Christmas Greetings 2001

Christmas Greetings 2001

Warm Christmas Greetings To All: 

I hope all is well for you, your families and those you love.  I happy to report that I am well and having a good experience teaching Spanish at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore.

I often think of the many wonderful people I met during my two years in Costa Rica.  I sure do miss being there and frequently reminisce about that beautiful country and so many people there who became so special to me.  It is hard to believe that I left Costa Rica over a year ago.

While in Costa Rica I was given the Spanish nickname “Teo” (pronounced “tay-oh”) which is really the last part of “Timoteo,” my name in Spanish.  The people there would also address me with the title “Fray” (pronounced “fry”) which is the Spanish equivalent of “Friar.”  And so I was known as “Fray Teo.”   I’ve continued to use the name as I’ve worked with Spanish people here in the States, and now that I am teaching Spanish.

When I returned from Costa Rica, I had the pleasure of spending six months working with the Spanish-speaking community of Saint Philip Benizi Parish in Jonesboro, Georgia.  I enjoyed my time there, and I often remember those people in thought and prayer.  I look forward to the day when I will be able to go back to Georgia for a visit.

I must be honest and admit that I continue to be in a “New York State of Mind.”  I’ve never quite gotten over my departure from Brooklyn–an event that happened more than three years ago!  Since September 11^th, I have really felt like a displaced New Yorker.  Given the tragedy, it has been difficult for me to see so many news reports about New York and the people there.  During this difficult time, I have often wanted to be in The City with those who are so dear to me.  Fortunately, because I’m not that far away, I have been able to go back to New York for a number of short visits.  I long for the day when I can return to live again in my “adopted home town.” 

If I have not sent it to you already, here is my current address and phone number: 

Fr. Timothy P. Dore, OFM Conv. (Fray Teo)

Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary

4220 Erdman Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland 21213‑2697

 

Email: frayteo@yahoo.com

Telephone 410‑485‑5511 (before 9:30PM)

   You may also dial 410‑485‑5000, extension 289, to be connected directly to my voice mail.

 

Have a Blessed Christmas Season, and a Very Happy New Year! 

Paz y bien,

 

A Post 9-11 Homily

 

Homily–Timothy P. Dore–October 7th, 2001

The first reading from Habakkuk and the Gospel of Luke invite us to reflect upon the meaning of faith.  What is faith?

In today’s Gospel the Apostles beg Jesus to give them more faith.  Perhaps they felt that they did not have enough, or would not be strong enough should their faith be put to the test.  They begged the Lord to give them more faith.  I am sure that many of us have had moments when we have gone before God in our prayers and like the apostles have begged for more faith–or at least for a greater ability to make sense of the world and all that has happened around us.

The first reading tells us that “the upright person will live by faithfulness.”  The reading tells us that such a person will live this way even when evils of oppression, injustice, tyranny, outrage violence, contention and discord are all around.  Habakkuk certainly means to say that a person of faith will not participate in such evils, and will be able to rise above them in his or her own life.  

I couldn’t help but to think about the recent events of September 11th as I contemplated the words of Habakkuk “why do you set injustice before me, why do you look on where there is tyranny?  Outrage and violence, this is all I see.”  

Can any of us really understand how such evil could triumph right before our ours?  Is there one among us who did not ask the question, “how could our God let this happen to us?”  And what person here today does not sit with at least a little uneasiness about events that are to come in response to those who have committed such savage acts of terror right in our back yard.

As I contemplate these questions, I want to say that our faith must be strong–but not misguided.  Our faith must have deep roots, but not rooted in foolishness.  We must be enthusiastic people of faith, but not fanatics.  

All of us have been faced with difficult moments in our lives.  Chances are that it was our faith that got us through the most difficult of those moments.  Our faith promises us to get us through the current national crisis.

What are some of the difficult moments that all of us have faced?

–The difficulty of watching a dearly loved one die because of a terrible disease.

–The loss of a our job or a friend who has lost a job and has had a difficult time fining another.

–The trauma of dealing with the automobile crash of a family member or friend.

–The financial ruin of people we know and love.

–The death of a child, either our own, someone in our extended family, a neighbor or even the child of someone we don’t even know.

–The knowledge that someone close to us is in a difficult marriage.

–The divorce of our parents, or a couple dear to us.

–The helplessness we feel when we have been victimized in some way–by robbery, assault, some kind of abuse, and even the torture of psychological abuse.

–The sudden loss of a loved one who has died at an early age.

I could probably go on for another hour with a hundred or so sad situations that all of us have dealt with in one way or another.

The message of our readings today is simply this: We shall endure if we have faith.  Even if we just have a little bit of faith (like the reference of Jesus to the Mustard Seed in the Gospel) we will be able to overcome the difficult moments in our lives.

Oh but it is so easy to say “just have faith.”  

As I was thinking about this I remembered that faith is not something we just take off of the shelf when we need it–kind of like a bottle of oil that is stored away until the tires on the bicycle are squeaky and need to be oiled again.  Faith must be something we visit every day and cultivate–much like the athlete who practices for hours and hours every week to perfect his sport.  Baseball great Cal Ripkin did not achieve his stature and ability overnight.  It was cultivated and developed for many years and led him to the stature and success he has today.

Let’s not run to the church only when we face crises in our lives.  It is really impossible to have faith amid the crises of our lives, if faith is not first a way of life.

The events of September 11th have called us to ask many questions, but we know that if we have and maintain our faith, then we will be like the upright person in the first reading today who lives by faithfulness.

A Post-9/11/01 Reflection

 

A Post-9/11/01 Reflection:

           Most of my family and friends know that I have a great love for the City of New York.  I spent some wonderful years there during most of the 1990's.  Even though Baltimore is my home town, I often say that New York is my “adopted home town.”  When I am in New York I truly feel like I am “home.”  On September 11^th I was in Baltimore completing my first week at my new assignment as a teacher at Archbishop Curley High School.  I was as shocked as everyone else with the events of that day.  As I watched the towers of the World Trade Center collapse on live television, I found myself gasping out loud with the words “Oh my God.”

I had already been planning to visit New York on the weekend of September 14^th, and felt even more drawn there because of the things that had transpired.  Needless to say, when I arrived on Friday afternoon I found the mood of the City to be very somber.  It was important for me to be able to be with friends who had been in New York on the previous Tuesday morning. 

On Friday evening, I went to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and joined thousands of people there for a candlelight vigil.  Gazing across the East River from Brooklyn, I was only able to get a glimpse of the destruction of lower Manhattan.  The buildings that had majestically dominated the skyline, and for which I always had a near reverence, had vanished.  In their place was a huge empty spot.  From the distance I couldn’t see “ground zero,” but I could see billowing smoke and the haunting glow in the sky which emanated from high powered spot lights shining at the WTC site.  Like everyone else, I was intensely aware that thousands of rescuers were feverishly trying to rescue thousands of others who possibly had survived as the buildings fell.  The view from the Promenade was an unbelievable, horrible and very frightening sight.

This past weekend, I returned to New York once again.  This time I was able to get much closer to the WTC site as I stood just two blocks away on Broadway near Wall Street.  I can’t describe the feelings I had as I looked down the street and saw mounds of twisted steel and concrete, black smoke, firefighters, US Army personnel, the total destruction of the WTC and the great damage to the surrounding buildings.

When I lived in New York, I was a frequent visitor to the World Trade Center.  I often took my out of town visitors to the Observation Deck at the top floor of Tower #1.   I had the pleasure of eating at the Windows on the World Restaurant at the top of Tower #2.  I frequently shopped in the mall underneath the WTC complex.  It was one of my favorite places to visit in downtown Manhattan.  Seeing the WTC totally destroyed was an incredibly emotional experience for me.