Mar 07, 2024

Greetings,

Just a reminder, particularly for those who read this letter early online, this Sunday, March 10th is Daylight Saving Time! At two in the morning, we spring ahead one hour.
It is also Laetare Sunday this weekend marking the halfway point of Lent. We will recognize this day by wearing rose-colored vestments and having Donut Sunday in Forest Lodge! (Zwisler Hall was booked) If you have been faltering on your Lenten promises, this is the weekend to recommit and finish strong! If you have been doing well, keep it up! You’re halfway there!

IN OTHER NEWS:

WELCOME ABBOT GARY HOOVER OSB: This Friday the Abbot from St. Andrew Abby came to St. Sebastian to confirm our students and students from Guardian Angels Parish. Mr. Jeffrey Lindholm, known to some of you as the seminarian who did his internship at St. Vincent Parish, was the Master of Ceremonies. Welcome to St. Sebastian Parish to them and all who were in for the celebration. 

Congratulations to our students, their sponsors, and parents and to those present from our daughter parish of Guardian Angels. Now the work and adventure of being a fully initiated member of the Church begins!

OTHER NEWS OF THOSE ASSOCIATES WITH THE PARISH: Those attending the 9am Mass on Sunday will see those preparing to enter the Church celebrating the Scrutinies. These rites, with roots dating back to the early Church, take place during the Sunday Masses of Lent, each thematically linked to the Gospel reading for that Mass.

If you were at Mass this past weekend, you heard that Mr. Ryan Arto received his letter from the Bishop stating his calling to Holy Orders! You are invited to the ordination of his class on April 13 at 10am at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on E 9th Street in downtown Cleveland. Ryan will be ordained
a transitional deacon, a position a man must hold before he is made a priest. All things going well, about the same time next year, he will be ordained into the presbyterate.

You might have seen our two seminarians, Mr. John Scantling and Mr. Christopher Villarreal about the campus this past week. The seminary is on spring break. Please keep all of the above in your prayers.

Fr. Thomas Blau O.P. who gave our successful Parish Mission recently has a ministry in which he fills in at parishes in order to give priests a break. As it turns out, Fr. Bozek will be leaving for about a month soon and we can expect to see Fr. Blau at least a little bit during that time to assist at St. Sebastian!

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT: If you have a preschool or kindergarten child that you are hoping to enroll in the parish school for next year, though parishioners have a priority in enrollment, most classrooms have a waiting list! Our school is almost full! Please contact the school office soon!

SCHOLARSHIP MASS: Our annual Scholarship Mass is this Thursday morning. After the Mass, the Foundation will pass out all its scholarships for the next school year. It is interesting to note that between all of the scholarships available from the parish, the diocese and the state, our combined families save over one million dollars in tuition! It would be so incredibly awesome if at least a little portion of that could make it into the collection basket! (A guy can ask, can’t he?) There is always more ministry that we can do and more upkeep we can tackle, if we have more resources.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck