Dec 07, 2023

Greetings,
Advent is going to slip by quickly! We are already in the second week of advent and there will only be a couple of hours of the fourth week of advent. Soon the opportunity to get to confessions before Christmas will pass, so make your plans now if you would like to get the sacrament in. If you read this letter online early, know that there no confessions this Saturday, December 9th due to First Reconciliation.

There are only two Tuesday Noon Advent Adoration and Organ Recitals left since there will be no Tuesday of the fourth week of advent. The Candlelight Christmas Concert is coming up on December 17 at 7pm. I hope I get to see you there. Free and open to the public.

IN OTHER NEWS:

CONSTRUCTION: Perhaps you noticed last weekend the work going on in the “triangle.” Did you know that this little plot of ground is actually a city park named Elmdale Park? In any event, the fence came down, the rubbish has been removed and the ground is slowly being restored to a more park-like surface.

Joanie and I went for a walk around the Goodpark Development. Although it was thought that vertical construction would have already begun, there is no sign of that yet. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t any work going on however. There is still quite a bit of utility work being done in preparation for building. Also, our new fire station on Hawkins is coming along nicely if you haven’t seen it!

SEMINARY: The first meeting of the Seminary Admissions Board was this past Saturday morning. That is the reason I was not available for confessions that day. That morning we met with four young men who are seriously considering entering the seminary. This board’s charge is to interview the candidates, review the pertinent information gathered about them and then make a recommendation to the Bishop concerning their readiness to enter into formation. 

It was inspiring to meet these young men. There are several interview meetings coming up through the year and it brings some amount of joy to know that so many young men are at least seriously asking the question as to whether they are called to the priesthood. I wish it could be better known among our fellow Catholics in general that there is still such a great interest in this life of service. Please keep them in your prayers, especially our two seminarians Christopher and John and of course, our intern Ryan.

THANK YOU: It seems that almost every week we have white vans parked on our property. It makes me wince to see them because I know it is costing us. We have grand and stately buildings, but some of them being almost a century old means that there are always things that need fixed, especially boilers and plumbing. And we seem to have a knack for only finding problems on Saturdays when our crew is off! So, thank you to all who heard my request to sacrifice a little more and help out your parish particularly during this time when we are experiencing a cash flow problem as our school changes the way it collects tuition, delaying the funds we would typically already have by now.

And thank you to everyone who participated in the Angel Scholarship program. It is not too late! Please consider taking advantage of this program directing funds that you would have to pay in taxes anyway to benefit St. Sebastian Parish School.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck