A Word from Your Pastor March 22 - Fourth Sunday of Lent Coronavirus Exile

Dear Parishioners:

We have reached the Fourth Sunday of Lent.  We could never have predicted that the Lord would allow us to enter so fully into the Desert Experience that Lent is meant to evoke.   We are on a journey together.  Our sole support is the Lord Himself and the spiritual unity that we share as members of the Body of Christ, the Church.

The Gospel for this Sunday is the account of the healing of the man born blind.  The First Reading tells the story of the anointing of David as the King.  St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians reminds us that we are called to arise from sleep in order to receive light from the Lord.  The Responsorial Psalm gathers the whole message with Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”  We are not left in darkness.  The Lord is with us on our journey and He has plans full of hope for us.

This Sunday’s readings and the experience of being aware of our unity in spite of “social distance” bring out the importance of the intention we are praying together this year: “That our eyes may be opened to see Jesus among us, so that the Light of Christ may shine through our unity.”

We are not able to gather for Mass or any of the usual meetings and encounters that generally keep us in one another’s awareness.  So now we must be creative in our efforts to express our unity.  It has been so encouraging to me personally to see how generous folks have been and how willing to share what has been discovered.  The Internet and social media are proving their worth as a means to unify hearts.

Our School children have been working with their teachers and with those who care for them at home to keep on track with learning.  Facebook and Schoolspeak are invaluable tools.  Many companies have been generous in making available resources that assist in the process of learning.

No one knows how long this will last or when we will be able to return to a sense of normalcy.  We are in the desert, but we are together and God is guiding us.  Every day, look for the manna in the wilderness.  There are many beautiful things in the desert.  One day surely we shall reach the Promised Land.  Open your eyes and see!

The US Bishops’ Website offers the Scriptures of each day.  Take time to read them with your family. 

Here is a link to Sunday’s readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032220.cfm

Pray the Rosary Daily: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm

A Word from Your Pastor March 15 - Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

Prudence is good advice concerning all that occurs in our lives: it is the virtue that guides us to choose “best practices” in the face of every human situation.  Bishop Brennan has invited us to exercise prudence in our response to the reality the world is facing concerning the corona virus.  The Bishops of Ohio have dispensed obligation to attend Mass for the next three weekends, but at present we are still able to have Mass publicly.

In some countries and dioceses throughout the United States, public Masses have been cancelled.  We will take advantage of being able to be present as long as we can and pray it does not come to that for us.

Many years ago when there was a concern about an especially virulent strain of the flu, we took up precaution to address that and we have simply kept them going ever since.  So, we are set to address the current situation by already engrained good habits and practices.  We may need to make a few other changes in our common practice as things develop.  In the meantime, here are some simple suggestions.

• If you are sick, stay home and get well.

• If you cough or sneeze, ensure that you do so into a tissue or your elbow as the current model is set.

• If you are an extraordinary minster Holy Communion, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly and to use the sanitizer in the sanctuary before you exercise the ministry.

• You are free to choose to abstain from shaking hands at the Sign of Peace (a bow or nod of the head is fitting). 

Fear is a poor counselor.  We must make our decisions based on good practices and practical wisdom.

Jesus is present among us.  He is the wisest of counselors.  May we open our hearts to hear His invitation to put our trust in Him.  He is the Savior of the world.  He will guide us through whatever trials we face and bring us into His Kingdom.

A Word from Your Pastor March 8 - Second Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

Prayer is a practice that is at the heart of our life in Christ.  We pray in various ways throughout the Season of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter.

Jesus shared His experience of prayer with His disciples. When they asked Him to teach them to pray, He told them to address God as Abba, Father.  This was an invitation into intimacy with God, a sharing in Jesus’ own experience of being the Father’s Beloved Son. 

As He was preparing them for the experience of the Cross – the Paschal Mystery of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection – Jesus chose His intimate friends, Peter, James and John, and allowed them to witness what happened to Him in the midst of Prayer.  The Transfiguration is a revelation of the deep truth that God’s glory has been planted and is hidden in human nature.  The anticipated experience of the glory that God has prepared for us is made present for the disciples so that when the journey of Jesus to the Cross would begin, they would, at least subconsciously, already have a hint that the suffering was not going to end in death and loss.

The same three disciples would be invited to be close to Jesus as He experienced another kind of intimacy in prayer, the depth of His despair and anguish in Gethsemane, just before His arrest and crucifixion.  Jesus cried, “Abba, Father, take this Cup from Me.”  There, they slept through the experience.

Only John was there at the foot of the Cross as a witness of the final prayer of the Lord in the midst of the Passion, when, bowing His head, He breathed His last, releasing His spirit to His Father.

We are invited to intimacy with God.  The Prayer of the Church is the prayer of faithful hearts, individually and collectively as in the Liturgy, that becomes one with the very prayer of Jesus.  When we pray, we are in the very heart of the Lord, calling God Our Father.

May we open our eyes to see the hints of glory that are at work among us.

Thanks to all who participated in the Spaghetti Dinner last week and to all who were present for the Parish Penance Service.  Our community works and prays together, giving God His due and opening our hearts to the glory that is held in store for us.

A Word from Your Pastor March 1 - First Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

Lent is here.  My invitation to you, which I have offered at last weekend’s Mass and on Ash Wednesday, is to keep things very simple.  Taking my cue from God’s directions to Moses, I remind you to Be Holy.  That is, recognize that you belong to God and act accordingly.

