A Word from Your Pastor - March 27 Easter Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

Alleluia!  Easter opens with this joyful shout, acknowledging that the bonds of death have been broken.  Jesus Christ gave His life for us, suffering a cruel death on the Cross, and He rose again to give us hope.  Jesus is Lord.  He is our Savior.  He opens for us the path to Eternal Life.  This is THE Truth. 

Whatever else may be in our world, the Gift of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central event of human history.  This is not a myth.  It is not a story invented by clever fishermen and tax collectors.  It is a Reality that occurred in our human history and added a dimension never dreamed of in our philosophies.

From this central Truth flows the call given to us to make disciples and to go out to all the world to reveal the Love and Mercy of the Living God.  Our lives have been claimed by Jesus Christ and He is deserving of all that we have and are.

Easter is a Feast that fills churches.  In Rome, the Holy Father celebrates the Liturgies of Easter in ways that gather together people of every nation and culture.  The Pope is most “Pope” in his proclamation of Easter.  Sitting on the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis does what St. Peter himself did on Pentecost morning in Jerusalem: he announces the Good News of Salvation offered to us in the Risen Lord.

How do you understand the meaning of Easter?  Has it yet dawned on you how central this Truth is to your life?  Have you truly acknowledge the power of God at work in Jesus for you?  If so, have you accepted your own responsibility to enter into a living relationship with Jesus in a way that makes all the difference?

We are living in a time of history where human beings are trying to go it alone.  Faith is marginalized.  In many parts of the world, people of Faith are being persecuted and driven out of their own homes because they are people of Faith.  How will you respond when you are asked to give your own witness to Jesus Christ?  Now is the time to answer this once and for all.  Give Jesus your heart and join in the acclamation: Jesus Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!

This week, I will be away on Retreat with priests who are involved with the Focolare Movement, an ecclesial movement whose charism is to promote Unity.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Pray that the Holy Spirit may bring us all to the Unity Jesus Himself prayed for the night before He died: That all may be One. (John 17:21)

A Word from Your Pastor - March 20 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Dear Parishioners:

We have reached Holy Week!  The Lenten Season has moved along rather quickly it seems this year.  This week brings us to the High Holy Days of our Catholic Faith.  Easter is the most important Feast of our Faith.  All are invited to live these days with intensity.

Passion Sunday with the Procession of the Palms is a time of great rejoicing in Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  However, at the same time, we recognize that the crowd who welcomed Jesus turned against Him a few days later.  We are reminded of our responsibility to welcome the Lord into our lives as our King and Lord.

The Chrism Mass in the Diocese of Columbus takes place on Tuesday of Holy Week.  This Mass is proper to Holy Thursday morning.  The Diocese gathers, Bishop, Priests, Deacons and People, Lay and Religious, all together around the Altar.  Priests and Bishop renew their commitment to the priesthood.  The Holy Oils are blessed for use in the Sacraments throughout the Diocese: the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick, and the Sacred Chrism.  If you have never been to this Liturgy, make plans to be part of it at 6 p.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral.

The Easter Triduum, comprising the sacred time from the evening of Holy Thursday, through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, to Easter Sunday evening, is our greatest Liturgy.  We live with Jesus through the events of His final hours and into the triumph of Easter glory.  This is not just an ordinary weekend.

I invite all of you to be present for these celebrations wherever you may be, at home with us or traveling somewhere else.  Don’t miss the opportunity to come to know Jesus better through the Liturgy.  We all want Jesus to remember us when He comes into His Kingdom.  Let us keep Him ever in mind and open our hearts to His grace and mercy.

A blessed Easter to all!

A Word from Your Pastor - March 13 Fifth Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

It is more and more clear to me that God is asking for something more from us here at St. Timothy.  He is inviting us to a new and deeper way of living our Faith.  This is not at all a rejection of where we have been in the past.  On the contrary, it is a sign that God has seen in us a spark of something that says we are ready for Him to act among us in a new and more powerful way.  His Mercy is overflowing.  So many good things are going on, we can miss it.  As we come to this time in our Lenten journey, we reach the moment of decision.  Jesus invites us to walk the way of the Cross with Him and to stay with Him through to the end, all the way to the Resurrection.

How have you experienced Lent this year?  The weather outside has been milder than usual.  How are the storms within?  Are you finding it easier or harder to surrender to the Lord?  Are you willing to go deeper?

The invitation to a New Life is not without a cost.  We have to change our minds.  If we think we have it all figured out, we are missing something crucial.  The charge that has been given to us by the Lord Himself is twofold: to make disciples and to love as He loves.  These invitation are called “The Great Commission” and “The Great Commandment.”

The Great Commission comes from Saint Matthew 28:19-20,

“Go therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you; 
and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” 

The Great Commandment is taken from Matthew 22:36-40,  

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 

And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment. 

“The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

As we approach Easter, let us begin to reflect on these two Gospel charges.  Our effort in the Easter Season will be to renew our commitment to follow the Lord wherever He leads.

A Word from Your Pastor - March 6 Fourth Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

Lent is moving right along.  We have walked a journey of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving to draw closer to the Lord and to become more aware of our relationship with Him and His Church.  Our Parish Penance Service provided an opportunity for Communal Reconciliation.  If you did not have the chance to be part of it, there are other times of Penance offered in various parishes in our neighborhood and Saturday afternoons are always good in our own church.  Be sure to open your heart to Mercy.

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis is calling all of us to renew our commitment to Discipleship, that is, to following the Lord Jesus where He leads.  We are to know the God of Mercy, to accept His Mercy into our own hearts and lives, and to share that Mercy with others.  To wear the face of Mercy is the responsibility of the disciple who wants to lead others to God our Merciful Father.

In order to accomplish God’s Will, we must open our hearts to God’s way of thinking.  There must be a willingness to change our minds to see a bigger picture.  We must hear the Lord’s call to listen to the voice of the Spirit Who speaks in our hearts and through the Church.  We must move where the Spirit leads, even if it is “kicking and screaming” because of our desire to have our own way.

Hunger and thirst lead us to reach beyond ourselves.  The experience of darkness invites us to walk into the Light.  The sorrows of this life and our encounters with death remind us to become more open to the Life that is offered to us through God’s Mercy.  May we continue our Lenten Journey and be ever more willing to do it God’s way.