There was a child’s toy back in the day that kept us busy for hours. It was primitive by today’s standard of i-phones and computer games, but its simplicity made it doable for any kid.

It was called Etch-a-Sketch. It consisted of a TV-like screen covered with a silver dust on the inside. Two dials at the bottom controlled an invisible pen that would carve a drawing onto the screen. It was fun to watch the tiny point trace your design into the silver dust as your picture gradually appeared.

The drawings were primitive to say the least; flat, two dimensional profiles were the best you could “draw”. I tried to draw side profiles of birds (cardinals mostly). I was terrible at it. The problem was that once you scraped into the silver screen you were stuck with it. There was no eraser.

So when my cardinal started to look like a dinosaur, I could either push on doodling what looked now like a monster of some sort . . . OR . . . I could start over.
Starting over was easy in Etch-a-Sketch. You just flipped the board over and the secret silver stuff inside would re-coat the screen giving you a blank canvas. It was a do-over.

Things are not quite that easy in real life, are they? Years of a particular behavior create habits that just won’t go away. They’ve worked their way into our lives so as to become part of “who we are”.

Hopefully most of these are good habits and we should continue to do these. But sometimes what started out as a cardinal now looks like a dinosaur in my life. Selfish, lazy, arrogant deeds appear regularly on my canvas. I don’t want them. They hurt people. And when I think about it . . they hurt me.

So what can we do? We can’t just flip our lives leaving everything behind. That would ruin the good that we have done. I think it calls for a good look at ourselves to find what makes us look like a dinosaur to others, to God and to ourselves.

What might that be? Actually I bet you already know what’s causing problems with those you love most. Do you need a list? How about these . . .
Ways of acting that hurt others and myself:

• Non-stop negativity about the world and the terrible state of things.
• Failure to tell the truth about things. Exaggerating or cutting corners about what really happened.
• Hunting for lustful images or welcoming them when they occur.
• Rash judgment of people and their motives.
• Refusal to let go of some slight or hurt from the past.
• Failing to respond to calls, emails, invitations etc. in a timely manner.
• Crude words and conversation to prove you’re a macho guy.
• A hunger to “tell all” about some person so other might share similar feelings.
• Enjoying the troubles and sadness of people you don’t like.

God and a close loved one can help you find what you need to address. What I most strongly urge (lest we be- come discouraged) is that you make your special Lenten effort about ONE THING. Don’t try to do too much. But hold yourself accountable for doing better with your particular weakness.

God bless your Lent.

Fr. Tim

A suggestion. Sometime in the morning as you begin your day, include this intention in prayer.

“Lord, this day I give to you . . . help me to turn to you when my old habit of ____________ comes knocking.”

Re-evaluate at noon and at night how you have done. No matter how it’s gone, thank God for the day and ask for the grace to do better tomorrow.

As I’ve mentioned to you, my father was an insurance salesman who overcame many personal qualities (he was very shy and prone to pessimism) to become an outgoing, confident, highly knowledgeable insurance agent.

Along the way he found a couple of motivational books that helped him get beyond his personality weaknesses: N. V. Peale’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, and The Power of Positive Thinking. These were life changers for dad, and he insisted his pouty teenage son read them both.

I hated them. They seemed so ’50’s, so “establishment” as my generation would caustically remark. “Just think positively and everything will turn out peachy keen,” I mocked. “Tell that to the guys in Viet Nam,” I said with righteous fervor. Get real dad.

That was a long time ago. As in many things, I’ve come to see my dad was right. You become what you believe in. You acquire the qualities of what you take into yourself.
For example, if I spend my time watching dark or violent or lustful images, I begin to have a hunger for these things in real life (ever see one of those cage matches on Ultimate Fighting? We become excited by human blood and pain. Horrible).

If I pride myself in finding something wrong in any given situation, I begin to prefer the negative. I feel validated by it, proclaiming myself a “realist”. Our spirits are shaped by what we take in to our minds.

On the other hand, if we feed on things that speak of goodness or generosity, forgiveness, mercy, sacrifice, joy and light, our spirits will have that same beauty.
Regard the face of the social worker who has devoted her life to helping the poor, or the face of the old nun who has taught thousands of school children, or the face of the symphony conductor finishing Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony . . . They are beautiful! Look at the face of the mother kissing her new born
. . .so full of love.

Now this is not a psychological trick like some chameleon becoming the color it touches. It’s real. The light is real. Goodness is real. Love is real. And . . . guess what? The light has overcome the darkness. Love wins!

