Pastor's Blog for November 3, 2019

Though I’ll be celebrating the 4pm Mass this weekend I’ll be on vacation for a few days starting Sunday so I won’t see those of you who are here that morning but I’ll be back next Sunday. I was originally planning on being away starting next weekend but this year the feast of our patron, St. Leo the Great, falls on that Sunday so I didn’t want to be away for that. So as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, we will have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on the altar next Sunday following the 8am Mass until a few minutes before the 11am Mass, when Benediction (a blessing from the Eucharist) will be given. So consider either spending a couple minutes in prayer following the 8am Mass or anytime before the 11am Mass before the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This is of course the very same Presence that Pope Leo the Great experienced whenever he celebrated Mass 1600 years ago. So we ask for his intercession so that our parish will be blessed as we honor him. nd

This Saturday, November 2 , we offer Mass for All the Faithful Departed so we pray for our former parishioners and all of our family members, friends and loved ones who have died and await the experience of God’s heavenly kingdom. Again we are reminded that we all stand in need of prayers and purification as we pass from this world to the next. We call upon God’s infinite Mercy and pray for the dead, as Scripture encourages us to do (both in the Old Testament and in the New). We pray that God’s purifying love may perfect all that is not perfect in those who “await the crown of right- eousness” as St. Paul wrote in the Scriptures we heard last week. There will be a book (by the baptismal font) available for you to write in the names of those you want all of us to remember and pray for during this whole month of November and that book will include the names of all who were buried from our parish this past year. The All Souls envelopes that you may also use to list the names of deceased loved ones will also be brought forward in the offertory procession and placed on the table by the baptismal font throughout this month. “Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace and may their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”

We welcome Logan Payne into the family of the Church as he is baptized by Deacon Pat this Sunday. “May his parents and godparents be an example of faith to inspire this child.” th

This Monday, November 4 , is the feast of St. Charles Borromeo who is the patron of parish priests and is the patron of our college seminary here in the Diocese of Cleveland, located in Wickliffe. You see the names & pictures of seminarians and those preparing for religious life in the parish bulletin each week. Please be sure to pray for them as God continues to provide priests to shepherd the Church.

Fr. Vesely’s 91st birthday is this Friday, November 8th. We look forward to him celebrating Mass again with us soon.

Pastor's Blog for October 27, 2019

Our sympathies extend to the family of George Valla whom I prayed for at Brooklyn Heights Cemetery where he is interred. May George, who was born on the feast of the Guardian Angels, find rest with all the angles and saints in the heavenly kingdom.

A couple weeks ago, Fr. Vesely gave a blessing at the 4pm Mass to a couple who were celebrating their 45th Wedding Anniversary when they were married here in our church. Fr. Vesely wasn’t aware that the “groom” was a Deacon so I wanted to congratulate Deacon Chuck & Joanie Tweddell on their anniversary and to say we are glad they were able to come back to celebrate that anniversary on the day they were married here 45 years ago. May they have many more years.

We had a couple of nice warm days this past week but it seems that may be the last of summer as we head into November this week. But as Novelist John Steinbeck said, “What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?” We pray that our children will be safe as they enjoy another Halloween this week and collect lots of candy. We hope they enjoy that sweetness too. st

This Friday, November 1 , is the Feast of All Saints, a holy day of obligation so Mass will be at 8:30 in the morning with our school children and at 7:00 in the even- ing. Last week the Church celebrated the feast of St. John Paul II whom we all remember so well so may he and all the saints pray for us as we remember and honor them for their holy lives. nd

Saturday,November2 ,istheFeastofAlltheFaith- ful Departed, better known as the Feast of All Souls when we remember all those who have died and who are still in the process of being transformed by God into saints. So the 4pm Mass next Saturday will be offered for all of our beloved dead and we pray that God’s purifying love may prepare them for the eternal feast of heaven. So often when speaking of the dead, especially of our loved ones, we tend to talk of them as if they are already enjoying the beautiful vision of God. But we do them a disservice if we fail to remember that they stand in need of our prayers as we hope they continue to pray for us while we admit honestly our own need for God’s mercy and purifying grace. So while we pray for them, we ask God to hasten his work of making them (and us) worthy of his kingdom where we all hope to find perfect happiness and peace.

The work in the church is moving along well and we look forward to a refreshed space to worship in. Let us remember too all those who have gone before us who have supported our parish financially and with their prayers in this very place over the last 50 years.

Pastor's Blog for October 20, 2019

Congratulations to Matt Kissig & Rebecca Douds who are being married this weekend. May God bless their union as they remind us of the marriage between Christ and his Church.

We also congratulate the parents of Shepard Gerhard who is being baptized this Sunday. His parents John and Allison were married here in October of 2016. May God bless this new family unit.

On behalf of the parish community, I want to extend our gratitude to all of those who are taking part in our Parish Festival this weekend. Many people have been meeting for a few months to plan this event, and many others have volunteered their time to make sure those plans come to fruition. There are too many to list here individually but know we appreciate all who help in any way. I am especially mindful of all of you who sold or bought raffle tickets which help us gain the biggest profit. Our intention for these 2 days is the enjoyment of our fellow parishioners and neighbors, but it’s a blessing to be able to make a profit too. I will not be choosing the winner of the raffle because that is the sure way to make one friend and hundreds of enemies. But I can wish EVERY- ONE luck. st

On Monday, October 21 , the Church celebrates the feast of St. Ursula who is the patron of the Ursuline Nuns of Cleveland. I recently had lunch with Sister Erin from that community who was our Principal for a couple of years and she sends her prayers and best wishes to us. We send our prayers to her and to the entire community as they celebrate their feast day.

