This weekend we welcome a talented musician named Julie Slattery who will join our Music Ministry. She and Mickey Stitt will be working together but both in part time positions, though Mickey will continue on as the Music Director. Julie is originally from St. John Vianney Parish in Mentor. She plays organ, piano, guitar & drums, and cantors. We are happy to have her join with Mickey and our choir as she helps us to praise God in song.
Pastor's Column
This past week we celebrated the Funeral Mass for Linda Coffman. I first met Linda when she attended our RCIA sessions a couple years ago. Though Catholic all her life, she just wanted to learn more about our faith and have a better relationship with Christ. Then she became ill with cancer and I would visit her at her home when she was taking chemotherapy treatments. It was a long, difficult battle for her and she passed away at the age of 61. I'm grateful to Ron Kollar, one of our Eucharistic Ministers, for bringing Holy Communion to her during the last few months (as I am to all our Ministers who bring the Eucharist to the sick & homebound of the parish). Linda was a gentle person & she leaves behind a daughter in Brunswick, a son who lives across the street from her nearby the parish & several grandchildren, siblings and relatives. May she rest now from her struggles and know God's peace.
We also express our sympathies to Rhonda Richlovsky whose mother, Darlene Dolens, passed away last Sunday after being removed from life support. She had a massive stroke at home and could not recover. Darlene was from Mary, Queen of Peace Parish and her funeral Mass was celebrated there this past Thursday. Please keep Rhonda and her mother in your prayers.
Congratulations to Chief Angelo Calvillo who was sworn in as Cleveland's Fire Chief on April 6th! He and his wife are parishioners and they have 3 adult children. This is what is written of him on the website of the city of Cleveland: "Chief Calvillo has worked in multiple disciplines of the fire service including Fire Prevention, Hazardous Material response, Director of Training and Fire Suppression. Chief Calvillo was also involved with the Cuyahoga County Regional Hazardous Material Team and the Joint Hazard Assessment Team. Chief Calvillo has been a functioning paramedic since 1996 and started the first paramedic pumper. Chief Calvillo oversees approximately 751 employees, operating from 27 different fire stations." We are proud of him and of all the firefighters, police officers and other safety personnel who are members of our parish. May their patron, St. Michael the Archangel, protect them from all harm.
Remember that the annual Woman's Reverse Raffle will be next Saturday. Good food & fun times. Fr. Vesely & I attend even though we're of the male persuasion. Perks of being priests I guess.
Finally, Sister Erin Zubal OSU, our principal, will speak to us briefly this weekend with good news of progress in our parish school. It's been a great year & we're grateful for her competent leadership.
Pastor's Column
For the last few months, we have been advertising for an Associate Musician on the Diocesan website. Our former Music Director had requested that he split his time (and pay) with an Associate Musician who could play at a couple of Masses each weekend and help with the weddings and many funerals we have here each year. That is when Micky Stitt joined us, but then eventually became Music Director herself. So we needed someone to replace her former position. So this weekend a talented musician named Julie Slattery will join our Music Ministry. She and Mickey will be working together but both in part time positions, though Mickey will continue on as the Music Director. Julie is originally from St. John Vianney Parish in Mentor, where I had been assigned back in the early 90's. I remember her being involved in the music ministry even back then & so was anxious to hear her audition for us. She plays the organ, piano, guitar and drums. She also has a beautiful voice so will effectively be an additional cantor for us as well. She and Mickey will be splitting the 4 Masses each weekend on a rotating basis and both of them will work together with the choir from the beginning of September through the end of May. They will both practice with the choir during the week & then twice a month will work together with the choir at the 10am Sunday Mass, with one playing the organ and/or piano while the other is directing the choir. So I look forward to this final phase of our developing music ministry and ask that you consider joining the choir if you feel (along with others) that God has gifted you with a singing voice. Regardless of whether or not we have that gift (as I do not), we should all be singing (or at least faking it!) in our worship of God, especially at Mass. As St. Augustine is often quoted, "to sing well is to pray twice." We pray in words and in song, in silence and in music, in body and in spirit. We use our whole selves to praise the God who made our whole self, body, mind & spirit. I have believed for a long time that the two most important elements of good liturgy are music and preaching. I have to always work on the latter, but we can all work on providing good music by lifting up our hearts in song.
Our present website (leothegreat.org) and our free mobile app for Android and iPhones, have been incredibly useful to those seeking information about our parish. Hundreds of people make use of them each month. Our website is always growing and evolving. Our mobile app has recently been refreshed & updated as well. Remember to check them out.
Homily Thoughts...
The cross is the symbol of Christianity today. But in the early days of the Church, Christ was depicted as the Good Shepherd. It was a favorite image of the first Christians. On this "Good Shepherd Sunday," Jesus doesn't refer to himself as the Good Shepherd but rather speaks of us as the sheep who hear his voice. When I think of loved ones who have died, I can recall not only what they looked like but what they sounded like. Their voice was unique.
We hear the voice of Jesus in such a way that he becomes personal to us. What many people don't get about us Christians is that our faith is based on a person, on a relationship with Jesus Christ. Faith is not about laws, commandments or religious practices (as important as these are). Faith is about friendship with Christ.
Bishop Gries would tell the young people about to be confirmed: "My best friend is Jesus Christ." Can we say the same? Can we say even that Jesus is our friend? Or is our faith simply a set of theological beliefs that we adhere to? Jesus tells us that no one can take us out of his hands or out of his Father's hands. We hold hands only with those we know personally. To be a Catholic is not just to show up for Mass on the weekend or to engage in pious devotions, as good and important as these are. Faith is knowing that we are safe in the loving hands of God.
Pastor's Column
Thanks to all who brought candy, eggs, bread, or any other food to Fr. Vesely & I to enjoy over the Easter holiday. It was like having a visit from the Easter Bunny, whom I have missed over the last 45 years. Well, I never actually met the Easter Bunny but I do remember benefitting from the baskets he would hide for the 5 of us children. We must have had over 30 baskets (seriously!) and we lived in a small bungalow so I have no idea how all of those baskets were hidden from us. As the song says, "they were lost and have been found." But my point is, thanks for helping us relive our childhood and for not making Fr. Vesely go looking for hidden baskets all over the rectory.
In last weekend's bulletin I thanked those who decorated the church for Easter & those who participated in the music ministry during Holy Week. I want to mention them both again because the church really looks beautiful with all the Easter lilies & flowers of various colors, and the music ministry did such a great job during all of our Holy Week Services, and I know how hard and long they practiced. So thanks again to Mickey Stitt, the choir, and to those who helped our liturgies to be beautiful both in sight as well as in song. And we're always grateful too for the help of our faithful ushers, altar servers, Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. To all of them and to all of you for your generous contributions at Eastertime, my sincere thanks.
We celebrate at this time of year especially the hope and promise of resurrection from the dead for all those who have gone before us to the other side of life. We pray for Mabel Witty whose Funeral Service took place this past Friday evening, that she may join the Communion of Saints.
This week I will be attending a workshop at the seminary in Wickliffe which will review some of the new procedures for those who wish to apply for an annulment. Recently our Bishop made it easier for people in our Diocese to petition for an annulment by dispensing of all fees, making it absolutely free to submit a petition. And Pope Francis also made it easier by shortening the time it takes for an annulment to process. Please know that if you would like to pursue an annulment or even just talk about the process, I am very happy to help you. As they say in England, just give me a ring on the telly.
Homily Thoughts...What Divine Mercy Looks Like
St. John Paul II designated this second Sunday of Easter as "Divine Mercy Sunday." But Pope John Paul II not only spoke of mercy, he showed it.
There was a priest from New York visiting in Rome. He was praying at a church & he noticed a beggar who looked familiar. He learned it was a fellow student with him in the seminary. As it turned out, this priest faced one crisis after another & so left the priesthood & ended up begging on the streets of Rome. The priest from New York was invited to meet the Pope & when he did, he asked the Pope to pray for this man, once a priest, who was now a beggar. Later that day this priest was invited to join the Pope for dinner & was told to bring the beggar with him. After the meal, John Paul II cleared the room so that he could be alone with the former priest. He then asked him to hear his confession. The beggar said he could not because he was no longer a priest. But the Pope said, "once a priest, always a priest" & then he made his confession. The beggar then asked the Pope to hear his confession. Later, the Pope reinstated the beggar to the priesthood & had him work at the same church where he used to beg, but to have a special ministry to the poor & to the beggars at that church.
Divine Mercy. We can speak of it. But it's much more powerful when we show it.