43
Book of homilies offers inspiring messages
By LINDA M. LINONIS
BOARDMAN
From “Mass to Mission” describes the goal of the messages in a book of homilies delivered by the Rev. Joseph A. Fata, pastor of St. Luke Church.
A committee coordinated by Carl Foote at the church assembled and selected the most inspiring homilies, also known as sermons, of the pastor.
What’s unusual about the committee is that Foote is not Catholic but attends Mass with his wife, Debbie, and father-in-law, Milan Paurich, who are. He said they have attended St. Luke for about a dozen years. “We felt welcome from the beginning,” Foote said.
“I got the idea after seeing the ‘Recipes of Youngstown,’” Foote said of the cookbook that includes foods unique to the Valley.
He said he sees Father Fata’s homilies in the same way – they are distinct, unique and meant to be shared to encourage people. “They are inspiring,” Foote said of the pastor’s messages.
“Sometimes I think he must have been in our house somehow and heard what we talked about – the messages go right to the heart,” Foote said.
Foote organized a committee of seven people who began meeting in June 2014.
Father Fata had copies of his sermons in computer files. “We started out with 500 homilies,” Foote said.
Father Fata, who was ordained in 1968, estimated he has given 45 homilies a year in his 42-year priesthood.
“I very seldom repeat a homily,” he said. So far, he probably has given some 1,890 sermons.
Each of the seven committee members asked five people to read the homilies picked at random and select a favorite. Then they were asked to distribute other homilies to five other people who would select their favorites.
Foote said this method involved other parish members in the process of selection.
The committee whittled the number to 53 homilies. Three hundred copies were sold; another 300 are ordered with half spoke for.
The committee realized the choices fell into three groups and named the categories – Encouragement and Hope, Faith Journey and Call to Action.
Father Fata has a deliberate approach to writing a homily.
He said he first reads the Scripture and Gospel for the date.
“I’m not for the off-the-cuff remarks because often they’re not focused,” he said, noting people attend Mass and expect to get something out of it.
The pastor said he believes it is his duty to meet that need through a meaningful message.
“It can take me two days or two hours,” he said of the writing process.
He said he also uses other spiritual writers as resources and inspiration.
But, he added, it also is incumbent on those listening to him to be engaged and “have imagination.”
“Imagination is crucial to faith,” he emphasized.
“I want the Gospel to be pertinent to people ... and what is going on in their lives,” Father Fata said.
“People are dealing with all kinds of issues like illness, death, family and work. I want to make an effort to relate to their current situations.”
Because of that effort, Father Fata gets positive feedback in comments such as “I felt like you were talking directly to me.”
The pastor said he thinks people come to church “looking for something they can’t articulate.”
“To send them home disappointed is sinful,” he said.
“It’s a blessing and a burden,” Father Fata said of the “heavy responsibility” to find a way to reach people through words.
“People have to figure it out – what calls to you. It is a challenge to reflect on, but people are open to a spiritual journey,” Father Fata said.
Foote noted that how the pastor presents and discusses Scripture has given him a better understanding of it.
If there is one word that describes the goal of the homilies, Father Fata said it is transformation. “People need to be transformed and be open to that – a personal transformation.”
The book’s cover characterizes the messages as “poetic, yet provocative; charming, yet challenging; inspiring, yet unsettling.”