Pastor's Column

     Frank Gagliardi was well known by several people who attend the 4pm Mass on Saturday. He was a proud Italian and a faithful Catholic. He was very much loved by his large family and one of his grandson's spoke so well about how much he was admired, as he also sang a verse of Amazing Grace after Communion. Frank gave rides to parishioners & friends who just needed someone's help and their company. May he rest in peace and receive his reward. 

    Congratulations to the two couples being married this weekend: Matthew Burkett & Valerie Cortez and Kyle Seminatore & Stephanie Sitko. We pray for them as they begin their married lives and thank them for beginning their marriage in the atmosphere of faith. 

    Again we welcome the choir back to the 10am Mass. You can hear the amount of time & effort they put in preparing for their ministry and we are grateful that they are using the gift of music God has given them. Want to join them? See Mickey Stitt or Julie Slattery after Mass. 

    Next weekend we will have the flu clinic present after all the Masses so that you can get your flu shot conveniently. I'd be happy to give you the shot myself but I don't think I'm allowed. I'll have to find something else fun to do. 

    Last week we had our first all school Mass since I was away when they began in August. As Sister Erin announced a few weeks ago, we have over 240 students this year and many new faces. Our preschool is full as well and students in both buildings are making good use of the many improvements we worked on over the summer months. 

    I normally don't advertize open positions in the parish bulletin, but we are looking for some temporary part-time help in the maintenance department, perhaps for a high school or college student, but it's not limited to them. See me after Mass or call me if you'd like more information. 

    We're glad that many of you are finding it convenient to use the Information Desk in the vestibule of the church after our weekend Masses. There is much that they can help you with and the rectory receptionist there is happy to give you information. Now the information is limited to parish-related things so they can't give you directions to Jack Frost Donuts (though everyone knows where they're at anyway) or tell you the meaning of life. But they'll help you in any way they can so feel free to see if they can save you a trip to the rectory office. 

Pastor's Column

     Just before I left for Rome, two parishioners died whom I had visited & prayed with when they were ill. I was saddened by their deaths and by the inability to celebrate their funeral Masses though I am grateful to Fr. Vesely for presiding at the funeral for Carol Glinka and to Fr. Weist for celebrating the funeral Mass of Loretta Weber. I had spent some time with Loretta at her apartment and at Holy Family Hospice. She had worked and then volunteered in our school for many years. She had a dry sense of humor that would always make me smile. Carol Glinka would be at the 4pm Mass on Saturdays and she was always kind and thoughtful toward me & toward Michaela to whom she loved to give treats & toys. Carol moved quickly from Fairview Hospital to Marymount hospital, and then finally home where she was under the care of Hospice for a few days. As with Loretta, I anointed her and knew that she and Loretta were accepting of their circumstances and approached death with faith in the resurrection. Both of them will be missed and we commend them and all the faithful departed to the mercy of God. 

    God's Mercy is something I thought about frequently during my two-week stay in Rome as of course Pope Francis has asked us to celebrate this great Jubilee Year of Mercy. I celebrated Mass near the altar of St. Leo the Great where he is buried inside St. Peter Basilica and I celebrated Mass at the tomb of St. Peter below the basilica. At these places and at many of the holy sites I visited, I prayed for you all and asked God's blessing on our parish and school. On our last day in Rome, we stood in St. Peter's Square as Pope Francis gave us his blessing as he always does at Noon on Sundays before telling us all to have a good lunch! And good lunches I had...and dinners...and snacks inbetween. You can't get a good taste of Rome unless you get a good taste of Roman meals! While it's always great to get away, it's also great to come back home. So from Rome to home I am blessed and hope to share some of Rome's treasures of faith with you in the coming months. 

    This Sunday Pope Francis is celebrating the Canonization Mass for Mother Teresa. St. Teresa of Calcutta is known the world round for the way she showed mercy to the poorest of the poor. We are blessed to have heard and seen such holy men & women live lives of faith and love during our own lifetime. May we follow their example & share in their glory.

The Saint of Suffering

The man who wrote the Old Testament book of wisdom was reflecting on life as he said, "the corruptable body burdens the soul & the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns." Visiting with my dad & stepmother who are both ill, I can see the truth of what he says. Their aging bodies burdens their spirits and weighs down their minds which are filled with concerns. 

St. Paul wrote that he was an old man, and now in prison, which I saw in Rome. It was a dark, hot, and humid hole where they kept him & Peter because they were preaching the Gospel. For all of us, as we get older, we will likely face illness as well as more and more struggles both in mind and in body.

The woman we have known as "Mother Teresa" is now called "St. Teresa" as she is canonized by Pope Francis today. Recently her private diaries were made public. Much to the surprise of many who read them, they make clear that this woman, considered to be a great saint of the 20th century, struggled with her faith every day. Sometimes she doubted the existence of God. At other times, she felt that God did not love her. That is not what we expect from a saint, yet a saint she was (and is). Yet she continued to do what she believed God wanted her to do: to help the sick and the poorest of the poor. When we struggle, let us remember that God understands. As St. Teresa said so well, God does not call us to be successful but only to be faithful.

Pastor's Column

    I ask you to keep Carol, Helen & David in your prayers. They all recently received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick where we promise them the support of the Church in their illness so please help us keep our pledge. 

    This weekend you will hear a brief message from our Principal, Sister Erin Zubul, OSU (OSU does not stand for Ohio State University but Order of St. Ursula as Sister Erin is an Ursuline Nun). Sister will give us an update on the many projects which have taken place this summer in and around the school building which we believe has a very big impact on our greatly increased enrollment for this school year, which begins in just a couple of weeks. Our maintenance crew has done a fantastic job the last couple months not only in the school but in all of our buildings and on our property. Many thanks to them for their hard work and long hours. 

    We are currently having some sidewalks replaced as they have become a real hazard due to their cracks & disintegration. The sidewalk leading into the side door of the school off of the parking lot will be ramped for easier wheelchair access. And many sections of our curbs which have been fragmented into many pieces through natural wear & tear as well as through snow plows will be replaced in order to increase our "curb appeal." We had to trim several trees and even remove some that are dying though we plan to replace these next summer. 

    While we hate to see the summer months (even very hot ones) pass by so quickly, we do have our Parish Picnic to look forward to which will be next Sunday, August 14th at 1pm. Please join us for the traditional picnic fare (hamburgers, hot dogs & "accessories") and for some music and relaxing conversation with fellow parishioners. I will be bringing my own hot dog as I presume it will be another warm day and Michaela loves to see you all. 

    We also have the Parish Festival to look forward to October 14th & 15th. To make it a financial success as well as a fun community event, I ask that you pick up your raffle tickets in the vestibule of the church & to do your best in selling them. This is our one main fundraiser, supported by our Sweepstakes Raffle & Gift Card purchases. All of these help us to balance our budget and allow us to provide many services to the people of the parish. Thank you in advance for your willingness & support. 

    Did you know that our parish bulletin is archived on our website (leothegreat.org) & in our mobile app? You can also have the bulletin emailed to you every week. Let the rectory receptionist at our Information Desk help you to keep up with our news when you're not able to be here.

Pastor's Column

     Please say a prayer today for Catherine Herda, a longtime parishioner of St. Leo's who passed away at the age of 99 & whose funeral Mass was this past Wednesday. Catherine loved attending Mass & sat in the front pew of the church. In the words of St. Paul, "she has fought the good fight, she has run the race, she has kept the faith. Now the crown of righteousness will be awarded to her." May she rest in peace knowing that she has been faithful to the Lord & may God bless her children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. 

    I'm sure you've heard of the latest craze regarding the game so many are playing on their phones called "Pokémon GO." I'm not a game player myself but I can tell when someone is engrossed in a game on their phone. I've seen some teenagers & young adults on our property lately who seemed to be heavily involved with this game. Apparently they have to catch some creature which can be found in various places, even in churches & in church parking lots. I'm tempted to just open the doors of the church as they walk with their heads down & eyes focused on their phones so that maybe they'll walk straight into the confessional! You never know how God may be helping someone stumbling their way back to church. 

    Here is the final part of my recent explanation of our Catholic tradition regarding the offering of Masses for others: Because there are many people who request Mass intentions, we must limit the number of Masses an individual can request to have offered during a certain period (for example, no more than 3 weekday Masses or more than 1 weekend Mass per year). And sometimes we have all Masses on a weekend offered for the same intention (for example, all Easter and Christmas Day Masses are offered for all the people of the parish, as well as Father's Day, Mother's Day, and civil holidays).

    The point of this three-week explanation is to encourage a more inclusive understanding of Mass intentions. The priest and people celebrating a particular Mass are happy to pray for the specific person or intention as requested. However we continue during that Mass to pray for many people and many intentions as well so that we can never claim the Mass as being "our own" or "one that I paid for." Mass is always for the whole Church, for those here on earth and for those who have died. If you have any questions about our understanding of Mass intentions, please feel free to ask me. If you need assistance scheduling a Mass intention, please see the receptionist in the rectory office or at the information desk in the vestibule of the church after Mass.

Homily...What Can You Bring With You?

The family moved from a 2 bedroom bungalow to a 4 bedroom colonial about 5 minutes away. The new home was like a mansion to us. It had so may extra rooms...a den, family room, dining room, rec room, 2 extra bedrooms & a 2 car garage. As the family grew, we needed more space to live & more space to store all of the extra stuff.

We hoped that once he was alone in the house, my dad would sell it & move into something much smaller. But to this day, he hasn't. It's not that he's materialistic. I believe he doesn't want to let go of the memories he has in that house...of our mom, of his children & grandchildren. So I'm not comparing him to the greedy man in the gospel who wanted to build larger barns to hold all of his accumulated things so that he could finally relax & enjoy himself when retired. No, my dad knows he cannot take that stuff with him. But what he can take with him are the many loving relationships he has accumulated during the course of his 89 year life.

The sad reality of the man in the gospel parable is that he had no relationships. Remember how Jesus put it? "He said TO HIMSELF, 'I know what I will do, I will build bigger barns.'" The man had no one to talk to so he had to talk to himself. He had not learned that you can't take money or possessions with you, only the relationships you have accumulated with other people. How sad that he never learned that lesson. 

Pastor's Column

     Congratulations to the parents of Laila Woodards on the baptism of their daughter this weekend. As the Church says, the parents are the "first and best teachers of their children in the ways of faith." May they be the best teachers of faith to Laila. 

    Parishioners to pray for: Norm, Marie Sidor & Mary Ras (all recently anointed), Loretta, Doris, David, and all those who are ill and in need of God's healing and strength. 

    Since our regular visiting priest, Fr. Joe Pednikar, is not available during the month of July to help us with our weekend Masses, we have had Fr. Weist and several priests from our neighboring parish, St. Charles, come to help us. We are grateful for their help, especially when Fr. Vesely cannot have Mass because his knees are acting up. Please thank these priests for coming to our aid. 

    We had some areas of the parking lot repaired and resurfaced this past week. New striping will be done and more handicapped parking spaces added on the rectory side. Much work has been done in the school, especially as we prepare to move tutoring inside the building so that we no longer need the big mobile unit outside. Thanks to our maintenance crew, expanded during the summer months, for all their hard work inside and outside. But they can't make the brown grass green...for that we need prayers...or someone to do a rain dance. 

    A quick update on my dad. He has had 3 chemo treatments and has 2 left. He has had no adverse reaction (like nausea) and he is 75% in remission so far! We are so grateful to you for your prayers and concern.

    More on Mass intentions from last week: when a person requests that a "Mass be offered" for an individual (e.g., for my mom on the anniversary of her death) or for a group of people (e.g., for the Schmitz family), this means that along with all the other people and intentions we remember prayerfully at that Mass, we include the particular intention that has been requested by a member of the faithful. It does NOT mean that because an offering was made or an intention was scheduled for a particular day/time, that this is "my Mass." Mass always belongs to the whole Church, never to an individual. Though it is customary to do so during the petitions, the priest is not obligated to make mention of the person or intention during the Mass itself. Sometimes the person who requested the Mass intention is asked to take up the offertory gifts at that Mass, but this is not really connected with the intention itself so it may be anyone who does this. The Pastor is also obligated to offer one Mass each weekend "Pro Populo" or "for the people of the parish." The third & final part of this explanation of Mass intentions will be in next week's bulletin.

