timothy – julie vieira

Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
Lectionary: 520/317

2 Timothy 1:1-8
Psalm 96:1-10
Mark 3:22-30

Many, many years ago, I was sitting in a high school classroom and delighted to learn that instead of religion class, we’d be watching a movie. Awesome! I thought. No lecture, no class participation, no big deal.

Fifty-six minutes later, my life was changed forever.

The movie was no movie. It was the documentary film Roses in December: The Story of Jean Donovan (1980) and it tells the story of Catholic lay woman Jean Donovan, Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke, MM, and Ita Ford, MM, and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, OSU. These four women were murdered in El Salvador for working with the poor by government-sanctioned military extremists whose motto was «Haz patria, mata un cura» – “Be a patriot, kill a priest.” And not just priests. Anyone who sided with the poor.

I left that classroom stunned … and with a single question in my heart: for what would I be willing to give my life – and my death?

While today is not the memorial of these 4 Churchwomen (December 2), I can’t help but be reminded of them as we reflect today on two more holy people – Timothy and Titus – who also shaped the life of the Church. We have little time to review their biographies – not because no one likes long homilies – but because we are in a state of crisis. Here and now, we need both the Word and the Table to nourish us as we are called to act by praying and pray by acting.

Timothy, Titus, Jean, Maura, Ita and Dorothy – they stand right alongside the leaders of today who embody the gospel – leaders such as Episcopal Bishop Rob Hirshfeld. In a reflection on January 9 at a vigil for Renee Good in Concord, New Hampshire, Bishop Hirshfeld noted that “the message of Jesus’ love, compassion, and commitment to the poor, the outcast” was comprised when the church became linked to the empire by Constantine in the 4^th century. (source)

He says, “And we have lost that voice, and we are now, I believe, entering a time, a new era of martyrdom.” He cites the 4 Churchwomen as well as Oscar Romero who during mass “called upon the death squads of El Salvador to lay down their arms or risk excommunication”. He “was martyred the next Sunday at the altar.”

Hirshfeld goes on:

I have told the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness. And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order—to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.

And it may mean that we are going to have to act in a new way that we have never seen perhaps in our lifetime, except for these remote stories that I’ve just cited, to put our faith in the God of life, of resurrection, of a love that is stronger than death itself.

For what would I be willing to give my life – and my death?

Our response to this question, and to these witnesses of yesterday and today, will be expressed in a myriad of ways. Some are called to the streets of Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland and perhaps, one day, to our own hometown. Some are called to respond through the spaciousness of their contemplative heart. Some are called to be awake to the pain of broken relationships and broken trust. Some are called to create art and beauty in the face of desperation.

Stop. Listen. You will hear the call, and you will know how to respond.

Hear these words again from 2 Timothy 1:6-8.

I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have …
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord …
but bear your share .. for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

image : Photo by Kerem Yücel | MPR News

“Clergy members and community activists protest Friday in extreme subzero weather at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, calling on Delta Air Lines, Signature Aviation and other companies to stop cooperating with the federal immigration enforcement surge. Police from multiple agencies detained protesters during the action.” (source)

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 445

1 Timothy 3:14-16
Psalm 111:1-2,3-4,5-6
Luke 7:31-35

Our readings today feel to me like a mirror of the world we live in.

“Undeniably great is the mystery of faith,” writes Paul to Timothy and the Christian community of Ephesus which was struggling in a storm of false teachings. “God will forever be mindful of God’s covenant.” “How great are the works of the Lord” the Psalmist reminds us. And then we sing “Alleluia” only to hear the Luke proclaim in the gospel how “the world” can be like a discontent, spoiled person who refuses to see the goodness all around them.

I feel this, deep in my bones. A world of false teachings. Struggle with what seems like bad news followed by even more bad news.

Yet all around us is the glory of God.
… unkept, unspoiled, undeniable.

But unbearable is the weight of trauma. So unbearable that we can’t hear the Alleluia. We can’t remember the covenant. We can’t find the stunning mystery of the Holy One in our midst.

I don’t have the words to make sense of this. And when I find myself at a loss, I try to use whatever ounce of energy I have left to turn to one of my guiding lights.

Sometimes it’s a friend, sometimes it’s a favorite poet. Lately, I’ve turned to the stones themselves, ones I’ve collected here and there. I ask them to tell me how it’s survived millions of years — being upchucked by a volcanic eruption, tossed onto the land, and then having to stand witness as species come and go, storms come and go. … Yet still the stones remain, one right here in the palm of my hand.

And so today, with you, I turn to one of our guiding lights, Hildegard of Bingen.

We turn to her, seeking wisdom, consolation … and perhaps even reprieve from the chaos that surrounds us and threatens to erupt inside the tumultuous earth within our hearts.

She reminds us that even in the cacophony of chaos, we are not alone. God has not forgotten God’s covenant:

Every element has a sound, an original sound from the order of God; all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.

She reminds us who we are … and whose we are:

I am the fiery life of the essence of God; I am the flame above the beauty in the fields; I shine in the waters; I burn in the sun, the moon, and the stars. And with the airy wind, I quicken all things vitally by an unseen, all-sustaining life. (Book of Divine Works)

My dear friends, when the chaos threatens to overwhelm us, let us stop and remember this.

Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You’re a world – everything is hidden in you.” (Causes and Cures)

We ARE the fiery life of the essence of God
We are the flame above the beauty in the fields
We shine in the waters
We burn in the sun, the moon, and the stars
And with the airy wind, we quicken all things vitally by an unseen, all-sustaining life

Tag: timothy

act by praying … pray by acting

hildegard of bingen : a guiding light amidst the overwhelm