Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Word from Your Pastor January 30

Dear Parishioners:

Ever since the beginning of my priestly ministry, I have had the opportunity to teach as well as to serve in pastoral ministry. My first Pastor as priest, Msgr. William Dunn, had been my High School Latin and Homeroom teacher at St. Charles. When I arrived newly ordained at St. Mary in Lancaster, he introduced me to the custom of visiting the classrooms at our elementary school. Since I remembered such visits from my own grade school pastor, Fr. Bill Patterson, it made sense to do so myself. I have never left the practice. In every parish I have served, I have visited the children in the School and/or in the PSR (formerly CCD) classes. My current custom is to start with grade 8 and to work my way down to K and to repeat the cycle a couple of times each year. I have also taught high school students, at Fisher Catholic in Lancaster and worked with some classes at Newark Catholic when I was at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. From time to time, the Diocese has asked me to teach in adult ed programs. Several years back, I taught in the Lay Ministry Program, and I have regularly taught our Permanent Deacon classes.

The Josephinum Seminary has invited me to teach a few times too, so I have worked with seminarians in preparation for the priesthood to invite them into an enthusiasm for Scripture. This year, I taught in our Deacon School, and just after I finished working with the deacon candidates of the Diocese of Columbus and Steubenville, the Rector of the Josephinum asked if I could assist them while they experience a transition in their Scripture faculty. So, much to my surprise, I am now teaching on Wednesday and Friday afternoons from January to May. My reason for agreeing to do this is, in part, simply “enlightened self-interest.” I want to be sure that there are priests to assist us in pastoral ministry in the years ahead and to fill the role of pastor in the parishes I serve when it is time for me to move to a new ministry. No doubt you will have such an interest too.

There is an advantage that follows this effort to teach. I am immersed in the Scriptures and that enriches my own understanding of God’s Word as I prepare homilies and participate in our Bible Study and other forms of adult education in the parish. I must admit that it does require some real effort at time management and the cooperation of many others to continue to get things done. I thank those who make it possible for me to be where God calls me to be in the role of teacher.

The Year of Prayer: A Prayer before reading Scripture

Let Your Scriptures be my chaste delight…
O Lord, perfect me, and reveal those pages to me!
See, Your voice is my joy… Give me what I love…
May the inner secrets of Your Word
be opened to me when I knock.

This I beg, by our Lord Jesus Christ,
in whom are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)
These are the treasures I seek in Your books.

-- St. Augustine, The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 2, Nos. 2-4

Countdown to our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy

There are a number of Scriptures that make mention of St. Timothy throughout the New Testament. The most accessible are the two letters to Timothy by St. Paul. But did you know that Timothy is also mentioned in other letters and in the Acts of the Apostles?

Acts tells us of Paul’s meeting Timothy in his hometown and of taking him as a companion on several of his apostolic journeys.

The greetings of several letters of St. Paul include St. Timothy in the opening address, so that he is considered an author along with St. Paul in I & II Thessalonians, II Corinthians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon. This is why St. Timothy is depicted holding a book in the statue outside our church. Paul speaks of a special mission (“a sending”) of Timothy in I Thessalonians, I Corinthians and Philippians. He is also mentioned at the end of Romans and Hebrews. So Timothy was a very active young man traveling in the same circles as St. Paul.

According to tradition, St. Timothy was Bishop of Ephesus, and it was there that he suffered martyrdom.

Reflections on the Liturgy:

The Scriptures are full of signs that Liturgy has been part of the experience of the People of God through the centuries. In Exodus, God tells Moses to build a Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting, that will accompany the People in their desert journey. Priests and Levites are given responsibilities concerning this place of encounter with God. The Temple continues this tradition when they come into the Promised Land and establish the Kingdom under David and Solomon. After the return from Exile, right up to the time of Jesus, the Temple is the place for worship. The Psalms and other Scriptures are the fruit of Israel’s worship. When there is no Temple, the People still find a way to express their relationship with God through liturgical actions: the Book of Lamentations, the gathering with Ezra at the Water Gate, and the synagogue as a place to pray and enter more deeply into Scripture all point to this truth.

For Catholics, it is important to learn to recognize the connection between Liturgy and Scripture. The very words of our prayers and the actions we perform in the Liturgies we celebrate are lived Scripture. As we learn again the words of familiar prayers, we will also seek to discover that they are to be found in the sacred texts. We know our Bible very well because we put the Bible into action every time we gather as the People of God assembled for worship.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A Word from Your Pastor January 23

Dear Parishioners:

As most of you have heard, we experienced a near disaster on Friday, January 14, with a fire in the heating system of the School Cafeteria. The experts suggest that it was actually caused by a dust ball catching fire. Who would have thought dust bunnies could be dangerous? In the end, mercifully, it was more smoke than flame. The Fire Department responded and took care of the matter rather quickly. They had been alerted by our alarm system. Thanks be to God!

Some of our Ski Club students and their families were in front of the School and the “Executive Committee” of the Men’s Club were in the Teachers’ Lounge. No one was hurt. The worst is the smell of smoke and the debris of ash that lingered on. Professionals have worked on that and time and use of the kitchen will eventually bring back the normal Cafeteria smells. We are most grateful to all who responded so quickly including Peg Crossin, Phil Hall, Mary Pat Boulware, George Cleary and George Mosholder, who were all on the scene along with all the Fire Personnel and Trucks. It was an adventure we hope never to repeat.

Your Pastor noted that we have been visited by three of the traditional Four Elements in the recent past: Air (the wind storm that took down several trees), Water (heavy rains, snow, ice and the various leaks), and now Fire (the smoky Cafeteria). All that remains is Earth (let us know if you hear a rumble or feel the ground move). We have been able to withstand all of these with the help of all our friends.

This Week, on Wednesday, January 26th, we will observe the Feast of our Patron Saint Timothy. All are welcome to join the children for the All School Mass. This year, we will begin an observance of “The Year of Saint Timothy” from the Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus until our celebration of the same feast in our 50th Jubilee year. For a time, we will have both “The Year of Prayer” and “The Year of Saint Timothy” – just as Pope Benedict had a “Year for Priests” and “The Year of Saint Paul.” This will serve to lead us to a deeper knowledge of our Patron and our capacity to give witness to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the world today. Let us pray with and for one another and for all God’s Family.

The Year of Prayer - Collect for the Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus:

God our Father, You gave Your Saints Timothy and Titus the courage and wisdom of the apostles: may their prayers help us to live holy lives and lead us to heaven, our true home. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Countdown to our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy.

As we prepare to celebrate St. Timothy Parish’s 50th Jubilee, watch the bulletin for details and suggestions. Our first effort will be to make sure we all know something about our Parish Patron, St. Timothy. Share this information with your family. Be ready to respond to questions about our patron at a moment’s notice.

Who was Saint Timothy?

St. Timothy was a companion of St. Paul who represents the third generation of Christians after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He lived in the first century A.D. He was born in the city of Lystra in Asia Minor.

Reflections on the Liturgy:

The goal of every “reform of the Liturgy” is to lead all of us to a deeper understanding of our Faith. The Church believes as she prays and prays as she believes. “Lex orandi, lex credendi.” When we are asked to pray in a certain form, the reason can always be traced to a need to assist the faithful to understand and practice a truth that has been neglected or misunderstood. The call is always to grow in faith and in understanding and practice of what we believe. In modern times, the first efforts at reform were to invite the faithful to pray together. Public prayer in common seemed to have become the privilege of a few or of only members of religious orders or those in ecclesial roles. Popes and others called for the faithful to come to a knowledge of the Liturgy and to pray together with an awareness of the meaning of the actions being performed.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

A Word from Your Pastor January 16

Dear Parishioners:

I want to remind all that we are continuing our “Year of Prayer” in St. Timothy Church (in preparation for our Jubilee) until the Feast of Divine Mercy, which falls on May 1 this year. Every member of the parish and every family is encouraged to pray for our Parish and to grow in the life of prayer in these days.

Do you have a favorite prayer you would like others to share? As you have noticed, our parish bulletin has often included prayers for you to use, especially since we have been observing this Year of Prayer. The Church has particular prayers that it encourages all members to learn. The Saints have prayers that become part of the “treasury of gifts” given to those who seek to imitate them. Each of us has our own personal prayers and our own favorites.

Parents: Be sure to help your children memorize prayers. Renew your own memorized collection of prayers by helping them and by saying them every day. Every Catholic should have a great familiarity with the Apostles Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, and an Act of Contrition. For good measure, throw in the Memorare and the Hail Holy Queen. Grace before Meals, the Guardian Angel Prayer and the Bedtime Prayer also ought to be daily friends. If your parents and grandparents had prayers they knew by heart – even prayers in languages other than English – why not pass that on as part of your family’s spiritual heritage? It is never too late to start. Pray a Family Rosary and you’ll find that your family forms a deep bond that will last.

As a priest, I have found again and again that the ability to say the prayers that are memorized and prayed through a lifetime is a great consolation when life comes to its close. Sometimes elders who do not speak to say anything else will be able to say these prayers. We need to pray them now in order to have them available to us “at the hour of our death.” Amen!

January 22 is a special day of prayer set aside by the U.S. Bishops to beg God for a change of heart in our culture on behalf of the most vulnerable – our unborn children, those facing the end of life, and all whose value is ignored by our society. We are invited to pray and fast in order to bring about the respect for life that our Faith call us to show to every human being, each unique and unrepeatable gift of God.


The Year of Prayer: The prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


Reflections on the Liturgy:

The Mass is the source and summit of our life together as Catholics. The expectation for Catholics to participate in Mass every Sunday and on all Holy Days of Obligation is not a “man-made law.” God thought enough of it to put it into His “Top Ten.” The Third Commandment is “Keep Holy the Sabbath.” From the beginning of the life of the Church, this has been recognized as the responsibility to pray as the Church prays with the Community of Believers—that is to be present at the assembly for Eucharist. Even the New Testament comments on the situation of some believers who “skip Mass” for spurious reasons: “We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25) Participation in the life of the shared prayer of the Community of Believers is a necessary and indispensable part of the Christian Life. Private prayer is also necessary, but it does not substitute for Communal Prayer.

Countdown to our Golden Jubilee:

When we celebrate our heritage, there are several motivations at work. First, it is an expression of our gratitude to those who came before us, who have made it possible for us to have what we have and to be who we are today. Telling the story of our beginnings helps to put in perspective the shape our community has. Every family knows that those who came before made some decisions and charted directions that still affect us in the present. A second reason is to gain wisdom. When we discover anew how our predecessors made their choices and the principles that guided them, we learn something about how to live.

The primary reason to acknowledge and highlight our past is our hope for the future. Knowing the struggles and hardships overcome by our parents and grandparents, we are better equipped to face our own difficulties. We can be confident that we will reach our goals, because others who are like us did so in the past.

So what are the stories that you know that ought to be told? What are the questions you have that might be answered by a look to the pathways of old? What are your dreams for our Parish Family and who inspires you to make them come true?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

A Word from Your Pastor January 9 Baptism of the Lord

Dear Parishioners:

We reach the conclusion of the Season of Christmas with the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. This week we enter into Ordinary Time. The movement from the Season of Christmas into the Weeks of the Year that are counted (using the “ordinal numbers”) is reminder of the value of human life as it unfolds day by day and week by week. We have a short respite until the beginning of the next major season – Lent, which starts Ash Wednesday, March 9th this year.

Jesus spent most of His earthly life in Nazareth hidden from the world’s view. His Public Ministry began with His Baptism by John, which we celebrate today. He made holy all that is human. He showed us the Love of God expressed in the realities of our daily experience. During this time, we are invited by the Church to review the story of His Life and His Message each year as it is told by a different evangelist. The Cycle of Sunday Reading for Year A focuses on the Gospel of Matthew. If you have not done so before, why not take the time this year to read through this Gospel for yourself? A re-reading of the first two chapters of Matthew will remind you of the whole Christmas Season. Today plunges us into the opening of Jesus’ Public Ministry at the Jordan. The Cycle leads us week by week into the various aspects of the Mystery of Christ Who is God-With-Us.

The message of Christmas is that God is not distant from our human experience. He tells us in many ways “I am with you.” The Gospel of Matthew draws us into an awareness that in Christ, God is truly with us until the end of time. “I am with you until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

This week the Church in the United States observes Vocation Awareness Week. We pray that our parish may lead all of us to a deeper understanding of God’s Call and free us more and more to respond to our Vocation. We pray especially that our young people may become the priests, religious and committed lay ministers that we will need in the future. I pray in a particular way that someone from St. Timothy Parish will enter the seminary and be ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Columbus during my tenure as your Pastor. We are in our 50th year, having had many priests sent to us. It is time we sent one of our own into the Lord’s local vineyard!

National Vocation Awareness Week

National Vocations Awareness Week will be celebrated in our country January 9-15, 2011. Please pray for all those who are being called to the priesthood and consecrated life. May they be inspired by Jesus Christ and respond generously to God’s gift of a vocation.

The Year of Prayer: Renewal of Baptismal Commitment for the Baptism of the Lord

A Prayer of Consecration


Most Merciful and Loving Father, for the sake of my own salvation and for the good of all Your People, I now renew the Consecration made on the day of my Baptism. Aware of being accepted by You as Your own beloved child, through Your Son Jesus Christ, I give thanks that through Your mercy we are given this gift of New Birth.

Acknowledging the ministry you have shared with me in Christ, I consecrate myself to You, uniting my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength to the very life You share in the Most Blessed Trinity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit. Entrusting this pledge of my commitment to Mary, the Mother of Your Son, who now shares with You the Light of Glory, I implore You for an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. May Your Divine Mercy be manifest in my life. May the Truth of Your Love be made known through all my choices and actions.

Empowered by Your Spirit in communion with all the Saints, I promise to live this Consecration each day of my life that the Grace of the Incarnation may be shown forth in me. I give You all I am, all I have and all I do from this day forward until You call me to enter into my eternal home with You. May the work You have begun in me continue until I reach the fullness of the Humanity of Jesus, Your Son. May Your Spirit breathe new life into me that I may come to Union with You now and forever. Amen.

Consecration to Jesus Christ the High Priest and to Mary, Mother of the Church

O Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Son of God the Father and of our Mother Mary, woman of pure faith, anointed with Your own Holy Spirit, we take our stance in You before The Father in Heaven to worship in spirit and in truth. You have made us one with You in Your eternal priesthood to help consecrate the world and redeem these times.

We therefore consecrate our lives and the entire creation You have committed to our care in order to bear witness to the prior right of God and the transcendence of Your Kingdom over the things of the earth. With the aid of Your Grace, we promise to respond to Your call in our souls and to live joyfully and contently our unique ministries in Your Holy Church.

O Mary, Holy Mother of the Church and Mother of The Vine, we entrust ourselves to you completely, body and soul, that we might be fully open to your Maternal Wisdom and be more perfectly formed by grace into Christ Jesus in the womb of your spirit. Amen.


Reflections on the Liturgy
In preparation for changes in the Mass to take place Advent 2011


Many people do not realize that the Changes that took place in the Mass following Vatican II were already underway before the Council took place. There was a world-wide Liturgical Movement that had as its goal a greater sharing of the riches of the Liturgy with all God’s People. Scholars had made discoveries of a rich treasury of prayers and elements of common worship that were not being used. Missionaries were crying out for away to teach cultures and peoples how to pray without having to learn Latin and the Western European Culture. Communities and Religious Orders such as the Benedictines were desirous of leading assemblies to a full, conscious, active participation in the Mystery being celebrated. The fact of the need for change was evident. The Council Fathers gave it a “way” by selecting the theme of Worship and Liturgy as the first topic to be considered. The first “change” was the addition of Saint Joseph to the list of Saints in the Roman Canon beside the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Countdown to our Golden Jubilee:

There are so many stories that serve to convey who we are and where we have come from. Who are the story-tellers in the parish? Sit down with your family or with members of a group you are a member of in the parish and talk about this. Let’s make a list and check it twice. Who has helped you to become more involved in the life of the Parish? Whose witness, whose story, whose example has inspired you? We want to arrange a way to interview (and perhaps even record on video) some of the classic tales. So, name names. Next weekend, put a name in the collection basket and note what topic or story that individual is likely to be able to tell.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

A Word from Your Pastor January 2 Epiphany

Happy Feast of the Epiphany and Happy New Year!

2011 will prove to be a significant year in our journey as a parish family since it is our 50th year of establishment as a parish in the Diocese of Columbus. We have a lot to accomplish this year in terms of planning and arranging for a worthy celebration.

Some key dates for everyone to remember are these:

November 29, 1961 St. Timothy Parish was officially established

December 10, 1961 First Mass for St. Timothy Parish in the gym of
nearby Cranbrook Elementary School

September 2, 1962 Father Winkler broke ground for St. Timothy's first
building. The construction site was a hillside overlooking
a meandering stream known as Turkey Run.

Our plan for celebration will need to mark these dates in the life of the parish. As we have already reported, the date for the first event is set: November 26, 2011, Bishop Campbell will celebrate the 5 p.m. Saturday Vigil Mass. A reception and short program will follow.

Once we honor the history of our parish in good form, we will be able to continue the fun with our celebration of the Jubilee for St. Timothy School. The first School Year was 1963-1964. So the next four years St. Timothy Parish and School will be the place to be!

The Solemnity of the Epiphany brings together many themes: The Coming of the Magi, the Baptism of the Lord, and the Wedding Feast of Cana. These moments in the life of Jesus and His Family were times when His glory was made known. The living relationship of the Holy Trinity was allowed to shine through the Humanity of Jesus, reminding us of the Gift He has promised: Eternal Life. May we open our eyes to see the glory of God made manifest in our own history, and may we share the riches God has given us with all we meet.