…”Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”  The first reading, from the Book of Numbers, on this Feast of the Solemnity of Mary is a beautiful prayer and blessing.  It was intended to be a ‘greeting’ and a prayer that we could offer each other over and again.  Imagine how beautiful to use these words, or ones like it, as we greet and say goodbye to one another.   It can’t help but make each conversation and every day a little better – holier – more peaceful – more prayerful.  May the Lord bless you and your loved ones each and every day.

…Happy New Year!  As we gather on this first day of the year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary.  In her radical and unconditional ‘yes’ to the Lord, her life was blessed full of grace.  She sets the model and example for each of us.  The more we make our ‘yes’ to the Lord, the more we can find the fullness of life and joy in Christ.  At Christmas we passed out ‘bookmarks’ with some good suggestions for the upcoming year to grow closer to the Lord and deepen our faith.  You can also find this list of suggestions and recommendations online at www.StAmbrose.us/resolutions.

…As we start the New Year, I would like to suggest that we prayerfully focus on three things that will help each of us find a greater joy and strengthen family life and the family of God: 

  • Pray fervently and daily for world peace. In changing times and a world marked by violence, terror and war, we all need to turn to God and pray for PEACE in our hearts, home and world.
  • We need to make sure our lives and our families are focused and centered on Christ. We need to come to the Table of the Lord regularly to be nourished and strengthened. We also need to gather as family around our dinner tables and spend quality time together. Family time and meal time matters.
  • Each of us received ‘gifts’ from the Lord that are to be shared for the glory of God and the strengthening of God’s family. How can you let your light shine so our parish community can radiate the love, light and hope that is Christ to our world?  There is something here for everyone to grow in holiness and service to the Lord.  Go to StAmbrose.us/stewardship to explore the right opportunities for you.

…Many, many thanks for a wonderful celebration of Christmas.  We are blessed as a parish community with so many who worked so lovingly and generously to make sure our parish and Church looked GREAT. They truly prepared beautiful and inspiring worship and praise to the Lord.  Special thanks to Linda Kijek, Kathy Ralofsky and Lynn Tobon who decorated the Church.  A huge shout out to Helen Lanzarotta for her work with all our liturgical ministers and for making sure all the details were attended to.  God bless our music ministry and Tom Bonezzi for lifting our souls to the Lord in joyous song.  Thanks to all those who helped….assisted….served…..and made for a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior.  We are blessed.

…God bless our Busy Bees who prepared 3,000 Spiritual Toolkits that we gave out on Christmas Eve/Day.  Thanks be to God, every one of them was distributed.  Special thanks to one of our members who made it possible for us to give out copies of Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly.  Within the first three days, more of our members have already opened the book and started reading and reflecting on the path to deeper joy and greater happiness in the Lord.  There are still a few copies of the book available on the book rack.

…We are blessed to have been able to share copies of this great book at the Medina County Jail.  When our members who lead the weekly Scripture study shared some of the quotes from the book, they wanted copies to read.  Praise be God.

…At the doors of the Church this week you can find the 2017 Saint Ambrose Parish calendar.  We passed out over 3500 at Christmas and there are some still available.  Please help yourself and share one with a neighbor or friend.  It’s filled with wonderful quotes about the Light of Christ that radiates in our world and in our parish community.  It also has some good information about parish events and programs.  Special thanks to our Community Partners who make this beautiful gift possible.

…Last week we received two ‘Matching Gifts’ from local companies, one of which being Sherwin Williams.  Some companies will match your contribution to Saint Ambrose.  Some have requirements (community outreach, education, etc).  If your company offers ‘matching gifts,’ please consider this as a way you can help our parish do the great work we do for our community.

…Words fail to adequately express my sincere thanks to you and our Catholic Works of Mercy team for the amazing response and incredible efforts to take care of all those in need throughout our region for Christmas.  Your goodness is soul-stirring and inspiring.  I pray that God will bless every ‘yes’ you make to the Lord.  Mary is the example of faith.  God blessed every offering and sacrifice she made.  Thank you so much!

…One of my personal highlights was to see some of the men on the streets of Cleveland and Akron receiving and wearing the jackets we collected and provided over the past few months to those in need.  Jesus clearly said that what we do for the least, we do for the Lord.  “When I was naked/coatless, you clothed me.”   Over 1400 gently used coats were distributed since the middle of November.  Praise be God.

…As you heard/read in the news this week, Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Lennon for health reasons.  Please keep him in your prayers.  Pray also for Bishop Thomas in his role as Apostolic Administrator.  May God guide him and our diocese as we walk forward into the New Year together.

…On the backside of my letter you will find a couple of letters WE received over the past few weeks.  They are reflections of your goodness and the blessing of our parish community.  Thank you for all you do for the Lord at Saint Ambrose.  Thank you for your wonderful Christmas support for our parish.  Thanks, also, for all the cookies, cards and gifts that you shared so generously over the past few weeks.  God bless you for all your goodness.  Each day I pray that “the Lord look kindly upon you and give you peace.”