Dear Parishioners:
There is always a
certain sadness to the end of summer.
Over the past few years at St. Timothy Parish, one aspect of our sadness
has been the need to say farewell to the Summer Seminarians. This weekend we now say farewell to Pushkar
Baum as he completes his time with us and prepares to return to the Josephinum
for his Junior year of College (studying Philosophy).
Pushkar has taken the
parish by storm, especially our youth.
He arrived in time to participate in all the end of the school year
events, and he has stayed busy through the summer. There is hardly an area of parish life that
he has not seen. He visited the various
parish and school committees at the last meetings of last year and he has been
present in the parish and school offices to greet folks. The daily Mass crowd was treated toing music
for Mass, with Pushkar playing the organ or the piano. A number of our youth came to Wednesday
Masses during the summer at Pushkar’s invitation. Just mention his name to anyone in the parish
and you will see a smile and a laugh. By
his own admission, Pushkar is a bit of a trickster.
I have often
suggested that we ought to ordain these young men right away and then send them
off for training. We would have the
advantage of their enthusiasm and zeal while they are young and we would get
more work out of them. When I say this
to Pushkar, he just laughs and says he needs all the years of study and
formation to be ready.
We offer our Thanks
to the Diocese of Columbus and the Office of Vocations for the opportunity to
have a small part to play in Pushkar’s journey to the priesthood by hosting him
this summer. We are truly grateful to
Pushkar for sharing himself so generously with all of us and we promise to
support him with our prayers during the years ahead.
A particular word to
our youth: Thank you for your welcome of
Pushkar among you. You are the Church
alive today and the hope for tomorrow.
If your friend “Pushpop,” has inspired you in your Faith, consider the
possibility of joining him on the road of discernment. Some of you might be able to share the
Josephinum experience with Pushkar is you sign up soon! The Diocese of Columbus has nearly 40 young
men in formation right now and they come from parishes throughout the Diocese –
but none from St. Timothy Church yet.
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 3 SACRED SCRIPTURE
V. Sacred
Scripture in the Life of the Church
131 “And such
is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her
support and vigor and the children of the Church as strength for their faith,
food for the soul, and a pure and lasting font of spiritual life.” (Dei Verbum 21.) Hence “access to
Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.” (Dei Verbum 22.)
132 “Therefore,
the ‘study of the sacred page’ should be the very soul of sacred theology. The
ministry of the Word, too—pastoral preaching, catechetics, and all forms of
Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of
place—is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of
Scripture.” (Dei Verbum 24.)
133 The Church
“forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful... to learn
‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,’ by frequent reading of the divine
Scriptures. ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.’” (Dei
Verbum 25; cf. Phil 3:8 and St.
Jerome.)
Comment: Catholics read the Bible.
Catholics experience the reading of Scripture in every activity and
prayer, especially in the Sacrament.
Catholics read and experience the Bible as a Living Reality, not just
letters on a page. But we can read more
and with more depth of understanding. We
are all invited to open the Scriptures and to allow God to speak His Word into
our lives. Have you read the Good Book
lately?
Focolare Word of Life for August 2013:
‘If you
love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love
those who love them.’ (Luke 6:32)
The
Focolare held a special day at St. Timothy parish to share the experience of
their Summer Mariapolis last weekend.
Some families of St. Timothy also came to be part of the day, along with
families from all over Ohio and the Midwest.
The members of the Focolare express their thanks to St. Timothy Parish
for hosting them and invite any who wish to learn more of the Focolare spirit
to be in touch. They offer us all their
Unity.
For more information call: (614) 895-0764, or
write: foco.ohio@sbcglobal.net
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