A Word from Your Pastor - February 28 Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

We conclude our journey through the Spiritual Works of Mercy.  The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.

·       pray for the living and the dead

The power of prayer to touch all time and all God’s creatures is a wonder.  The Spiritual Work of Mercy to pray for the living and the dead reveals our capacity now to live in the grace of the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Christ-life that is in us keeps us in a living relationship with both those who walk the journey of this life with us and those who have gone before us into the Mystery of death.  We are in communion with all the Saints – those in Heaven, those in Purgatory (the “Holy Souls”), and those on earth, who are with us “Saints in training.”

Prayer for the living and the dead is part of the fabric of our lives.  Daily at Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours, we pray for the Church and her leaders, for civil officials and all in public service, for universal and local needs, and for those who have died.  Masses are celebrated with particular intentions in mind, especially for deceased loved ones.  Annually, the Church recalls the Saints in Glory and the Souls in Purgatory with the Solemnity of All Saints and the Memorial of All Souls.

At St. Timothy Church, each Wednesday, all are invited to pray in the Presence of the Holy Eucharist throughout the day.  A particular intention is given for each year on the Feast of our Parish Patron, St. Timothy.  Our children in St. Timothy School and our Parish School of Religion (our P.S.R.) are invited to share their intentions and to pray with each other.

Our prayer for one another is an act that binds us closely.  St. Ambrose reminds us that when each one prays for all, everyone is prayed for by everyone.  The expansiveness of our prayer gives God place to work in our lives and brings Heaven to earth.

A Word from Your Pastor - February 21 Second Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

We continue our journey through the Spiritual Works of Mercy.  The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.

·       forgive offenses

·       bear wrongs patiently

These Spiritual Works of Mercy are not only other-directed.  (In fact, none of them are without advantage for ourselves.)  Although forgiveness of others and bearing wrongs that others do to us with patience seem to give others the advantage, indeed we are the primary beneficiaries of these spiritual acts.  We offer forgiveness to others and we are able to move beyond our hurts.  We endure what happens to us when others do us wrong, and we become stronger and save our strength from the useless effort to seek revenge.  We give one another room to grow and to become truly who we are when we choose to separate from self through forgiveness and long-suffering.

“To err is human, to forgive divine.”  Jesus’ first gift to His Apostles after the Resurrection was the Spirit that gave them authority to forgive in the name of Heaven, to bind and loose so that nothing earthly could ever stand in the way of Grace.  God’s Mercy is poured out on us when we open our hearts to forgive.

The Lord’s Prayer tells us how forgiveness is meant to flow:  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  The Lord’s own example in His Passion shows us how to bear wrongs patiently.  His sufferings show us the limits to which our human nature can go under the power of Love and Divine Grace.

Forgiving frees us from burdens that can hinder us on our journey, baggage that weighs us down.  Bearing wrongs patiently exercises the gifts of fortitude and patient endurance that reveal hidden strengths within us.

Others who are forgiven may repent when Mercy is shown them.  It gives them room to change.  When the Spirit opens their hearts, they become aware of their past wrongs and are given a glimpse into the nature of Christian life through the one who has forgiven them.  Similarly, when wrongs are borne patiently, the values of the one who bears them become more evident.  When we show strength of character through such action, the power of grace is shown.

Women of St. Timothy Parish attended the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference Yesterday.

See more pix at: https://sttimothyparishpix.shutterfly.com/pictures/1110#

A Word from Your Pastor - February 14 First Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

We continue our journey through the Spiritual Works of Mercy.  The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.

·       comfort the afflicted

Affliction can come from many different sources: from within our own hearts, from our experience of the world and its indifference to our personal plight, from attacks from without, and even from the call of God to be something more than we perceive ourselves to be.  To comfort the afflicted is to be present to them with an attitude of compassion and empathy.  It is not to “fix” the other or to solve the other’s problems.  Rather, it is to assist the other to face reality and to discern a response rather than to react.

Affliction is an invitation to engagement.  It calls us to realize that we are human beings in a limited world.  It invites us to enter into a sense of community and solidarity with others.  When we acknowledge our own need to be comforted and we respond to others’ outreach toward us, we move past the isolation that sets us apart.  Mercy is made real for us because we become comfortable in our own skin.

The hope of all the groups and organizations that gather at St. Timothy is that they can be a means for others to know that they are not alone.  Friendships that are real are forged through common experiences and simply being together.  When we gather at St. Timothy, whether for worship or for catechesis or for recreation and fellowship, we must be intentional about entering into a real encounter with one another that is open to God’s action in and among us.  Sometimes all it takes is a look or a nod, a sign that we are listening to one another and hearing the pain.

Family life, too, is where the Spirit manifests our capacity to comfort the afflicted just by being there with and for one another.  When sorrow comes or when opportunity knocks in ways that move us beyond our comfort zone, we are called to enter one another’s hearts.  We are to stand in solidarity with one another as we dare to grow.

A Word from Your Pastor - February 7

Dear Parishioners:

We continue our journey through the Spiritual Works of Mercy.  The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.

·       admonish sinners

The Spiritual Work of Mercy most difficult to do in our day is perhaps that of admonishing sinners.  This has traditionally been “easier” because society used to have a common sense of sin and a common desire to be well-ordered in relation to God.  Nowadays “separation of church and state” has been pushed to the level of denying even a right to tell others that what they are doing is sinful.  What at one time was common agreement is no longer so.  We may agree that we are, in general, supposed to “do good and avoid evil,” but saying anything more specific is rejected.

Nonetheless, it is a Work of Mercy, to admonish sinners.  In order to be able to respond to this work, we must concentrate on the meaning of admonish.  To admonish is to speak to another person in order to urge some action or behavior be done or be avoided.  In other words, it is to offer a correction or advice about moral action in the well-founded hope that the other will respond and change the behavior in question.

To admonish is not to judge a person, but an action, according to the standard of the Gospel.  It is not a condemnation.  Rather, it is an invitation to a new way of living.

It is helpful in present-day circumstances to acknowledge that new lines have been drawn in society.  We can only admonish those who can be expected to value or to receive our words as something of importance in their decision-making process.  Parents can and should admonish their children, no matter what the age.  However, the truth must be spoken in love and not harshly.  There must be a founded hope of being heard.

In the end, admonishment is a question of trust.  Whom do you allow into your circle of trust in such a way that they can tell you that you are off track?  God has entrusted us to one another.  When we open our hearts to accept others’ counsel and to give true and honest feedback to those with whom we share a relationship in Christ, we fulfill the Work of Mercy to admonish sinners.  This is one aspect of the prophetic role we receive through our Baptism into Christ.

Lent begins this Wednesday!  I admonish all of you entrusted to my care as Pastor to live this Lent well.  Open your heart to God’s Mercy as He calls you back.  Be ready to acknowledge that you are a sinner among sinners.  Pray, Fast and Give Alms to overcome sin and increase virtue.

This year, as a Family, find a way to pray together. Stations of the Cross every Friday of Lent is a good practice.  Accept the Knights of Columbus’ offer to enjoy the Stations this Friday and then to share a Lenten Pizza.  Plan to be present for the People of the Passion February 27^th and for the Parish Lenten Penance Service March 3^rd.  Come to weekly Adoration on Wednesday.