Dear Parish Family,

In today’s Gospel, the Apostles ask the Lord: “Increase our faith.” We can never tire of asking for an increase in the gift of our faith. More than just a belief that God exists or a belief in creeds or commandments, faith is a loving surrender to God, a trust that can go ever deeper. Indeed, faith is all about our relationship with the Lord. With faith in God, we acknowledge the truth of being led and guided by Him down a path we cannot fully comprehend, but which we willingly follow because we love and trust Him. We know in faith that He can do more for us than we can ask or imagine for ourselves. Instead of trying to 'manage' and stay in control of our lives, a relationship with God in faith makes it possible to 'let go' of that control in a trustful surrender. Without faith, 'letting go' quickly becomes 'letting loose' in a careless approach to life which remains unguided by the security of a relationship with
God. A life without faith offers only the illusion of being in control, but it ultimately leads to discontent and destruction both within ourselves and in our interactions with others. Faith is a gift from God. We need to ask for it. When we hear someone say, “I don’t have faith” or “I’ve lost my faith”,
we should encourage them to pray for the gift of faith since none of us are capable of acquiring faith on our own. When someone breaks faith with us (perhaps a parent, spouse, or friend), it causes deep wounds of distrust in all levels of relationship, even our relationship with God. If you or someone you know has experienced a loss of faith, know that God wants to heal and restore this gift within each one of us. We only need to ask for it and give Him permission to begin reordering the disorder, or healing the wounds, in our hearts. For this to happen, we need to keep Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the saints before us as our models for deepening the gift of faith in God. It can be frightening to embark on the journey of faith, whether it’s the first or the final step, precisely because we don’t know what’s coming next. But to take that next step with loving trust that God has us makes the journey not only possible, but exhilarating and necessary for our salvation.

Priest Convocation and Communion Services:
Please pray for priests in our diocese who will participate in the Priest Convocation this week. We will be away from the parish from Tuesday afternoon through Friday afternoon. This offers us a time of reflection, prayer, and renewal with our bishop and with one another. Bishop Malesic has granted permission for our parish to celebrate Communion Services at our normal daily Mass times. Our deacons will lead the Communion
Services while the priests are away.

Birthright Speaker at Mass:
We welcome Kay Masink, the Director of Geauga County Birthright, to speak with us this weekend to tell us more about the important ministry that
Birthright does here in our community and ways we can support this vital ministry. Please extend your prayers and greetings to Kay and her team!

Flagpole Installation October 7:
We will have a new flagpole installed this week next to our current flagpole. This will allow us to fly our civic flags on one pole and the Vatican flag on a separate pole in accord with standard United States flag etiquette, “If a separate nation flag is flown with the US flag, it should be flown on its own staff and at the same height as the US flag.” I want to thank the Knights of Columbus for organizing and funding this special project.

I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow