Many were saddened to hear of the passing of Ralph Mlady, husband of Loretta for 58 years. They have 2 children, Ralph Jr. & Lisa, and 2 grandchildren, Jason & Zak. Ralph had been a very active member of our parish, and had served as an usher and as a member of our St. Vincent de Paul Society. He also belonged to the Holy Name Society where he was active in their social events and had organized the softball team. When younger, Ralph was a talented athlete and so later he coached football at Blessed Sacrament parish and at St. Leo the Great, where he also coached basketball. I anointed Ralph shortly before his death and as we prayed the last rites for him, we called upon the saints to intercede for him, esp. his favorite, St. Francis of Assisi. I always admired the way that Ralph was a gentle and humble man who was devoted to his family and to his God. May the Lord now reward him for a life of faith, love & service.
While I was away, Fr. Jack Carlin celebrated the funeral Mass for Harriet Watson who lived 91 years of faith. Though Harriet had been living elsewhere recently, I remember her well as another gentle and kind woman of our parish. She was the mother of 6 children, grandmother of 16 and great-grandmother of 17. We extend our sympathy to all of them and to her brother. May Harriet join with all of our departed parishioners in the praise of God in his heavenly kingdom.
I recently heard the confessions of our eighth grade students who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation next Saturday, February 13th, during the 4pm Saturday Mass. Please keep them in your prayers as they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit sacramentally.
The pilgrimage to the Holy Land that we had planned for May of this year had to be postponed of course due to the pandemic. Now that everyone should be receiving the vaccine in the next few weeks, I have chosen a new date for 2022 along with Eddie Abufarha from Trinity Tour Travels whom many of you have met while looking at the olive wood pieces he sells for those living in Bethlehem where he was born. We have set aside May 16-25, 2022 for our trip to the Holy Land. Please mark that in your calendar if you were one of the people interested in going. By then the whole pandemic should be well behind us and we can include prayers of thanksgiving for that while in the place where Jesus lived. I will continue now to keep a list of all those interested so if you have not yet expressed your interest in joining us, please let me know so that I can keep you informed.
I continue to appreciate all that our Principal, Mrs. Burns, and our parish school teachers and staff have done during this year to meet the challenges of the pandemic. Along with the students, they have all made many sacrifices to get through this time with courage and faith. Our school enrollment is now at 291, an increase of almost 100 students from when I first came to St. Leo’s, and the only credit I can take for that is hiring gifted and committed principals and teachers who have given their all to Catholic education and Christian formation at our parish. We should be proud and grateful to have a thriving school community.