Pastor's Column for September 12, 2021

Congratulations to Nathan & Bethany Miller on the birth and baptism of their 2nd son, Hubert Reid who was baptized on Friday, August 27th. May they continue to find joy in their growing family.
Congratulations to Gabrielle Gorczyca & Justin Sword who were married here on Saturday, September 4th. Gabrielle was a member of St. Stephen parish in West Salem where I was Pastor before coming to St. Leo’s. May they be blessed with many years together as husband and wife.
On Tuesday, August 31st, Bishop Roger Gries celebrated the funeral Mass for Raymond Kikta, during which I concelebrated and Deacon Pat assisted. Bishop Gries has been a long time friend of Ray who graduated from Benedictine High School & volunteered there. They were classmates and went on pilgrimage to Eastern Europe. Bishop Gries also celebrated the Mass for Ray and Nancy’s 50th wedding anniversary back in 2017. Ray and his wife have been faithful members of the parish for a long time and participated in the 4pm Mass together each Saturday. Ray worked in Cleveland schools as a Junior High then High School teacher for 37 years and was an officer in the the Cleveland Teacher’s Union. He was of course very supportive of education and this was a top priority for his children & grandchildren. Ray will be missed and remembered fondly. Our sympathies are extended to his wife and two children and we pledge our prayers to them at this time.
We recently received two generous donations to the parish and we want to express our gratitude for them. One was in memory of Jason W. Shores from his parents, James & Georgia Shores, and the other was from Kim Vah in memory of her mother, Harriet Watson. We will use these gifts for items which can be used to honor the memory of Jason & Harriet. May I ask you to say a prayer right now for these two people and to pray for their surviving loved ones?
I received a letter from the Catholic Community Foundation of the Diocese of Cleveland thanking us for having reached our goal of $66,372 pledged for this years Annual Catholic Charities Appeal. There were 224 donors and we were 1.04% over our goal…close but we made it! So thank you again for your generosity and for helping us each year to provide so many basic and necessary resources for our brothers & sisters in need. May God reward you for recognizing him in your neighbor.
We had over 30 people join us on August 29th to learn more about our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May of 2022. Most of those there signed up plus we have 7 people from outside our parish who have committed to joining us as well. Though we are limited to 30 people at this time, we are hopeful that that number will be increased in the coming months, so if you missed the opportunity to attend the meeting and are interested in going, please let me know so that I can give you a registration form and/or offer you more information about the trip. We will have a waiting list once we hit our limit. Feel free to call the rectory office for more information.