A Word from Your Pastor - October 25

Dear Parishioners:

This past week, I felt compelled to share with my family and others the memory of my “little sister” Becky, who died at the age of 3.  October 19^th would have been her 55^th Birthday.  She was born into Heaven December 12, 1963.  I was 4 years old at the time.  I shared the picture with family by e-mail and then was moved to put it up on Facebook as well.  The responses of so many to that effort of sharing has been very touching to me and my family.

Becky, who was baptized as a baby, never reached the age when she could fall into sin, so she is a saint in Heaven, which is the promise of Baptism.  I have known her prayer all these years and for some reason just wanted to let others in on the secret.

Have a look at the picture many have seen on Facebook.

Yes, that is Fr. Tim to the left, Becky, and my brother Chuck, just a few months before Becky’s death.  I shared it with my mother in person on Becky’s Birthday and she told me it was her favorite of the pictures we have of Becky.

I am so aware of the Communion of Saints because of the life of Becky, that I want to be sure that you can see it too.  Your loved ones who have entered into the Mystery of Death are not far from you.  If they were ready at life’s end to say their “Yes” fully, they are in Heaven praying for you.  If they were in need of some purification, they pray for you still and they are in need of your prayers for them. 

The celebrations coming up next week – All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) – are the Church’s invitation to keep our unity with the Saints in Glory and the “Holy Souls” in Purgatory in mind as we continue our march through life.  I invite you to take time with your family to talk about those who have gone ahead of you.  Discuss what you think Heaven will be like.  If you have family members are nearing the time of their call, ask who they most look forward to seeing again.

It is not morbid to keep the reality of the fact that this life will end in mind.  We can “befriend” death as the doorway to the Kingdom of God for us.  Keeping in mind the Four Last Things – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell – helps to make sense of our life.  We find meaning in all we do in this world because we have Hope in Life Eternal.  We are called to be saints.  As we remember the Communion of Saints, let us strive for the holiness of life and welcome that leads others to God.  When the Saints go marching in, don’t you want to be in that number?

A Word from Your Pastor - October 18

Dear Parishioners:

As the Church continues her efforts to discover the best way to promote the life of the family, the fundamental building block of our society, it is useful for us to reflect on how ages past have seen family life.  For most cultures, it was recognized without any question that the best way to succeed was to have good family connections.  “Arranged marriages” were really an effort to take advantage of the unity that family brings to the advantage of both families of origin.  We look askance at this from our vantage point of the choice of the parties involved in the marriage, but the truth is that when families are compatible, there is a greater likelihood of success in a marriage.

St. Augustine in his Confessions looks back on his own meandering path and suggests that even in his day there was a motivation toward marriage and family that was ignored to one’s peril.  To marry could be to reach for a sense of “honor” that could be earned “by fulfilling the duties of a well-ordered marriage and raising a family.”  When one married instead due to lust or out of habit, the higher purposes of marriage were obscured.

In our time, we are being invited by the Church to renew commitment to being members of God’s Family and to living our own family life in the image of God through mutuality of respect and love open to God’s grace.  Young people, Pope Francis says, should not be afraid to embark on the adventure of marriage and raising a family.  The family is meant to be a school of love and to teach each member how to be sacrificial in giving of oneself to others.

Pope Francis in his homespun way tells tales of family life and invites us to love one another in practical ways.  Saint Pope John Paul II wrote much on family life through his long papacy.  We can learn much from these patriarchs in our church family.  Bishop Campbell has begun a series of talks about marriage and family that might be helpful to you and your family.

In the month of October, we celebrate respect for life.  The protection of life at every stage of development happens best in families united in mind and heart.  The call to prayer, especially the Rosary, is addressed to every family.  Attendance at Sunday Mass as a family, daily prayer and a personal commitment by every parent to raise their children by word and example in the ways of faith are all necessary components of family life.

Jesus lived as a member of the Holy Family of Nazareth.  May we learn to live as Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in the image of the Trinity.

A Word from Your Pastor - October 11

Dear Parishioners:

Reading the Message of Pope Francis to our country, I have come to a realization that I thought I would pass on to you.  What the Pope has to say to us can only be fully understood if you read all that he said and did while he was with us.  The pundits on all sides have started to pick apart what he said on the basis of sound bytes and as to what was said or not said in a particular speech or homily.  I have taken the time to download and read all the talks, and as I went through them all as part of my personal prayer time, I discovered that he really did say everything – even what he is purported as not having said!  He did use the words that he supposedly didn’t say, and his actions spoke louder than words in many situations.

In other words, the true Message of Pope Francis to the U.S.A. is to be grasped as a whole.  From the first moment he arrived until his last moments with us, he was a Message to us.  It is the Truth we all need to hear: that God is with us, that He loves us, that He wants to offer us His Mercy.  We are a family of nations. 

The fundamental building block of society is the family, according to God’s plan from the beginning and God Himself became one with us in the Family of Nazareth.  Each one of us can make a difference in the world by being willing to do the hard work necessary and by listening to those around us, making ourselves one with them and sharing our joy in the Gospel.

As I have shared on several occasions, the experience of welcome at Philadelphia was truly phenomenal.  I was in awe of the warmth and the efforts at outreach by local folks all through the weekend that the Holy Father spent there.  My first thought was that we can do this at St. Timothy Church.  We can be a truly welcoming community, but we have to make some decisions that put the Gospel at the center of our lives as individuals and as a parish family.  It cannot be “business as usual.”  How are you challenged to move outside your comfort zone and to commit?

A Word from Your Pastor - October 4

Dear Parishioners:

Pope Francis is truly all they say he is and more.  The privilege of concelebrating Mass with him in Philadelphia was truly a high point in my life as a priest.  Words cannot capture everything that I would like to share with you, but I will try to offer a couple of points.

First, the opening of the city of Philadelphia to all of us who descended upon them was a clear indication of what God can do with open hearts. As the local mayor and the Pope spoke of it, the city is “the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.”  Everywhere we went, we found a warm welcome.  There were no strangers, though we were literally from all over the world.

The time with the Pope was magical.  Everyone was excited together at the prospect of seeing him.  At one point, not far from Independence Hall, a group I was standing among was treated to a close-up view of the Popemobile – and we all laughed to discover that it was empty since he had been dropped off by the Lincoln podium where he would be speaking.  A few different times, I got to see the Pope pass by and I have pictures of his arm out the window to prove it.

The Papal Mass gathered hundreds of priests and bishops and cardinals and nearly a million others.  I was in the third row of priests sitting behind three rows of bishops.  That was a great view, except when the bishops put on their miters (their white hats).  Sitting several rows behind me was our parishioner Jonathan Smith, who is a seminarian for the Diocese of Arlington, and who studies at the Seminary in Philadelphia where the Pope and his retinue stayed.

When I was able to distribute Holy Communion, I was in tears.  On the way back, the song “Gift of Finest Wheat” began to be sung and it took me back to 1976, when as a Junior in High School, I attended the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia.  The whole experience was very moving personally.

I hear the Pope’s challenge to help everyone know that they are loved by God.  The kind of welcome the “secular city” of Philadelphia was able to give told me that we can do the same.  May we hear the invitation to be a place of welcome for all God’s Children.

See pix of the Pilgrimage here:  https://2015phillypopepilgrimage.shutterfly.com/