Dear Parish Family,

Can you believe it's the Third Week of Advent already? Even as the days continue to darken, the liturgical colors of this weekend's Mass nevertheless 'brighten up' from violet to rose (purple to pink) as we celebrate Gaudete (Rejoice!) Sunday. The tone of the readings express this theme of rejoicing as daughter Zion sings for joy at the coming salvation of the Lord, and the people of Israel await the coming of the Christ with eager expectation and hope.

We all need something to hope for. Hope is the fuel for our desire which propels us to the eternal. Without hope, our desires at best turn in on themselves in immediate self-gratification; at worst, we forsake our desires entirely and give into despair, apathy, or disillusionment. What is the reason for your hope? How can you rekindle your desire for holiness this week by spending quality time with the Lord in prayer?

Advent Lessons and Carols at St. Patrick Parish (Sunday Dec 19 at 7:00 pm)
I invite you to a special Advent Lessons and Carols taking place NEXT Sunday, December 19 at 7:00 pm at St. Patrick Parish. Parishioners representing various ministries at the parish as well as our clergy will lead us in an evening of song and prayer. This night is sure to raise the hope in our hearts for the coming of our Lord!

Fr. Spisak Hip Surgery
I want to ask that you keep Fr. Spisak in your prayers over the next few weeks as he prepares for hip surgery in early January. He will be out of the parish until early March during his recovery. While I invited Fr. Spisak to prioritize his health and schedule his surgery when it made the most sense to do so, he chose to bear through the pain this month and schedule it in January so he could celebrate our Christmas liturgies with us. I am immensely grateful for his presence, support, love, and prayers he offers all of us. Fr. Spisak, know our prayers, love, and support are with you too!

Daily Mass Schedule Changes
With Fr. Spisak being out, I prayerfully considered over the past few weeks how I would handle the current Mass schedule as a one-priest parish with occasional visiting priest assistance. After hearing from the priests of our district and consulting staff and parish councils from St. Mary's and St. Patrick's, I would like to offer a new daily Mass schedule that will meet the needs of our parish communities and will be respectful of the time and health of our clergy who assist at our Masses. The Vigil and Sunday Mass times are not affected.

Starting January 3, 2022, the new daily Mass schedule will be:

St. Mary's Chardon

• Monday 7:30 am (same)
• Tuesday 7:30 am (same)
• Wednesday 12:00 pm (moved from 7:30 am, Mass with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration to follow until 7:00 pm)
• Thursday 7:30 am (same)
• Friday 1:30 pm (no 7:30 am Mass; same time whether school is in or out of session) 

St. Patrick's Thompson

• (no Monday Mass)
• Tuesday 8:45 am
• (no Wednesday Mass)
• Thursday 8:45 am

While we can assess this schedule again in the future, my hope would be to keep this as our new daily Mass schedule at both parishes going forward. From my heart, please know I love celebrating Mass throughout the week with our parish family! Change and consolidation is difficult, and I acknowledge the grief that it brings. I would invite us all to turn our grief into a prayer for vocations to the priesthood. I also acknowledge the necessity of this change, as it will provide me more flexibility in my schedule to accomplish the responsibilities entrusted to me as well as allow me to take care of my own health and well-being.

I recognize that these changes may impact the time and place where you have been accustomed to celebrating Mass during the week. We are blessed in our region to have parishes that offer Mass each day in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I am sure everyone who wants to attend daily Mass will have the opportunity to do so when they cannot do so here. I would suggest visiting MassTimes.org and CatholicMassTimes.org if you are interested in finding alternative daily Mass times in our area.

Our parish office will contact in a timely manner those who have given an offering for an intention at one or more of the Masses affected by a cancellation or a time change. Those with Mass intentions at an affected Mass will have the chance to reschedule the intention, have the Mass intention and payment returned to them, or have the intention and payment forwarded to the Diocesan Mission Office for a priest to fulfill elsewhere.

Heart of a Shepherd Follow-Up
My heartfelt thank you to all who participated in the Heart of a Shepherd commitment weekend. Last weekend, our parish families pledged about $17,500, bringing our total amount pledged to over $152,000. That is 186% over our goal, which is outstanding! I am so proud and blessed by your generosity to give to our diocese to support our seminarians and priests, and for your love of our St. Patrick Parish community.