“People are longing for direction in life because so many of them are lost. People are looking for an anchor to ground them because so many of them are drifting aimlessly in this world. People, especially young people, are looking for meaning and purpose because our secular world says there is no meaning to life. But we know that’s a lie,” said Bishop Edward Malesic.
“People are looking for truth because our world says that truth changes shapes, is slippery and relative, never absolute,” he added. “But who can live like this? This is not how the operating manual of the human person reads. Is it any wonder that so many of us break down and need repair? Jesus is ready to take us to the shop and repair us.”
The bishop addressed the congregation gathered for Mass on March 6 at Communion of Saints Church in Cleveland Heights. During the liturgy, he instituted five men into the ministry of lector, another step in their formation for the permanent diaconate.
The newly instituted are Robert Blackburn, St. Basil the Great Parish; William Elwer, St. Jude Parish, Elyria; Michael Mucic, St. Mary of the Falls Parish, Olmsted Falls; Robert Stegmaier, Nativity of the Lord Jesus Parish, Akron; and Thomas Ward, SS. Robert and William Parish, Euclid, and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Deacon Dave Kushner, who heads the permanent diaconate program in the Diocese of Cleveland, presented the men to the bishop.
Bishop Malesic said that for people to believe, they must be told, which is part of the mission for the newly instituted lectors.
“That means you must proclaim God’s Word – not just by reading it from the page, but by living it in your lives. Today, we are instituting you into the ministry of the Word that wants to be spoken by you and lived by you. We are asking you to be ministers of the truth, ministers of God’s divine plan, ministers of God’s voice, ministers of God’s love for us,” he told the group, adding that they will proclaim Christ and Christ crucified.
“The crucifix continues to draw people to Jesus. On that cross, Jesus nailed our sins together with him, to put our sins to death with him. That is what his forgiveness does to our sins – it destroys them. On that cross, Jesus freed us to do God’s will and to accept his mercy when we fail. He showed us the way to salvation, which is the cross. Even the cross of a pandemic can ultimately lead to some greater good. God brings life out of death.”
He said we should never proclaim Christ without knowing his love for us and we should never proclaim a hateful God.
“You must meditate on the Scriptures constantly. Let God speak to you from the sacred Scriptures, heart to heart. Let the Word of God sink into your bones. Let it always be on your mind, on your lips, and in your heart. You can only give what you have received. And you can only receive what you have allowed God to give you,” he said. Never say ‘No’ to the Gospel.”
As lectors – ministers of the Word – the newly instituted will proclaim that word in the liturgical assembly, instruct children and adults in the faith and prepare them to receive the sacraments, the bishop told the men. He said they also will bring the message of salvation to those who have not yet received it. “Do the work of an evangelist,” he instructed them. “We support you, we pray for you, we long for what you are willing to tell us. We desire to see God speak through you.”