While I was away this month, the parish celebrated the funeral of Timothy Beran on October 9th. Father O’Grady presided at the funeral assisted by Deacon Pat Berigan who also preached the homily. We extend our condolences and prayers to those who knew him.
A huge thank you to all the parishioners who volun- teered to help in some way at the Parish Festival. And thanks to all those who attended and participated in the children’s games, the raffles, the meals and the opportunity to spend time with fellow parishioners & neighbors. We seemed to have great crowds on both nights (despite Satur- day’s rain & wind). And the power went out on Saturday just long enough for us to remember whose really the boss...the electric company. Gratefully we had power back on before we were able to say, “Now what are we going to do?” I know that many people worked many long, hard hours so that the rest of us could just enjoy those two days and I am grateful to each one of them. The food was deli- cious, the music was entertaining & the company delightful. We’ll let you know about the profits but we expect it to be about the same as in past years. My thanks to the festival team who did the planning & to all who worked in any way to make it happen.
Our Associate Musician, Julie Slattery, showed me a bulletin column a couple of weeks ago written by a pastor who sadly had to say goodbye to their musician as she want- ed to spend more time with her family. And now I have to write a similar note about Julie who also wishes to spend more time with her aging mother and of course more time with her new grandchild. Though Julie has been with us only a short time, her beautiful voice and her gifted musical ability added so much to our music ministry, while her gen- tle spirit added much to our community. This will be her last weekend at St. Leo’s so let us express our thanks to her & wish her well as she devotes more time now to her family.
With that sad note comes also a joyful announcement that we have another Associate Musician who will be added to our music ministry as of this week. Her name is Mary Piechowski, and these are her words of introduction:
“I was raised in a Catholic family and attended Catholic schools. Our faith was always the most important part of our lives. I earned a Bachelor and Master Degree in Piano Performance and hoped to be a Professor. I was teaching at a college in Port Huron, MI when I attended an event called the "New Pentecost Project" with Praise and Worship music, adoration and dynamic preaching. I had a re-conversion that evening and decided to pursue music ministry in hopes to share that type of experience with others. That brought me to Sacred Heart which is on an island as the Detroit river opens up to Lake Erie, called Grosse Ile. I have loved working in this ministry for my five years there. I got married last week to a man from Fairview Park, OH and that brought me to this area. He is a High School science teacher and football coach. We are very excited to begin our life together here in Ohio and at this Parish.”
Welcome Mary!