10/14/22 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption:

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

“I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life, oh lord Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord”

If you are old enough to remember the 80’s, you will recognize these lyrics from the Phil Collins song along with the iconic beating of his drums throughout the song. It’s a classic!

This song came to mind last Saturday at the Fall Fest. This was our parish festival since the summer of 2019 before COVID, before Real Presence Real Future’s first draft last winter. Not only last night, but at weekend Masses, in the school building both during the week and at PSR on Sundays there is a new energy in the air, a renewed sense of a parish that is working, a parish that is Christ centered, a parish and school community where all the oars are rowing in the same direction. It is an energizing feeling that renews my soul.

The Home and School Association, parish staff and many, many volunteers worked tirelessly, planning, setting up, executing, cleaning up and tearing down the Fall Fest. Like an old- fashioned barn raising, the parking lot and grounds transformed in a day into a true community event enjoyed by all. The day was sunny and clear, the evening cool and crisp. It was a wonderful day for the Our Lady of Peace community.

But the Fall Fest was just the tip of the continued renewal of Our Lady of Peace. Enrollment is up in school, weekend Masses are packed, our Msgr. Grimes gymnasium (“The Grimesnasium”) is open for business, only waiting for permanent bleachers to be installed by the end of the month. Our ramp, which will give access to our gym and make it available to all, will be shortly completed. Bishop Fernandes will preside over our school Mass on December 2.

Our Saturday morning men’s group, Sunday Search program, RCIA, our boys and girl scout programs, the funeral ministry, the music ministry, our athletic teams, the Athletic Association, Home and School, School Board, Finance Council. Knights of Columbus Council 14282, the St. Vincent DePaul Chapter at OLP; all of these groups and more make up a large contingent of men and women and children who contribute to the life of our parish and sustain the energy and spirit here.

At the top is our unassuming, Beetle driving, visionary and purpose driven pastor, Father Sean Dooley. God and Bishop Brennen knew what they were doing when they sent this young Zanesville native to lead our flock. In July of 2019, our newly appointed pastor sat in the dunk tank during that summer festival. Little did he know that he would soon be dunked in a different way, having to navigate through COVID. Coming out of the worst of COVID in 2021, Father Dooley was faced with an initial recommendation that Our Lady of Peace cease operations. Through it all he has shown wisdom and true leadership to get us to where we are today. A parish renewed. A parish alive. A parish with a future.

Of course, Father Dooley would be the first to tell you that the Holy Spirit permeates all we do at Our Lady of Peace. As a community not just of festivals and committees, but a community of prayer, liturgy and sacraments we are sustained, and we sustain each other and those within the greater community.



Fathers Foley and Grimes, the Dominican Sisters, the countless parish, and school staff that came before us, all can be proud that we are continuing the legacy of this little corner of Clintonville. The spirit is alive. “I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord.” Let’s hear those drums!

Jim Silcott