A Word from Your Pastor - June 21

Dear Parishioners:

This week, I celebrate my 30th Anniversary of Ordination.  The celebration with my ordination Classmate Fr. Jeff Rimelspach last weekend was a continuation of the journey down Memory Lane.  I thank all who were able to be part of that celebration and all who have given cards and gifts in response to this milestone in my priestly walk.  God is faithful to His promises.  I honestly feel the same wonder and awe that He has chosen me as a priest and I marvel at the amazing things He does with me as an instrument.  If everyone knew the depth of hearts that are open to the priest just because he is a priest, there would never be talk of a crisis in vocations.

Looking out at you who are part of my life and priesthood now, I am moved by what God can do when hearts respond to His grace.  You are God’s own.  He loves you.  He wants you for Himself, all of you and every part of you.  If only we could see one another with God’s eyes.  C.S. Lewis speaks of the “weight of glory.”  Every other human being we see is destined for Eternity.  To be in relationship with eternal beings is a gift that has to take us out of ourselves if we get a glimpse of it.  Those you encounter every day, those you worship with each week or even each day at Mass, those who never come across the threshold of our church are entrusted to you and me.  Can we carry them?  Not without God’s grace or without the mutual support we offer one another.

I am renewing my commitment to live in response to the Lord’s call in my life.  I invite you to join me in this renewal.  Pray that our parish may be the Amazing Parish we are called others may want to know Jesus Christ.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, grandfathers and godfathers among us!  Know that your witness is incredibly important to your children, grandchildren and godchildren.  Your example is observed and plants seeds for the future in ways you can never know.

A Word from Your Pastor - June 14

Dear Parishioners:

As most of you have heard, I recently participated in the funeral of my cousin Dawn Gideon Altomari in Pittsburgh.  It was celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Pittsburgh and I was able to concelebrate with my classmate from seminary, the Very Reverend Kris Stubna, who is rector of the Cathedral Parish.  This was a trip down memory lane for me in many ways.

My cousin Dawn was only a year older than me and we saw each other growing up now and then on my family visits to relatives in Pittsburgh.  She became a remarkable woman who worked in administration in many hospitals throughout the country, including Pittsburgh, New York and Washington, D.C.  She was truly “successful” as far as the world is concerned in many ways.  But what was highlighted at the funeral Mass was the reality of what motivated her – namely her Faith (she and her husband Kevin were faithful members of the St. Paul Cathedral Parish) and Love.  The gathering brought my family into contact with many cousins and others whom we don’t see often enough.  It also included people of many different faiths involved in health care work who knew her and joined the family in mourning the loss.  What I came away with from the experience of the celebration of her life was a renewed awareness of the impact each of us can have on those around us.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?n=dawn-marie-gideon-altomari&pid=175012951

A second aspect of the journey down memory lane was the opportunity to spend time with Fr. Kris.  30 years ago, he and his parents came down to Columbus for my ordination (June 22, 1985), and a week later, I and my family were present for his ordination in Pittsburgh on June 29.  We had a chance to talk about all that has happened in those years.  Again, I have returned home with a sense of renewed appreciation for the gift of priestly ministry and the recognition of what these 30 years of experience of labor in the Lord’s vineyard have brought to me.

Today, my ordination classmate Fr. Jeff Rimelspach and I are celebrating a special Mass at St. Margaret of Cortona at 2 p.m.  Please join us in a prayer of thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done for us in these years.  May we continue to serve the Lord in His People with joy for the Gospel.

As we welcome Fr. Henry Byekwaso this weekend for the Mission Appeal on behalf of the Archdiocese of Kampala, may we all be generous in our response to the Lord’s call to share what He has given to us with those who are so in need.  The truest sign of the work of the Spirit among us is our willingness to share what we have received.

A Word from Your Pastor - June 7 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Dear Parishioners:

Many exciting things have happened the past few weeks.  The Ordination of six new priests and the news that three of them will be assigned to parishes in our neighborhood offers a great sense of hope.  I attended the ordination on May 30 and two of the First Masses of Thanksgiving on May 31 and found the experience to be a trip down Memory Lane, especially since one of the Masses was celebrated at St. Mary Church in Lancaster, which was my first assignment as a priest.  At that Mass, I looked out at the congregation and realized that most of those in the pews were too young to remember me from my time there.  But there were a lot of folks who came up to me to greet me who did remember me.  It was a reminder of my own early zeal in the priesthood. 

My prayer is that I can recapture something of that zeal as I approach the celebration of my 30^th Anniversary of Ordination this month.  By the way, you are invited to join me in that prayer as Fr. Jeff Rimelspach celebrate a special Mass on Sunday, June 14, at 2 p.m. at St. Margaret of Cortona Church (with a light reception to follow) as our observance of the 30^th Anniversary.  We are the Class of 1985 for the Diocese of Columbus.  How quickly the years have flown by!

The privilege of preaching at the Baccalaureate Mass for the Watterson Class of 2015 was exciting.  My nephew Tyler Carter, who has often served here at St. Timothy Church, is in that class.  He is planning to discern the priesthood in the Diocese of Columbus at the Josephinum next year.  I also concelebrated the Baccalaureate/Graduation of St. Charles Preparatory High School, from which I graduated in 1977.  This past week, we celebrated the Graduation of the St. Timothy Class of 2015.  Many families rejoice in these new steps in the lives of our youth.  All of these events are a reminder that the work we do is an important: we prepare the next generations for the future.

On Friday, June 12^th, at 7:30 p.m., at a Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral, the Diocese of Columbus will be consecrated anew to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Bishop Frederick Campbell.  Please join us in prayer at that time and consider making a consecration of your family to the Sacred Heart.  We need to keep Jesus at the center of our lives so that we can be a true witness of the Truth of the Gospel to the world around us.

As Summer begins, remember, Jesus wants to see you every weekend at Mass!  He offers Eternal Rest to those who stay close to Him.  When you visit other parishes, pick up a bulletin and bring it home with you to let your Pastor know you have been to church.  Have a great Summer!

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, let us all reaffirm our Faith in the Eucharist.  Remember that Wednesdays our Eucharistic Lord is waiting for your visit in the air-conditioned comfort of St. Timothy Church.  Come to keep Him company and to allow Him to speak to your heart.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 31 Trinity Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

The Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates the most intimate knowledge we have of Who God IS.  St. Paul tells us that through merely human knowledge, we can come to know that there is a God and that He IS One God.  But the Triune Mystery can only be known because the Son of God has revealed it.  Jesus reveals the Father and the Father and the Son send the Spirit so that we may be caught up into the Mystery of Love and Unity that is shared among the Three Divine Persons.  To know God as He IS will be the Joy we will experience in the next life.  Even now, we can know something of Him and of each unique Person of the Trinity.

Look at Abba, the Father, as Jesus reveals Him.  Who is God for you?  

Look at the Son, Jesus, Who has come to live among us and Who has taken our human nature into the very Reality of God.  Who do you say that Jesus is?  

Look at the Holy Spirit, Who offers us the entry into the life of grace.  How are the gifts of the Spirit operating in your life?  

How does your life reveal the Truth of the Trinity?

This weekend, the Diocese of Columbus welcomes six new priests into the ranks of the presbyterate, ordained Saturday, May 30, at St. Paul Church in Westeville: Father Anthony Davis, Father Sean Dooley, Father Tom Gardner, Father Michael Hartge, Father Brian O'Connor and Father Nicola Ventura.  Please pray for that their first experiences of ministry will serve to lead them to a fruitful time in the vineyard of the Lord.

We offer congratulations to all who graduated this week.  May your accomplishments of today lead to a brighter tomorrow.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 24 Pentecost

Dear Parishioners:

Be sure that you and your intentions were in my thoughts and prayers during the Pilgrimage I just completed.  It was truly an amazing journey.  As far as I can tell so far, things moved along well at St. Timothy in my absence.  I offer thanks to Fr. Bill Faustner and to all the staff and parishioners who held the fort.  Now we are together again and have to be ready to roll.  With the Solemnity of the Ascension last weekend and Pentecost this weekend, we bring to an end our celebration of the Easter Season.  Ordinary time begins, reminding us that as we count the days and weeks of our lives, the Risen Lord is always with us according to His promise through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.  Through the outpoured Gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus, our Risen Lord, equips His disciples for Mission, the proclamation of the Kingdom to all the nations.  St. Timothy Church and all our members are called to take part in this Mission.  Something new is happening in the Church and we are a part of it.  The invitation is going out to become an Amazing Parish, caught up in wonder and awe at the Presence of God among us, and conscious of our concrete responsibility in the world to build up the Kingdom through living discipleship.  If you have not heard that you are part of this, let the Holy Spirit whisper into your heart now.  You belong.  You have a place.  You have been charged to know the Living God and to share all that He has given to you with the world around you.

Rise up in splendor, People of God, and let the world see the power of the Spirit alive in you.  God has a plan for Peace and Healing in our world.  That plan demands a conversion of heart from each of us, an expansion of our vision to a deep understanding of God’s ways.  As we move into Ordinary Time, let us keep our hearts open and allow God’s Spirit to transform us into the People He calls us to be.

We offer special congratulations to all our graduates at every level of education.  May the achievements we honor now be just the beginning for you.  May your lives be a sign of what God can do in us through Faith.

A Word from Your Pastor - May 17 Ascension

Dear Parishioners:

The Ascension of Jesus, which we celebrate today (formerly celebrated on Ascension Thursday), is a great Mystery of the Lord.  It tells us something about God’s plans for our human nature.  Not only does death lose its power through the Resurrection, but, by the action of the Holy Spirit, the Risen Humanity that is given to us through Jesus is taken into the very Heart of Reality, the Life of the Holy Trinity.  Forever, by God’s sheer gift, we are to have a “place” in God in the fullness of Life.  It is beyond our understanding.  That is the nature of a Mystery.

While it might seem that this deep truth could move us to keep our “heads in the clouds,” on the contrary, it invites us to become more deeply involved in the things of earth, because it reveals them to have infinite value.  Through the Ascension, the Spirit took the “stuff” of this world into God.  The transformation of mortality into immortality, earthly flesh into Heavenly glory, is what the Ascension accomplishes.  We are invited to participate in the very transformation of the cosmos by our commitment to follow the path Jesus Christ mapped out for us:  “Men of Galilee, why gaze in wonder at the heavens? This Jesus whom you saw ascending into heaven will return as you saw him go.”  (Acts 1:11)  Our earthly journey is destined to lead to glory for us and for the world.

Next weekend, Pentecost Sunday, we come to the conclusion of the Easter Season.  The 50 Days of Easter serve to deepen our awareness of the power of the Holy Spirit.  As we prepare for Pentecost, we join the whole Church in prayer: “Come, Holy Spirit.”  May our hearts be open to discover what God wants to accomplish among us as we continue the earthly portion of our journey.  The Spirit reveals that God has amazing things in store for us.  What do you see unfolding around us?  How are you responding to the Spirit’s call in your heart?

A Word from Your Pastor - May 3 & May 10

Dear Parishioners:

Today, our Josephinum Seminarians and our Parish Evangelization Committee conclude this year’s efforts to take the Gospel to the streets of our parish territory.  They had a fruitful day April 19 and their effort today is promising.  They remind us of two important facts about our life in the Church: First, we are disciples, not consumers.  Our duty is to share the Faith concretely and to find ways to allow others to know our joy in it.  Second, we are charged with the responsibility of bringing Christ to those in our parish territory.  The boundaries of St. Timothy are not boundaries that keep others out (many of you live outside our official territory).  Rather, they are an entrustment of all the people who live in our neighborhood to us, whether they are Catholic or not.  We need to let them know we are hear and are holding them and their needs in our prayers.  Will you consider joining the Evangelizers today?  If you cannot walk with them, remember them in your prayers.

As you know, this week and next I will be leading a pilgrimage to several sites in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy.  The bookends of our journey are Fatima and Turin.  Along the way, we will visit locations associated with our Blessed Mother and with many Saints who have taught us about the spiritual journey, as well as places connected with the history of the Church.  It promises to be an enlightening experience.  I have personally never been to most of these shrines and I look forward to learning more about our Faith.

I offer you the itinerary of our pilgrimage day by day so you can follow us along in prayer:

Day 1 – Monday May 4: We depart U.S.A.   Our pilgrimage begins today as we depart on our overnight flight to Portugal.

Day 2 – Tuesday May 5: Arrive Lisbon / Fatima.  After a morning arrival in Lisbon, we will meet our knowledgeable local escort who will be with us throughout our stay.   Begin our drive north stopping in Santarem to visit the Church of St. Stephen, famous for its venerated relic, "the Bleeding Host". Then on to Fatima, one of the world's most important Marian Shrines.

Day 3 – Wednesday May 6: Fatima. Today we will celebrate Mass on the spot where Our Lady appeared at the Chapel of Apparitions. Visit the Basilica to see the site of Francisco and Jacinta's graves and then on to the hamlet of Aljustrel where the three children lived during the Apparitions. Continue to Valinhos, the site where Our Lady appeared following the children's release from prison. This evening participate in the Stations of the Cross along the Via Sacra, site of the first Apparition.

Day 4 – Thursday May 7: Fatima / Salamanca.  This morning we leave Portugal for Spain. En route we will stop in Coimbra, a famous university town, to visit the Convent of Santa Clara La Nova where sister Lucia resided until her death in 2005. We continue on across the Portuguese-Spanish border to Salamanca, one of Spain's foremost cultural centers, a great university city and a showcase of intricately sculpted Renaissance architecture in golden stone. Visit the Plaza Mayor, which is regarded as one of the most attractive squares in Spain, and the Cathedrals Vieja and Nueva.

Day 5 – Friday May 8: Salamanca / Burgos.  After breakfast depart Salamanca for the walled city of Avila, the birthplace of St. Theresa. Visit the Monastery of the Incarnation where St. Teresa spent many years of her life, then to the Monastery of St. Joseph, herfirst foundation. Continue to Segovia where we will visit the great Gothic Cathedral, the extraordinary Alcazar fortress, the splendid Roman Aqueduct, and the tomb of St. John of the Cross. Drive on to Burgos, the cradle of Castille and the gothic capital of Spain, for overnight.

Day 6 – Saturday May 9: Burgos / Azpeitia.  This morning we will have a guided city tour of Burgos including the famous Burgos Cathedral, the third largest church of  Spain and one of the country's most magnificent for its beautiful Spanish gothic style. Its construction was carried out in stages over three centuries and involved many of the greatest artists and architects of Europe. We will also visit the Arco de Santa Maria, the Old Town, and the Abbey of Santa Maria la Real de Las Huelgas. After Mass at the Abbey we will drive to Azpeitia for overnight.

Day 7 – Sunday May 10: Azpeitia / Lourdes. Following breakfast drive to Oñati to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu and after a guided tour proceed to Loyola. Here, in 1491 Iñigo Lopez de Loyola Oñaz was born in the Castle of Loyola. We know him as St. Ignatius of Loyola. Visit and celebrate Mass at San Ignacio Basilica where our Lady appeared with the Christ child to St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit
order. Then drive across the Spanish-French border to Lourdes, one of the great pilgrimage shrines in the world. It was here where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette in 1858 proclaiming herself the "Immaculate Conception".

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers, Grandmother and Godmothers!

Day 8 – Monday May 11: Lourdes. We have all day to experience the special atmosphere of this beautiful town. Attend Mass at the Grotto of Massabielle, visit the Basilica of St. Pius X, see the house where Bernadette lived during the Apparitions, and visit several of the sites where miraculous cures have taken place. After dinner, join the candlelight procession.

Day 9 – Tuesday May 12: Lourdes / Avignon. After Mass depart Lourdes for Avignon which is often referred to as the "City of Popes" because it was the seat of the Papacy during the Catholic Schism from 1309 to 1377 instead of Rome. Upon arrival we will visit the impressive Palais des Papes (Papal Palace) before checking into our hotel.

Day 10 – Wednesday May 13: Avignon / Turin.  After Mass this morning we will depart Avignon and drive along the French Riviera to Nice for a panoramic view of this
beautiful resort. Continue on to the Principality of Monaco and enjoy a visit of Monte Carlo. Then continue our drive across the French-Italian border to Turin for overnight.

Day 11 – Thursday May 14: Turin / Milan. Today we will view the Shroud of Turin in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The Shroud is said to be the burial cloth of Christ and it bears the distinct image of a crucified man. We will have what is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the Shroud. After viewing the Shroud we will enjoy a tour of the city including visits to the Palazzo Real, Palazzo Madama, and Mole Antonelliana. Then depart Turin and drive to Milan for overnight.

Day 12 – Friday May 15: Milan / U.S.A. This morning we will transfer to the airport to catch our return flight home.