Sunny skies and mild temperatures greeted those participating in the first Jubilee Year pilgrimage on June 14. The event, planned for teens, began at St. John of the Cross Church in Euclid, where participants prayed before hitting the street to process to Our Lady of Lourdes National Shrine, also in Euclid.
About 75 people participated in the procession, walking about two miles from the parish to the shrine. Among those walking were Father Damian Ference, diocesan vicar for evangelization, and Francine Costantini, diocesan director of youth ministry. The trip took about an hour.
(See photo gallery above.)
Father John Betters, pastor of St. John of the Cross and SS. Robert and William parishes, both in Euclid, joined the group for Mass and dinner.
Father Ference asked for a show of hands to determine how many of the pilgrims were first-time visitors to the shrine. Nearly half of the people raised their hands. Welcoming them were the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity, who operate the shrine.
Father Ference and Father Eric Garris, diocesan vocations director, celebrated the vigil Mass for the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity at the outdoor grotto. It was a double celebration, Father Ference said, connecting the feast with the Trinitarian Sisters.
In his homily, Father Ference also addressed the Trinity, explaining Catholics’ belief in the three persons in one God is a unique thing.
Father Ference said we may “love” objects and believe they will make us happy, but they don’t. “Something is missing – love,” he said.
“God is love,” he said, pointing out someone is needed to give love and to receive it. God the Father gives love to Jesus, his son. We are made in the image and likeness of God, therefore we are made for love, he said. Befriending God, as Bishop Edward Malesic suggests in his recently released pastoral letter, is an expression of love.
He shared the story of a young person who told him she was angry with God. He asked which of the three persons she was upset with, and suggested that she tell Jesus, the son, and the Holy Spirit. “They’ll tell the Father,” he added.
Father Ference urged the congregation to make their prayers trinitarian, directed at all three persons in the Holy Trinity.
“At Mass, we gather as the body of Christ, the second person of the Trinity. Most prayers are directed to God the Father, in the name of the Son, through the Holy Spirit,” he explained. “We pray to the Father through the Son and with the Holy Spirit.”
The Catholic faith goes back 2,000 years and we recite the Nicene Creed at Mass. That creed is 1,700 years old. It was written during a time of heresies, he said, as a way to profess what we believe as Catholics.
After Mass, the group moved to the St. Ann Dining Room, where they enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, chips and beverages provided by members of the Knights of Columbus from St. John of the Cross Parish. The two Jubilee Year ice cream flavors, Pilgrim Tracks and Jubilee Indulgence, produced by Country Parlour Ice Cream Co. in North Royalton, in collaboration with Father Ference, were served after dinner.
Two more Jubilee Year pilgrimages are planned for July 19 and 26. The first is for young adults. It will begin with 4 p.m. Mass at St. John Bosco Church in Parma Heights, then attendees will process to the nearby Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Shrine, operated by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, for food, Jubilee Year ice cream, live music and vespers.
The final pilgrimage is intergenerational. It will begin with 4:30 p.m. Mass at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Highland Heights, then participants will process to St. Ann Shrine, which is operated by the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, for prayers and devotions. Jubilee Year ice cream will be served.
All three shrines that are hosting the pilgrimages are among the sacred sites designated by Bishop Malesic for the Jubilee Year of Hope.