Oct 14, 2026

Greetings,

You may have noticed a couple of our seminarians serving at Masses the week Fr. Joseph and I were away. The seminary was on Fall Break while we were at the convocation. This coming Friday, the 23rd, two of the seminarians from this parish, Mr. John Scantling and Mr. Christopher Villarreal will be installed as Lectors at the seminary chapel. The offices of acolyte (in which they were previously installed) and lector are instituted lay ministries established by Pope Paul VI in 1972 through the motu proprio Ministeria Quaedam, which replaced the traditional minor orders. As such, man must be installed as such before he is ordained but technically, it is not a step toward the priesthood since it is open to all Catholic men.

This is different than the roles of reader and server which are open to all lay persons and are used when there are not lectors and acolytes available. Years ago, our cathedral had installed servers, but the bishop at the time brought that tradition to an end so that more persons could serve at our cathedral’s altar.

Next weekend we will be celebrating Priesthood Sunday and welcoming a young man from the seminary, Daniel Jordan, to speak after all Masses. Please pray for all of our seminarians (including Mr. Gabriel Kasper!) and those of our parish who are considering a vocation. And thank you to everyone who seriously at least entertained the idea of a Church vocation. Many blessings!

IN OTHER NEWS:

END OF THE SEASON: The cutting garden was put “to bed” this past week, and the last of the garden flowers were used in our sanctuary. Thank you to everyone who tended the garden, harvested flowers, made arrangements and maintained them. You are a blessing to the parish.

FR. MARCELLI IN TOWN: The next Theology on the Rocks will be this coming Monday, October 19. Fr. Marcelli will be here to discuss artificial intelligence and human magnificence based on the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas. See page 8 in the bulletin or online for more details.

NIGHT CANDLELIT MASS: Fr. Damian Ference will be visiting St. Sebastian Parish this November 2 for a night Mass at which we will also honor St. Christina whose relics will be present on our altar. The Mass will begin at 7pm and be lit only by candles, the stubs of which Karen Spangler has been saving for the past few months. Hope to see you (dimly) there!

DIOCESAN CAPITAL CAMPAIGN: With just a tiny percentage of our parish so far invited to participate, we have just about 50% of our goal! Thank you to everybody who has given, prayed for, and volunteered for our efforts. I am quite excited and look forward to hopefully crossing our mark. If you haven’t been contacted yet through the mail or by phone, please pray about if and how you will be a part of this endeavor, which will leave a permanent, positive mark on this parish and in the diocese.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck