A Word from Your Pastor March 17 - Second Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

Frustration is a common experience.  All human being experience the “pull” that comes from things not being as we want them to be. 

As with most human experiences, there is something good about this and something not so good.  We get caught up in our frustration in a negative way when its source is from ourselves, noticing the fact that the world is not shaped according to our own desires.  Our thoughts and feelings created by the difference between the way the world is and the way we would have it if we were in charge keep us focused on ourselves. 

On the other hand, there is also a kind of frustration that comes from acknowledging that things are not the way they should be and that they could be better.  This frustration is not focused on ourselves, but on the goal.  It can supply us with an impulse toward growth and an encouragement to persevere on the quest for something greater.

The Transfiguration is a sharing in the vision God has for human beings.  Peter, James and John are privileged to see the glory of the Lord and to have imprinted on their minds and hearts the hope of our earthly journey.  When the experience takes place, they do not understand.  But it prepares them personally for the scandal of the Cross.  When Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection are fulfilled, they will remember the Transfiguration and it will begin to make sense for them.

Each one of us is destined for glory.  All our companions on the journey are destined for glory.  The frustrations and struggles of living in the world before glory is manifested are meant to be a reminder that what we will one day know comes at a cost, but at a cost that is worth it.

May our continued journey through Lent open our hearts to the hints of glory that are all around us.   May we begin to see our companions on the journey in the light of glory.

A Word from Your Pastor March 10 - First Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

Lent has begun.  This year, I invite you and your family to go to the desert.  In the desert, however you may shape it for yourselves, I invite you to renew your understanding of the Gospel and to live the Sacraments.  Find a way to get away from things, to create an atmosphere of prayer and peace for yourself and for each member of your family.  Let your works of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving be methods to grow in your commitment and understanding of the Gospel and of your practice of the Sacramental Life.

Pray:  Read a Gospel.  Choose Luke, which is the Gospel of Year C, that is read at Sunday Masses.  Choose Mark, the shortest Gospel, or Matthew, the Gospel that shows Jesus as fulfillment of the Old Testament, or John, the Gospel that shows how it all fits together with the Word made Flesh.

Fast: Find a way to detox from media, to detach from all that keeps you too busy.  Give up a food that you enjoy.  Study the Scriptures to see the different kinds of penances done by God’s people and try them for yourself.

Give Alms: Participate in a particular charity as a family.  Spend time with your children or with someone who is always alone.  Reconnect with old friends.  Give to your favorite charity.  Give something of yourself – your time and your talent – in addition to your treasure.

Today’s Gospel tells us of the Temptation of Jesus after His Baptism.  Our Lord was tested, and He prevailed.  May we discover our own temptations and learn to trust in the Spirit to free us to be who God calls us to be.

A Word from Your Pastor March 3

Dear Parishioners:

Lent is coming!  With Ash Wednesday this week, we begin our six-week journey to Easter.  It is a time for Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.  It is a time to deepen our Faith, to enliven our Hope and to grow in our capacity to Love with God’s own Love.  It is a time to pay close attention to our relationship with God and His Church.

These days, the Church is in the public eye more prominently than ever.  Our reputation is sullied because some of our worst sins are exposed for all to see.  This is a painful time.  Yet, our call is to put our trust in God.  God’s Mercy is available to all who are open to receive it.  The message of Reconciliation has been entrusted to us to share with the world.  We cannot allow our failings or the failings of our leaders to keep us from our resolve to turn to God and to serve as a witness to the truth of Faith.

We pray in a special way this year that our children be given an authentic and clear witness by our practice of the Faith.  I invite every family to renew its commitment to bring all its members to church.  Parents, you teach your children more by your actions than by your words.

For Prayer:  Attend Mass every Sunday.  Bring the family to Stations of the Cross on Friday.  Choose a day for Lenten family prayer – the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Stations of the Cross at home.  Send someone to Wednesday adoration to bring your family’s needs to the Eucharistic Lord.

For Fasting:  Remember the fast and abstinence assigned by the Church to all adults – no meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent, fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  Choose something as a family to “give up” during Lent – television one day a week, electronic devices during family time, etc.

For Almsgiving: Practice charity by giving time to others.  Use the Lenten Rice Bowl.  Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen.  Participate in the activities of St. Vincent DePaul.  Find a common cause for your family to work on together.

Don’t let Lent pass you by.  Open your heart to God’s purifying grace though the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Pray for the Church to be truly all that God calls her to be.  Allow your life and the life you share with your family to become ever more centered on the Gospel.

Lenten Regulations for Catholics

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

For further information and reflections, see the Unites States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ site:  http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/catholic-information-on-lenten-fast-and-abstinence.cfm

A Word from Your Pastor February 24

Dear Parishioners:

Governmental intrigues are nothing new.  If you want to read some really wild stories about how political officials can go wrong, all you need to do is open your Bible.  Our readings this weekend are a reminder that human nature has not changed much through the centuries. The surprise ought not to be that corruption is present in either the public sector or the Church.  Human nature on its own can never get much beyond the mud.  The surprise is that there are signs of Mercy present even in the most unpleasant human situations.

God has revealed to us that He loves us.  Once we reject His Love, He stands steady and offers it again as Mercy.  We are called as a People to acknowledge that God is merciful and we are to imitate the God we discover through accepting the Mercy He offers to us.  Perfection is something we strive for but will not achieve on earth.  There will always be room for improvement.  If we measure according to the measure God has for us, there is always room for something more. 

Soon Lent will begin.  It is time to reflect on how we will live this Lent.  Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the practices that allow us to be practical in our efforts to live our Faith.

How and where and when will you pray this Lent?  What sacrifices will you make to indicate that you are serious about opening your heart to the Kingdom?  And how will you share what you have with those who are in need?  Pray.  Fast.  Give Alms.  Spiritual activities that make use of material realities for a higher purpose allow this world to enter into the service of the Kingdom.  “Be merciful, just as your Heavenly Father is merciful.”

A Word from Your Pastor February 17

Dear Parishioners:

We feel blessed about things that please us and we cry “woe” about the things we don’t like.  Jesus invites us to think differently.  Our measure is the problem.  How we see is the problem.  What we set as our goal or aim in life is the problem.  If we have the eyes to see it, everything is a grace from God.

God invites us to broaden our vision.  When we settle for less than God’s vision, we miss an opportunity.  Everything this side of Heaven is provisional.  God calls us to discover Who He IS and who we are first, because that is what will last.  Prayer draws us into a relationship with God that serves to keep us growing.

February is often a time of year when we feel like we are in a rut.  Gray skies.  Snow.  Rain.  Clouds and darkness.  This is Ohio, after all.  But the truth is that we can see beyond the clouds.  The sun is always there.  Sometimes, it peaks through and raises our spirits.

This weekend, we experience something else that ought to lift us out of the doldrums.  Bishop Frederick F. Campbell is with us for the Sacrament of Confirmation for our 8^th Graders at the Noon Mass.  This will be his last visit with us as our Bishop.  We welcome him heartily and thank him for all that he has done through the years for St. Timothy Parish and for the Diocese of Columbus.  We wish him well on his new ventures.

We have been a parish that has had Bishop Campbell present to us at least twice a year every year – for Confirmation in the winter months and for the Blue Mass in the Fall.  At least a couple of years we had him for three visits.  Who can forget our 50^th Anniversary Celebration in November 2011, where we also inaugurated the new English version of the Mass and had the Bishop bless our Rosary Prayer Garden?

If you have an opportunity this month, it might be a nice idea to send a message of thanks to Bishop Campbell.  We will welcome his successor, Bishop Robert Brennan, in March.  The installation of the new bishop will be March 29.  In the meantime, pray for the Diocese of Columbus and all its people as we experience this time of transition.

May we open our hearts to all the blessings God bestows on us and respond to the Gift of the Spirit by proclaiming the Good News to all we meet.

A Word from Your Pastor February 10

Dear Parishioners:

A Call from God is addressed to every human being.  As Christians, we are obliged to acknowledge that the Creator of the Universe has a Plan which incorporates all people.  The charge given to us is to pass on this Good News to others.  St. Paul expresses succinctly the central part of this Word:  Christ died for our sins.  He was buried.  He rose from the dead and appeared to followers who knew Him in His earthly ministry and then to others, like Paul himself, who were also charged to share the Gospel.  This Message becomes something of first importance to those who hear it and receive it.

When we relate to one another, we are meant to see one another as fellow ministers of the Gospel.  The social activities and all the other aspects of our common life have the purpose of forming us as a family of disciples who are meant to draw others into the family.

God is Holy.  By our relationship with Him, we become holy.  He shares His very life with us.  We acknowledge Who He IS.  We relate to Him on His terms, realizing our smallness, our weakness and our sinfulness.  He purifies us as we pray and worship in His Presence.  We receive what He offers, experiencing an interior transformation that frees us to relate more deeply to Him.  Our response, then, is to follow through on the mission entrusted to us.

The material world can be an obstacle to our relationship with God when it gets all our attention.  It is meant to be a means of relationship with God and with others.  Body, mind and spirit, we belong to God.  Our whole persons will share in the fruits of the Gospel.  We will be sustained through the sufferings of life.  We will die and we will rise from the dead.  If our hearts and lives have been given over to God, we will share in His glory forever.

The choice is ours.  Time is a great gift.  We are given days and years in which we can learn the lessons that God wants to teach us.  But we must acknowledge Him for Who He IS.  May we be formed by grace as a people who relate to God, who receive His Word of Truth and Life, and who respond fully to the Call that is addressed to us by the Living God.

A Word from Your Pastor February 3

Dear Parishioners:

The essence of prayer is a living relationship with God.  Behind every form of prayer, there is first the relationship between the one who is praying and the One Who is being addressed in prayer.  As we enter into prayer, we simply rest in that relationship and discover truly Who it is that holds us in being, Who it is that loves us, Who it is that is worthy of our fullest confidence and trust.

Our life together as a Catholic parish is first of all meant to be a School of Prayer.  As we pray individually and together, we are invited to learn more about God, about ourselves as we truly are, and about God’s plans for us.

We must first acknowledge that God is God.  God must be the center of our lives  Where can we meet God?  Everywhere!  Our very breath comes from God.  Before we take our first breath, and even beyond our last breath, however, there is a relationship with God.

As the prophet Jeremiah hears from God: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”  Take that awareness into your prayer.  You are known and loved by God before your existence in your mother’s womb.  The God Who knows and loves you remains in relationship to you forever.

Our Kindergarteners have taken this knowledge into their awareness.  They picked up a very simple truth on Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day at St. Timothy School last fall.  Now they have tee shirts that identify their class with a message: “I am loved.  I am chosen.  I will do great things.”

May we all open our hearts to the truth of this message.  May we be as children before a Loving Father.  And may we begin to pray more fervently and with a greater willingness to follow the Lord where He leads.

Focolare Word of Life for February 2019

“Seek peace, and pursue it.”  (Psalm 34:14)

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