Pastor's Column for February 25, 2018

We had a funeral service for Wayne Maurer on Ash Wednesday. We express our sympathies to his wife and two daughters, one of whom reflected beautifully on his life during the service.

Stella Sugalski also died and her funeral Mass was on February 16th. She was 95. I made a visit to her home a couple weeks before she died and she was hoping to live at Marymount nursing facility but her health deteriorated quickly. My thanks to Ron Kollar who brought her Holy Communion faithfully for many years and who served at her funeral Mass.

We also pray for Marie Werchelowsky whose Mass of Christian Burial was on February 15th. She and her husband Joe were married for 65 years and had 5 children. Marie and I talked a couple of times at Parma hospital before she died and I knew her to be a woman of faith who loved her husband & children very much. She and Joe were also members of our St. Leo Senior Group, where they had much support. She too will be missed.

Paul Litvin was married to his wife Barbara for 58 years and they had 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 9 great- grandchildren. Paul and Barbara lived in West Salem but left there just a few months after I became Pastor there but then ended up here at St. Leo’s where again they found that I had become Pastor (you can’t run away from me easily). They have been members here for about 8 years. We keep them both in our prayers as we pray for the living and the dead.

The diocesan-wide Evening of Confessions will be this Wednesday, February 28th. All Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Cleveland will be open and have priests available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation from 5pm until 8pm. This has proved to be a wonderful time for people to prepare for Easter but especially for many to return to the practice of their Catholic Faith after many years. We will welcome everyone as Jesus would.

We will use the Apostle’s Creed in place of the Nicene Creed during the Lenten & Easter Seasons as recommended by the Church as it is more closely related to our baptism which we reflect upon during this time of the year.

The black booklet we handed out the weekend before Ash Wednesday contained a nice reflection about our patron, St. Leo the Great, in last Sunday’s meditation. I learned that February 18th used to be the feast of St. Leo in the Western or Roman Rite of the Church (and still is today in the Eastern or Byzantine Rite) but was moved to November 10th in our liturgical calendar. I take that to mean that we can celebrate our patron on two days of the year instead of one. So have a nice meal (like at our fish fry!) or eat some chocolate (unless you gave it up for Lent) or find some way of celebrating our parish’s patron. St. Leo the Great, pray for us! 

Pastor's Column for February 18, 2018

We welcome the Knights of Columbus who will be join- ing us for the 11am Mass this weekend. As you know they have moved from a few blocks up the street on Broadview Rd. to their new home here at St. Leo’s & we are glad to have them. It’s a great fraternal Catholic organization for men to be a part of so please feel free to see one of them after Mass & ask a member what being a part of the “K of C” means to them.

Last weekend the Church celebrated the “World Day of the Sick”, a remembrance of all who are ill and in need of God’s healing. You may recall that the gospel last week was about Jesus healing a leper. He continues to heal today in body, mind and/or spirit. Since we didn’t make mention of it last weekend because it was our Annual Catholic Charities Appeal, I wanted to offer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at all the Masses this weekend. If you are “advanced in years” (as the Church calls it using very subjective language), or are experiencing a serious illness, the Church invites you to receive this sacrament whereby we pray for healing in whatever way God chooses to give it to us, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. Many people ask me to anoint them at other times after Mass when they are facing a surgery or serious medical procedure and I am very happy to do that as well whenever requested. So feel free to ask so that the Church's prayers may accompany you.

I meant to mention this a few weeks ago but when in flu season, everyone has the right not to receive Holy Commun- ion from the cup. And for the sign of Peace, a simple gesture such as a wave is perfectly acceptable if you are concerned about either giving or receiving germs through hand contact.

Here’s a little fun fact about our first Pastor, Father Lux: when they were building the current church and installing the stained glass windows, Father Lux wanted to learn a little about this specialized skill so he practiced by putting a stained glass window in the priests’ garage at the time (which is currently our maintenance garage that sits between the school building and the Parish Center). I always wondered why a garage such as this would have a stained glass window in it! And there is the answer (thanks to John Sabol for this historical tidbit). You can still see it on the east end of the garage but of course you can only appreciate the real beauty by looking at it from inside the garage so that the light can shine through it. If you’re that interested in seeing it from the inside, I can sell you a ticket. It’s good that we still have something made by our founding pastor’s own hands, even if it’s only a part of the garage. 

Pastor's Column for February 11, 2018

This weekend we have our annual Catholic Charities Appeal. In a society where religion and faith no longer are at the heart of most families and are often criticized (sometimes rightly, oftentimes unfairly) for not always being pure in the love of God and neighbor, this is one area where the Church really shines: in her outreach to the poor. What I most appre- ciate about Catholic Charities is that it is an organization that helps so many people of various ages, backgrounds & faiths and does so in many different ways. When we contribute to this most worthy cause, we are helping God’s children, our brothers & sisters, in a very concrete way. We are living the Gospel and loving our neighbor in imitation of Jesus himself. I am never hesitant to call on your help on this Catholic Charities weekend because I know you will be as generous (or even more) as you have been in the past. Every year we seem to reach or exceed the goal that is given to us by the Diocese (based upon our annual collections and the amount we have been able to pledge in the past). I believe you are very much aware of what Catholic Charities is and how far reaching it is in it’s charity toward others, so I keep the request for your help brief, knowing that if you wish more information on how and where and whom it helps, that is available to you in abundance through literature available to you in the church as well as on our website (leothegreat.org) or the diocesan website (dioceseofcleveland.org). Thank you in advance for your sacrifice this year. May we be confident that our giving will be a great blessing to the many who are helped by our charitable work.

It is good timing that our Catholic Charities Appeal weekend introduces us to the first few days of Lent with Ash Wednesday on February 14th. We will have a parish school Mass at 8:30am and a Mass at 7pm. Ashes will be distributed during these liturgies as a sign of our repentance and hope for conversion.

Also this Friday we begin our Fish Fry’s in Lux Hall which begin at 4:30pm and end at 7:00pm. It’s always a great opportunity not only to share in an enjoyable meatless meal but also in the fellowship of other parishioners & friends who come to join us. After the Fish Fry you are encouraged to join us for the Stations of the Cross at 7pm in the church. These prayers help us to walk the path of Jesus to Calvary so that we can unite our sufferings with his and draw strength from his example.

Finally, please mark your calendar for our diocesan-wide Evening of Confession which will be on Wednesday, February 28th this year, as always from 5pm until 8pm. All Catholic churches in the diocese will be open for the Sacrament of Reconciliation to be celebrated. 

Pastor's Column for February 4, 2018

At our all school Mass at the end of January (we have these about twice a month), we baptized Ava Graewe into our Catholic family. And last Sunday we also baptized Chase McCoy and Della Shadd. Ava and Chase are both students in our school and both were as excited about being baptized as we were to have them receive that first Sacrament of Initia- tion. So as we welcome them we also welcome Della who is a member of the Shadd family from our parish who have a long history here at St. Leo’s. It’s always a wonderful thing to baptize God’s children and to welcome them into the Church.

Of course on the other side of baptism are the prayers the Church offers for her children whom we pray are being born into eternal life. We were sad to say goodbye to Mary Jane Funta and to Terry Olenick whose funerals were held last Saturday. Mary Jane turned 90 this past year and would al- ways stop to say hello to me at the end of Mass. She loved going to Mass. She had 3 children and would call on the help of the Blessed Mother when raising her family. She was a PSR teacher here at St. Leo’s & involved in the pastoral care of others. She said that she longed to hear Jesus say to her at the end of her life: “Well done, good & faithful servant!” I have no doubt she has heard those words.

Terry & Betty Olenick were married here at St. Leo’s but in our Parish Center, not in our church. That’s because the church was undergoing renovations at the time. Terry went to our parish school here at St. Leo’s and so has a life-long his- tory here. He and Betty would open their home to family & friends who needed a place to stay from time to time. Betty and I prayed the last rites for Terry in the hospital and he had family members with him when he died. We pray for Terry and for Betty that they may both find God’s peace until they meet again.

This past Tuesday we celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Judy Bizjak. She was described by her family as “loving, kind & generous” and had an incredible zest for life. She not only enjoyed her own life but reached out to others so that they could share in her happiness as well. There were many virtues that were part of Judy’s life and she will be missed especially by her 4 children, 2 sisters & brother. We continue to remember her in our prayers as well.

When attending a wake for a parishioner, I always pick up a holy card at the funeral home after signing the register. I thought it might be helpful to make a copy of these in the bulletin so that you might cut it out in remembrance of our deceased parishioners and use it to remind you to pray for them. You’ll see the first of these in today’s bulletin.