Pastor's Column, August 10, 2014

I anointed Elmer & Ernie Wisnieski this past week. They have been married for 72 years and live next door to their daughter Karen. I told them we would offer our prayers for them as Elmer was going to see the doctor during the week. Please say a Hail Mary for them. 

We celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Bruno Romano last Saturday. Bruno was at our parish picnic a couple weeks ago and was a faithful usher at Mass. We ask God to give him the reward of his faithfulness. 

Congratulations to Timothy Lamont & Rebecca Jandrokovic who were married on August 1st here at St. Leo’s. May the Lord grant them many years of happiness!

I will be baptizing twins during the Noon Mass this weekend. We welcome Michael Patrick & Dominic Francis, sons of Vito & Patricia Simonetta. So we pray not only for the little boys for their parents who take on at one time double the responsibility of raising a child. One of my sisters had twins and another had triplets. Every year they would go to Twinsburg for their annual Twins Day celebration. The Catholic Church in Twinsburg, by the way, is Saints Cosmas & Damian, twin brothers. But now I’m getting off track. I can attest that the twins we are baptizing have healthy lungs! They love to “sing” during Mass. All for the glory of God. 

This Tuesday I will be offering Mass for Florence Koenig. I don’t know her personally & most likely never met her. But I was informed that she was my “prayer mom.” Apparently every priest in the Diocese has someone who is praying for him, and Florence was the one praying for me (and that’s quite a job!). Sadly I was informed that she passed away so I wanted to offer Mass for her so that I may pray for her as she prayed for me. Priests need your prayers. Please pray for us often that we may serve God faithfully and serve you lovingly.

I was informed this past week that the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel have been given the blessing of Bishop Richard Lennon and permission to reside in the Diocese of Cleveland and to engage in ministry to our Diocese. These two Sisters are Sr. Gloria Omoneme Olori, SSMA and Sr. Veronica Temitope Ogunlade, SSMA. Sr. Veronica will be arriving here in a month or two but Sr. Gloria has been with us for some time. We are happy they are with us and welcome their ministry in our parish. 

Pastor's Column, July 27, 2014

We were saddened to hear of the sudden death of David Lincheck who passed away at the age of 49, leaving behind his wife Pam, his daughter Theresa (who plays the clarinet on occasion for Mass here at St. Leo’s), his mother Helen and siblings Janice and John. We also express our sympathy to one of our school students, Julia, on the death of her father, James Johnson, and to Julia’s mom, Nadia Ahmetovic. James was 41. We also pledge our prayers to Chris Rath on the death of her nephew, Stephen Daschner. Though who are taken from us at so young an age remind us of the fragility of life. May they know now the fullness of eternal life in heaven.

Please keep in your prayers one of our Preschool teachers, Cherise Pacanovsky who had surgery and will be in recovery for several weeks. Also remember Dan Staskiews who will be anointed this week and is in need of prayerful support. 

We congratulate Timothy Lamont & Rebecca Jandrokovic (from St. Leo’s) on their marriage to take place this Friday in our church. May the Lord bless them in their life together. 

Remember that our parish picnic is this Sunday from 1-5pm! We will provide the burgers & dogs (including Michaela) and there will be some limited beverages available but we encourage you to bring your choice of beverage. In case of inclement weather, we’ll meet indoors. Come & relax with members of your parish family. 

We also wanted to let you know that according to the Canon Law of the Church, a pastor must offer one Sunday Mass “Pro Populo” or for the People of the Parish. This means that we have only two Mass intentions available for Sundays, and of course one for the 4pm Mass on Saturday. In a couple of months, we’ll open the new Mass calendar for intentions during the 2015 year, but we wanted to let you know that I pray in a particular way for everyone in the parish during one of our Sunday Masses.

It’s always hard to believe how quickly the summer months pass. This week we enter the month of August. Normally school begins that month but this year the students don’t return until September 2, which is the day after Labor Day. That’s how it always worked when I was in elementary school, though the kids would tell you that that was in a different century (which actually, it was). Anyway, our plans to paint the cafeteria & update the school office are underway. We look forward to the return of our students, but it’s still too early for that, and they probably don’t want any reminders. So let’s enjoy what we have left of summer, beginning with our picnic this weekend.