A Word from Your Pastor May 24 - Solemnity of the Ascension Ending Exile

Dear Parishioners

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is a wonderful Feast, full of hope for the human race.  The Mystery we celebrate today is that our human nature has been taken into the very heart of God.  Jesus gave New Life to us through His Resurrection.  After forty days of encountering His disciples, He was “taken from their sight” by an overshadowing cloud.  This departure opens the door to Heaven and creates the bridge between Heaven and earth in our very humanity, now perfected in Jesus Christ.

When we open our hearts to receive this Mystery, we are given an interior “glimpse” into reality beyond anything that the world can offer.  Now we enter into the time of awaiting the Coming of the Spirit, Who will continue to guide us through history to the fulfillment of all that has begun in the Life of Jesus.

There is a new way of seeing that is given to us when we keep our goal in mind.  In every human effort, we take aim at something and find out how to reach whatever we are aiming for.  If we aim too low, we miss the goal.  If we try to create a goal that is other than our true purpose, even if we are - in our own limited way of understanding - aiming high, we will miss the mark.

Aiming for the fullness of Life in Jesus Christ, acknowledging that it is His Sacred Humanity that gives us the capacity we have for a living relationship with God, we are destined to reach the glory held in store for us.  The distance between where we are and where we are going is vast.  But Jesus has made it possible and His Spirit, the Father’s Gift to us, will enable us to reach that goal.

This week, as we begin to return to life together, first with weekday Masses and then with the celebration of Pentecost, let us keep our eyes fixed on the Lord.  He has promised to be with us until the end of time.  Our duty is to bring the world to Christ, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that Christ has taught us.  Come, Holy Spirit, fill us with the fire of Your Love!

A Word from Your Pastor May 17 - 6th Sunday of Easter Coronavirus Exile

Dear Parishioners: 

We are working diligently behind the scenes to get everything ready for a return to an open church.  What a season this has been!  We were in the midst of Lent when the journey into the desert of Coronavirus Time began.  Now we are coming to the end of the Easter Season, aiming for a “rebirth” of Church together on Pentecost.

Here are a few details to keep in mind:  The church will reopen for prayer during the daytime from about 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. beginning Monday, May18.  Public daily Masses will begin Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, at 9 a.m.  For these to work well, we will have to keep social distance and wear masks and use only the pews that are marked for use.  Strict adherence to these protocols will be necessary.

The first weekend Mass will be for the Pentecost Vigil at 5 p.m., Saturday, May 30.  Our hope is to receive into Full Communion in the Church those whose reception was postponed at Easter.  Masses of Pentecost will be Sunday, May 31, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Saturday Confessions for the time being will be held using the Teachers’ Lounge, so that proper distance can be maintained as well as privacy.  These will be at the usual time, 4:00-4:45 p.m.

It is of the utmost importance that we follow all the guidelines set by the Diocese of Columbus.  I personally am one of those whose health condition is “high risk” due to diabetes.  This means I have to be especially careful not to catch the virus.  If I become ill, all our events will have to be cancelled.  There is not another extra priest waiting to fill in until the new pastor comes in July.  All our parishes and priests are stretched these days and many who were able to help in the past are already compromised.  So, please, plan to be prudent.

We will be publishing the protocols for what will happen at Mass soon.  Watch FlockNotes for information.

Be sure that you are daily in my prayers.  Please continue to remember me in your prayers as well.

A Word from Your Pastor May 10 - 5th Sunday of Easter Coronavirus Exile

Dear Parishioners:

We are moving right along in the Easter Season.  Lent has never quite ended since we remain in exile, wandering in the desert, but we do have some prospects of hope on the horizon.  The days are beautiful. Masses are taking place and a number of parishioners are participating in them via Facebook and YouTube.  We are reaching even beyond our parish in ways that are amazing.

Plans are underway to open the doors of the church, we hope, even before we are able to have public Masses.  In a week or two, we will hear from the Diocese what the protocol for that will be.  Our hope is to be able to be together again on Pentecost weekend, May 30-31.  There will be Coronavirus protocols in place and there will be some restriction on our numbers.  Nothing has been set yet, but we do have to anticipate that reality.  In the meantime, we are in touch through Facebook, YouTube and Flocknotes.