I also ask your prayers on the priests of the Diocese who will be having a convocation or gathering at St. Noel Parish in Willoughby Hills this Monday. We meet every year for mutual support and are inspired by a speaker who shares in our desire for ministry. We pray that God will bless us and our Bishop in our service to the People of God in Cleveland. This week work begins in the church with the repair and painting of the ceiling and the building of the shrines in the back of the church. Both are expected to take a few weeks to complete but we anticipate it being done by Thanksgiving. We may have to ask you to avoid sitting in the areas where the scaffolding is setup and thank you in advance for your cooperation with this temporary adjustment.

Last week we turned off the air conditioning in the church and have the boilers ready to go when we need them. Again please remember that everyone has their own comfort zone when dealing with cold or warm temperatures. Those who like it on the cool side may feel too warm & those who enjoy the warmth may find it too cold. I can’t please everyone so please everyone (clever use of words there huh?) try to adjust as best you can with respect to your comfort and with respect to your neighbor (I did it again...).

Pastor's Blog for October 13, 2019

We celebrated a Memorial Mass for Bernadine Grice last Friday, October 4th. She was described in the obituary in this way: “Bernadine absolutely loved life and loved her family and friends the most!” What a blessing to be full of the joy of life that comes from those who love you. May she Rest In Peace.

We welcome Connor Durell who is being baptized this Sunday. May God bless his parents who will be for him the first and best teachers in the ways of faith.

Enclosed in this bulletin is the Summary Financial Report of St. Leo’s Parish & School which we make available to you every year at this time. Instead of a separate letter to accompany this report, I have a sense that most would prefer simpler rundown which will easily fit in this bulletin column. Some people enjoy looking at the details of such reports and others ask only for the bottom line. So I’ll leave that to you but here’s the bottom line if you’re the less detailed type: we are about where we were last year in terms of our bank balance. We have a very healthy balance of $1,422,684, and this may surprise you given the expensive repairs which we have had to deal with the last couple of years, but these are offset by the consistent increase in the number of students in our parish school. This number is very close to our ending balance of this past fiscal year. We have 2 classrooms for the new kindergarten class as we did last year. While this requires additional teachers and staff, it still allows us to use the extra revenue on repairs associated with the school, such as the work that was done on the school roof and the parking lot used by the school parents who drop off and pick up their children daily.

As you know the roofs of our Parish Community Center and Church building were both replaced (not just repaired) during this past year as well. These were our most expensive capital improvements not only of this past year but of the past few years. In the rectory and office building, we completed the replacement of all windows with more secure, energy efficient ones. In the school building, a new Junior High floor was installed and we converted the athletic storage room above the gym (the old choir loft of the first church!) into an Art classroom. And of course our yearly repair of the three parking lots are included in last year’s expenses.

It is always our hope that we can increase our balance each year and hopefully that can finally begin to happen during this new fiscal year. But I feel very fortunate that our yearly increase in school enrollment, and the steady income from our weekly collections have allowed us to balance our budget each year without major capital campaigns being necessary. Our largest projected expense for this current fiscal year will be the replacement of the metal beams which support the roof of the gym (Lux Hall). Please feel free to see me or a member of the Finance Council with any questions and thank you again for your continued support.

Pastor's Blog for October 6, 2019

So here we are in the first weekend of October. Fall is a great time of the year. My favorite, really. The cool air, the colors of the changing leaves, the excitement about getting candy on the last day of the month. Who wouldn’t like this time of year?

And of course for us at St. Leo’s, it’s a time to look forward to our Parish Festival. It will take place on Friday & Saturday, October 18th & 19th. As you know it is all indoors so we don’t have to worry about inclement weather. We make a healthy profit for just two days but our main reason for the festival is the opportunity it provides to be with each other and to welcome our neighbors here. I’ll say one more time that the Raffle tickets we ask you to sell bring in the biggest profit so my sincere thanks in advance for all you are doing to get them sold. Many people have worked many, many hours in planning for these two days, and many more people will donate many hours during those days with preparation, cleanup and everything in between. Please know how grateful I am to each of you who volunteer your time and who work hard on behalf of our community. It’s what makes St. Leo so Great (see what I did there?).

Congratulations to Marcos Gonzalez who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation during the 11am Mass. Marcos and his fiancé Stefany are from Venezuela & have only been in the States for a couple of years. They are getting married here in January 2020. We are happy to help Marcos complete his initiation into the Catholic Church and wish him and Stefany Godspeed as they prepare for their wedding.

Last weekend we heard the Gospel challenge us to be mindful of the poor. So this is a good time for me to thank you for doing just that through our Catholic Charities Annual Campaign. I just received word from the Diocese that thanks to the generosity of 252 parishioners at St. Leo’s, our parish has exceeded the goal they gave us as we are at 102.5% of our goal. I am always mindful of your concern for the poor through Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Ministry. Thank you again for living out the gospel. th

We celebrated Michaela’s 7 birthday this past week. We had ice-cream cake and Death by Chocolate (a dessert that takes a long time to make but which fills you with sweetness...don’t let the name scare you). She received a few more toys which she plays with up and down the hall- ways of the rectory. I can do without the squeaking but for her that’s the best part. I know many of you hear her welcoming you enthusiastically to the rectory office. She’s also warning you to be kind to me as she thinks of herself as the Master(’s) Protector (see what I did there?). I’m hoping that the Pet Blessing she received with your critters this weekend will prove effective. You can check out the pictures taken of our furry friends on our website.