A Word from Your Pastor February 24

Dear Parishioners:

Governmental intrigues are nothing new.  If you want to read some really wild stories about how political officials can go wrong, all you need to do is open your Bible.  Our readings this weekend are a reminder that human nature has not changed much through the centuries. The surprise ought not to be that corruption is present in either the public sector or the Church.  Human nature on its own can never get much beyond the mud.  The surprise is that there are signs of Mercy present even in the most unpleasant human situations.

God has revealed to us that He loves us.  Once we reject His Love, He stands steady and offers it again as Mercy.  We are called as a People to acknowledge that God is merciful and we are to imitate the God we discover through accepting the Mercy He offers to us.  Perfection is something we strive for but will not achieve on earth.  There will always be room for improvement.  If we measure according to the measure God has for us, there is always room for something more. 

Soon Lent will begin.  It is time to reflect on how we will live this Lent.  Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the practices that allow us to be practical in our efforts to live our Faith.

How and where and when will you pray this Lent?  What sacrifices will you make to indicate that you are serious about opening your heart to the Kingdom?  And how will you share what you have with those who are in need?  Pray.  Fast.  Give Alms.  Spiritual activities that make use of material realities for a higher purpose allow this world to enter into the service of the Kingdom.  “Be merciful, just as your Heavenly Father is merciful.”

A Word from Your Pastor February 17

Dear Parishioners:

We feel blessed about things that please us and we cry “woe” about the things we don’t like.  Jesus invites us to think differently.  Our measure is the problem.  How we see is the problem.  What we set as our goal or aim in life is the problem.  If we have the eyes to see it, everything is a grace from God.

God invites us to broaden our vision.  When we settle for less than God’s vision, we miss an opportunity.  Everything this side of Heaven is provisional.  God calls us to discover Who He IS and who we are first, because that is what will last.  Prayer draws us into a relationship with God that serves to keep us growing.

February is often a time of year when we feel like we are in a rut.  Gray skies.  Snow.  Rain.  Clouds and darkness.  This is Ohio, after all.  But the truth is that we can see beyond the clouds.  The sun is always there.  Sometimes, it peaks through and raises our spirits.

This weekend, we experience something else that ought to lift us out of the doldrums.  Bishop Frederick F. Campbell is with us for the Sacrament of Confirmation for our 8^th Graders at the Noon Mass.  This will be his last visit with us as our Bishop.  We welcome him heartily and thank him for all that he has done through the years for St. Timothy Parish and for the Diocese of Columbus.  We wish him well on his new ventures.

We have been a parish that has had Bishop Campbell present to us at least twice a year every year – for Confirmation in the winter months and for the Blue Mass in the Fall.  At least a couple of years we had him for three visits.  Who can forget our 50^th Anniversary Celebration in November 2011, where we also inaugurated the new English version of the Mass and had the Bishop bless our Rosary Prayer Garden?

If you have an opportunity this month, it might be a nice idea to send a message of thanks to Bishop Campbell.  We will welcome his successor, Bishop Robert Brennan, in March.  The installation of the new bishop will be March 29.  In the meantime, pray for the Diocese of Columbus and all its people as we experience this time of transition.

May we open our hearts to all the blessings God bestows on us and respond to the Gift of the Spirit by proclaiming the Good News to all we meet.

A Word from Your Pastor February 10

Dear Parishioners:

A Call from God is addressed to every human being.  As Christians, we are obliged to acknowledge that the Creator of the Universe has a Plan which incorporates all people.  The charge given to us is to pass on this Good News to others.  St. Paul expresses succinctly the central part of this Word:  Christ died for our sins.  He was buried.  He rose from the dead and appeared to followers who knew Him in His earthly ministry and then to others, like Paul himself, who were also charged to share the Gospel.  This Message becomes something of first importance to those who hear it and receive it.

When we relate to one another, we are meant to see one another as fellow ministers of the Gospel.  The social activities and all the other aspects of our common life have the purpose of forming us as a family of disciples who are meant to draw others into the family.

God is Holy.  By our relationship with Him, we become holy.  He shares His very life with us.  We acknowledge Who He IS.  We relate to Him on His terms, realizing our smallness, our weakness and our sinfulness.  He purifies us as we pray and worship in His Presence.  We receive what He offers, experiencing an interior transformation that frees us to relate more deeply to Him.  Our response, then, is to follow through on the mission entrusted to us.

The material world can be an obstacle to our relationship with God when it gets all our attention.  It is meant to be a means of relationship with God and with others.  Body, mind and spirit, we belong to God.  Our whole persons will share in the fruits of the Gospel.  We will be sustained through the sufferings of life.  We will die and we will rise from the dead.  If our hearts and lives have been given over to God, we will share in His glory forever.

The choice is ours.  Time is a great gift.  We are given days and years in which we can learn the lessons that God wants to teach us.  But we must acknowledge Him for Who He IS.  May we be formed by grace as a people who relate to God, who receive His Word of Truth and Life, and who respond fully to the Call that is addressed to us by the Living God.

A Word from Your Pastor February 3

Dear Parishioners:

The essence of prayer is a living relationship with God.  Behind every form of prayer, there is first the relationship between the one who is praying and the One Who is being addressed in prayer.  As we enter into prayer, we simply rest in that relationship and discover truly Who it is that holds us in being, Who it is that loves us, Who it is that is worthy of our fullest confidence and trust.

Our life together as a Catholic parish is first of all meant to be a School of Prayer.  As we pray individually and together, we are invited to learn more about God, about ourselves as we truly are, and about God’s plans for us.

We must first acknowledge that God is God.  God must be the center of our lives  Where can we meet God?  Everywhere!  Our very breath comes from God.  Before we take our first breath, and even beyond our last breath, however, there is a relationship with God.

As the prophet Jeremiah hears from God: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”  Take that awareness into your prayer.  You are known and loved by God before your existence in your mother’s womb.  The God Who knows and loves you remains in relationship to you forever.

Our Kindergarteners have taken this knowledge into their awareness.  They picked up a very simple truth on Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day at St. Timothy School last fall.  Now they have tee shirts that identify their class with a message: “I am loved.  I am chosen.  I will do great things.”

May we all open our hearts to the truth of this message.  May we be as children before a Loving Father.  And may we begin to pray more fervently and with a greater willingness to follow the Lord where He leads.

Focolare Word of Life for February 2019

“Seek peace, and pursue it.”  (Psalm 34:14)

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