Beloved Family:
This past Wednesday, the church was filled almost to overflowing with men and women, young and old, familiar and new faces, to mark the beginning of the sacred season of Lent. How edifying it was—a true antidote to the reports of division that constantly bombard us. I am not denying reality; there are certainly divisions among us. However, sacred ritual provides more than a passing glimpse of our potential to join together in an effort to allow God to change our hearts and heal our souls. Our self-disciplines, if grounded in the Holy Spirit, will naturally lead to an increase in our charity toward others.
To quote one of the Church Fathers:
No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great — John Chrysostom
As a community of faith, we are soon to have a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with our diocesan shepherd, Bishop Edward Malesic, and other parish communities within the Diocese of Cleveland, to advance the ongoing work of evangelizing and ministering to the needs of God’s People. The bishop’s pastoral letter, A Flourishing Apostolic Church, published in December 2024, has called us to claim for ourselves the gift of friendship with the Lord as well as to embrace a spirit of mission, witnessing to all those whom the Lord places in our lives.
On the near horizon, we will be hearing about an initiative designed to secure the resources necessary to go beyond mere maintenance: a diocesan-wide effort to strengthen every parish and ministry and to renew our commitment to the mission Christ has entrusted to us—to grow in faith, serve others with joy, and build a Church that will flourish for generations to come. We look forward to sharing more details of Bishop Malesic’s vision soon.
I hope that by now, you have received the Lent and Easter schedule, mailed out to all those for whom we have an address. There are extra copies available, in the usual spots where we place other literature and resources. While we have already held the parish mission (the three talks, by the way, are available online), there is certainly no lack of offerings for faith formation for all levels. Among these offerings, on upcoming Wednesday evenings, adults will be gathering further to unpack these presentations, followed by a new series, “Healing the Whole Person” (which begins on March 18).
Praise God! Bookending this next week, we will have hosted a middle school youth retreat (led by Susana Kroger, as part of her role on the Diocesan Youth Council) and the Called by the Spirit Retreat (led by the Office for Young Adult Ministry of the Diocese of Cleveland, coming up on February 28). These occasions serve as an important reminder for all of us to be praying for the younger generations of Faith, that they will receive the support they need, to live out their Baptismal calling.
Let His Peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
