Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Importance of True Recreation Last week I took a few days off to travel to the Hocking Hills area of Ohio with some priest friends. This has a become a go-to event for us about once a year when we know we need to recharge the spiritual and physical batteries. We rent a house for a few days and while not an official retreat it is retreat-ish. We are away from the city, have nature surrounding us, the ability to go for hikes. There were no planned events or set schedule other than our celebrating Mass together. We each could make the time to relax and pray. We shared stories of ministry and of course through our discussions solved all the problems in the church (well that last one didn’t quite happen). Thank you all who kept things moving smoothly at the parish while I was away.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Important Symbolism of Candles Not only was there the practical reason of needing light by which to see and read, but candles show a great elemental symbolism for human beings. Their use is common in most if not all religions. For Catholics, we continued the Jewish practice of connecting candles with prayer and God’s presence. A candle’s light calls to mind Christ who is the Light of the World.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Prayerful Remembrance The events of September 11, 2001 are forever etched in our memory. I remember when I was in high school in the 1990’s my parents reflecting back on the day President Kennedy was assassinated. They described in great detail what they were doing and how they felt during the whole tragedy and its aftermath.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, RCIA and Evangelizing We all want to do our part of spreading the faith. Our world, our country, our neighbors, and our families will only find our true happiness in Christ and His Catholic Church. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is the Church’s process of bringing more people to encounter Christ the Lord in His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Often this process is implemented as a “program” at a parish that meets weekly with a group usually from September until Easter. However, this process really should be ongoing year-round. This is because all of us should be evangelizing and reaching out to others all the time!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Spiritual Check-Up It is always a blessing when I am in the confessional and someone enters and says,” Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It’s been a long time since my last confession.” A priest may hear a person say it has been five, ten, twenty, or I have even heard fifty years! Christ works through His priests to reconcile people back to Him. Regardless of how long it has been the Lord continually calls us to repentance. With that being said, that is not a reason to press our luck when it comes to confession. When a priest reels in one of these “big fish” (as we call them), I do remind them that it is a good idea to make a habit of going to Confession.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Five Grand JackPot! At the time of this writing, it is still unknown who the winners are. But most of us woke up and discovered that we did not win. However, remember what our Blessed Lord says in the Gospel, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven,” and “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” With that being said, we of course congratulate the winners and thank all those who participated. Thank you to all who helped sell the tickets and in a special way thanks to Ron McAvoy, who you saw in the Narthex after Masses and events manning the ticket table. The combined effort of both St. Paul and Visitation Parishes raised $12000 for each parish. This will help us keep the lights on.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Five Grand JackPot! Thank you to all who purchased tickets for the Jackpot Drawing. All tickets from our parish and Visitation of Mary Parish have been sold. The drawing is this week on Aug 16 at 4:30 at Annunciation Church’s Dowed Hall. Let’s see who wins! Thank you to all who helped sell the tickets and in a special way thanks to Ron McAvoy, who you saw in the Narthex after Masses and events manning the ticket table. After the drawing there will be a few lucky winners and each of our parishes will get $12,000! Thanks again!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Five Grand JackPot! Thank you to all who purchased tickets for the Jackpot Drawing. All tickets from our parish and Visitation of Mary Parish have been sold. The drawing is next week on August 16th at 4:30 at (Visitation of Mary Parish) Annunciation Church’s Dowed Hall. Let’s see who wins! Thank you to all who helped sell the tickets and in a special way thanks to Ron McAvoy, who you saw in the Narthex after Masses and events manning the ticket table. After the drawing there will be a few lucky winners and each of our parish’s will get $12,000! Thanks again!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Similitudes and Parables In the Gospel Jesus often teaches in parables (or “similitudes” depending on the translation). These parables are particular stories Jesus tells in order to make a point. Some are short while some are quite drawn out. Scholarly Definition: "At its simplest a parable is a metaphor or simile, drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application, to tease it into active thought."(C. H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961, p. 5). https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Parables.htm

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Blessings of Being Pastor Often it is the case that we basically become our parents. In particular, I have reflected recently on how I am becoming more and more my father. When we were kids, he would offer his “friendly reminders” - which were instructions on closing the doors, turning off the lights, and not messing with the thermostat. Of course, we never saw the big deal because we weren’t paying the bills. I am seeing more and more how important those little reminders were because now I notice the same things.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, It’s Good to Be Back! I am back from my vacation. I spent some time in South Carolina visiting my sister’s family, and then relaxed in Tampa, FL with four priest friends. Each of us is a pastor, and we made sure to offer Mass daily and remember our people at our respective parishes. It was quite hot, but thankfully we had easy access to a screened in pool area. Thanks to all the priests who helped cover the Masses and to all our sacristans and servers who helped them get acclimated. And thanks to everyone who welcomed them to St. Paul Parish.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Canceled Masses This is just a reminder that since I am still out of town this weekend, the 9:30am Mass is canceled on July 10. I encourage parishioners who attend that Mass to join one of the other St. Paul’s Masses. Please continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood and to pray for our bishop as he makes his decision on implementing new guidelines concerning the EF Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Canceled Masses Since I will be out of town this weekend and next, we have to unfortunately cancel a few Extraordinary Form Masses. This weekend July 3, and next weekend, July 10, the 9:30 EF Masses will be canceled. I encourage parishioners who attend that Mass to join one of the other St. Paul’s Masses. Also, the 5:30 EF Mass on Fri. July 8 will be canceled, but the church will be open for prayer from 5:30-7pm. I invite folks to come and pray for vocations to the priesthood and to pray for our bishop as he makes his decision on implementing new guidelines concerning the EF Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, No Faith Formation on July 4 In honor of Independence Day, and also since I will not be in town, there will not be Faith Formation on this date. Theology on the Rocks for July 18 However, the 3rd Monday of the month there will be faith formation but in a different format. We are hosting the Akron “Theology on the Rocks” in our Parish Activity Center. Please note the time change. Doors open at 7pm and the talk begins at 7:30. The talk is entitled: The Spirituality of Baseball - the Most Liturgical Sport. There will be alcohol available as well as light appetizers. A cover charge of $5 will be required.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Happy Feast of Corpus Christi!!! And Happy Father’s Day! In honor of our Lord’s Presence in the Blessed Sacrament we will have Adoration and Solemn Benediction immediately following the 4:30 Saturday Mass. Then following the 11:30 Sunday Mass will be a Eucharistic Procession around the block (weather permitting) ending with Solemn Benediction in the Church. In honor of Father’s Day, we will pray to St. Joseph his Litany. This will happen at all 4 Masses.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Thank You’s All Around Thank you to the Stewards of the Land who had their second “clean up” day. They also help to keep inside the church clean every week. Their care for our campus and upkeep of the Marian Grotto reminds us of the Beauty God calls us to enjoy and foster.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Blessed Feast of Pentecost! Happy Birthday, Church! The Feast of Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church, since the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles to preach the Word of God. Does the fact that the earthly church is “older” mean that we are necessarily better or wiser or more holy than previous years? The answer should be apparent. No. Age is not directly proportional with holiness.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Happy Ascension Sunday! Today we hear about Jesus ascending into the heavens that he might "fill all things". We are reminded that he gave gifts to men and that there is but one body and one Lord and one faith and one baptism. We are directly told that we should strive for unity through the bond of peace. Sometimes in our families, it can be difficult to strive for peace and unity.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Your Head or Your Heart? Which do you follow? In literature, movies, and everyday life, this question comes up. Regarding work, relationships, society, government, ethics, and just about everything. In any decision our head says one thing while our heart says another. By “head” we usually mean our logical intellectual side, and by “heart” we usually mean our emotional side. Think of Mr. Spock, the logical Vulcan from Star Trek versus Dr. McCoy, the one who isn’t afraid of sharing his more emotional outbursts.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Fr. Sal from Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church to talk on May 16 at 6pm at St. Paul’s. Change in Faith Formation schedule! In light of the ongoing struggle in Ukraine, we have invited Fr. Sal, the pastor of Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church to come and speak about the hardships that priests and their families suffer in Fr’s home country. I will reschedule my talk for a different time. His talk will be in the church during a time of prayer, which will include adoration and solemn benediction.