Concerning the Lenten practices of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving, and the various opportunities made available by our parish and by the Catholic Church in general, I charge you to Show Up.  In other words, Be There.  Enter into the flow of grace that is offered.  God will attend to everything else that is necessary.  Transformation comes from God’s grace entering into our lives through open hearts.

This Sunday’s Gospel gives St. Matthew’s account of the Temptation of the Lord.  We are all confronted with temptations that are tailor-made to our own persons.  The devil is intelligent and knows our areas of weakness.  God is even more intelligent, and He knows that if we humble ourselves and ask for grace, the devil’s game will be lost.  We will be able to grow in grace and virtue if we allow God to win the battle for our souls by putting our trust in Him.

Our Parish Lenten Penance Service will be celebrated this Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m.  Get your Lent started off right.  Show up for Mercy.  Don’t delay.

Be Holy.  Show Up.  Trust in God’s Mercy.

A Word from Your Pastor February 23

Dear Parishioners:

R.S.V.P. can be a worthy theme for Lent, which begins this Wednesday.  Please respond.  Invitations are sent out, but we are all so busy, we don’t answer.  The opportunity passes and we are left without the strength to continue.

Lent is a gift from the Church, a period of 40 Days of preparation so that we don’t miss the heart of the Christian Message.  We are invited to enter into the mystery of Christ’s suffering and death so as to enter more fully into the Resurrection.

It is so clear that our world is in need of witnesses.  The first “duty” of the witness is to show up at the scene.  Being present at the scene means that we are given the opportunity to see what is happening.  Then we have to open our eyes and our hearts to pay attention, to see the truth of what is going on.  Finally, we are asked to respond fully and to commit to the new way of being that must flow from the knowledge that we have received.

Lent is here.  As Pastor, I invite you to be a witness.  Pray.  Fast.  Give Alms. 

Come to Adoration on Wednesday, Stations of the Cross of Friday, Daily Mass and other times of prayer and study of the Catholic Faith.

Turn off the distractions.  Pull away from what keeps you from paying attention.  Allow your mind to be changed from your way of thinking to God’s way.  Open your heart to the Word.

Give of yourself.  Be present to your family.  Take time to talk with your children about more than the daily run.  Participate in some action of charity.  Visit the sick.  Serve at a soup kitchen.  Invest your time and treasure in something that makes a difference.

Please Respond.  Don’t let Lent pass you by.  Pray.  Fast.  Give Alms.

Ash Wednesday Masses are at 9 a.m. with the School and at 6 p.m.  It is a good time to show your parish family that you are ready to respond.  Be a witness of the Faith!

A Word from Your Pastor February 16

Dear Parishioners:

Last Sunday we welcomed Bishop Robert Brennan to St. Timothy for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation for our 8^th Graders in the Class of 2020.  It was a wonderful moment in the life of the parish with our Bishop taking on his primary role as successor to the Apostles in the action of imparting the Gift of the Holy Spirit to our students.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is one of the three Sacraments of Initiation in the Catholic Church: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.  When these three Sacraments are received, we are understood to be “fully initiated” in the Catholic Church.

Baptism makes us children of God and opens the doorway to Heaven and to the other Sacraments in our journey of Faith.  Confirmation strengthens our Faith and gives us the capacity to serve as a witness to the world of the truth of the Gospel.  Baptism and Confirmation are received only once. 

Holy Eucharist is the repeatable Sacrament of Initiation.  Each time we receive the Eucharist, we renew our pledge of Faith and we are nourished and strengthened to live the Life we have received in Jesus Christ.  The reason we do not have “open Communion” as other Faith communities do is that for us Eucharist expresses first and foremost our unity as members of the Catholic Church.  It is not something that we merely “get” to receive.  It is an expression of who we are.

The responsibility to participate in the Mass each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation flows from the nature of the Sacrament as well as being the fulfillment of the Third Commandment (“Keep holy the Sabbath”).  In the “Amen” we respond to “The Body of Christ” and to “The Blood of Christ,” we express our personal choice to live out the relationship we have with Christ and His Church.

Congratulations to our newly Confirmed and to their families!  May we all grow in our response to the Gifts of the Spirit at work in our hearts.

A Word from Your Pastor February 9

Dear Parishioners:

Recently, our Parish Office has been working on the annual submission of the form called the “Status Animarum.”    It is the compilation of data concerning the reality of parish life, including details of parish membership and numbers of Sacramental celebrations, as well as other matters that lend themselves to counting.  The name of the document means the “state of the souls” who are in our parish.

Reviewing the record books and nowadays the online listings of such matters serves to bring to mind all the events of the past year.  Baptisms, Confirmations, First Communions, Weddings and Funerals are among the items about which we give an account.  Masses, opportunities for Confession, Anointing of the Sick and our ways of reaching out to others are all considered.  In short, the annual Status Animarum is a snapshot of the whole previous year’s activities.  We are reflecting on our practical approach to the spiritual life we share.

The information is pulled together by the Diocese to evaluate our collective efforts to live out our Catholic Faith.  Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to do a similar accounting for your family and for your own response to the Catholic Faith.  What is the “state of your soul”?

What Sacraments have you celebrated?  How do you arrange your days and weeks and months in relationship to the Faith?  Does your account of yourself and your family show clearly that your relationship with God is your priority?  Would someone who read your “statistics” be able to tell that you are a Catholic, not just in good standing, but also truly involved with the meaning of Faith?

Lent is coming.  It will start with Ash Wednesday on February 26^th.  Take some time now to begin your assessment and to establish a plan for renewal.  All of us are called to conversion.  We must turn more toward God, acknowledging His Love and reaching out to others to share our Faith in Him.