(A few hints to help you start again and perhaps to help your prayer time be more effective. Take some time with each of these.)

1. The very thought or desire to pray is an invitation from God.

No one can say “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:13) without a grace from God. So every time your heart is lifted, how- ever faintly, to look toward God – – – it is God actually reaching out to you. Let this be an encouragement. God loves you and wants your friendship. He’s begins the conversation.

2. Prayer is about Friendship and Trust in God.

So how do friends speak and listen to each other? Honestly, straightforward, without fear of offending, knowing your friend cares for you. Things like, “Lord, I’m sick and tired of …” or “Dear God, I did it again. Help me.” Or, “Why won’t you take this away Lord?” Or, “What a blessing that was. Thank you.” Or anything else your friendship needs to say.

3. God is invisible, so . . . images help.

God made our minds to work by way of images. Pictures of loved ones keep them more clearly in our minds and hearts. But we cannot see God so – – – images help. Jesus said he is a Good Shepherd, picture that. Water springing forth in the desert. A calming voice, a hand, etc. Let yourself find an image that helps you to trust his presence.

4. Start where you “are” not where you “should be”.

This is very important. You don’t “get holy” and then start to pray. We start right where we are. Lazy, selfish, angry, happy, . . . whatever. Give yourself to God just the way you are. That’s what friends do. But remember. . . . He’s the Lord. His will is the path to life. End your prayer by submitting to God’s will. Jesus did in the gar- den.

Again, “holy” thoughts are not what God wants. God wants YOU! In all your imperfections and failures. He’ll begin to show you a new path but it starts right where you are! Find YOUR way of praying not someone else’s.

5. Warm up to prayer. Don’t just jump in the pool. Take a minute or two to “prepare” your meeting with God. You’re beginning a holy moment.

A memory is a good start. How has God helped you in the past that you can thank Him for at the beginning of prayer? It helps to get a memory bank of times God has intervened. (It takes about 10 minutes to shake off the noise of the world and get down to business with God.)

6. We learn to pray by praying. (Remember the Holy Spirit will help you.)

No one ever learned to play the piano by reading about it or seeing a video. You learn by putting fingers to the keys. So too with praying . . . just do it. There’s no one there to grade you. God will take whatever you offer him and magnify it. Remember the Mustard Seed? (Mt. 4:31)

7. Be quiet. No thoughts. Just look out your window. God is with you.

After you’ve read scripture and spoken to the Lord, it’s time to listen. God speaks to us with thoughts, memories, and sentiments that move our will to want what God wants. Often times it’s only later in the day (or week!) we realize what God has done in our prayer.

8. Don’t try too hard. God comes in quiet, peaceful moments; often times unnoticed, like a bird landing quietly on a branch.

Just know that the smallest of gestures toward God brings his blessing. God loves you. You are his child. Keep on trusting, keep on asking, keep on looking for signs of his hand. “Seek and you shall find.” (Mt. 7:7)

Prayer. Just do it. It’s what love does.

Fr. Tim

I remember St. Patrick’s Day 2020. We had just gotten word that we were in a worldwide pandemic. Everything got shut down. We all went into isolation. Catholic mass obligation was dispensed. No restaurants, movie houses, in school classes, working from home (if you weren’t furloughed), empty highways . . . remember? Of course you do. We’d never seen anything like it.

Well here we are now, a year and three months later. Welcome back.

This Sunday (fittingly called The Body and Blood of The Lord), the church asks that all who are healthy (vaccinated, etc.) and emotionally able to attend mass in person, see that as a serious responsibility of Faith. “Come to mass”, the Church says.

I don’t know about you but it’s all a bit of a blur for me. It’s like starting to wake up from a bad dream. “What was that?!” And there’s a bit of a “hung over” feeling (not that I’ve ever been hung over – – heh heh!) Handshakes and hugging seem strange and new, planning get-togethers feels slightly daring.

Suddenly, like the Spring, life begins its normal rhythm. There are still serious concerns, of course. Much of the poorer nations have only begun to recover. Lack of vaccine is an issue we cannot turn our backs on. We must help them. But here at home we breathe easier.

So what was it like for you? Did you meet the virus personally? Someone you love infected? Did it test your Faith? Do you feel different? Maybe we’re still too close to it to find out what it did to us. In time we’ll look back and see it in perspective.

Even so, here are a few preliminary thoughts on what we’ve seen and been touched by.

• First of all, how could any of us not see the heroism of doctors, nurses, first responders risking their lives to save those infected by the virus? Some paid the greatest price and gave their lives – – as they fought for the lives of others. God has a special place for them in heaven. My own problems, I now see as tiny compared to what these champions have faced.
• Next to touch us was the terrible suffering; those 500,000 Americans who died, families left saying their tearful goodbye’s on the telephone, the disproportionate level of sickness in the poor and people of color (we have to do better for them). Did you let those stories touch you?
• Was there occasion for you to go to God about all this? What did you say to Him? Have you come to realize how fragile life can be? How fragile government and civilization can be? How the only way to solve our problems is in loving? And the only true love is one that is willing to suffer – – as Christ has shown us?
• Do you want to be kinder now? More patient with people different than you? Are you more willing to withhold harsh judgement, knowing we all face problems, and carry hurts, some too deep to put into words? I pray to God for that grace.

So once again, welcome back! Fr. John and I have prayed for you and talked about you and wondered how you have been. We can’t wait to see you. The children and grand-children (some have grown 6 inches!).

Lastly, thank you Lord for bringing us together again. Help us to be better people this time. Show us the work that love would have us do.

With love,

Fr. Tim

I had a conversation the other day with a bright, accomplished business person. Business was not his only pursuit. He has written books on grief and counseling (something he’d become quite expert at). He’s in retirement years now and uses his time devoted to helping others. This is one of the good guys.

So, he started talking about the “human spirit”, and how everyone has a divine spark in them to guide and enlighten. I nodded agreement, though I’d have chosen different words. (It was a cocktail conversation – – you know those!)

What surprised me was his conclusion about the “human spark” we’d agreed we all have. “We’re each responsible for what we do with that spiritual gift.” On one level I totally agree with my friend. Our life is in our hands – – to make of them what we will. This is the dignity and responsibility of each of us. Every life has this chance to define themselves.

But are we all on an even playing field as we start our “journey to become”? Do we all have an equal chance at the good things of life? Do some of us get a head start that helps us achieve success? I think we do. Let me explain.

Consider what we need to succeed in life. First of all we need a set of values that guide our actions: honesty, perseverance, respect, hard work, etc. right? And where do we get those values? At home of course, from our parents.

Secondly ,we need proper education at school. The cognitive skills we develop (reasoning, communicating, problem solving) combined with a knowledge of technology lead to opportunity in life and in the marketplace. . . . that being achieved, you’re ready to make your life’s story.

But what if those two critical elements (home and education) were lacking in your upbringing? What if your young life was marked by poverty, or a broken home, or frequent violence? What if there was no one to model behaviors of honesty and hard work? How would you have turned out?

I think of my father, who, seeing his son so careless in my school work set himself directly in my path saying, “Your school work comes first, THEN sports. DO YOU UNDERSTAND TIM?!!!” “Yes Dad.” I hated the thought of not playing basketball but there was only one way to make that happen. I had to study. My old man was there to insure that happened.

You get my point, right? Without the guide posts of family and the values of education I’d hate to think of the bad habits and choices I’d have made. By myself I’d probably have a reserved seat at Bathtub Billy’s.

Now some might respond, “Well I’ve worked hard for what I’ve got. No one handed it to me.” Good for you! Really, congratulations. BUT could you have achieved your life without help from the very beginning? There are some who have overcome huge obstacles to reach a life that contributes to society. We call them heroes . . . or saints. There are many. But many more have found themselves overwhelmed by a “Cycle of Poverty.”

