When 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

In 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

In 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

In 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