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Gratitude for the People of St. Joseph and Welcoming to St. Gabriel

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The picture above is my final view of St. Joseph!

My dear friends at St. Joseph and Nativity,

Five years ago when I was assigned to St. Joseph I didn’t know anything about it.  Other than, Fr. Martello, had been assigned to my Home Parish, Holy Family, in Parma and had come and gone before I was born.  I’ll never forget the first day I walked into the parish and he opened his arms wide, gave me a big bear hug, and said I’m so glad that you are here.

Being a priest is like having a “Front row seat in the theater of God’s grace.”

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for a wonderful five years with you.  We’ve experienced a lot together including over the years.  I was blessed to be there with all of you especially during the difficult transition of Fr. Martello’s retirement and welcoming our new pastor Fr. O’Connor.  I really and truly consider my 1 year extension to be a year of blessing and grace.  I want to thank all of you that helped me start the renewal programs, the men’s and women’s groups, the El Salvador Mission Team, Pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Italy for the Canonization of Saints John Paul II and John XXIII, the Poustinia Retreats, the Youth Renewals, The Prodigal Father Productions, The Examen Prayer app, Pray40Days, and two outstanding parish missions!  I truly enjoyed working with the RCIA team and the wonderful new members of our faith!
I also want to thank you for being there for my farewell mass and reception.  I was overwhelmed and overjoyed with the number of people that showed up.  I truly felt loved and appreciated.  My final song to you was “Will you love Jesus more?”
 

Will you love Jesus more
When we go our separate ways
When this moment is a memory
Will you remember His face
Will you look back and realize
You sensed His love more than you did before
I’d pray for nothing less
Than for you to love Jesus more. 

The greatest compliment I received from so many of you was: “Mission accomplished: I do love Jesus more!”  I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.  I am also so grateful for the number of you who told me you came back to the Church because of something that I said or did.  I want you to know that was Jesus and not me.  Keep coming back, He is even happier than I am that He has found his lost sheep.  I want to thank all of you to who were so generous to me with your gifts, cards, and money.  I promise it will go to good use and you will be receiving a personal thank you from me once I get settled in.  Please know how much I love you, how grateful I am for my time with you, and my continued prayers for all of you.

If you would like to keep in touch with me I encourage you to sign up for my weekly homilies at TheProdigalFather.org.  You will get an email that will give you my current contact information and ALL the ways to keep in touch on social media!
My final memory of St. Joseph was from the sky!  Some parishioners arranged for me to fly a plane over Amherst and St. Joseph.  It was a wonderful surprise and a surreal experience to have my last memories of that day celebrating mass, the love and affirmation from all of you and then seeing it from above.
“Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus the Lord”,
Love, Fr. Michael
St. Gabriel Church
9925 Johnnycake Ridge Rd,
Mentor, OH 44060
Phone:(440) 352-8282

(Text and pictures for Gratitude for the People of St. Joseph)

Fr michael farewell guitar IMG_2529 IMG_2531

 

Below you can see the previous associate, Fr. Ed Suszynski, at St. Gabriel went to great lengths to indoctrinate me into the “Mickey Mouse Club”, Fr. Fred Pausche  is a huge disney fan… what Fr. Ed doesn’t know is so am I!
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Me, pretending to be sad, but really not… I am clumsy if that’s what bumper means? image

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Here’s a view of the Church from the main entrance

 

 

Finally, I was so moved to receive a dozen red roses from parishioners of St. Joseph with a list of each day they would be praying for me during the month of my transition to St. Gabriel.  THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE PRAYERS!!!!!!

[thrive_headline_focus title=”Thanks for all of the that sent the beautiful Roses and the Daily Prayers!” orientation=”left”]20160614_170648.jpg

I read an article recently titled:

Disney’s Lesson for Finding the Hidden Christ

I made sure to read it and forward it to Fr. Fred.

“Among my family’s summer vacation plans is a trip to Disney World to celebrate our new college graduate. While it has been more than a decade since our last visit, I remember a certain amount of wearily standing in line for rides and food. Luckily, Disney makes waiting in line a bit more enjoyable by providing themed decor in their waiting areas. Visitors can also hunt for “hidden Mickeys,” places where the shape of Mickey Mouse (his head and ears, or his shoes) are carefully concealed in a mural painted onto a wall or in some subtle detail on an amusement-ride car. Once one begins to look for them, the number of places Mickey appears are numerous, but if one doesn’t look, they are likely to go unnoticed.

Ignatian spirituality emphasizes the concept of “finding God in all things.”  (Continue Reading Article)

I look forward to finding Christ in Fr. Fred, Fr. Jeremy and the People of St. Gabriel Parish.  Thank you St. Joseph and Nativity for letting me experience Christ in you!

Love, Fr. Michael

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