A Word from Your Pastor December 25 - Christmas

Dear Parishioners and Guests for Christmas:

Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord!  Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God is Emmanuel, God-with-us.  In a world that is full of contradictions and scandals, we are reminded that the God Who made the universe and all that is in it took on our human condition in the form of a tiny Child, the Baby in the Manger.  Embracing all the limitations and weaknesses of our world, the Son of God chose to love through our humanity and to return us to the condition that the Father willed for us from the beginning.

Christmas tells us that light can penetrate darkness.  The brightness of the Star of the newborn Child in Bethlehem conquers the night.  We can believe that God is with us and we are given a reason to hope for salvation.

We welcome all who are with us for the celebrations of Christmas.  Be sure of our prayer for you throughout the year.  Please join us whenever you can. 

May the Spirit of the Living God, Who brought about the Incarnation of His Son, born of the Virgin Mary, fill your heart with joy.  May God, Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit smile upon us and teach us how to open our hearts and our lives to His plans for all the world.  May the human race be brought to wholeness by the coming of Emmanuel.

A Word from Your Pastor December 23

Dear Parishioners:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!  We sing this song many times in the days leading up to Christmas.  Christ’s Coming is the heart of our Christmas Celebration.  In a world that is striving to become secular, it is our responsibility to proclaim the simple truth that God has penetrated the very fabric of being that there truly is no such thing as secular.

“Happy Holidays” has hidden within it “Holy Days.”  “Merry Christmas” includes a reminder that the best and truest way to celebrate Christmas is to be present at “Mass” – “Christ Mass.” 

There are four Masses proper to Christmas: the Vigil Mass, which is becoming ever more popular; Mass at Night (the traditional Midnight Mass, which is often celebrated a bit earlier than Midnight); Mass at Dawn (even the non-Catholic Christians many times hold a “Sunrise Service”; and Mass at Day.  Each Mass has a proper set of readings to tell the whole story of the Nativity.  It is a beautiful experience to participate in at least a couple of the different Masses.

If you are looking for a calmer experience, it is best to attend the Masses of Christmas Day.  For the pageantry and chaos, plan to be present for the first Vigil Mass, which features the Children’s Choir.  All of the Mases have beautiful Christmas music, including the traditional hymns of Christmas.

The most important thing to remember is that the Christmas Season begins with Christmas.  It goes on through the Feast of the Holy Family, Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord.  Some communities hold onto it until the Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord February 2nd, also known as “Candlemas Day.”  Advent and Christmas remind us that God is with us in the midst of our human experience.  It is the task of believers to share the Good News with the whole world: Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord!

Come to Mass at Christmas and be ready to celebrate with joy!

A Word from Your Pastor December 16

Dear Parishioners:

Amazement and Joy are signs that we are in the presence of something or someone that is worth our attention.  The world has been given so many countersigns in our days that the truth of the Gospel is not able to be seen.  “See these Christians! How they love one another!” was one of the earliest comments about Christian life and it succeeded in drawing others to Jesus.  How does our life together compare to that assessment?

At the present time, very honestly, I am experiencing a weariness about the state of the world and the Church.  I am sure that you share that feeling.  The Scriptures this weekend offer a very different perspective than that which is evident in our news and in the encounters we have with others who know we are part of the Church.  The Lord Himself tells us – His People – that we have no further misfortune to fear.

God is with us in the midst of the chaos of our lives.  He will never fail us.  But are we willing to be with Him?  Are we making His Presence known by our lives?

We pray that God may make Himself known to the world in an identifiable way through us.  He has promised to rejoice with us, to heal us, to strengthen us, to free us to love.  This weekend, as we experience together the touch of the Sacrament of Healing, the Anointing of the Sick, may we discover anew the power of God among us to heal all our ills.

As Advent moves on, we are directing our attention to the Birth of our Savior in Bethlehem.  Next weekend, our parish will host Bethlehem Families for a sale of items sculpted from olive wood from the Holy Land.  It is one way for us to show solidarity with the Christian families who still live in the land of our Lord’s birth.

Rejoice with the Lord, for He rejoices in us.

A Word from Your Pastor December 9

Advent calls us to an attitude of waiting and expectation.  “On Jordan’s Bank, the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lord is nigh.  Awaken and hearken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of Kings.”  Our pilgrim group sang this at the Jordan as we celebrated a renewal of Baptismal Promises.  It was a moving experience to be there, where John the Baptist became God’s instrument to begin the public ministry of Jesus.  Even as we were renewing our commitment, there were many who were being baptized in the Jordan.  All around us there were signs of Faith in persons who had traveled to that place from all over the world.

The commitment made by our pilgrims is one that each one of us needs to renew.  It is clear that the world needs witnesses to the Truth of the Gospel.  People come to Faith not from reading a book or watching a video, but rather from seeing other human beings who are convinced of the Gospel.

We pray before each of our weekend Masses that the Lord may make our parish “amazing.”  This is a Biblical expression and image.  It corresponds to the response of those who witnessed the unfolding of the Gospel for the first time.  When the Apostles had received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, their preaching and the many healings and other acts of power that they performed led their hearers to amazement and wonder.  This created room for Faith.  We are praying in the Amazing Parish Prayer that our visible expression of Faith may reveal us to be, by God’s grace, “so on-fire that we draw people” to make the same commitment to Jesus the Lord.

May we allow God to work in our hearts to inspire Faith so true that the world will believe in Jesus Christ.

A Word from Your Pastor December 2

Advent begins a new liturgical year.  As with the civil observance of the New Year, it is a good idea to make resolutions to renew our commitments and our efforts to grow.  As an invitation, I want to offer a bit of a commentary on some things we are doing as a parish to invite a greater commitment to the proclamation of the Gospel as a community.

Catholics in the past have tended to treat their Faith as a private matter, focused on our individual efforts to attain salvation.  We are less comfortable with sharing our Faith and speaking from our hearts about our relationship with Jesus.  In order for the Faith to grow, we must reach into our hearts and, relying on the power of the grace of Jesus given to us through the Sacraments, we must become ever more courageous and bold in our proclamation.

In April 2015, more than 20 parishes of the Diocese of Columbus attended The Amazing Parish Conference in Denver, taking with them a team consisting of the pastor and 3-5 other members of the parish.  At the same conference, there were more than 75 other parishes from all over the United States and Canada represented.  Since then, several other conferences similar to that one have been held.  This means that literally hundreds of parishes across North America are praying the Amazing Parish Prayer that we pray together before each Mass.  We are asking the Lord to give us the courage to be faithful to the Great Commission, the call to make disciples of all nations.

As we enter into Advent, I want to begin to reflect on our efforts to respond to the call of the Lord and His Church as a parish.  My hope is that it will help you to understand the reason for our efforts and free you to find your own way to renew your commitment as individuals, as couples and as families.

Ordinarily, we begin Advent also with a Rite of Welcome for Catechumens and Candidates who are seeking to join the Catholic Church through the R.C.I.A., the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.  Sadly, there are no adult catechumens or candidates this year.  Although we have had a number of children in our School who have become Catholic through the course of several months, no adults have been identified who wish to join our Church.  We will take this as an opportunity to live the year as a parish seeking to learn better how to welcome new members.

Why do we have a moment of personal welcome at each of our weekend Masses before we pray the Amazing Parish Prayer?  We have been doing this since 2016 at the suggestion of parishioners who were seeking to enhance our parish stewardship.

For two main reasons: First, many parishioners have made the comment that there are so many new families that they don’t know, so this gives an opportunity in a friendly environment to reach out.  Our parish has been here for more than 50 years and those who were the founding families need to know the newcomers in order to be able to pass the baton for the future. 

Second, when we hear stories about folks who have left the Catholic Church to join the mega-churches, the number one reason given is not the scandals, but that they have not found welcome in the Catholic Church.  The invitation to extend a personal welcome before Mass is not the same thing as the Sign of Peace.  The Sign of Peace is an expression of unity among those who already know they are brothers and sisters in Christ.  Welcoming folks before Mass starts is a way of ensuring that Jesus is truly in our midst as we gather.  If you are uncomfortable with this gesture, then it is a moment for you to step out of your comfort zone in order to make the Gospel real for those who will soon join you in the celebration of the Mass.  Learning how to welcome one another here gives us practice for extending welcome out there as we seek to bring the Gospel to the world.

As Advent begins, let us recommit to being a community of welcome for all who come across the threshold.

A Word from Your Pastor November 25 - Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Thanksgiving weekend is a special time for families.  It is often a poignant time as well, especially for those who have lost loved ones recently.  Holidays are an annual reminder to all of us of the importance of relationships.  As many of you know, since 1988, I have been the host for Thanksgiving for my family.  That year, I was in a house that I noticed was larger than our family home and volunteered to my mother to take it on.  I did not realize that it would be a lifetime commitment.

Apart from one year when I was away for studies, I have worked to prepare a place for the family and extended family to gather.  I also learned from my grandmother how to cook the turkey (with stuffing) and I do it Grandma’s way each year, starting it in the oven at midnight the night before Thanksgiving.  We have had four different settings, but have made it work wherever I happened to live.  This year, our count was a bit down, only 24 at table.  We have memories of years with 50 or more, including family from Pittsburgh, in-laws and guests.

Rituals are a way that a family keeps together.  This is the reason why the Church calls us to gather each week and on days of special importance for Mass (Sundays and “Holy Days of obligation”).  The rituals we experience tell us who we are and form us as a community.  As a priest, I have been able to offer a special family Mass before we share the Thanksgiving meal.  We all take a turn sharing what we are thankful for in the year past.

As you have heard many times, Eucharist means Thanksgiving.  Gathering to give God thanks, hearing His Word and being fed and nourished by the Risen Lord, we are given the strength to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to an often hostile world.

God’s Love has been shown to us in so many ways.  We are grateful.  May we continue to show our gratitude by coming together as a family and by sharing our Faith so that Jesus may truly be the Savior for all.

A Word from Your Pastor November 18

Dear Parishioners:

My fellow pilgrims and I have returned from our journey to the Holy Land.  It was a remarkable experience in so many ways.  More than 60 pilgrims, including four priests from the Diocese of Columbus, traveled throughout the holy sites we hear about in our Scriptures every day.  This was my fourth time in the Holy Land.  Every visit brings to light new things and allows for a deeper understanding of the Gospel.  Some call the Holy Land “the Fifth Gospel” because the land itself speaks of the relationship between God and His people.

On our journey, we also met a priest from the Diocese of Cleveland who had a group of pilgrims similar in size to ours.  We kept encountering them throughout the visit.  Many also joined us in spirit through Facebook.  Since our bus had WiFi, I was able to upload a glimpse of each site right after our stop.  Masses were shared by the priests, each of us having a couple of turns.  The pilgrims reported that this added a special richness to the experience.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to go to the Holy Land, you may want to add this to your “bucket list.”  It will change how you understand some things about the Scriptures and the world.  Our group was one that had many who were using canes or walking sticks and who needed to go slowly.  This was not always easy due to the press of the crowd, but we managed to work it out together.

Be sure that you were with me along the whole pilgrimage.  I carried a printout of our Parish and our School Rosters to all the holy places we visited and kept you in my prayers and Masses.

Soon we will begin a journey through a new Liturgical Year.  Advent will begin Sunday, December 1.  Let us journey well as we seek to open our hearts to the Lord Who is born for us at Christmas.