Parish Update – Friday, April 9

Happy Friday, everyone, and Happy Easter, too! Alleluia! Alleluia! Easter continues for 50 glorious days so let us celebrate with hearts and minds renewed in the Risen Christ. This weekend is the 2nd Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday, a day dedicated to the Divine Mercy devotion that highlights the mercy of God the Father through His Son, Jesus. … St. Faustina, a 20th century Polish nun, promoted the devotion in her life, and St. Pope John Paul II, who had a great devotion to it, authorized the first celebration of a particular Divine Mercy Sunday in 20 years ago in 2001.

To commemorate the day we will hold a Holy Hour on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the church. Deacon Jack Alexander will lead us in a reading of Scripture and a reflection on the Divine Mercy as it relates to the Eucharist. We’ll have a time of quiet reflection and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and then a recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. All are invited to join us for this time of prayer in thanksgiving for the gift of the Divine Mercy to the Church.

This weekend we will also welcome 10 of our brothers and sisters into the Catholic faith at the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass as they make their Profession of Faith, are anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation and receive Holy Eucharist for the first time. They join the 10 others that were baptized at the Easter Vigil. … My thanks to our dedicated RCIA team that has prepared these 20 new Catholics over the past year (and more in some instances). Do you have a family member or friend interested in learning more about our Catholic faith? Invite them to “come and see” what the Church is all about. Julie Cook, our Director of RCIA, and her team is ready to assist at any time throughout the year.

Now, onto the news and notes around CtR this week:

• We invite you to please join us for Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, either in person or via our livestream on Sunday at 9 a.m. on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. You can find the link to the livestream at www.ctrcc.com/live-stream, and in addition, you’ll find there both a worship aid and a link to the Scripture readings to follow along with Mass. And you can make your weekly offertory contribution online at www.ctrcc.com/donate. Thanks to everyone for your continued support of the parish in these Easter days. … If you’d like to join us in person for Mass, we welcome you on Saturday at 5 p.m., or Sunday at 7, 9, and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Of course, be mindful of the ongoing pandemic, and stay at home (and join the livestream) if you or a loved one has been exposed.

• Before we look ahead, let me again look back one final time and thank all of the wonderful people who made possible the celebration of the Triduum and Easter Sunday last week. This year was extra challenging with our capacity limits and social distancing protocols in place, but I’m grateful to our staff and ministry volunteers who gave countless hours to help us celebrate worthily and well. We had overflow crowds in the Parish Hall at the 7, 9, and 11 a.m. Masses on Easter Sunday, and though we bumped right up to our limit, we were able to find space and accommodate everyone. … Our team’s gift of their time and talent was a true show of Stewardship, something we are all called to do. I encourage all of us to “step up” in these Easter days and become even more generous servants of Christ’s church through our own efforts in Stewardship.

• This Sunday, April 11, we are hosting an Open House for both our CtR Catholic School and our Genesis Early Childhood Program. Families are welcome to join us to see what both of these fine ministries of our parish have to offer their children. Our School has openings in Pre-K – 8^th grade for the 2021-22 academic year, and Genesis has several openings for either 2- or 3-day sessions for children aged 18 months – 4 years. … Teachers and administrators from both programs will be available Sunday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. to offer tours, answer questions, and show you how we educate young hearts and minds alike. We ask that you signup in advance for a specific time slot at www.ctrcc.com/events/newfamily-openhouse, though we’ll also be able to accept walk-ins.

• If you missed the announcement on Easter Sunday, we’re happy to report that our Adoration Chapel has reopened. It’s still in the same place adjacent to the chapel (old church) at the front of our campus near the Community Center, but we used the time of closure during the pandemic to make some enhancements to the space. There is new flooring and improved lighting, and we're starting out with just eight socially distanced seats. … But while much of it is the same, we’ve made one change with a new mini-tabernacle that will help keep the Blessed Sacrament secure and allow us to repose it when there is no one present. We hope it will bring peace of mind and the presence of the Lord to all who enter. We’ve already received numerous compliments and expressions of gratitude on our revamped space and we rejoice that more and more people are finding their way to our Adoration chapel to spend time in prayer. May God be praised! … There’s a video on our website at www.ctrcc.com/adoration that has more details, but we invite you to stop by and see for yourself, and then plan to join us at any time as it is open 24 hours a day. Whether you come for a Holy Hour or just a few minutes, it is open to all who seek to be in the presence of the Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. 

• Our immediate attention now turns to our coming 36th annual Spring Festival, April 23-25. (Hint: That’s the weekend after next!) We are asking for your help in a variety of areas, because even though the bulk of the Festival is virtual this year, there’s still plenty of ways to help out. Among them are assisting with the Festival dinners each night. We’re going to use the model for pick-up of dinners that the Knights employed for the Fish Fry, so we need assistance each day in packaging and handing off the dinners to those who stop by to pick up their orders. Visit www.ctrcc.com/springfestival and click on the “Volunteer Opportunities” heading. That will take you to a Sign-Up Genius page where you can select the time when you’d like to help out. And if you just want to make a general donation or sponsorship, you can do so easily on that page, too.

That www.ctrcc.com/springfestival webpage is your source for all things Festival related. Go to that page to: 1) Support the Silent Auction by buying items from our Amazon Wish List, which will then be sent directly to the parish. That would be a big help, and of course, you can also register yourself to bid on the many items in the Auction. We’ll have all the items up for bid live on the website beginning the week of April 19 – and trust me, we’ve got some amazing items you are going to want to get your hands on! … 2) Snag one of the snazzy Spring Festival t-shirts online at the website, too, along with a “Festival in a Bag,” which is a great way to support the parish. The sharp-looking bag is filled with many of your festival favorites like confetti eggs, marshmallow gun, popcorn and more; … 3) Purchase tickets for our mystery wine pull, including more than a few bottles from my personal cellar.

Lastly and most importantly, go to that link to purchase in advance your Food Booth favorites each day. We need to know how much to buy and prepare in advance so we don’t waste anything or buy too much, so get your orders in early. We’ve got Vietnamese dinners (chicken kabobs, fried rice, and egg rolls) available on Friday, April 23, Cajun specialties (jambalaya cooked by real live Cajuns!) for Saturday, April 24, and the always popular Barbecue (your choice of sandwiches, sausage plates, stuffed potatoes, or brisket by the half pound) available on Sunday, April 25. You’ll see all the options when you log-on. It’s quick and easy, and best of all it’s a wonderful way to support CtR! We look forward to your participation in this hybrid virtual Spring Festival. It’s unlike any we’ve done before, but together, we can make it a great weekend for the good of our community.

St. Faustina and St. John Paul II, pray for us!

Peace, Fr. Sean