When the notice went out a few weeks ago that Father José Eugenio Hoyos would be taking a sabbatical to “address health concerns and pursue ongoing formation,” the messages of concern started pouring in.  

When Melissa Marchi pulls up a chair to read to her first graders at Our Lady of Hope School in Potomac Falls, she can look most of them right in the eye — but a few are watching through the electronic eye of a tiny new video camera atop a tall tripod in the front of the room. 

It sounds a little like one of those biblical stories where a small jar of oil miraculously burns for eight days, or five loaves and two fishes feed a multitude. But in this case, a modest Knights of Columbus project that aimed to provide new winter coats for low-income children in the Sterling area ended up raising enough money to buy more than six times as many coats as planned.