Friday, April 24, 2015

Shepherd Me, O God


123rf.com 20726856.jpg 

Deacon Tom writes ©

Shepherd Me, O God



One of the songs in the Hymnal is based on the 23rd Psalm and carries the refrain, “Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life”.  This beautiful melody helps us draw upon the rich imagery of a “good shepherd, one who keeps the flock safe and secure, even when dangers abound.  The idea of a good shepherd, unfortunately, seems to have folded into the pages of history as our society has progressed from its early ranching days into the age of high-tech.  Yet, it seems from some recent events that we still long to have good shepherds in our midst, watching over us, shepherds who put the needs and cares of others before their own.

Several memorable examples come to mind.  The first is that of Estella Pyfrom, a guidance counselor in Palm Beach County, Florida.  She was aware that many students did not have access to a computer after school. Coming from poorer families, she recognized that this was a serious problem. Her solution: she took her life savings and bought a bus, filled it with computers, and brought technology to the kids.  Her mobile computer lab called “Estella's Brilliant Bus” has provided free, computer-based tutoring for thousands of students since 2011.  To the many students who have received essential computer skills that promise to enhance the quality of their lives, Estella Pyfrom is truly a “good shepherd”.

Then there is Danielle Gletow who notices that Foster children go without so many ordinary things that children who grow up in biological families often take for granted.  Her solution: she has created an online site where the wishes of Foster children are posted so the public can help grant them. "I'm here to be the mom to all these kids who might not feel like they have one," she said. Since 2008, her group has helped grant more than 6,500 wishes in 42 states.

These ongoing acts of kindness give us the extraordinary witness of two individuals who went to incredible lengths to improve the lives of others in need. You can call them “good shepherds” because their primary concern was the well-being of others, the strangers in our midst.

Christ remains for us, of course, the eternal “Good Shepherd”, the one who laid down his life for us.  The Lord told us three things about the true shepherd:  he gives his own life for his sheep; he knows them and they know him; he keeps the flock together.

While Jesus is the true shepherd calling us to the one fold, those who follow him can easily recognize that there are times when we are called to shepherd others.  These recent experiences of Estella Pyfrom and Danielle Gletow are extreme cases for sure.  But, in the ordinary course of our day, we too have many opportunities to be shepherds to those around us.  We share in the ministry of Christ, the Good Shepherd, when we share Christ with others by reaching out to those who are lonely or sick; when we welcome the stranger or feed the hungry; when we forgive those who have hurt us; when we work to break down the barriers that divide us so that we may become one in Christ.  We participate most in being good shepherds when we… “deliver others beyond their wants, beyond their fears, from death into life”, as Jesus so often does for us.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom 

Friday, April 17, 2015

We Are Witnesses Too


cliftondiocese.com_breaking of the bread-Stom-300x241

Deacon Tom Writes ©

We Are Witnesses Too


Today’s readings remind us how incredulous the resurrection is to the logical mind. That’s perhaps why both the first reading and the gospel mention that there were eyewitnesses to Christ’s death and resurrection. There were people who saw Jesus die and then saw him back among the living. So alive, in fact, that in the gospel today Jesus is asking his disciples, “Is there anything to eat?”

Hearing the personal narratives of eyewitnesses to history is powerful. Recall some of the stories you may have heard first hand from people who landed on the beaches of Normandy or were at or near the World Trade Center on September 11th. So many perspectives, so many details, and such an overwhelming need to capture these memories and save them for future generations.

Our scriptures today do just that. For 2000 years believers have benefited from hearing the story of Christ’s death and resurrection directly from eyewitness accounts detailed in the scriptures. Does the eyewitness testimony we read in the gospels carry the same weight for us today as it did for those first believers?  Does it for you?  For me, I can honestly identify with Thomas’ statement from last week’s gospel… “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  After all, “Seeing is believing” as the saying goes, and wouldn’t we all like to see, that is, to comprehend this mystery for ourselves!!!

We all face this struggle. We all struggle with believing in things we haven’t seen. St. Paul tried to teach the Corinthians that the real nature of our faith is summed up by the statement, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

While we today have no personal eyewitness experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are witnesses to the death and resurrection he brings about in us, the death to self, and his raising us to new life in every difficulty and struggle we face over the course of our lives.  These trials and triumphs represent our eyewitness testimonies, those stories of our living faith and how God has been present and worked in our lives.  These are the eyewitness accounts that we bequeath to the generations after us, those who embrace the faith continue to believe as they walk in the light of our faith experiences as they grow in their own so they too walk “by faith and not by sight.”  

