Apr 25, 2024

Greetings,

You might have noticed that there is a lot of “Fr. Valencheck” listed as celebrant at all of the Masses. This past Sunday, Fr. Bozek began his month-long trip away to Poland.
Fortunately for you, Fr. Blau O.P. who gave our very well received Parish Mission this past Lent has graciously agreed to return to St. Sebastian Parish to assist with the
Mass schedule the week of May 12.

But that is not the end of the news concerning Fr. Bozek. If you didn’t catch it in last Thursday’s Angelus Letter, Fr. Bozek has been appointed by Bishop Malesic as administrator of St. Barbara Parish on Denison Avenue in Cleveland. The parish is easily seen from the Jennings Freeway (176) as you head up to the west side of
Cleveland. It is a delightful building as well as being a parish of Polish descent so Fr. Bozek will be happily in his element! He begins his new assignment on June 30.

Along with Fr. Bozek leaving is the news that he will not be replaced for at least a year. Cathy Sivec and I are currently working on contacting other priests to come in and assist us with our schedule for times when I must be away and such, so please be aware that priest availability will be a bit tighter. This is of particular concern when
calling for an anointing. Please do not wait until the last minute! This sacrament is to be celebrated at the onset of a serious illness or before surgery. It is much better earlier than later in case there is not a priest available.

This also means that there will only be one priest available for confessions. As they say on the highway, “Expect Delays”!

IN OTHER NEWS:

FIRST TO HEAR: Those who attended the 11am Mass this past Sunday were the very first to hear Mr. David Uschold, our new Director of Music, at the piano, accompanying the contemporary group. Welcome David! We are very lucky to have you here.

EIGHTEEN: You may begin to notice servers looking a little unsure of themselves in the sanctuary during the week. After training, 18 new servers were added to our ranks, taking us over the already very healthy levels we had prior to COVID! Over the next few months, they will be ministering with veteran servers to help learn the ropes. Thank you, new servers, and thanks to moms and dads for supporting your children in this important service to the parish.

If your child wants to serve but did not know about the training or was unable to make that particular meeting time, please call Mr. Johnson in the office and leave a message. Serving is open to St. Sebastian Parish parishioners beginning in 4th grade through high school.

DEACON ARTO: This would be an ideal time to still have a seminarian around to help guide new servers but, as it is, Deacon Ryan Arto spent last Sunday after his reception packing up his room and preparing to move north back to the seminary. Thank you to everybody who helped make his going away reception such a wonderful send-off.
It was a quick turnaround after the SPECTACULAR Gala the night before.

SPECTACULAR!: Speaking of which, our largest school fundraiser was last Saturday and it was simply SPECTACULAR! Thank you to everybody who worked so diligently and over so many hours pulling off this wonderful event, especially our co-chairs Missy Knauer and Zorica Brdarski. You did an absolutely fabulous job!

Thank you also to everyone who volunteered, donated, attended, and “won” (paid for) prizes! Our National Blue Ribbon School will continue to be an outstanding place for Catholic formation and educational excellence in large part thanks to you!

God bless,
Fr. Valencheck