Sat, 18 Apr 2026 04:43:19 -0700EditMySiteSat, 18 Apr 2026 04:31:19 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/4192026The Gospels walk us along a journey with Jesus that ultimately leads to Jerusalem: to his torture, crucifixion and death… and, ultimately to the glory of his resurrection. Today’s Gospel begins with two disciples leaving Jerusalem, their hopes dashed and their hearts broken…they sadly say…“we had hoped.” They encounter a stranger with whom they share their story and their own doubt at the testimony of the women who had encountered an angel with glad tidings of the resurrection and all the ensuing confusion amongst their group. Their faith seems gone…their hope vanquished. But Jesus will not allow them to continue in their despair. He journeys with them in an attempt to turn them around…to restore their hope and their faith, ultimately giving them a new purpose in life: the proclamation of the Good News of the resurrection!

As they walk along the road their hearts are set afire and burn within them…their hope and faith in Jesus Christ is rekindled. Jesus reveals himself to them in the breaking of the bread…they dared not even speak the question of who this stranger might be because they knew! And even though he vanished from their midst…he remained with them in their trembling hands that held the bread that had been broken and blessed…he remained in their burning hearts. In his absence they felt his real presence and they were forever changed.

Regardless of how many times we may turn away and walk down a different road…Jesus comes after us…he seeks us out and sets our hearts afire once again. Each time we gather to bless, to break and to share the bread, Christ becomes present and invites us to share of his very self. And in this sharing we are more and more transformed into the Risen Body of Christ, not for ourselves but for the sake of the life of the world! We are sent, just like to the original disciples, to carry forth “The Presence” into a wounded world, so desperately in need of healing, we are called to be the stranger who walks with those whose hearts are breaking, whose hopes are dashed, we are  called to be bread broken and shared for the sake of the world.

In the midst of this illicit war being waged against Iran, in the midst of a proposed 1.5 trillion dollar budget for the Department of War, in the midst of unaffordable and rising cost of housing, healthcare, food, gas, utilities, …and the list goes on, in the midst of attacks on civil rights and voting rights, in what seems to be a meltdown of our democracy, how is my faith and hope in Jesus sustaining me and keeping me from despair?

In the midst of the political darkness, am I able to keep my eye on the Risen Christ, knowing that he has the long game and that I have my part to do as well…that I am called to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, living out my discipleship of Jesus Christ in concrete ways that clearly will be at odds with this administration and it’s agenda, as we have seen manifested recently in their words directed at Pope Leo. The Pope has clearly called us to resist this war on Iran and to contact Congress and let them know that we stand against it and want it to cease! Now! Even though our voices may fall on ears that choose not to hear, even though we may be ignored, let us not be silent. Let us raise our voices for justice and for peace. It is what our discipleship of Jesus Christ calls us to do.

Like the breaking of the bread moment was for the two disciples, what moments have I had when I felt the presence of the Risen Christ in my life? How did it affect me? How can I be “the Presence” to others I encounter in my life? Who has been the least likely “Presence” to me…what did I learn from the encounter?

May the peace of the Risen Christ be with you always,
​
Fr. Tim

]]>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 06:58:13 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/4122026Doubt is a perennial reality of the human experience and therefore a part of the Christian life. And in today’s Gospel we see that doubt has been part of the discipleship experience since the very beginning.

I think that when we experience doubt in our faith life it may well mean that we are really engaging in and wrestling with the deepest realities of the Christian mystery. So, it is not necessarily a bad thing. I believe that most all of us, at some time, have doubts about some aspects of our faith, just like the father of the young boy possessed by a daemon, in the Gospel of Mark, who cried out to Jesus, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” And like so many of the saints who have gone before us, who wrote about their doubts, their unbelief, and yet persisted in the faith they had -- however small, however strained -- and are held up today as examples for us to follow.

So, St. Thomas gets a bit of a bad rap, remembered down through the centuries as “Doubting Thomas.” I say “a bad rap” because we forget that Thomas is one of the very first human beings to ever hear of the resurrection of Christ! How would
you have responded to the very first stories of those who claimed to have seen Jesus, alive? Risen from the dead?

Imagine what it must have been like for the first disciples. They had pinned all their hopes and dreams for a new and different future on this one person, Jesus, and then they saw him executed by the Romans, die on the cross and laid to rest in a tomb. All their hopes hung on that cross and seemed to die with him.

Then, in the midst of their sorrow, fear and trembling, Jesus appears to them and imparts to them “his peace” -- the peace of the Risen Christ! This deep and abiding peace was to calm and fill the space of their fear and trembling. And then he breaths on them and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This gift was to embolden them as he sent them out into the world to proclaim the Good News that death had been defeated, our sins will be forgiven and even though our bodies die we will live in Christ forever!

The peace of Christ is an integral part of Christian life and of the Easter story. This peace is like no other peace…it is Christ’s peace…it is a transformative peace that flows forth directly from the Risen Christ to us.

In this Easter season let us open our hearts and minds ever more fully to the presence of the Holy Spirit, dwelling within each one of us. Knowing that this Spirit is calling us and emboldening us to proclaim the peace of the Risen Christ to a broken and suffering world.

Have I embraced the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within me, in a real and powerful way? How can I show forth Christ’s peace in my daily life, in the midst of the chaos and suffering that is all around us?

May the peace of the Risen Christ be with you always,

Fr. Tim]]>Sat, 04 Apr 2026 05:48:11 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/452026On that first day of the week, while it was still dark…Mary went to the tomb only to discover it empty….then she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple.” Mary was in a hurry to share what she had found; and by her sharing, a small community took up the search for Jesus…only to eventually to have “Christ”…“The Risen One” reveal himself to them.

Imagine what it must have been like…to have all your dreams and hopes beaten, tortured, nailed to a tree and die, all before your very eyes…AND THEN TO SEE “THAT ONE” ALIVE, RISEN FROM THE DEAD! HOW COULD IT BE AND, AND, YET He is…here in our midst… and “our hearts burn within us”!

Though we know well the Easter story, can we ever fully grasp its meaning? The stone has been rolled away…the tomb is empty for resurrected life cannot be contained!

Like the first believers, we so often must continue to live even with our dashed hopes, our suffering and our misunderstanding of God’s mysterious power.

Like the first believers, we come to the tomb and expect to find death, but instead we find signs of a new life that we cannot fully comprehend.

Like the first believers, we do not realize that all of  history has been broken open and is now filled with the resurrected presence of the Risen One!

Even in the midst of war and famine, even in the midst of suffering and loss, the presence of the Risen One is with us and never leaves us, no matter how alone or far away we feel, Jesus never leaves us.

It is this presence that gives us the strength to carry on and speak truth to power, to stand up for the poor and the marginalized and fight against evil in all its ugly forms, that we know so well.

Christ has Risen…this is the day the Lord has made…let us rejoice and be glad for what our God has done for us!!!

Like Mary Magdalene and the other disciples let us actively seek the risen One in our midst…in the ordinary of our daily lives…for as surely as Christ appeared to the disciples, Christ now appears to us in our lives!

Let us keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to the presence of the Risen One. Let us, like Mary Magdalen, run forth to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all the world!

I pray you all, God’s Most abundant Easter Blessings!
​
Fr. Tim]]>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 15:53:43 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/3282026Palm Sunday’s readings carry the sorrows and the weight of the world. The false accusations, denials, the betrayals, the injustice of it all, and the beatings Jesus faced are all heartbreaking.

Today’s Eucharist begins with great joy -- with palm branches in hand, we sing victorious hymns to commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Like the crowds, we too welcome and rejoice in his reign.

Similar to the disciples, we are also excited and filled with wonderful expectations. However, as we listen to the passion of Jesus Christ, we feel the mood of the crowds as well as that of the disciples swiftly changing. The crowds are fickle, cheering for Jesus one day and shouting “crucify him” the next day. Even many of his closest friends and followers sheepishly deny their knowledge of him and association with him and abandon him out of fear for their own safety.

Jesus, on the other hand, is resolved to faithfully carry out his mission: the proclamation of the advent of the Reign of God and of God’s lavish love and forgiveness poured out for each one of us, and for the earth itself…“for God so loved the world”.

Through the suffering and death of Jesus we have been saved -- forgiven our sins and our guilt put as far from us “as the East is from the West”! We may wonder at times if God really loves us…and just how much. Today we are  reminded how much: as Christ spread his arms wide upon the cross…this is how much we are loved by God!

