Feb 25, 2021

Greetings,

Thank you for your great response to our Catholic Charities Annual Appeal.  It is not a fun thing to sit through, so I greatly appreciate your kind patience and your willingness to reach out to those who are less fortunate in our diocese on top of supporting our parish. A huge thank you to Christina Mastromatteo for volunteering all weekend to help with the Appeal.

Those of you who were at the Saturday 4:30pm Mass saw that our confirmation class was there finishing up their retreat.  I tried to press upon them the idea that everything here that they see, touch, hear, experience at the parish doesn’t just happen.  It is as fragile as a houseplant.  If nobody pays attention to it, it would cease to exist.  St. Sebastian Parish thrives because this community decides every day that the worship of God is important, that we have something to learn from God, that educating children in a Christian atmosphere is worth it, that creating Beauty is not frivolous, that helping the poor is not somebody else’s responsibility, that this place we call St. Sebastian and this Catholic faith of ours is worth our time, our prayers, our talent and even sacrificing our resources and that soon the reigns will be handed on to them as it was handed on to us.  Thank you for being a wonderful example to them.

Being Catholic and belonging to St. Sebastian Parish is not something that a person does, it is who we are.  For without you and your concern, it would simply cease.  But with you and God and under the patronage of St. Sebastian, it can do amazing, wonderful, good, holy and beautiful things.  And I get to be pastor of this amazing community!  God bless you.

IN OTHER NEWS:

CONGRATULATIONS:  Speaking of our confirmation class (who, I might add were extraordinarily patient and attentive during a COVID modified retreat) they will be making their confirmation Friday, March 5th.  We will be welcoming Abbot Gary Hoover OSB to St. Sebastian as the celebrant.  He is the Abbot of St. Andrew Abby in Cleveland from where the priests come to celebrate our Extraordinary Form Mass.  Welcome Abbot Hoover and congratulations to our confirmands!  Please say a prayer for them.  Please note that there will not be Stations of the Cross that evening.

SOUND CHECK:  You may notice a couple of people moving about at Mass this weekend.  There are a couple of people coming from the sound company to do an in person, in use evaluation of our sound system. 

RELICS:  During lent, in the Padre Pio Chapel, you can see a collection of relics that we have here at St. Sebastian including such saints as Padre Pio, Maria Goretti and St. John Neumann.  The only one that you won’t see there is St. Sebastian who sits above our tabernacle at the foot of  the painting of the Crucifixion.

BAPTISMAL FONT:  So far I have not heard any concerns nor received questions about the baptismal font concerning what was written in last Thursday’s Angelus Letter.  Please let me know if you want any further information.  Thanks.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck