Pastor's Column

     Please say a prayer today for Catherine Herda, a longtime parishioner of St. Leo's who passed away at the age of 99 & whose funeral Mass was this past Wednesday. Catherine loved attending Mass & sat in the front pew of the church. In the words of St. Paul, "she has fought the good fight, she has run the race, she has kept the faith. Now the crown of righteousness will be awarded to her." May she rest in peace knowing that she has been faithful to the Lord & may God bless her children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. 

    I'm sure you've heard of the latest craze regarding the game so many are playing on their phones called "Pokémon GO." I'm not a game player myself but I can tell when someone is engrossed in a game on their phone. I've seen some teenagers & young adults on our property lately who seemed to be heavily involved with this game. Apparently they have to catch some creature which can be found in various places, even in churches & in church parking lots. I'm tempted to just open the doors of the church as they walk with their heads down & eyes focused on their phones so that maybe they'll walk straight into the confessional! You never know how God may be helping someone stumbling their way back to church. 

    Here is the final part of my recent explanation of our Catholic tradition regarding the offering of Masses for others: Because there are many people who request Mass intentions, we must limit the number of Masses an individual can request to have offered during a certain period (for example, no more than 3 weekday Masses or more than 1 weekend Mass per year). And sometimes we have all Masses on a weekend offered for the same intention (for example, all Easter and Christmas Day Masses are offered for all the people of the parish, as well as Father's Day, Mother's Day, and civil holidays).

    The point of this three-week explanation is to encourage a more inclusive understanding of Mass intentions. The priest and people celebrating a particular Mass are happy to pray for the specific person or intention as requested. However we continue during that Mass to pray for many people and many intentions as well so that we can never claim the Mass as being "our own" or "one that I paid for." Mass is always for the whole Church, for those here on earth and for those who have died. If you have any questions about our understanding of Mass intentions, please feel free to ask me. If you need assistance scheduling a Mass intention, please see the receptionist in the rectory office or at the information desk in the vestibule of the church after Mass.

Homily...What Can You Bring With You?

The family moved from a 2 bedroom bungalow to a 4 bedroom colonial about 5 minutes away. The new home was like a mansion to us. It had so may extra rooms...a den, family room, dining room, rec room, 2 extra bedrooms & a 2 car garage. As the family grew, we needed more space to live & more space to store all of the extra stuff.

We hoped that once he was alone in the house, my dad would sell it & move into something much smaller. But to this day, he hasn't. It's not that he's materialistic. I believe he doesn't want to let go of the memories he has in that house...of our mom, of his children & grandchildren. So I'm not comparing him to the greedy man in the gospel who wanted to build larger barns to hold all of his accumulated things so that he could finally relax & enjoy himself when retired. No, my dad knows he cannot take that stuff with him. But what he can take with him are the many loving relationships he has accumulated during the course of his 89 year life.

The sad reality of the man in the gospel parable is that he had no relationships. Remember how Jesus put it? "He said TO HIMSELF, 'I know what I will do, I will build bigger barns.'" The man had no one to talk to so he had to talk to himself. He had not learned that you can't take money or possessions with you, only the relationships you have accumulated with other people. How sad that he never learned that lesson. 

Pastor's Column

     Congratulations to the parents of Laila Woodards on the baptism of their daughter this weekend. As the Church says, the parents are the "first and best teachers of their children in the ways of faith." May they be the best teachers of faith to Laila. 

    Parishioners to pray for: Norm, Marie Sidor & Mary Ras (all recently anointed), Loretta, Doris, David, and all those who are ill and in need of God's healing and strength. 

    Since our regular visiting priest, Fr. Joe Pednikar, is not available during the month of July to help us with our weekend Masses, we have had Fr. Weist and several priests from our neighboring parish, St. Charles, come to help us. We are grateful for their help, especially when Fr. Vesely cannot have Mass because his knees are acting up. Please thank these priests for coming to our aid. 

    We had some areas of the parking lot repaired and resurfaced this past week. New striping will be done and more handicapped parking spaces added on the rectory side. Much work has been done in the school, especially as we prepare to move tutoring inside the building so that we no longer need the big mobile unit outside. Thanks to our maintenance crew, expanded during the summer months, for all their hard work inside and outside. But they can't make the brown grass green...for that we need prayers...or someone to do a rain dance. 

    A quick update on my dad. He has had 3 chemo treatments and has 2 left. He has had no adverse reaction (like nausea) and he is 75% in remission so far! We are so grateful to you for your prayers and concern.

    More on Mass intentions from last week: when a person requests that a "Mass be offered" for an individual (e.g., for my mom on the anniversary of her death) or for a group of people (e.g., for the Schmitz family), this means that along with all the other people and intentions we remember prayerfully at that Mass, we include the particular intention that has been requested by a member of the faithful. It does NOT mean that because an offering was made or an intention was scheduled for a particular day/time, that this is "my Mass." Mass always belongs to the whole Church, never to an individual. Though it is customary to do so during the petitions, the priest is not obligated to make mention of the person or intention during the Mass itself. Sometimes the person who requested the Mass intention is asked to take up the offertory gifts at that Mass, but this is not really connected with the intention itself so it may be anyone who does this. The Pastor is also obligated to offer one Mass each weekend "Pro Populo" or "for the people of the parish." The third & final part of this explanation of Mass intentions will be in next week's bulletin.

Homily...How Jesus Prayed

92% of Americans believe in God (according to a poll in 2008). But that doesn't mean that 92% of Americans have faith. Faith implies a relationship, and relationships can exist only through communication. In the case of faith, our relationship with God depends upon prayer. 

Jesus taught us how to pray. We call it "The Lord's Prayer." But Jesus also taught us how to pray as we see how he prayed himself. He praised God in prayer "I give praise to you, O God of heaven & earth, for what you have kept from the learned & the clever, you have revealed to the childlike." He gave thanks in prayer, as he took bread & wine at the Last Supper. Jesus prayed from the heart. In the garden of Gethsemane, he wrestled with doing the will of God but not wanting to suffer the cross. And on the cross, he asked why God abandoned him. 

It's good for us to ask God for what we need and want in prayer. Jesus taught us to do that. But how often do we pray as Jesus did...from the heart? Praying in this way makes our relationship with God more personal. Don't just raise your mind to God. Raise your heart as well. 

Pastor's Column

     Ray Ramos and his wife Eneida have been parishioners for many years. We celebrated Ray's life last Thursday with a Mass of Christian Burial. He was called the "Soup Man" by many who came to receive a free meal many years ago when we had a ministry that reached out to others who needed both food and companionship. The soup was donated by a local restaurant but was a bit bland so Ray would always spice it up so that everyone wanted the soup first! He was also called the "Pepper Man" since he had a garden of vegetables that he gave away free, and the garbage man always went to get some of Ray's peppers. But of course there was so much more to Ray and his wife and children will continue to remember & celebrate his life as we pray for him.

    When we implement the new Mass schedule in January, that will eliminate 52 spots we have for weekend Mass intentions. So I want to use this opportunity to explain that ancient practice in the Catholic Church. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we pray for the entire human race, those living as well as those who have died. Our prayer is never limited to one person or to one intention as it is universal. During the Mass itself, we have the "Universal Prayer" or the petitions that are offered for various people and intentions following the homily or the Creed. And then again, during the Eucharistic Prayer, after the consecration, we pray for the Pope, for the diocesan bishop, for clergy, for all of God's People, and for those who have died. So again, we pray for many people and intentions during the Mass.

    That being said, there is value in "having a Mass celebrated" or "offered" for a particular person(s) or intention. Someone can approach a priest to make this request ("Father, please offer Mass for my brother who died") or, as is most often the case, people come to the rectory office and ask to schedule a Mass intention for a particular day and time. When requesting such an intention, it has become customary to make an offering which is given to the priest who celebrates that particular Mass. In the early Church, the faithful participating in the Eucharist provided the gifts necessary for the celebration (especially the bread and wine) as well as other gifts meant to support the clergy. In time, monetary offerings came to be substituted for bread and wine and these came to be known as "stipends." The customary offering is $10 per Mass. More on this next weekend. In the meantime, pray for the safety of all who will be in Cleveland this week for the National Republican Convention. 

Homily...Two Different Sisters, Two Different Saints

I used the gospel story of Martha & Mary at my mom's funeral 15 years ago. Admittedly, an unusual gospel for a funeral, but these two women reminded me of my mom. Martha was a type A kind of personality...busy with all the details of hospitality. She was upset that her sister just sat the Lord's feet while she was busy in the kitchen. My mom was also a person who kept busy. She made and served family meals (and sat and ate last). She worked as a parish secretary, was involved in parish groups, and was a eucharistic minister. We call St. Martha a saint because she was active in her faith, in her service of others. But Jesus needed to remind her that her sister was also a saint because she sat the Lord's feet & listened to him.

Mary also knew how to be hospitable. She was attentive to her guest. She was present to him & let him be present to her. Jesus praised her for this. My mom too, knew when to put the activity aside for the sake of rest and prayer. She hosted a bible study group. She prayed her rosary and novenas at home. She went to daily Mass. 

It can be hard these days for us to find such balance. We like to be busy (it means we're important), we like to be active, on the go, involved. But taking time to rest, to be attentive, reflective, present to the Lord & to others, this is also important. Both are necessary for holiness: active service, prayerful rest. 

Pastor's Column

     In this bulletin you'll find a full page announcement called "Nuns on the Bus." There will be 19 nuns traveling on a bus through 13 states in order to call on elected officials and candidates to "Mend the Gaps" in income and wealth inequality in our nation. As the ad says, their goal is "to bring a politics of inclusion to divided places, change the conversation to mending the vast economic and social divides in our country, and counter political incivility with our message of inclusion." This goal is really about proclaiming the gospel message in our time, something that last week's Gospel reminded us about when Jesus sent his disciples out to proclaim the kingdom of God. So it's wonderful to see our religious sisters doing just that with such courage and conviction. Our own Sister Erin, principal of our parish school, will be among these good Sisters and they will be stopping here at St. Leo's for a presentation on July 17th at 7pm. I'll be there and hope you will consider coming too. 

    You have probably noticed the signs on our property pointing the way to "Camp Happiness." The Diocese has a ministry to disabled children & adults and we have welcomed them to use our space here at St. Leo's for a 6 week summer camp. We are happy to have them here and pray for those who do such wonderful work with those who need their assistance. 

    Our Information Desk seemed to be very helpful to a number of people last weekend. In this attempt to bring our rectory office to the place where you are for Mass on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, we hope to provide information that will be helpful to you. A list of what we can assist with can be found in this bulletin & we will try to have this Information Desk available every weekend. Let us know what else we can make available to you. You can also see our website (leothegreat.org) on the display there & ask to see how you can access so much more information through this website and our mobile app. 

    This week I will be attending a workshop for Pastors who have schools attached to their parish, as we do here at St. Leo's. It's going to be held at Notre Dame University which I have never been to so I look forward to seeing that campus for the first time. Our former pastor, Fr. Russ Lowe, was a big fan of their football team. He even painted our church roof in the gold color of Notre Dame. Navy blue is the other color, so I'll have to find something to paint blue. I could dye Michaela's hair blue but then she'd look like a Smurf. Anyway, I'll post some pictures to Twitter & Instagram while I'm there. If you don't know what that is, see the Information Desk after Mass!

Homily...Parable of the Victim

Sometimes it's useful to turn a well-known parable upside down. This is true of the Good Samaritan parable. We all know well the message: help your neighbor (even if it's an enemy). But what if we identified instead with the man who fell victim to the robbers? Now the parable teaches us to allow ourselves to be helped by others (even by an enemy!). 

My dad has been "beaten up" with congestive heart failure & cancer in the last few months. But besides being an example of a Good Samaritan, he is also a good example of the Victim who allows others to help him: medical personnel, family members, friends & strangers. I doubt he has an enemies, but if he did, he'd let them help too!

It's not easy to ask for help. We like to be independent, self-sufficient & to go on our own. But can we be gracious & grateful to those who want to help us? It takes humility to be able to do that. But this is the way of the Gospel. 

Pastor's Column

     This weekend we will try out our new Information Desk in the vestibule of the church. After all the Masses this weekend, you can go there to ask questions, schedule Mass intentions, buy gift cards or Sweepstakes tickets, or pick up a sponsor certificate. We also hope to have a TV monitor available which can show you where you can get information from our website or mobile app. Please let us know what other kinds of information or forms you might find helpful for us to have available to you. Sorry, but we do not take orders for McDonalds.

    We welcome Carmyne Bajusz into our Catholic family as he is baptized this weekend. Blessings on him and his family.

    It's time for another holiday! But before you watch the fireworks, come join us for Mass on Monday morning at 9am to thank God for the blessings of our freedom & to pray that we may use that freedom responsibly. 

    This upcoming Saturday, July 9th, is my dad's 89th birthday so we're so happy that his second chemo treatment went well & that he continues to do so well despite a challenging year for his health. He and my mom were engaged on July 4th by the way...my dad proposed to her at the ballpark! What a romantic. He asked her if she wanted to be a June bride & without hesitation she said, "No I want to be a May bride!" It seems she may have been expecting him to pop the question. Thanks again for your prayers for him. Say one for my mom in heaven too who we trust enjoys the fullness of freedom in God's presence. 

    Our maintenance crew expands during the summer months so that we can take care of the additional summer tasks of lawn care and school cleaning. We will have two or three sections of the parking lot repaired this summer and will be adding additional handicapped parking spaces on the rectory side of the church parking lot. We are also repairing some sidewalks that have become a safety hazard and will install new curbs as so many are deteriorated and look bad. I'll fill you in on some of the inside work we're doing next week. 

    You may have heard on the news that a priest was accosted in the confessional by a man with a gun. What a scary world we live in. I think it is wise to hear confessions in an open area of the church until we hear that this man has been apprehended. So please pray for the safety of all priests and all people who stand in harms way due to the violent society we live in. As we sing, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Homily...From One Beggar to Another

"The harvest is abundant but laborers are few. Ask the Master of the harvest to send more laborers for his harvest." These words of Jesus are usually referred to when we are reminded of the need to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. But these words of Jesus were spoken in the context of Jesus sending out not the 12 apostles but the 72 disciples. In other words, Jesus was giving the task of preaching not just to the religious leaders but to all of his disciples & followers. In fact, the role of the priest is to build up the people of the parish in order that they may go into the world in which they live & work & proclaim the Gospel. 

That work, that labor, is what we call "evangelization." But it's kind of an unattractive word for Catholics. We may not even know what it means and we usually don't view it as something we want to do. It simply means to preach the Gospel, to spread the Word, to help draw people to Christ. The Jehovah Witnesses do this well (at least they do it faithfully). But we Catholics don't want to go door to door to talk about God. Here's a better way to define evangelization: "One beggar telling another beggar how to find bread." In other words, knowing that we have found something that gives us life, that keeps us going, that feeds us, we want others to find this thing to. 

Pope St. John Paul II coined the term the "new evangelization." Before we can tell someone else how to find bread, we have to know how to find it ourselves. Before we can invite another to faith, we have to find faith ourselves. That's why we are at Mass every Sunday: to remember that God loves us, to let God feed us with his presence in the Eucharist so that once we have found the bread of life, we can tell other beggars how to find bread for themselves.