Dear Parishioners,
Last Saturday I celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Charles Huetter, the brother of parishioner Louise Tupper. Charles was a devout Catholic who attended Mass and other parish events like Stations of the Cross and Parish Missions at his parish in Dallas, Texas. So we extend our sympathies to his sister Louise who is a longtime and faithful member of St. Leo’s. May he and all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
I have been meeting with the teachers of our parish school as we sign their contracts for next year. I am very grateful to all of them for the courage they had in facing the many challenges of COVID during this past school year. I wanted to especially thank Diane Buccier who will be retiring at the end of this year. “Mrs. B”, as she is fondly known in the school, has taught here at St. Leo’s for 33 years. She told me how much she has enjoyed being here those many years and it is not uncommon for alumni to tell us how much they have appreciated her as well. She wrote me to say that “I will always be proud to tell everyone that I was a teacher at St. Leo’s.” And we will be proud to say that she taught so many so well over so many years. Godspeed and don’t be a stranger, Mrs. B.
Right after the repairs were made to busted pipes in the rectory and the heat was turned back on in the church, we had a couple of 80° days. Never fails.
Of course we have been blessed to see the beauty of the Easter flowers in the church these past few weeks and I want to thank a parishioner named Joe Soflkancs who comes faithfully to water those flowers in the church. He carefully moves the flowers out of their arrangement so as to water them, removes the dead leaves & flower petals & then puts everything back in place. We have so many people at St. Leo’s who work “behind the scenes” and I’m ashamed to say that I fail to thank them on behalf of us all for the good work they do so quietly but with such dedication. I think of the people who clean the linens we use at Mass, the St. Vincent de Paul people who pack & distribute food to our neighbors, our lectors and altar servers (we have great young people, even in high school, who continue to serve at Mass & I am so grateful for them) and the Mass coordinators who setup for each Mass on the weekend & on weekdays as well. I am also mindful of our ushers & Eucharistic Ministers whose ministries I’ve missed during these COVID months & whom I hope can resume their roles soon. To these and to those I have failed to mention yet again, thank you!
My cousin, Fr. Dan Schlegel, turned 60 this past week (April 29th). It’s funny to see old pictures of him from his younger days at St. Leo’s as you can see how much he has aged unlike myself even though we are now the same age. Well, maybe I have put on a few pounds & have lost my youthful energy and have more grey hair, but...now that I think of it, I guess I’ve aged quite a bit myself. Well, happy birthday, Father Dan...may you grow older as gracefully as I have.