A Word from Your Pastor March 13

Dear Parishioners:

The First Sunday of Lent is a moment of Election – recognition of our status as God’s Chosen Ones. It is also an invitation to Choose God as First in our lives.

No doubt we all have the experience at one time or another in our lives of not being chosen. We do all we can to prepare for something, but then we are left at the mercy of others who select those who will be “in.” This is a humbling experience. When we happen to be among those who are chosen, we feel accepted. We belong. The team or the group that has invited us into membership is ours. We are “we” and no longer among “them,” that is, those who are outside. It is God’s plan to invite all who hear and accept the invitation to enter His Kingdom.

As members of the People of God, it is our responsibility to ensure that all are able to hear the invitation as addressed personally to them. Lent is a special time to acknowledge the wondrous mystery that we are among the chosen. It is a time to review the temptations that confront us. Jesus’ temptations remind us of what is in us that can turn inward: a tendency to self-sufficiency, a grasp for power and control, a failure to put God first.

Some in our world deny the existence of personal evil, the devil. One response to this is very simple, “then who tempted Jesus?” As the Son of God in the flesh, there is no evil in Him, so no source for temptation except from outside His Person. For most of us, the devil is content to watch us create our own falsehood and just to encourage us down false paths of our own making. For Jesus, the temptation has to be at the root and from beyond what is in Him. It is for our sake that He experiences these temptations and His overcoming of them is a reminder to us of the power of grace at work in our human nature.



The Year of Prayer: Act of Love

O my God, I love You above all things with my whole heart and soul, because You are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, and asked pardon for all whom I have injured.

Countdown to our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy.

Having offered an overview of what we can learn about St. Timothy from Scripture and Tradition, now we can delve a little more deeply into the Scriptures associated with him. Acts 15:36 – 18:22 gives us an account of St. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. It is in the context of this journey that St. Paul first encounters Timothy.

“Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted him to come along with him. n account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:1-3)


This encounter was a real boost for Paul. In the previous chapter, we hear that Paul had to “do battle” for the Gospel with the Apostles in Jerusalem, and then that he had a falling out with Barnabas over their traveling companion John Mark. It was a happy chance that Timothy came on the scene. The good report from other Christians was a plus. And the fact that he was ready and available to join Paul on the journey with Silas was encouraging.

Paul had the opportunity to show that he could compromise when there was good reason. His having Timothy follow the custom of circumcision was a sign that he was willing to work with the folks who felt that Jews should be Jews in practice even in their embrace of Christianity. Recall how hard he had fought to have Gentiles recognized as Gentiles and not constrained to Jewish practices first. Paul was all about freedom in Christ. Our Timothy was one who was willing to work with Paul from the start, even though it was a sacrifice for him personally!


Reflections on the Liturgy:

In the months ahead, we will be making preparations for the change to the new Missal for celebration of Mass. There will be changes in the English that is used both for the People’s parts and the parts said by the Celebrant and the other ministers.

Let’s first begin to take a look at the changes that will take place for the People. The Diocese of Columbus has created cards that will be available in the pews and the new missalettes and worship aids that will be used will include the changes as well.

One change that will be most evident will be the translation of the exchange between the Celebrant and the People that occurs rather often in our prayers. Old-timers will remember the Latin:

Dominus vobiscum.
– Et cum spiritu tuo.

OUR PRESENT RESPONSE
Priest: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you.

OUR RESPONSE BEGINNING WITH SATURDAY EVENING MASS NOVEMBER 26 2011
Priest: The Lord be with you. People: And with your spirit.


There are two main reasons for this change. First, the new form of English better represents the response as it is in Latin and in virtually every other language among the vernacular translations of the Mass. (There are a few that are similar to the English form, but that is usually because they were translated from English and not from the original Latin.) When the Liturgy of the Latin Rite is celebrated, it is reasonable to expect the same meaning even though it is in different languages. That is the point of translation in the first place.

The second reason is that the Latin text is directly associated with Sacred Scripture. When different forms and meaning are expressed as an interpretation of the meaning of the original Latin, the connection with Scripture is lost.

In this case, “and with your spirit” comes directly from Scripture.

• St. Paul writes to the Galatians: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.” (Galatians 6:18)

• He says to the Philippians: “The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” (Philippians 4:23)

• In his Second Letter to Timothy, he closes with: “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with all of you.” (II Timothy 4:22)

This text speaks to the unity of spirit between St. Paul and the fellow Christians whom he is addressing. When we use the formula in Mass and on other occasions, we are emphasizing the living relationship in the Spirit that we have that enables us to pray from our unity in Christ and to worship the Living God.

Some comment that they do not like the form “and with your spirit” because we do not ordinarily talk that way. But the text is Scripture and its meaning conveys more than a simple response: “yeah, with you too.” Even the formula “and also with you” is different from our daily form of speech. So it makes sense to be more literal in translation and hence more Scriptural, so we can acknowledge in our worship that we are speaking in direct line with those who gave us the Bible and with the Spirit Who inspired them and Who continues to infuse our worship with power.