A Word from Your Pastor - May 29 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend is a full weekend of celebration of the Gift of priestly ordination and the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  Locally, we join Fr. Bill Faustner in remembering his 40 years of being a priest.  On Saturday morning, three new priests were ordained for the Diocese of Columbus, beginning their own journey in a life of priestly service: Fr. Dan Swartz of St. Agatha Parish, whose grandparents Leo and Estelle Paquette are members of St. Timothy Church; Fr. Tim Lynch of St. Mary Church in German Village; and Fr. Stephen Smith of St. Brendan the Navigator in Hilliard.

We give God thanks that these individuals and so many others have responded to the call to share their lives with us.  We rejoice at God’s grace and power that has sustained them through the time of seminary formation.  We look forward to the years ahead as their lives as shepherds unfold in the Diocese of Columbus.  Let us continue to keep them and all those who serve God’s People in our prayers.  Let us also invite our younger members to open their own hearts to hear the Lord’s call in their lives.

This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi.  We acknowledge the Gift of the Eucharist, the Bread of Life and the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Chalice of Eternal Salvation.  We realize that Eucharist makes the Church and that without priests among us, we have no Eucharist.  The Sacramental Life we share, which is opened to us through Baptism, is the answer to the world’s needs.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 22 Most Holy Trinity

Dear Parishioners:

The Holy Trinity is the heart of our Catholic Faith.  We are invited to experience something of the Inner Life of God through contemplation of this Mystery.  In human relationships, the most precious truths are those that are shared spontaneously from the heart.  The same is true in our Relationship with God.  We are drawn into the very Mystery by a glance, a look with the eyes of the heart.  Our spirits, touched by the Living Spirit of God, are made one with Jesus Christ and we are given a glimpse of the Father, Abba, Whom Jesus reveals to us.  If we can simply accept this, it truly changes everything.  We don’t just know things about God, we know God.  This knowing is too deep for words, but the “naming” of the Mystery is a precious “capturing” of the Truth so that we may be drawn in.

The proper response to the Mystery is prayer:  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit…..

Abba, Father, we thank you for making Yourself known to us in Jesus Christ and through the power of Your Holy Spirit poured out into our hearts and lives.

Jesus, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, we praise You for living among us as our Brother and Friend and for the salvation You won for us through your Passion, Death and Resurrection and for taking our human nature into the very Reality of God in the Ascension.

Spirit, Breath of Life, Unity of the Father and the Son, Sanctifier, we open our hearts to You and seek to follow where You lead, as you draw us ever more into Jesus Christ and free us to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth.

Father, Jesus, Spirit, we adore You.  We lay our lives before You.  How we love You!

May we become ever more truly One with God through the Mystery of the Holy Trinity.  And may our lives be spent in sharing this wonderful Truth with the world.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 15 Pentecost

Dear Parishioners:

Come, Holy Spirit!  Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth!

Today we pray this prayer in earnest, begging God to pour out His Spirit on us and to draw us ever more into the Life that God has offered us through Jesus Christ.  Pentecost is the grand conclusion to the Easter Season and an invitation to respond to the power of God at work in us. 

The Scriptures remind us that the Church is born by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  We see Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the Apostles gathered together in the Upper Room, receiving the touch of God through wind and tongues of fire.  We hear of the new courage that Peter and the others experience that leads them to proclaim the Good News of the Resurrection.  We observe the effective movement of the Word that is presented so boldly as people of every nation hear the Truth and respond by accepting the New Life given to them in Christ.  The first Pentecost sets in motion the going forth of the Church to every land and nation.

In our time, we hear the invitation to a new Pentecost that draws us into the Mission of Evangelization and Catechesis.  Each one of us is called to hear the Gospel, to change our minds and hearts, and to commit to the New Life poured out on us through the Spirit.  How does the Holy Spirit move in your heart?  Is your own Joy in the Gospel evident in your manner of living?  Who is waiting to hear your proclamation of the Good News?

May the Holy Spirit fill you with God’s Peace and may you become ever more aware of the Truth of the Gospel.  Happy Pentecost!

Prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.  Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful.  In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right and always rejoice in your consolation. We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer from St. Augustine:

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
that my work too may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
to defend all that is holy.
Guide me then, O Holy Spirit,
that I always may be holy.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 8 Ascension

Dear Parishioners:

Mothers teach us how to love.  In the month of May, we are reminded to thank our mothers, our grandmothers, and our godmothers on earth and our Heavenly Mother Mary.  We do so by little signs, expressions of love and gratitude.  Cards and flowers, small gifts and warm embraces all show our affection and love.  These acts also serve to remind us of the power at work in each of us to give life and to nourish and nurture others by our own gift of self.  Holy Mother Church also deserves our recognition. It is the Church that offers us the connection between earthly life and Eternal Life.  The graces that we receive flow into our hearts and lives through the Sacraments, beginning with Baptism.  When we keep ourselves mindful of this flow, we see the fruits of motherhood in all their glory.  Mother of every sort make a real difference and on this day and in this month we say “Thanks!”

In today’s Mass, we recall the Ascension of the Lord into Heavenly Glory.   Through the Ascension, Jesus takes our human nature, glorified by the Resurrection, to share intimately in the very Life of the Holy Trinity.  Now that our nature has been given a share in Divine Life, we pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church and on the whole world.  Cooperation with grace is the truly human act. 

Mary, our Mother, shows us how to open to grace: her “Fiat,” that is, her “Let it be done” is an affirmation of God’s power at work through the Spirit.  Saying “Yes” to God’s Will in our lives offers us Eternity.  We are capable of this due to the Resurrection, Ascension and Outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.  Let us pray together: “Come, Holy Spirit!”  And let us open our hearts to God’s action among us.

Next weekend will be a weekend of Welcome, with refreshments after all Masses and with a festive spirit as we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost.  Invite family and friends to gather with us as we close the Easter Season.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 1

Dear Parishioners:

As we begin the month of May, we enter into a very hectic season.  It is important that we find a way to keep ourselves centered and to hold steady on our priorities.  God must be first in our lives.  As Catholics and Christians, we have to allow Church to be in our view at all times.  We live in the world, but we are not of the world.  It is all too easy to forget this in the face of schedules full of activity.

The Church invites us in May to keep Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our own Heavenly Mother in our minds and hearts.  Can we as a Parish, a School and as a family of families do our best to attend to our Mother?  I suggest that you consider establishing a family devotion to Mary.  Pray the Rosary together.  Create a May Altar in your home.  Include a Hail Mary with your usual daily prayers at meal time and at bed time.  Make sure that you have a picture or statue of our Blessed Mother in a place of honor in your house or yard.  Learn a new Marian prayer by heart: the Memorare, the Salve Regina, the Magnificat.  As your older relatives to recite their favorite prayer to your children.  Sing a Marian hymn as part of your own family prayers.  Be creative and don’t forget to honor your earthly mother and/or the mother of your children as well.

The best way to honor Mary, of course, is to show the respect and love due to her Son and to the God Who gave Mary the highest honor given to the human race.  Cooperation with the Holy Spirit in the work of proclaiming the Gospel is a truly Marian action.  Mary’s “Yes” to God is what allowed God to enter our world.  Our continued “Yes” to God’s Will in our own lives opens us to even greater gifts.  Let us pray for the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the Church and on the world.  “Come, Holy Spirit!” is a powerful prayer that can change everything.