Historically we know that by the end of the 5th century B.C.E. the prophets of Israel strangely fell silent. God seemed to have stopped raising up mouthpieces to speak his words to his people until John the Baptist appears on the scene in Judea announcing the coming of the Messiah and points out Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” the long awaited one!

When Jesus began his public ministry he not only spoke with authority, healed the sick and cast out demons, but what he said touched the people deeply. His words rang true to their inner hearts just as Jeremiah, one of the later prophets, had predicted.

Jesus spoke with the power of the Lord! Something that had long disappeared from the land of Israel…the prophetic voice that had gone silent was speaking once again, but more powerfully than it ever had before.

In today’s Gospel it is pointed out…he was from Nazareth! The demon who speaks out was trying to put down Jesus by calling out his “backwater” home town… recalling Nathanial’s words from John’s Gospel, “could anything good ever come from Nazareth?”

But finally, the unclean spirit recognizes Jesus as “The Holy One of God”! And the people are astonished by Jesus’ authority with which he taught, and that even unclean spirits obeyed him!

But the religious leaders and the elders of the people would become fearful of Jesus and the power he exercised in word and deed. What they couldn’t see is what the “unclean spirit” was able to see: Jesus’ oneness with the Father! They could not see his power was from his identity as “The Holy One of God.”

Who are the prophetic voices we listen to today? And what are they calling us to?

Are you being called to be prophetic in word and action?

Through our baptism each one of us has been anointed to be a prophet -- to live prophetic lives. Lives that challenge the injustices of the world. Lives that challenge racism and bigotry and misogyny. We are called to live lives that heal and bring wholeness to a wounded, waring and suffering world by who and what we stand with and by who and what we stand against.

You and I, we are called to be prophets who speak out and act out on behalf of the immigrant, the refugee and the stranger. To be builders of peace and makers of justice! This is our prophetic call received at our baptism and sealed in the power of the Holy Spirit! Now is the time to live our discipleship, to claim our prophetic role in building up the Reign of God; to live and to love as the children of God, whom we truly are, and to allow that identity to shape how we live and act in the world!
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Blessings,
Fr. Tim

The theme this weekend, again, as last weekend, is God’s call and our response. But in this Gospel reading there is an underlying sense of the urgency of responding — an urgency in building up the Reign of God…NOW!

The Gospel tells of the disciple’s response to Jesus’ call. They respond without hesitation, literally dropping what they were doing and following him immediately. In the scene portrayed in the Gospel, no one goes home to tell their family where they are going. They don’t explain to their father, they just drop their nets and leave their life’s work behind to follow Jesus!

As disciples we too are called to an extraordinary effort in our following of Jesus… proclaiming the Gospel not only with our words but more importantly by how we live our lives on a daily basis.

At its core discipleship is about following “the way”…God’s way. And God’s way is “the way of love”...of being for the other as Jesus is for us. And this truly is the Good News.

It can all seem overwhelming; more than we can do. And it would be without the Holy Spirit right there with us every step of the way, guiding us and gently urging us along!

There is urgency in discipleship. We are not to tarry and to be about many other things, but rather to live in such a way that our very lives proclaim God’s amazing love for all people.

It is such a monumental task, but we can — each one of us, each in our own way — live it out. Not perfectly, but with the willingness to listen for the call and respond to the best of our ability at that time, and if we fall, getting back up and trying again.

The Good News is preached by our loving of each other, especially by our loving the poor, the marginalized, the immigrants, the refugees and by loving the one who is “other” than us. And by loving those we encounter in our daily lives most in need of being loved…not just with our words but with our actions. Who among my family and friends or neighbors are struggling and in need of my love?

We are called, as Pope Francis has said, “to draw close to them,” to all who are suffering and are marginalized, whether physically or emotionally.

This same love calls us to work for racial justice and to work for an end to white supremacy and white Christian nationalism…(which is anything but Christian!)

We are called to be ambassadors of the Reign of God, where in all of those previously mentioned evil realities cannot exist, and are antithetical to the very reality of the Reign of
God.

We are called to not just preach about the Reign of God, but making it present by how we live our lives…lives of peace- making and justice-building, guided by and built upon the
principles, values, words and actions of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed in his Gospels.

