Pastor’s Column for July 15, 2018

We took out the 2nd pew on each side of the church so that there is more seating available in these handicapped sec- tions. There are now two rows for the handicapped, and they are easily identified by the green cushions. We put the two pews we removed in the vestibule of the church so that there is more seating for when we have Donut Sunday, etc. No charge.
I would like to welcome our new Athletic Director, Rey Caraballo. Many of our school parents would know him as he was our Site Director this past CYO season & was also our score keeper for several seasons. He is a graduate of our parish school and has accepted the offer to be our new Athletic Director. Rey will be taking over the day to day operations for all CYO related sports and events.
In extending a welcome to Rey, I also want to express my sincere thanks to Matt Tullos who has been our Athletic Director during the last 4 years. Matt began working as Athletic Director shortly after I arrived here at St. Leo’s and has done an excellent job, not only in coordinating, fund- raising, planning & supervising the whole athletic program, but by opening it up to more people & more activity. As a result of his efforts, more & more people have asked about our parish school as they enter our gym building connected to it, and Matt has always given great reports to them of how much our parish school has helped his children (the oldest of which, also named Matt, is now a student at Ignatius High School and has been one of our best & faithful altar servers). So Matt has really helped expand our presence and image in the community and by so doing has helped increase our school enrollment. Matt will continue to work with Rey as his assistant so that the transition will be a smooth one. Thanks again to him and a warm welcome to Rey.
The company which has put a new roof on our rectory in the past will be installing a new roof on the two levels of our Parish Center (the old convent) as it has been leaking into the Conference Room and into the Preschool area on the 2nd floor. They will also be putting a new roof on our bell tower which has caused leaking in the sanctuary area (to the right of the priest’s chair) for several years and has created a large hole in the ceiling, which will be repaired as soon as the new roof is installed. We also need repair work done on the roof of the school/gym buildings and will most likely also have a new roof installed on the church this summer as well. We cannot fix the cracked archways of the church until we have corrected the problem that caused the cracks in the first place. The cost of all these repairs will be over $150,000 so thank you for your donations to the capital improvement fund.