Aug 03, 2023

Greetings,

It is the Parish Festival Weekend! If you are reading this online early, I hope to see you at the festivities! Thank you to all of the volunteers who worked to pull this event together, particularly the Borges Family. This is a beginning effort at preparing to celebrate our 100th anniversary coming up in 2028. St. Sebastian, pray for us.

IN OTHER NEWS:

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: Concrete continues to be poured for the base of Mull Avenue east of the parish. As you may have discovered, the sidewalk along Mull Avenue along our front lawn is being removed and prepped for replacement. The latest updates still sees Mull as useable by the first day of school provided the weather cooperates and that the road crew does not encounter any significant difficulties that prolong the project. Maybe consider sending them an extra prayer for good work done in a timely fashion!

SEMINARIAN UPDATES: This weekend should be the final weekend we see Mr. Christopher Villarreal on our altar for the summer. He will be leaving on a vacation and then going on a seminary retreat before packing up and moving to the seminary. During this time we are expecting another seminarian to take up residence for a couple of weeks at the parish. Mr. Conner Trout is returning from his summer activities and will stay with us until he leaves for the seminary retreat.

In a couple of weeks, Mr. Ryan Arto will be leaving for the retreat also but he will be returning to us as our intern for the remainder of the year. Finally, Mr. John Scantling, another parishioner, will be taking off also for his first year at seminary at this time. So there will be a couple of weeks that we don’t have any seminarians available to serve so please make sure that, if you are a server on the schedule, make sure to be there or find a substitute.

SERVERS: I am hearing from some of our ace servers that their time of serving is coming to an end! As if going away to college is an excuse to not show up here for Mass on the weekend! For all of our young adults getting ready to take off for the academic year, please know of my prayer for you for your continued growth in the faith as sons and daughters of your heavenly Father. And for those who won’t be here to serve regularly anymore, thank you for your service to the parish over the years. God bless you.

LATIN MASS UPDATE: As originally reported, Bishop Malesic requested that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at St. Sebastian (and at its other locations) continue until the end of August. This was done so that he might work out exactly how to enact the Pope’s wishes in our diocese and to seek the appropriate permissions for Rome for his plan. As far as I am aware, no news has made it from Rome as of yet.

In the meantime, our Bishop has requested that we extend the planning of Extraordinary Form Masses at the parishes until the end of September. He hopes to have a plan in place (and the proper permissions) at that time. What exactly that will look like we do not yet know. That being said, since it is August already, I am sure we should know soon.

ISSUE ONE: I encourage all to educate themselves on Issue One and get out and vote on August 8. The bishops of the state of Ohio of declined to have a definitive stance on this issue because it is procedural and does not necessarily have moral content. I have shared with you my thoughts why a yes for this particular issue may be beneficial and invite you to research this Issue and vote as your conscience and wisdom dictates.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck