Dear Parishioners:
If you are reading this, then it is likely we have missed a predicted end of the world. The news has been suggesting that May 21, 2011, would be the date that even Jesus did not know—that somehow someone else came up with through a form of Scriptural Bingo. We have lasted to serve another day. One of my Seminary professors spoke about this reality many years ago. People are always wondering if we are living in the “End Times.” The simple truth is that we are living in the “End Times” and that we have been doing so since the moment of the Resurrection of Jesus. The Resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of the End of the World.
The Easter Season continues. Just as we fasted for the 40 days of Lent, we are to feast for the 50 days of Easter. All are called to share the Banquet and it is our duty to serve as witnesses to the truths of our Faith.
This weekend, we experience a Ministry Fair, an opportunity to discover how the Parish community is responding together to serve one another and the larger world. We have invited every family to be part of some group or organization in the life of the Parish, or to take on one group or organization as a responsibility in prayer if you are not able to join. We are in this together. It is together as a Family of Faith that we are witnesses.
The RCIA Community has been experiencing a very interesting time of Mystagogia, that is, the time of instruction and reflection that follows Easter, a time of consideration of the Mysteries that have been celebrated at the Easter Vigil. One week, we introduced them to the wide variety of parish opportunities. Another week, they had a Reunion with past RCIA participants who shared what the Lord has been doing through the years since their own Easter initiation. Soon, they will conclude this part of their journey. We look ahead to the years to come. Do you know anyone who may be interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith? Now is the time to ask and to volunteer to walk with them as a sponsor. Every Catholic adult should experience the RCIA at least once.
Let us continue to rejoice in God’s Love and Mercy poured out upon us through Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord.
Countdown to our Golden Jubilee: Getting to know Saint Timothy.
“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
“For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.” (I Thessalonians 1:1-10)
“We decided to remain alone in Athens and sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one be disturbed in these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For even when we were among you, we used to warn you in advance that we would undergo affliction, just as has happened, as you know. For this reason, when I too could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had put you to the test and our toil might come to nothing. But just now Timothy has returned to us from you, bringing us the good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us and long to see us as we long to see you.
“Because of this, we have been reassured about you, brothers, in our every distress and affliction, through your faith. For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord. What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you, for all the joy we feel on your account before our God? Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith. Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.” (I Thessalonians 3:1-13)
The earliest of Paul’s letters, I Thessalonians, already shows our Timothy to be a valued co-worker who can fulfill aspects of the Ministry that Paul realizes he must share when he is unable to accomplish them himself. This collaboration with the next generation is the secret of Tradition. The purpose of Tradition is not to look to the past, but rather to pass on the treasures of one generation to the generations to come. Timothy serves Paul and the Thessalonians as one who bridges the questions of Faith, encouraging the growth of Faith of a community and letting Paul, the community’s founding father, know that his work has not been in vain.
We are experiencing a similar moment in the life of our Parish. Who among us are the leaders of the next generation who are being called forth? Who are the elders who need to be reassured that their work and Faith have not been in vain? Can we offer hope to one another and to the world?
Reflections on the Liturgy: NICENE CREED
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The changes in the last paragraph of the Creed are small, but again highlight fidelity to the Latin and to a personal and communal expression of Faith. The Credo from the first line is repeated to conform to the English grammar. Any student of Latin knows that one Latin verb can govern many subordinate clauses. The fact of punctuation and the need to keep the verb in view are the reason that “I believe” is repeated here. The Latin verbs “confiteor” and “expecto” are translated anew to give a more dynamic expression than the current “acknowledge” and “look for” that are in use now. “I confess” and “I look forward to” involve a more personal and committed response to the Faith that is professed.
Opportunities for Pilgrimage to the Lands of the Bible
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land & Jordan: Fr. Dan Millisor is offering a pilgrimage departing from Columbus on September 16, for 12 days including all major Catholic sites in Israel plus Petra & Ammon in Jordan. Deposit to reserve a place: $300.00.
A number of parishioners followed this journey with Fr. Tim last February. It is an experience that will change your understanding of the Bible and the readings we hear at Mass.
Call Judy Lorms for details 614-670-8626 or email: judylorms@gmail.com.
Pilgrimage "In the Footsteps of St. Timothy": Fr. Tim Hayes & Fr. Paul Hrezo, Spiritual Director at the Pontifical College Josephinum, are offering a pilgrimage departing on October 19th for 12 days to Greece & Turkey, following the path of St. Timothy & St Paul. Ephesus, where St. Timothy served as Bishop, a cruise to the island of Patmos, where St. John composed the Book of Revelation, Rhodes & others are included among many other sites. Deposit to reserve a place: $300.00.
This is an opportunity to learn about our Patron Saint Timothy and to come to understand both the writings of Saint Paul and the Book of Revelation by seeing the lands where they were composed.
Call Judy Lorms 614-670-8626 for details or email: judylorms@gmail.com.
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