Why give you this brief biography? I have thought a lot about writing this letter to CSM and, in this case, I believe it is important to look at the past when planning for the future. The past year has been a challenging one for both CSM and the Communications Committee. There has been a lot of feedback, positive and negative, about the CSM publications, specifically what we allow to be published, as well as what we are doing to promote the mission of CSM. But, before I get into any specifics, it is necessary, and maybe long overdue, to tell you about the mission of the Communications Committee and its publications.

           According to the CSM Handbook, the communications ministry’s role in keeping with Vatican II states that: “The church…is duty bound to preach the gospel. …its task involves using the media to proclaim the good news of salvation.” As part of this mission, the committee actively publishes five communication vehicles.

1.      The Newsletter. Written and produced by Mary Englert, it contains brief news items of general interest and information CSM members need. The Newsletter is distributed on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. Mary goes beyond the call of duty in giving each of us this gift twice every month.

2. Calendar of Opportunities. Gives CSM members an opportunity to become more involved in the Community (hence the name). The Calendar is distributed on the fourth Sunday of each month, and is usually seen at the very end of Communio. When I started on the committee, the Calendar was produced by Peter Toomey, then Bill McLaughlin, and currently by Lisa Diomede.
3. www.stmalachi.org. The Web site offers information about the Community and Parish and provides links to the Web Pages of Malachi House, Urban Community School, and St. Malachi Center. The Web site is managed by Mike May. We are currently looking for some volunteer help in this area. If you are interested, please contact Mike (contact info on last page). All are welcome.  And needed!
4. Email Alerts. Dolores Sullin oversees this program to communicate prayer requests and death notices via email. This highly successful program is available by request only. To begin receiving these email alerts, please contact Dolores at dasas@nccw.net.
   (Note: The Communications Committee is already planning for an “Events” email campaign to keep members up-to-minute regarding CSM events. If you are interested in helping with this new campaign, please contact me at any time.)
5. Communio. I purposely saved this one for last because this is the communication vehicle that is most misunderstood by the Community. Per the CSM Handbook, the mission of Communio is “to provide a forum for thought, opinion, reflection, and information. As a discussion forum, Communio will help prepare, assist, and challenge CSM members to continue their individual journeys of growth in Christ. Besides disseminating essential reports about the CSM’s life and operations, it will provide a forum that goes beyond mere information.” Since I have been involved in Communio, Dan Alaimo and Luis Gutierrez have spent countless hours each issue producing this publication. They have been the force that has made Communio work over the past few years. Communio is produced every fourth Sunday, running less frequently during the summer months.

            During any one month, there may be 15 to 20 people involved in producing these publications, including collating and stapling (Pam Pulizzi oversees this), copying (Ellen McIntyre, Judy Bozell, and Carol Lavelle), and distribution (Celeste Grunwald and friends). To all of these people, and those I may have missed inadvertently, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Celeste will be leaving her position after a wonderful four years. We are looking for a replacement. Please contact me if you are interested. Again, all are welcome!

            Per the CSM Handbook, “Communio differs from all the other vehicles the Communication committee provides for CSM in that it offers ideas, viewpoints, and other content not readily available through other locally available Catholic media.” The Handbook also notes this special disclaimer: “Status: Because Communio’s material may occasionally be controversial, the work carries a separate title, to indicate that it is not the official bulletin of an established parish, and therefore not an official church publication. As an editorial project where Catholic lay people can freely dialogue with one another, it strives to maintain the catholic identity of the Church without suppressing legitimate diversity.” I believe this information is vitally important to digest before we look at the remainder of this article, which will focus on the future of Communio.

            To be honest, it has been difficult reading some of our recent contributions, as well as receiving a vast amount of negative feedback regarding the publication. At our most recent Communications Committee meeting, we agreed that things needed to change now. That change starts with communicating to you.  The title of this article, “A Fresh Start,” refers to my outlook regarding Communio. The committee realizes that we need to take a fresh look into the true mission of Communio.

            Our main concern is that of every editorial publication: readership. I’ve talked to many members who are simply choosing not to read the publication any more because they believe it represents only a small handful of CSM members. But the issue goes deeper than that. As a committee, we feel we have done our job well, with the exception of one area. Per our mission, Communio’s goal is to prepare, assist, and challenge CSM members to continue their individual journeys of growth in Christ. In our quest to promote diverse thinking and viewpoints, as well as the very difficult chore to get members of the Community to contribute articles, we have pretty much printed everything submitted, for good or bad. Some of this has, frankly, not contributed to CSM members’ journey to grow in Christ. I feel obligated to say that some of the articles have brought us down as a community – focusing on individual battles, gossip, unsubstantiated claims, and a remarkable trend to send a note in to Communio before talking to a real person, let alone coming to a Council meeting to take it up with community leadership.

            Starting today, each of us on the Communications Committee plans to uphold the original mission of Communio. This means doing a few things differently, such as:

1. We will not accept articles that do not align with the mission of the publication. This means a couple things. First, we will need to work harder with our contributors on edits and revisions, which is always a time-consuming process, as well as something most contributors do not like doing (who does?). Some of the articles we published that were excessively criticized needed just a few additional elements to align with the mission. This is what Dan, Luis, and I will try to provide. Second, we need more contributors. Our current contributors are wonderful, and I cannot thank them enough for all that they do. But, frankly, we NEED more. I hear complaints all the time about how there are not enough differing viewpoints in Communio and that people want to read other people’s work. As soon as you ask the people who complain to contribute, fifty reasons come up as to why they can’t. Hey, I understand. This article is only the third I have contributed in six years. We are all busy. But the Community needs Communio, and we need fresh perspectives from people like you to make this thing work well. Together, we can make this publication that has served the Community so well work even better, and lift us all up a little higher.
2. Less is more. Most of the people I received feedback from are not able to make it through the entire publication due to length. As a general rule, we will not be producing more than 12 pages. We know your time is precious, and we will respect that to the best of our ability. In the event we receive an extremely long article that shouldn’t be cut, we will direct you to the Web site for the full story.
3. Order. We will be spending more time putting feature stories up front and important-but-secondary stories in the back. Also, some people were getting the impression that “The Malachi File” was our lead story. The purpose of that editorial is simply to give an introduction to the issue and some perspective of the stories, not to serve as a lead story. Currently, we are looking to reposition “The Malachi File” per the needs of Communio and CSM.
4. Editorial Comments. In the feedback we received, some people were afraid to contribute because they believed that we would comment on it in “The Malachi File” before people read the submission. In the Communications Committee meeting in January, we overwhelmingly agreed that making any subjective comments on articles published in that current issue would stop. Any comments on current submissions would need to wait until the next issue, giving Editors and members the same opportunity to communicate an opinion. It’s true that most publications do make comments on articles in that same publication, but Communio is no ordinary publication. So, if you were afraid to contribute because of this reason, worry no more.
5. Graphic Look. In about three or four months, you will be seeing a new design for Communio. This is for a couple reasons. First, it’s time. Second, we need a design that transitions easier to web form. We will be looking for your feedback on this when the time comes.

            I could go on and give individual examples on why some of these changes are taking place, but that is not necessary. The Community of St. Malachi is a wonderful gift. Since I have been a part of the Community, any situations that seem negative or political arise due to a lack of communication or blatant miscommunication. Communio seeks to do its part in bringing us all together, not pulling us apart.

            There has also been a call by many members of the Community to hold an open forum (possibly quarterly), where members and visitors could come to dialogue on Community happenings. This type of event would be facilitated, and work to get all viewpoints on the table. Is there a need for this? Would you find this useful and, more importantly, attend? Please let me know. This idea will either go or no-go dependent on the feedback you send me at joe_pulizzi@yahoo.com.

            This message was a little longer than I planned, but necessary and a long-time coming. I am so blessed to be a part of a Community where things such as Communio exist. Together, I’m looking forward to making a fresh start. God Bless!

— Joe Pulizzi

(Joe chairs the Communications Committee.)

            Wow, this certainly has been an eventful year for the Senior High group. In August, we attended The Fest in Wickcliffe, in October, we planned a youth mass and throughout the year, we looked at social justice issues, including capital punishment, poverty, abortion, hate crimes and the concept of just war. This led us to many great experiences like fasting, attending rallies and meeting all kinds of interesting people. So as we wrap up another year of Christian Formation, we take what we have seen and heard this year, and put it into words to share with the Community. Here is what our group had to say.

— Katie Alaimo

            When was the last time that you were jumping up and down at mass? Imagine thousands of Catholic youths praising the name of the Lord to the sounds of Christian rock artists. The Fest, which took place on August 11th, 2002, was full of these activities and more, from sand volleyball with our new friends to human foosball and keychains with crosses to be donated for a cause, the Fest was an experience we’ll never forget. To close the evening, we expressed our faith by celebrating mass. Priests from all around the diocese came, along with Bishop Pevec to lead the mass. After the final “Amen,” the sky was lit up with Jesus, in the form of fireworks. As if that wasn’t enough, we continued on throughout the night, showing our faith.

— Nick Aylward and Hillary Etheart

            After being inspired by the vibrant masses at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), the Senior High youth group decided to bring some of this enthusiasm to an 11 a.m. mass at St. Malachi’s. The most profound aspect of the NCYC masses was the music; so initially, music was the only thing we were going to bring to our mass. However, once we started planning, we decided to take our entire group and truly make this mass ours.

            Upon entering the church on that October 27th, one noticed that the hospitality ministers were all high schoolers. The lectors were teenagers. The choir consisted of kids. We had members of the Senior High do every job except those of the priest. Not only that, but we brought back our favorite songs and psalm responses used from NCYC.

            This mass was our way of bringing back a part of our experience at NCYC to the Community. After all, we had received a great deal of support from the Community and Parish when we decided to participate in this conference.

            Instead of traditional hymns and mass parts, we instilled them with the vigor of youth and gave everyone a change of pace. We showed younger children that this faith is ours too, not just adults, and therefore, it is theirs also.

It was a chance for us to share in the ministries, in a new way, from how we do week in and week out. The mass was important enough to us that we all made time out of our busy schedules to rehearse and make this mass a smashing success.

— Gary Pritts Jr., Katie Alaimo and Margaret Brinich

            Margaret Rose Aylward and her friend Phil came to talk to the Senior High group earlier in the year. They discussed recent rallies they had attended at the School of the Americas and Washington D.C. There is an annual rally at the School of the Americas to close it down. In Washington D.C., they attended a big anti-war rally. They told us about the background of our country’s involvement in the Middle East, the people they met and the things they saw.

            The information and point of view the youngsters provided was enlightening and inspirational. Their real-life experience added to our discussion and opened our eyes to injustices and actions we can take against them. And we loved seeing our former Senior Christian Formation member, Margaret.

— Leah Schiros, Leah Tardivo, Danny Tardivo, Justin Tuckosh, Joey Wingenfeld and Zoe Lukens

            In 1981, four women from Beaumont, three of whom were nuns, were raped and murdered in El Salvador. In their memory, an annual event called “No Mas, No More!” is hosted by Beaumont High School, where a mass and dinner are held and speakers from Central America share their experiences.

Our Senior High group attended this event last fall and listened to speakers Dr. Juan Romagoza and Amilcar Martinez. Although neither of these men spoke English, a translator stood beside them at the podium.

Dr. Romagoza was the most memorable speaker. He talked about the torture and imprisonment he endured for 22 days in 1980 at the National Guard Headquarters in El Salvador. He was a surgeon and was captured during a free clinic/mass. He was tortured in ways that would prevent him from ever performing surgery again. Once in America, he won a landmark class action civil suit against two Salvadoran generals in a U.S. court in 2002.

One of the last things Romagoza said was that he was planting seeds by telling his story, and we were fertile ground. With these words, a new awareness began to sink in, of the violence and social injustice present in Central America, which we would take with us as we drove back to Cleveland.

— Katie Alaimo and Maura Garven

            On February 12th of this year, Richard Fox was executed in the Lucasville state prison. He was convicted of the murder of a college girl in 1989.

The night before the execution, high school students gathered in Cleveland’s St. Ignatius chapel to pray for Mr. Fox, the girl and both of their families. Among the high school students and teachers that gave up a school day to express their views on capital punishment were Megan Tube, Karen Duffy, Geoff Kennard, Hillary Etheart, Megan Lucic and Noreen Lucic.

            After a snowy six-hour bus ride through the night to Southern Ohio, we arrived at the prison at about 8 a.m. Along with a few other buses from other organizations, we listened to students speak and express their views.

Under the watch of the newscasters, police and prison guards, we peacefully stood in prayer as we awaited the news of Richard’s death by lethal injection. We silently mourned, ringing a bell one time for every man currently on death row followed by rings for every year Richard Fox lived. As hundreds of students stood in a line, candles in hand and solemnly watching, the van carrying Mr. Fox’s body left the prison and we felt our views on the death penalty acquire more meaning.

— Megan and Noreen Lucic

            During the last winter, the high school youth group met with St. Wendelin’s youth group at St. Wendelin’s. We met in their gym, which was in their basement. We played volleyball, basketball and other games of teamwork. We got to know a lot of the kids who came from many different backgrounds. Overall, we think it was a success and that we should meet with them again.

— Kevin Leitch and Joey Wingenfeld

            On the weekend of February 21st, our Senior High Christian Formation group went on a retreat at St. Leonard’s, hosted by Father “G.” The theme of this retreat was based on the idea of fasting to grow spiritually, to better understand what it’s like to live in poverty, without access to food. Along the way, we learned about issues such as eating disorders, homelessness, third world countries and world political relations.

            We ended the fast with a symbolic breaking of bread and contributed to the cause of social justice by asking the Community to bring in canned food, which we collected and distributed to St. Pat’s hunger center. Although we were physically hungry, our senior high class was nourished and fulfilled by experiencing this retreat.

— Chad Garvin, Sarah Schiros, Becca Graham, Connor Cronin and Emily Mohar

            Who is “fred,” you ask? Well, “fred” is everything you ever wanted to be, and more. “Fred” is flowing like a river. Did you know that you wish “fred” to everyone every Sunday?

            The theme of our junior high retreat was “fred.” Well, I guess you could call it “peace” in English, it just happens to be the most common word for “peace’ in other languages, including Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Throughout the weekend, we tried to understand peace and tolerance by exploring life through different viewpoints including different disabilities, religions, lifestyles and races. The Senior High retreat team led the retreat in March. “The team was awesome, I would definitely give them an 11 out of 10,” said Patrick Horning.

            And after, we all sang and danced to music by Billy Joel.

— Andrew Aylward, Maura Garvin, Kevin Leitch

(The following was received prior to the Community’s Annual Meeting, but after the last issue of Communio had been completed. It makes an excellent point, and curiously, it is one that has not raised before. The author asked that her name be withheld.)

            I have been a member of the Community a little over a year. It saddens me greatly when I read some of the letters people have felt a need to write. I am not looking forward to the meeting on Sunday because I am afraid people will use it as a personal sounding board. I went to the Community meeting when the issue with Bonnie first hit the fan. Do you realize that of all the people who spoke, only Bonnie mentioned God? Everyone talked about “I did this, or he/she did this, or I this or that.” Bonnie was the only one to mention God. And still the talk continues, and still people fail to mention God. I don’t understand. If the different ministries were started to do God’s work, then how come we have forgotten Him now?

            We are here to do God’s work, for His glory, not ours. Awhile back there was an article written over the concern about the change of the neighborhood and that the expensive condos and apartments would change the neighborhood base, and that the Community might have to take their work elsewhere. From where I sit, we still have a lot to do right here and it starts at home (our community).

            Here is a suggestion, how about asking the members of the community, and any others who are so concerned, to come to a prayer meeting and take the issues at hand up with God. Anyone who has been offended, has offended, or otherwise has something to say, can come to the prayer meeting and tell it to God. I don’t mean a quickie prayer, I’m talking about, get down on your knees and give it up to God. I absolutely believe in the power of prayer and if we come together to seek God’s will, we will walk away with God’s healing touch. We have to stop pointing fingers at each other and stop talking about “ I started the... or I did this...” We need to turn it over to God and let Him heal the wounds, solve the problems, lead the way, and bless our efforts.

            Please do not use my name if you feel the need to share this letter. I did not write this to draw attention unto myself.

            God bless you in your work and know that there are people praying for you and may God’s love touch us all.

            In listening, thinking and praying about the controversies which have surfaced here over the past many months, I would like to offer a suggestion that might help us. Several years ago I read an excellent book, The Different Drum — Community Making and Peace, by M. Scott Peck. I would like to recommend this book to all of you. Because if has struck me as so appropriate for CSM at this time, I am in the process of re-reading it myself.

            Peck tells us, “Community, like marriage, requires that we hang in there when the going gets rough.” Another great quote is, “Just because it is a safe place does not mean community is a place without conflict”. As I recall, the author goes on to speak of “cycles” in the life of a true community, cycles of peace interspersed with cycles of chaos, stating that this is all part of the process of community life. The goal is to work through differences (not put a lid on discussion), but to do this work with courtesy, civility, tolerance and love, appreciating the gifts of even those with whom we differ strongly.

            In his letter to the Community dated April 27, 2003, Luis Gutierrez reminded us of the power symbolized as we join hands each Sunday for the Lord’s Prayer — the power to open our hearts even to those with whom we passionately disagree and continue to love them anyway. This community is worth the work! Let’s not allow ourselves to sink into negativity but rather continue to labor with love and prayer.

— Ellen McIntyre

(Ellen is a member of the Community.)

There You Were

When we arrived, there you were, waiting to greet us.

At opening prayer, you filled us with the Holy Spirit.

You were in our smiles, our laughs, our tears.

You listened to our prayers

And spoke to us through the silence.

You watched over our slumber

And brought forth a new day.

Some saw you and immediately recognized your face.

Others will look back and realize

That you’re here day by day in our lives.

Here we are in your presence,

Asking you to touch and fill our hearts

With your love

That we may know you

Now and forever,

Amen.

— Katie Alaimo

Movie Depicts Life of St. Therese

(The following was forwarded to Communio by several community members. It is dated April 16 and is from the “What’s New” section of the Catholic Exchange, www.catholicexchange.com. The content encourages republication.)

Dear Friends,

            As you may be aware, our friend Leonardo Defilippis has produced a delightful family motion picture called “Therese,” about the “Little Flower,” St. Therese of Lisieux.

            His plan is to release it to U.S. theaters in October, around St. Therese’s feast day. However, the number of theaters in which it’s shown – and thus the impact that St. Therese can have on people’s lives through this movie — will largely be determined by the popular interest shown in the film now. In other words, the more interest Catholic families demonstrate in the movie at this time, the more widely Hollywood is likely to distribute the film in October. So if you’d like to help, here’s what you can do.

            Hollywood is monitoring the film’s web site closely to see how many visits it attracts. The site is exceptional and even contains video clips from the movie. So please visit it often, and also e-mail this article to your friends so they can do so as well. It’s important that we Catholics show our support right now for this particular kind of filmmaking.

            St. Therese is an incredible patron for our time, and many souls worldwide are likely to be touched by seeing this movie. It is a moving love poem to the patron saint of the “Little Way.” But its power to inspire the mainstream public will only be realized if Hollywood sees a level of interest in the film that warrants the widest possible theatrical release in October.

Leonardo DeFilippis is a good friend of mine, and I can tell you that he has poured himself into this project at great personal sacrifice. I was privileged to attend a special world premiere screening in Dallas recently with over 40 bishops in attendance. Many in the crowd (including myself) were moved to tears at the end and the standing ovation for Leonardo lasted fully five minutes. On top of that, he was just invited to screen the film privately for Pope John Paul! So please, now that God has blessed Leonardo’s vibrant apostolate and opened the door to the production of a major motion picture on the life of a Catholic saint, let’s do what we can to help promote it. Many more such films will likely follow if this first one generates sufficient interest by the movie going public.

            Again, the web site is www.theresemovie.com. Enjoy and spread the word!

            In JMJ,

— Tom Allen

(Tom Allen is the Editor of the Catholic Exchange.)

File Malachi The

            The next issue of Communio will be June 22 with a June 8 deadline, followed by an issue on August 24 with an August 10 deadline. As per our custom, we will be skipping July.

            Thanks to all the kids from the High School Christian Formation class who contributed to the report on their activities this year (in reverse alphabetical order): Joey Wingenfeld, Justin Tuckosh, Leah Tardivo, Danny Tardivo, Sarah Schiros, Leah Schiros, Gary Pritts Jr., Emily Mohar, Zoe Lukens, Noreen Lucic, Megan Lucic, Kevin Leitch, Becca Graham, Maura Garvin, Chad Garvin, Hillary Etheart, Connor Cronin, Margaret Brinich, Nick Aylward, Andrew Aylward, and Katie Alaimo. In addition, thanks go to Joe Pulizzi, Ellen McIntyre and one writer who asked that her name be withheld.

            That one article is especially deserving of attention because, through all the tumult of the past year, this is the first occasion that someone has suggested that perhaps, just maybe, we should involve God and pray about it. At first I wondered why anyone would want their name withheld from an article like this until I talked with a Community member who mentioned that he didn’t put much stock in prayer. Now I guess I understand.

            Speaking of the power of prayer, it has recently occurred to some of us that out of the 28 people on the e-mail list of those serving in the military connected in some way to members of the Community and Parish, we have not heard of any misfortune befalling any of them. I write this cautiously because it is still a dangerous world out there for our armed forces, and it may well be that we just simply haven’t heard some piece of bad news. But does prayer work? We hope that this is an example that it does. Thanks again to Dolores Sullin for taking care of the e-mailing.

            Ellen McIntyre’s article quoting the book, The Different Drum — Community Making and Peace, by M. Scott Peck, also makes an excellent point that a community such as ours needs to stick it through these rough times because they are inevitable. This is excellent advice, but I must confess that it comes a bit late for me personally.

            But most significantly in this issue, the Senior High School Christian Formation class got together and wrote a series of articles reporting on their activities for the year. Take a good look at this, because if this is our future, it looks bright indeed.

            I first took notice of this group of kids several years ago when they were in the Junior High class. Something happened along the way and all of a sudden my daughter Katie and others actually started to look forward to Christian Formation night, and developed a genuine enthusiasm for it. This surprised me because I didn’t think this was supposed to happen with kids that age.

            Later, as members of the Senior High School class, I watched as they grew in faith and faith-filled action. This is truly one of the brightest spots in the Community right now, and they deserve your financial support as they raise funds for their trip to the next National Catholic Youth Conference. Special credit goes to our director of religious education, Karen Duffy, but I’m going to stop short of mentioning other names simply because don’t know all of them and I’m hesitant to leave anybody out who has contributed to this program through the past few years. So I’m sure I speak for many of the other parents in applauding our Christian Formation team for a job exceptionally well done.

            At the risk of favoritism, I also must single out my daughter Katie for attention. For one, she coordinated and edited the High School articles in this issue and wrote the poem “There You Were” included in this issue.

            Additionally, I’d like to ask your prayers for Katie when she travels to Nicaragua in a few weeks with the Teen Delegation of the Interreligious Task Force on Central America and Witness for Peace. It’s an educational trip where she will learn firsthand of the living conditions in that country. I’m very proud that Katie undertook this trip largely out of her own interest and initiative, with the encouragement of the Christian Formation group, and raised all the funds needed. She has her parents support, but she succeeded in planning the trip despite our initial skepticism.

            In a backwards kind of way, I hope you enjoy all the good content in this issue.

— Dan Alaimo