Dear Parishioners,

On March 1st we celebrated the life of Leslie Hahn, the husband of parishioner Lisa Hahn. Leslie or “Dutch” as he was known, had not been in good health for many years but his death still was unexpected. He and Lisa joined me in a trip to Italy several years ago and so I had the chance to get to know him a bit as he was not Catholic and I’m grateful for that opportunity. He was a good humored & kind man and highly thought of by many. Dutch and Lisa have 2 daughters and 2 grandchildren. He served as a Captain in the Army and also was a Cleveland Police Office for 29 years. Dutch was a member of a German Men’s choir and was an Eagle Scout as well. Please remember him in prayer and Lisa as well as she faces this time of grief and transition. 

This past Tuesday I also celebrated a funeral Mass for Jeanette Klaehn, a longtime member off our parish. Jeanette was 96 years old but would still attend Mass here when she was able. She would always be sure to come up to me to say hello and to assure me that she was praying for me each day, which I always appreciated. In fact when I heard of her passing, I worried for a moment about my daily intercessor, but then quickly remembered that her prayers for me now will be much more powerful as she offers them in the presence of God himself. Jeanette told me that because of her age, she was unable to do much at home so she prayed several rosaries a day. I’m sure those prayers to the Blessed Mother did much good for her and for those she prayed for. We extend our sympathy to her son Thomas. She was married to Leo (deceased) and also had a son named James (also deceased). May she rest in God’s peace.

I’ve been meaning to remind you about the proper way of receiving Holy Communion. Keeping in mind that this is the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ, His Real Presence we are receiving, the Church asks us to bow our head while the person ahead of you is receiving, then to place one hand over the other (if not receiving directly on your tongue) and say “Amen” as you receive the host and reverently place it in your mouth. You generally receive the Eucharist very reverently but the one suggestion I would make is this: if you only have one hand free because you are carrying a baby or using a cane for example, you may want to consider receiving Holy Communion on your tongue. To use only one hand when putting the Sacred host in your mouth just looks irreverent to me, even though you don’t intend this. Perhaps this is because we use one hand to pop a piece of candy in our mouth or to chew on some snack. In fact for hundreds of years people only received the host directly on the tongue in order to express their reverence for this great Sacrament, even though we are still touching the Body of Christ either way, with our tongue or with our hand(s). Of course I won’t say anything to you or try to make you feel singled out if you still use just one hand but it’s just something I’ve been wanting to mention for some time, especially during a time when so many show disbelief or disrespect for this great Sacrament. How grateful we should be to receive the Real Presence of Christ within us each week for “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you will have no life within you.”

It’s been a joy to hear the confessions of our children during Lent and to have had many come to the Sacrament on the Evening of Confessions. May God grant his mercy to us all.

 Fr.James P. Schmitz