Jul 01, 2021

Greetings!

Happy Independence Day weekend!  May your weekend be blessed and may your prayers for our nation be fruitful.

Here are a couple of notes to keep in mind for this weekend:

The rectory offices will close early on Sunday, July 4th.

Mass on Monday, July 5th will at 9AM since this is the Federal observance of Independence Day this year.

The rectory offices will be closed all day on Monday, July 5th.

IN OTHER NEWS:

THANK YOU:  Thank you so much for a successful “Heart of a Shepherd” commitment weekend.  The final numbers are not in as of yet but it appears as though we met and surpassed our goal!  Thank you!  This means that we more than did our part to maintain the seminary in the Diocese of Cleveland, help newly ordained priests with their college debt and help fully fund the priest pension fund (which saves this parish a hefty chunk of money every year.)

Additionally, this will mean that our new church boilers will be fully paid for and as soon as the parts in our post-COVID delayed supply chain open up that we will have more efficient, reliable and effective air conditioning!  (YAY!)  It also means that as soon as the marble comes in from Italy, we will be able to move our baptismal font (which will still take a few months.)

To everyone who donated, prayed for and volunteered for the campaign, I am truly grateful.  Every brick on this property, every missalette, every bottle of hand sanitizer, every work of art is here because the people of this parish make it possible.  There is no secret source of resources that makes this place happen.  And now we have also played a vital part in keeping the whole Diocese strong particularly in our support of vocations, not just praying for them, but creating a place where they can be formed.  Not only has St. Sebastian Parish been a place where such men are housed, employed, trained and given an opportunity to minister, we have done our part to make sure that they are taken care of on a diocesan level too.  You are awesome. 

SUMMER PROJECTS:  If you noticed work happening on our school building at the Mull Avenue entrance, it is because our new security doors are being installed.  There are a number of purposes for these new doors.  The most important is that it provides greater security for the school in general.  The former entrance allowed access to the entire school without having to go past the main office first.  This will be corrected now.  It will also allow visitors to come in out of the elements while waiting to be admitted into the school.  Finally, it will just be plain easier to find for those new to the school.  Soon, new sconces will be added to our building to replace the original ones that have long disappeared.  This is in addition to the typical summer work going on.  Make sure to take a peek when it is finished.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck