Jul 28, 2022

Greetings,

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times.

Late Saturday night I began to feel a bit “off,” with a runny nose. I immediately thought of the priest who sat not far from me at the conference who was hacking away and wondered if he gave me his cold. Karen Spangler volunteered a home COVID test and it came back positive. On the one hand, it is an absolute bummer (at least for me) to be down but on the other, if it had to happen, it couldn’t have occurred at a better time. Fr. Bozek is still here to fill in before he leaves on his vacation, we had the missionary here to help on Sunday and the seminarians are away. So after a week of study and looking forward to coming home and getting some things accomplished, I am instead taking it somewhat easy and learning to relax and enjoy my room.

Anyway, by what I have been instructed, I should be up and running again soon. My apologies for all of the cancelled appointments and meetings missed, not to mention the sacraments. Pray for vocations so that when a priest is unavailable for whatever reason, there will always be another able to fill in.

The Diocese of Cleveland continues to be one of the leaders in the nation as far as priestly ordinations go. We are so very fortunate. Thanks be to God that we still have young men willing to take on the priesthood in our day and age. Everybody wants to know what our “secret sauce” is, and we have guesses, but nobody knows for sure. Whatever it is, I pray we maintain it.

IN OTHER NEWS:

SUMMER FESTIVAL:  If you read this early enough, don’t forget to make it out to your parish’s Summer Festival! Saturday, July 30, from 5:00 to 8:00 on the grounds around Zwisler Hall.

CONCERT:  Ron Martin’s Steel Drum Band will be performing in the courtyard on Thursday, August 4, at 7:00pm. Feel free to bring something to eat, sit out under the shady oaks and enjoy an evening of fun music.

MISC:  Being holed up in my room and needing to have this written so early, I will admit to being a little out of touch at the moment. So I’ll tell you a little about the seminar to which I went. There were a number of great speakers among whom were Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. John Bergsma and Dr. Lawrence Feingold all of whom, interestingly enough, are converts to the faith. And are they ever on fire! It was inspiring not only that they knew their stuff, but that they were excited to share the depth and beauty of the Catholic faith. You will, undoubtedly, be hearing bits and pieces of what they taught through homilies and such as we move through the year.

They suggested that we make known to our congregations some resources. One is

emmausroad.libsyn.com with Dr. Hahn and the other is Beloved and Blessed with Kimberly Hahn. Both are worth giving a listen. I hope you enjoy them.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck