Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C_ Happily Ever After Begins Here_013022

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Happily Ever After Starts Here!”

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

How easy it is to say, “I love you.” How easy it was for the people of Nazareth “to speak highly of Jesus” and to render a favorable opinion of him upon his returning home. It’s quite a different matter altogether to act with love toward the people we say we love or to take to heart what those we speak highly of are telling us, especially when what they are saying rubs us the wrong way. Jesus is the Poster Child par excellent when it comes to how things change when the message you are speaking is rejected and resented by your audience. Our world is challenge by this new reality tin which we only listen to those with whom we agree. The gospels tell us that Jesus experienced this same attitude one that eventually led him to the cross. Are we here in our time now at some new frontier in interpersonal relationships where we circle ourselves exclusively with like-minded people? Are we now going to sever our relationship with organizations because they don’t hold fast to our perspective? Cut off those family members who have a different political, economic or religious belief than we do? A different sexual orientation, racial or ethnic heritage? Who could ever have imagined that you could start a near riot simply by mentioning the word “mask” or announce at a school board meeting that “vaccines are mandated”? The cartoon character Pogo was right when he said, “We have met the enemy and he is us! Welcome to the new world, everyone!

Such division and bitterness stands contrary to what St. Paul writes to the Corinthians about the virtue of love. Couples often chose these words for their wedding ritual because they capture our heart’s desire for genuine, selfless love. “Love is patient, love is kind” Paul says. If he were to stop there, we would struggle mightily to put just those words into practice. We would have to work very hard day and night to show those we say we love a patient love, a kind love. But Paul doesn’t stop with those two qualities. He goes on to say that there is much more to love than patience and kindness. He probes the very essence of love to reveal that at its very core, to love means to surrender oneself completely to the other; to put the will and happiness of the other before our very own. Love, Paul says, “is not pompous or rude; is not inflated and doesn’t seek its own interest; it is not quick-tempered nor does it brood over injury. Love does not rejoice over wrongdoing; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Love, then, is so much more than simply saying, “I love you.” It is the journey of a lifetime to a place we nearly always choose not to go: it is a place of complete surrender. It is diametrically opposed to the notion of personal freedom. One does not get there simply by saying “I love you.” Rather it is the work of a lifetime; it is a slow process of letting go, of dying to self, of subjecting our very self-will to the will of others. And, should we really give some thought to this, we can’t love to the depth that Paul describes by ourselves. We need God’s grace to make any progress at all; left to ourselves, we could easily act like the people of Jesus’ hometown who hear his “gracious” words and then, moments later, try to push him over the cliff. They just weren’t prepared to hear how abundant and liberating God’s love is and that his love goes out to all who search for him. Nor are those, I’m afraid, who praise God on Sunday and ignore his call to love one another Monday through Saturday.

There is little doubt that God’s love remains a mystery. We will never completely understand the depth of divine love in this life, but we can experience a glimmer of it through the love of others. The deeper our love becomes, the more selfless our love will be and the closer we will come to the source of that love who is God and the better we will be at sharing that love with one another.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Image credit: Tom Casey - Words of Wisdom to Bride and Groom, Corolla, N.C.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - One in Christ_012322

Deacon Tom Writes,

“One in Christ” 

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The devastation caused by natural disasters, the sufferings of those traumatized by war and famine, the fear on the faces of children with bellies swollen from hunger and disease we have become all too familiar with overwhelms our senses. It is painful to watch this suffering unfold, for, the truth is, our minds simply cannot grasp the horrific misery many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring at this very moment. Worse, we may have even become indifferent to it. Consider what the Syrian people have experienced these many years. I know they have been forgotten or rather displaced by the suffering of other peoples whose situation is equally dire or, imaginable as it may seem, even worse...the Uyghurs, the Afghans, the Rohingya or the Yemenis. It is virtually impossible to comprehend the millions of people who are on the verge of starvation in these and many other places around the world! Then again imagine what it is like to lose everything you own in an instant when a tornado rips through your home or the nearby wildfire blazes over the hilltop and consumes everything in sight, everything you have worked your whole life for and perhaps even a loved one. Yes, these are horrific images that overwhelm us and perhaps we can’t even bear to look at them. Yet, St. Paul tells us the reason we Christians feel the pain that others are experiencing is because we believe that we are all part of the one Body of Christ. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” St. Paul reminds us in today’s reading. Are we feeling the pain that our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing today?

St. Paul recognized that we are intimately united with one another when we enter into a relationship with Christ. His experience while on his way to Damascus to persecute those early followers of Christ helped form this understanding. Recall the events of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 9, when Saul was blinded by a bright light and fell to the ground. He heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me”? When Saul asked who was speaking to him, he heard the response, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul must have felt totally bewildered. He was on a mission to put an end to that fledgling group of Jesus’ followers, NOT to encounter this Jesus who was already dead. But after this profound encounter with Jesus, the newly transformed bounty hunter would become one of Christ’s greatest witnesses. And one of his many contributions to our faith is what he understood to be this Mystical Body of Christ that we read about today.

