Feb 03, 2022

Greetings,

After the Sunday Masses this weekend, Fr. Bozek will be taking off for Poland for a three-week respite. You, however, will not be stuck with just me. Cathy Sivec has been working diligently to bring in guest priests to help fill out our schedule, particularly for confession times and weekend Masses. My classmate, The Rev. G. David Bline will be pitching in from time to time, The Rev. Cameron Popik from down the street at St. Hilary will be lending a hand and a few other of my bother priests will make guest appearances. (Thank you, guys!) Keep an eye out on the bulletin if you want to know who will be the mystery priest over the next three weeks!

Also, we discovered that last Saturday, January 29, was Fr. Bozek’s birthday. He plays his cards pretty close to his chest. The only reason we found out is that there was a card sent to him and on the outside of the envelope it said, “Happy Birthday!” and so I called his last assignment (Fr. Bozek not wanting to let the cat out of the bag) and Fr. Stavarz confirmed it! Happy belated birthday Fr. Bozek!

And while we are on the topic of priests, last Sunday was the annual Priests vs Seminarians basketball game sponsored by the Vocations Office and which also raised money for St. Vincent de Paul. This year it was held at St. Edward High School. The old guys controlled the pace of the game pretty well, but I knew that the seminarians had the stamina to outlast them and sure enough, they inched up and took the lead. But the Holy Spirit lit up the ordained toward the end, gave them a second breath and they won the day! Some names you might recognize that took to the court that night were Fr. Jeremy Merzweiler, Fr. David Stavarz, Fr. Cameron Popik and Mr. Cameron Ferrell.

IN OTHER NEWS:

EVENTS:  As the extreme danger of COVID seems to be subsiding, our events schedule, with starts and stops, is revving up again. Some things have been postponed while other events are charging right along. Of particular note is our International Festival, which was supposed to take place this Saturday, has been postponed. The International Festival, sponsored by the Sanctuary Society, helps raise funds for everything in the sanctuary of the church including candles, wine, hosts, vestments and so forth. It was difficult to get performers because they had not been practicing during COVID. Also, there was a concern (two months ago) that our hard-working volunteers would put in tons of hours into the night and then it might need to be cancelled. So, it was determined to postpone this event. Watch your bulletin for details.

For similar reasons, the Night at Races is NOT cancelled, but postponed. Night at the Races is sponsored by our Sports Boosters and helps raise funds to ensure that we have the best and most affordable sports programs among our peers. Time in the busy calendar of our hall just needs to be carved out to set a new date set.

So far, everything else seems to be a go! Pre-cana will be taking place Saturday, February 12, our Confirmation Retreat follows the next weekend, and as part of our Coffee House Concert Series, the Chardon Polka Band will be performing in Zwisler Hall at 4:00pm on Sunday, February 20. Keep an eye out for the next Theology on Tap coming soon.

Also coming up soon is our “Spectacular!” This year is the theme, “Lights, Camera, Action, a Night in Hollywood,” on Saturday the 26 of February. The Spectacular raises funds for our parish school to keep it strong in mission, safe and beautiful in its campus, affordable for those who wish to take advantage of it and always focused on forming young, Christian men and women. If you want an enjoyable evening that also helps the youth of our school, tickets are on sale now!

EXTRAORDINARY FORM:  The month of February is designated as the time to get laity input about the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. There has been an online survey put together that will be available during the month of February. It is open to both those who attend the EF and those who don’t and everyone in between. The link will first be sent out through the Angelus Letter, our electronic letter that comes out every Thursday at noon to all who request it. If you do not receive this letter, please contact the rectory office. Unfortunately, there is not a hard-copy version of this survey at this time.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck