Sep 26, 2019

Greetings,

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s Commitment Sunday, as part of our Cornerstone in Action mission to bring Christ to the world. If you didn’t get a chance to turn in your commitment card, it is not too late. You can drop it in the collection plate, bring it to the office or mail it in. It was awesome how many of you brought yours from home to deliver last weekend. That was truly spectacular. Ours is a community of intentional disciples working in the fields to bring His Kingdom to the world.

Also, I would like to thank all of the lay witnesses who spoke. Public speaking is often reported as being one of the most terrifying things a person can do - let alone stand in front of your community and talk about personal faith matters. But they so believe in our mission here at St. Sebastian that they were willing to do so.

IN OTHER NEWS:

STATE OF THE PARISH:  Next weekend we will have our annual State of the Parish address. I look forward to sharing with you the great things we can do when we come together in the name of Christ.

MINISTRY FAIR:  Also coming up next week is our ministry fair. (Please pray for good weather!) Present will be many of the ministries that hope to provide you with an opportunity to use your talents and interests to further the cause of the faith in our corner of the world.

GREAT RESPONSE!:  Marcy Smith totaled up the hours signed in during our Eucharistic Adoration celebration two weeks ago. (Thank you.) THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE HOURS were registered! Wow! This does not include people who stopped by, remained after Masses, the classes from our school and (I just realized) my hours. That is phenomenal! I am so proud of this parish! In a day and age when the statistics are so terrible concerning Catholics’ belief in the True Presence, you have shown that this community has Jesus as its source and summit. May God bless you!

HISTORY OF THE PARISH BOOK:  There are now more books available at the rectory for $10. I thought we originally ordered more than enough and would have some to put into our parish archives! Live and learn. The new batch of 100 is in and we have about 50 of them left as far as I can tell. Thank you for taking such an interest in the history of your parish.

ADDENDUM:  Here is something to cut out and stick in the back of your parish history book. I heard about this years ago and when the book was being written, I was trying to verify the story, but could not find anything nor anybody to collaborate it so it was left out. About two weeks ago, Ann Dennee found an old article in one of our mailers that finally verified the story so here it is:

TERRIERS:  Up until 1948, the St. Sebastian mascot was the bulldog. St. Sebastian fielded a great CYO football team in 1948 comprised of 7th and 8th grade boys. They were so good, in fact, that they handily won the CYO championship. The MVP of the year was team member Terry Coyle. As a result of his great sports prowess, the school forsook the bulldog mascot in favor of the Terrier to honor Terry Coyle for his efforts on behalf of the team and to commemorate the 1948 championship season.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck