Jul 08, 2026

Greetings,

I have been away all week with about 20 priests from the Diocese of Cleveland at a conference with such speakers as Dr. Scott Hahn and Dr. John Bergsma. Hopefully, they will inspire me with ideas to share with you during homily time! If you were trying to get ahold of me during this week and have not heard back from me, I encourage you to try again.

Speaking of homilies, this weekend is the final preaching session of our intern seminarian Mr. Johannes Benninghoff. It will take place following the Prayer after Communion at all Masses this weekend.

IN OTHER NEWS:

LOW-MODE JULY: There are not many things planned for the month of July, but that does not mean that activities are not taking place around St. Sebastian Square. The dial has been turned down a little so that we might take care of necessary work around our campus and give our workers the time off they need.

Depending on weather, the church and Byrider parking lots were to be closed this past week for sealing and striping. If it rains, that will be postponed, so be aware. It is at times like this that I think again to thank everyone who helped install our new brick parking lot in 2015, which has not yet required sealing, paving, pothole-filling or having to be closed for work. Thank you!

The end of July will see the K-8 portion of the playground replaced. Once again, that will depend on weather and the delivery of materials. Thank you to everyone who participated in the fundraising for this project. We were promised that it would be operational for the first day of school.

July 30 is the drop-off date for materials to be used for the lower roof replacement of the church. You may have to navigate around piles of roofing for a couple of days. Along with this new roof, we hope to mitigate some water flow problems that will allow us to remove the temporary drain in the front of the church (that has caused sidewalk problems) and make the necessary masonry repairs that go along with that. The upper roof drains go into pipes that are inside the wall. You may remember that, for a spell, we had the wall by the choir torn open to determine how to fix our drainage problems. To fix them properly would be extremely expensive and disrupt the use of the church for a long period. So the temporary exterior drain from the upper roof to the lower roof will be made permanent.

The Zwisler Hall floor is scheduled to be sanded and refinished this month taking it off of our calendar for ten days. Also during this month you will see workers performing masonry work around the campus at various spots including the front steps of the rectory.

SCHOOL: Currently, the school enrollment for K-8th grades is 360, with a preschool enrollment of 52! That is extremely good for us and, at 412 students, we consider ourselves full, though not at complete capacity. The first announcements of room assignments will be made the old-fashioned way, by posting them on the Z Hall doors in August on the Friday before school starts. Watch for details!

YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS: Thank you to our Youth Minister Mallory Palagyi for getting our Middle School and High School youth groups up and running! Check page 5 of the bulletin for more opportunities and events! Also, thank you to our seminarians and young adults for re-establishing our Young Adult Ministry. The first gathering was wonderful, and thank you for letting this Old Lump of Coal join you. They will have a kickoff event this evening, July 12 outside Zwisler Hall, see page 9 of the bulletin for details.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck