Shepherd Me, O God

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Deacon Tom writes ©

Shepherd Me, O God

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B

One of the songs in the Hymnal is based on the 23^rd 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 

We Are Witnesses Too

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Deacon Tom Writes ©

We Are Witnesses Too

Third Sunday of Easter, Year B

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

In The Beginning

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 Deacon Tom Writes ©

“In The Beginning”

Sunday of Divine Mercy, Year B

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 

Rise and Shine!

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The Resurrection of the Lord, Year B

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

The Lady With the Jar of Oil

     

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The Lady with the Jar of Oil

Palm Sunday, Year B

We don’t know much from Mark’s rendering of the account of the woman who walks into Simon the leper’s house. But we do know that this was an important event for two reasons. First, because Jesus tells us that “wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her". Second, this story is told in all four gospels. (If you’re interested, here are the references:  Matthew 26.6, Mark 24.4, Luke 7.36, and John 12.1. You can see how other details are added to this earliest account we hear today from Mark).

What’s interesting in Mark’s account is that he doesn’t get caught up in personalities. Rather, he sheds some insight into how God provides us with all that we need in life just as we need it. Today, for instance, Jesus is in need; Jesus needs his spirit to be comforted…but none of his closest friends seem to be aware of his needs or realize Jesus is troubled.  (Does this strike a sour chord in us)?

Picture the scene. Jesus is having dinner with Simon and his guests and this uninvited woman comes in, breaks open an expensive jar of perfumed oil, and anoints Jesus’ head. There is a little outbreak on how unreasonable this is, to do such a thing at the expense of feeding the poor. (An estimate places the value of the oil at about one year’s wages for a field worker). But Jesus states an awful truth, “the poor you will always have with you”.  How prophetic and how sad!

This act of kindness by the woman with the oil comforts Jesus as his hour approaches. A stranger appears on the scene, performs an act of kindness, and then goes off into the night. Jesus needed to be strengthened and encouraged but he gets neither from his close friends and disciples, only from this stranger.

There are times in our lives when we have the chance to be an “angel of mercy” just like this woman with the jar. We have opportunities to lift someone’s spirits, give them some positive affirmation, encourage them, or cheer them up. It may cost us some time and some energy, and even some money. We may have to rearrange our schedules or go out of our way. But remember, it was expensive oil, a year’s salary. Remember too, as we come into Holy Week, that when we do any kind deed for another person, we are really doing it to Jesus who was so grateful for this act of kindness that he tells those gathered around the table, presumably even some of his disciples, that this outpouring of kindness will be remembered as long as the gospel is proclaimed throughout the world.

It seems increasingly apparent that we, the disciples of Jesus, need to imitate the teachings and practices of Jesus.  We need to practice acts of kindness, acts of forgiveness, acts of selfless giving within our families, communities, and on a global scale. As followers of Jesus we are empowered to bring the good news to everyone we meet in the course of the day. Not by quoting scripture, that’s too easy… rather, by reflecting the living Word that abides within us, and by being an oasis God’s love, healing, and peace to all who pass our way.

Enjoy the day and may you share in God's abundant grace this Holy Week.

Deacon Tom 

Extreme Makeover

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Extreme Makeover

Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B

One of the most passionate psalms we read in the Old Testament is Psalm 51 attributed to David. It’s the one we use today on this Fifth Sunday of Lent. David is tormented by his guild and wants to be freed from it. He wants it taken away and for him to be washed clean. Mindful of the damage he has done to Bathsheba, Uriah and his soldiers, to the people of Israel whom he shepherds on God’s behalf, and to himself, David turns to God and begs, “Create a clean heart in me, O God”.   Most of us can relate to David because we have been in his shoes. And we, like David, would like to have a fresh start, an “extreme makeover”, to renew and purify us through and through and, not in the least, to rid us of our guild, torment, and shame.

If we have been doing any introspection this Lent, we probably have encountered some of our flaws. That’s actually a good thing!  That’s one of the primary purposes of these forty days. But then comes more challenging tasks…. changing those bad behaviors that trouble us and gnat away at us…. And that’s very hard to do. It takes lot of time, effort, and resolve to change our habits and behaviors. Yet no matter how firm our resolve, we are going to need help, yes, help from above. So we turn to God and ask him to cleanse us, renew us, and give us a willing spirit to change our ways.

It is a fact of life that most of us carry around burdens from the past. In this we can easily identify with David. We find his failure in the Second Book of the Prophet Samuel, Chapter 11. When Nathan, the Prophet, confronts David with his sin, David turns to God where he finds forgiveness and comfort in the compassion of God.  And so can we. Sinners that we are, God is always seeking to create a clean heart in us so and to renew our weary spirits so that we can grow in his love and share in the joy of his salvation.  These last few weeks of Lent give us ample opportunity to confront our shortcomings and defects so that we can join in the Easter celebration as people who have been given a special blessing, an “extreme makeover” from the hands of God who loves us beyond our wildest imagination. Renewed and set right with God, we will then be eager to enter into the new life that lies ahead.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone

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“You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone”

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Imagine the sheer horror of you and your family being taken captive by an invading army and brought to a foreign country to live a life of servitude. Sorrowfully, this notion does not just fall within the realm of the imagination, for as we are all too aware, tragic events such as this are very much a contemporary reality. We can only imagine the terror of the 276 young women who were taken from their homes in Chibok, Nigera by Boko Haram, a terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria.  Their whereabouts and condition is still unknown.  Suffering captivity and being taking away from home, family, and community is a terror that many innocent victims of war and violence have in common throughout history.

As captives we would be stricken by our loss, overcome by fear and grief as we realized that we would never see our homes again, never set foot in those places that give us spiritual comfort and precious memories or never experience the familiar, ordinary, and common joys that come from the bigger sense of family and community. Got the picture?  This is the lamenting that we hear in the Responsorial Psalm today. The people of Israel bemoaning, “How can we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?”  They longed to reconnect to the Temple and their homeland, those places that gave them their identity as the “People of God”. Reflecting on this captivity experience of the Jewish People recorded in Sacred Scripture and repeated throughout the ages by many people calls to mind the expression, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” In other words, we take so much for granted today… our health, our loved ones, our freedoms and our way of life to name a few. 

Given all that we have, it is no wonder that there are other ways to be held in captivity beyond being led away in chains. Our spirits can easily be taken captive. We can become prisoners because of all the changes and uncertainty in the air and the fears and anxiety they breed that paralyze us and take away our freedom. We may fear what the future holds in store; we may be worried about losing our job or fear what will happen if we lose our health care. Parents are concerned if they will be able to pay for college for the kids or how they will be able to take care of mom and dad. And on and on it goes.  Worries, anxieties, and fears combining like a thundering hoard taking control of our spirits and leading us off to places we do not want to go; stealing our ability to live in the present moment which is the only moment we really have… the eternal, present, now.

In looking at the worrisome times we are facing, we do well to look at these comforting words from Psalm 137. Captive Israel came to understand more deeply their longing for God. It was during this time of great suffering and trials, in the middle of their anxieties and fears, in their sense of desperation and hopelessness that they profoundly experienced that it was the great “I AM” for whom they longed, who was the deepest desire of their hearts.

The people of Israel regained their freedom once they turned their hearts and minds back to God. Once they knew what they had lost, they knew what they had to do to get it back.  That is the purpose of Lent…to rediscover the gift of God’s unconditional love for us and to rekindle that love within our hearts. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom