We hear seemingly hard words from Jesus in today’s Gospel. Jesus, like Elijah before him, asked his followers to leave behind everything and follow him. No words of compassion for the one whose father had just died! No time to say goodbye to friends and family…not even time to bury the dead! What is going on with Jesus? Earlier in the Gospel of Luke Jesus’ compassion is readily visible -- curing the sick and lame, raising a little girl from the dead, curing the lepers. What has happened?

Surely the people following Jesus were surprised by these hard-hitting words, but they would also have been used to hyperbole as it was quite commonly used by storytellers and speech-makers. But still Jesus is making a point about the urgency and the demands of discipleship….it cannot be left until tomorrow, and it will not be easy! Jesus knows that he is heading to certain death in Jerusalem and his followers will need to be “all in” in order to survive the ordeal of that “awful” first Good Friday. Jesus wants to be sure that those who seek to be his disciples understand that the road ahead will be difficult and the cost of discipleship is great. It almost seems too great of a demand…but we do not travel the road of discipleship alone, Jesus is at our side…and that makes all the difference.

What am I willing to give up to be a disciple of Jesus? What does my discipleship call me to do this week? What choices am I being called to make as a disciple of Jesus in light of the current social and political realities here in the United States and around the world?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

On this day when we celebrate the awesome gift of the Eucharist one would think that the Gospel of this wonderful feast day would be about “the Last Supper,” but instead, it is the Gospel of the feeding of the 5000. When the disciples come to Jesus and complain that the people are hungry, Jesus says in response “give them some food yourselves”! The story of the “feeding of the five thousand” is about Jesus’ acknowledgement of human hunger…hunger for food… hunger for justice…hunger for God! As we celebrate the gift of Jesus giving himself to us in the Eucharist let us take seriously his command to “do this in memory of me." 

Of course the question is: What is the “this”? For sure it is the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup. But is it more? Perhaps the “this” of “do this in memory of me” includes all that Jesus had done and what he was about to do, the next day! As Roman Catholics we believe that the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Jesus Christ poured out for the life of the world. And that when we receive the real presence of Christ we are changed, transformed more and more into the Body of Christ. This transformation, though, is not just for our sake but for the sake of the world. We are called to take the real presence of Christ out into the world and feed all those who hunger….those who hunger for food…those who hunger for justice…those who hunger for peace… those who hunger for God!

How do I fulfill Jesus’ command to feed those who hunger for food…for justice…for peace…for God? How do I share the “real presence” within me with others? How does participating in the Eucharist affect the way I live my life?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, a feast that makes many heads hurt as they try and understand one of the most complex theological realities that theologians wrestle with. The wonderful American theologian, Catherine Mowry LaCugna, once wrote that “the doctrine of the Trinity is not an abstract teaching about God apart from us but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other.” Her point is that ultimately any teaching about the Holy Trinity is about “relationship." Jesus tells the disciples that “everything that the Father has is mine….and the Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” There is no “yours and mine” in the Trinity….there is no possessiveness…only a profound sense of “ours”…a sense of community…a sense of communion! Perhaps that is it…”communion”…the total sharing of “being”. And the awesome reality is that “we” are part of that communion!!!

“Understanding” the Holy Trinity…even for great theologians is ultimately beyond us because whatever we “understand” God to be…God is so much more! No matter how profound the theological pronouncements may sound, our attempts are so puny in the face of the enormity of the mystery that is God! So let us not get caught up in complex theological arguments or pronouncements…rather let us rejoice that “God so loved the world” that God came to us as “one of us” in Jesus Christ that we might come to know God better! It is all about relationship…about communion…communing with God…and God communing with us! What does “communion” really mean? How do I commune with God…and with others? Do I really feel connected…“in communion” with “all” my sisters and brothers...even those who are different from me…even those I don’t like? Am I open to being taught by the Holy Spirit to enter into communion with God and others in ways I might not have thought of?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

The great feast of Pentecost is upon us…once again! The celebration of the great pouring forth of the Holy Spirit upon the face of the earth! That same “rush of the wind” that swirled across the face of the waters when the world was created! Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would return…and would remind the disciples of all the He had taught them! The Holy Spirit would embolden them…simple fishermen…to become great missionaries, carrying the “Good News” of the forgiveness of sins and promise of eternal life to the “ends of the earth.”

And that same Holy Spirit is upon us…here…today…so what will happen if we dare to inhale? To take in the fullness of that Spirit…everything would change…we would be transformed…led out of our safe and comfortable surroundings and into the chaos of the world! Called forth into the streets, doing all that we once feared to do and preaching what we never imagined we could preach! Let us breathe deeply…and allow the Divine Fire to burn within us and give us new insight and clarity about what our lives are truly about! But we must be prepared…it will be something “NEW” and unexpected, creative and lifegiving!!!

Or…we can hold our breath and remain just as we are! And the world won’t change and the poor and the marginalized will remain poor and marginalized…and wars will breed other wars…and there will be no “holy revolution”! But what if we “inhale?” Are we willing to risk turning ourselves over to the power of the Holy Spirit? Are we willing to risk it all and be filled with the Holy Spirit? We can choose to “just celebrate” the past…the “birth of the church”…and our parish…and of the Spiritan Congregation…or we can “inhale”…and breathe into the future! And allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and embolden us to be disciples on fire to preach Good News…to go out into the world and to turn it upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! What do I choose?

Pentecost Blessings,
Fr Tim