Dear Parishioners,
We celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for William Magesi last Saturday, August 19th. Bill was a man of faith who attended Mass regularly and had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to St. Anthony & to St. Teresa of Calcutta. He had 5 children: Billy, Jennifer, Becky, Keith & Brad, and 9 grandchildren which includes one named Francis who is yet to be born. Bill was involved with his children’s school events & enjoyed traveling with them. He helped his neighbors and served 4 years in the Army in Vietnam. Bill worked for 30 years in the airline industry. His obituary said that anyone who knew him, loved him. We pray that Bill’s family will imitate his life of faith, love and service as they place their trust in God as he did.
I offered prayers for Donald Donelon at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery on Wednesday, August 23rd. Don was married to his wife Joanne for 64 years and I remember how faithful they were to attending Mass before Don became too ill to join us. I am inspired by the love of his wife and children who took such loving care of him during his long illness. Don and Joanne have 3 sons, Terry, Michael & Patrick, 3 grandchildren, Jacob, Kaitlyn & Bryan and one great grandchild, Rylynn. We keep them in prayer as well as his sister Laureen. Don was a US Army Veteran and we are grateful for his service to our country. May he rest in God’s peace.
Finally, I offered a funeral Mass for Ronald Larson this past Thursday. Ron was married to Beverly for 66 years and was the father of Ronald, Kimberly & Jill, and the grandfather and great-grandfather of several children. Ron had a devotion to St. Joseph, the patron for a happy death. His son Ron spoke lovingly of him at his funeral Mass and I expressed our sympathy to his family on your behalf. The closing song for his funeral Mass was “Going Home,” a song that always reminds me of Father Vesely as he would sing that by request at funeral Masses. Indeed we pray that Ron may now go home to our Heavenly Father.
It was recently announced that we are beginning to take Mass intentions for 2024. Just a reminder that you are limited to 2 Masses— one on the weekend & one on the weekday, or 2 weekday Masses. We have many people requesting Mass intentions but we can only take 2 intentions for each weekend (a total of about 100) as one weekend Mass must be offered by the Pastor “Pro Populo” or “for all the people of the parish” according to Canon Law. We can only have 4 intentions a week for weekday Masses as we do not have Mass here on Thursday mornings. We also offer all Masses for the People of the Parish on days like Christmas and Easter. It’s wonderful that so many wish to have Mass offered for themself or on behalf of another (living or deceased) but we only have so many Masses per year and so must limit how many intentions you can have. And of course several people may want Mass to be offered on a particular day because it someone’s anniversary of birth or death or for some other reason, but we must understand that there is only 1 intention per day (except possibly on Sunday when there may be 2). Though it’s important for us to remember a person prayerfully on a particular day for sentimental reasons, God is beyond time and so will hear our prayers whenever they are offered. We must all accept the limitations of time and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Just a reminder that you may cover the cost of our sanctuary lamp (the candle in the red holder which burns 24/7 as a sign and reminder of the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle). This $10 offering will allow the candle to burn for 14 days in memory of a loved one.
Fr. James P. Schmitz