Sacrifice and promise (August 2025)
By Anne-Marie Welsh
08/06/2025
From the time he was old enough to work, Father Mark Hoffman was mowing lawns and cleaning pools. He credits his parents with instilling in him a strong work ethic.
“If a young guy’s fortunate enough to have come from a good family that cares, it’s a great blessing to take with you into your priesthood,” he says. Careful to note that no family is perfect, he says his parents taught him and his brothers to do their best and always to put their best foot forward.
At 16, he took a job at a grocery store, learning a great deal about people, listening and discipline. He kept that job, essentially working full-time as he put himself through Gannon University. Although he did not enter the seminary until two years after earning his degree in business, he knows all those skills were essential as he worked on his relationship with God and found the courage to pursue the vocation to which he was called.
As he neared ordination, Father Hoffman appreciated the ancient traditions of the Catholic Church and the need to convey the Gospel message in meaningful ways in the contemporary world. The chalice he selected reflects both.
“I looked at all kinds of catalogs,” he says, “and there were some gorgeous pieces in there. But my prayer was that the Lord would lead me to something that was both classical and modern. I wanted it to jump off the page at me, and this one did.”
Engraved with a simple wheat design on the patent and grapes on the chalice, the set features clean, modern lines. A Celtic cross at the base of the chalice adds texture.
“I’m not Irish,” Father Hoffman says with a smile. “But I like the dimension it gives the chalice, and it is a nice bridge to the fact that St. Patrick is the patron of our diocese.”
Father Hoffman felt investing in a chalice that would serve him throughout his priesthood was important.
“There are many reasons priests sometimes change their personal chalices along the way,” he says. “But I knew I would cherish keeping this same chalice.” He dedicated it to his parents and two younger brothers. Having their names engraved on the bottom of the chalice keeps his family, including his now-deceased parents, close.
Father Hoffman, who was ordained in 1990, has traveled many miles with his chalice over the years, a reality that has only increased in recent years. In 2022, he was named pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Edinboro, which includes not only the parish church but also St. Anthony of Padua Church in Cambridge Springs, where he celebrates the Saturday Vigil, and St. Bernadette Church in Saegertown, where he offers a weekly daily Mass. He also serves as chaplain at Edinboro University.
“When you think about it,” he says, “the Liturgy of the Hours prayer book and the chalice are our tools. They include Scripture, tradition and, of course, the Eucharist. You become attached to these instruments. This is my prayerbook; this is where I meet Christ. This is my chalice, where I hold Christ in my hands.”
He says they both remind him daily why he works long hours.
“Why do I get up early in the morning and pray?” he asks. “Because I need to connect with the God who gives me the energy to do what he’s asked me to do. As for the chalice, yes, it is made of precious metals, but that metal is precious, not because it’s metal. It’s because it’s been consecrated to the sacred duty of serving Christ. And I feel privileged to be part of that sacred obligation.”
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