Dear Parishioners:
It is always fun to welcome a new
member into the life of St. Timothy Parish.
The opportunity to see things through a new set of eyes serves to help
us to appreciate how good we have it. This
past week, I have been delighted to welcome our Summer Seminarian intern,
Pushkar Baum, into all that St. Timothy is about. His enthusiasm is catching. Our children have picked up on it. They met him first at the School Mass on
Wednesday, and he has had the chance to visit the children in their classrooms,
on the playground and in the cafeteria.
When was the last time you were
personally responsible for someone new entering the life of our parish
family? Have you ever directly invited
someone to “Come and See”? This is the
first step required of every disciple: to pass on what you have received,
rather than to keep it for yourself.
When folks choose to leave a
community, it will often be due to the fact that they have not found anyone to
connect with. It is true that it takes
two to tango – so the effort to make a connection has to have the involvement
of both sides of the relationship – but there is a greater responsibility on
the part of the one who is already here.
We are given the charge of the Risen Lord to let everyone know that Life
is Eternal and that we get to begin the fun now.
As your Pastor, I invite you to take
a new step in the effort to be sure that everyone who comes to be with us feels
welcome. First, make sure you know those
who sit with you in church. Tell that
person you have nodded to or waved to or given the Sign of Peace to every week
– but whose name you do not know – what your name is. Second, take a risk and do something
different some weekend: stand out in front of the church before Mass or after,
and greet a few others. Offer to assist
with handing out bulletins. Stay a few
extra minutes and make a new friend or two.
Third, try out a different Mass than you usually attend and meet the
folks who share your space (the pew you always sit in).
We are in need of greeters and
ushers to assist at all Masses. I give
you who are not in that role now authorization to unofficially appoint yourself
to the role once a month. Try it
out. If you like it, consider taking up
the duty more regularly. Bring members
of your family who are old enough to assist as your partners, and tell an usher
(the one with the name tag at the door who also takes up the collection) that
the Holy Spirit has called you to be co-workers for a week or two. One new role we are considering is that of
volunteers to serve as weekend “information hosts.” Would you be able to answer questions that
help anyone who comes to feel more a part of our parish family?
Trinity Sunday reminds us that God
IS a Family of Persons, united in One Love.
Our community is meant to mirror that Love. Will you help to make St. Timothy Church more an experience
of Home?
Year of Faith October
11, 2012 – November 24, 2013
We continue our journey through the Year
of Faith. As one way of observing
this year, each week a small section of the Catechism
of the Catholic Church is read before the start of Mass.
ARTICLE 2 THE
TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith
Growth in
understanding the faith
94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the
understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is
able to grow in the life of the Church:
— “through the contemplation and study of believers who
ponder these things in their hearts”; (Dei
Verbum 8 § 2; cf. Luke 2:19 ,
51.) it is in particular “theological research [which] deepens knowledge of
revealed truth.” (Gaudium et Spes 62 § 7; cf. Gaudium
et Spes 44 § 2; Dei Verbum 23,
24; Unitatis Redintegratio 4.)
— “from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which
[believers] experience,” (Dei Verbum 8
§ 2.) the sacred Scriptures “grow with the one who reads them.” (St. Gregory the Great, Hom. in Ez. 1, 7, 8:
PL 76, 843 D)
— “from the preaching of those who have received, along with
their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth.” (Dei
Verbum 8 § 2.)
95 “It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise
arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of
the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand
without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of
the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of
souls.” (Dei Verbum 10 § 3.)
Comment: Catholics
never have to go it alone. We always
have someone who has got our back.
Scripture gives us the witness of the first generation of disciples. Tradition helps us to see how the Word of God
can be lived in each new generation. The
Magisterium (the living teaching office of the Church, expressed through our
shepherds and leaders) ensures that we are able to chart a path, no matter how
complicated it may be. Can you see how
much God cares for us to give us these means of growing in the Life of the
Triune God? How do you understand each
of these aspects of the Church in your own life of Faith?
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