Dear Parish Family,

We celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend and enter into the most solemn week of our Church year. As Jesus enters Jerusalem where He will be crucified, make the special intention to unite your sufferings with His sufferings this week. While no one looks forward to suffering, we need to keep our head and heart lifted up to see that the Cross leads to the Resurrection, that the life that Jesus gives triumphs over death.

As was announced at all Masses last weekend, we will welcome Fr. Gary Malin as a Senior Parochial Vicar starting in mid-August! Fr. Gary is currently the Pastor at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls, and will be assigned with me and Fr. Fabian to minister to the needs of our St. Mary and St. Patrick Parishes. As a Senior Parochial Vicar (SPV), he will have a reduced workload and not be part of the regular rotation of Parochial Vicars on a four-year term (like Fr. Fabian). Fr. Gary will live at the St. Patrick's rectory until the new St. Mary's rectory is move-in ready. I am grateful for the opportunity to welcome Fr. Gary to our parishes, and will communicate more details as they become available. Please keep Fr. Gary in your prayers as he transitions from St. Joan of Arc to our St. Mary & St. Patrick Parishes in the coming months.

I am also excited to announce that we have hired Nicky Gutierrez as our new Youth Minister! Nicky is graduating from Duke Divinity School in North Carolina this May, and will begin working with us around the second week of June. More information will follow, but we are excited to welcome Nicky as our full-time Director of Youth Ministry at St. Mary and St. Patrick Parishes! Sherry Loxterman will continue to serve in her role as Youth Minister from now until June. We will have a meet-and-greet event on Monday, April 21 from 5:30-8 pm in the St. Mary's Banquet Room and Cafeteria to welcome Nicky. Our parish families with middle school and junior high teens will be invited to attend for food, ice cream, and games for a chance to connect. Please see Nicky's bio in today's bulletin.

Holy Land Good Friday Collection

Our readings this Good Friday remind us of our special connection to the land where this great story unfolded. We have a call to support the Church in the Holy Land. Christians face hardships now more than ever in recent history, relying on the Church for basic needs. Last year's Good Friday collection supported 23 parishes and three academic institutions, provided a home in Bethlehem for 30 children who faced domestic violence at home, offered more than 500 scholarships for university education, helped keep schools open for more than 10,000 Pre-K through 12th grade students, supported 53 friars preparing for the priesthood, restored and maintained 640 houses/apartments for Christian families, provided assistance to more than 9,000 families through weekly food baskets, employed more than 1,000 workers in the Holy Land in a time where job opportunities are scarce, preserved 80 shrines from the life of Jesus, the Apostles and the prophets, and continued the work of restoration of the floor at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Thank you for supporting the Good Friday collection!

A few notes on Holy Week:

• Please see our Holy Week schedule in today's bulletin. Be sure to carve out time in your schedule to celebrate the Triduum liturgies with us this week.

• The Little White Books will be available later this week during the Triduum and Easter Masses. These short daily devotionals are our parish gift to you. Please pick one up in the gathering space while supplies last!

• Check out the Divine Mercy Novena schedule in today's bulletin from Good Friday through Divine Mercy Sunday.

You can read the rectory newsletter updates on the St. Mary website under the Events tab or go to https://stmarychardon.org/new-rectory-project. We are making great progress!

Remember we are in the Jubilee Year of Hope. St. Mary's in Chardon is a Jubilee host parish. A table is set up in the St. Mary gathering space with passports to visit Jubilee parish sites throughout the diocese, more information on the Jubilee Year, and how to gain indulgences. Take advantage of the grace of this year!

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow