Her obituary can be read at http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Cecelia-Siree&lc=1730&pid=155933032&mid=5000642&locale=en-US

Happy President’s Day weekend! I hope a lot of you have a three day weekend. The Parish Office and School will be closed in bservance of the holiday. I am hoping to get down to the new aquarium on Monday. It looks like it is a really neat place to visit.

The Parish Mission starts this Sunday, February 19 and goes through Tuesday night, February 21, starting at 7 pm at St. John of the Cross. I really encourage you to attend this great Mission. It will not only help you prepare for Lent, but it is a nice way to meet and interact with parishioners from the other two Euclid parishes. The theme is GROW (God Revives our World) and is meant to help us find God and grow in our spirituality in the everyday and ordinary of our lives. Fr. Norm Douglas, the primary presenter, is a great priest and wonderful speaker. I think you will really like him!

Ash Wednesday is Wednesday, February 22 and this is the official start to Lent. Masses will be at 7 am, 8:30 am (the school children will be there), 11:30 am and 6 pm. Ashes will be distributed at all the Masses. Just as a reminder, fasting regulations are as follows: Ash Wednesday, February 22 & Good Friday, April 6 are days of abstinence from meat and also days of fasting, which limit us to a single full meal and two small meals. The law of fasting binds all Catholics from their 18th birthday until their 59th birthday. The Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat. The law of abstinence binds all Catholics 14 years and older.

If you would like to drop off old palms to the parish office, we would be happy to properly dispose of them for you. On Friday in Lent we have three great activities, Masses at 8:30, 11:30 am and 7 pm. Stations of the Cross will be held after the 7 pm Mass. Finally, don’t forget Fish Fries start Friday, February 24. I am really excited about these. Fish Fries are a great time of fellowship and good food. They are just $10 per person ($5 for kids, 12 & under). We will hold them every Friday of Lent, 4:45 – 7 pm in the Upper Hall of the School (there is an elevator). Make sure to invite your friends, Catholic and non-Catholic!

Next weekend at all the weekend Masses we will have the Sacrament of the Sick, aka Anointing of the Sick. We will have this special opportunity to pray with those in our parish community who need healing of body, mind or spirit. The Anointing will take place after the homily. All three parish priests will be there to lay hands and anoint with holy oil. I encourage all people who are elderly, seriously ill, chronically ill, or facing surgery to come forward. If you are not able to come forward, we will come to you. This special sacrament is an opportunity for us a parish community to “storm” heaven with our prayers. While some may experience physical healing, our hope is that each person will feel a comfort and peace in their situation through the Sacramental graces of Jesus the divine physician. Our Prayer Series will be during Lent. If you remember we had a series on Prayer the four Sunday’s of Advent and we will continue this in Lent. We have some great topics and speakers lined up. Our first one will be Sunday, February 26 at 12:15 pm in the Church. I will be the speaker and I will be talking about how to re-energize, reinvigorate your prayer life. Sometimes, we all have the best of intentions, but never seem to be able to get it off the ground or we find ourselves, “stalled.” Check out the other topics elsewhere in the bulletin. Also, check out some of the great Adult Education offerings Fr. David has listed in the bulletin. His classes are very interesting and quite popular. They fill up quickly, so don’t miss out.

Just as Lent is forty days, we are about to start another 40 Days for Life. We will be uniting with hundreds of other cities around the world for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history. This campaign is a focused pro-life campaign that has already mobilized over 400,000 people worldwide, saved more than 3,500 lives from abortion, led to the conversion of 43 abortion workers, and seen nine abortion facilities close. 40 Days for Life is made up of three components: Prayer and Fasting, Peaceful Vigil and Community Outreach. You can find out more information at www.40daysforlife.com/cleveland or by calling Amy at 216.236.5186.

Many of our parishioners and our own Fr. Baugh have been big supporters of this. As we have done in the past, as a parish we commit to a peaceful vigil in which we will witness to our belief in the dignity of every human life and pray for an end to abortion. The idea is that each Tuesday of Lent (February 29, March 6, 13, 20 & 27) we will commit to having several parishioners and/or groups of parishioners outside at Pre-Term Abortion Facility the entire day. First and foremost, we would be praying for the women and men approaching the facility for an abortion and for the workers. We would hope that that they have a change of heart and protect life and not destroy human life. Second, we would witness to the community our belief in the Gospel of Life. I will be there each Tuesday at 3 pm to lead anyone who is there in a Rosary for Life. Next weekend, we will have sign-up sheets in the Vestibule with times and directions to the center. Please, please, consider giving one hour or more each week to this most vital need. You can also call the parish office to sign-up as well. The center is located at 12000 Shaker Blvd.

Make it a great week!

See you in Church! Peace,

~Fr. John

You can read her obituary at www.brickmanbros.com

Today, February 12, Calvin Coolidge became the first U.S. president to deliver an address by radio. This was the first day that radio programming had included commercials. I think these two events become quite significant in the way we would begin to communicate in our world! Speaking of new ways of communicating, I hope you have checked our new parish and school website (www.srweuclid.cc and www.srwschool.cc). These great new sites really have come out nicely and there is lots of great information that can be found on these sites to keep you up-to-date. On the parish website, at the bottom of the front page is a place to input your email address and receive regular updates via email about the parish.

Lent is not very far away; in fact it is just ten days away! Ash Wednesday is February 22. To prepare yourself for a good Lent, there are few activities that I would like to draw your attention to that are happening. First, this Friday, we have Lent Family Night from 6:30 – 8 pm in the Gym. The evening will include a pot-luck dinner, fellowship, activities to prepare for Lent and most importantly prayer. Families of all sizes (one person or eight people), ages and so forth are invited to come to the evening. It is for all! We have had these for Lent and Advent since we opened the parish, and people have really enjoyed them. Call the parish office tomorrow to reserve your spot!

We will be selling the “Little Black Books” for Lent next weekend after all the Masses. These books have daily scripture reflections for each day of Lent and are a nice way to focus you each day and pray. Lent is a wonderful time to grow in your prayer life and thus improve your spirituality. We ask for a $1 donation for each book. They will be available in the Vestibule after Masses. Thank you to our Spiritual Life Committee for facilitating this.

The Euclid Catholic Cluster Parish Mission will be February 19, 20, & 21 at St. John of the Cross. Each evening will start at 7pm. Fr. Norm Douglas will be presenting the Mission with a team of people. Our Music Ministry will be participating as well as our Spiritual Life Committee in helping. I really encourage you to mark your calendar and plan on attending. The Mission is meant to help prepare all of us for Lent. I know I will be there.

One of the activities of Lent we are called by Scriptures to do is to give alms. Almsgiving to the poor, mentally and physically challenged, homeless, unemployed, orphans, and more is a very important part of who we are as Christians. Next week, we will be having the annual appeal for Catholic Charities. As you may remember, last year we participated in Rooted in Faith, Forward in Hope to raise much needed money for several important ministries of the Catholic Community of Northeast Ohio. As part of the 1.2 million dollars that was raised from our parish, $84,500 was given directly to Catholic Charities for their operations in reaching out to those in need. Again, we are going to try to raise $84,500 (paid over 1 year) for Catholic Charities operations. These vital ministries reach out to many, many people. One example is Catholic Charities facilitated the distribution of over three million meals last year! Please prayerfully pray and consider what you may be able to give.

Peace,

Fr. John

Fr. David Baugh – 9am

Fr. David Novak – 11am

Fr. John Betters – 11am

Fr. David Novak – 6pm