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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VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis formally presented his official proclamation of the 2015-2016 extraordinary jubilee or Holy Year of Mercy this evening before celebrating vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis said in the document that he wants the year, which will begin Dec. 8, to be a time for Catholics to contemplate just how merciful God has been to them and to understand better how they are called to be merciful to others in turn.

Mercy, the pope wrote, is “the beating heart of the Gospel.” “How much I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God,” he wrote. “May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the kingdom of God is already present in our midst.” Nothing in the church’s preaching or witness, he said, can be lacking in me.

Here is the Vatican’s translation of the prepared text of the pope’s brief homily this evening at first vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19), continues to resound in us all. Peace remains the desire of so many people who suffer unprecedented violence of discrimination and death simply because they bear the name “Christian.”

Our prayer is all the more intense and becomes a cry for help to the Father, who is rich in mercy, that he may sustain the faith of our many brothers and sisters who are in pain. At the same time, we ask for the grace of the conversion of our own hearts so as to move from indifference to compassion.

Many question in their hearts: Why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of God’s presence and closeness. This is not the time to be distracted; on the contrary, we need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential. This is a time for the church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father’s mercy (cf. Jn 20:21-23).

For this reason, the Holy Year must keep alive the desire to know how to welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers to the whole world and, above all, to those who suffer, who are alone and abandoned, without hope of being pardoned or feeling the Father’s love. A Holy Year to experience strongly within ourselves the joy of having been found by Jesus, the Good Shepherd who has come in search of us because we were lost. A Jubilee to receive the warmth of his love when he bears us upon his shoulders and brings us back to the Father’s house. A year in which to be touched by the Lord Jesus and to be transformed by his mercy, so that we may be-come witnesses to mercy.

Here, then, is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favorable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone the way of forgiveness and reconciliation.

May the Mother of God open our eyes, so that we may comprehend the task to which we have been called; and, may she obtain for us the grace to experience this Jubilee of Mercy as faithful and fruitful witnesses of Christ.

Stay tuned. There will be much more news about the Year of Mercy here at Holy Trinity in the coming weeks.

God Bless you.

Fr. Tim

I’ve said many times that creating a family and raising children is the toughest job in the world. Parents are heroes. One of the things that makes family life such a challenge is the culture we live in. Its values and goals so often conflict with the life experiences we want our children to have.

Most parents want the “best” for their family. But, what is the best? Current social norms encourage families to “go for it all”. Sports, social media, cell phones, video games, internet browsing, and cable TV are all part of the fabric of young family life.

Each in themselves can be harmless and at best, recreational and restorative. But, as in all things, “too much” causes dysfunction and the breakdown of the peaceful flow of human relationships.

Just last week the newspaper reported that teens were spending more time on the computer and cell phones than in daily sleep! A local college chaplain told me the biggest challenge he had in helping his young students was to get them to put down their iPads and talk to each other!

In all the chatter of social media we are losing something precious . . . the fun and satisfaction of talking and relating with each other. Strong measures to correct this are needed and it will, at times, take courage and wisdom to deal with the resistance.

One step you can take is the family meal (especially on Sunday). Does your family have dinner together? Maybe not every night given people’s crazy schedules – – – but more times than not during the week, families should sit at table to eat and share stories about the day or upcoming events.

It’s not that any one hilarious story or deeply meaningful comment will happen; that’s not the point. What’s happening is the wider event — we’re caring for each other. We’re learning about our lives together. The dinner table is where we show each other “I’ve got your back”, “we are a family”.

Think back. I bet you could tell five really good stories about your dinner table growing up. Funny stories, stories of tears and melt downs, stories of deep sharing. Parents, it’s up to you to show your children how important dinner together is. You’re there to create memories.

So . . . . . . cell phones, video games, and iPads, all have their proper place, just not at the dinner table.

My Dinner Table Story ……

We had a dog named “Penny”, a copper colored weiner dog. This dog had free run of the back yard and, as dogs do, Penny would leave her “droppings” everywhere. As we headed out to play, mom would remind us to “watch where we stepped” Well, guess who didn’t? No sooner had we finished Grace before dinner, when the odor told everyone someone had “stepped in it”.

“Check your shoes,” dad would say. Yes, it was me. No shouting or finger pointing . . . just go clean off your shoes or even better take them off. Returning to the table, the offense, having been removed, we all could enjoy our dinner.

I’ve told Fr. John this is the perfect image of Purgatory (you can’t sit at the Banquet of Heaven with “you know what” on your shoes). Clean ’em off’ and you’re welcome at the table. He’s not buying it.

God loves you very much.

Fr. Tim

Thanksgiving

Lord, we thank you
for the goodness of our people
and for the spirit of justice
that fills this nation.
We thank you for the beauty and fullness of the
land and the challenge of the cities.

We thank you for our work and our rest,
for one another, and for our homes.
We thank you, Lord:
accept our thanksgiving on this day.
We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

At no point in human history have so many people been so well fed. Western civilization and what are called “first world” countries have, for the most part, sufficient food and sometimes even excess.

Yet social scientists tell us two out of three people on this earth live with hunger pangs every day. Humankind has for all its history been hungry. Food literally was seen to come from God. The seed went into the ground and then God did His miracle and wheat or corn or potato came out.

That’s why Jesus instructed his disciples to trust God to provide the necessities of life and to be more concerned with how “God’s Plan for the Human Race” was turning out. (“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you.”). So when the first Christians prayed God to “give us this day our daily bread” they meant just that.

Nowadays however, at least in America, daily bread is everywhere. Some of us leave more on our plate at meal’s end than many in other parts of the world have eaten all day. But for all our technologi-cal advances, experts who had hoped to see world hunger stamped out by 2050 are no longer so optimistic.

So what’s the point? Here’s two. First, God seems to have so constructed things that to end world hunger people and nations are going to have to learn how to share. (By the way, this is one of our responsibilities here at Holy Trinity – – -to ensure we carry out the Lord’s instruction to feed the hungry.)

Secondly, it seems that the more food is in abundance, the less grateful we are. Is it any less a blessing to get our kids a Happy Meal at McDonald’s drive-thru than to harvest a meager crop by the sweat of your brow? In the end- – -it all comes from God.

I do hope you take time before you eat to remember that your life, and the food set before you to nourish that life, are all a gift from God. Take time to say “thank you”. It may sound like a small thing, (it is) but it puts into practice something very important- – – -the realization that we come from God and we owe God everything we have.

Mealtime is a teachable moment for children. Pause for a moment before eating. Give thanks for the food you are about to eat. Ask that it strengthen each of us to do what we can to help others. Lastly, you might ask God to help people around the world who are hungry tonight.

With this kind of gratitude then we might just be moved to do something for those who have so very little.

Blessings to you and the family.

Fr. Tim

Thanksgiving

Lord, we thank you
for the goodness of our people
and for the spirit of justice
that fills this nation.
We thank you for the beauty and fullness of the
land and the challenge of the cities.

We thank you for our work and our rest,
for one another, and for our homes.
We thank you, Lord:
accept our thanksgiving on this day.
We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

**We ran this article a year ago, a work in progress**

No where, ever, will you find this command in the rules for any nation, any organization, any religion . . . but for Christianity. These words were spoken by Our Lord Himself, not to living saints who hung on His every word, but to his disciples, rough fishermen, common people whose lives were already hard enough. He speaks to you and me.

Think for a moment . . . do you have any enemies? I mean real enemies, someone who wants bad things to happen to you – someone who tries to hurt you?

If you lived in Israel or Palestine, you could answer “yes”. For the Jew it would be “the Palestinians”, for the Palestinian, it would be “the Jews”. For the Serbians, it’s the Croats (and vice-versa). And on it goes; Huttus vs. Tutsis, Christians vs. Moslems, and here in America, we could say at times, even Democrats and Republicans.

How about you? Do you have any enemies? I’m hard pressed to answer “yes” to that. I have people who don’t like me or don’t trust me (and me toward them); perhaps they are a rival, but I can’t say I know anyone who is my enemy.

Does this clear us from the Lord’s command? I don’t think so. In the same way Jesus expanded the other commandments of the Torah – – – from shall not kill to shall not grow angry, from shall not commit adultery to shall not even look lustfully – – – so now my “enemy” becomes someone who doesn’t necessarily “hate” me, but rather someone who “stands in my way”.

My enemy becomes someone who thinks differently than I. It is someone who makes me afraid, someone who, yes, doesn’t like me, or someone who hurt me, and by golly, I’m not going to forget that.

And what do we do with this new “expanded” version of enemy? We avoid that person. We gather people around us who feel the same way about that person.

You can see how this natural response to an opposing force begins to divide the human family. Fear, retaliation, mistrust become the atmosphere between families, co-workers, political parties, cultures, religions, and nations.

How can this situation, given human nature, ever change? Or, do we even want it to change? (Isn’t it easier to keep my enemies my enemy?!)

No. Jesus, if we choose to listen to him, says, “love your enemy.”

But HOW? (Please know I’m trying to do these myself, and many of you are much better at this than I am).

Thoughts to help me love my enemy:

• To love doesn’t mean to feel “sweet”
  toward my
  enemy. Bottom line, it means to want what is good for them, “that they be well”.
• Who knows what hurtful events have marked their lives. Perhaps their response to me is really just them trying not to be hurt again.
• Inside every human being is someone who (because we are made in God’s image) wants to love and be loved – every one of us. So, my “enemy” is like me!
• How would I wish to be treated by this person? Do that for them.
• In the end, God is bigger than my feelings and fears. If He commands it, then He will help me do it.
• It’s going to hurt. It’s part of the cross we carry for the love of Christ.
• No one really wants to have or be . . . an enemy.
• In the end, my enemy is my brother, my sister.

God help us all with these things. Jesus wants us to love like Him and His Father everyone.

A blessed week to you

Fr. Tim

We live in a world where a thousand voices are vying for our attention. Media spends millions of dollars finding ways to get us to part with our dollars.

Throbbing bass lines are the background for hearing about a new car model. Adorable little puppies get us to consider the right carpeting. Explosions galore announce the new video game. Political candidates are eager for you to see them as louder (i.e. stronger) than their opponents. Even the weather report is hyped to become drama. How many “storms of the century” have we had lately? We end up wanting all our learning to have this quick and noisy “sound byte” to it.

That’s not how God communicates with us. Elijah the prophet stood on the mountain and asked the Lord to speak to him (1 Kings 19:12). First there came a mighty wind . . . but God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake . . . nothing. Then fire, still no voice of God. Finally, standing on the mountain came “a still small whisper.” It was the Lord.

Why doesn’t God shout at us to get our attention? Sometimes He will if things get critical; something like, “You’re under arrest”, Or “You’re drunk”, Or “Stop it you’re hurting me!” can have the voice of God in it!

But most times God’s voice is subtle, like a whisper. He’s a loving Father. Love is best communicated this way so as not to cause fear or to violate one’s freedom.

Some ways to help hear God’s whisper to you:

• Quiet your world. Noise, particularly endless human speech, fatigues one’s ability to LISTEN. Turn off the TV or radio or ipad when not purposely using it.
• Create a place in your home to meet God. Perhaps a chair with a window and a crucifix nearby (You do have a crucifix in your home, don’t you? If not get one.)
• Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to open your heart to hear His word to you.
• Have something of your own thought to sprinkle the silence with. Something short and simple . . . “Jesus I love you.” “Lord be with me.” “Speak Lord, help me to listen.” Or just the name “Jesus”.
• Just sit. It’s like waiting for a bus (remember that?!). Your mind will wander of course; don’t be bothered by that. Use your little phrase to bring you back to waiting for Him.
• Don’t think something dramatic will happen . . . remember God is subtle, not loud. We’re looking for a thought or a memory or a hope to “pop up”. If nothing pops up, that’s perfectly fine. You’ve had a few moments to “just sit with God”. Over time you will find these few moments much more refreshing than checking phone messages.
• Have this “sit” every day or at least as often as you can. 5 minutes, you can do this!
• Keep at it. God will speak to you. And over time you will know it. That’s a promise from Jesus. (read Jn. 14: 15-21)

I was on a silent retreat two years ago. Each night I’d visit the darkened chapel to say good night to Jesus. I had been sitting there for some minutes without a single pious thought when the idea “popped” into my head that Mary, his mother, was keeping the same vigil I was.

Tired and a little frustrated I said, “Your son is pretty quiet tonight”. Then it happened . . . (I could never have created this myself). The thought “came to me” where I saw Mary smile and turn slightly toward me, “Don’t worry,” she seemed to say, “He knows you’re here.”

If you had been there would you have heard these words in the chapel? Of course not. It was a little interior grace God gave me to let me know that I was not alone. In faith He was there with me and so was Mary.

Mary’s been my chapel partner ever since – quietly keeping watch with me.

Bless you. Happy sitting.

Fr. Tim