Deacon Tim’s Column - June 28, 2009
In today’s Gospel selection by Mark, Jesus had just returned from the other side of the Sea of Galilee where he received a less than cordial reception. Last week the Gospel was about faith or the lack there of. The disciples were afraid because of the storm and Jesus calmed things—both the disciples and the storm. Now he’s back on the other side (where her originally started from). Mark presents us with two examples of extraordinary faith. First, a synagogue official (a group who probably weren’t the most Jesus-friendly) cam to him and asked for a healing for his daughter. The second was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She believed that if she could just touch his cloak she would be healed. Meanwhile, the synagogue official’s daughter had died. Jesus told him to have faith and not to be afraid. The end result was that he raised the little girl from the dead. These were accomplished through the miraculous action of Jesus based on the faith of both the woman plagued by hemorrhages and the synagogue official.
So often we mouth certain things like “faith can move mountains.” Do we really in our hearts believe that? Faith can move mountains (as well as a lot of other things) but most of all it is a testament of our believe and trust in God. One word I’ve stricken from my vocabulary is “coincidence.” I truly believe that there is no such thing. God intervenes in our lives all the time and often we attribute it to chance or “coincidence.” God doesn’t move us like puppets, after all, we have an intellect and free will, but what he does do is to make us more aware of our surroundings as well as the people around us, those known to us as well as strangers.
Time and time again God interacts with us. Most times (baring mystical experiences) God manifests himself to us through others. God sends people to us and makes us open to their interactions with us. These interactions can come at very critical times in our lives. We might feel down or depressed in one way or the other and out of the blue, someone enters our life. They can give us insights which we should have had but for whatever reason didn’t.
This interaction by a seeming stranger can have a huge impact on our lives. Sometimes these people have only this one function. They come into our lives for a moment and then they disappear after they have fulfilled their mission. Others come into our lives and have a lasting, continuing impact on us, initially fulfilling the needs we started with and then by their presence and God and the Spirit working, impact our lives irrevocably. Both of these instances are examples of God’s love and concern for us and his benign intervention in our lives. He never wants to see us adrift. It’s up to us to accept this intervention and recognize it for what it is, God’s grace.
We can be healed, just like the woman with the hemorrhages and the daughter of the synagogue official. If we place our complete trust and faith in God everything is possible. In some situations it’s amazing. Often this intervention can be two-fold. The person sent into our lives has a lasting impact on us but we also have the possibility (being open to the workings of the Spirit) of having a lasting impact on their lives.
Grace and peace to you and your families.
Deacon Tim 734-502-1818
Friday, June 19, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deacon Tim's Column 6-21-09
On this 12th Sunday in ordinary time our Gospel selection (from Mark) is a familiar one. Towards evening Jesus tells his disciples that they should all cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Because of the winds coming down the mountains surrounding the Sea of Galilee the effect on the waters would produce large waves. If you have ever been on a lake or near a lake when a storm blew up you know how fearsome that can be. Couple this with the darkness starting to fall and you have the scenario described in the Gospel. The waves were breaking over the boat (the boat used by the fishermen on the lake were sturdy enough but not built to resist more than the normal waves) to the point that it was taking on water. Through it all though, Jesus was sleeping. Immediately before this calming of the sea in Mark's version of the Gospel, Jesus had been preaching, teaching and curing those with afflictions. The scribes and Pharisees had been very vocal in opposing him to the pint that Jesus refuted their arguments. No wonder he was tired and could sleep through a storm. Jesus had faith though. After the disciples awakened him in terror (and who can blame them) Jesus asks "Do you not yet have faith?" This wasn't really a rebuke but a way for Jesus to try to help them cross over from fear to faith. I wonder how many times Christ asks us "Do you not yet have faith?" Life becomes so much easier if we just trust in the Lord. It takes a while to get to the pint where we have complete trust in Christ. You don't have to be a saint to achieve this. This building up of trust takes time, sometimes it takes an entire lifetime. Dr. Max Wisha, the head of the U of M Cancer Center said that people who have faith in God in General have a better response to the treatment, handle it better (the chemotherapy and radiation) and have a longer survival rate. The more we place our trust in the Lord, the more peaceful we become. I know that it's become a trite prase but it is very true, "when one door closes, God opens another for us." We have to keep reminding ourselves that God is the ultimate parent, all loving, all caring and all compassionate. When we place our full faith and trust in God we can accomplish anything and we can attain a tremendous amount of serenity. This faith entails not just trusting, but also listening. Whatever we need (the emphasis is on need, not want) God will give it to us. God directs us if we are cooperative. I don't mean that God plays us like puppets but he does let us know what direction we should proceed in, sometimes very subtly. As I think back over my life I can see God's hand in things. Almost seven years ago when the PBJ Outreach was started, one of my concerns was money. Would we have enough for the week. Would we have enough for next week. These were legitimate concerns I thought. I also wondered if this (the PBJ) was the right thing to do. Since we started off small, operating on a shoestring budget, God made me aware of what he wanted. We had a single jar in church. The first week we needed $ 95.00 to provide the food etc. to feed the small amount of people we were serving. We received exactly $ 95.00 in the jar that week. The next week we needed $ 112.00. We received exactly $ 112.00. After that I figured it was up to God to take care of the financing. On this Fathers' Day I would like to extend blessings and praise to all the fathers out there, the biological fathers, the adoptive fathers, those acting in a "father" role, all grandfathers and all men who take an interesting in children. Grace and blessings to you and your families. Deacon Tim 734-502-1818
On this 12th Sunday in ordinary time our Gospel selection (from Mark) is a familiar one. Towards evening Jesus tells his disciples that they should all cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Because of the winds coming down the mountains surrounding the Sea of Galilee the effect on the waters would produce large waves. If you have ever been on a lake or near a lake when a storm blew up you know how fearsome that can be. Couple this with the darkness starting to fall and you have the scenario described in the Gospel. The waves were breaking over the boat (the boat used by the fishermen on the lake were sturdy enough but not built to resist more than the normal waves) to the point that it was taking on water. Through it all though, Jesus was sleeping. Immediately before this calming of the sea in Mark's version of the Gospel, Jesus had been preaching, teaching and curing those with afflictions. The scribes and Pharisees had been very vocal in opposing him to the pint that Jesus refuted their arguments. No wonder he was tired and could sleep through a storm. Jesus had faith though. After the disciples awakened him in terror (and who can blame them) Jesus asks "Do you not yet have faith?" This wasn't really a rebuke but a way for Jesus to try to help them cross over from fear to faith. I wonder how many times Christ asks us "Do you not yet have faith?" Life becomes so much easier if we just trust in the Lord. It takes a while to get to the pint where we have complete trust in Christ. You don't have to be a saint to achieve this. This building up of trust takes time, sometimes it takes an entire lifetime. Dr. Max Wisha, the head of the U of M Cancer Center said that people who have faith in God in General have a better response to the treatment, handle it better (the chemotherapy and radiation) and have a longer survival rate. The more we place our trust in the Lord, the more peaceful we become. I know that it's become a trite prase but it is very true, "when one door closes, God opens another for us." We have to keep reminding ourselves that God is the ultimate parent, all loving, all caring and all compassionate. When we place our full faith and trust in God we can accomplish anything and we can attain a tremendous amount of serenity. This faith entails not just trusting, but also listening. Whatever we need (the emphasis is on need, not want) God will give it to us. God directs us if we are cooperative. I don't mean that God plays us like puppets but he does let us know what direction we should proceed in, sometimes very subtly. As I think back over my life I can see God's hand in things. Almost seven years ago when the PBJ Outreach was started, one of my concerns was money. Would we have enough for the week. Would we have enough for next week. These were legitimate concerns I thought. I also wondered if this (the PBJ) was the right thing to do. Since we started off small, operating on a shoestring budget, God made me aware of what he wanted. We had a single jar in church. The first week we needed $ 95.00 to provide the food etc. to feed the small amount of people we were serving. We received exactly $ 95.00 in the jar that week. The next week we needed $ 112.00. We received exactly $ 112.00. After that I figured it was up to God to take care of the financing. On this Fathers' Day I would like to extend blessings and praise to all the fathers out there, the biological fathers, the adoptive fathers, those acting in a "father" role, all grandfathers and all men who take an interesting in children. Grace and blessings to you and your families. Deacon Tim 734-502-1818
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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