Parish Update – Friday, Sept. 30

Happy Friday, one and all! Hard to believe we’ve already reached the end of September, but that’s OK because when we wake up tomorrow we’ll be in my favorite month of October, thanks be to God. … Why my favorite? Not because it’s my birthday month (I’ve long stopped celebrating and counting those!), but it’s the time of year when the temperatures drop to give us glorious cool mornings and nights. It’s a great time to be outdoors, perhaps for some backyard grilling or football under the “Friday Night Lights,” and there’s a great feeling in the air and hopefully a pep in our step. Hopefully that energy we feel will be cause for us "to stir into flame the gift of God that (we) have," as we will hear from St. Paul in his letter to Timothy this weekend on the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It’s also a wonderful month in the life of the Church as October is always designated as Respect Life Month, and this first Sunday of the month is Respect Life Sunday. Of course we pray for the protection and dignity of human life every month and every Sunday (really, every day), but today we lift up our hearts in prayer in a special way that we might always work to protect God’s great gift of life.

The theme for this year’s Respect Life is “Called to Serve Moms in Need,” and it speaks to the central role of Mary, the mother of our Lord in caring for all human life. The witness of our Blessed Mother invites us to become more aware of the needs of pregnant and parenting moms in our parish and community. A woman with an unexpected pregnancy may have any number of fears and challenges: facing judgment from her friends and family, losing her job or housing, or being abandoned by the father of her child. Following Mary’s example, we can ask ourselves how to better know these mothers, listen to them, seek understanding, and help them obtain the necessities of life for themselves and their children.

I’m especially happy that we have heightened our efforts at awareness at CtR with our Respect Life Committee. My thanks to Kerry Chu, our Respect Life Ministry chairperson, who works diligently to bring a greater awareness of pro-life events to our community. She has a number of initiatives lined up throughout the month to keep the beauty of this teaching foremost in our minds and hearts.

• One way to do so is by participating in our Baby Bottle Blessing initiative. We’ll distribute simple baby bottles this weekend after all masses and invite you to return them to the narthex in the Church or the parish office in the coming weeks with a donation (cash or check) that will be given to groups and organizations in Cypress and Houston that have a life-centered focus to care for children and mothers. Your gifts will enable us to partner with them to respond to the many needs in our community so as to strengthen the dignity and respect of human life.

• Other events in Respect Life Month include a presentation Monday, Oct. 3 entitled “What Does the Dobbs Decision Mean for the Pro-Life Movement” presented by Julie Fritsch Dumalet, Director of Pro-Life Activities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Julie is an excellent speaker and I invite you to come learn more about this important time in the life of the Church in light of the recent Supreme Court decision. Her presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Community Center and is free and open to all. ... Two weeks later, on Monday, October 17, we’ll also have a presentation on human trafficking awareness.

• CtR is also participating in the International 40 Days for Life effort where Christians throughout the world are invited to take part in praying daily from Sept. 28 through Nov. 6. In addition to the 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion in America, please consider volunteering to pray outside of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility at 4600 Gulf Freeway. ... Various parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston are taking one day throughout the month to silently pray at the facility and our day for CtR is Saturday, Oct. 22. You can sign up to take one or more hours on that day on the CtR website at www.ctrcc.com/respectlife.

Here’s some of the news and notes from around CtR this week:

• We invite you to please join us for Mass this weekend. If you’d like to join us in person, we welcome you on Saturday at 5 p.m., or Sunday at 7, 9, and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. You can also join us 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.

• There is a special second collection for the Archdiocese for the Military Services this weekend. Unlike most national collections, which are taken up once a month every year, this collection only comes around once every three years. The Archdiocese for the Military Services is a diocese without borders – it serves all men and women who serve in the various branches of the military, home and abroad, providing them with the sacramental life of the Church. Please remember them in your generosity. … On a related note, thank you for your support last weekend in the Missionary Appeal for the Vietnamese Dominican Sisters. More than $27,000 was received, and we’ll still accept donations for them for the next couple of weeks. You can drop off cash or a check in the parish office and we’ll include it in our total parish donation.

• A brief reminder that will celebrate First Reconciliation with our 2nd grade children tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 1, with two services at 8:30 and 10 a.m., and as such, we will not hold our regular Saturday morning parish confessions at 9 a.m. Those adults wishing to go to confession that day are invited to come at 11 a.m. when we should be wrapping up the final session with the students, or better yet, request an appointment at a time and day of your convenience by emailing us at priests@ctrcc.com.

• This too could be considered a Respect Life Month event – our fall parish Blood Drive is happening this Sunday, Oct. 2 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Parish Hall. It’s our 24th year of partnering with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and in that time CtR parishioners have donated more than 2,000 units of blood. Thank you for always responding to “give the gift of life.” … This particular drive is extra special as it is to honor two young parishioners, Matthew Gallardo, a 3rd grader in our CtR Catholic School, and Emma Tabush, a student in our Genesis Early Childhood Program, who have both been diagnosed with types of leukemia. In addition to regular blood donations, platelets are also greatly needed. If you are able to give this Sunday, please consider doing so to honor these two brave, young CtR parishioners and all who are in need of blood throughout our Gulf Coast region.

• This Sunday we begin a new, post-Confirmation program for our 11th and 12th grade senior high students called Emmaus. We've been looking for a way to engage our teens who have been confirmed (usually in 10th grade) and who wish to go deeper into what it means to be walk with the Lord. Hence the name Emmaus, calling to mind the destination of the two disciples who Jesus walked with after his resurrection. ... I'm grateful to Anja Ozols, our Echo apprentice, and Angela Sengenberger, our Director of Youth Evangelization and Catechesis, for offering this for our students. It begins with 11 a.m. Mass, followed by a pizza lunch, and then a scripture study to learn what Emmaus is. Finally, all are welcome to stay until 2:30 p.m. for recreation and fellowship. It promises to be a fun way to spend a Sunday, and we look forward to seeing our post-confirmation students there! Visit www.ctryouth.com/emmaus for additional information.

• In other news, remember our annual Blessing of Animals in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is this week, is next Saturday, Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. Plan to join us in the circle drive in front of the Parish Life Center. It only takes about 15 minutes or so, but it’s a fun event. We always have a lot of dogs, a few cats, some fish, a hamster or two, and a menagerie of other creatures. All creatures, great and small, are welcome to attend.

• Finally, remember that the annual Knights of Columbus CtR Golf Tournament is just eight days away on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 10 at Cypress Lakes Golf Club. The entry fee is $150 and includes a raffle, silent auction, lunch, and a hearty home-cooked barbecue dinner afterwards. Proceeds benefit CAM and youth scholarships from the parish. We still have room for singles and foursomes, so spread the word and make plans to join us. See our CtR website for more information, or you can register directly on the Knights’ page at www.8771events.com.

• St. Jerome, whose feast day is today, pray for us! St. Jerome was a 4^th century priest who translated the bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, thus opening up the Sacred Scriptures for further study to a wider audience. … Late September and early October are filled with feast days of some great saints. Yesterday was the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Archangels, today is St. Jerome, tomorrow is St. Therese of the Child Jesus (also known as St. Therese of Lisieux), Oct. 2 is the Guardian Angels, and Oct. 4 is, of course, St. Francis of Assisi. All holy men and women, pray for us!

Peace, Fr. Sean