A Word from Your Pastor July 28

Dear Parishioners:

We are entrusted to one another.  Paul writes to Timothy: “First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone.” (1 Timothy 2:1)   If all of us pray for everyone in the parish, then we are certain that we always have intercessors praying for us.

This happens in many ways.  Each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, there is a Mass pro populo, that is, for the People of the Parish.  The Pastor is obliged to offer or see that there is offered a Mass intention for the benefit of the members of the parish.

The Prayer of the Faithful, also called the General Intercessions or Petitions are about all the needs of the parish, the Church and the world.  We bring to that moment of the Mass all that has been entrusted to us.

The power of prayer for the living and the dead is deep in the Church’s awareness of her duty to God on behalf of the world.

I want to suggest that your involvement in the current project of creating a new Parish Pictorial Directory is an important way in which you can personally respond to this shared responsibility.  Whenever I look through our past directories, I am reminded to pray for all of you.  When I go on a pilgrimage, I often take a copy of the directory with me.  The number of those who have died since our last directory is striking.  I look at their pictures and continue to remember them in my prayers.

Some are hesitant to have their picture in the directory.  I would suggest that if you have such a hesitation, you should push past it.  Get your picture taken with your brothers and sisters.  Don’t let your vanity get in the way of your being remembered in the prayers of your fellow parishioners.  Do you look older and more care worn?  So what?! Let it be an invitation to all who see that to pray for you more.  Whenever I get my hair cut, I notice that there are more gray hairs than I remember.  It gives me the chance to acknowledge that I can give the name of the person who gave me each gray hair!

The goal of the committee is that all of us participate.  The good new is that July and August settings are already full.  Please don’t miss your chance to be in the directory this round.  I promise you that I will take one with me when I am called to a new parish and will keep you in my prayers.

Thank you to all the members of the Directory Committee.  I am grateful to you for your dedication.  Thanks too to all who have had their pictures take and to those who have scheduled an appointment.  To all the rest, please get on board and know that you will be remembered in prayer.

A Word from Your Pastor July 21

Dear Parishioners:

The week following the Festival begins the summer for many folks at St. Timothy.  Of course, that makes the summer all too short since School will be back in session in just a month.  Do you remember when summer used to be all of June, July and August?  While we have a lull, as short as it may be, it is good to take time to reflect on what we are grateful for.  This week offers a hint of one thing to think about.  Friday, July 26, will be the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is, Jesus’ maternal grandparents.  So this week, perhaps we can reflect on all that grandparents are for us.

I offer a word of praise and thanks to grandparents for many things.  First, I thank you for what you have done in raising your own children to the point of having children of their own.  You have created a family that has opened to the world.

I thank grandparents for doing all they can to pass on Faith to their grandchildren: for the way you insisted that your own children go to Mass when they were in your home, for complaining to them now when they don’t bring their own children to church or seek to offer them the witness and education in the Sacraments that you continue, and for doing what you can to share your Faith with your grandchildren by paying for their education in a Catholic School, by bringing them to church yourself and by buying them “religious” presents that incite their curiosity about the Catholic Faith.

I thank grandparents for the prayers you pray for your children and grandchildren who are far away, for “adopting” as your own the children in our community whose own grandparents live far away, for volunteering your time in the CGS Atrium, in the Reading Room and in the Classroom in order to share your Faith with the children in our parish and school.

The Grandson of Saints Joachim and Anne changed the world.  The grandson of Lois (mother of Eunice) is our Patron Saint Timothy, who served as a faithful disciple of the Lord and companion to Saint Paul.  Yours will do the same because of your faithful witness. 

My own grandparents, John and Alma Hayes and Bill and Iona Keeley, meant so much to me and I continue to remember what they taught me.  You have heard their wisdom in what I have shared about my own family experiences.  May you know how much you are appreciated for all you do and are to all of us at St. Timothy Parish.  May God reward you as only He knows how.  And may your sons and daughters continue to learn from you how put their Faith into practice for the sake of generations to come.

A Word from Your Pastor July 14

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend, many parishes around the Diocese of Columbus are experiencing new priests as their pastors or as their new “parochial vicars” (formerly called associate pastors).  Our custom as a diocese is to start new assignments on the second Tuesday of July each year.  The policy has had some changes through the years, but the timing has been consistent for a long time.

It seems timely to offer explanation of the procedures followed by the Diocese of Columbus so this may be understood.  The first thing to note is that the Bishop of the Diocese is the decision maker in the matter, guided the by Canon Law of the Catholic Church.  Each priest is free to participate by way of offering suggestions and input concerning his own needs and status.  The bishop generally uses a priests’ personnel board to offer suggestions as well.  But the bishop decides and makes the appointment.

In times past, the custom was to have indefinite terms.  That meant that a priest, generally after many years as an “assistant” or having served in special ministries (for example, as chaplain in a hospital, convent or prison, or as a high school teacher), would be appointed as pastor to a parish and would be able to stay there “forever” or until a need in the diocese required his expertise (as understood by the bishop).  Many will remember that their childhood parish had one pastor and several assistants when vocations were abundant.

In the 1980’s there was a move to change the policy to set terms.  When I was in the seminary, the custom began of having pastors serve for a term of five years, renewable once.  Associate pastors had terms of two years, renewable once, with the idea that they would have several stints with different pastors and parishes to prepare them to become pastors.  In 1983, the Code of Canon Law was updated and it stipulated that the pastor’s term would be in six-year increments.

For most of my priesthood, then, the tenure policy has been to have pastors for 6 or 12 years and associate pastors for 2 or 4 years.  In the past decade or so, the policy regarding associate pastors went out of practice, so those who were not pastors had no limit.  They could stay for shorter or longer times depending on the “fit” with parish and pastor.

My own stays in parishes have been pretty stable.  I was in my first assignment at St. Mary’s in Lancaster for three years and then became Vocations Director, which ministry I had for four years.  During that time, I assisted on weekends at St. Brendan in Hilliard.  After a year of study to finish a licentiate degree, I was next at St. Joan of Arc as associate (serving a month as “administrator” between pastors), expecting to be there for four years; as it turned out, was there for only 2-1/2 years instead, being named pastor at Blessed Sacrament in Newark in January 1996.  I was there for 12-1/2 years before being called to serve St. Timothy Church in 2008.  So now, we are beginning our 12^th year together.  How the time has flown by!

So what will happen in 2020?  Only God knows for sure.  If all goes according to policy, at some point in Spring of 2020, the process for determining where I may go next and who will become the next pastor at St. Timothy Church will take place.  If all goes according to usual procedure, there will be a transition July 7, 2020.  In the meantime, my intention is to have both oars in the water.  We can have a wonderful year together celebrating the Sacraments and seeking together to respond to God’s call to us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  God’s Command “is something very near to us, already in our mouths and in our hearts; we have only to carry it out.”

A Word from Your Pastor July 7

Dear Parishioners:

The Festival is coming, the Festival is coming!  Are you ready?

This event is one of the activities that St. Timothy Parish is known for.  We have a great time together.  It is hard to believe that this year’s Festival will by my 12^th!  But it is true.  I arrived as Pastor in July 2008.  My first weekend was Festival Weekend, so I hit the ground running. 

This year as in all the years past, I plan to take lots of pictures to document the event.  Many generations of St. Timothy parishioners and alumni come through and it is wonderful to see them through the years.    At times, it is poignant to look through the pictures and to notice many of our friends who have gone on ahead of us.  

If you want to take a nostalgic trip through the years, you can check out the festival collection I have uploaded to Shutterfly:  

https://sttimothyfestivals.shutterfly.com/.

We thank all who work so hard to get ready, to run the Festival and to clean up afterwards.  We are also so grateful to all who come and bring their friends.  May God grant us good weather and keep everything on track for the best Festival ever!

A Word from Your Pastor June 30

Dear Parishioners:

As I have often shared with you, one of the discoveries I have made along my journey in the priesthood has been about the Movements of the Church that have been raised up by the Holy Spirit as a Sign of the Times.  These are fascinating communities that bring together persons of great diversity who hear in their own hearts a call to make known some powerful aspect of the Gospel in very personal and practical ways.  The Focolare Movement, formally established by the Catholic Church as “The Work of Mary” is the one that I know best.

This weekend, I am participating in the annual summer gathering that is characteristic of the Focolare Movement known as a “Mariapolis,” that is, a “city of Mary.”  This is more or less a “family retreat” in which the extended family of those familiar with the Movement come together to share life for a few days to work on the task of Unity.  Jesus’ Last Will and Testament was the prayer that “All May be One.”  The Focolare see their call to open their hearts and lives to this prayer, to become a means of Unity within the Church and among all people of good will.

Each year, I spend time with other priests around the United States who are involved with the Focolare.  Our time together always renews me and gives me hope.  In the summer, whenever I can, I try to participate in a Mariapolis.  For many years, the timing did not work out since our parish festival and the Midwest Mariapolis were the same weekend.  This year, happily, the timing is different.  So this weekend, I am participating in the Mariapolis in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

I will return refreshed and renewed by time with a multitude of families who seek Unity.  May prayer is that we together may also be united in our own commitment to fulfill the desire of Jesus’ Heart that all may be One.

A Word from Your Pastor June 23 Corpus Christi

Dear Parishioners:

34 years ago Saturday, June 22, 1985, I was ordained to the priesthood at St. Joseph Cathedral.  This weekend is very special to me, because with the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, it brings together the two most wonderful gifts I have ever received: the Holy Eucharist and my share in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.

My first parish as Pastor was the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Newark, Ohio.  Each year, we celebrated Corpus Christi as one of our parish feast days.  (The other, of course, was Holy Thursday, with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.)

I delight in the gift of priestly ministry an in the Sacramental Life that is the heart of the Catholic Church.  There is a kind of joy that I experience every time I celebrate the Eucharist that I hope everyone can share.  It does sadden me that so many have begun to take for granted the Gift that is ours in the Eucharist.  I would do anything I could to try to share the depth of this Gift.  But those I would want to share it with just cannot receive it, because they are not here.

How do we learn the Truth of the Catholic Faith?  There is only one way – to practice it.  That means making it the center of your decision-making process, not an after thought or an optional extra.

I learned the beauty of the Eucharist by attending Mass through my whole life, both on Sundays with my family and also on weekdays at the request of my Mother who wasn’t able to go to Mass every day due to raising children.  My Mom asked me and my other siblings who were old enough to take advantage of the fact that we could attend Mass before School every day when I was in grade school.  I attended a high school and then a university that had priests on staff who celebrated Mass daily at times that students could choose to attend.  Eucharist became the very heart of my day.

Priesthood has opened up so many opportunities that I could never have imagined.  It has brought challenges I never expected, especially in recent years.  But it has been such a tremendous gift, worth all of the sufferings that are part of it.

My sincere hope for you is that you will discover for yourself the wonderful riches that are available to us that come through the Church.  I am certain that if you choose to open your heart even to the Truths that you find inconvenient, you will soon discover their worth.

I thank God for Eucharist, for Priesthood and for His Holy Church.  I thank God for you who have shared this part of my journey as a priest.  Let us keep one another in prayer.

A Word from Your Pastor June 16 Holy Trinity Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

Although we have entered into Ordinary Time, the Sundays that follow Pentecost offer us some rich reminders of the deep Mysteries of our Catholic Faith.  It is as if the whole sweep of the Seasons of Lent and Easter have created a “wave” that crashes into the next couple of Sunday celebrations to help us to realize anew what God has made known to us through Jesus Christ.

Pentecost called us to see the hand of God operating among us through the Holy Spirit.  Today, the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, we are plunged by that Spirit into the inner Mystery of the very Life of God as a Trinity of Persons united in One Love and One Being.  Father, Son and Spirit give Themselves fully One to the Other, and through the Spirit the Triune Life revealed in Jesus is shared with the world.  We are destined to share the Life of Glory, the Life of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In a very real way, the life of the Church on earth mirrors the Life of the Trinity.  Through the Paschal Mystery, by the Gift of Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, we are given an opening into Eternity that is already experienced in Time.  Relationship with God as Father, Son and Spirit is not an encounter with a mere “force, but rather is an experience of something intensely personal.  Each unique human person is in direct and real relationship with Each Divine Person.  As we discover the Son Who saves us, we come to the Father Who loves us as His own children, and the Spirit Who reveals to us the depth of the Divine Love that is poured out on us through Christ.

We are sons and daughters of the Father.  We are brothers and sisters of the Son.  We are formed as Church by the Holy Spirit, the very Love of the Father and the Son Who builds the Kingdom among us.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!

This week I will be returning from my time away in Africa.  I look forward to being back with you.  Many thanks to all who have filled in so that the life of our Parish flows along.

A Word from Your Pastor June 9 Pentecost

Dear Parishioners:

Pentecost is the final day of the Easter Season.  The Alleluia that sprang forth 50 days ago has been sung for seven weeks and a day, filling us with confidence that the Risen Lord has given us a share in His New Life.  Now we will enter into a time of practical application of this New Life, a time of continuing growth in knowledge of the Gospel and in our personal response to our call.

This is a day of joy.  It is a day of fulfillment.  It is a day of wonder.  The Spirit chooses each one of us for different gifts and to accomplish different tasks in the building up of the Kingdom.  The Church is born through wind and flame, empowered to bring the Gospel to every nation and people.

Have you discovered your gifts?  How does the Spirit prompt you to speak the Word of God?  Who is awaiting your proclamation?  Faith is meant to be shared.  It is not something private for us alone.  What we have received as a gift, we are to offer freely as a gift to others.

As I shared with you last week, I am now away for an experience of travel in south Africa.  I am grateful to the priests and to all who are filling in for me during this time.  Be sure that you are in my thoughts and prayers.  

May God’s Spirit fill each of you with the special touch of joy that His Presence brings.  May you be renewed in your awareness of God’s Love for you.  May you discover the plan He has for you as you share Your Faith, seeking to put into practice the Gifts of the Spirit.

May all the members of St. Timothy Parish be truly a sign to the world that God’s Spirit is active among us.  Remember that together we are witnesses of the New Life that God offers to all in Jesus Christ.

A Word from Your Pastor June 2 - Ascension

Dear Parishioners:

The Solemnity of the Ascension (which used to be celebrated on Thursday) has for many years been observed on Sunday so that all God’s People may be able to contemplate the Mystery.  In times past, it was often matter for confession that a Holy Day of Obligation had been missed.  We can see the mercy of the Church in opening the Mystery to us on our usual day of gathering.  This Mystery is truly a highlight of the Paschal Journey.  It tells us that what we do in Time affects our Eternity.  The very “stuff” of this world is destined for a transformation from mere dust into glory.

Jesus, the Son of God, lives among us.  He lived our earthly life in its fullness.  The Resurrection of Jesus gives back the fullness of human life, body and soul to Jesus the Man.  The Ascension of the Risen Lord with His glorified human nature takes our nature into the Life of Jesus, the Eternal Son of the Father, forever giving humanity a place to be in the very Godhead.  This is something beyond our understanding, but believing it opens our minds and hearts to the glory that is store for us in Christ Jesus.

When we allow our minds to be lifted up through Faith and when we exercise the gift of Hope that comes to us from the Spirit, we are free to Love in this world and the next with the Love of God at work in our very souls.  Earthly hopes and dreams become the context for us to realize and wonder at God’s plans for us.  As St. Paul reminds us, “no eye has seen…what God has prepared for those who love Him.”  (I Corinthians 2:9)

Paul prays for the Ephesians and for us: “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to His call, what are the riches of glory in His inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of His great might, which He worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at his right hand in the heavens.” (Ephesians 1:18-20)  The Ascension invites us to put our Hope into practice by engaging with God’s plan to build up His Kingdom in the world.

This week, I will be leaving for a vacation to see a part of the world that I have never seen – the southern part of Africa.  While I am away, a number of priests have been invited to take care of the Masses and anything else that may come up while I am gone.  I know you will welcome them warmly.  If on some occasion, you find that a priest is not present when one is expected, know that you are all in charge of moving forward as a community of prayer, doing whatever is possible in the absence of a priest.  The Kingdom of the Lord is built up by our common efforts and by our filling in for one another along the journey.

Focolare Word of Life for June 2019

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will by My witnesses.” (Acts of the Apostles 1:8)

http://www.focolare.org/en/news/category/parola-di-vita/