12/17/2012 - CHRISTMAS MASSES
Saturday, 12/24, Christmas Eve
4pm @ St. Nicholas Church, up and down
6pm @ Holy Trinity Church
9pm @ Holy Trinity Church
Midnight @ St. Nicholas Church
Sunday, 12/25, Christmas Morning
8am @ Holy Trinity Church
9:30am @ St. Nicholas Church
11:30am @ St. Nicholas Church
PRE-CHRISTMAS RECONCILIATION
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings -- 7:45-8:45am
Tuesday @ St. Nicholas and Thursday @ Holy Trinity, 7pm -- Communal Services
Tuesday, 4-5pm @ St. Nicholas
Thursday, 4-5pm @ Holy Trinity
Friday, 4-5pm @ St. Nicholas
Saturday, 8:30-9:30am @ St. Nicholas
1/12/11 - NEW YEAR
Again time has flown and we are already into a new year, now in our 'Ordinary' or numbered time as Catholics. Before we leave the Christmas Season totally behind, I share here my Christmas-New Year-Epiphany message that I send annually to family and friends. May you find some inspiration in it for these days and weeks of 2011.
10/3 -- OCTOBER ALREADY
I am always surprised by how long it has been since my last entry. There is more happening than I can keep up with. Here's what's coming up just this week:
- Sunday -- Holy Name Breakfast, 8-11:30am
- Wednesday -- start of a regular Wednesday morning Bingo session with first game at 10am
- Thursday -- An Evening with Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at 7pm at St. Nicholas
That's in addition to all the regular things going on -- school, CCD, Bible Study, RCIA, Sunday & Wednesday Bingo, daily masses, weddings, funerals.
Through all these activities and events people's lives are touched, we trust for the better. The thread that runs through all of our efforts at St. Nicholas and now at Holy Trinity is the pursuit of holiness. We pray that God is present in all that we do, that the love of Christ pervades the way we do it, and that the Holy Spirit finds ways to touch hearts by their contact with our liturgies, devotions and various activities. Be part of the effort. Allow God to work in you and through you.
Coming up are such things as the following:
- October 2/3 and 9/10 -- Youth Ministry Christmas in October toy collection
- October 10, 11-11:40am -- Eucharistic Minister Training
- October 12, 11am -- Struthers Senior Citizens @ St. Nicholas -- luncheon
- October 16 -- Holy Name Steak Fry, 4-7pm, $12 for adults, $5 for children
- October 17 -- 11:45 Mass at St. Nicholas is moved back to 11am and celebrated up at Holy Trinity in anticipation of their Stuffed Cabbage Dinner at noon-4pm
- October 19, 26, Nov.2, 7-8:30pm -- St. Monica Ministry Sessions
- october 23-4 -- PARISH ANNIVERSARY, Masses at 4pm and 10am ONLY
- October 30, 5pm in Lower Church Hall presentation on Breast Cancer
- October 30-31 -- Bake & Craft Sale for a Cure after all Masses & sale of raffle tickets for afghans
- November 6, 10a-4p -- Craft Show
That's enough for now. I'm exhausted just listing it all and thinking about it ... and I've probably forgotten something in there!
9/17 -- MARTIN LUTHER on Church & Holiness
From October 11-21 I will be making an ecumenical pilgrimage with colleagues of the Lutheran-Catholic Covenant Commission on which I serve. The pilgrimage will start in Germany with visits to key places in the life of Martin Luther and then move on to Rome, the seat of Roman Catholicism. The group I am traveling with is a mix of Lutherans and Catholics. It includes Bishop Murry and Lutheran bishop Elizabeth Eaton. It should be a fascinating learning experience.
To prepare myself I have begun doing some reading, including a blog of two Lutheran scholars who are making the 1000 mile journey from Erfurt, Germany to Rome which Martin Luther made in 1510. Luther went on behalf of his community of Augustinian friars to appeal for the authorities to allow the reform his group was living to continue within the larger Augustinian community. The two contemporary hikers, a husband and wife, are marking the 500th anniversary of Luther's hike and the 100th anniversary of the beginning of serious ecumenical efforts within the divided Christian community. Each days they travel, they are writing a blog. Here are a few excerpts you may find as interesting as did I.
Sarah Wilson, one of the walkers, writes this:
"Popular polemics on either side (Lutheran or Catholic) still declare that Catholics teach unabashed works-righteousness and that Lutherans are nothing but “Catholic lite,” dispensing with the annoyingly difficult parts of Christian faith. Sometimes it seems like fifty years of bilateral dialogue never happened. ...
Luther remains an obstacle between us. For Catholics, even if he is not, à la his first defaming biographer Cochlaeus, a randy monk with psychological problems ready to destroy the church and take civilization down with it, he is still a standing rebuke and an excommunicated heretic. For Lutherans, however much he failed his own best insights in demonizing his opponents, Luther is and remains a beloved teacher and spiritual guide.
A half-century of bilateral dialogue ... has approached a new and common view of Luther, best characterized by the dialogue statement on the 500th anniversary of his birth, Martin Luther: Witness to Jesus Christ. Walking his footsteps from a time when he was not yet a reformer but on the way to being one, we hope to stake out the parameters of an ecumenical Luther, one loved soberly, forgiven in his failures, and heard attentively when he speaks the gospel we believe in common."
In another blog post, the walkers cite this passage from Luther's Great Catechism. As you read it, ask yourself whether you can affirm what Luther here affirms. I can, happily.
"I believe that there is on earth a holy lit tle flock and com mu nity of pure saints under one head, Christ. It is called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, mind, and under stand ing. It pos sesses a vari ety of gifts, and yet is united in love with out sect or schism. Of this com mu nity I also am a part and member, a participant and co-partner in all the blessings it possesses. I was brought into it by the Holy Spirit and incorporated into it through the fact that I have heard and still hear God’s Word, which is the begin ning point for entering it. Before we had come into this community, we were entirely of the devil, knowing nothing of God and of Christ. The Holy Spirit will remain with the holy community or Christian people until the Last Day. Through it he gathers us, using it to teach and preach the Word. By it he creates and increases holiness, causing it daily to grow and become strong in the faith and in its fruits, which the Spirit produces."
9/13 -- HOW FAST THE TIME
It is amazing, and dismaying, that so many weeks have passed since I have shared thoughts here. Life got busy as I and Fr. Bernie assumed responsibility for Holy Trinity, school started, Fr. Bernie was away for a spell, Labor Day came and went. It's amazing how time flies.
St. Nicholas School is off to an exciting start with 151 students, including many new families. We have some new teaching personnel and have introduced numerous technical enhancements to our classrooms, making the school more exciting than ever. I am personally teaching all grades each week, as I did last year. I find it an effective and gratifying way to get to know the students and through them their families. This year I will continue my focus on Jesus and the Gospels but will also explore our churches (St. Nicholas and Holy Trinity) to enhance the children's appreciation of their being Catholic. I also field the children's questions each week.
CCD is starting this week. This too is an important part of our efforts to pass on our faith to coming generations. What we are able to do at the parish is, at best, an add-on to what parents do at home. Parents remain the first catechists of their children.
The family's lifestyle teaches more than anything else. If regular attendance at mass, regular talk about the faith, and regular participation in parish activities are part of the family's weekly activities, the children will learn how to be Christian and Catholic. If the family does little more than send the children off to class, whether in CCD or in Catholic school, the success of our efforts are in fact greatly diminished. I invite all to pray that this new year of learning for both children and adults will be a good one for all.
Our St. Nicholas Garage Sale was a huge success. Many items from our former rectory were sold, freeing up storage space.
Changes in Ohio Law governing Bingo enable operators to compete more effectively with distant casinos, so we have introduce them into our games. Bingo remains an important piece of our financial operations. Without it there would be no way to sustain our school. If you are looking for a relaxing afternoon or evening out, considering coming to our Bingo with your friends. The food's good too!
8/6 -- TEN STEPS TO HOLINESS
8/3 -- VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
This new undertaking started with more than 80 children attending last night. It's not too late to have your little ones (potty trained through 6th grade) come. Sessions run each night this week from 76-8:30 in our lower church hall. The children have fun activities that enable them to learn, understand and live the Bible stories Jesus taught.
8/3 - FIRST FRIDAY CLUB SCHEDULE 2010-2011
The newly published schedule for luncheons for adults wanting to grow in their faith is now available on our website under CALENDAR. Check it our and plan to attend for a good meal for your body, good spiritual food for your spirit, and good companions with which to share the meal. Speakers address contemporary issues in both Church and world from a faith point of view. To reserve a seat at our monthly parish table, phone Tammy at 330-755-9810. It's a great and enjoyable way to nurture yourself in all respects!
8/1 - PURSUING HOLINESS
I use a daily missal which sprinkles various quotes regarding spiritual matters throughout in empty spaces between the readings of one day and the next. Here are a few of recent ones that hit home for me:
- "Prayer is not just spending time with God. It is partly that - but if it ends there, it is fruitless. No, prayer is dynamic. Authentic prayer changes us -- unmasks us -- strips us -- indicates where growth is needed. Authentic prayer never leads to complacency, but needles us -- makes us uneasy at times. It leads us to true self-knowledge, to true humility." St. Teresa of Avila
- Prayer is the source and origin of every upward journey toward God. Let us each turn to prayer and say to our Lord God: 'Lead me, O Lord, on your path, that I may walk in your truth.'" St. Bonaventure
- Through the liturgy we receive our only true treasure, the precious pearl of divine life. The Church's year is indeed a year of grace." Pius Parsch
- "Each of us is called to be both a sacrifice to God and God's priest. Do not forfeit what God confers on you. Put on the garment of holiness, let the cross on your forehead be your unfailing protection. Let your heart be an altar, on which you offer yourself to God." St. Peter Chrysologus
- "We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.... One who has Jesus has everything." St. Rose-Philippine Duchesne
- "The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace." Bl. Teresa of Calcutta
There is much wisdom in these words as we continue our pursuit of holiness.
7/20 - VBS, HOLY TRINITY MERGE
Register your chlidren now for our August 2-6 Vacation Bible School - a Sonquest Rainforest adventure. This is the first time such a venture has been attempted since my arrival three years ago. Perhaps they were held in the past. Tammy Creighton with Stephanie Tarajcak and a team of adventurous explorers are preparing to go looking for Jesus, the Son of God, in a tropical rainforest. It sounds like fun. I wonder If I can become young enough to register!
Fr. Bernie and I become responsible for providing pastoral service to the people of Holy Trinity Parish on August 1. We moved into the Holy Trinity rectory, a lovely home, last week. Fr. Bernie is well-settled in. I am still de-boxing! I've never learned what to leave off the wagon when I load and leave a place!
Holy Trinity's weekend mass schedule is 4:30 on Saturday and 8:30 on Sunday morning. St. Nicholas Parishioners should feel free to attend mass there to begin the process of getting to know the folks with whom we will become one new parish over the next two years. The timetable still has to be worked out for that. Already Holy Trinity parishioners are attending our masses and some St. Nicholas parishioners have attended mass at Holy Trinity. Envelopes can be left in the collection at either parish and they will get back to the proper parish. For the moment, and probably for the coming year at least, we will remain two distinct parishes with separate financial dynamics. More on that as we proceed.
For now, let's get to know one another and one another's spiritual homes as we prepare to merge.
7/11 - BELL TOWER BLUES & TEN HOLY STEPS
Recent efforts to stop the chronic leakage of rain water into the Wilson Street stairwell of our church revealed that there is serious structural damage to the upper levels of our bell tower. We await the analysis of a structural engineer to tell us how serious the damage is and what the scope and potential cost of repair will be. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I invite you to read an essay I've posted here. It's an adaptation for lay people of an essay written to encourage priests on their journey to holiness. I found a lot of wisdom in it, reworked it for you and so pass it on. The essay was written by Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, a licensed PhD psychologist and spiritual writer whose work over the past decade has been with priests who somehow lost the joy of their ministry and their way on the journey of life with Christ. Double clicking will take you to that two-page essay right now! Enjoy.
7/6 - MAKING A MOVE!
Change nearly always entails gain and loss. So it is with the call for a merging of St. Nicholas Parish with Holy Trinity Parish. A gain St. Nicholas will experience is a residence for the priests who serve these two-to-be-one parishes. A loss is the removal of the priests serving St. Nicholas to some distance away from the St. Nicholas campus.
Eighteen months ago we as a parish agreed to lease our overly large rectory to ISLE/Purple Cat. That building now constitutes a wonderful residence for 9 adults rather than the two priests who could get lost in the building trying to find one another! Since then, the St. Nicholas priests have been vagabonds of a sort, living first at St. Luke's, then in a nearby rented home with Fr. Bernie part-time at St. Columba Cathedral. That has worked out very well, but the merger affords a residence for the priests on the Holy Trinity campus that will have us both once again residing in Struthers.
Fr. Bernie and I will move into the rectory at Holy Trinity during the week of July 11th. It is a beautiful home that will serve us very well. We will continue to be plenty present at St. Nicholas and as available to serve the people of St. Nicholas as we have always striven to be. Our offices will remain at 764 Fifth St. and we will continue to be just a phone call and a short hop away. Don't let the move create any sense of distance between us.
Our move to the north side of Struthers will likely be a comfort to the Holy Trinity parishioners. They have been worried that the merger means the closing of their beautiful parish church and home. As we come together in the months ahead, we will all need to think through together how we make best use of the facilities God has entrusted to our care, now and into the future. The facilities are different and happily complementary. The challenge will be to keep their operation and upkeep affordable. I invite everyone to see this development as a mutual enrichment and to quickly overcome any sense that "this is ours and that is theirs." In Christ, both campuses will belong to all of use, to be used by all of us for the service of God's people and for the greater glory of God.
6/24 - MEETING with HOLY TRINITY
On Tuesday, 6/22, six members of our Parish Council gathered with five members of Holy Trinity’s Parish & Finance Councils and Fr. Jerek to begin the process of our coming together. It was an excellent meeting. We shared the hopes and fears of each community. Change always provokes uncertainty, insecurity and worry. As we talked, our respective anxieties were replaced with confidence that the Holy Spirit can bring us together with mutual benefit. Our two communities will come to know one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, mutually respectful and concerned for one another’s well-being, values and traditions.
The two parishes will merge formally at some point within the next two years. Until then we remain two distinct units but mutually committed to begin doing things together that will make the formal merger a natural and welcome development. This weekend I am saying the two Masses at Holy Trinity (Saturday at 4:30pm and Sunday at 8:30am) with a reception following each mass. Fr. Bernie and I will begin the process of moving into Holy Trinity’s rectory, which has been empty since the death of Holy Trinity’s beloved Fr. Bill Petruniak. Our two groups will meet again on August 3 to begin coordinating parish calendars. We will plan events to enable our two communities to get acquainted and to begin sharing our personal, ethnic and spiritual gifts. Parishioners of both parishes can feel comfortable attending masses at either church, assured that their envelopes will get into the right bank account!
