A Word from Your Pastor - November 13

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend we welcome Fr. Dave Sizemore to St. Timothy Church to speak on Alpha.  His parish at St. John Neumann in Sunbury has been a pioneer in the Diocese of Columbus in promoting activities and programs to deepen commitment to the New Evangelization and to Spiritual Life.  As you will discover, if you did not know this already, Fr. Dave is a dynamic young priest whose wisdom and enthusiasm are engaging.

I have known Fr. Dave since his College years and for a time served as his Vocations Director.  I have also had the chance to share “down time” with him as we continue to experience the wonderful fraternity of the priesthood.  He has a great sense of humor and a wit that won’t quit (even though sometimes you wish it would!). Recently, Fr. Dave traveled with a group that did the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage walk that travels through several nations in Europe.  He is always ready for adventure.  I am sure that in my absence you will be showing Fr. Dave a warm welcome. 

Just so you know that I am not playing this weekend: while Fr. Dave is here at St. Timothy, I will be at his parish of St. John Neumann to promote their program of Eucharistic Adoration.  I intend to ask for them to pray in a special way for our first experience of Alpha that will begin in January 2017.  I invite you also to accept this as a challenge to pray that the Holy Spirit will be at work among us to make us true disciples.  You may want to add Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to your own practice of devotion.  This takes place each Wednesday from the morning Mass until 6:30 p.m.

I will be away for a few days this week, spending some time with the Focolare priests of the United States.  As many of you know, the Focolare Movement promotes Unity among all people under the patronage of Mary.  I have found it a great support in my ministry and an encouragement to grow in the capacity to seek Unity in the life we share.  May we all be One!

A Word from Your Pastor - November 6

Dear Parishioners:

As we come to the close of the Year of Mercy, it is time to review what we have learned this past year.  God is a God of Mercy.  In my estimation, this teaches us one simple truth: God is approachable.  We can draw near to Him, no matter what our own condition may be.  

If we are in a good relationship with God and we are not conscious of any grave situation that might keep us from Him, He shares with us His desire to draw close to others.  We are invited to be merciful to others and to do whatever we can to be a worthy “ambassador” for God.  When others reject us, we do not reject them.  Instead, we wait, patiently, for them to be ready to open to us again.  At times, this will mean being willing to overlook faults and offenses against us.  Always, it will mean being ready to forgive, to show mercy as God does.  In short, Mercy means allowing God to be recognized as the God of Mercy through our witness.

If we are aware of grave sin, some reality that makes us distant from God and His Church, Mercy means we can draw close to God and trust in Him to be loving and forgiving, waiting with open arms, willing to bring us back.  Sacramental Reconciliation is available to us through Confession.  There is no unforgivable sin except the sin of not believing that we can be forgiven.  This is the “sin against the Holy Spirit” – the attitude that does not give the Spirit room to act.  All we have to do is to ask for Mercy and to allow that Mercy to penetrate our hearts.

To enter into Mercy is to enter into a living relationship with God that has practical consequences.  Mercy – received and given – sets us free.  We are able to be close to God and others because of the fact that Mercy creates room for growth and change.  Mercy sustains us and changes our very way of being, because it is a quality of God.  It allows us truly to become ourselves.

The Year of Mercy will come to its official close with the Solemnity of Christ the King, November 20.  What will you take with you as the year ends?  How have you been changed by Mercy?

A Word from Your Pastor - October 30

Dear Parishioners:

The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary take us to the heights.  Through them, we are invited to contemplate the glory that God intends to share with the human race through Jesus Christ.

The Glorious Mysteries Mysteries are:

·        The Resurrection of Jesus:  The Suffering Messiah enters into His Glory in our human nature.  He is proven True.  His divinity is made evident through the power of God to overcome death.  The Risen Body of the Lord shows that our own humanity has a transcendent goal.

·        The Ascension of the Lord is that Mystery that creates the “return bridge” to God.  The Son Who became one with us through the Incarnation now takes His own Risen Humanity into God, into the divine life that is shared by the Holy Trinity.  We have a “place” in God because He Is God in God in His Risen, Glorified Human Nature.

·        The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost brings the power of God into the world anew and we are given the capacity to grow in holiness on the way to Glory.  Our human nature, now sharing divine life, is capable even in Time of receiving that life through the action of the Holy Spirit.  Mary shares in this Mystery with Jesus’ first disciples as the Church is brought to birth.

