Blog Archives

September 24, 2023

9/22/2023

At first glance Jesus’ parable of the workers who come late to the field and receive a full day’s pay seems “unjust”. It offends our sense of fairness...why should those who didn’t work a full day be paid a full day’s wages, especially when those who worked a full day received the same pay?

God’s amazing generosity and love falls, like a gentle rain, on the just and the unjust! No one is left out of God’s Reign; no one is left unloved! While that sounds all warm and fuzzy, the truth is that a whole lot of “Christians” don’t buy it and don’t like it!

I believe that if we really understood this parable, and Jesus’ point, we would be having a very different debate on many social and political issues like racial justice and white supremacy, immigration reform, receiving refugees, universal access to healthcare, the national budget, wars raging around the world, a just wage....and the list goes on.

We are called to love as Jesus loves us...to build up the Reign of God...and in the Reign of God even the latecomer gets the same love. As Christians we are called to try and look at these issues through the lens of God’s justice and generosity, not human justice or human generosity.

God’s justice and generosity challenges our own sense of what is fair. While we know we are not to live by “an eye for an eye,” in fact, far too often it is very much how we in deed define “justice”. Far too often we seek retribution, not true justice based on God’s generosity as evidenced in today’s parable.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus shows us that justice is about repairing damaged relationships; about making sure that the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized, and all those who are left out, that they are included regardless of when they arrive to labor in the fields, regardless of what color their skin is, or their gender or where they were born.

To quote a former professor, Sr. Dianne Bergant, CSA, “Divine generosity is always a scandal to people who believe that it should be granted to those who deserve it. And it is in this conviction that their error is laid bare, for no one deserves the generosity of God. It is a free gift, given to all who will accept it. If we think we deserve it, we will resent those who in our judgment do not. It is arrogant to think that we have earned God’s blessings; it is selfish to want to hug them (God’s blessings) to ourselves.” Because thinking God’s generosity is earned, leads to excluding others and judging them unworthy of God’s amazing generosity and love.
What is my own sense of what is “just” or “fair” in light of this Gospel message? How just and generous are my relationships? How does this Gospel message of God’s generosity -- which I am called to imitate -- call me to respond to current social issues such as the demand for racial justice, the call for fair and just immigration reform, how to respond to the refugee crisis, the need for a just wage and access to decent healthcare for all?

How does God’s generosity towards all peoples, and Jesus’ call in this parable to imitate God, challenge my generosity toward other people in my daily life -- not in just the big issues but in the smaller daily interactions I have with others? How does it impact who I think is worthy and who is not? In Today’s parable, Jesus is telling us that all are invited and all are worthy in the eyes of God; even those who come late, God chooses how lavishly generous to be. How do I feel about this reality?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

September 17, 2023

9/15/2023

Revenge versus forgiveness, kindness, and compassion – today’s first reading from Sirach reminds me of “The Our Father”. It ties God’s forgiveness of our sins to our forgiveness of our neighbor’s sins against us.

As we forgive so too shall we be forgiven! Today’s Gospel speaks to us about forgiveness from the heart. Not a walking away from a wrong done to us, not a “simple letting it go,” but a deep decision to forgive. This is more than simply “moving on,” this is about a way of being in the world, a way of living forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a decision of the heart -- one that we must live into, one that takes time when the wound has been great.

We live in a society that often confuses justice with revenge. We seek “an eye for an eye” and we call it justice! And yet that is precisely what Jesus warned us against...he calls his disciples beyond the usual standards of conduct, beyond just loving your neighbor to loving your enemy! This is the crux of the matter! How can I forgive someone who has wronged me, someone who has hurt me, or made me look foolish. How do I forgive someone who has taken away something I valued or worse, someone I loved?

I think that in the parable we hear in the Gospel it is a case of the forgiveness received that had not been allowed to transform the heart of the one who had been forgiven. For, if he had truly accepted this gift of forgiveness and taken it into his heart, he surely would not have treated his coworker as he did. But, instead would have reacted with the kindness and forgiveness that had been shown to him.

This issue was not about whether the money was owed or not. It was about passing on the kindness, compassion and forgiveness that had been shown to the man who owed the large sum to his master who had forgiven his debt.

It is about acknowledging the richness of the kindness, compassion and forgiveness that God so lavishly showers upon us in the midst of our sin. And, our response to that lavish forgiveness is to shower it in turn upon each of our sisters and brothers regardless of the size of their sins or hurts against us!

