Pastor's Column for January 31, 2021

I celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Michael Litteria on January 20th. Mike served his country while in the army as a cook in Germany. He attended Mass every Sunday & enjoyed family gatherings, especially Thanksgiving & Christmas. He was described as a kind & giving man who enjoyed being with others. Being single, he was able to be a father-figure to many and so will be missed by those who loved him. May he rest in God’s peace.

Leonor (“Helen”) Sauza had a short life but a fulfilling one. She was married to her husband Philip and they have two children, Janelle & Jayden. Janelle proclaimed one of the scripture readings at the funeral Mass. Helen was an organized person who also enjoyed cooking. Though unable to attend Mass because of her illness, she joined with us prayerfully through the live-stream of our weekend liturgies. Though her time on earth was short, we pray that she may live forever in God, enjoying the perfect happiness of heaven. 

Deacon Pat had a service at the funeral home for Sandra Sparenga. We pray that she too may rest in God’s peace and know the joy of eternal life.

I had a service at the funeral home for Kenneth Delewski and remember giving him Holy Communion when he would visit with his neighbors and our parishioners, Tom & Peggy Vetrick. We ask God to receive him in the arms of his mercy and to give him the love that comes to all those who receive the Holy Eucharist. 

Though I will not be with you this weekend, you will have the pleasure of praying with a neighboring priest. Father Rob Ramser will have the 4pm Mass here on Saturday (he attended our parish school), Father Josh Cochran from St. Charles parish in Parma will celebrate the 8am Mass on Sunday and Father Christopher Cox , also from St. Charles, will have the 11am Mass. I’m grateful to each of them for helping out while I take a little respite before Lent begins.

This Tuesday is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also called “Candlemas Day” as we bless the candles that will be used in our liturgy, reminding us of Christ who has entered the darkness of our world with his divine light. If you attend the 8:30 Communion Service presided at by Deacon Pat (who will have a Communion Service each day this week at 8:30 as I will be away), you can bring candles with you to have them included in the blessing. The priests celebrating Mass this weekend, following the recommendation of the Diocese, will give a general blessing of throats at the end of Mass instead of the individual blessings we normally give near the feast of St. Blaise which is on Wednesday, February 3rd. Deacon Pat will do the same at the Communion Service this Wednesday. 

Our eighth graders will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in a couple of weeks and our second and third graders (who should have received their First Communion last year but due to COVID-19...) will be celebrating their First Eucharist in May. So please keep them and all of our day school and PSR students in your prayers, as well as their teachers who have had a hard time of it during this pandemic year. 

Pastor's Column for January 24, 2021

I celebrated a funeral service for Mary Slepecky on Wednesday, January 13th. I met her son and daughter and brother and other members of her family such as her grandchildren. Her brother reminded me of Mary because they both had a little twang from their West Virginia accent and we all laughed about this. Mary was remembered for reaching out to people in kindness and I shared with the family how I think of her every day because of a personalized gift she had given me a few months ago. We prayed for her soul and entrusted her to our loving God. May he reward her now for her kindness and thoughtfulness.

On January 16th I celebrated a funeral Mass for Patricia Chopka who was married to Andy for 64 “glorious years” as her obit mentioned. I anointed Pat and prayed the last rites for her on New Year’s Day of this year. We extend our sympathies to Pat’s family, especially to her 3 children, Kari, Andy & Dave. Pat was a member of the Isabella Guild with the Brooklyn-Parma Knights of Columbus (whose home is now here at St. Leo’s) and Pat helped host Christmas parties for the K of C because of her love for children. She also contributed to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and so served Christ who also blessed and embraced children. May Christ now embrace Pat and welcome her to his kingdom. 

Congratulations to Dakota Riley Fender & to Aliyah Sankey, both children of our parish school who were baptized last Sunday. They look forward to receiving their First Holy Communion in May with the other members of their class and we welcome them both as members of the Catholic Church. May they know the joy of being friends with Christ in whom they were baptized. 

Please keep Father O’Grady in your prayers. He has faced further health issues since my last update on him. I miss seeing him every weekend and I’m sure you miss him praying with us as he celebrated a Mass each weekend. Let us ask the Lord to heal him and bless him with peace.

This past Friday I live-streamed our parish school Mass at 8:30am as we participated in the National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. A special Mass was also celebrated at the Cathedral in downtown Cleveland and dioceses across the country did the same. Every year on this date we sadly remember the legalization of abortion and continue to pray that this tragedy may soon come to an end.

Though I’m a few days late with this message from Bishop Malesic regarding Inauguration Day, let me include it anyway here: “As we approach the day during which our country inaugurates a new president, let us pray for our nation, for a peaceful transfer of power, and for the forgiveness and change of heart in those who would try to usurp the rule of law by force and violence. May cooler heads prevail, reasoned debate be encouraged, and love be at the heart of all we do. Jesus said it well, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” (Mark 3:25) May that which unites us in our love of this great nation far outweigh those things that currently divide us. God bless America.”

Pastor's Column for January 17, 2021

We celebrated a Funeral Mass for Barbara Stawicki last week, who died on January 1st. She was married for 54 years to her husband Edward and they have 4 children, 5 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Barb & Edward were married at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. Barb always began meals at home with a prayer and loved family gatherings, especially during the holidays. Their son Joe died in 2017 and of course this brought much sorrow to Barb but we pray she will be reunited with him in God’s kingdom. 

Dora DeFranco’s husband died almost 20 years ago but she was married to him for 45 years and they had 2 sons and 3 grandchildren. Dora enjoyed making pasta and baked various nationality desserts but her brownies & cookies were the favorites of the grandchildren, and she taught them how to make pizza. Dora was a first generation immigrant from Italy and lived a life of faith by attending Mass, praying the rosary and sending her children to our parish school. She also had a devotion to St. Anthony and so we pray that through his intercession, Dora may rest in God’s peace.

Christine Neilson-Aigner died on Christmas, a day she loved to celebrate so much. She was married for 27 years until her husband Tom passed away. But she gained 6 step-children & several grand & great-grandchildren. Chris had a gift for being creative and was known as a kind and caring person who practiced the virtue of generosity. She enjoyed the gift of life God gave to her and so experienced what Jesus said when he promised that he has come so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. May Chris experience the fullness of life now in the kingdom of heaven.

As I announced last weekend, we had a Zoom meeting last Monday where I shared some insights which came from a book I read last year called “Forming Intentional Disciples.” The premise of the book is that many Catholics were raised “culturally” in the sense that their parents had them baptized, made sure they were catechized by attending Catholic school or PSR (what we used to call “CCD” classes), and then had their children receive the other sacraments such as Holy Communion and Confirmation. While many Catholics were catechized (taught the Catholic faith), unfortunately many were not “instructed” about how to have a personal relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ. As a result, many stop practicing their faith as they get older, finding that they are just going through the religious motions encouraged by their parents without the most important piece: a relationship with God. Many today even speak of being “spiritual but not religious,” meaning that they believe in God but not in the practice of a religion since they have not found that meaningful (without the relationship at the heart of it). In our preaching, Deacon Pat & I are trying to emphasize the necessity of such a personal encounter with God through Christ. And book studies such as these are meant to help facilitate that awareness. If you missed our meeting, you can watch it (or even just listen to it) on demand via a link on our website. You can also join us for the next Zoom meeting in February. To receive the book for free, just call or stop in the rectory office & ask for one. I believe you will find it as intriguing and helpful as I did. May it help lead you to a true friendship with Christ.

Pastor's Column for January 10, 2021

Rita Gurgol was a parishioner here at St. Leo’s for 64 years. Her two children attended our parish school. We had Rita’s funeral Mass on December 30th and celebrated her faith which expressed itself in part by praying the rosary and having a devotion to St. Jude. Though living with her daughter for the last 6 years, she remained connected to our parish by reading the bulletin weekly. I recalled how the three things Rita enjoyed in her life...sewing, making Polish bread and being a Cleveland sports fan, were all connected with her faith. May she rest now in eternal Christmas peace and may God’s peace be with her daughter Judy.

Lucille Mills has also been a parishioner of St. Leo’s for some time along with her husband Patrick and their son Scott. Lulu was married for 57 years and was a committed mother and doting grandmother. Like our Blessed Mother, who also was a loving spouse to Joseph & mother to their one Son, Jesus, Lu followed Mary’s example as one who created a loving home for her family. As such, Lulu had a devotion to Mary, especially under the title of “Out Lady of Fatima” and always told her son Scott to ask for Our Lady’s intercession. I am confident that Mary prayed for Lu during her life and “at the hour of death.”  

After today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we are once again back into the “Ordinary Time” of the Church’s liturgical year. We go from white & gold vestments to green and the church is cleared of it’s Christmas decorations. How quickly time moves us from one liturgical season to another. Before you know it, we will don the purple color of Lent which begins on February 17th. But for now let us continue to take life as it comes to us with trust in God’s providence. 

The Diocese has informed us that seventeen priests have volunteered to be designated as COVID 19 ministers who anoint critically ill COVID patients who are near death. There have been many priests who have contracted COVID themselves (and some have succumbed to it) and so the Bishop is urging us to be cautious regarding our own health for the good of the people we are called to serve during this time. As such, Deacon Pat and Joan and I are trying to avoid enclosed spaces such as funeral homes and are conscious of other situations where the virus is more likely to be contracted so please be aware of this and feel free to reach out if you have questions about our ministry to you or to loved ones at this time. Due to the increased number of COVID cases, we are not renting out the Parish Center at this time until further notice. 

The weekly television Mass produced by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has moved. The Sunday television Mass can be seen at 10 a.m. on WUAB Channel 43. This change provides viewers with an opportunity to take part in the weekly celebration of the Mass at a much more convenient time. In addition, WUAB Channel 43 is an over-the-air station that is accessible even to those without cable TV. And of course we continue to provide a live-streaming video of every weekend and weekday Mass (as well as funerals upon request of the family) and these can be watched any time on demand. Just go to our parish website at leothegreat.org or connect with us on social media where YouTube, Facebook and Twitter will send you notifications when Mass is being celebrated. One click on that notification takes you instantly to the live stream on your mobile device. 

Pastor's Column for January 3, 2021

The day after Christmas, the family of Genevieve Novak gathered at the church for her funeral Mass. I can only imagine the sadness of losing a mother just days before Christmas (Genevieve had 11 children!). But it was consoling to hear how she had been such a person of faith and love. Genevieve had been a parishioner of St. Leo’s for over 60 years and she sent all of her children to PSR here & they likewise received their sacraments in our parish. She was greatly loved by so many as she was devoted to her family and to her parish, having been a member of our Senior Group. She was proud of her Polish heritage and accordingly had a devotion to the rosary and to Mary under the title of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Married for 28 years to a police officer but then widowed for 45 years, she was a woman of strength who practiced the virtues in her life. We extend our sympathy to her family and I assured them, as always, of our prayerful support during this time. 

I suspect that many people will be glad that the year 2020 is in our rearview mirror, but I believe that one of the gifts of faith is optimism and hope and the realization that God brings good out of evil. While it is true that the pandemic has caused not only illness and death but also sadness to many for so many different reasons, I also believe that God always looks for opportunities to bring redemption out of suffering (my Christmas homily). So I can wish you all Happy New Year with confidence. Be safe, healthy and happy in 2021. That is my prayer for you.

It wouldn’t be 2020 without a couple of technology glitches taking place at the parish. On Christmas Eve our phones were down so if you tried to call for Mass times & couldn’t reach us, that’s the reason. You can always email us at info@leothegreat.org if you need to get a hold of us and the phones aren’t working. Also on Christmas Eve, the livestream camera was very blurry for some reason...and of course it was when we had almost 300 people trying to watch the 4pm Mass, our most populated Mass all year! Frustrating for us to be sure, and perhaps for you as well. But like so many things this past year, it was out of our control. Hopefully you could still hear us clearly even if the vision of things was blurry. It’s such a shame too because I looked so good on Christmas Eve...but now you’ll just have to take my word for it. 

In 2021, Deacon Pat & Joan & I will be trying something new...we’re going to invite people to join us via Zoom (which many have come to be familiar with during COVID) for opportunities to grow in faith. I’ll explain more later, but our first Zoom gathering will be next Monday, January 11th at 6:30pm. Join us from the comfort & warmth of your home (for as long as you’re able). I’ll be sharing my favorite passages from a book called “Intentional Discipleship” & we are giving that book for free to anyone who is interested. For now, please see our website for more information & let me know if you’d like a book & would be interested in joining us.