The St. Leo Ledger. SPOTLIGHT ON.. Scott and Kim Adair. Parish Masses: A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER FOR AND FROM THE PEOPLE OF ST. LEO

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1 The St. Leo Ledger Father Jack Farry, Pastor Father Joseph O Brien, Retired Priest Rectory 6658 Keystone St. ( ) Parish Services Director: Pat Lardon ( ) Parish Business Manager Terry Grillo ( ) Parish Secretary: Eileen Concannon ( ) Music Director: Christine O Neill ( ) Cluster Nurse:Teresa McCausland ( ) Parish Masses: Saturday Vigil Mass: 5 p.m. Sunday: 8, 10 and 11:30 a.m Weekday: 8:30 a.m. Saturday 8:30 a.m. Holy Days: 8, 10 a.m. 7 p.m. A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER FOR AND FROM THE PEOPLE OF ST. LEO Volume 9 Nr 2 April-May 2006 SPOTLIGHT ON.. Scott and Kim Adair Marriage is supposed to be a partnership, And in the case of Kim and Scott Adair it is that and more they are a team. Go to the 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass and you ll see Scott and Kim serving as Eucharistic Ministers. Go to any of St. Leo s social events and there they are, working together. Scott, who is a retail receiving manager with Jetro, a restaurant supply company, is team spokesman, but Kim is quietly capable. Married in 1994, faith-wise at first they agreed to amicably disagree. Kim was a cradle Catholic; Scott was a cradle Presbyterian. When their daughter Amber came along she was baptized Catholic and began her schooling at St. Leo s. Now nine, she s at St. Tim s and missing St. Leo s terribly. As Scott experienced Kim s quiet faith, he witnessed Amber s learning of God, and remembered the faith of Kim s mother, who died in Then a few years ago, Kim sponsored a good friend through the RCIA program, and that really got him thinking. The next year he too joined the RCIA program and was received into the Church at Easter, I think there are a lot of differences and a lot of similarities in all faiths, said Scott, whose initial reason for becoming Catholic was to make his family whole in a way that could only be accomplished by worshipping together. Through the RCIA program he discovered what Catholicism is really all about, I know I did the right thing, he said. Father Farry must have been impressed, 1 Continued on page 4

2 Living Stations of the Cross Thursday evening, April 6 saw a living presentation of the Stations of the Cross in the Upper Church by the young people of St. Leo parish. Under the direction of Chick Tschopp, our former eighth grade teacher, the entire cast was made up of grads and other former students of St. Leo School. The capable cast was backed up by members of the St. Leo s Children s Choir under the direction of Chris O Neill. About three quarters of the kids are in high school now, but there were some who came back from younger grades too, according to Chick. This is great, I love coming back and this is my parish, he said. I have a lot of these kids on my from last year and I sent the word out and they came. This helps me with my skills, and learning about my church, said Steven Ramos, stage crew, who now attends Father Judge High. Pete Marcolina, played Jesus, and in spite of the seriousness of the role he admitted it was fun doing it, especially seeing old classmates. Religiously, I understood it more than when I was learning it in school. he said. Blanca Vasquez speaker number two, is now at St. Hubert s. I got a lot of memories back from being here at St. Leo s, she said. As for the Passion, You know the story but seeing it visually makes a difference, she added. Cast & Crew: Jesus: Peter Marcolina, Narrator: Kaitlyn Zelenenki, Reader: Casey Berner, Soldiers: Zachary Abele, Joe Skitek, Pontius Pilate: Michael Kump, Mary: Samantha Spiller, John the Apostle: John Durison, Simon of Cyrene: Rocco Pezzano, Veronica: Devon Peszuk, Speakers at the Stations: Dane Reinhardt, Blanca Vasquez, Colleen Keenan, Shelby Brown High Priest: Timothy Guinter, Mary Magdalen: Rachel Rowan, Townspeople: TJ Kletmick, John Paul Welsh, Dylan Reinhardt, Stage Crew: Robin Schneider, Rachel Weres, Caitlin Collins, Ray Reinhardt Right Hand Man, Steven Ramos. Choristers: Rebecca Cimorelli, Sierra Paxson, Rachel Slutsky 2

3 Photos by Patti McGovern 3

4 Kim and Scott Continued from page 1 because both Kim and Scott were appointed Eucharistic Ministers. I m sure Kim s mother must be real proud of us, Scott said. Being a Eucharistic Minister brings me closer to the inner workings of the Church and makes me feel more in touch with God and the community. At age 37 and parents, the Adairs have busy lives, yet make time for all the parish events, spiritual and otherwise. You might say they are feeding the soul as Eucharistic ministers and feeding the body through parish socials. When Amber started school at St. Leo s the Adairs became more active in the social life of the parish and were among the group of young parents who did everything humanly possible to keep the school open. When this failed and St. Leo s closed last year, it was almost a given that these young mothers and fathers would drop out of parish activities and concentrate on the programs of their children s new schools. Surprisingly, just the opposite happened. These mothers and fathers of the former St. Leo s kids became the nucleus of the St. Leo s Social Committee. So far this year they ve sponsored or helped with a Valentine s Party for Adults, Bingo Party for Families, Spaghetti Dinner, Pancake Breakfasts and the most recent venture a Fish Fry. Just as the Adairs are a team, so are all of the members of the Social Committee. There are no superstars, just great younger couples who enjoy working together to help their parish. In addition to Scott and Kim, there s Paul and Carol Welsh, Fran and Patti McGovern; Walt and Cheryl Olykowski, and Dawn and John Berner, as well as others who are eager to give time and talent in the true spirit of stewardship. If anything activities this year have increased in patronage, not diminished. The Fish Fry had about 130 people, we were really proud of that Scott said. The Valentine Party did well, adult socials are always nice. As for the future, we are always looking for suggestions and new ideas, we want everybody to have input. he said. But of course ideas aren t enough. It s easy, Scott notes for people to suggest the parish have a carnival or a family day, but they just don t happen. It takes a lot of people to run things. The folks on the St. Leo Social Committee are real unsung heroes, but they can t do it all alone. Valentine Mystery! Pancakes! 4 Bingo!

5 Fire Safety Counts! One of the most difficult duties of a priest is conducting funerals for deceased members of his flock. For Father Jack Farry it was doubly difficult this March as he had to concelebrate at the funeral Mass of a double funeral. Long-time faithful parishioners Carmen and Rita Salvino died as a result of a house fire this March. Sometimes tragedies like this happen, no matter what precautions we take. Others are preventable. Each year, in loving memory of Carmen and Rita, around the Feast of St. Joseph, Father Farry asks that we all check our smoke detectors. Do you have sufficient smoke detectors properly placed for the needs of the house? Do they have live batteries in them? If your smoke detectors have test buttons, check them periodically. If your batteries die, replace them immediately. The Philadelphia Fire Department suggests the batteries should be replaced twice yearly in any case. A good time to do it is at the advent of daylight saving time and again at the beginning of standard time. In any case, it is further suggested if the smoke detectors are more than 10 years old, for safety s sake they should be replaced. If you are unable to reach your smoke detectors, call the Philadelphia Fire Prevention hotline. They will send someone to your house to do it for you.. There are even programs available for people who cannot afford to buy new smoke detectors. The Fire Department would rather help you keep your house safe than have to extinguish a fire in it, especially one that could cost you your life. Pray for Our Beloved Dead Gail Simpson John Roeder John Nelson Barbara Fischer Gladys Holzbauer John McGowan Loretta Sims George Colter Charles Schmidt Frank Lojewski Kathleen O Connor Amelia Joniec Carmen Salvino Rita Salvino Genevieve Stankiewicz The Sacrament of First Holy Communion will be administered to our children at St. Leo Church April 29, 10 a.m. The Sacrament of Confirmation will be administered to our children by Bishop Joseph R. Cistone at St. Leo s Church May 16, 5 p.m. PattiMcGovern Bishop Joseph P. McFadden made a pastoral visit to St Leo s on Feb. 26. Shown with the Bishop and Father Jack Farry are form left; altar servers John Durison, Eileen Welsh and John Paul Welsh. VÉÇzÜtàâÄtà ÉÇá àé William Carter and Ephraim Caban who have completed Catechumenate programs and received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. 5

6 Easter Baskets for Shut-Ins As part of St. Leo s outreach to mostly elderly parishioners on the Communion Call list, a committee headed by Beth Wesolowski prepared Easter baskets (actually gift bags) for those who are house-bound. Included in the gift bags was hand cream, envelopes, writing paper, daily pill organizers, soap, candy and an Easter card. We had 18 or 19 people working on this and we did 31 bags, Beth said. This is helping people and bringing our volunteers together. Tacony Civic Association In view of the proposed development of the Delaware River waterfront in Tacony, as well as planned changes in access to I-95 and other neighborhood improvements, we should all stay informed. Much of these exciting developments are discussed at meetings of the Tacony Civic Association. As members of St. Leo s, Tacony s largest church and only territorial Catholic parish, these changes will affect us and we should take part in the discussions. The next meeting of the Civic Association is May 9 at the Disston Memorial Church, 4500 Tyson Ave. 7:30 P.M. WELCOME The St. Leo Parish Community joyfully welcomes the following new families and members: Mr. Daniel Brennan Mr. Michael White Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schorle Mrs. Frances Olszewski Mr. Matthew Laycock Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Shevlin Mr. and Mrs. David Copling Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Brennan Mr. and Mrs. Michael Cahill Mr. Dennis Mullin Mrs. Judy Keene. 6

7 If you like to read the Ledger (and according to the Parish Survey many of you do) by the time you receive this it should be on the parish web site which Mike Hogan has just updated. In the first place it s in living color and secondly you ll get it in a timely manner. In the past, by the time its gone though the printer, the mailer and our speedy postal system the news is a month old. You ll still get the print version, but check the web page if you can. First Friday Fish Fry (but on the fifth Friday) 7

8 THE SAINT LEO LEDGER Saint Leo Rectory Keystone & Unruh Streets Philadelphia, Pa Rev. Jack Farry, Pastor Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Mineola NY Permit No