Dear Parish Family,

Christ is risen! After a long 40 days of fasting in Lent, we now get 50 days to celebrate Easter! Christmas and Easter together are the hinges of our Christian and Catholic faith. We celebrate God becoming man in Christ's Incarnation, and God conquering sin and death in Christ's Resurrection. The door of our salvation swings wide open to us because of these two solemn mysteries of our faith.

 

I especially would like to welcome this weekend all of our visitors, family and friends from out of town joining us, and anyone new to the parish. We are a community of faith who love the Lord and desire to serve Him in all we do. We pray you have a blessed time celebrating Easter with us!

 

I invite you all to a deeper participation in the life of the parish, whether that's at St. Mary's in Chardon, St. Patrick's in Thompson, or wherever you belong. Being part of a parish family enriches our life and helps us to encounter these mysteries of our salvation and life in Christ on a daily and weekly basis. There's no replacement for involvement in the life and worship at your local parish! We all need Jesus in our lives, and He also needs us to say YES to Him in the local parish communities He gives us if His grace is going to have a full effect in our lives.

A special thank you to all our parishioners who helped to decorate our church for the Lent, Triduum and Easter seasons, our music ministry members, all of our liturgical ministers, and clergy who make sure our liturgies beautiful. Thank you for helping us to encounter the Lord in a wonderful way this Easter! 

The Little White Books are available for pickup in the gathering space after Masses this weekend. These short daily devotionals are our parish gift to you. Please pick one up while supplies last!

 

We will welcome our new Youth Minister, Nicky Gutierrez, for a Meet-and-Greet this Monday, April 21 starting at 5:30 pm in the Banquet Room and Cafeteria at St. Mary's. Families with children and teens entering grades 6-12 next year are invited to attend to meet Nicky, play some fun games, and get some pizza and King Kone ice cream! Nicky will begin working as our Youth Minister this June after his graduation in May. See the flyer in today's bulletin for more information.

 

We welcome Fr. Damian Ference for a special presentation in the church at St. Mary's next Tuesday, April 22, at 7:00 pm entitled "A Jubilee Revival for a Flourishing Apostolic Church". Fr. Damian is the Vicar for Evangelization for our Diocese and is a very engaging speaker. His talk will tie in the Jubilee Year of Hope celebrated by the Universal Church, the Eucharistic Revival celebrated by our American Church, and the Bishop's Apostolic Letter being read and implemented throughout our Cleveland Diocese. It's not a talk you'll want to miss!

 

Again, Happy Easter to you all! Enjoy this time of grace where we celebrate Christ's resurrection and the gift of our own resurrection in Him on the last day.

 

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow