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C OMPANION
THE
NEWS ABOUT SAINT TIMOTHY PARISH IN UNION, KY July/Aug 2015
The Companion
Is the newsletter of
St. Timothy Parish
P.O. Box 120
Union, KY 41091-0120
(859) 384-1100
Contributions are welcome.
Contact Lynn Profitt
Publisher
Fr. Rick Bolte, Pastor
Editor
Lynn Profitt
Graphic Designer
Tom Tally
[email protected] Sue Fichner
Contributors
Fr. Rick Bolte
Deacon Dave Profitt
Bill Anderson
Katie Barton
Jennifer Casson
Jennifer Putnam
Katy Sullivan
Deb Thomas
Continued on Page 2
SUPREME COURT DECISION OBERGEFELL ET AL. V. HODGES
& THE CATHOLIC CHURCH By Fr. Rick Bolte
The majority of our country’s citizens are Christian. Our country’s founders were grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition and much of our legal system reflects these values. Nonetheless our founding fathers wanted to make sure no religion had undue power or influence with our government, and it shows. As we look at the actual Supreme Court decision, there is no mention of God or religious values. The approach to marriage and who is entitled to its name and benefits begins with the concept of individual rights. As each person is entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, each person is entitled to marriage if he or she chooses. Marriage is perceived as a means to intima-cy, harmony, security, and self-definition. Past court decisions have affirmed a person’s right to marriage regardless of race, plans to have children, and incarcera-tion. Any marriage is considered as good and important for children. Same sex couples can provide loving and nurturing homes for their children whether the children are bio-logical or adopted. Hundreds of thousands of children are presently being raised by such couples. The court believes that recog-nition of same sex marriage will provide stability and predictability for these children who might otherwise suffer being stigma-tized as part of a lesser family. Without the legal recognition of the marriage, these children would suffer material loss being deprived of the financial incentives offered to married couples. The traditional marriage laws are seen as causing these children a
more difficult and uncertain family life sub-jecting them to harm and humiliation through no fault of their own. Marriage is considered important for the good of society. In the explanation of the decision, marriage is described as the foun-dation of the family and society, and essen-tial for civilization and progress. So just as the couple vows to support each other, so too society needs “to support the couple, offering symbolic recognition and material benefits to protect and nourish the union.” Legally, marriage is treated as a contract between two people. Though the words of covenant are spoken even in non-religious wedding ceremonies, legally it is an agree-ment to certain sharing of assets and responsibilities. These are divided up if the ‘contract’ is ended. In the Catholic Church marriage is recog-nized as a model of Christ and his church, the people of God. As such it is held to be a covenant relationship which is indissoluble (An annulment from the Church requires demonstration that the relationship was flawed at the time of the marriage and never became a covenant.) A covenant is for life. In section 1640 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are reminded that the bond of marriage is established by God and can never be dissolved. In section 1601 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, marriage is defined as a covenant between a man and a woman ordered toward the good of the spouses and procreation and education of children. This affirms the traditional experience of marriage being between one man and one
Page 2
Our Parish Family
New Families Baptisms
Deceased
Stewardship of Treasure
JUNE 2015
Continued from Page 1
JULY 2015
COLLECTIONS: $ 90,015.52
5% TITHE: $4,500.78
City Heights $500.00
Gallatin County $500.00
DIO Collection $3,500.78
COLLECTIONS: $ 85,403.98
4% TITHE: $3,416.16
City Heights $500.00
St. Vincent de Paul $500.00
Grant Recipient: (Max $3,000)
Royal Prom $2,416.16
$$ to 1% Tithe $0
1% TITHE $854.04
$$ from 4% Tithe $0
Total to STYM/Outreach:
$854.04
STYM $469.72 Outreach $384.32
woman. Additionally it reminds us that an essential part of marriage is the openness to having children. In conclusion, we realize that in many ways the legal and cultural view of marriage in this country is different than that of the Catholic Church. And though we oppose same sex marriage, it is important to realize that in the eyes of the Church, sexual relations between people of the same sex is sin-ful in the same way as sexual relations between people who are not married, people divorced and remarried without an annulment, couples intending never
to have children, or couples using artifi-cial means of birth control. It is good for us to remember we are a church of sinners who strive to follow Christ and to receive forgiveness and healing from him. We reject all sin but never the sinner. We should not join those segments of society who are disparaging toward people who are gay. It is also important to keep the perspective of Jesus himself. When he walked among us, though he affirmed the indissolubility of marriage, he did not focus on sexual sins but did focus on issues of greed and apathy toward others in need.
Kristen Breig Tony & Sheila Canonaco Abbygail Chaney Phyllis Dawson David & Emily Kasselmann David & Erin Keyser Thomas & Molly Leone Matthew & Leslie Luebbehusen Chad & Katrina Lynch Dean & Ruby McKay Timothy & Shelly O'Brien Joyce Reed Christopher Seitz Jason & Jackie Smith Joann Thinnes Michael & Patricia Wagner
Joshua Andrade Christian Briggs Paige Krull Vivian McDowell Alexander Padilla Mackenzie Sand Lucas Sims Matthew Sims
Kathleen Carnahan Ray Kemper James Groat Sr. Margaret Kemper John Longo John LeVan
Choir Camp 2015 was well attended!
Let It Be Written By Deacon Dave Profitt
One of the great privileges I have had over the past 10 years is writing in the Companion. It’s allowed me to open up to you in a personal way regarding my thoughts and some-times ramblings on the faith that I love so dearly. It’s been an honor and I want to thank you for the kind com-ments, sometimes criticism and most of all the support you have given me all these years. All of this added to my discernment process in becoming a deacon. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and encouragement with me. Writing is such an intimate way of expressing how you feel and it sometimes exposes you to risk you may not otherwise take. When I was asked to do this 10 years ago, the idea was to write an article on men’s spirituality. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that I had more women reading my articles than men. That should have been a sign for me. You learn very quickly that you write to your audience and so I began to expand the articles to where they are today. Over the years, I’ve had quite a few of you say that I should write a book. I did that 5 years ago but I didn’t do anything with it. I sat on it and didn’t submit it to any publishers. Maybe it was fear of rejection or maybe the time was not right. Two years ago I did submit it to 2 different publishers but I didn’t hear anything. In June of this year, that all changed. I was driving up to meet with a gentleman who is discerning a call to the diaconate. My phone rang and it was a number I didn’t recognize. It was Tate Publishing out of Oklaho-ma. Tate was one of the publishers where I sent my manuscript. They told me they had just found it and would like to publish my book. I had to ask them if they were sure it was me they wanted to speak to and the
woman on the phone laughed and said “Yes.” That began the process of getting it ready to be published. When you work for the Church and you write a book, there are certain steps that need to be taken. Among them is making sure that what you write isn’t counter to Church teach-ing. That requires you submit the
book for review. Canon law requires that you submit it in the diocese where the book is being printed so I submitted it to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The book was re-viewed by a wonderful woman who not only checked it for the doctrinal aspect but also proofed it for me. She is a writing instructor so she checked all my grammar, spelling and punctu-ation. That was a great gift. Once that was completed, I was granted the Imprimatur from the Archbishop of Oklahoma City. This means the book is free from doctrinal error and is consistent with the moral teachings of the Church. The name of the book is “Gird Up Your Loins Like a Man, 12 Steps to
Renew Your Catholic Faith”. It was written as a how to book and is espe-cially geared to men. The purpose was to reach men who are struggling with their Catholic faith or who have been away from the faith for some reason. Perhaps they are lukewarm about what it means to be Catholic and this book will give them concrete steps to take to renew their commit-ment. However, the book is for any-one who wants to find a way to draw closer to Christ through the Church. It begins with my own journey to the Catholic Church from my Baptist up-bringing. Someone asked me if this is one of those hard books to read on theolo-gy. My answer is that it’s closer to Thomas the Train than Thomas Aqui-nas. We have so many great Catholic authors but most of what I see that is written is geared more for people already practicing their faith. Who’s reaching out to those who have gone away? I believe it will help anyone, active in the faith or not but the em-phasis is to draw those who have drifted away back to their rightful place in the Church. The book’s release date will be Oc-tober 13th and will be available on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s website. The list price is $13.99. I’m not sure yet what bookstores are going to carry it. You will be able to get it from me directly or through my website which is under construction now at deacondave.com. I will be doing my first book signing (crazy isn’t it?) at Half Price Books in Flor-ence on Saturday October 17th from 2:00 to 4:00. I hope to be doing more of these. If you buy the book from me directly or on my webiste, 10% of the proceeds will be donated back to St. Timothy through the Knights of Columbus and the St. Vincent de Paul
Continued on Page 4
Do any of these ideas excite you?
Finding support in your role as a mother
Discovering a circle of friends to encourage and inspire you
Learning ways to instill solid values and virtues in your children
Discovering ways to strengthen your marriage
Sharing in Pope John Paul’s II’s enthusiasm about family and marriage
Gaining insight on Christ in the gospel applied to everyday life
Establishing a closer relationship with God and a more enriching relationship with your husband and children
Page 4
Society. It’s my way of saying thank you since writing in the Companion is the genesis of this process. To quote that great American poet Gerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, “what a long strange trip it’s been”. I would have never guessed that I would write a book geared towards my Catholic faith and yet here I am. I would have never thought that any-one would want to publish a book I’d written but perhaps that’s what God has intended for me. None of this
would be possible without you. This par-ish has meant so much to me and I hope that you realize that this book is our book, it’s not just mine. It is the by-product of being around so many won-derful, caring and compassionate peo-ple. This is a special place and my ac-complishments are your accomplish-ments. Thank you again for all you have done and meant to me. God bless you for living the life of Christ here in this parish and being an example for people like me.
Continued from Page 3
If you answered YES, then please accept our invitation to come and see what Familia is all about at our initial meeting on Monday, September 21 in the Parish Center at 9:00 a.m. Babysitting will be provided. You can also visit www.familiausa.net for more information or to register. Please contact Robin Welch to RSVP or if you have any questions at (859) 743-0233 or e-mail [email protected].
FAMILIA is a
national apostolate
which stands for
Family Life in America
A new team of mothers is
forming this fall starting
in September and will
meet at
St. Timothy
All Souls Day Mass Remembering Those Who Have Gone Before Us
Our parish will remember All the Faithful Departed at our Annual All Souls Day Mass on Monday, November 2 at 7PM. During a candlelight procession, we will read the names of parishioners and immediate family members of parishioners who died since November 2014. If you had a family member buried from another church, but would like to have them included in our Memorial Mass, please send your loved one’s name and date of death to Sue Bruggen at [email protected] or call (859)283-0830. St. Timothy Bereavement Ministers
St. Paul on Conversion and the Power of the Cross This presentation will be given by Fr. Maher at St. Timothy on Saturday,
October 24 from 9am to 1pm in Brodnick Hall. Continental Breakfast and
Lunch will be provided. For more information contact Pat Tembrink at
[email protected]. This presentation is hosted by the Adult Faith Committee.
Page 5
New Day is a nine week
program designed to help
deal with a loss of a loved
one through death, recently
or years ago. Led by Miriam
Burkart, each week deals
with another aspect of grief
and goes through the
"tasks" of grief. Open to
anyone in the Northern Ky
area.
Held on Tuesdays 7-9pm
St. Timothy Parish Center
Sept. 22 to Nov. 17, 2015
Jan. 19 to Mar. 15, 2016
For more information,
contact Miriam
at (859) 746-1443.
WOW- What a day! The weather was
beautiful. The volunteers were plenti-
ful. The joy was contagious. The many
hands that have built the yard sale
over the last 10 years continue to work
together with God to raise money for
the poorest of poor children in Africa.
A simple education is the goal. The
education provides hope, a hope in a
better future and a hope in God and
His provident care. The yard sale al-
lows our parish to fulfill Pope Francis’s
call to go to the fringe’s of society and
spread the Gospel. The Yard sale is
indeed a parish activity that allows the
parish to minister to the needs of
God’s children!
A special thanks to the Yard Sale
Committee who worked tirelessly to
ensure that things ran smoothly. You
are an amazing group of people!
Thank you God for providing us with
great weather and many sellers and
buyers. Thank you God for sending us
such willing volunteers to work! Thank
you God for everyone who works in
Africa and puts our financial donation
to work. Thank you God for giving us
the opportunity to minister in this way.
Thank you God for giving us all gener-
ous hearts so that we may use all these
gifts as You would will.
God’s Generosity is Abundant Another Successful Yard Sale
By Katy Sullivan, Director of Outreach
Many thanks to all our parishioners
who have been so generous with your
food donations. You have not only
allowed St. Vincent de Paul to support
our neighbors with nutritious meals, but
you’ve also supported our families at City
Heights/St. Augustine Food Bank as well.
We’ve been more specific about asking
for foods which allow us to provide com-
plete meals for our families. In addition,
we’ve been able to source bread, pizzas
and some frozen meats which have been
helpful in this endeavor as well.
In the first 6 weeks, we’ve visited 19
families, provided 75 bags of groceries
and invested over $1500 in helping fami-
lies with overdue rent, utility shut offs,
school supplies and car repairs to name a
few. We’ve visited veterans, single par-
ent homes, the disabled and many oth-
ers. We’ve provided help and direction
with housing, meals, training, employ-
ment, clothing, furniture, housewares,
social services, prayers and spiritual sup-
port. And while we received some initial
and ongoing support from St. Tim’s, oth-
er conferences, donors and memorials
we are in need of sustained support from
our parishioners. Venerable Fr. Margil
said, “To dwell with God there is an eter-
nity given to us; but to perform service
for God and to do some good for our
brethren, the time is very short.” To
meet the current needs of our territory
and to accept additional neighborhoods
that fall within our parish boundaries
(mobile home parks and lower income
housing areas), but are currently being
covered by other conferences, we need
approximately 20 families to stand with
us and provide a monthly gift of $25
each, similar to supporting a child over-
seas or in Appalachia, only now within
your own parish. As we expand, we ex-
pect our calls and financial needs to
more than double, so your continued
prayerful support is very important. This
support can be given in the normal
weekly collections, in the St. Tim’s Poor
Box in the Gathering Space or through
the new SVDP online giving App. We
also have a blue Dropbox located in the
upper parking lot area towards the Rec-
tory. This is for donations of shoes,
clothing and non-fragile items.
We’ve come a long way since our June
2nd inception. Pete Freeman has guided
us spiritually and prayerfully through the
many challenges of training, travelling,
stocking our pantry, helping our neigh-
bors, working with other agencies and
sharing the support of Katy Sullivan and
the many dedicated souls here at St.
Tim’s who have volunteered their time
and resources. We couldn’t have come
this far without the dedication, prayers
and generosity of our parishioners.
Thank you one and all!
St. Vincent de Paul Our Progress to Date
By Bill Anderson
SVDP Dropbox located
in St. Timothy upper
level parking area.
Page 6
St. Timothy Poor Box
located in church
Gathering Space.
Blessings In The Garden By Jennifer Putnam
If you are looking for the Putnam fam-
ily on a Monday night during the sum-
mer, chances are we will be found in
the Parish garden. There we will be
pulling weeds, planting seeds and har-
vesting vegetables. We really have no
idea what we are doing, but we always
leave the garden feeling better than
when we came.
Jayson and I, along with our three
children, started working in the garden
for therapeutic reasons. Our son Aiden
suffered two strokes in May of 2010
and about a year later, we were pretty
desperate to try anything that might
get him using his right arm and hand
again. Someone suggested working in
the garden and we decided to give it a
try. But it was so much more than that.
At the time we were really struggling
with just getting food on the table due
to the thousands of dollars’ worth of
medical bills that had come along with
Aiden’s stroke. Father Bolte often talks
about Time, Talent and Treasure during
Mass and we decided that we would be
able to give our time to the garden be-
The Royal Prom outreach project is
scheduled for Friday, September 25.
Register online at theroyalprom.com if
you are interested in volunteering to
help make a beautiful evening for our
friends with disabilities.
