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America's Loneliest Era!(from the Washington Post)
Our Lady of Mary's Month! Pray the Rosary! Mental Health Month! Jesus the Way to the Father “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Read More
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe[e] because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me[f] for anything, I will do it. (John 14:1-14 NRSVEU) Mental Health Awareness Month What it is: May is mental health awareness month, making mental health and suicide prevention bigger topics than ever. #mentalhealthmatters has around 42 billion views on TikTok, and #mentalhealthawareness has racked up 20 billion. Why the conversation is changing: The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior survey showed that suicidal ideation, especially for teenage girls, is continuing on a concerning trajectory. In 2021, 30% of girls said that they had seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 24% said they had an actual plan to end their life. According to data published by Mental Health America, 16.4% of youth reported experiencing a major depressive episode within the last 12 months. This news comes at a time when adults are feeling so lonely that the US surgeon general has declared loneliness a public health emergency. Stigma around mental health topics appears to be eroding, but that isn’t necessarily leading to better mental health outcomes for teens and for the population at large. Conversation Starter: What do you think are the biggest contributors to mental health issues for your generation? (Check out our new video series on Mental Health for more help having this conversation!) ----------------------------------------------------------- What is good mental health? In his book, Ash Wednesday, J. R. Mabry has the Sheriff say: "If I have learned anything from my mother, Jake, it's there are no good people. There are only people in various stages of being fu. .cked up. Some less, some more." Good mental health is the ability both to value life and to engage in a life of affirming other people and creatures and value their lives as we do our own, seeing them as independent from us. Good mental health means the ability to behave differently depending upon the circumstances and not expect every thing go our way. Good mental health is our ability to see everyone, regardless of social status, sexual identification, and color, simply as a fellow human being. "In Christ there is no east or west. in him no pride of birth, the chosen family God has blessed now spans the whole wide earth. For God in Christ has made us one from every land, race, and sexual orientation, has reconciled us through the Son, and met us all with Grace." We live in America's loneliest era. Our country is so divided, we stay buried in our social media and do not talk to one another, and most importantly listen. Good mental health means to"shelter our souls." For me it means to dwell in Jesus. "Dwelling in Jesus", means to be open to all, to listen, letting them find good mental health, and a "dwelling in whatever their belief in the Higher Power." Recently a young man came to my place. He was well dressed, and he said don't you remember me, and I said, "Well, I am not sure," "You knew me as "Chaos", who at fifteen had been high on fentanyl and knocked me down, sending me on a two year journey of recovery. He said: "You simply forgave me, and continued to be my friend...and for the next year you simply listened when I came to your house, even in pain you listened." Through our listening I found a Higher Power in AA." I went home to my parents, and am now in college. I keep a photo of you in my wallet to remind me you care and you listen, never judging." Listening saves lives, simply listening with out judgment. The word "dwell" is related to an old English word for "heresy" or "madness". Perhaps it is a sort of insanity to believe that God dwells here, with us. Or that, somehow, resurrection is an end to our exile, and an invitation to come home to God. If so, the madness is the long-lingering hope of the human race, the dream to dwell. Not only a hope, however it is hard work, this effort to shelter our souls. To "dwell" means we struggle as a family with all people in finding safety in life, in finding "good mental health". None of us are "good", but we try as hard as we can and move from the stage of evil ultimately into the fullness of God, the fullness of accepting all as a reflection of Jesus of Nazareth--black, white, brown, blue, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning and all in between. The fullness of good mental health. In the midst of our fears and uncertainty and old Methodist hymn, one upon which I was raised and one that will be sung at my funeral rings out: "O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home." Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! -------------------------- |
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Practice Resurrection: Book Review of J.R. Mabry's Ash WednesdayActs 2:42-47
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Life among the Believers. Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. Read More
I have known John (JR Mabry) for many years now. When I first met him we attended a Holy Communion Service, and he took his dog for the Sacrament, shocking people, and lead me on my journey of being a vegan. He truly practices the resurrection!
Mabry's story is situated in Central California, where he describes a variety of people from conservative Christians to Satanists, and Witches not unlike our population. in San Francisco. I am going to focus on Peg, a Congregational minister, who once was a drug addict and prostitute. Peg's approach to ministry can be described in the way her daughter Julie expressed humanity:
"There are only people in various stages of being fucked up. Some less, some more! Peg summed up ministry in these words: Ministry is like riding a toboggan in a blinding snow storm. You have no idea what is coming, and there are no brakes on the thing" or "There are seven trains coming at you on a railroad track, blinding you." (Counselor for Fr. River's ministry).... Peg lived her ministry with a strong faith in Jesus, but leaving the door open for all religions.
Five years ago Stephen Patterson and in his writings gave his summary of how the early Christians "practiced the resurrection." Their creed: "For you are all children of God in the Spirit. There is no Jew or Greek. There is no slave or free. There is no male nor female, for you are all one in the Spirit."
This is a creed of human solidarity for the newly baptized Christians. Practice Resurrection. It is not a long to -do list. It is not the work we have to do. It is a call to live. It is a call to live as humanly as we possibly can with and for one another and for the life of God in the world. This is the story of John's book, read it! Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God! ======================================= Fr. River Damien Sims, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 [email protected] 415-305-2124 River's Creed: "I write because this is the way I protest".
Ministry on the streets is the way I resist, dong what I can to proclaim the Gospel of Love to every human being with out judgment." 
"Now I hand down to you what has been revealed to me: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures." |
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Fancy Boy!Success!
"You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures." Elizabeth Gilbert “You’re lost in the desert with nothing but a map and a compass. To the north, there’s a city just an hour away—salvation. To the east, you’ll find a train station that will eventually get you home. There’s an oasis to the west (but it’s in the middle of nowhere) and nothing but certain death to the south. So which direction are you walking? It seems simple enough: Walk north for an hour and you’re saved. Everything else is a waste of time and/or resources—or worse. The Life Compass is the tool that can point you in the right direction for you and your life. Find your north (The Desire Zone) and enjoy ample time to grow your good life and have a life outside outside of your job. Get caught up at the oasis (Distraction Zone) and you’re just wasting your time not making progress toward your goals. The train station (Disinterest Zone) might eventually get you where you need to be, but you’re going out of your way to get there. The Drudgery Zone is death for your productivity and life balance.” Read More
I get frustrated when I am asked, "How can the homeless situation be solved?
A recent study has shown that the present situation with the Mayor and Governor-- bringing the National Guard in to solve the fentanyl "crisis" and the sweeps by the police taking the possessions and moving the homeless to other places lower the life expectancy and increase mental health issues for those who live on the streets. "Success", is best explained in this quote by Michael Richard Green Lauts whom himself was once homeless: "I repeat this so often …. Love thy neighbor as thyself! I try and try to live this as I have taken so many people into my home and fed them and bathed them and housed them in hopes to help them…. Until we all realize we are one family, the children of God, we will continue this destructive spiral of hate…. Our love can change the world, but our love is too passive…. We are too cowardly to commit our heart and soul to our family and therefore we fail." Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Fr. Christian River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S,T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 [email protected] 415-305-2124 "I write because writing is the way I protest. Ministry on the streets is the way I resist. doing what I can to proclaim the Gospel of Love to every human being with out judgment--All Are Welcome!" River's 2023 Mission Statement! |
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Backside of the Cross: A Book Review!Fear is a powerful motivator in the Church.
But fear functions in unproductive ways. We, humans, have long feared the behavior that is within all of us around sexuality. The questions we need to ask: Is this a real fear or a manipulated one? Is the threat genuine or ginned up? Does my fear of this particular thing make me give up in despair or feel empowered to make a difference? Is my fear based in reality or not? Is fear real or faked? This book brings out the fear the Church has towards facing sexual abuse and sexuality in honesty. Read More
Think about how many churches offer support groups for people who have experienced sexual abuse. How many churches have a youth group that is open, really open to discussing sexuality? To discussing in all honesty LGBTQ issues? How many Churches are open to discuss these issues with adults? Frankly I have been in a lot of churches and few have youth groups, and certainly will not mention the word sex in the ones that do. Sexual abuse issues are certainly not discussed, and victims find themselves suffering on the backside of the cross.
The Backside of the Cross brings this vividly into the light of day, and points out that the Cross is redeeming to all people, and that redemption must be found through the Church truly working with victims of sexual abuse and have youth groups that work on the same issue and sexuality. This is an excellent book, sad in many ways, and goes into vivid detail, really an excellent book! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! The Backside of the Cross may be found on Kindle as well as hard copy! Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 415-305-2124 www.temenos.org |
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The Ground of Our Being!"God is not found in the soul by adding anything, but by a process of subtraction." — Meister Eckhart, sermon on Romans 8:18
In his writings and sermons, medieval mystic Meister Eckhart (1260–1327) counseled detachment from anything that would separate us from God, whom he understood as the very ground of our being. I am coming to the end of my three-week break, a time of weeping over four young men who died, and weeping over how the crackdown by the Mayor and Governor are effecting people on the street. My colleague Rev. Keenan Kelsey use to say to me, "You have a different message than me and others." What she was saying in other words is that I am called to "Bear witness! Read More
To bear witness to the words of Philip Berrigan, "The institutional church is a major bureaucracy and major bureaucracies are disobedient to the Gospel." Bearing witness of one who is "outside the gates", as the book of Hebrews tells us.
I bear witness in saying that "presence" and truly "listening" are the cornerstones of spirituality. Simply living in the present moment, being present, and "listening" to others deeply. We live so far in the future worrying about "everything" and we spend all of our time on social media we lose sight of the pain of the person next to us. Finally, bearing witness that we should be present to the people on the street, and stop counting on the government, National Guard and police of "solving the problem." Instead go out, see people as simply human beings and listen to them, simply listen. As Jesus tells us "Become like a little child," and listen deeply. I close with a poem of unknown origins that sums up a way of life, a way of being present, of finding the "ground of our being.": "Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening, and love everything as if were your last day."
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Practicing Resurrection!Luke 24:13-35
"The two were walking in the wrong direction but they were on the right path." "There have been crucifixions, too, in our town — innocents gunned down in their doorways or in school halls; or radiations black outlines, three crosses marked a sisters chest: no wonder we walk in quiet rage, musing. Or the tents in every doorway on the street, or the endless homeless hid in Marin? And who, on this road, will join us, seeming unaware of the worst news in the neighborhood, but spelling out the history of the prophets and a future: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Could our hearts still burn within us? Will we ask the stranger to stay? Break bread? And how will our well-hammered and nailed kitchens and bedrooms appear to us when we understand who he is just as he steals away?" — Sandra R. Duguid, “Road to Emmaus” Read More
The scene of Emmaus has the men walking in the wrong direction, but on the right path.
In the midst of homelessness growing throughout the nation, the repeated violence on the streets and in our schools let us invite the--the homeless person at our door in for a meal, the immigrant, the people of whom we are afraid; let us open our eyes in our neighborhoods and see ourselves as a part of the problem, in our greed, and endless need for money and big houses; how do we treat youth, as persons or objects to be moved; do we lift our faces from our social media and and talk to one another; let us ask ourselves the question of "Who are we?" "Only the truth of who you are will set you free." Eckhart Tolle For me the question of the heart, the uppermost question in my mind for years now, is how can I "break bread" and be an example of Jesus to every individual I meet of rich, medium income, the homeless, the person of color, the immigrant, and all in pain? By taking the binders off my eyes do I practice the resurrection. And the question for you the reader to ask yourself, and answer for yourself is: How Do I Practice the Resurrection? Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min.
www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 
As we approach the summer it appears we will need a new van, ours is breaking down, to carry food, socks etc, to the Haight! Our funds are short, and people are desperate in need of food etc. So please give from the bottom of your heart! Fr. River Damien Sims, D.Min., D.S.T. Temenos Catholic Worker Society of Franciscan Workers, Inc Po. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 |
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The Magic Kingdom of Weeping and Love!"Which commandment is first of all?. . ." you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29.
Through the years reading books on St. Francis, one is taken by his weeping daily. People would question him daily about weeping worrying about him. I cry a lot, and throughout Lent and Easter and now I weep more than ever, but have learned my weeping, like that of Francis is different from a method of fixing. I have let go of my mode of fixing, and am growing in the mode of letting go, of seeking to understand, and simply forgiving and see every person as a broken body of Jesus. I understand why Francis wept so much. When we go to the place of tears it is an inner attitude where when I can't fix it, when I can't explain it, when I can't control it, when I can't even understand it. I learn I can only forgive it. Let go of it, weep over it. It is a different mode of being. To forgive the man who murders one's son, all the criticism and hate thrown our way, the young men who have beaten you up, that is freeing, and worth weeping for! Weeping frees us! Read More
This is the year of the Water Rabbit in the Chinese Lunar New Year, a year of hope, a time to slow down and strive for balance. A symbol of peace. And it is my time to strive for balance, to slow down, and be peaceful. Lent, with four deaths, so much pain on the street, and an ordination literally wore me out. I have been at home accept for two days the last two weeks, and on the ocean in Pacifica resting, praying constantly, and simply just being and weeping. One night, watching the Pacific Ocean through my motel window I fell a sleep and found myself surrounded by so many people I have known through the years, those who hate me, those who do not give a damn, and those who love me. Suddenly there was love all around me, with every one smiling. I knew in those moments like the Water Rabbit I move deliberately and slowly in my ministry, and all is well. St. Therese of Lisieux tells us to do the"little things," and Winston Churchhill, "We make a living by not what we get, but we make a living by what we give." And most importantly from weeping, one learns to love and respect everyone , to attend to their needs, to be ready to respond and to understand. The most difficult part of spiritual practice is to open our hearts and suffer with all people including our enemies. And our greatest teacher is Jesus:
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He Is Risen!John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Read More
Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
In the early church little else was preached except the news of Jesus’ resurrection. For the first Christians, who were the poor and disenfranchised, it was the one central theme heard over and over again. The resurrection wasn’t just a part of the faith, it was the central content of the faith. It is important to realize the early followers of Jesus didn’t believe in the resurrection because they believed in Jesus. Rather, as Martin Marty said, "they believed in Jesus because they believed in the resurrection." And yet, 2000 years later I think there are many modern Christians who almost feel embarrassed to talk about the resurrection.
It is too supernatural, too out of the ordinary, too far out. But the message – Jesus Defeated Death, Jesus rose from the grave, Jesus lives, and we too will live with him – is central to our faith. There is no Christianity without it. There is only the interesting story of an interesting man who lived once upon a time long ago. Quite honestly, every bit of hope I have is wrapped up in this day. Today is the reason I can stomach reading the newspaper or watching the news on television. Today is the reason I can still have hope when precious, innocent children are shot and killed at school, when tens of thousands die in earthquakes, when thousands suffer because of war. The resurrection is the reason I can walk the streets each day and see the pain of the homeless. This is what holds many homeless together, who will never have housing. The lady above fines joy in her life, even though she lives on the street.She shares that joy in that dress and decorating her dog. She goes and sleep in Golden Gate Park at night. The good news of Easter day declares that suffering and death, disease and injustice, are not the way things are supposed to be, nor are they the way things will be forever. As Jurgen Moltman once said: “Our Easter faith recognizes that the raising Jesus from the dead provides the great alternative to this world of death.” 87 Our faith understands the risen Christ as God’s protest against death, and against all the people who work for death. For those of us who claim the message of the empty tomb as our own, who find good news in the promise of Easter, our job is to live in such a way that the miracle of this day can be seen in our lives. Remember, when you forgive your enemy, when you feed the hungry, when you defend the weak – you proclaim the resurrection. When you work to repair broken relationships, when you sacrifice for the sake of others, when you take time to support a friend – you proclaim the resurrection. When you stand up for the truth, when you refuse to compromise your integrity, when you love the unlovable – you proclaim the resurrection. This is our job as Christians – to declare with our lips and live with our lives the hope of Easter in a world, where for many, hope can be difficult to find. He is risen! Thank you for your gifts. River+ Fr. River Sims, sfw, D.Min. |
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Holy SaturdayOn Holy Saturday, we find our selves in a liminal space between the already and not yet. That is the Jonah story, my story and your story in one way or another.
Jesus used the Jonah story to tell of his on fate and as the pattern of death and resurrection, that each of us must walk as Jesus did. It is that story that describes my life. Yesterday in the middle of the "Stations of the Cross", seen above, I received a phone call from a friend, and he was asking me how who I saw the crucified Christ in. The truth is I see the broken face of Jesus in every person I encounter, rich, poor, caring,uncaring, criminal or non criminal. I do not like every one, but I show them the love I have for each person. Read More
I entered into the "belly of the whale" when I was kicked out of the Church, family turned on me, and totally alone becoming a whore on the streets of L.A. I wanted to run away from God for years, and through a slow process came back, and am still in that process. We are all broken people on the journey.
There is no judgment, and I see only the broken body of Jesus, try to love it in each person with all my heart, mind, and strength. In the coming out I encountered Jesus, in whom I placed my complete trust, and through whom the two chief Scriptures that I believe in and seek to practice are: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind, heart, and soul and your neighbor as yourself." and Matthew 25-31-46. So on this day of days and on Easter Sunday come to faith in God, not through an institution but through your heart. I am presently wearing a sweat shirt saying, "Jesus I Trust in You." He is all I have to truly trust in! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min.
www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 
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The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross "Our Haunting!"April 7, 2023
Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET In alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos. https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. Read More
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 7170151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ 
Christian discipleship is a way of life--doing and undoing, a going and an undergoing.
No ritual practice can match the majestic symbolic sweep of the Triduum undergone in three short days, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Since March of 2020, with the virus, injury, and much pain, I have found that there is no logic in understanding that the Siren-Spirit was calling me into the heart of the Pascal mystery with its odd thinking that the way of new life goes through and around our disabilities and fears. The First Act Holy Thursday: we are going to serve sandwiches as our Holy Communion to avoid the anger of so many have against the Church, with a blessing and pair of socks. In doing so, reminding them that the Lord's Supper is about love, not division and condemnation. The Second Act Good Friday: We will lift up the cross in the Tenderloin, reminding ourselves of the Haunting that we turn away from in the persecution of homeless individuals. We call people to become one with them as Christ is one with us and all people. The Third Act: In the great Vigil of the Spirit, we walk the Tenderloin and Haight Street in early morning, giving candy, a blessing, and close with a service of celebration, the Holy Eucharist, and breakfast in the Haight! And so we stumble into the dawn of Easter morning--under the weight of fear, homelessness, aging, and illness to bask in the promise of the resurrection that is indeed our inheritance. He is risen! And so shall we be! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! 
Fr. River Sims, D.Min., D.S.T. Temenos Catholic Worker P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, California 94164-2656 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 "You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures." (Elizabeth Gilbert) "Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity." (Pema Chödrön) "The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently." (Pema Chödrön) |
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“Could You Not Watch with Me One Hour?”Dear Friends,
“Could You Not Watch with Me One Hour?” These words of Jesus were affixed artistically to a poster board. Below them was a sign-up for the annual Holy Thursday all-night prayer vigil at my parish. Something stirred in my 16-year-old heart, and I wrote down my name to fill the early morning hour at 3 AM. I’m not exactly sure how my father felt when I told him I needed a ride to church in the middle of the night that Holy Thursday, but he got up, and he drove me. We were silent in the car, but it was an attentive, prayerful silence. When we arrived, I walked quietly to the front of the Church and, kneeling down, prayed my hour before the altar of repose as my dad sat in the back. I am sure he was praying, too. Read More
You never know what a simple invitation may stir in someone’s heart—even if it is by way of a poster board!
We are at the threshold of the holiest days of the liturgical year. Jesus is speaking the very same invitation to us that he spoke to his apostles over 2,000 years ago: “Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test” (Matthew 26:41). Let us watch and pray with Jesus—not only to be safe from the powers of sin and death, but most of all to adore Jesus, to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength! Let us together keep watch with him: in the garden, in the prison, along the streets of Jerusalem, on Calvary Hill, and in the silence of the tomb and in that silence let us be haunted by the homeless on the street, ignored, forgotten about going hungry as we sit down to our tables of ham and trimmings 415-305-2124
The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross "Our Haunting!" April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 7170151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
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Here in Dust and Dirt
In 2006, John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg published The Last Week. The book begins with an unforgettable image:
“Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30. . . One was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession. From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mouth of Olives, cheered by his followers. . . On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial calvary and soldiers. Jesus’s procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilate’s proclaimed the power of empire.” Read More
I’ve no idea how many thousands of sermons have been preached on this passage in the years since. In the last fifteen years, I’ve never not heard a Palm Sunday sermon allude to it, borrow the image, or quote it directly. The “two processions” have become nearly a commonplace in liturgical and liberal churches.
This year, I’ve wondered about the crowds watching the processions. Matthew depicts the throng cheering, waving branches, and singing hosanna. The author interlaced the Jesus procession with a prophecy from Zechariah. In the Hebrew scriptures, Zechariah envisioned a humble king who arrives in Jerusalem on a donkey and a colt. That king will end all war. No more chariots, warhorses, or battle-bows. This king commands peace. Of course, Pontius Pilate wasn’t a king of peace. He commanded an army on behalf of Caesar. But he and that legion were there to keep the peace during the holy days of Passover — making sure the Jews caused no trouble for their Roman rulers. As his procession made its way to the city gate, most likely no one cheered him. The crowds hated and feared him. Perhaps a few paid supporters were sent out to shout Ave Pilate — Hail Pilate — as he entered — to soothe his imperial ego. Maybe a few powerful people in Jerusalem actually approved of him, or wanted something from him, and shouted their praise. Chances are, however, the road to the west gate was relatively deserted as the Romans approached. The only sounds were the dreaded clomp, clomp of armored horses and chariot wheels traversing the cobblestones. Pilate, in regal splendor, probably wanted to be home in his seaside villa instead of here, with the unruly Jews. Meanwhile, at the eastern gate, Jesus’ noisy supporters were crying out Hosanna! Save us! Please save us now! They weren’t asking for some sort of spiritual salvation, for a place in heaven, or for eternal life. They wanted to be saved from Pilate, from the legion entering the other gate, from Caesar, and that faux peace of Roman swords. They knew there was no Pax Romana, it was nothing but misery and death. Hosanna Jesus! Free us, we pray you! Deliver us! Save us from Pilate and Caesar and the misery of Rome! Hosanna, hey sanna, sanna sanna ho! Now, Jesus, now! There isn’t an ave or an alleluia to be heard. These branch-waving protesters were begging to be rescued from oppression and injustice, shouting for liberation from the forces of violence and death. Palm Sunday has always confused me. When depicted as a jubilant crowd, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But, if the crowd is understood as desperate subjects of a bloody empire, Palm Sunday comes into better focus. Why do they later turn on Jesus? Well, once the Roman soldiers enter the fray, and once their hoped-for savior is arrested, the reality of their situation sets in. No amount of hosannas can free Jesus from his Roman fate. But they could still save their own hides and hope for better when the next promising savior arrived. They didn’t really betray him. They did what fearful subjects of a brutal regime usually do — they capitulated to their overlords who had thousands of chariots, warhorses, and battle-bows at their command. The Romans essentially forced them into the imperial procession. By Friday, they weren’t begging Jesus for salvation; they were praying they could avoid being crucified with him. We are frail people after all. But Jesus will save them from violence and death — although not as anyone hoped or expected — by drinking Rome’s bloody cup. The journey to the anti-imperial kingdom will be marked by a cross. Palm Sunday is the first step along a way that will end with a stunning event in a cemetery garden. And yet, even after the tomb: hosanna still sounds. In a week, we may shout our Easter Alleluias, but the truth is that our days cry out hosanna. Children and teachers die in pools of blood at school, homeless people lay in the dirt on the street, lies pervade and divide a desperate people, the rich steal everyone’s share, courts unwind decades of justice, and even a poisoned earth and sky rage against us. Pax Americana? We may have believed that once, subject to its deceptive promises. But the mask comes off and a faux peace makes itself known. A peace enforced by fear and violence, a peace of privilege and guns. Hosanna, Jesus, hosanna! Save us, NOW! Honestly, I’m stricken by the bodies and blood, the price of empire. I’ve got no alleluias left. But I can wave my palm in protest, and I can still shout: Hosanna, hey hosanna, hosanna hosanna ho / Sanna, hey, sanna hosanna! And that chorus is needed now more than ever. The road to the eastern gate beckons, opening to the commonwealth of God. Sing with me. Two processions entered Jerusalem on that day. The same question, the same alternative, faces those who would be faithful to Jesus today. "Which procession are we in? Which procession do we want to be in? This is the question of Palm Sunday and of the week that is about to unfold." — John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, The Last Week. We all are in the dust and dirt! Shed Your Fears! Hosanna in the Highest! See your brothers or sisters before you in the dirt, remember the day is coming for each of us to be dirt! Let us talk to God, or anything with which we find union! Let us let go, feel the pain and exhaustion and take a chance on being loved, and in so doing remember the words of Dorothy Day: "In each person I find the Christ." Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross"Our Haunting!"
April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
“…And now, after the crucifixion, just when they feel that the dream is dead, that their faith is only fantasy, they are told to go back to the place where it all began: “Go back to Galilee. He will meet you there!” Fr. Ronald Rolheiser
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Easter SundayApril 9, 2023
My dearest friends, "Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! This past year has not been easy dealing with the brokenness we find in the world and in our own neighborhoods. In the struggle with my own pain—both physical and emotional—with my loneliness and fear—my own demons—I have found myself recalling the words of Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, and I return to Galilee: "Whenever we are discouraged in our faith, whenever our hopes seem to be crucified, we need to go back to Galilee, back to the dream that we had embarked upon before things went wrong."
I return to the Galilee of the Tenderloin and Haight Street, and I simply do what I was called to do some twenty-eight and six months ago now—to be a friend in the lives of the homeless young adults and older adults.
For in each person, you see the broken body of Christ! Each pair of socks, every sandwich made, and in the minutes and hours spent with each of these persons, the pastoral care we give shows our respect and appreciation for each one! I invite you, personally, to see in each of the faces on the next page the face of Jesus and to join me on this journey into Galilee and provide the finances needed for our work! In Jesus, Street Person, and Rebel, Fr. River Sims Read More
"Whipper”
"Brandon"
"Damien"
"Birdman"
Dear fellow companions along the way,
I am the Rev. Michael Mallory. On April 5, 2023, the second Sunday of Lent, I was ordained a priest of The Society of Franciscan Workers by Fr. River Sims. It was an outdoor ordination hosted by the San Francisco Night Ministry Open Cathedral at the UN Plaza. I was so blessed to have so many people attend and give me encouragement to continue on with that insistent calling from God—to simply be friends and find family in the people that the world has declared unworthy—the hungry, the stranger, the penniless, and the imprisoned.
The Rev. Lyle Beckman, preaching at the ordination, said that being a priest is like being a gardener. The daily task of tending, nurturing, and patiently waiting for the garden to grow As a person of God, I have experienced firsthand how God has tended, nurtured, and patiently waited for me, as God does for all of Creation. I believe the realm of God to be the same as that beloved community that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed and that no one will reach it until we all do. When will that day come? No one knows the day or the hour. But I believe that every time we see in strangers’ eyes an image of ourselves and recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters, that day draws closer. May God bless you this Easter season! Be bold and have no fear, for we belong to him who created us all. When the journey seems long and unforgiving, remember that we are together in Christ, and only together will we reach that distant shore. With all my heart, 
Fr. Michael Mallory
"River On the Street"
Temenos Catholic P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 We are beggars! Please Give! PayPal or www.temenos.org |
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Gift from the Rev. Eric, Jessica, and Robby Metoyer
Thank you to all who have called, given gifts to Temenos, and provided me with a wonderful birthday!
-------------------------------------------------------------- John 11:25ff “Unbind him and let him go". We see in John's account of the raising of Lazarus the power of Christ to bring life out of death. It was Jesus who gave Lazarus his life back, who created for his friend the possibility of a new beginning. But it was not Jesus who unwrapped the shrouds of death from Lazarus, it was instead Lazarus' friends, the members of his community, who unbound him and let him go. Let me share with you a story. One day, a man wanders into a Cathedral in LA. It is the middle of the morning during the week, but the weekly celebration of the Eucharist is taking place inside. Not quite knowing why, he sits down and begins to listen to the liturgy unfolding around him. His life is in shambles. He was kicked out of church for being gay, became a prostituted.. Since that time, each day has been a struggle. He stays through the entire service, not because he wants to, but because this seems like a safe quiet place. After the service, as he is leaving, a woman of the parish approaches him and invites him to the weekly Bible study that follows the service. Having a few free minutes, and glad to be able to spend some time with people older, he agrees. During the Bible study, he meets other members of the parish who show an interest in him and who seem pleased that he has joined them. Read More
This celebration of the Eucharist was for this man a kind of new beginning. He returned to the church and after some time, he learned to like and eventually love this parish and the people in it. They helped Him to cope, they gave him their love, and they shared with him their lives. Just as Jesus saved Lazarus and gave him new life, I believe Jesus saved this man and gave him a new life. It was Christ's redeeming grace that directed him to the church that morning. Grace brought him to the church, but it was up to the members of the church, to unwrap the shroud and the bandages from him so that he could live. It was the men of the parish who first approached him, and the members of the Bible study, who first began to unbind him. Christ made his new life possible, but it was the people in the church.
to take off his cord and unbind him. The good news is that through Christ there is indeed always the reality of new beginnings, of new life. Christ's own journey to the cross has made that possible. But as members of Christ's body, we must take that new gift, given to each of us, and unwrap its glory. Ask yourself this morning, how do I need to be unwrapped? Moreover, what can I do to help another to realize their new beginning, their new life. In Christ, everything is possible, in Him life abounds. But it is only through our love for each other that this gift of new life can be fully unwrapped and fully realized. Amen. "Today I choose. Today I bear witness to grace. Today I practice kindness. Today I choose love over fear. Today I am not afraid to be generous. Today I belong to the whole world, not merely a portion of it. No matter what others around me choose, today I choose to live in peace." Steven Garnaas--Holmes Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T, P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross "Our Haunting!" April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ Fr. River Sims, D.Min., D.S.T. Temenos Catholic Worker P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, California 94164-2656 415-305-2124 "You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures." Elizabeth Gilbert Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. (Pema Chödrön) The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.” (Pema Chödrön) Self-esteem is the commitment to treat yourself in a kindly, loving manner when you're alone. This is an active process that requires effort and energy. -- David Burns, Intimate connections, 1985. |
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A Kid On the Street!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?’ Read More
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.”
I finished Dr. Planter's book with much sadness, for in many ways, it is a memory of what was, and a memory of my life.
Li Po, 8th-century poet, once said: "The birds have vanished into the sky, and now the last closed cloud drains away. We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains." I live on Polk the mountain, in the midst of a world where I feel very uncomfortable--upper-class, white people, for the most part, who knows nothing about what has been, and want the homeless moved out. I am not well-liked by many of these people, in fact I am a threat by my presence. I am a threat by my going up and down the street feeding, and caring for the older homeless, taking them into restaurants to eat, and being their friend. I am threatened, hated, or simply ignored. The mountain and I remain. And so, not much has changed in my life through the years. I grew up in a small town, where I was taught to have any other sexual feelings accept for a girl was wrong, and where one friend of mine was murdered because he at 14, was caught having sex with a guy. I had a son at 15, to have him adopted out, and the secret kept. I entered the ministry, and for 17 years suffered in the closet, and then kicked out, and found myself on the street, a prostitute. When I came back it was as an Old Catholic/Anglican priest, for outside of the Metropolitan Community Church, all other denominations were basically homophobic. My calling was to work with youth, and as a result I found myself being 'promoted' to a Bishop in the Old Catholic tradition because like all churches my church of ordination was afraid to work with kids, which is why the established church is dying. I have friends ordained in the Old Catholic tradition who remain in their other denomination, never fully coming out for who they are, and wanting to be a part of the mainstream, even when I could have come back, I refused, for I am as the book of Hebrews tells us "outside the gates", the kids on the street are. Therapy never really works with them, for like me, they too are a square peg that will not fit into a round hole. That is the main reason I do not apply for grants, they are from the establishment that desires based on the idea of the established upper class, and I can not lie, and take money it is impossible for me to use in line with their goals. Yesterday, on Haight Street, I visited with two 19 year old, Craig, and John, from South Carolina. Young, "travelers", no interest in services, simply traveling around the country, living a 'hippie' lifestyle. One called me later, and we met again in the Haight, and shared with me of sexual abuse by his stepfather, discrimination for liking both boys and girls. He loves traveling. The boy gave me a huge hugged and took off. Polk Street has older men who sleep in the doorways at night, they are "the ones who are dangerous to customers" these guys are struggling to stay a live, not harm to anyone. Today is the Feast of St. Oscar Romero he exemplified what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in the modern world of poverty and violence, and challenges both the church and the world to stand for justice for the poor, those on the street, those without housing, He calls us to pay up personally: One who is committed to the poor must risk the same fate as the poor. And in El Salvador (and San Francisco!) we know what the fate of the poor signifies: to disappear, to be tortured, to be captive, and to be found dead.
Plaster gave me the highest compliment, one that I strive for every day, with every inch of my soul and body:
"River is the surrogate Holy Father to the "lost boys" and "Lost Girls." Following is this years Stations of the Cross, entitled "Hauntedness" and I invite to join me the rosary every day praying that your "Hauntedness" may lead you to enter into the lives of the "Forgotten Ones!": Tenderloin Stations of the Cross
“Our Journey With Our Brothers and Sisters Who Live on the Street" “Our Hauntedness!” “The street transforms every ordinary day into a series of quick questions and every incorrect answer risks a break down, shooting or pregnancy." Ta Nehie Contes April 7, 2023 Noon Meet In Front of City Hall Sponsored By: Temenos Catholic Worker and Society of Society of Franciscan Workers (1)
The Stations of the Cross Introduction People, who live on the streets, the homeless, have haunted me all of my life. From the time I was six years old, driving late night through Sequoia National Park, seeing an old homeless woman walking up the road, and when I was seven walking across the street with a homeless person begging for money. Haunting is the relentless remembering and continue reminding that will not be appeased the propaganda of assistance and care or the promises of our city, state, and national Governments that all will be well. In over twenty years in San Francisco we have seen the problem grow immensely, with tons of money being spent. Haunting is both acute and generally are haunted, but that haunting comes from the haunting of society. The (2) United States is permanently haunted by the homeless, its massive population of poor and the violence intertwined in its past, present and future days. Haunting’s aim is to wrong the wrongs, a confirmation that the rich and middle class hope to evade. On Good Friday the cross call’s us to look at its “backside”, the side that points us seeing the homeless from their perspective, not one judgment, but one of love, and to work to end homelessness. The First Station The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” 35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the (3) ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He said, “Abba,[a] Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me, yet not what I want but what you want.” Jesus felt sorrow and dread over what lay ahead of him of him. He prayed for the burden to be lifted and the cross to be removed. He accepted his future, “:Not my will but your will.” We are haunted by the pain of the homeless, and as we see them around us we feel dread and fear. In our haunting we are pushed to walk with them and help them. “Not my will but thine be done.” (Mark 14:43-46). All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. And follow me.” The Second Station The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 43 Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived, and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. 47 But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a rebel? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 All of them deserted him and fled.1 A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.” (Mark 14:42-46) Rejection always hurts. It tears at our self-esteem, makes us feel like we are nothing, and leaves us doubting who we are. Homeless people are rejected all the time. When people walk by and do not even see the person on the side walk they feel like they nothing. May we be haunted by the feeling of rejection, as we look at our neighbor before us. All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. And follow me.” (4) The Third Station The Sanhedrin Condemns Jesus Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 53 They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. 54 Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest, and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. 57 Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ” 59 But even on this point their testimony did not agree. 60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” 61 But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah,[k](5) the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’ ” 63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? 64 You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death. 65 Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him and beat him.(Mark 14:55-63), Envy and jealously can be like a cancerous disease, They haunt us, spreading through our bodies leading to destruction. Gossip and false accusations, leads us to push aside the homeless, in much the same way the Sanhedrin pushed aside Jesus. We are haunted by only listening to gossip, accusations, and the fear of others in pushing homeless individuals aside. All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. and follow me.” (6) The Fourth Station Peter Denies Jesus Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 66” While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the female servants of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt.[a] Then the cock crowed.[b] 69 And the female servant, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and you talk like one.”[c] 71 But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man (7) you are talking about.” 72 At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. Mark 14:66-72.” We are all like Peter. We deny our friends and lie when placed in a fearful situation. We are always for ourselves. We are haunted by these denials. We are haunted by the denials of caring for homeless people on the street. Like Peter if we return in faithfulness to Jesus, he will use our haunting on raising people on the streets into a new life. All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. and follow me.” The Fifth Station Pilate Condemns Jesus to the Cross Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. (8) 15 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” 3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. “6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do[a] with the man you call[b] the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the (9) crowd, released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus he handed him over to be crucified” Mark 15: 1, 6-15. Dietrich Bonhoeffer critiques unconditional forgiveness in his book, The Cost of Discipleship as “cheap grace” and tells us, “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism with out church discipline, communion without confession, and forgiveness without absolution. Forgiving someone without requiring repentance in action, allows them to continue their abusive behavior and allows continued suffering.” As we see Jesus condemned, and our condemning by cheap grace let a remember the words of St. Oscar Romero: “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Leader: Lord, may we looking at the cross hear the voice of Jesus calling us to turn our eyes to the sidewalks, the alleys, and street corners, and see your children, and our brothers and sisters. Amen. (10) All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Sixth Station Jesus is Scouraged and Crowned with Thorns Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “Then they took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, ‘Hail King of the Jews!’ And they struck him repeatedly.” John 19:1-3 Pilate had Jesus scourged, a truly brutal punishment. He was probably stripped to the waste and bent over a short pillar. The pain was excruciating. James, 55, was in a doorway, with his belongings and a policeman told him to move, James said ‘It is raining’ and the policeman struck him with his baton. (11) All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” Seventh Station Jesus Is Mocked by the Soldiers and Given His Cross Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “The soldiers lead him away inside the palace, that is the praetorian, and assembled the whole cohort. . They begin salute him. . .and beat him. . . And when they had mocked him they stripped him of his purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes and led him out to crucify him.” Mark 15:16,18a19-20.” The City has proposed to build some housing for homeless people, small houses in several of our neighborhoods, the residents are screaming, “No homeless housing in our neighborhood.” (12) The homeless remain silent, so different from us who are housed and have money. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” Eighth Station Simon the Cyrenian Helps Jesus Carry the Cross Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.” Mark 15:21 Those in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus compelled Simon, a man from the country. They had to compel (13) Simon, he knew little of Jesus, but what about us? We know all about Jesus, and his ministry of serving the poor, and yet we have to be compelled to house, feed, clothe, and provide health care to our homeless neighbors, and little at that. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Nineth Station Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said: ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children.’” Luke 23:27-28. (14) Compassion means literally, to suffer with someone. Empathy means to feel with them. These women displayed both qualities as they accompanied Jesus. We are called to show both of these qualities in our accompanying our homeless neighbors on their journey. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Tenth Station Jesus Is Crucified Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by lots for them to see what each should take.” Mark 15:22-24 (15) First they drove nails through his hands and feet. Then they raised him on the cross, where he hung painfully for three hours. Pope John XXIII had a crucifix on his bedroom wall. He prayed in front of it before retiring, upon arising, and whenever worries awakened him during the night. “A cross,” he said, “is the primary symbol of God’s love for us.” I wear a silver cross with an Amherst in the middle. The Amherst was given to me by a young man, sitting on Haight Street. James place the Amherst in my hand after turning down a man’s offer of $100.00, saying, “River this is for your love for us street kids,” and I placed it on a silver cross to remind me that serving homeless kids is more valuable than money, power, prestige and security. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Eleventh Station Jesus Promises Paradise to the Penitent Criminal Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you.(16) All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and two criminals there, on his right, and the other on his left. . Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus. .The other, however rebuking him, said, ‘Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation?. .And we are condemned justly.’ Then he said: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom,’ and Jesus replied, ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise.’ One criminal said, ’no’ to Christ, the other ‘yes”. To the one who said ‘yes’ he promised immediate entrance into “Paradise”. We are asked today to say ‘yes’ to caring for our homeless neighbors, and Christ’s promise is we enter into the reign of God here on earth. For the Kingdom of God is here now, and in service we have a taste of Paradise.(17) All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Twelfth Station Jesus Speaks to His Mother and to His Disciples Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother’s and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, ’Behold your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple too her into his home.” John 19:25-27. With these words Jesus gives Mary to us, making her our mother, who reminds us to unite our sufferings with her son on the cross and her at the bottom of the cross. In so (18) doing we share in Christ’s work of serving others. Jesus calls us to serve the those who are most ignored in our society, and we see the homeless on our streets. Let us bring Christ’s love and grace to our homeless brothers and sisters. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Thirteenth Station Jesus Dies on the Cross Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.’ .. .Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. (19) Jesus, as faithful Jew, would have prayed the Psalms regularly. It is no surprise that these words from Psalm 22 are in his mouth in those painful last moments. Shortly afterward he surrenders his total self to God with these words: “”Father into your hands I commend my spirit.” May these words at our last be on our lips when we breathe our last. And may they come after a life of service to him in the broken body of Christ as seen in those who sleep on the street. For each day we see the broken Christ in each homeless person we meet. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Fourteenth Station Jesus Dies on the Cross Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation.(20) “When it was already evening, since it was the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a distinguished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the Kingdom of God. . .courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was amazed that he was already dead. .he gave the body to Joseph. Having bought a linen cloth he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.” Mark 15:42-46. Starting on Good Friday we enter into a period of silent grief, a time of mourning that looks with hope to the joy of the resurrection that begins at mid-night on Sunday. We grieve in much the same way when someone we love dies. There are tears and sorrow, of course, but rays of hope and belief in new life in Christ that is to come. On this day as we return home, let us look at Christ dead in our midst, in those on the street, and let us pledge to (22) bring them new life in our care of them in the days ahead. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” The Fifteenth Station Jesus Rises from the Dead Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. “. . . .When they looked up, they saw the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth. He has been raised, he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:1-6 Hallelujah Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! (23) His triumph is ours as well. On Easter Sunday, and in the many other Easters of our lives, we rise above our failures, our burdens, and our struggles, we too emerge victorious. Throughout our own Good Fridays, the risen Lord is by our side, pledging that we too, will rise again, and enter his Reign on earth, and unto eternity. Through the years I find the majority of youth and adults who are on the streets have poor experiences with Christians. Christians are the unseen. Not welcome in local churches, and the direct persecution through trying to remove them from their neighborhoods. As we enter the new life of Easter let us hear the words of Jesus, and asked ourselves do we honor his commands: 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 (24) 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 (25) 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 (25) these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” I would like to invite any one to come forward if you would like to be anointed with oil, and given the body of Christ in the Eucharist. Thank you for coming and may you have a Happy Easter! "Today I choose. Today I bear witness to grace. Today I practice kindness. Today I choose love over fear. Today I am not afraid to be generous. Today I belong to the whole world, not merely a portion of it. No matter what others around me choose, today I choose to live in peace." Steven Garnaas--Holmes Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross
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Short Shifted!John 5:1-16
THE EIGHTH STATION Simon the Cyrenian Helps Jesus Carry the Cross MARK 15:21 Leader We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. Leader Those in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus compelled Simon, a man from the country. They had to compel Simon, he knew little of Jesus, but what about us? We know all about Jesus, and his ministry of serving the poor, and yet we have to be compelled to house, feed, clothe, and provide health care to our homeless neighbors, and little at that. All Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” 10 THE NINTH STATION Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem LUKE 23:27-28 Read More
Leader We adore you O Christ, and we praise you.
All Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said: ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children.’ Leader: Compassion means literally, to suffer with someone. Empathy means to feel with them. These women displayed both qualities as they accompanied Jesus. We are called to show both of these qualities in our accompanying our homeless neighbors on their journey. All Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” "Short shifted" is a word that means "to pay little or no attention to a subject or person." But what I did not know was the "formal", "archaic" definition of "short shift". It shocked me: "Barely adequate time for a confession before execution." Figuratively this is the way many homeless people feel. They are treated differently, people really never treat them as "human beings". I remember a time in Portland being very sick, a minister "friend" told me he could pick me up after his dinner, meaning I would wait two hours; a homeless friend ran and got his car and took me to the hospital, and my minister friend commented later, "how could you ride to the hospital with a person like that?" My friend was "short shifted." I have been talking to several elderly on the street. They sleep in the doorways of closed businesses, and I am told how they are simply ignored and sometimes spat upon. This is "short shifting". St. Clare of Assisi tells us: "We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become." On Good Friday as we begin the Stations in front of City Hall, we enter the Tenderloin, a stand end for ancient Jerusalem, where Christ is right in front of us and see him crucified every day on the streets, he is real, and calls us to a life of compassion meaning literally, to suffer with someone. Empathy means to feel with them! In doing so we will be "short lifted" with Jesus! But O what a great time we will have! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! "Today I choose.
Today I bear witness to grace. Today I practice kindness. Today I choose love over fear Today I am not afraid to be generous. Today I belong to the whole world, not merely a portion of it. No matter what others around me choose, today I choose to live in peace." Steven Garnaas--Holmes Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross"Our Haunting!"
April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish Soda Bread 2.5 lb. loaf image 1 during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
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THE SEVENTH STATION"In Kids on the Street Joseph Plaster explores the informal support networks that enabled abandoned and runaway queer youth to survive in tenderloin districts across the United States. Tracing the history of the downtown lodging house districts where marginally housed youth regularly lived beginning in the late 1800s, Plaster focuses on San Francisco’s Tenderloin from the 1950s to the present. He draws on archival, ethnographic, oral history, and public humanities research to outline the queer kinship networks, religious practices, performative storytelling, and migratory patterns that allowed these kids to foster social support and mutual aid. He shows how they collectively and creatively managed the social trauma they experienced, in part by building relationships with johns, bartenders, hotel managers, bouncers, and other vice district denizens. By highlighting a politics where the marginal position of street kids is the basis for a moral economy of reciprocity, Plaster excavates a history of queer life that has been overshadowed by major narratives of gay progress and pride."
THE SEVENTH STATION Jesus Is Mocked by the Soldiers and Given His Cross MARK 15:16-20 Leader We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. The soldiers lead him away inside the palace, that is the praetorian, and assembled the whole cohort... They began to salute him. . .and beat him. . . And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of his purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes and led him out to crucify him. Read More
Leader The City has proposed to build some housing for homeless people, small houses in several of our neighborhoods, the residents are screaming, “No homeless housing in our neighborhood.” The homeless remain silent, so different from us who are housed and have money.
All Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” In his book Dr. Joseph Plaster presents and excellent sociological perspective of Polk Street through the years. He points out that until LGBTQ entered into the mainstream Polk Street was stigmatized, poor, and seen as the area were queers were to hang out and now Polk Street is simply an upper middle class straight street.
In his chapter on "Street Churches" and talking about three street ministers through the years, of which I am the "last one", he describes our ministry as: ""the anarchist Catholic Worker Movement. devoted to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, and serving people on the margins; and the Old Catholics, a religious underground that claims ecclesiastical. . authority through and unbroken chain of ordinations stemming from the apostles. . .River approached street kids as 'sacred figures' and the Tenderloin as 'a sacred space.' Taking as his inspiration the life of Christ, he 'sought out the most loathsome and unclean' and created a ministry identified with those 'who find themselves abandoned and isolated in their suffering.'' Each year using the Tenderloin as a standard for ancient Jerusalem he made the Stations of the Cross, reenacting the journey of suffering that marked Christ's last hours.s 'People think about the crucifixion in terms of the past, something that is back there two thousand years ago,' he said,'But to me, Christ is right here. I see him being crucified everyday on the streets of the City.' No one wants people who are poor, who are homeless around them--put them "somewhere" else. Polk Street is a common example. As primary upper middle class people moved in, the inexpensive SRO's were moved out. Housing is now expensive, surrounded by coffee shops; The citizens of Haight Street would not allow an area for assisting homeless individuals, and now a high rent apartment building is being constructed. Street kids are shunned. The cross points to the crucifixion of Jesus in our very midst and summons us to ask: Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Today I choose.