So how can we help? I think it begins by recognizing the blessing we’ve had in our early lives and a felt compassion for those who, for whatever reason, have not had these many helping hands.

Then we can begin to speak up for the disadvantaged, look for ways to insure compassionate government and law enforcement . . . and, when circumstances permit, speak to our neighbors about helping the social disparity so many experience.

After all . . . in the end, it’s all a gift.

Bless You.

Fr. Tim

I find it easier to imagine God as Father and Son but the Holy Spirit leaves me struggling to form a mental concept which helps me to go to Him in prayer.

Think about it. We understand the image of “father” and His work of creating the heavens and earth. “Son” is also part of our human experience and the fact that he has taken human nature in Jesus helps me speak my human concerns to him.

But the Holy Spirit? How should I approach God in this form?

Let’s start from human our experience of “spirit”, small “s”. We speak of the “spirit” of many things. The spirit of springtime, friendship, loving, freedom, family reunion, etc. (We experience negative “spirits” as well: per- sonal loss, defeat, poverty, envy, jealousy, etc).

So we might say on a human level, spirit is experienced as a “feeling”. But is a feeling a real thing? Does it exist as an object in some way? What happens to that feeling when it goes away? Does it die?

Not exactly. It exists in our memory. Think how you felt when you held your first born or your first love relationship. The feeling comes back, right?! Recall riding your bike with no help! Spirit exists; it’s real but in a different way than rocks or trees or arms and legs. Are you sure your mother loves you? Off course you are! Why? I mean you can’t see it like an object.

You know she loves you because over the years you’ve experienced moments that have given you a sense of well being, happiness, and belonging. You can’t see it with your eyes, or put it into a bag, but you know it’s real. Let’s call it the spirit of love. So spirit is something “you know”. It may not have a feeling. It’s really real in your mind.

That’s “spirit” on the human level. What about God?

What follows here is what we know about God because of Jesus. Jesus knows his Father (in the same way described above, but even more so). “No one knows the Father except the Son and no one knows the Son except the Father” Matthew. 11: 27. “When you see me you see the Father for the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” John 14: 6-11 “The Father and I are one.” John 10:30.

With the union of Father and Son (both Divine), Jesus then says, “Whoever loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and my Father and I will come to him and live with him.” John 14: 23.

And that’s the Holy Spirit! The love of the Father for the Son (Jesus), and the Son for the Father IS A THIRD PERSON – – who is the love forever being shared between them. “God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.” Romans 5:5

Back on earth now . . . Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to remind us of all he had taught us…and…to empower us (the Church) to act in the person of Christ in the world.

So how do I think about the Holy Spirit? Is He different than the others? Do I pray to Him and not to the Father or Jesus?

Here’s where the doctrine of the Trinity comes in. There is ONE God. Within the one God there is a communion of Divine Persons. (There has to be, for God is love. How can God be love without “relationship”?).

So when we pray you don’t have to have a particular person of God in mind – – praying to one is praying to all. There is ONE God. (I think most people think first of Jesus when they pray – – that’s just fine. In the end there are moments when we turn to each of them for special need.)

The Holy Spirit is the person of God’s love. “Come Holy Spirit, be with me, let me know your love.”

Fr. Tim

Jesus says something rather strange about his disciples this Sunday. Praying to his Father he says, “They do not belong to the world . . . They are not of the world anymore than I am of the world.” What could he possibly mean?

The world (this earth, circling the sun) is all we know. It is our home. Its gravity keeps our feet on the ground. The seasons bring wheat to the fields and food to our tables. Meanwhile, the Pink Magnolia across the street is like a Wonderland. The bible tells us God made the world for you and me. What do you mean ‘I don’t belong to the world?’

Jesus is using the word “world” to describe the way people carry on their everyday lives. We are born from our parents. We learn how to walk and talk and live our lives. We fall in love, marry, have children, and die. Along the way we amuse ourselves with sports, music, media, and the arts. This is “The Way of the World”. We all live in this way.

Oh yes, we live “in the world” no doubt. But we don’t “belong”. (Webster defines “belong” as “to have a proper or suitable place”.) Jesus has come to show us that our “proper place” is with him . . . and then together with us . . . Jesus is “in the Father”. And then at last, God will be “all in all”. 1 Cor. 15:28

The world doesn’t get this. Why else would they have crucified him? Even from the cross Jesus knew of the ignorance of “the world”. “Father forgive them for they know not what they’re doing.” Luke 23:34. (Also: Acts 3:18, 19.) People just don’t get this Jesus. It’s all there in the New Testament Scriptures for anyone who’d care to read it. It’s been proclaimed by the Church for over 2000 years. (Perhaps the bad example of some who call them- selves Christian keeps the world from believing – – – but that’s another story). Anyway, back to our topic – – – our real home.

Jesus says Christians live “in the world” but not “of the world”. The day to day struggle to simply exist: living life, getting food, clothing, shelter, etc. is living in the world. We all must do this. BUT, Jesus has shown us something more. Something we never knew before. Human beings are God’s children. Our proper place, the one for which we were created, is to share in God’s divine nature. We’re more than this world. The world can’t hold us – – it’s not big enough to be our home. Only God is big enough.

Theologians later described this human share in divinity as a Supernatural Existential. That means we have, as part of our human nature, a capacity to receive the life of God. It’s called Grace. That’s right. God wants us to become like Him! To have this happen we need to belong to Christ. (Non-Christians will get to know Christ in God’s mysterious ways).

In the meantime we are like pilgrims traveling through this world. St. Paul says it’s like we live in a “tent”. “For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent (our body), be destroyed (death), we have a building from God, a dwell- ing not made by hands, eternal in heaven.” 2 Cor. 5:1

St. Paul was so struck by the power of life in Christ that he “longed to be away from the body and at home with the Lord . . . but we aspire to please Him, whether we are at home or away.” 2 Cor. 5:1-10 (read it! It’s wonderful.)

So we are witnesses of Christ’s truth to the world. It’s what brings us hope. We never give into despair. We are always ready to help this world be a better place. But remember, we’re only passing through this place. Our true home is with the Lord.

More Easter Joy.

Fr. Tim

We have a pre-school program renting Holy Trinity’s School building. It’s called Liberty Post Stars. It helps preschoolers with special needs and disabilities. Several times a day I see young women called Certified Special Instructors and Teaching Assistants walk the children around Murphy Hall on rainy days or outside on our beautiful lawns.

You would be touched to watch the instructors help these children with their undivided attention. They stoop to tie shoes, they pause to show the children the daffodils by the church, they invite fun conversation with the children as they walk along. I can only imagine the skills they have to help bring learning alive in the classroom.

What’s my point? They are women. They are women . . . and they are geniuses. That’s right, they are “Person Geniuses”. They have a sense of the personhood in each of their young charges. They sense their emotional state, their needs. They understand what has to happen for the child to learn. And most touching . . . they’re full of hope for each child’s well-being.

And while we’re at it, we might as well call them Mothers because that is what they do – – – they give birth to the “person”. It’s the genius of women. And their gift is equal to any doctor, psychologist, teacher, social worker, or priest. (Remember Anne Sullivan? She was the only one able to break through the silent darkness of Helen Keller.)

I’m not saying women don’t have other geniuses as well. (Witness astronaut, Jessica Meir, currently doing physics aboard the International Space Station. Or the women who’s protests ended the violence in Northern Ireland and an end to the fierce IRA).

What I am saying is that only women can be a Mother – – both by giving natural birth or by giving birth to the personhood of the people she loves. (Men have their own genius. We’ll get to that later!)

And so today is Mother’s Day. Who’s yo momma?!

My mother is Rosemary. She gave birth to me and to my sisters, Mary Patricia and Maureen. Those two are currently loving me with that “woman, mother genius” that keeps me in place and lets me know I always have a home with them.

Pope John Paul points to the unique gift women possess in their motherhood. See what you think.

Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life as it develops in the mother’s womb. The mother is filled with wonder at this mystery of life, and ‘understands’ with unique intuition what is happening in- side her. In the light of the ‘beginning’, the mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb.

This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings – not only towards her own child, but every human being – which profoundly marks the woman’s personality.

A Blessed Mother’s Day.

Fr. Tim

Don’t you find it fascinating that for all the power and infinitude of the universe there is only one being that can say, “What do you want for dinner?”

Human consciousness (or intellect) is what sets man apart from everything else in nature. Think of it. Every creature you see, whether (as we used to say) animal, vegetable, or mineral, is harnessed to a natural order which locks it into what it must be. We call it Mother Nature.

The flowers in spring, the geese flying south in a wing, that stone at the end of your driveway, are all part of a natural order. This “order of nature” requires flower, goose, and stone to be in a particular, predetermined way in order for them to be what they are. (Beware! The goose that stops by your kitchen to have coffee with you is really not a goose!).

Isn’t this fun?!

The human being however is a different creature. We are set in “openness” to becoming. We “become” by the use of the two qualities we’ve been given as part of our human nature – – intellect and will. Through these, all creation reaches an understanding of itself. The human being sharing in the natural world (our bodies), is where silent nature comes to understand itself. We put into words what nature, by itself, could never speak.

Human effort to understand creation, and speak for it, has brought about mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, etc. We are unlocking the mystery of creation! Not only that, something else is born – – history. The story told by the conscious, acting creature (man) over time.

And the meaning of history? It’s still unfolding. The final meaning of human history is the return of Jesus Christ in glory to bring humanity and all creation together in Him and then set it before God the Father. “So that God will be all in all.” 1Cor. 15:28.

Meanwhile God is smiling. He delights in His creature man and woman. The powerful intellect God has given us humans is sharing in the knowledge of God Himself.

But . . . we must remember that it is only in the light of God’s Spirit that we are able to perceive the order that God has placed in creation. Consciousness is God’s gift to us. Our “intellect” and “will” are created and finite. We are not autonomous beings, not the boss determining the meaning of creation all by ourselves. No. We must submit ourselves and our knowledge to the one who chose to share in His “dominion over the world.” (Genesis 2).

Along with our intellect God has given us Freedom. We are free to use our knowledge in any way we like – – good or bad. Here’s where it gets a little testy. You see human history is shaped by our actions toward one another. What story are we telling?

We are summoned by our freedom to action that defines us as we go. We become “truth tellers” or “generous” or “patient” or “forgiving”.

Or, equal in possibility, we can become “liars”, “greedy”, “unforgiving”, etc. It’s up to us. We’re free. This is the wonderful dignity of the human being as created by God. God has made us, in effect, co-creators of ourselves. Our actions put into history who we are. We “become”. And because it was done in freedom . . . we become “responsible for it”.

Some people don’t like this.

“I just wanna be. I’m the boss. I say what I want to do. And, oh by the way, nobody tells me who I am or what I should become.”

Now here’s the kicker . . . Don’t miss this. Our human nature (intellect and will), as created by God, is to share in His nature! God created us to have His love as our meaning. “We are God’s children now. . . and we shall become like Him for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2

So back here on earth – – – what are we to do with our freedom? Love God with all our heart. And love our neighbor as Christ has loved us.

Let’s get to work!

Fr. Tim

Now that we’ve weathered the winter and Covid restrictions are slowly lifting, people are feeling more comfortable in returning to mass at Holy Trinity. Last Sunday we had over 550 people physically present over the 3 masses. Like the spring flowers, you’re starting to bloom in church!

So what’s happening in the parish as we move into the spring and summer? Here’s the short list of things to know; followed by some comments about the “Big Picture”.

