Jul 24, 2020

Greetings,

When will things begin to return to normal at St. Sebastian? Things cannot maintain as they are forever. It will eventually snow for the 11:00 Mass. The seminarians will need to return to the seminary. Plans need to be made now.

But how can we plan when we do not know the future, not the least of which is having a new bishop? I had a meeting with Keith Johnson, our Parish Catechetical Leader, this past week and we discussed what we should do in the fall for the youth group, Scripture studies, PSR and so forth. Unfortunately, I am not a fortune teller and cannot predict tomorrow let alone a month from now. A couple of weeks ago on Thursday evening we thought we were well prepared for the weekend and then the governor changed everything at 6:00pm on Friday night.

ST. SEBASTIAN PARISH SCHOOL:  One thing we are prepared for is our parish school. Over the years we have invested a lot in our technological infrastructure. Thanks to your generosity, to the guidance we received in wisely spending resources gained through fundraising and through the excellent leadership we have at our school, we have found ourselves ready to give our students an outstanding Catholic, parish community centered education no matter what the outcome of the next few months! For that I am deeply thankful. All the more so because, over the years, I was growing weary of spending so much of our resources on technology and wanted to focus our abilities elsewhere. But I was prevailed upon as I was told that such investments would serve us well in the future. Boy did it!

WHAT WE OFFER OUR STUDENTS:  There are options for our students and their families no matter what state our nation is in come September. Fortunately, we are part of a system of schools and not a school system so St. Sebastian Parish School has the ability to adapt quickly to changing health threat levels and diocesan response to city, state and/or national guidelines or mandates.

As things stand right now, Mr. Rohr and his fabulous team for whom I am most thankful and of whom I am incredibly proud, are ready to open for a regular school year. They are also prepared for part time in and part time out. As they proved last year, having to change everything on a dime and carry on, they are ready for on-line learning - even more so now.

But they are not only ready for the demands of health officials, they are also flexible when it comes to the concerns of our student’s families. Depending on the situation at the end of August, there may be some families not comfortable with all day, every day school. St. Sebastian Parish School has you covered! Even if school is in full session, your family may choose on line, or partial in-school, all of which will be taught by our St. Sebastian faculty. This may be for only part of the year until such a family feels more comfortable returning to school. In any event, your school is here for you.

SUMMER CARE OF THE SCHOOL:  In the meantime, know that you school is being meticulously cleaned. There are brand new desks and chairs. Your school is committed to a safe environment on all fronts and I so look forward to greeting our students on the first day of school with my accordion as I have done for the past 12 years. Please keep our school in your prayers!

IN OTHER NEWS:

DEACON TERRY:  Gosh but do I miss Deacon Terry - especially his voice at Mass. Deacon Terry remains at home awaiting a couple of more tests before having a second surgery but he seems in good spirits.  Please keep him in your prayers.

ORDINATION:  Do you remember the seminarian Joe Robinson who did is internship here? He is now a transitional deacon on the path to being ordained a priest on August 1st. Ordination was postponed due to CORONA. The ordination is moving ahead come fire or water and then we will have a brand new Fr. Joseph Robinson serving our diocese. Please keep him in your prayer.

FR. SIMONE:  Fr. Simone continues his vacation through this weekend (as you can tell from the Mass schedule!)

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck