Just a Thought...or two...

October 15th, 2021

10/15/2021

I am amazed at the audacity of James and John in today’s Gospel...asking...no, telling Jesus that they want him to “do for us whatever we ask”! Who do they think they are? Better yet, who do they think Jesus is?

The audacity to demand that Jesus do whatever they ask of him is unbelievable. And of course, it ignites the ire of other disciples, most likely because the others thought that James and John might be getting something more than they would get.

Jesus calls them all together and explains, once again, that to be a leader in the Reign of God is to be a servant...it is to make oneself available to the other. He says that the one who wishes to be the greatest among them must be a servant to the rest and the one who wishes to be first must be slave to all.

This image turns our vision of the world on its head, that the most important among us is to act as the least and to serve the others -- especially the poor, the social outcast and the marginalized. In Jesus’ world, as in ours today, servants were considered to be at the bottom of the ladder of society. They are the invisible ones, the expendable ones.

Yet in the Reign of God, the servants are the truly special ones. By their service to others they follow Jesus Christ, and through their actions proclaim their citizenship in the Reign of God. So let us reflect this week on our own place in the world and in the Reign of God. To whom am I called to serve? Who serves me and how do I treat them? How do I make myself available to the poor and marginalized; to those in need?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

October 10, 2021

10/9/2021

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sets aside the law of Moses regarding Jewish divorce law. Jesus makes it clear that while “the law” allowed a man, in a rather simple manner, to divorce his wife and kick her out of his house, he found it unacceptable. In the first century Middle Eastern world women were basically the property of men.

They had little or no identity aside from that which they had through their connection to male members of their family. They were either, a man’s daughter, sister, mother, or wife. Women rarely had an identity of their own which was not rooted in some relationship to a male.

When a man divorced his wife, she lost her identity within the community. When she had married her husband her primary identity came through him, no longer through her birth family. By the action of her husband, the divorce would have cut her off from the community...she would have been seen as bringing shame on her family of origin and therefore likely not welcome in their home nor in the home of another man because she would have been shamed herself.

For all practical purposes the woman (and often her children) was turned out into the streets to fend for herself and for her children. It is this reality that Jesus found unacceptable. In this case the woman and her children became the “the very least of the society”, those for whom Jesus claimed the rest of the society was responsible.

Jesus’ concern is about the woman and the children. Mosaic law allowed for divorce but without concern for what happened to the woman. There was no court that divided up the property of the couple in an equitable manner, it all went to the man. The man was the owner of all the property and objects contained in the home. Moses didn’t take the shame that would befall the woman into consideration when he wrote the law concerning divorce. Jesus said that it was because of “the hardness of their hearts.”

How do I respond to the needs of the “rejected ones” and those “turned out” by society? And for us men...how do I view women’s place in society, in the church and in my personal relationships...is it in line with Jesus’ teachings?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

October 3, 2021

10/2/2021

September 26, 2021

9/24/2021

In last week’s Gospel the disciples quarreled amongst themselves over who was the greatest, this week they are incensed at the audacity of an “outsider” who acts as though he is part of the “insiders”; the twelve. But Jesus cautions John not to be so quick in his judgment of the man casting out daemons in Jesus’ name. Well-meaning and upstanding disciples are routinely aghast at the thought of including “less than upstanding members of our society” in “the family of God”. “But Lord,” they say, then as today, “what about standards? What about criteria? How can you admit anyone, no matter what’s contained in their past, no matter how unsuitable their present?”

Maybe “the best people” will decide not to be associated with the Kingdom as Jesus presents it...after all they have attained righteousness all by themselves, through their own efforts and how can Jesus ask them to share the Kingdom with sinners, tax collectors and the like? These people, even on their best day, with their best effort, could never attain the Kingdom...except for God’s grace! Thank God for “grace”!

I don’t know about them but I’m relying on that non- exclusive, saving, grace...yesterday, today and tomorrow! When behavior excludes people of goodwill who are doing the best they can, like Eldad and Medad, like the man in the Gospel, such exclusion becomes the very antithesis of what is demanded of us as followers of Jesus Christ!

When we do what we do in God’s name for the good of others, we become equal in each other’s sight, as we always have been in God’s sight.

Discipleship is difficult, it challenges the way we live, the way we think and the way we view the world around us. Discipleship calls us to be our best selves, as God has created us to be, as God has dreamt us to be in the world and to live with each other and to care for the world, our common home.

God gives us the grace we need to live up to that dream that God has for us and for the world as a whole. And the Eucharist helps strengthens us for the task of living out our discipleship to the best of our abilities.

Through God’s grace we can help build up the Reign of God in the here and now through our “good works” for the sake of “the other”!

Do I exclude anyone from my life? Do I look down on anyone? Can I believe that God deeply and passionately loves us all, just as we are, even those whom I might think unworthy?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

September 19, 2021

9/17/2021

In the second reading James warns us that where there is jealousy and selfish ambition there is disorder and every foul practice -- sounds so familiar and exactly why Pope Francis has decried clericalism and careerism within the church, which no doubt is directly connected to the failure of so many of the bishops to remove abusive priests.

James goes on to say that wisdom is from above and is pure; peaceable, gentle and full of mercy and is sincere.

In the Gospel Jesus catches the disciples in a moment of jealousy and selfish ambition, arguing amongst themselves who was most important, who was the greatest of the group.

He called them together and took a child, understand- ing that children were of the most vulnerable class and had no social status, and he told them that we must stop striving to be first, or to be the greatest and the most recognized.

We must rather focus on welcoming the poor, the vulnerable, the outcast and the weak, like the child, then
we welcome him, and we welcome the One who sent him! In

Last week’s Gospel Jesus told them that unless they were willing to lose their lives for him and for the sake of the Gospel, they would not save their lives. Today we hear that by reaching out to “the other” we save our lives.

Jesus calls us to refocus our lives not on ourselves but on the poor and the vulnerable. Jesus calls us to look at the world with different eyes, with “Gospel eyes”, to see the world as God sees it, to love the world as God loves it. To love our neighbor as ourselves. And the reality is that “all people” are our neighbors!

And so I believe that I need to ask myself what part of my world view could use a Gospel shift? What personal ambitions might I need to let go of or modify to live a more Gospel centered life? Who is the most vulnerable person in my life right now, that I can reach out to let them know they are deeply and passionately loved by God and are not alone in this world...and how can I help manifest that love?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

September 12, 2021

9/10/2021

Throughout the Gospels Jesus is drawn to the outcasts, to poor and the marginalized. We see him time and time again reaching out to the leper and unclean; to people that he should have avoided but instead he embraced.

It is precisely in his embracing of the “suffering ones” that I believe Jesus’ identity shines forth. In today’s Gospel Jesus asks the disciples “But who do you say that I am?”. And Peter, correctly, responds, “You are the Christ!”, to which Jesus responds by telling them to keep it to themselves and not tell anyone who he really is.

Jesus then goes on to tell them that even though he is the Messiah, he is going to suffer greatly, be rejected by the religious leaders and ultimately be killed! He tells them that anyone who wishes to follow him must deny themselves and pick up their cross and follow him and whoever loses their life for him and for the sake of the Gospel will save their life!

Jesus is letting them all know that they too are going to be beat- en, stripped and spit upon just like he will be as he will make his way to Golgotha.

Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and to the cross was a journey of em- bracing all of those who suffer under the weight of their crosses -- crosses placed upon them by human traffickers, by unjust immigration policies. An embracing of those who bear the weight of the crosses of systemic racism, bigotry and misogyny and social marginalization. On his journey to the cross Jesus aligned himself with all the victims of abuse by clergy, by church leaders, and anyone abused physically, sexually or emotionally. He is the Son of the God, the one Isaiah spoke of who walked with the weak and vulnerable. Just as he embraced those whom others recoiled from or found unworthy or “out of place”...as his followers we are called to embrace them and welcome them.

We are called to reach out to the victims of abuse in our church and to call out and demand that their voices be heard. In the midst of a nation so divided we are called to be voices of unity to those who are marginalized and threatened because of the color of their skin or their nationality or their gender or orientation.

We are called to be voices of welcome to all those who are being turned away and chased down and deported. We are called to be voices of welcome to the thousands of Afghan refugees who are seeking a new life in our country.

On this 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, we are called to carry the cross of all of those who lost their lives in the attacks and in the ensuing wars and the families and loved ones they left behind, whose lives are forever scared and changed.

All the afore mentioned people are the crucified whose crosses, like Simon of Cyrene, we may help to carry, even if for just a few steps on their long journey. And in the carrying of their crosses, we may come to know them just a little better and to see Christ present in them...whose cross might I help carry? Who might I let help carry my cross?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

September 5, 2021

9/3/2021

In the second reading St. James speaks to us about the importance of showing the same impartiality to others that God shows to us. If God doesn't make distinctions between rich and poor, then who are we to do so?

In fact, if there is to be any partiality to be shown, it should be shown to the poor whom God chooses to be the people through whom the kingdom of God is passed on to the rest of humanity. Today we call this “a preferential option for the poor”, a corner stone of Catholic Social Teaching.

Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus doing the same. Jesus not only attracted but invited and reached out to the poor, the sick, the sinner and the social outcast. His message of God’s deep and profound love for all of us was most strikingly demonstrated in his care and concern for those who were marginalized by his society. He continually reached out to and raised up the “the least ones” of his society.

Often enough they were people who others found a bit uncomfortable to be around...they were not the ones given seats of honor at banquets or at synagogues, they were the ones that most people would cross to the other side of the street in order to avoid contact with them.

In the ancient world very often sickness was tethered to sin; it was thought to be a punishment from God. Remember when Jesus and a group of followers encountered the man born blind and they asked Jesus: who sinned, this man or this parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither, this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9: 1-3).

So, the man we encounter in today’s Gospel was most likely thought to be a sinner by some and yet Jesus immediately responds to the request to heal him -- no questions about who he is or what his back- ground was. Jesus responds with compassion and heals him and thus restores him to bodily wholeness and restores him to his community, for no one could any longer claim his illness as a sign of his sinfulness.

It’s completely understandable that we all want our lives to be prosperous and neat and tidy and full of agreeable people, but what do we do when “other things happen” and “other folks” show up—the same kinds of marginal situations and people Jesus himself loved and welcomed? In the midst of so much division, hurt and anger in our world, our country and in our church, how is the Holy Spirit calling me to respond to “the other”?

I think these readings today beg the question: how do I show my preferential option for the poor? Who do I seat at the head of my table?

We need to ask ourselves: on what realities or qualities do I judge the value of other people...by their clothes, their occupation, by where they live, their politics, by who they love, how attractive they are, by their physical abilities, their gender, or where they were born, by the color of their skin, by their immigration status...?

Or, filled with the Holy Spirit are we able to see them as they truly are, based on the reality of their identity as children of God, our sisters, our brothers, the beloved of God?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

August 29, 2021

8/27/2021

The second reading from Paul this Sunday reminds us of our responsibility to care for the vulnerable populations in our society. In first century Palestine widows and the orphans were the most vulnerable, the poorest of the poor. They had no one to watch out for them and the Law and the Prophets commanded that it was the responsibility of the rest of the community of Israel to care for them.

The Psalmist reminds us that “the one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” Jesus chastises the Pharisees and the Scribes for adhering to the “letter of the Law” and not living the “Spirit of the Law”.

Jesus turns their world upside down and confronts them with the truth that what is in a person’s heart is more important than simply adhering to precepts of the law. The message of God’s Word challenges us to “do justice”; to allow the Holy Spirit that dwells within us to transform our hearts from deep within.

Jesus challenges each one of us to become new creations and soar beyond the smallness and stinginess of our human societies and join in building up the Reign of God -- a place where all people are valued, loved and cared for as sisters and brothers.

This message is so on spot as we struggle through the horrific and painful natural disasters that have decimated countries like Haiti and parts of our own country. How do we respond to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, and all the terror reigning down upon innocent women, children and men by the Taliban and Isis-K. How will we accept and embrace the immigrants from Afghanistan and welcome them into our communities and make them feel like our sisters and brothers?

Join me this week as I reflect on; How am I actively doing justice in my daily life? Who are the poor and vulnerable in my life that I am called to care for? What do I need to do in order let go and let the Holy Spirit take the lead in my life? What do I need to do in order let go and let the Holy Spirit take the lead in my life that I may be a person of hope in the midst of such dark and troubling times?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

August 22, 2021

8/20/2021

“And some of them found his words too hard and just walked away”! Can you imagine it? There you are following Jesus all around Judea, watching him do astounding things -- raising the dead, restoring sight to the blind, healing the sick. He’s preach- ing the coming of the Reign of God, you’re hanging on his every word filled with a deep sense that somehow the whole world is about to change...and then he says something that is so bizarre, so totally out of bounds that even having seen him perform miracles, you just can’t be a part of it anymore and so you walk away from him and return to your former way of life!

That is what today’s Gospel says happened to some of Jesus’ disciples. What words could be so powerful? How disappointed they must have been thinking they had found the Messiah, hav- ing personally witnessed Jesus’ astounding power, having been mesmerized by his words and vision of the Reign of God...until he told them they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood; that he was the “bread of life come down from heaven. It was just too much!

When I reflect on this Gospel reading I can’t help but think of all the times and ways in which “I have just walked away”; when I felt that it was all just too much! I have a sense that I am not alone in my walking away. But the wonder of it is that when I feel that way it seems that Jesus always calls me back! He’s not willing to let me be and just walk away. And curiously enough, given the context of this Gospel, it is usually Eucharist that calls me back!

And it’s not just me, I hear it over and over again from people who have tried to walk away...but just can’t break loose from
the “pull” of the Eucharist. While we are free to walk away...God never just lets us go...God continues to follow after us...hunting us down like the “The Hound of Heaven”. I think it is also interesting to note that this total gift of self, by Jesus in the Eucharist, was precisely what caused some disciples to walk away -- they left at Jesus’ total gift of himself to them! It was just too much for them to be able to comprehend and to accept that we are so loved by God that God’s very self is made food for us.

And it is that same God who searches us out when we walk away...bringing us back home. And today in the midst of all the suffering and pain, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions dying, millions more gravely ill and their families suffer- ing along with them, God is here with us right this moment, weeping with us for all those who are sick and those who are suffering. In the midst of the horrible suffering of the people of Haiti and the people of Afghanistan God is with them in the midst of their sorrow and suffering. And God touches our hearts to reach out to them in their misery, to help them, to speak out on their behalf as their voices are silenced or ignored!

As we are so fortunate to be able to gather around the table of the Lord, to be nourished by his very body, let us not “walk away” for we are filled by this divine presence within us, emboldened to go forth from here and fight for all those who suffer and are burdened, for that is our call as disciples of Jesus Christ! To do as Christ did!

Blessings,
Fr Tim

August 15, 2021

8/14/2021

This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary...and we recall the wondrous words of Mary spoken to her cousin Elizabeth... “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant...the Almighty has done great things for me...

These words have always touched me very deeply... they speak of a deep and profound love between Mary and God. Imagine your spirit “rejoicing in God” your savior! Imagine your soul proclaiming the greatness of God!

These profound words of Mary are the very heart of the Christian mystical tradition...to be so in love with God that your very “being” explodes with joy...with an inability to contain this love. This proclamation of Mary’s love has become known as the “Magnificat” and is prayed each evening by Christians throughout the world at evening prayer. Even after all the years I have prayed these words they still touch me deep- ly...and call me to open my heart, ever more, to God.

Can I list one or two “great things” God has done for me? How does my soul proclaim the greatness of God? The ways of God are not the ways of the world: scattering the proud, casting down the mighty, lifting up the lowly, giving to the hungry, and sending the rich away empty. Clearly the arrival of the messiah means that business-as-usual is no long- er the order of day. How can my daily schedule reflect God’s agenda for the world?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

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