Holy Trinity Merger Anniversary

Next weekend is a wonderful milestone in our parish family.  It is the 30th anniversary of the founding of Holy Trinity Parish, from the three Norwood Parishes:  St. Elizabeth, St. Matthew, and St. Peter and Paul.  Thanks to Barb Moscoe for her leadership in the celebration after both Masses at Holy Trinity next weekend!

A First Major Merger
The merging of the Norwood Parishes in 1994 marks one of the earliest and most significant mergers in the archdiocese.  I recall finishing four years of teaching junior high at John XXIII School in Middletown in the early 90’s, when the three Middletown parishes were entering into the merging process.  At that time, there was not a wealth of experiential knowledge in the archdiocese to help parishes successfully navigate the challenging process of merging.  To say that merging was a great deal of work would be an understatement.  The imperfections in the process led to confusion, frustration and even a degree of distrust among parishes and between the parishes and the archdiocese.
 
A Cross Laden History
If I have the history correct, after the merger, Holy Trinity’s subsequent history also contained challenges and crosses as several factors converged.  For example, due to increasing property values in Norwood from retail developments like the Rookwood properties, a surprising number of families capitalized on property values, moving north of 275.  Those families were sorely missed for their good stewardship in parish life and especially at Holy Trinity’s School.  Many schools struggled throughout the archdiocese over the past twenty years.  My heart still hurts that as pastor of St. Joseph Wapakoneta, we closed a 150-year-old school in 2010!

A Model Parish
Even so, despite the many challenges Holy Trinity has experienced, faith-filled, devout and dedicated staff members and parishioners have persevered with joy, creativity and the abiding love of Jesus!  For example, of all our parishes, Holy Trinity possesses exemplary policies and procedures for every dimension of parish life.   Take weddings as an example.  When it comes to weddings, Holy Trinity has detailed, written wedding guidelines, as well as parishioners who help coordinate wedding rehearsals and weddings.

The music program is another sign of vibrant parish life overcoming obstacles and crosses.  On any given Sunday, there are three to six instruments in addition to the organ/piano.  That same awesome music program has led the charge in welcoming our Spanish speaking brothers and sisters in most impressive ways!

A Blessing to Crescent Parishes
Therefore, next week, it is with joy that we celebrate the 30 years that Holy Trinity has been the outstanding body of Christ that it is.  As we pray for Holy Trinity and all of our parishes amidst Beacons of Light.  May the giftedness of Holy Trinity’s long history living as a merged parish amidst joys and crosses, be a blessing to Crescent Parishes, to Jesus and to his Kingdom. 
  
St. Saviour News          
There are a couple of noteworthy happenings for St. Saviour Church.  The first is that a live streamer saw and heard on the fifth Sunday of Lent, that St. Saviour did not have a Rose colored vestment.  Of the extensive and beautiful collection of vestments that St. Saviour has, it was a mystery to me how that is the case.  Thanks to Debbie Field for her generous stewardship in purchasing that vestment!

The other noteworthy news about St. Saviour is that St. Saviour Parishioners proved outstanding stewards by exceeding their Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) goal of $23,016 by $11,415, the only of our parishes to surpass its goal.  Half of that $11,415 will be returned to the parish to be used for ministry.  Thanks to St. Saviour Parishioners for your generosity!!

Archbishop Schnurr Has Cancer
Our parishes received the note below from the Archbishop’s office last week, telling us of the fact that Archbishop Schnurr has cancer.  Thanks for offering prayers for the Archbishop!

Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat


This past Friday, May 3, Archbishop Schnurr received a post-operation diagnosis of stage 3 small bowel cancer.  His doctor noted that, generally speaking, the Archbishop’s health is excellent, and that is certainly a source of optimism for the success of the treatment. The treatment plan includes a regimen of chemotherapy over the next six months, preparation for which will begin this week. For the time being, the Archbishop will continue to work from home.
 
Please continue to keep Archbishop Schnurr in your prayers. Please also provide this update on the Archbishop to your parishioners and request their prayers for him. We will provide updates periodically as appropriate.