Deepened understanding
of the Catholic Faith is always possible.
Three times, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger decided that he wanted to retire. He reached the natural age of retirement the
first time. He asked Pope John Paul II
to let him retire. Pope John Paul said, “I
need you.” He asked a second time, and
he received the same response. As Pope
John Paul came to the end of his life, Cardinal Ratzinger decided he would not
give the next pope the choice. He would
tell him that he needed to retire. Then,
they elected him as Pope Benedict. After
several more years, he didn’t have to ask anyone else. He announced his retirement.
Do you know what Pope
Benedict wanted to do in retirement? He
wanted to have the time to study the Catholic Faith. If the pope feels he needs
to study, the rest of us have to study the Catholic Faith even more!
Our parish has a long
history of offering ways for study.
Virtually every day of the week, something is available for those who
choose. There are small groups, bible
studies and opportunity for quiet prayer in the Presence of the Lord, the True
Teacher. And now, we have made
arrangements for you to be able to pursue study using modern technology.
St. Timothy Parish is
now on FORMED! Give it a try at https://sttimchurch.formed.org.
The Lord Himself has
given us a mission to go out to all the world and to make disciples. In order to do so, we must know Jesus and
spend time with Him. We must also get to
know all that He has taught us through the Scriptures and through the Church
across time. The Holy Spirit guides us.
In order to learn about
our Faith at a greater depth, a proper attitude is needed: humility and
reverence for Truth and a willingness to put our trust in the Teacher. This is something that we cultivate together. You will have noticed some changes in the
environment as we gather for Mass. Our Eucharistic
Lord has His rightful place at the center with the Tabernacle now clearly visible
in the sanctuary. The beautiful play of
light with the window above the altar on the top of the baldacchino over the Tabernacle
is an unexpected gift – our own experience of the Burning Bush. The kneeling of the Altar Servers and the ringing
of the bells at the time of the epiclesis and the consecration draws us together
to acknowledge our Lord Who is truly Present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of
the Altar. All of this serves to draw us
into the fields where our Good Shepherd intends to take us in order to grow in
our Faith. May our hearts be open to the
Lord and may we learn to appreciate together the Truth of His teachings.
No comments:
Post a Comment