We are fast approaching almost 10 months as a newly configured parish, Saint Paul Cathedral Parish. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions in place have seriously limited our ability to gather, there are many good signs of our progress in coming together as a parish family. With the tremendous help of the Transition Council, the parish finance and pastoral councils, and the Facilities Task Force, decisions were made and implemented last fall that help us steer a course for the future. Given our demographic realities, as well as our human and temporal resources, we have identified Saint Paul Cathedral and Saint Rosalia as the sites for regular worship moving forward. These are the two anchors for our parish moving forward. A revised Mass schedule has been implemented with 9 Sunday Masses for our parish which are sufficient to meet our clergy resources and the faithful attending Mass – with lots of room for growth in Mass attendance at both sites.

I would like to share a few things that are illustrative of our coming together as a parish family:

1.    A new parish finance council was commissioned and began serving our parish on July 1, 2020.

2.    A new parish pastoral council has been formed with representatives from all four former parishes willing to serve. We have our first meeting in May as we have taken time to select leaders for the council who are committed to the vision of the new parish and are committed to helping us move forward. Clearly the pastoral council will be focusing on the needs of our parish community, outreach and evangelization, and once the pandemic restrictions are lifted, how we might work to invite people to come together for prayer, fellowship, formation and service.

3.    There are some lectors, ushers, and EEMS from all four of our former parishes who are now serving in ministry both at Saint Paul Cathedral and St. Rosalia site.

4.    A new parish catechetical program was launched for students in grades K through 8. This year the program was virtual due to the pandemic, but plans are underway for the program to resume in person classes next fall at St. Rosalia site.

5.    We have offered transportation to anyone who needs it – so far no one has asked. We have some parishioners using buses and ACCESS, as well as some parishioners offering rides to friends and neighbors.

6.    We have seen many people from the four former parishes now attending Mass at both Saint Paul Cathedral and Saint Rosalia, including former parishioners from Saint Regis and Saint Stephen. Those numbers continue to increase as some of the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and more people are being vaccinated. While the obligation to attend Mass at this time has been lifted by the Pennsylvania bishops, we continue to encourage people to come to Mass as they are able – even attending Mass during the week where there are fewer people in attendance.

7.    As of January 1, we have consolidated our food pantry at the St. Rosalia site and operate it weekly, instead of once a month as it had operated previously. We have many patrons from Hazelwood, Greenfield, and Oakland who need and utilize this ministry and outreach weekly.

8.    We have had a significant increase in volunteers from across the parish who are helping with the food ministry in Hazelwood and our parish food pantry – the lunch program and Meals on Wheels. This has brought many from our parish together in service for those in the Hazelwood community.

9.    Our clergy team has nearly 50 communion calls in Greenfield, Hazelwood, and Oakland. These visitations are resuming now and the homebound who want to receive Holy Communion will be visited regularly. We hope to resume the visits by EEM’s once the pandemic restrictions are lifted and things are safe.

10.    We have enhanced our ability to broadcast and livestream not only the daily and Sunday Mass, but for the first time this year we are now broadcasting and livestreaming the Wednesday evening novena and benediction, our monthly Wine Cheese and the Gospel, and the Lenten Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings. We have received a lot of positive feedback from those who are so appreciative for that ministry.

11.    We are in the process of renovating the social hall at the St. Rosalia site so that we can resume our Sunday morning fellowship after the 9:00 am Mass each Sunday. A number of volunteers have helped with this project.

12.    The Ladies of Charity groups from St. Paul Cathedral and St. Stephen (the two active groups prior to the merger) are now merged and working beautifully together. They have expanded their ministry to include a prayer ministry, calls to those who have lost loved ones in our parish, and other social ministry outreach. This has been working very well in bringing our parish communities together.

13.    A phone ministry has been effective in keeping in touch with homebound and elderly parishioners since the inception of the pandemic, including those in nursing homes.

14.    The Saint Vincent DePaul Society from our former four parishes have been brought together and working well in serving those who have needs.

15.    The parish bulletin is our primary means of communication and is accessed on the website and by direct mail as well as picked up at each of the four Church buildings.

16.    Flocknote has been made available to the faithful as a very effective means of communication and evangelization and more than 300 parishioners are signed up so far.

17.    Funerals and weddings continue to be celebrated at all four Church sites as requested.

18.    We made a special effort to celebrate Mass this past year at St. Stephen, on December 26 which is the feast day of St. Stephen. I was delighted to be the celebrant for that liturgy which brought several people together for prayer.

19.    We have begun meeting with Duquesne University on ways in which our parish can collaboratively work on outreach and services that will benefit the Hazelwood community, but also our Greenfield and Oakland communities. These include several initiatives that provide legal and medical assistance, as well as meeting transportation and temporal needs.

20.    Capital resources have been expended on the St. Rosalia site including the restoration of the façade and roof, the renovation of our social hall, new lighting in the Church, installation of new safety hardware on the Church doors, moving the food bank from the new school to the rectory, and enhancing the landscaping. The handicap ramp will be repaired this spring.

21.    Hearing loop technology, funded through donations and grants, was installed at Saint Paul Cathedral which will enable those with hearing loss to participate more fully in the liturgy.

22.    Our parish consultative bodies all strongly advised that we sell the St. Stephen pastoral center the new and old school at St. Rosalia. These are buildings that the parish does not need and can no longer afford. The sale of these facilities will reduce our financial obligations for utilities, maintenance and upkeep and allow us to focus on mission over maintenance, as well as bring people together.

23.    The reduction in expenses has helped us to hire a part time Pastoral Associate whose primary duties include coordination of the RCIA and Young Adult Ministry, as well as assisting with our social media outreach and the much-needed work in Evangelization.

As members of the parish clergy team, Father Stubna, Father Walsh, Father Odeyemi, and Deacon Tom are representatives of Saint Paul Cathedral parish and serve in the name of the parish in whatever ministry they are engaged. Whatever we do and wherever we are – we bring the presence of our parish to the people we serve and to the neighborhoods in which we live and work. Please continue to pray for us as we pray for the members of our parish every day. God bless you.