“You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to the one who is evil.” Jesus is not calling the disciples to become “door mats” but rather he is using common 1st century Middle Eastern hyperbole attempting to make a key paradigm shift from violence to nonviolence. He is challenging his followers to be willing to go beyond the letter of the law and embrace something much more difficult, to embrace the other! He calls us to be holy as God is holy, to love our enemies, to give to whoever asks of us.

How is all of this humanly possible? It seems too much! God’s goodness is so great, how can any human act as good as God? Some theologians say that God’s goodness comes down to “generosity”, a generosity so grand that it created all known reality, that even the incarnation is as self-giving as was Jesus’ death as was his resurrection and as is our salvation. So then this “generosity”, this “out pouring” of God’s self into the world empowers us, fills us, emboldens us and ultimately changes us to become more generous, less violent, less bent on getting more and more for ourselves, and rather moves us to be kind and generous.

So we begin to work for ways in which our society makes room for the immigrant and the refugee rather than ways to keep them out. This spirit of generosity calls us to let go of, and to call out racist and bigoted attitudes towards others and to work for justice and peace in our nation and in our world. Perhaps this generosity of spirit grows from first finding our own gratitude for being loved so deeply and passionately by God, just as we are. And from that gratitude grows our ability to be generous towards “the other”. For what am I grateful for today? To whom will I be generous towards today…how will I show that generosity of heart?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

With Jesus, “The Law” doesn’t get smaller; it gets bigger. It’s about much more than just keeping the rules….it is about growing in our love of God and our love for our neighbor. When Jesus says “The Law says….but I say,” he expands the original law in order to get to the spirit that is behind The Law. It seems that Jesus is ultimately most concerned not about a slavish external keeping of “The Law”, but rather he desires an internal change of our heart. He tells the disciples that their righteousness must surpass that of the religious leaders in order for them to get into heaven! Jesus expects more from his disciples…he expects them to love one another as he has loved them. So just refraining from killing someone is not enough…we have to love them and show that love by how we treat them!

That doesn’t mean that there is no place for righteous indignation at injustices and violations of God’s call to care for and look after the lost, the last and the least amongst us. Jesus understood “The Law” to be a guide that would lead to a good and faithful life, one that contributed to the building up of the Reign of God, that cared for and valued all God’s children. And as the first reading says “and to none does He (God) give license to sin”.

So I believe we really have to look at what is happening with our national budget as it suggest we slash our “safety net programs and increase our war making budget, decreasing one that ultimately saves lives and increasing one that ultimately takes lives. We keep saying that our national budget is a “moral document”, then we must ask ourselves how it shows forth our love of our sisters and brothers, how it welcomes the stranger, immigrant and migrant and how it combats racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and anti LGBTQ+ attacks and attitudes. What we stand for politically should be a reflection of our Gospel values. We are called to view the world around us through the lens of the Gospel, with the eyes of Christ! As I look around what do I see, what can I change? To what am I being called as a disciple of Jesus?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah proclaims: “Thus says the Lord: share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless” …and 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 that through doing good we both give glory to God and show forth the glory of God.

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 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 let their lives “shine” with the “light of the values of the Gospel”, that their lives are 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 values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As 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 with the Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit, the Spirit of God, that emboldens us and impels us to go forth into the darkness to let our light shine, to share our bread with the hungry and to shelter the oppressed, the immigrant and refugee! Not build walls to keep them out but to welcome them and shelter them…” thus says the Lord”! In the midst of all the divisive national politics, how will I let my light shine this week? What areas of my life most “taste” like the Gospel?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

We find ourselves living in a time where there is a stark rise in not only anti-Semitism but in racism and bigotry of all stripes. There has been an astonishing rise in anti-immigrant and migrant sentiment not only here in the US but around the world. People of color, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ community, women are all feeling less and less safe in their own communities because of the rise in violent acts against them continues to increase. Most of these acts of violence are perpetrated by individuals who are usually in some way associated with the Christian community.

This weekend we also begin Black History Month and celebrate The National Day of Prayer for the African American Family, and so today we have the opportunity to reflect on the reality of the Jewishness of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and that we are part of the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. We need to reflect on the reality that Jesus taught his disciples to cross borders, to reach out to others who were different from themselves…to be willing to let go of the stereotypes of the past, like that of the Samaritans, and to see other people as sisters and brothers, as beloved children of God, worthy of our love, worthy of being treated with dignity and respect. How am I being called to be part of the solution to these social evils that are tear-ing at the very fabric of our nation? What can I do to help make the marginalized and targeted feel safer, what borders am I being called to cross to bring about change, however small it might be?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

John the Baptist is once again at the center of our Gospel reading this weekend. He has moved from shouting “prepare the way of the Lord” to “behold the Lamb of God!”, then he admits that he did not, at first, recognize Jesus as “the Lamb of God”. And remember too that in the Gospel of Luke, after his arrest he sends two disciples to ask Jesus, “are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?” There seems to be a certain amount of ambiguity as to John’s understanding of who Jesus really is.

