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Silver Anniversary Reflections February 13th Liturgy -- Jim Connell
I came to the St. Malachi 11 o’clock Liturgy the first Sunday of June in 1970. I was pleasantly surprised by what I discovered. Having just graduated from college at a time when implementation of the Vatican II documents was just beginning to take hold, when Vietnam protests were at a peak, and when cries for civil rights and social justice were ringing loudly across the country, I was delighted to find a Sunday Liturgy that spoke to all of these issues. In addition, I was glad to find people of all ages who were interested in these issues and in a church that was responsive to people and their issues. From the beginning I knew that I was going to appreciate what I found here. There were people who wanted to understand and implement the Vatican II documents on the laity. The Church as the People of God was an image that was embraced. People were stepping forward and asking: What is my responsibility for this Liturgy and this Church? How am I responsible for what happens here? How can we worship in this neighborhood without also responding to the neighborhood? Although no official Community of St. Malachi was established until 1975, a community was formed right from the beginning. My memories from 1970 to 1975 are vivid. The early steering committee was formed even before it was clear what it was going to steer. It knew, however, that this emerging and growing community was a group of individuals determined to make the Catholic Church at the corner of West 25th and Detroit a church alive with the love of Christ. Early steering committee meetings were long labors of love. (Usually they went on for hours.) Neighborhood ministry was born, a Liturgy committee was established, Christian formation programs planned, the first Community of St. Malachi mission became a reality, and endless discussions about recognition took place. We knew that we needed an identity that reflected Vatican II, but also an identity that said there is room for a more lay-directed Catholic parish in the Diocese of Cleveland. We knew that it was our job, not Fr. Paul Hritz’s job, to establish this parish. Our discussions with Bishop Bill Cosgrove were encouraging, but the process was slow. No model charter for personal parishes existed; we had to write our own. We knew, however, that the direction was right. We had to put into words what we stood for. The Eucharistic celebration with Bishop James Hickey in April 1975 was special not only because it marked our beginning, but also because we had used the last seven years to discuss, to debate and to determine what we could and should become.
Happy Anniversary!
January 30th Liturgy -- Cindy DiNardo
Thirty years ago, Tony and I came to St. Malachi's for the first time. We came for the same reasons you came here. We wanted --- we needed --- to worship. The liturgy here, presided over by Fr. Paul Hritz, embodied the spirit of Vatican II. We wanted --- we needed --- to function as responsible adult members of the Church, --- fully participating here, as we did in the rest of the world. We wanted --- we needed --- to reach out in love to others --- to give back from the rich blessings we had received. We found here all that we sought -- we found our faith community. We found a place to be and to become --- a place to love and to be loved --- a place to use our talents and discover gifts --- and a place to share our joys and sorrows. We found a place for sacramental life --- first communions, confirmations, Eucharist to sustain us, prayer and fellowship in difficult times --- ultimately, a place to celebrate the hope of the Resurrection when Tony died so suddenly three years ago. What we sought and found over these past 30 years are the great gifts that are still here for all who seek: Faith, Hope and Love. Faith nurtured and sustained in the Liturgy, Hope fostered and increased in the Community, Love poured out through the ministries of St. Malachi's. As we celebrate this Silver Anniversary Year, we give thanks for the blessings of the past and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. And we commit ourselves to passing on these gifts to those who follow us.
Happy Anniversary!
March 26 Liturgy – Sr. Christine Schenk Zeal for God’s House (John 13:2:13-23) I couldn’t help but be struck by how apropos today’s Scripture readings are for reflecting on our St. Malachi community’s celebration of 25 years of trying to live the social gospel. In a society which has made an idol of material success, our community has from its inception tried to serve those most materially unsuccessful. We have tried to put God first by witnessing to our belief in the human dignity of all those made in God’s image...but who perhaps can’t recognize that until we treat them as God’s own daughters and sons. Whether serving the Knights of the Road through the Monday night meal shared with St. John’s Episcopal across the street, or supporting the neighborhood ministries coordinated by Karen Anderson and JoAnn Nagy, or boycotting grapes and lettuce in support of the migrant workers’ United Farm Workers Union, our early founders recognized that we can’t praise God on Sunday morning without building up God’s people during the rest of the week.And so today we can rightly celebrate our part in creating and sustaining the St. Malachi Center, Malachi Mart, and Malachi House, as well as multiple services to the poor and dispossessed through the back door ministries, Samaritan ministry, the many 12-step ministries, the refugee project, and so many other projects taken on over the years Sometimes, these projects have led us to taking risks...not unlike the risk Jesus took in today’s Gospel when he angrily protested the systematic exploitation of the poor of Palestine by the Temple moneychangers. In Jesus’ mind, God’s house was first and foremost the home of the poorest and most marginalized. Which is why we see him in this rare moment of explosive anger at the blasphemy of a Temple system which instead of loving and helping the poor, was exploiting them even further. The moneychangers charged exorbitant interest rates for their services thereby making it difficult or impossible for the poor to fulfill the ritual purity requirements of Judaic law. This effectively consigned them to the permanently ‘unclean’ category and increased their shame and marginalization. I love this Gospel passage because in it we see how powerful is Jesus’ sense of the holiness of God...a holiness not primarily connected with incense, ritual, and religion as important as these may be. Jesus saw that God’s holiness first of all hungers and thirsts for justice and reconciling love for the poorest and most marginalized among us regardless of the risks. At the Community of St. Malachi, I think we too have had a taste of taking risks for justice. I think of our work for civil rights, our support for the peace movement during the Vietnam war, our solidarity with the people of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, offering public sanctuary to political refugees, our public welcoming of persons with AIDS to worship with us, and the ongoing commitment to FutureChurch and its Eucharistic call for full inclusion of women and the married in all ministries of the Church. It hasn’t always been easy. But in my experience it has always been an occasion of a deeper grace and a closer sense of community than perhaps any of us would ever have thought. There’s something about sharing a common struggle that for better or worse, has bound us together in the deep and wide ways of the holiness of God.
We have learned in the vulnerability of risk-taking the truth of today’s second reading. Solidarity with the suffering of others is a wise foolishness indeed for it has led us into a deeper walk with the crucified Christ whose power at work in us has made all of the giftedness and achievements of these past 25 years possible. As we continue our journey together with this Christ who is the wisdom and the power of God, who knows what will happen in the next 25 years? I don’t know for sure what will happen. But I do know one thing. If we are faithful, God’s power will continue to burst forth in new life for us even as the daffodils, forsythia and redbud are bursting into bloom all over our city this day. So let us begin all over again I say, just as the earth is beginning all over again this spring. Let us ask again to whom are we being called in this second 25 years of our history? Where is the foolishness of God leading us as individuals and as a community to a wisdom beyond our human wisdom? And where is the weakness of God asking for our own small strength? When we find the answer to these questions, I believe, we will not only be celebrating the past 25 years, but we will begin to celebrate the next 25 as well. So let the celebratory banquet (Or should we say the progressive dinner!) begin! Happy Anniversary!
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