Leon-Angulo

By RAY WYCHE
Staff Writer

Things are in a state of change in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Whiteville.

Walls have been moved, a new sanctuary floor is in place, work is underway on a new porch, and other construction work-in-progress is evident in the church, parish house and offices.

The changes, most of them being done with volunteer labor, are under the direction and inspiration of the new parish priest, the Rev. Father Marcos Leon-Angulo, who came to Sacred Heart from St. Marks in Wilmington in July.

Father Leon has a close relationship with his parishioners; he signs his weekly newsletter to his flock, “Padre Leon.”

A native of Peru, Father Leon’s parish ministry is a broad and busy one; each Sunday he conducts several services,
including two masses in English and one in Spanish, hears confessions usually on Saturday afternoons or “any time they call me,” and spends each Wednesday conducting mass and handling other church functions at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Community in Elizabethtown.

An installation mass for Father Leon is scheduled for 10:30 a. m. Sunday, Sept. 23, with the Most Rev. Michael E. Burbidge, bishop of the diocese of Raleigh, leading the service. It will be a big day, with a meal to follow the service.

Sacred Heart is growing, with about 350 families making up the congregation, Father Leon says. Folding chairs are in place at the rear of the church since the pews are usually filled to capacity, but Father Leon is careful to point out that the increase in the congregation is not solely his doing.

“God fills the church; I’m just the instrument,” he says.

The church is filled with English-speakers (“Anglos”) for two services each Sunday and at 12:30, “It is full of Hispanics,” he says, for a service in Spanish.

The sanctuary floor in the vicinity of the altar is part of the remodeling taking place since Father Leon’s arrival at Sacred Heart. The heart pine flooring was a gift from J. L. Powell and Co., the Whiteville firm that specializes in reclaiming old heart pine timber and turning it into flooring.

“People who work for them are members of this church,” Father Leon says of the Powell company, and the company donated the flooring as a goodwill gesture.

Other changes in the physical structure of the church undertaken since Father Leon’s arrival include the moving of a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe that once was near the altar at the front of the church to a specially built alcove near the entrance.

The statue is a favorite shrine for Hispanic communicants and Father Leon has procured kneeling benches and a shelf for candles at her statue.

He backs this change in location on a theological basis.

“I want people to focus on the crucifix (located behind the altar),” he says. “Now they (Hispanics) are happy and the Anglos are happy. My job is to make people happy.”

He has no problems with a bi-racial congregation.

“We don’t care if you are Anglo or Hispanic. We serve everyone.”

Preparing services in two languages could be difficult and Father Leon admits that expressing himself in English in a worship service situation requires extra preparation.

“For me, with English as a second language, it is a challenge for me to preach in English,” he says.

Sacred Heart members volunteer to help in church functions since the church has only Father Leon on the staff to handle all the duties.

“Everybody in my church has a ministry,” he says. Volunteers do office work, prepare bulletins, clean the buildings and help with financial accounting.

Father Leon is cognizant of the comfort (and attention spans) of his congregations.

“People want to be in church for one hour,” he says, pointing to a large clock over the front door that is visible only to the priest during the worship service.

Sacred Heart had its beginning when mass was said in the home of John Mastalerz in the early 1900s, and the present church was dedicated in 1938.

The updates now underway are a continuation of projects undertaken by the church through the years.

“We are going to paint the inside of the church starting Monday (September 3),” he says.

Father Leon realizes that some people are reluctant to change.

“Change is hard to digest,” he says. So he prefers to say, “It’s improvement.”