Dear Parishioners and Guests for Christmas and to those in the Blogosphere:
The Lord be with you! And with your spirit!
This is the new language of the Liturgy for Catholics which you now hear at all the Masses. The most recent change was instituted the First Sunday of Advent 2011.
At St. Timothy Church, we were privileged to have Bishop Frederick Campbell with us for the first use of the new English form of the Mass on the occasion of the Opening of our Parish Golden Jubilee, at the Saturday evening Mass, November 26th. Now we are living in this special time of reminiscing and celebrating. The parish observance will continue throughout 2012. Our School will celebrate its Jubilee 2013-2014.
We are happy to have all of you with us as we experience our Jubilee Christmas. Your presence is a reminder to us that God is with us and that Salvation is for all. We hope you will feel at home at St. Timothy Church and know that we keep you in our prayers throughout the year. We invite you to a greater involvement in the life of our Parish and School. We have come a long way in our 50 years as a Parish and we can go further if we work together.
Blessings to you and your family for the Christmas Season and for the New Year!
Rev. Timothy M. Hayes, Pastor
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Entering into our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy.
But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:14-17)
St. Paul’s Letters to St. Timothy are an invitation to all to discover what God can accomplish in a Christian Community when there is cooperation with His grace. In these verses, Paul reminds Timothy of the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the Christian. The Sacred Scriptures (in this case, the Jewish Scriptures) are available to assist in the proclamation of Christ and for exhortation to a holy way of life in accord with God’s call.
We who have both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels, Paul’s Letters and all the other texts of the New Testament must be ever aware of the riches shared with us through the Bible. God has breathed His Word into the sacred texts in order to train us in the Way of the Gospel. “The Word became man and made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)
The new version of the English Mass serves to help us see the connection of the whole Mass with Sacred Scripture. Every prayer is an outgrowth of Scripture. Many of the prayers in the new form can easily be recognized as a living use of the texts on our lips in the act of worship. We have been equipped by the Scriptures we read and prayer every good work that has been entrusted to us by God.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
A Word from Your Pastor December 18
Dear Parishioners:
Christmas is coming! We have a full four weeks of Advent this year with Christmas on a Sunday. Let this be to your advantage. Live the time of anticipation and waiting to the full. Open your heart to the Lord and invite Him to make use of you and your family to reveal His Presence in the world. Take the time to think about the Reason for the Season. Read the accounts of Jesus’ Birth from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as if you have never heard the Story before. Make plans to enter fully into Christmas next weekend.
Heartfelt thanks to all who participated in last week’s Penance Service. We had a good crop of sinners for the eight priests who worked with them. It was obvious that grace and mercy were flowing. Confession is good for the soul. It clears the spiritual pores and allows baptismal grace to do its work in us. I was truly a proud Pastor as I saw how many came, how many approached the Sacrament, and especially how many stayed to pray with and for their brothers and sisters until the prayer of thanksgiving and the final blessing. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” was sung with gusto.
I have one more favor to ask for the Season: Please fill up all the Masses of Christmas, especially those on Christmas Day. Many have the custom of participating in the first Vigil Mass at 5:00 p.m., and then the number of attendees dwindles as the Mass times go on: 7:00 p.m. Vigil, 10:00 p.m. “Midnight” Mass, and 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Christmas morning. This year, we need the strong voices of our usual weekly Mass-goers to assist our annual guests with the new English responses. If you plan to attend the Vigil Mass, come again to at least one of the other Masses. For Christmas, you are able to receive Holy Communion again at a second Mass.
There are four distinct Masses of Christmas: the Vigil, Midnight, Dawn and Day, each with different prayers and readings. The Incarnation is celebrated by the Church’s Liturgy in high style. It is truly worthwhile to experience all that the Church has to offer at this special time. Let’s join the effort to put Christ and Mass back in Christ-mas.
Entering into our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy.
You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me. In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. (II Timothy 3:10-13)
St. Paul is not afraid to admit the struggles he experiences in his witness to Christ. He recalls them with emotion, but not with self-pity. Rather, he is able to see the action of the Lord in delivering him “from all these things.” He sees clearly, and reminds St. Timothy, that all who want to follow the Lord will have the same experience. There are two ways: the way of those who seek to follow Christ, and the way of the wicked.
Our life as a Parish Family is meant to be a living witness of the “teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance,” that Paul and Timothy put into practice. When we undergo hardships, especially the persecutions and suffering that come from our efforts to put our Faith into practice, we are in good company. We can be sure that we are on the right track when we experience such struggles and we can put our trust in the God Who calls us.
CHRISTMAS MASSES AT ST. TIMOTHY CHURCH, COLUMBUS
Christmas Eve – December 24
5:00 & 7:00 p.m., Vigil Mass: Family Unity
10:00 p.m., Solemn Mass at Night: Light in Darkness
Christmas Day – December 25
8:00 a.m., Christmas Mass at Dawn: Let us go to Bethlehem
10:00 a.m., Christmas Day Mass: The Word Made Flesh
Note: No 12:00 p.m. Mass for Sunday, December 25, 2011
Feast of the Holy Family, Friday, December 30
9:00 a.m., Family Blessing after Mass
Solemnity of Mary, January 1, 2012
Usual weekend Schedule: Saturday, 5:00 p.m.;
Sunday, 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
Christmas is coming! We have a full four weeks of Advent this year with Christmas on a Sunday. Let this be to your advantage. Live the time of anticipation and waiting to the full. Open your heart to the Lord and invite Him to make use of you and your family to reveal His Presence in the world. Take the time to think about the Reason for the Season. Read the accounts of Jesus’ Birth from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as if you have never heard the Story before. Make plans to enter fully into Christmas next weekend.
Heartfelt thanks to all who participated in last week’s Penance Service. We had a good crop of sinners for the eight priests who worked with them. It was obvious that grace and mercy were flowing. Confession is good for the soul. It clears the spiritual pores and allows baptismal grace to do its work in us. I was truly a proud Pastor as I saw how many came, how many approached the Sacrament, and especially how many stayed to pray with and for their brothers and sisters until the prayer of thanksgiving and the final blessing. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” was sung with gusto.
I have one more favor to ask for the Season: Please fill up all the Masses of Christmas, especially those on Christmas Day. Many have the custom of participating in the first Vigil Mass at 5:00 p.m., and then the number of attendees dwindles as the Mass times go on: 7:00 p.m. Vigil, 10:00 p.m. “Midnight” Mass, and 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Christmas morning. This year, we need the strong voices of our usual weekly Mass-goers to assist our annual guests with the new English responses. If you plan to attend the Vigil Mass, come again to at least one of the other Masses. For Christmas, you are able to receive Holy Communion again at a second Mass.
There are four distinct Masses of Christmas: the Vigil, Midnight, Dawn and Day, each with different prayers and readings. The Incarnation is celebrated by the Church’s Liturgy in high style. It is truly worthwhile to experience all that the Church has to offer at this special time. Let’s join the effort to put Christ and Mass back in Christ-mas.
Entering into our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy.
You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me. In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. (II Timothy 3:10-13)
St. Paul is not afraid to admit the struggles he experiences in his witness to Christ. He recalls them with emotion, but not with self-pity. Rather, he is able to see the action of the Lord in delivering him “from all these things.” He sees clearly, and reminds St. Timothy, that all who want to follow the Lord will have the same experience. There are two ways: the way of those who seek to follow Christ, and the way of the wicked.
Our life as a Parish Family is meant to be a living witness of the “teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance,” that Paul and Timothy put into practice. When we undergo hardships, especially the persecutions and suffering that come from our efforts to put our Faith into practice, we are in good company. We can be sure that we are on the right track when we experience such struggles and we can put our trust in the God Who calls us.
CHRISTMAS MASSES AT ST. TIMOTHY CHURCH, COLUMBUS
Christmas Eve – December 24
5:00 & 7:00 p.m., Vigil Mass: Family Unity
10:00 p.m., Solemn Mass at Night: Light in Darkness
Christmas Day – December 25
8:00 a.m., Christmas Mass at Dawn: Let us go to Bethlehem
10:00 a.m., Christmas Day Mass: The Word Made Flesh
Note: No 12:00 p.m. Mass for Sunday, December 25, 2011
Feast of the Holy Family, Friday, December 30
9:00 a.m., Family Blessing after Mass
Solemnity of Mary, January 1, 2012
Usual weekend Schedule: Saturday, 5:00 p.m.;
Sunday, 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
A Word from Your Pastor January 9 Baptism of the Lord
Dear Parishioners:
We reach the conclusion of the Season of Christmas with the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. This week we enter into Ordinary Time. The movement from the Season of Christmas into the Weeks of the Year that are counted (using the “ordinal numbers”) is reminder of the value of human life as it unfolds day by day and week by week. We have a short respite until the beginning of the next major season – Lent, which starts Ash Wednesday, March 9th this year.
Jesus spent most of His earthly life in Nazareth hidden from the world’s view. His Public Ministry began with His Baptism by John, which we celebrate today. He made holy all that is human. He showed us the Love of God expressed in the realities of our daily experience. During this time, we are invited by the Church to review the story of His Life and His Message each year as it is told by a different evangelist. The Cycle of Sunday Reading for Year A focuses on the Gospel of Matthew. If you have not done so before, why not take the time this year to read through this Gospel for yourself? A re-reading of the first two chapters of Matthew will remind you of the whole Christmas Season. Today plunges us into the opening of Jesus’ Public Ministry at the Jordan. The Cycle leads us week by week into the various aspects of the Mystery of Christ Who is God-With-Us.
The message of Christmas is that God is not distant from our human experience. He tells us in many ways “I am with you.” The Gospel of Matthew draws us into an awareness that in Christ, God is truly with us until the end of time. “I am with you until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
This week the Church in the United States observes Vocation Awareness Week. We pray that our parish may lead all of us to a deeper understanding of God’s Call and free us more and more to respond to our Vocation. We pray especially that our young people may become the priests, religious and committed lay ministers that we will need in the future. I pray in a particular way that someone from St. Timothy Parish will enter the seminary and be ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Columbus during my tenure as your Pastor. We are in our 50th year, having had many priests sent to us. It is time we sent one of our own into the Lord’s local vineyard!
National Vocation Awareness Week
National Vocations Awareness Week will be celebrated in our country January 9-15, 2011. Please pray for all those who are being called to the priesthood and consecrated life. May they be inspired by Jesus Christ and respond generously to God’s gift of a vocation.
The Year of Prayer: Renewal of Baptismal Commitment for the Baptism of the Lord
A Prayer of Consecration
Most Merciful and Loving Father, for the sake of my own salvation and for the good of all Your People, I now renew the Consecration made on the day of my Baptism. Aware of being accepted by You as Your own beloved child, through Your Son Jesus Christ, I give thanks that through Your mercy we are given this gift of New Birth.
Acknowledging the ministry you have shared with me in Christ, I consecrate myself to You, uniting my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength to the very life You share in the Most Blessed Trinity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit. Entrusting this pledge of my commitment to Mary, the Mother of Your Son, who now shares with You the Light of Glory, I implore You for an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. May Your Divine Mercy be manifest in my life. May the Truth of Your Love be made known through all my choices and actions.
Empowered by Your Spirit in communion with all the Saints, I promise to live this Consecration each day of my life that the Grace of the Incarnation may be shown forth in me. I give You all I am, all I have and all I do from this day forward until You call me to enter into my eternal home with You. May the work You have begun in me continue until I reach the fullness of the Humanity of Jesus, Your Son. May Your Spirit breathe new life into me that I may come to Union with You now and forever. Amen.
Consecration to Jesus Christ the High Priest and to Mary, Mother of the Church
O Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Son of God the Father and of our Mother Mary, woman of pure faith, anointed with Your own Holy Spirit, we take our stance in You before The Father in Heaven to worship in spirit and in truth. You have made us one with You in Your eternal priesthood to help consecrate the world and redeem these times.
We therefore consecrate our lives and the entire creation You have committed to our care in order to bear witness to the prior right of God and the transcendence of Your Kingdom over the things of the earth. With the aid of Your Grace, we promise to respond to Your call in our souls and to live joyfully and contently our unique ministries in Your Holy Church.
O Mary, Holy Mother of the Church and Mother of The Vine, we entrust ourselves to you completely, body and soul, that we might be fully open to your Maternal Wisdom and be more perfectly formed by grace into Christ Jesus in the womb of your spirit. Amen.
Reflections on the Liturgy
In preparation for changes in the Mass to take place Advent 2011
Many people do not realize that the Changes that took place in the Mass following Vatican II were already underway before the Council took place. There was a world-wide Liturgical Movement that had as its goal a greater sharing of the riches of the Liturgy with all God’s People. Scholars had made discoveries of a rich treasury of prayers and elements of common worship that were not being used. Missionaries were crying out for away to teach cultures and peoples how to pray without having to learn Latin and the Western European Culture. Communities and Religious Orders such as the Benedictines were desirous of leading assemblies to a full, conscious, active participation in the Mystery being celebrated. The fact of the need for change was evident. The Council Fathers gave it a “way” by selecting the theme of Worship and Liturgy as the first topic to be considered. The first “change” was the addition of Saint Joseph to the list of Saints in the Roman Canon beside the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Countdown to our Golden Jubilee:
There are so many stories that serve to convey who we are and where we have come from. Who are the story-tellers in the parish? Sit down with your family or with members of a group you are a member of in the parish and talk about this. Let’s make a list and check it twice. Who has helped you to become more involved in the life of the Parish? Whose witness, whose story, whose example has inspired you? We want to arrange a way to interview (and perhaps even record on video) some of the classic tales. So, name names. Next weekend, put a name in the collection basket and note what topic or story that individual is likely to be able to tell.
We reach the conclusion of the Season of Christmas with the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. This week we enter into Ordinary Time. The movement from the Season of Christmas into the Weeks of the Year that are counted (using the “ordinal numbers”) is reminder of the value of human life as it unfolds day by day and week by week. We have a short respite until the beginning of the next major season – Lent, which starts Ash Wednesday, March 9th this year.
Jesus spent most of His earthly life in Nazareth hidden from the world’s view. His Public Ministry began with His Baptism by John, which we celebrate today. He made holy all that is human. He showed us the Love of God expressed in the realities of our daily experience. During this time, we are invited by the Church to review the story of His Life and His Message each year as it is told by a different evangelist. The Cycle of Sunday Reading for Year A focuses on the Gospel of Matthew. If you have not done so before, why not take the time this year to read through this Gospel for yourself? A re-reading of the first two chapters of Matthew will remind you of the whole Christmas Season. Today plunges us into the opening of Jesus’ Public Ministry at the Jordan. The Cycle leads us week by week into the various aspects of the Mystery of Christ Who is God-With-Us.
The message of Christmas is that God is not distant from our human experience. He tells us in many ways “I am with you.” The Gospel of Matthew draws us into an awareness that in Christ, God is truly with us until the end of time. “I am with you until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
This week the Church in the United States observes Vocation Awareness Week. We pray that our parish may lead all of us to a deeper understanding of God’s Call and free us more and more to respond to our Vocation. We pray especially that our young people may become the priests, religious and committed lay ministers that we will need in the future. I pray in a particular way that someone from St. Timothy Parish will enter the seminary and be ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Columbus during my tenure as your Pastor. We are in our 50th year, having had many priests sent to us. It is time we sent one of our own into the Lord’s local vineyard!
National Vocation Awareness Week
National Vocations Awareness Week will be celebrated in our country January 9-15, 2011. Please pray for all those who are being called to the priesthood and consecrated life. May they be inspired by Jesus Christ and respond generously to God’s gift of a vocation.
The Year of Prayer: Renewal of Baptismal Commitment for the Baptism of the Lord
A Prayer of Consecration
Most Merciful and Loving Father, for the sake of my own salvation and for the good of all Your People, I now renew the Consecration made on the day of my Baptism. Aware of being accepted by You as Your own beloved child, through Your Son Jesus Christ, I give thanks that through Your mercy we are given this gift of New Birth.
Acknowledging the ministry you have shared with me in Christ, I consecrate myself to You, uniting my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength to the very life You share in the Most Blessed Trinity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit. Entrusting this pledge of my commitment to Mary, the Mother of Your Son, who now shares with You the Light of Glory, I implore You for an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. May Your Divine Mercy be manifest in my life. May the Truth of Your Love be made known through all my choices and actions.
Empowered by Your Spirit in communion with all the Saints, I promise to live this Consecration each day of my life that the Grace of the Incarnation may be shown forth in me. I give You all I am, all I have and all I do from this day forward until You call me to enter into my eternal home with You. May the work You have begun in me continue until I reach the fullness of the Humanity of Jesus, Your Son. May Your Spirit breathe new life into me that I may come to Union with You now and forever. Amen.
Consecration to Jesus Christ the High Priest and to Mary, Mother of the Church
O Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Son of God the Father and of our Mother Mary, woman of pure faith, anointed with Your own Holy Spirit, we take our stance in You before The Father in Heaven to worship in spirit and in truth. You have made us one with You in Your eternal priesthood to help consecrate the world and redeem these times.
We therefore consecrate our lives and the entire creation You have committed to our care in order to bear witness to the prior right of God and the transcendence of Your Kingdom over the things of the earth. With the aid of Your Grace, we promise to respond to Your call in our souls and to live joyfully and contently our unique ministries in Your Holy Church.
O Mary, Holy Mother of the Church and Mother of The Vine, we entrust ourselves to you completely, body and soul, that we might be fully open to your Maternal Wisdom and be more perfectly formed by grace into Christ Jesus in the womb of your spirit. Amen.
Reflections on the Liturgy
In preparation for changes in the Mass to take place Advent 2011
Many people do not realize that the Changes that took place in the Mass following Vatican II were already underway before the Council took place. There was a world-wide Liturgical Movement that had as its goal a greater sharing of the riches of the Liturgy with all God’s People. Scholars had made discoveries of a rich treasury of prayers and elements of common worship that were not being used. Missionaries were crying out for away to teach cultures and peoples how to pray without having to learn Latin and the Western European Culture. Communities and Religious Orders such as the Benedictines were desirous of leading assemblies to a full, conscious, active participation in the Mystery being celebrated. The fact of the need for change was evident. The Council Fathers gave it a “way” by selecting the theme of Worship and Liturgy as the first topic to be considered. The first “change” was the addition of Saint Joseph to the list of Saints in the Roman Canon beside the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Countdown to our Golden Jubilee:
There are so many stories that serve to convey who we are and where we have come from. Who are the story-tellers in the parish? Sit down with your family or with members of a group you are a member of in the parish and talk about this. Let’s make a list and check it twice. Who has helped you to become more involved in the life of the Parish? Whose witness, whose story, whose example has inspired you? We want to arrange a way to interview (and perhaps even record on video) some of the classic tales. So, name names. Next weekend, put a name in the collection basket and note what topic or story that individual is likely to be able to tell.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
A Word from Your Pastor December 25 Christmas
Dear Parishioners and Guests for Christmas:
We are happy to celebrate with you the Good News that Christ the Lord is born for us. Your presence with us is a living sign to the world that Jesus is active in the hearts and lives of all who are open to receive Him.
God is gracious and loving and He has given us His Son Jesus as one of us to make known Who He Is. The world is certainly in difficulty in so many ways, but even more certain is that God is on our side. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
This year, we want to put out a special call to members and former members of the St. Timothy Community to be part of our celebration of the Golden Jubilee of our Parish in 2011-2012, and of our School in 2013-2014. Search among your treasury of pictures and of memories of all that has happened in these many years. We would be delighted to hear from you and to see what you find. One hope is to capture the stories from those who were there in the beginning.
Our first formal event will be a Mass with Bishop Frederick F. Campbell at St. Timothy Church on November 26, 2011 at the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass. Make plans to be part of this historic event.
May God bless you and many 2011 bring many graces to you an all you love!
We are happy to celebrate with you the Good News that Christ the Lord is born for us. Your presence with us is a living sign to the world that Jesus is active in the hearts and lives of all who are open to receive Him.
God is gracious and loving and He has given us His Son Jesus as one of us to make known Who He Is. The world is certainly in difficulty in so many ways, but even more certain is that God is on our side. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
This year, we want to put out a special call to members and former members of the St. Timothy Community to be part of our celebration of the Golden Jubilee of our Parish in 2011-2012, and of our School in 2013-2014. Search among your treasury of pictures and of memories of all that has happened in these many years. We would be delighted to hear from you and to see what you find. One hope is to capture the stories from those who were there in the beginning.
Our first formal event will be a Mass with Bishop Frederick F. Campbell at St. Timothy Church on November 26, 2011 at the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass. Make plans to be part of this historic event.
May God bless you and many 2011 bring many graces to you an all you love!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
A Word from Your Pastor December 19
Dear Parishioners:
I have become a grand-uncle! My niece, my sister’s daughter, Amanda Maurer, has adopted a little girl whom she has cared for since the baby was four days old. So my family has formally and officially welcomed Rebecca Justice Maurer, “Becca” to our clan. She is named for my sister Rebecca Lynn who died at the age of three. It was truly a wonderful family experience to be present for the court hearing on Tuesday, December 14, 2010. At 9:15 a.m., the Magistrate made the formal declaration. Becca was in good form delighting in little gifts presented on the occasion. I think we surprised the lawyer, the magistrate, and the adoption case worker with the support that was offered by all who were there – Becca’s new grandparents, great grandparents, uncle and grand uncles, all sitting quietly in the back of the room as Amanda and the Case worker answered the lawyer’s and the magistrates questions. We all clapped as the decree was made and the new family relationship was legally formed for all time.
It was truly interesting to hear the questions concerning the acceptance of the child “as she is” into a relationship of belonging and responsibility. All who have become parents know that there are always unexpected challenges. The assent which our parents have made on our behalf is a gift, whether we are born into our families or we have been brought into them by civil actions and social conventions.
Becca Justice Maurer
As you have heard me say before – family is what it’s all about. We are all adopted into God’s family, brothers and sisters to Jesus, the Father’s only-begotten Son. As we celebrate the Gift of the Incarnation, let us open our hearts to Christ and to all His family. May Christmas free us to belong to our God and to one another!
We welcome all our guests and friends who come to be with us for the Christmas holidays. Be sure to invite all who come to see you to visit St. Timothy Church too. One of our best gifts is the gift of being a welcoming community. Let’s live up to our claim to fame!
The Year of Prayer: Advent IV Collect
Pour forth thy power, O Lord, and come:
Assist us by that mighty power,
so that by thy grace and merciful kindness
we may swiftly receive the salvation that our sins impede:
Who livest and reignest with thee
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
ever one God, world without end. Amen.
I have become a grand-uncle! My niece, my sister’s daughter, Amanda Maurer, has adopted a little girl whom she has cared for since the baby was four days old. So my family has formally and officially welcomed Rebecca Justice Maurer, “Becca” to our clan. She is named for my sister Rebecca Lynn who died at the age of three. It was truly a wonderful family experience to be present for the court hearing on Tuesday, December 14, 2010. At 9:15 a.m., the Magistrate made the formal declaration. Becca was in good form delighting in little gifts presented on the occasion. I think we surprised the lawyer, the magistrate, and the adoption case worker with the support that was offered by all who were there – Becca’s new grandparents, great grandparents, uncle and grand uncles, all sitting quietly in the back of the room as Amanda and the Case worker answered the lawyer’s and the magistrates questions. We all clapped as the decree was made and the new family relationship was legally formed for all time.
It was truly interesting to hear the questions concerning the acceptance of the child “as she is” into a relationship of belonging and responsibility. All who have become parents know that there are always unexpected challenges. The assent which our parents have made on our behalf is a gift, whether we are born into our families or we have been brought into them by civil actions and social conventions.
As you have heard me say before – family is what it’s all about. We are all adopted into God’s family, brothers and sisters to Jesus, the Father’s only-begotten Son. As we celebrate the Gift of the Incarnation, let us open our hearts to Christ and to all His family. May Christmas free us to belong to our God and to one another!
We welcome all our guests and friends who come to be with us for the Christmas holidays. Be sure to invite all who come to see you to visit St. Timothy Church too. One of our best gifts is the gift of being a welcoming community. Let’s live up to our claim to fame!
The Year of Prayer: Advent IV Collect
Pour forth thy power, O Lord, and come:
Assist us by that mighty power,
so that by thy grace and merciful kindness
we may swiftly receive the salvation that our sins impede:
Who livest and reignest with thee
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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