Apr 27, 2021

Greetings,

On Wednesday, April 21st, the texts were flying around the Diocese of Cleveland as seminarians, deacons and priests who were up for assignment were finding out where they would be living come June.  First to be informed were those to be ordained priests in May, and after them, slowly, everyone else received phone calls.

The first here to receive a phone call was Fr. Simone, whose four-year assignment is coming to a conclusion.  He will be moving to St. Charles in Parma as a parochial vicar until, most likely, he will be made a pastor somewhere.  It was a moment of mixed emotions as it is a good and exciting assignment, but he also loves St. Sebastian and all of you so much (and he is so well loved in return.)

Later in the day I received a phone call about Fr. Simone’s replacement.  It will be one of his classmates, The Rev. Peter Morris.  He’s spent the past four years at St. John Vianney in Mentor.  He is originally from St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Elyria.  This letter is being written to you on Monday morning and Fr. Simone and I are excited to welcome Fr. Morris to dinner tonight as his first introduction to the parish as his future home.  He had visited here a couple of times, but it is quite a different thing to visit with an eye of living here.

Please keep Fr. Simone and Fr. Morris in your prayers.  It is difficult to leave your first parish no matter how promising the next assignment seems.  (And it goes without saying that it is difficult on the parishes that love them.)

IN OTHER NEWS:

DEACON KELLY:  We are so blessed to have with us Deacon Ian Kelly.  You may remember him as seminarian Ian Kelly who spent so much time with us during the initial hit of COVID and then stayed with us during the brunt of it.  He was instrumental in helping us get up and running online, served Mass constantly and in general helped the parish operate well during the craziness and challenges of 2020. 

Deacon Kelly’s home parish is St. Charles, where Fr. Simone will be going.  His assignment over the next year (until he is ordained a priest) will be at St. Ambrose in Brunswick (my first assignment.)  You may see him a few times over the next few weeks at Sunday Mass before his assignment begins.  Please keep him in your prayers.  Congratulations and welcome back to St. Sebastian Deacon Kelly!

SEMINARIANS:  And here’s how the seminarians will shake out this year:  Charlie Bulger will continue to live with us through summer and he will be joined by Cameron Ferrel who lived with us last year.  Joseph Ho, who lived here last year will be living at St. Bernard Parish this summer, so he will be close by!  There may be one more seminarian around this summer, but that has not been confirmed as of yet.

There are, however, two men from our parish actively applying to seminaries.  That is wonderful news!  Please keep all of these men, who bring us so much hope, in your prayers.

FIRST COMMUNION:  Congratulations to our students who received their First Holy Communion this Saturday morning!  God bless you abundantly.  Thank you to our teachers and catechists who work so diligently for this happy day.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck