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Why Catholic? Meet Bishop Edward C. Malesic
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St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service

News of the Diocese

October 12, 2022

St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service
St. Leo the Great marks 75 years of ministry, service

The faithful of St. Leo the Great Parish in Cleveland gathered with their pastor, Father Jim Schmitz, Deacon Patrick Berigan and Bishop Edward Malesic on Oct. 10 to mark a significant milestone: the beginning of a yearlong celebration for their parish’s 75th anniversary.

“1948 was a great year, wasn’t it?” the bishop asked. “Not only did the Cleveland Indians win the World Series – the last time they did that – but Bishop Edward Hoban established St. Leo the Great Parish and put Father Sylvester Lux in charge of it.” Father Lux’s memory lives on as the parish hall is named in his honor.

The bishop recounted the early years of the parish, noting it began with about 500 families and the first Mass was celebrated at Ben Franklin School. Construction of the church and school complex got underway in 1950. “And the rest, as they say, is a wonderful history,” he added. The bishop asked if anyone was here when the parish was formed and one parishioner stood to be acknowledged.

“Today, your parish and school stand as beacons of light and hope here on Cleveland’s South Side,” the bishop said. “Father Jim leads a vibrant and holy place, built on the shoulders of so many priests, religious sisters and faithful parishioners. Your faithful legacy of worship, teaching and service continues today and provides an anchor for this community to serve God for many generations to come.”

The bishop told the congregation he appreciates their work to build up the Body of Christ in this part of the world and thanked them for announcing and celebrating the Gospel of Jesus. “After all, that is the reason why Jesus called us together to be a Church. And we must always be grateful for the calling of Jesus in our lives, no matter where he leads us.”

The day’s readings compel us to be grateful to God for his blessings, the bishop said. “Jesus asks us to be thankful for the blessings that come our way, sometimes at unexpected times and in unexpected ways.”

He said God wants us to be grateful people, but first we must realize we are blessed. Using the Gospel story of the 10 lepers who ask Jesus for pity, he noted that after Jesus told them to show themselves to the priests, only one leper realized he had been healed. He was the only one who returned to Jesus to thank him for his healing.

The grace of God often comes to us in very simple things, the bishop explained. In the first reading, Naaman’s leprosy was removed by going into the Jordan River seven times, as promoted by the prophet. “Nothing really spectacular about that,” the bishop said, “but in the ordinary he was healed and he gave thanks for it.”

Often we look for God in the extravagantly miraculous while all the time he is found in simple things, he said, pointing to the sacraments. For example, in baptism, simple water washes away our original sin, uniting us to God as his newborn children. In confirmation, oil is smeared on our foreheads empowering us to proclaim God’s good news using the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the bishop said. “How simple an action, yet how powerful a result.”

He also talked about marriage, noting the man and woman promise to be true to each other in good times and bad. Through those words, “the two of you become husband and wife, inseparably united by the God of which Jesus said, ‘What God has joined, let no one separate.’ A simple exchange of words in marriage and the two of you became one flesh – a miracle of God – which only the two of you will experience and only those with eyes of faith will see.”

Bishop Malesic questioned if we are aware of God’s presence in the sacraments and the simple graces that come to us daily. “Only by the awareness of God’s goodness to us in so many ways will we go back to God time and time again to say, ‘Thank you,’” he said, adding that the best way to give thanks to God for those blessings is to be a blessing to others. “Share the gifts that God has given to you with someone else.”

He also reminded the congregation that the Eucharist itself is an act of thanksgiving; in fact, the word means to give thanks.

“We gather here because we know that God has blessed us. He gives his life to us. He gives Jesus to us. Here, we receive him again. And the response should be a great ‘thank you’ by giving our lives to him in return and serving him when we leave here, especially the poor among us, and proclaiming the good news to a world out there that needs to hear what we have come to know,” the bishop said. “We know that God has blessed us by sending his only Son so that anyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life: that Jesus, who died for us, is risen from the dead. And if we have faith, we will rise again, too.”

St. Leo Parish is centered on a good God “who comes to us in very simple ways, but does great things for us,” he added.

“May we never forget the blessing God is to us. May we always be grateful for the gifts God has given to us. May we share what we have received and give what we have been given – the love of God itself. God bless you, this wonderful parish and all those you love,” the bishop said.

After Mass, the bishop and Father Schmitz joined parishioners for a reception in Lux Hall.

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