October is Respect Life Month. We
will be collecting items for our annual
baby shower. Our gift bags will go to
Rose Garden, Care Net, New Hope, and
cause we wanted to help out and that
seemed to be the only way. We could
get free therapy for Aiden while helping
others at the same time. What I don’t
think any of us expected when we first
showed up in the garden was how wel-
come we would start to feel each time
we went. I have never even had a hint
of a green thumb. I tell people that un-
less it has four legs and a tail, I will never
remember to give plant water. I will ad-
mit that I was a little bit nervous the first
time we walked up to the garden. But
before I knew it, I was knee deep in to-
matoes and I figured it out. At the gar-
den, there is always something that can
be done and always someone who is
willing to help you if you need it. The
people we have met over the past four
years have now become the friendly fac-
es we see at Mass and that is pretty
awesome. They pray for us and we pray
for them. For those of you looking for a
way to give back to St. Timothy’s Parish,
come join us on a Monday night or
Thursday morning.
A Look Ahead in Outreach By Katy Sullivan, Director of Outreach
HealthPoint. Watch for details in the
bulletin.
Our next grant recipient is Brighton
Center. We are assisting them with their
food distribution center. Our service
project will be to assist them in distrib-
uting food to people they serve. We are
still working out the details so please
watch the bulletin for further infor-
mation. Page 7
Fr. Ruschman
Garden
of Gratitude
Mondays 6-8 pm
Thursdays 8:30 am
Page 8
We live in a world where it is easy
to be overwhelmed with negativity:
violence, terror, genocide, corrup-
tion, abuse, cheating, etc. However,
after spending a week with the youth
of our parish on our mission trip to
Mexico, I know that the future of the
Church, this community, and our
families is filled with hope.
These young men and woman sac-
rificed the comforts of home (like a
bed, toilets, running water) and trav-
elled to a third world country with a
culture and language very different
from our own. Many of them gave
up a week of work (for a college kid
this is a huge sacrifice), a week of
baseball games, and time spent re-
laxing with family and friends. They
traded all that in to sleep on a con-
crete floor, skip showers (ok maybe
some of the boys didn’t mind that so
much), and work tirelessly to build a
home for a family in 6 days! The kids
always did what they were asked to
do, with a smile and a generous
heart. A special thanks to all the par-
ents who allowed them to come and
financed the trip. It was a great
blessing for me to be with such a
group of people who loved to serve
others in all they did. Their faith and
their love touched the hearts of eve-
ryone we met in Mexico.
After a hard day of work on the
house, we returned to the chapel,
where the village children would
gather to play with our youth. Some-
how they found the energy to play
soccer, frisbee, freeze tag or football
with the children. A beautiful rela-
tionship was built between the
Our Youth: A Bright Future for the World By Katy Sullivan, Director of Outreach
group, even with the different lan-
guages being spoken. Finally , the
work day would be completed as
we joined together with the villag-
ers for Mass, the children of the
village climbing into the pews and
onto the laps of our youth. After
dinner, we would gather around the
fire and share something about our
day and then share a prayer re-
quest. They shared beautiful insight
into how God was at work and
showed much concern for others
and gratitude towards everyone
involved. These youth were truly an
inspiration. As Pope Francis has
taught us “We cannot keep our-
selves shut up in parishes, in our
communities, in our parish or dioce-
san institution, when so many peo-
ple are waiting for the Gospel! To
go out as one is sent. It is not
enough simply to open the door in
welcome because they come, but
we must go out through the door to
seek and meet the people! Let us
urge our young people to go forth.
Of course, they will make mistakes,
but let us not be afraid! The Apos-
tles made mistakes before us. Let us
urge them to go forth. Let us think
resolutely about pastoral needs, be-
ginning on the outskirts, with those
who are furthest away, with those
who do not usually go to Church. Go
and search for them.” Our youth
were able to put any fears aside and
go out to meet the people of LaCima,
bringing the love of Jesus to all they
met!
Maybe you, your child, or your
grandchild will be called to join us on
our next Mission…pray about it. God
may be calling you to go and spread
the joy of the Gospel!
The following is a list of the youth
of our parish that went on the trip. If
you see one of them, please thank
them for representing St. Timothy as
our parish lives out Pope Francis’ call
to go to the fringe’s of society to
bring Christ to others.
Tod Kroger, Joe Kroger, Robby
Brockman, Jack Dorne, Aaron Froeli-
cher, Melissa Smith, Courtney Young,
Annie Deis, Kayla Egbers, Josh
Cochran, and Geoff Cochran.
Stand Tall and Learn it ALL! By Deb Thomas, Director of Preschool/Kindergarten
Page 9
This school year got off to an early
start with our annual Saint Timothy
Kindergarten Camp on August 3rd.
Kindergarten Camp is designed to
help our new students with the tran-
sition from preschool to kindergar-
ten. During camp the children get
the opportunity to meet their new
teachers and classmates as well as
completing some school testing so
that we are able to hit the ground
running on the first day! Each kinder-
garten camper participated in fun
math games, reading and writing as-
sessments and made some special
crafts! The campers also got to take
home a class photo album with the
picture of his/her classmates! The
week ended with a family play date at
the park and parent orientation. We
would like to take this opportunity to
thank the Men’s Group and all who
attended the chicken dinner last year.
Because of the proceeds of this
event, we were able to meet our new
kindergarten class and help them to
become comfortable in their class-
room prior to the first day of school.
We were also able to gather base line
information on his/her academic
strengths so that we are able to teach
the spectrum of learners throughout
this school year.
As our students begin another year
of learning and growing we will also
be participating in many service
learning projects! Gallagher, our ser-
vice learning mascot, helps us to re-
member to be helpful, to share, to
pray, to be a good friend, to exercise
patience, to always respect ourselves
and others and to use our manners at
all times. Lessons from Gallagher are
taught monthly during our service
learning experiences. This year we
are going to “Stand Tall and Learn It
All”!
Please keep us in your prayers and
know that you are in ours as we begin
the blessing of another school year!
“Our trip was about bringing the love of Christ to others and receiving the love of Christ from them. It allowed us to recognize the blessings we have been given. Too often we take our blessings for granted. The people who we came to serve were grateful people. They did not have many material things but what they did have was the joy of knowing God’s love for them. We had to trust in God in order to complete our mission. Trust that when given the opportunity, we would share his love thru our words and actions. We have to go out on faith not knowing what tomorrow brings. We have to just let God lead us.” - Greg Egbers, St. Timothy Mission participant
“Our trip was about bringing the love of Christ to others and receiving the love of Christ from them. It allowed us to recognize the blessings we have been given. Too often we take our blessings for granted. The people who we came to serve were grateful people. They did not have many material things but what they did have was the joy of knowing God’s love for them. We had to trust in God in order to complete our mission. Trust that when given the opportunity, we would share his love thru our words and actions. We have to go out on faith not knowing what tomorrow brings. We have to just let God lead us.” - Greg Egbers, St. Timothy Mission participant
St. Timothy Parish
P.O. Box 120 Union, KY 41091-0120
(859) 384-1100
www.saint-timothy.org
RCIA Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
Becoming Catholic
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is a program for those interested in learning more about
the Catholic faith. If you have considered joining the Catholic Church or perhaps looking for a Church for
your family, RCIA is designed for you. If you are currently Catholic but have been away from the Church
for some time, or are just looking to learn more about what the Church teaches, RCIA can give you the
basis for understanding what it means to be Catholic today. RCIA is also an excellent source for practicing
Catholics who would like to deepen their knowledge of the faith.
This process is for adults who:
Have never been baptized
Were baptized in another Christian tradition and wish to unite with the Roman Catholic faith
Were baptized Catholic and have not completed their initiation with the sacraments of Confirmation
and Eucharist.
RCIA meets on a weekly basis beginning Sunday, August 30 (10-11:15am) and continues on a weekly basis
until Sunday, April 17. Topics include the Sacraments, the life and teachings of Jesus, the history of the
Church and other interesting topics designed in an easy to understand format. Babysitting is provided at
no cost.
If you would like more information or to register for the class please contact:
Deacon Dave Profitt (859) 991-9448 or [email protected]
