Again I want to thank you for your continued generosity and faithfulness in making your contributions to the parish during the last 12 months of the pandemic. Though our collection income has been down as a result of the decreased attendance at Mass, we are doing relatively well compared to other parishes who have suffered much worse financially. Of course there is fear that the Catholic Charities Appeal will suffer as well this year as it did last year due to the pandemic, so again I thank you for doing what you can to alleviate that according to your financial abilities at this time. Again since I didn’t have time to go over the Appeal instructions for Catholic Charities at the 4pm Mass last weekend, I will do that this weekend. There are many ways that you can make a pledge or donation so please see our website (leothegreat.org) or call the rectory office if you need help with this.
Our take-out only Lenten fish fry has gone very well so far, and many people are taking advantage of the option to pay by credit card, so we hope you can continue to enjoy our good food & reasonable prices this year. The menu along with prices are on our website.
Each day during Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful of the Diocese. If you go to the diocesan website (dioceseofcleveland.org), there are links where you can follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. There is also a page there which speaks briefly about Lent in the Modern World, as well as other Lenten resources. We will put links to these on our parish website as well.
Also on our website is information regarding our annual parish “Have a Heart, Lend a Hand” program which is another important opportunity to fulfill the Lenten discipline of almsgiving, especially in helping children in our own Cleveland area. You have always been exceptionally generous with this effort and once again we appreciate your thoughtfulness in helping our young ones.
Since I’m writing so much about our website and the vast amount of information available to you there, I’ll also announce that we have a new website dedicated to our parish school here at St. Leo’s, and that can be accessed by clicking the “School” link at the top of the homepage. It is there where parents of our school children as well as prospective parents can find much useful information about our parish school. You can schedule a tour, make payments, get information about our athletic programs, see pictures of and contact school staff, sign up for information through Flocknote, access the parent portal and more. This website also includes much information about our Preschool as well. At nearly 300 students in our day school alone, we are thriving in the academic and spiritual formation of our young people. I am very grateful to all the staff members who make this possible under the leadership of our Principal, Mrs. Burns.
I was able to get my first COVID vaccine shot with the next one scheduled at the same time in 3 weeks (you get another really short homily!). While I’m grateful that such a vaccine is available, I continue to be mindful of those in our world who will still wait a long time before getting it, and especially mindful of those who have already died from COVID...a half million in the US alone. Mary, Help of the Sick, pray for us.