Today’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, forgiven -- 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 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 millions of refugees, people because of the color of their skin, people crucified for their immigration status, for who they love, for 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? 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 six years ago on the fifth Sunday of Lent 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 disgrace and scandal within the church 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…pointing out the sins of the very people who had condemned her and were about to stone her, supposedly all “in the name of God.” Jesus told the religious leaders they had it wrong…ultimately challenging “their laws” that demanded such violence.

There has been much written about this Gospel story, about it being a story of second chances…a story of new beginnings. Some scholars argue about the final line of this Gospel, 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 “sin no more” but rather the ancient texts use an archery term referring to “taking better aim”. It would seem then that Jesus encouraged the woman to be on her way and take better aim with her life.

Perhaps this is a moment in the church for “her” to “take better aim” as she moves forward into the future. Perhaps it is 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 and violent treatment of women. I cannot but help wonder if this Gospel story does not in fact call us to question the place and status of women in the church and in the world? Perhaps there is a lesson 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 seen but not listened to…where true lasting and substantive justice and equality remain denied to women. It is quite clear that the men who drag her before Jesus include local religious leaders…and it is Jesus who takes a stand and ends the violence that was about to be done to her. And while the official church has been vocal on civil and human rights abuses of women around the world she remains far too silent on the just and meaningful place and role of women within the church!

How do I treat women in my life? What do I really think about the role of women in church and society? Do my views on women and their role and place in church and society truly reflect Gospel values? What would Jesus think about my views?

Lenten Blessings,
Fr Tim

Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them!!! What an accusation leveled against Jesus …tax collectors…they worked for the “oppressors”…they worked for Caesar and as if it wasn't enough that they worked for “the Empire”….on top of that, they cheated their own people, collecting more tax than was required by Caesar who was squeezing the very life blood out of their own people. Let’s be clear, the accusation was not wrong…the people Jesus was in fact welcoming and eating with were sinners…that was not a misrepresentation or a twisting of the facts. This is the context of the story of the “Prodigal Son” or perhaps better name the story of the “Lavish Parent”...it is about the magnanimous and unrestrained nature of God’s forgiveness!

And to be honest, it’s all a bit absurd! Who could seriously be convinced to forgive those who have abused them, cheated them and caused them more misery than anyone else could imagine? But there it is! That is precisely what Jesus is suggesting! Jesus is claiming that no matter how great our sin…no matter how far we have strayed from goodness and kindness we are all redeemable, all forgivable and all loved by God. But, make no mistake about it, it is in no way giving us “a pass” on reprehensible and sinful behavior! It is really speaking of the possibility of transformation and redemption through the power of forgiveness!

We've seen it in South Africa… we've seen it in Kosovo…and we've seen it in the lives of thousands of nameless victims who have chosen to forgive their perpetrators of unspeakable atrocities and crimes! How is it possible to forgive those who have raped, murdered and destroyed the lives of innocent people? Forgiveness does not in any way imply a lack of guilt…but rather it is about refusing to allow the perpetrator to continue to inflict pain and suffering upon those they have abused. As long as our anger and rage control our emotions we are not free of our bondage to them! The violent need to be brought to “justice” and to pay for their sins, but true justice is not revenge! Forgiveness ultimately frees the victim from the clutches of the perpetrator…it in no way says “it didn't happen”…it in no way says “it didn't matter”…it in no ways says “they are not guilty”.

So what does this all mean for us as disciples of Jesus Christ? Jesus was so kind and forgiving…but how are we to forgive those who are guilty of unspeakable sin? How do we forgive those who wound us and hurt us and the ones we love? Jesus clearly states that it is “Godly” to forgive. But that in no way means that we do not stand up against violence! It does not mean that we fall silent in the face of violence nor turn our back on seeking justice in the wake of violence…not vengeance but justice. How do we forgive those who are guilty of violence, especially when it impacts us personally…when it is done in our name or in the name of our church, or in the name of our country?

As you can see, it is not so easy…do we really believe in the transformative reality of forgiveness? Who am I called to forgive? How do I deal with forgiveness for those guilty of truly atrocious crimes? What do I personally, and we as a nation, need to be forgiven for? How do we forgive and demand “justice” at the same time?

Lenten Blessings,
Fr Tim

Each year the Lenten season calls us to take a good long look at our lives. The point Jesus is trying to make in the parable in today’s Gospel is that sometimes our Christian lives are like that tree that doesn't bear fruit. The tree is clearly alive but yet it fails to bear fruit. The owner wants it cut down. The man responsible for the tree asks the owner to give it one more year…he will fertilize it and cultivate the ground around it and then if it still bears no fruit, it can be cut down.

Lent is a time for us to cultivate and fertilize our lives so that we will bear more fruit! Lent calls us to do more than “just hang in there”…to do more than just resist being mean or selfish or nasty… more than to just resist sin! Lent calls us to open up our hearts to God… to be transformed by God’s unconditional love and thus to bear amazing fruit. Lent calls us to new growth…to grow into a more loving person… more loving of God and neighbor. This is the fruit that God desires us to bear! All of our almsgiving, fasting and prayer ultimately are meant to help us in our transformation. Ideally through these Lenten practices we become more aware of how we are living in the world and how we are living our discipleship of Jesus Christ.

Are we empathetic to the pain and suffering of others and do we reach out to help them in some way? Lent offers us an opportunity to slow down and reflect on how we live our lives on a daily basis in light of how the Gospel calls us to live. It provides us time to ask ourselves: Is there anything I need to change or to do differently in my life so it might bear more fruit? What are the” fruits” of my life? How does the way I live my life impact others…both positively and negatively? How could my impact be greater? How do I “fertilize and cultivate” the lives of others so they too may bear more fruit?

Lenten Blessings,
Fr Tim

This Sunday we hear Luke’s account of the Transfiguration of Jesus…right before the eyes of three of the disciples, Jesus’ true identity bursts forth and in one brief luminous moment , Peter, James and John are themselves forever changed….”transfigured” with a growing awareness of who Jesus really is! I believe that each one of us have our own “moments of transfiguration” ….moments in which we see or feel the very presence of God. They are moments when, deep inside” we come to know with certainty that God is present….that God is real.

These moments of awareness hold the potential to transform our lives into something new…something wonderful. The challenge is to learn “to live out of” these moments… keeping these moments alive in our hearts and minds allowing them to continually transfigure us more and more into the image and likeness of God. Each one of us carries within us experiences of the tenderness, mercy and love of God. So often it is the chaos of our lives that “dim” the luminous moments of encounters with our God…we forget we ever had them in the midst of the rush and busyness of our daily lives.

Not all of these “transfiguration” moments are happy or joyful, some of them come in the midst of great sadness, even in the midst of tragedy and death. I have had such “transfiguration” moments with people as they were dying, luminous in-breakings of Grace that transfigured the dying person, and me as well! These transfiguration moments exist all around us, even in the midst of the political turmoil in which we find ourselves, in encounters with the poor and the marginalized, with the immigrant and refugee, with the one whom we see as “other”… there is God, waiting, wanting us to reach out and take “the other’s” hand and be transfigured.

Lent is a wonderful opportunity to look for transfiguration moments as well as to step back and recall those moments of grace when the fullness of God bursts into our lives…when we realized that we were not alone…that there was something more to life…more than what we can see or touch…more than we can imagine… “God moments”!

When was my last “God moment”? How was I transfigured by that moment? What does that “God moment” call me to do, to be? Whose hand am I being called to reach out and grasp?


Lenten Blessings,
Fr Tim

In this Sunday’s Gospel we encounter Jesus being tempted by the devil with temptations to power, fame and pride. Some Scripture scholars have argued that it was through his experience of forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert that Jesus came to a deeper understanding of his true identity and his mission.

As we begin Lent it is appropriate for us to reflect a bit on our own lives, our own desert experiences and our own temptations. Most all of us, as humans, are tempted by pride, arrogance, selfishness, anger and greed…the real question is whether or not we give in to those temptations. For some, who give in, they are led to disgraceful acts of greed and ego with catastrophic results. All we need to do is to read the headlines in the newspapers or listen to the nightly news…we know who they are and are able to judge the seriousness of their acts.

For most of us, sins are somewhat more contained…a white lie here and there…a small theft once in a while…a few carelessly chosen harsh words that wound. Most of us are basically good people, trying to live as God has called us to live. In the recesses of our hearts we know we’ve been tempted…we’ve stood on the precipice of surrender to our baser desires…enticed by money, recognition, or power to take advantage of situations or people, neglect of our responsibilities towards others, or treat ourselves or others with disregard and disrespect.

As we reflect on our own personal sins let us not forget the structural sins of our society…greed, arrogance, pride, violation of human rights,vengeance and war feebly masked as “just war”, turning a blind eye to the tens of millions of displaced persons, refusal to aid those in the midst of famine and the list goes on. As Jesus came forth from the wilderness of the desert proclaiming the coming of the Reign of God bursting forth in the world through the preaching of the Gospel, he forever linked the “Gospel imperatives” to theReign of God. To the extent that we live out the imperatives of Jesus...to love one another as he has loved us, to love our enemies, to actively seek to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the marginalized…to that same extent we participate in the building up of the Reign of God.

Lent is meant to be a time of reflection and of action! We are called to a conversion of heart…to turn away from self-centeredness and sin and all that gets in the way of our living as true disciples of Jesus Christ. What can I do, or stop doing, in order to become a better disciple of Jesus Christ? What acts of almsgiving, prayer and fasting can I commit to this Lent that will help build up the Reign of God, to be a living sign of hope in the midst of a suffering and wounded world?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

In today’s Gospel Jesus seems to be questioning or challenging his disciples to be more aware of their own behavior before they go about judging the behavior of others. The image of having a log in one’s eye and attempting to remove a splinter from the eye of another person is quite ridiculous but clearly makes Jesus’ case to his followers. It appears that Jesus is condemning his disciples of being too quick to judge others while remaining blind to their own shortcomings and missteps. They have missed Jesus’ example of being quick to forgive rather than to judge. Even though they have been the recipients of the lavishness of Jesus’ mercy they themselves evidently have failed to in turn act as Jesus has acted. In this they have failed as students, for the teacher has taught the lesson but they missed the meaning.

He then goes on to instruct them that what is inside will be manifested on the outside…”a good person out of the goodness in their heart produces good…just as a rotten tree produces rotten fruit and a good tree produces good fruit. Jesus instructs them that the goodness or the rot of the heart will show forth in a person’s speech.

It seems that in our age we do not value truth in speech, we find it hard to trust the words of political leaders, church leaders, our newscasters; they often say one thing but do another. Most of the time we are able to spot dishonesty and the lack of integrity in someone’s words and none of us likes to be deceived. Just as Jesus called his disciples to reflect on how quick they are to judge others so we too have the opportunity to remove the log from our eye in order that we might be able to remove the splinter from our neighbor’s eye.

And as we prepare for the season of Lent we can begin to reflect on what is the fruit that our lives bear? How quick am I to show mercy and forgiveness to those who have wronged me or hurt me?

Blessings,
Fr Tim 

​“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you.” Jesus is not calling the disciples to become “door mats” but rather he is attempting to make a key paradigm shift from violence to nonviolence. He is challenging his followers to be willing to go beyond what the law allowed, “an eye for and eye”, and embrace something much more difficult, to embrace “the other”! He calls us to be merciful as God is merciful, to love our enemies, to give to whoever asks of us.

How is all of this humanly possible? It seems too much! God’s goodness and mercy is so great, how can any human act be as good and merciful as God? Some theologians say that God’s goodness and mercy comes down to “generosity” -- a generosity so grand that it created all known reality, that even the incarnation is self-giving, as was Jesus’ death, as was his resurrection and as is our salvation. So then this “generosity”, this “out pouring” of God’s self into the world empowers us, fills us, emboldens us and ultimately changes us to become more generous, less violent, less bent on getting even and more moved to be kind and loving to “the other”.

So we begin to work for ways in which our society makes room for the immigrant and the migrant rather than ways to keep them out. This spirit of generosity calls us to let go of racist, misogynist and other bigoted attitudes towards others and to work for justice and peace in our homes, our communities, our nation and in our world. Perhaps this generosity of spirit grows from first finding our own gratitude for being loved so deeply and passionately by God, just as we are. And from that gratitude grows our ability to be generous and merciful towards “the other”, who is my sister, my brother. For what am I grateful for today? To whom will I be generous and merciful towards today?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

This Sunday we hear Luke’s account of Jesus’ famous sermon on the beatitudes ,“The Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew. But in Luke it takes place on a great stretch of level ground. We’ve heard it over and over since we were children and are hardly shocked by Jesus’ description of the reign of God. Undoubtedly some of those who gathered on that great stretch of land to listen to Jesus were shocked by the picture he painted of the Reign of God…it made no sense and ran contrary to the sociopolitical reality of their lives. What was he thinking, the meek will inherit the land? We all know that it is the powerful who control the land. And the “peace-makers”?…well they usually get run over by the armies! And what was he saying about the “poor”, theirs is the Kingdom of God? Wait a minute…I though the Kingdom belonged to the righteous and those who followed the letter of the law.

Well the truth is that Jesus had a different take on the whole matter. The beatitudes name the ways in which peoples’ lives and well-being are threatened: grinding poverty, grief, landlessness, hunger, war and persecution. Jesus does not advise that those so afflicted simply wait for a reversal of fortune in the hereafter, though the final verse does speak of great reward in heaven. Jesus calls for attitudes and actions that will more fully bring about the reign of God. The poor are the humble whose wealth is found in their relationship with God and not in gold. The meek are not to be “shrinking violets” who accept injustice, but rather, those who know their proper place as children of God, and who stand up to ensure that all people are treated with dignity and as full heirs to God’s Reign.

The beatitudes are really “Be - Attitudes”…they call us to a way of holiness through reaching out to all who suffer in this world, and promise us that to the extent that we reach out to and work on behalf of the suffering we will become more fully the “blessed of God” and in the process we help to build up the Reign of God! One of the major differences in the sermon in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke’s are the “woe unto you” verses. These verses serve as warnings so that people will take stock of their lives and reflect on how they are living and building up the Reign of God. As we take time this week to reflect on this Gospel let us focus on the beatitudes and ask ourselves: in what concrete ways will I live out the “Be – Attitudes” today?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

This weekend’s readings touch on the themes of God’s call, our unworthiness, God’s grace and ultimately our response to God’s call. In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah we find Isaiah declaring himself doomed for he, a man of unclean lips and yet with his own eyes, beholds “the Lord of Hosts”. By an angel sent by God his wickedness is removed and he offers himself to God, “here I am Lord, send me.” And thus the formerly wicked one becomes the very mouthpiece of God to a whole nation.

Then we hear Paul declare that he is not worthy to be an apostle but it is by the grace of God that he is indeed an apostle, and “God’s grace has not been ineffective.” Paul is chosen by Jesus and given a mission to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul, like Isaiah, responds in the affirmative to the call he has received even though he is keenly aware of his unworthiness. He recognizes God’s grace is greater than his sinfulness.

And in the Gospel we hear of the encounter between Jesus and Peter, who is astonished by the words and power of Jesus and who is brought to his knees as he proclaims “depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man”. To which Jesus responds “do not be afraid; you will be a fisher of people…and they left everything and followed him.” In each of these stories the chosen one is keenly aware of their own unworthiness but God’s grace is greater than their sinfulness and empowers them to be able to respond in a positive manner to the call they have received.

It is in the midst of our brokenness and sinfulness that God calls us to be disciples on mission, in the world building up the Reign of God in the here and now. Each one of us is a living manifestation of the abundance of the gifts God has placed in the world that the brokenhearted and the wounded might be healed and that we might proclaim the Good News to the world through our words and actions! And all of this happens in the midst of our own brokenness by God’s grace which is always sufficient for the day! What do I hear God calling me to do in my life? Where have I seen or felt God’s grace acting in me or in the world around me? What do I most need God’s grace for in my life right now?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim