Happy New Year! ...no, I’ve not lost it…I say it every year as today we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent…the beginning of the church’s liturgical year. Advent is truly a “wonder-filled” season. We look to the deep blue night sky…shimmering with a million stars, each one a reminder of the dawn of creation…of the promise of the long awaited savior. For me there is something about gazing up at the night sky…something awe inspiring and spiritual in nature. It calls us to look beyond ourselves, to the vastness of the universe, of all creation!

Advent is a time to “make time”…in the midst of all the commercialism, in the midst of all of chaos that we call “the holiday rush”, it is a time to slow down, to stand back and to reflect…to take time to allow the wonder of the Great Christmas Event to settle into our souls…to shake us loose from the ordinariness of our daily lives and allow ourselves to be wrapped up in the awe and wonder of the Incarnation -- the fact that our God so deeply loves us and that God’s very self became human to prove that love to us. That love is for you just as you are! This amazing love is for all of God’s creation, for all peoples of the earth and for the earth itself!

This Advent we find ourselves in the midst of one of the largest humanitarian crisis in recent memory as we struggle through this pandemic; while at the same time, our sisters and brothers flee war and terror around the globe and they wander the earth in search of a home. As we reflect on the wonder and awe of God’s amazing love for the earth and all humanity, let us raise our voices and work to make sure that these immigrants and refugees, and all who wander the earth in search of finding “home”, be taken in.

Let us hold in our hearts in our prayer all of those suffering from COVID-19, for all of those on the front lines -- the nurses and doctors and cleaning staff and all of the “essential employees” who put themselves at risk by showing up for work so that we can have the basic needs of our lives met.

Let us not allow fear to rule our lives, but rather the love of Christ! Let us together make our Advent preparation time, a time of work and prayer for peace, for an end to all forms of violence and assaults on human dignity and racial injustice. Let us commit ourselves to not rush into Christmas but to “live Advent” and allow ourselves to become the gift that our sisters and brothers most need. To become people of peace with open hearts for all those who suffer and are in need; able to love them as we love ourselves.

Even though we may be fearful and anxious, lonely and de-pressed because of the pandemic let us take time to sit with Jesus the Christ and ask for the gifts of peace and gratitude in our hearts…in the very midst of the terrible chaos of this pandemic. Then we will truly be ready to celebrate Christmas when at last it arrives with hearts full of love for Christ and full of love for the least of our sisters and brothers. Happy Advent!

Advent Blessings,
Fr. Tim

As we celebrate the final Sunday in the liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe….a title ripe with patriarchal overtones…yet today throughout the church we will focus on Jesus’ love for each of us…not so much on his power over us.

The first reading recasts "the king", not as a controlling or ruthless overlord, but rather as a gentle shepherd who seeks out the lost and lame, binding up their wounds. And that image of the "good shepherd" is the subtext for Jesus' rather harsh words in today’s Gospel. Jesus' frustration with the people's lack of acceptance of himself and of his message of love is apparent by the tone of his warning. Jesus had clearly outlined what was required of those who would be his disciples...feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, visit the sick and imprisoned, shelter the homeless and welcome the stranger, and by loving God with our whole being and our neighbor as our self...by these actions or failure to do them, we will be judged. The bottom line is that while we may cry out " Lord, Lord", we will not be recognized by what we say, but rather, by how we have lived our lives! No one wants to be singled out as one of the "goats", so the message is follow Jesus -- not by what you say, but by how you live.

The reality is that we are free to choose to live as Jesus taught or we can choose to live as if he had never been born. Remember those "WWJD" bracelets...more of a marketing gimmick than a religious statement as evidenced by how quickly they faded from all the major stores. Why did they fade so quickly? Perhaps because it was asking too much -- did people really want to know the answer to that question? And now as we, as a nation, struggle to take on systemic racism and racial inequality and to deal justly and lovingly with immigrants and refugees, and to house the homeless and help the chronically unemployed and underemployed…and the list goes on…but in each of these situations, we are called to seriously ask ourselves, "what would Jesus do?" What will I do?

As I open up myself to the love of Christ will I allow it to transform my stony heart into the heart of Christ? As I encounter challenging situations in my own life am I willing to risk asking myself: What would Jesus do in this situation? And then try to respond with the love of Christ regardless of the cost to me?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

As we continue to move to the end of the liturgical year our readings remind us that one day the world will end...Christ will return…but when? Some Christians routinely (and wrongly) announce the return of Christ…they seem to forget that Jesus clearly said that no one, not even “He” knew when it would happen! And yet there are those who continue to claim to know the date and time.

Remember the “Jesus is coming on May 21st” billboards that dotted the highways a few years ago? In today’s 2nd reading, St Paul warns that the end will come like a “thief in the night,” and “knowing” when Christ will come is not the point…but rather it is all about being ready when Christ returns! Am I ready?

At the center of the readings is a message of total reliance upon the unbelievable mercy and boundless love of God. It is about keeping our hearts and minds open to God’s presence in our daily lives and in the world around us! The psalmist reminds us that God is our portion and cup, our inherence and therefore our hearts are glad and our souls rejoice…for we are God’s beloved! By keeping God at the center of our daily lives we indeed will be ready if the world were to end in our times. Because of the love and mercy of our God we need not fear “the end” for we will be transformed into beings that shine like the stars in the heavens! Through Christ we have inherited eternal life and each of us is a part of “the great cloud of witnesses” who give glory to God.

I cannot fail to mention that we find ourselves in a moment of a report of outrageous, inappropriate and unacceptable abuse by the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who joins other clerics and lay men who used their positions of power to abuse women, children and even other men. Part of “being ready” is standing up to injustices, speaking out against all forms of abuse, misogyny, racism and bigotry, recognizing the dignity of all women, children and men of all colors and races and creeds! And I believe we best can do that when we keep God at the center of our daily lives. When we stand with our sisters, our children and our brothers who have been abused and exploited, we actively build up the Reign of God in the here and now, “we stand ready”, we more fully live out our identity as the Body of Christ!

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

The Gospel calls us to be ready for when the “bridegroom” comes! It is an obvious metaphor for the second coming of Christ. And the message is to live our lives “ready” for that day! As I was getting ready to make my final vows in the Spiritan Community I was expected to make a “memory card”, a card not unlike the ones made for funerals! But it is meant to mark a special occasion and for the front of the card I chose a quote from Dag Hammarskjold; “For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.” I chose it because I believe it speaks of a profound gratitude to God for all that has been in life and of an openness towards God and towards whatever lies ahead in life and in death.

November is traditionally a time in which we remember the dead. In Latin America many of the people set up little home altars on which they place photos and mementos of their loved ones who have died and gone ahead of them to that which we call the afterlife, heaven. We do not know what lies ahead but yet we are part of it, promised resurrection through our Baptism. As we careen towards the end of the liturgical year our readings turn toward “the last things”. This is not meant to cause us to be gloomy or sad; on the contrary, it is meant to offer us an opportunity to reflect on the transitory reality of this life in the context of the gift of the promise of eternal life. While none of us really know what it will be like, and the speculation has made for good reading over the centuries, some theologians today talk of it as something analogous to a glorious and knowable uniting, a joining with God in a new and spectacular way, beyond our wildest hopes and dreams! Heaven!

What do I think about heaven and the afterlife? Do I fear death or dying? If I built a little home altar, whose photos and mementos would I place on it? In the midst of all the chaos that we are living in, what are the things that I can find gratitude for in my life? And what are the things in which I can find openness to God and to what lies ahead in life and in death, believing that God journeys with me through it all?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim