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.