The word epiphany comes from the Greek; meaning to “appear”…or to be “revealed”. In some cultures the feast of Epiphany is referred to as “Little Christmas” or “the Feast of the Three Kings”, and is a day of exchanging gifts with friends and loved ones. Regardless of what we call it, it is a day on which we tell the story of the arrival of the magi, or the three kings, who have come from afar to see the newborn king and to offer gifts.

Epiphany is a time of celebrating the acknowledgement of “a new beginning”…a time to celebrate the Reign of God bursting forth in the midst of creation! For sure we dwell for a while on the visit of the magi and the wonder of their journey, led only by a star that shown brightly in the deepest of the night sky. It is a time of wonder and awe…a time to allow ourselves to enter into the story and reflect on our own journey…our spiritual journey.

For the magi the signs were in the heavens…a star that led them to Bethlehem, to a shabby little stable…where our God came among us as one of us. Perhaps the magi’s real wisdom was that they knew that they didn’t know everything… they valued learning, they looked for signs, they paid attention to dreams…they expected God to talk to them… they believed that they encountered God in their daily lives.

Ultimately the story of the magi is a story of encounter, an encounter of the greatest kind…an encounter with God. So we must ask ourselves, am I open to “following a star”…to paying attention to the signs of God’s presence in my daily life? Where do I encounter God in the ordinary routine of my daily life, even in the midst of all the chaos of our national and international life, in the midst of this pandemic?

The magi came bearing gifts…what gift of self might I offer to God and others? Do I see and accept the gifts of those coming from foreign lands, like the magi who came from afar to honor the birth of Jesus?

I pray you all a most healthy and blessed New Year!

Fr. Tim

Merry Christmas!

Certain images inspire wonder. They’re powerful beyond the simple contents of the scene.

In the nativity scene we have such an image: a serene new mother, a concerned father, and a vulnerable newborn child. Beleaguered travelers, forced to take refuge in a stable, and the child is carefully laid in a manger—a food trough. The crude surroundings leave the new family barely protected from the elements, open to any and all who come their way. And yet it inspires wonder! I believe that the purpose of wonder is to open our hearts. It’s to help us to see that there is more to life than we have come to expect. It tells us that coursing through human life there are elements of the divine. The manger scene is both an invitation and a promise. The invitation is to leave our pursuit of worldly things behind and instead to enter into the Mystery. To be as vulnerable as this child and these parents. To be as open as these shepherds and as generous of heart as the three kings. To praise like the angels and pay attention like the townspeople. The resulting promise is that we will encounter God. We will discover not only that Jesus is God, but that we too share in God’s life—not only in the afterlife, but right here and right now.

AND SO, HERE’S A CHRISTMAS INVITATION -- it’s an invitation in the very midst of this pandemic, in the midst of all the fear and suffering and loss...to open our hearts to the wonder of this Christmas moment. Let us all say a prayer of gratitude for the gift of love that God has for each and everyone of us…just as we are! Let us not squander this moment of wonder. Let us open our hearts to the poor and the marginalized, to the voiceless and the ignored, to women who are victims of assault and harassment, to the victims of racism and bigotry and hatred, to open our hearts to the immigrants and refugees. Let us reach out to the brokenhearted and lost. Let us not forget in the rush of the gift giving that this is not about gifts but it is about our God becoming flesh, becoming our salvation and the salvation of the all world! Let us allow the wonder of the Incarnation to settle into our hearts and transform us, to give us new eyes to see the world.

I pray that each and every one of you have a “wonder-filled” Christmas and pray you come to know how deeply and passionately you are loved by God…just as you are!

Merry Christmas
Fr. Tim 

This is the time of year when it seems that everyone sings of peace on earth and good will toward all! Pope Paul VI proclaimed that if we want peace we need to work for justice. In this season of dreams of peace and good will…we are called to work for justice!

Advent is a strange season…a season of hopes and dreams…a season of promises fulfilled and of promises yet to be fulfilled…a season of the Reign of God, that which is bursting forth and at the same time not yet fully here. Advent is counter cultural on so many levels. In a season when it seems the whole world begins to spin ever faster we are called to slow down, to spend time in prayer and reflection, to spend time thinking about the deeper realities of our lives in the midst of the pandemic.