• Mass attendance is increasing. We’re still at 6 feet separation which limits our numbers but hopefully closer gatherings will be allowed soon. (The real issue is how comfortable people feel sitting in the pew. As more people are fully vaccinated, our numbers should increase.)
• What about masks? That of course will depend on the CDC’s recommendations moving forward. Some speculate another 6 months of wearing them. Holy Trinity will follow whatever those recommendations encourage.
• Parish Staff. There have been some changes here. Kasey Baker, our Office Manager, has moved on to new and exciting ventures. So we welcome Tim Reetz as our part time business manager. Tim is splitting his time with St. Kateri Parish in Irondequoit. He’ll be here Monday and Thursdays.
• Helen Sleeman will be adding some office managing tasks to her responsibilities. Also, we welcome Mary Kramer to manage our Case Training of volunteers and co-ordinate our RCIA program. Welcome to both of you!
• Building maintenance. We are currently looking at replacing two boilers – church and school. They have been in place since the Civil War. They are leaking water and the efficiency factor make them terribly obsolete. I’ll let you know what the cost estimate will be. It won’t be pretty.
• Also…and this is still at the “dream” stage…I think we ought to paint the church interior. The 1970 whitewash of the walls and ceiling are getting dingy and tired. Let’s do a new paint scheme with new color and liturgical design. We’ve begun conversation with Swietek, Inc., a liturgical design company in Buffalo. They will give us an artist rendering of some proposed changes. We’ll show you when we get them.
• What about: CYO basketball, parish picnic, senior ministry, youth activities, coffee hour, concerts, lectures, Star program . . . we want all of these to come roaring back! Whenever possible we will re-start these activities in as full and safe a way as we can.

So please don’t think Holy Trinity is going away! This is your parish. I am convinced we have the right people on staff; our volunteers remain vigorous in keeping the work of the parish up and running. Fr. John and I are feeling fit and frisky and ready to respond to the resurgence of parish activities.

And you? Are you staying in touch with us through mass attendance or by Livestream? Are you finding ways to “Keep Holy the Lord’s Day”? (I encourage you to set aside part of your Sunday to gather your family to pray with us during mass time and to do something that will mark the day as a “day of rest” and rejuvenation for the Lord.)

God knows the challenges these days present for us in keeping and practicing the Faith. Special graces will come to those who pray daily for the Lord’s help. Straight ahead! He is with us.

Fr. Tim

One of the unfortunate things that happens to wonderful human events is the commercialization that, over time, tends to blot out the original meaning of what happened.

Look what we’ve done to Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, and in these days . . . Easter. In each case we’re told there’s things we need to buy to properly celebrate the happy occasion.

Please don’t take me for the Grinch. Dying Easter eggs, bunnies, Easter bonnets (I love hats!), and marshmallow peeps are all fine ways to get the kids excited on that day. But . . . the fun this creates can dull our understanding of what Jesus’s resurrection means for humanity. We can lose the power of this event under a gauze of purple and pastel colors.

What can help us here? First of all the Resurrection is a fact. Facts create an environment in which we live. One plus one is two. That means two plus two is four and suddenly we have a world so predictable that we can send someone to the moon and back.

Now the Resurrection is not the kind of fact that you can prove with a mathematical counting. It’s a fact that can only be known by believing in the testimony brought forward by eye-witnesses. We do this all the time . . . believe what someone tells us. (e.g., the picture on your digital TV comes to you because of a series of 0’s and 1’s. Uh…okay. Or, I have a rock in my office I took from the Chemung River. Do you believe me? Come to my office, I’ll show you!!)

Most things we hold to be true are based on what someone tells us.

Now the testimony we have about the fact of the Resurrection comes to us from the Apostles. “We have seen the Lord! He is truly risen!!”

For about twenty reasons which I’ll not go into right here – – – I believe that what they say is true. Jesus is risen from the dead. Basically, it comes down to a gift we’ve been given. Faith. The persuasion Faith comes from the credibility of those who testify.

And who gives the testimony? Jesus has. He tells us, I am the Resurrection and the Life. “Whoever believes in me will have eternal life.” John 11: 25. This acceptance in Faith gives me knowledge of a FACT. It’s a fact and now I base my life on it. I live now in a particular way.

Because Jesus is raised from the dead, we see things in a different way:

• Human tragedies, unfairness, violence, and innocent suffering, are seen now in the same suffering of Christ and will be vindicated in the Resurrection.
• Acts of kindness and gentleness (however small and ignored) belong now within God’s love revealed in Christ’s Resurrection. All true love comes from God.
• Moments of disappointment, failure, betrayal, or even danger, have all been redeemed when Jesus accepted those very things in His own death and now He is risen.
• Parents can bring children into this troubled world knowing that human life is good and pleasing to God and will share one day in the Resurrection.
• We need not fear when our own personal end is near for Christ has prepared a place for us.

Dear Friends

Take heart. He is with you.

Easter blessings,

Fr. Tim

They looked in and saw. He was gone. The tomb was empty. The white burial cloth was folded up and laying on a stone. Scripture says they “did not yet understand that he had to rise from the dead.”

So “where is he? Where did he go?” Jesus, we want to know where you are.

I remember when my father died in 1988. He had been declining for some months and the night he passed my sister and I sat with him as he breathed his last. (Many of you have had that scary but holy moment.)

It was so weird. I remember thinking about the large personality he was. How he loved birds, gardening, Italian spaghetti, his country, and his Catholic Faith. How dad hated military parades, foreign cars, squirrels, and the New York Yankees.

I looked at his hands that night, hands that fired a gun in Patton’s 3rd Army, cut my hair as a kid, played catch in the yard, and took my hands in his, the day I became a priest. His deep baritone voice called your name like no one else “Dad, where are you?” I kept wondering. “Where did that voice go?” Don’t we all ask that when someone we love is gone? We feel the space they lived in, the chair, the porch, the work bench. The disciples must have felt a similar loss as they peered into the empty tomb.

Our Christian faith proclaims something quite extraordinary. Something that science (physics, biology, astronomy, and chemistry) cannot verify or prove (or disprove) . . . Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

Each of us must look inside ourselves for this one. Why do I believe? Is it because the Pope says so? OR because that’s just what I was taught? OR It makes for something nice to teach the children? I hope that’s not your answer.

May I suggest an answer? Because we have seen a love that surpasses all reason, a love so strong and pure that it could only come from a source beyond the human heart. (It’s not the love in romance, not the love of hobby or pastimes, not the love of beauty or art.)

This past week we have watched a human being love like God. It’s a love never seen or imagined before him. Jesus died giving witness to a God who loves us in a totally selfless way. He endured scourges and spitting, he forgave his murderers from the cross, he emptied himself totally at the will of God his Father . . . so that the invisible love of God might become visible to us by the obedience of his Son.

And there’s more . . . we believe that Jesus is alive because countless men, women, and children have experienced the love of Christ in their own lives and have in turn given that love to their neighbor. We’ve seen the love that is Christ.

Have you seen it? Have you seen or felt His love working in this world? Of course you have!!

• The mother who risks her own health for the health of her baby
• A soldier who’s mission puts his life at risk so that “no one is left behind”
• The friend who visits you in the hospital, the psych ward, the county jail
• A sister who forgives your unkind words
• The priest or nun who acts like Christ and makes you want to go to heaven
• The poor person who gives more to the needy than you do
• Foster parents who save the lives of young people
• Your spouse who really loves you despite all your faults
• The quiet hope that comes to you when you sit in an empty church
• The first responder who runs toward danger when all others flee
• The little child who laughs and plays with friends in a refugee camp far from her home

“We have seen the Lord!”, John 20:18, cried Mary Magdalene. So have we.

Easter graces to you.

Fr. Tim