A Word from Your Pastor January 26 - Celebrating the Feast of Ss. Timothy and Titus

Dear Parishioners:

Happy Feast Day!  Today we honor our patron St. Timothy and his companion Titus, both of whom were co-workers with St. Paul when the Church was being established throughout the world.  It is important for us to know about our patron in order to wear his name proudly.

Timothy, our Patron was a real person.  The statue in front of church is striking.  He is there to greet us to remind us that he is with us in the Communion of Saints.  Two details of the statue are worth noting:  The verse in the inscription has become a sort of motto of our life together as a Parish and a School.  “To the King of Ages, the Invisible, the Immortal, the only God, be Honor and Glory forever.”

Timothy is holding a book.  This brings to mind the two letters he received in his own name, but it is also because he is listed by St. Paul as a co-author of many of his letters to other people.

We know from Paul that Timothy came from a family of strong faith, though of mixed religion.  (Paul mentions his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.)

From the Acts of the Apostles, as well as from Paul himself in various Letters, we know that Timothy was a companion of St. Paul on his missionary journeys, that Paul loved him like a son, and that he trusted him to bring peace to communities in distress and to keep Paul informed as to what was going on.

From the Letters he received from Paul and from Tradition, we know he was Bishop of Ephesus, a place that figures greatly in the earliest history of the spread of the Gospel and in the writings of the New Testament.  It is also the place where Mary and John the Beloved Disciple lived out their years after the Resurrection.

Tradition tells us that Timothy died a martyr in Ephesus on the pagan feast of Katagonia, in honor of the goddess Diana.

As our Patron, Timothy calls us to be true to our Faith as a Family.  He invites us to take the Gospel to the streets, to share the Joy of it with those we meet.  He reminds us that youth have something to contribute and that their zeal can be a force for good in the community.  And he shows us that we can be faithful to the end.

Recently, the earthly remains of St. Timothy, which are held at the Cathedral of Termoli, in Italy, paid a visit to Rome, with stops at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and at St. Peter’s Basilica.  Our Patron is still inspiring the faithful with his travels!

May we continue to follow the example of our Patron and Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Prayer for the Feast of St. Timothy 2020

 That our eyes may be opened 

to see Jesus among us,
so that the Light of Christ
may shine through our unity.

A Word from Your Pastor January 19

Dear Parishioners:

Every year on January 22, the Catholic Church in the United States observes a day of prayer and penitence for the cause of Respect for life at every stage of development.  We are now living in a culture that has obscured completely the value of human life from the womb to the moment God calls us to return to Him.  Sadly, even many who share a fundamental Faith in Christ with us have somehow been confused to think that a kind of compassion must override the fundamental truth of the value and uniqueness of each human being.

The “life issues” have been so politicized in our society, that the first response of almost all who speak on these issues is to express an anger and a resentment of anyone who thinks differently.  This will never bring out the truth in a way that it can be acknowledged and received.  Jesus Christ condemned certain ways of thinking that blocked the Kingdom from people’s hearts, but He always left open the door of His heart to a sincere repentance and a renewed understanding.  Love is the only right response on all sides of the issue.

The fundamental Truth that we hold as Catholics is that each unique human being conceived in his or her mother’s womb is a unique and unrepeatable gift of God, infinitely loved by God and worthy of respect, welcome and support through every stage of human existence.  Life at its beginning and at its end is in need of our care and attention due to its vulnerability.  Love for mothers and fathers who conceive the children and for siblings, grandparents and all future relatives and friends calls for acknowledgment.

At one parish, the Knights of Columbus created a monument for the unborn dedicating it to the unborn and to their families.  Each human being exists in a network of relationships.  When temptation arises to forget this due to fear or to expedience, love for all concerned must be the mark of the Christian heart.

In current circumstances, we also experience the need as a society to care for those who suffer the aftermath of wrong choices at the beginning and the end of life.  Mercy, forgiveness and compassion will lead to healing.  God forgives, so must we all.  We pray that the Culture of Life will prevail and that we may step back from the madness of these times.  May the God Who loves us into life help us to preserve and respect life and may we truly be a people of welcome and compassion for all in need.

A Word from Your Pastor January 12 - Baptism of the Lord

Dear Parishioners:

Following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday, we find ourselves once more in Ordinary Time with “the First Week of Ordinary Time.”  As the children in the Atrium have learned, the color of this Liturgical Season is green, and it reminds us that we are in a “growing time.”  The word “ordinary” in this context is in reference to the fact that we number these weeks with “ordinal” numerals, that is, “first, second, third, etc.”  In other words, we are simply “counting time.” 

The experience of time has not been “ordinary” in the other sense of the word since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We live “in the Year of Our Lord 2020,” which highlights the fact that since the Incarnation of the Son of God, all time has belonged to Him.

The Baptism of the Lord is a reminder to us all that we are privileged and called to live a Sacramental Life.  Jesus is the Sacrament of God the Father, the One Who reveals to us the very nature of God as Love.  The Church is formed as the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit and therefore becomes the Sacrament of Christ.  The Seven Sacraments are the usual means for the members of the Church to enter into the Life of Christ.   Baptism initiates us into Christ-Life.  Baptism serves as the doorway into the Sacraments and into the promise of Eternity.

At the Baptism of Jesus, the Holy Trinity is made manifest.  The Life of the Trinity is revealed as the Spirit descends upon Jesus and remains with Him.  We have that very Life in us and we grow in our experience of that life to the extent that we cooperate with the grace that is offered through the Sacramental Life of the Church.

Being members of the Church is not like being members of a “club.”  The Sacraments, because they are of God, effect an interior transformation in us.  They help us to become truly who we are in Christ.

Today, let us become ever more aware of and committed to the grace of our Baptism.  May our Faith grow, and may we live so that the Lord may bless all His People with peace as we live the Sacramental Life.

In the days ahead, many of our children will be learning more about the Sacraments as they prepare for First Holy Communion and for Confirmation.  May their families and all of us live the Sacramental Life fully so they may rejoice with us in the power of the grace they are soon to receive.  Our conscious and active witness helps them to know the true meaning of the Sacraments they receive.  May we all grow n the Life of Christ which we share.

A Word from Your Pastor January 5, 2020 - Epiphany

Dear Parishioners:

The Church in our time is called to renew the effort to carry the Gospel to every nation and to all human beings.  Epiphany celebrates the fact that Divine Glory is manifested in our human nature.  From the Coming of the Magi, to the Baptism of the Lord, to the Wedding Feast of Cana, the life of our Savior Jesus Christ allowed God’s glory to shine through His Sacred Humanity.  This opened the way of Faith to the Gentiles, that is, all the peoples of the earth and was a harbinger of the Unity God wills to share with us.

We are one with God in Jesus Christ.  In Him, we are also one with all those who share human nature.  The world is different when we begin to see things from this perspective.  The divisions that are common in our daily experience are destined to fall away.  Epiphany reminds us that we can begin even now to live in the Unity that God intends for us.  It is already at work in us.

We acknowledge with the Magi that Jesus is our King, that He is God in the flesh, and that His suffering, death and Resurrection have accomplished our redemption.  We give our loyalty, our own humanity and our willingness to endure suffering over to the action of the Holy Spirit that serves to unite us with the Trinity.

We enter into the Sacramental Life of the Church, allowing the grace of our Baptism to flow, uniting us ever more to Jesus Christ Himself as He lays claim to this world, preparing us for the joy of the Eternal Life we will share with Him in the next.  The Sacraments strengthen and nourish us as we walk the journey of Faith together.

We see the very glory of God in the transformation we experience in our own lives of Faith.  The more we are willing to live and die to ourselves for Christ and one another, the more God’s glory shines through us, drawing others to Christ.

May we give glory to God and may our Faith show forth the hope of Eternal Life to all we meet. 

Focolare Word of Life for January 2020

"They showed us unusual kindness." (Acts 28:2)

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