Changes Ahead: A New Priest for St. Joseph Parish

“Rejoicing and repentance must go together. Repentance without rejoicing will lead to despair. Rejoicing without repentance is shallow and will only provide passing inspiration instead of deep change.”—Timothy Keller Dear Parishioners: This Sunday we celebrate Laetare Sunday . Laetare is Latin for “Rejoice.” This Sunday is just past the half-way point of Lent. The rose vestments worn this Sunday are a break in the somber and penitential purple; they are a sign of joy in the midst of penance. In that spirit, I thought I’d share something about which we can be joyful. This is the chart of attendance at Holy Spirit’s weekend Masses. As you can see, we have been making a gradual increase in attendance each year. It is fascinating to me how it basically follows the pattern each year for ebb and flow of the attendance. The spike in March 2024 was because Easter was in March, rather than April that year. December 2022 really spiked because Christmas was on a Sunday. Would I like to see more people at Mass, yes, of course! Still, I’m glad to see us growing each year. It seems that I am seeing new faces and families each weekend. It is little-by-little, but we are growing. This is not just a “hooray for Holy Spirit” (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but is good news for the Church everywhere. In that we rejoice! Thanks to Larry Maloney for putting this chart together, building on the work of the late Pat Pattison. Sincerely, Rev. Charles F. Strebler Pastor

“For me, an assist is the same as getting a basket.”— Nikola Jokic Dear Parishioners: I got an Easter basket each year until after I was ordained. For many years it was hidden; one year in high school I finally found it the Thursday(!) after Easter. The year I got my first car, I had a suspicion, so when I returned home from Easter Sunday Mass, I pulled into the driveway, parked, and immediately went to the car's trunk, opened it and voila! there it was. Eventually, I asked my mom to pass the word on to the Easter Bunny that I was usually exhausted after being up late for the Easter Vigil and then up early for Easter Sunday Mass and didn’t have the energy for the search, so the hiding came to an end. The Easter Bunny shopped for me at the West Point Market in Akron, so he left me imported chocolates and good cheeses. Not all children and youth are lucky. The Friends of Jesus Ministry groups at Holy Spirit and St. Ladislas (our parish’s FOJ mother parish) are doing something to remedy that. They are preparing baskets for 250 children in foster care. They need our help. They are asking for items for the baskets. Please see the bulletin (page 9), parish website, or newsletter for the items they are requesting. This is another great opportunity for your Lenten almsgiving. The FOJ group is a group for parishioners with special needs—and their families are enjoying it, too. There have only been a few of meetings here at Holy Spirit and I have been able to make it to two of them. They have been evenings of faith and fun. The group began at St. Ladislas and has germinated a group here. I am glad to see this group grow at Holy Spirit and also to see the cooperation between the groups at both parishes. That is what the Church should be. I thank you for your support of their efforts. There will be bins in the narthex the weekend of March 14/15 in which you can place your donated Easter basket items. Sincerely, Rev. Charles F. Strebler Pastor

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“Confession is an act of honesty and courage—an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.”—Pope St. John Paul II Dear Parishioners: I often liken confession to taking care of your car. If your car breaks down, you take it in to get it fixed right away. So, if you become aware of a serious/mortal sin in your life, you should get to confession right away—if at all possible before the next Sunday so you can receive the Lord worthily in the Eucharist (and not add on the sin of sacrilege). If your car doesn’t break down, you still have to take it in periodically for the tire rotation, oil change, and other maintenance. If you aren’t aware of serious sin, it is good to get to confession every so often for spiritual “maintenance.” I tell people that the minimum should be every three to four months. Some people go in Advent and Lent, but I point out there is much more time between Lent and Advent than between Advent and Lent; I usually suggest a time in July or August as well. The Diocese of Cleveland Night of Confessions will be on Wednesday, March 4 . Almost every parish in the Diocese of Cleveland will have an opportunity for confessions from 5—8 pm . I will be hearing at Holy Spirit and have another priest hearing confessions with me. What I like about this time is that there is no rush to get though the confessions before Mass. There is ample time for hearing the confessions of those who come, especially for those who have been away for a while. As we have done in the past, we will have the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the church. I invite our parishioners to come and spend some time in prayer with our Eucharistic Lord, especially praying for those going to confession—and each year I get some who have been away for decades! Pray also for the priests hearing confessions that night. I ask that we have at least two people in the church from 5—8pm. Please sign up for a time on our website at hspal.org. Confessions will also be a part of our Parish Mission, March 8—11 , lead By Father Jewel Aytona, of the Fathers of Mercy. This is a wonderful opportunity to enrich your faith in the season of Lent. Mark your calendar . Sincerely, Rev. Charles F. Strebler Pastor 

"There are a lot of things you can give to Jesus—I don’t like to say, ‘Give it up.’ Well, you’re going to take it back. But give it to Jesus for Lent.” — Mother Angelica Dear Parishioners: Lent is just before us, starting this coming (Ash) Wednesday. The question you can ask yourself now is: What will I do this Lent? Notice I did not put it, What will I give up this Lent? While the tried-and-true practice of giving up something for Lent is part of Lenten fasting, which is one of the pillars of Lenten disciple, we shouldn’t limit it to the idea of doing without some particular food. We can give up social media, or the talking heads of television, or music/talk/podcast in the car. The things about these is that in giving them up, we actually open up a space in our lives, maybe to experience more time available or that very rare—and sometimes unsettling—thing, silence. We can also re-hear Isaiah from last Sunday’s reading, remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech . Maybe we strive to let go of grudges, animosities, prejudices, or at least to chip away at them. Maybe we let go of letting politics and political parties guide our lives and thinking. What will I do? opens us up to the other two Lenten pillars, prayer and almsgiving. Making the time to pray. Making the time to come to Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 7 pm in the Chapel . Making time to come to confession. Making time to come to the Parish Mission, March 8-11 . Making time to come to Adoration on Thursdays. Making time to pray the rosary—I suggest the Sorrowful Mysteries or at least a decade each day, maybe cycling through the Sorrowful Mysteries or all the mysteries. For almsgiving, yes, it is good to give financial support, but how about giving of your precious time to help out someone or a group. It can be a neighbor or family member who needs a ride to the doctor or to shopping—or to have shopping done for him or her, or just needs a visit. This, too, is almsgiving. It is sometimes easier not to do something (fasting) than to do something (prayer and almsgiving). But remember: Lent is not a call to prayer or fasting or almsgiving; it is a call to prayer and fasting and almsgiving! What will you do this Lent? Sincerely, Rev. Charles F. Strebler Pastor 

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.” — Thomas Merton Dear Parishioners: Next Saturday, much of the world will be celebrating Valentine’s Day. Oddly, now on that day the Church celebrates Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles to the Slavs. At Holy Spirit we will be celebrating our volunteers! I admit February 14ᵗʰ is not the best day for this, but we try to have this dinner the Saturday before Ash Wednesday. (Then again, if you are a volunteer, this can be an inexpensive date for you and your spouse!) Rethinking my earlier comment, February 14ᵗʰ is a perfect day for our volunteer appreciation — because we love our volunteers! As I have said many times before, Holy Spirit Parish could not be what it is without our volunteers. The parish staff can only do so much. It is you, the parishioner volunteers, who make most of it happen. Some of the volunteers help at our liturgies; imagine what a Mass without volunteers would look like. It would not be the expression of the Church and the work of the people that it is supposed to be. Some volunteers help outside of the liturgies and serve in other ways. You are all appreciated! A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR VOLUNTEERS! Sincerely, Rev. Charles F. Strebler Pastor

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“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”—Gilbert K. Chesterton Dear Parishioners: The Christmas season is now over (though there are those who continue the tradition of keeping the season through February 2 nd , The Presentation of the Lord, AKA Candlemas, often by leaving at least one Christmas decoration {often the nativity scene} out!) As the season has come to an end, I want to thank all of those who contributed so significantly to our celebrations of Christmas and the Christmas Season. I’d like to thank the parish staff for their work, but particular commendation goes to Nathan Hetrick, Holy Spirit’s Director of Worship and Music. Nathan worked hard with the musical planning, with the choir and instrumentalists to getting them ready for the Christmas Masses, and leading them during the Masses. Nathan also prepared all the worship aids for Christmas. (I probably should also thank our copy machine for not collapsing from exhaustion!) Directly related to that, thank you to our choir, cantors, and instrumentalists, both parish and visitors. The music of the season greatly enhanced our celebrations. I received many compliments on the music. Also to be complimented are the members of our Art and Environment group, who decorated the church and chapel for both Advent and Christmas. For Christmas, they had to work according the “schedule” (“Some time today.”) of the flower delivery and not their own schedule. You can appreciate the sacrifice this is in the last couple of days before Christmas. They did a beautiful job. Though often less visible, but as needed and appreciated are the sacristans who work behind the scenes. The lectors, servers, Extra-Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and ushers are seen, but sometimes still not appreciated enough, as they seem a regular part of the Liturgy. If I have left anyone out, I apologize, but know all who have a part in enhancing our liturgies are appreciated. Thank you to all our parishioners for your participation in our Christmas celebrations. Thank you also for and welcome to our visitors and “occasional” parishioners. We had 890 people at the 4pm Christmas Mass alone! As I have said before, I do not believe in shaming people for not being present the other weeks, but invite them to return again. I think they may be more likely to do so if they experience uplifting, beautiful liturgies. That is what we had. Thank you to all who put in their efforts to make it so. P.S. I am in Michigan this weekend for my Godson’s son’s baptism and will be heading out on vacation on Monday. I’ll be back for Masses the weekend of January 31/February 1 and will be back in the office on Monday, February 2. Sincerely, Rev. Charles F. Strebler Pastor