Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, St. Paul’s “4th Journey” Initiative As part of this year’s evangelization effort we are in need of volunteers to help reach out to fellow parishioners. The goal is to reach ALL of them as best we can, including those that we have not seen in a while. In part this is a practical matter of verifying our records and to know just how many parishioners we have. This is difficult since the church is not “big-brother” keeping tabs on everyone, and not everyone thinks to stay in contact with the parish if things change.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, St. Paul’s “4th Journey” Initiative As part of this year’s evangelization effort we are in need of volunteers to help reach out to fellow parishioners. The goal is to reach ALL of them as best we can, including those that we have not seen in a while. In part this is a practical matter of verifying our records and to know just how many parishioners we have.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Requiescat in Pace, Bishop Lennon Having suffered ill health these past few years, last Tuesday morning our former Bishop of Cleveland, Richard Lennon, died with the consolation of the sacraments. We pray for the repose of his soul. In a special way I thank him for his ministry.

We will be chanting the ALMA REDEMPTORIS MATER, a chant in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary for Advent. Click to learn more.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Church Dedication Anniversary and Time Capsule This Saturday is another anniversary. October 26 honors the dedication of our parish’s new church. At the Mass will be special prayers and readings. The Priest and Deacon will be wearing the new Anniversary vestments. Immediately after the Vigil Mass will be a gathering at Mary’s grotto for the ceremonial digging up of the time capsule from 25 years ago.

On Priesthood Sunday we pray for all of our priests and those who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Next Special Anniversary Next Saturday will be another anniversary on October 26 honoring the dedication of the new church. At that Mass will be special prayers and readings. The Priest and Deacon will be wearing the new Anniversary vestments.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Anniversary of First Parish Mass While September of 1919 is when St. Paul Parish came into existence, the first Mass was not celebrated until October 12, 1919. Also there was no church yet, so the Mass was celebrated at the nearby Firestone Park Elementary school. This Saturday at the Vigil Mass we will honor that anniversary by wearing our new centenary vestments and having time of Eucharistic Adoration after the Masses.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Congratulations to Terry! Our Parish Coordinator of Adult Ministries, Terry Nesline, is retiring. It has been a blessing to collaborate with her over the past five years of my being pastor. She was present and ministering at the parish for many years before that as well. Over that time she has touched the lives of many whether it was her friendly voice answering the phone at the rectory or her kindness in bringing Holy Communion to the homebound.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All people Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Happy Continued Centenary! What a great time we had last weekend! Thank you again to all who participated at the Masses and the dinner. It is a blessing for the whole community to gather and celebrate by first loving God through our worship and then growing in love of neighbor as we share together.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus, Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Centenary Celebration Begins! At the time of this writing we are almost at 350 tickets sold for the opening dinner! Wow! If you cannot attend, worry not because there are other events and celebrations to come! The next one is for Saturday October 12. On that date in 1919, the parish celebrated its first Mass at the Firestone Park Elementary School since the church was not yet built.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus, Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Soon to begin our Centenary Celebration! If you haven’t got your tickets yet for the September 22 dinner in Boeke Hall, be sure to call the rectory. This will be the opening day to a year-long celebration, which will include the opening of a time capsule in October, liturgical anniversaries, a concert series, a visit from Bishop Perez for our Feast Day in January, and much more! Be sure to keep an eye on the bulletin for upcoming events.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus, Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Soon to begin our Centenary Celebration! If you haven’t got your tickets yet for the September 22 dinner in Boeke Hall, be sure to call the rectory. This will be the opening day to a year-long celebration, which will include the opening of a time capsule in October, liturgical anniversaries, a concert series, a visit from Bishop Perez for our Feast Day in January, and much more! Be sure to keep an eye on the bulletin for upcoming events.

Handbell Choir Director Charles Kobb promises an evening of serendipitous entertainment as the Summit Bells wield 6 octaves of bells and 7 octaves of choir chimes in order to inspire and entertain their audience.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus, Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Fr. Bob Pfeiffer and Fr. Sam Cicollini This weekend I am out of town for my annual Canada trip, so Frs. Pfeiffer and Cicollini will be covering Masses during this time. I appreciate their help, and I know they enjoy coming here to experience the love this community shows to God and to each other.

Please check out the St. Paul Photo Albums to see photos of the Basilica and National Shrine to Our Lady of Consolation. About 20 people from St. Paul's accompanied Dcn. John Amedeo on this pilgrimage to Carey, Ohio.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, South Parking Lot As I write this the plan is to have the south church parking lot sealed and the lines re-striped. So hopefully as you read this you will have already noticed the difference. This time we went a bolder yellow color rather than white so even in the snowy months people can see better where to park. This project also includes repairing damage in the gym parking lot. Thank you to parishioner Denis Randall who volunteered his time to help get the project done.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Blessed Virgin Mary Grotto I was sitting in the rectory with a priest friend enjoying a drink and good conversation when he looked out the window and saw the grotto on the corner of the parish property. He complimented how beautiful it looks, and it sparked more good conversation about parish and how God’s grace inspires people to make it happen.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Yes, We Still Believe in That! Last week I wrote about the reality and importance of angels. There are many examples in Scripture of angels, and the Church’s teaching is clear on their existence. The same can be said of demons, which are fallen angels. Demons retain their natural abilities but are fallen and thus deprived of God’s sanctifying grace. At the very moment of an angel’s existence it has the choice to fulfill or reject God’s mission assigned to it.