Sacred Heart

Cleveland, Ohio  (Madison)

We do not have one but I will bring it up at our next meeting.

Since I am a widow, we have a handful of co-leaders. Lee and Denise Katona, husband and wife, and Richard Solak. Richard's girlfriend, Michelle Krzic and her son, Zack are members, too. John Dobrzenieki is single. Grace Klebe and Nick Stanziale are both widowed. Jennifer Bosley and Jayson Rogers are both single. Jennifer has a one year old baby named Lisa from her husband from a prior marriage. Kathy and Jeff Minor are married with adult children. John and Carrie Cales are married with five boys but the two eldest have to be with their real father on the weekends. So, it's just the younger three, Seth, Sammy, and Johnny who come to Community. Our meetings are the first and third Saturdays of the month starting at 6 pm. Everyone in our Community are very active at Church so we see each other all the time. Everyone of the men knows the other through the Men's Renewal program. Everyone of the women have been to one of the Womens' Renewals. Many are in Choir together. A couple are in the guitar group. A couple are on the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Everyone knows Grace as she is the parish secretary. Everyone but one gal has been to the Life in the Spirit Seminar. A handful see each other at morning Mass everyday. Denise and Jeff are our music ministry, and lead us in praise and worship. Our meetings begin with all reciting our daily renewal of the family covenant to The Sacred Heart. Each meeting, one member shares their knowledge of a favorite saint or patron saint with the others. While one of the 12 P.M. teachings is being given to the adults, a different adult spends time with our young people. They may learn a craft or a Chaplet -- whatever the adult wants to teach them. We spend time sharing "miracles" or "Godcidences" and intercessory prayer. We also truly enjoy our time of fellowship. We have some very talented hands in the kitchen (Richard Solak and John Cales).

The seed was planted when Gayle Carroll of St. Pio Community mentioned that my house would be perfect for a Community of my own. I was a member of Pio at the time. On a trip to Chicago, I ended up with a very large picture of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. I wasn't sure whether I could bring it home on the plane or not, but I figured if it was meant to come home with me, the Lord would take care of the details. There was a compartment almost custom made for my picture in the back of the plane. I had always wanted my home enthroned to The Sacred Heart ever since I saw a blurb about it in our Church Bulletin. A man down in Florida told me the story about my particular picture, and said I should look into a way to have many, many homes enthroned. Everything kept pointing to a Community of my own and what better name than Sacred Heart Community. Once word got out, people were calling me asking when my Community was going to get started. Finally, after many obstacles (no thanks to our number one enemy), everyone that the Lord put on my heart to invite (except one couple) has come. The husband of that couple just had major surgery on his foot, and needs to get around on crutches. They're waiting for a break in the weather. Our first meeting was held January 6, 2007, with a large gathering (23 people total) sharing in Father Donnelly from Immaculate Conception Church in Madison, Ohio, enthroning my house and our Community to the Sacred Heart.

Our outreach is a no brainer. Our desire is that everyone's home be enthroned to The Sacred Heart. So far, two homes in our Community are enthroned to The Sacred Heart. Two more are being planned. On the 17th, we will have a meeting only from 6 to 8:30. At 8:30, we will go as a Community to the Holy Hour for the Renewal Weekend of our Youth Group. We want to be there for our young adults in prayer support. Another couple are talking about forming another Community in the near future. We are hoping at each of the meetings they will be attending, that we will be all that the Lord is calling us to be as witnesses to others in how Community life is so very important to our brothers and sisters, as well as to our Church. Although we don't have that many children in our Community, it is important to us that these few know the importance of daily prayer and like Jeremiah, noone is too young to be a witness for Christ to others.

Ever since the death of my husband two years ago, I have had to put all my trust in the Lord for everything in my life. He promised me that since my husband, Myron, was no longer able to do things for me or be there for me when things needed to be done that He would take care of everything. His promise has never been broken. When I asked Him what He wanted me to do, He said He would let me know when my broken heart was healed and when I was ready. I know I was impatient at times, and He let me know it. I needed more time and He needed to get everything in order. Little by little, everything fell into their rightful places setting up this Community and the other Ministries He had planned for me. Everything is so right, you know God's hand is all over our Sacred Heart Community. Everyone in our Community believes this, too. We all can't wait to see each other, and Community is the highlight of so many lives already. I, myself, know that the Lord is using me through this Community in too numerous ways to mention. My prayer each day is to be a better servant, soldier, and child of God. Everyday, there's so much to look forward to and to live for.

Contact:  Lorraine Johnson