my youth when all I could take away from my weekly 50 minutes in the pew was the knowledge that Group No. 2 was working bingo that Wednesday.

Incessant reminders about seat collections, collections for the parish administration and overdue grammar school tuition drove me away from organized religion after high school at Christian Brothers Academy.

What kept me away was the very thing some people were convinced attracted people to Christianity.

Proselytizing.

Continue reading Shine on

How far?

A homily for The Epiphany of the Lord, January 8, 2023

Is 60:1-6, Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6, Mt 2:1-12

These are the days of miracle and wonder…
… The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder

In 1986, Paul Simon opened his “Graceland” album with the song “The Boy in the Bubble.” In it, his lyrics rattled off a list of technological marvels the world was only starting to learn about. Lasers in the jungle transmitting information. The baby with the baboon heart. The boy with no immune system who had to live in a germ-free bubble.

Fast-forward to now, and with the James Webb Space Telescope, we indeed are looking to distant constellations.

Miraculous.

Wonderful.

Amazing.

So what are we going to do about it?

Continue reading How far?

Awesome. Really.

A homily for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), December 25, 2022

Is 9:1-6, Ti 2:11-14, Lk 2:1-14 (the Mass at Night; for all Scripture options, click here)

This is the time of the year for us to be awestruck.

By Santa Claus? By 50 percent off and free delivery? By Jimmy Choo on consignment at The Real Real?

By our own ability to find a parking space right next to the front of the ShopRite, and then, for getting out of there with everything we went in to buy and with all of our limbs intact?

Uh, no.

To be sure: We can be happy this time of the year. Excited. Relieved, maybe, but not awestruck, despite what the solid-gold electric Cadillac commercials would have us believe.

None of that is awesome. Sorry not sorry, Madison Avenue.

Continue reading Awesome. Really.

Doing the right thing

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 18, 2022

Is 7:10-14, Rom 1:1-7, Mt 1:18-24

Let’s imagine for a minute that it’s 3:15 in the morning and we’re driving home after work. We pulled a double shift at the hospital and “exhausted” doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how we feel.

It’s a quiet night on the highway, compared with the absolute chaos in the emergency department, and we’re forcing our dog-tired selves not to nod off as we ease the car onto the ramp off the highway that leads to our street.

And then: You’ve got to be kidding! Red light. Not tonight … uh … this morning! This light takes forever, especially when there’s no line of cars for its radar to detect. This light takes forever, and our warm, cozy bed is calling our name.

We look right, then left, then right again, and try to decide: Do we run the light?

Continue reading Doing the right thing

Warmup acts

A homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 11, 2022

Is 35:1-6a, 10, Jas 5:7-10, Mt 11:2-11

Back in the 1970s, my brother Steve and I scored tickets to a dress rehearsal for “Saturday Night Live” in an attempt to impress two lady friends of his from college. They were visiting New York from Tennessee, and after the show, it became painfully clear they were impressed with everything except us.

But that’s a sad story for another day.

Meanwhile, I was unimpressed with that week’s show, except for the warmup. As I recall, I laughed until my ribs hurt. I was all ready to laugh my way until the closing theme, even though it turned out I didn’t.

Most TV shows with a live audience get a warmup before the taping or the live airing begins. If it’s a scripted sitcom or sketch comedy show, the warmup performer usually is a standup comedian. If the show is more serious, the warmup might be a member of the writing or production staff, or possibly the game show host or lead actor(s), answering questions about the show overall and perhaps hinting at what the audience will see in the episode about to unfold.

Even the opening act at a concert is a kind of warmup. A good opening band or some other performer sets the mood for the headliner coming next.

Continue reading Warmup acts

The right pronoun

A homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, November 20, 2022

2 Sm 5:1-3, Col 1:12-20, Lk 23:35-43

I learned a long time ago that a boss says “I” and “you” but a leader says “we” and “us.”

A boss tells you what to do and precisely how he wants you to do it, and then tells you to get going and do it while he (almost always a he) sits back and watches … uh … supervises.

A leader shows the team what needs to be done and relies on the skills of all participants to join in the effort. A leader works alongside everyone, clearly articulating the goal and guiding everyone to the destination.

A boss preys on people’s fears and lack of information. A leader reassures and educates.

A boss exploits people. A leader empowers them.

A boss gets fat. A leader sweats.

And yet, so, so many people choose to follow bosses and not leaders.

Continue reading The right pronoun

Up, not out

A homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sir 35:12-14, 16-18, 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18, Lk 18:9-14

When we hear about a natural disaster or a manmade tragedy (and, yes, dammit, they’re made mostly by men), how do we react? How do we act?

Probably the first thing we do is consider how much loose change we have, or whether we’re willing to skip a pumpkin spice latte this week, so we can send a few bucks to whatever charitable organization is taking the lead on relief efforts.

And with the ability to donate online, we can make a tiny bit of difference without getting off the couch. Website or app, click here, card information already stored, type in the CVV afresh, submit. 

And for less than a dollar a day…

Yeah, we all know those commercials, don’t we?

Continue reading Up, not out