Jul 31, 2026

Greetings,

This weekend we celebrate the 98th anniversary of the founding of the parish of St. Sebastian! Ninety-eight years ago the first Mass was held in Rankin Elementary Gym, where it remained until the first church, now known as Monsignor Zwisler Hall, was constructed. The school began 97 years ago in the Knights of Columbus Hall, which is now the UAW building just down from St. Vincent Parish.

How blessed we have been that the founding members, under the strong hand of Monsignor Zwisler, gave us such a strong foundation spiritually and with such a well-thought-out and constructed campus. Through the course of the following pastors, Fr. Byrider, Fr. McDonough, and Fr. Karg, this community has maintained its strong heritage of faith, ministry and care for the gifts that had been handed on to them.

When you have a moment, would you please offer a prayer of thanks for the many gifts we have as a parish and pray for those who made it possible? It would also be a good idea to pray for the future of the parish as we look to be able to pass on to future generations the great gifts that have been passed on to us.

Thank you for being such a great parish. It is an honor to be your pastor.

IN OTHER NEWS:

INTERNSHIP: This Monday brings to an official end the seminarian internship of Johannes Benninghoff. It was quite a gift to have him here over the summer! So much was able to be accomplished because of his dedication to his duties. It was of particular help this summer as we have had such a large change-over of staff. He may still be around for a little bit after Monday, but his official duties will have come to an end. Thank you, Johannes! I so look forward to seeing what you accomplish in your future!

AWAY: I have been gone for the past week, just getting back this Thursday. If you were trying to get in touch with me, you may want to try again so that your messages don’t get lost in the pile waiting for me.

Actually, as I write this to you, I am still in the Adirondacks with very spotty reception. Every once in a while my phone will ping with a backlog of messages that were able to sneak through.

I am looking forward to getting back to the parish and seeing all the work that is going on. As I was leaving, the playground was being cordoned off as we awaited the replacement of the equipment there. Tuck pointing was heavily underway with lots of ladders and scaffolding in place. Church doors were supposed to be fixed so that they close properly, and materials were to be dropped off to begin work on replacing the lower roof of the church. I hope it all went well while I was away!

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck