Dear parishioners,

During the last few months you’ve become accustomed to reading thoughtful or informative reflections from your friars in this weekly column, but we’re switching it up a bit for the second Sunday of Easter. We’re doing this partially to give the friars a break following the marathons that are Lent and the Easter Triduum, but also to introduce an additional opportunity for our staff to speak directly with you. Consider this the first “Staff Reflection.”

I have been serving the parish as the manager of communications for just over seven months, starting in September of last year. While I’ve had the pleasure to meet and chat with dozens of parishioners in that short time, I often feel as if I am the parish’s “man behind the curtain,” which is not an unfamiliar position for me to find myself. I came to Sacred Heart following years of behind-the-scenes work, from broadcast engineering/production with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Amalie Arena, to ghostwriting content for many state and federal government outreach initiatives. Staying out of the limelight suits me just fine.

That’s continued at Sacred Heart. From week to week I am spoiled for choice on topics to adjust our collective focus to, from the history of our parish or its distinctive and devoted parishioners, to the Franciscan Charism, or, most importantly, our many outreach initiatives aiding the most vulnerable members of our community. These were among the many aspects that attracted me to the parish and this position to begin with, and I very much enjoy learning about and covering these topics. I have been humbled to bear witness from backstage these first few months, however, I feel it is time to step out and join you all on stage. I’ll be doing so in part to continue with the incredible traditions and philanthropic initiatives already in motion here at Sacred Heart, but also to address some of the challenges I have observed and heard reported by you, our parishioners.

After consulting with staff and volunteers, I’ve learned the last time the parish conducted listening sessions or surveys was nearly five years ago. A lot has changed in these last five years. A lot has changed in the last two and a half. Given the pastoral transitions, the pandemic, and staffing changes, I feel it would be prudent to produce a new set of listening sessions and surveys this year, to gauge parishioner sentiment and to present larger initiatives to parishioners, especially items that will affect the parish long term.

I’m not a fan of pushing for change when starting a new project or job. Working nearly eight years in the sports world, I can tell you that the quickest way to “lose a locker room,” or the collective buy-in from your constituents, is to make a bunch of changes without consulting those most invested: “the team,” or in this case, you, our parishioners. In providing these listening sessions, decisions will not be made in a silo from the new guy. I’ll look to this as my first major project within the parish.

One of the first items on the docket for discussion is evaluating the need for a renewed identity for the parish. More simply put, the friars and staff wish to create a new vision or mission statement for the parish, and potentially new branding to go along with it. Any prospective vision or mission statement should be succinct in defining what our internal and external priorities and goals are as a parish. We have so many wonderful ministries at Sacred Heart. It would be beneficial to have a unifying thread across these ministries, so that no matter how ministry members may meet visitors or prospective new parishioners, they could easily define who we are and what we do at Sacred Heart.

Creating a unified vision for Sacred Heart may help us address an additional growing concern. A concern that is certainly not exclusive to Sacred Heart, or any church for that matter. A recent Gallup poll suggests that church membership, irrespective of denomination or creed, is down more than 10 percent during the last decade, falling below a nationwide majority for the first time since the surveyor began measuring membership some 85 years ago. For the same reasons we wish to move forward with new listening sessions and surveys, we can assume our own membership and active participation have been affected in recent years.

We can address these concerns, however, with the renewed identity. We can devise better ways to communicate with members of our parish who may not have returned following the height of the pandemic. We can reach out to new residents moving into our parish boundaries from out of state. We can enhance or prioritize programming to cater to the needs of current and prospective parishioners in multiple demographic subsets. While this all sounds very technical, it has a common goal of renewal, a theme very much in line with our current liturgical focus.

There is a deep desire among the staff for renewal. While I cannot speak to the way things used to be, or whether the “way things used to be” is particularly the ways things should be now or in the future, I do share in that passion for renewal. I want to help Sacred Heart continue to be something it always has been; a community trailblazer focused on stewardship and charity. I look forward to working with you, our parishioners, to make that renewal a reality.

Peace and all good,
Rob Boelke

Dear parishioners,

I have been writing in these reflections about who and what we are as Franciscans, and on this most central and pivotal of weekends in our liturgical year, I wish to speak about the history of my brother Franciscans in the Holy Land, the area where the events central to our faith took place.

You may be surprised to learn the holy sites that people travel from all around the globe to see in Jerusalem are run by friars, specifically the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Land, or the Custody of the Holy Land. These brothers were given the obligation of maintaining and ministering at these holy sites in 1342, by a papal decree, known as a “bull,” from Clement VI.

St. Francis of Assisi went to the Middle East at the beginning of the 13th century to visit and touch the places that offered an irreplaceable testimony of God’s revelations and love for the human person. During Francis’ journey, and despite the ongoing crusades, Francis encountered and dialogued with the Egyptian sultan Malik Al-Kamil, who was governing the Holy Land at that time. It was a peaceful encounter, which started the beginning of the Franciscans’ presence in the Holy Land and influenced the way in which the order has been present to this day.

The friars act as “guardians” of the important Christian sites in the region, preserving the value and experiences of these historical places, which ultimately aides pilgrims seeking to connect with that history.

The friars consistently tell of the miracles, manifestations, and footprints of the passage of God in this world. They echo the words of the Lord, who spoke to them through the prophets and apostles and became “flesh,” a man like us, living in our midst. This is what is meant when popes say that the friars’ mission is to work so that the biblical places become centers of spirituality, each as a sanctuary, preserving and handing on the evangelical message while nurturing the piety of the faithful.

The friars continue to fulfill their mandate of caring for the sacred shrines today. The following is a partial list of the shrines for which the Franciscans serve as caretakers:

• • The Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth
  • The Basilica of the Nativity, Bethlehem
  • Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown
  • The Church of the First Miracle, Cana
  • The Basilica of the Transfiguration, Mt. Tabor
  • The Church of St. Lazarus, Bethany
  • The Basilica of the Agony, Gethsemane
  • The Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

The group of friars who have dedicated their life to serving and preserving these sacred places so important to our faith is known as The Custody of the Holy Land (Custodia Terræ
Sanctæ). The Custody is symbolized by the Cross of the Holy Land, a red, Greek cross on a white background that features four smaller crosses, also known as the Jerusalem Cross. The Custody can be traced back to the year 1217, when the first general chapter of the Friars Minor was celebrated at St. Mary of the Angels, near Assisi. In an act of inspiration, Francis decided to send his friars to all nations.

Francis and the order divided their numbers into “provinces,” and left from Assisi out to the four corners of the world. The Holy Land was listed as the most important province for this new mission. The province was entrusted to the care of brother Elias of Cortona, who, while not a cleric and never a priest, was a lay brother with significant organizational skills, which would have been advantageous in establishing a presence in the region amid the ongoing crusades.

As we celebrated Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we began a journey into Holy Week, culminating with our Easter celebrations. The journey embodies the walk on the sands and rocky paths that Jesus had walked, fallen, and traveled to Calvary. I am humbled to know that my brothers, past and present, work so hard to protect and preserve these sites in which our faith is centered.

May these past few days of our Lenten journey bring us a new respect for the people who are oppressed by war, the poor, alienated, lost and unwanted. May we have a true appreciation for one another as God’s created gifts. I end with a translated portion of Mary’s canticle;

May our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord, may our spirits rejoice in God our Savior…for He has looked with favor upon us. He is RISEN, He is Risen, Alleluia, He is Risen.

Peace and all good,
Friar Henry

Dear parishioners,

Palm/Passion Sunday: the beginning of Holy Week. Passion Sunday signifies both suffering and love, royalty and triumph. By freely going to Jerusalem, Jesus demonstrates his humility and love for us.

Two Gospels will be proclaimed at this weekend’s Masses. The first, proclaimed before the procession with palms, tells of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Riding on a borrowed colt, Jesus was hailed by the crowds as they shouted blessings and praise to God. This is reported in each of the four Gospels, but Luke’s Gospel is the only one to report the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees as Jesus enters Jerusalem. Jesus’ response shows that this event, and those yet to come, are part of a divine plan.

In this gospel, it almost seems as if Jesus does not want to end his last meal with the disciples. His words on service are significant in this context. Jesus has given the Eucharist to his closest companions and will soon die in service to others. In considering the Eucharist, Francis of Assisi stood in awe at the “humility of God.” This same God gives himself to us in every Eucharist. Jesus models what we are called to be: people of service to others, at home, at work, in our neighborhoods, and in our parish community.

The awareness of others is a valuable Holy Week lesson. Jesus taught us that true power lies in sacrifice and service and that humility is one of the most important virtues we need for our service and mission. Jesus came to forgive, to include, and to welcome and he is repaid in rejection, dishonesty, and hatred. He shows us the absolute depth of his love by sacrificing everything for us and in doing so, has saved us. A journey through suffering love, service of others, true and inspiring leadership.

During his triumphant entry, Christ rode on a colt, symbolizing humility. In his suffering, Christ abandoned himself to his enemies without resistance or striking back. Through it all, there is Jesus. His enemies humiliate him, strike him, scourge him. Soldiers make a crown with thorns, a crown for the “King of the Jews.” Herod mocks him. Pilate, Roman trained, makes a half-hearted attempt at justice but fear for his career prevails.

Jesus, for his part, does not strike back, he does not scold, he does not accuse or blame. He begs his Father to forgive those who “do not know what they are doing.” Jesus seems to be the victim but all through he is, in fact, the master. He is master of the situation because he is master of himself.

So, as we go through this day and week, let us look very carefully at Jesus our Savior. We watch, not just to admire, but also to learn His attitudes and values so that we, in the very different circumstances of our own lives, may walk in his footsteps.

As his disciples, he invites us to walk his way, to share his sufferings, to imitate his attitudes, to “empty” ourselves, to live in service of others – in short, to love others as he loves us. This is not at all a call to a life of pain and misery. Quite the contrary, it is an invitation to a life of deep freedom. A life of peace and of love. If it were anything else, it would not be worth considering.

Peace and all good
Fr. Zack