Let My People God!

LET MY PEOPLE GO!

“God said to Moses,  “I’m going to hit Pharaoh and Egypt one final time, and then he’ll let you go. When he releases you, it will be the end of Egypt for you, he want be able to let you go fast enough.” Exodus 11: 1-2

In a time long ago there was a group of people, the Hebrews, who were enslaved, forced to labor for nothing, under oppression, and God intervened and brought them out of the land of Egypt. On the night before they were let go we have the Passover, where the Angel of death passed over those whose doors were marked by blood.

In some ways we have that feeling this weekend as ICE prepares to raid our undocumented immigrants; And the country that is supposed to be the land of the free, becomes oppressive Egypt.

Little is being said by our Churches, in fact I see little being said any where, and that speaks to who we are becoming, an insulated, self-righteous people. 

There are a number of things we can do to protest and raise our voices in opposition to these raids.

First tell our housed undocumented brothers and sisters to not answer their doors, to stay in, as if they have blood of the lamb on them;

Secondly: We can provide shelter for our those who  are homeless–we can shelter in our on homes; our churches can open their doors, providing shelter and food–with the mark of the lamb on the door;

Thirdly,  send emails, and jam the phone lines to the White House in protest;

Fourthly,  go out to our parks, streets, and doorways, and seek those undocumented out and bring them to shelter;

Finally, we can give this list to any undocumented person who is caught up in the raids:

San Francisco Rapid Response Network

San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement

Immigration Affairs

American Civil Liberties Union

National Immigration Law Center

American Immigration Lawyers Association

American Federation of Teachers

Call Representative Pelosi’s Office: 415-556-4862 for support and referral.

“You are here to be light,bringing out the God color’s in the world…Shine!” Matthew 5:14-15.

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

http://www.temenos.org

 

Mystery

MYSTERY

“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying: give without pay.” Matthew10:7. English Standard Version

Recently there have been conversations on FACE BOOK condemning Mother Teresa in the way in which she served people. In her final book that was published after her death she described her immense depression, thinking of suicide, that she experienced during many of those years.

I identify with her. I experience the same depression, I think of suicide often at times. This past year an a half I have experienced so much depression, and thoughts of suicide because of being alone, and constantly criticized, I hear one word of encouragement for ever hundred of criticism. Like her I live with that pain, and those feelings of being totally alone. And like her I know this is the life to which I am called, and one which I have chosen, and the one which brings me much joy as well.

And  like her I pull my boots back on and keep going. The Scriptures this morning call us to live out the reign of God each day. If each one of us would cut back on our own resources, and choose to live on what we need, feed one hungry person a day, spend time with one homeless person a day, provide clothing, and fight for health care and housing with our government, the reign of God will draw near. People are criticizing Mayor Breed for not doing more for the homeless, the truth is she has done more than any mayor since I have lived in San Francisco, it is that it is increasing, because it takes a village to solve the issue. Rather than criticize the Mayor we need to get out  on the streets and do the work of the Kingdom.

I spent two hours with lady last night who was evicted a month ago, she is living in her car, she makes $15.00 an hour without health care; her friends have all disappeared. And that is what happens when we suffer, when we are in need our friends disappear.

One of the reasons that happens is because we see in that person in trouble ourselves, and our own  fear of losing our housing, livelihood, being sick, and dying, all is placed before us–we are afraid. We are not evil people, we are simply afraid.

Thomas Bell wrote: “Out of the middle of the night’s darkness, or bringing me to a sudden, chilling halt during the day the thought comes: This can’t be happening. Not to me. Me with a malignant tumor? Me with only a few months to live? Nonsense. And I stare up at the darkness, or out at the sunlit street, and try to encompass it, to feel it. But it stays unreal. Perhaps the difficulty is my half-conscious presumption that such things happen, should happen, ony to strangers, who really don’t mind. Whereas I am me. Not a stranger. Not other people.Me!”

Dorthy Day talked about the long loneliness, and that we find hope, comfort only in community. We all face the same issues, the same fate. An Italian proverb tells us: “Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back into the same box.”

People are always asking why I do what I do, and the only answer is given by Br. David All

“A mystery is something that cannot be explained, something beyond human comprehension. We can learn to grasp the meaning of Holy mysteries only by prayer and meditation. “

My commitment is that of today’s Gospel:

“There is a a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.” Matthew 10: 21-23

And than there is the remaining question for you: “What will you do?”

Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

http://www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

 

Fill My House

Filling My House!

Luke 14:23

“Compel them to come in so that My house may be filled.”

The California Senate recently passed a bill, SB360, that would require clergy to report allegations of child abuse to the police even if the information is received through the sacrament of reconciliation. The bill is the first of its kind in any state.

SB360 now goes to the State House of Representatives:

 

“Clergy are already mandatory reporters for child abuse in California, as are teachers, medical professionals, and law enforcement. However, current state law allows an exception for “penitential communications” to allow clergy to preserve the secrecy of the confessional.

