Dear Parishioners,
On Friday, January 10th, I celebrated a funeral Mass for Dana Farago. She was married to Leonard (deceased) for 48 years and had 3 children to whom we extend our sympathies: Kathy, Tim & Patrick. Dana had 3 grandsons and 2 great-granddaughters. Dana had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary which was expressed by her daily praying of the rosary. She was also a teacher at St. Monica for 30 years and taught 1st graders for all 30 years! She enjoyed children and must have been a great blessing to them. She was also a golf player and played for 70 years, which I find incredible. She had other hobbies too like playing cards and gardening but most of all she enjoyed Thanksgiving with her family. We thank God for the example of her Catholic faith and pray that she may find her reward now in God’s kingdom.
As you know, I am available for confessions both on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning (and any time by request). On social media, someone posted a picture of a sign they saw in Ireland where there was only one priest available for confessions. The sign read, “Confession today will be until exactly 5:30PM (emphasis theirs). There is only one priest available for confessions today. Make your confession direct and to the point and confess only your sins and offenses (emphasis theirs). No need to explain why you did it. Thank you very much.” This made me chuckle, first because I like how direct the Irish are, and secondly because they apparently have the same thoughts we American priests have too! I know that sometimes people want to give some background information regarding their sins but some can turn into very long stories, excuses, justifications or just plain novels. Such information is not necessary. If the priest needs more information from you, he will ask you for it. But we are there to forgive sins and encourage anyone who would like to have a longer conversation to feel free to make an appointment with us. We just try to keep the line moving for the sake of those who are waiting.
Not infrequently we have adults inquire into receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation for themselves. For a variety of reasons, some have never received it. I know that for a time many here at St. Leo’s were not confirmed because they moved the time for confirmation from elementary school to high school. Whatever the reason, I would invite you to let me know if you are not confirmed but would like to receive this Sacrament. For one, it completes the triple sacraments of Initiation into the Church and of course bestows the unique grace and presence of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live out our baptism. It would be a very easy process as I would meet collectively with those who are not confirmed and then we can give options for receiving this sacrament in the near future. So please reach out to me & let me know if you are interested.
You may have heard that this year of 2025 is a Jubilee Year for us in the Catholic Church. It is a holy year that began on Christmas Eve 2024 and ends on Epiphany next year in 2026. The theme of the Jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope.” It is a time of celebration, forgiveness and reconciliation and happens every 25 years. Our last Jubilee Year was in the year 2000 which had the theme of the Father’s Mercy. They are biblical and so a great time for us to seek spiritual renewal and a stronger connection to our faith. The Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica and the other 3 major basilicas are opened and remain open for the duration of the Jubilee Year. Millions of pilgrims (including several of us from St. Leo’s) will travel to Rome to walk through these Holy Doors and may receive a plenary indulgence. There is a Jubilee mobile app you can download for free. You’ll see the logo & prayer for the Jubilee every week in this bulletin.
Fr. James P. Schmitz