God willing and the creek don’t rise, I will be visiting with my sister down in Florida this week and will leave after the 11am Mass on Sunday. She and some friends of mine live in the Fort Myers area so I was going to visit and stay a few days with both of them during the week but my friends have a pool with a large “cage” over it (to prevent insects and golf balls from getting in...they live behind a golf course) & that cage collapsed as a result of Hurricane Irma. My sister’s house suffered little damage but they were very much afraid of armed looters. Unfortunately they do not have power yet and are not expected to get it back until Friday. They have a generator that helps keep the food cold & the lights on but is not enough of course to power the air conditioning. That’s a small price to pay compared to all those in Florida and Texas who lost their homes and even their lives because of these hurricanes. Speaking of which, we received over $5,000 from our 2nd collection for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas last week. Thank you for your incredible generosity! I’m so proud of how our community is always reaching out to help others, even through our constant St. Vincent de Paul Ministry and the donations they receive from you.
We would like to ask for your help with our upcoming Parish Festival next month. We are in need of volunteers in many different areas. There are sign up sheets in the vestibule of the church so please consider helping us out in any way you can and with whatever time you have.
We’d like to remind you again of the opportunity you have to make your weekly contributions online instead of using the envelopes that are mailed to you. For you, this has the advantage of not having to write checks, find cash or re- member bringing your envelope to church. For us, it means we save money not having to send out envelopes (which costs us several thousands of dollars a year), and we tend to collect more since we will still receive your weekly contribu- tion even if you are on vacation or visiting another parish on any given weekend. You set up it by clicking on the WeShare icon on our homepage (www.leothegreat.org) and it only takes a few short minutes so that you can literally “set it and forget it.” We’re happy to help you with it too if you stop by the Information Desk after Mass or in the rectory office dur- ing the week. You are able to include any special collections we may have (for capital improvements, Catholic Education, the Missions, etc.). It couldn’t be easier & again, it’s a big help to us. Thanks to the many parishioners who have already signed up and are using this convenience already. Again, if you wish to continue to use cash or envelopes in the weekend collection, you can continue to do so. But we appreciate your consideration of this easy way of financially supporting the parish.