?The Church has taught us that faith and culture are inseparable,? Bishop Nelson Perez told the congregation at Holy Rosary Church in Cleveland?s Little Italy neighborhood during Mass on the Feast of the Assumption.
Every corner of the church was packed with people for the 10 a.m. Mass celebrated by the bishop on Aug. 15. Bishop emeritus Anthony Pilla was in attendance. Concelebrants included Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries, Father Joe Previte, Holy Rosary pastor, and several other priests.
Bishop Perez noted that this was the 120th annual celebration of ?The Feast,? as the celebration is called. ?I don?t imagine there?s anyone here who was at the first one,? he said. But one woman, Marie Fratus, who is 98, said she has attended 90 of the celebrations.
?We gather to celebrate the Blessed Mother and Italian culture. We will be nourished here at this table first,? he said, gesturing to the altar, ?and then we will be nourished by the Italian culture.? He said culture affects the way we see life and understand what is around us.
?We are also nourished by each other, by the presence of community. This place will be a magnet for the next few days,? he said, noting that people from across Northeast Ohio will visit Little Italy for The Feast and the celebration.
?But what lies at the center of it all? The Blessed Mother. Today the Church celebrates her universally. Think about how many hundreds of thousands of people have celebrated this,? he said.
But, if the Blessed Mother had not said ?yes? when asked to be the mother of Jesus, this celebration would not happen. The bishop said after Mary was visited by the angel and told she had been chosen to be Jesus? mother, she felt that she had to share the news so she ran to Elizabeth?s house.
?The Gospel says a lot about joy,? he said, recalling what Pope Francis said about joy overflowing from the heart of Elizabeth when Mary arrived. After Mass he said there will be a procession with the Blessed Mother in the middle because it is a symbol of what is happening in our lives.
?We are just passing through. The procession reminds us of that. And at the end of the day, we all want to go to heaven, right?? he asked.
