Letters to the Editor
Can the Catholic Church learn from its parishioners?
St Mark Catholic Church is to be phased out for several factors. This is a tragic day for all current parishioners and extended families who were blessed to have been part of this “family of Christ” beginning in 1960/61.
Can we learn something from this unfortunate and traumatic event?
I wish only to share what I saw, as a son of one of the founding families of Saint Mark Church, Mildred and Al Muckensturm, as we grew up on Pierce Avenue experiencing the love that flowed from them and St. Mark’s.
Father Leo Benedetti was the first pastor, becoming a spiritual mentor and friend of our family. When introduced to the new parishioners, he would say, “If you wonder how to pronounce this Italian name, think of the word spaghetti...Benedetti.”
My parents would invite Father to our little cabin retreat west of Lancaster where we’d cookout, go to the neighboring dam, swim and we found him so much fun to be around. Then, years later, Frs. Dimond, Keck, Corcoran, Mooney, Mario Seraglio, Walter, Gideon and others, became a part of St. Mark’s family. Over decades our children attended St. Mark Grade School, which was a truly a magical time.
Meanwhile, Fr. Benedetti fell in love with divorcee/retired nurse Bernice Smith, who was parish secretary. She converted to Catholicism and was also a very close friend with my parents, for decades. Sadly, Leo and Bernice’s relationship, made it impossible for Leo to remain a priest. They married. Especially ‘tabu’ was when one marries a divorcee. The years went by, and still, Bernie and Leo kept their unceasing love, until their deaths.
Alas, Leo gave up his love of the Sacrament of Holy Orders but lived his love of marriage, ironically, not recognized by the Catholic Church, even though he had married hundreds of couples in the past.
My parents never ceased their friendship with the Benedettis even though other Catholics found the marriage between them UN-acceptable.
Fortunately for us, we had the most loving parents, who instilled in we siblings, ‘acceptance’, the ‘love’ that Jesus commanded, taught at St. Mark’s.
Bob Muckensturm
Lancaster
Ohio Senate urged to restore funding for Ohio's foodbanks
In my almost 40 years leading Mid-Ohio Food Collective, I can honestly tell you that hunger in central and eastern Ohio is at unprecedented levels. Parents are skipping meals to feed their children. Seniors and veterans are choosing between medicine and food. Continued inflation is eating into wages. Traffic at food pantries in our service area has jumped by an alarming 40 percent compared to last year.
Ohio’s foodbanks are struggling to meet the surging demand, while coping with rising food costs — just like families across the state. And yet, the Ohio Senate is preparing to remove $15 million per year in hunger relief funding from the proposed two-year state budget, funds previously added by the Ohio House of Representatives. The Senate funding cut, coupled with a raft of new, harsh limitations to programs that help Ohioans, would do serious, lasting harm to Ohio’s children, seniors, and working families.
We ask the Ohio Senate majority caucus to restore funding for Ohio’s foodbank network and remove the proposed barriers to needed assistance. It is time for Ohio’s elected leaders to come together with Mid-Ohio Food Collective and Ohio’s foodbanks to create a hunger-free, healthier Ohio.
Matt Habash, president/CEO, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, Grove City
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Letters to the Editor
