Apr 18, 2024

Greetings!

Congratulations Deacon Ryan Arto on your ordination! And thank you for your year of service here at St. Sebastian Parish. It was an honor to be part of your formation.

It was great to see how many St. Sebastianites were at the Cathedral last Saturday morning for the ordination. There were, of course, those who worked with Deacon Ryan, those who were on his lay board and others there simply to support him. As I processed in and took my seat, I noticed that I recognized one, then two, then more people from the choir. The St. Sebastian Parish Choir sang for this diocesan event! I had forgotten they were going to be there. What a treat! They did amazingly well and were thanked publicly by Bishop Malesic at the end of the Mass.

Another man being ordained, Deacon John Hawkins, is related to the Casey family of our parish and so they were there. The Kastors of our parish married into the Parisi family and so they were all there to see Deacon James Parisi of St. Hilary be ordained. John Scantling, our seminarian, served the Mass while our other seminarian, Christopher Villarreal, sang in the choir so their families were there too! Finally, Fr. Christopher Trenta, graduate of St. Sebastian Parish School (and my cousin) was the MC for the Mass. Your Parish was well represented!

Deacon Arto will be preaching at this weekend’s 9am Mass and there will be reception in Zwisler Hall following the 11am Mass. This will also be his last day as our intern. You will be missed Deacon Arto!

IN OTHER NEWS:

MUSICAL CHANGES: Our Director of Music, Lynn Steward, will be retiring on Pentecost Sunday, May 19. She will be playing at the 9am Mass that morning with the choir, officially for the final time. That evening, at 7pm, she will be performing her final concert as Director of Music. I hope you will be able to come in thanksgiving for her many years of service here. There will be a reception following the concert that evening in Zwisler Hall. This past Tuesday, April 16, Mr. David Uschold began work here at St. Sebastian Parish. Aȅer finishing up his Easter duties at his former parish, he moved to Akron and is preparing to take over the reigns from Lynn as Director of Music. Please keep both Lynn and David and all of our musicians in your prayers especially during this time of transition. Welcome Mr. Uschold!

DIRECTORY CORRECTIONS: If you have not picked up your copy of the parish directory, there are still a few available at the back of the church or at the parish office. Once you receive yours, please look up your name and make sure that your information is correct. We have already received notices of landlines being abandoned and being replaced by cell phones numbers. Thank you for taking the time.

HOLY LAND: There will be a Holy Land Olive Wood carvings sale at the back of the church this weekend. They directly support Christian families back in the Holy Land which is currently in turmoil.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck