Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, COME, LORD JESUS, COME! Talk About Confusing! You may have heard rumblings and conflicting or at least confusing reports about the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of why it’s an issue, be my guest. But as it is, this feast is a holy day of obligation, but December 8 falls on Sunday this year, so the feast is bumped to the next day December 9th. Also bumped with it is its obligatory status. So, this year December 9th IS a Holy Day of obligation.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, State of the Parish and Finance Report Over the past few years due to covid, and a year has passed since the mandate that required us to change our Mass schedule, it has been a time of transition. As we come to the end of the liturgical year and prepare for Advent, this is a good time to review how we are fulfilling our mission and to report to the parish our financial status. This weekend at all the Masses I will give my thoughts and parish financial report will be made available.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Faith Formation this Sunday 9:15-10:15 The past couple sessions have led us deeper in personal prayer. We continue this theme regarding spirituality and look now to the Sacrifice of the Mass. How does one engage and enter into the Mass? How does it become a fount of grace for our spiritual growth? Join us as we delve ever deeper into these questions and more! The title for this week is Lift Up Your Hearts: Praying the Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Prayer and Penance for Country Should Continue At the time of this writing (November 5), the winners of the elections is not yet determined. Regardless of which candidates are elected, we must not ignore the real threats to the dignity of the human person and the common good. There is much work to be done to foster life, truth, and virtue in our nation’s politics. We cannot ignore or simply watch from the sidelines. Our Lord calls us to be in the world and not of the world. He sends us out as sheep amongst the wolves. Yet we trust our Divine Shepherd, Who is King of the world, and thus king of every nation, whether its citizenry believe it or not.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Election Day Parish Prayer Schedule Election day is a great blessing in our country since it is a gift that we can peaceably elect our leaders in our country. Remember it is a Catholic’s duty to participate in politics in order to promote the common good based upon the dignity of the human person. Refraining from voting is allowable but only for a grave reason. Not to give the effort to discern and vote would be a sin of omission. How one votes and for which races and candidates one votes are not dictated by Church authority, but one must discern according to Catholic teaching with a formed conscience

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, All Saints Day - Holy Day of Obligation Thursday October 31 - Vigil Mass (english) @ 6pm Friday November 1 - Morning Mass (english) @ 8:30 Friday November 1- Evening Mass (Latin) @ 6pm - note the change from the regular 5:30 time.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Faith Formation This Weekend “Am I Praying the Right Way?: Discerning through the Spiritual Life” Join me in the PAC from 9:15-10:15 this Sunday, October 20 as we delve deeper into the practicalities of prayer. As human beings we are a spiritual and bodily “hybrid.” Both aspects must be considered as we grow in grace. Having a well-rounded spirituality is important in order to grow in holiness. Questions like, Can I ever pray too much? Am I “spiritual enough?” Am I praying the right way? What kind of penance should I be doing?

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, New PAC doors to be Installed This Friday is finally the day. Our Parish Activity Center will have its front doors replaced. The old wooden doors which served as an artful entry into what was once the chapel will be removed but not discarded. We have plans to restore the worn wooden doors, which has four carved panels depicting the life of St. Paul. As they should not be used as exterior doors, we are looking for a place for them and a way to display its craftsmanship. More to come later.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Priest Convocation This Tuesday evening through Friday morning, most of the priests of the Diocese of Cleveland will be at Sawmill Creek for our Priest Convocation. Every two years the bishop calls us to get away together for time of reflection, study, prayer, and fellowship. It is a great time for priests to reconnect similar to how Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, but they then returned as a group with the Lord to share how His grace was at work in their ministry. For those days, a visiting priest will cover the regularly scheduled Masses. Keep us all in prayer as we pray for you!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Congratulations to the Raffle Winners At the time of this writing we do not yet know who will win, but when you read this there will be winners and a nice payout to our parish as well as Visitation of Mary Parish. Thank you to all our top ticket sellers especially Jeanne Bearer, Patty Hogue, and Dennis Klingensmith. Thank you to all who purchased tickets. I can’t wait to see the new doors on the PAC, and then to see the old wooden doors restored. Thanks again to all who participated.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Parishioner Outreach Ever since Covid, many parishes have put extra efforts in maintaining contact with their people, especially those who are disconnected, ill, or homebound. We are doing our best as well. The first line of communication is well… everybody. Each of us is our brother’s keeper in the sense that as Catholics we are meant to share communion with each other in Christ. This means sharing in the sacrament of the Eucharist yes, but that means showing that communion outside of Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Faith Formation Sunday September 15 This weekend we continue our monthly formation session from 9:15-10:15. This month’s topic is: Does God Hear My Prayer? Navigating the Valleys of the Spiritual Life. Discouragement and fear are part of our human experience. Even in prayer, encountering times when we feel disconnected, times of doubt, and even darkness are part of our spiritual experience. Join us as we discuss our rich tradition of saints, mystics, and everyday grace that can help us in our own spiritual journeys and as we encourage each other in faith.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Back to School It is that time of year when many of our kids are venturing back to school. We pray that they all dedicate time to their studies and receive God’s gift of wisdom with thanksgiving. Some of our parishioners attend nearby Catholic schools. Some are educated through home-schooling programs, including co-ops. The past few years, our parish has become a center for a few of these groups.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, O, Canada! The time has come for my annual trip to Canada with my priest friends. Priests love their parishes, but time away is important to reconnect with the Lord and relax a bit. The beautiful surroundings, the peace and quiet, and priestly fellowship help me recharge the spiritual batteries. There will be a few different priests covering Masses here this weekend. Please know that while away I offer Mass every day and particularly pray for our parishioners.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, O, Canada! The time has come for my annual trip to Canada with my priest friends. Priests love their parishes, but time away is important to reconnect with the Lord and relax a bit. The beautiful surroundings, the peace and quiet, and priestly fellowship help me recharge the spiritual batteries. There will be a few different priests covering Masses here over next two weekends. Please know that while away I offer Mass every day and particularly pray for our parishioners. I do have access to internet up there, but only intermittently. Any emails, etc. I will most likely not respond until I return Aug 30.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Feast of the Assumption - Holy Day of Obligation We will follow our regular Holy Day schedule which echoes our weekend schedule: Wednesday August 14 Vigil Mass at 6pm in English Thursday August 15 Mass at 8:30am in English Thursday August 15 Mass at 6pm in Latin (but w/ English readings and orations) Note there is no 7am Mass on Thursday

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, What a Great Weekend! Thank you to all who helped with the Parish Potluck last weekend. We had many volunteers get everything ready and stuck around to clean up after the event. Thanks to all who participated by bringing in deserts and sides, and thanks Dcn. John for grilling! I brought Fr. Thomas Blau, OP, our missionary preacher, over for dinner and he too extends his joyous thanks for the great time had had here at St. Paul’s.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Missionary Preacher Our Annual Missionary Preacher will be coming this weekend of July 27-28. We welcome Fr. Thomas Blau, OP. Let us prepare to hear his words and be generous that the Gospel may continue to be spread. I look forward to taking him to our potluck, so be sure to join us after the 4:30 Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Faith Formation on Sunday July 21, 9:15-10:15 in PAC In honor of this month of July when we celebrate our nation’s independence, our topic this month will be The Virtue of Patriotism: American Catholic or Catholic American? Another reason for this topic is that it is an election year with a political landscape that is, shall we say, interesting. As Catholics how do we engage the political sphere being “in the world, but not of the world?”

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Faith Formation on Sunday July 21, 9:15-10:15 in PAC In honor of this month of July when we celebrate our nation’s independence, our topic this month will be The Virtue of Patriotism: American Catholic or Catholic American? Another reason for this topic is that it is an election year with a political landscape that is, shall we say, interesting. As Catholics how do we engage the political sphere being “in the world, but not of the world?”