A Word from Your Pastor February 2 - Feast of the Presentation

Dear Parishioners:

The Presentation of the Lord celebrates a moment that was precious to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  We hear about it in the Gospel of Luke, which has a very Marian flavor to it.  The encounter with Simeon and Anna at the Temple 40 days after the birth of Jesus was etched into the memory of Mary and she pondered it often in her heart.

Fulfillment of the precepts of Jewish Law was a value to Joseph, who is identified as a “just man.”  He and Mary experienced the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem under unusual circumstances.  Coming to the Temple could serve to put things back on an even path.  Instead, the visit opened up a moment of prophecy, which is always at least slightly unsettling.

A sacrifice to redeem the firstborn connected the story of this small family to the history of Israel and the Exodus.  Simeon associated the Child’s presentation as the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit’s personal promise to him that he would not die before seeing the Messiah, the Light to the Nations and the glory of the People of God.  Anna, watching the proceedings, was able to see that what the ordinary folks were waiting for was beginning to happen.

God has invited the world to receive the gift of a relationship with Him.  In Jesus Christ, separate worlds and intimate promises experienced in personal prayer are brought together.  Dreams are fulfilled when we walk the journey of Faith according to the plan God has mapped out for us.

Are you able to recall moments of grace in your own life where everything came together for you, when you glimpsed in an instant the past, the present and the future and you knew everything would be okay?  Who has been with you in that experience?  How does it serve you now when you call it to mind?  What new light do you see?

The Presentation is about presenting the perfect human nature of the Son back to His Father.  God has claimed us as His own through Jesus Christ.  What does that mean for our life together?  What do you hear God inviting you to be and us to be together?  Let us give our own humanity to God that He may bring us all to unity in Christ.

A Word from Your Pastor January 26 - Celebrating the Feast of Ss. Timothy and Titus

Dear Parishioners:

Happy Feast Day!  Today we honor our patron St. Timothy and his companion Titus, both of whom were co-workers with St. Paul when the Church was being established throughout the world.  It is important for us to know about our patron in order to wear his name proudly.

Timothy, our Patron was a real person.  The statue in front of church is striking.  He is there to greet us to remind us that he is with us in the Communion of Saints.  Two details of the statue are worth noting:  The verse in the inscription has become a sort of motto of our life together as a Parish and a School.  “To the King of Ages, the Invisible, the Immortal, the only God, be Honor and Glory forever.”

Timothy is holding a book.  This brings to mind the two letters he received in his own name, but it is also because he is listed by St. Paul as a co-author of many of his letters to other people.

We know from Paul that Timothy came from a family of strong faith, though of mixed religion.  (Paul mentions his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.)

From the Acts of the Apostles, as well as from Paul himself in various Letters, we know that Timothy was a companion of St. Paul on his missionary journeys, that Paul loved him like a son, and that he trusted him to bring peace to communities in distress and to keep Paul informed as to what was going on.

From the Letters he received from Paul and from Tradition, we know he was Bishop of Ephesus, a place that figures greatly in the earliest history of the spread of the Gospel and in the writings of the New Testament.  It is also the place where Mary and John the Beloved Disciple lived out their years after the Resurrection.

Tradition tells us that Timothy died a martyr in Ephesus on the pagan feast of Katagonia, in honor of the goddess Diana.

As our Patron, Timothy calls us to be true to our Faith as a Family.  He invites us to take the Gospel to the streets, to share the Joy of it with those we meet.  He reminds us that youth have something to contribute and that their zeal can be a force for good in the community.  And he shows us that we can be faithful to the end.

Recently, the earthly remains of St. Timothy, which are held at the Cathedral of Termoli, in Italy, paid a visit to Rome, with stops at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and at St. Peter’s Basilica.  Our Patron is still inspiring the faithful with his travels!

May we continue to follow the example of our Patron and Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Prayer for the Feast of St. Timothy 2020

 That our eyes may be opened 

to see Jesus among us,
so that the Light of Christ
may shine through our unity.