I remind you that the new schedule of Masses will be in place for our return: 5 PM Saturday, and Sunday 9 AM and 11 AM.   Be ready to meet new friends and to share more deeply in St. Timothy’s spirit of welcome.

The New Evangelization calls us to use every means at our disposal to participate in the effort to bring the Gospel home to the whole world.  My prayer is that while you have been away, you have been able to draw closer to the Lord and to be ever more aware of how close He is to us.

The Good Shepherd knows us and we are invited to follow Him.  He Who Is the Way, the Truth and the Life, will see to it that we arrive at our destination, the green pastures He has prepared for us.  We are invited to be servants to one another and to the world, so that the Word of Truth, the Gospel, may be recognized for what it is, the offer of Salvation from the Living God.  May we be living stones and cooperate with grace to become the Temple where God may dwell.  May the world see in us the Light of the Gospel and the hope of New Life in Christ.

A Word from Your Pastor May 3 - 4th Sunday of Easter Coronavirus Exile

Dear Parishioners:



On May 3, 1984, I was ordained as a deacon.  This celebration took place in my third year of Seminary, right after my experience as a seminarian summer intern at St. Timothy Church with Fr. Ted Thomas. 



That summer, there were four residents in the rectory at St. Timothy – Fr. Ted Thomas, Fr. Steve Virginia, Fr. Frank Adams, a Jesuit priest who was studying Philosophy at O.S.U., and the 23-year old seminarian intern.  Now, that former intern is 60 years old, living in the strangest of times, having been here as pastor for 12 years.  Life is truly an adventure!



We continue to live in hope.  If things go as we are tentatively planning, we will be back together in some way by the end of the month.  The Bishops of Ohio are targeting Pentecost Weekend, May 30-31, as the time to come out of our caves.  We shall see.



While the buildings are empty, we are working ahead to do some of the things that usually wait until the summer lull.  We are also looking at various projects that have been suggested to see what is possible within our resources.  Many thanks to all who have continued to contribute by dropping off or mailing envelopes and by the online giving through EFT and WeShare.  This will ensure that we can have the lights on for you when you return!



In the meantime, know I pray for all of you daily.  Being able to celebrate Mass every day and to livestream it knowing that many of you are participating at a distance is a mercy.  May the Spirit keep us one!



Focolare Word of Life for May 2020



“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40)



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

A Word from Your Pastor April 26 - 3rd Sunday of Easter Coronavirus Exile

A Word from Your Pastor



Dear Parishioners:



I am happy to be able to let you know that Bishop Brennan has appointed the new Pastor of St. Timothy Church who will take up the responsibility this summer: Fr. David Poliafico.  He is currently the pastor of St. Christopher Church in Grandview, so many of you may already know him from the “Last Call” Mass.  Fr. Poliafico was ordained in 1995.  He will tell you himself that I was the Vocation Director responsible for his coming into the program for the Diocese of Columbus.  He has served as pastor in two parishes before, so he comes to St. Timothy with experience.



It is always hard to leave a place behind, but it is good to know that the place you are leaving has someone else to take up the responsibilities.  You will not be left as orphans!  Fr. Poliafico has many gifts and interesting hobbies.  I won’t say more than that, so you can find out when you meet him for yourselves.



We have not yet found out for sure when the transition will be, but it will likely take place in mid-July.  The usual day for changes in the Diocese of Columbus has been the second Tuesday of July.  A lot will depend on how things go with our “re-entry” into the world after Coronavirus time. In the meantime, please keep all priests and parishes that will be experiencing transitions in your prayers.



I want you to know that I am fully engaged here at St. Timothy and we will continue to keep working together to live through this strange time to the best of our abilities.  We want to ensure that everyone in our community knows that we are with them.  I am very grateful to all who are helping to keep things flowing smoothly.  I assure you of my prayers.