Dear Parish Family,

Lent is right around the corner with Ash Wednesday this February 18. Our Mass times are 7:30 am, 9:30 am (with the School), 12:00 pm, and 7:00 pm at St. Mary's, and 7:00 pm at St. Patrick's. Remember that you must have a Mass Pass to attend the 9:30 am Mass with the School, so stop by the parish or school office this week to get your pass to avoid delays. I look forward to beginning this sacred time with you!

Our Catholic Charities Annual Appeal takes place this weekend. This year's theme is "Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world." Your contribution to Catholic Charities helps over 400,000 people in need each year by providing resources and care to those most in need with more than 150 services at 60 locations in our Diocese. Help us reach our parish goal of $73,241. Thank you for your generosity!

Our Life Teen High School Youth Ministry has been on fire this year! We've consistently had between 15-25 teens come for our Sunday Life Nights, 11 attend Fall Retreat, and lots of excitement brewing for Spring Retreat (Mar 20-22) and our Confirmation Spirit Day retreat (Mar 15). Life Teen's mission is simple: to lead teens closer to Christ. Our teens are growing in their faith and loving it. Kudos to our Youth Minister, Nicky, and his dedicated Life Teen core team! They are rocking it. Please let me or Nicky know if you would like to assist in our Life Teen ministry. We could always benefit from parishioners willing to assist with setup, cleanup, providing a meal for our teens for Life Night, or helping assist at the Life Night itself. It's a super rewarding and fun ministry to consider!

Did you read the Cleveland.com article last week on the Angel Scholarship Fund? They quoted our stmarychardon.org/asf page. Free advertising! The article title begins with "Little known tax credit..." When I read that, my first thought was, "Wow, they must not be from around here!" I announced at the end of Masses at St. Mary's and St. Patrick's a few weeks ago that it was "tax time and do you know what that means?" Immediately the congregations at both parishes said, "Angel Scholarship" (and I think I heard one person say "headaches")! ASF is intentionally becoming part of our parish and school culture as a way that our families can support families choosing Catholic education for their children. This is something in which I hope everyone here can rejoice!

I found it interesting in the article that the tax credits amount to only 0.5% of the Ohio General Revenue Fund, so the allocation of tax dollars for tuition scholarships has a minimal impact on state funding while allowing you as a taxpayer to support your local Catholic schools. 

As the article suggests, there are arguments about the tax credit funding private education and taking away funding from public schools. Remember the 0.5% from above. ASF has such a minimal impact on public school funding that the argument against it is really splitting hairs arguing over a fraction of a penny on the dollar. As someone who went through the public school system in grade school and high school, and as a Pastor of St. Mary Catholic School, I understand the need for funding of both public and private education. More than anything, I am grateful to our state government for finding a way to honor and fund a family's choice to choose a school and education that fits their needs and values through our ASF tax credit scholarship. 

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow