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To strengthen our shared life in Christ through mutual participation and the free exchange of ideas. Community of St. Malachi, 2459 Washington Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113–2380. The Malachi File Clear out and smell the coffee! At the last Council meeting, I was asked to pass that message along to those who linger in the Church after the 11 a.m. liturgy. This is disturbing to those who come early for the 12:30 p.m. mass for a little quiet time. This has been more of a problem in the cold winter months. There is a place for visiting after mass and that is Coffee Hour, which to a certain extent is underutilized. That’s the place to come to touch base with other Community members and to socialize. You can usually find me at Coffee Hour, as that is where I expect to see people who are work on Communio and the Communications Committee. So please leave the Church as soon as possible after the Community mass and join us at Coffee Hour. It’s a vital part of our life of faith together. After we ran Pat Pecnik’s article about the research she is conducting, I was curious about membership trends and contacted Bill McLaughlin, who co–chairs the Membership Committee with Jocelyn Heaney. He sent me the following numbers: in 1994–95, there were 566 members (which is an actual count from the Community’s database), which dropped sharply in 1995–96 to 497. But since then the numbers have been increasing — to 517 in 1996–97, to 521 in 1997–98 and to 527 in 1998–99. I don’t present these numbers to short circuit Pat’s work, which is based on the drop–off and may provide some valuable insights, but just to let everyone know what the actual numbers are. I look forward to publishing the results of Pat’s survey when she is done with it. One bit of commentary: It occurs to me that people who left the Community because of a change in pastors did not have a very strong grasp of what the Community of St. Malachi is about. This is a faith community, a lay–directed personal parish, and not a personality cult. As I look at it, the pastor is one member, albeit a very important member, but the Community as a whole is paramount. That is why coming to the 11 a.m. liturgy — and not other masses — is a part of our commitment as Community members, and also why we should come together afterward at Coffee Hour. Volunteers are needed to work on plans for the Community’s 25th anniversary next year. Contact Council President Greg Gortz at 440–442–8208. Gradually, word is getting out that Luis Gutierrez’ mother, Edna, died recently. Luis works closely with me on Communio. Our prayers are with Luis as he copes with his grief. Our deepest condolences to him. To review upcoming issue dates for the Newsletter and Communio: Feb. 21 with a Feb. 14 deadline Feb. 14, March 7 with a Feb. 28 deadline, March 28 with a March 21 deadline, April 18 with an April 11 deadline, May 2 with an April 25 deadline, May 16 with a May 9 deadline and May 30 with a May 23 deadline. Thanks to Chuck Garven, Jan Wrzesinski, Mary Englert, Fr. Tony, Frank Schiros, Kim Langley, Mary Hurley, and Peg Connell for sending in articles this time. — Dan Alaimo (Dan and Peter Toomey co–chair the Communications Committee.) * * * * * * * * * * Mission To HondurasI need to thank the Community of St. Malachi collectively and the many members individually who supported this post– Hurricane Mitch Medical Relief Trip to Honduras. The support included important encouragement and prayers and also cash donations that exceeded $2500 to help buy much needed medicines and medical supplies. I estimate the retail value of purchased (at less than wholesale) and donated medicines to be closer to $40,000. I was able to use much of the medicine myself with patients, but even more importantly, we were able to leave a great deal of medicine and supplies in the hands of several church sponsored charity medical clinics, as well as one badly damaged public hospital. I was able to see hundreds of patients during this trip, but the first and last patients were the most memorable. When we arrived in La Ceiba, a medical student asked me to see a very ill 10-year-old girl. Previously, several temporary medical teams had diligently treated this child in her home. The students had seen this child about two hours before we arrived. She had a high fever, several severe symptoms, and they were unable to get her to a hospital. When we arrived at a two room, ten-foot by ten-foot shack, the little girl was already dead. The same family had lost another child to a brain tumor less than a year ago. As sad as it was to witness the death of the child in that family, there was a thrill on our final day. We were actually packing up to leave when we were asked to come and attend the labor and delivery of a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Many scenes in Honduras are almost surreal. Standing in one place, you can see absolutely beautiful green mountains, and at the same time, neighborhoods devastated by the flooding of Hurricane Mitch. That storm left nearly 8,000 people confirmed dead, nearly twice that number still missing and one million, at least temporarily, homeless. It is not right to generalize about people, but I’ll do it anyway. While very poor to start with and suffering horrible recent consequences from Mitch, I found most people to be warm, gentle, welcoming, and quite generous with the little they had. Looking around, I expected more of a feeling of despair. Instead, I saw people determined and faithfully working, rebuilding homes, schools, churches, hospitals, roads, and bridges. I would have never known where to start, but it seemed that people started wherever they were, and have been taking on daunting tasks, in many places with only picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. People in Choleteca (in the southeast corner of Honduras between Nicaragua and El Salvador) told us about the understandable hysteria during and shortly after the hurricane. There was however a voice of comfort on one radio station. There was a Christian Brother who stayed on the air at the Catholic Radio Station. He was apparently a source of reliable information, but also read and spoke and prayed very soothingly, and helped sustain many through the strife. The most moving part of that story was that when the radio station ran out of gasoline for their temporary generator, people from all around walked up the hill with one precious gallon of gas at a time from their own stock to get the station, and Brother, back on the air for all to hear. I felt I was hearing a 1998 version of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. We visited with Fr. Nicholas Delgado, the pastor of a mission parish (San Isidro) in La Ceiba (on the north central coast of Honduras). This parish is very poor and has many satellite churches scattered in the rural surrounding area. Even though they are poor, All families in this parish however, on the first Sunday of each month, bring a pound of some kind of food to share with those who are poorer. If one forgets that week, there is food at the back of church to buy and donate. This process has become more important since the hurricane, but it is a three-year-old tradition for this parish. Mitch will have a very long–lasting, profound effect on the economy of Honduras. It will be at least two years, for example, before the large fruit companies have another banana crop, and that translates to tens of thousands of jobs lost. This experience will have a long–lasting effect on me as well. I plan to stay in touch with and support some of the medical and church workers I met on this trip. I can tell anyone interested about some of these people and projects. — Chuck Garven * * * * * * * * * * Too Much Pitter Pattering I would kindly like to ask a favor of other members and visitors attending the Community Mass. First, I would like to say that I do love children and spend a lot of time personally and professionally with little people. Now that I’ve said that, I would like to ask what has become of general reverence in church and at Mass. I think that people with little children are much more considerate at the ballet or Playhouse Square shows than they are at Mass, and this is totally amazing to me. It’s not that we do not want your children to receive blessings on Sunday morning. No, rather it is that we would like to be able to worship together without the distraction of children running in and out of pews, making thumping noises and running noises from the choir loft (which happened through the entire mass a few days ago), babies and pre–toddlers actually competing with baby screams and vocalizations during the homily, consecration, readings, and so on. Parents and adults, you don’t help matters by lifting your child high above your head and pointing to things. You don’t help by teaching your child that you can casually meander in and out of the church during the entire liturgy, including the homily and consecration. And, you don’t help by throwing kisses to your little ones across the church and pews. Wow. I sure do sound like a scrooge, and I guess I’m not saying that you should hire a babysitter for an hour a week so you can make liturgy your own special time — that is up to you. I am asking for some consideration for the rest of us and those on the altar who truly want to be able to participate fully and concentrate as best we can together. Thank you in advance. — Jan Wrzesinski (Jan is a member of the Hospitality Community. Mary Englert, who passed this article along to Communio, pointed out that footsteps in the choir loft echo fiercely downstairs. This is not generally known to the folks