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January/February 2007
Issue
Feeding the Faith
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Monsignor
Leo S. Rosloniec holds a unique distinction in the Diocese
of Grand Rapids: He is the oldest practicing pastor.
This June, he’ll celebrate 53 years of the priesthood.
In October, he’ll turn 80.
Turn the clock back to 1942, when a
13-year-old Leo, the eighth child in a family of 11,
made the decision to enter the seminary.
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The U.S. Navy won the Battle of Midway that
year. General Eisenhower was leading U.S. troops through Morocco
and Algeria. Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller
topped the charts. The movie Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby
and Fred Astaire played in theaters – for about a dime
a show.
For Monsignor Rosloniec – or Father
Leo, as he prefers to be called – a lot of living and
dying and change and wonder have happened since that year,
all woven by the common thread of faith.
“Faith is our rock, the foundation of
our commitment to Christ,” said Father Leo. “Without
faith, we have nothing. With faith, we have everything.”
On a late October afternoon, FAITH Grand Rapids
sat down with Father Leo in his rectory at St. Joseph Parish
in Wright for a conversation about a life built on faith.
The Polish pastor, beloved to many and known
for his sense of humor, remembered how he was called to the
priesthood that pivotal year and shared his faith journey
through the decades …
Faith steeped in tradition
Father Leo’s early faith foundation was poured by his
parents. “We grew up with a lot of tradition,”
he said. “Mass, the sacraments, were always important.
Religious customs help to build a strong faith. At Christmas,
for example, we would leave a chair open to signify the coming
of Jesus, or, if someone stopped by unexpectedly, we’d
welcome them, giving them the place of honor in that chair.
At Eastertime, we would have our food blessed. We had a Holy
Water font near our front door. As we would come home from
church, we would say to our parents in Polish, ‘May
Jesus Christ be praised,’ and our parents would answer,
‘Now and forever. Amen.’ These little things –
these rituals – feed the faith.”
The ritual of altar serving led him to the
priesthood. “I liked serving, and the nuns saw that
and would pick me to serve. They would say, ‘Why don’t
you become a priest?’ I started thinking about it.
“I also was influenced by our priests
at Sacred Heart. We had three priests back then who would
play football and baseball with us. Because there were three
priests, they had more time to interact with us kids. I can
remember running home for lunch to gobble up a sandwich and
running back to play ball.
“Then, in eighth grade, I asked one
of the priests to sign me up for the seminary.”
Things were different back then. Young men
who felt called by God often entered the seminary as part
of their high school education. “Just like anyone, I
was a little fearful of a strange place, of meeting new people.
I joke that I got ‘locked up’ for six years. But
it quickly became home.”
St. Joseph Seminary on Burton Street in Grand
Rapids (now diocesan headquarters) was just a few miles from
where he grew up on Grand Rapids’ West Side. After six
years of education at St. Joe, the young Leo spent two years
in Detroit at Sacred Heart Seminary where he earned a degree
in philosophy. He then headed south for four years of theology
at St. John’s-Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Texas.
He was also sent to San Antonio to learn Spanish.
“Bishop Haas had the vision to know that we were going
to need Spanish-speaking priests in our diocese,” Father
Leo said.
He was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral
of St. Andrew on June 5, 1954, by Bishop Babcock – in
fact, his was the first class to be ordained by this bishop.
Eight men were ordained that year in the Diocese of Grand
Rapids.
Father Leo’s “first job”
after his ordination was to begin a Hispanic Apostolate at
the Cathedral of St. Andrew. But the seminary needed a Spanish
teacher, and Father Leo returned to his alma mater to teach.
“I joke I got locked up for another 12 years,”
he said.
Pastoral work and personal growth
Father Leo’s first assignment as a pastor
was at St. Peter Parish in Douglas/Saugatuck. But God had
other plans. The Diocese of Kalamazoo was being created in
the late 1960s, and St. Peter’s would become a part
of that diocese. So, in 1970, Father Leo headed north to St.
Francis de Sales Parish in Norton Shores near Muskegon. In
1981, he was assigned to the Basilica of St. Adalbert in Grand
Rapids and, in 1996, to St. Joseph Parish in Wright. Last
spring, Father Leo became a monsignor.
What faith memories are imprinted on his mind
and in his heart from these years spent serving?
“A lot of moments of helping the elderly,”
Father Leo said. “Administering the sacrament of the
sick. Taking Communion to them. You’re ministering to
them, but they really minister to you. You come back with
so much.
“There was an elderly man at St. Adalbert
whose wife was dying of cancer. I had brought her Communion.
She couldn’t swallow the host. He got a glass of water
for her, gently lifting the water to her lips and cuddling
her so she could receive the host. I thought, wow, what a
demonstration of love that I had just witnessed.
“For a lot of our young people about
to be married, love is a lot of emotion. But I tell young
couples that you grow in love the longer you’re married.
I share with them the example of the elderly couple from St.
Adalbert.
“The elderly often are so accepting
of what God has placed in their hands. I see beautiful examples
of faith in those who are older.”
What about those who struggle with faith?
Who reach but can’t seem to grasp it?
“If you’re reaching, then you
do have faith. I think everyone goes through doubts –
you pray through those doubts. The doubts can strengthen your
faith for the future.
“Faith is a gift, not an emotion or
a feeling or a rationalization. Although there is reason connected
with faith, you can’t ‘reason’ yourself
into having it,” Father Leo said.
“There are ways to center yourself,
to put your eyes on God, and to grow in faith: through Scripture,
through traditions and rituals, through the magisterium of
the church, and through nature.”
During Mass, he centers himself by focusing
on the Eucharist. “The Eucharist is central to our faith.
It is where I most strongly feel God’s presence.”
He has celebrated probably more than 15,000
Masses – through crying babies and bad weather and winter
mornings when it would have been cozier just to sleep in.
Father Leo’s faith fuels his daily willingness to serve,
to say yes to God.
“I plan to serve as long as I can,”
he said.
A day in the life of Father Leo
6:10 a.m.
Wakes up, dresses. Reads a passage from a beautiful book authored
by Pope Benedict XVI called Daily Reflections – “It’s
almost in the style of St. Augustine,” he said. He also
reflects on the day’s scripture. Then, he walks down
the road from the rectory to the church, prepares for Mass.
7:45 a.m.
Celebrates Mass.
8:30 a.m.
Eats breakfast – a bowl of cereal and, of course, fruit
(the Wright area is known for its many orchards, and Father
Leo gets a lot of fruit, especially apples, from parishioners).
9 a.m.
Works at his desk answering correspondence and phone calls,
preparing the coming weekend’s homily.
Throughout the day
Visits the sick, the elderly and others.
Evening
Eats dinner, attends meetings such as school board and parish
council.
10 p.m.
Gets ready for bed. Reads for pleasure – Newsweek, Church
& Parish Liturgy, America magazine and books. His favorite
prayers are the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary.
Diocesan call to action:
• To learn more about the priesthood,
please contact Father Ron Hutchinson, diocesan director of
priestly vocations, at 616-243-0491 or e-mail Father Ron at
rhutchinson@dioceseofgrandrapids.org.
Additional information can be found on the diocesan Web site
at http://www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org.
A conversation with Monsignor Leo S. Rosloniec,
pastor, St. Joseph-Wright
By Molly Klimas
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