Pastor's Column

The Knights of Columbus will be joining us for the Noon Mass this weekend. Since this is also the last Sunday of the month, we will be having coffee and donuts after each Sunday Mass so you can have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about their fraternal organization. The Knights of Columbus are generous to the parish and have been faithful members of the Catholic Church for many years. We are happy to have them join us for our Sunday worship.
 

Last Tuesday I concelebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Marie Masters, which took place at St. Basil the Great in Brecksville, which she has had a connection to for many years. Marie was the first parishioner of St. Leo's that I spoke to. While I was still in West Salem, she called me to invite me to the St. Leo's Seniors Christmas Party which was held at Holy Spirit Byzantine hall. Never one to turn down a meal, I accepted and then met many more of St. Leo's parishioners. I was sad when Marie told me a few short months ago that she was battling cancer. But she did so bravely and with the faith that she's always had in God. She received the last sacraments shortly before she died and was ready to meet the Lord. May she pray for us that we may join her in his praise.
 

We had a funeral service for Andrew Solek on Friday, June 10th. He was 91 and lived alone after his wife Dea passed away. He had a daughter, Andrea, and was the grandfather of two children. May he and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
 

We have been preparing to try something new here at St. Leo's which has worked well in many other parishes. We are bringing an information desk to our church vestibule where you can find one of our receptionists after the weekend Masses. We will let you know through the bulletin & in a Mass announcement when it will be available to you. We will publish in the bulletin the information you can find there and the kinds of services we can offer you, such as the sale of our most popular gift cards. We hope to bring the rectory office to you for your convenience while you are in the church. Let us know if you find this helpful & what other information or services we can provide for you. We don't serve breakfast, lunch or dinner but we will continue to serve coffee & donuts the last Sunday of the month.
 

It's a good time to be a Clevelander. You see Believeland posted everywhere. Yes, we believe in the Cavs. We believe in God. Let us also believe that God wants us to have a victory in every aspect of our life. Believe it!

Homily...Fire from Heaven

We know that feeling when we're driving (especially when late or in a hurry) and we're held up by traffic or an accident or construction. We get irritated, impatient, angry. Jesus and the disciples were on their way to Jerusalem and they too were interrupted in their journey...not by traffic but by enemies. The Samaritans wouldn't let them pass through. So James & John have an idea: "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?!" No, Jesus says. Let's just go around them. 

Today there are many groups that are in opposition to each other. Republicans vs. Democrats. Catholics against those who support abortion, same-sex relationships and transgenderism. Individuals & communities against Muslims. We're not talking about the playful kind of opposition found in wanting the Cavs to win over the Warriors. We're talking about people who strongly oppose those who are not like them or who do not have the same values. 

Perhaps there are times when we (even secretly) call down fire from heaven to consume our enemies. But that was not the way of Jesus. In fact, he rebukes James & John for their suggestion. Jesus was a person of peace, even toward his enemies. And his actions matched his words. From the cross, where he was tortured and killed, he said, "Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing." That was the way of Christ. And that must be the way of his followers. 

Pastor's Column

     This past Monday we had the Funeral Mass for Leonard Young, a parishioner who died in Florida back in February. Since he was a firefighter, we had many of his comrades here who saluted him one by one at the end of the Mass. It was very moving. We continue to pray for him as well as for his wife Anna and his daughters Andrea & Heather. His cremains will be buried at Rittman National Cemetery later this month. 

    Augie Bublavey has been a lector at the 4pm Mass on Saturday for many, many years. He proclaimed the Word of God so well that I was always happy to see him come forward to lector. But he feels it is time to move on from that ministry so I just wanted to say thanks to him and to all who faithfully minister to the parish in this way. Augie will continue to be a Eucharistic Minster and Usher when needed and we're glad to have him as part of our liturgical ministry. 