Our delegation explained the losses St. Nicholas parishioners anticipate even as we listened to the losses Holy Trinity has already experienced. They worry that St. Nicholas is big and they are small. But in Christ we are all equal. St. Nicholas parishioners will have to get used to the idea of “our priests” living up at Holy Trinity. We will be ‘their priests’ too! We will also have to get used to an adjusted mass schedule, both week-end and weekday, probably this Fall. We will feel loss. We must focus on the gain and the renewed spiritual vitality this merger intends to generate in both of our communities.
6/13 -- LIFE & FESTIVAL
Here are a couple of great quotes for your reflection:
- "Traveling through life isn't primarily about changing places. It's deepening the values and ideals of Christ ever further into my being." Dr. Jack Buechner
- "Hope only becomes a virtue when the situation is hopeless!" G.K.Chesterton
Wednesday evening our annual FESTIVAL begins -- the 37th. It runs through Sunday. Come and enjoy. Wednesday is kids night. Sunday is the evening we give away more than $12,000 in our raffle -- prizes of $5000, $3000, $2000 and $1000, and 10- $100 winners. We have music to dance to on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We have gambling for those who enjoy that for a good cause. We have our always terrific food, from 'Walking Tacos' and 'Dogs-on-a-Stick" to pasta to steak. And don't forget the great baked goods. It's a great way to spend an evening with family and friends in a safe and pleasant environment -- games and rides for the kids, tables and chairs for the adults who are weary on their feet. Help make this our most successful Festival ever ... and have fun doing it.
6/7 -- Calendar & Daybook Inspiration
We have added a parish calendar to the website. Currently it is under construction so be patient until we enter the many opportunities for prayer, community and service that we offer at St. Nicholas. You can find it under the Schedules section of our website
We have also added an another source of daily prayer and inspiration. it is called DAYBOOK INSPIRATION and is listed under TODAY on the home page. Click on those words and you will be taken to a daily feed of beautiful pictures, inspiring thoughts and even brief videos to give you something that will make your day very special. Try it.
6/6 - Body & Blood of Christ
Two quick sayings summarize my reflections for this great feast: (1) We are What we Eat; and (2) We receive the Body of Christ to become the Body of Christ so we can be the Body of Christ. This is the miracle that occurs through our celebration of Eucharist. The Bread and Wine that we present as gifts symbolize ourselves -- our flesh and blood. We give them over to God and pray that the Spirit will transform them into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Then at the end of Mass we are sent forth to be that living Body of Christ in the world. That is what we pray. That is what we believe. The opening prayer of today's liturgy put it briefly and well: "May we offer to our Father in heaven a solemn pledge of undivided love (love of God with our whole being and love of our neighbor as God loves us). May we offer to our brothers and sisters a life poured out in loving service of that kingdom" which Jesus proclaimed and made present by his life.
5/30 - Holy Trinity Sunday
This year's Holy Trinity Sunday is special for us because of Bishop Murry's decision that St. Nicholas Parish and Holy Trinity, both in Struthers, are to merge. His decision concludes months of uncertainty for both parish communities, but especially of Holy Trinity which lost their beloved pastor, Fr. Bill Petruniak, now several months ago. As a community they remain in grief. The Bishop's decision now provokes fears that they may lose their identity. I see no reason for that to be the case.
As I understand the dynamics of merging parishes, the new parish will eventually assume a new name while the two church structures will retain their respective names. Such details remain to be determined as well as the timeline for effecting the merge. Until then, both communities will operate as distinct parishes but now with one pastor assisted, presumably, by an associate. All indications are that I will serve as pastor and Fr. Bernie will continue as Senior Associate. Because Holy Trinity has a rectory, Fr. Bernie and I are likely to move into that facility from the home we are currently renting. As the parishes merge, decisions will have to be made regarding the best use of our combined facilities. It is time for patience, sensitivity to the respective emotions of each community, and creativity. I invite all to be thinking and praying as we proceed. I will do my best to keep you posted as the situation clarifies for myself.
5/21 - Pentecost
Sunday we celebrate our conviction that the Holy Spirit, the bond of love within the Trinity, the energy of divine life, is shared with us. We celebrate that ongoing truth as we remember that special outpouring which moved the Apostles and original disciples from their fearful lock-in to their joyous outbreak, sharing the Good News. They had been intimidated by the crucifixion of Jesus, fearing that they might be next. They kept to themselves and locked themselves into an upper room where they felt secure. They left that behind to invite others to join them in living a newly inspired life modeled on that of Jesus. Many responded and the church was formed. We are among those who continue to respond.
Our commitment to being Spirit-led followers of Jesus will be tested when our bishop announces the decisions he has made after careful planning, extensive consultation, and prayerful openness to the Spirit. We accept in faith that God acts through such communal decisions finally articulated and confirmed by our designated leader. The 15th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles provides the model. Our diocese, I believe, has followed that model. I pray that we will all respond positively to the adjustments, the changes, the conversions the Bishop's plan will ask of us. I urge all to pray the Prayer for our Diocese now available on this site's home page. Pray it often.
5/2
On Friday, 4/30, we spent an "Evening with St. Joseph" preparing to enter Mary's month of May by meditating on St. Joseph, her spouse, and praying with him. Here are some thoughts I shared on during that
Joseph was a quiet and good man. He overcame his doubts and put his life at the service of God’s plan in Christ. Though we know really little about him for sure, he inspires us. Ponder for a moment these qualities we might cherish in him and imitate.
· Joseph was a quiet man. We have no sound bites to remember him by. He didn’t have to be center-stage. He was happy to play his role quietly.
· Joseph listened. He really paid attention to what he heard. And he was a visionary. He dreamed dreams and paid attention to his dreams. He plumbed the meaning of what he heard and dreamt, based important decisions on what he came to understand and acted courageously on what he thus came to know in faith.
· Joseph was a devout, practicing, religious Jew. He kept the law in his heart and in his behavior. He shaped the lifestyle of his family around the laws and traditions of his religion. He taught his son to respect and observe the law as a source of wisdom, life and joy.
· Joseph was a faithful family man. He lived with his family, provided for his family, and died surrounded by family. We know nothing about him that does not have to do with his family. Joseph was all about family.
· Joseph was a working man. He learned a craft and developed skills that had value and used them to support his family. He passed those working skills on to his son and taught him to appreciate and value the special skills of all working people – fishermen, tax collectors, farmers, priests, prophets, soldiers, governors and kings.
· Joseph was a good citizen. He paid attention to the world around him and did his civic duty, such as taking part in the census even though it was a great inconvenience. He supported his government in what it did that was right but fled it when it was wrong. He taught his son to give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s.
Joseph played a key if quiet role in christ’s life. What role might he play in our lives as followers of his son?
· Imagine Joseph grounding Jesus in his human life as a member of a family. Imagine Joseph exemplifying for Jesus how he was to love, cherish, live and die for family, day by day? Can we allow Joseph to help us grow in appreciation of our own families and of the church as a family? Can we allow him to help us in our commitment to our family, in our readiness to live for our family and die to ourselves when the good and well-being of our family requires it?
· Imagine Joseph teaching Jesus to live with a great and respectful sense of fatherhood? Imagine Joseph as the one who helped Jesus develop his deep, comfortable and confident sense of God as his father? Imagine Joseph as the one who, with Mary, taught Jesus the Our Father, which he in turn taught his disciples, us. Can we allow Joseph to help us develop that same sense of God, enabling us to say regularly the Our Father from our hearts and to live deeply its meaning?
· Imagine Joseph teaching Jesus to be not just a spiritual person but a religious man, an observant Jew, a human being who was awesomely alert and responsive to God’s presence in the universe and human life but one who allowed that awe to motivate and shape his religious practice as a joyful dimension of his life. Can we allow Joseph to help us be deeply spiritual persons who integrate into our spirituality the practices and teachings of our catholic faith?
· Imagine Joseph as a model of good citizenship and good work habits. Imagine him teaching Jesus how to relate to public authorities and to contribute positively to the common good. Imagine him teaching Jesus the skills that would enable him to sustain himself and his family and to do his work well as a co-creator and co-worker with the Creator of the universe. Imagine Joseph teaching Jesus to use his skills not only to make a buck but to beautify our world by the excellence of his work and to enhance our human dignity and the dignity of all work, however humble and unappreciated our labor might be.
I encourage all parishioners to reflecto n St. Joseph and learn from him, as I'm sure Mary did, during this month of May.
4/25 I was away for a week and a half for a priests conference and then some down time with friends and family. It was striking to visit with a friend in Houston TX where the unemployment rate is 8.5% (vs. Youngstown's 15%). In spite of our troubles here, it is good to be back home!
I draw to your attention on this Good Shepherd Sunday, which is also observed as a World Day of Prayer for Vocations, a new website, www.ForYourVocation.org. Click on it and explore the resources it offers for discerning a vocation for yourself, someone in your family, or a friend. It will also be listed in our Links Section under Home.
This coming Friday we will gather for another of our "Evenings with ...", this time with St. Joseph. We know too little about this just man and too seldom ask him to join us in prayer. This Friday offers good opportunity to learn more about him as we pray with him.
4/4 EASTER: It is my pleasure here to share with visitors my Easter Morning Homily.
Luke’s account of the Resurrection starts with the women who went to the tomb to embalm Jesus. There they had an encounter of a life-changing kind, one that caused them to remember. Through their listening to God’s messengers to them and their memories they came to Easter faith. May the same be true of us as we listen and remember.
Last night at our Easter Vigil we did a rich and amazing review of God’s steady loving kindness toward our human community? All our warts, all our failings, all our resistance could not turn away God’s persistent love. Even when we crucified, killed and buried the Son sent to show us the true way to life, God persisted, opening a closed tomb and raising the Son to new life, showing us once again the true way for us humans to live – LOVING. “Love one another as I have loved you!”
Like the women who went to the tomb, perhaps we are puzzled and terrified by this stunning story. Like the Apostles, perhaps it seems like nonsense to us, at least initially and so we hesitate to believe. There are plenty of such people in the world these days – unbelievers, hesitant believers, puzzled believers, terrified believers who haven’t yet heard Jesus’ most persistent mantra – ‘Don’t be afraid!’; skeptical and therefore half-hearted believers, believers who tell us “I was raised Catholic” but hold back from professing that they are Catholic or announcing their faith to others. Like Peter, perhaps we are breathless from our running around to see for ourselves what is going on in this world, looking for what God has done but failing to listen weekly at least in Church, failing to see thru regular reception of the sacraments, hesitating to believe with our whole heart and our whole mind and our whole strength that Jesus lives and God loves us. So perhaps like Peter going to the tomb we come to church today and see the beautiful trappings as Peter saw the wrappings, but we just go home amazed, not believing deeply with our whole being.
I urge us to be like the women. They not only puzzled about the stone rolled away and the empty tomb but they listened to the two men in dazzling robes who asked them a question and told them to remember Jesus’ words. They did remember and they took his words to heart and they believed. Then they announced their experience to the apostles and they put up with the nonsense of those who thought them full of nonsense. But little by little the men too came to believe, starting with Peter (and John) and ending with Thomas.
May we be like those women this Easter day of 2010. May we remember, take to heart, believe and celebrate this wondrous good news of God’s unconditional love for us. May we announce it to others and invite them to believe and gather with us and to follow the Risen and Living One, Jesus our Lord, the ultimate manifestation of God’s love. He challenges us to make his Risen life visible by loving one another – all the others, one by one.
Last night we welcomed into our community 5 persons who have seen him living in us. Since last September, they have been listening to his word and learning from him as they see us imitating him. With our help those 5 individuals puzzled their way out of the darkness into the light, wanting to be one with the Lord and with us through the sacra-ments of initiation – baptism, confirmation, and eucharist. This morning we welcomed an infant whose parents will, with our support, help her take the first step in that journey of initiation into Christ and eternal life. So we celebrate the Risen One living in all of us. Together we both announce and give evidence that Jesus’ tomb is indeed empty and that He has indeed been raised from the dead, and that his loving Father, Our Father, through the Spirit, is daily raising us and our children up with him.
3/31 TRIDUUM - 3 days as 1
We begin tomorrow, April 1, no fooling, the most solemn days of the Christian year as we Catholics celebrate it. We take 3 days to celebrate the one Easter Mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection. Our Liturgies are the most elaborate and glorious of the year, remembering what Jesus did, what it means, and what he continues to do among us as Risen Lord still today.
All humans want to believe in life after death, eternal life. Most do believe but some struggle. They want to be realistic and not delusional. Embracing the cross, the reality of death, while remaining open to the possibility of new life is the only way to move beyond the struggle into the peace of knowing that God has created us to be part of divine life forever. Our Easter celebrations intend to help us make that move, to experience the reality of the possibility, the truth of Resurrection. Fr. Thomas Rosica's YouTube reflection will draw you deeper into that mystery.
3/19 GEARING UP
Our preparation for Easter is intensifying. Next week we will feature three special events -- a Monday Taize Holy Hour before the Cross, a Friday parish communal penance service with Stations of the Cross, and a Friday showing of a special movie after the Stations of the Cross. The Stations themselves will offer images from the movie for our meditation. Then Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.
Holy Week follows, It's called 'holy' because for us it's the most holy and significant week of the year. If we don't get what the Church celebrates during this week, we are probably pretty confused about just what it means to be a Christian. For that reason, I cannot encourage strongly enough that you put our Holy Week services -- Palm Sunday Mass and the Triduum celebrations on Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- on your calendars. 'BE THERE', as they say, so when you are asked, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?' you will be able to say, 'I sure was, and I stand there still.'
Click here for our full schedule of Holy Week of services.
3/15 -- HOME STRETCH
We have passed the half-way mark in our Lenten Journey. These final weeks are a good time to become still more determined to allow God to transform our hearts and lives. Wednesday Adoration (9:30am-8pm) ending with Vespers and Friday Stations of the Cross (7pm) are excellent opportunities. Pray Morning or Evening Prayer with the Church by clicking on "Liturgy of the Hours" on our home page, or read the daily scriptures used at mass by clicking on "Lectionary Readings." The St. Anthony Novena starts on Tuesday morning at 9:30am after Mass. Normally the Novena will be prayed on Tuesday evenings at 7pm. You have lots of options. Make some time in your schedule and open your heart to God's amazing love. How amazing? Contemplate a crucifix each day. Blessings!
3/12 -- HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
For your convenience and advance planning, click here for our Holy Week.schedule of services.
2/28
Already the 2nd Sunday of Lent! A terrible cold knocked me flat for a few weeks. Why-O-Why-O-Why-O did I ever leave California and come to Ohio?? Actually, one can get terrible colds anywhere. It must have been my turn.
Last Wednesday the Diocese announced its projected strategic plan. While the directions are not yet decisions, the shape of things to come is becoming clear. Many parishes are going to have to merge, including our St. Nicholas with sister Struthers parish, Holy Trinity.
Overall, the effort of the Diocese is to move toward one parish per civic community where possible. So there is projected one parish in Campbell, one in Struthers, one in Ashtabula, one in Alliance, one in East Liverpool, etc. As the Diocese has been saying for 18 months, the factors driving us in this direction are the changing demographics (fewer people living in northeast Ohio), the availability of priests (we used to have over 200, we now have 96), and the changing expectations of Catholics.
The goal of the diocesan reconfiguration of parishes to to enable fewer parishes to be more vital and vibrant, less struggling to survive and more able to focus on ministry to members and mission to the larger community of which they are a part. Dwindling numbers of parishioners and fewer priest personnel have taken their toll on our parish vitality. Our goal is not just to survive, but to thrive.
In our case, the strategic planning teams for both Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas deem the plan proposed workable. Both teams see issues which together we will have to address and work through, but we do not expect to hit any immovable walls. For both communities there will be some sense of loss and grieving. For Holy Trinity, this will be especially felt since the parish just recently lost its native son and beloved pastor, Fr. Bill Petrunak. Presuming that the Bishop will confirm this direction when he makes his final decisions, to be announced near Pentecost (May 23), this is something all of us need to pray over, disposing our hearts to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. Jesus always wants his followers to come together, to be one. May that come to be our new life together.
2/8
Valentine's Day is coming fast. It is our annual civic celebration of love -- all kinds of loving relationships, but especially the romantic kind. Happily the weekend also marks an annual World Marriage Day celebration. Marriage represents that special development of love into commitment for life. It takes little to declare love with the giving o a bouquet or a box of candy, but that can be a passing fancy or infatuation. It takes courage and lot of maturity to commit oneself to sustaining that love for the rest of one's life and to trust another to sustain the same commitment. That's what makes a marriage.
Marriage in our society is under a lot of pressure. Many forces work against the success of that commitment. But it remains possible. When one sees couples who have kept their promises with the help of God, it is a beautiful and inspiring sight. Often the two individuals do indeed achieve unity even to the point of coming to resemble one another in charming ways. They have become what God designed them to be, one flesh, one life, one love, a channel of God's life and love for the world. Families flourish in the context of such love.
Next weekend, celebrate your Valentine. But more importantly, celebrate the marriages that are a part of your life. Be sure to let the couples who inspire you know their effect on you. Send them a Valentine! Truly they have taught you what true love is and helped you to mature into that kind of love.
2/1 - Catholic Schools Week is now underway. See a full schedule of activities under Events/Current Events on this website.
Now is the time for parents to think about where their children will be educated next year. St. Nicholas School offers open enrollment. We have space, we have spirit, we have expertise, we have excellence. Why deprive your children or the children of your friends of this gift?
Often parents are most concerned about enabling their children to succeed in life. Today that means succeeding in work and in life relationships. Catholic schools offer that and much more. One long time Catholic educator put it this way:
Students come in the door expecting one thing, namely an entree to a successful professional life. They discover something far richer: They discover the faith, a treasure beyond all telling, a system of meaning that will enable them to make senses of their lives and that will bring them into contact not only with the wisdom of the past but with the Author of all wisdom. The Catholic school brand will bring them in; the success they seek will keep them in the seats; and the wisdom of love will make them whole. Fr. Joseph McShane, S.J., President, Fordham University
I encourage every family to consider the dividends to be earned by educating children in Catholic schools. Encourage family, friends and neighbors to 'come and see' what St. Nicholas offers. We've been at it for 81 years and we have a very good track record.
Lent is just a few weeks away. Be thinking as much about what you might "take on" as about what you can "give up." Lent is a time to flex our baptismal muscles, to make sure they have not withered by inactivity.
1/24
Catholic Schools Week is coming up quickly. It kicks off this Saturday with a delicious Spaghetti Dinner prepared by our Moms and Dads Club. It's a not-to-miss event with outstanding pricing -- $6 for adults, $3 for kids 5-12, FREE for kids 4 and under. You'll see lots of parishioners and help our school while having an excellent meal. Come and enjoy.
Registration for our our 2010-2011 school year is already underway. It begins formally on Monday, February 1. If you are still searching for the right school for your child(ren), come and check out St. Nicholas School. We are in our 81st year of providing top-notch education and Catholic character formation. Our graduates go on to do very well at whichever high school they attend, and in life. We offer an excellent option for your family's educational goals.
All persons who volunteer at St. Nicholas in any capacity are invited to our annual Mardi Gras Appreciation Night on Tuesday, February 16 from 7-8:30. It's fun and it's sweet! It may make you fat, but that's what 'fat tuesday' is all about. Come and enjoy. If you are not yet involved at St. Nicholas in some ministry or activity, contact our office to tell us what you like to do so we can get you connected with the right folks and opportunities to serve. That's why we are here -- to serve you and others as we serve God in and with Christ.
1/17
This is a busy week in our prayer life. Today starts the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Tomorrow we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day with our nation, praying that our racial and ethnic divides will be fully overcome so all God's children might enjoy the full blessings of this land. On Friday we are called to a day of penance for the violations of human dignity through acts of abortion that followed from the Supreme Court decision in 1972 legalizing that practice.
In today's liturgy we remember how Jesus transformed water into wine at the gentle but prayerful urging of his Mother. That manifestation of God's power at work in our midst gives us confidence that our trusting prayer can transform the practices and culture of our nation, in God's own good time.
1/3
Here's my Christmas-New Year's message to the parish.
Christmas-New Year-Epiphany 2009-10
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
We live in dark times -- dark because, as President Obama said when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, ‘evil does exist in the world.’ It surrounds us – violence, lust, anger, greed. It invades and infects us all. We can-not escape it. We’ve long called that truth original sin. Genesis tells us that “in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss.”
Darkness pervades even such uplifting Christmas stories as Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol. The reality for most residents of Dicken’s London in the 1800s was grinding poverty and squalid destitution, even after long hours of work. Like today, it was a time of great income inequality. Scrooge was not a rarity and Cratchit was not alone in trying to house, clothe, and feed his family. It was the way things were. It was dark.
There were shepherds keeping the night watch. (Luke 2:8)
Yet like the prophets of old, Dickens wrote to give hope, to help people see light in the midst of the darkness. His tale does not end in gloom but in conversion and rejoicing. Even Scrooge sees the light and dumps his humbug, hoarding attitude. So must we, for we celebrate the Light. It is a matter of choice and of faith. As my father often told me, “two men looked out from prison bars; the one saw mud, the other stars.”
The glory of the Lord shone around them. … Don’t be afraid! (Luke 29-10)
Our Christmas Season invites us to look at the stars, indeed at the star, Jesus Christ, our Lord and King born to us and for us. That has been the human challenge from Genesis to today – to see and share the Light. So after the gloomy beginning of that first book of the Bible, God’s first words are: ‘Let there be light.’ There was light, and there is light, and step-by-step that Light overcomes the darkness. We bask in its glow.
My cousin Bill’s Christmas card this year reflects that glow. His mother, my Aunt Peg, died of cancer and now Bill is waging the same battle. Wondrously, his Christmas card had one big word on it: JOY. Inside the card reads simply “wishing you a joyful Christmas season and a New Year full of promise.” Bill and his wife Jan lift their eyes to the stars. They see the Light.
Ohooooh, star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding. Guide us to the perfect light.
A recent biography of the great trumpet player Louis Satchmo Armstrong tells how he grew up in the South. He had to survive and grow in the deep darkness of America’s racism, a darkness we have not yet fully overcome. Yet Satchmo’s journal entries include these wondrous assertions: My whole life has been happiness. I love everybody. Satchmo’s biographer gradually came to recognize that what he had considered “Pops’ grinning in the face of racism was rather his absolute refusal to let anything, even anger about racism, steal the joy from his life.” … Despite the dark world in which he had grown up and the far from bright one in which he made his career, Louis Armstrong really did believe that ‘it’s a wonderful world.’ And the way he played his trumpet helped others believe it too.”
Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God. (Luke 2:13)
That’s God’s Christmas call to us. That’s what God wants for us and of us – to see the Light, to be filled with that Light, and to share the Light. Given all that, it’s not a sin to acknowledge and even be angry that the reality of our world remains dark:
· That our economy is struggling, our environment is getting worse, and we Christians remain divided
· That our nation puts trillions into the machinery of war while we squabble about a trillion for health care for us all
· That abortion resolves ‘problem pregnancies,’ drugs drain many of a meaningful life, and world hunger worsens
· That human slavery again afflicts our world, mainly of women for sexual pleasure and of children for cheap labor
· That billions of our brothers and sisters are mired in the cold darkness of poverty both of body and spirit
· That a nuclear sword continues to hang over the peace and life-sustaining potential of our planet.
To acknowledge these realities is not a sin. But to fail to see the Light that shines in the darkness, to fail to walk in that Light and to share joy in the midst of the gloom, to fail to lift our eyes from the mud to the stars and to join the shepherds in worshipful awe or the angels in exultant song – that is sinful. By so doing we refuse the gift that God offers, daily. May we not do so, but rather follow the example of shepherds, magi and angels in worshipping God with us, Jesus, our Lord.
In Christ the Light,
Fr. Bob
12/29
Our Christmas Season continues through this coming Sunday, January 3, the Feast of the Epiphany. I recommend keeping your Christmas decorations, inside and out, up and with lights on so the Light of Christ can more deeply illuminate you, your home and your neighborhood.
The Christmas Season runs for twelve days, 12/25 to 1/6 when the Epiphany falls by calendar. We Catholics move our celebration to the Sunday after New Year's so more people can enter into the celebration than is possible on a week-day. So this year the "12 days" are only 9 by our liturgical calendar, but there is nothing to keep you from continuing on until January 6!
Our Struthers is now Bethlehem. We are the manger in which Christ now dwells. The Star not only shines above us but within us. We carry what those seeking the Wisdom of God are looking for. Let it show!
Be sure to reserve Thursday, January 14 at 7pm to spend an Evening with St. Luke. This is an opportunity to pray with Luke and to attune our ears and eyes to his special insights as he presents the good news of Jesus. Bring the family, bring your friends. You will hear the Gospel better all through 2010 by spending this hour with St. Luke.