Fr. Tim’s Lenten Reflections

               Our friend Augustine of Hippo is quoted as saying “Si comprehendis, non est Deus.” Easy for him to say! But that’s only because he spoke Latin. If we translate his words into English, we get “If you can understand

               There’s a word going around these days that seems quite divisive. It’s one of those words that seems to separate people, mostly along political lines. It’s a hot-button word that gets people’s blood boiling. Some people seem to get

               A while back, we talked about privilege together. I know this is an uncomfortable topic, and sometimes we find ourselves getting our defenses up when we talk about privilege. I don’t like to admit I have privilege. I like

               Prior to serving at St. John’s, I was the Associate Rector at All Saints’ in central Phoenix. In addition to serving as a pastoral resource to the parish, I also served as a religion teacher to All Saints’ Episcopal

               I don’t have any children. I do have two adult stepdaughters, and I love them very much. I also have a nephew, two nieces, and two step grandsons whom I love very much. I have never met my sister’s

               When I enrolled in a seminary course to learn about the art of pastoral care, the professors began by telling us the most important tool we’d need would be to learn more about ourselves. I was offended by this

               Yesterday we explored alcoholic systems, citing examples from my own family of origin. Today we’re going to talk about some of the reasons people head down the path of alcoholic behavior. A number of years ago, an accidental discovery

               My grandmother, Mary Yanni, was one of the most influential people in my life. When I was born, my grandmother’s house was about two miles away from the home where I lived with my parents. My grandmother (affectionately called