upstairs. Please take note. — D.A.) * * * * * * * * * * Ordinary Time Wasted time is not a prized commodity in 20th century American society. We are a people ruled by the clock. Time is money because time is to be filled with purposeful controlled activity, which is productive of things which that can be sold. We are convinced that we must be in control of time. The last thing the productive American would want to do is waste time playing around with realities that do not produce a salable commodity. But the Creator of heaven and earth is described by the scriptures as the original and the best of players. Creative activity is playful, and creative people do not feel that what they do is a job. Creative people also have a sense that their creativity and all that they fashion in the creative spirit are gifts they have received. The Christian can speak of this and the contemplative vision that which sees all reality as gift or grace. Our thankful response we call worship or Eucharist. We cannot speak of Ordinary Time without speaking of Sunday. The every seven–day celebration of the Lord’s Day is the basic structure upon which the Church Year is built. The great liturgical seasons of Advent–Christmas and Lent–Easter are more expansive celebrations of particular aspects of the one paschal mystery which we celebrate every Lord’s Day. These special seasons focus our attention upon critical dimensions of one mystery, a mystery so overwhelming that we are compelled to separate out its various elements for particular attention. These seasons in no way minimize the critical importance of the Sunday celebration throughout the rest of the year. Ordinary Time is not very ordinary at all. Ordinary Time, the celebration of Sunday, is the identifying mark of the Christian community which comes together, remembering that on this first day of the week the Lord of Life was raised up and creation came at last to completion. Sunday as a day of play and worship is a sacrament of redeemed time. How we live Sunday proclaims to the world what we believe about redeemed time now and forever. What happens in our churches every Sunday is the fruit of our week. What happens as the fruit of the week past is the beginning of the week to come. Sunday, like all sacraments, is simultaneously a point of arrival and departure for Christians on their way to the fullness of the kingdom. This is not ordinary at all. This is the fabric of Christian living. (Thanks to Fr. Tony for sending this in from the St. Andrew Bible Missal, William J. Hirten Co., Brooklyn NY, Brepols ICP, 1982.) * * * * * * * * * * The Pope, The Right Wing and A Letter from Walter Cronkite A few days ago, Pope John Paul told a million faithful in Mexico to take to the streets and confront the challenge of Protestant fundamentalist evangelism. He urged his audience to ignore the seductions of what he called "fallacious and novel ideologies." Walter Cronkite has also taken a stand against Protestant fundamentalism and the political consequences of their efforts. A few weeks ago, I received an E–mail letter from Walter Cronkite’s office. He wrote in support of The Interfaith Alliance. I called his New York office, which verified the letter’s authenticity. My own personal view is that church/state alliances always spell trouble for citizens in a country where the population is so diverse. I don’t compare my credibility to Walter Cronkite’s and so I decided to publish his letter in support of TIA and his warnings about the rise of real political influence of the radical religious right wing in the Republican party — the majority party — until the next election. Cronkite slams the Christian Coalition and I hope you will too. If anyone wishes to make a contribution to TIA the following is their address: The Interfaith Alliance1012 14th Street, NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20005 — Frank Schiros — Frank Schiros — Frank Schiros — Frank Schiros (Frank welcomes E–mail at Zorba2wo@aol.com and he has additional information about TIA for anyone who is interested.) An E–Mail Letter from Walter Cronkite Dear Friend, For many, many years, I did my best to report on the issues of the day in as objective a manner as possible. When I had my own strong opinions as I often did, I tried not to communicate them to my audience. Now, however, my circumstances are different. I am in a position to speak my mind. And that is what I propose to do. For a decade, I have watched with growing apprehension the rise to real political influence in our country of a genuinely radical movement known as the religious right wing. It is lavishly funded. According to published reports, the Christian Coalition alone has an annual operating budget in excess of $20 million. This movement is tightly organized. And it is led, says Christian Coalition Executive Director Randy Tate, by political operatives who have earned for themselves "an advanced degree in hardball politics." As a political organization, the Christian Coalition has been a great success. It is a textbook example of what a relatively small number of skilled and committed political organizers can accomplish within our democratic system. But with the Christian Coalition, I have a real problem. I consider myself a person of faith. I work very hard at being a Christian. And certainly, the Christian Coalition does not speak for me. What’s more, I am absolutely sure that the Christian Coalition does not speak for the great majority of men and women. Do you agree? I hope that you do. And I also hope that you’ll join me as an enthusiastic supporter of the absolutely vital work of TIA — The Interfaith Alliance. What is The Interfaith Alliance? TIA is a faith–based group whose members are drawn from many religious traditions. On TIA’s national board are some of America’s most distinguished religious leaders. Among others, they include Joan Brown Campbell, General Secretary of the National Episcopal Church... Catholic bishops Francis Murphy of Baltimore and Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit... Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, former President of the American Jewish Congress... Reverend Gardner Taylor, co–founder with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Progressive Baptist Convention... Denise Davidoff, Moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association. TIA is a diverse group — as diverse as America. And its members have come together for the purpose of standing up to the Christian Coalition and other radical right wing groups and individuals who wrap themselves in the language and symbolism of religious faith. From a mere handful of people a little more than a year ago, TIA has grown into an organization of 40,000 with local alliances in 35 states. And every month it is adding thousands of new members. In Tennessee and Georgia, Virginia and Pennsylvania, Missouri and Texas, TIA is on the move... TIA chapters have challenged and exposed right wing "stealth" candidates for local school boards — published and distributed their own voter guides — testified before state legislative committees. TIA is the mainstream... With passion, TIA supports the precious American tradition of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. And loudly and clearly, TIA proclaims that Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed and their friends are not — repeat not — mandated to speak on behalf of the community of faith. But in order to pose a real challenge to the right wing extremists, TIA must continue to grow. TIA must be in a position to serve as a voice — as an organizing focus — as a base from which people of good will can stand and fight against the forces of extremism and division. But to do all of that TIA most urgently needs our help. Will you take a stand? Will you help TIA in saying "No" to religion as a political cover — "No" to Pat Robertson — "No" to Ralph Reed — "No" to Jerry Falwell? I hope very much that you will. And I hope, too, that in your support for TIA’s work, you will be as generous as you possibly can. TIA asks supporters to make an annual membership contribution of $25. But if you can, I urge you to do more. Your gift of $50, $100, $250 or even $500 will help TIA grow strong. And that I submit to you, can only be a good and helpful thing for our country. A lot of good people are counting on you. Please say "Yes." — Walter Cronkite * * * * * * * * * * The Practicality of Love"Nothing is more practical than finding God, i.e. falling in love in a quite absolute final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning; what you will do with your evenings; how you will spend your weekends; what you will read; who you will know; what breaks your heart and amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love and it will decide everything." — Pedro Aruppe, S.J. (Thanks to Kim Langley for sending in this quote from Pedro Aruppe, the former superior general of the Jesuits.) * * * * * * * * * * Sin and Accomplishment"A town depends on sinners. Sinners are the ones who get the work done. A strong sense of personal guilt is what makes people willing to serve on committees." — Garrison Keillor (Thanks to Frank Schiros for sending in the above quote.) * * * * * * * * * * I’ve been trying to come up with one word or phrase that would capture our experience this past Saturday and Sunday at the School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning in Columbus, GA, 90 miles south of Atlanta, but it is more a powerful collage of many — awe, joy, surprise, community, peace, hope, sadness, anger, challenge, fatigue, gratitude... Fourteen of us (Humility of Mary Sisters) arrived at the SOA gates about 3:30 Saturday afternoon, after a little confusion on directions that took us up a road where we were pulled over by an army man and asked for our IDs. It turned out that we were "on the installation" where no one without a military ID is permitted — so here we are, starting out by "crossing the line!" After checking all our IDs against his ban–and–bar list, he directed us to turn around and gave us directions on how to "legally" get to the SOA. We joined a crowd of about 3,000 on both sides of the road in front of the main gate for the last part of Saturday’s vigil that included music, reflection, speakers, and street theater. One of the speakers was Jack Nelson–Palmeyer (author of School of Americas: School of Assassins, and an earlier work, Hunger for Justice: Politics of Food and Faith) from St. Thomas University in Minneapolis, who spelled out very briefly but clearly how SOA is just one piece of a U.S. foreign policy of domination and oppression — a sad truth to deal with. The vigil ended at 5 p.m. with prayers, blessings and drumming by Lakota Native Americans from North Dakota — a people who have known intimately oppression from the U.S. government. Some of them were from Wounded Knee. As we walked back to our van, many of us kept running into friends, acquaintances, and former students from different parts of the country — great reunion time. Sunday morning our group gathered for prayer centered on the Christ the King Scripture of the day and remembered all those who have suffered and died at the hands of the Latin American military trained at SOA, and all those who were planning to risk arrest today by crossing the line onto the base where the school is located. We arrived at the gate about 10 a.m. for the memorial service. This time the crowd numbered 7,000 with a great diversity of ages — from a few months to 93 years (the largest segment seemed to be 20–29). They were from all parts of the U.S. and other countries, e.g. Germany, Norway, Pakistan — hundreds of high school and college students, veterans, union people, Grandmothers for Peace, Catholic Worker communities, and, of course, hundreds of persons from religious orders, especially women. We were welcomed by Fr. Roy Bourgeois, the Maryknoll priest who, in November 1990, (the first anniversary of the murders in El Salvador of the six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter), walked onto Fort Benning with 25 others to protest the training given at the SOA to those military leaders responsible for the murders. Since then, the number present each year, as well as the number arrested, has increased. Last year there were 1,200 present; 601 crossed the line. This year SOA Watch was hoping the latter number would grow to 1,000. Sunday morning they announced that 1,200 had signed up. Roy spoke very passionately of how the SOA sets up a wall between the rich and the poor, a wall that brings violence rather than love, despair rather than hope, destruction rather than peace. But he was just as passionate and eloquent in reminding us that today is a sacred time, a grace–filled moment in which we gather as a joyful, caring, compassionate people hungry for justice, gathered in the spirit of Ghandi and Dorothy Day, who believe that love comes with community, that there is enough for everyone, that we don’t need guns or a dominating foreign policy. He emphasized that although we are angry at what SOA brings about, the persons within it are not enemies but our brothers and sisters. Martin Sheen, the actor, gave a special greeting that included the passage from Isaiah about "Who shall go Lord…is it I?…" Pat Farrell, a Dubuque Franciscan who worked in Salvador for 10 years, read a very moving letter sending prayers and solidarity from Jon Sobrino, SJ, director of the Romero Center at the University of San Salvador where his six colleagues were murdered. (He escaped because he was out of the country at the time.) Everyone joined in praying a commitment to nonviolence and in honoring and calling forth the presence among us of our Native American sisters and brothers whose trail of tears make this ground holy, of the SOA Prisoners of Conscience in federal jails around the country, and the faithful of all of Latin America who live the consequences of violence from SOA graduates. Then followed a very moving ceremonial Mayan Blessing by the Guatemala Support Network, calling forth on each of us and on this place (which belongs to the Creator, not to the government) the blessings of the four directions and the four elements, that this land may be made sacred, that we may be a voice for those whose suffering was born behind these walls. May we walk with our ancestors of 500 years… At this moment, especially, I felt so connected to our Humility of Mary direction and to our HM ancestors… Close to noon the SOA Prisoners of Conscience, who had just recently gotten out of jail, then commissioned