Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost traveled to Regina Health Center in Richfield to celebrate a Mass in recognition of donors to the facility.
Regina Health, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, offers quality, faith-based skilled nursing, assisted living and rehabilitation services with compassionate care in a unique setting that is open to residents of all faiths.
Originally built in 1957 as Mount Augustine, the motherhouse for the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine on a 230-acre site was transformed into Regina Health Center to meet the growing need for expanded long-term health care services for aging religious in Northeast Ohio. When it opened, it was the first collaborative health care facility of its kind in the country.
Regina Health celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023. Currently, it offers care to members of more than a dozen religious orders from the Cleveland and Youngstown dioceses.
Sister Judith Ann Karam, CSA congregational leader, welcomed the donors/benefactors to the celebration, offering her thanks to each one.
(See photo gallery above.)
“We are so grateful for the support of so many,” she said.
Concelebrating the Mass was Father James Maloney, one of the donors. Deacon Mark Yantek, Regina Health executive director, assisted with the liturgy and Deacon Andy Davis served as the bishop’s master of ceremonies. Tom Holzheimer provided the music.
In his homily. Bishop Woost noted that the Gospel, Matthew 11:25-30, appears only one Sunday in the three-year cycle of readings. “But then it is found all over the ritual books for various sacraments, in the profession of faith, the funeral liturgy, Book of Blessings and Liturgy of the Hours. This word of God is proclaimed over and over,” he said, “so we need to pay attention. It is an important passage.”
The reading invites all who are weary to come to Jesus and he will give them rest.
“Jesus is praying and he turns to his Father,” the bishop said. Jesus makes his Father’s presence known through his words and actions.
“We are gathered tonight for the love of the Father that Jesus revealed through you, for your support of this great ministry that takes place here,” Bishop Woost said to the donors and benefactors.
“The staff and residents know the father’s love because of you and your support. You come and offer yourself to him so the Father’s love can become known. You are the instruments of that love,” he added. “At this Eucharistic table, God’s love is revealed and we share in it, in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”
The bishop said we should continue to ask God to bless those who minister to the Regina Health residents and the residents themselves so they may come to know the Father’s love for them.
The honorees were recognized after Mass and posed for photos with the bishop, Sister Karam and Deacon Yantek.
Sister Karam said the ceremony is one way to express gratitude for their commitment to the Regina Health mission.
“The 2024 Circle of Abiding Love recognition ceremony celebrates the generosity of individuals, foundations, corporations and other organizations that made leadership level gifts in 2023, individuals who made a planned gift to Regina Health and individuals and organizations whose accumulated giving has reached a significant milestone,” said Colleen Corrigan Day, Regina Health’s director of mission support and donor relations.
Among the religious congregations recognized for their support are the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, CSA, Congregation of St. Joseph, Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland and the Sisters of Notre Dame, U.S.A.
After Mass and the recognition ceremony, the group enjoyed dinner and heard brief remarks from Deacon Yantek expressing his gratitude to Regina’s supporters.
More information about Regina Health Center can be found here.