How do we know this? Because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. “The Light has shown in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jn. 1:5

So what do we do in these winter weeks (and all year)? We take in the light, not the darkness — you know the difference, you can feel it. We give forth the light, we walk with those in darkness and negativity helping them to see life’s goodness.

And all of this “positive thinking” is not just some childish wishful thinking. It’s the rock on which we live our lives – – – Take courage. I have overcome the world.” JN16:33.

Let’s get to work.

Fr. Tim

As you know and as you’ll be hearing over and over, the message of God’s Mercy for all people is the focus for the Catholic Church this year. I hope that by December of next year you and I will be better able to understand and then explain to others just what Christian Mercy is all about.

More important than explaining it however is DOING it. Giving Mercy to everyone. Here’s a little story I heard on my visit to Sacred Heart Cathedral last month. The deacon there, John Giugno, told this in a homily. I think it holds the “motive” for giving someone mercy – – – it’s not because we earn or merit it. It’s because of the value God gives to each of us as His Children. See what you think.

I like this story for lots of reasons. It’s a happy story. What makes it happy is what it says about God. God, of His own free will, “lets us” be called His “Children” 1 Jn. 3:1. Any parent knows that their son or daughter, no matter what they do, no matter how bad their choices in life, NEVER stop being their beloved child. So it is with God (see Romans 5:6-10 It’s amazing!!). As the kids say, “God is good . . . . All the time”.

Okay, so we’re dirty little $20 bills that don’t lose their value no matter what we do. So what do we do with that?

A couple of things I think. 1. Knowing that we are so loved by God . . . don’t you want to love Him back? To live right lives? To give instead of take? 2. Don’t you feel that if that’s how God loves ME . . . I should love my NEIGHBOR because of the love of God?

It’s all pretty wonderful. Really. Fr. Tim

PS. That winter schedule I put in the bulletin a couple weeks ago has been changed. Sr. Pat’s “Catholics are Fun(ny)” gathering has been rescheduled for after Easter. Some other adjustments have been made as well, so a new order of events will be out soon.

PPS. I’m in Florida with my sisters. I’ll be thinking of you – – – by the pool!!

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We humans are such a complicated, changing, rational and irrational mix of thoughts and feelings. And yet these are the tools we use to guide our way through life. Which is stronger? Which is right?

As children our feelings are our only guide. Some things make us feel good – some things make us feel bad. So the child keeps doing the “feel good” till it doesn’t feel good any longer. (We all remember eating the whole bag of cookies/popcorn/candy till we got sick.)

Later on life has shown us that not everything that feels good is “good for us”. We learn the word “no” from parents who love us and want the best for us. We learn that sometimes it’s best to not follow our feelings. “No running by the pool.” “Don’t jump on the bed.” “No cigarette sales to minors.”

Most of these thoughts come from generations of trial and error. It’s a low form of what we call “wisdom”. How many of us have lamented that wisdom came too late? “I wish I knew then what I know now. Things would be different.”

So why do we have these feelings if sooner or later they trick us into some really bad choices? (Any tattoos you’d like to get rid of?)

It’s because at their beginning they propose to us a very good thing. Physical pleasure, emotional uplift, affection given and received . . . all these are fine, God given human desires. Feelings are what point us to them and secure them for us. Feelings are wonderful.

The problem is our feelings need a governor (or a cop). By themselves feelings are energy, desire, appetite. They are indiscriminate about what they are attracted to. They’ll chase whatever brings the desired feeling regardless of the results. Feelings need to be taught their proper purpose.

And what is that? – – – – What’s true. This affection you feel . . . is it true love? The fun gathering of friends . . . is it true? The desire to have some new possession . . . does it serve a truth.

Meanwhile, joined as a twin to the truth is . . . the Good. If something is true; it’s good. If it’s good; it’s true. And what is the source of Good and True? God of course.

So goodness and truth are the guides for our feelings, for what we should want, what we should do. This will at times require us to say “no” to certain feelings. Not out of fear or repression but simply because they don’t serve what is True or Good.

Remember when Jesus was fasting in the desert for 40 days and nights? Matthew:4 tells us “Jesus was hungry.” Bread looked pretty good to him at that point. Yum! “Order these stones to turn into bread”, the Devil said to him. Jesus of course replied, “Not on bread alone does man live, but on every word that comes from God.”

So feelings. They’re God’s way of leading us to what is true and good, but they need the eyes of Faith to see clearly their proper end. Let us teach these things to our children and show them in the way we live our lives as adults.

God Bless You.
Fr. Tim

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So I say to you, “I’ll give you $40 if you wash and wax my car.” And you say, “Deal”. So you do a great job, the car is perfect, but contrary to our agreement, I only give you $20. “Hey, you owe me $20!” you cry. “I changed my mind”, I say, “and besides, you used my bucket and soap!”
Besides never washing my car again, you’ll continue to remind me that I owe you 20 bucks. Why? Because we made a deal, recognized by law. I was legally obliged to pay you $40.

So knowing you’d tell everyone in Webster that I’d stiffed you, I finally decide to pay you the full amount. Our friendship will still need repair, but at least JUSTICE IS SERVED. Justice is giving to another what they deserve or have a “right” to.

So later that day I get in my shiny clean car and race across the Bay Bridge. Suddenly, there are those scary red and blue flashing lights in the mirror. “License and registration please,” says the officer. (68 in a 55 zone). That “deserves” $125 to the town court. Justice served.

We can get the idea that justice is the highest form of human relationship . . . to give everyone what they deserve and have a right to is humanity at its best. True, in a community wracked with poverty and crime – – – justice is a blessing. But, in the Christian perspective justice is the minimum that is expected of us. It’s no big deal to be “just”.

We are called to a higher level of relationship. We are to be a people of Mercy. Webster’s Dictionary defines mercy as “kindness in excess of what is deserved or demanded by fairness”.

We see it everywhere in the Gospels. Jesus tells us:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you.” Mt. 5:44

“Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” Lk. 23:34

“If someone asks for your coat, give them your shirt as well; to walk a mile, walk with them for two miles.” Lk. 6:27

The father put the gold ring and royal cloak on his wastrel son because “He was lost but now he is found.” Lk. 15:24

The laborers received a full day’s wage for just one hour’s work. Mt. 20:8

And St. Paul marvels at the mercy of God when he declares “that while we were still sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us.” Rm. 5:5

Why be merciful? Because that is how God is.

So as we begin The Jubilee Year of Mercy, we are invited to recall God’s mercy in our own lives (the countless times I’ve received more from life and God than I ever deserved). And, we are called to let that mercy transform our lives, so that, as we have received . . . we now give this mercy to others.

Giving “mercy” is a work of God’s grace. God will inspire it in the particular kind that only you can provide. It has its origin, of course, in love. Love’s vase is filled with many flowers — Hope, Joy, Forgiveness, Patience, Constancy, and greatest of all is Mercy.

Fr. Tim

PS. Stay tuned for upcoming events at Holy Trinity that will help us celebrate The Year of Mercy.

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Okay. So here we go; winter in Western New York. As any veteran of these parts will tell you we’re in for four months of cold and snow. The exact severity of these is unknown at this point, although some reports tell us of a milder winter due to our friend El Nino.

If you’re planning a trip South for warmer climates – good for you. Safe trip. If you’re like the rest of us …pull up your collar and let’s soldier on.

Here are some thoughts about the next four months at Holy Trinity and how we might spend them growing in God’s grace.

+ Join us Saturday, January 16, for Christ On The Fringe. The usual pot luck supper will be followed by a discussion of Finding Christ in Sickness. Special presentations by a doctor and a Catholic Chaplain will explore the physical and spiritual difficulties of those seriously ill. Help for their caregivers will be discussed as well.

+ On Saturday, January 23, from 10 am. to 8 pm., all couples to be married are invited to our Pre-Cana Conference. We’ll talk and laugh and eat together as these couples prepare for their married life.

+ Calling all Teenagers. On Sunday, January 24 at 5 pm there will be a special Mass for Young People. Parents, teens get to sleep in that morning, but only if they join Fr. Tim for mass that evening. It will be a special liturgy using youth lectors, servers, Eucharistic ministers. The homily will be for teens with an opportunity for them to share their own thoughts on the readings. Pizza and youth group planning will follow in the Gathering Space. (Parents get your teens there!)

+ Saturday, February 6, will be a fun night in the gym. We’re calling it “Catholics Can Be Funny . . . Sometimes.” Pot Luck Supper at 5 pm. followed by Sr. Pat Schoelles who will help us see the lighter side of our faith and gather comments from us about how we want to learn more about living the faith.

+ Strong Catholic Families/Strong Catholic Youth. Sunday, February 28, (noon to 3 pm.), parents of school age children (grade school through high school) are strongly encouraged to join us to hear how they can share their own faith with their children. Learn what the latest studies show us about what our young people hunger for. You’ll be surprised! They want to hear about God! So often parents get “tongue tied” when talking about their own faith. The heart is willing but the words just don’t come. This one is for you!!

+ Then of course there’s Lent (Ash Wednesday is Feb. 10) leading to Holy Week and Easter (March 20 – 27).

So stay with us. Help us through these winter months. We need you. You need us.

God bless you as we begin our winter journey.

Fr. Tim

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Do you like fancy words? They can be fun sometimes just because they sound cool . . . anaphora, oxymoron, protean (look ’em up!).

Here’s your word for the Christmas Season – – – Incarnation. It means “to become flesh”. It’s what happened when your dad winked at your mom and she smiled back. Their love became incarnate . . . in you!

And that’s what happened when Mary said “Yes” to the Holy Spirit. God became incarnate in the child Jesus. The whole Christmas Season echo’s this one astounding fact – God the Invisible One has become a human being . . . and that means “in the flesh”.

Below is a little story we’ve printed before. I like how it captures both the astounding presence of God and the simple cooing of a baby.

The Infant God

Every once in awhile you come across a story that captures a profound mystery and puts it in words that help us see it more clearly. This little gem was written by a Frenchman held captive during the last world war. He was an atheist but also a writer. Asked by his fellow P.O.W.’s to write a Christmas play he includes, as part of it, this beautiful description of the young Mary holding her baby. It touches the mystery of the Incarnation. (The speaker is a portrait painter who is now blind. He is asked by a fellow POW how he would imagine the faces the mother and child.)

God bless and keep you in this new year.

Fr. Tim

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One of the best ways to grow in your faith is to let the world and the life we live here speak to us. It can happen in church, but many times it’s something that happens in the daily busyness of life. It’s right in front of us every day, but we don’t “see” it. But in those moments our eyes are suddenly opened.

What is this experience? It’s called Wonder. Children have it all the time. Hopefully, you’ve had it too. It starts with a simple observation of life around us and leads to a “moment” where we experience the sheer beauty or power or mystery contained in what we are observing.

Words sort of fail us. We can’t describe what we’ve heard or seen. But we know what it feels like. It feels like we’re in the presence of a masterpiece, something exquisite to overwhelm us with beauty or emotion or truth or mystery.

But what’s best about these moments (the wonder part) is the question left hanging in the air: “WHERE did this come from?!” or perhaps more accurately, “Who DID this?!” and “Why does it effect me so deeply?!” It’s God silly . . . trying to get your attention.

Any one of these can be an occasion for wonder:

• The ocean, the waves, the horizon
• Seagulls riding a lake breeze
• The folds and color of a rose
• A baby’s smell
• The eyes of a child
• The full moon on new snow
• The rushing wind
• A lover’s first “I love you”
• Hearing “I love you” back
• A base hit in little league
• The day you could finally ride a bike
• Sitting on your dad’s lap, playing with his giant fingers
• Really hearing a great piece of music
• Sitting in an empty cathedral.
• Tears upon finishing some effort that took everything you had
• Burying a parent
• Holding a grandchild
• Winning a game in triple overtime
• Losing a game in triple overtime
• Watching the snow fall
• Counting the stars at night

(What would you add for your wonderments . . . . ?)

Moments of wonder can open a window through which we catch a glimpse of a world filled with a beauty and mystery that far surpasses our ability to fully understand it. Yet it will not let us leave that place without whispering to us . . . “See that? Did you like that? . . . It’s only a shadow of my love for you.”

Read psalm 139 for a beautiful moment of wonder. It all leads to a surrender to faith . . . “Oh Lord, How great you are. Thank you for letting me live and have my being. Thank you for letting me see/feel this moment”

I hope you take time this Christmas Season to experience the beauty of this world and of our lives as human beings. Don’t try too hard though.

Just let the moment be what it wants to be in you.

Remember God loves you and made this world for all of us.

Christmas blessings.
Fr. Tim

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The winter solstice happens today, December 21. That is when the northern hemisphere reaches the furthest distance from the sun on its annual circle around it. It marks the first day of winter which holds the longest night of the year. There is no darker day.

Anthropologists and historians tell us that in ancient times it was feared in the days leading up to the solstice that the sun would never come back. The darkness would lengthen to envelope the whole earth. There would be no more day. It was the end of the world.