A Word from Your Pastor January 19

Dear Parishioners:

Every year on January 22, the Catholic Church in the United States observes a day of prayer and penitence for the cause of Respect for life at every stage of development.  We are now living in a culture that has obscured completely the value of human life from the womb to the moment God calls us to return to Him.  Sadly, even many who share a fundamental Faith in Christ with us have somehow been confused to think that a kind of compassion must override the fundamental truth of the value and uniqueness of each human being.

The “life issues” have been so politicized in our society, that the first response of almost all who speak on these issues is to express an anger and a resentment of anyone who thinks differently.  This will never bring out the truth in a way that it can be acknowledged and received.  Jesus Christ condemned certain ways of thinking that blocked the Kingdom from people’s hearts, but He always left open the door of His heart to a sincere repentance and a renewed understanding.  Love is the only right response on all sides of the issue.

The fundamental Truth that we hold as Catholics is that each unique human being conceived in his or her mother’s womb is a unique and unrepeatable gift of God, infinitely loved by God and worthy of respect, welcome and support through every stage of human existence.  Life at its beginning and at its end is in need of our care and attention due to its vulnerability.  Love for mothers and fathers who conceive the children and for siblings, grandparents and all future relatives and friends calls for acknowledgment.

At one parish, the Knights of Columbus created a monument for the unborn dedicating it to the unborn and to their families.  Each human being exists in a network of relationships.  When temptation arises to forget this due to fear or to expedience, love for all concerned must be the mark of the Christian heart.

In current circumstances, we also experience the need as a society to care for those who suffer the aftermath of wrong choices at the beginning and the end of life.  Mercy, forgiveness and compassion will lead to healing.  God forgives, so must we all.  We pray that the Culture of Life will prevail and that we may step back from the madness of these times.  May the God Who loves us into life help us to preserve and respect life and may we truly be a people of welcome and compassion for all in need.

A Word from Your Pastor January 12 - Baptism of the Lord

Dear Parishioners:

Following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday, we find ourselves once more in Ordinary Time with “the First Week of Ordinary Time.”  As the children in the Atrium have learned, the color of this Liturgical Season is green, and it reminds us that we are in a “growing time.”  The word “ordinary” in this context is in reference to the fact that we number these weeks with “ordinal” numerals, that is, “first, second, third, etc.”  In other words, we are simply “counting time.” 

The experience of time has not been “ordinary” in the other sense of the word since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We live “in the Year of Our Lord 2020,” which highlights the fact that since the Incarnation of the Son of God, all time has belonged to Him.

The Baptism of the Lord is a reminder to us all that we are privileged and called to live a Sacramental Life.  Jesus is the Sacrament of God the Father, the One Who reveals to us the very nature of God as Love.  The Church is formed as the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit and therefore becomes the Sacrament of Christ.  The Seven Sacraments are the usual means for the members of the Church to enter into the Life of Christ.   Baptism initiates us into Christ-Life.  Baptism serves as the doorway into the Sacraments and into the promise of Eternity.

At the Baptism of Jesus, the Holy Trinity is made manifest.  The Life of the Trinity is revealed as the Spirit descends upon Jesus and remains with Him.  We have that very Life in us and we grow in our experience of that life to the extent that we cooperate with the grace that is offered through the Sacramental Life of the Church.

Being members of the Church is not like being members of a “club.”  The Sacraments, because they are of God, effect an interior transformation in us.  They help us to become truly who we are in Christ.

Today, let us become ever more aware of and committed to the grace of our Baptism.  May our Faith grow, and may we live so that the Lord may bless all His People with peace as we live the Sacramental Life.

In the days ahead, many of our children will be learning more about the Sacraments as they prepare for First Holy Communion and for Confirmation.  May their families and all of us live the Sacramental Life fully so they may rejoice with us in the power of the grace they are soon to receive.  Our conscious and active witness helps them to know the true meaning of the Sacraments they receive.  May we all grow n the Life of Christ which we share.

A Word from Your Pastor January 5, 2020 - Epiphany

Dear Parishioners:

The Church in our time is called to renew the effort to carry the Gospel to every nation and to all human beings.  Epiphany celebrates the fact that Divine Glory is manifested in our human nature.  From the Coming of the Magi, to the Baptism of the Lord, to the Wedding Feast of Cana, the life of our Savior Jesus Christ allowed God’s glory to shine through His Sacred Humanity.  This opened the way of Faith to the Gentiles, that is, all the peoples of the earth and was a harbinger of the Unity God wills to share with us.

We are one with God in Jesus Christ.  In Him, we are also one with all those who share human nature.  The world is different when we begin to see things from this perspective.  The divisions that are common in our daily experience are destined to fall away.  Epiphany reminds us that we can begin even now to live in the Unity that God intends for us.  It is already at work in us.

We acknowledge with the Magi that Jesus is our King, that He is God in the flesh, and that His suffering, death and Resurrection have accomplished our redemption.  We give our loyalty, our own humanity and our willingness to endure suffering over to the action of the Holy Spirit that serves to unite us with the Trinity.

We enter into the Sacramental Life of the Church, allowing the grace of our Baptism to flow, uniting us ever more to Jesus Christ Himself as He lays claim to this world, preparing us for the joy of the Eternal Life we will share with Him in the next.  The Sacraments strengthen and nourish us as we walk the journey of Faith together.

We see the very glory of God in the transformation we experience in our own lives of Faith.  The more we are willing to live and die to ourselves for Christ and one another, the more God’s glory shines through us, drawing others to Christ.

May we give glory to God and may our Faith show forth the hope of Eternal Life to all we meet. 

Focolare Word of Life for January 2020

"They showed us unusual kindness." (Acts 28:2)

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

A Word from Your Pastor December 29 - Holy Family

Dear Parishioners:

The Solemnity of the Holy Family reminds us that God saves us through the life of a family.  We are not alone on our journey through this life and the journey to Life Eternal is also a shared experience.  Jesus, the Son of God, lived a human life that was ordinary in a small town.  His life in Nazareth was longer than His public ministry in Galilee and Judea.  This simple truth speaks volumes about how God sees our earthly life.

The Holy Family of Nazareth lived divine life humanly.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph loved one another with an intensity we can hardly imagine.  Yet, they did so in a way that did not draw attention.  The few stories we know of those years leave a mystery surrounding their daily life.  This mystery is shared with our own experience of family life.  Holiness is to be found in the daily routines, the activities of our lives that are ordinary and human.

As we observe the Feast of the Holy Family, it is our custom to offer a special blessing to individual families at the end of Mass.  This is a moment for each family to join together to accept the Church’s touch of grace to assist them in their witness as the Domestic Church – the Church alive in the home.  It is also a reminder that we are meant to live as the Holy Family of Nazareth, united in heart and mind.

May our parish, which is a family of families, grow in the life of grace and be ever more truly a witness of the power of the Gospel in family life.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!  

A Word from Your Pastor December 25 - Christmas

Dear Parishioners and Guests for Christmas:

We welcome all of you to St. Timothy Church for the celebration of Christmas!

This Feast highlights all that is best about our Faith as Catholics – We acknowledge and welcome the Word-made-flesh among us and we seek to renew our commitment to live as a family united by the grace poured out on us by the Father Who so loved the world that He sent His Son to be our Savior.  In a world that is more and more characterized by polarization and division, we seek to live in Unity with all human beings through the power of Jesus, Who has made us One with God.

In a particular way, this year, we call to mind all those who have died in the past year and all our loved ones whom we remember with fondness in the holiday season.  We pray that we may be true to the Faith that promises a reunion one day when the Christ Who is born for us at Christmas will come again in glory and majesty to establish the fullness of His Kingdom.

Blessings to you and to your family.