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.
Communal Penance Service at St. Gabriel Parish We are teaming up with St. Gabriel Parish on Monday, April 4 for a Communal Penance Service with Individual Confessions at 7:00 p.m. The service will be held at St. Gabriel Parish (9925 Johnnycake Ridge Rd., Concord Township) and numerous priests from our area, including Fr. Spisak and me, will be present to hear confessions.
Final Fish Fry Please be sure to come to our LAST FISH FRY of the Lenten season THIS FRIDAY from 4:30-7:00 p.m. $15.00 for dinein all you can eat ($7 kids 6-12), or $13.00 carry-out ($6.00 kids 6-12), and kids under 6 eat free. All proceeds support our school students with tuition assistance through our Adopt-a-Student fund. Head over to the church after dinner for Stations of the Cross at 7:00 p.m. See you there!
Listening Session Fourth Theme: Participation I am eager to continue sharing with you the fruits of our November Listening Sessions. This week we reflect on the fourth main theme that was highlighted Participation, with its sub-themes of involvement, events, and stewardship. The number in parentheses corresponds to the number of times that particular sub-theme was mentioned in parishioner comments.
Participation
Involvement: Not only have a great number of parishioners been involved in parish life in the past, but repeated enthusiasm is being expressed for fresh opportunities of involvement to be extended anew. (53)
Events: Events of both a social and a spiritual nature are needed at St. Mary Parish and will be sure to draw more people into the parish and deeper into their faith. (63)
Stewardship: People’s time, talent and treasure made an impact at St. Mary in the past and are the resources needed to grow a vibrant parish life into the future. (104)
Involvement, activity, and participation were the most often used words during the November Listening Sessions. This theme was raised in discussions that looked back on the good days of old as well as in hopes expressed of what the future can bring to parish life ahead. Our Catholic faith teaches us that, made in the image of God, we are born with the desire to cultivate and nurture the world around us. The only way that such caretaking can be done is by stewarding the gifts that God shares with each of us in a unique way. Indeed, we come to the fullest expression of ourselves upon the very donation of ourselves, for “man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (Gaudium et Spes, 1963). To that end, with the wide voice given to support this aspect of our spiritual lives, our future parish planning will have to include an aim to address this great need!
I encourage you pray with these themes, and visit St. Mary's Parish – Chardon, Ohio | Participation | Chardon, OH (stmarychardon.org) or scan the QR code in this column to read through the individual comments expressed at the listening session.