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Malachi Memories Our family has been represented at St. Malachi's ever since the Irish dockworkers decided to expand from St. Mary's of the Flats. Kevin’s grandparents were in the panoramic photo that used to hang in the hall outside of the school kitchen. His parents were part of the small group that started coming and listening to Fr. Paul Hritz speak of our obligations to the greater community. Barb's parents, Frank and Ann Zona, met Fr. Paul through diocesan activities involving their parish home. They experienced the warmth of Christian fellowship at St. Malachi's every time they came to celebrate Baptism. First Communion, Confirmation or other blessed events. And now with the Community of S. Malachi's as a recognized personal parish, we have come full circle. Although our marriage was celebrated in another parish, the Community was where Barb and Kevin matured from young college students into adult parish members. Their children have been baptized here and are now taking their roles as Community members. They continue to be active members (OK they forgot to send in their membership forms once in a while) each year. Kevin's mother has joined the family at Mass each Sunday and has been helping assemble some of the Community archives--she can help identify even some of the older photos and records from her memories of stories told. May St. Malachi's Parish and Community continue to nurture all our families and help them to grow in the love of Christ! The Aylward Family
Those very first Masses when Gen McCloskey called us and said that Fr. Hritz had just been assigned. With our children Mary, Anne, Laurie and Billy we made up half of the congregation. How quickly the church filled up after the word got around. The very real sense of Christian outreach when the school was opened weekly for free meals for residents of the community. The life of the sacraments for our family: Billy's confirmation by Bishop Cosgrove who asked that each child send him a letter asking to be confirmed. Billy let it go until the last minute and when prodded, said, "Oh, might as well, why not?" Anne and Terry's wedding in 1970, the first we believe among the families of the slowly forming community. --Bill & Laura Caldwell
When I think of St. Malachi's, I think of my home. It is my home; I grew up here. The pews of the church are like couches in my living room, people crowding in to hear the story. Somewhere so comfortable, you want to take off your shoes. A warm hug--common. When I look up, I see all my friends, all those who helped to shape and mold me; I see my family. After church, a trip back to the sacristy to live up to my "Fr. Paul given name" "Cookie," for one of Fr. Paul’s homemade cookies.......mmmm, just like home! --Meg Corrigan a.k.a. Cookie Vine
I am a fairly new member of the Community--only 12 or 13 years. One of the things that struck me from the beginning was the welcoming atmosphere at 11 o'clock Liturgy. My family often asked, "Why do you go all the way down of 25th Street for Mass?" I could never explain it, but they understood what I meant when they came and felt it for themselves. A favorite memory I have is of the first Sunday I brought my son Conor to Mass. He was 5 months old and had arrived just the week before via Catholic Charities. It was Palm Sunday so the church was jammed. Almost as soon as I sat down, the person next to me--I think it was Carol Rolfes--asked me if she could hold Conor. Before I knew it, he was "spirited" through the church. I had no idea where he was, but I was sure he was coming back. He was simply and wonderfully being embraced by his new Community. Thanks to St. Malachi's for the memory! --Ann Marie Cronin
Meeting Gen McClosky and many other old comrades at the 11a.m. Liturgy after moving back from Washington D.C. was a welcome that was healing and nourishing. Being married at Malachi's in 1975 to Nancy Reffert and with Bishop Cosgrove officiating, healing in my family--especially with Dad. Four kids baptized at this new home that was our "special church". Doing retreats, workshops, and speaking engagements for my friends and fellow travelers at St. Malachi's. Attending daily Mass at 7 a.m. many times a year over the past five years. The blessings of my years at St. Malachi have been filled with gratitude over and over again for the gift of priesthood, marriage and the gift of faith. --Rick Crow I remember when, early in the development of the Community, Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere celebrated a special Liturgy in the school basement. He was not robed in the traditional vestments but wore a business suit. This made me feel more of a oneness with the priest, thus planting the seeds of my call to ministry in the Church. --Ann Marie Dvorak
A good many years ago, a bus, van and a car caravan traveled to Columbus to the governor's mansion to be guests of the Celeste family. Celebrating Liturgy there on the lawn with Fr. Paul Hritz presiding, socializing, receiving tickets and going to the State Fair the next day--all made that weekend memorable. But my dearest memory is that of new friendship made during those two days, which have lasted since then. As friends, we have seen our own and each other's lives change, but our loving friendships have been so good and graced. ---Joan Dworznik I remember being a part of this Community before the Diocese of Cleveland officially recognized it. My grandson, L. J. O'Connor, was baptized here. I was remarried here to David Dussault and he was buried from here. Many memories. I also remember Fr. Hritz. God bless him! --Gloria Dussault
To the Members of the Community of St. Malachi (Easter 1986): Over the years, I watched quite a few people, including my own brothers, grow up and go off to college. This seemed like a normal process and I never gave it much thought until I experienced it. It is often difficult to truly appreciate something until deprived of it. Although I always considered the Community of St. Malachi special, it was not until I left Cleveland that I realized how much I had looked forward to Sunday mornings. There was always a unique sense of belonging, compassion, and love to be found amidst Jerry's bad jokes, babies crying, and Fr. Paul Hritz's pleas to "Please move down the aisles!" Although I used to think myself immune, I somehow grew up and became one of those kids who went off to college. Now I know they don't just fall off the face of the earth. Here at school, I am a member of a community not unlike St. Malachi's. During Ash Wednesday Mass, though, part of me longed to be with you at St. Malachi's, to share again that unique spirit, As I experience my first Easter season away from home, you will often be in my thoughts and prayers. Enjoy and appreciate your gift of Community and remember those of us who can only be there in spirit. May you all have peaceful Lent and a joyful Easter! --Paula DiNardo
My first contact with Monday Night Meal-- Some 25 years ago, my sister Joanne and I were at 11:00 Mass. Fr. Paul asked for MNM volunteers. They really do need help. We came the next day. At that point there were about four regular volunteers: a pregnant couple, their mother-in-law, and one other. For me it was the beginning of many Monday evenings at St. Malachi's and many friendships. --Chris Dusek
Through the years, there have been many significant special Liturgies celebrated by the Community of St. Malachi. Among them, noted elsewhere in this anniversary book, were Masses with United Farm Workers in support of their human and economic rights and with Sanctuary-sponsored Latin-American refugees in their flight from terror. One Liturgy especially memorable for me was celebrated in our church Sept. 3, 1984, the Mass of St. Joseph the Worker. Labor Day for many years was marked in this diocese by a special Mass in St. John Cathedral. (One uncle of mine, a United Auto Worker, would no more think of missing that Mass than he would a Sunday Mass.) In 1984 we arranged for the Mass to be celebrated here at St. Malachi, with Bishop Anthony Pilla presiding. The deacon was Rev. Mr. John Sutter, executive committee chair of the International Union of Elevator Constructors, and lectors were AFL-CIO Federation of Labor officials. Petitions were read by the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. Symbolic gifts presented by various union representatives included cutting shears, textile garments, trowels, wrenches, hammers, meat cutters’ tools, and farm workers’ fresh tomatoes. Eucharistic ministers were CSM members Joan Dworznik, representing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Inez Miclea, for the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services; they were joined by Rev. Mr. Bill Corrigan, of the Cleveland Teachers’ Union. Welcome to the Liturgy was given by Lou Keim, then an associate director of the United Labor Agency and a president of the CSM Council, and the honor of presenting the Post-Communion reflection was given to me, as president of the Cleveland Newspaper Guild, AFL-CIO-CLC. Obviously, in 1984 those historic papal encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno were still taken seriously at the corner of West 25th and Detroit. I believe they still are. -- Mary Englert
I remember the musicals we had for the Malachi Center. I was on stage for the Washington Street Revue at Lakewood Civic Auditorium--Fling in the Flats on Nautica Stage--Miracle on West 25th Street at Cleveland Music Hall. What fun and beautiful memories! --Jane Federico. I had a few experiences at St. Malachi in the early 1970s as a high school student. A friend of mine was a daughter of the one of the CSM founding families, and I was invited to several events. I remember learning about the plight of migrant farm workers and picketing for fair wages and conditions. There was also an invitation to help with Monday Night Meal. CSM members began MNM, but the first site was St. John's Episcopal Church on West 28th Street. Monday, Christmas Day in 1972, at the meal was my first contact with the poor here on the near West Side. I was also struck then with the power of the Liturgy here at St. Malachi, from the lay involvement to social justice homily themes. After several years out of town I returned to St. Malachi's about two years after the official recognition as a personal parish. I found the CSM to be a terrific home. I'd been brought up in the faith years prior to Vatican II. Without rejecting any of the core of the Church I'd grown up with, this community's embrace of Vatican II was refreshing and inspiring to me. I was awed by community members' sense of responsibility to our Liturgy and our need to respond to God's call to serve the poor, both in this neighborhood and around the globe.