those who were about to cross the line and everyone joined in a Community Blessing: "May love and mercy go with you as you speak for those who cannot speak. Through your witness, may their voices be heard here at the School of the Americas, in the White House, in the Halls of Congress, and in the hearts of U.S. citizens across the nation so that the School of the Americas will be closed forever." And the funeral march began through the gate and up the winding road toward the school, led by Martin Sheen, about 10 persons in wheelchairs and persons carrying coffins of various sizes, and then all the others, most carrying small wooden crosses marked with the name of a victim in Latin America. They came and they came and they came, down a slightly rising hill where most of them were gathered, across the line, as musicians slowly chanted the names and ages of hundreds who have been tortured, murdered, kidnapped, silenced by SOA graduates. As I heard some of the names — besides those of the four women and the Jesuits — I relived our shocked, grieving moments in Texas when we got word of the deaths of some we had met on delegations or who had been colleagues of those who worked in Central America. I don’t think I will ever forget that solemn movement of people down the "hill." Many of us knew people in the procession, among them Sr. K. King’s Jesuit brother, Jim, and two HM volunteers who drove up from Immokalee, Florida. There was a Unitarian minister whose 13–year–old daughter and 73–year–old mother crossed, as well as bout 18 Loretto Sisters and many, many other sisters. When the procession ended, someone announced the final number that had crossed the line — 2,319! What an outburst of joy and applause! Roy Bourgeois danced around the stage holding up the number for at least 10 minutes. Because "presence" was as important as crossing the line, the vigil continued with music, prayer and updates as we waited to find out what was happening to those 2,300 who were now out of sight some place on the winding road toward the school, which is three miles in. The process in the past has been that they were arrested, fingerprinted, etc. (Last year that took until 8 or 9 p.m.) Those who had crossed for the first time were given a "ban and bar" letter prohibiting them from coming on the property for a year. Those who were "repeats" were given a court date; last year about 30 persons were given the maximum sentence of six months in federal prison. Eventually we got the word that this year was different! The federal police were releasing everybody — they couldn’t possibly handle the situation. Alleluia! They put them on buses, drove them around town to a park about a mile away and released them. They marched singing through the neighborhood (a friend told me it was mostly African American and Hispanic) back to where we were all waiting at the gate to greet them with applause and hugs. By now it was close to 3 p.m. The vigil continued until 5 p.m. but we had to leave to drive back to Atlanta for our 7 p.m. plane. I have participated in many vigils, protests, etc., all of which have had their unique impact, but I think this one was the most powerful… I’m not real sure why; I think a prime reason is that this one was with other HMs and having more of all of you sharing in the energy/blessings that come from that kind of holy experience is a special kind of grace for me — and all of us. Next steps? We keep on pushing for the close of the school. It is going to happen. The events of this weekend bring it closer. A bill to cut the funding will come up in the next Congress and we will be there to push for those few more votes that are needed. And we dare to image/dream/pray that we won’t have to go to Fort Benning next year because SOA is no longer there. But if it is, we’ll be back! — Mary Hurley, HM Community News Policy Statement on Communion Reflections According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the time after Communion is a time of community prayer. The Community of St. Malachi Liturgy Committee recognizes that such prayer may take several forms including silent reflection. Therefore, the following guidelines have been established: 1. On the Sunday when Eucharist is offered in both species, there will be silent reflection. 2. The seasonal planning sub–committees will make decisions regarding the use of reflections during special seasons of the year: Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. 3. At other times, groups and individuals wishing to present a communion reflection should contact the Music/Liturgical Minister to request inclusion in the Reflections schedule, keeping in mind the following: a. Request: Discuss the subject and/or submit a rough draft of the proposed reflection with the Music/Liturgical Minister at least two weeks before the liturgy. If the Minister is not available, contact the Liturgy Committee Chairperson. The person with whom you schedule the reflection will inform the presider and the sacristan(s). Phone numbers for these individuals can be found in the Community Roster or by calling the Community Secretary at the rectory. b. Length: Not to exceed three minutes. c. Content and Language: Relevant to the Scripture of the day or the focus of a special celebration. In keeping with all other standards for liturgical expression and with sensitivity to the variety of persons who celebrate with the Community, topics, and language should reflect the spirit of the Community. At times it is appropriate for a member or guest of the community to make announcements or provide information about an issue pertinent to the mission of the community. The same procedure will be followed. * * * * * * * * * * Community Council met in St. Malachi Center on Jan. 17. The next meeting is Feb. 21. Thanks to Jane Smith for leading the Journey of Faith prayer time before the meeting and providing Council members with journal books. Jonnie Flaherty joined Council at that meeting as a member at large. Here are some highlights: LITURGY: An amended policy statement on communion reflections and other announcements was approved. It is printed in this issue of Communio. People have been staying too long in church after the 11 a.m. mass, which is disruptive to those arriving early for the 12:30 mass. Coffee Hour is the right place for socializing after mass. Committee continues to discuss replacing the current lectionary and is experimenting with using readings that have been slightly edited. ARCHIVES: Kay Vine came to the meeting to report that work has begun on the archives. The next meeting is Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m. Committee members are Kay, Mary Englert, Mary Jane Aylward, Peter Toomey, Nancy Erdey, Margaret Bayes, Fr. Tony and Chris Kroesel. REFUGEES: Kay also reported on the refugee project. In appreciation for a presentation Kay and Shair Ali made for the Diocesan Office of Migration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities offered a stipend of $100 to each. Kay has directed that money to the Community, while Shair asked that his be given to Malachi Mart. We have been asked if we are ready for another family. As best we know, the Bosnian family, which suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, has returned to Bosnia. CHRISTIAN FORMATION: Nine children celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Dec. 16. First Communion preparation began Jan. 17. The Senior High Retreat will be Feb. 26–28 as an "urban plunge" experience in the neighborhood with evening accommodations at the Center. The senior high students will plan the junior high retreat scheduled for March 26–27. PASTOR’S REPORT: New secretary Judy Bozell started mid– December. She is a member of St. Patrick’s. Lou Schroeder continues to work a few mornings a week. Seminarian Ed Smith is leading a seven–week Bible study on Tuesday nights. "Families Celebrating God" is a new family–centered prayer service at the Center beginning Friday, Feb. 12, 6–7:30 p.m. New staff at the Center: "Gabe" Nieves, family program specialist, Craig Davis, a Marianist volunteer, and Denise Sobieski, CWRU graduate student intern. PRESIDENT’S REPORT: We are still waiting for someone to step forward and volunteer to be the Community’s vocation coordinator. Paul Kunkel now fills the position, but would like someone else to take over. Position does not require a large time commitment and mainly involves being a contact person for the diocese. To foster closer ties to the parish council, Community Council voted to direct the Community leadership to meet with parish to enhance communication, address issues of mutual concern and opportunity. Greg Gortz and Jeff Leitch will meet with the parish. ANNIVERSARY: Plans are underway for the Community’s 25th anniversary celebration in April 2000. Volunteers are needed. Five people are at the core of the committee: Jane Smith, Rosemarie DeJohn, Rebecca Rocco, Pat Forkas and Kay Vine. Fr. Tony will contact Bishop Pilla’s office to check on his availability, which will determine the date of the celebration. Work on the Community’s history is underway and there is an idea to create a quilt. FINANCE: Council affirmed the $2000 expenditure to support Chuck Garven’s trip to Honduras. As of the meeting, $1537 has been collected to replace this money, which was taken out of the Community’s operating budget. The December special collection for Honduras was the biggest ever raising $4187. MEMBERSHIP: Planning is underway for the February Welcome Series. Committee is preparing a brief history of the Community. The recommitment process is scheduled to begin Feb. 21. The Fat Sunday brunch will be Feb. 7. — Dan Alaimo
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