w If you haven’t yet, please pray about & respond
generously to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal.
(When
we enter 2014, the larger “Ignite the Faith” capital campaign will begin &
I’ll give a fuller explanation about that.)
w This gem below was written recently by a
pastor in Omaha in his bulletin. A sin
everyone everywhere should avoid.
“ Gossip: One of the things that tears at the
fabric of a parish is gossip. People
talking & pulling things down, complaining, bickering, you name it. Gossip is like tearing open a feather pillow
in a 25 mph wind — you can never retrieve all the feathers. The negative talk does not help. Many people in this parish give so much to
make the place hum with positive activity, but a couple complaining words wipe
out whatever good was done. And it takes
the wind out of the sails. When I hear
of such talk I get discouraged
& my energy level is sapped. And
there is no way to respond to the gossip because, like the pillow feathers,
they just get scooted along & kept in the air by others. Gossip is another way of saying: rash
judgment, detraction, calumny. Rash
judgment is assuming as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of
a neighbor. Detraction, without an
objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults & failings to persons
who did not know them. Calumny are
remarks, contrary to the truth, that harm the reputation of others & give
occasion for false judgments concerning them. If we all held to the high principle
of making sure our words never ventured into these three sins against the 8th
Commandment, we would all do a lot less talking. ”
w A CENTURY STANDING . . . on December 1, 2013, St. Leonard will mark the hundredth
anniversary of its building. A testament
to the endurance of faith. Honoring the
celebration with his presence will be the Archbishop Emeritus of Omaha, Most
Rev. Elden F. Curtiss.
The following is a
historical sketch from archived newspaper clippings.
****************************************************************************************************
Among the pioneers who
organized the Catholic faith in Nebraska were Franciscan priests of the
Province of the Sacred Heart, St. Louis. There's evidence of their presence in Madison
in the 1870's, serving the spiritual needs of area German & Irish settlers.
But St. Leonard Catholic Church dates
its actual parish origin to 1880 with the purchase of five acres of land for
$100 (a spot near the location of the current parish cemetery).
In 1898, the current
site was purchased for $1,200. By 1903,
after delays & set-backs, a limestone basement was built (which functioned
as a Church) & a school started. Since
the Franciscans expanded their ministry to California, the priestly care of St.
Leonard transferred to the Diocese of Omaha in 1910. The first full-time resident pastor, a
diocesan priest named Edward Stephen Muenich, arrived the same year.
A.D. W 1913. The Pope was Pius X. The U.S. President was Woodrow Wilson. It was a year between two notable tragedies:
RMS Titanic & World War I.
At a cost of $75,000 for
bricks, lumber & spikes, construction of the new (upper) Church began with
the laying of a cornerstone -- a cube of Vermont marble -- on May 8, 1913. Work was completed for dedication on December
4 of the same year. The architect was Jacob M. Nachtigall of
Omaha.
Faith caused oxen to
haul & human muscles to mortar the materials that shape what is now St.
Leonard Catholic Church: 110 feet tall & one century old. Quite an achievement. The hard work of laborers & the sacrifice
of parishioners way back then have endured. Could they have imagined their investment
lasting this long, the 21st
Century? Rough mathematics, this
building has glorified God with well over 40,000 Masses.
Thanks be to God.
