Hello, I am Fr. Leo and I have chosen to speak with you on the internet as a means of reaching as many people as possible. I wish I could speak individually with each family and person in our parish, but with the growth being what it is, that's practically impossible.

In the name of Jesus, and our whole parish family, I am here to say "Welcome Home!" Has it been a while since you've felt our Father's love for you? Have you been away from our Father's embrace-perhaps because you felt let down by Him? Maybe there was an illness or a death, and you felt that God didn't hear your prayers? Perhaps there have been family difficulties, and you just got tired of fighting? Or was it that someone in the Church hurt you-whether inadvertently or on purpose? Is it a sin for which you feel particularly unforgivable? Is it a marriage situation which you feel is not correctable?

Please hear me when I say that Jesus and your Father want you back with them! You belong to God. He's here---patiently waiting with open arms and a smile for you to walk through the door and say: "Hi, Dad, I'm home!"

Leaving home is a difficult thing. Sometimes people even burn bridges behind them when they leave in anger, feeling: "I'll never go back, or they'll never want me back: or it's been so long, how can I ever feel comfortable?" But time, and the grace of God, have a way of healing hurts and disappointments and unforgiveness.

This is the right time, and God's grace is waiting for you. You have just been invited. There is no situation too difficult for God or us to take care of. You are an integral part of God's family. He loves you so much, He made you His child. You are an important and loved part of our family at Holy Spirit, as well.

God gave us each other to help each other find Him. I would like to be part of that search with you. Might you be afraid of what I may think of you or say to you? Would I chew you out or make you feel low? I could never do that, because I know myself, my own weaknesses and sinfulness. Besides that, as a priest of God, all I desire to do, in some small way, is to be an image of the Father and Jesus in their welcome.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father, at the first sight of his returning son, threw his arms around his boy, put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and threw a party. I won't promise you a party, but I do promise a warm welcome. And I also promise that your Daddy in heaven will be dancing over your return.

Welcome home! This home is the place--the center of your being--where you can hear the voice of your Father that says: "You are my beloved; on you my favor rests." That voice of God speaks to you and sets you free to live in the midst of a dark world while remaining in the light.

Please contact me