Pastor's Blog for June 28, 2020

Congratulations to Jim & Amanda Lahiff on the birth and baptism of their daughter Savanah who will become the newest member of the Church and parish this Sunday after the 11am Mass. May she grow in the grace of her baptism each day & know that she is a loved child of God.

A young man by the name of John Ortega will be speaking very briefly after Communion this Sunday, asking for your support as he looks into a program called “FOCUS.” John is an alumnus from our parish school at St. Leo’s and from St. Ignatius. He has served as a Lector and Eucharistic Minister during our weekend liturgies. John has been involved in missionary experiences and has a committed spirituality who desires to be of service to others. I just want you to know that I support him fully in his efforts to grow as a Catholic Christian and minister in the Church. I ask that you support him by your prayers as well.

On our website you will find a 5 minute video showing pictures of parishioners who have been married here at St. Leo the Great over the years. Some were married in the present church and some in the older one that was connected to the school building (and is now our school gym). Thanks to John Sabol for putting this together at a time of year when many people are getting married. I encourage you to take a look at it on our website.

I want to thank those parishioners who serve as Mass Coordinators. They set everything up for Mass and then put everything away afterward. They also schedule & coordinate the liturgical ministers: altar servers, lectors & Eucharistic ministers. This has been in place at St. Leo’s for many, many years & is a wonderful service to me as it allows me to spend time before and after Mass visiting with you instead of worrying about all of those liturgical details. Nancy Zola does this at the 4pm Saturday Mass, Ron Kollar for the 8am Sunday Mass (& daily Mass) & Doris Neylon for the 11am Sunday Mass. Loretta Mlady is retiring from this service after more than 30 years as Mass Coordinator at the 8am Sunday Mass! She wants to devote more time to her husband Ralph who has been laid up the last few weeks (we pray for his quick return as we miss him!). So to Loretta and to all those who serve or have served in this important ministry, please accept my thanks & the gratitude of all our parishioners!

Many of you have asked how I was able to lose so much weight (35 pounds since the beginning of the year) as I continue to fight against diabetes. I started practicing “Intermittent Fasting” which means you eat during an 8 hour period and fast for 16 hours each day. So I stop eating at 8pm and start again with lunch (or “Break-fast” which comes from “breaking your fast” from the night before). I also try to walk about 10,000 steps a day (Michaela helps with this by reminding me it’s time for her walk!). It was almost effortless for me as the morning is the busiest time of day for me so before I know it, it’s time for lunch. I’ve plateaued now but am happy with my present weight & my blood sugar is back down to normal levels. If only I could get Michaela to fast from her many treats...

Need to make an appointment with me? Do it here: https://calendly.com/frjps

Pastor's Blog for June 21, 2020

Though we were not able to be together for most of Lent or for the celebration of Easter, many of you have joined us for weekend Mass since the last weekend of May, which was the feast of Pentecost that brought the Easter season to an end. The last couple of weekends found us celebrating two other great feasts which always follow Pentecost, namely, the feast of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi (the Sacred Body & Blood of Christ). This weekend the flowers and white banner beneath the crucifix disappear and the green vestments reappear as we celebrate what the Church calls “Ordinary Time” for several weeks (all the way up to the beginning of Advent in late November). It’s good to see so many of you back to the weekly celebration of the Eucharist and we welcome others who will join us as they feel more comfortable in a public environment.

Trying to plan for the reopening of school in late summer is quite challenging this year as we have to have 3 plans in place: one with the normal reopening of school, one with remote teaching without the children being in the school building, and one where only 1⁄2 of the students are here at a time so we can keep social distancing possible in the classroom. But I am grateful for the hard work of our Principal, Mrs. Denise Burns, and the flexibility of our teachers and parents who are just doing their best to plan for such an uncertain future. Our enrollment numbers continue to look very solid for both the Preschool and Elementary school. I miss our children and hope to see and hear them again when the summer months are over.

I continue to be deeply grateful to you for your continued financial support of the parish during this time. Due to our online giving opportunity (called “WeShare”) and the fact that so many of you drop off your envelopes to the rectory office when you can’t be here yet for Mass, allows us to keep paying the bills and taking care of our property. In addition to this, I am especially grateful to three of our parishioners who have very generously donated $5000.00 each to our landscaping efforts. We will be acquiring a statue of St. Francis of Assisi and will be installing a light & fountain by our Marian shrine this summer, both made possible because of these donations. So a big shout out to each of them as we thank them for their gifts to all of us.

I also want to thank the “By the Hand” Foundation who gave us a donation of $1000.00 when we begin to live-stream all of our Masses. We have since received another $2500.00 from them which will allow us to purchase a camera made specifically for this purpose. Their website is vafbythehand.org and I hope you can find out more about them but also send them a note of thanks for the unsolicited donation. This camera will be installed in the ceiling at the back of the church and will be able to zoom in to the various areas of action in the sanctuary. It will also greatly improve the sound quality of the video as it will be connected directly to our sound system. This should be installed very soon so I’m anxious to see it in action.

Pastor's Blog for June 14, 2020

In my column last week, I asked your prayers for Jo (Josephine) Hoffman & for Roy Kaminski, both of whom were in serious condition and I’m sad to say that both have since passed away. We celebrated the funeral Mass for Jo Hoffman on Friday, June 5th. We express our sympathy to Jo’s sister Kathy Bazil, who made sure that Jo had the pastoral care of the Church at this time and so I was able to anoint Josephine while she was in the nursing home. She had been a devoted Catholic, a Eucharistic Minister & a volunteer. Though she and her husband had no children of their own, she had many godchildren and two step-sons, in addition to many nieces & nephews who were very fond of her. May she now know the great company of God’s children in heaven.

Roy Kaminski was the father of Kelly and Tracy and the grandfather of Quentin Kaminski, a young man who was a faithful altar server here at St. Leo’s. Roy was a veteran of the Korean War and again was a devout church goer who had a special devotion to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death. Roy’s funeral Mass was celebrated this past Tuesday here at St. Leo’s and we express our sympathy to his wife of 55 years, to his daughters and grandson. May he who loved his family deeply now be one with the Holy Family in heaven.

Mildred Mack’s Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated here this past Monday. Mildred and her sister Bernadine came faithfully to the 4pm Saturday Mass together, and Mildred had been at Alverna Nursing home the last few weeks. She died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 92. Her sister Bernadine has now experienced the death of all her 6 siblings and so we pray that they all may be reunited in God’s kingdom. Mildred enjoyed traveling and the beauty of God’s creation, especially African violets which were given away to those who attended her funeral Mass. Our sympathies & prayers go out to her sister Bernadine.

I also celebrated the funeral Mass for Jim Roush whom I met just a few months after I arrived at St. Leo’s, when he was in the nursing home. He was able to recover at that time and to continue his service to the parish by being an adult altar server for funeral Masses and by being an active member of our St. Vincent de Paul ministry. He too was a godfather and a confir- mation sponsor to many people and was devout in his Catholic faith, trusting in God’s mercy as he frequented the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I knew Jim as a gentle and kind soul whom I trust will be welcomed by the gentle and kind heart of Jesus.

Finally, Fr. Tom Dragga, a former Parocial Vicar of St. Leo’s, celebrated the funeral Mass for Judy Gruntkowski on Thursday, June 4th. Though she was a parishioner of St. Leo before my time here, she was remembered by many parishioners as a very active member of the parish, along with her husband Frank, to whom we extend our condolences. We will keep all of these deceased and their loved ones in our prayers.

Congratulations to Francisco & Nieves Mendoza who are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary at the 4pm Saturday Mass this weekend! I will be asking God’s continued blessings on them as we thank them for their witness of faith and their reminder to us of Christ’s love for his Bride, the Church. May they enjoy this special occasion with gratitude.

Pastor's Blog for June 7, 2020

William Wamser (known as Billy by his family & friends) was a man who loved spending time with his family. He en- joyed drag racing with a car he’s owned since 1972 but made that hobby an opportunity to enjoy spending time with his loved ones. We extend our sympathies to his wife Shirley of 37 years and to his children, Brian & Danielle. He will be remem- bered for loving others unconditionally. May he rest in God’s unconditional love for him.

We also pray for Mary Pavlick who died after 97 years of life. She contracted COVID-19 while living in the nursing home. Mary was the mother of Alex Pavlick and so we extend our sympathy to him and pledge our prayers for him, his wife Barbara and for his mother Mary. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the one whose name she shared, pray for her and assist her into God’s heavenly embrace.

We also pledge our prayers for Jo Hoffman and Therese Mayfield, both of whom I have anointed this past week with the Oil of the Sick. May that sacrament give them the strength and peace they need at this time. We pray also for Roy Kaminski who is in serious condition in the hospital. Please be sure to call us when a loved one is seriously ill and in need of the sacraments. Some hospitals and nursing homes are just now allowing priests to visit the seriously ill again and some are not. We respect their guidelines and are happy to talk to you about the spiritual needs of your loved ones.

Everything seemed to go very smoothly for our return to public Mass last weekend, so I thank all those who were here for your cooperation in wearing masks and for following the directions of our ushers. Again, for those not yet ready to venture out, please make your decision based upon your own medical situation and age and know that we are praying for you in your absence. Try to be one with us in prayer through our live streaming of the Mass, also available on demand whenever it’s convenient for you.

I wanted to let you know that our streaming service is being provided by a generous $1000.00 grant we received from “By the Hand Foundation.” On their website (vafbythehand.org) it states “Ver-A-Fast By The Hand Foundation (VAF By The Hand) was established in 1990 by Robert Bensman and Cathleen Soprano. We are a private, non-operating foundation, which means that we receive most of our income from investments and endowments. This is income used to make grants to other charitable organizations.” We may also receive an additional grant from them for the purchase of the camera so please visit their website & thank them for this generous gift.

Michaela finally got a haircut after many, many weeks without being groomed. She seemed so happy that she could finally see again because the hair was covering her eyes & I don’t think she really knew why she was going blind. I can cut hair now but I’m limited to humans.

My classmates and I are celebrating 34 years of priesthood this Sunday, June 7th. We’re going to delay our anniversary meal until later in the year but we’re all still grateful for yet another year in ministry. May the Holy Trinity whom we serve bless us with the grace to love you well.