Today’s Gospel calls us to reflect on our call as disciples of Jesus Christ, and to ask ourselves: what Gospel values or principles are most evident in the way I live my life? What
other Gospel values or principles might I work on manifesting in my life, so as to more fully proclaim the Good News to the world around me, to those most in need of hearing the Good News of God’s amazing love for each one of us, for all peoples?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

There is a clear theme of “being called” in today’s readings. In the first reading Samuel is called and called, and called even a third time before it is made known to him that it is God who is calling him. And finally he responds, “speak Lord for your servant is listening.”

The psalm, correspondingly, proclaims “here I am Lord; I have come to do your will.” And the Gospel reading we hear tells of Jesus’ calling of the first disciples. As Jesus walked along the road, John the Baptist saw him and cried out “behold, the Lamb of God.” Several of John’s disciples leave him and begin to follow Jesus asking him where he is staying and Jesus responds “come and you will see”…and they follow him.

It is interesting to note that when one of the disciples (Andrew) brings his brother to Jesus, Jesus immediately changes his name from Simon to Peter! In the Bible when there is a name change, such as Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah or Saul to Paul, it usually signals a significant change in the person and their relationship to God. It can also signal that their lives are about to change, that they are about to swerve from the road they are traveling down, onto a new path… one specifically chosen for them by God.

Peter’s name change is no less significant, he is about to become “the chief” of this, as of yet unformed, band of followers of Jesus. In Jesus’ act of changing Simon’s name he is calling him to come and follow him. If he accepts the name change, then he accepts the invitation to follow Jesus.

I often think that it was so much easier for the disciples to hear the call and to follow since Jesus was right there, physically present to them. They could audibly hear his preaching. They could see and read his facial expressions and his hand and body gestures, but for those of us who come later to this band of followers… well it’s a little harder for us to know exactly what the call is and where it is leading us.

Sometimes the call is clear and well-articulated, but sometimes it is not so clear or well-articulated. Sometimes it seems muffled and downright confusing. So, we have to pay close attention and listen carefully… especially as there is so much competition for our attention.

There are so many other voices that seem to all speak at the same time -- we can be like Samuel, a bit confused and not sure at first, but if we stay engaged and “make time” to listen for that small, still voice of the Holy Spirit that dwells within each one of us…then, perhaps, we will hear the invitation to “come and follow” and we will find the path we are being called to travel.

In the end the invitation is clear, but the many “voices” of our lives and the world around us distract us and gain our attention and so we can find ourselves confused and unsure of the path to follow. By refocusing our attention and making time to listen we can, like Samuel and Simon, “come and follow”.

The Gospel message is surely “the call.” It records Jesus’ words and actions — what he called his disciples to do, how to live, how to love one another and to welcome and love the one who was “other” and the one who was “the stranger”, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, and to reach out to the poor and the marginalized.

The Gospels are the “lenses” through which we are called to view the world around us and through which we can judge and decide upon what action we are called to take. The Gospel is the Word of God and it seeks to speak to us, to call us to the path that we, as disciples, are called to follow. With all the violence and chaos that has erupted in the world around us, and the violence here at home that threatens to get worse, we need to hold strong to the Word of God that has been spoken to us through the Gospels and to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us to respond to it.

Let us remember, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (Jn 1: 5) In the midst of turmoil there is much darkness, but The Light shines, and it shines within you and me; it shines within all of us as the community of The Light! Let us listen to the call of the Holy Spirit and let us use the Gospels as our guide for our response to the chaos swirling around us. Let us not give up hope for a brighter day!

Let our light shine by standing up against and working to root out the sins of systemic racism, white supremacy, and nationalism! Let us live up the to the clarion call of the Gospels to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves, fighting the great lie that one group of people is worth more or better than another! And let us pray for and work towards a more peaceful and just nation!

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

The word epiphany comes from the Greek; meaning to “appear”…or to be “revealed”. In some cultures the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord 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 took on human flesh and 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, and they paid attention to their 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!

And so the Feast of the Epiphany is a time to ask ourselves: Am I open to “following a star”? Am I open to paying attention to the signs of God’s presence in my daily life? Do I make time to listen for God’s words spoken to me? Where do I most often encounter God in the ordinary routine of my daily life?

The magi came bearing gifts…what gift of self, or of my life, might I offer to God?

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

Christmas blessings,
Fr. Tim