​What is clear is that all of this happened in a particular time in a particular place to real people who actually knew this one called Jesus. God came to us, “Emmanuel”, and it all points to the need for us to be constantly looking for the way in which God continues to come to us and is present in every moment of our day, of our life. Much like the Magi we heard of on the Feast of the Epiphany, they saw the star, they looked up at the same night sky as all the rest of the people of the earth but they were the ones who “saw” because they expected to see something…their hearts were open to God, they expected God to be present in their lives. John the Baptist expected the Messiah to come and so he recognized him when at last he came.

Like John and like the Magi we have to look, expecting to see, expecting to find God present in the midst of our daily lives. Like them we too then will see, with expectant eyes, God’s amazing presence in the most surprising of places and moments of our everyday lives, even, or perhaps most especially in the broken moments of our lives too. Where did I last glimpse God’s presence in my life? Did I stop to savor it, or to share it with someone else?

God’s Blessings,
Fr. Tim

The Christmas Season officially comes to a close with the celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In the Jewish tradition water was seen as purifying and healing but John brings to the waters of baptism the concept of baptism as “an act of repentance” and thus Jesus, in choosing to be baptized by John, identifies himself with the sinfulness of humanity when he accepts this “baptism of repentance”. And it is in this very human act of Jesus humbling himself in repentance that his divinity is exposed. It is in this moment that Jesus hears the voice of God say you are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased!

Who among us doesn’t long to hear those words…to be proclaimed “my beloved…in whom I am well pleased”? And the fact of the matter is, that we are at our truest selves, the “beloved of God”. And yet we struggle with accepting that identity, perhaps because we feel unworthy, too broken or too unimportant in the scheme of things to truly be “the beloved of God”. We live our lives based on who we think we are, we make decisions and choose to do or not to do, based on who and how we identify ourselves in relation to the world around us. So coming to embrace the reality that you are the “beloved of God” greatly impacts your life. It is in and through our identity as the “beloved of God” that we become “grace” to the world around us. In accepting this identity we are transformed and all our relationships are transformed as well. When we begin to live out of the identity of being the “beloved of God” we begin to see the world differently and we begin to act toward ourselves and others differently…with less judgment, less selfishness and with more mercy. We begin to live with more openness to self and others and we become filled with more gratitude and generosity. Embracing that we are the “beloved of God” changes not only how we see ourselves and how we see others but changes what we give value to in life and what we believe to be important or unimportant in life…what we are willing to live for and what we are willing to die for. Standing in that place of grace, being the “beloved of God” changes everything!

Do I accept my true identify as God’s beloved child? What self-image might I have to let go of to more fully accept being the “beloved of God”…how might it change my life? May each of us pray for the grace to accept our truest identity, a beloved child of God?

Blessings to you all in the New Year,
Fr. Tim

The word epiphany comes from the Greek; meaning to “appear”…or to be “revealed”. In some cultures the feast of Epiphany is referred to as “Little Christmas” or “the Feast of the Three Kings”, and is the day of exchanging gifts with friends and loved ones. Regardless of what we call it, it is a day on which we tell the story of the arrival of the magi, or the three kings, who have come from afar to see the newborn king and to offer gifts.

Epiphany is a time of celebrating the acknowledgement of “a new beginning”…a time to celebrate the Reign of God bursting forth in the midst of creation! For sure we dwell for a while on the visit of the magi and the wonder of their journey…led by only a star that shown brightly in the deepest of the night sky. It is a time of wonder and awe…a time to allow ourselves to enter into the story and reflect on our own journey…our spiritual journey. For the magi the signs were in the heavens…a star that led them to Bethlehem, to a shabby little stable…where our God came among us as one of us. Perhaps the magi’s real wisdom was that they knew that they didn’t know everything… they valued learning, they looked for signs, they paid attention to dreams…they expected God to talk to them… they believed that they encountered God in their daily lives.

Ultimately the story of the magi is a story of encounter, an encounter of the greatest kind…an encounter with God. Am I open to “following a star”…to paying attention to the signs of God’s presence in my daily life? Where do I encounter God in the ordinary routine of my daily life, even in the midst of all the chaos of our national and international life? The magi came bearing gifts…what gift of self might I offer to God and others? Do I see and accept the gifts of those coming from foreign lands, like the magi who came from afar to honor the birth of Jesus?

I pray you all a most happy and blessed New Year!

