Apr 17, 2020

Greetings,

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! I am writing this to you on Easter Tuesday and my plan is to have Deacon Terry record the Divine Mercy Chaplet for you this week. It will be available so you can pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet along with him this Sunday and enjoy his great voice!

IN OTHER NEWS:

THEOLOGY ON THE ROCKS:  There will be a virtual Theology on the Rocks this coming Monday, the 20th of April, with Fr. Pfeiffer. It will be live-streamed from our YouTube page (to which you can find a link from our webpage) beginning at 7:30pm. Make a snack and, if you desire, have a tasty beverage on hand and join in!

The advantage to watching it live-streamed is that you can message in your questions immediately! (In theory) we will gather them up, print them for Father and after a break he will answer your questions. The title of his talk is, “Beyond the Veil: An Approach to Praying the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.”
ANGELUS LETTER:  The Angelus Letter will continue to come out on a daily basis but will be much shorter. If you are not receiving this letter and would like to, please contact Cathy Sivec in the rectory office at 330-836-2233.

CHURCH:  If you’ve not been able to see it in person, the church is open for you to come and visit Jesus in the tabernacle and see the wonderful decorations (thank you Karen and Ro) and the new candlesticks that were created and donated for all of our side altars by T. G. who I think wishes to remain anonymous.

CONFESSIONS:  Confessions are still available but they are currently by appointment only and are outside (so it is brisk!) and please wear a mask. Call the rectory for an appointment. 

THANK YOU:  Thank you to everybody who helped make our Easter Celebrations as good as they could be considering the circumstances and constraints.

What makes good poetry or a good game are the constraints. If there are no rules, there is no innovation, no new insight, no creativity. Imagine being on a team in the middle of a field and being given a ball to play. “What are the rules?” you might ask. “There are no rules, just play.” Either the team would walk off the field at the futility of it or immediately begin to come up with rules for a game.

Once comedy loses all of its restraints, it just becomes bawdy and obscene. Think of every sitcom that went on too long. It ends in a flurry of readiness that quickly turns stale.

In the seminary, there are lots of rules. Part of the great fun of having rules and constraints is finding ways around them. One of my favorite quotes about Catholics is, “When we feast we really, really feast and when we fast we cheat.” Some of the most common questions I receive during lent concerns when it would be Okay to break a Lenten promise, when is the precise second that lent is over or what really constitutes meat for Friday. We can be ingenious!

So it has been in a very positive way, with you during this challenging Lent and Easter time. The many ways you have found to still serve, to minister, to support, to stay in touch, to pray and to carry on the practice of the faith has been phenomenal.

I would like to thank everybody who has kept the parish in their prayers, who have called upon our patron, St. Sebastian, and our guardian angels to intercede for us, for those who have been volunteering to assist the parish in her mission and needs, and all those who have found a way to support the parish financially during a time of great limits to her normal support. You are an inspiring congregation.  Thank you for all that you do!

I’d like to give a special shout out to our Knights of Columbus who gave a substantial donation to the parish to help with our utilities! Say a prayer for the St. Sebastian Knights of Columbus Council!

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck