A Word from Your Pastor - April 26 Good Shepherd Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

We are a very active community.  The Spring calendar fills up so quickly.  In a short time we will be finishing up another academic year an moving into the Summer.  As this happens, let us take the time to be sure that we are centered on what is most important.  Every decision we make is a revelation about what we hold most dear.  God ought to have first place in our lives.  Church, Family, Friends and all those entrusted to us by our vocation and by God are next.  Then come work and leisure pursuits.  Living in a world that has long taught us “looking out for number one,” meaning myself and my own desires and interests, my wants and my preferences, it is hard for us to think differently.

Good Shepherd Sunday reminds us that Jesus is our Shepherd and it is His responsibility to lead us.  We are to follow and hear His voice.  If we listen to Him, we will discover that He has a plan that will lead us all to green pastures.

This weekend, we congratulate our First Holy Communion Class who received Jesus for the first time in the Holy Eucharist on Saturday afternoon.  May they always know the joy of the Gift of Jesus as the Bread of Life.  May their families work diligently to ensure that these children may receive Holy Communion every Sunday and so grow in their love for the Lord Who hides Himself under the forms of bread and wine.

All are invited to make plans for May as a month of Marian Devotion.  Pray the Rosary.  Sign up to welcome the pilgrim statue of Our Lady into your home.  Learn a new Marian prayer.  Create a May altar.  Do something beautiful to acknowledge our Heavenly Mother for her prayer and intercession in your life.

As you make plans for the summer and next year, keep your priorities straight and let God lead you to the life He has in store for you.  We are destined to live forever!

A Word from Your Pastor - April 19

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend, on Sunday afternoon, our Parish Evangelization Committee and a team Seminarians of the Pontifical College Josephinum will be doing their Evangelization Walk in our neighborhood.  All are invited to keep this in mind, either to join as part of the team or to be “prayer warriors” who give them a boost of the Spirit through your intercession.  We are taking to heart Pope Francis’ call to take Christ to those who live around us.

Many parishes of the Diocese of Columbus, including St. Timothy Church, will be participating in The Amazing Parish Conference, taking place in Denver this week.  This was made possible by a grant from The Catholic Foundation.  Several members of our community will be attending together: Fr. Tim Hayes, Rita Feige, George Mosholder, Mary Ballantyne, and Kathy Lutter.  Represented among these are Parish Pastoral Ministry, Religious Education, St. Timothy School, St. Timothy Alumni, St. Timothy Revolution Youth, and St. Timothy Women’s Club, and the various Parish Ministries at the Altar.  The conference will give us and opportunity to hear what is going on in the most dynamic parishes in our nation.  Pray for us this week!  May we return renewed and energized to continue our path to growth along the spiritual journey we share in the Risen Lord.

Next weekend, on Saturday, April 25, our First Communion Class will be receiving Jesus for the first time in the Eucharist.  They are very excited.  Their whole year has been a build-up to this highlight.  May we take the opportunity to renew our own zeal for the Lord as He nourishes us with His Body and Blood.

Before we know it, Graduation season and the end of another academic year will be here.  May these final days before the Summer serve to renew our commitment to learn our Faith and to put it into practice for all the world to see.  The Risen Lord is counting on us to share the Good News of His Resurrection by the way we live.

A Word from Your Pastor - April 12, 2015 Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

Divine Mercy Sunday is a wonderful celebration that deepens our understanding of the Glory of Easter.  As the Octave, that is, the 8^th Day, of Easter, it is the culmination of the Easter Proclamation.  The promise of Mercy gives us room to become a People united in Faith who have come to trust more fully in God’s promises.

Pope Saint John Paul II, inspired by Saint Faustina Kowalska, declared this Feast of Mercy.  His own day of death was on the vigil of the Feast.  Now, Pope Francis is taking the opportunity of this Feast to use to formally declare the “Year of Mercy” that will be observed from December 8, 2015 (the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception), until November 20, 2016 (the Solemnity of Christ the King).  Mercy is clearly the theme for our times.

How do you understand Mercy?  There are two aspects.  First, mercy is given to those in need of forgiveness.  It creates room for repentance and renewal.  Second, mercy is the response of those who know the Love of God to give room to all who have not yet understood.  It invites in those who have been kept “outside” for whatever reason.

St. Timothy Parish will experience the Feast of Mercy through the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at all our weekend Masses and by a special time of Adoration and Prayer following the Noon Mass today.  The Sacrament of Confession will be available during the time of Adoration.  The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Benediction will conclude the celebration.  All are invited to open their hearts to Mercy and to share Mercy with others.

Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, is the Lord of Mercy.  He breaks through all barriers and reveals the Love of God offered to all who are in need of His Mercy.  May we trust in Him and lead others to the Fount of Mercy.

Thanks to all who participated in the events of Lent and Easter.  We have now entered into the Easter Season.  It lasts until Pentecost.  Let us learn to be docile to the Holy Spirit Who makes known to us the Love and Mercy of God poured out in Jesus the Risen Lord. 

A Word from Your Pastor - April 5, 2015 Easter

Dear Parishioners and Easter Sunday Guests:

Happy Easter!  Jesus Christ is Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

As we celebrate the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus, we are invited to realize that what God has accomplished in Him, by the power of the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead, He will do also for us.  We are destined to a Life beyond this life and that makes all the difference.

The Resurrection of Jesus is not one of those “feel good” stories that we can only wish would be true.  It is the Story that is “more true” than all the others.  It is the Story that tells us that our lives have a purpose and a meaning so that we can put our trust in life itself and in the God Who created us.  The Resurrection of Jesus and the consequences that flow from it show us the plan God has had in mind for us from the moment He created us.

Putting our Faith in Jesus the Risen Lord is the best response of our human nature.  Hope and a capacity to love with God’s own Love are ours through this Faith.  People of Faith are called to serve the Risen Lord as witnesses to the Resurrection now more than ever.  How does your Faith that God raised Jesus from the dead change the way you view what happens in the world?  Are you able to see beyond the troubles of the present circumstances in which we live to the Life beyond life that is opened to us through the Resurrection of Jesus?

As we live the Easter Season, the fifty days that now unfold ahead of us, let us continue to grow in our capacity for an ever deeper understanding of our Faith.  This is the Season of the Holy Spirit.  May we be docile to the Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead and so be formed by the New Life that is poured into our hearts through Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord.

Please keep me in your prayers during Easter Week.  I will be taking my annual retreat.  This year, I am joining priests who are members of the Focolare Movement at Mariapolis Luminosa in Hyde Park, New York.  The spirituality of the Focolare is one of Unity.  Pray that we may all grow into the Unity of mind and heart the Risen Lord wills for us as we seek to follow Him through Faith.  Come, Holy Spirit!