My family celebrated my dad’s 95th birthday last Saturday, July 9th, at one of his favorite Italian restaurants. His wife of 102 years was also there & when we asked them the secret to living a long life, they both just shrugged & said, “I have no idea.” So there you have it. Since they didn’t mention a good diet or exercise, I take that to mean these are not necessary (and knowing that my dad has neither a good diet or exercise routine, I am leaving it up to just good genes, which I hope I inherited). I’m not sure that another 33 years of life on this earth is really on the top of my bucket list, but I do hope for a few more years to enjoy the gift of being connected with this parish of St. Leo the Great.

     I especially look forward to celebrating the 75th anniversary of our parish which was founded on October 10, 1948. So we will kick off this year-long anniversary celebration by having Bishop Malesic celebrate the 11:00am Mass for us on Sunday, October 9th of this year. It will be his first visit here with us so we’re glad that his schedule permits him to join us on that day. We’ll announce some special events that will take place during the year to celebrate this milestone, but I can tell you now that the sloping part of our church roof really needs to be scraped and painted. I thought it would be a nice gesture to have it re-painted in the original color, which was grey-ish to match the concrete that is found in other parts of the building. We are also looking to bring down the maintenance garage that currently sits between the Parish Center and the school building, and using the storage units that can be rented in the new facility on the corner of Broadview and Brookpark Roads. We would put up a large shed behind the school to house the equipment we use frequently on our property. We’ll see how this plan works out next year. New windows for the cafeteria & gym are planned for this summer so we hope these will help not only with efficiency but the appearance of the gym and school buildings. 

     I was able to get more information on the plans for a trip to Italy next year. We will leave on Monday, March 20, 2023 and return on Thursday evening, March 30th. The cost is a very reasonable $3479 per person which includes roundtrip airfare from Cleveland, accommodations at first class hotels based on two persons sharing a room with private bath, breakfast daily plus 7 dinners, all sightseeing by private motorcoach with English-speaking guides, all transfers to/from airports and all admission fees, hotel service charges, etc. (price is subject to change). We would fly into Venice and also travel to Padua, Florence, Assisi & Rome. A brochure with more detail will be available shortly. We already have quite a few people interested so let me know if you’d like to join us & I’ll put you on the list!

     I want to offer our sympathy to Joe Skulina on the passing of his wife Nadine who died suddenly on July 4th. Services were private. Joe & Nadine have been longtime parishioners of St. Leo’s so I wanted to let him know that I would be asking for your prayers for him and his wife. May Nadine rest in the peace of the Risen Lord forever. 

     As part of the desire to illustrate faith in action, the Diocese of Cleveland is offering a new series called “Embraced by Grace.” The series will show how the Catholic Church and social service organizations founded with Catholic values journey with people facing a myriad of challenges. The first episode features Zelie’s Home, a Cleveland-based community where women thrive as they embrace motherhood. Some of the women struggled with whether or not to terminate their pregnancies. They also dealt with homelessness, unemployment and other challenges. This can be viewed on the Diocesan website, dioceseofcleveland.org.