It was a snowy Sunday afternoon when Bishop Nelson Perez and his emcee, Deacon Bruce Battista, arrived at the historic Lindsay-Crossman Chapel at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea on Feb. 17. As students and other guests arrived at the interfaith chapel for the weekly 5 p.m. Mass, the bishop mingled with them taking time to chat with nearly everyone in attendance.
The chapel, which was built in 1872, was gutted and renovated nearly 30 years ago to provide a modern interfaith worship space. The exterior and stained-glass windows remain.
Members of BW Newman assisted at Mass. The music was student led.
In his homily, Bishop Perez asked the congregation of about 60 where they were grounded. He recalled his own college days and the decade he spent teaching college.
“Most of you probably want to make a difference in the world; you want knowledge and many are looking for something,” he said, explaining that since birth we’ve wanted to be happy. He said for infants that was easy to achieve – eat and sleep. But as we grow older, things change. Eventually we change from children wanting toys to older children and young adults looking for friendships and relationships. And we may put our friends before our families.
“I don’t know where my high school friends are now. But my family is still here,” he said.
As a priest, Bishop Perez said he prepared more than 400 couples for marriage. Each of them was looking for something, he said, or they wouldn’t want to spend the next several decades together.
“God made us to seek happiness and we need to find the source of that happiness,” he said.
The beatitudes provide a glimpse of Christianity, the bishop said, reflecting on the Gospel: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. But Jesus wasn’t talking about money, he was talking about poverty of spirit,” he explained.
In the first reading from Jeremiah, Bishop Perez said we see that those who place their trust in the Lord are blessed. “We need to be rooted in God. He doesn’t move,” he said. When we trust God and are rooted in him, he is our foundation.
The bishop used an image from the first reading that talked about how someone who seeks strength in flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord is like a barren bush. But those who trust in the Lord are like a tree planted near water that stretches its roots to the stream.
“It fears not the heat when it comes. Its leaves stay green, in the year of drought it shows no distress but still bears fruit,” he said. “So I return to my original question – where are you rooted, grounding yourself? Is that the best place?”
He reminded the congregation that those who trust in the Lord will be blessed and satisfied, with a great reward in heaven.
After Mass, Steve Eyerman, BW campus minister, thanked the bishop for celebrating Mass and invited all to the Newman Center for dinner. A free dinner follows each Sunday evening Mass.
Eyerman said because of the larger gathering, members of the Knights of Columbus from nearby St. Mary Parish in Berea and their wives prepared the meal.
At the Newman Center, located in a large, century home a short distance from the chapel, Bishop Perez offered a blessing before dinner and sat with a group of students around the dining room table sharing stories and answering questions. He spent time after dinner chatting with the students, Knights and their families.
Students asked him how he became a bishop, when he learned of his appointment, what he enjoyed doing in his leisure time and about his family. They were surprised to learn that he received a call about his appointment as auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre, New York but wasn’t permitted to share the news until Pope Francis announced it. Five years later, that scenario was repeated when he got a call telling him he’d been named bishop of Cleveland. Again, he had to keep it confidential for a couple of weeks until the official announcement was made from Rome.
After dinner, Eyerman gave the bishop a tour of the building and invited him to visit any time. He said BW Newman has existed since about 1964.
BW Newman will have a series of programs on “How do You Pray?” on Wednesdays in March and “Faith in Your Free Time”” on Wednesdays in April. The programs are at 5 p.m. at the Newman Center, 170 E. Center St., Berea, and include a free, family-style dinner. During Lent, vespers will be prayed with music and reflection at 6:30 p.m. after the Wednesday Newman Nights, Eyerman said.
For more information on BW Newman, visit the ministry’s Facebook page.