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Digging Deep!"And he looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and then he saw a certain poor widow putting in two small coins. So Jesus said: "This poor widow has put in more than all.. for God, she put in the livelihood that she would have had." Luke 21:1-4
---------------------------------------------- I like to be told exactly how exactly what to do. Pay a 20 per cent tip, tithe 10 per cent? I want to know the exact amount to give to be an upright person. I am embarrassed when friends tip more than I can. In my first years here in San Francisco I would often worry if my ministry was going to be large enough to do some good; if I would impress a lot of people with my ministry; if I will have a lot of good friends; if we will receive enough money to survive a year, and have gradually come to see all I am asked to give, and required to ask others to give is "the widow's mite two small coins), to do the best that I can, and ask others to do the same. To be grateful for whatever we have and can give is enough! I remember driving through a wealthy neighborhood, receiving a phone call from a gentleman whose house was a cross the street, in fact, from where I parked, saying to me: "My church has decided this year to not give your ministry an offering, we want to direct the money to a project which will be more successful," and my spirits dropped. I felt like I had failed.* It was in my depression over his comment from which I learned the meaning of the words of Gandhi: "Whatever you try to do will probably be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." And William James: "Act if what you do is making a difference. It does" Both quotes are my mantras. I am grateful for the reality I touch lives one on one and am present to each person! Read More
I discovered that to give from one's poverty is less about an amount than a state. It is a willingness to act from a place of vulnerability when the final outcome is uncertain. It is the shifting from reliance on one's own limited resources to faith in God's limitless generosity. It is shifting to a dependence on God's gratefulness.
That might not be a way to calculate exactly what is demanded, but I have discovered some hints that I am going in the right direction--freedom and joy mixed in with my human resistance! And being grateful for what I have and can give! Thank goodness that God's patience is also limitless, just waiting for our willingness to let go and receive. Just waiting for our gratefulness! And I leave you in looking at "Giving **Tuesday" tomorrow, with a blessing: (from "A Blessing, Black Rock Prayer Book) "The world is too dangerous and too beautiful for anything but love. May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone, your ears so you hear the cry of the poor. May your hands be so blessed, that everything you touch is a sacrament. Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love. May your feet be so blessed you run to those who need you. And may your heart be opened, so set on fire, that your love, your love changes everything. Amen." 
Fr. C. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 Snap Chat: "riodamien2" pay pay can be found on www.temenos.org Donation link on www.temenos.org for "Giving Tuesday!" 415-305-2124 ---------------------------------------------------- "From the desire of being esteemed. .of being known. .of being praised. . .of being approved, O Jesus deliver me. From the fear of being humbled. .of being despised being rebuked. .of being forgotten. .O Jesus deliver me. That others may be esteemed more than I. .that others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus grant me the grace to deserve it." |
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Feast of Christ the King~The King Is Here!
Be Grateful In the Little Gifts We Give That Make Christ King! November 26, 2023 The Judgment of the Nations 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.” Read More
Today is the "Feast of Christ the King", a day of celebration of the sovereignty of God in Christ! But looking around we can laugh in a sad way even saying Christ is King!
Look at our streets, full of people without housing, sleeping in the cold, without health care, and truly suffering! Look over seas and we see wars in the Middle East, Africa, the Ukraine, where people are dying, and and suffering is immense. So where is Christ the King? Reading our text if we simply look down from lofty expectations, instead look in our midst, we can see his Kingship in small places. We choose today to look at our glimpse of where we see the reign of God, in the form of Temenos Catholic Worker! There is a story told of a young girl walking on the beach with her grandfather, and he would pick up star fish and throw them back in, and in her inquisitiveness she questioned: "Grand Dad, there are so many, are you not wasting your time, and he replied, "No honey, each one I throw back lives, one life saved," And so it is with Temenos we are simply trying to help those we can, for each one means much in the eyes of God. "....for I was hungry and you gave me food or thirsty. . ." Each day we feed individuals who are hungry, we give them some days fruit bars, other days sandwiches, and we take them out to a restaurant; we provide groceries to people who are or without, always vegetarian, for a healthy meal. . . . . .I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me.. . . We welcome all, no one is turned away, we clothe those without clothing, we visit the sick and provide for places to recover if need be. . I was in prison and you visited me.’ We visit those in prison, we visit several on death row. . Our witness in the words of Dorothy is "We try!" And the words of Elizabeth Gilbert is our mantra: "You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures." Join us in our journey of proclaiming Christ as King through your gifts, and your service! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
Giving Tuesday, 2023 "Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are!" ================ Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 Let Love Ache Father, give me the courage to keep on loving. When others keep on hurting. Help me to live an achy love, a gritty, persistent and emptying love; a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other who has little left to offer in return. And may I tread faithfully with heaven through the unfinished work that surrounds me. Today is Monday First Week in the Celtic Advent and we are asked to : "Smile at a person you see, whether you know them or not, and enjoy their smile. |
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A Grateful AttitudeMonthly I take a day off on the Pacific or the Sacrament/American River as a time of simple resting, and getting in touch with nature. I spend two days a month simply contemplating nature.
I think that Western civilization has pays a high price in separating us from the natural world. I come back feeling like I belong and saved, my life is realigned. St. Francis praises the creatures because of the Creator. He praises God through the world. It is easy to imagine him looking at the stars and wondering, If these are the creatures, what must their Creator be like?" Animals and nature, in the eyes of Francis are more than material items, but are spiritual beings who are part of the necessary harmony, and connectedness. In the eyes of Francis we are a part of a great chain of being and there is no doubt that the other-than-humans are endowed with a kind of comprehension. Francis had no problem talking to them. Francis sees an interdependence between the different layers of creation and he always gives them the utmost praise for what they give one another. Read More
In one of his sermons addressed to birds Francis says:
Birds, my sisters you owe God a great deal. You ought to praise God always for the freedom to fly everywhere. .for your ornate and colorful clothing. for the song given to you by your Creator.. You neither sow or reap, yet God feeds you. God gives you the rivers and springs for drink; the mountains and hills, the rocks and crags as refuges; the high trees for nests and even though you do not know how to sew or weave, he gives you and your children clothing you need. Therefore, your Creator who gave you these benefits, loves you very much. You be careful, my little birds, don't be ungrateful, but try to praise God always. ." The birds are to live in gratitude which reflects Francis's own soul. And as we find an attitude of gratefulness and thanksgiving may our eyes be opened to our brothers and sisters on the street as we see David and Jolie on Haight Street, Christmas Day. All of life is precious in the eyes of God, every living creature. St. Francis embraced all of creation as belonging to God and loved each creature with all of his heart. As I spent time on Haight Street Christmas Day giving food, socks, and water, and listening I heard the words of Francis as many talked of each gift as one coming from God! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! 
"Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023 "Giving Tuesday, 2023" "Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are!" ================ Fr.River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 Let Love Ache Father, give me the courage to keep on loving. When others keep on hurting. Help me to live an achy love, a gritty, persistent and emptying love; a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other who has little left to offer in return. And may I tread faithfully with heaven through the unfinished work that surrounds me. Today is Monday First Week in the Celtic Advent and we are asked to : "Smile at a person you see, whether you know them or not, and enjoy their smile. |
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The Cross Without Compromise!First Week of Celtic Advent!
Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Mc 6:18-31 Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes, a man of advanced age and noble appearance, was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork. But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement, he spat out the meat, and went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture, as people ought to do who have the courage to reject the food which it is unlawful to taste even for love of life. Those in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately, because of their long acquaintance with him, and urged him to bring meat of his own providing, such as he could legitimately eat, and to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice prescribed by the king; in this way he would escape the death penalty, and be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him. But Eleazar made up his mind in a noble manner, worthy of his years, the dignity of his advanced age, the merited distinction of his gray hair, and of the admirable life he had lived from childhood; and so he declared that above all he would be loyal to the holy laws given by God. Read More
He told them to send him at once to the abode of the dead, explaining: "At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense; many young people would think the ninety-year-old Eleazar had gone over to an alien religion. Should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age. Even if, for the time being, I avoid the punishment of men, I shall never, whether alive or dead, escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now, I will prove myself worthy of my old age, and I will leave to the young a noble example of how to die willingly and generously for the revered and holy laws."
Eleazar spoke thus, and went immediately to the instrument of torture. Those who shortly before had been kindly disposed, now became hostile toward him because what he had said seemed to them utter madness. When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned and said: "The Lord in his holy knowledge knows full well that, although I could have escaped death, I am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging, but also suffering it with joy in my soul because of my devotion to him." This is how he died, leaving in his death a model of courage and an unforgettable example of virtue not only for the young but for the whole nation. Responsorial Psalm PS 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 R. (6b) The Lord upholds me. O LORD, how many are my adversaries! Many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, "There is no salvation for him in God." R. The Lord upholds me. But you, O LORD, are my shield; my glory, you lift up my head! When I call out to the LORD, he answers me from his holy mountain. R. The Lord upholds me. When I lie down in sleep, I wake again, for the LORD sustains me. I fear not the myriads of people arrayed against me on every side. R. The Lord upholds me. Alleluia 1 Jn 4:10b R. Alleluia, alleluia. God loved us, and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 19:1-10 At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." The heroic tale of Eleazar's resistance under extreme pressure indeed is "a model of courage and an unforgettable example of virtue." While few of us face circumstances quite as stark, giving one's life to God is never easy.
Our deepest callings from God are put on the line when we choose between good, bad, and the thing that God really wants. Jesus summons us to the Greater Good when he tells us to "Love our neighbor as yourselves". . ."Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Yesterday was "Transgender Awareness Day," calling us to be aware of our Transgender brothers and sisters. I think of the pain, rejection, and fear they and all queers have experience and experience; I think of the pain, and fear, I have experienced through the years and now for being queer; for being a priest who calls out that we should drop all of our conceptions of race, creed, sexual orientation, and "love one another," which leads to the elimination of poverty by sharing. The only creed of Jesus was to "Love one another." I am sitting here under my newly decorated Christmas tree in the dark at 5:00 in the morning, remembering the love I have experienced at past holidays; and also the hate and evil I have seen towards me and towards the people on the street I walk with, and remember the green pine symbolizes life, ever lasting life, and that through time we all can grow to find ultimately that love is the answer. We all can grow and know that in our pain all we are called to do is to "love one another." We do not have to "like" one another, but we are called to care for each other. With courage, and humility, While we are desperately seeking to see God in the midst of trials God is also seeking us. God brings us through these dark valleys. Like Zacchaeus determined to overcome his height limitation by climbing a tree, we place ourselves where we are most likely to see Jesus and--lo!--all of a sudden, he looks up and sees us, and invites himself into our house. In the photo above, where my friends were all joined together at a Vegan gathering, I saw Jesus in their happiness. And where Jesus comes, redemption follows! "Nothing is better or more necessary than love. God is pleased with nothing but love. One act of pure love is more precious in the eyes of God and of the soul, and more profitable to the Church, than all the good works together, though it may seem as nothing.” - St. John of the Cross Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023 "Giving Tuesday, 2023" "Do What You Can, With What You Have" Where You Are!" ================ Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D. Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 Let Love Ache Father, give me the courage to keep on loving. when others keep on hurting. help me to live an achy love, a gritty, persistent and emptying love; a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other who has little left to offer in return. And may I tread faithfully with heaven through the unfinished work that surrounds me. Today is Monday First Week in the Celtic Advent and we are asked to : "Smile at a person you see, whether you know them or not, and enjoy their smile. |
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Do not judge, and you will not be judged(Matthew:7:1)
"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life which you love you have to find the courage to live it"(John Irving). I have been asked a number of times, "When are you going to retire? Why do you do this work?" I am following my call which God through Jesus, offered me some thirty years ago; a call to live a life of questions, of love. Much of the time I question the existence of God, and wonder if we are just animals who fight and tear each other a part; and as our quote says in my desire to run "I find the courage to live it!" and never once have I regretted my choice. I am so grateful to God in Christ who walks with me every day in the midst of all my questions. God is always faithful and gracious! Read More
One of the reasons it is knowing young men like Diego, above. One cold rainy night my door bell rang and there was this soggy, fifteen year old, H young man asking for food and clothes. A young Mexican young man, beaten down by the cold rain and no place to sleep. Over the next three years I hung with Diego as he shared he was an undocumented immigrant,who was here to "hustle" and make money for his parents. He was beaten up, raped, and yet he continued, because his family needed the money. The last time I saw Diego was as he was being made ready to be sent back to Mexico by the authorities. Diego and I had prayed together, cried together, and he was always grateful, even as he was being sent return home. In Diego I saw the face of the broken body of Christ, and the call is reaffirmed. And so this Thanksgiving join me in caring and loving the many, many, many "Diego's" on our streets through your prayers and giving to Temenos Catholic Worker! Honor Diego by paying attention to homeless people on our streets==don't walk by, instead give a big smile and in doing so you will find the broken body of Christ before you! ================================ "Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023 "Giving Tuesday, 2023" "Do What You Can, With What You Have" Where You Are!" ================================ Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 Let Love Ache Father, give me the courage to keep on loving. when others keep on hurting. help me to live an achy love, a gritty, persistent and emptying love; a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other who has little left to offer in return. And may I tread faithfully with heaven through the unfinished work that surrounds me. Commoners_Communion |
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#Queer Paths in the Two Halves of LifeThe shift to the second [half of life] is usually catalyzed by a life event or series of experiences that touch us at the core, unsettling us and forcing us to reorder and make meaning in a new way. These destabilizing events might bring deep pain or intense joy…. Negotiating this and reordering can shift us into the second half of life, a shift which is about our inner work, not our chronological age.
