Message from our Pastor
The Most Holy Trinity
June 4, 2023
What a great weekend we are experiencing. Having Fr. Jeff Liptak here to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving with our Divine Word Community is just powerful. Fr. Jeff, after his diaconal year formation and watching him grow through his preaching and sacramental works has thrived in many ways. It goes without saying that the diocese and the seminary thought Divine Word would be a good place for a deacon to do his pastoral work. I am so glad they appointed Fr. Jeff here so all of you could see what a young man goes through as he progresses toward priestly ordination. Today in many ways is the culmination of your support, encouragement, and prayers for Fr. Jeff. I know he has said this to me several times over the past year we have a great, supportive, and caring parish community.
I am grateful to Fr. Jeff’s family for being here this weekend. Vocations come from the family. Watching his parents and siblings throughout the ordination liturgy at St. John’s Cathedral and his Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Charles parish in Parma was priceless. They were proud and happy for their son and brother. Ordination to the priesthood brings with it many responsibilities and commitments. Fr. Jeff will understand this as he begins his first priestly assignment at St. Basil Parish in Brecksville, Ohio.
I hope there are those in our parish who might be thinking they could serve at the altar of God. You could be married and be thinking of the permanent diaconate or that God is calling you to serve as a priest. I am convinced that some have been called to serve at the altar but are afraid to respond to the calling. That is both sad for us and the Church. I hope if you are considering this possibility that you say something to me or Deacon John Grazia. If you know of someone in the parish you think would be a good candidate for the priesthood or permanent diaconate let us know and we will do the asking. We need you!
As we celebrate this Trinity Sunday, I believe that Fr. Jeff’s presence and to have you here to celebrate this occasion, helps us understand our need for the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The priesthood has its calling rooted in this great mystery of God. The Church calls its priests and deacons to reflect God’s love that is powerfully seen in the love between Father, Son, and Spirit. That is an awesome task, but one suited well by Fr. Jeff Liptak. He will take his excellent preaching, pastoral style, and great smile to St. Basil’s and make a tremendous impact upon the people there. I ask you to keep Fr. Jeff in your prayers and he knows he always has a place to stay here at Divine Word.
As we announced last weekend Fr. Caddy took a fall and underwent total knee replacement surgery. You probably guessed it; he is taking all this in stride and wants to get back to normal activities.
He feels he will be back in a few weeks. Keep Fr. Caddy in your prayers as he goes through physical therapy and hopefully a quick recovery.
Join us on Sunday, June 11th at Classic Park in Eastlake for the District kick-off for the National Eucharistic Revival. At 5PM we will celebrate Mass followed by dinner. If you desire, we will have a Eucharistic Procession from St. Justin Martyr church to the ballpark at 3:30PM. We will have Mass rain or shine. You need to register for this event to help us with the count for dinner after the Mass. Call the parish office if you need directions on registering for the event.
We currently have a sub-committee together that will be planning some parish events surrounding the Eucharistic Revival. Our hope is to offer discussion groups and some texts to learn more about our belief in the Eucharistic as the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Since next week is the celebration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, it only makes sense to begin to take a deeper dive in to our Church belief on the Eucharist. There will be more information coming soon.
I hope you can take away from this beautiful weekend a need to seek more of God, the Trinity into your life. There is a grounding of one’s faith and life when we can move ourselves to seek greater understanding of our faith. My prayer is that many will participate in the Eucharistic Revival events coming our way. Have a great week,
