Author: Tim Hinkle

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

You may recall that earlier this year I reported that the friars here at Capuchin Retreat saw two turtles laying eggs in our flower bed.

Today, August 28, the feast of St. Augustine, the little progeny of one mother burst forth from their muddy nest into the bright world. One of the friars happened to notice one and alerted the rest of us.

We watched in awe as turtle after turtle climbed out of the muddy hole and onto the earth’s surface, ready to begin a new life. No one thought to count, but 40 might not be an exaggeration. We think they are baby snapping turtles from a large mother. According to the ways of nature, probably many will not survive.

After they came out, they seemed to know enough to head toward our pond, several hundred feet away. How do they know that?! We watched, amazed, thinking that, if anything is a miracle, this is, accompanied by all sorts of miracles around us.

I’m not pointing to any special “spiritual” message here, other than the message of awe and wonder and appreciation. Though we might be reminded again of Pope Franics’ plea in his encyclical, Laudato Si, that we need to take care of this one home we all share, including baby turtles.

It was wonderful for a few moments to forget about Covid-19, and social unrest, and violence, and the general sadness of this year. As a line in a song says, “for all the wonders that astound us, thanks be to God!”

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

The former CBS commentator, Andy Rooney, would often begin his comments with: “Did you ever wonder . . . ?” I wonder about a lot of things. Maybe you do, too.

During this year I wonder at the behavior of some people. I wonder at the goodness of some and the not so goodness of others. For all the kindness and compassion we have seen, there has also been far too much anger, violence, division and a kind of craziness. For example there have been the fights and even killing over the wearing of masks. Some people have seemed to stand on their rights not to be told what to do while not considering the rights of others or not respecting the common good. People have clung to divisions and differences: too much “us against them.”

The Franciscan Richard Rohr has reminded us that there is no European air, or American air, or African air, or Chinese air. There is simply air, made up of oxygen and nitrogen, which we all breathe. We are all made of the same chemical and biological building blocks. Why all the difference and rancor and division? We are all free to pray “Our Father.” Which would make us all brothers and sisters. I wonder. Do you wonder, too?

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

In the traditional prayer to the Blessed Mother, the Salve Regina or “Hail, Holy Queen,” we refer to ourselves as “mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.” When I was much younger and more naive, I used to think of this as too negative an attitude about our lives and religion. Too heavy. Too sad.

As St. Augustine said, “we are Easter People and ‘Alleluia’ is our song.” I wanted that to be more my attitude. But as life has gone on, I have come to realize that there is indeed a lot about life that is a “vale of tears,” and we don’t need to deny that. For many people, this year has been a “vale of tears,” and difficult things keep happening.

As challenging as it has been, it may be good for us to recognize that history is full of difficult things: there have always been famines and plagues and wars and all sorts of personal suffering. But, also, down through the centuries, there have been millions of good, kind, and compassionate people. And we have the same today. Life remains a mixture of the good and the not so good.

Besides the “vale of tears, ” the Bible reminds us to rejoice, as part of our Christian faith. St. Paul says “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) Always. We feel the “vale of tears.” We still find reason to rejoice because we are living in union with God who is love.

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

In the first reading for the 19th Sunday, Series A, we hear of that famous image of the presence of God in the tiny whispering sound. God was not in the fire, the wind, or the earthquake. Of course sometimes in the Bible, the presence of God is described as being present in mighty, powerful events (1 Kings 19:9-13).

The tiny whispering sound may be closer to our experience. This is a favorite passage for people making retreats. We are invited to quiet down, on retreat or on ordinary days, to pay attention to our reality as reflected in small things.

To help with this, I like to suggest that people pause to appreciate small things around them, in their environment, in nature. One of my favorite small things this summer has been hummingbirds. We also had a pair of house finches lay two sets of eggs in a nest on our window ledge. We know of turtles laying eggs in a flower bed. Recently there have been fawns appearing with their mothers. Yes, these things happen every year, but we are invited to appreciate them every year and see them as reflecting the life of God which we all share.

We are the human and conscious part of creation, and we can appreciate and praise God for these “ordinary miracles.” Then we can take that deeper into appreciation of the life of God within ourselves and the people around us.

The tiny whispering presence of God is all around us, and it is good for us to turn down our noise and pay attention.

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

Some time ago I heard a homily in which the preacher seemed to indicate that, with true faith, there is no place for fear. The context was the scene of the disciples in the boat in a storm and Peter’s attempt to walk on water.

Though it is true that a really strong faith might displace fear in us, I doubt if anyone achieves that perfectly. Most of us are mixtures of virtue and weakness. It would be extreme to think that we should have absolutely no fear in our lives.

I am reminded of the statement about courage, that courage is not a lack of fear, but being able to move on in spite of fear. I would relate that to faith. In our faith and trust in God, we move on to do what needs to be done. Parents, police officers, fire fighters, medical personnel do these things all the time. There are true heroes among us.

I would presume there has been a lot of fear among us in the time of pandemic. There is fear and worry in view of the uncertainty of these times. Someone recently said it is like having Lent with no Easter in sight.

And so we trust that, in spite of the storms, in spite of our fear, in spite of our anxiety, there is Christ calling out to us, not to walk on water, but to keep living and reaching out in kindness and compassion.

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

In the Gospel for the 18th Sunday, Series A, Jesus feeds thousands of people. But before doing that he also says “Give them some food yourselves.” (See Matthew 14:13-21) We could focus on the miraculous multiplication of food and be amazed at the story. But, as always, we are invited to look and look again at the words and their further meaning.

I have always found these words very challenging. “You give them some food.” Jesus is talking to you and me. How to respond? We cannot work miracles of multiplication. The challenge could be indeed to actually feed people through food banks, soup kitchens, supporting local charities or supporting organizations like Bread for the World.

But giving people “some food” may be taken symbolically. We can help and nourish people through our acts of kindness. We can offer a compassionate listening ear. We can spend time with the sick and the shut-ins — at least when we are allowed to.

We can “give food” to various organizations by volunteering our time. There can be all sorts of random acts of kindness along the way, including a simple smile or word of thanks.

Jesus invites us: “Give them some food yourselves.” What shall we do?

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

July 30 is the feast day of Blessed Solanus Casey. The Catholic Church has long had the custom of declaring certain people to have shown forth a certain level of holiness, and so we call them “Blessed” or “Saint.”

Why is Blessed Solanus considered to be a holy man? Many people would say it is because of all the stories of amazing things that happened in connection with his prayer for people, his counsel, his kindness toward all who approached him. But all of these stemmed from his basic, simple trust in God. He believed God was present to him and to all people and he lived as though he believed that.

He would tell people not to worry, but to pray, and if they were Catholic, to participate in the sacraments of the Church. It all seems so simple. But most of us don’t seem to reach the depth of trust that he had. Holiness can be an elusive topic, and it is difficult to measure holiness or to compare one’s holiness with another. We don’t control these things or “make ourselves holy” with great effort.

But some people, like Solanus, seem to open themselves more sincerely to the presence of God and let themselves become instruments of God’s grace and mercy.

What would Solanus say to us about the strange times we are in? He might refer to things he would say as regular advice. “Thank God ahead of time.” To face the rest of this year with that attitude would take some courage. Thank God for whatever is to come. And he would add his other famous words, “Blessed be God in all his designs.”

To pray like this and to believe like this is part of what it might mean to be a holy person. The Vatican Council told us we are all called to holiness. Don’t worry. Trust. Thank God constantly. We are called to that journey. Blessed Solanus, pray for us.

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

Our friary chapel has a large window looking out on a flowering bush. Every day hummingbirds visit the flowers. Amazing little creatures. On the morning I am writing this I saw a doe and fawn walking behind the retreat center.

Earlier this summer, a pair of house finches built a nest on our window ledge and produced two crops of eggs and little birds. The second hatching numbered 5 little ones. We noticed two turtles of different sizes laying eggs in our flower bed. We await the results of that activity.

And then there are people. Each weekday about 30 people arrive to attend our outdoor Eucharist. Our contribution to worship in the time of COVID-19. It is almost fun to pray in that setting, in the presence of the green trees against the blue sky –most days have been sunny — with the choir of birds singing in the background.

These all are part of some good news in a time when so much news seems bad.

I think of the words of the hymn, “for the wonders that astound us, thanks be to God.”

By Fr. Tom Zelinski, OFM Cap.

During these weeks at Mass we have been reading scriptures which express different ways in which God wants to communicate with the people. We have words of prophecy and words of parables. As Jesus says in several places in the Gospel, if we have ears to hear, we ought to hear!

But with the scriptures, hearing takes some discernment and interpretation. The words of the prophets in the Bible are directed to people living thousands of years ago, dealing with issues of those times. We are to hear the message and apply it to ourselves. The message is often about honesty and integrity and worshiping God in sincerity and truth. Often the words are directed at religious and civil leaders who are acting unjustly toward the people. How is our sincerity, our justice toward others? When we worship, is it mostly empty ritual or are we acting justly and “walking humbly with our God,” as Micah tells us?

With parables, the message is less direct. Jesus speaks in stories, images, little twists which are aimed at getting us to look again at our lives. Where is the Reign of God? How is the Reign of God present to us? Jesus bases his stories on ordinary things: farming, gardening, shepherding, baking.

The thought occurs to me that we could use his formula and apply it to ourselves. “The Reign of God is like our family gathered at Thanksgiving.” “The Reign of God is like my workplace.” “The Reign of God is like taking care of my grandchildren.” There could be many examples. If we believe God is present to us everywhere, then why not see our stories as parables of that presence? What do we see? What do we hear?