Be Vigilant At All Times, the First Sunday of Advent – Year C

My Sisters and Brothers:  

     We don’t have to look too far these days to see that very soon we will be at the peak of the celebration of Christmas.  Trees and ornaments have already been displayed for weeks at our local shopping centers, holiday music has filled the air all around us, the parties have started, and the pressure of gift shopping has come upon us as well!

     Many of us can experience a great amount of anxiety and stress during this so called “holiday season.”  It can be very easy for us to get caught up with all things “commercial Christmas” at this time of the year.  This may cause us to lose our spiritual focus during the Advent season we are just now beginning.

     Today, on this First Sunday of Advent, we are reminded to take some steps back from all of the material pressure that may be placed upon us at this time.  Our Scriptures today encourage us to reflect on the true meaning of this current season–a time in which we are reminded “to be prepared” and “to wait” for “the coming of the Lord.”

     Oh yes, it's a good thing to recall with joy that soon we will once again be celebrating the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem–even if this includes “holiday activities” that are really more secular than faith-based.  But as Christians, we must never lose touch with the more important reality presented to us during our observance of Advent.  That reality is our hope that Jesus will come again, and that we must be ready for that day!  Advent for us is a time of hopeful expectation of things yet to come.

     With regards to this, Jesus tells us in the Gospel today:  “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy . . . and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap . . .  be vigilant at all times and pray that you have strength” (see Luke 21:34-36).

     And so my sisters and brothers, let us not be too overtaken by all that “commercial Christmas” out there, and certainly may we not be overcome by the concurrent anxiety it could possibly cause!  May we fully and cheerfully enjoy those trees and the bright lights, the fun of holiday shopping, the Christmas carols filling the air with cheer, the social gatherings and all the food that comes with them, and the joy of these days, but let us not lose our true spiritual focus!  As people of hope during this time of Advent, may we encourage one another in the faith that our Messiah, Jesus the Christ, will actually come again.

     May we be prepared for that day with peace and joy, and may we know that it will bring us to completion as both individuals and as a people of God!  Happy Holidays my friends!

     Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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The Kingship of the Servant Jesus, the Thirty-fourth Sunday, Christ the King–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers: 

     Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  As I contemplate the meaning of this feast, I am compelled to recall that Jesus is also known as the “Servant King.”

     From a Christian perspective, it seems to me that there are very close connections between the ideas of “service” and of “love.”  This also compels me to recall that Scripture passage which states: “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him/her” (see 1 John 4:16b).

     It seems to me then that the best way to understand the “kingship” of Jesus is to see that it has everything to do with service to others rooted in the enduring love of our eternal God in heaven!  It’s interesting to note that although we acknowledge Jesus as “king,” he tells us in today’s Gospel that “his kingdom does not belong to this world” (see John 18:36).   And so it might be good for us on this feast to “think outside of the box” with regards to how we understand Jesus in comparison to the power and authority of earthy kings and other such political leaders.

     The most typical images of worldly monarchs and potentates might depict them as wearing flowing purple robes, holding royal scepters in their hands, and as being seated on lofty golden thrones.  In fact, there are even many examples of religious art that depict Jesus exactly in such a manner!  While this may help us to comprehend Jesus Christ as Lord, as truly divine, and as all-powerful and eternal, understanding his “kingship” from some limited worldly perspective risks missing a much greater idea of who Jesus really and truly is as King of the Universe.

     Isn’t it true that genuine and enduring love is more powerful than any type of earthly potentate–whether these things are money, possessions, weapons, prestige, political and/or military power, and etcetera?

     When I think of the omnipotence of Jesus, the words love and service seem best to describe what he is for all men and women of all times and places!  For many, and in countless manners even in our own personal lives, Jesus has shown us the purest of love, and this love is always made manifest in the way he places himself in service to the human family.  Our faith tradition tells us that he did this through his incarnation into the world as one of us, during his life and ministry among us, by his care for and service to the needy and the marginalized, and by embracing his passion and death on the cross.  Ultimately, we believe that Jesus serves us and shares with each of us this abiding love of the Father through the glory of his resurrection to new and eternal life.

     Therefore, the kingship of the servant Jesus simply has everything to do with the profound and enduring love of God, a reality that will forever be more powerful than any fleeting and worldly assertion of power and control.  This eternal love is the same one that motivates our own hearts to be grateful, and it inspires us to love and to serve others.  This love is precisely who Jesus Christ is as our Lord and King!

     And so my friends, may we swear our allegiance, and be completely dedicated to this enduring love of God!  May the love of Jesus Christ, our King, always motivate us to place ourselves lovingly in service to others, especially to those who are most in need! 

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Today is the Day to Change, the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:  

     In our Christian lives, and as we look to the promise of future glory, I believe we must ask ourselves the following: Do we always say what we mean and do what we say?  With this in mind, today we are challenged by our Scriptures to make ourselves ready and to be prepared for both our personal and our communal “final days.”  These Scriptures should motivate us to examine the ways in which we do or do not authentically live out our lives as Christians in our own day and time.

     It is no coincidence that on this Thirty-third Sunday of the liturgical year, our Scriptures warn us about the “end times” – those days when all things on the earth will cease to be, and when only heavenly realities will remain.  Next week, on the Thirty-fourth Sunday, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King and then our liturgical year will come to an end.  We will then look to the new liturgical year that will begin on the First Sunday of Advent, November 29th.  We should recall today that the Scriptures presented to us on the Sundays of a three-year cycle, and during each liturgical year, are progressively designed to illustrate the life of Jesus and the acts of the early church, and they “tell a story.”   This story, like any good book and indeed just like each one of our own personal lives, has a very definite beginning and a certain final chapter. Very soon we will renew this cycle of the Christian “story” when we once again begin the hopeful season of Advent!

     And so today, as we begin to close out another liturgical year, and as we literally come to the end of a time, we are reminded that our very lives, and the world and all within it will one day likewise experience a final, definitive day.  About that day, the first reading tells us: “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake . . . and the wise shall shine . . . like the stars for ever and ever” (see Daniel 12:2-3).  Jesus also tells us in today’s Gospel that “the Son of man . . . will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (see Mark 13:26-27).

     As we contemplate these descriptions of that final day, we are obliged to simply ask ourselves the following question: Are we ready?  The truth is, if we are good Christians we will always live our lives in such a way as to be ready for the final judgement.  With this in mind, we note that Jesus also tells us “but of that day or that hour no one knows” (see Mark 13:32).  In other words, we may not have time to “get ready” if our attempts at making ourselves right before God and others are constantly put off for another day.

     There is no room for “spiritual procrastination” within mature faith-filled Christian lives.  And so my sisters and brothers, if there are things in our lives that keep us from “loving the Lord, our God, with all of our hearts, our beings, our strengths, and our minds, as well as our neighbors as ourselves” (cf., Luke 10:27), then TODAY is the day to change.  Not forgiving someone?  Now is the time to do it!  Not serving the less fortunate?  Now is the time to do it!  Not praying with devotion every day?  Now is the time to do it!  Not striving to be the best person possible?  Now is the time to do it!  Not truly acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Now is the time to do it!

     My sisters, my brothers, let us always be prepared for that final day!  May we also always encourage each other, on each and every one of our present days, “to walk the walk, and not simply talk the talk!” 

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Image of St. Francis at St. Ann Church

      Today, I found this image of St. Francis in a closet on the 3rd floor of the rectory (now known as the Anchorage) at St. Ann's.

     Thirty-two years ago, I spent a summer living and working at St. Ann's as a "seminarian" with the College Candidate Program of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. I was guided that summer (and the during the following Christmas semester break when I returned) by a wonderful pastor, Joe Muth!

     This very framed image hung on a wall just outside of my bedroom back then. At the time, I was contemplating the possibility of becoming a Franciscan friar. One evening, during a time when I was very prayerfully doing some serious contemplation on the 58th Chapter of Isaiah, I found myself standing in the hallway, and gazing upon this image, and I became nearly entranced by it (St. Francis receiving the Stigmata by El Greco).

     It was just then, just at that moment, that I made the definitive decision to become a Conventual Franciscan friar! It was as if St. Francis himself had told me what to do! That was very definitely a "God Moment" in my life that I will never forget, and so I can't even explain how excited I was to find this image in the closet today!

     And little did I ever imagine back then that someday I would return to St. Ann as the Pastor (God certainly works in mysterious ways!).

     Interesting to note is that the original of this painting is on permanent display right here in Baltimore at the Walters Art Museum. Praise God!

 

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The Poor Widow, the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers: 

     In Biblical times, widows had far greater problems than simply losing their husbands to death. In those days, women in general had no “rights” apart from their husbands, and so they were basically property-less and disenfranchised people. As such, women were totally dependent on their fathers, their husbands or upon other male family members for their security and their livelihood. If a woman became a widow, and she was “fortunate” enough to have living parents, a caring brother-in-law, or an adult son, she could likely depend on them to provide for her needs in order to survive. Without such people, she was doomed to desolation and begging, or even worse.

     Throughout the Gospels, we find that Jesus champions many types of people who were as “unfortunate” as widows. Such people were the most humble within society, and within the religious culture of the time. It was for those very needy people that Jesus spent a lot of time and energy demonstrating God’s unconditional and eternal love!

     With this in mind, I don’t think it was a coincidence that just before Jesus pointed out the faith and generosity of a poor widow, he made a point of criticizing the “religiously righteous,” the scribes who were “those who went around in long robes and accepted greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets” (see Mark 12:38-39). We could say that many of the scribes, and other such people (such as the Pharisees and the Levites as well) enjoyed prestigious lifestyles, the likes of which were completely opposite of the experiences of struggling and poor widows. Unless they happened to be from unusually wealthy families, “Biblical widows” were certainly not able to wear fancy clothes, and they were not given great respect in public places; nor were they were given seats of honor at important gatherings. Unlike the scribes, the widows were people who could depend only on God, and upon the generosity of others, in order to survive.

     As I contemplated this, I found myself pondering the following question: In our own time, which types of people might we compare to the “Biblical widow?” My answer to this is to look to those people who by some might be considered to be “on the margins of society.” These people might be the homeless, the disabled, those addicted to drugs and alcohol, impoverished families, those overwhelmed with debts, forgotten elderly people left alone in nursing homes, gay, lesbian and transgender people, undocumented foreigners and migrants, beggars on the street and so on. Our faith teaches us that such people, like every human being, deserve to be respected and cherished as children of God.

     I believe we must never forget that people who are thought to be marginalized deserve as much human respect as doctors, lawyers, successful business people, politicians, priests and others who might be the social equivalent of the Biblical scribes in our own modern society. We must not be tempted to think otherwise; all men and women, no matter their social status, or the amount of wealth or power they have, are equal in the eyes of God.

     On the final day, there will be no distinction between men and women, the fortunate and the unfortunate, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the educated and the uneducated, and so on.

     May we always have the attitude of Jesus as we consider the value and dignity of others, especially those for whom even basic human rights are often denied; may we never be pretentious about whom we ourselves are, and may we always reach out to those who need an understanding of God’s unconditional and eternal love!

Praise God! Friar Timothy

 

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All Saints Day and the "Celebration of Diversity"

My Sisters and Brothers:  

On this Solemnity of All Saints, I believe it is a good and very holy thing to proclaim that the Christian Church “celebrates diversity.”  Today, and in a special way, we rejoice with all of the saints, those faithful sisters and brothers who when on earth lived in every part of the world, spoke every possible language, and embraced every culture!  What they completed in whatever place they lived on earth, and what they have now become in heaven, is exactly what each one of us aspires to do and to be.  That is, no matter whom we have been, who we are now, or from where we have come, and/or are today, we too hope to be saints with them in our own future heavenly glory!  We have confidence that, when that time comes, we too will enjoy forever the fullness of life in the presence of our Loving God with them, that vast multi-cultural assembly!

In today’s first reading, and contemplating this heavenly reality, we heard in the words of the Apostle John that he “had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue . . . and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands” (see Revelation 7:9).  These words give me both comfort and joy as they indeed and clearly proclaim the saints in heaven to be a very diverse and dynamic community.  Doesn’t this exactly describe the Church on Earth, the community of the faithful assembled in so many different and diverse places throughout the world?

Aren’t we too, the people of our parish, a wonderful example in miniature of the same kind of diversity found in the Universal Christian Church?  Can’t we then say that the community that meets right here in our own parish church is striving as best as it can to be an image of that diverse and dynamic community of saints in heaven?  That surely is what we are called to be!  We are people who come from different nations and states, we have different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and some of us even speak different languages!  Although we are not yet perfected, we are indeed a smaller version of both the broader and still journeying Christian Church, and that very great and diverse, and now unblemished multitude of saints in heaven described by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation!

Therefore, we can boldly proclaim that those of us who now form a very diverse and multi-cultural Church on Earth surely desire to attain that same holiness now enjoyed by that dynamic community of our sisters and brothers who are already saints in heaven!  They inspire and motivate us, because like us they represent every nation, race, people, and tongue!

My friends, may we celebrate the fullness our diversity and all of those things that make our community such a multi-patterned quilt of people!  Let us march onward together to our promised heavenly home, always respecting and celebrating that diversity that brings such variety to who we are as a community of people-striving-to-be-saints!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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