Cleveland Mass Mob Came to St. Jerome
The 'mob' is the People of God. Jesus tells us, "For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." This gathering is a parish. Each parish has its own personality, its own charism. Mass Mob is a celebration of community, and sacred space, with the presence of Jesus. Cleveland's Mass Mob was warmly welcomed at Saint Jerome's.
"I never saw so many people in church, I thought that it was Christmas", were the excited words of a parishioner going to his car on the 28th of June 2015. People come for a Mass, a celebration of Liturgy and Eucharist, in a parish community of an historical, and beautiful church. These parishes have value to the people within them, to the greater community, and to the city itself. The ecclesial migrants that come to the mobbings can anonymously see and experience, or re-experience, different parishes, and the regular parishioners enjoy the added presence of more fellows. People enjoy being part of groups, and it is good to gather together.
When Catholics meet for the first time and try to identify each other by past geography, they often do so by parish neighborhoods. People belong to parishes. These old parishes are our legacy, they are our culture. Those who have no interest in churches and religion still recognize the positive and cohesive presence a Catholic parish has for the greater neighborhood. Collinwood would be greatly lessened by the absence of St. Jerome Church.
St. Jerome was the fourteenth Cleveland mass mobbing, the second in Collinwood (St. Mary's was visited in March). St. Jerome's church was built in 1950-1 in British Gothic fashion, with a tall campanile (bell tower), and a Eucharistic chapel dedicated to St. Joan of Arc. Like most urban neighborhoods, North Collinwood has seen changes and has struggled to reinvent and revitalize itself. St. Jerome has been an anchor for this area through the hard times and continues to seek ways to support the resurgence of the neighborhood and the faith of its people. They invite all to join them.