Doubt is a perennial reality of the Christian life and in today’s Gospel we see that it has been so since the very beginning. My grandmother used to say that “a little doubt is good for the soul”.

When we experience doubt, I believe it means that we may well be really engaging in and wrestling with the Christian mystery on a deeper level. And I think this is exactly what Pope Francis was calling us all to do: to think more deeply about our faith and how we lived it out with the people we encountered; how we live the peace of Christ and share it; how we make it real to the wounded and marginalized.

I think that Thomas gets a bit of a bad rap, being remembered as “doubting Thomas” down through the centuries, we may forget that Thomas is one of the very first human beings to ever hear of the resurrection of Christ. Imagine what it must have been like for the first hearers of the resurrection story -- it must have sounded amazing! They must have all held some disbelief and shock that Jesus, whom they had seen die on the cross, was now alive and appearing to the disciples, speaking to them and eating with them.

Imagine what it must have been like for the disciples. They had pinned all their hopes on this man Jesus and then they saw him executed by the Romans. All their hopes hung on that cross and seemed to die with him. Then, in the midst of their trembling and fear, and their deep disappointment, Jesus appears to them and imparts to them “his peace” -- the peace of the Risen Christ!

And then he breaths on them and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift was to embolden them as he sent them out into the world to proclaim the Good News that death had been defeated, our sins were forgiven and even though our bodies die, we will live forever!

The peace of Christ is at the center of Christian life and at the center of the Easter story. This peace is like no other peace. It is Christ’s peace. It is a transformative peace that flows forth from the Risen One…directly from God to us. And when we accept this peace of Christ into our soul, it has the power to transform us, to make us more peace-filled, more Christ-like.

In this Easter season let us open our hearts and minds to the presence of the Holy Spirit who is calling us and emboldening us to proclaim the peace of Christ to all the world.

As we mourn the loss of our beloved spiritual leader, Pope Francis, let us recall his call to build communities of radical welcoming, of peace and inclusion where love, mercy and forgiveness are the hallmarks of our discipleship of Jesus Christ.

And let us pray, that this “peace of the Risen Christ” may settle upon Ukraine, the Middle East and South Sudan, and all places of war and suffering.

Let us ask ourselves, how can I show forth Christ’s peace in my daily life…and how might I share it with the people around me, especially now, in the midst of all of the chaos and discord in our country?

​May the peace of the Risen One be with you always,
Fr. Tim

On that first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary went to the tomb only to discover it empty…then she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciples.

Mary ran off in a hurry to share what she had found; and in her sharing, the disciples began the journey that would eventually lead to an encounter with “The Christ”--“The Risen One.” And, in the ensuing encounters change the history of the world forever.

Though we know well the Easter story, do we ever fully grasp its meaning? The stone has been rolled away -- the tomb is empty for the resurrected One cannot be contained!

Like the first believers, we so often must continue to live even with our dashed hopes, our suffering, and our misunderstanding of God’s mysterious power.

Like the first believers, we come to the tomb and expect to find death, but instead we find signs of a new life that we cannot even begin to comprehend.

Like the first believers, we do not realize that all of history has been broken open and is now filled with the life-giving presence of the Risen One!

This is the day the Lord has made. Even in the midst of the fear and chaos that swirls around us, let us rejoice and be glad for what our God has done for us!

Like the disciples, let us actively seek the risen One in our midst, in the ordinariness of our daily lives. For as surely as Christ appeared to the disciples, Christ now appears to us in our lives. Even in the midst of death, sorrow and pain, Christ is present, and this is what heals us and helps us carry on!

Let us keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to the presence of the Risen One. Let us, like Mary, run forth to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all the world!

I pray you all, the Risen Christ’s most abundant Easter Blessings.
​
Easter Blessings,
Fr Tim

Palm Sunday’s readings carry the sorrows and the weight of the world. The false accusations, denials, betrayals, injustice, and beatings Jesus faced are heartbreaking.

Today’s Eucharist begins with great joy -- with palm branches in hand, we sing victorious hymns to commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Like the crowds, we too welcome and rejoice in his reign. Similar to the disciples, we are also excited and filled with wonderful expectations. However, when we listen to the passion of Jesus Christ, the mood of the crowds as well as that of the disciples changes swiftly. The crowds are fickle, cheering for Jesus one day and shouting “crucify him” the next day.

Even many of his closest friends and followers sheepishly denied their knowledge of and association with him, and in cowardly fashion, abandoned him out of fear for their own safety.

Jesus, on the other hand, is resolved to faithfully carry out his mission: the proclamation of the advent of the Reign of God and of God’s lavish love and forgiveness poured out for each one of us, and for the earth itself… “for God so loved the world”.

Through the suffering and death of Jesus we have been saved and forgiven and our sins and guilt put as far from us “as the East is from the West”!

We may wonder at times if God really loves us…and just how much. Today we are reminded how much…as Christ spread his arms wide upon the cross -- this is how much we are loved by God!

How do I live out my identity as “the beloved of God”? How can I share this message of God’s deep and passionate love and forgiveness with others?

To whom am I being called to open wide my arms to embrace them in the midst of their need? Who are being crucified today…the people of Ukraine, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Palestine, the millions of refugees. People crucified because of the color of their skin. People crucified for their immigration status, for who they love, what language they speak, for what part of the world or country they were born in, for their age, their gender, their intellectual or physical abilities? For all those suffering because of the chaos and outright damage that is being purposefully inflected on our country by the current administration with absolutely no concern for the people being harmed and the lives being put at risk by the cruel and malicious decisions being made. Truly the people suffering from these decisions are sharing in the passion of Christ.

As I enter this Holy Week, whose burdens will I help to shoulder to the foot of cross as I journey with Jesus this week and meditate upon the gift of love and forgiveness, which he has so lavishly poured upon me and upon all of humanity?
​
Lenten Blessings,
Fr Tim

I find it interesting that twelve years ago on the fifth Sunday of Lent, it was the first Sunday of Pope Francis’ pontificate and in the first reading that Sunday, as today, the prophet Isaiah told us that God said “see I am doing something new!”

And on this Sunday, amid all of the chaos, disgrace and scandal in our country, the Gospel tells us of a woman caught in the midst of adultery, (my question is: where is the man?)…dragged through the streets, demeaned and “disgraced,” screamed at and taunted knowing all the time that she was about to be stoned to death!

Undoubtedly, she could feel the intense violent energy of the crowd that was gathering around her. How desperate she must have felt knowing there was nothing she could do to stop it. And yet, Jesus stopped it…drawing in the sand, some scholars say…writing out the sins of the very people who had condemned her and were about to stone her. About to stone her, supposedly all “in the name of God.”

Jesus told the religious leaders they had it wrong…ultimately challenging “their reading of laws” that demanded such violence. Asking for the one among them without sin to cast the first stone. But none dared for they themselves were all sinners as Jesus was pointing out as he wrote their sins in the sand.

There has been much written about this Gospel story, about it being a story of second chances…that it is a story of new beginnings. We know that scripture abounds with stories of the lavish forgiveness God pours forth upon us, about God putting our “sin as far from us as the east is from the west.” Stories about us always being able to start over, to start anew with God. This is, after all, the whole role and meaning of the sacrament of reconciliation. A new start, a new beginning!

Some scholars argue about the final line of this Gospel we hear today, as most translations have Jesus saying “neither do I condemn you, be on your way and sin no more.” However, scholars point out that some ancient Greek texts do not actually contain the Greek words that would be translated “sin no more” but rather these ancient texts in question use an archery term that means “to take better aim.”

It would seem then that Jesus encouraged the woman to be on her way and to take better aim with her life.

Perhaps this is a moment in the church for us all to “take better aim” with our lives -- to be more intentional in the way we choose to live our day to day lives. And most certainly, we as a nation, need to reassess the aim of this current government administration and call upon all our elected officials to “take better aim” with how they are governing and what they are prioritizing in their legislation and political agendas.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that on the first Sunday of Pope Francis’ pontificate, the Gospel story was about a “woman”
demeaned and disgraced, about to be violently murdered -- a Gospel story about the place and treatment of women in Jesus’ culture and society, and Jesus’ refusal to participate in the systematic oppression, misogyny and violent treatment of women.

I believe that this Gospel story in fact call us to question the place and status of women in the church and in the world! Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us, especially men and in particular the clergy and religious leaders!

In today’s Gospel…just as Jesus challenged the “law” and the religious leaders…so too, we are called to do the same!

We live – still – in a world where women are bought and sold; where they are leered at but not listened to; where true lasting and substantive justice and equality remain denied to women and especially women of color. It was all on full display these past years as more women run for significant political office -- their abilities are questioned in ways that their male counterparts are not. All we need do is think back to the Senate confirmation hearings for then Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s appointment to the US Supreme Court.

And while the official church has been vocal on civil and human rights abuses of women around the world, she still struggles in making just and more meaningful roles for women within the church.

We need to ask ourselves, especially those of us who are men: how do I treat girls and women in my life? What do I really think about the role of women in church, politics and society in general? Do my views on women and their role and place in church and society truly reflect Gospel values as presented by Jesus? What would Jesus think about my views and attitudes towards girls and women?

As we move forward, let us all “try to take better aim” in our daily lives in how we treat and value one another.

Lenten Blessings,
Fr T