In this Sunday’s gospel we find Jesus returning home to Nazareth just as word about him has begun to spread throughout the region. He was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and people were talking about him. He comes to his home synagogue and from the scroll handed to him he proclaims the Word of God from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Imagine for a moment what must have been going through the minds of his neighbors and childhood friends. This was Mary and Joseph’s son…how can he claim to be “the anointed one” of God? They must have wondered “who does he think he is?”. Jesus proclaims that he is filled with the Holy Spirit and has come to do the work of God. And as members of the Body of Christ we too are filled with the Holy Spirit and are called to do the very things that Jesus proclaimed he was sent to do! We are called to “be” good news for the poor and help those held captive by war, poverty, racism, by anything that diminishes them or holds them back from being who God made them to be. We are called to bring recovery of sight to all those who are blinded by anger or hatred by loving them and walking with them in their darkness. We are called to proclaim that the mercy of God lavishly pours down upon all women and men!

​How have I felt the Spirit of God wash upon me? In the midst of all the world’s woes, what is the Spirit calling me to in my life at this time? How and to whom am I being called to proclaim the Good News?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

The scene of the Wedding Feast at Cana unfolds as Mary seemingly “pushing” Jesus out into his public ministry, ignoring his reticence to perform a miracle in the midst of the crowd of guests gathered for the wedding feast. It seems that it was a moment when Mary called on Jesus to let his true identity shine forth for people to see! Jesus may well have felt that it was not the time but he responds to her request, eventually. For the Gospel of John  "signs" like the turning of the water into wine are very important as they point to the true identity of Jesus as both human and divine.

St Paul is also interested in our identity as members of the living Body of Christ. Paul challenges each one of us to reflect on what is our “gift”, What is our charism? The gifts that each person is given is given them, not for themselves but for the sake of the whole, for the Body of Christ.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend I cannot but help to think his gifts of leadership, passion, vision and ultimately martyrdom…a man who shared all he had, his very life, for the sake of the moral soul of a nation. As the struggle for racial justice, equality and recognition the human dignity of all peoples continues, we must ask ourselves: What are my gifts that God has given me for the sake of this struggle? What gifts have I been given that I need nourished that they might grow for the sake of the whole Body of Christ? How do I put my gifts at the service of the Reign of God?

Blessings,
 Fr Tim

Today as we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John the Baptist, we call to mind the transforming power of discipleship. As we struggle to faithfully follow Jesus in our lives, our lives are transformed by the very struggle to be the presence of Christ in the world. Think for a moment about the baptismal ritual itself: first the calling out of the name in the midst of the assembly for all to hear…the sign of the cross traced on a forehead, a profession of faith, holy water poured and the sacred words are uttered…“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of Son and of the Holy Spirit”…then an anointing with sacred oil…the passing of the “Light of Christ” and a white garment, symbol of a new life born of this ancient ritual.

But with this new life comes great responsibility…to live a life as a Christian…as a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is no easy task; to be a follower of Jesus Christ and live our baptism in concrete ways in our everyday lives. Our baptism calls us to put Christ at the center of our lives and to try and be a healing presence in a wounded world, by doing good works, being compassionate, and actively working for justice and peace in the world around us that is at war in so many ways. We are called to be healers of the wounds of divisions that separate us and cause us to be blind to the fact that we are all sisters and brothers, all of us, the children of God.

Is it outwardly evident that I am a disciple of Jesus by the way I live my life? What could I do in my life to follow Jesus even more closely than I already do to better live my call to discipleship received in my baptism?

God's Blessing,
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 who have come from afar to see the newborn king and to offer gifts. Epiphany is a time of celebrating the first 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 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 life? Where do I encounter God in the ordinary routine of my daily life? The Magi came bearing gifts…what gift of self might I offer to God?

Christmas Blessings,
Fr Tim