A Word from Your Pastor - October 20

Dear Parishioners:

Last weekend was an amazing time of grace.  I was in awe of the work that God does due to two special events.  The first was the presence in our parish of 18 seminarians from the Josephinum who were walking door-to-door in our neighborhood to evangelize.  They came to get some practical experience of talking to people about the Faith, making visits to households in our parish boundaries.  They went out two-by-two as representatives of St. Timothy parish just to greet folks in the name of Jesus.  Their plan is to continue doing this in our parish throughout the year, a couple of times each semester.  They also want to invite you to join them.  Is the Spirit calling you to be more pro-active in sharing your Faith?

The second event was the presence of my Mother (along with my Father, my sister and my nephew) in church for the Saturday evening Mass.  I did not know she was coming and she arrived just before the Mass started.  It really hit me as a moment of joy and an answer to prayers.  Honestly, as Mass began, I was near tears and was not sure I would be able to speak.  (Most who were there probably just thought it was the cold and the cough that I have been fighting the past couple of weeks.)  God is good!  You have been praying for my Mother and my family, and God has heard that prayer.  Mom’s being at Mass is a sign that she is on the mend.  This week, she was also able to stop in at St. Timothy Church for a visit during our Wednesday Adoration when she and my sister stopped by.  Although she is still a bit unsteady on her feet and walks slow, she is up and about.

I share these items with you because they are living examples to me of the power of Faith and Prayer to get us through and to open new doors.  Our world needs such examples.  You and I are invited not to sit back and watch things happen, but to be part of something bigger than ourselves.  We are called to be People of Faith, who invite the world around us to realize that God is among us.  How do you see this happening in your own neighborhood?

 

 

 

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.

CHAPTER THREE     MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD

ARTICLE 1  I BELIEVE   III. The Characteristics of Faith

Faith—the beginning of eternal life         163 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God “face to face,” “as he is.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2) So faith is already the beginning of eternal life:

When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.  (St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, 15, 36; cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II, 4, 1.)

164 Now, however, “we walk by faith, not by sight”;  (2 Corinthians 5:7.) we perceive God as “in a mirror, dimly” and only “in part.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12.) Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice, and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

165 It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who “in hope... believed against hope”;  (Romans 4:18.) to the Virgin Mary, who, in “her pilgrimage of faith,” walked into the “night of faith”  (Lumen Gentium 58; John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater 18.) in sharing the darkness of her son’s suffering and death; and to so many others: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Comment:  Faith allows us to taste in Time what we will know in Eternity.  In order to live by Faith, we must allow it to shape how we see what we experience in this world.  Witnesses of Faith allow us to discover the way in which Faith operates in real human lives.  What aspects of Eternity are evident in your Faith?  Who are the witnesses of Faith for you?

Focolare Word of Life for October 2013:

"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom.13:8)

http://www.focolare.org/en/news/category/parola-di-vita/

The New Evangelization at St. Timothy Parish

Our Seminarian interns, Stephen Vaccaro and Alex Pacelli, are making the rounds of parish groups to share their mission for the year at St. Timothy Church.  They have visited with the Knights of Columbus, the Parish Pastoral Council, the Youth Group, the Home and School association and with Men’s Club.  If your group is not on the horizon, feel free to invite them.

Saturday October 12th was the first Door-to-door mission with Seminarians of the PCJ New Evangelization Club for this year.  We had 18 seminarians go out in 9 groups of 2x2 in our parish, sharing their joy in the Gospel.  When they returned, they offered a Te Deum and a prayer for Vocations in the church.

Upcoming events including the Seminarian interns for the first semester are as follows: 

Oct. 26th & 27th - Speak at Masses promoting the Nov. 9th Mission

Nov. 8th - Meeting to teach parishioners about going door-to-door
Nov. 9th - Door-to-door mission
Nov. 14th – School Visit
Nov. 17th - Youth Group
Nov. 24th - Youth Group
Dec. 5th - Planning day at the parish

Anyone who wants to tag along or participate in some way can contact Stephen Vaccaro at smv4h@virginia.edu. The hope/plan is to create our own Evangelization Club to learn about the process of evangelization and to create opportunities for members of our parish to respond to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization – new in its ardor and new in its methods.