Dear Parishioners,
I pray this update letter finds you well. In an effort to keep everyone informed, I want to share with you some very important information regarding the Beacons of Light process as it is underway in our family of parishes. As you know, July 1st was the official beginning of the process throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and priests and laity alike are beginning to learn what it means for their families. As I first shared in my May 15th bulletin article, every parish family is going to undergo this process, and it will look somewhat differently from one family to the next, but nonetheless it will change the way things currently are for everyone. We have already begun to see this in some of our neighboring families of parishes, as priests have moved, parishes have been grouped together, and Mass schedules have been altered. In that same bulletin I shared a timeline for the Beacons of Light process, with some major checkpoints. Once begun, the entire restructuring process for a family of parishes can take anywhere from 6-18 months, depending on how far along the family of parishes is at the start of Beacons. Given that we have been working together for nearly 20 years, and no changes were made in July, we can expect that it will take around 12 months, give or take, for us to complete the process. In light of this, the timeline is as follows:
July 2022 – Establish Parish Family Council
February 2023 – Launch New Mass Schedule (To be announced August 2022)
July 2023 – Finalize Merger
There are many details in the midst of this timeline that will need to be handled as they come, but this is the “big picture”. During this year, we will be communicating through these monthly flyers, and this will be the primary way for everyone to stay informed. In this first flyer, I want to share two major items: the Parish Family Council, and the proposed Mass Schedule, as well as offer some clarifying terms. Please prayerfully review this information and be aware that we will have opportunities for in-person communication in the coming weeks, where some of your questions could be addressed. May God bless you, and may He bless all of us, as we walk this path together, strengthened by the prayers of our Blessed Mother and Holy Patrons, who beckon us onward, closer to the Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately Yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
Parish Family Council
As part of the Beacons of Light restructuring process, one of the tasks for every family of parishes is to establish a single-family council, replacing the separate parish councils. This move is to ensure that there is a structural element of unity in each family to help facilitate the process of coming together as a single parish, though there will still be multiple churches within the family. While the parishes exist as individual parishes prior to merger, there will continue to be separate finance councils and buildings and grounds committees, to handle individual parish concerns along the way. However, the family council tasked with assisting in pastoral works will be unified.
In this first year, the Family Council will focus on assisting me in addressing pastoral concerns in the family, especially regarding Beacons of Light. Moving forward, this council will work with me to nourish, increase, and spread the Faith within the parish, and beyond. I am pleased to name the following parishioners as members of the family council:
SA: Ann Hemmelgarn Dave Wuebker
SB: Carol Niekamp Adam Stammen
SF: Mara Hibner Scott Hartings
SH: Ann Stammen Rick Osterholt
SW: Kris Meier Mark Dues
We had our first meeting on August 8th, and it was a very pleasant occasion; I have a lot of hope that this group will work well and hard to help us come together as a parish family, centered on the Eucharist and striving to grow in faith together. Please pray for our council members as they work with me to discern how we will all become saints.
Family Leadership Team
Our Family Leadership Team will handle some of the “legwork” of this process, specifically the canonical and legal aspects of the merger and things for which we need to work closely with our archdiocesan support staff at the Pastoral Center in Cincinnati. This team includes:
- Fr. Andrew Hess
- Fr. Louis Jacquemin
- Deacon Jerry Buschur
- Deacon Randy Balster
- Deacon Gregg Elking
- Sue Nietfeld - Business Manager
- Erin Elking - Office Manager
Mass Schedule
The main subject of conversation at the first Family Council meeting – the topic which is undoubtedly on everyone’s mind – was the necessary changes to our Mass schedule. The Mass schedule in every parish family must change in keeping with the parameters of the Beacons of Light process, which are theologically rooted and in accordance with canon law. Some of the specific parameters regarding the Mass schedule are:
The regular Mass schedule for a Family of Parishes may not assume more than two Masses per day per priest.
The regular Mass schedule must provide the opportunity for priests to spiritually prepare for and be present to the community after Mass.
Additionally, the concerns for our family of parishes include:
Accounting for the input of parishioners’ comments from the Mass schedule survey.
Avoiding being more drastic than is necessary.
Trying to have “something for everyone” in the end.
The proposed schedule is the result of much thought and prayer, which was also confirmed by several survey responses. We were looking for something in the middle, where virtue always lies. While every church will not have a Sunday Mass beginning in February, we have found a way to maintain the use of all of our churches moving forward. Pending the necessary approvals, our proposed Sunday Mass schedule for our Family of Parishes, beginning on February 4, 2023, is as follows:
...
Daily Masses will continue to be celebrated at all five churches however some changes may be made to the current rotation.
Part of the hope of Beacons of Light is to allow for growth by regrouping all of our resources for the future. We wanted to avoid going “too far” and so it is desirable that we have Mass at as many churches as possible, rather than as few as possible. This leads us to the question: “What about Saint Aloysius and Saint Wendelin?” As mentioned, a primary concern was having “something for everyone”, and I am happy to share that our plan for the future will not leave any of our churches vacant and empty.
Saint Aloysius – Traditional Latin Mass Chapel
Archbishop Schnurr’s delegate approached me to ask if we might consider offering a church for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass following the Beacons merger. There are a large number of Catholics in the northern area of the archdiocese – young and old, and many with large families – who are longing for this opportunity; I’ve even received contacts from people who want to move here if we have the Latin Mass on offer. This is a gift, because it means that we will have something to offer in our family that people cannot find anywhere else; it will mean that, when a priest is available, Sunday Mass will be celebrated at Saint Aloysius, albeit in a form with which most parishioners are unfamiliar – but it is the Mass! It will enrich our parish family, and we will see an increase of parishioners coming from all over who will contribute their own time, talent, and treasure to the family.
Saint Wendelin – Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel
Prayer is the best means of strengthening a parish, and the best prayer is spent in adoration of the Lord, Who is present and with us always in the Blessed Sacrament. We have developed a culture of adoration over the last few years, and it is time to expand that culture. Perpetual Adoration is a powerful testimony to our faith in Jesus Christ, and our desire to grow closer to Him as individuals and as a parish. Keeping our Eucharistic Lord at the center of our lives as parishioners will only bear fruit for us, fruits of unity, of grace, of vocations, and of deepening holiness in the souls of our people. Perpetual adoration means that individuals will be attending to and adoring the Lord 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. St. Wendelin will continue to be a house of prayer, a place where parishioners from our family and beyond can come to be with the Lord any time, day or night, offering their hopes, fears, joys, triumphs, thanksgiving, and adoration to Jesus, present in the Eucharist, bringing comfort and peace to all who seek him there. This will take the commitment of our parish family to make it happen, and we will also invite area Catholics to join in the effort to adore our Lord perpetually, making Him available for everyone at all times.
Funerals, Baptisms, Weddings and Weekday Masses will be celebrated in all churches.
Q&A Opportunities
All parishioners are invited to attend question and answer evenings so we can pray together, listen to questions and concerns and discuss the next steps we will take together.
- Sept. 1, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM, St. Aloysius Church
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Sept. 8, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM, St. Wendelin Church
Clarifying Terms
In order to help us understand what to expect during Beacons of Light, I want to clarify a few terms regarding the process.
Canon Law – These are the laws that govern the Church. There are universal laws, which govern the entire Catholic Church, and there are particular laws, which generally govern a local Church (archdiocese or diocese). Canon Law refers to “parishes” and “churches” in a specific legal sense and during Beacons this is the sense in which we also refer to those terms.
Parish – Generally, when we think of a parish, we think of the church where we attend Mass. But a parish is something very specific in Canon Law. In Canon Law, a parish is: “A stable community of the faithful constituted with a church or group of churches within a diocese.” Think of a parish as a geographical territory rather than a specific church.
Church – There is “The Church” (which is the entire Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ), and there is “a church”, which is a sacred building set aside for public worship. Each parish has at least one church in its territory, and each church is consecrated to a specific saint or other patronal title, which cannot be changed.
Closure – Canon Law refers to closure as “Relegation to Profane Use” – meaning, the space is no longer used for sacred purposes. This is not what is intended during the Beacons of Light Process. In some cases, there may be churches in the archdiocese that can no longer be used for any sacred purpose whatsoever, but this will not be a normative thing. In most cases, ours included, “churches” will not be closed, however “parishes” will be merged.
Merger – A parish merger occurs when two or more parish territories are merged to become a single parish. In this case, the churches within the new parish maintain their patronage and become the common patrimony of the entire new parish.
