Welcome
IMPORTANT UPDATE: February 18, 2021
DEAR PARISHIONERS AND FRIENDS,
We have now entered into the sacred penitential season of Lent, situating ourselves into a "pilgrimage mode" for our 40 day journey in the desert.
My homily at the 5:30 pm Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Timothy was a suggestion as to how we might approach our penitential experience. I recommended that we see ourselves as clay vessels vulnerable, but needing transformation through trust. Penitence refers to a change in one's life.
As vessels of clay who desire to be formed by God's hands into the image and likeness of His only-begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, we have to begin the process of letting go of ourselves and trusting in God. This trust entails pain and suffering because we have to be rid of the "old self of sin" which has been the internal definition of our lives. We have clung to that which is easy because we have feared that if we are transformed by God, we have to give up habitual things we have relied on for ever so many years.
St. Paul would tell us that he considered his loss (sinfulness) a gain (transformation). And it is a rather painful experience, like having our wisdom teeth extracted so that we can be healthier after the suffering from impaction.
The problem for the laity and the ordained of the Church is that we live in two realities: The Kingdom of God on earth (Divine) and the kingdom of the world (human). These realities are in constant adversarial tension which causes our lives to be an imitation of the struggle. "To whom shall we go?" The Divine reality speaks to us through Christ, informing us that narrow is the gate to salvation (Mt. 7:14). It is a harsh caveat from our Lord. The world tells us to "go for the gusto" no matter what because we can only discover the true value of human existence through expunging all suffering and pain, focusing on ourselves rather than on others. In other words, there is a liar, a deceiver present in this tension and it is not Jesus Christ, the Divine. The ultimate goal of the kingdom of the world is to extinguish any semblance of faith in God so that the great Adversary of the Divine, Satan, may continue his reign on this earth, capturing many souls for his own selfish pleasures.
Our very sins are caused by the deceitfulness of Satan who was the prince of light in Heaven before his rebellion against God, and being cast down to the earth. He attempts to use his once powerful status to disinform us and resolve to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ only words of forbidding language. To prove this point, all we have to do is to define several serious sins in our lives at this time as we honestly reflect on our hearts, minds and souls.
Let us look at a very popular mindset that the world espouses, namely, men and women living together outside of marriage. They are "sharing expenses" or whatever the euphemism is which they want to use to cover up the scandal of their actions. These couples believe that since "everyone else is doing it, why not us? Who are we harming?"
The answer to this question is, first and foremost, that they are harming themselves by jeopardizing their immortal souls. As they "play house", there is no semblance of commitment to one another that would be present in a marriage, and, too, if they are Christian, they are not living the Gospel life well founded in Jesus Christ's words and deeds. And who supports the couples in their sinfulness? Friends and family who, in turn, are jeopardizing their own souls as they continue to champion the scandalous action.
Sounds harsh? I return to the words of Jesus: "narrow is the gate which leads to salvation." (Matthew 7:14).
Another sinful mindset would be not living one's marriage in total faithfulness to the other. One of the factors in making a marriage a "blessed union" is the axiom that each person in the union must assist in the holiness of the other. Is this a reality within marriage in the Church today? Maybe it never was a very common virtue. But it is a necessary desire if Christ is to be present in the union of a husband (man) and wife (woman).
Other grievous sins are obvious in society: bigotry, enabling poverty through political desire for power, not paying a just wage, slothfulness with regards to one's desire to work, the sharp tongue of gossip, drinking too much to the point of drunkenness and jeopardizing others while driving intoxicated, selling drugs and causing drug addiction in others, double standards regarding ethics and morality, giving false witness, etc.. The list could go on and on. Yikes, we say. Society is truly troubled!
Being transformed means that we are being tried by fire, purified as it were, so that the old element of self is no longer evident, having been replaced by the new form which is stronger in character and in living out the truths of the Gospel of Christ.
Have a blessed journey this Lenten Season. The Adversary will tempt in many ways to keep us from completing our 40 day journey in success. Just keep moving forward even after a few steps backwards. It is worth life itself to image the risen Christ Who give us the strength and courage through His Grace to enter through the narrow gate to eternal life. And what a life it will be!
Parish Staff
Mrs. Ronda Hamilton, Office Manager
Mrs. Terri Clarkson, Faith Formation Leader
Mrs. Jill Test, Director St. Timothy Pre-School
Rev. Stephen Collins, Pastor
St. Bonaventure
461 Main Street
Grampian, PA 16838
814-236-1845
Mailing Address: 306 Walnut Street, Curwensville PA 16833
Sunday Mass: 11:00 AM
(Confessions at 10:30 AM)
St. Timothy
306 Walnut Street
Curwensville, PA 16833
814-236-1845
Saturday Vigil: 4:30 PM
(Confession at 4:00 PM after COVID-19)
Sunday Mass: 8:30 AM
sttimothychurch@atlanticbb.net
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Mass Intentions for the week beginning
Monday, February 22, 2021
Monday, February 22, 2021
9 am Mass at St. Timothy Church
Stephanna Jacoby Rumsky
by the Rumsky Family
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
9:00 am Mass at St. Bonaventure Church
Paul Cunningham
by PD & Barbara Beisch
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
9 am Mass St. Timothy Church
Blair & Robbie Wi
Mass Intentions for the week beginning
Monday, February 22, 2021
Monday, February 22, 2021
9 am Mass at St. Timothy Church
Stephanna Jacoby Rumsky
by the Rumsky Family
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
9:00 am Mass at St. Bonaventure Church
Paul Cunningham
by PD & Barbara Beisch
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
9 am Mass St. Timothy Church
Blair & Robbie Wink
by Kaye Wink
Thursday, February 25, 2021
9 am Mass at St. Bonaventure Church
For the People of Partnered Parishes
Saturday, February 27, 2021
4:30 PM Vigil Mass at St. Timothy Church
Jodi Derrick
by Mary and Stan Derrick
Sunday, February 28, 2021