I was able to visit Lawrence Bronecki before he died in order to anoint him as his wife Linda and I prayed for him. Even then, Larry had a smile on his face as we talked, which was so typical of his disposition throughout life. We celebrated his Mass of Christian Burial on Monday, April 11th and he will be buried at Rittman Cemetery as he had been in service to his country. He and Linda were married for 51 years and had a daughter, Debra (who attended our parish school) and two grandchildren. May he rest in the peace of the Risen Lord.                                      

     Though this column needed to be written a few days before Easter, I can even now express my thanks to the people who work every year at making our Holy Week Liturgies prayerful. I’m grateful to Mickey Stitt and to the choir and to our visiting musicians, all of whom work very hard to provide the best possible music for our sacred liturgies. I’m grateful for those who decorated the church for Easter…the sanctuary glows with a big splash of color to celebrate the new life of Easter after 7 weeks of Lenten barrenness. Your gifts toward our flower fund make this possible. I’m always grateful to our liturgical ministers…lectors, ushers, altar servers, eucharistic Ministers and to all who setup for our liturgies & then clean up afterward. I’m grateful for our maintenance staff who do such a great job of keeping the church clean. Finally, I’m thankful on a daily basis for Deacon Pat & Joan Berigan who join me week after week in trying to serve the people of St. Leo’s. Joan is our “behind the scenes” camerawoman who controls the movement of our live-streaming camera for those joining us online, but she is also very much front & center throughout the year as she meets with grieving people to help them plan the funeral for their loved one. Deacon Pat expresses his daily service to the parish in his liturgical ministry and in his preaching. And both of them prepared our catechumen and candidates for their joyful entrance into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. There is much more that each of them do but not enough room in this column to mention all their ministerial work. On behalf of the parish, I thank them for their faithful ministry and for their friendship and support.                                                         

     One of our liturgical ministers deserves special acknowledgment today as we congratulate our Associate Musician, Mary Piechowski & her husband Eric on the birth of a healthy girl! Lily Ann was born April 11th and I can’t wait to see her. Mickey Stitt says she is the newest member of our choir and I hope we get to hear her singing loud & clear when Mary returns to her musical ministry. Until then, we just thank God for a healthy delivery and pray that they may enjoy their daughter immensely.                                                              

     Today I will be baptizing Brinley Woody as one of the newest members of our Catholic Family. She is the daughter of Nicholas & Danielle Woody, and the great-granddaughter of John Zappitelli, a longtime member of our parish. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate baptisms especially during this Easter Season as the Lord adds more people to his Church. May Brinley know the joy of God’s love and life.                                                                       

     Once again our display case in the vestibule of the church has been changed to show pictures from our Easter archives so thanks to John & Jeannie Sabol for doing this. Be sure to check it out and remember that our Information Desk in the vestibule of the church is open after each weekend Mass to assist you with questions from a rectory office staff member & to perhaps save you some time from calling or stopping in the rectory office. Thanks to Amy Mackey for being there to assist you.