Bishop Malesic’s Damascus visit includes Mass, camper witness stories

A trip to Damascus was on the agenda for Bishop Edward Malesic on July 31.

Accompanied by Father Eric Garris, diocesan vocation director, he traveled more than 100 miles south to Centerburg, Ohio to celebrate the closing Mass for the weeklong camp session and to mingle with campers and staff. Many of the campers were from the Diocese of Cleveland. Before Mass, campers shared witness stories about their encounters with Jesus during the week and how it affected them.

Father Jeff Barnish from Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology, was among the concelebrants for the liturgy.

The bishop noted it was the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a nobleman and soldier, who encountered Jesus while recovering from a serious injury sustained in battle.

“I look at you and I see my youngest brothers and sisters,” the bishop told the 500 campers who gathered for Mass, along with family members, Damascus staff and several religious sisters.

The bishop shared his own faith story, explaining that he knew Bible stories and he knew who Jesus was, “but he was someone I knew about … I knew he lived 2,000 years ago and he was a great teacher, but I didn’t really know him.”

Then, in college, he received a Bible and began reading it, which offered him a new perspective about Jesus as a real person.

“I realized something … I heard Jesus speak to me, in my heart, in a very powerful way,” he said. “Jesus offers himself to the Father for you … God made the whole universe and he still cares about you. You are not insignificant to him,” he added.

“I finally allowed him to love me. I put him at the center of my life,” the bishop said, noting, “I think that’s what many of you experienced this week … You’ve encountered Jesus more personally in prayer and more deeply in small groups and at Mass. Jesus is always with us. He is absolutely there wherever there are consecrated hosts … and he’s still with you, even if you don’t feel it.”

He described a famous painting that shows a lantern outside a closed door that has no doorknob, so there is no way to get inside. “Jesus is like that. He is the light of the world, but he won’t force his way in. He knocks and waits for you to open the door. You are the only one who can let him in.”

The bishop reminded the campers that if they met Jesus at Damascus, they should hold onto him.

“As you leave here, get up and go with God,” he said.

At the end of the liturgy, religious sisters and a priest invited campers who felt they might have a call to a religious vocation to stand so those gathered could pray for them in their discernment.

“It’s great to be with you. I see Christ in you and you make him stronger because he lives in you,” he added.

Click here to learn more about Damascus, including available retreat and camping opportunities.