Because we Christians believe that we share this mystical union with one another through Christ, all of us suffer any and each time someone else suffers physically, mentally, or emotionally, whether the cause is natural or the result of our own violent, aggressive and misguided activities. Yes, we are all aware of the suffering and misery that thrives in our world today. And how are we as Christians to respond to the afflictions of refugees, or the victims of war…AIDS…poverty…injustice, etc. that ravage our brothers and sisters in Christ, all of whom, we believe, are made in the image and likeness of God? Certainly, financial support is essential for food, medical supplies, and disease control. These items are most essential. But also, we cannot overlook our spiritual contributions – prayer, fasting and time spent reflecting on how the suffering of people around the world is bound up with Our Lord’s redemptive suffering that frees us from death and restores us to everlasting life. In the end we need both the material and the spiritual contributions to help alleviate the suffering of so many people. Doing our small part will help us better understand ourselves as the mystical body and provide much needed assistance to those in need. And, therein lies tremendous hope for our broken and troubled world.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Image: http://religion-cults.com/metanoia/cristo-cuerp-m.jpg

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Water into Wine – A Call to Transformation_011622

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Water into Wine – A Call to Transformation”

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Wedding Feast at Cana is the third “epiphany” of our Lord because it is the third official occasion in which Jesus’ identity is made known to others. The first revelation was recounted two weeks ago on the Feast of the Epiphany when the magi came from the far corners of the world to pay homage to the Christ Child. Last week was the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord and Jesus is revealed as God’s beloved. Today at Cana Jesus reveals his power over the natural order by, of all things, changing water into wine. 

Jesus is an agent of change, radical change, change where what was, ceases to be and what was not, comes into being. According to John, Jesus is the Preexistent and Incarnate Word who comes to reveal the Father to us. Jesus’ mission is to establish God’s reign in our world through his creative and transformative works inaugurated with this amazing miracle at Cana. 

It is important for anyone who wants to experience a deeper spiritual life to be open to the transformative power of Christ. It’s difficult to make any significant changes in our lives. How long does it take us to abandon our new year’s resolutions? How much more so when it comes to any deep-seated, harmful bad habits or prejudices we may have harbored for years. There are several reasons for this: first, because we don’t see them for the evils that they are, so we ignore them. Denial is an insidious part of our human nature. Second, we are very good at putting off difficult changes until tomorrow. Tomorrow, of course, never comes. 

Jesus’ ministry is one that invites us to examine our lives and root out behaviors that are contrary to our spiritual well-being. He does this, if we take up the challenge, by removing our blindness, curing our paralyses and giving us the opportunity to embrace the new life that only he can give. In other words, he empowers us to overcome the obstacles that hinder our spiritual growth. Jesus gives us the power to change; he gives us the living water of Baptism and the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. And, we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation when we fall. He gives us the power to come to know him through the abundant sacramental life that feeds and nourishes all who desire him and imitate his prayer life. 

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians reveals that the transformative work begun by Jesus is continued through the power of the Holy Spirit who lavishes God’s gifts upon us for the good of all. We all drink from the one Cup that has been filled with the “Good Wine” that Jesus has made available to all who come to him looking for God’s infinite love, mercy, and compassion.

We have been given the greatest of gifts possible in that we have been given this new year to continue our efforts to deepen our relationship with Christ. May God bless us in this work to... change the things we can change, accept those things that we cannot and grant us the wisdom to know the difference. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

Image Credit: The Wedding Feast at Cana by Fr. Joel

The Baptism of the Lord_C - Christ Among Us_010921

Deacon Tom Writes,

Christ Among Us 

The Baptism of the Lord, Year C

Today’s celebration of The Baptism of the Lord marks an end to this Christmas Season. I hope the peace and joy of the Christ Child touched you and your loved over the course of this holy time of year. You will notice that the white vestments that have signified these solemn days of Christmas will give way to green indicating a return to “Ordinary Time” as the liturgical calendar rolls forward.

Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord. This Feast’s importance is centered on the visit of the magi whose presence before the newborn King of the Jews reveals God’s loving plan of salvation for all the nations of the world. Yes, God who first befriended the people of Israel now sends his Only Begotten Son into the world so each person may experience the intimate presence of Emmanuel, the presence of Christ living among us.

In today’s gospel text Jesus comes to John to be baptized in the Jordan River, a second occasion where God is visibly living and active in our human family. God’s voice from on high proclaims and affirms Jesus His “Beloved Son” as the Holy Spirit descends in bodily form. Yes, today we experience the fullness of Trinitarian love fully present in the completely human person of Jesus.

The Baptism of Jesus reveals the mystery of the presence of God in all of our lives. God comes to us when we are baptized just as he came to Jesus, filling us with his Spirit and claiming us as his own. We too become his “beloved." We are invited to deepen our awareness of the calling we have received in our own baptism and, as our journey of faith continues, to pass the fire burning within us to all those who come into our lives. But really, is this really happening in our lives? Do we have any sense at all that we are God’s “beloved”? I remember the Nuns in school telling saying if we were the only person alive, Christ would have come down and died for us. That profound thought should help us grasp that God loves more than we can imagine and therefore should move us to love God in return equally as much... even with OUR own heart, soul, mind and strength.

Our relationship with God is much like our relationship with others in our lives. Just as it would be virtually impossible to have a healthy and meaningful relationship in this life with someone we claim to love but then constantly ignore, so to with God. To be his “beloved” is to be in an intimate and trusting relationship with him, a union of trust and faithfulness that is mutually nourishing, beneficial, health, and supportive, and yes, even full of surprises!

As we ease back into Ordinary Time, let us remember that we are God’s “beloved.” Let this simple thought become our mindset as we move into this new year so that we take advantage of every opportunity to act as God’s beloved and continue to grow in his love, deepen our relationship with him, and to share the abundance of his love with everyone whose lives touch ours. Can you think of any better way to help our troubled world than to share God’s love with everyone in our lives?

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom


Image Credit: Baptism-of-Christ.jpg/ by Davezelenka