“I like walking the Way of the Cross during Lent because we’re going somewhere,” Bishop Edward Malesic said to the faithful at Communion of Saints Parish – St. Ann Church in Cleveland Heights. (The parish also has a second worship site, St. Philomena Church in East Cleveland.)
Communion of Saints – St. Ann was his latest Lenten Friday stop for a fish fry and Stations of the Cross. Previously, he prayed the stations at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, St. Hilary Parish in Fairlawn and St. Mary Parish in Hudson. This week, he plans to visit St. Bede Parish in Mentor.
The bishop said his Friday pilgrimages for a fish fry and stations have been a Lent tradition for many years. In fact, he was a regular attendee at Stations of the Cross since his teenage years in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area, his boyhood home.
(See photo gallery above.)
Jesus laid on a cross of wood and added the suffering of the world to his own on Good Friday, the bishop explained.
“The pain is part of the story. Jesus understands the pain. He is one of us. He’s part of our story and we’re part of his story. We bring a little bit of Jerusalem here,” Bishop Malesic said, gesturing to the church. “With Jesus, we move from death to life.”
He gleaned some tidbits from the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the popular rock opera that loosely depicts the Passion and Crucifixion. The bishop said he was fascinated by the show since he was a teen. But it lacked something: the Resurrection. It ended with the Crucifixion and we know that’s not the end of the story, he added.
In one version, there are some changes, including Jesus and Judas sitting on opposite sides of the cross after the Crucifixion and Judas asking Jesus for forgiveness. “That shows there is life after death,” the bishop said. He also explained that Jesus returned came back after his Resurrection and walked among those who were there when he was crucified. “He forgave them and gave them the promise of eternal life.”
Father Anthony Marshall, Communion of Saints administrator, Father Stephen Spisak, parochial vicar, and Father Andrew Morkunas, a University Hospitals chaplain who is in residence at Communion of Saints, chatted with the bishop and guided him through the parish’s Walsh Hall where he enjoyed a fish dinner before Stations of the Cross.
A large crowd gathered for the dinner, which included accordion music, a beer garden, opportunities for prize drawings and a celebration for the birthday of the fish fry’s head chef. The fish fry was organized by the Windermere Council of the Knights of Columbus.