Homily...How Jesus Prayed

92% of Americans believe in God (according to a poll in 2008). But that doesn't mean that 92% of Americans have faith. Faith implies a relationship, and relationships can exist only through communication. In the case of faith, our relationship with God depends upon prayer. 

Jesus taught us how to pray. We call it "The Lord's Prayer." But Jesus also taught us how to pray as we see how he prayed himself. He praised God in prayer "I give praise to you, O God of heaven & earth, for what you have kept from the learned & the clever, you have revealed to the childlike." He gave thanks in prayer, as he took bread & wine at the Last Supper. Jesus prayed from the heart. In the garden of Gethsemane, he wrestled with doing the will of God but not wanting to suffer the cross. And on the cross, he asked why God abandoned him. 

It's good for us to ask God for what we need and want in prayer. Jesus taught us to do that. But how often do we pray as Jesus did...from the heart? Praying in this way makes our relationship with God more personal. Don't just raise your mind to God. Raise your heart as well. 

Pastor's Column

     Ray Ramos and his wife Eneida have been parishioners for many years. We celebrated Ray's life last Thursday with a Mass of Christian Burial. He was called the "Soup Man" by many who came to receive a free meal many years ago when we had a ministry that reached out to others who needed both food and companionship. The soup was donated by a local restaurant but was a bit bland so Ray would always spice it up so that everyone wanted the soup first! He was also called the "Pepper Man" since he had a garden of vegetables that he gave away free, and the garbage man always went to get some of Ray's peppers. But of course there was so much more to Ray and his wife and children will continue to remember & celebrate his life as we pray for him.

    When we implement the new Mass schedule in January, that will eliminate 52 spots we have for weekend Mass intentions. So I want to use this opportunity to explain that ancient practice in the Catholic Church. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we pray for the entire human race, those living as well as those who have died. Our prayer is never limited to one person or to one intention as it is universal. During the Mass itself, we have the "Universal Prayer" or the petitions that are offered for various people and intentions following the homily or the Creed. And then again, during the Eucharistic Prayer, after the consecration, we pray for the Pope, for the diocesan bishop, for clergy, for all of God's People, and for those who have died. So again, we pray for many people and intentions during the Mass.

    That being said, there is value in "having a Mass celebrated" or "offered" for a particular person(s) or intention. Someone can approach a priest to make this request ("Father, please offer Mass for my brother who died") or, as is most often the case, people come to the rectory office and ask to schedule a Mass intention for a particular day and time. When requesting such an intention, it has become customary to make an offering which is given to the priest who celebrates that particular Mass. In the early Church, the faithful participating in the Eucharist provided the gifts necessary for the celebration (especially the bread and wine) as well as other gifts meant to support the clergy. In time, monetary offerings came to be substituted for bread and wine and these came to be known as "stipends." The customary offering is $10 per Mass. More on this next weekend. In the meantime, pray for the safety of all who will be in Cleveland this week for the National Republican Convention. 

Homily...Two Different Sisters, Two Different Saints

I used the gospel story of Martha & Mary at my mom's funeral 15 years ago. Admittedly, an unusual gospel for a funeral, but these two women reminded me of my mom. Martha was a type A kind of personality...busy with all the details of hospitality. She was upset that her sister just sat the Lord's feet while she was busy in the kitchen. My mom was also a person who kept busy. She made and served family meals (and sat and ate last). She worked as a parish secretary, was involved in parish groups, and was a eucharistic minister. We call St. Martha a saint because she was active in her faith, in her service of others. But Jesus needed to remind her that her sister was also a saint because she sat the Lord's feet & listened to him.

Mary also knew how to be hospitable. She was attentive to her guest. She was present to him & let him be present to her. Jesus praised her for this. My mom too, knew when to put the activity aside for the sake of rest and prayer. She hosted a bible study group. She prayed her rosary and novenas at home. She went to daily Mass. 

It can be hard these days for us to find such balance. We like to be busy (it means we're important), we like to be active, on the go, involved. But taking time to rest, to be attentive, reflective, present to the Lord & to others, this is also important. Both are necessary for holiness: active service, prayerful rest.