Category Archives: Luncheon Speaker

September 5, 2024 Fr. Larry Richards

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The First Friday Club of Cleveland
Featuring
Fr. Larry Richards

Presenting
on
Thursday, September 5, 2024

A gifted and captivating speaker, preacher, retreat master, and author, Fr. Larry Richards holds the answer to some of life’s most profound questions. He speaks from experience as a pastor of an inner city parish, a high school chaplain, a counselor, and evangelist. Fr. Larry Richards has directed hundreds of retreats, parish missions, and conferences for young and old alike. His inspirational talks, presentations, and books always authentic and enthusiastic, have changed the hearts, minds, and lives of millions of listeners, and readers worldwide.

Father Larry Richards was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After high school, he attended the college seminary at Gannon University and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mental Health in 1983. Father Larry Richards continued his studies at the major seminary at St. Vincent in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and received his Masters of Divinity degree in 1987. He also studied Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1989 for the Diocese of Erie, Fr. Larry Richards serves as pastor of St. Joseph Church/Bread of Life Community in Erie. He is also the Founder of the DME (Divine Mercy Encounter) Retreat Program for the Diocese of Erie.

Fr. Larry Richards is the founder and president of The Reason for our Hope Foundation, a non- profit organization dedicated to ‘spreading the Good News’ by educating others about Jesus Christ.

https://www.thereasonforourhope.org/meet-father-larry/ 

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WHEN
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

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July 11, 2024 Laura Bartchak presents Responding to Human Trafficking

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The First Friday Club of Cleveland
Featuring
Laura Bartchak

Director and Founder of the Harriet Tubman Movement

Laura Bartchak is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Harriet Tubman Movement.  The Harriet Tubman Movement is an advocacy group dedicated to helping people along the road to freedom.  This group serves persons who have been victims of human trafficking – sex trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of exloitation.  (https://www.harriettubmanmovement.org/ )

Presents
Responding to Human Trafficking
on
Thursday, July 11, 2024
(IMPOTANT NOTE
This month’s First Friday Luncheon will be on
the second Thursday due to the July 4th Holiday)

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WHEN
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

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June 6, 2024 Fr. Nathan Cromly presents “Devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus”

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The First Friday Club of Cleveland
Featuring Fr. Nathan Cromly
Congregation of St. John

Presents
Devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus
Thursday, June 6, 2024

Father Nathan Cromly is a nationally known speaker, writer, retreat leader, explorer, innovator, educator, and he is totally devoted to Our Lady. Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, he has joyfully served as a Catholic priest of the Brothers of Saint John since 2007, and currently ministers in Denver, Colorado. Father Nathan’s teaching and dynamic witness has touched the lives of tens of thousands of teenagers, married couples, families, and business professionals. Father Nathan is the President and Founder of the Saint John Institute whose ministries have been inspiring, equipping and engaging Catholics since 2003. There are three integrated ministries: Eagle Eye Ministries whose outreach and formation to young adults through retreats and excursions inspires them to lead; the Saint John Leadership Institute that equips adults to lead through in-person courses and on-line classes and webinars; and the Saint John Leadership Network that engages business and family leaders to Dare Great Things for Christ by integrating Catholic leadership into the family, culture and professional world through formation, fellowship and prayer.

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WHEN
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

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May 2, 2024 First Friday Luncheon Father Damian Ference presents “The Real Presence in a Year of Eucharistic Revival”

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The First Friday Club of Cleveland
Featuring Fr. Damian Ference
Vicar for Evangelization
Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
Presents

Thursday, May 2, 2024

“The Real Presence
in the Year of Eucharistic Revival”

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WHEN
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

Fr. Damian Ference is a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland where he serves as Vicar for Evangelization, Secretary for Parish Life and Special Ministries, and as Professor of Philosophy at Borromeo Seminary. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from The Catholic University of America and a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He writes regularly on the intersection of faith and culture for a variety of outlets and is the author of the award-winning book, The Strangeness of Truth (Pauline Books & Media, 2019). Fr. Ference is the founder and director of {TOLLE LEGE} Summer Institute and is a life-time member of the Flannery O’Connor Society. You can follow him on Twitter @frference.
Taken from: https://www.wordonfire.org/author/fr-damian-ference/

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April First Friday Club Luncheon on Thursday April 4, 2024 featuring Rick Meserini, St. Augustine Health Ministries

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for the
April First Friday Club Luncheon
Thursday, April 4, 2024

Catholic Senior Care
St. Augustine Health Ministries
featuring
Rick Meserini, President and CEO St. Augustine Health Ministries in Cleveland, Ohio.Rick Meserini
President and CEO
St. Augustine Health Ministries

St. Augustine once said, “What does love look like? It’s the hands that help others.”
(Taken from staugministries.org) For the past 50 years St. Augustine Health Ministries have been those helping hands to many in our Cleveland community.

Rick Meserini, President and CEO of St. Augustine Health Ministries will present a history of this mission driven, not-for-profit organization which is dedicated to “providing a continuum of health care, housing, and community services to the chronically ill and aging in our community.”

Rick Meserini has built a successful career working in senior care facilities for the past twenty-five years. He holds a Masters degree in Health Care Administration from St. Joseph College. He is a licensed nursing home administrator. He has been the President and CEO of St. Augustine Health Ministries for ten years.

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WHEN
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

 

 

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March First Friday Luncheon on Thursday February 29th

REGISTER TODAY for the
March First Friday Luncheon on
Thursday, February 29th
featuring
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Dr. Martin Lindway
Science Department Chair
Benedictine High School
Presenting

Turning the Tide of Unbelief and Unwellness
through Science-Based Apologetics
in a High School Science Curriculum

Is it reasonable to believe in our Catholic faith? Or has science provided significant evidence for us to doubt our Catholic faith? From multiple sourced and successive surveys over the last ten years, the primary reason young Catholic adults leave their Catholic faith comes from a sense that science has somehow proven their faith to be untrue or in conflict with physical reality.

Recent studies by the CDC and The American Academy of Pediatrics have declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health based on higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. In addition, several mental health research studies have clearly shown improved mental health if individuals within a community can maintain a worldview encompassing their belief in God with high intellectual confidence and acceptance of their truths based on reason.

The presentation will highlight a novel incorporation of evidence-based apologetics in a science curriculum in turning the tide of unbelief and unwellness in high school students at Cleveland Benedictine High School since 2020.

Biography

Dr. Martin Lindway has been working since 2020 as a pioneer in developing a science curriculum for secondary Catholic education that utilizes science-based apologetics, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning strategies to address the essential life-faith questions that have provided high school students with a framework to examine and grow in their faith and resiliency to defend their faith.
 
In support of this initiative, Dr. Lindway continues to collaborate directly with Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, President of Magis-Center. His successes have been recently recognized during recent keynote addresses at the Duc In Altum Conference (October 2023) and the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education National Conference (June 2023).
 
At Benedictine High School since 2019, he has been the department chair of science, College-level Physics and Chemistry instructor, and head golf coach.
 
Dr. Lindway has 25 plus years of corporate experience in Global R&D and Global Marketing and over 14 years of various lay ministerial roles in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and Charleston, South Carolina. Martin has been married for 36 years to his wife, Deborah, an Executive Vice President at PNC. They have three children; the youngest is a senior in college. and reside in Westlake, where they attend Saint Ladislas Parish.

 

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WHEN
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

February 1, 2024 “66th Annual Bishop’s Luncheon” SOLD-OUT Wait List Available

HAS SOLD-OUT

Click HERE if you would like to be added to the “Wait List”
Most Reverend Edward C. Malesic, J.C.L.
12th Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland

66th Annual Bishop of Cleveland “State of The Diocese” lunch
Thursday, February 1, 2024
at
Windows on the River
2000 Sycamore Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Join us for the 66th annual Bishop of Cleveland’s “State of the Diocese” lunch on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at Windows on the River!

Bishop Malesic was born August 14, 1960 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  He is a 1978 graduate of Central Dauphin East High School in Harrisburg.  He attended Lebanon Valley College in Annville pursuing a degree in biology  for three years prior to entering the seminary.  In 1981, Bishop Malesic was accepted into the seminary program at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1983.  He continued his theological studies at Josephinum and was awarded a Master of Divinity in 1987.

Bishop Malesic was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1987 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  In 1996, Bishop Nicholas Dattilo sent him to study canon law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where he received his licentiate in canon law in 1998.  Bishop Malesic served the Diocese of Harrisburg’s Tribunal in various capacities until he was named Bishop of Greensburg, appointed by Pope Francis in 2015.  On September 14, 2020, Bishop Malesic was installed as the 12th Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

In addition to leading the Diocese of Cleveland, Bishop Malesic is also a member of two USCCB (United States Catholic Council of Bishops) committees – the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance and the Subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. 

January 4, 2024 “Where Do We Go From Here? Pro Life Post Issue 1” Mary von Carlowitz

Presented by Mary von Carlowitz, Director of the Office for Human Life, Diocese of Cleveland.

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WHEN
Buffet Opens at 11:30 a.m.
Program Concludes at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Borromeo/Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Avenue (map)
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

Mary von Carlowitz is the Director for the Office of Human Life for the Diocese of Cleveland.  Her responsibilities include planning, coordinating and integrating activities of the office within a consistent ethic of life.  

Mary Von Carlowitz’s education and background are impressive.  She has earned a Master’s Degree in Theology from Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology.  She holds a bachelor’s degree with dual majors in diplomacy and foreign affairs and history.  Mary is also a certified lay ecclesial minister.  She is a member of the National Association of Lay Ministers and the National Christ Child Society.  Her background includes extensive experience in parish faith formation and ministry as well as youth and young adult ministry as well as parish and school ministry.  

Last, but not least, Mary Von Carlowitz brings experience from her own family which includes eight sons, a daughter, four daughters-in-law and six grandchildren.

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Source

November 30, 2023 “Raising a Catholic Family in a Crazy World” Christi & Mark Tripodi

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Mark Tripodi, MBA, CEO/Founder
Christi Tripodi, FounderMark and Christi Tripodi are the Founders of Cornerstone of Hope, a Center for Grieving Children, Teens and Adults founded in Cleveland in 2003 after the death of their 3-year-old son, Bobby. This was the catalyst for their deep reversion back to the Catholic Church. The Tripodi’s felt God’s call to provide a “place” where those grieving could go for comprehensive support. Cornerstone has served over 50,000 individuals and professionals seeking support, education and hope in their 20 years of operation. Cornerstone of Hope expanded its bereavement support services to Columbus in 2011 and opened a Christian Counseling center in Lima in 2014. Yet, their most rewarding and humbling job is being parents to their 9 children. “We are a family just like any other family, FAR FROM PERFECT, but our family is centered on Christ due to the loss of our son who helped us to prioritize our faith.”

November 2, 2023 Alan Miciak President of John Carroll University

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Join us for us and Al Miciak, JCU President, for lunch Thursday November 2nd

At John Carroll University, we prepare and inspire a diverse, global community of young women and men to solve mankind’s greatest challenges.

We invite you to bring your whole self, with all of its joys and passions, to this life-affirming and game changing experience. You will grab hold of a rigorous academic program that will sharpen your ability to think, write, and problem solve. You will experience a set of unmatched encounters and remarkable teachers/mentors and in the process feel roused to become “a woman and man for others.”

At the very moment that many outside observers in the United States doubt the power of a liberal arts education, countries around the developed world embrace its core tenets and the world’s top employers — Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook — seek its best graduates.

What employers know is that the future of work — already pulsing through our day in a cascade of data, machine learning, and the digitization of all things — will require a far different application of knowledge to judgement. As a John Carroll student and graduate, you will “robot-proof” yourself with the strength of a few key habits:

  • Developing strong habits of attention and concentration.
  • Honing an ability to construct and follow sound arguments.
  • Making sense of the unfamiliar by means of the familiar.
  • Drawing fresh ideas from a storehouse of seemingly random material.
  • Grounding your point of view in a secure set of values.

Our Jesuit mission, which has guided us throughout our history, prefers to see the world in its full 360-degree complexity and possibility. We build our potential — and connect as people — to serve something larger than our careers or ourselves. We pour more than knowledge into one another and aim the fullness and strength of our hearts to create a more just and sustainable world.

If these words quicken your pulse, and if this challenge calls you forward, we invite you to join the most diverse cohort of young people in our school’s history.

Sincerely,

Alan R. Miciak, Ph.D.
President