A Word from Your Pastor - January 26 Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus

Dear Parishioners:

Happy Feast of Saint Timothy (and Saint Titus)!  This Sunday we are celebrating the Feast at all Masses.  Since it is a solemnity for us and this is now Ordinary Time, we are able to use the Mass of the Feast in place of the usual weekend Mass.  This allows us to highlight our patron in a special way as we observe the Golden Jubilee of our School.  At the 10 a.m. Mass today, we have the School participating to share their joy in the Jubilee with the parish.  This Wednesday, Bishop Campbell will celebrate the feast with the School at the usual All-School Mass.
 

We can see the example of our patron Timothy as a reminder of who we are to be as disciples of Jesus.  Timothy was from a family that had mixed religion: his mother Eunice was Jewish and his father was Greek.  He met St. Paul when he was young and became a valued traveling companion in the first Christian missionary efforts.  He was a trustworthy helper and is included by Paul as sender of several of his letters.  He became a Bishop and was put in charge of Ephesus, a city that hosted many greats of the apostolic generation including John and Mary the Mother of Jesus, as well as Paul.  It was in Ephesus that Timothy himself became a martyr as an old man.

Families can share Faith, and even if a family is not united in the same religion, the children can be taught the truth of Jesus Christ.  We can all help others in their walk with the Lord and His Church, and we are called to share our joy in the Gospel.  We can be faithful to the end of our lives, and, if necessary, we can pour out our lives as a witness to Christ.

For further information about St. Timothy, see the quiz in the bulletin.  You may also review these texts in the Scripture that mention our patron by name:  Acts of the Apostles chapters 16-20;  Romans 16:21; I Corinthians 4:17; 16:10;  II Corinthians 1:1, 19; Philippians 1:1; 2:19, 22; Colossians 1:1; I Thessalonians 1:1; 3:2, 6; II Thessalonians 1:1; I & II Timothy; Philemon 1:1; Hebrews 13:23.

A Word from Your Pastor - January 19

Dear Parishioners:

This week, I received some sad news about a cousin of mine.  You may have heard the report of the couple found dead in Crafton (Pittsburgh), PA, identified as a murder-suicide.  I am sorry to say that it was about my cousin Amy Suehr Gorsuch, who had gone to visit her estranged husband Ricky.  She was living at her father’s home with their three daughters.  When she did not return, her father dropped the girls off at school and went to the house where he found the couple dead.

 

The family asked me to celebrate the funeral (Saturday, January 18).  It is among the saddest experiences of my life to do this.  There are no words that can address the grief and the horror about what has happened.  I ask for your prayers, especially for the little girls who have lost both their parents.

Just the same day as I received this news about members of my family, I was looking at the Dispatch and noticing all the stories of violence that are told.  There are accounts of domestic violence, children harming or killing children in schools, international incidents of rape and other such tragedies.  My heart aches for all who have had to face these struggles.  They speak to me of the need the world has for the message of the Gospel.  The only thing that gets me through such experiences, whether in my own family or in my contact with others, is Faith.  Only Faith tells us that there is something beyond what this world has to offer.  The senseless tragedies do not have the last word.  God Himself offers us consolation and strength.  Our call is to trust in Him and to witness His Love and Mercy to the world.

Be sure that you and your concerns are in my heart.  I treasure the bond we share as Pastor and Flock.  I also trust in your prayers for me and for those who are dear to me. 

Life is precious, a gift from God, and we are called to cherish it in this world in hope of the next.  May we all know the dignity of every human life, and may all those we encounter see at work in us the Love of the God Who shares His Life with us.

A Word from Your Pastor - January 12 Baptism of the Lord

Dear Parishioners:

The Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord is the official close to the Christmas Season.  However, the nature of Christmas as the moment of revelation of the Incarnation indicates that in reality, Christmas itself is the Gift that goes on.  Jesus is the Reason for the Christmas Season – and for every other season as well.  He is the Word through Whom God created the universe.  The wonderful truth that is proclaimed by our celebration is that He has shared with us the capacity to bring Him to birth in the world.

The Baptism of Jesus was the moment when He was revealed publicly as the One sent by God, the Prophet who was to come into the world.  By His Baptism, Jesus Christ made the waters holy and the grace of Baptism is a grace that continues to flow.  In our church, the flowing waters of our Baptismal Font are a constant reminder that the grace of Baptism is available to us.  This is true for all the graces that flow from the Sacramental Life.

Recall your own Baptism.  Do you know the date it occurred?  Consider the other Sacraments you have received.  Have you continued to celebrate the power and life that were given to you in the first moment you experienced each Sacrament?

At the moment Jesus was baptized, Heaven opened and the glory of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit entered into our world in a new way.  Jesus, the Beloved Son, experienced in our human nature the full reality of Who He Is through the Father’s affirmation of Love and through the descending and remaining of the Holy Spirit.  From that moment on, His ministry among us became a public reality, following the hidden years in Nazareth.

Our world is in need of a new touch of the Spirit and of willing hearts ready to receive God’s grace.   May the Sacraments we share dispose us to respond to the invitation and may every nation on earth come to know Jesus Christ.

A Word from Your Pastor - January 5 Epiphany

Dear Parishioners:

The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

This Blessing to be given by Aaron the brother of Moses was given as a start to the New Year, on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.  It was a favorite of St. Francis, and so some know it as a Franciscan blessing.

Notice the three phrases:  about you, about God, and about God and you together.  The LORD bless you and keep you!  Blessing is an offering from outside, keeping is a gift of sustaining grace.

The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!  Opening His Face to us means seeing us for who we are and being gracious is allowing Mercy to triumph over justice.

The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!  Looking upon us kindly means allowing what is Best in Him to enter us and giving us Shalom is bringing us to the fullness of Life He wants to share with us.

In the womb of Mary, the Son of God took our flesh and became a human being.  As we honor the Mother of God, we acknowledge the Gift God has given.

I suggest we make two simple resolutions this year:

• To be confident in our Faith in Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary,
  and to speak from the heart about Him.
• To share the Joy of our Catholic Faith with the world in concrete and practical ways.

On this Solemnity of the Epiphany and throughout the year ahead, may we allow the glory of the Lord to move us beyond where we have been in order to follow our Good Shepherd where He leads.

A Word of Gratitude

Many Thanks to all who have sent cards and gifts to the priests and staff of St. Timothy Church for Christmas.  It is a great joy to serve in this parish and your kindnesses will not be forgotten.  May God reward you for your generosity.  Happy New Year!

Focolare Word of Life for January 2014

Christ, the Church’s one foundation. (cf 1 Cor 3:11)
http://www.focolare.org/en/news/category/parola-di-vita/