Dear Parish Family,

The first two times Jesus asks this question, He uses the Greek word "agape" for love: "do you have the deepest, most self-giving love for Me?" Peter responds with the Greek word "philia" for love: "Lord, You know I have affection for you, as a friend." The third time, Jesus comes down to Peter's level and uses the word "philia" for love: "Simon Peter, do you have affection for me as a friend?" and Peter replies again that he loves Jesus with "philia" or "friendly" love. 

With St. Peter, Jesus asks us if we will have the most intimate, sacrificial love for Him that He has for us. Like St. Peter, we may not be ready to love the Lord, or others, to this extent, instead wanting to love the Lord as we would a friend, but not giving our lives fully over to Him. Peter is grieved that he cannot yet love the Lord fully, but Jesus promises him that one day he will be ready to give his life for Him. Our Lord's mercy, patience, gentleness, willingness to come down to our level helps us to grow in grace over time without forcing us to give our lives to Him if we aren't ready. We will be ready to give everything to Jesus when we enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Lord graciously awaits our YES to Him!

We as a Church mourn the loss of Pope Francis who died on Easter Monday, April 21. Priests, bishops, cardinals, leaders and people of good will from all over the world gathered at St. Peter's Basilica to celebrate the pope's funeral on Saturday, April 26. The cardinals of the Church will begin their gathering on May 7 for a Papal Conclave to elect a new pope for our Church. The Holy Spirit is the operative director of this conclave process as the cardinals discern the next pope. If you would like more information on the Papal Conclave process, I would suggest watching the short video by Fr. Michael Schmitz by searching "How to Elect a Pope (Papal Conclave Explained)"or by using the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CxP49wtt0M&t=91s. We keep our Church, cardinals, and our next pope in our prayers in the coming weeks during this significant time. 

This weekend is Deacon Anthony's last weekend at our parishes. He will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland on Saturday, May 17 at 10 am at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland. So many of you have commented on how blessed we have been to have had Deacon Anthony at St. Patrick's and St. Mary's this past year. I couldn't agree more! He will be a huge blessing to his parish as a priest. Deacon Anthony will be back as "Father Anthony" on Sunday, June 8 for a Mass of Thanksgiving at the 12 pm Mass at St. Mary's. We will have a reception for him afterwards in the St. Mary's Banquet Room. 

We will welcome visiting priests next weekend from the Unbound ministry, Fr. Bill Martin and Fr. Mike Sinkler. Unbound is a Catholic apostolate connecting sponsors with individuals and families to put our faith into action to help overcome poverty. There is no collection for these speakers, but interested parishioners are encouraged to speak with them after Mass to learn more about the Unbound apostolate and take action. 

Please pray for our First Communicants making their First Holy Communion this coming Saturday, May 10. May they receive our Lord in the Eucharist for the first time with great joy, and eagerly desire to receive Him again at every Mass!

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow