Can you believe we have yet another BIG weekend here at our parish? Two weeks ago, we were engaged in learning about the Angel Scholarship Fund. Last weekend we celebrated the Mass of Thanksgiving for our newly ordained son of the parish, Fr. David Verbsky. And this weekend…

The Lord is so good! We have much to celebrate this week: priesthood ordination, graduation, and a blossoming scholarship program for our school.

I hope you enjoyed the nice weather this week! This week, I want to provide you with a few special invitations and an awesome opportunity to support Catholic education at St. Mary Parish and School!

Happy Mother's Day! What a wonderful opportunity we have this Sunday to be grateful for the gift of our moms. While no one has a 'perfect' mom (except Jesus!), we thank God for giving us a mother who said yes to our, your life and mine. We pray that mothers may rejoice in the gift of motherhood bestowed upon them by our Lord.

All women are welcome to join the WOW Prayer Group at our next gathering on Saturday, May 14th in the Hospitality Room at 9:15 a.m. Please come to join us in prayer and discussion. Happy Mother's Day to all women - whether you have children or not, we are all called to use the gifts of our feminine genius in motherly ways to edify others. May our Blessed Mother, created by God as the ultimate human expression of feminine genius, lead us ever closer to Christ as we strive to imitate her! We are praying for you and hope that you will join us.

May is Mary's month, and it is a time to honor her in our Church by reverencing all the good things Christ is doing in our midst. Her YES to Christ makes it possible for all the graces of the Incarnation and Resurrection to flow into our lives. This month, we have a lot to be thankful for to God. Here are some things coming up that I am grateful for:

Mother's Day is the perfect day to honor the connection between Mother and child and start our baby bottle fundraiser on May 7th and end on Father's Day, June 19th. Because of the coin shortages we are asking for paper money or checks to be placed in the Prolife envelopes found in the baby bottles on the display tables in the Gathering Space.

I hope you all celebrated a wonderful Easter last Sunday with your loved ones, and are enjoying the Maple Festival this week! We still have 6 more weeks of Easter remaining until the conclusion of Pentecost, so there's plenty of time to rejoice in the gift of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and our redemption in Him.

Happy Easter to all of our parishioners, along with their family and friends who are visiting this weekend! This joyous celebration affirms our faith in our Lord Jesus' triumph over the powers of sin and death. The Resurrection of our Lord and the redemption of our whole personhood (body, mind, and spirit) is the reason for our hope. Sin and death will not prevail in us when we remain in the grace and protection of our Lord Jesus!

Holy Week is upon us! I wish to invite you once more to come to confession if you have not had the opportunity to celebrate this Sacrament during Lent, and to participate fully in the Triduum celebrations this week. Here are a few reminders for the week:

I hope you take full advantage of the remaining days of Lent to prepare your heart for welcoming our Risen Lord in the Easter Season. Please check today's bulletin for Confession and Holy Week times, and commit yourself today to coming to these liturgies.

This week, I celebrate my 8th complete month with you as Administrator. I feel immensely blessed to be called to shepherd our parish along with Fr. Spisak and our deacons. I thank you all for your patience with me as I continue to learn and grow into my role and responsibilities. I fully trust the Lord’s hand guiding us all, especially in this Lenten season, as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter in the next few weeks.

St. Mary's and St. Patrick's Church are in the second month of the Adopt-a-Baby program. It is not to late to pray for an unborn baby and their parents. The program will continue to the end of October, respect for life month. Each month a new development poster is displayed. Everyone loves the beauty and innocence of a baby. But not all babies who are newly conceived are allowed to be born. More than 4,000 babies lose their lives every day.

I am grateful to be going through my first Lent with you all. Can you believe this week marks our midpoint through our Lenten journey? Stay strong with your fasting, prayer, and almsgiving with trust that the Lord will do great things through our small sacrifices.

This Second Sunday of Lent recounts the Transfiguration of Jesus. I find it interesting that the disciples don't experience a strong reaction when the Lord converses with Moses and Elijah, who represent the great tradition of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. However, they do react strongly and become frightened when a cloud appears and they can no longer see what's happening right in front of them.

I pray you have a blessed beginning to your Lenten journey! Know that the Lord has good things in store for you as you make space in your heart for Him through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These Lenten disciplines make us experience a certain poverty, vulnerability, and dependency on God.

The Women of the Well Prayer Group will meet on Saturday, March 12th at 9:15 AM in the Hospitality Room. We hope that you will join us for prayer and discussion in this Lenten Season.

This Sunday we remember in our prayers the victims of the Chardon shooting 10 years ago today. We are hosting an ecumenical prayer service of remembrance here at St. Mary's this Sunday, February 27 at 3:00 p.m. for all in our Chardon community who wish to come together to pray for those affected by the shooting. Please consider joining us in prayerful remembrance.

To kickstart our Lenten season, we will have a two-day Lenten Mission with renowned Catholic speaker, radio host and author, Jon Leonetti. The Mission theme is "Surge of the Heart". I invite you and your friends and family to be nourished by Jon's faith, joy, and humor on Monday, March 7 and Tuesday, March 8 in the church. Both nights of the Mission start at 6:30 p.m..

It's been about a month since Fr. Spisak had his hip replacement surgery. I continue to talk with him each week about what's happening at the parish, letting him know we are praying for him, and he updates me on his progress. He wanted to share with you that he continues to receive occupational and physical therapy at home, and he has another review near the end of this month with his doctor.