How do I live out my identity as the “beloved of God”? How can I share this message of God’s love and forgiveness with others? To whom am I being called to open wide my arms to embrace them in the midst of their need? Who are being crucified today…those being tortured by the illicit war waging on the people of the Middle East, the people of Ukraine, the Palestinians, Ethiopians and Eritreans, the people of Sudan and Afghanistan, the millions of refugees. People crucified
because of the color of their skin. People crucified for their immigration status, for who they love, what language they speak, for what part of the world or country they were born in, or for their age. Crucified for their gender, for their intellectual or physical abilities?

As I enter this Holy Week, whose burdens will I help to shoulder to the foot of cross and meditate upon and hold in prayer as I walk with Jesus on his journey to the cross. And as I meditate upon the gift of love and forgiveness which he has so lavishly poured upon me, how can I share it with those most in need of hearing how deeply and passionately they are loved by God, just as they are? And in that sharing, allow the love of God to transform me and my life ever more closely to what God is calling me to in my life.

Holy week blessings,
Fr. Tim]]>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:32:43 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/3222026And Jesus wept…..

In today’s Gospel we are given a beautiful vista into both the humanity and divinity of Jesus. Imagine Jesus weeping at the loss of his good friend…his humanness bursts forth from the pages of the Gospel as he cries out in sorrow, and tears roll down his cheeks…“God wept” for the love of Lazarus!

Even knowing that he could…and would…raise Lazarus! The emotion is raw…fully human… fully divine… at the same time. So what is the message? I think it says that none of us can escape the experiences of the loss, pain and suffering at the death of a loved one…Jesus knows how we feel.

The message of today’s Gospel is that God loves us! Our God personally knows the depth of our pain, our suffering and loss and wants us to understand that death is not the end! And that God is with us in the midst our suffering; we are not alone. Jesus stands with us in our moments of loss and suffering, as surely as he stood with Martha and Mary in their moment of pain and suffering at the death of Lazarus.

Death is a moment of transformation, a movement of our soul entering into eternal life with God, that we have been promised by Jesus Christ.

God wants us to know that death is not final…it is not our master…it is not our end. Today’s Gospel tells us, once and for all, that God is the God of life…and not even death can overpower God’s love for us! St Paul asks… “oh death, where is your sting…now?” St. Paul  can ask this, knowing the answer, through his faith in Jesus Christ.

It is in and through the amazing nature of the incarnation of our God that we are saved…through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are given eternal life.

Death has no hold over us…we are promised eternal life. Even though our bodies wear out, are invaded by disease or struck down in violence …that is not the end for us. We live on! We pass into a new life…life in the fullness of the presence of God.

We will be reunited with all of our loved ones…all of those who have gone before us!

Today’s Gospel shows us that Jesus has the power over life and death…and life wins! We live! Even when it appears to the non-believer that we have lost, that we have died and ceased to exist! Because of God’s lavish love for each one of us, just as we are, we will not perish…we will live! So in the midst of Lent… as we reflect on our own dying to self…we are reminded that nothing, not even death can separate us from the love of God.

As Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he told the people to untie the funeral bindings and in doing so set him free. What do I need to ask Jesus to be unbound from in my life?
​
Fr. Tim]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:23:57 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/382026Today’s Gospel tells the story of a woman who goes to a well for a jug of water and has a life altering encounter with Jesus and is promised a special kind of water with properties far beyond her wildest imaginings.

In the socio-religious context of today’s Gospel story, according to the cultural mores and religious laws, this woman is perhaps the last person to whom “living water” should be given. At least that is what we are supposed to think. After all, she is a woman who, in a male-preferred society, is undeserving of any special privileges. Furthermore, she is a Samaritan, a member of the group that observant Jews considered fallen away from the true religion of Israel, and therefore apostates, and no longer people of the covenant.

On top of that, she is a woman of questionable virtue, even within her own community.

Many scholars believe that is the reason she came all alone to the well, and in the heat of the day, to draw water, rather than in the company of the other women, in the cool of the morning. Because of this, many scholars surmise that she may well have been an outsider in her own village.

