Last week I visited and anointed a woman by the name of Rosalie Zupancic who was in Hospice Care in Euclid. She joined the faithful departed and was buried from our church this weekend (on Saturday, October 30th). She was a member of St. Leo the Great for a very long time and I’m glad I had the opportunity to speak with her before her passing as she was a woman of deep faith. She was devoted to St. Jude and to the prayer of the rosary. We include her in our prayers for all the faithful departed especially during this month of November and express our sympathy to her children and grandchildren.
On November 2nd, the feast of All Souls, we had a Holy Hour (actually it was about 45 minutes long but that’s close enough!) as we prayed for all the faithful departed, especially for those who were buried from our parish during this last year (November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2021). We had a wonderful showing of people who appreciated how well it was planned by Joan Berigan and then presided over by Deacon Pat. So my continued thanks to them for their creativity and service to the parish community. We will leave the names of the deceased from our parish displayed on the large screen during our Masses this weekend and again invite you to write in the name(s) of deceased loved ones you would like us to pray for during this month of November in the book by the baptismal font. May all of our faithful departed rest in the peace of the Risen Christ.
I just want to include here a little “shout out” to all of our parish and school staff. Especially with the parish school, we have many employees here at our parish, though I don’t like to think of them so much as employees as co-workers and co-ministers as it takes a village, the saying goes, to raise a child (or 300 of them) and to serve the adults of our parish, also God’s children, who make up our community. I am grateful to all of our school teachers, many of them new and young this year, who have joined us, not just in providing an excellent academic opportunity for our children but to do so in an atmosphere of faith, which is what makes the Catholic School so different from the public schools. I am also grateful to our maintenance staff who do an excellent job of maintaining all of our buildings…the rectory, the church, the parish center, & the school with the gym and cafeteria. Plus they do much maintenance on our parish grounds as well. They are understaffed right now as we are having a very hard time hiring workers like most of the country. So my thanks to them for doing more than their share of taking good care of our grounds & buildings. As you know from your encounters with our rectory staff, we have helpful and caring people who assist others in a hundred different ways. And again, my appreciation for our Principal, Denise Burns, who oversees both the elementary and preschool, and does so with great dedication and a sincere desire to do the very best for our children, their parents, and our staff. Top it all off with Deacon Pat & Joan Berigan, and I am filled with gratitude for such good leadership and service. I am very proud of all our staff members here at St. Leo’s and I hope you too can express your appreciation to them when given the opportunity. They are the ones who allow us to serve you to the best of our ability.