Today I bear witness to grace. Today I practice kindness. Today I choose love over fear. Today I am not afraid to be generous. Today I belong to the whole world, not merely a portion of it. No matter what others around me choose, today I choose to live in peace. Steven Garnaas--Holmes Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross"Our Haunting!"
April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
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Make Me New!Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
Psalm 51 THE SIXTH STATION Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns JOHN 19:1-3 Leader We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. Then they took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, ‘Hail King of the Jews!’ And they struck him repeatedly.” Leader Pilate had Jesus scourged, a truly brutal punishment. He was probably stripped to the waste and bent over a short pillar. The pain was excruciating. Read More
James, 55, was in a
doorway, with his belongings and a policeman told him to move, James said ‘It is raining’ and the policeman struck him with his baton. All Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!” Like most laments Psalm 51 begins with a cry directly to God. We call out with four imperatives: have mercy, blot out, wash and cleanse. But in the middle of the section we admit we are our on worst enemy: "I know my evil well; it stares me in the face."
Day before yesterday I went to Kaiser for a check up and walked passed some forty people who have no health insurance; my evil stares me in my face. I walked passed Jamie, a sixty year old man last night begging me for socks, and I should have taken my socks off and given them to him--my evil stares me in my face. I have let my own pain, and tiredness get in the way. I need to trust God completely! It is not easy to trust God this much! It is not easy to let the potter start over with the clay. Looking ahead, this is why I think the resurrection is Jesus' greatest act of obedience--and ours too! It is total surrender to God's gift of life, to God's creating hand! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Today I choose.
Today I bear witness to grace. Today I practice kindness. Today I choose love over fear. Today I am not afraid to be generous. Today I belong to the whole world, not merely a portion of it. No matter what others around me choose, today I choose to live in peace. Steven Garnaas--Holmes Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross"Our Haunting!"
April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
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Feet to the Fire!
The Fifth Station
"Pilate Condemns Jesus to the Cross" Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 15 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” 3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. Read More
“6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do[a] with the man you call[b] the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus he handed him over to be crucified” Mark 15: 1, 6-15..
Dietrich Bonhoeffer critiques unconditional forgiveness in his book, The Cost of Discipleship as “cheap grace” and tells us, “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism with out church discipline, communion without confession, and forgiveness without absolution. Forgiving someone without requiring repentance in action, allows them to continue their abusive behavior and allows continued suffering.” As we see Jesus condemned, and our condemning by cheap grace let a remember the words of St. Oscar Romero: “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Leader: Lord, may we looking at the cross hear the voice of Jesus calling us to turn our eyes to the sidewalks, the alleys, and street corners, and see your children, and our brothers and sisters. Amen. All: Jesus said: “If anyone wants to become my follower let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me!”
Daniel 3:25, 34-43; Matthew 18:21-35
In Daniel , we see Daniel in the furnace, and Azariah prays from a furnace which would make some of us self-obsessed. With no human rituals left, he asks for the balm of God's mercy. He focuses on God's wonders--and when he is delivered (3:52-90), Azariah sings praise to stars, snow, clouds, hills, rivers, birds, even "fire and heat"(66). What could destroy, instead transforms. When we look at the homeless, drug addicted, mentally ill, the young and old on our streets and are haunted! It is time that we lift our heads and look around us at the trees, hear the sounds of babies, and people, and see in them the beauty of God's creation, and turn our eyes to the street, and be a transforming agent. or as Oscar Romero tells us: “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross"Our Haunting!"
April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
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Tomorrows Justice Today!Luke 16:19-31
". . .Moreover between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to your side or our your side to our side." The chasm between Lazarus and the rich man was impossible to cross because the rich man did not serve Lazarus in life. The rich man like Peter denied Jesus, and lost eternal life. Read More
Yesterday there were around thirty people at the funeral of Alex Jones in the park in front of City Hall. Around us was the majesty of the City, and the children's park where Alex once took his little child.
The people present were people I have known through the years on the street. Like Alex they are on the side of the "chasm" where most people will not go, the "chasm" of poverty, drug use, homelessness. Like Peter we deny the existence of Jesus on the street. During our sharing time in the service each one shared of Alex's goodness, the "starfish" on the sand he threw back into the sea of life. It was a very moving service. Talking about the future we must take seriously the question of justice. If our hope for a better future is dismissive of the Alex's of the present than we have not understood the message of Jesus. Eternal life in God is a gift that we can embrace or refuse. It is a gift that begins in the here and now of our lives, and receiving it in fullness involves considerations about our existence as a whole. Homelessness is growing, they have little excess to health care, food, and housing. We can listen to the wisdom of Jesus on how life decisions, just and unjust, play a role in defining our ultimate relationship with God. Or we can listen to other voices, the choice is ours! You can be a Peter who denies Jesus or one who follows him! Yesterday I was experiencing eternity, and the presence of God at Alex's funeral! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! The Fourth Station Peter Denies Jesus Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 66” While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the female servants of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt.[a] Then the cock crowed.[b] 69 And the female servant, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and you talk like one.”[c] 71 But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” 72 At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. Mark 14:66-72.” We are all like Peter. We deny our friends and lie when placed in a fearful situation. We are always for ourselves. We are haunted by these denials. We are haunted by the denials of caring for homeless people on the street. Like Peter if we return in faithfulness to Jesus, he will use our haunting on raising people on the streets into a new life. All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. and follow me.” Deo 'Gratias! Thanks be to God! ================================= Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T, P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross
"Our Haunting!" April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ |
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The Third Station
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Ask and You Will Find, Seek and It Will Be Given to You!Matthew 7:7-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition Ask, Search, Knock 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? 10 Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? 11 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Read More
I spent the afternoon with Carolyn a young lady on her spiritual journey, presently at the Zen Center. She has been with me a couple of times on the street and very easy to work with and very caring in working with everyone.
Today looking through our many photos taken through the years Carolyn commented: "You have lived such a full, inspiring, giving and beautiful life." Carolyn does not know how much her words meant to me. A friend once told me "You are like a mountain and you can only view from a distance to see the beauty of your ministry." Li Poe wrote: I spent the afternoon with Carolyn a young lady on her spiritual journey, presently at the Zen Center. She has been with me a couple of times on the street and very easy to work with and very caring in working with everyone.
Today looking through our many photos taken through the years Carolyn commented: "You have lived such a full, inspiring, giving and beautiful life." Carolyn does not know how much her words meant to me. A friend once told me "You are like a mountain and you can only view from a distance to see the beauty of your ministry." Li Poe wrote: "The birds have vanished into the sky, and now the last cloud drains away. We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains." Lent reminds us that our time will come, and we too will vanished, I am very aware that my time is coming. And as it comes I will continue to practice faith summed up in this quote by Leonard Boff: "Spirituality is that attitude which puts life at the center, and defends and promotes life against all the mechanisms of death, desiccation, or stagnation. " The life I have asked for has been given to me, sought has been found, and the door has been opened. And as an old Buddhist saying says: "Don't make yourself small for anyone. Be the awkward, funny, intelligent, beautiful little weirdo that you are. Don't hold back weird it out." Lent invites all of us to be "little weirdo's for Jesus, and for all other faiths as well or non-believers-our time is short, "weird it out" for when you "ask, seek, you will find", and God surprises us! ----------------------------- Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T, P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ 
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The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus!Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you.
All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. 43 Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived, and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. 47 But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a rebel? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 All of them deserted him and fled.1 A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.” (Mark 14:42-46) Read More
Rejection always hurts. It tears at our self-esteem, makes us feel like we are nothing, and leaves us doubting who we are. Homeless people are rejected all the time. When people walk by and do not even see the person on the side walk they feel like they nothing. May we be haunted by the feeling of rejection, as we look at our neighbor before us.
The Trevor Project's latest report examining the Mental Health of Black Transgender and Nonbinary Young People reveals one in four, of their group as compared to twelve percent of the cisgender and LGBQ groups have higher rates of victimization, attempts from others to change their sexual orientation and housing instability. We have failed to see one of the understandings of our evolution as human beings is the various gender differences; and the Church in particular continues its journey of bias, transphobia, and homophobia. We are still racially discriminating. A recent study show that 50% of blacks have no faith in their white brothers and sisters. When we fail to acknowledge the racial discrimination, fail to even seek to understand, and ignore the rejection and discrimination of trans and nonbinary folk we are betraying Jesus in our midst! All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. And follow me.” --------------------------------- Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T, P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross
"Our Haunting!" April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ 
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Being Nudged!The First Station
The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives Leader: We adore you O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your Holy Cross you have saved all of creation. They went to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” Read More
And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all.
things are possible; remove this cup from me, yet not what I want but what you want.” Jesus felt sorrow and dread over what lay ahead of him of him. He prayed for the burden to be lifted and the cross to be removed. He accepted his future, “:Not my will but your will.” We are haunted by the pain of the homeless, and as we see them around us we feel dread and fear. In our haunting we are pushed to walk with them and help them. “Not my will but thine be done.” (Mark 14:43-46). All: Jesus declares: “If anyone wants to become a follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross. And follow me.” The Reverend Canon Dana Corsello of Washington National Cathedral wrote this piece based on Matthew 25:31-46 which summarizes our First Station:
"I know many of you heard about the “true angel in Buffalo,” Sha’Kyra Aughtry, who with her partner, Trent Alls, Jr., rescued a man standing outside their home in a raging blizzard at 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Joey White, a 64-year-old mentally disabled man, became disoriented and lost while walking home from his movie-theater job that evening. He was on the brink of severe frostbite when Sha’Kyra looked out the window and saw him staggering in the elements. They took him in and nursed him until a band of Good Samaritans could make their way in a 4X4 truck to the Emergency Room two days later. I share this story with you because of what Trent said to David Begnaud of CBS Mornings when David surprised them with Superbowl tickets courtesy of the NFL and Delta Airlines. Trent confessed that he may not have opened the door if Sha'Kyra hadn’t prodded him. What really convicted me was his confession, “Before this incident I only wanted to help people when it was convenient for me.” That sentence and sentiment hit me hard. Convenient for me. How many times have we seen people in need and kept walking or driving down the road? I have even said to myself, “Surely someone will help them. I can’t today. Too busy, too much going on.” And then I am wracked with guilt. How about you? “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?” 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.” Friends, let’s commit to taking risks and becoming “helpers” this Lent. It’s not about getting treated to the Super Bowl or Disneyland for our good deeds—it’s what Jesus calls us to do!". Omniscient God, guide us, nudge us, protect us as we open our hearts and minds to serve those in need. May we trust Christ Jesus in you to always lead us where we need to go and how best to love our neighbor. Amen. Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T,
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross
"Our Haunting!" April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ 
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"Our Hauntedness!"People, who live on the streets, the homeless, have haunted me all of my life. From the time I was six years old, driving late night through Sequoia National Park, seeing an old homeless woman walking up the road, and when I was seven walking across the street with a homeless person begging for money.
Haunting is the relentless remembering and continue reminding that will not be appeased the propaganda of assistance and care or the promises of our city, state, and national Governments that all will be well. In over twenty years in San Francisco we have seen the problem grow immensely, with tons of money being spent. Read More
Haunting is both acute and generally are haunted, but that haunting comes from the haunting of society. The
United States is permanently haunted by the homeless, its massive population of poor and the violence intertwined in its past, present and future days. Haunting aim is to wrong the wrongs, a confirmation that the rich and middle class hope to evade. On Good Friday the cross call’s us to look at its “backside”, the side that points us seeing the homeless from their perspective, not one judgment, but one of love, and to work to end homelessness. As we enter Lent I meditate on how we are all haunted by hour own ghosts! One ghost that has haunted me since being smiled at by a homeless person in Memphis when I was six are the homeless. All my life the ghost of homelessness has followed me.
I was without an address for two years in L.A., yet I was not homeless making enough money to have a hotel room every night but always afraid I would be without food or a place to live, I struggled like hell everyday? There are times these two ghosts haunt me--over eating for fear of not having enough money for another meal, always worrying about losing my housing and not having enough money to find another place in San Francisco or anywhere. Being homeless leaves scars, severe scars. For nearly thirty years I have sought to confront the ghost of homelessness, using all my strength to walk with youth and adults who have no homes, food, health care, and friendship. The words of Sr. Marie Augusta Neal, raises a question for all of us in her words: "When the poor reach out to take what is rightfully theirs, what does the gospel mandate the non-poor to do? To let go our grasp on the things the poor need in order to survive." Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God! ---------------------------- Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T, P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross
"Our Haunting!" April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with Fr. River Damien Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. 
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather's iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ 
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Time to Break Something!Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Concerning Alms giving 6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[a] Read More
Concerning Prayer 5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and Concerning Fasting 16 “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[g] As a child, I was warned to be careful in my grandmother's living room not to break her porcelain figurines, "Don't touch, Don't touch!" We do the same in our churches, warning God's children not to touch certain valuable items! Orderliness and not rocking the boat are the norm. We are trained to have a life of orderliness and control. Lent is a time of examination of our own actions. What actions have hurt our brothers and sisters? Maybe it is time to break something? Take notice of your surroundings and act! Maybe it is time to break open our church doors and let people of different races, genders, LGBTQIA+, and homeless in? To let them be themselves and meet them where they are? Pope Francis gives us some suggestions of how we can observe Lent, with several added by Father River: to break our habits of apathy and indifference and break the culture of turning a blind eye to those in need, breaking through to a better world by looking inside our heart, speaking out, and speaking up for our brothers and sisters who need our help: 
"Feed the Hungry" As a part of your fast for Lent, save half of food you are eating in a restaurant and take out to a homeless person, and talked to him; "Welcome the Stranger": Welcome an undocumented person into your home and church; welcome an LGBTQlA+ into your church and home; Welcome the Homeless": Take a homeless person out for a meal; sit with a homeless person on the sidewalk, take her out for lunch; "Visit the Sick": Visit the homeless in the hospital; visit the aged, the housebound who are ill. Let us renew ourselves this Lent and breakaway from a culture of indifference to one that cultivates encounters and welcome! |
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The Twenty Second Annual Stations of the Cross "Our Haunting!"April 7, 2023
Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with River Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many Irish during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. Read More
There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the good fairies are released. We like to believe in that.
$15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164. Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/. 
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Priest As Dreamer!"In the last days it shall be as God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophecy, and your young men and women shall see visions, and your old men and women shall see dreams."
Acts 2:17 The Bushmen of Africa talk about two hungers:
The Little Hunger yearns for food, while the Great Hunger, yearns for meaning. Only a life that yearns for the hunger for purpose is truly fulfilled. Only a life that has the Great Hunger is truly human! Priest the Dreamer! One night a young twelve you old,sitting around a campfire at summer camp, felt his "heart strangely warmed", called to ministry, and thus began his journey to fill the Great Hunger, in the search for meaning! Priest the Dreamer! Read More
His journey took him through college, seminary, and ordination into ministry, following the Great Hunger, of the Dream. At his ordination, his bishop challenged the ordinals, "you are called to wait tables." Priest the Dreamer!
"To wait tables!" "Preach the Word and Administer the Sacraments", the Dream became a covering of hope and meaning! Priest the Dreamer! And the Dream brought him to San Francisco, becoming visible in those we serve! Priest the Dreamer! The dream is seen in the young man who pulls a knife, and spits in anger at the priest who sees the face of the broken Christ! Priest the Dreamer! One sees the dream in the man stabbing this priest with a syringe full of blood, giving him malaria, and later murdering the priest's son, leading to the priest learning the meaning of Jesus's command to forgive! Priest the Dreamer! The dream is seen in the young boy, high on drugs hitting the priest with a club and the days following not knowing whether he would be able to walk again! The dream was seen on the boy's face when told he was forgiven! Priest the Dreamer! My dream has been sustained, supported, and this is why in the best and worst of times I see the Dreamer leading me into Galilee What is your dream? What sustains you in the darkest of times? Find the dream that feeds the hunger for meaning! Priest the Dreamer! Lent begins Wednesday, and is a time of reflection! A time to enter into the heart of the Great Dreamer, finding the Dream meaning! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! 
Fr. River Damien Sims sfw, D.Min, D.S.T
P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 9416 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124
"Our Haunting!"
April 7, 2023 Civic Center Noon-2 p.m. Food Provided By: AUNT BARBARA’S KITCHEN GOOD FRIDAY IRISH SODA BREAD BLITZ ON POLK STREET in alliance with River Sims of Temenos https://www.temenos.org/ Please help support a Good Friday initiative. Fr. River Sims aims to serve 200 folks with Irish Soda Bread, the food that supported many IrishIrish Soda Bread 2.5 lb. loaf image 1 during hard times. It’s in the spirit of community and nurturing. There’s a legend that when a cross is made in each loaf before baking, all the goodfairies are released. We like to believe in that. $15/loaf payable through www.temenos.org , pay pal, or Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen/Temenos Catholic Worker, P.O. Box 642656, San Francisco, CA 94164 Aunt Barbara’s Kitchen is a Cottage Food Operation from a home kitchen in Marin County. The business started with $10 and Aunt Barbara’s great grandfather iron skillet with the intention to build a business model that feeds the hungry and revenue that goes to youth in college. The owner volunteers her time to this endeavor and takes no revenue for herself, at this time. She hopes to reshape the model of what businesses can create for communities, especially our youth, to cultivate and showcase the power of human investment. 415 717 0151 https://barbaramcveigh.com/aunt-barbaras-kitchen/ 
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Holy Moments! The Beauty of the Broken!Sirah 15:15-20;I Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time The Gospel readings for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time focus on the commandments. Jesus revisits the Jewish Law offering another way of thinking about them. Jesus does not condemn those who do not follow the commandments. He recognizes that we as humans are not perfect beings. Instead, he gives us a lesson on humility by pointing out that we are all broken in some way. He urges us to understand the imperfections in ourselves, which allows us to understand the imperfections in all broken human beings. If we want to follow Jesus, we must love each other despite our brokenness. We have a very, very difficult time loving our brothers and sisters. We judge, we criticize and when I judge I am reminded when am pointing one finger toward another, there are three which point back at me. "Holy Moments!" Read More
Recently I was eating on Mission Street, and a lady spoke to me, I did not recognize her, a stunning woman. "You do not recognize me? I am Delila, one of the working girls?", laughing. "You saved my ass on Polk Street many a time?" We talked, and she shared her work with sex workers in the Mission, and handed me this poem laughing, the girls and I call you the "rent boy priest", you are our priest: Rent Boy I used to have a room Somewhere I could call all mine I was alive and happy I was doing fine. I turned to my Dad and told him I was gay He beat me, scolded me and threw me away ashamed and disgusted that I his son was gay. Cast aside like yesterday’s trash Once a loved child until that day I came out and told him, ‘Dad, I’m gay’ Shunned by religion Told by the Church of England to go away I slept on the streets I sold my body for food Yeah I bought a sandwich For which I let myself get screwed You may find my language wrong, or think I am crude Well, I make no apologies, Living on the streets you have to be shrewd Come on captain, vicar, teacher, and whoever you are Sure you can wear your shoes You don’t have to pay me more I am a boy that cannot refuse After all sex with you Buys me my food. I used to be someone’s child Yes someone’s son, a brother, cousin, nephew and so on Here I am selling myself to you for sex But hey ho its the way life goes, Working the streets yes the sluts, whores, rent boys and Ho’s Come on minister You can wear your shoes Your office, home, a hotel you choose If you are paying for me I ain’t gonna to refuse I can even do a bargain discount on a blow job up against the wall You choose Sir Anyway at all. I used to have a home I used to be someone Now all I am is a rent-boy Homeless A nothing A Nobody That’s right No one. . .!!! -------------------- Billy De-Vere "Holy Moments!" Yes, this morning brought back memories, very painful memories, and good memories. I have learned that happiness is not black and white but comes together in the middle and you see both feelings, simply as one entity complementing the other. One can come to simply see life in the present, and each moment is a Holy Moment, bringing a transformation to our lives. I was raped, physically and emotionally abused, and yet I experienced much goodness in my fellow sex workers, 'johns', and many others. "Holy Moments!" It was through the process of coming out of sex work. Jesus was present and brought me back to a new life, and ministry that is far more rewarding than my ministry before. Each moment is a "Holy Moment!" Coming to San Francisco I was divided, resentful of the Church, depressed, anxious, and afraid, as I began this ministry. And into my life came a psychiatrist, Dr. William Anderson. Dr. Anderson simply listened to me through the years and guided me into seeing the wounds that I suffer, as a part of one broken jar, healed together, making a beautiful piece of work. For his patience, giving me a low fee, and most of all love I will always be thankful! Each moment is a "Holy Moment!" I am proud to be called the "rent boy" priest, for in woundedness comes healing for others. Ha! Holy Moments! My former denomination literally crucified me for being gay, making up rumors, to cover their tracks. I have one friend now from those days who could not have been my friend before he retired. I was thrown out on the streets, and I hated, literally hated the Church, and God. "Holy Moments!" But in allowing myself to let the Spirit of God move, my love for the Church has returned, the Church I serve like John Wesley is "outside the Gates". "Holy Moments!" Each week as the Eucharist is celebrated on Haight Street with homeless young people and adults, and in my apartment with individuals who work the late shift in the surrounding hospitals the Church is present. "Holy Moments!" Sitting with a family whose brother has just been found dead in a storage container he rented, and was locked , the Church is present. "Holy Moments"! The following Ode is a reminder the Church is made up of broken people: Ode to the Church. How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! How you have made me suffer much and yet owe much to you. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness. Never in this world have I seen anything more obscurantist, more compromised, more false, and yet never in this world have I touched anything purer, more generous, and more beautiful. Many times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face – and yet how often I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms! No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even though not completely you. Then, too – where would I go? To build another church? But I cannot build another without the same defects, for they are my own defeats I bear within me. And again, if I build one, it will be my Church, and no longer Christ’s. No, I am old enough to know that I am no better than others. I shall not leave this Church, founded on so frail a rock, because I should be founding another one on an even frailer rock: myself. And then, what do rocks matter? What matters is Christ’s promise, what matters is the cement that binds the rocks into one: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone can build the Church with stones as ill‐hewn as we. Carlo Carretto. Life is a "Holy Moment!" Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! ---------------------- Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 --------------- Dr. Anderson, I hope you are reading my blog, for I want to truly thank you for all the Holy Moments you gave to me. |
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Priest As Fool! In the Beginning!Reading 1 Gn 1:1-19
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day. Read More
Then God said, "Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other." And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. God called the dome "the sky." Evening came, and morning followed–the second day. Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear." And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. God called the dry land "the earth," and the basin of the water he called "the sea." God saw how good it was. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it." And so it happened: the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the third day. Then God said: "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years, and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth." And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night; and he made the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day. Responsorial Psalm Ps 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10 and 12, 24 and 35c R. (31b) May the Lord be glad in his works. Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and glory, robed in light as with a cloak. R. May the Lord be glad in his works. You fixed the earth upon its foundation, not to be moved forever; With the ocean, as with a garment, you covered it; above the mountains the waters stood. R. May the Lord be glad in his works. You send forth springs into the watercourses that wind among the mountains. Beside them the birds of heaven dwell; from among the branches they send forth their song. R. May the Lord be glad in his works. How manifold are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you have wrought them all— the earth is full of your creatures; Bless the LORD, O my soul! Alleluia. R. May the Lord be glad in his works. Alleluia Mt 4:23 R. Alleluia, alleluia. Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 6:53-56 After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed. ========================= Remembering the Emmaual AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015 offering nothing but words of forgiveness towards Dylan Roof, I see and hear Jesus saying: Humans are not made for the Sabbath: the sabbath is made for humans." This proclamation by Jesus is not to be confined to a narrow interpretation of Jewish law, but a cosmological statement concerning the relationship of each and every human being to all institutions. Institutions are made for humanity or as one seminary professor once proclaimed: "Jesus came to put an end to religion." Institutions have become instruments of death. Their preservation has become the a form of idolatry, we raise millions for their survival ignoring the homeless, the handicapped, all they have been created to serve. Institutions have become more ineffective and corrupt. Basic human needs are ignored for their survival. In the last twenty years, sexual abuse rings through all institutions because we have endowed them with magical, life-changing power, and because we place the "Divine" within the Church, the Church has hurt millions. I love the Church, and see its human form, but also see her as my Mother in the service of feeding the hungry etc. I do not give her magical power over me, but work in service. We must begin to look at our expectations of institutions and see how we project life-giving qualities within them, thus setting them up to have power over us. Jesus would have us withdraw those projections we place on institutions and place those expectations within ourselves. We must include whatever we project onto the institution of Jesus; each of us must come to know himself or herself as priest, anointed one, prophet. If we fail to withdraw our projections and continue to endow institutions with magical-divine power they will kill us. Jesus never intended to found a "religion", he intended for us to encounter the Divine, bring the Divine within ourselves, and serve others. As the Buddhists say: "There is a time on the spiritual journey when a person must decide never to belong to anything else ever again. Temenos is formed as a religious, church, non-profit, for tax purposes, at my death its money will be given for socks, food, and other supplies for street kids, and then dissolved. I am a priest, ordained as a sign of my calling, but the priesthood to which I am a member is that of the "priesthood of all believers." In the beginning, all was good, and in the person of Jesus he came to love, heal, and show us what the Kingdom of God truly is, not an institution for the reign of our 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 temenos.org 415-305-2124 ------------------------------ If you want to be a prophet don't belong to an organization! Daniel Berrigan. |
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A Light Not of Our Own Making!"Priest As Fool!"
Isa. 58: 7-10: "Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked... 2 Corinthians 2:1-5: "For I resolve to know nothing while I was with you, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. ." Matthew 5:13-16: "Jesus said to his disciples, 'You are the salt of the earth'." Read More
Each day, in the words of the Eucharistic liturgy the words "Be what you see, become who you are," ring out as a reminder in that we are the salt of the earth, we should permeate all of creation with sermons being preached in acts of care, we are called to be instruments of God's work in the world, actively attending to the concrete needs of others. God is the deep origin of all that we do. The light of our concrete actions illuminate not our heroism and sanctity, but God's activity in and through us. My late friend Dr. Michael Dwinell wrote a book entitled Being Priest to One Another! One chapter is entitled: "Priest as a Fool," I will relate as it affects me, and I invite you to reflect on how you see yourself as a priest in the "priesthood of all believers". With all, I pour myself out into a powerful and passionate proclamation that the celebration of the Eucharist represents and demonstrates the heart of the drama of creation itself. I speak of death, of a raging death of violence. In lifting up the bread, and saying: "This is the body of Christ". I proclaim the absurd! It is even more absurd to remind that we are commanded imaginary and sacramentally to eat the dismembered limbs and spilled blood. Yet, even more, absurd is to proclaim that this is the food and drink of eternal life, of heaven, the very act of becoming one with Almighty God. This proclamation overturns our aesthetic taste, and our moral values, beyond reason. Either the declaration of a priest is the ravings of a lunatic or they are the absolute truth. If the witness and proclamation of the priest are of truth then the world is not what we think it is. Our modes of perception and our definitions of reality are grossly deficient and disturbed. The fool is one who takes the entire worldview, the whole view, turns it upside down, in and out, and throws it in the air, so that we understand what we take for granted is a mere fraction of reality. "Priest feeds us with brokenness and splits and death, and we are saved by cannibalizing brokenness and splits and death." I am always being asked questions about my relationships with institutions, and why I am not afraid of rumors and accusations, of being a "friend" to people I hang with. I see no divisions, no fear of anyone, but simply as children of God. I take all lightly and center in the Eucharist. I am a "fool for Christ." Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God! ---------------------- Father River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T. P.O. Box 642656 San Francisco, CA 94164 www.temenos.org 415-305-2124 [email protected] ========================= My thanks to Fr. Stephen Bartlett-Re and Bill and Dina Tiege for their support and care in my recovery from surgery! |
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To the Mississippiby: Charles Timothy Brooks (1813-1883)
Majestic stream! along thy banks, In silent, stately, solemn ranks, The forests stand, and seem with pride To gaze upon thy mighty tide; As when, in olden classic time, Beneath a soft, blue Grecian clime, Bent o'er the stage, in breathless awe, Crowds thrilled and trembled, as they saw Sweep by the pomp of human life, The sounding flood of passion's strife, And the great stream of history Glide on before the musing. There, row on row, the gazers rise; Above, look down the arching skies; Read More
O'er all those gathered multitudes Such deep and voiceful silence broods, Methinks one mighty heart I hear Beat high with hope, or quake with fear;-- E'en so yon groves and forests seem Spectators of this rushing stream. In sweeping, circling ranks they rise, Beneath the blue o'erarching skies; They crowd around and forward lean, As eager to behold the scene-- To see, proud river! sparkling wide, The long procession of thy tide-- To stand and gaze, and feel with thee All thy unuttered ecstasy. It seems as if a heart did thrill Within yon forests, deep and still, So soft and ghost-like is the sound That stirs their solitude profound. |