Feb 23, 2024

Greetings!

I was impressed at how many people made it to Mass last weekend despite the inclement weather. Sidewalks were slippery and wet, and I heard that driving was iffy. However, our numbers were still a bit down that day.

Typically, I wouldn’t write about this, but it was our Catholic Charities Annual Appeal and that means our participation in it may have been impacted. I am sure that we will be
given a “catch up” date but in the meantime, if you wish, you may pick up your pledge envelope in the narthex of the church or at the rectory office. If you do not want to fuss with envelopes and pencils (which should never see the inside of the envelope again), you may donate by texting “CCHOPE” to 41444. There should follow some prompts to guide you to making your 2025 donation. Thank you to everybody who donated.

IN OTHER NEWS:

QUICKLY COMING DOWN THE TRACKS! There are a couple of important dates coming up that, until I started writing this, felt as though they were far off on the calendar. In re ality, they are right around the corner! Here are two of them:

SPECTACULAR: Our annual SPECTACULAR! is next weekend, Saturday, March 1! This is our largest fundraiser of the year to help our nationally recognized school remain a light of faith, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. The proceeds from the Paddle Raise this year will go toward fixing up our Art Room and our Band Room. We undoubtedly have one of the finest primary band programs in the area with a band larger than many high schools! Come and enjoy a good meal, great community and exciting raffles and auctions while helping our school to provide a quality, Catholic education. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

ASH WEDNESDAY: A few days after that event is Ash Wednesday. Wednesday, March 5 marks the beginning of Lent and Masses will be at 9am and 7pm. Now is the time to begin thinking about how you will productively spend your season of penance and prayer so that when it hits, you are ready to go!

NOT AT CHURCH: There was a time in the relatively recent past that, if you were in the hospital, they would ask you what church you were from and if you wanted them to contact your place of worship. Since then, laws have been passed such that they may not ask you anything about your faith practices. This means a couple of things:

When you are admitted, make sure that you (or the person assisting you into the hospital) tell the staff that you are Catholic and would like to see a priest. If it is in the Akron area, the priest assigned to the hospital will be called to come visit and anoint you.

That still doesn’t mean that they will contact your parish. As far as we may be concerned, it may be that we are thinking that if we miss someone for a spell, it is an unlucky spate at being at another Mass, or the person is in Florida, or some such similar thing. So please consider contacting the parish and letting your community know that you or your loved one is not on a lengthy cruise in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, but is, in fact, in some way incapacitated.

God bless,
Fr. Valencheck