Dear Parish Family,

Advent is the time of fulfilling God’s plan of peace. Last Sunday Isaiah spoke of hostile foreign nations disarming themselves by beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. This week he speaks of wolves lying with lambs and babies playing with deadly snakes without harm. As we journey toward Christmas, these images should strike us in the radicality of their message of nonviolence. Enemies are fully reconciled, the weak and innocent need not fear the powerful and strong, and all creation works together to pursue God’s righteousness together.
 
While Isaiah hinted at God’s plan of peace, it is the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, God made man, who ushers in and ultimately fulfills this plan. So this Advent season we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” With Jesus at the helm, we who are baptized in Him find ourselves with Christ at the epicenter of reconciliation, that is, at the Manger and at the Cross. God doesn’t force us to be there; He invites us to join Him there to be a peacemaker with Jesus. To remain with Christ this Advent entails sacrifice and suffering. We can expect the world to resist the coming of God’s Kingdom and mock us for trying to cultivate peace. We may even find resistance in ourselves to forgive and seek reconciled with our enemies. We must choose especially at these times to remain with Christ at the Manger and at the Cross, and persevere in our commitment to pursue the peace of God’s Kingdom.
 
Pastor Installation (Dec. 11)
I am eager to celebrate my installation as pastor with you next Sunday. I will be installed as the 31st pastor at St. Patrick Parish at the 9:30 am Mass, and as the 15th pastor at St. Mary Parish at the 12:00 pm Mass. A reception will follow in the proper parish hall after each Mass. Donations for the occasion of my pastor installation may be made to the St. Patrick Good Samaritan ministry or the St. Mary St. Vincent de Paul Society. Thank you for your kindness, prayers, and support.
 
Communion Cup at Pastor Installation Mass
We will be bringing back the communion cup for my pastor installation Mass next weekend since we will have adequate ministers present to assist with its distribution. I would like to bring back the cup on a regular basis going forward, but in order to do so we are in need of parishioners to assist with the distribution of the cup at Mass. Due to COVID, a number of our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs) who used to distribute the cup have stepped away from the ministry. Current EMHCs and parishioners who are willing to be trained and certified should contact me or Deacon Bob so we can plan on offering the cup at Mass again. Remember that when we receive communion under either species (host or cup), we receive the fullness of Christ's Body and Blood. Parishioners will need to decide for themselves whether or not they would like to receive from the cup at Mass.
 
Angel Scholarship Fund Presentation and Q&A with Accountants (Dec. 10)
Everyone benefits when we can turn taxes into tuition! Catholic education is more important than ever. The simplest way to support St. Mary School at no net cost to you as a donor is with the Angel Scholarship Fund. To engage the community at large, I would like to invite you to attend a short presentation and Q&A on the Angel Scholarship Fund in the St. Mary Parish Banquet Room on Saturday, December 10 at 1:00 pm.

• At this session you will hear the what, why, and how of making a contribution, have time for Q&A, and be able to spend individual time with accountants and financial advisors from the parish to help answer your questions and to assist you in making a contribution this year (up to a $750 tax credit for individuals, or $1,500 for married couples filing jointly).
• You will be in and out in under an hour, and you will know the key facts and impact that this new tax credit will have to (1) make a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your state income tax liability, (2) make Catholic education more affordable to our families, (3) make Catholic education more sustainable by reducing the St. Mary Parish subsidy for the school, and with costs lowered for families and the parish, to (4) devote more of our parish offertory to increase the outreach of our ministries in the parish and school.
• You can bring your state tax return (Ohio form IT 1040) to review with one of the accountants to see how much you owed last year in state taxes and approximate how much you will owe this year.
• A recording of the session will be available on our Angel Scholarship web page (linked below) after the sessions for those unable to attend either session.

Contributing comes at no net cost to you as a donor since your donation comes from the state taxes you have to pay anyway. You can make a big difference here! I would love to see 100% of our parish and school families contributing to and advocating for the Angel Scholarship Fund. This is the low-hanging fruit that will make a huge difference for our school, parish, and local community. I cannot overstate the importance of this new tax credit scholarship and the lasting impact it will have with our full support. Please consider coming to one of the sessions or visit https://stmarychardon.org/asf for more information and to donate.
 
I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow