Pastor's Column for March 2, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

         I want to clarify something for those joining me (in two weeks now!) for our Italy pilgrimage. We will be having a Zoom meeting this Tuesday, March 4th at 6:30pm. Eddie sent everyone the link through email. You can remain in the comfort of your home for this meeting. Feel free to ask him any and all questions you may have concerning the trip. And be sure to thank him for such an excellent spiritual leader (only if you truly believe that…but I’ll be taking notes). Then we have another optional in person meeting next Sunday, March 9th in the Parish Center at 6:30pm. This will just be a chance to see who else you will be traveling with and to again share any tips with others who may be joining us for the first time. I’ll be giving you your name tag which will be worn throughout the trip. I’ll have some light refreshments available as well. I ask all the parishioners to pray for us that this trip will be safe, enjoyable, and spiritual. 

This Tuesday is a day known as “Fat Tuesday” as the day after, March 5th, is Ash Wednesday— a day of fast and abstinence (a definition of these is available in this bulletin). So what do Catholics do the day before they need to fast & abstain from meat? We eat. A lot. Especially meat. It’s the Catholic way. So enjoy a really hardy meal on Shrove Tuesday, or even several meals. We will need our strength for the fasting and penance we will be doing during Lent. 

Our Ash Wednesday schedule will remain the same as in the past. You can join us for Mass at 8:30am with the school children or at 7pm. We will also have a Word Service with the distribution of ashes at 12 Noon. This will be a shorter service without Mass for the sake of those who are on their lunch break but want to receive ashes as a sign of their Lenten repentance. 

Of course on Friday this week we will have our first Fish Fry which is always a great treat. So prepare to join us for a wonderful but inexpensive meal (we are very competitive with our prices!) and invite others to join you. Of course we will have carry-out as well. Personally I’m looking forward to the first of two lobster tail dinners which will follow on March 14th (right before I leave for our trip…I don’t remember lobster tail fish fry’s in Italy). But I look forward to seeing you on Friday. And please don’t forget to join us for our Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 7pm. They will be lead by a parishioner when I am away the following two Fridays.

Finally I invite you this weekend to take home a little black book which contains Lenten reflections for each day of the holy season. We also have another little book (literally called “The Little Book on the Eucharist”) for you to take home as well this weekend. It’s orange and contains 30 short reflections on the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The introduction says that you can pray it every day for 30 days for even once a week for 30 weeks. Like all the Little Books, it has a variety of stories, quotes, information and thoughts to inspire your prayer time. 

I’ve never been a LEGO® user, but I found two LEGO sets that I thought the children of our school and Faith Formation might enjoy. One is called “Father Leopold Celebrates Mass” and includes an altar with hosts and chalice and cruets, along with a pulpit and tabernacle and presider’s chair. The other one is called “Father John Hears Confessions” and includes a confessional with both a screen and face to face option. It even has powered lights. The best part though is the penitent (a boy or a girl) has a reversible face to show “both the sorrow of sin and the joy of forgiveness.” I hope this is what Jesus meant when he said we must become like children.

Fr. James P. Schmitz

Pastor's Column for February 23, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

         Sorry that my column last week consisted of just information about Catholic Charities (as important as that is), but I had been ill with a cough for a couple of days & so wanted to get some rest to get rid of it as soon as possible, and that actually worked. I’ve caught another bug this week as I hear many have, but should feel well again by the time you read this. I’d rather get all this illness out of the way so that I’m well for our pilgrimage to Italy next month. We’re only 3 weeks away now so it’s good to look forward to that experience, especially as we’ll be visiting a few places I’ve never been to before, like the place where St. Padre Pio lived & the Amalfie Coast & other places south of Rome. I’m also hoping for some warmer weather which we had there a couple of years ago…it was sunny and in the 70’s and just a great place to get away from all the cold & snow we’ve had here in Cleveland this winter. I would like to invite all those who will be joining me to meet in the Parish Center on Sunday, March 9th at 6:30pm. We will have a FaceTime meeting with Eddie Abufarha so you can ask him any questions you may have but also so that we can offer travel reminders to each other as well. I’ll remind you of this that weekend as well. 

Through I was ill at the time, our Principal and Vice Principal and Business Manager attended a meeting last week with other pastors and school leadership. It was a Keeping the Faith initiative that involves encouraging parishes with Catholic Schools to work together in whatever ways they can in support of their common goal to provide an opportunity for children to receive a great education in a Catholic setting. I understand the meeting went very well and we are on board & in support of this initiative. Being able to visit the children in the school to spend a bit of time with them is one of my great joys here at St. Leo’s. We have a wonderful diverse community of children who remind me of the energy and joy of being young, something I had a very long time ago but still love to see in others. I continue to be grateful to Mr. Jones, Ms. Branner and the entire school staff for all they do in and for our school. 

I believe I mentioned that we are working on a revised website. It will go live on Monday, March 3rd. It will still contain the information you have found helpful online but will be more compact and streamlined. The most important information that people seek from our online presence will be upfront & center, like making an appointment, reading our bulletin, reading the latest news & events and the opportunity for online giving. And of course the ability to watch our livestream Masses. We have hundreds of people using our website every week and of course the young people use this tool especially to learn of Mass and confession times. But we want it to be customized to the information you are looking for so please don’t hesitate to let me or Nina Capone, our Office Manager, what you think is missing or needed. 

I also want to let you know about an important document that you can also now find on our website called “A Flourishing Apostolic Church”…a Pastoral Letter from Bishop Edward C. Malesic. An important role of the diocesan bishop is to communicate with the clergy and faithful of his diocese and our bishop is taking this seriously as a way to express his vision for the future of our parishes. So please take some time to read through this when you have a few minutes here and there. We will have discussion questions made available and opportunities for you to come together in a small group to discuss it with others if you are interested in that. And I would always be interested in hearing your thoughts about it or answering questions you may have. 

 Fr. James P. Schmitz

Pastor's Column for February 16, 2025

Pastor's Column for February 9, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

         I’d like to start with an update on Deacon Pat, and I’d like to do so by quoting part of an update that his wife Joan will give to the members of the Diaconate on February 22nd, which will be his 72nd birthday: “It’s amazing how in a heartbeat your world and life can be turned upside down and forever changed. On November 8, 2024 that’s what happened to Pat and I as he suffered his first stroke. Since then he has had two subsequent strokes, each one worse than the previous. The second one came on December 14th which left his right eye permanently shut and the left eye with blurred vision. We learned that his strokes are the result of a genetic blood clotting disorder. Each day presents a new set of problems and challenges. I have gone from seeing Pat as a strong man who opened jars that I can’t, to being weak and unable to see, walk or speak. He’s confused much of the time, often unable to express himself. His speech is often difficult to understand. But his demeanor is calm and peaceful! His sense of humor is intact. One day when I walked into his room to visit him he was dressed in clothes that weren’t his. I told him that and without skipping a beat he said, ‘They are now! I’m wearing them!’ 

To that I would add that along with Joan, it’s still hard for me to believe that all this has happened, and so suddenly. I miss talking to my friend and I miss our Deacon assisting at Mass. I am proud of Joan not only for taking such good care of Pat and adjusting her life according to the new circumstances, but also for carrying on with her work and ministry here at St. Leo’s. Let us continue to pray for Deacon Pat, for Joan and for their 4 children. 

John and Jeanne Sabol have changed the display in the vestibule of the church and made it into a tribute to Fr. Ned Weist, former pastor of St. Leo’s, who recently passed away. Doris Neylon, Father’s very good friend, contributed a number of the photos they were able to use. We thank her and the Sabol’s for honoring him in this way.

I recently trained a number of school students to be altar servers. You may not see many of them since they do not come to church here at St. Leo’s so they mostly serve at our weekly 8th grader Masses on Friday, at school Masses and at funerals when school is in session. But I’m happy to see so many of them interested in this ministry. 

The school children had a bulletin board contest. Each classroom was responsible for designing a board based on the life of a saint…but here’s the twist…the saints were all of black and Hispanic descent. Too often we fail to point out the great diversity in the communion of saints, not just in terms of their age, life’s work, marital status, etc., but even of their race. These included such holy men and women as St. Augustine and his mother St. Monica who were from Africa, St. Martin de Porres and St. Thea Bowman, St. Kizito, Venerable Pierre Toussaint and St. Charles Lwanga. The school and rectory staff will be voting on the best board.

We also had the 8th graders over to the rectory for a pizza party. They wanted to know how much rent I paid. When I told them that “food & board” are included as part of my salary, I think we had some interest in priestly vocations! God will accept any means of motivation as he usually deals with that after they have been hooked. As I have said from the beginning, it’s a great blessing for our parish to (still) have a school where we offer a great education in the atmosphere of faith. I trust it will be used by God to do great things for the future Church and world. 

 Fr. James P Schmitz