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom


Friday, April 10, 2015

In The Beginning



123RF.com Hands in a heart #17810429

 Deacon Tom Writes ©

“In The Beginning”


The Acts of the Apostles chronicles the early days of the church as it came to understand its purpose and mission.  It describes individuals coming together and struggling to understand the profound mystery they had recently witnessed.  Today’s first reading from the forth chapter says that, “...the community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common”. It appears that the death and resurrection of Christ touched their lives profoundly and so they made a conscious choice to live their lives according to the spirit of Jesus’ teaching… and to care for one another… “so that there was no needy person among them”. 

What’s happened?  Has the mandate Jesus gave us to “love one another” changed?  Has it been enhanced or modified or made conditional so that we…love others only IF they love us in return, or IF they hold the same ideological position as we do, or IF they are the same color, ethnicity, or culture as us! God forbid that we define “neighbor” as used in the Golden Rule as only those who are just like us.  Jesus had a much wider interpretation in mind.   

Jesus loves the victim, no matter what side of the fence they are on. The Risen Jesus in not concerned about nationalism, borders...ethnicity, etc. He is with the suffering of every race and creed. He is an outcast with all those who are disenfranchised; he mourns with all the broken hearted no matter the color of their skin…He is shunned along with all those people we run and hide from...that we are afraid of…that we can't look in the eye, perhaps because we helped contribute to the way they are.  Christ suffers want, rejection, isolation, poverty, and humiliation with all who experience those pitiful states of existence. 

We hear the rhetoric: we can’t afford to pay for everyone to have health insurance… or let them work like the rest of us have to...or send them home where they belong!  And so Jesus wanders the streets today, sick and uncared for. He sits in an ICE detention center waiting to be sent back "home". He’s chronically unemployed, under educated, losing hope or lays wounded on some far away battlefield, crippled by another “Child of God” who also is “only following orders”.

Didn’t Jesus have something to say about these things? How we have twisted and distorted his words. I guess the Romans weren't as brutal as history or we might judge them to be. Sure they beat Jesus...They tortured him…They made him drag the instrument of his death across town...They nailed his hands and his feet to the cross so he couldn't move. And, they even stuck a lance in his side to make sure he was dead. BUT, they never silenced him! We do that when we choose to ignore the things he taught us…about love, about being servants, about what it will cost to follow his lead.  

In these joy filled days following his Resurrection, let us pray to be filled with the Spirit of Christ so we may follow his example and his teachings as those early followers of his did “ in the beginning”.

Have a great day!
Deacon Tom 

Friday, April 3, 2015

Rise and Shine!



123RF.com "waking up sun"
Deacon Tom Writes ©



One of my lingering childhood memories is that of my mother calling from the bottom of the stairs, “Tommy Joe, rise and shine!  It’s time to get ready for school”. It’s a pleasant memory. To this day there are times when I can still hear my mother’s words echo in my mind, especially on those rainy days when I just want to roll over and go back to sleep…. and then,  Tommy Joe, rise and shine! It’s time to get ready…”

As people who profess Christ’s Resurrection, we realize that we who have been baptized with Christ into his death will one day also rise with him to eternal life. There will come a time when we all will “rise and shine” forever; a day when we will possess the fullness of life that Christ has promised to all who believe in him and follow his ways.

Yet, I don’t believe that the promise of rising to new life is one that is reserved only for the next life. We are meant to “rise and shine” today…. because we share in the Mystical Body of Christ…. We “rise and shine” today because God has chosen us to be the stewards of all of creation and we have said, “yes” to that call. We “rise and shine” today because we have committed ourselves to follow Our Lord and his teachings about love and putting others and their interests before our own. We “rise and shine” when peace, justice, and holiness become the rhythm of our lives.

We “rise and shine” every time we chose to imitate Christ by forgiving others who hurt us; when we offer up our sufferings to be a part of his suffering; when we embrace others’ sorrows as if they were our own… (So many suffering from the ravages of war, violence, trafficking, victimized by those who profit from human misery… their suffering must be ours as brothers and sisters in Christ).  We "rise and shine" with every effort we make to persevere to the end as Christ did and not lose hope.

On this most wonderful day, may we, like Christ, awaken to God’s call to “rise and shine” so we may live life to the fullest, now and forever… ALLELUIA!!!

Happy Easter!  May the joy and peace of the Risen Christ fill you this day and always.

Deacon Tom