St. Mary Parish - Elyria · Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, points out that every major world...

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Faith Formation….….…….……..

Shelters…………..………….…..

St Mary School……………....…..

Stewardship……………..………

Guardians………………………..

St. Mary History……..………….

Year of Religious...…………….

Thoughts From Three Twelve….

Editor Jeanne Plas

Contributing Writers Fr. Charlie Diedrick Fr. Tom Hagedorn Sr. Mary Dorothy

Jeanne Plas Tom Peters

Joan Patchin

Production Angie Pluta

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St. Mary Parish - Elyria

In case you have not guessed it, this is what thrills me about ministering here at St. Mary’s. Our faith is authentic when we serve Christ in the poor and suffering. We have a rich tradition of reaching out to those in need. Whether it is feeding the hungry or giving shelter to the homeless, we are incredibly generous in our outreach and service to those in need. Hopefully, this issue of the Bell’s will give you a sense of all the good work that is going on. Many of you recently filled out a survey to become more involved in the social ministries here at the parish. I am excited about the new possibilities for housing the homeless and carrying out the works of social justice and peace. If we are of the Kingdom, then we will cherish and respect God’s creation. If we are disciples of Christ, we will see him in our brothers and sisters who are in need. I pray that you will be inspired by all that is going on here at the parish as we work to build the Kingdom of God. May God give success to the work of our hands.

Karen Armstrong in her book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, points out that every major world religion has the golden rule as a central tenet. Unfortunately, we battle over obtuse theological distinctions that call down judgment rather than reach out in love to one created in God’s image. All too often we use religion to exclude when in fact the very word, re-ligio, means to retie or bind together. Cultic ritual unifies the tribe in its worship of their god. When individual salvation becomes the primary end of religious practice, the role of religion has been compromised. I believe this is the malaise religious practice is suffering today. Our priority is the benefit of the rugged individual over that of the common good.

Pope Francis is leading us back to the heart of religion. It is interesting that people coming from a diversity of religious backgrounds are attracted to this man. Even agnostics and atheists can relate to him. He walks the talk. He sees and serves Christ in the poor and suffering. If we do not smell the sheep, we are failing our Christian faith. Why do I bring this up in this issue of The Bells? I believe if religion is to have any future at all it must be grounded in the golden rule. We serve Christ in one another.

Do Unto Others

St. Mary Parish In the Heart of the City

Since 1845

St. Mary Parish - Website Go to www.stmaryelyria.org to visit our web site. It is user friendly and helps you access useful information. We hope that you will look to it for updates on future events and programs along with inspirational words throughout the week. If you are not receiving the weekly Bells and would like to, send an email to [email protected] so we can update our records.

ADVENT 2015

THE BELLS OF ST. MARY

All are encouraged to attend the Advent Communal Reconciliation Service for the Catholic Church of Elyria which will take place at:

St. Jude Church on Sunday, December 20th at 7:00pm.

Reconciliation and Mass Schedule at St. Mary Church

Reconciliation: All Saturdays: 3:30 – 4:15 pm Saturday, December 19th: 3:00 – 4:15 pm Tuesday December 22nd: 12:30 – 1:30 & 7:00 – 8:00 pm Wednesday, December 23rd: 4:00 – 5:00 pm & 7:00 – 8:00 pm Mass Schedule: Christmas Eve Masses:

Thursday, December 24th: 4:00 and 6:00 pm Midnight Mass: 12 Midnight [Carols at 11:15 pm]

Christmas Day Masses:

Friday, December 25th: 9:00 and 11:00 am

New Year’s Day Mass (Holyday of Obligation):

Vigil ~ December 31st: 5:00 pm Friday, January 1, 2016: 9:00 and 11:00 am

Shepherds and Angels At the 4:00pm Christmas Eve Mass children from age 4 to 9 are encouraged to come and to dress as shepherds, angels, Mary & Joseph and the three kings. If you are interested in your child being a special part of this Christmas Eve Mass, please pick up a form from the church entrance, fill it out and return it to the Church office. We ask all who sign up to arrive by 3:40pm on Thursday evening December 24th in the Weigand Room for costume distribu-tion and instruction.

Confirmation for Adults Adults who have received Baptism and Eucharist, who wish to receive the sacrament of Confir-mation and become fully initiated into the Catholic Church are invited to join in the upcoming preparation sessions. The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop. Bishop Roger Gries will be celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation on March 3, 2016 here at St. Mary Church. Or you may choose to celebrate the sacrament with Bishop Richard Lennon on May 14 the Vigil of

the Feast of Pentecost at St. John Cathedral in Cleveland. Please contact Sister Mary Dorothy at the parish of-fice if you are interested in receiving this Sacrament.

As is the case now, in 2003 St. Mary’s was re-energizing as a com-passionate parish interested in so-cial concerns. Maryann Ketchesin used this energy to develop a new St. Mary’s initiative to help the homeless through support of St. Joe’s Shelter in Lorain. Our parish is completely responsible for fur-nishing a full Saturday evening pasta meal to the 60 to 80 homeless folks served by the Shelter during the winter months. Of the original group of cooks and helpers, Mar-yAnne Cunningham, Susie Haag, and Pat Meadows stuck with it and have been doing this work for the past 12 years. MaryAnne Cunning-ham, a mom who works full time, says this turned out to be “an easy way to help.” Once a month during the six winter months, she makes a pasta dish and delivers it to Mar-yann Ketchesin’s back porch on her way to work on Saturday morning.

In recent years, fifteen or so parish-ioners have supported this ministry. Like MaryAnne, they also drop food off at a central point, typically Maryann’s enclosed back porch. But, it wasn’t always that way. Originally on the appointed Satur-day, Maryann drove around the area, stopping to pick up goodies at each caring supporter’s home.

up doing a lot.” She believes that if you “give people a helping hand and a chance, they will begin to be able to begin to make the important changes.” Susie says that one of the things she likes best about St. Mary’s is that it gives each of us a chance to be active, to contribute to our world. Like all the others who work with Maryann Ketchesin, she finds the experience to be personally ful-filling. “Maryann is a truly amaz-ing person.” She says. “She’s al-ways organizing and she’s always smiling.” With the increased energy for so-cial concerns in our parish these days, Maryann has been able to find more great volunteers and to provide even more meals. Im-portantly, some folks have agreed to deliver the food to the Shelter each month in Lorain. Still, the dishes all get delivered Saturday afternoons to Maryann’s back porch. A steady stream of parish-ioners visit the Ketchesin home-stead that day, rearranging things on the loaded food table in order to find a spot for their own deliveries. Over the years, more than 1500 pounds of pasta, thousands of vege-tables, and hundreds of cakes have spent a few hours on that table be-fore ending up on the St. Joe’s din-ner table. Bon appetite!

St. Mary’s Supports St. Joe’s Shelter

Maryann Ketchesin, Susie Haag, MaryAnne Cunningham, Pat Meadows

Eventually, the homes numbered ten, and Maryann had to ask that her cooks deliver the meals to her back porch. Everyone happily agreed. Like MaryAnne Cunningham, Pat Meadows feels strongly about help-ing the homeless. She says, “Everybody needs a home. It’s im-portant that we help.” Doing her volunteer work at home in her own kitchen works best for Pat. She ap-preciates the opportunity to do good things using her own home as her base of operations. Susie Haag finds that devoting an hour or two to feeding the needy once each month is “something so small. But if we all can do a little, we all end

New Elyria Homeless Shelters Becoming a Reality

A group of four Elyrians, including Father Charlie, has succeeded in opening a new home dedicated to housing women who have been homeless. Currently, three women are residing in this central Elyria home. Bob Bau-mann, a relative of a recently deceased parishioner, has announced that another home may soon be given to our shelter-the-homeless initiative. It would be used to provide housing for homeless men. Thirty-three parishioners came to a recent organizational meeting to begin thinking about operational and program plans for these homes. Father Charlie was delighted with the parish response, including a donation of furniture from Linda and Jim Stang. You will be hearing more about St. Mary’s involvement in these efforts in the months to come. There will be a monthly 2nd collection available for your support of these much needed Elyria shelters.


PSR

Our students in the Parish School of Religion (PSR) Program, meet each Monday evening from 6:30 to 7:45 pm, we always begin with prayer and a song before going to the classrooms where we focus on learning the faith by the use of the Sunday readings. The program we use is called Pflaum Gospel Weeklies, Faith Formation Program. Not only are the readings explained to the children but also they have the opportunity to do different activities and skits in the classroom that show how the main beliefs of the text can be put into practice. Since we are always focusing on the upcoming Sunday they are prepared when they come to Church and listen to the readings at Mass. The children in the second and eighth grades follow a special program to prepare them for the reception of First Eucharist and Confirmation. If your children are attending a non-catholic school and you are interested in having them learn more about our faith please contact Sister Mary Dorothy at the parish office to have them enrolled in the PSR Program.

“On the first day of Christmas our Father

gave to us a Savior in a manger.”

Our Advent Family Night this year is centered on the Twelve Days of Christmas song, using the book and printed materials from “Our Father Gave to us” by Rebecca Treon Even. Do you know why this song is referred to as “A Carol Cate-chism”? The story goes like this: Catholics in England during the pe-riod 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either public or private. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written in Eng-land as one of the “catechism songs” to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded message, a memory aid. Since the song sound-ed like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song with-out fear of imprisonment. The au-thorities would not know that it was a religious song.

“The 12 Days of Christmas” is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something

significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith.

The song goes, “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…” The “true love” mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earth-ly suitor, but it refers to God Him-self. The “me” who receives the presents refers to every baptized person, i.e. the Church. The songs gifts are hidden meanings to the teachings of faith. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, (Partridge in a pear tree). The Old and New Testaments, (Two turtle doves). The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or the Theological Virtues - Faith, Hope, and Love, (Three French hens). The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, (Four calling birds). The first five books of the Old Testament, (Five golden rings). The six days of creation (Six geese a-laying). The Seven Sacraments or the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spir-its, (Seven swans a-swimming).

The eight Beatitudes, (Eight maids a-milking). The nine choirs of an-gels or the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, (Nine ladies dancing). The Ten Commandments, (Ten lords a-leaping). The eleven faithful Apos-tles, (Eleven pipers piping). The twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed, (Twelve drum-mers drumming).

Along with singing both versions of the song, one with the symbols and the other with the truths of our faith we also made ornaments of each to take home and hang on our Christ-mas trees. So the next time you hear “The Twelve Days of Christmas” consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its ori-gins in keeping alive the teaching of the Catholic faith. Also use it as a reminder for yourself of the im-portant truths of the faith that you have been blessed to receive. The “Twelve Days of Christmas” begins with the Nativity of Our Lord on December 25 and ends with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6.

by Sister Mary Dorothy

http://www.clipartpal.com/clipart_pd/holiday/christmas/religiouschristmas_10943.html

St. Mary School: Making a Difference Every Day since 1859

More Than 155 Years and Still Going Strong!

Karen Manning came to St. Mary School in 2007 to teach sixth grade. After a few years she moved to teaching seventh grade specifically English and literature to the whole junior high. She re-tired as a teacher at the end of the 2013-14 school year, but her heart and soul never left St. Mary.

Beginning with the 2014-15 school year Karen started the After-school Educational Enhancement Program. She created this pro-gram to teach students knowledge and skills that they may not necessarily learn during school hours. These extra classes are taught by volunteers that

Pope Francis—St. Mary’s—Social Concerns During his Autumn U. S. visit, Pope Francis called for a renewed commitment to serving those in need. St. Mary’s parishioners responded in a huge way. One hundred eighteen people returned the parish questionnaire asking for volunteers to pitch in to help the hungry, homeless, sick, and scared. As a result, the Social Concerns Commission has been revitalized and now contains around a dozen members. The Wellness Committee tripled its membership. The Hot Meals projects gained an additional 15 to 20 helpers. Because of additional volunteers, the St. Joseph Shelter food program has been able to offer to provide a meal an additional day during the month. The Shelter Committee to address the needs of the homeless, particularly the development of new parish-sponsored shelters in Elyria, was formed with help from about 35 people. It will be several months before the full impact of our re-newed volunteer efforts is felt. Father Charlie called the parish response, “Amazing. Just wonderful.” “To truly follow Christ,” he reminds us, “it is absolutely necessary to reach out and help those who are in need.”

Karen Manning: Making a Difference by Angie Pluta

discuss service projects. Currently, they are working on the Zero Proof Mix Off which is a competi-tion to increase awareness of offering non-alcoholic drinks for the holiday season. This event occurs December 3 at Lorain County Community College. Another project Karen started was the 4EVER Committee. She wanted St. Mary School to contin-ue its tradition of Catholic educa-tion so she wrote a letter that was sent to alumni, parents and grand-parents of alumni asking for dona-tions. Many generous people have responded to the letter for which we are thankful. Students are doing their part by writing thank you notes to the donors.

Throughout Karen’s time here at St. Mary’s she has made it her goal to make the school a better place. She has accomplished that goal only because of her hard work and dedication. St. Mary School would not be the same without her and for that we are grateful for all she has done.

Karen gathers herself. Some clas-ses that the students enjoyed in this program were pie making, crocheting, bridge, fire safety, painting, robotics, and book club. Increasing students’ motivation was next on Karen’s list of goals. To do this she began researching the National Junior Honor Society. In July St. Mary received the char-ter to join the Society. To be in the Society seventh and eighth grade students need to have at least a 3.5 GPA and teacher recommen-dations. Ten students were in-ducted on October 27 into the first class of the National Junior Honor Society. The students with their advisor, Karen, planned the induction ceremony. It included reciting the pledge and prayer they had composed, receiving pins and lighting candles, which represent the five pillars of leader-ship, scholarship, character, ser-vice, and citizenship. The students will expand on these ideals throughout the school year. The students meet every Friday to


Students Giving Back Rhonda Kloock and Nancy Knuff came up with a good service project for the students. They decided that each classroom will bring in items for the new women’s shelter. Listed below is what each class was asked to donate. Each classroom’s basket was overflowing with items. Thank you for being so generous.

Preschool/Kindergarten: shampoo/conditioner Grade 1: soap Grade 2: deodorant Grade 3: lotion Grade 4: toothpaste

Grade 5: toothbrushes Grade 6: hairbrushes/combs Grade 7: women’s socks Grade 8: women’s slippers

Kindergarten students cutting out pictures they colored.

Mrs. Quinn teaching the students about addition.

Fifth grade students conducting a science experiment.

Playing bingo with Grandma on Grandparents Day.

Helping a friend with schoolwork on the Chromebook.

My goodness the Hot Meals people are organized! Once or twice a week (Sundays and Tuesdays), a group of 8 to 12 volunteers pre-pares and cooks food, serves it up, and then cleans up after 60 to 90 needy and hungry people have en-joyed a nourishing hot meal in the school cafeteria. Despite the de-mands of the event, these folks do not even break a sweat. Rather, they move slowly and deliberately, often stopping for laughter, and they typically have the meal ready well ahead of the arrival of the guests. In fact, if you were to drop by to watch them work their magic, one of the major feelings you’re likely to experience comes from a certain peacefulness that perme-ates the place. It is unlikely, howev-er, that you’d find yourself observ-ing for very long. Soon, you’d be opening cans, cutting pastries, or stirring this or that on the stove.

Hot Meals at St. Mary’s was the brainchild of Gertrude Wirscham who ran the enterprise for many years. When she had to bow out, Mike Tomko stepped into the breach for a while. Then, in 2006, Dottie Knechtges agreed to take over and she has been at the helm ever since. Dottie convenes the group that plans the meals for the month.

She gets donations from Second Harvest Food Bank and other places and scouts the food sales. She is the main contact person for the volunteers. She makes sure that the traditions continue, like always hav-ing ice cream on Sundays. But while her presence during the meal prep-aration is obvious, there is a re-markable lack of leaning on her for direction. The volunteers seem to move seamlessly in the right direc-tion without having to ask Dottie or one another what needs to be done. Typically, Susan Sanders, an eight year veteran, is the chief cook and another “old timer,” Dave Still-well is the dishwasher. But, for the most part, these good people do not have assigned tasks. All agree with Kathy Freeman that “you just do what has to be done.” Each moves from doing this to doing that, taking the lead here and help-ing there, just as if the whole affair were set to music. In fact, you can almost hear a little Bach in the

background, occasionally followed by a quick shift to a Beatles tune, then back to the classical again. Ann Laubenthal says that, for her, the reward is seeing a regular guest eventually “make good eye con-tact,” feeling comfortable enough to say, “thank you.” When asked why they do this work, it is surpris-ing to notice that most people will tell you almost exactly the same thing. Clara Smith puts it very simp-ly: “You just give back. That’s what you do.”

