Feb 09, 2023

Greetings,

This year’s Lenten Mission will be “Pray 40 Days,” presented by Fr. Michael Denk who, until recently was a priest at Holy Family in Stow but is now the administrator of St. Matthias in Parma. The free book that was passed out last weekend at Mass is part of the Mission, so if your household did not receive its copy please make sure to stop by the rectory to pick one up. There is information in the book as to how to use it to prepare for our Mission.

IN OTHER NEWS:

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 50TH: Congratulations to the team that put on our 50th Annual International Festival last weekend! What a great (and packed) event! Thank you to all who showed up to help Sanctuary Society keep our sanctuary well stocked and beautiful. I was told that I should give a special shout out to our Boy Scouts who were a tremendous help in the clean-up effort that evening. Thank you!

SPECTACULAR & SCHOOL NEWS: This weekend is our “Spectacular, An Evening in Paris!” our biggest event that supports our school and helps us keep our costs as low as we can (especially when you compare our “fees” to any other school.) Thank you to the committee and all of you who are turning out to have a wonderful night and do some good for our community and the future of our students!

On that note, our Pre-School and Kindergarten are quickly filling up so I would encourage parishioners that are interested in enrolling their children in our school to do so sooner rather than later. Once we are filled up, we are filled up!

We had a diocesan meeting about our schools and a plan to be rolled out in the near future to help shore up our schools so that they may be able to continue their Christian mission in the future. Please see this week’s Angelus Letter for more information on that.

WORK AROUND ST. SEBASTIAN: As we move forward with the Circle Project, other things are coming to light. We were inquiring about some of the lighting around the area. If you remember from earlier letters, the city is not responsible for most of the street lighting. That is the domain of First Energy. In trying to figure out how to get power to the center of the circle, we also asked about the various lamp posts that have been downed by erratic drivers over the years. In an answer that has become so common these days, First Energy and Ohio Edison have been plagued with supply chain difficulties. At first, they didn’t have any posts and now they do. Then they needed toppers, of which they have about ten. Unfortunately, we are fifty-seventh in line for repairs, which appears to be about 85 days out. But since our whole road will be revitalized soon, I guess it is worth the wait.

We were also given information about the four lamp posts that are out around the church. They believe that there is a problem underground with the wiring. The remedy for this is about two weeks out. When Mull is resurfaced, as part of the scope of the project, we will be receiving new lamp posts that match the rest of the neighborhood.

After much testing, it was determined that our lower church roof is not leaking. Nor is the upper roof. If you had chance to see this area over the weekend, you noticed a hole in the plaster because now it is thought that water is coming from our rain water drainage system. Unfortunately, those pipes are inside the wall. More on that as it develops.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: Congratulations to our Knights of Columbus who, at their end of the year Survey of Fraternal Activity registered 3,477 hours in faith, family, community and life activities. Thank you for all that you do.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck