Pastor's Blog for June 30, 2019

The Bishop has written a letter to all the faithful of the Diocese expressing his sorrow for the deep pain that resulted from the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy. He states that in the interests of both justice and healing, the Diocese is publicly acknowledging and identifying those clergy who have been removed from ministry after credible accusations have been made against them. He also states that there is an updated list that includes the names of additional diocesan priests and deacons, regardless of how long ago the abuse is alleged to have occurred. The Bishop’s letter and this updated list can be found on the website at www.dioceseofcleveland.org/ healing. If you do not have access to the internet, we have paper copies available for you in the rectory office.

The Bishop is also offering opportunities for those whohave been abused to participate in support groups guided by experienced facilitators. There will also be several days of retreat to be held in various areas of the diocese for those who wish to participate. He reiterates that any allegation of child sexual abuse that becomes known to the Diocese is reported directly to civil authorities and that our Diocesan Review Board becomes involved immediately as well. He assures us that “a cleric will be permanently removed from ministry if it is established by an admission, a conviction in criminal court, or by way of an appropriate canonical process that he sexually abused a child.”

I join with Bishop Perez in sharing my personal sorrowover these sins and crimes of former clergy. And at St. Leo’s we cooperate fully with Diocesan requirements with regard to VIRTUS., the nationally recognized program to train those who minister, work and volunteer on how to identify signs of sexual abuse in children. Finally, I pray each day (and encourage you to do the same) for all victims of clerical sexual abuse and for the priests who have been removed from ministry due to credible accusations of misconduct. We pray for the grace of “compunction,” which is a sorrow for our sins and for the evil that exists in the world. Our hope can only be found in Christ who is our Judge, our Healer and our Merciful God. We turn to him prayerfully and with hope that the Church may protect all her children.

Our congratulations to Rosemary Michelle Graves, who is being baptized this Sunday at Noon. We ask that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit may always remain with this new child of God.

Please join us for Mass this Thursday, July 4th at 9am in the church so that we may pray for God’s blessings on our country, called to be a light to other nations. Please be safe this holiday and enjoy the beautiful weather we hope to have. Please note that the rectory office will be closed on Thursday AND Friday, July 4th & 5th, in observance of the holiday.

Pastor's Blog for June 23, 2019

As I type this, the roofers are on the roof of the church installing a new...well, roof. We finally have a bit of a respite from the rain so they are taking advantage of it while they can. Now that the roof is being taken care, we can finally repair the hole in the ceiling of the church above my chair so as to ease my fear of being hit with plaster whenever I sit there. Of course it has to be on the priest’s side and not the deacon’s side, but I’m sure Deacon Pat would prefer for it to hit him rather than me. Hopefully it won’t fall on either of us as we get it fixed.

At the 11:00am Mass this Sunday, John & Jeanne Sabolwill be celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary so congratulations to them! They have been long-time and very active members of the parish and we are so grateful for all they have done and continue to do for our parish community. To name just a few, John is one of our cantors and you can hear the gift he’s been given whenever he leads us in song. He has also done a lot of archival work so that we can keep the history of our parish alive. He and Jeanne together have changed the pictures and other historical documents in our display case that is in the vestibule and it’s very interesting to see some of our past there. Jeanne started our Preschool along with Rhonda Richlovsky many years ago and it continues to go strong today under the leadership of Jennifer Robinson, assisted by Cherise Pacanovsky and Cindy Kosiba. Jeanne also coordinates the Have a Heart, Lend a Hand & Adopt a Child program where items for children and money is collected to help those in need. So as we congratu late John & Jeanne, we also thank them and ask God’s blessing on them that they may continue to be a gift to each other and to our parish.

This weekend we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi which is Latin for the Body of Christ. As Catholics, the real presence of Christ that we receive in the Eucharist is central to our faith and to our worship at Mass. As we receive Holy Communion today, we do so with gratitude for the many times we have received that wonderful gift in the 50 years Mass has been celebrated in this church.

Just to finish my story about Abby from last week, after 2 1⁄2 days of doing who knows what, she finally came home (at 4:30am). While I wanted to scream “Where were you?”, I remembered the story of the lost sheep and the joy we’re suppose to have when one of them (or one of our cats) is found and brought home. So she now has a collar and a name tag on it with my phone number & address just in case it happens again, though I’m taking precautions to make sure it doesn’t. But they are sneaky creatures so you gotta be pre- pared...

Pastor's Blog for June 16, 2019

We celebrated a Memorial Mass for Peter Gramuglia who returned to Cleveland once a year to visit with family & friends here where he grew up. We extend our condolences to his wife and to his four children. Peter made sure that he raised his children in the Catholic Faith. He himself attended Mass 2x a week and had a devotion to Mary. May he benefit now from her prayers.

Congratulations to Roman Capone and to Jordann Lewiswho will be married this Friday. They live in Denver but Roman attended school here at St. Leo’s and so wanted to return here for the celebration of his wedding. God’s joy be with them on their sacred day.

Father Vesely is scheduled to celebrate the 4pm Mass next Saturday, June 22nd. He continues to do very well at Mt. Alverna and it’s always good to have him back for Mass.

I realize that some of you, like myself, like it to be more on the chilly side when air conditioning is used in the church but others, especially those who are older, prefer it to be cool but not cold. As I’ve mentioned here several times, it’s a real science trying to get our church air conditioner to keep a certain temperature since it’s an older unit (the original in fact). If you knew how many times we have the company out here to fix it! Rest assured we keep working on solutions and I just suggest you bring a sweater or jacket for those times when it may be acting up and trying to make popsicles out of us. But at least we don’t have to sweat when the really hot summer days come our way (if they ever do this summer).

We won’t be having coffee & donuts this month butwhen we resume again in July, here’s something to keep in mind...just a little reminder that as Catholics, we fast from all food & drink (except water) for one hour before Commun- ion. This is to remind us that we hunger for the Bread of life. It can be tempting to grab a donut or coffee if you enter the church through the vestibule before Mass but the time to enjoy refreshments will come soon enough. Let us first be nourished by the food & drink of the Eucharist so that we can better appreciate each other when we visit over coffee & do- nuts.

I’m sad to say that Abby (the cat) ran away this pastweek. She stays in my suite on the 2nd floor of the rectory as we have the doggy door downstairs for Michaela to use throughout the day. I am very conscious of keeping my living room door closed so she can’t escape but it must not have closed tightly Sunday night as I found it open on Monday morning when I opened my bedroom door. Sure enough our security camera recorded her on the patio outside. As of Tuesday morning when I write this, she has not returned. She went in & out all the time at my old parish so I’m still hoping she will return but those of you with pets know how much we enjoy their presence. LAST MINUTE UPDATE: Abby came home Wednesday morning!!!!