A Word from Your Pastor - June 23

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend I have reached my 28^th Anniversary of priestly ordination, which took place June 22, 1985.  Since I was ordained a deacon the year before (May 3, 1984), that means that I have belonged to the clergy for more than 29 years, more than half my life.  I am in awe of this realization.  As I celebrate Mass, especially on occasions such as this, it is evident to me what a gift we have in the priesthood and in the ministry entrusted to each of us.  Our worship together is the heart  of my life and I see ever more clearly that the ministerial priesthood at work in me can only be fulfilled in relationship with all who respond to the baptismal priesthood, the One Priesthood of Jesus Christ, that we share.

At the time I was ordained, one of the gifts I received was a vestment that included the image of the Burning Bush where Moses received his call to go to Egypt to set God’s people free.  Just below the bush, you can see the sandals of Moses, which he removed because he was standing on holy ground.  At the time of my ordination, I found myself in those sandal – acknowledging the gift I was receiving and seeing very clearly that it was not my achievement, but the work of God in me.  I still stand in the sandals, recognizing the gift and seeing every more clearly that whatever good may come from my ministry is from God and not from me.

This past week, I have attended a reunion of my Seminary, and had the opportunity to see some of the folks who were part of my journey to priesthood in the time of formation.  All of us are older, and we hope wiser.  This July will be my fifth anniversary of coming to St. Timothy Parish, so I have lived now with you longer than I was in seminary.  May we continue our journey together, worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth, ever open to His grace.  May the world come to know the Gift of God offered to us in Jesus Christ.

 

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.  This is a small way of offering some food for growth in Faith throughout this year.

ARTICLE 3     SACRED SCRIPTURE

III. The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture

109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.  (Cf. Dei Verbum 12 § 1.)

110 In order to discover the sacred authors’ intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current. “For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression.”  (Dei Verbum 12 § 2)

111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. “Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written.”  (Dei Verbum 12 § 3)

Comment: Scripture as the Word of God includes within it both the human and the divine.  In order to interpret it correctly, both of these must be held in view.  Our current era tends to focus on the human side and to make judgments about Scripture with only this in mind.  But God speaks to us through the Scripture in the same Spirit Who inspired it.  When you read Scripture, do you ask the Spirit to assist you in your effort to understand?