A Word from Your Pastor - November 27 First Sunday of Advent

Dear Parishioners:

Advent opens a new Liturgical Year in our celebration of our Faith.  We begin again the first year of the three-year cycle of readings, taking Matthew as the Gospel.  It is a good time to make new resolutions and to respond to the grace of the present time.  The Year of Mercy concluded with the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  Now we enter a new time of grace.  What comes after Mercy?

It struck me this past week that the first celebration the day after the close of the Year of Mercy was the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Tradition tells us that Joachim and Anne entrusted their precious daughter to the Temple at the age of three and that she spent 12 years there, learning from the priests (among them, Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist).  So, the first look of the Church after the Jubilee is to the one human being who knew perfectly how to accept God’s will:  “Let it be done to me according to Your Word.”

Mercy teaches us that God makes room for us.  Mary responded by making room for God and receiving into her own womb God’s own Son.  Mercy invites us to live as a reflection of God’s Love.  Mary opened her whole life and person to that Love and gave birth to Love Himself.  Mercy gives us the grace to persevere in a hostile world.  Mary was faithful to the end, standing by the Cross of her Son.

After Mercy comes a life lived truly for God.  As we enter into this time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, may we allow the Spirit to prepare our hearts to receive the graces that God wants to offer.

I invite you to consider signing up now for Alpha.  This program will offer you a dinner, served by members of the parish in our Parish Center, which is experiencing some upgrades in preparation.  It will allow you to hear the Gospel anew and to share fellowship with others on the journey of Faith.  It will remind you that we are just beginning to know the Lord and that we can always learn more about Him from our brothers and sisters.

A Word from Your Pastor - November 20 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend we bring to a close the Year of Mercy.  However, just as they say on Broadway, “The show must go on!”  Now that we have spent a year in reflection on Mercy, we are in a better condition to put it into practice.  Mercy is a quality that tells us that God is with us especially in the tough times.  We are called to be a people who bring His Mercy to the world.

No one can deny the need for Mercy.  The challenge is to discover the practical ways to live it out.  As St. Faustina teaches us, we need to Ask for Mercy, to Be merciful and to have Confidence in God’s Mercy and to completely trust in Him.  “Jesus, I trust in You” is the simplest prayer that acknowledges the Mercy revealed by the Heart of Jesus.  The Divine Mercy Image shows us that the blood and water that flowed from His side on the Cross continues to flow out as rays of Mercy upon the world.

The Mercy Chaplet contains three short prayers:

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

It is clear that the focus of this devotion is Eucharistic.  We experience Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, and the Divine Mercy Devotion allows us to carry it into the world.  This can be prayed for our own needs and the needs of the whole world.  It is especially effective when we are at the deathbed of loved ones.

The proclamation of God as Merciful Father was the center of the Year of Mercy.  We entrust to the God of Mercy all that we experience to we trust Him to bring us to the Kingdom.  As we complete journey of the Year of Mercy, may we now carry the Message of Mercy to the whole world.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all you love!

A Word from Your Pastor - November 13

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend we welcome Fr. Dave Sizemore to St. Timothy Church to speak on Alpha.  His parish at St. John Neumann in Sunbury has been a pioneer in the Diocese of Columbus in promoting activities and programs to deepen commitment to the New Evangelization and to Spiritual Life.  As you will discover, if you did not know this already, Fr. Dave is a dynamic young priest whose wisdom and enthusiasm are engaging.

I have known Fr. Dave since his College years and for a time served as his Vocations Director.  I have also had the chance to share “down time” with him as we continue to experience the wonderful fraternity of the priesthood.  He has a great sense of humor and a wit that won’t quit (even though sometimes you wish it would!). Recently, Fr. Dave traveled with a group that did the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage walk that travels through several nations in Europe.  He is always ready for adventure.  I am sure that in my absence you will be showing Fr. Dave a warm welcome. 

Just so you know that I am not playing this weekend: while Fr. Dave is here at St. Timothy, I will be at his parish of St. John Neumann to promote their program of Eucharistic Adoration.  I intend to ask for them to pray in a special way for our first experience of Alpha that will begin in January 2017.  I invite you also to accept this as a challenge to pray that the Holy Spirit will be at work among us to make us true disciples.  You may want to add Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to your own practice of devotion.  This takes place each Wednesday from the morning Mass until 6:30 p.m.

I will be away for a few days this week, spending some time with the Focolare priests of the United States.  As many of you know, the Focolare Movement promotes Unity among all people under the patronage of Mary.  I have found it a great support in my ministry and an encouragement to grow in the capacity to seek Unity in the life we share.  May we all be One!

A Word from Your Pastor - November 6

Dear Parishioners:

As we come to the close of the Year of Mercy, it is time to review what we have learned this past year.  God is a God of Mercy.  In my estimation, this teaches us one simple truth: God is approachable.  We can draw near to Him, no matter what our own condition may be.  

If we are in a good relationship with God and we are not conscious of any grave situation that might keep us from Him, He shares with us His desire to draw close to others.  We are invited to be merciful to others and to do whatever we can to be a worthy “ambassador” for God.  When others reject us, we do not reject them.  Instead, we wait, patiently, for them to be ready to open to us again.  At times, this will mean being willing to overlook faults and offenses against us.  Always, it will mean being ready to forgive, to show mercy as God does.  In short, Mercy means allowing God to be recognized as the God of Mercy through our witness.

If we are aware of grave sin, some reality that makes us distant from God and His Church, Mercy means we can draw close to God and trust in Him to be loving and forgiving, waiting with open arms, willing to bring us back.  Sacramental Reconciliation is available to us through Confession.  There is no unforgivable sin except the sin of not believing that we can be forgiven.  This is the “sin against the Holy Spirit” – the attitude that does not give the Spirit room to act.  All we have to do is to ask for Mercy and to allow that Mercy to penetrate our hearts.

To enter into Mercy is to enter into a living relationship with God that has practical consequences.  Mercy – received and given – sets us free.  We are able to be close to God and others because of the fact that Mercy creates room for growth and change.  Mercy sustains us and changes our very way of being, because it is a quality of God.  It allows us truly to become ourselves.

The Year of Mercy will come to its official close with the Solemnity of Christ the King, November 20.  What will you take with you as the year ends?  How have you been changed by Mercy?