Mar 10, 2022

Greetings,

This coming Wednesday, March 16, is the annual diocesan wide Night of Confessions. Every parish in the diocese is asked to be open from 5:00pm to 8:00pm with priests available for confessions. Fr. Bozek and I will be here at St. Sebastian, but priests should be available at all parishes if you would like to explore. This might be a good time to plan your Lenten confession. I know that our lines tend to be long and the closer to Easter we come, the longer they are. Please plan well!

IN OTHER NEWS:

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS SUNDAY MORNING!:  Don’t forget we “spring ahead” one hour this Sunday morning at 2:00am.

FUNDRAISER CONCERT FOR UNKRAINE AT ST. SEBASTIAN:  Singers Companye & Northeast Ohio’s Best Instrumentalists have joined together and partnered with St. Sebastian Parish as host to perform a concert the proceeds of which will be sent to relief efforts for Ukraine. The 45-minute concert is on Sunday, March 20, at 4:30pm and is free and open to the public. A free will donation will be taken up with 100% of the proceeds going toward relief in the Ukraine.

LENTEN TALK ON ANGELS:  On March 14, at 7:00pm in the church, come learn about the Holy Angels and how you can grow in relationship with your own Guardian Angel. Therese Holderbaum from Opus Angelorum will give a talk called “Holy Angels and You.” All are welcome. Bring your friends.

GET ANOINTED:  A couple of Sundays ago, on a particular weekend when a number of priests in our area were either sick or out of town and our numbers were stretched thin, a desperate nurse from a local hospice was calling parishes trying to find a priest to anoint an actively dying person only to find that priests were either on the altar or jumping in their cars and rushing to other parishes that were shorthanded. The sad thing is, this situation did not need to happen. Anointing of the Sick (formally known as Last Rites) is NOT intended for the last moment of life unless it is an emergency. Anointing should take place at the onset of serious illness or some time before surgery.

The person in question above could have been anointed days earlier but by waiting until the last moment, almost missed out. Fortunately, I was able to run out between Masses and as I was leaving another priest was driving in for the same person!

Also, if you or a loved one is going into the hospital, make sure you tell them that you are Catholic and wish to be anointed. There is no need to bother yourself during this stressful time with calling around to parishes to find a priest. There are priests on call at the hospital every day but they will only visit you if the hospital knows that you are Catholic and wish to be visited.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck