Pastor's Column, November 30, 2014

We are happy to have two people in our RCIA process this year: Angelique Arroyo and Mike Jodon. Angelique is a catechumen which means she is preparing to be baptized at the Easter Vigil in 2015. She will also receive Eucharist and Confirmation. Angelique has two boys in our parish school, Emmanuel & Ishmael, who were baptized at our Easter Vigil this past year. Mike was already baptized Catholic but never received the Eucharist or Confirmation, so he will receive these at our Easter Vigil in 2015 as well. Since he is already baptized, he is referred to as a candidate instead of as a catechumen. They are both wonderful people whose faith can already be “seen” in the discussions we have on Wednesday evenings. We publish in the bulletin what our topic for RCIA will be each week, so please know that anyone is welcome to join us in the Parish Center on Wednesday evening from 7-8pm, particularly if a topic is of special interest to you. I ask the parish community to please pray for these two people who are asking to become part of our Catholic Community through the sacraments.

Today we begin the first week of Advent, that season which begins a new Church year or liturgical cycle. It is a time for us to prepare for the second coming of Christ at the end of time and to celebrate the first coming of Christ when he was born of the Virgin. Our Advent wreath displays the 4 candles that mark the number of weeks in this season as well as show the colors of this season: purple and rose (the rose is used on the 3rd week to remind us of the joy we feel at the nearness of Christ’s birth). As we say and sing this holy season, Come Lord Jesus!

This Sunday I will baptize two children. Their names are Patience & Gracie Sulecki. Patience is a second grader in our school and Gracie is 18 months old. We are happy to have them baptized in the name of the Trinity. We pray for them and for their parents.

This week I begin a 3-part bible series on the “Infancy Narratives” or the stories of Jesus’s birth. It will take place this Wednesday (and the following two Wednesdays) in our Parish Center and will go from just 7-8pm. We will look at why the three stories of Jesus’s birth are different, and why St. John doesn’t even include one in his gospel! I think you’d find it interesting so come join us and be better prepared for Christmas. 

Homily Thoughts for November 30, 2014…The Eye of God

Here in Cleveland, drivers are conscious of the fact that in many places, there are cameras set up to catch those who are speeding or driving through a red light. Some people have received a picture of themselves sitting in the driver’s seat of their car, doing the wrong thing, breaking a traffic law. 

Don’t we think of God sometimes as if his all-seeing eye is just waiting to catch us doing the wrong thing, breaking a commandment, committing sin? We think he is gathering his evidence against us for the day of judgment, when we stand before the heavenly court to be judged on the wrong we have done.

But the scripture and prayer for today hope for something different. The prophet Isaiah prays, “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in all our ways!” And the opening prayer for Mass prayed that “we may resolve to run forth with righteous deeds” to meet Christ. The all-seeing eye of God is watching us, not so that he may catch us breaking the law but that he might catch us doing good for others.

Pastor's Column November 23, 2014

A couple weeks ago we celebrated the 86th birthday of Fr. Vesely. And in a couple more weeks, we’ll be celebrating his 60th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. So again, mark this date in your calendar: Sunday, December 7th, Father will be celebrating the Noon Mass, and this will be followed by a reception in Lux Hall. Many hors d’oeuvres will be served…enough to make a meal out of them. Please stop over and wish Father a Happy Anniversary and thank him again for being with us here at St. Leo’s. Out of all the parishes in the Diocese he could have chosen to live at, he chooses to live here with me! OK so he was here long before I arrived, but at least he hasn’t moved out yet! I am happy to have this brother priest around to give me company and to give Michaela plenty of scraps from the table. 

As it usually happens, it’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this Thursday (Mass will be at 9am). In my homily last weekend (which no doubt you will remember so clearly), I said that daily I think of how blessed I am to be at a parish with such wonderful parishioners, a gifted and hard-working staff, and children of our school who bring their own little light to the dreary days of winter. I said that I don’t tell you that often enough so let me use this Thanksgiving week to thank you for the blessing you are and assure you of my constant prayers for you.

I was able to have a little taste of Thanksgiving even a couple of weeks before the holiday…our junior high at the school made a Thanksgiving dinner which was distributed to the homebound. Some high school alumni students also helped distributed these meals. That’s a good reminder to us to keep in our thoughts those who cannot join us here in church for our weekly worship, but who are still very important members of our parish. 

Speaking of important members of our parish, this Sunday I will be baptizing Malana Witsaman in our Catholic Faith after the Noon Mass. We welcome her and her parents and pledge to them our prayers.

Finally, it was two years ago this past Friday that I adopted Michaela. It was the day before Thanksgiving that year so I’m reminded of how our pets are also gifts we should be grateful for. She’s not only a pet but a security system, a food disposal system and a pretty good dust mop when she slides on our slippery floors. All for the price of one.

Homily Thoughts for November 23, 2014…Facing the East

When Mass used to be celebrated with the “priest’s back to the people,” everyone was in fact facing the east since the sun & the “Son” rise in the east. We symbolically look to the east for Christ to return again at the second coming.

In Pope Benedict’s encyclical, “Saved in Hope”, he speaks of how it became customary to have an image of Christ the King painted on the east wall of the church for this reason, and on the west wall of the church people would see a scene of the Last Judgment, the gospel for today on this feast of Christ the King. It was not meant to frighten them but to remind them as they left the church that they were called to serve Christ in the “corporal works of mercy” as they entered back into everyday life.

The pope said that artists tended to be more fascinated with the frightening aspects of this last judgement so would emphasize that in their work, but this is really a gospel of hope—the hope that we will see Christ every time we tend to their needs.

Pastor's Column, November 16, 2014

I have some people that I want to ask you to pray for today, remembering that our prayers are always heard and that Christ promises that he will help those we pray for. First I ask you to pray for Elaine Lewandowski, a parishioner I anointed this past week who has been suffering from dementia and Parkinson’s disease for several years. I promised her we would hold her up in prayer. There is a couple I recently visited named Dorothy & Donald Friedl. Dorothy is at home recovering from surgery and Donald has been in a nursing home for some time. It’s hard for them to be apart from each other. I also anointed Sarah Grier, a parishioner at Broadview Multi-care. She is a very sweet lady who has a roommate that keeps an eye on her. There will be others I will be seeing in the next couple of days too so please remember them all in a prayer for the sick.

Congratulations to Harry & Joan Wheeler who are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary! Harry is one of our ushers at the 4pm Mass, along with his son Kevin. Harry and Joan will be on our Parish Council starting in January and I welcome their insights as longtime members of St. Leo. Father Vesely & I will be joining them for a celebration with their family on Sunday so we wish them well and pray that God may bless them in the next 50 years!

Most of our ARISE groups will be having their last session soon, and I’m very happy that nearly one-hundred parishioners came together every week for 6 weeks in order to pray, listen to the scripture, and talk about how faith is a part of their everyday life. I am confident that we will see the fruits of this faith-sharing in the months & years ahead. I am also very grateful to Cora Dejelo and to all the members of the ARISE team who coordinated this effort. I am indebted to them. We will have another opportunity to come together in these small groups during Lent of 2015.

During the month of Advent, quickly approaching, I will be offering a bible study on the “Infancy Narratives,” or the stories of Jesus’ birth according to the 3 gospel writers, Matthew, Mark & Luke. It’s really an interesting look at 3 stories that are similar but not the same. Why would some include details that others do not? Were there really three kings? How do we know these details surrounding Jesus’ birth? More details to come…

Homily Thoughts for November 16, 2014…God's Affirmation

I am seldom satisfied with the way things are because I always see room for improvement. There is something good in there because I’m willing to strive for something better. But the danger is that I become too critical, too negative. I am my own worst critic. 

Maybe we are all like that to an extent. When hearing the parable about the talents, did you think to yourself, “God will punish us if we don’t use our talents”? But we forget that there were two servants who received God’s praise for using the gifts he gave them. God is more likely to praise us for our successes than to criticize us for our failures. 

Hear God praising you today for using well the gifts he has given you. You are a good spouse, a good parent, a good friend. Then take that affirmation & use it on others. Then we become like God. Then we are able to hear God say, “Come, share your Master’s joy!”

Pastor's Column, November 9, 2014

There’s a lot of information for you this week & of course there’s limited space here so let me jump right in…

In our prayers for the faithful departed during this month of November, we add two names of parishioners who recently died. Todd Roberts was the father of Therese and the father of two children in our school, Rachel & Courtney. Todd was only 47 years old and died after a two week illness. It’s sad when children lose their parents, even adult children. Helen Wittreich was the 94 year old mother of parishioner Jan Regal whose husband is Ron. She was in a nursing home for 8 years but received wonderful care at Parkside Villa. May they both rest in God’s peace.

On the other end of life’s cycle is birth, and this Saturday, November 8th, we celebrate that day when 87 years ago, Father James Vesely was born into this world, and it hasn’t been the same since! Here’s a saying that I remember today on his birthday: “For a very short time, you were the youngest person in the world.” But for a long time, Fr. Vesely has been one of the most helpful to the Church & our parish. We look forward to celebrating his 60th Anniversary of Ordination on December 7th. Be sure to mark your calendars. 

As you see, included in this weekend’s bulletin is a letter from myself concerning the Finance Report from this past fiscal year of 2013/14 which is also included. It’s a great opportunity for me to thank you again for your generosity and sacrifice during the past year. May God help us all to be good stewards of what he has given us.

Please help keep us on track with our budget by participating in our Sweepstakes drawings. You can win multiple times during the year and we choose a new winner every week. A flyer with a ticket was included in last weekend’s bulletin, but they will be available on the tables in the church every weekend through the end of the year. Just put the ticket(s) & your cash or check in the collection basket or mail it or drop it off. It’s a fun way to help the parish!

Thanks to the Lectors & Eucharistic Ministers who stayed after Mass last weekend for a brief meeting. Those who could not be there are asked to make sure they get the notes which I passed out at that time from the Mass Coordinator. 

Monday, November 10th, is the feast of our patron, St. Leo the Great (which means we pick a $1000 Sweepstakes winner!). The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar between the 8am & 10am Masses and between the 10am & Noon Masses. Please use that opportunity to pray for the parish, especially for the fruitful experience of the ARISE program.

Homily Thoughts for November 9, 2014…the Visible Church

Many people today claim a personal faith but feel they do not need to belong to the Church. But Pope Francis said that we cannot have a relationship with Christ without the Church. Why? Why is it important for us as Catholics to belong to the Church?

Today we celebrate the feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran, a church in Rome that is the cathedral church of the Pope, the bishop of Rome. It was given to the Christians by the emperor Constantine who allowed Christianity to be a public religion without persecution. What does this church, dedicated on November 9, 324, have to do with us Catholics living in Cleveland Ohio in the 21st century?

A church, whether a building or a community of believers, gives our faith visibility. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world…a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before others.” Belonging to an institutional Church, and worshiping in a church building, lets our faith be seen. Our parishes say to others, “There are Christians living here.” We join with over a billion other Catholics in our world to help bring visibility to faith, to let it be seen, to let it point out to others the light of Christ in our world.

Pastor's Column, November 2, 2014

Saturday, November 1st, is the feast of All Saints. While it is always a holy day, it not always a holy day of obligation which obliges us to attend Mass on that day. When most holy days fall on a Saturday or Monday, the bishops have dispensed with the obligation to attend Mass so as not to lend confusion to the weekend Mass schedule. I should have mentioned that in last week’s bulletin but if you keep an eye on our website or mobile app, you will find there information that is more timely than our bulletin.

Sunday, November 2nd is the feast of “The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed” also known as “All Souls.” We remember all our loved ones who have gone before us and ask the saints to intercede for them that they too may be part of the Communion of Saints in heaven. We continue to display the pictures of the deceased pastors of St. Leo as we remember them and all the deceased former Parochial Vicars (Associates) of our parish.

It would be appropriate to add Fr. Ed Luca to the names of those we pray for this weekend. He was a classmate of Fr. Vesely and was buried last Friday at Nativity Church in Lorain where he had celebrated Mass often in his retirement. In fact, he celebrated one of our Masses here about a month ago when I was on vacation so some of you may remember him. May he too be counted among the saints.

It is sad that there are so many people we call to mind today because they are no longer with us in this life. I ask that you pray for Laurel Leary, the mother of one of our school children, Morgan Leary, and the wife of our parishioner, Patrick Leary. Laurel died unexpectedly and we know how it pains a child (or an adult) to lose a parent. May she now have eternal peace. 

We received another quarterly check this week from the Rooted in Faith Campaign for over $3000.00 which is due to your faithful generosity. Thank you!

I’d like to remind the Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers that there will be a brief meeting after each Mass this weekend so please remain in the church so that we may review quickly our procedures for those ministries. Thank you all for your service!

Finally, Michaela was dressed as a witch for Halloween (the outfit was bought by her granny). Hardly her personality but Halloween is for pretend. Me? I pretended to be skinny so that I could eat as much Halloween candy as I wanted. It worked out great.

Homily Thoughts for November 2, 2014…Born Again

In Rome, a burial place for the dead was called a necropolis by the pagans which simply means “place of the dead.” But Christians renamed these places and called them “cemeteries” which means, “place of rest or sleep,” to indicate their belief that those buried with Christ will be awakened to life again through the resurrection.

On this feast of All Souls, when we pray for all our loved ones who have gone before us in death, it is good to remember that death is a lot like birth. When a child is in the womb, it has what it needs: food, warmth, security. But imagine if that were all that we experienced of life! Only by being born into this world do we experience the incredible wonders that come to us through our senses. Yet most babies enter this world crying.

So too is it with death. We have in this life all that we think we need and want. We don’t want to leave it. But that’s because we can’t even imagine all that we will experience in the life to come, if only we can be born again. This weekend, in the Creed, we will profess once again, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen!”