Catholic Ministries Appeal, Kick Off

This year’s Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) begins this weekend.  We will hear a homily from Archbishop Schnurr.   

Related to the principal values of Beacons of Light, we know that the CMA is a powerful way to put “Love in Action.”  Participating in the CMA joins us to the Church’s two thousand years of extending Jesus' works of mercy of healing and lifting up those who are carrying heavy burdens.  Of course, we call a portion of Jesus’ works of mercy, Corporal Works of Mercy, because they are just that.  They are nitty-gritty, concrete help to the poor and in need.  Of course, the Catholic Church is unique in all the world because we know that no other institution in the history of the world feeds more people, offers education to children and adults alike, and heals the sick more than our Church! 

Specifically, CMA supports six ways to accomplish love in action, all of them outstanding local works of mercy:
● Our Seminary and Vocations 
● St. Rita School for the Deaf
● Catholic Charities & Social Services
● Our Retired Archdiocesan Priests
● Campus, Hospital, and Prison Ministries
● New Evangelization programming

Please look for more information about the CMA in the bulletin.  We will be receiving letters from Archbishop inviting us to participate.  For those who do not receive a letter, there are packets by church doors.  Thanks to all, who, out of gratitude for gifts given to us and love for Jesus, offer sacrificial generosity to those in need!

More Spanish Masses Under Belt
In addition to inspiration about “newness” this past Christmas season offered me a couple of wonderful opportunities to participate in something new.   Due to a failure to make sure we had Spanish-speaking presiders for Christmas Octave Masses, I was blessed to be able to jump in and continue to grow in my learning curve to preside at Masses in Spanish.  
Most Sunday’s we rely on two Spanish-speaking priests, Glenmary Priest, Fr. Steve Powelk and Fr. Tomas Calderon, to preside at our 11:00 AM Sunday Spanish Mass.  However, I failed to make sure we had Christmas Day and Mary Mother of God covered!  

I have been blessed to preside at about four weddings and three funerals in Spanish over the past two years.  These two recent Masses found me upping my game, trying something new, by preaching homilies in Spanish rather than relying on a translator.  Of course, I had to use a computer app to translate English to Spanish.  However, every step forward, no matter how small, is a step forward…and counted as progress!

PLT Culture Retreat
Those who are bulletin readers will recall that this third year of Beacons of Light focuses on the “Culture” of our new parish.  This theme was kicked off with an archdiocesan day of reflection for parish leaders on August 20, and I wrote about parish culture in the September 1^st and 8^th bulletins.  

This Tuesday and Wednesday our PLT will have retreat days about parish culture facilitated by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Center for Parish Vitality, where we will be helped to begin to define our new parish culture.

Please note the official definition of a parish culture below.  Recall, that “ecclesial” is a ten-dollar word for “church.”

Ecclesial culture refers to the set of customs, beliefs, practices, behaviors, and traditions associated with a particular religious community and how they express and live out their faith. This includes the shared values and norms that guide its parishioners' behavior and interactions within the church. Most often, this ecclesial culture is not taught, but caught from the lived example of the community’s clergy, staff, and volunteer leadership.

An Unparalleled Opportunity
To be beginning a new parish through Beacons of Light is truly an unparalleled opportunity, that I don’t think has broken into our consciousness yet.  Through prayer, careful consideration and collegiality, we are blessed to create a new parish culture from the best of what is ours, from the best of what is possible and through healing our weaknesses, past hurts and blind spots.   Also, please note the following paragraph, that I wrote in the September 8 bulletin:

 Two temptations in defining a church culture are to think that everything is an essential part of our culture and that everything is of the same importance.  With such an approach, the Father of Lies sneakily moves a church to never change or be converted to a better image and presence of Jesus! The church community will never advance or better itself.  Such a church community will likely decline in its ability to be and proclaim the presence of Jesus, and probably, it will not be attractive and inspiring for others because it is too focused on self or the ego of the church.

Please pray for our PLT and our parishes as we draw closer to the day we will be one parish.  Pray that this awesome opportunity to create our culture will be joyful, fruitful and life-giving!

Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat