What a shame that on this Mother’s Day, most will not be able to take their mom out to eat as restaurants are still closed. Perhaps this is a time to practice cooking for your mom though, just as I practiced cutting my hair when my barbershop was closed. Hopefully your meal turns out better than my haircut. In whatever way you can, let your mom know how much you care about her, especially if this quarantine prevents you from being with her. And if your mom has already gone to the other side of life as mine has, pray that she may know the joy of heaven. But to all the women of our parish, Happy Mother’s Day to you.
thMy sister Judy’s tripletsth(my nieces) are celebrating their 29 birthdays today (May 10 ), and one of them is also able to celebrate Mother’s Day herself after having given birth to her first child (and my first great niece) just a few months ago. My sister, now a proud grandmother, is helping babysit her grandchild. Perhaps some of you who have grandchildren of school age are doing the same to give their parents a break now that the school children will be off of school for several months. Our Principal and our teachers have been wonderful during this time, having Zoom meetings with the students and preparing packets for them to take home for homework. It’s actually been a more challenging time for these teachers to be working from home than it would have been for them to be in their classrooms so I thank them all for their hard work and for their ability to adjust to these different circumstanc- es.
This is the day when Deacon Pat & Joan Berigan are celebrating their 45th Wedding Anniversary so congratulations to them! I asked Deacon Pat to preach at the Mass we will be putting on YouTube & which you can watch on our website (leothe great.org). The first reading also speaks about the first deacons in the Church so it’s an especially good time for Deacon Pat to share his wisdom with us. They are the only ones I see daily as they celebrate Mass privately with me and I continue to appreciate their presence and ministry in the parish. Please be sure to pray for them and for all those celebrating a wedding anniversary at this time of the year.
Our prayers also go out to the family of Richard Grzelecki who passed away on April 27th. I had a funeral service with a small number of people (due to COVID19 precautions) and as always, expressed to them the prayerful support of the parish. Richard was a retired Police Chief from Brooklyn Heights and also a veteran of the US Marine Corp. So we are especially grateful for his years of service.
I will also be having a private burial service this week for Dorothy Forister, also a member of our parish who had been in the nursing home. We extend our condolences to her daughter Judy Ladaika and to all the members of Dorothy’s family. May she too rest in God’s peace.
It’s time for me to give myself another haircut and I want to do it so there’s enough time for it to grow back before I see you again, hopefully at the end of the month. Just because I was lucky the first time doesn’t mean I’ll be consistent so don’t laugh if you see me wearing a hat in my next YouTube Mass.