A Word from Your Pastor - May 26

Dear Parishioners:

 

It is always fun to welcome a new member into the life of St. Timothy Parish.  The opportunity to see things through a new set of eyes serves to help us to appreciate how good we have it.  This past week, I have been delighted to welcome our Summer Seminarian intern, Pushkar Baum, into all that St. Timothy is about.  His enthusiasm is catching.  Our children have picked up on it.  They met him first at the School Mass on Wednesday, and he has had the chance to visit the children in their classrooms, on the playground and in the cafeteria. 

 

When was the last time you were personally responsible for someone new entering the life of our parish family?  Have you ever directly invited someone to “Come and See”?  This is the first step required of every disciple: to pass on what you have received, rather than to keep it for yourself.

 

When folks choose to leave a community, it will often be due to the fact that they have not found anyone to connect with.  It is true that it takes two to tango – so the effort to make a connection has to have the involvement of both sides of the relationship – but there is a greater responsibility on the part of the one who is already here.  We are given the charge of the Risen Lord to let everyone know that Life is Eternal and that we get to begin the fun now.

 

As your Pastor, I invite you to take a new step in the effort to be sure that everyone who comes to be with us feels welcome.  First, make sure you know those who sit with you in church.  Tell that person you have nodded to or waved to or given the Sign of Peace to every week – but whose name you do not know – what your name is.  Second, take a risk and do something different some weekend: stand out in front of the church before Mass or after, and greet a few others.  Offer to assist with handing out bulletins.  Stay a few extra minutes and make a new friend or two.  Third, try out a different Mass than you usually attend and meet the folks who share your space (the pew you always sit in).

 

We are in need of greeters and ushers to assist at all Masses.  I give you who are not in that role now authorization to unofficially appoint yourself to the role once a month.  Try it out.  If you like it, consider taking up the duty more regularly.  Bring members of your family who are old enough to assist as your partners, and tell an usher (the one with the name tag at the door who also takes up the collection) that the Holy Spirit has called you to be co-workers for a week or two.  One new role we are considering is that of volunteers to serve as weekend “information hosts.”  Would you be able to answer questions that help anyone who comes to feel more a part of our parish family?

 

Trinity Sunday reminds us that God IS a Family of Persons, united in One Love.  Our community is meant to mirror that Love.  Will you help to make St. Timothy Church more an experience of Home?

 

 

 

Year of Faith October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013

 

We continue our journey through the Year of Faith.  As one way of observing this year, each week a small section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is read before the start of Mass.  This is a small way of offering some food for growth in Faith throughout this year.

 

 

ARTICLE 2     THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith

Growth in understanding the faith

 

94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:

 

— “through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts”; (Dei Verbum 8 § 2; cf. Luke 2:19, 51.) it is in particular “theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth.”  (Gaudium et Spes 62 § 7; cf. Gaudium et Spes 44 § 2; Dei Verbum 23, 24; Unitatis Redintegratio 4.)

— “from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience,” (Dei Verbum 8 § 2.) the sacred Scriptures “grow with the one who reads them.”  (St. Gregory the Great, Hom. in Ez. 1, 7, 8: PL 76, 843 D)

— “from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth.”  (Dei Verbum 8 § 2.)

 

95 “It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”  (Dei Verbum 10 § 3.)

 

Comment: Catholics never have to go it alone.  We always have someone who has got our back.  Scripture gives us the witness of the first generation of disciples.  Tradition helps us to see how the Word of God can be lived in each new generation.  The Magisterium (the living teaching office of the Church, expressed through our shepherds and leaders) ensures that we are able to chart a path, no matter how complicated it may be.  Can you see how much God cares for us to give us these means of growing in the Life of the Triune God?  How do you understand each of these aspects of the Church in your own life of Faith?

A Word from Your Pastor - May 19 Pentecost

Dear Parishioners:

Happy Pentecost!

 

Come, Holy Spirit!  With these words, we open our hearts to the Gift of God, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, sent to us by the Father and the Son, as the first fruits and pledge of Eternal Life.  A life lived under the influence of the Holy Spirit is a life that mirrors Jesus Christ, Who reveals the Father to us all. 

 

The Church is called into being by the Holy Spirit.  That same Spirit reminds us of all that Jesus taught and gives us the strength and courage to spread the Word.  We are hearing the call to “Rebuild the Church” from Pope Francis and from the work of the Spirit among us.  Can you begin to hear the invitation to you and your family to seek the “lost” and to be a welcoming community that brings others to Jesus Christ? Are you ready to respond by a leap of Faith?  Will you be part of rebuilding the Church so that the world may come to the Unity that God wills for His People?

 

This weekend we inaugurate our new Organ at the 10 a.m. Mass.   We are grateful to all who have made this possible.  We look forward to a continued growth in our music program and in the sharing of joyful song that leads us into worship.  Do you have a gift for song or for music?  Now is the time to come forward to share your talent with your brothers and sisters.
 

Once again, the Diocese of Columbus has asked St. Timothy to host a Seminarian for the summer.  This year we will welcome a College student, Pushkar Baum, from Newark, St. Francis DeSales Parish.  He will arrive this Tuesday to begin his 10-week stay with us.  A special project he will be overseeing will be to make plans for our parish collaboration with the Josephinum in the New Evangelization, taking the Gospel to the streets, two by two.  Give some consideration to being a part of this venture.

As the School year winds down and summer begins, please be sure to keep God and His Church in your weekly routine.  When you are away for vacation, seek out the nearest Catholic Church and bring back a bulletin to let us know you have been to Mass!

Year of Faith October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013

We continue our journey through the Year of Faith.  As one way of observing this year, each week a small section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is read before the start of Mass.  This is a small way of offering some food for growth in Faith throughout this year.

ARTICLE 2     THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith

The supernatural sense of faith

91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them  (Cf. 1 John 2:20, 27.) and guides them into all truth. (Cf. John 16:13.)

92 “The whole body of the faithful... cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, ‘from the bishops to the last of the faithful,’ they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals.”  (Lumen Gentium 12; cf. St. Augustine, De praed. sanct. 14, 27: PL 44, 980.)

93 “By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),... receives... the faith, once for all delivered to the saints.... The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life.” (Lumen Gentium 12; cf. Jude 3.)

Comment: Our current culture emphasizes a sense of individualism. Our Faith and every other culture that preceded us put in the center the common reality of the family, the tribe, the people.  In short, there are some things that the individual receives not individually, but as a member of a community.  The sensus fidei is given to the whole Body of Believers.  Faith is not a matter of a survey or a vote.  Rather, it is a matter of an intuition that comes to all through an active, committed practice of the Faith.  We know the Faith, we learn the Faith by living it.  How are you and your family responding to the truths of the Faith and Morals?  Do you put them into practice before you “judge” them?

A Word from Your Pastor - May 12

Dear Parishioners:

As I visit the School or celebrate the School Mass on Wednesdays, I engage our children in discussion about matters of Faith and about what is going on in their lives.  I am always amazed and delighted at the way they see connections between things.  Their questions are also very revealing.  Encountering children in this way has been part of my own priestly ministry since my first assignment at St. Mary’s in Lancaster in 1985.   During my years in Lancaster, I also taught at Fisher Catholic High School.

Through the years, as I have visited with children to talk about the Faith, I have noticed several things.  First, our children are asking the “deeper questions” earlier and earlier.  What used to be asked at the College level moved to High School, and High School age questions are being asked in middle school and even earlier.  Second, families are far busier outside the home than ever before.  Religious practice has often been relegated to a secondary place in family life, both at church (Sunday Mass) and at home (religious devotions shared between parents and children).  What this means is that the questions children ask at School or in the PSR classroom about Faith may receive an answer in class, but get little reinforcement at home.  This situation calls for an intentional change in our Catholic family culture in order to ensure that the next generation learns the Faith.

The Solemnity we celebrate today, the Ascension of the Lord (moved in our region from Thursday to Sunday in order to allow a greater number of the faithful to experience the liturgical celebration of this Mystery), speaks to the need to make the connection between our culture and our Faith.  The Ascension tells us that Jesus is always able to be present among us in a real but invisible way because He has taken our human nature into the very Life of God.  His Divinity entered our humanity in the Incarnation. 

Our humanity entered into Divinity through the Ascension.  The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit that takes place on Pentecost is made possible by the “stretching” of our human nature to encompass Divine Life.  What God has done in Jesus Christ is to take our earthly reality into the Divine Reality of the Life of the Trinity.  So, our family life is meant to be lived in the awareness of our eternal destiny.  Family prayer and devotions, and especially the weekly participation in the Mass are necessary to put our Faith into practice in anticipation of what God has in store for us.

 

Year of Faith October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013

We continue our journey through the Year of Faith.  As one way of observing this year, each week a small section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is read before the start of Mass.  This is a small way of offering some food for growth in Faith throughout this year.

ARTICLE 2     THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith

The dogmas of the faith

88 The Church’s Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.

89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith. (Cf. John 8:31-32.)

90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ.  (Cf. Vatican Council I: DS 3016: nexus mysteriorum; Lumen Gentium 25.) “In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith.” (Unitatis Redintegratio 11.)

Comment: It has become popular in our modern culture to discount the value and importance of dogma.  Unfortunately, this attitude gets in the way of our understanding of the true meaning of dogma.  It is possible to hold firmly to the dogmas of our Catholic Faith without being “dogmatic” as the culture considers us.  Simply put, dogmas are the road maps of Faith.  They make known to us how to get where we want to go.  They are not chains binding us, but rather, tethers to Eternity, that help us to avoid traps and pitfalls that have proven false.  To believe in the Faith of the Church, the Faith that opens us to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we must give assent to the dogmas defined by the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Who leads us to all Truth.  Only then do we have hope of coming to understand the Faith in its purity and in its completeness.  How do you respond to the Dogmas of the Church?

 

A Word from Your Pastor - May 5

Dear Parishioners:

 Many have been absorbed in the media of late concerning Bishop Watterson, one of our local Catholic High Schools for which St.Timothy Parish is a feeder parish.   As Pastor, I want you to know that I am aware of the concerns and have done my best to come to an understanding of the various issues involved.  If anyone wants to speak to me in person about these matters, I will be happy to visit with you.  I want to assure you of my prayers, especially for those who are associated with Watterson as students, parents of students, and alumni.