Of course they were without the advantage of modern astronomy, knowing nothing of the sun centered solar system and the earth’s revolving pattern. All they knew was the sun was getting lower on the horizon and it was getting darker. It must have been very frightening.

But suddenly, along about December 25th, a very small difference was noted. The darkness had stabilized. In fact, slowly the days were becoming long- er. And look the sun is getting higher in the sky!! We’re saved!!

The early Christians saw in this cycle what was prophesied by Isaiah, “The people in darkness have seen a great light.” The reference is of course to the coming Messiah – – – Jesus born on Christmas Day.

The image still speaks powerfully given our world today. Doesn’t it seem sometimes that the darkness of the world threatens to overcome the light? (I started to list the threats to our world, but you know them already). Just as the ancients feared the disappearance of the sun, any thoughtful and caring soul would have to at least consider the possibility that the forces of life are losing to the powers of senseless violence and darkness.

To this scary thought we turn to Christ. Christians believe that in Jesus the “Light has come into the world. And the darkness could not extinguish it.” Dear friends we are saved from unending darkness in the light and life that comes to us in Jesus Christ. He does not take the problems facing us away. Rather he gives us the hope, that in the end, he has overcome the darkness. We can devote ourselves unceasingly to working for the betterment of the earth and its people (despite all appearances that the darkness is winning).

How do we know this? Because the child to be born that day in Bethlehem will grow to full stature and take on the powers of darkness on that hill called Calvary. But that story is for later. For now let’s just travel with the young couple Mary and Joseph and wait for the babe to be born.

Please banish all fear in yourself and in others this week. God is with us. God will never abandon us. You are ambassadors of this good news.
Soon . . . .

Fr. Tim

P.S. Hungry hearts get fed here. Please come again. Bless you!

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So, here we go . . . the mad dash to Christmas. I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of people (perhaps you were there yourself) waiting in line in the middle of the night to begin shopping.

Added to the frenzy this year was the dismantling of the firewall around Thanksgiving. This holiday has traditionally been most pristine in observing family traditions — the parade, visits to grandparents, football, the table, the turkey, the prayer (“okay everybody say what you’re thankful for.”)

Not anymore. It’s just like any other day now. “Stores are open for your shopping convenience. Get a head start on your Christmas shopping. Have that turkey, then join us for our huge holiday savings!”

One poor fellow was quoted in the paper, “I know it’s Thanksgiving but I have to buy my kids some stuff.”

There’s a remedy for this. It’s called Advent. The next two weeks will finish our time of waiting, reflecting, praying. These final days provide a time for our hearts to soften and a freshness to life restored. It is a time of expectation, like people’s happy buzz in the theatre before the curtain goes up. Please, please don’t go rushing about trying to create television’s version of “happy holidays”. So many of us are sick of Christmas by the time it arrives. How sad.

So how do you celebrate “waiting”? What rituals accompany “expectation”? One way is by experiencing what we call “less”. Or another way to express it . . . “without”. Here are some suggestions to help these final days of Advent waiting.

• Avoid the “Christmas Specials” on television. The ones that have Santa and huge happy endings with everyone singing and clapping. It’s not Christmas yet.
• Avoid listening to the popular carols (Jingle Bells, We wish you a Merry C, Joy to the World, Silent Night, etc.). Christ hasn’t come yet. Handel’s Messiah is great Advent music.
• “Small”, “Quiet”, “Slow” are good. (Big, Loud, and Fast tends to get us tense and anxious.)
• Red and gold throughout the house says Christmas . . try silver, blue and purple during Advent. (I sound like Martha Stewart!!)
• “Secrets” are great ways to prepare for the Christ Child. Do something really nice for someone. Do it in such a way that they will never discover you were the one who did it!
• Lower your expectations. This will NOT be. .”the best Christmas ever!” It will be good and Holy in just the way God wants it to be for you . . . if you practice the Advent spirit.
• Teach the children/grandchildren to appreciate the small and humble way God chose to come to us. Find some small little task to do with a child to “get ready” for the Feast. (Come light a candle in church and say a prayer).
• Sadness often comes at Advent. Eventually, we are reminded of some loss we have suffered. Let any Advent sadness we have be for someone else not for ourselves. There is always someone who suffers more than you. Pray for them in the midst of your sadness.
• You are your best gift to others. You can bring a new freshness to your affection for people. Let yourself be renewed by the wonderful quiet and smallness of Advent.

Go slow. God bless you

Fr. Tim

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