Homily Thought for March 1…The Beatific Vision

Jesus is “Transfigured”…there is a light coming forth from him that his clothes look “dazzling white.” Whiter than bleach. Peter, James & John are awestruck by the beauty of his glory.

Think of the beauty you have seen…a sunset or sunrise, the blueness of ocean water, a work of art, a person you find attractive. Or beauty you don’t see but experience…a letter from someone, a friendship that is deep.

All of these are but dim reflections of the Beauty of God. St. Augustine said, “Too late have I loved you, O Beauty ever Ancient, ever New. Too late have I loved you!” Heaven has been called the “Beatific Vision,” seeing the beauty of God face to face. This is why we do Lent, why we pray, fast & give alms. In the hope that we may grow even now, with the ability to see the beauty of God in Him and in our neighbor.

Pastor's Column, March 1, 2015

Thanks to everyone who worked (and ate!) at our first Fish Fry this year. Though the weather continued to be bitter cold, everyone seemed to warm up to the idea of great food. We made a nice profit on these dinners last year, but our main reason for them is the opportunity to socialize with people within and outside of our parish so thanks for your support of our community by your presence. I keep trying to volunteer to cook, but I guess there’s already “too many cooks in the kitchen”—at least that’s what they keep telling me. Sounds more like they’re afraid I might burn something. So I’ll have to be content on the other side of the kitchen door. Remember to join us for Stations of the Cross in the church afterward at 7pm if you’re able.

    This Wednesday is the Diocesan-wide opportunity for Catholics to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance at any parish from 5:00pm until 8:00pm. The last couple of years found this to be very “successful” in that many people came to confession, especially those who may have been away from the sacrament for a long time. Fr. Vesely & I will be in our Reconciliation Rooms here at St. Leo’s during that time and we welcome both parishioners and non-parishioners to take advantage of our availability during that time. 

    I strongly encourage you to join us for our Parish Lenten Mission which begins this Sunday, March 1st. Sunday, Monday & Tuesday evenings, Fr. Robert Cole will give a presentation beginning at 7:00pm based on “The Questions Jesus Asked.” He really piqued my interest last year when he spoke about this on one night of our mission & now he’s back to fill us in on more. It will last for just one hour each night so please allow yourself the opportunity to fill your mind and heart with something that is both interesting and useful.

    Next Saturday, March 7th, we welcome Bishop Lennon to our parish as he confirms our eighth grade students during the 4pm Saturday Mass. We are always blessed to have the Bishop pray with us and share his words of faith with us and our young people. Please pray for him and for those who will receive the sacramental gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. 

    Finally, next Sunday, March 8th, I will be participating in the Parish Mission at one of our cluster churches, St. Thomas More (the parish where Fr. Vesely is Pastor Emeritus). I will be speaking about our own patron, St. Leo the Great. Come learn more about him and the patron saints of our cluster parishes, St. Charles Borromeo & St. Thomas More.

Pastor's Column, February 22, 2015

The ARISE faith-sharing groups have started to meet again during this Lenten Time of the year. I received a letter from a parishioner who described her long-desired need to reconcile with her sister. She asked for the prayers of her ARISE group, and they were thrilled to support her in her efforts as she made that difficult but all-important call to her sister. She received the response from her sister that she had so hoped for, and now their relationship is on the mend. She wrote this: “God’s wonder-working power is still available today, if we only remember to access it, collectively whenever possible, “for where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them (Matt 18:20). This Lent, the theme for the Arise sessions is Change Our Hearts; my group has helped me make a huge beginning towards this Change.” Beautiful words coming from the experience of change, which is what repentance is all about during Lent: a change of heart, then a change of mind, then a change of behavior, and finally a change of life itself. I hope that everyone who signed up for the ARISE experience will have their own stories to tell of how that opportunity helped you to change for the better in your relationship with God and others. And for those who have not signed up, please remember to do your part in praying for those who will be meeting weekly during this holy season of Lent. We will again say the ARISE prayer following the petitions during Lent. 

    We are also encouraged during Lent & Easter Time to use the Apostle’s Creed in place of the Nicene Creed that we normally profess on Sunday after the homily. The Apostle’s Creed (which is used in the rosary) is the “Baptismal Symbol of the Roman Church” and so we will use that creed (found on your Mass prayer cards) beginning today until the end of Easter Time. Speaking of the Mass prayer cards, some of them are getting worn and torn and we are trying to replace them with new ones. 

    After you have eaten your share of the loaves and fishes at our Fish Fry each Friday, you are welcomed to join us for the Stations of the Cross in the church which begin at 7pm. They help us not only to remember what Jesus suffered out of love for us, but they help us see how God can use our suffering for something good. 

    Since I was gone last weekend, we will have our Catholic Charities Appeal this weekend. What a great opportunity we have to feed, clothe and help Christ himself as our donations are used to help those in need.

Pastor's Column, February 15, 2015

     I will not be joining you in worship this weekend as I am heading south in search of some sunshine before Lent begins. But I ask you to welcome Father Bob Lorkowski who is kind enough to celebrate the 10am & 12pm Masses on Sunday. And he was willing to step in without much notice since Father Ned Weist was going to cover for me but he is recovering from acute  bronchitis. Father Lorkowski is the Parochial Vicar (what we used to call “Associate Pastor”) at St. Anthony of Padua, one of our good neighbors. I am sure you will enjoy his kind disposition. I’ll have to work at getting one of those myself.

    This Wednesday begins the Lenten Time of the year when we, along with the catechumens and candidates who are preparing to enter the Church at the Easter Vigil, try to step back and ask ourselves where we are in our journey of faith. We will distribute ashes this Ash Wednesday at all the Masses: 8:30am (which is also our school Mass), Noon & 7pm. Just a reminder…if you normally receive Communion on your tongue, you don’t want to stick out your tongue when you come up for your ashes! I actually had a person do that once but gratefully they realized what they were doing before I had a chance to give them their ashes. I just thought they were looking for more penance…

    During Lent I ask you to pray in a special way for our catechumen who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil, Angelique Arroyo, and for our candidate (already baptized) who will be receiving Confirmation and his first Communion, Mike Jodon. Pray too for the children who will be baptized at the Vigil. Let us support them all in this important journey. 

    Last year we had three priests give a talk for our Lenten Mission. One of them was Father Robert Cole, pastor of Sacred Heart in Oberlin. Father Cole will be with us for all three nights of our Mission this Lent which will take place on March 1-3, beginning at 7pm each night. His talks will be a reflection on the Questions Jesus Asked. I remember him saying last year that Jesus asked people over a hundred questions! So I’m looking forward to hearing more about that. 

    In last week’s column I mistakenly said that we choose a new Sweepstakes winner every day. Actually it’s every week. Forgive the error but I must have been thinking too much about our Fish Fry that will start this Friday. I wish those were every day too.

Pastor's Column, February 8, 2015

     We received another quarterly check from the Catholic Community Foundation in the amount of $4155.00. This is 30% of the amount received in the last three months from the pledges of the people of St. Leo the Great. Thank you for your steadfast commitment in fulfilling your pledge. It is a great help to the parish. To date, we have received $88,858. Thanks to everyone who made that possible. 

    We also appreciate your continued support of our Great Sweepstakes Raffle and Gift Card Program. Every day we choose a winner who receives $100 from this Raffle, with larger winnings on certain special days of the year (like President’s Day which is a $200 prize and Easter which is a $1000 prize). The raffle tickets are on a full-page flyer on the tables in the church and the stub with a payment of $30 can be brought to the rectory office. You can win multiple times. The Gift Card program also allows us to sell many gift cards at face value while the church earns a certain percentage of each card purchased. We have a great variety available in the rectory office so please stop by to get what you need.

    One last note relating to finances…we have a Parish Finance Council which advises the Pastor on matters relating to the good stewardship of the parish’s funds. We meet at least quarterly and I’m grateful to the parishioners on our Council who use their experience & expertise as we discuss our financial situation which is always in service of our pastoral mission and ministry. Currently we are discussing investing a small percentage of our funds so that we can earn interest and let our money grow with minimal risk. We chose to participate in the Diocesan Investment Program since it has been successful working with many other parishes and is socially responsible in terms of what companies we are willing to invest with that do not conflict with our Catholic principles, morals or values. May we be good stewards of the material blessings God has given to this community. 

    We welcome Connor Kuczynski as a member of our Catholic Faith as he is baptized this weekend. We pray for him and for all who have received the waters of new life.

    On Monday our 2nd graders in the parish will be celebrating their First Penance in preparation for their First Holy Communion in May. Do you remember your first confession? Or maybe I should ask if you remember your last confession! Either way, let’s all do what our children will be doing: celebrate God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Homily Thoughts for February 8, 2015…That Burns Me Up (credit to Fr. George Smiga for the insights)

Today’s gospel miracle is a short one: Peter’s mother-in-law has a fever, Jesus takes her by the hand & lifts her up & she’s healed & waits on them. End of story. But it doesn’t tell us what disease she had, just a symptom: a fever. 

The Greek word for fever means “burning up.” Could she have been burning up in the sense that she was emotionally upset? My mom used to say that when she was upset: “That really burns me up!” Peter’s mother-in-law had a son-in-law who left his work to follow a preacher. How would he take care of her daughter? That might have burned her up!

Job was so emotionally upset he felt he’d never be happy again. We’ve all felt that way. So how does Jesus heal us? He takes us by the hand & lifts us up by reminding us that while we love others, we can’t run their lives; they have to make their own decisions, even if we think (or know) they’re the wrong ones. Jesus assures us: God has a plan though we may not see it now. Trust him. Let him lift you up.

Pastor's Column for February 1, 2015

Our sympathies to the family of Daniel Haynes on the loss of their son whose funeral was celebrated here last Monday. May he rest in peace with all our beloved departed.     

Congratulations to Michael & Stephanie Cangelosi on the baptism of their daughter Mia  Nicole which will take place during the Noon Mass this Sunday. May Mia know the joy of a living faith as her parents pledge to pass that on to her.

This Monday, February 2nd, is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which commemorates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, a Jewish law which required parents to present their first-born son to God. When Christ was brought into the Temple, an old, pious man by the name of Simeon said that Jesus was to be the Light of the nations. And so, to symbolize Jesus as the Light to the world, we bless candles on this day which are used in the church throughout the year: candles by our altars & tabernacle, candles by our shrines of the Sacred Heart & St. Ann, & candles that are used to blessed throats. So this day is also referred to as “Candlemas Day” since we bless those candles at Mass. On Tuesday, February 3rd, we celebrate the feast of St. Blaise, a bishop whom we believe was martyred in the early 4th century. He is associated with the blessing of throats based on a story that his prayers saved a boy who was choking on a fishbone. So in place of the final blessing at Mass this weekend, Father Vesely & I will bless throats as we seek the intercession of St. Blaise, “bishop and martyr,” that God may “deliver us from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.” We place two candles  held together by a red ribbon around your neck as we give this blessing. We used to light the candles but then on occasion, someone’s hair would catch on fire. We could always have ushers standing next to you with a fire extinguisher but some of them may be trigger happy. 

My siblings & I bought a grandfather clock for my parents when they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary many years ago. I have since inherited the clock but neither the clock nor the chimes are working, due either to age or to its movement from one place to another over the years that I have moved. Does anyone know how to get the clock to actually tell time and to sing again? Abby misses getting mesmerized by the swinging of the pendulum.