A Word from Your Pastor July 29

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend we bid farewell to our Summer Seminarian Intern Timothy Heffernan.  His ten weeks with us have been a whirlwind and he is going out with a wonderful burst of energy for our Youth.  The Vacation Bible School this afternoon is truly a model for how to engage the younger members of our parish in learning the Faith.  Tim has invited both parents and youth of differing age groups to take part in the planning and preparation.

As Catholics, we must all come to realize that passing on the Faith to our children is the most important responsibility we have.  While attention to their physical and emotional needs is certainly necessary, the task of preparing children to live the spiritual life in this world and the next, a duty shared by parents—the primary educators of their children in the ways of Faith—and the parish family, is the key to our future.  This year’s observance of our Golden Jubilee has shown us that we have managed in the past to share Faith across the generations.  So many families among us have three and four generations represented at Mass each Sunday.  We can continue to build on this strength.

I want to thank Tim Heffernan personally for taking up various projects with our youth this summer.   Since this was his first experience of an internship in a parish, we can look forward to great things in the Diocese of Columbus as his seminary studies continue.  As Tim leave, I want to challenge those who participated to keep their enthusiasm going.  Let’s continue to arrange programs that provide opportunities for service, fellowship and growth in understanding of Faith for the next generations.

I also want to challenge our youth to look at Tim’s example and to consider entering into such a life of service.  Is God calling you to be a priest or a member of a religious community of sisters, brothers or priests?  Your response to God now makes all the difference in your own happiness in this life and the next.  Say “Yes!” and enjoy the Mystery that God unfolds for you.  Listen to your heart and watch how others relate with you as you share your Faith with them.

 

Celebrating our Golden Jubilee:  Getting to know Saint Timothy’s Community of Faith.

 

Up to now, we have concentrated our study on the Scriptures associated with Ephesus, since that was the diocese of which our Patron St. Timothy was the first Bishop.  We are now considering another Letter associated with that community, this time from one of the early bishops of the Church named Ignatius of Antioch.

 

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, CHAPTER I.--PRAISE OF THE EPHESIANS.

I have become acquainted with your name, much-beloved in God, which ye have acquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and love in Jesus Christ our Savior. Being the followers of God, and stirring up yourselves by the blood of God, ye have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming to you. For, on hearing that I came bound from Syria for the common name and hope, trusting through your prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom I may indeed become the disciple of Him "who gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God,"[ye hastened to see me]. I received, therefore, your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop in the flesh, whom I pray you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him. And blessed be He who has granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such an excellent bishop.

 The Letter of Ignatius to the Ephesians names their Bishop as Onesimus.  Some traditions in both the East and West identify him as the slave of Philemon to whom St. Paul wrote, and as the Onesimus mentioned in Colossians.  He was, as the traditions say, freed by Philemon and became a companion of St. Paul, eventually succeeding St. Timothy as Bishop of Ephesus.  He also became a martyr, possibly in Rome. 

 Ignatius praises the Ephesians for their Faith and for the welcome they showed him as they learned of his journey to his own martyrdom in Rome.  He commends them for their prayers and for the support they are to him through the person of their Bishop Onesimus.  The image presented of the Church in Ephesus, a generation following our Patron’s leadership over them, is as a community of believers who know the power of Faith and who can see the truth of the witness of martyrdom.  Ignatius is seeking courage for the “fight with the beasts at Rome” that awaits him.  The Ephesians are just the kind of Christians that can offer him such strength, since they have been educated in the ways of Faith and stand true.  This is precisely the kind of Community we need to be in our own day.

 

This Week in Our History:  July 29-August 5

1963:   On Sunday, September 15, the Men’s Club will hold a Golf Outing at Indian Run Golf Course…A cookout will follow…at Camp Johnson just north of the Josephinum College on North High St.  (This was the scene of last year’s outing.)  Tickets for the entire day - $4.50, Golf only - $3.50, Cookout - $1.50.  (Having started in at least 1962, this appears to be the longest-running parish event.)

1964:   Next Sunday Christians United for Action will hold a rally at First Methodist Church, Bryden Road at South High St.  This group, with which Bishop Issenmann is cooperating, has been formed to combat the current trend of increased Sunday sales.  You are invited to attend the rally and to give your support to this cause.

1966:   The temporary classrooms for use this school year by the 7^th and 8^th grades have been installed and will be open for inspection in the near future.

1976:   The Loch Ness Monster has just signed an exclusive contract to come to St. Timothy each Saturday and Sunday.  He will be waiting at the door to greet anyone who leaves Mass early.

1978:   Banns of Matrimony are announced between Lynn Holden of St. Timothy and Michael Winters of Immaculate Conception.

1979:   Our school principal, Mrs. Nachtman, has resigned to accompany her husband to his new position in California.  We are very sorry to see her leave, but wish her well and extend our gratitude for a job well done last year.

1980:    From the Pastor’s Desk

  It is edifying to see many people worshipping at daily Mass.  I wish, though, that parents of grade school age children would bring them at least once a week to daily Mass.  This would impress upon them that Mass is not just part of going to school, and does not always have to be a planned liturgy.  It might also result in the blessing of vocations to the priesthood and religious life for our parish.

1981:    A big thanks to Bud and Helen Schwartz, Jack Cusack, Marty McLeod, Pat Haney, Dean Finley and Pat Givinski who volunteered on the “hot, humid” days of July to help paint the library and classrooms to make the school cleaner and more attractive for the coming year.  May God reward you!

1982:   On Saturday, August 7, Timothy J. Klunk of St. Timothy will marry Mary Patricia Milosevich of Overbrook Presbyterian .

In your charity, please pray for Bishop Clarence George Issenmann, who died and was buried in Cleveland this past week.  Bishop Issenmann was Bishop of Columbus from 1957 until 1964.  St. Timothy Parish was established by Bishop Issenmann.  May he rest in peace.

1985:   This year Rosemary Rengers will be taking up the leadership of our CCD program…I know I join all of you in thanking Sharon Petrelli for all her hard work in this position in the past, and promising my support to Rosemary as she takes up the reins.

    Father Thomas

1988:    To quiet some rumors floating about regarding thousands of dollars and dangerous holdups, we need to report that there was a small burglary at the festival (approximately $400).  A person grabbed one of the cash boxes and ran with it.  Timely collection of the boxes has always prevented the risk of large sums of money as it did in this case.  The police are questioning a suspect.  Our insurance has already paid the claim Father Thomas submitted and the parish will cooperate in potential prosecutions.

1992:   Important notice!!  Mass usually celebrated at 5:30 pm Wednesdays will be celebrated at 9:00 am beginning this Wednesday.  This is a permanent change.  If you know someone outside the parish who has attended this Mass, please inform them that there will no l0onger be a 5:30 pm Mass on Wednesdays.

1998:   Please remember in your prayers Herman Honeck who died this past week.  May he rest in peace.

 

2004:   Congratulations to Joe and Mary Ann Marchese who will celebrate their 50^th Anniversary on Friday, August 6^th.

 

2007:   From the Pastor’s Desk

 As of August 1, we will be sharing a Youth Minister with St. Andrew Parish.  Chris Valentine, who served as Youth Minister for a group of parishes in the Northland area and has recently coordinated diocesan programs for young adults, has agreed to help our parish begin ministry for our high-school-aged and young adult members. He will be introducing himself to the family soon.

2011:   A Word from Your Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

  As we prepare for our Jubilee, we are all invited to consider the roots of our Faith as a Parish Community.  We need access to the sources of the life we share: those who were there in the beginning of the Parrish, and the stories that have been told and passed down in families.  We also need artifacts:  the directories, parish rosters, and pictures of the way we were.  All are asked to take some time looking through old boxes and albums and bring them to share.  Let’s gather the story while it’s still fresh.  (It’s still not too late!)