The sacrament of reconciliation, otherwise known as confession, is a long-held practice of Christian Clergy, in particular Roman Catholic. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the sacramental seal has “no exceptions” and that a priest is “bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy of the sins that his penitents have confessed to him,” and has been an unbroken rule of all clergy. Washington Examiner

    We  have loved the Church all of our  life, even though as Dorthy Day was fond of saying, “She is both a whore and our holy Mother”, largely  because she proclaims the message of Jesus, of inclusive, love, and forgiveness. We entered the ministry as a student minister in the middle of adolescence, and have found nothing but joy, even in the worst of times, in this profession. Being a clergy for us  is not a game, or an avocation, but our vocation, and life. There is no game playing when it comes to this vocation.

    Ordination, and the title “Father’ brings with it much praise, and now much fear, and questioning, but both are a reminder that we represent Christ.

    Last week listening to a young man on death row, once could see in his eyes we were a  priest who represents  Jesus as he shared, “I know I can talk to you about anything and it will never be told,” and another young man  recently reaffirmed the same thought in a conversation.

    Clergy are mandatory reporters of child abuse,  but  the Sacrament of Reconciliation is sacred, nothing told in confession can or will be revealed.  In those moments the penitent comes face to face with Christ, and Jesus holds all things to himself, and the priest is the representative of Christ not of Caesar. Jesus let’s anyone touch him, he does not rebuke, and this law would steal that touch, would neuter clergy in being in a representative of Jesus.

   

“Compel them to come in so that My house may be filled.” Luke 14:23.

Contact  Your Representative David Chiu:

Capitol Office:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0017
Tel: (916) 319-2017
Fax: (916) 319-2117

District Office:
455 Golden Gate Avenue
Suite 14300
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: (415) 557-3013
Fax: (415) 557-3015

Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

http://www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

Nothing But the Cross!

Galatians 6:14-18 The Message (MSG)

^14-16 For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them!

¹⁷ Quite frankly, I don’t want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do—the serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.

Sociology calls table fellowship “commensality.” From the Latin “Mensa” (table), it means the rules and rituals of those who eat with whom. I am a good  host, but I flunk commensality.   I invite everyone to my table, murderers, people of all colors and shapes, people of all ages, and who are homeless, and thieves–no one is kept away.

You see the chief sinners at my table is me. I am the unsavory person Jesus wines and dines. And believe me many others tell me daily on Face book, by email, snap chat, Instagram, etc.  all of my sins, even sins I did not know I committed.   He went to a great deal of trouble to prepare a meal for me, and he rightfully expects me to become a feeder, to be blessed, broken, and given, not just for the select few that I choose, but for everybody whom God loves–which is everybody.

Jesus came to call sinners.  He died on the cross to “create a free life,” where we love one another, pure and simple. Each individual is called to care for each person we come into contact with–heaven begins here. It is not at some distant time, but is here and now. Brother Luke Detwig summarizes what it means for us to be generous, to begin the reign of God now:

“God is no ordinary gardener. God is reckless with generosity, sowing love everywhere, not limited by investing only for the best results. Radically open, loving even in the face of rejection and impossibility—this is God’s way.”

In the words of Paul:

^“17 Quite frankly, I don’t want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do—the serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.”

Jesus came to call sinners. I have been told that we “are just homo-sapiens”, and we are, but Jesus calls us to incarnate his mercy and  move beyond just being “homo-sapiens”  and in so doing we become the sons and daughters of God!

Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

http://www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

The City on the Hill

 

The City on the Hill

Independence Day

ANNUAL FORTY DAY FAST

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THE TRUTH OF GOSPEL NONVIOLENCE

 

FAST FOOD (AD 2019)

 ‘”The saving act of Jesus is an act of love of the type which He recommends in the Gospels.”                                                                   -Rev. John L. McKenzie

The Nonviolent Love of the Nonviolent Jesus Christ in the Gospels, is not merely the rejection and condemnation of those forms of violence—usually located in “the other”—that a person feels particularly upset over.

Christ does not just condemn illegal violence for those He has chosen;

He condemns all violence.

Christ does not exclusively condemn illegitimate violence for those He has chosen;

He condemns legitimate violence.

Christ does not simply condemn sordid violence for those He has chosen;

He condemns romantic violence.

Christ does not merely condemn personal violence for those He has chosen;

He condemns social violence.

Christ does not only condemn revolutionary violence for those He has chosen;

He condemns governmental violence.

Christ does not solely condemn external violence for those He has chosen;

He condemns internal violence.

Jesus Christ authorizes no one under any circumstances to substitute violence for love. Still less does He authorize anyone to rename violence love of the type He commands in the Gospels: “I give you a new commandment, love one another as I have loved you.”

Grow

Every day we are called to embrace new life, and to leave behind what has become too comfortable. If fear stops us, we risk becoming like the pot-bound plant. The roots have nowhere to go but round and round the pot, eventually strangling and choking the plant.

-Br. Geoffrey Tristram“Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him, –we move right into the neighborhood.” John 14:24

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I respect and honor our flag.  It stands for the hope of the  “City on the Hill,” where all are equal, where all will be fed, clothed, housed, given health care, and the freedom to live out their lives in peace.

Last night there was a call from an eighteen year old young man, crying because of the shelter he was assigned, there were mice, the bed was dirty, and he was afraid of the people; there is John who sleeps in front of Old First, his eyesight is deteriorating, he has heart failure, and his time is near. John sits all day, watching people walk by, some pitch him a dollar or two, but he has little health care and nowhere to live.

Peace is not an emotion, a feeling, that has no conflict, but one in which we struggle, argue and strive for the well being of ourselves and others, we are in it together.  If we want to move into  “the right neighborhood,” we need to work with others in peace, to struggle with out labeling, to struggle by opening our lives, and sharing of what we have.

The government, will not and can not solve the problems of homelessness and division, all it can do is represent what we tell them to, but if we open our lives to loving people, of sharing until it hurts of what we have, feeding people when we see them hungry, arguing for universal health care, and giving pour resources until all are housed, we in partnership with our government can move into the right neighborhood.

Our sin is universal to all humanity, we fail to take care of each other, and we destroy each other. Each person on the street, each bullet shot, each drone launched, each  biases of race, creed, religion, and social standing we hold tight to  are all signs of our sin of the neglect of all of  creation.

So on  this Fourth of July weekend , let us repent of our sin of neglect, and disunity among ourselves, and come together in appreciation of what our  flag represents, and work with all our might for that “City on the Hill.” Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

http://www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

Stand Firm!

STAND FIRM!

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THE TRUTH OF GOSPEL NONVIOLENCE

 FAST FOOD (AD 2019): Second Helping

No reader of the New Testament, simple or sophisticated, can retain any doubt of Jesus’ position toward violence directed to persons, individual or collective, organized or free enterprise, he rejected it totally… Jesus in no way accepts violence as a means of controlling violence.                                                                                                                                                                         Rev. John L. McKenzie, Preeminent Catholic Biblical Scholar Mid-Twentieth Century

Matthew 8:23-27 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Calms a Storm

²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

How does the world feel for you today? Is fire falling all around? Is rage consuming communities: Are thunderclouds rolling and torrents swamping our life boats?

We hear talk of concentration camps on our borders. And yet through the years I have entered our SRO’s, Single Residency Hotels here in San Francisco, a City of great wealth, the City of St. Francis,  and have seen human wastes, rats, people drinking out of toilets. Last week I took some food to a gentleman who was sick, and mice were running all around. We need to be alert to what is right around the corner. It is not just now, but has been and is.

I believe that like the first disciples we should “stand firm” and trust in Christ, and remember the words of Psalm 26: “But I walk in integrity; redeem me, and have mercy on me. My foot stands firm on level ground. .”

Henri Nouwen offers us a way of living in gratitude , and in so doing we can walk in our own integrity, in the wholeness of a life whose pieces are held together by faith, whose appearance on the outside matches it interior reality. Such a soul stays intact no matter how hot the fires burn, how hard the winds blow, and how unrelenting the waves are. Living a non-violent life does not mean living in peace, but living the way of Jesus of no-judgment, no violence, and trusting in God.

“Gratitude…goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. . . . The choice for gratitude rarely comes without some real effort. But each time I make it, the next choice is a little easier, a little freer, a little less self-conscious. . . . There is an Estonian proverb that says: “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” Acts of gratitude make one grateful because, step by step, they reveal that all is grace. “Father Henri Nouwen Father River Damien Sims,sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 http://www.temenos.org 4155-305-2124

Life Is Our Business!

Life Is Our Business!

UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS–PRIDE 2019

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THE TRUTH OF the GOSPEL NONVIOLENCE

. . .Jesus said: “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.” Matthew 8:22 The Message

“If Jesus can be trusted to have said anything at all, he renounced violence…If Jesus did not reject any type of violence for any purpose, then we know nothing of him.”                                  

—Rev. John L. McKenzie, Preeminent Catholic Biblical Scholar Mid-Twentieth Century

At the latest count is  the top one percent of the world’s population now owns 50.1 percent of the world’s wealth; In the United States preschoolers have faced Immigration court all alone; Walking to Pride on Polk Street, fifty five tents were counted in our alleys; People without housing were ushered out of the Pride area; Walking home from Pride, we counted a column of twenty police on the side by City Hall; Latest estimate is that one would have to make $61.00 an hour for a one bed room in San Francisco; and one fifth of our countries population is homeless.

Our business–not our politicians business–is life–providing housing, feeding people, clothing people, sharing of what we have so that all might have; Love is a cheap word until we give from the bottom of our hearts, and from an attitude of caring for ALL people regardless of politics, race, creed, or social standing. It begins with each of us–just as simple as speaking to someone on the street, giving them a sandwich–just a “cup of water.”

Non-violence is in respect for all of life, it is one seamless garment! Life is our business!

Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

http://www.temenos.org

4154-305-2124