This past week, I attended the Watterson School Board meeting and from that I can offer just a few points that may be helpful.  First, as most realize the matter that started the current controversy is a personnel issue.  Steps have been taken on the part of those involved that have been highly publicized.  Personnel disputes are handled by processes worked out by the Teachers’ Union, and by the Law (Federal, State and City), and they are underway.  These things take time and as long as a process is in motion, nothing further can be said.  This causes frustration, no doubt, but the only comment possible is “No comment.”  When questions like this were reached in the trial of St. Joan of Arc, her response was “Passez outre,” that is, “move on to another question.”

Second, a major concern has been that of the safety of our children and ensuring that they are able to discuss with helpful adults what needs to be discussed to give them an understanding of the situation.  There have been messages received that law enforcement officials called “menacing,” rather than “threatening.”  Rumors have escalated what has been received.  There is one police officer present on premises (at the Diocesan expense, not Watterson’s) and the School is, as usual, under “level one security,” which means access to the building is limited.  (This is the usual condition of our schools, including St. Timothy School.)  The children are safe; special precautions are taken to be sure, but it is “business as usual” with the end of year activities.  It is not true that the principal is escorted daily to and from school.  Reasonable caution is taken and academic life goes on.  Members of the pastoral staff at the School are available to students to talk with them and answer questions, with the limitation mentioned above that personnel matters are not free to be discussed while processes are in motion.  In particular, the students are being given information concerning the Catholic Teachings on Marriage and Family life in their classes, and opportunities for interested adults will be made available as well.

Finally, the question of communication has been raised both at the level of the School and of the Diocese.  Bishop Campbell was interviewed personally by the media and information has been published.  The School and the Diocesan Office of Education have agreed to ensure that parents and others get information in a timely fashion.  Questions and concerns can be sent to the Watterson School Office and they will be addressed as soon as possible.

For all of us, this is a moment to choose to maintain our unity in the Faith and in our support for one another.  We are a family and we owe it to one another not to “abandon ship” when we need each other the most.  The world will use such painful experiences to divide and conquer.  God can use the same experience as He used the Cross – to open the door to a new Life and to deepen our understanding of how close He is to us.

 

Year of Faith October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013

 We continue our journey through the Year of Faith.  This week’s selection is offered to bring clarity to some current issues.

The Vocation to Chastity  2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.  The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.

The integrity of the person  2338 The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.  (Cf. Matthew 5:37.)

2339 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.  (Cf. Sirach 1:22.)  “Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.”  (Gaudium et Spes 17.)

2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. “Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity.”  (St. Augustine, Confessions 10, 29, 40.)

2343 Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin. “Man... day by day builds himself up through his many free decisions; and so he knows, loves, and accomplishes moral good by stages of growth.”  (Familiaris Consortio 34.)

2344 Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is “an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of society.”  (Gaudium et S 25 § 1.) Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.

2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort.  (Cf. Galatians 5:22.)  The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.  (Cf. 1 John 3:3.)

The integrality of the gift of self  2346 Charity is the form of all the virtues. Under its influence, chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is ordered to the gift of self. Chastity leads him who practices it to become a witness to his neighbor of God’s fidelity and loving kindness. 2347 The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends,  (Cf. John 15:15.)  who has given himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine estate. Chastity is a promise of immortality.   Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one’s neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to spiritual communion.

The various forms of chastity  2348 All the baptized are called to chastity. The Christian has “put on Christ,”  (Galatians 3:27.)  the model for all chastity. All Christ’s faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of life. At the moment of his Baptism, the Christian is pledged to lead his affective life in chastity.

2349 “People should cultivate chastity in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single.”  (Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Persona humana 11.) Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practice chastity in continence: “There are three forms of the virtue of chastity: the first is that of spouses, the second that of widows, and the third that of virgins. We do not praise any one of them to the exclusion of the others.... This is what makes for the richness of the discipline of the Church.”  (St. Ambrose, De viduis 4, 23.)

2350 Those who are engaged to marry are called to live chastity in continence. They should see in this time of testing a discovery of mutual respect, an apprenticeship in fidelity, and the hope of receiving one another from God. They should reserve for marriage the expressions of affection that belong to married love. They will help each other grow in chastity.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

Comment:  This section of the Catechism is included to bring some light concerning Catholic Church teaching on Marriage and Sexuality.  It is the Church’s firm belief that God offers grace to live in accord with the call to chastity according to one’s state in life.  Much of the current culture calls the Church’s teaching into question because it doubts the possibility of living up to such a call and of receiving the grace to put it into practice.  While it is true that such an ideal is high, it is also true that human beings are capable of great achievement only when they aim high.  Our aim is Eternity and a living relationship with God.  Can you see the wisdom of the Church’s teaching even if you have questions about it?

Focolare Word of Life May 2013

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be put into your lap. (Lk 6:38)

http://www.focolare.us/us/spirituality/word-of-life/242-2013/578-focolare-word-of-life-may-2013