JUNE 2026 GROWING A FLOURISHING APOSTOLIC CHURCH
“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
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. Over the next year I would like this letter to be at the forefront of conversations around the diocese. (page 2)
The Pastoral Letter asks each and every Catholic in the Diocese to do five simple things. First, we need to read the letter, prayerfully discern our response to it, and discuss the letter and our response with others. Second, we should develop our personal prayer life of at least fifteen minutes of quality prayer each day. Third, we should develop a support network of family, friends, and fellow Catholics to support our particular mission in life. Fourth we should become articulate at telling the story of our personal spiritual journey. And finally we should become increasing concrete about the tasks that constitute our personal mission in life.
In my opinion these "simple things" provide a common framework t