A Word from Your Pastor August 26

In this week’s bulletin, we are including two letters, one from our Bishop Frederick Campbell and one from Pope Francis concerning the recent publication of the findings of the Grand Jury of the State of Pennsylvania about the abuse of children by members of the clergy and religious orders.  I invite you to read these letters and to pray for the victims and all who have been involved in the horrendous crimes described in the report.

As Pastor, I want to add my own word of sorrow and upset at what has occurred.  Words are inadequate to express the emotions that arise when I hear of what has been done to innocent ones by those who are called to live as trustworthy shepherds.  The damage done to them and to the Church by such actions is evident.  We must side with the victims and do everything in our power not to allow such things to happen ever again.

As I have said in several homilies at Mass when these things were first coming to light, my heart goes out to all who have experienced abuse of any kind and to all whose Faith in the Church is affected by these scandals.  I am convinced that Jesus, the Good Shepherd Who loves us and Who wants to lead His flock to green pastures, will be with us as we seek to move forward.  God is using this painful reality to bring us all to Truth and to purify His Church so that we can be a faithful witness to the Gospel.

The Diocese of Columbus has now for many years instituted practices to ensure the safety of our children.  All who work and volunteer in the name of the Church in our parishes and our schools experience background checks and undergo Virtus training called “Protecting God’s Children.”  The Diocese has a clear protocol for reporting abuse and acts promptly to answer any situations that are brought to our attention.

Contact information for reporting abuse is on the Diocesan website, including both the Diocesan Victims Assistance Coordinator and the public officials for each county in the State of Ohio.  Any who have knowledge of abuse are asked to contact the appropriate authorities.  Help is available.  We are listening.

Diocesan Victims Assistance Coordinator

The Reverend Monsignor Stephan J. Moloney
614-224-2251
866-448-0217
helpisavailable@columbuscatholic.org

Statement from Bishop Campbell

https://columbuscatholic.org/statements

Letter of Pope Francis

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-08/pope-francis-letter-people-of-god-sexual-abuse.html

A Word from Your Pastor August 19

Wisdom is a divine gift.  It is a share in the very way of seeing and being that is proper to God.  In order for Wisdom to have a place in our lives, we have to become open.  This means acknowledging that we do not know.  Socrates, the wise philosopher, expressed his awareness of his own wisdom by telling the story (as Plato records it) that he went around asking so-called experts about their area of expertise.  He would always reach a moment when they could not answer a question and refused to talk anymore.  They did not want to admit that they did not know….  Socrates realized that he was wiser than the rest because he admitted his ignorance.

God’s Wisdom allows us to come to an understanding of the nature of things beyond our own natural knowledge.  To be wise in relationship to God is to know that without God we can do nothing.  When we allow God to share His Wisdom with us through the gift of Revelation – the Sacred Scriptures and the Teachings of the Church – we reach beyond our reach.  Grace builds on nature.  Faith puts us in touch with the Truth of God.

The challenge of our time and every time of human history is to put our trust in the God speaking through His Church.  Scandals come throughout history and, sadly, the Church is not any freer of them than any other part of humanity.  Nonetheless, the Church offers something we cannot receive any other way.  Jesus has united Himself to His Church.  He has promised us that He will feed and nourish us through Word and Sacrament.  By Baptism we are incorporated into the very life of Christ as sons and daughters of the Living God.  Eucharist renews our initiation into Christ and strengthens us for the journey.  Jesus gives us His flesh and blood and through this communicates Eternal Life.

This week, we will welcome our children back to School.  May the new year begin well.  We pray that all of us will be truly wise, putting our trust in the Living God.  May Wisdom show us the way.

A Word from Your Pastor August 12

What sustains you?  What truly gives you the nourishment, the encouragement, the support that you need to meet the challenges of life?

Jesus tells us that He alone is the Bread of Life, the gift that the Father gives that brings true Life to the world.  As Catholics, we have a deep understanding of this.  It is written into our very DNA as members of the Church.  Unfortunately, however, we can forget it all too easily.

Studies made of relationship to Church in our time are showing some alarming facts.  Many are simply walking away from the practice of Faith.  In years past, there was a kind of “time out” for some of our young people in High School or College or the years of early adulthood, an exercise of “freedom” to reject parents’ values.  But when marriage and children came along, there would be a new maturity and a return to practice of the Faith.  Now, on the contrary, there is a departure soon after or even without Confirmation, and there is no return.  Former Catholics join the fastest growing denomination, the “nones,” that is, those who identify their religious preference on surveys as “none.”

What causes this loss?  Some blame the Church.  The claim is that the scandals, the lack of clear teaching, and a general lack of order are the cause.  Others blame the culture.  The world is simply too appealing and there is no room for the practices that sustain Faith.  Still others suggest that it is the lack of practice of the Faith in the home and in families that causes the failure of the next generation to pick up for themselves what has lasted for generations before them.

No doubt there is truth to all of this.  When scandals arise, they serve as a counter to the witness of the Gospel that the Church is called to provide.  When teachings are watered down or presented without clarity, then Faith has no “meat” to invite it to grow.  When the family fails to provide clear witness and direction, then our young people are left adrift in a confusing world.

What is the answer to this challenge of our day?  Faith, Hope and Love – and the greatest of these is Love.  Jesus tells us that He Himself is the answer, given by the Father.  We must put our Faith in Him.  We must allow the Spirit to renew our Hope and to trust in the Living God to show us the way.  Most of all, we must Love God and one another enough to throw in our lot with the Church and with the Family of God.

It has become very evident to me personally as a Pastor, that the answer to the future of our Church in the world and to the spiritual needs of our own parish and school community is to give more space and time to God and to His plans for us.  We cannot hope to turn around the trend that is all around us unless we are willing to give room to spiritual realities.

Look at your own home.  Where is your “God place” there?  Do you have a prayer room, a prayer corner or at least a prayer chair?  Look at your daily schedule.  Does your conversation with God have more than a cursory moment in the course of the day?  Do you and your family carve out daily time for God?

Let’s look together at the use of our parish and school facilities.  What gets the most space and time?  Are we willing to rethink how we use what has been entrusted to us for encouraging growth in our spiritual journey?  Jesus invites us to be fed and nourished for the journey.  “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too long for you.”  What will truly feed your hunger for God?

A Word from Your Pastor August 5

The Sunday Gospels we will be hearing for several weeks come from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, the passage known as the Bread of Life discourse.  Jesus speaks to the crowd that has witnessed the feeding of the multitude about the Mystery of the Eucharist.  This is a good time for all of us to examine our own response to this central reality of our Catholic Faith.  How do we allow the Word of God to shape our understanding of the Gift that Jesus gives to us through the Eucharist?

Jesus advises: “Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures for Eternal Life which the Son of Man will give you.”

So much of our time is spent on things that do not last.  Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, offers us Something that will last forever.  The Sacramental Gift of Himself to us in the Eucharist is the Food that endures for Eternal Life.  In Baptism, we are made children of God.  Baptism opens for us the door to Eternal Life and makes available the Sacramental grace that enables us to begin that Life now.  Confirmation gives us the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit that brings the Gifts of the Spirit and strengthens us in Faith.  Eucharist is the repeatable Sacrament of Initiation through which we renew our commitment to our Life in Christ.  We are fed and nourished by Jesus Himself, the Risen Lord, the Good Shepherd Who leads us into Life Eternal.

God’s work is that we have Faith.  Our work is to put our Faith into practice.  How can we do this in light of the Gift of the Bread of Life?  We can join in the prayer “Give us this Bread always.”  Jesus will satisfy our hunger and our thirst, but we have to open our hearts and lives to Him.

Faith is expressed through living with the Mystery.  Attendance at Mass as often as possible is one way – not just the minimum of all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, but other days as well.  Mass is offered every day of the week.  Why not add one day “extra” by your own free choice?  Daily Mass is a great gift.  To receive the Bread of Life every day offers something very special to the life of Faith.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every Wednesday from the morning Mass until 6:30 p.m. at St. Timothy Church.  Other parishes near and far have times all through the day and even through the night.  Find a time in your schedule that you could spend with the Lord and give Him the chance to speak to your heart.  Cultivate hunger for the Eucharist by sitting in His Presence.  You won’t regret it.

How will you respond to the Eucharistic Lord?