In the first reading along with the Israelites, we are told that God will quench our thirst. In the Gospel we discover that Jesus is the source of “living water.” Thus, we may conclude that God’s promise to quench our thirst, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note that in all of this, there is no talk of our meriting this life-giving water. The Israelites were undeserving, the Samaritan woman was undeserving, and we too, in our human sinfulness, are undeserving. This life-giving water is not earned or deserved but freely given by the grace and mercy of God.

It is from God’s lavish love that this water flows and our thirst is slaked. What matters is whether we recognize that we are thirsty and know to seek Jesus Christ to have our thirst quenched through him.

I think it is very important to note that this woman at the center of today’s Gospel encounter could easily, particularly through the lens of misogyny, be written off as a sinful person. But that would completely miss the point and the trajectory of her encounter with Jesus. A hugely significant point of the story is not just that she is sinful but that she is a Samaritan woman! And Jesus is a Jewish man and he should know better than to have anything to do with her! So we have a man approaching a woman in an area where they are alone and they are unrelated to each other -- this is very problematic according to 1st Century Middle Eastern social codes of appropriate and acceptable behavior between women and men. Jesus should know better, but he has a plan and his plan is to offer her salvation, regardless of her “outsider religious status,” regardless of her sin. Jesus is the Living Mercy of God.

The trajectory of this encounter that is so important, is that Jesus manifests that God’s plan of salvation is not just for the House of Israel, it is for all people. It is even open to Samaritans, and this reality, while it may be lost on most Christians today, it was surely not lost on the early hearers of this Gospel encounter.

How does this Gospel’s message of the universal mercy of God for all people regardless of their social, political or religious status, inform my review of the political agenda and policies of this administration in Washington D.C., being carried out throughout the nation and around the world?

And what is my response? Will I continue to write to and call members of Congress (both Republican and Democrat) expressing my outrage, shared by Pope Leo and the US Bishop’s Conference, at the brutal and inhumane treatment of immigrants, refugees and people of color by ICE and other Government officials? Because every letter, every call, every protest, every act of resisting unchristian and immoral policies that dehumanize, marginalize and harm human beings, is an
informed statement of Gospel values, and a de facto act of living out our discipleship of Jesus Christ.

May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!

Fr. Tim]]>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 04:04:19 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/312026When we hear today’s Gospel, we might wonder what actually happened on that mountain? The scene we are presented with is quite dramatic: Jesus is transfigured with an “other worldly” brilliance that glowed like the sun. And two prophets, long dead, appear and converse with Jesus and then suddenly there comes the voice of God…speaking the same words that were heard at Jesus’ baptism… “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”….but this time, God adds, “listen to him.”

This is clearly an essential moment in the lives of the three disciples who witness this proclamation of Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God. And yet Jesus tells them to “tell no one the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Can you imagine how they must have been just “bursting at the seams” with desire to tell the other disciples?…To share this amazing experience where they had seen long dead prophets and saw Jesus transfigured before their very eyes and then, on top of that, they heard the “voice of God speak, to them”!

Remember it was not just a proclamation of Jesus’ divine identity but also instruction from God directly to them to “listen to him!”

I think that Lent can be a time of honing our listening skills, of taking time to slow down in the midst of our chaotic lives and to listen… just listen for God speaking to us.

In our busyness and preoccupation, we can often miss the word spoken “to us” and spoken “for us” by God. In today’s Gospel Jesus took the three disciples apart up a mountain…a retreat of sorts…and there apart from the others they had an encounter with The Divine.

Taking time apart is certainly not easy in the world in which we live, especially in the midst of this chaos we are currently living in, but in order to remain centered and maintain our sense of being disciples of Jesus we all need to take time apart to sit with Jesus…and listen, listen to where he is calling us in our life.

Long before science told us that almost all forms of meditation are beneficial to the whole person -- body, mind and spirit -- Jesus made it clear that whether retreating to a deserted place or just going into our rooms, being apart for quiet prayer is essential. Scripture tells that Jesus took time apart to pray. So too, we are called to take time apart to meditate…not to fill the silence with words but to just sit and listen and to rest in God. And then from that place of silence we can move to a place of informed action, Gospel action!

So let us hone our listening skills this Lent and commit to take time apart to sit with God and allow God to “transfigure us” so that we might go out and transfigure the world! To transfigure the world by standing up with and for the poor and the marginalized, demanding racial justice, and working for fair and just immigration change, and lasting change in the way immigrants and refugees are treated in this country, and standing with all of those who are suffering…wherever we encounter them.

If I am not already meditating, can I add three, five-minute periods of meditation to my day? How can I make time to hear God...and what God might be calling me to? In my prayer life, how is God calling me to respond to the current political chaos, and/or, to whom is God calling me to reach out to?

May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!

​Fr. Tim]]>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 21:10:38 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/2222026In this Sunday’s Gospel we encounter Jesus being tempted by the devil with temptations to power, fame, and pride. Some Scripture scholars have argued that it was through his experience of forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert that Jesus honed the depth of his understanding of his true identity as the Son of God, and his mission here on earth.

As we begin Lent it is appropriate for us to reflect a bit on our own lives, our own desert experiences and our own temptations. Most all of us, as humans, are tempted by pride, arrogance, selfishness, anger and greed…the real question is not whether we have temptations, but rather, do we give in to those temptations?

For some, who give in, they are led to disgraceful acts of greed and ego, with catastrophic results. All we need to do is to read the headlines in the newspapers or listen to the nightly news… think of those associated with the Epstein files, we know who they are and are able to judge the seriousness of their acts.

For most of us, our sins are somewhat more contained…a white lie here and there…perhaps a small theft once in a while…a few carelessly chosen harsh words that wound. Most of us are basically good people, trying to live as God has called us to live.

In the recesses of our hearts we know we’ve been tempted…we’ve stood on the precipice of surrender to our baser desires… enticed by money, recognition, or power to take advantage of situations or people, or to neglect our responsibilities towards others, or treated ourselves or others with disregard and disrespect.

As we reflect on our own personal sins let us not forget the structural sins of our society…racism, greed, arrogance, pride,
and vengeance, which can be feebly masked as justice.

Let us not turn away from the sins of our nation and our government. Let us look honestly at the long history of racism and bigotry that is woven into the very fabric of our nation’s history but is trying to be erased. Let us look directly into the face of the inhumane and brutal treatment of our immigrants and refugees living in our country, seeking a better life and
now being targeted as if they were subhuman, less than worthy of fair and just treatment under the rules of our laws.

Let us look directly into the faces of our sisters and brothers who are denied affordable housing and healthcare, living
wages, access to a good education. Let us look directly at all those who are marginalized by society because of their mental
health or their economic status or their race, or because of their gender, or who they love, or where they were born or
because of their political or religious affiliations.

As Jesus came forth from the wilderness of the desert proclaiming the coming of the Reign of God bursting forth in
the world through the preaching of the Gospel, he forever linked the “Gospel imperative” to love God with our whole
being and our neighbor as ourselves, to the Reign of God.

To the extent that we live out the imperatives of Jesus -- to love one another as he has loved us, to love our enemies, to
actively seek to alleviate the suffering of the poor -- to that same extent we participate in the building up of the Reign of
God.

Lent is meant to be a time of reflection, and a time of action! We are called to a conversion of heart…to turn away from
selfishness and sin and all that gets in the way of our living as true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let us ask ourselves, what can I do, or stop doing this Lent in order to deepen my discipleship of Jesus Christ? What acts of
almsgiving, prayer and fasting can I commit to this Lent that will help build up the Reign of God in the midst of a suffering
and wounded nation and world?

May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!

Fr. Tim]]>Sun, 15 Feb 2026 02:36:31 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/2142026In the first reading the prophet Isiah proclaims: “Thus says the Lord: share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless.”

Psalm 112 says that the just person is a light in the darkness!

In the Gospel, Jesus challenges his disciples to let their light shine, to be like beacons lighting a city on a hillside! And by allowing their light to shine they will lead others to see their good deeds and thus see the glory of God. So, through doing good we both give glory to God and show forth the glory of God to others.

Jesus also uses the metaphor of salt for the lives of the disciples and challenges them to be sure to not let their lives “lose their flavor” and become tasteless. It is interesting to note that in the ancient world, a world without refrigeration, salt was the only way to preserve fish and meat.

Just as light is essential for life to exist, so too salt was crucial for human survival! So, comparing the disciple’s lives to salt
had multiple layers of understanding and significance.

What is clear is that Jesus is calling the disciples to be on guard to make sure that the manner in which they live their lives
“shine” with the “light of the Gospel values,” that their lives were to be lived in such a manner that they have the “flavor of
the Gospel.”

So, we too, as disciples of Jesus, are called to the same, to let our lives “shine” and to be sure that our lives “taste” of the
values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As is so often said, the call to discipleship is no easy call; it is difficult and challenging. But we do not respond alone because by virtue of our Baptism we are strengthened by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and by the community of believers.

It is this Spirit, the Spirit of God, living within each one of us, that emboldens us and impels us to go forth into the darkness and chaos of our world and to let our light shine, to share our bread with the hungry and to shelter the homeless, the oppressed, the immigrant and refugee.

Filled with the holy Spirit, let us to stand up and call out systemic racism in all its forms and in all the places it dwells and creates and allows for violence against the lives and bodies of our black and brown sisters and brothers, against our immigrant and refugee sisters and brothers! And may we all fight to create freedom from violence and poverty, let us raise our voices together, that all may live like children of the Light!

As I have asked for in the past, please write to Congress, both Republicans and Democrats. As American citizens, they are “OUR” federal legislative body and we all have a right to make our voices heard as they legislate and make laws and as they fail to legislate and make laws! We must call for fair and just immigration reform and an immediate end to the cruel and brutal ICE actions against our immigrant sisters and brothers.

As his disciples, Jesus Christ has called us to welcome the stranger, to house the homeless, to feed the hungry and to love our neighbor as ourselves. These were not suggestions but rather the hallmarks of how we, as his disciples, are to live our lives!

May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!
​
Fr. Tim]]>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:03:20 GMThttps://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/just-a-thoughtor-two/282026In the first reading the prophet Isiah proclaims: “Thus says the Lord: share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless.”

Psalm 112 says that the just person is a light in the darkness!

In the Gospel, Jesus challenges his disciples to let their light shine, to be like beacons lighting a city on a hillside! And by allowing their light to shine they will lead others to see their good deeds and thus see the glory of God. So, through doing good we both give glory to God and show forth the glory of God to others.

Jesus also uses the metaphor of salt for the lives of the disciples and challenges them to be sure to not let their lives “lose their flavor” and become tasteless. It is interesting to note that in the ancient world, a world without refrigeration, salt was the only way to preserve fish and meat.

Just as light is essential for life to exist, so too salt was crucial for human survival! So, comparing the disciple’s lives to salt had multiple layers of understanding and significance.

What is clear is that Jesus is calling the disciples to be on guard to make sure that the manner in which they live their lives “shine” with the “light of the Gospel values,” that their lives were to be lived in such a manner that they have the “flavor of the Gospel.”

So, we too, as disciples of Jesus, are called to the same, to let our lives “shine” and to be sure that our lives “taste” of the values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As is so often said, the call to discipleship is no easy call; it is  difficult and challenging. But we do not respond alone because by virtue of our Baptism we are strengthened by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and by the community of believers.

It is this Spirit, the Spirit of God, living within each one of us, that emboldens us and impels us to go forth into the darkness and chaos of our world and to let our light shine, to share our bread with the hungry and to shelter the homeless, the op-
pressed, the immigrant and refugee.

Filled with the holy Spirit, let us to stand up and call out systemic racism in all its forms and in all the places it dwells and
creates and allows for violence against the lives and bodies of our black and brown sisters and brothers, against our immigrant and refugee sisters and brothers! And may we all fight to create freedom from violence and poverty, let us raise our voices together, that all may live like children of the Light!

As I have asked for in the past, please write to Congress, both Republicans and Democrats. As American citizens, they are
“OUR” federal legislative body and we all have a right to make our voices heard as they legislate and make laws and as they
fail to legislate and make laws! We must call for fair and just immigration reform and an immediate end to the cruel and
brutal ICE actions against our immigrant sisters and brothers.

As his disciples, Jesus Christ has called us to welcome the stranger, to house the homeless, to feed the hungry and to love our neighbor as ourselves. These were not suggestions but rather the hallmarks of how we, as his disciples, are to live our lives!

May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!
Fr. Tim]]>