Part of this season’s story is about a young girl living in a male dominated world where women were treated as property. But, she breaks free from the bonds of obscurity and insignificance and becomes the heroine. A young girl named Mary said “yes” to an impossible proposition. ”Yes” to what must have seemed totally absurd. Imagine yourself in Mary’s place: a heavenly visitor telling you that God, The Creator of all things -- visible and invisible -- was “asking” you to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. The whole idea that God would choose to become human -- one like us -- and enter into our world as a vulnerable and innocent child is almost too much to comprehend. And yet she said “yes”. And, her yes changed the world forever! To this very day… right now…her yes is still changing the world because the Risen Christ is in our midst! Because of her yes we can profess “we are the Body of Christ!”

What is God calling me to say yes to as a member of the Body of Christ? As I say yes to God, can I say yes to the immigrants and refugees, yes to the women and girls assaulted and abused by the misogyny that is the very fabric of almost every culture in every country? Can I say yes to refusing to participate in racism and bigotry in my words, actions and thoughts? Can I say yes to reaching out in love to even those who have hurt me or whom I have hurt?

Am I brave enough to risk it all like that young girl, from a dusty little backwater town, some two thousand years ago and say yes to God and to what God has in mind for me? Am I willing to risk, like Mary, and say “yes” to God, in the midst of the chaos, fear and sorrow of this pandemic, not knowing where it will lead me…just trusting that God will walk with me on the journey?

Advent blessings,
Fr Tim 

Today is Gaudete Sunday -- we add a new dimension to our waiting….joyfulness!! We hear Mary’s message, “My spirit rejoices in God my savior because the One Who was, Who is and Who is yet to come is on His way! In Mary’s case she was carrying the long awaited One for his first appearance amongst us as one of us, but for us, our spirits rejoice in God our savior for Christ has come and will come again!

But, how can we rejoice in the midst of all the problems of our own lives, not to mention the immense suffering and tragedies unfolding in the world around us in the midst of this pandemic that is ravaging the world?! Joy in the midst of the sorrow and suffering of those grieving the loss of their loved ones? It all seems a bit much! Yet that is precisely what scripture is calling us to -- to be joyful in the midst of our anger, in the midst of our fear and trembling, to trust in God, understanding that in the midst of it all God is present with us in the midst of our suffering, loving us through it!

John the Baptist proclaims the coming of the Messiah. But, not the one they all thought was coming -- One much greater…God’s very self…in flesh… Emmanuel…God with us! And for that we rejoice because in the midst of all of our brokenness and suffering and grief and fear we are deeply and passionately loved by God, just as we are!

And so we rejoice in being perfectly loved and perfectly forgiven! How can I share this “good news” with others?

Advent blessings,
Fr Tim 

REPENT! Prepare the way of the Lord! These words of John the Baptist echo down through the centuries…and are as pertinent to us as they were to those who first heard them. John came from the desert crying out to the people, calling them to a moment of “metanoia”…literally meaning “a turning around”. The voice of John the Baptist cries out to us in the midst of the rush and chaos of the Advent season, calling us to a conversion of heart. He announces the breaking forth of the Reign of God in our very midst. The Scriptures for this Sunday speak of a great hope…a new heavens and a new earth. Yes even in the very midst of this pandemic, there is HOPE in God!

Jesus preached the breaking forth of the Reign of God…a new world order that is breaking forth in and through his preaching. In this new world, justice and peace will flourish and the wicked and unjust ones will be banished.

But as we look around it seems as if we are a long way off from the “peaceable kingdom”. Wars rage and rumors of genocide swirl around us like the biting winds of a cold December night. Our sisters and brothers in Syrian, Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia, the Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh, all of them continue to suffer and it seems there is no end in sight. The Black Lives Matter protesters march and where is racial justice? Where is the Reign of God bursting forth? It is waiting to burst forth from within each one of us!

The Reign of God bursts forth every time we respond to a person or a situation in a Christ-like manner. Christ calls us to “be alert”, to “stay watchful” for we know not the day nor the time of his return. But the time of the Reign of God is NOW, we need to wake up to be the prophets we were anointed to be, to speak up, “to be silence breakers”, to speak out on behalf of all the women, children and men who are sexually harassed and abused. To speak out against racism and bigotry and white supremacy, to speak up for the ones who’s voices are silenced or ignored!

Now is the time!...let us find our prophetic voice, let us not be silent in the face of evil when we see it. Let us prepare the way of the Lord by living prophetic lives that call out injustices, war and evil whenever and wherever we see it! Let us be alert!...let us prepare the way of the Lord…let us lean into Advent, take up our mantle of prophet and put all the abusers and harassers and war mongers on notice and proclaim the Reign of God is bursting forth and speak the truth of the Gospel to power!

Advent Blessings,
Fr. Tim