Who most stands in need of my lavish forgiveness today? To whom do I need to seek forgiveness, from God, from sister or brother?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

September 10, 2023

9/8/2023

In the Gospel this weekend Jesus is essentially talking about mending relationships, about restoring that which has been broken. And when I think about broken relationships I tend to think about “shalom”.

The Hebrew word “shalom” we often translate into English as “peace,” but as so often happens in translations of one language to another so much of the depth of the meaning and sentiment of the words and the world behind the words are lost or worse, misconstrued or just plain incorrect!

The fullness of shalom means so very much more than just peace; so much more than just the absence of war. Shalom means happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and well- being. Shalom means right-relationship with God and right relationship with your neighbor --it is so much more than “peace”.

In today’s Gospel, in a very real way, Jesus is talking about shalom; about working to restore the ancient roots of our relationships with one another, recognizing that we are sister and brother, that we are bound to each other in and through our having been created, brought into being by God.

Jesus recognizes that we hurt one another and that we must seek to repair the injuries and to both seek and to offer forgiveness. We must work to forgive and to restore what was taken or destroyed as well as being willing to be healed of the hurt and the suffering that was inflicted upon us.

We must be willing to “be SHALOM” for the world. Not just for ourselves, but for the sake of the world! Shalom means becoming aware of my own careless words or actions that have wounded, becoming aware of when I have hurt someone, then seeking them out to mend the relationship. Shalom means a recognition of our common sisterhood and brotherhood, of our interconnectedness that flows through our very veins. It is a recognition of our common lineage, our common ancestry as the children of God, made from the dust of the earth and given life by the very breath of God.

Shalom means there is no place for white supremacy and white privilege; there is no place for a world where we value one person over another based on the color of their skin or the place of their birth, their sexual orientation, their socioeconomic status, their gender or their immigration status!

Shalom means that I am called to stand back and reflect on my own biases in how I treat others, to reflect on my own micro aggressions towards others and how and what I think of others in the recesses of my heart, and take meaningful steps to work to be more loving and kind towards others and treat them as my sister, as my brother!

When we wish “Shalom” to someone we wish them happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and well-being, and right- relationship with God and with all their neighbors...and so much more! You and I are called “TO BE SHALOM” to and for all of our sisters and brothers, and for the world itself!

In the midst of all that is happening in the world today we hear the clarion call for total racial equality, in the midst of economic suffering, war and famine, in the midst of all of the suffering of our sisters and brothers how can I “BE SHALOM” in my family, my workplace, in my school, in my community, in my country?
May the SHALOM of God be upon you all!

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

September 3, 2023

9/1/2023

The message in today’s scripture may appear rather grim...it all focuses on suffering and the reality that as followers of Jesus Christ we are going to have to sacrifice something.

The cost of discipleship means not avoiding the tough issues of life. Jesus tells the disciples that they will need to carry their own crosses. We can’t avoid it -- like Peter wanted Jesus to do. We will have to “carry” the problems and difficulties of our lives...all of the sorrows, illnesses and losses that come our way.

We are not “protected” from suffering as disciples of Jesus were. Rather, we are accompanied by Jesus in our sufferings! And, that reality makes all the difference! Having faith that our God does not abandon us in our times of darkness helps us get through the darkness. It becomes a light “in” the darkness -- in the midst of the suffering.

Jesus didn’t walk away from suffering; he accepted it. And even in the midst of dying, he reached out to the one suffering next to him and offered the repentant thief comfort.

Jesus does not say that suffering in and of itself is good...but rather warns us that in choosing to follow him we will be called to sacrifice; to give of ourselves for the sake of the other.

We are being called to let go of our self-centeredness and open ourselves to the sacrifices required in building up the Reign of God. It’s a radical call from Jesus. How radical will my response be? Sometimes the response may be large and bold, and sometimes it may be small and more subdued. It may be a grand outward gesture or perhaps a more personal response like working on a character flaw, living more intentionally or trying to be ever more aware of how I treat others and how I show others respect and care on a daily basis in my life.

Surely one part of the response to Jesus’ call is standing up for the voiceless and those whose voices are ignored and disregarded. Part of my radical response to the call of discipleship is to be willing to give up some aspects of my personal comfort for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of the needs of the poor, the immigrant and those marginalized by hatred, racism and bigotry.

What sacrifices for others am I being called to make as a disciple of Jesus Christ? What might I be asked to let go of in my life that I might be better able to help carry “the crosses” of others? To what personal action is my discipleship calling me this week?

Blessings,

Fr. Tim

September 24, 2023

September 17, 2023

September 10, 2023

September 3, 2023

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