Sep 24, 2020

Greetings,

RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is underway under the capable leadership of Fr. Simone. If you or someone you know is interested in exploring the faith, please have them call Father at the rectory soon! Also, we welcome back Joseph Ho, one of the seminarians who stayed with us over the summer, who will be helping out at RCIA as part of his seminary training. Meetings are on Thursday evenings. Please keep everyone involved in this ministry in your prayers!

IN OTHER NEWS:

FOUNTAIN:  If you walk or drive past the cutting garden at night you will see our fountain sparkling in the night. That is because Terry Tolson installed some solar lights. She noted how dark it was back there when we had our candlelight procession around the block at the end of our 40 Hours of Devotion and how one could hear the fountain but not see it and so she thought lights would be a good idea. Thanks!

SPEAKING OF WHICH:  There was a frost the night before I wrote this article. The time for the cutting garden and the season of flowers grown on our property and arranged by our parishioners for our church is quickly coming to an end. If you haven’t seen the garden, stop by quickly! Thank you to everyone who participated in it this year.

ST. SEBASTIAN STATUE:  Thanks to the work and generosity of one of our parishioners, we have a new St. Sebastian statue that will be displayed most of the year in the sacristy. The statue was designed by Eugenio Pattarino who was born in Florence in 1885, and he studied art there as well as in Venice and Frankfurt. At his studio near Ponte Vecchio Bridge he designed earthenware, ceramic, and terracotta pottery in addition to his sculptures. He retired in 1966 after a flood destroyed the bulk of the designs, master molds and models in his studio.

Bill Wellemeyer, of our parish, volunteered to make the stand for it. It is an oak shelf with arrows cleverly worked into the side in reference to the story of St. Sebastian. The old oak wood that was used comes from the reconstruction of the confessionals many years ago at our mother parish of St. Vincent.de Paul. The wood was being tossed and Bill asked if he could repurpose it. Construction on St. Vincent began during the Civil War so the wood has some history! Thank you!

ST. PADRE PIO:  Firstly, thank you to everyone who put in so many hours to make our Mass welcoming the relic of St. Pio to St. Sebastian Parish so grand. Special thanks to Parish Pastoral Council and committee chair Christine Mastromatteo and of course, Fr. G. David Bline who celebrated the Mass for us. The relic will be place in the chapel as soon as we are able to install its shelf and secure the relic.

OCTOBER COUNTS:  The diocese is requesting that we have our annual October Counts the first two weeks of October. As in past years, you may see ushers walking down the aisle counting how many people are in the church.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck