Please welcome Father John, a visiting priest who will be here this weekend for our annual missionary appeal. Such priests remind us of the needs of the wider Church and ask for our generosity toward our brothers & sisters whom we don’t even know. I will be attending a conference for priests on the west coast and then relaxing for a few days & visiting a friend who is in the San Diego area. I won’t need to bring back any sunshine as we’ve had our fair share of it this summer and I hope that every- one can enjoy it before the fall & winter creep up on us again.
We begin the school year this Thursday with an enrollment of 259 students which is a number we have not had here in a few years. I give credit to our wonderful teachers and especially to our principal, Mrs. Denise Burns, who has emerged from her first year here with a grateful staff and parents who recognize her gentle lead- ership. The students will quickly notice that the cafeteria has a new floor which proudly displays our school logo (a lion’s head) in the center. We are grateful to Mrs. Burns for being able to get a grant to cover half of that expense. As we celebrate the first school Mass of the year on Friday, we ask the Holy Spirit to give our students wisdom and faith.
One final reminder that Bishop Perez will be visiting our Parish for the first time since he was installed as Bishop of Cleveland almost a year ago. I know that you will extend the wonderful warm welcome that is charac- teristic of this parish. The Bishop will be celebrating the 4pm Mass on Saturday, September 1st, and after Mass will enjoy meeting you personally over at Lux Hall where we will have some “hardy” refreshments available. We will be blessed to have the Bishop here again in about 6 months when he returns to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with our young people in March of 2019.
So here is a good question as we celebrate our 70th Anniversary: how did the parish get it’s name? Well the bishop at the time suggested that it be named St. Sylvest- er, since that was the first name of the founding Pastor, Father Sylvester Lux. But Fr. Lux objected & said that it was a terrible name as it was often misspelled & no one knew who St. Sylvester was. The bishop asked him for his suggestion & he chose the name Leo as Fr. Lux had a brother named Leo. And the rest, as they say, is history. May our patron, St. Leo the Great, pray for us.