Pastor's Column for September 8, 2024
Dear Parishioners,
At the shrine of St. Leo the Great in the back of the church, we have placed the hand-carved wooden statues made out of olive wood by Christians living in the Holy Land (a very small percentage of Christians live there now…only about 2%). These crucifixes and statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be placed in the classrooms of our parish school. If September 8th had not fallen on a Sunday this year, we would be celebrating the feast of the Nativity or Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Next Saturday, September 14th, is the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. So the timing of receiving these statues is perfect as we display them between these 2 feasts. This Friday I will be blessing these statues and crucifixes at our first all school Mass for this year. Then the children will process with them to their classrooms where they will be displayed and where they will learn about the holiness of our Blessed Mother and also of the salvation offered to us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We have received so many donations from you for these items and so I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to completely cover the cost for these. By doing so, you are not only “blessing” the students of our school but you are also financially supporting the Christians in the Holy Land who made them! So again, please accept my gratitude for making this possible. The older statues and crosses have been donated so they will continue to be put to good use.
This would also be the perfect time to let you know that we have a new processional cross which is used at the beginning and end of each weekend Mass. Though I’ve been wanting to replace the beautiful but older one we have used here for many years, I also wanted to purchase another one that had a more distinctive style and I just happened to come upon it when looking at the colors used for our statues of the Holy Family as they are being painted. I thought it was a beautiful mix of both the western and eastern rites of the church as it is both statue-like but also has the paintings of Mary & John in icon form on each side of the horizontal beam. Mary & John are often portrayed on either side of a crucifix as they both were present at the crucifixion (remember that Jesus told John, his beloved disciple, that Mary was now his Mother (to take care of) and he told his Mother that John was now her son. We will make use of the older processional cross in the parish center & in the school so it will remain a part of our prayer.
I also wanted to let you know that we are able to pay for these renovations in the church due to the many generous donations we have received from you over the years. Not infrequently, someone will leave money to the parish in their will, or living parishioners will give me a donation to use at my discretion. Since this fund has been building up for many years, I thought these new items would be the perfect use for them so once again, let me acknowledge and thank you for your wonderful generosity that allows us to enhance the beauty of our church and our worship. Know that your donations have been put to very good use.
Finally I want to tell you that I could not be happier with how our school year began this past Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. As you know, we have a new Principal, Mr. Lorenzo Jones, and several new teachers and staff members, including Ms. DeAndre Branner, our new Assistant Principal. I was so pleased with the number of returning and new students, and our enrollment continues to rise because of such strong and competent leadership. It's an exciting time for our parish school as it faces new challenges which we are meeting through the gifts of so many people.
Fr. James P. Schmitz