Fr Tim

This is the time of year when it seems that everyone sings of peace on earth and good will toward all! Pope Paul VI proclaimed that if we want peace we need to work for justice. In this season of dreams of peace and good will…we are called to work for justice! Advent is a strange season…a season of hopes and dreams…a season of promises fulfilled and of promises yet to be fulfilled…a season of the Reign of God, that which is bursting forth and at the same time not yet fully here. Advent is counter cultural on so many levels…in a season when it seems the whole world begins to spin ever faster we are called to slow down…to spend time in prayer and reflection…to spend time thinking about the deeper realities of our lives.

Part of this season’s story is about a young girl living in a male dominated world where women were treated as property, but she breaks free from the bonds of obscurity and insignificance and becomes the heroine. A young girl named Mary said “yes” to an impossible proposition…”yes” to what must have seemed totally absurd. Imagine yourself in Mary’s place…a heavenly visitor telling you that God her/himself, The Creator of all things…visible and invisible…was “asking” her to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. The whole idea that God would choose to become human, one like us, and enter into our world as a vulnerable and innocent child is almost too much to comprehend. And yet she said “yes”…and her yes changed the world forever! To this very day…right now…her yes is still changing the world because the Risen Christ is in our midst! Because of her yes we can profess “we are the Body of Christ!” What is God calling me to say yes to as a member of the Body of Christ? Am I willing to risk, like Mary, and say “yes” to God not knowing where it will lead me…just trusting that God will walk with me on the journey? As I say yes to God, who am I being called to journey with?

Advent Blessings,
Fr Tim

This Sunday we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath...it is meant to mark the week as special…for centuries, in the west, the color pink has been associated with “joy”! This Sunday is called “Gaudete” Sunday…from the Latin “to rejoice”…for the Lord is near! The readings this Sunday have both a sense of expectancy and joyfulness. Isaiah tells us that the desert will break forth in bloom and we will see the splendor of God and the weak and the fearful of heart will be made strong. The blind will see, the deaf will hear and mute will sing…all the ransomed will return and there will be gladness and joy among the throngs of people as they enter Zion. Wow…what a vision of the Reign of God bursting forth on the earth! As we think about this vision of the Reign of God, and we look around at all the suffering and war and famine and injustices…our joyfulness can quickly turn to sadness and feelings of being cheated out of Isaiah’s vision of the Reign of God.

OR, instead of feeling cheated or sorry for myself, I can stand up and work to make that vision a reality. I can work to build up the Reign of God in the midst of the injustices and fear and violence by speaking out and standing up on behalf of the homeless, the immigrant, people of color, women, Jews, Muslims, members of the LGBT community, many of whom feel fearful and despised because of who they are and where they come from. Each one of us is called to be the voice of the prophet crying out in a wilderness, to lay down our weapons of war and destruction and to build the peaceable kingdom. As we reflect on “Gaudete Sunday” and its meaning let us commit to joyfully building up the Reign of God. What will I do this week to build up the Reign of God? Who will I stand with this week as I “prepare the way of the Lord”?

Advent Blessings,
Fr Tim

REPENT! Prepare the way of the Lord! These words of John the Baptist echo down through the centuries…and are as pertinent to us as they were to those who first heard them. John came from the desert crying out to the people, calling them to a moment of “metanoia”…literally “a turning around”. The Voice of John the Baptist cries out to us in the midst of the rush and chaos of the Advent season, calling us to a conversion of heart. He announces the breaking forth of the Reign of God in our very midst. But can we hear him amid the cacophony and the clamor of our busy and overscheduled lives? I think not…not unless we are willing to step back, to sit down and to spend a moment reflecting on our lives and our relationships. We need to ask ourselves if we are “living” our discipleship.

The Scriptures for this Sunday speak of a new time for the people of Israel, a time of great hope…a new reign that is breaking forth. In this new world, mercy and justice will flourish and the wicked and unjust ones will be banished forever. But as we look around it seems as if we are a long way off from the “peaceable kingdom”. Wars rage and political unrest swirl around us like the biting winds of a cold December night. Millions of our sisters and brothers desperately seek refuge, with no home in sight. Terrorists strike the innocent and fill us with fear…it all seems so bleak. Where is the Reign of God bursting forth?

It is waiting to burst forth from within each one of us! The Reign of God burst forth every time we respond to a person or a situation in a Christ-like manner. Are we brave enough to “turn around” to answer the call of John the Baptist…to allow the love of God to soften our hearts and enlighten our minds? As Christians are we willing to really “live” the Reign of God through our daily actions? What would that look like…what would I have to change in my life for me to be a living sign to others of the bursting forth of the Reign of God in the midst of a fearful and wounded world?

Advent Blessings,
Fr Tim