I have some people that I want to ask you to pray for today, remembering that our prayers are always heard and that Christ promises that he will help those we pray for. First I ask you to pray for Elaine Lewandowski, a parishioner I anointed this past week who has been suffering from dementia and Parkinson’s disease for several years. I promised her we would hold her up in prayer. There is a couple I recently visited named Dorothy & Donald Friedl. Dorothy is at home recovering from surgery and Donald has been in a nursing home for some time. It’s hard for them to be apart from each other. I also anointed Sarah Grier, a parishioner at Broadview Multi-care. She is a very sweet lady who has a roommate that keeps an eye on her. There will be others I will be seeing in the next couple of days too so please remember them all in a prayer for the sick.
Congratulations to Harry & Joan Wheeler who are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary! Harry is one of our ushers at the 4pm Mass, along with his son Kevin. Harry and Joan will be on our Parish Council starting in January and I welcome their insights as longtime members of St. Leo. Father Vesely & I will be joining them for a celebration with their family on Sunday so we wish them well and pray that God may bless them in the next 50 years!
Most of our ARISE groups will be having their last session soon, and I’m very happy that nearly one-hundred parishioners came together every week for 6 weeks in order to pray, listen to the scripture, and talk about how faith is a part of their everyday life. I am confident that we will see the fruits of this faith-sharing in the months & years ahead. I am also very grateful to Cora Dejelo and to all the members of the ARISE team who coordinated this effort. I am indebted to them. We will have another opportunity to come together in these small groups during Lent of 2015.
During the month of Advent, quickly approaching, I will be offering a bible study on the “Infancy Narratives,” or the stories of Jesus’ birth according to the 3 gospel writers, Matthew, Mark & Luke. It’s really an interesting look at 3 stories that are similar but not the same. Why would some include details that others do not? Were there really three kings? How do we know these details surrounding Jesus’ birth? More details to come…