Pastor's Blog for July 28, 2019

Did you know that we have a lost & found here at St. Leo’s? If you’ve lost something (other than your mind as we can’t help with that), it may be in a basket at the information desk in the vestibule of the church where a receptionist can help you with all sorts of things after each of our weekend Masses. We have an assortment of gloves, sunglasses, umbrellas & even keys. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, you may also want to check in our rectory office.

Joan Berigan meets with people prior to a funeral that isscheduled in order to assist family members in planning the funeral Mass for a loved one. This includes offering them the choice of scripture readings, music, etc. It is very helpful to the grieving family as well as to me. Soon Joan will offer you information in this bulletin about her offer to assist people who wish to preplan their own funeral. Priests of the Diocese are required to do this and I found it to be very meaningful as it allows me to choose the songs, readings, etc. that I wish for my own funeral Mass. So keep an eye out for more information about this opportunity.

Deacon Pat and Joan will also be exploring the possibil-ity of having a regular bible study for those who would like to learn more about the scriptures. And they will also be telling you about a website that you can visit called FORMED which is designed to help Catholics learn more about our faith. It is something that the Bishop would like all parishes to offer and it is an excellent resource for under- standing (and therefore appreciating) the richness of the Catholic Tradition. We offer many opportunities for learning and growth in the faith...you only need to respond with a willingness to try some of these to see if you find them helpful in living a fuller life.

Last week the parish staff and I went on Lolly the Trollyfor a tour through the city of Cleveland. It was fascinating to hear how much history is behind our city & to see things I’ve never seen or noticed before that have an interesting story behind them. Of course we had a great tour guide, our own Eva Bunosky who has been giving tours (and driving) Lolly the Trolly for many years. It’s incredible how much she knows about Cleveland and how much talking she has to do when giving these tours...all while driving this bus-like trolly at the same time. I’m lucky if I can sing and carry the gospel book from the altar to the pulpit at the same time. We had lunch at Mama Santa’s in Little Italy, a place we used to frequent when I was in the seminary. We pretty much lived on pizza in those days. If you’re interested in a relaxing and interesting tour of our city (which can include Little Italy, Lakeview Park, and many other places as well), then give them a call & sign up (please note that I do not receive any compensation for this advertisement...though that wouldn’t be a bad idea).

Pastor's Blog for July 21, 2019

We welcome Archibald Miller as the newest member of our parish family. He is being baptized this Sunday and his parents, Nathan & Bethany, were married here at St. Leo’s a couple of years ago. We share their joy on the day when Archibald becomes a child of God.

On July 6th we celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Pauline Quellos who is survived by her son John, to whom we extend our sympathies. Pauline had a devotion to Mary and attended Mass regularly. At 91, she was the grand- mother of 7 and great-grandmother of many. May she be reunited with her late husband, son and daughter in God’s kingdom.

The Knights of Columbus, who have their home here atSt. Leo’s, will be having their “Measure Up” Campaign this weekend when they collect money for mentally challenged disabled adults and children. It is a very worthwhile cause and I fully support their requests for donations.

St. Leo’s has a very strong social media presence. Thismeans we are visible on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and through our website, leothegreat.org. This is the primary way that young people today seek information concerning everything, including faith, such as the knowledge about the Catholic Church and more specifically about individual parishes such as St. Leo’s. We receive email from many people every month who have visited our website. We also have a free mobile app that can be downloaded to your Android or Apple devices. We communicate through Flock- note, so that school parents and parishioners can receive timely information by choosing what they are interested in receiving, for example our parish bulletin, funeral notices, etc. So please allow us to keep you informed of what is hap- pening in our parish community through these tools of tech- nology and communication. More information can be found in our parish bulletin and on our website. If you need help, any of our office staff would be happy to assist you.

As you can see our roof replacement is not finished yet.They are not able to work when there is 30% or greater chance of rain. And we’ve had a lot of those days in recent weeks. While I’m anxious for it to be done, at least I feel like we’re getting our money’s worth. It’s a worthy project for our 50th Anniversary of the building of the church. We hope the new roof will last us another 50 years.

This Thursday, July 25th, is the feast of St. James. I believe I wrote here recently that James is now one of the 4 most popular names for boys. When I was assigned to St. Bernadette in Westlake, all 3 of us priests had James as our first name. Needless to say, we went by our last names so as to avoid much confusion. James was one of the 12 Apostles and had a brother named John who was also an Apostle. Please pray to St. James that I may be a St. James too someday (which will take a lot of work on my part & lot of grace on God’s part!).

Pastor's Blog for July 14, 2019

When we have a holiday coming up or when the Office Manager who does the bulletin (and a great job she does with it!) is on vacation, I need to prepare my column a couple weeks ahead of time. This is one of those times. Due to the July 4th holiday and vacation for Mary Lou, our Office Manager, I am writing this on July 2nd. I try to be current in the news and information I offer here but some- times that’s not possible due to the bulletin schedule. But I would like to mention the ordination and assignment of priests which took place in the last couple of months.

We had 9 men who were ordained to the priesthood(and I should have asked for your prayers for them two months ago but it’s never too late!) on May 18th. That’s a very good number for our Diocese, though one belongs to the Congregation of St. Joseph and the other is from the Diocese of Daegu, South Korea. The first assignments for these newly ordained priests are normally announced just prior to their ordination, and it is during June that several other priests receive new parish or ministerial assignments as well. There are several priests therefore transferring from one parish to another during that time. Many of you remember the days when a parish would have more than one priest assigned to it, in addition to the Pastor. They were referred to as Assistants, then as Associates or Associ- ate Pastors, but are now called Parochial Vicars according to Canon Law. This is because they are not the Pastor’s Assistants or Associates but are “Vicars” or representatives of the Bishop at the parish level (thus the term Parochial). When I was an Associate Pastor (prior to the new title), a priest would be assigned to a parish for a period of five years although now the assignment is for four years. Except for his first assignment after ordination, he could “apply” or express interest in a particular parish if he wished, though ultimately it’s up to the Bishop, who considers the recom- mendation of the Personnel Board, where a priest will be assigned.

It’s a bit different for Pastors in that a priest can applyto be Pastor at a certain parish when it becomes known through the Diocese that a parish is in need of a pastor (due to an assignment change, retirement or death of the previ- ous pastor). I continue to be very grateful that the Bishop granted my request to be Pastor of St. Leo. A pastor used to be able to remain at a parish for as long as he desired, even until retirement or death, though Bishop Lennon instituted a new policy where there is a 6 year term limit for pastors, which can be renewed, even more than once. Come to think of it, my 6 year term will be up in January 2020. I can honestly say that time flies when you’re having fun. How enjoyable it has been to be with you and I hope I can continue to serve you well into the future. Please pray for us all that we may be worthy ministers of the Gospel to God’s People.

Pastor's Blog for July 7, 2019

My hope is that the roof is done by the time you are reading this. It all depends on the weather but it will be nice to have that major project behind us (actually it’s above us but you know what I mean). The next step is to repair the large hole in the ceiling of the sanctuary now that the leak has been fixed in the bell tower roof.

We’ll be having sections of both parking lotspatched again this summer and this should mean that both lots just need to be maintained from now on as over the last few years we took care of the places where it was cracked & where it developed pot holes. Again it will be good to know we are caught up on this.

Other summer projects include repairing the stonesthat support our large sign in front of Lux Hall, painting the sandstone of different colors (blue, white, brown) behind the cross on Lux Hall with one color to blend in with the surrounding brick, replacing the floor in the junior high hallway, and installing new windows in the living room and office area of the rectory. We have been replacing some rectory windows each year but this will complete that project so that all windows in the building have been replaced. All in all, our property and buildings are in very good shape. Better landscaping is the goal for next summer.

Finally the design for the replacement of theconfessions in the back of the church into shrines has been completed so I hope for that to start soon (it will take about 10-12 weeks). We should be getting our baptismal font back very soon.

Thanks again for your donations to our capitalimprovements fund which allows us to complete all these projects and maintain the buildings & grounds of St. Leo’s.

I’ll be celebrating my Dad’s 92nd birthday this week along with my siblings and stepmother and I’m glad for that happy celebration because sadly it was 20 years ago this past week that my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer. She lived for 2 years following that diagnosis but it came as a big shock to us. Of course I think of her every time I pray at Mass, “Remember our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy: welcome them into the light of your face.” I know you think of your deceased loved ones during this prayer as well. But we continue to give thanks for those still with us today and ask God’s blessings on them for good health and happiness.