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:

• May 7 – First Communion. Please pray for our First Communicants who will receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist for the first time this Saturday.
• May 8 – 10:00 a.m. Mass May Crowning. We will celebrate a special May Crowning with our 2nd graders celebrating their "Second" Communion at the 10:00 a.m. Mass on May 8.
• May 14-15 – Angel Scholarship Fund. Ohio is the 18th state to implement a tax credit scholarship program for taxpayers to turn their tax dollars into tuition assistance. Donors to the Angel Scholarship Fund receive a tax credit to offset their Ohio income tax liability. Students receive tuition assistance at no net cost to donors! Read more in today's bulletin, on our website, and stay tuned for more information in weeks to come. This is a win-win for taxpayers, students, families, our school, and our parish community. I am so excited about this opportunity!
• May 22 – 12:00 p.m. Mass of Thanksgiving and Reception for Father David Verbsky. David Verbsky, a son of our parish, will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland on Saturday, May 21, and will celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving at our noon Mass on Sunday, May 22. All are invited to celebrate this Mass and congratulate Fr. Verbsky at a parish reception following the Mass.
• May 28 – 4:30 p.m. Jubilee Mass and Reception for the 25th Anniversary of Ordination to the Diaconate for Deacon Larry Boehnlein. Deacon Larry has faithfully served the Diocese of Cleveland and our parish community as a deacon for the past 25 years. We will celebrate his vocation and service at the 4:30 p.m. Vigil Mass on Saturday, May 28 with a reception following Mass which is open to the whole parish community.

Mass Response Cards and Gather Hymnals: In order to clean up our hymnal racks, we have removed the halfsheet crème-colored cards with the Mass responses. These Mass response cards only had the Nicene Creed printed on them, which made it confusing when the presider would lead with the Apostle's Creed. All of our Mass responses (along with both the Apostle's and the Nicene Creed) can be found in the opening pages of the Gather hymnal. We will share that our Mass parts can be found in the Gather hymnal during our weekly parish announcements.

Listening Session Fifth Theme: Welcome
I am eager to continue sharing with you the fruits of our November Listening Sessions. This week we reflect on the fifth main theme that was highlighted, Welcome, with its sub-themes of newcomers, the disengaged, and environment. The number in parentheses corresponds to the number of times that particular sub-theme was mentioned in parishioner comments.

Newcomers: Actively and intentionally welcoming new parishioners will make a difference in helping them to know that they are a part of a caring parish family. (11)
The Disengaged: There is great sadness by the experience of knowing someone who has left the church. Opportunities to help the alienated return are of prime importance! (15)
Environment: Acoustics, space, ministries of hospitality, and social activities can all aid efforts of welcoming people into the life of St. Mary Parish. (37)

Love seeks to be given away and so it is no surprise that as parishioners reflected at the Listening Sessions about their lives at St. Mary Parish, there was an eagerness to find ways to welcome more people into the doors of the church. Some of this desire was directed at welcoming newcomers, while additional conversations focused on a great hope to see those return who have left the parish and are sorely missed. Our faith tradition is filled with encouragement to be attentive to extending hospitality. In his encyclical On Fraternity and Social Friendship, Pope Francis writes: