Oct 13, 2022

Greetings,

Fr. Bozek and I have returned after spending last week with Bishop Malesic. Our new Auxiliary Bishop, Bishop Michael Woost, gave two presentations and was truly a highlight of the convocation. If you every get a chance to hear him speak, I would advise taking the opportunity.

Wednesday was largely spent detailing the state of the Church in the aftermath of COVID and scandal. My intention is to share this information with you. We were promised to be sent the notes from this talk but they did not arrive in time for the bulletin.

One thing that stuck out was this fact: Across the nation, Mass attendance is down 30 to 40 percent, although the Diocese of Cleveland fared much better than most of the nation. For some reason, the people of north east Ohio cherish their faith more. We also have one of the largest numbers of seminarians in the nation studying for the priesthood. (Please keep them in your prayers.) Statisticians also pointed out that parishes that were strong before the pandemic continue to be strong after and those that were not doing well already are now facing serious difficulties. So, it got me to wondering how we were doing.

As you may be aware, the last two weekends we had our October Counts. Over these two weekends everyone is supposed to count the number of people in attendance at the Mass in their parishes. Our average for the two weekends was 930. The largest Mass was Sunday, October 2nd at 9AM with 403 people. The smallest Mass was last Saturday during the Ohio State game and the Guardians game which went into overtime!

This is how that 930 number compares historically. In 2020 we reported an average of 666. In 2021 the number rose to an 824 average. So, we are trending in the right direction. In 2018, a pre-COVID year, we can find an average of 1,072. So, we are not quite back to where we were before, but we are inching that way and registrations keep increasing. I still see people returning who have not been here since COVID. So, the future is looking promising for St. Sebastian Parish. Please keep your parish in your prayers and thank you for all that you do.

IN OTHER NEWS

LIVE-STREAMING: Tracking down the problem with our live-streaming is proving to be a bit difficult. Somewhere in a wall, or on the roof, or where there is a connection, our cable is disconnected. It may very well be that the roof construction had something to do with it. We have Wayne Johnson on the case, so I am sure things will be up and running again soon.

ROOF WORK: This past Monday the heavy work on the roof moved from the west side to the east side. It will be easier to see the work in progress now since the east side is not so blocked from view by trees as is the west. I hope that you like the new look as much as I do!

When the main church is completed, they will move on to the bell tower and then school bell tower and the decorative portion of the roof on the Early Learning Center. The collapsing part of the greenhouse, which was saved about twelve years ago by an enterprising Eagle Scout, will be rebuilt and the matching roof will be placed on this building also to give a more unified feel to the whole campus.

LECTOR: On Friday, October 21st, there will be the installation of the office of Lector at the seminary, an office a man must hold before being made a priest. Seminarians Cameron Ferrell and Joseph Ho, who lived with us at various times over the past year, are among those being installed. Please keep them and their class in your prayers.

THEOLOGY ON THE ROCKS: Theology on the Rocks is this coming Monday night with Fr. Eric Garris from the Vocation Office. He is a young(er) vibrant priest, and I think you will enjoy hearing his talk. See the bulletin or the Facebook page for more details.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck