Pastor's Blog for December 31, 2017

As we are about to embark on a new year, Father Vesely & I offer you our prayers and wishes for a very Happy & Holy New Year. On January 1st the Church always celebrates the feast of Mary, the Mother of God. It is usually a holy day of obligation but since it falls on a Monday this year, we will celebrate the feast without the obligation to attend Mass. So Mass on Monday morning will be at our usual time at 7:30am.

While most of us end this year with gratitude and joyful hearts, we remember that some people are experiencing sadness and loss. Such is the case with a parishioner, Chuck Rooks, whose wife Denise passed away on December 15th. I spoke with Denise about a year & a half ago and anointed her when she learned of her cancer. Last Christmas I received a card from them letting me know that the cancer was in remission so they were of course very grateful and relieved. But the cancer returned and became untreatable. I visited with Denise before I left on vacation and anointed her and gave her the Eucharist. She was a delightful person who worked at our parish festivals a few years ago along with her husband Chuck. Please remember her and Chuck in your prayers as I promised you would at her funeral December 21st.

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to give you a report on the festival but it takes several weeks before all invoices are in and all of the expenses have been paid. But I’m really happy to report that we net $25,872! Last year our net profit was $19,475 which means we made $6,397.00 more than we did last year. That’s incredible. We can only attribute this to the sacrifice of time and the hard efforts of everyone who participated in the festival this year, whether as a planner, worker or spender! I know how much time and effort this takes and so am very grateful to everyone who made it happen in some way, but especially to the Festival Team who were able to plan not only a profitable event but an enjoyable experience by many in our parish and by visitors to our parish. May God bless everyone who contributed in any way to this annual event.

And before we officially end this year, I want to thank Fred Borkey for the delicious donuts he provides for us at the end of (almost) each month from his business Jack Frost Donuts. He gave me a plaque expressing gratitude for all a Pastor does for the Parish but I wish I had one to give all of you for all you do for Father Vesely & I throughout the year. This is a good time for me to let you know how much we appreciate your prayers, support and the sharing of your gifts. Now back to the donuts that gave me the energy to write this last column of the year... 

Pastor's Column for December 24, 2017

First things first: Father Vesely & I welcome all of you here today, especially those who are visitors to our parish. We want you to know that we are always happy to have you join us in the praise of God. May the love from God and the love for God be the reason for your joy today.

Many people expressed to us the joy of reading a book that we gave away last year to everyone who joined us for Christmas Mass. They found it inspiring & thought provoking. We decided to do the same again this year so please be sure to receive a copy of the book entitled “Perfectly Yourself” written by the same author of the book “Resisting Happiness” which we gave last year. It is written by a Catholic family man named Matthew Kelly. I read the book myself during Advent and found it to be full of practical wisdom as it challenges us not to be perfect but perfectly ourselves. And there is a difference. I encourage you to underline or highlight passages you find especially interesting or helpful and to make notes in the margins. But also feel free to pass it on to someone else when you’re finished with it. I know you’ll find it full of insights.

In our rectory office we also have available a DVD (part of a whole series) in which Bishop Robert Barron shows us why Michelangelo has been one of the most influential people in Church history. Bishop Barron is a popular and interesting speaker who uses social media to help people better understand & appreciate the riches of Catholicism. Since we have limited copies, please stop by the office and ask for one if you have a DVD player at home. You can also find much of his great work online at wordonfire.org, YouTube, etc.

Of course it also brings us great joy when you express your kindness to us through cards and holiday treats. Between the graying hair and the expanding belly, I’m looking more & more like Santa every year. At least you help me to be jolly in the process.

I also received word from parishioner Jeanne Sabol that once again you have manifested your generosity in our annual Adopt a Child for Christmas program this year. We distributed over 500 gifts and collected a total of $2890! Plus the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association will contribute an additional $600 in matching funds. Jeanie suggested that we add at least 2 more charities to be the recipients of such generosity this year, such as The Malachi Center & the Backdoor Ministry of St. Malachi Parish. Both of these serve the homeless with meals every day and offer a shower program and after school care plus other services. Like last year, we also split the funds between Providence House, Womankind, St. Colman’s and our own St. Vincent de Paul Outreach organization. As Jeanne expressed, our parishioners are most generous & we hope that bringing joy to others will bring joy to you as well. 

Pastor's Column for December 17, 2017

Today is the 81st birthday of Pope Francis. We didn’t get him a cake but the next time we have donuts we’ll eat them in his honor. May God bless the work he does as Chief Shepherd of the Church.

Our school and PSR students will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Monday. Confessions will be heard for any one else this Friday, December 22nd from 6-7pm and Saturday, December 23rd from 2:45 until 3:30pm (our normal time for confessions). It’s always a good opportunity to prepare for Christmas by allowing God to cleanse us from our sins and to welcome us back into His grace.

We were recently informed by the Diocese that we need to change our procedure regarding the collection for assessments. Each parish in the Diocese is required to give a certain percentage of it’s collection income back to the Diocese in order to pay for the services that the Diocese provides to each parish. Some may think that the Diocese pays US. That would be nice but it’s quite the other way around. It is “right and just” for us to pay for the many services that the Diocese provides for us so we return about 16% of the contributions we receive from you through the weekly collection. We have had an envelope included in the packet you receive which is marked “Assessments” & this money was used to pay back that percentage that we owe to the Diocese. However we were informed that we may not use a separate envelope for this purpose. Therefore we will no longer be including this Assessment envelope in the future (starting some time in 2018). In order to work around this, we would ask you instead to contribute to the envelope marked “Capital Improvements.” Either way, the money donated is still going into the same “pot” but it helps us to clean up our accounting procedures. Besides, due to the large capital expenditures that we are making this year with the repair of our HVAC systems in the church & school buildings, and to our church roof in the near future, we could certainly be helped by your generosity to these particular financial needs. As always, I am so grateful for your faithful and generous contributions and I work diligently with the Business Manager & Finance Council to make sure we save and spend money responsibly toward the repairs and upkeep of our parish buildings and property.

Thanks again to all those who take advantage of the opportunity to use our online contribution program known as “WeShare.” It is an easy and convenient way to make your weekly (or monthly) contributions, including to our special collections, flower fund, St. Vincent de Paul, etc. Just click on the WeShare icon on our website or ask for help in our rectory office. It saves us the money from sending envelopes to you each month & helps you to automate your charitable giving. 

Pastor's Column for December 10, 2017

We celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Clare Belcher on Saturday, December 2nd. When speaking to her son at the cemetery, he told me how he never once heard her use bad language and lived her life helping others. Her obituary described her as a “dear daughter”, a “beloved wife”, the “kindest mother” and a “loving grandmother.” What a great way to honor someone who honored the im- portant relationships in her life. May she know how she is God’s beloved daughter.

The “Mary” that I asked you to pray for in last week’s bulletin was Mary Hillman, a parishioner who was in hospice at the time but who has since died. I prayed the last rites for her with members of her family and one of the Sisters who ministers at Holy Family Hospice, and we had her funeral Mass this past Tuesday. Mary would have been 104 this Wednesday! Every year since I’ve been here I’ve mentioned her birthdays in December since she reached her centennial birthday. But Mary is known for much more than her longevity . She has always been a very devout Catholic  who has lived in an apartment directly across from our school building. She would walk to church even in very inclement weather and would take the bus when going longer distances. May she find rest after a long, prayerful life.

This Tuesday is my step-mother’s 98th birthday and gratefully she is doing as well as my dad is health-wise. Dad’s only 90 so he has a way to go before his 98th but I hope they both live to be centenarians. (I had a hard time finding out how to spell that word...my spell checker kept changing what I typed to “centurion.” That was a professional officer of the Roman army and are spoken of in the Bible...not quite what I was looking for!). Happy birthday to Mildred.

We received a number of very small pamphlets called the “5 Keys to Freedom from Sexual Sin” which address the very large problem with pornography in our world today. They are available on the tables of the church.

You probably knew this already, but Bishop Perez is now on Twitter! (If you don’t know what Twitter is, you can disregard this news). If you’d like to “follow” him, he can be found at @BishopNPerez in the Twitterverse.

I won’t be with you this weekend as I will be visiting some friends (and if she’s lucky, even my sister) down in Florida this week. I can tell you that their Christmas trees look so out of place in such a bright, sunny and warm climate. As for me, I say (or sing) “Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!” Yes, I actually like snow. Lots of it. But only until February. Then I want the sun back. Here’s hoping I see the white stuff when I return. In fact, I may as well stay in Florida until it starts to snow in Cleveland. Will I be home for Christmas? 

Pastor's Column for December 3, 2017

Thank you for your prayers for my sister’s husband, Mike. His bypass surgery was successful and he is now at home recuperating for a few months. May I also ask you to remember Mary, Mary Lou, Chuck, & Denise, all of whom were or will be anointed soon? There are so many who are ill or homebound whom we need to be mindful of, especially during the holidays. We trust God will be at their side as we lift them up to Him.

At the funeral home, I prayed with the family and friends of Joseph Stawicki who died after a battle with cancer. May he rest in the peace of Christ.

Congratulations to the parents of Amarelis Merced who is being baptized this Sunday after the 11am Mass. Amarelis is in the first grade at our parish school and is very excited to become a part of our Catholic family. May this beautiful child of God know that she is loved without limit.

I adopted Michaela 5 years ago, just a day before Thanksgiving. We celebrated this anniversary along with dozens of her stuffed animals (yes, she has a whole ark of them!). If you ever walk in the rectory office & hear her gentle bark, that’s her way of welcoming you (and warning us of potential danger). I’m grateful that she keeps an eye on us (and you).

We are now in the month when we will be celebrating Christmas after a short 3 week season of Advent. Since December 25th falls on a Monday this year, we will celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent with our regular weekend Mass schedule (4pm on Saturday, December 23rd and 8 & 11am on Sunday, December 24th). Then we will have our usual Christmas Eve Masses later in the day on the 24th: 4pm, 7pm & 10pm. Since the majority of people celebrate Christmas Mass on the Eve at one of the 3 Masses, we will have just one Mass on Christmas Day at 11am. Since the feast of Mary, the Mother of God on January 1st falls on a Monday this year (technically NEXT year), it will not be a holy day of obligation as it usually is. Mass will be celebrated at 7:30am as usual that Monday morning.

This Friday, December 8th, is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, a holy day of obligation. Mass will be celebrated at 8:30am (with the School children) and at 7pm. This feast celebrates the singular gift of God to Mary by which she was conceived without original sin, and according to our long tradition, remained without sin throughout her life. May she who was prepared to be a worthy vessel of God’s Son, be for us an example of single-hearted love for the God who frees the rest of us from sin.