    Our maintenance crew have begun working on our summer projects. Once again we had many people here from Sherwin Williams who painted the preschool area on the 2nd floor of the Community Center and the conference room on the 1st floor. They donated the paint as well. Due to another very generous donation from parishioners, we are able to replace the carpet in the preschool, replace the fence and mulch in their play area and make several other improvements to the preschool program. I'll tell you about more projects next week.

    Thanks for your prayers for my dad. He seemed to have responded very well to his first chemo treatment and got even stronger, not sicker. He will continue to have 5 more chemo every 3 weeks in the hopes that the non-Hodgkins lymphoma will go into remission. He has been receiving physical therapy at an assisted living place and will be going home early this week. It's been a wonderful opportunity for my siblings, aunt & cousins to spend time with him in the hospital & nursing home. He's got a big heart and an even bigger faith. 

    Michaela on the other hand was diagnosed with pancreatitis, something that dogs can get from eating too much people food. I wonder if people can get sick from eating too much dog food. Anyway, while is doing much better now, the Vet gave her (or actually ME) orders not to give her any people food and absolutely no dog treats either. If that were forced on me, I'd be hanging up my collar (dog collar that is, not Roman collar). For me that would a terrible life sentence of cruel & unusual punishment. But so far she seems to be adjusting to it pretty well. She should be losing some of that excess weight & looking healthier soon. And for that, I salute her. 

Homily...Checkers

A priest said that checkers can help us to be better disciples and to learn how to take up our cross every day. There are 3 simple rules to checkers: 1) you cannot make two moves at once; 2) you must move forward, not backward; 3) aim for the last row so you can move in any direction. The first rule has to do with focus: there are many things we need to do in a given day. Which is most important? Make that move. If you try to do too much at one time, you go in too many directions & then lose your focus. 

The second rule has to do with forgiveness: move forward, not backward. We all make a lot of mistakes every day. Don't let these keep you from moving forward or to take you backward. Forgiveness of self leads to forgiveness of others. Guilt, regret & grudges keep us from moving forward. They are crosses we do not need. 

Final rule: aim for the last row so you can move in any direction. This is about compassion. We get compassion by remembering our own struggles & sufferings, then realizing that others have these too. Go to the last row (or "the last seat" as Jesus says). Look for humility. These are three rules of living that my dad seems to practice well in his life. I hope you can find a father figure with exemplifies them well for you too. 

Pastor's Column

     May & June are busy months for all kinds of celebrations, even in a parish family. We congratulate the parents of Alexander Heath who was baptized last Sunday & the parents of GianLuca Capone who was baptized this Saturday. We also extend our best wishes to Amber Kemmerer and Bryan McIntyre who were married this past Friday, and to Fire Chief Angelo & his wife Maria Calvillo who will be renewing their vows this weekend at the 4pm Mass as they celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary on June 20th. My classmates and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary of Ordination this past Tuesday on June 7th. May God bless us all as we all strive to live out our baptismal, marriage and ordination commitments with the help of God's grace. 

    In case you missed it, I announced at all the Masses last weekend that our adjusted Mass schedule will take effect beginning on Sunday, January 1, 2017. I have written another article for the upcoming News & Views newsletter which detail again the many reasons for this change. I thank you for your supportive words this past weekend as we continue to deal with current realities concerning the number of priests available to celebrate Mass. There are some other small details concerning this that I didn't have time to include in my homily. First, Fr. Joe Pednikar will continue to celebrate just one Mass per weekend and will rotate between the 4pm, 8am and 11am Masses. Fr. Vesely will concelebrate one of the weekend Masses and will still be able to celebrate weekday Masses since our chapel area does not have steps. While we will not have a scheduled Mass on Thursday mornings when I am away from the parish for the day, Fr. Vesely will continue to celebrate Mass on Thursday mornings for as long as he is able. Otherwise, our daily Mass schedule will remain the same (7:30am Monday through Thursday and 8:30am on Friday). I mentioned that we need 3 Masses on Easter Day since we have only one Mass (the Easter Vigil) late in the evening on Easter Saturday night at 9pm. We will be able to add a 9:30am Mass on Easter between our normal 8am & 11am Easter Day Masses. We will likely have 2 Masses on Christmas Day (at 8am & 11am) since most people attend one of the 3 Christmas Eve Masses at 4pm, 7pm or 10pm. Our adjusted Mass schedule will also allow us more time between the two Sunday Masses to have our RCIA sessions as well as our (soon to be announced) Sunday catechetical sessions where you will have opportunities to learn more about the Catholic Faith. I believe that this will only enhance our Sunday worship as we responsibly deal with the personnel changes that will be necessary in the coming years. 

Homily...I have Greatly Sinned

One word that was added to the prayer asking for forgiveness at the beginning of Mass, known as the "Confiteor" is the word "greatly." So we say, "I confess to Almighty God...that I have GREATLY sinned." In today's culture, we have "greatly" downplayed the existence of sin, and so have need to stand honestly before God and one another & confess that we are in fact, sinners, even great sinners. 

The story about King David in the first reading is very much abbreviated. The slightly longer version is this: David lusts after a married woman and commits adultery with her. In order to disguise his sin to her husband who is in the military, King David tells this woman's husband, Uriah, to take a few days off to be with his wife. David is hoping that Uriah would believe the child is his. But Uriah refuses due to his military allegiance. So David has Uriah killed. Now he has sinned greatly by committing adultery and murder. The prophet Nathan confronts him on this and David repents, so God forgives him.

Jesus also forgives a woman known publicly as a sinner. When a Pharisee objects to this (at least in his own thoughts), Jesus tells him a parable about two people who were forgiven debts. One was forgiven a debt much larger than the other one. Which one is more grateful? The one who had the larger debt. So those who sin greatly are more grateful for God's mercy. Can we say with St. Paul, "I live my life with faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me"? Do we, who sin greatly, have great gratitude and love for the God who forgives so generously?

Pastor's Column

     We ended Easter Time on May 15th with the Feast of Pentecost (Ascension was the week before that). That put us back into Ordinary Time though you wouldn't really know it since we begin to wear green vestments again. Instead we continued to wear white vestments during the two feasts which always take place at the beginning of Ordinary Time: Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi. Today we are back to green until we begin the season of Advent again which won't be until the very end of November. Just some liturgical information you can use to impress your Catholic friends. 

    This past week we celebrated two funerals. The first was for James Minch. Jim was faithful to attending Mass until his health no longer allowed that. He was the kind of guy who appeared rough on the outside but was really a gentle soul. The highlight of his life was his family, including 5 children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He taught them to think before you act & to always do the right thing. And he practiced what he preached. May he now have the reward of his faith.

    We also had the funeral for Jan Papez. I last saw Jan on Ash Wednesday when I brought her ashes and Holy Communion at her home. I first met her shortly after arriving at St. Leo's and admired her faith & persistence. She donated money toward the new railings we have in the church. Jan battled with cancer over the years and I was sad to receive a call from a neighbor & parishioner who said that she had passed away suddenly in her home. She brought her Shih Tzu over to the rectory office one day to meet Michaela. I'm afraid that Michaela was rather territorial & not very welcoming of her own kind. We had a talk about hospitality & I hope she changes her bark. Please say a little prayer for Jim and for Jan as you read this so that we may help them reach God's kingdom. 

    Thank you for the prayers for my dad. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, stage 3. There's a 60-70% chance of it being cured with chemo but he can only take half of the chemo dose due to his congestive heart failure. But he started on his chemo this past week & we hope that it won't make him feel nauseous as it often does. He continues so far to remain in very good spirits as he jokes with us, the nurses & staff. We spend a lot of time reminiscing with him and just enjoying his company. He is blessed to have so many children (5 of us) & grandchildren (13) who usually crowd his room every day. We are all blessed to have him.