Feb 13, 2026

Greetings,
This week we begin the celebration of Lent. This Wednesday, February 18 is Ash Wednesday, a day of fast and abstinence. It is not a holy day of obligation and as such does not have a vigil Mass. Ash Wednesday Masses will be at 9am with the school and 7pm in the evening.

Two different times on Fridays, we will have Stations of the Cross, Adoration and Benediction. It will be held in the afternoon at 1:45pm and we will have at least part of the school present, then again in the evening at 7pm. During Lent, Fridays are a day of abstinence from meat. The difference between Fridays in Lent and Fridays the rest of the year is that outside of Lent, one may substitute a different penance to perform. This is not the case in Lent.

I encourage you to get your confession in early. As we near Easter, the lines will get longer and there will not be confessions Holy Week because of the Chrism Mass and other celebrations. Confessions are on Tuesdays from 7-7:30pm, Fridays from 4-5pm and Saturdays from 9:30-10am. The Diocesan Wide Night of Confession will be on Wednesday, March 4 from 5-8pm. Our Parish Lenten Mission will begin on Sunday, March 8 and run through Tuesday, March 10.

IN OTHER NEWS:

WELCOME PRE-CANA RETREATANTS: This weekend we have our annual Pre-Cana retreat for couples wishing to be married in the Catholic Church. We have a lot of couples on retreat this year from both inside and outside the parish and they will be attending the 4:30pm Mass on Saturday. Welcome to all and a big thank you to your fellow parishioners who volunteered to put on this retreat! Please say a prayer for all of them!

ACOLYTE: Two of our seminarians will be installed as Acolytes this Friday, February 20 at 7pm at St. Mary Seminary. It is one of those strange things that a man must become an Acolyte before he becomes a priest, but it is very much emphasized that it is not a step toward the priesthood. I suppose it is like one must be 16 to get a driver’s license, but it is not a step toward actually getting one. Becoming an Acolyte expands a minister’s responsibilities and duties such as being able to purify sacred vessels. Mr. James Miller of our parish is an installed Acolyte, and he is able to do these things. Our two parishioner seminarians who will be installed are Mr. Christopher Villarreal and Mr. John Scantling. Please keep them and all our seminarians in your prayers.

MASS & OFFICE SCHEDULE: Monday is Presidents Day. Mass will be at 9am and the parish offices will be closed.

OPERATION RICE BOWL: Catholic Relief Services is the U.S. Bishops’ outreach to those most in need throughout the world. You can make a difference by using your Operation Rice Bowls and depositing money that you saved from fasting and practices of abstinence, throwing in your loose change or a donation and returning your bowl during Holy Week. If you wish to participate in Operation Rice Bowl (ORB), there will be some available for use in the lobbies of the Church on Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent.

LENTEN GOSPEL REFLECTIONS: Many thanks to parishioner John Martin for purchasing Bishop Robert Barron’s Lenten Gospel Reflections for our St. Sebastian parishioners. The books can be picked up at the tables by the doors.

FR. VALENCHECK AWAY: Just a reminder I was away last week for continuing education.

God bless,
Fr. Valencheck