·        The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Mary’s personal sharing in the victory won by her Divine Son.  She is assumed body and soul into Heaven and receives the full fruits of the Redemption won for us.  Her unique ministry as Mother and Mediatrix is able to continue now from Eternity.

·        The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary completes the gift promised to humanity from its beginning.  The Son gives Mary the honor He is able to give her as her Son, sharing His own glory.  She is our Advocate and Intercessor before the Throne of God because she shares in the Kingdom as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

As we complete our journey through the Mysteries of the Rosary, may we learn ever more from our Blessed Mother how to respond to the offer of grace.  May we continue to grow in our understanding of the promises the Lord has made to us and may we trust that what has been promised to us will be fulfilled.

Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us!

A Word from Your Pastor - October 23

Dear Parishioners:

The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary take us into the heart of the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ pouring out of His Love for us as He gives Himself back to the Father in our human nature.  The simple fact that Jesus experienced personally human suffering to the point of death is something worth contemplating.  It tells us that the Incarnation is a complete reality.  Jesus, the Son of God, endured everything that human life offers, including all its joys and sorrows.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are:

·        The Agony in the Garden, is where Jesus enters into the moment of decision, acknowledging the Father’s Will that He accept the Cross.  In this Mystery, we see that Jesus Himself had to struggle in His human nature to conform His human will to the divine Will.  He prays for deliverance and at the same time commits to carry through as His Father wills.

·        The Scourging at the Pillar shows us how Jesus endured suffering in the flesh.  Taking our sins upon Himself, He shows His willingness to be one with us in every suffering.  “By His wounds we are healed.”  He suffers in the flesh for the sins we commit in the flesh.

·        The Crowning with Thorns is a particular poignant moment.  Jesus’ Kingship is recognized and acknowledged even as it is ridiculed.  In the declaration of Pilate “Behold the Man” (John 19:6), we see that Christ our King sums up all our human nature and is established as the New Adam.

·        The Carrying of the Cross reveals the depth of Jesus’ Love for humanity, as He stretches His human nature beyond endurance.  The encounters along the way that are called to mind in the devotion of the Stations of the Cross serve to draw us into a greater awareness of the depth of Jesus’ suffering for us.

·        The Crucifixion is the final Sorrowful Mystery, inviting us to contemplate the Lord of Glory Who loved us to the end and Who gave up His life for His friends.  Reflecting on the Seven Last Words, the Scriptural accounts of what Jesus said to those who were with Him in His final hours, can offer us a greater realization of how Jesus transforms everything, even death, “making all things new” (see Revelation 21:5).

Having passed through the Joyful, Luminous and Sorrowful Mysteries, we reach the end of life in this world and Faith opens us to the glory yet to come.  We learn from Jesus and those who accompanied Him in His final hours to accept suffering as part of life and to allow the Spirit to transform it into a means of grace for ourselves and others.

Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us!

A Word from Your Pastor - October 16

Dear Parishioners:

In this month of the Rosary, I continue reflections on the Mysteries of the Rosary to encourage us all to take advantage of this gift to the Church.  The Rosary has a history that is fascinating.  It shows that Heaven continues to work with us through time, inviting us to grow in our understanding of the Life of Jesus.

The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary were “added” to the Rosary by Saint Pope John Paul II in is Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae in October 2002.  The Holy Father proposed the addition of a new set of Mysteries to fill in the gap between the Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries that move from the childhood of Jesus (the Finding in the Temple) to the Passion (the Agony in the Garden).  The new Mysteries, called Mysteries of Light or Luminous Mysteries, all refer to the public ministry of Jesus from his Baptism to the Last Supper.

The Luminous Mysteries are:

·        Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan by John, where Jesus is revealed as the Beloved Son in Whom the Father is well pleased and upon Whom the Spirit descends.
(Matthew 3:17 and parallels)

·        Jesus’ Self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, where His disciples begin to see His Glory. (John 2:1- 12)

·        The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with the Call to Conversion.  This is the first proclamation Jesus gives after His time in the desert and the summary of the whole of His public teaching before His Passion. (Mark 1:15; Mark 2:3-13; Luke 7:47- 48; and John 20:22-23)

·        The Transfiguration, which is the Mystery of Light par excellence, becaue the glory of Jesus is seen in His human nature as a dazzling light (Luke 9:35 and parallels)

·        The institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.  This Mystery reveals the depth of Jesus’ Love and His full gift of Himself in sacrifice for our redemption.

These Mysteries invite us to reflect upon the Public Ministry of Jesus.  We discover Who He Is as the Light of the World, the One Who leads us from the darkness of sin into the Light of Life in relationship to God.

Pope John Paul II suggested that the Mysteries of Light be prayed on Thursdays.  It is noteworthy that the Pope did not impose these mysteries on anyone, but offered them as a suggestion.  They offer a way of seeing more deeply into the Mystery of the Incarnation, through which Christ makes us One with God in the joys and sorrows of our human experience and through the promise of glory.

Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us!

A Word from Your Pastor - October 9

Dear Parishioners:

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary invite us to reflect on moments of the life of Jesus and Mary that are full of the infallible sign of the Presence of God: Joy.  In our human experience, we can know with a certainty that penetrates into our depth that God is with us when we taste the kind of delight that we call joy.

When we pray the Rosary and contemplate the Joyful Mysteries (Mondays and Saturdays), we reflect on key moments in the life of Mary as she and Joseph received Jesus into the world as our Savior. 

• The Annunciation is the moment when the Archangel Gabriel reveals to Mary that God wants her to be the mother of His Son.  Mary’s “yes” to God unites earth to Heaven and initiates the Incarnation of the Son of God, Emmanuel.

• The Visitation is an act of spontaneous charity when Mary goes to be with her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.  The encounter between these two mothers offers us words of prayer that are echoed throughout the world in the daily prayer of all believers.

• The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is the fulfillment of the promise that a Savior would be given in the line of King David.  Angels sing out the message and shepherd respond in wonder.

• The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is the moment when Mary and Joseph fulfill the Law concerning the redemption of the firstborn and when Simeon makes known to Mary how deep she would be affected – to the point of a sword of sorrow – by the life of her Son.

• The Finding in the Temple reminds us that Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived as an ordinary family, fulfilling together the dictates of the Law of Moses and that they experienced the joys and sorrows of human life together.

In our pondering of the Mysteries of the Rosary, we call to mind each Mystery as it unfolded in the life of Jesus and Mary.  Reflecting again, we can discover through our contemplation how the Mystery is experienced in the Church.  Again, as we come to know the Mystery in Faith, we begin to see how it applies to ourselves and our own human experience.

Families do well to pray the Rosary together especially while the children are young.  “The family that prays together stays together.”

The children of St. Timothy School and those in PSR and CGS learn the Mysteries and are invited to pray the Rosary together at different times.  A number of those who attend daily Mass pray each day before the 9 a.m. Mass weekdays.  The Knights of Columbus lead the Rosary once a month at the Rosary Prayer Garden (weather permitting).  How does the Rosary fit into your life of prayer?

Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us!

A Word from Your Pastor - October 2

Dear Parishioners:

October is a very active month.  We are invited to open our eyes to the beauty of Life – both in this world and the next – and to commit ourselves to respect the dignity of every person from conception to the call to the Kingdom.  We are also called to prayer, in a particular way to pray the Rosary.  The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is October 7^th, a day that commemorates the impact of united prayer on the efforts to establish peace among nations.

The witness of a family united in prayer is more crucial now than ever.  In this month of the Rosary, I invite every family to learn to pray together.  Do you have an established routine of prayer with those who share your household?  Try the Rosary.  It is truly a prayer that involves the whole person, body, mind and spirit.  It touches us heart and soul.  It draws us into a deeper relationship with Jesus and Mary and helps us to understand the ways of God in our lives.

The beads of the Rosary are held in our hands as we count our way through the Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s.  Our posture, generally kneeling or sitting attentively, take us into an attitude of prayer.  Reflecting on the Mysteries – Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious – take us through the whole reality of human life in relationship with the grace of God.  Each individual Mystery tells us about Jesus and Mary, about the Church, and about our own spiritual life.  We become ever more aware of the ways of God and that frees us to be more responsive to the Spirit’s promptings.

This month, I call you to prayer.  May you and your family grow in the spiritual bond that will see you through life’s journey.  And may we all learn how to proclaim the Gospel of Life that promotes dignity and harmony among all people.

Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us!

Focolare Word of Life for October 2016

“Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.”  (Sirach 28:2)

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