Except for a few years out of town in the late 1980s, Eileen and I have raised our family with CSM as an integral part. We've each had opportunities for volunteer service here. Our children have been able to experience for themselves that the poor come in all ages, sizes and colors, and that human needs must be understood as well as met. Especially as altar servers, our children are given the opportunity to participate in liturgical worship with enthusiasts of all ages, many their own age, some younger, many even as old as their parents--and some even older than that. As is to be expected, one day our children will leave our pews for other parts of the world. They will take with them a CSM heritage of respect for the past, acceptance of change, and hope for the future. --Chuck Garven
We were post-Vatican II and for several years prior to its official recognition the Community of St. Malachi was being spiritually formed with the assistance of Fr. Paul Hritz. Part of that formation was in challenging us to make the Liturgy our own. Prior to our 11 o'clock Sunday Liturgy, Fr. Paul at the lectern and Jerome Andrews, our gifted music director, at the organ or piano, exhorted and encouraged the congregation in singing hymns and responses appropriate to the Sunday. There was friendly banter between Fr. Paul and Jerry and the congregation. This was most helpful in getting us warmed up. Remember now, that we were coming from a long history of not singing. Hymns and responses were frequently unfamiliar to us. Some hymns Jerry composed and/or arranged himself. We even sang Protestant hymns sometimes: A Mighty Fortress is our God, or Joyful, Joy we Adore Thee, We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing. Imagine! Without it being said, we were encouraged to move from a spectator-type, "let the celebrant do it" worship to a "be alive, look alive, enjoy life, actively participating congregation." Fr. Paul would say, "Introduce yourself to the person next to you." Imagine! We were singing; we were talking to strangers. We were more than congregating; we were becoming community; we were reaching out. Our joyful noise, our harmony, became enhanced by the piano, by DiNardo drums and other instruments, by babies' crying and by the hum of small children talking. The church smelled freshly of cleaning and polishing; a striking liturgical cover had been placed on the altar table with a matching smaller cover on the lectern. Sometimes, there were flowers, sometimes not. There was order and simplicity. Eleven o'clock. The bell sounded. We rose and sang the entrance hymn as the celebrant and acolytes processed to the sanctuary. Our hearts were full! It was Sunday, the Lord's Day. Somehow the Jesus of history was coming closer to us. Or was it the other way around? And from Mass we were sent to be Christ and share Christ with our neighbors, then return the following Sunday for more worship, more growth, more sustenance. --Margaret Gibbons
Four generations! My grandparents, my parents, my husband and I and our children are all part of the Community of St. Malachi. My memories of being part of the Community of St. Malachi go back to when I was a young child. My parents met through this Community and were married here. I vividly remember my sisters and me being coaxed down the aisle when we were flower girls in their wedding. I have fond memories of the lessons of life I learned through Christian Formation. I was married at St. Malachi and was also part of weddings of my sisters here at this church. Now our children are part of this Community. I feel blessed to be part of a Community that welcomes, supports and loves so many people. Thank you, Community of St. Malachi, for teaching me lessons that I can proudly pass on to my children. --Michelle Harris
Back in the late 1970s I was participating in the Easter Vigil when Jerry Andrews went past me back to the choir loft to play the pipe organ. Not more than a few minutes later I heard a dull explosion. My first thoughts were that the old organ blew up in Jerry's face. But when the organ started playing, I realized it was something else; so I went outside. That's when I saw the burning car of Alex Shonder Burns in the parking lot across the street. (May he rest in peace!) I hopped the fence and pulled a woman away from the car. I had been wearing a dark blue sweater with a white shirt underneath. For those who know I studied seven years to be a priest before leaving the seminary, it was sort of rewarding to know that I was a priest at least for a minute or two. And now the identity of the mystery priest has been solved. --Bill Herceg I had always felt welcome at Malachi's from the time even before official recognition of the Community. However, until I truly understood the extended family that it offered to me during some of the lowest times of my life, I really didn't grow into the person I am today. Growth through giving is my greatest memory. --Helen Kane Florence Dick, who is known for her impassioned singing and praise of Jesus has a wonderful habit of sharing her faith and the Community with others. She brought me to Malachi's 25 years ago in 1974, when I was 17. I was impressed with Fr. Paul's sermon, the singing, and the welcome I received. I drank in the nurturing community experience. As a teenager I frequently attended Mass at St. Malachi's. In the spirit of Mrs. Dick, I brought every kind of friend to share the experience and found the community very loving and accepting. In those early years, I especially remember Judy Flynn and her three beautiful daughters and the Horning family. I remember Jerry Andrews, the music director, the singing practice for the congregation before Mass and the banter that went on between Paul and Jerry. The interior of the church was painted a sort of salmon color in those days. In my memory the church glows. As a young adult I investigated becoming a monk as I had been inspired by the writings of Thomas Merton. I spent some time at Gethsemane, the Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, where Merton lived. I loved it there but while reading Scripture in the grove of old Cedar trees, God's message to me was to officially join the Community of St. Malachi and to be open to marriage. I was not happy about it, because I really wanted to be a monk.
I attended the first new member meeting held after my return to Cleveland. The meeting was held at Eileen Reynold’s high-rise apartment in Lakewood. During the meeting, a red-haired woman, Debbie McKee returned from a weekend trip. Deb was sharing the apartment with Eileen between convents--so she thought. God had other ideas. We talked after the meeting. Deb was sure I had a monastic vocation. She had little more than the clothes on her back, a guitar and a trunk full of books. She lent me one, Clowning in Rome, by Fr. Henri Nouen, a man greatly influenced by Thomas Merton. We both met Chris Schenk that night for the first time. I think it was Chris's introductory meeting to the Community also. We next met working at Monday Night Meal. I really flustered her by telling her that my main reason for working at Monday Night Meal that night was not to serve the poor but to see her. The third time we got together was a pick-up volley ball game arranged by Luis Freire in the Malachi school gym. We were married a year and a half later at St. Malachi's on beautiful June day in 1981. Eileen was the maid of honor. Fr. Paul concelebrated. My extended family was mystified as to why there were jars of peanut butter on the altar at our wedding Mass. We were Eucharistic ministers. Chris Schenk was one of the lectors and many of our friends in the Community pitched in with the music and taking pictures. Our first apartment was across the street from Malachi's. As young married, we especially fondly remember the Bible studies we had with Fr. Gary Yanus and singing in the choir. Deb played guitar and sang Gentle Woman with her angelic voice at several Community celebrations. It was during these years that we made some or our lifelong friends including the Morrisses and the Pritts. All three of our children were baptized at St. Malachi's. They first experienced Mass from the carpeted comfort of the sacristy, gradually graduating to the steps of the altar. Because we wanted a Catholic elementary education for them, it was with a heavy heart that we separated from the Community and have been part of other parishes over the years. Counseling with Fr. Paul led me into recovery, for which I am eternally grateful. I have been attending recovery meetings at St. Malachi's for over ten years. I applaud the Parish and the Community and especially the current staff for continuing to provide a safe place for many kinds of suffering people. It is with great love and pride that I gaze at the green neon cross atop the steeple of that familiar church facade and am humbled at the gift that St. Malachi's has been to me and my life. --Will Krause I have been involved – deeply – with the Community of St. Malachi since before the beginning. My good friend Tony DiNardo deserves most of the credit for what I appear to have accomplished, including directing the renovation of St. Malachi Center and Malachi House. Every time Fr. Paul Hritz started a sentence with "Why don’t we…?"
or "Wouldn’t it be a good idea if…?" my response would be "It can’t be done." Then, we did it. Impossible things just happened. With each project involving coordination of work by volunteers and paid contractors, I ask myself: "Why am I doing this?" And once I get to the point where I know I can’t do it, then it happens. Within the past two years CSM people have taken part in tuck pointing the church, waterproofing and sealing all stone work in the church and convent, repair of the church’s stained glass windows where necessary, repairs to the brick work and painting the whole outside of the rectory, repairs to and partial replacement of the rectory roof, re-carpeting the convent and air-conditioning the second floor, major work in the school classrooms and hallways, and acquiring a steamer, dishwasher and braising pan for the kitchen. This is in addition to continuing work for St. Malachi Center and Malachi House. I was such a nice guy in the beginning, and now I’ve become a barracuda. --Joe Mohar When I arrived in Cleveland as a teacher at Cleveland State University, I looked for a parish with a vibrant Liturgy and a welcoming attitude. If I was really lucky, I felt that I could find some homegrown "social action" in a parish also. I was lucky on both counts. My first memory of St. Malachi was meeting a friendly man in a trenchcoat on and October Sunday in the 1970s. He turned out to be Tony DiNardo, and I was never a stranger again in the parish. I felt that I cheated the parish every Sunday that I was there. I took away so much---especially a parish that embraced the neighborhood as well as Catholic social teachings-- and never quite gave back enough in return. I will always remember the children gathered around the altar, getting the closest look at the sacrifice and the calls to justice and a more integral Catholicism by Paul Hritz. --Bernard J. Offerman When I think back to initial period of the Community of St. Malachi, I remember and again feel vividly HOPE and JOY. With a young family at that time, I felt hopeful that we had found a home in the Church based upon the excitement of Vatican II and that we would be able to transfer these feelings to our children. We knew that we could change the world and we started right in the St. Malachi neighborhood. We have been active on the near West Side ever since. --Jan A. van Lier Mary Petrick became a convert while living at the Cuyahoga County Nursing Home. Although seldom able to get out, she attended a membership meeting at Paul and Helen Brinich's, participated in one or two eleven o'clock Liturgies, and thoroughly enjoyed one of those great Russo spaghetti dinners. Despite her poor health, Mary was full of fun, and was a constant volunteer. Her health declined to a point where she could not breathe on her own. She spent her last fourteen years at Sunny Acres. Still, she was part of our Community, praying for us and receiving our prayers. She looked forward to regular visits from Fr. Paul. She received loving care from Parish and Community members who work in the MetroHealth system. Every holiday she saw the sunny smile of Sr. Francis Borgia who brought her flowers from St. Malachi.
When she died in 1995, we were her Community. The men of Stella Maris were pallbearers. Fr. Paul, Fr. Tony and the chaplain of Sunny Acres concelebrated. Perhaps she chose Home at last! for her gravestone at West Park Cemetery to share with us her joy at reaching her final destination after her arduous journey. --Mary Alice Novak My first memory of St. Malachi Community was of the diverse people that worship at the 11:00 Liturgy. The beautiful music these people made together was wonderful to my ears. But my most precious memory is Fr. Paul’s weekly homily and his joyful way of saying Mass plus his final words, Go and serve the Lord by loving and serving one another! --Betty Pellegrino My relationship with St. Malachi began more than 20 years ago. I recall that my sons (St. Edward students) and my daughter (St. Augustine student) were going on a peace march in Washington D.C. They told me that I should come along because parents of their schoolmates were going. Riding down to D.C. I met two parents of other students and we got along really well because we all were sympathetic to peace and justice issues. I mentioned that I was unsatisfied with the disinterest in my parish church over social concerns. If I can recall, their names were Regan and Murphy, and they said St. Malachi was the church for me. I few years later, I started attending St. Malachi and was electrified how the message of Vatican II was being practiced in the Community. There was a dynamic and a vitality present that I hadn’t experienced anywhere else. I participated in more community building in three years than I had in 20 years at my previous church. I also found that most of us were refugees from churches on the near West Side and Lakewood. I had found asylum at this unique church that provided opportunities for greater expression of Vatican II than most churches. Some of the unique activities were Monday Night Meal, refugee asylum and support, Malachi Center, Malachi House, Malachi Mart, Dick Gibbons fund-raising entertainments, the Horning' Sunday brunch, Don Bain’s family group, self-designed retreats by Community members, Louis Freire’s Friday night volleyball, my men’s discussion group, my father-in-law’s PWP group, protest marches centered around Cleveland. May the spirit of Vatican II linger on for many generations! Frank Schiros. I remember Jim Eaton as being one of the first people I knew to belong to the Community. I remember that he cooked the Monday Night Meal in the early years and served the food and that he installed telephones wherever needed, such as in Malachi House, I believe. What seems sad to me is that the current members know nothing about him and what he did for the Community. Friendly smiles and helloes welcoming me to volunteer in the kitchen at Monday Night Meal.
Whenever everyone went to coffee hour after Mass, it was so crowded that you almost had to fight your way inside. Everyone seemed to be talking at once and moving around the hall greeting one another. Boards were set up down the middle of the room and were filled with notices on issues and meetings. Someone would likely ask you to sign a petition or buy a ticket for a cause. There was activity and electricity and energy in the air. It seemed to be the heartbeat, the communication center of the Community. --Rebecca Rocco Before I moved here, a Cleveland friend told me to come to St. Malachi’s. Once I got to Cleveland, a second friend told me to come to St. Malachi’s. She didn’t even know my Cleveland friend. Well, I came. I met Bill. We’re happily married now 13 years. --Janelle Schubmehl My husband, John Schwartz, was a member of the Community of St. Malachi from 1980 until 1993, the year he passed away. He was an At-large member if the CSM Council, a member of the Spiritual Development and Membership committees, helped start a small basic Christian community in 1989, and was a volunteer computer processor for the Community in the early 90s. --Joanne Schwarz I met my husband, Joe Valencik, in the choir. At first we were just "friends", and then our friendship grew into a closer relationship. It was convenient for us that the bass and alto sections were situated next to each other! The choir members became our second family and were supportive of us during our engagement. It was only fitting that we should ask them—all 27 of them—to participate in our wedding. Much to our delight, they agreed. Thanks to the choir and the musicians, the Liturgy was the highlight of a joyful wedding celebration. --Tina Valencik St. Malachi’s became a part of my life in 1968. Over time it has solidified into a foundation, a home-base of faith traditions, nourishment for the soul, and friends. The Community is a collage of life. When I envision ‘Community’, I see all the facets of joy, tears, smiles, opinions, challenges to usual thinking and actions, and a lot of love. All of these have contributed to strengthening my faith and helping to give hope when the path seems unclear. In the 60s and 70s I remember many l-o-n-g meetings and discussions to adopt a Community Charter, to establish working committees, to determine official diocesan status, and other issues. There were and I’m sure there will always be many creative efforts: banners for liturgies and neighborhood gatherings, ways to raise funds for establishing various Malachi ministries, and efforts to help others. The picture that comes to mind, when I think of Community, is that of many gatherings: youth retreats, sacramental preparations, coffee hours, soup suppers, clean-up efforts on the grounds parties, picnics, home liturgies, prayer times, and OH THE POTLUCKS!! The best food shared with love and laughter.
I hope and pray that these traditions will continue with the next generations of Community members. I also hope and pray that our "personal parish" will always live in the tradition of the mission of the Community through prayer, reflection, learning, acceptance of challenge, and cooperative, faith-filled efforts with a love for the Gospel always at the heart of action and worship. --Kay Vine Sr. Chris Schenk's final vows. Christmas and Easter Vigils and Liturgies --Anon. One of my first and fondest memories of the Community is the compassionate and gentle presence of Jerry Andrews. It was election night, 1979. I was a young staff physical therapist at MetroHealth Medical Center, having recently moved from Buffalo where I grew up and went to school. I was very naïve and alone in a new city. Having had attended 11a.m. Liturgy for about one month, I decided to join the Christmas choir. Rehearsals began on the first Tuesday in November. (This was the first time I had come to St. Malachi's in the evening.) After practice was over I left the church only to find my car was gone from the parking lot. I remember standing there alone in the darkness staring at the place I know I had parked my car. I remember going back in to the church and walking up to the dispersing members of the choir and saying "I think my car's been stolen." I remember Jerry suggesting that maybe I had forgotten where I’d parked it. I remember trying to believe he was right and allowing him to escort me into the darkness to search for my car. I remember his kindness in leading me into the rectory, calling the police for me, waiting for the police to arrive and take a report, calling the police again when they did not arrive as promised. I remember Jerry driving me to the police station and helping me fill out the report. I remember his driving me home and asking me if I needed a ride to work in the morning. I remember to this day the enormous sense of gratitude (also mixed with shock) that I felt when I returned to my little apartment on Clifton Blvd. The bright place I have in my heart for Jerry has not dimmed in 20 years. --Stephanie Pritts
This entry removed by request of the author. Please see printed version.
This entry removed by request of the author. Please see printed version.
As part of my 1987 Lenten observance, a friend from work talked me into working at a soup kitchen on a Monday at some church called St. Malachi. Thirteen years later, I still have not recovered from the implications of that Lenten season. In comparison to those who founded the initial Community, I did not come to St. Malachi searching for a response to Vatican II, instead I found a community that had already incorporated Vatican II into its mission. I was grateful to find a Mass that flowed with energy and community participation. One of my old roommates remarked that there was more clapping at an 11 o’clock mass than at an Indians home game. With the Indians losing 100 games and unable to fill five thousand seats, he wasn’t exaggerating. The flow of energy from the Community continued past the final song as this lay-directed Community reached out to the marginalized of the Near West Side of Cleveland and kept on reaching out to refugees in South America, Africa and Europe. St. Malachi also has a unique way of integrating the ecumenical message of Vatican II. St. Malachi has been able to draw others of different faiths because of its mission to serve the poor. One of the persons drawn to St. Malachi was my friend Greg MacRae. Although he was not hesitant to indicate that he was not comfortable with religion in general, he was drawn to the Monday Night Meal and the friendships which grew from this merry band. When muscular dystrophy robbed him of his life, the crew from the Monday night meal had a service in the church to remember his life. I remember Fr. Tony coming to help prepare the church for the service, and how he helped me prepare spiritually. In addition to its spiritual dimension, St. Malachi also has its corporeal side. When the Community of St. Malachi is defined as a personal parish, one may wonder if there are some similarities to the personals section of the Plain Dealer. Among my contemporaries, fourteen married couples either first met at St. Malachi or discovered that the 11 o’clock mass/ Monday Night Meal was a cheap way to impress a date. I am not sure what the next twenty-five years will bring to St. Malachi or to my own life. I do know; however, that for the next twenty-five years I will be impacted with what I discovered during the Lent of ’87. For it was at St. Malachi’s where I met Ann, proposed to Ann, married Ann, and had our children baptized. Those founding meetings twenty-five years ago may not have been about these basic aspects of life; nonetheless, I am grateful to the Community that they established. --Henry Speier
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