“What God fills, no devil can empty,” guest homilist Father Kareem Smith told those attending the opening Mass at the three-day Lenten Collaborative Revival. This year’s theme is “Rooted in Faith, Rising in Hope.”
Presented by the diocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries, the revival continues at 7 tonight and Friday night at St. Aloysius/St. Agatha Church in Cleveland. Father Smith will speak each night. Sister Jane Nesmith, SBS, office director, invited all to participate in the revival.
“It is a pleasure to be hosting this revival during the 125th anniversary of St. Aloysius/St. Agatha Parish,” said Sister Mary Jean Raymond, OSU parish life coordinator. The Diocesan Gospel Choir and several musicians provided music for the liturgy.
(See photo gallery above.)
Bishop Edward Malesic was the principal celebrant for the opening Mass. Concelebrants were Father Smith, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, New Rochelle, New York; Father Dan Schlegel, presbyteral moderator of St. Aloysius/St. Agatha and pastor of its partner parish, St. Raphael, Bay Village; Father Dave Domanski, OFM Cap, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, Garfield Heights, and Father Paul Dressler, OFM Cap, pastor of St. Agnes/Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Cleveland.
“As Catholics, we embrace the cross and march forward to salvation,” the bishop said in his opening remarks. “But we don’t just embrace the cross on Good Friday. We do it at every Mass.”
Homilist Father Smith told the congregation that they filled up on Fat Tuesday and at Mardi Gras celebrations but it’s now time to fast.
“There is something inside you that sugar, applause, money and other (material) things cannot satisfy,” Father Smith said. “You can fill your stomach and still be starving spiritually.”
He noted that the Israelites in bondage were given manna, bread from heaven, but they could not stockpile it. However, God provided what they needed. “Some of us are trying to live off last year’s prayer life,” he said, invoking the Lord’s prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread …”
He also reminded them of John 6, “‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.’ Jesus offers us something that fills our souls.”
Lent prepares the soul, Father Smith said, recalling that Jesus spent 40 days fasting and praying in the desert, where the devil repeatedly tempted him. He resisted temptation, saying he was not sustained by food alone, but by the word of God.
“Some of us are overfed but undernourished … We are consumed by everything but the word of God,” he said. “The ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday remind us that we are dust and will return to dust. But ashes alone will not save us. They are an invitation.
God is about to breathe on us and take away some of the dusty things in our lives, Father Smith said, noting faith will rise up. But sometimes we rely on yesterday’s faith, which is not enough to sustain us. Lent is about rediscovering who we are.
“Tonight, we empty our hearts … What are we truly hungry for?” he said, noting Lent is the beginning of the journey. “Receive the breath of God (life) and let the revival begin.”