Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

           In the Christian tradition, baptism is not only for repentance but also an entry into the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and anointed as “Priest, prophet and king” to bear the light and life of God to the lost and the brokenhearted. 

           

           The Baptism of the Lord concludes the Christmas season in the Church. Living our baptismal vows means that our lives are not guided by our own preferences but by a deeper integration Gospel values and characteristics. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a day in which the Church remembers Jesus baptism in the Jordan River at the hands of John the Baptist. It’s also a time for us in this day and age to recall our own baptism and what happened to us on that day.

           For the great majority of Catholics, the day of our baptism is a day for which we have no recollection as we were likely baptized within a month or two of our birth. What’s important is that on the day of our baptism we were claimed for Christ. Our parents and Godparents spoke up for us on that day and said, yes, this child will accept the calling of Christ. 

        

            Whenever I baptize a child (which is one of my great joys as a priest), I always make a point to speak to the parents that what is happening to their child on this day is nothing less than a gracious gift of God. I wonder if we really understand the power we inherit on the day of baptism. It is in baptism that our sins are forgiven. It is in baptism that the original sin that we are born into is washed away. It is in baptism that we are called members of a body, the community of the Church. It is in baptism that we are given the great mandate of Christ. It is in baptism that we are saved! 

          I want to thank our entire ministry team who help bring to St. Hyacinth a wonderful Christmas liturgies. Without the Sacristans, Ushers, Greeters, Altar servers, Readers, Acolytes, Musicians, and Choirs; we could not have a Christmas celebration in the Church. Thank you all and your efforts are appreciated by everyone. Special thanks to Mrs. Pamella Pitman, our Director of Liturgy and Music for leading our beautiful liturgies this Christmas season. 

          One of our goals for 2021 is to increase the number of people using our electronic formats for the dissemination of information from our parish. We have our website: Sthyaicnth.org, which is updated almost daily with information about the activities that go on in the parish. There is Flocknotes, which is our information delivery service for the parish, in which we email and or text information about the activities of the parish.  Go to Flocknote.com/sthyhouston and join the group “Parishioners”.  We are on Facebook, go and ‘like’ our Facebook page at   https://www.facebook.com/StHyacinthchurch .

          Our next goal in 2021 is to increase the number of families using Faith Direct. Currently we have 191 families using Faith Direct and hopefully by the end of the year we can have at least 325 families of STHY on Faith Direct. The number of 325 families represents 20% of our parish population of registered parishioners.  

          Faith Direct, is an easy and secure way to see that your offertory contributions to the church are made on a timely basis. It is an easy and wonderful way to contribute to the church. You can register in less than five minutes by logging on to www.faithdirect.net and entering our parish code of TX526. From there a few short steps will have you set up as you wish: weekly, monthly, special collections, etc. You can pay by credit card or bank draft. It’s convenient, fast and secure. Thank you for your generosity and support of STHY.

          Catholics across the country are encouraged to observe a nationwide prayer vigil for the Unborn from Thursday, January 28 to Friday, January 29, 2021 marking the 48th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions legalizing abortion through nine months of pregnancy. Since those decisions, over 60 million abortions have been performed legally in the United States.

God Bless,

Fr. Reginald Samuels