It was a jam-packed weekend for Bishop Nelson Perez and he continued getting acquainted with the faithful throughout the Diocese of Cleveland.
His first stop was a pastoral visit and celebration of the Sunday vigil Mass on March 3 at St. Jude Parish in Elyria, where he was welcomed by Father Frank Kosem, pastor, and parishioners. Concelebrating the Mass with Father Kosem was Father Richard Gonser, who retired in 2012 as pastor of St. Julie Billiart Parish in North Ridgeville and is in residence at St. Jude.
They were assisted by Deacon Armando Emmanuel Padilla Contreras, CSJ. Bishop Perez told the parishioners he was happy to see Deacon Padilla and asked everyone to pray for him as he will soon be ordained a priest for his native country of Mexico.
In his weekend homilies, the bishop reminded the congregations that it?s not too late to begin their Lenten journeys. The origin of the word Lent is Old English or Scottish and it means spring or a time for cleaning, he said.
?Think about what happens in the spring,? he said, referring to farmers and gardeners who pull weeds, turn and prepare the soil for planting so it can be used for new growth and ultimately a harvest. During the winter, the soil is dormant and becomes packed down by snow and ice, he said. In the spring, it?s necessary to remove the old to make way for the new.
?That?s what we do in Lent,? he said. ?We remove what is not God?s from our lives.? He said Lent is like ?an internal spring cleaning.? In the Gospel, Jesus cast the money changers out of the temple he said, explaining they had become corrupt. So Jesus cleansed the temple, which was God?s home.
Lent began at a time when people prepared for baptism and entered into an internal retreat -- a type of spring cleaning of the soul, Bishop Perez said.
He noted that St. Paul said, ?We are the temple and God dwells within us. Just as the temple needed to be cleansed, so do we.?
