A Word from Your Pastor - October 27

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend, the Bishop Campbell and Diocese of Columbus invite us to spread the word about a program developed to confront a very modern problem.  The “My House Columbus” program addresses the issue of pornography which invades our lives in so many ways.  This initiative concerns something that affects us in our capacity to relate to one another with freedom and respect.  When we fail to see one another as a unity of body, mind and spirit, we lose our most precious gift this side of Heaven: a taste of the communion God plans for us in His Kingdom through our encounter with one another at a depth.

Pope John Paul II, who will be declared a Saint in April 2014, taught a beautiful vision for humanity.  His “Theology of the Body” is a look at the human person through the eyes of God as revealed in Scripture, especially in the Book of Genesis.  This vision is a powerful means to move beyond the temptation and enslavement that is created by addiction to pornography and other forms of sexuality that fail to correspond with God’s plan for us.  His message -- and the message of “My House Columbus” -- is that freedom is possible.  There are resources available to break the chains that bind and open us to God’s invitation to freedom and love.

Our Parish Youth have been studying Theology of the Body for Teens with a dynamic group of leaders.  They are given a taste of the vision for the human person that will enable them to confront the difficulties they will face in the years ahead.  The whole Church of Columbus is working to find ways for all of us to support one another in bringing God’s vision for our human relationships.  We can be free and live in purity of mind and heart, no matter what false avenues we have pursued.  The deception has been uncovered and My House Columbus offers ways to continue to bring it to the light.

See the materials about “My House Columbus” available in the vestibule of the church or take the time to investigate online at MyHouseColumbus.org.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also always available as a means of healing and forgiveness when we fall.

 

 

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.

CHAPTER THREE    MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD

ARTICLE 2        WE BELIEVE

166 Faith is a personal act—the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

167 “I believe” (Apostles’ Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. “We believe” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. “I believe” is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both “I believe” and “We believe.”

Comment: Faith is not a merely personal act, nor a private affair.  It is primarily a communal act.  We believe as individuals in the God Who is a community, Father, Son and Spirit.  An individual act of Faith truly makes sense only in relationship to the whole community called to a living relationship with God.  We receive the Faith as a gift, and we share it.  How do you understand your own act of Faith in relation to the wider Church?

Focolare Word of Life for October 2013: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom.13:8)

Word of Life for November 2013: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Eph 4:32)

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

The New Evangelization at St. Timothy Parish

Our Seminarian interns, Stephen Vaccaro and Alex Pacelli, are making the rounds of parish groups to share their mission for the year at St. Timothy Church.  They have visited with the Knights of Columbus, the Parish Pastoral Council, the Youth Group and with the Home and School association.  Saturday October 12th was the first Door-to-door mission with Seminarians of the PCJ New Evangelization Club for this year.

Upcoming events including the Seminarian interns for the first semester are as follows: 

Next weekend the seminarians are speaking at all the Masses to promote the November 9th Mission and to invite parishioners of St. Timothy Church to take part.

Nov. 8th - Meeting to teach parishioners about going door-to-door

Nov. 9th - Door-to-door mission
Nov. 14th – School Visit
Nov. 17th - Youth Group
Nov. 24th - Youth Group
Dec. 5th - Planning day at the parish

Anyone who wants to tag along or participate in some way can contact Stephen Vaccaro at smv4h@virginia.edu. The hope/plan is to create our own Evangelization Club to learn about the process of evangelization and to create opportunities for members of our parish to respond to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization – new in its ardor and new in its methods.

A Word from Your Pastor - October 20

Dear Parishioners:

Last weekend was an amazing time of grace.  I was in awe of the work that God does due to two special events.  The first was the presence in our parish of 18 seminarians from the Josephinum who were walking door-to-door in our neighborhood to evangelize.  They came to get some practical experience of talking to people about the Faith, making visits to households in our parish boundaries.  They went out two-by-two as representatives of St. Timothy parish just to greet folks in the name of Jesus.  Their plan is to continue doing this in our parish throughout the year, a couple of times each semester.  They also want to invite you to join them.  Is the Spirit calling you to be more pro-active in sharing your Faith?

The second event was the presence of my Mother (along with my Father, my sister and my nephew) in church for the Saturday evening Mass.  I did not know she was coming and she arrived just before the Mass started.  It really hit me as a moment of joy and an answer to prayers.  Honestly, as Mass began, I was near tears and was not sure I would be able to speak.  (Most who were there probably just thought it was the cold and the cough that I have been fighting the past couple of weeks.)  God is good!  You have been praying for my Mother and my family, and God has heard that prayer.  Mom’s being at Mass is a sign that she is on the mend.  This week, she was also able to stop in at St. Timothy Church for a visit during our Wednesday Adoration when she and my sister stopped by.  Although she is still a bit unsteady on her feet and walks slow, she is up and about.

I share these items with you because they are living examples to me of the power of Faith and Prayer to get us through and to open new doors.  Our world needs such examples.  You and I are invited not to sit back and watch things happen, but to be part of something bigger than ourselves.  We are called to be People of Faith, who invite the world around us to realize that God is among us.  How do you see this happening in your own neighborhood?

 

 

 

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.

CHAPTER THREE     MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD

ARTICLE 1  I BELIEVE   III. The Characteristics of Faith

Faith—the beginning of eternal life         163 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God “face to face,” “as he is.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2) So faith is already the beginning of eternal life:

When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.  (St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, 15, 36; cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II, 4, 1.)

164 Now, however, “we walk by faith, not by sight”;  (2 Corinthians 5:7.) we perceive God as “in a mirror, dimly” and only “in part.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12.) Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice, and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

165 It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who “in hope... believed against hope”;  (Romans 4:18.) to the Virgin Mary, who, in “her pilgrimage of faith,” walked into the “night of faith”  (Lumen Gentium 58; John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater 18.) in sharing the darkness of her son’s suffering and death; and to so many others: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Comment:  Faith allows us to taste in Time what we will know in Eternity.  In order to live by Faith, we must allow it to shape how we see what we experience in this world.  Witnesses of Faith allow us to discover the way in which Faith operates in real human lives.  What aspects of Eternity are evident in your Faith?  Who are the witnesses of Faith for you?

Focolare Word of Life for October 2013:

"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom.13:8)

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

The New Evangelization at St. Timothy Parish

Our Seminarian interns, Stephen Vaccaro and Alex Pacelli, are making the rounds of parish groups to share their mission for the year at St. Timothy Church.  They have visited with the Knights of Columbus, the Parish Pastoral Council, the Youth Group, the Home and School association and with Men’s Club.  If your group is not on the horizon, feel free to invite them.

Saturday October 12th was the first Door-to-door mission with Seminarians of the PCJ New Evangelization Club for this year.  We had 18 seminarians go out in 9 groups of 2x2 in our parish, sharing their joy in the Gospel.  When they returned, they offered a Te Deum and a prayer for Vocations in the church.

Upcoming events including the Seminarian interns for the first semester are as follows: 

Oct. 26th & 27th - Speak at Masses promoting the Nov. 9th Mission

Nov. 8th - Meeting to teach parishioners about going door-to-door
Nov. 9th - Door-to-door mission
Nov. 14th – School Visit
Nov. 17th - Youth Group
Nov. 24th - Youth Group
Dec. 5th - Planning day at the parish

Anyone who wants to tag along or participate in some way can contact Stephen Vaccaro at smv4h@virginia.edu. The hope/plan is to create our own Evangelization Club to learn about the process of evangelization and to create opportunities for members of our parish to respond to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization – new in its ardor and new in its methods.

A Word from Your Pastor - October 13

Dear Parishioners:

October is Respect Life month.  We are invited to reflect on the dignity of the human person from the first moment of conception until natural death and beyond.  God creates each soul as a unique and unrepeatable gift.  The human person is called to live on earth in anticipation of an Eternal destiny.  If we look at the teachings of our Catholic Church through this lens, we will see how they are truly one fabric, a whole that makes perfect sense. 

So often, the Church’s teachings are presented in fragmented ways.  The starting point of discussion is something other than the human person.  When we fail to put the human person in view first, with an awareness of God’s relationship to each unique person at the center, we come up with conclusions that fail to address the real problems.  The world is all about shortcuts, shortcuts at the beginning, the middle and the end of life.

A hard truth that the Church must hold out before the world is that some kinds of suffering are inevitable in earthly life and that suffering itself, when seen through the eyes of Faith, can have a redemptive quality.  The shortcuts and quick fixes that the world offers fail to take into account the human person and the whole life of the person.  They also take away the possibility of the greatness of the person being brought out by suffering.

The Church is called to proclaim the Gospel of Life.  She is also responsible to give help and show compassion to those who find themselves in distress in the face of the challenges of life: an unexpected pregnancy, relational struggles, illnesses that are heavy burdens.  In all of these situations, she is called to shed light on God’s plan for the unique persons He has created and on the power of grace to enable us to see our way through difficulties of every kind.  Life is God’s gift.  We must cherish it and give Him glory.

[A quick note: My Mom came to Mass at St. Timothy Church Saturday evening!  It was a happy surprise to me.  The Gospel called us to give thanks and I gave thanks to God and to all who have prayed for her recovery.  Welcome home, Mom!]

 

 

 

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.

CHAPTER THRE

E     MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD

ARTICLE 1  I BELIEVE   III. The Characteristics of Faith

The freedom of faith     160 To be human, “man’s response to God by faith must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act.”  (Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Human Freedom 10; cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 748 § 2.) “God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced.... This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus.”  (Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Human Freedom 11.) Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. “For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke against it. His kingdom... grows by the love with which Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws men to himself.” (Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Human Freedom 11; cf. John 18:37; 12:32.)

The necessity of faith   161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.  (Cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:36; 6:40 et al) “Since ‘without faith it is impossible to please [God]’ and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life ‘but he who endures to the end.’” (Dei Filius 3: Denzinger-Schonmetzer 3012; cf. Matthew 10:22; 24:13 and Hebrews 11:6; Council of Trent: Denzinger-Schonmetzer 1532.)

Perseverance in faith   162 Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.”  (1 Timothy 1:18-19.) To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith;  (Cf. Mark 9:24; Luke 17:5; 22:32.) it must be “working through charity,” abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church. (Galatians 5:6; Romans 15:13; cf. James 2:14-26.)

Comment:  The Act of Faith is a fully human act.  It is not a stepping out of our human nature, but rather a personal expression of it, indeed, the highest possible expression of it in this life.  This Act opens us to God and His plans for us.  No other act we can do has the capacity to bring us into contact with God in such depth.  To be Faith, it must be free.  It is necessary because it is the only adequate means to unite us to God.  Perseverance is holding to Faith through to its goal: the moment when our life reaches is culmination.  How do you exercise your Gift of Faith?

Focolare Word of Life for October 2013:

"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom.13:8)

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

A Word from Your Pastor - October 6

Dear Parishioners:

Here is an Update on my Mother's journey:

This week, we are happy to report better news.  As of September 26th, Mom was moved out of the hospital (Mt. Carmel East) to rehab at Mother Angeline McCrory Manor.  This is a beautiful facility under the auspices of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.  We were grateful for Mom to be in such surroundings, a real place of prayer.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that she contracted MRSA during her hospital stay, Mom did not have the opportunity to see much of her temporary home.  But she knows she was on the same floor as a couple of priests, and she had a few visitors that are there regularly.

Although she can be a bit stubborn at times due to the feeling of being cooped up for so long, Mom is getting stronger.  She actually finished her time of rehab at Mother Angeline McCrory Manor and  returned home on Friday, October 4th, to continue this effort in more familiar surroundings.

 

Dad has put in a new carpet in the living room at home and brother Bill has gotten her a chair that will lift her up slowly.  Home Healthcare will be able to assist us with her care at home.

We continue to be grateful for all the prayers and support.  I have personally been moved by the fact that a number of my brother priests have offered Masses for my Mom's intention.  Lovely cards and flowers have been sent by many.  Although we would never have chosen this journey, it has been a real grace for all of us.  I have certainly experienced a greater understanding of our need to be advocates for those who are in hospitals and nursing homes and for their families and the healthcare professionals who serve them. The paperwork alone (even if it is done on computers!) is nothing short of a nightmare.  May Heaven deliver us from bureaucracy!

I want to bring before our Parish Family a greater awareness of our need to care for each other, especially those who do not have family members close by.  Please look around and touch base with your neighbors and especially any fellow parishioners you have not seen for awhile.  Make sure they know we are with them.  Give support too to our members who work in the healthcare professions.  They have a big job in a bureaucracy gone wild.  Help them to persevere by showing them compassion and gratitude.

 

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.

CHAPTER THREE     MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD

ARTICLE 1          I BELIEVE      III. The Characteristics of Faith
Faith and understanding

158 “Faith seeks understanding”:  (St. Anselm.) it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. The grace of faith opens “the eyes of your hearts”  (Ephesians 1:18.) to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God’s plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the center of the revealed mystery. “The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.”  (Dei Verbum 5.) In the words of St. Augustine, “I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.” (St. Augustine, Sermo 43, 7, 9.)

159 Faith and science: “Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth.”  (Dei Filius 4: Denzinger-Schonmetzer 3017.) “Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.” (Gaudium et Spes 36 § 1.)

Comment:  Faith and Reason are not opposed to one another.  Rather, they are complementary ways of knowing.  Faith concerns relationship with God and what He reveals.  Since is relationship with the world of earthly experience, what we come to know through our senses.  When these ways of knowing are used in their proper sphere and in concert with each other, they can take us far.  How do you make use of these ways of knowing in your own encounter with the world around you?

Focolare Word of Life for October 2013:

"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom.13:8)

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