About 20-25 people are committed

volunteers in the Hot Meals kitchen. But, they don’t all come each week. Some are just Sunday people while others are part of the Tuesday team. Another group shows up for both days while others drop by to help more occasionally, when able. All are welcome. Just like all the guests are welcome. All the time. Gert Wirscham’s legacy is not simp-ly about the food. As you watch Dottie smile her quiet smile and the guests struggle with the prayer of thanksgiving, you can see that this is all about hope - wanting the best for all our neighbors and reaching out to help make those prayers come true.


The Society of St. Vincent de Paul began in Paris, France, in 1833 when a young law student, Frederic Ozanam, was challenged during a debate to demonstrate what he and his fellow Catholic students were personally doing to help the poor in Paris. Within weeks, Ozanam, at age 20 and six of his peers formed the first “Conference of Charity.” Under the conference, this group of sev-en men financed their works of charity out of their own pockets and from contributions of friends. Ozanam soon placed the confer-ence under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul who had spent his life in 16th century France serving the poor.

Within a few years, the original group of seven grew to 600, spread to 15 other cities and towns in France, and numbered more than 2,000 members. In 1845 the Society of St. Vincent de Paul crossed the ocean to St. Lou-is, Missouri, where the first Ameri-can conference was formed.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society was one of the first ministries at St. Mary Parish. Originally the group was comprised of only men and because funds used to help the poor came only from their own pockets, the membership was not made public and assis-tance was mostly given to parish-ioners whose names were sug-gested by concerned friends or family members.

As the needs of the poor through-out the city became evident, the Catholic Churches in Elyria each formed their own society and no longer limited their assistance to only parishioners.

In the 1980’s Martha Schandorsky and Nancy Adelsberg became the first female members of the SVDP Society among its 9 Vincentians. Shortly after their admittance, I was invited by Mike Demyan to become a member. As time went on more women were added to the roster and took offices in the ministry. Nancy’s term as secretary was long running and Martha at one time served as vice-president. Following Don Smith’s term, I had the privilege of serving as the first female president of SVDP at St. Mary Church and Linda Kindle has served in that capacity since my term expired. Presently the majori-ty of Vincentians are women.

Approximately 12 years ago and after much prayer and discern-ment, most of the SVDP societies in Lorain County including that of St. Mary’s and some in other coun-ties made the decision to break away from the National SVDP Soci-ety and be self-governing. Thus began the Helping Hands Ministry. This action allowed all of the funds donated by our parishioners to stay in the St. Mary’s area and elim-inated home visits to those asking for help, which was a requirement of the National SVDP but on occa-sion proved to be dangerous. To

ensure accuracy and accountabil-ity and because the Helping Hands members are diligent about their responsibility to the benefactors of the poor, annual audits are conducted and all re-quests for funds are thoroughly investigated with the donated funds mailed directly to the utility company or rental agency.

“Our generous parish donates roughly $30,000 each year to our Helping Hands ministry. With more, we could do an even better job!” says Fr. Charlie. The program focuses on helping with rent and utilities in order to keep people in their homes. Parishioners may apply for help once per year. Non-parishioners in our area--Broad St. to Abbe Rd to Colonial Oaks-- once every three years. Linda Kin-dle asks that we donate our extra gift cards, if you are not using them. Please put any gift card donations in the collection basket in an envelope marked Helping Hands. Those who need assis-tance should call 329-2356, our confidential hot line.

by Joan Patchin

The School Bell —by Tom Peters

Here are two photographs of the St. Mary School bell. It has quite a history. The first school opened in the back of the wood church, next t0 the house where Fr. Tom grew up and now lives. When Fr. Schaffeld built the present church in 1886, he used the entire old one as the school. In 1901, he sold that school building and built a new school, the Guardian Angel building, it included a substantial bell tower. The bell that was hung

up in the tower is pictured here.

In the late 1950s, the tower was in bad shape and our pastor, Msgr. William Newton, had the bell brought down, not to be replaced. He gave the bell to Fred Minnich, a carpenter who did work for the church. Fred took the bell and hung it at his farm on Chestnut Ridge. He used it to call the farm workers to eat.

When Fred Minnich died, the bell went to the Kroger Farm on Indian Hollow Rd. Their children eventually bought property on Catawba Island. They moved the bell there as a porch decoration. Later, they bought another place on the island near Cemetery Rd. Today the St. Mary School bell resides on that porch.

If you look closely at the pictures—taken when the bell was originally brought down from


The Guardians: St. Mary Pastoral and Support Staff

the school tower—you can see that “Guardian Angel” is clearly stamped toward the top of the bell. Other markings provide man-ufacturing history for this metal masterpiece. This writer dreams of a day when the bell might be returned to St. Mary’s to be displayed in a promi-nent place and perhaps rung on special school occasions! (Thanks to Hal Minnich, a St. Jude parish member who had a barber shop on E. Broad by the hospital for many years. He provided the pic-tures and the history of the bell. )

Next June, if you see a spry fel-low hiding behind the school landscaping on 4th Street, be as-sured it’s John Pesta. What’s he doing? Lying in wait to toss a wa-ter balloon at an unsuspecting teacher! Water balloon ambushes are a tradition with John and teachers after the school year is over and a tradition with John

and his boss, Kevin O’Connor, pretty much all year long. John has been a custodian at St. Mary’s for about 19 years. Currently, he’s responsible for both school and church custodial needs. His duties range from closing the church after Sunday Masses to turning all the school clocks back or forward. He keeps the floors polished, the grass cut, and cleans up after a sick child has unburdened himself. He shovels, prunes, and carries. He does windows.

John’s wife, Maggie, has been gone for eight years and his mem-ories of her fiery red hair and fiery personality are vivid and endur-ing. The Pesta’s have two chil-dren, a boy and a girl. Now, John

has four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He loves kids—those in his personal life and those in our school. John is especially proud of the orna-ments attached to his identifica-tion lanyard. They are gifts he’s gained over the years from teach-ers, staff, and students, and he treasures them as much as gifts he’s received from his kin. As you can see in the photo here John has one of those smiles—the kind you love to receive. Fortunately, John Pesta smiles a lot. Another of his loveable traits is that he easily says, “yes,” when you are needing help of any sort for any sort of thing. John Pesta is a true guardian of our welfare here at St. Mary’s. We look forward to another 19 years!

John Pesta

We at St. Mary’s know Fr. Christopher Kuhn best as the Holy Cross priest who celebrates the 8am Mass for us on Christ-mas and Easter. But in the 50s and 60s, the parish knew him as one of our elementary school students. In 1967, he graduated from Elyria Catholic.

As an elementary student here, Chris was one of Monsignor Wm. Newton’s 7th and 8th grade Bible students. It was then that his vocation began to emerge. Later at EC, the Holy Cross order conducted the

annual parish retreats. In those moments, his specific calling to become a Holy Cross priest took firm root. Chris headed for Notre Dame and the Holy Cross seminary right after graduation. At Notre Dame he earned an M.A. in Theology. For many years, Fr. Kuhn was a history teacher at Holy Cross high school in Chicago. Then, in 2006, he was named the Director of Archives for the Holy Cross Priests and Brothers—a position located at Notre Dame Universi-ty, the flagship University of the Holy Cross priests. Fr. Kuhn tells us that he feels enormously blessed to have entered a reli-gious order. The Holy Cross priests and brothers have devel-oped their interactions with each other within a model very simi-lar to the family. So, over the years, for Fr. Kuhn, the “best” part of belonging to the order often has been the sense of com-munity he feels there on a daily basis.

Living in South Bend as he does, Fr. Chris developed the inevitable allegiance to the Notre Dame teams. But, now,

with “86,000 people converging on South Bend each weekend, it’s better to stay home and get a better view on TV!”

Fr. Kuhn’s holiday trips to Elyria are motivated by his de-sire to spend time with his two sisters. Janet now lives in La-Grange and Paula in Avon. However, he tells us that, for him, coming home has always meant coming back to St. Mary’s parish. This campus is his home in so many ways. He has abundant memories of Mon-signor’s kindness and support, including holiday dinners in the rectory for all vacationing reli-gious. To this day, he remem-bers the special encouragements and wisdom Monsignor gave him as the Church transitioned as a result of Vatican II. Fr. Chris feels that he is “privileged” to be able to cele-brate holiday Masses with us in this Church that he holds so dear in his heart. For his part, we thank Fr. Kuhn for sharing our holiday joy. As the Year of the Religious comes to a close we pray that his Christmas be espe-cially blessed this year.

The following is a list of Religious who attended St. Mary Parish: Notre Dame: Sr. Mary Beth Daly Sr. Olivia Latiano Sr. Mary Ann Brewster Sr. Mary K. White Sr. Mary Gladys Roling Nicholas Roling OSM (Friars) Catherine Lula (Carmelites) Christopher Kuhn (Holy Cross)

Prayer for the Year of Consecrated Life

O God, throughout the ages you have called women and men to pursue lives of perfect charity through the evangelical counsels of

poverty, chastity, and obedience. During this Year of Consecrated Life, we give you thanks for these

courageous witnesses of Faith and models of inspiration. Their pursuit of holy lives teaches us to

make a more perfect offering ourselves to you. Continue to enrich your Church by calling forth sons and daughters who, have found the pearl of

great price, treasure the Kingdom of Heaven above all things. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your

Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

On weekdays I’m usually here at St. Mary for the Mass in the lower chapel. If Fr. Charlie is the celebrant I sit in the pews rather than concelebrate. I re-ceive Communion in the hand. When we do this we cross our hands and hold them chest high so the host can be placed on them. Communion is a gift, not something to be taken. We receive it. When I stand before Fr. Charlie and look at the difference in our heights I know I need to raise my hands higher. I hold them about eye level or even higher. In reflecting on this a scene from Oliver Twist came to mind. If you remember in it Oli-ver finished his watery gruel and was still hungry. He took his bowl and approached the headmaster. As he walked up the other boys couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The headmaster was even more disbelieving. When he got to

the headmaster he raised the bowl in both hands about eye level. And he said: “Please sir, more.” That rang so true for me. I’m approaching the Lord, begging for the food I need. In his first interview as pope, Francis’ first question asked was: “Who is Jorge Mario Ber-goglio?” His answer was “I am a sinner.” I know that has to be my first answer also. And it’s the first answer for all of us. When I look at myself honestly I have to say that I am the greatest of sinners. Not because I’m a ter-rorist murdering people. Not because I have abused chil-dren. Not because my life is ruined by an addiction. I have been extraordinarily blessed by God in so many ways. And I am still being blessed. I am so graced and yet I sin. I turn against what God is doing in my life.

That makes me, in my way the greatest of sinners. And if we’re honest we can all say that. So when I approach the Lord for the gift of himself I come before him in real need. Like Oliver I am hungry. Hungry to be healed. Hungry to be re-stored to the image of Jesus. (We become what we eat.) Hungry to be the blessed per-son in your midst that God ena-bles me to be. As I celebrate the Eucharist of the Lord I’m joined with him in his sacrifice. And the gift God gives me is himself, strength-ening a union that is so inti-mate. And in that union he heals and restores, slowly bringing about the person he created. And so I stand with hands held high, a beggar be-fore the God who loves me.

Fr. Tom

Fr. Tom

I’m approaching the Lord, begging for the food I need.

St. Mary Parish Our Lady of the Assumption

320 Middle Avenue - Elyria, Ohio 44035 Phone: 440-323-5539 - Fax: 440-322-2329

~Parish Mission Statement~

As people of God on the pilgrim journey to the Kingdom, we the people of St. Mary, benefiting from a rich tradition of faith, are a Christ-centered

community blessed by a diversity of talents and gifts.

As a Catholic, Christian Community, we value the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Sacraments of the Church, which call us to live in justice and love.

As people of hope led by the spirit, we continue the mission of building the Kingdom. Through our ministry, service and outreach, we strive to

welcome all into a warm, caring parish family.

Check us out on the Web!

Our website can answer many of your questions.

www.stmaryelyria.org

Daily Devotions Parish Hall Rental Ministries Alumni Association Who to Pray For

teen JaM Calendar Organizations School Link PTU Sports Committee

JustGive.org Call to Faithful Citizenship Heritage Society Funeral Preparation St. Mary PSR Program

Join us in our Celebration of the Eucharist!

SUNDAY MASS SCHEDULE: Saturday Vigil: 4:30 p.m. Sunday: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 a.m.

WEEKDAY MASS SCHEDULE: Monday 5:00 p.m. Tuesday 8:30 a.m. Wednesday 5:00 p.m. Thursday 8:30 a.m. Friday 8:30 a.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m.

HOLY DAY MASS SCHEDULE: 8:30 a.m.; 12:15 p.m.; 7:00 p.m.

We are here for you! Come on home!

If you are interested in having someone visit you to talk or to bring Holy Communion, please contact the Parish Office at 440-323-5539.

St. Mary Parish - Elyria · Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, points out that every major world...

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