Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Possible Change in Mass Schedule for July As June is coming to an end it is time to reevaluate our “Return from Covid.” The past month we have returned to our regular daily mass schedule, which continues to work well for most people. The 10am Mass on Sunday has been sufficient for the numbers of people desiring to attend a weekend Mass. Especially with the PAC for overflow and live-streaming it we have had plenty of room at the one Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Returning to Ordinary Time Should be Far from Ordinary The word “ordinary” is perhaps an unfortunate translation. It really means “ordered” time in the sense that it follows a sequential order - think of the word “ordinal.” When the church is in “ordinary” time this simply means the sequential order of time outside of the other liturgical seasons.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Solemnity of Corpus Christi This weekend at the 10am Mass there will be a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament in honor of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. As long as the weather cooperates we will process outside as well. We of course will need to maintain social distancing. After Holy Communion people may follow us in the procession. For those who wish to stay in the Church during that time (about 10 min.) can remain there in prayer.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Happy Pentecost! And Welcome Back! I rejoice that we can celebrate this great Solemnity of the Church together! For it is the Holy Spirit that unites us and gathers us a one body in Jesus Christ. This week’s column understandably needs to be informative rather than reflective due to the many questions people have. So I put this FAQ’s together. As of the time this writing, this is our approach on these questions. Remember to check our website as we update it regularly with any changes or communicating protocols. I trust in all of you to be mindful of our duty to God and our neighbor as we return to Holy Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “Soft-Opening” Begins May 25 Jesus Christ is Risen! There will be a “soft opening” of daily Masses starting Monday, May 25. Obviously, there will still be some guidelines and restrictions. However, I want to assure everyone, all those who desire to come to Church will be able to do so. Furthermore, any who are unable to come and desire a visit for confession, anointing, or Holy Communion please call the rectory so we can make arrangements for you.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Good News! Guess what the Good News is! Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! And in addition to this Good News is other good news: restarting public Masses has been moved up slightly. There will be a “soft opening” of daily Masses starting Monday, May 25. Obviously there will still be some guidelines and restrictions. However, I want to assure everyone, all those who want to come to Church will be able to do so. Furthermore, any who are unable to come and desire a visit for confession, anointing, or Holy Communion please call the rectory so we can make arrangements for you.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Lord Jesus Christ is RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!!! Happy Mother’s Day May God bless our mothers today and especially in this month of May dedicated to our Blessed Mother. Tune in to our Facebook page Sunday May 10 at 11am as we ask God’s blessing for our mothers. We will also crown the statue of Mary in the Marian shrine near the rectory.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Lord Jesus Christ is RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!!! Announcement Regarding Return to Public Mass At the time of this writing the Ohio Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement to “extend the temporary suspension of all publicly celebrated Masses/liturgies ending on May 29, with the hope of publicly celebrating together the Solemnity of Pentecost on the weekend of May 30/31.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Lord Jesus Christ is RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!!! Divine Mercy Sunday Mass with Adoration and Divine Mercy Chaplet Livestream This weekend the Octave of Easter concludes, although we continue on with the rest of the Easter Season since the feast of the Resurrection cannot be contained in a single day! Also the Divine Mercy Novena, which started Good Friday, is concluded as we continue to do penance and rely on God’s infinite ocean of mercy!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Lord Jesus Christ is RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!!! I write this before celebrating the Sacred Triduum, before experiencing what it will be like having an empty church on the most important day of the year. It is bad enough having to miss Mass on a regular Sunday, but Easter of all days! Our experience of joy this day is lessened since the faithful of Christ are unable to participate in the very sacrifice that frees us from sin and death.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Live Streaming is Here! Thankfully due to the efforts of a couple of our younger parishioners we can live stream events on “Facebook Live.” At the time of this writing our plan is to live stream the Holy Week Liturgies of Palm Sunday at 8:30am, Holy Thursday at 7pm, Good Friday at 3pm, and Easter Vigil at 8pm, and Easter Sunday at 9:30am. At the time of this writing there are still a few things to work out and this should be the schedule.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, WE ARE ESSENTIAL!!! Even with the stay-at-home order, religious institutions are largely exempt - and rightly so! Offering worship to God, prayer, spiritual support is ESSENTIAL! Never let anyone say religion is merely a nice bonus if we get some time. Faith is not nice sprinkles on the top of society’s cupcake.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, It is a surreal and sad time. As you have heard by now or noticed if you tried coming to Church, all public Masses and Liturgies are canceled through Easter. All Catholics in Ohio are of course dispensed from their obligation to attend Sunday Mass until after Easter. The speed at which the news comes may supersede what I write in this column.

“After serious consideration of the grave health risk involved in public gatherings and in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the bishops of Ohio have decided, effective immediately (3/16/20), to suspend temporarily all publicly celebrated Masses/Liturgies, at least through the celebrations of Holy Week and Easter. The bishops dispense the Catholic faithful in Ohio from the obligation of attending Sunday Mass through Easter Sunday.” - The Catholic Conference of Ohio

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Corona Virus Update We have seen in the news the concern over the spread of the corona virus. At the time of this writing there are now three confirmed in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Concerned for the health of our parishioners and the appropriate celebration of Mass, the Diocese issued a memo with liturgical instructions. The one which we implemented ourselves last week was suspending the distribution of the Precious Blood from the cup.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Change in Distribution of Holy Communion at Mass We have seen in the news the concern over the spread of the corona virus. At the time of this writing there are confirmed cases in the United States but thankfully, not yet in Ohio. Concerned for the health of our parishioners and the appropriate celebration of Mass, the Diocese issued a memo with suggestions for parishes to consider.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Holy Season of Lent The annual Church wide retreat has begun! The beauty of violet vestments, the emphasis on silence in our worship, the “giving up” of certain things as well as the “giving more” of oneself and one’s gifts for others. All to help us grow in our love of God and neighbor. Below are lists for the works of mercy.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Honoring Marriage Month. As you have already noticed, we are praying for married couples and the sacrament of marriage as our post-Mass devotional this month. In the bulletin is a whole page of marriage resources and retreat opportunities. Check it out In addition there will be a special blessing of married couples after all the Masses next weekend (Feb 22,23). If you feel so inclined wear your wedding dresses and tuxedos! Or if that is not possible, dress up special and rejoice in God’s blessing of you marriage!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Catholic Charities Appeal Thank you to all who participated in this year’s Catholic Charities Appeal. This year’s theme is “Faces of Hope: Though We are Many, We are One in Christ.” Please know that even though this is a diocesan collection, the benefits come back to helping people in our parish who benefit from Summit County Catholic Charity services

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Catholic Charities Appeal This weekend is the first of two opportunities to support the Catholic Charities Annual Diocesan Appeal. The second weekend will be in a few months. This weekend we will hear a recording from Bishop Perez, who graciously chose one of his final acts as bishop of Cleveland to be with us on our Feast day two weeks ago.