A Word from Your Pastor - January 3, 2016

Dear Parishioners:

As we enter into 2016, I want to concentrate on the theme of Mercy through comments on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.  Each week, I will highlight one or two of these works with concrete suggestions as to how they apply to our life together at St. Timothy Church.

The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy are actions we can perform that extend God’s compassion and mercy to those in need.

The Corporal Works of Mercy are kind acts by which we help our neighbors with their material and physical needs.  This week, we will look at two:

·       feed the hungry

·       give drink to the thirsty

The first two needs are most basic.  Human beings require food and drink for survival.  In times past, every family had to work to supply its own needs.  Hunger and thirst were the motivation for most activities performed by all the members of the community.  As history unfolded, certain members of society were assigned the roles that allow for the needs that sustain us.  Now that we have diversified roles, it is possible for us to forget that the food and drink that are readily available to us are made for us by the work of human hands.

To attend to our responsibility to feed the hungry and to give drink to the thirsty is to remind ourselves of our interdependence with nature and with those members of society who supply our needs.  Behind every bite and every drink that we take are human beings, our brothers and sisters, who share their lives with us by concrete work.  To be grateful for their efforts and to share in them ourselves in various ways are works of Mercy.

We must act to ensure that all human beings have their basic needs met.  We must be attentive to our duty to meet these needs before we can count ourselves blessed because our own needs are met.

Various organizations in our parish keep before us the task that we share to be generous in feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty.  Of note are the St. Vincent DePaul Society and the Knights of Columbus, Council 14345.  These groups often call upon us to be practical in our response.  St. Vincent De Paul takes up a monthly collection and makes sandwiches monthly for the poor. The Knights invite us seasonally to offer food and drink to Food Pantries around the Diocese of Columbus.  Other organizations often collaborate with them to create opportunities for a response to the needs of our brothers and sisters.  Our School children also sponsor many activities to attend to these works of Mercy.

How are you called to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty?  Do you share from what you have received with a generous heart?

The Magi gave the newborn Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.  They traveled a great distance to pay Him homage.  We continue to meet Him in the poor, our brothers and sisters who call us to service and to acknowledge that all we have is a gift from God.