The People of God in Lake County
In December 2024, Bishop Malesic of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland published a pastoral letter on the internet.
It’s simply a letter about how we can draw closer to Christ, and there is no controversy in that,” Bishop Malesic said. “Let’s just pray 15 minutes a day; join a small group; invite your Catholic neighbors and friends together to have a cup of coffee and talk about ‘Why are you Catholic?’; ‘How can you become a disciple of Jesus?’ I think these are the basic things.”
-from a media interview of the bishop
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The bishop asks each Catholic of the Diocese to do five simple things:
1. Study and Discuss the Pastoral Letter
"I invite every Catholic in the Diocese of Cleveland to read this pastoral letter in its entirety, as I have written it with each of you in mind. Make notes and underline your copy of the letter; Consider reading it more than just once. then, meet with some other Catholics who have read this letter and discuss it in a small group. (page 2)"
We discovered the Letter on December 29, 2024. I read it, underlined key passages, and made notes. These were published in a post the next day on the website of the Cleveland Commonweal Local Community Network. They were subsequently revised several times into a final form in March 2025.
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2. At Least 15 Minutes of Quality Prayer a Day
"Perhaps the most important question we all need to answer is this: What kind of friendship do I have with God? I invite you, if it is not already part of your daily routine, to make time for God – at least fifteen minutes of prayer a day." (page 6)
"I am convinced that there is no moving forward for us as a diocese unless we first move forward in our friendship with the Triune God, who will then allow us to enter into deeper friendship with each other as Missionary Disciples." (page 6)
"There are many ways to pray, and you can each figure out what form of prayer works best for your given state in life..." (page 8)
As soon as the pandemic started, we began to assemble internet resources for the celebration of the Hours on a blog called the Virtual Divine Office. It posed the more scholarly question of what is out there? Our search included monastic, Anglican and Orthodox websites as well as Breviary. We included individual hymns and psalms from a wide variety of musical and denominational traditions. During the pandemic we regularly joined the widely successful Morning Prayer from garden of Canterbury Cathedral which became known as the garden congregation. We also discovered Vespers at Saint Meinrad Archabbey which we have joined nightly ever since. We love singing their psalm tones.
With the publication of the Word on Fire monthly booklets in 2022, I began a new blog with a more pastoral focus to enable any person, household or small group to pray the Hours "anywhere, anytime with anyone whether virtually or physically present. The website present each day three links to complete versions of the Morning and Evening Prayer from the Roman Breviary. Also included are addition hymns, psalm and canticle setting that can enhance the complete liturgical settings. The blog was named after Saint Gabriel the patron of media, for the "good news" is that abundant virtual resources enable any person or group to celebrate the Hours "anywhere, anytime with anyone."
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This website shares with the pastoral letter a gold standard of a least fifteen minutes of quality prayer. This could be accomplished by either Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer alone. However, the website emphasizes integrating the celebration of the Hours with daily life, encourages repeating the Hours when they are enjoyable, and/or breaking up the elements of the Hour across the morning or evening.
Each post for Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer has a choice of three complete videos for prayer. I often pray Morning or Evening Prayer during my treadmill exercise. If one walks for thirty minutes, one could use two of the three videos for the Hour, or even all three if one walks for fort-five minutes. Or one can combine one the complete videos the Hour with the alternative hymns and psalms videos as a form of meditation upon the elements of the Hours, either before and/or after the complete service. Saint Ignatius recommended that we immerse ourselves in the satisfying elements of our prayer, encouraging us to repeating them. .
The Hours website aims to help individuals and groups discern the place of the Hours in their lives, especially the times, places and persons with whom we might share the Hours. However, it can also be used to discern the role of various elements (hymns, psalms, readings) in our prayer life even if we do not pray the Hours on a regular basis. Moreover, the Hours are a form of prayer that can be easily shared with members of a spiritual support network, both virtually and also in person or as a small group.
3. Develop a Spiritual Support Network
" We all need a small circle of friends with whom we can share our faith, in order to grow in our faith. Small faith-related groups allow us to recognize what is universally true about our Catholic faith in our particular situations." (page 10)
" I also ask parishioners themselves to take the initiative to create such small groups. This might be as simple as asking some of your Catholic neighbors to come over for a get-together." (page 10)
Commonweal Local Communities (CLCs) provide excellent opportunities for developing spiritual support networks that are focused upon our personal, family, work and community lives rather than parish activities. The following link provides models for forming CLCs based upon my experience with the Cleveland CLC before the pandemic and also my experience as a member of a small national virtual Commonweal Community formed by members of the dot Commonweal blog.
The Mission of the WEAL blog is to create a virtual community organized around reading articles from Commonweal magazine and other resources that promote Voluntary Spiritual Leadership structured along seven dimensions: Leadership (discipleship), Forms of Capital (human, social & cultural), Time (leisure), Spirituality (American), Voluntarism (friendship), Bible, and Prayer (contemplation).
The WEAL blog facilitates the formation of Commonweal Local Communities (CLCs) by persons, households, neighborhoods, associations professional, civic, and religious groups. Commonweal allows nonsubscribers to read three free articles per month. However, the extensive additional sources may be found useful by individuals, groups, and organizations even if they elect not to read the Commonweal articles or become a CLC.
The WEAL blog. in the spirit of "local communities" views larger issues like immigration and the elderly not only in the framework of world and national policies but gives great attention to specificity of these issues in the local context. What needs to be done and what can be done about the elderly population is very different in Lake, Cuyahoga, and Ashtabula counties.
If anyone wishes to start or join a CLC in Lake County simply register at the following link. It will automatically forward the information to me as the Commonweal Contact Person for the Cleveland area
4. Knowing and Telling One’s Own Story
"What is your story? What has God done in your life? How has your life changed because
of your participation in the life of the Catholic Church?" (page 13)
“Catholic Christian living is not about a one-time conversion, but about a lifetime of conversions, of authentic growth in friendship with God.” (page 3)
As a social psychologist interested in spirituality, I would define conversion as any event that leads to a change in how we understand ourselves in relation to God and others. We often begin rethinking ourselves when our relationships change, e.g. leaving home for college, graduating with a degree, becoming a member of a profession, getting a job, getting married, having children, experiencing the death of a loved one, etc. Research indicts that in many conversions, our relationships change first, it is only later that our minds begin to understand the significance of the changes for our identity.
After outlining one's life as a series of conversions, try seeing it as a lifetime of experiencing charisms, yours and others. We experience a lifetime of giving and receiving time and talents, i.e. charisms. These gifts were often given to us as seeds by others, e.g. family, teachers, friends, the people whom we serve (some of my greatest gifts have come from serving those with mental illness). We are a charismatic apostolic church.
5. Our Particular Missions in Life
"I would like each and every Catholic in the Diocese of Cleveland to be able to identify his or her mission of service in the world. At the end of Mass, we often hear, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” This sending must not remain vague or abstract. Each of you must identify a concrete mission, a place where you have been commissioned by the Lord to take his love through service to those in need. There are countless missions and apostolates to be lived out, and I am asking each of you to prayerfully consider where the Lord is sending you on mission to serve others here in our Diocese of Cleveland." (pages 18-19)
"Let’s ask ourselves how we can get the message of Jesus and his Gospel out into our
communities in a way that is authentic, orthodox, and inviting. It is true that we live in an age saturated by screens and information, and that a majority of young people spend a great deal of time on the internet and social media. We must ask ourselves, are our parishes present online? Are we reaching out to our parishioners and potential parishioners online with the Gospel message." (page 18)
As an elderly person who lives with an immunocompromised person, I have found great joy in the virtual world of worship and with virtual friendship with other people across the country. I now see my two blogs, one of the Hours and other of Commonweal Local Communties as my contributions to the bishop's pastoral vision.
The Deanery Structure of the Diocese
In addition to his pastoral letter, Bishop Malesic has restored the canonical structure of deaneries for the diocese. This was neglected when planning districts were established in their stead. Deaneries, a level of activity between the diocese and the parish, appears to be a work in progress retaining much of the planning dimension. In discussing parishes in the diocese, the Bishop singles our five special categories: Pastors, Deans, Parish Staff, Volunteer Ministers and a potential fourth level,
the People of God
"The People of God are the front-line workers for Christ in our society. Your apostolate, owing from your baptism, is to transform those within your sphere, those you encounter on the journey of life. Your mission is fulfilled by being followers of Jesus in the world, especially serving those who don’t know Christ. It’s about loving those who haven’t been drawn to church, who don’t cross the parish threshold.
Use the gift s God has lavished upon you in ways that build the Kingdom of God on earth in
the image of what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like: a place of peace, love, and joy
Whether young or old, digital natives or technologically challenged, urban, suburban, or rural dwelling, each of you has the ability and responsibility to transform lives "(page.20)
It would have been easy for the bishop to refer to the largest number of parish members as with the conventual term "people in the pews." However, the most important parts of our missions in life are done in our families, workplaces, and society not in the pews.
In the Vatican II document on the Church, it speaks of the People of God:
"At all times and in every race, God has given welcome to whosoever fears Him and does what is right. God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness."
Starting with the People of Israel, the document crafts a vision of the People of God extended to the Gentiles and all the people of the earth. It is inclusive rather than exclusive. All Christian denominations are included through baptism even when separated by doctrine or practice. Moslems and Jews are included by belief in the same one God. All people of good will potentially have a seat at the table.
This sense of the People of God is what I experienced when I was in the mental health system, and what I see as the target audience for the Lake County Ohio WEAL blog. It includes everyone committed to the "common weal" or "common good" of the people of Lake County.