For queer people, this process [of “falling upward”] can be catalyzed by the discovery of our sexuality or gender identity and subsequent learning to navigate the world with that identity. This discovery, at whatever age, is often destabilizing, even traumatizing, as we learn to embody an identity that transgresses the boundaries of socially accepted norms. We discover that the dominant social rules do not work for us because we have a radically different experience of family or gender or love. Read More
As a kid, I didn’t fit in well at school, as early as the third grade. So, as you might expect, I was bullied mercilessly. I tried to be authentic, but … being authentic was always the wrong answer. Being “authentic” would have been being exiled or even worse death. My classmates wanted conformity, … yet, even at the age when peer pressure reigned supreme, I couldn’t do it. I was different in so many wild and wonderful ways. For one, I liked church….I loved church! I loved the Jesus who walked with the oppressed, who was hated, and crucified for being “different”!
I tried so hard to fit in with the others, but I was decidedly not cool. Hiding myself meant playing a small game, and it wasn’t a fun game. As a result, I wasn’t a party to be around. My lack of authenticity kept people at arm’s length. I played the “game” and lived in the closet as an ordained minister. It’s only when I began to embrace who I really was—the honest, fraught, vulnerable, and deeply human person—that I began truly experiencing life. It is only as I began being who I am, without thought to the opinion of the “traditional views”. As I practiced sharing my authentic self with others, I noticed people sharing more of themselves with me. If I shared my real self, others would share their real selves with me. And in this process, life around me became … well … more alive…. In his book New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton observed that a tree gives glory to God by being a tree. I often recite this phrase like a mantra in my head as a reminder that my only job is to be my most authentic self. I’ve discovered that the more I embrace the person God made me, the more I’m able to love God. And, really, that’s the only thing I can offer to God and to the world. This is my experience as a queer male, a gay male, and it was and is really f.cking difficult, and only those who go through the LGTBTQ experience can truly understand the pain, the rejection. When a “straight” person tells me “I understand”, when a straight person tells me “you need to grow up”, or I* understand who you are,” I laugh, makes me angry, for they have not had to walk down our road. I have been beaten up, almost murdered, rejected, and hated. Behind my back I am called names, and make people nervous around me, and always suspected. I have a friend in Central California and I joke that I will come down dressed as a "girl" and he can take me to dinner—it scares the hell out of him, never knows if I am joking.”It is not safe to be transgender in most areas of the country. I write this from my perspective as a queer male, but a transgender individual goes through far, far worse experiences—for to question one’s gender is not “natural”, or so they are told, oppressed, and murdered. So as we come to the end of Transgender Awareness Week let us not put aside our transgender brothers and sisters, but embrace them in the name of God and walk with each one on their journey! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! "Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (CEU) "Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023 "Giving Tuesday, 2023" "Do What You Can, With What You Have" Where You Are!" |
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"Giving Tuesday, 2023" November 28, 2023To Please God Alone!
Luke 14:12-24 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” As we journey through our daily life we see nothing but absurdity, and craziness and so it is important to see "God in the gaps". In our photo we see our friend Gary eating a meal, a meal of much enjoyment. His meal is inside a restaurant, where he sleeps outside of every night. He is happy! A simple meal we have given him on his birthday allows us to see "God in the gaps". 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Read More
"Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (CEU) "Giving Tuesday 2023" November 28, 2023 "Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are!" ================================= Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 Let Love Ache Father, give me the courage to keep on loving. when others keep on hurting. help me to live an achy love, a gritty, persistent and emptying love; a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other who has little left to offer in return. And may I tread faithfully with heaven through the unfinished work that surrounds me. Commoners_Communion |
