Jun 02, 2023

Greetings,

There is no way that an expression of thankfulness in the bulletin can fill the job of expressing to you my deep gratitude for the wonderful celebration that took place last weekend to mark twenty-five years of priesthood. St. Sebastian Parish definitely put its best foot forward in celebrating.

I hope you enjoyed the festivities as much as I did. I hope our young men who have been looking for meaning and purpose in life will take note of how important the role of the priest can play in the community. If you have that inkling in the back of your mind that priesthood is a possibility for you (or if anyone has already mentioned such a path to you,) please pray about it. If you would like to talk about it more, I would love to talk to you about it. (And so would any priest!) Or you can look up Vocations for the Diocese of Cleveland online.

IN OTHER NEWS:

WELCOME HOME: To all of our students who were away for school, welcome home for the summer! It is always so good to have your face back in the congregation. Please make sure to stop after Mass and say hello!

GRADUATION: Congratulations to our Parish School eighth graders who graduated this past week. Go forth and make us proud! Carry your faith, knowledge and respect to the next leg of your educational journey and be the leaven to transform our world.

FR. IAN KELLY: Fr. Kelly will be returning to St. Sebastian Parish for a Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, June 11 for Corpus Christi. He will celebrate the 9am Mass and Eucharistic procession and we’ll finish at Zwisler Hall for a reception. If you can make it, it would be great to have you with us.

JAZZ AND WINE FESTIVAL: Take note that our Annual Brick Street Jazz and Wine Festival has moved from July to June and is approaching quickly! This year’s festival will be on June 29 as we try to avoid other festivals around the city. Tickets on sale now.

TOT & TOR: Theology on Tap is coming up on Tuesday, June 6. Fr. Bozek has agreed to take the confessions and benediction that night so that I could be the speaker for this evening that will be returning to Thirsty Dog Brewery.

Theology on the Rocks is also coming up. The Rev. G. David Bline and I will be speaking on Monday, June 19 at 7pm at Our Lady of Cedars.

MISC: The fountain in the Cutting Garden has been repainted and installed for the summer. If you have the opportunity, come take a look and see the garden coming to life. Another good thing to check out is the refurbishing of the old greenhouse located in the school courtyard. It almost looks like a quaint English pub now.

As of this writing, all of the flowerbeds are just about planted and the mulching has been accomplished by fellow parishioners. We receive many compliments by all of the people who choose St. Sebastian Square as a destination place for their walks.

The floor organ that once resided at St. Sebastian has finally found a new home. It will be installed at the Center for Pastoral Leadership, the location of our two seminaries: St. Charles Borremeo College Seminary and St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology. It will be nice knowing that we play a small part in the beautiful music of our seminaries.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck