fr. josh’s message 

Church Family,

As you may have heard, this morning Archbishop Lori announced the beginning of an initiative called Seek the City to Come. This initiative is aimed at evaluating how the Catholic Church in Baltimore City is using our resources to share the Good News of God and God's love. Currently here in South Baltimore and around the City much of our time, energy, and financial resources are dedicated towards the ongoing upkeep of buildings. By that I mean to say that a significant portion of our week as a parish staff and our annual budget as a church family goes towards our buildings. This week alone we are replacing the hot water heater in Holy Cross Hall, looking to repair the damage of a new leak in the apse of Holy Cross Church, trying to replace the lift at Good Counsel Church, waiting for the return of two stained glass windows at Holy Cross Church, installing a columbarium at our cemetery, finding a company that can demolish the vacant house at our cemetery, and hoping that the one of two air conditioning units at St. Mary's makes it through the season. Again, these are the projects we are currently working on. There are also larger projects that we would love to do like replacing the roofs at Good Counsel and Holy Cross, painting the interior of Holy Cross, getting a new sound system at St. Mary's, cleaning the iron off of the stone exterior of Good Counsel, and repointing the brick exterior of Holy Cross. There are also safety concerns that have come to light in the past year as rotted wooden beams in the windows of the steeple at Holy Cross and pieces of slate on the roof of Good Counsel have come falling down to the ground.

This is work that we have been doing for decades and we've been doing it with love. I see these buildings as the context for so many of us and our family members as we have deepened our relationship with God, with our families, and with our community here in South Baltimore. These buildings mean a great deal to each of us and are connected to so many significant memories and moments in our lives, both the good and the sad. I can't thank Jenny Smolen, our business manager, enough for her tireless work every day in caring for these buildings.

The Archbishop and Bishop Bruce are now asking us, together with every other church in Baltimore City, to reflect, pray, and discern if we can realistically meet the demands of our buildings and if this is the best use of our time, energy, and resources.

We will be engaging in this process together with every other church in Baltimore City, seeking to see ourselves as ONE CHURCH united in the mission of serving our neighbors and praising our God. This two to three year process will include parish visitations, listening sessions, prayer times, and much discernment.

I want to be honest, this will not be easy. It will be hard. Given our current finances and the needed maintenance on our buildings, together with the goal of this initiative, I do not believe that we will be able to keep all three of our churches as active places of worship.

Archbishop Lori and Bishop Bruce have been clear that all of us will be involved in this decision making process. As any information becomes available I will share it with you. In the meantime, please pray that God's Spirit might guide us in these difficult decisions and fill us with holy wisdom, that we might be able to more effectively and more relevantly serve our neighbors and communicate the depths of God's love for every single person. Let's fill our churches too! Let's fill Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Mary Star of the Sea, and Holy Cross Church with our prayers, with our songs, with our love for one another and for God. We will face the challenges ahead together as family. God is still here and we are too.

For more information about this initiative, please see their website and the attached informational document. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, concerns, or insights as we begin this important work of discernment.

Peace, Fr. Josh

archbishop lori’s message

September 29, 2022

Today, I am blessed to share with you the important news that we are taking our first steps to reimagine Catholic life in Baltimore City and some nearby suburbs. I invite you to join me in this shared effort — an undertaking we’re calling Seek the City to Come (Heb 13:14) — that will enable the Church to become more fully alive and better serve the diverse needs of our faith community and beyond in and around Baltimore.

Seek the City to Come is about fortifying the Church in our mission of proclaiming the Gospel and celebrating the Sacraments. We are calling on the people of God to creatively renew the foundation and footprint in the city to bring new life, new enthusiasm, new pastoral activity and, yes, a new use for some structures.

Guided by our Urban Vicar, Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., we are prayerfully embarking on a listening campaign. Over the coming months, we will be exploring the ways we are meeting the pastoral needs of congregations and communities in Baltimore City and some parishes along the Baltimore County line. We are entering this phase of the process without a pre-determined outcome. Future phases of discernment will eventually lead us to decision-making in the next few years. Our singular goal is simple: to position the Church to best meet the needs of the people of God for the century to come.

Our intention is to channel energy and resources to foster parishes that are vibrant and welcoming centers of evangelization, where mercy, trust, and the love of Jesus abound. We approach our task with prayer, great hope and compassion.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is considered by many to be the home of Catholicism in the United States. Ours was the first diocese in this fledgling nation and at one point encompassed all the territories. The work before us as missionary disciples is as vital today as it was when the Diocese of Baltimore was established as the Premier See in 1789.

While much has changed since then, we remain disciples of Jesus who are each called to share the Good News that is available to all of us through the Holy Spirit. We, too, remain steadfast in our commitment to provide for the increasing ever-present social and spiritual needs of those around us. Though this call can feel daunting, and we may easily feel overwhelmed by the need, Seek the City to Come is about doubling down and refocusing on our commitment to the City.

Some might dismiss this effort as the church’s retreat from an increasingly secular world, but I invite you to believe with me in the power of exploring how best we can shine God’s healing love and saving message on our City. We cannot be so entrenched in our history that we do not recognize the needs of the present or future, or the reality of our decades-long challenge to do more with less. We value our place in history and we are mindful stewards of our traditions, knowing, however, the mission we are on is not born of brick and mortar. The physical presence of the Church in Baltimore will not look the same in 10 years as it does today; indeed, I question why it should.

Your participation is central to this work and vital to its success. Lend your voices to the discussion. Join our open prayerful discussions and seek out opportunities to provide thoughtful feedback on your hopes and dreams for the new city that will come from our collective prayer, visioning, and discernment.

Visit www.seekthecity.org to learn more about why Seek the City to Come is so vital to our service in Baltimore and find ways you can participate.

Please know of my prayers for you, and I ask you to join me in praying daily for the success of this important initiative. Be open to God’s will for us and embrace the collaboration this process will require.

With confidence in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, let us begin this journey — together.

With warmest regards, I am,

Faithfully in Christ,

Most Reverend William E. Lori
Archbishop of Baltimore