Parish Update – Friday, Jan. 20

Happy Friday, my friends. I pray all is well with you and yours. It’s a dreary day outside and tomorrow doesn’t look much better. It would seem that this is perfect weather to stay inside and curl up with a good book … or better yet, the Good Book itself.

Four years ago, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter, “Aperuit Illis,” designating that the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (that’s this weekend) be marked as “Sunday of the Word of God.” The Holy Father wrote: “It is fitting then that the life of our people be constantly marked by this decisive relationship with the living word that the Lord never tires of speaking to his Bride, that she may grow in love and faithful witness.” … “Consequently, I hereby declare that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God. This Sunday of the Word of God will thus be a fitting part of that time of the year when we are encouraged to strengthen our bonds with the Jewish people and to pray for Christian unity. This is more than a temporal coincidence: the celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God has ecumenical value, since the Scriptures point out, for those who listen, the path to authentic and firm unity.

There is also a handy website from the U.S. Conference of Bishops at www.catholic.bible that highlights the Sacred Scriptures and has further information on this Sunday of the Word of God. ... By the way, you might be interested to know that the title of the document, “Aperuit Illis” comes from the opening words, taken from St Luke’s Gospel, where the Evangelist describes how Jesus, after his resurrection, appeared to his disciples on the road to Emmaus and how “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” 

So what is the Word of God saying to us this weekend? Well, we will hear from both Isaiah in our first reading and St. Matthew in our Gospel about “the land of Zebulun and the land of Napthali.” It might be tempting to just let those archaic and funny sounding names pass over our ears and not give them much thought, but we would do well to consider why they are in the Sacred Scriptures in the first place, and what both Isaiah and Matthew might be trying to convey to us.

Zebulun and Napthali are two of the 12 tribes of Israel, both located in the northeast area of what we know as modern-day Israel. They were far removed from the heart of Israel, both physically and spiritually, and were considered regions where Gentile influences had taken over for traditional Jewish practice. They were, as you might imagine, not well thought of by traditional Israelites, and yet that is the land where Jesus chooses to embark on his public ministry. Thus it is that we hear, “the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light.” 

Jesus is still that great light who comes to bring us out of darkness. Where are our own Zebulun and Napthali? Are there places, or thoughts and attitudes within us that need to experience that same light? Let us allow the Lord – and his Word – to inhabit those regions of our hearts just as surely as he did the physical regions of Zebulun and Napthali long ago so that we, too, might experience his call to repentance, take up our cross, and follow him.

Here’s what’s happening this week at the parish:

• 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.

• We’ll have Coffee and Donuts this Sunday after the morning masses, and at the same time, our Winter Blood Drive will be taking place from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Parish Hall. There is always a need for blood in the Houston area, so if you are able to donate, please do so. Walk-ins are welcome.

• Next weekend we kickoff our annual celebration of National Catholic Schools Week. Our own CtR Catholic School has a host of activities planned to mark the week for students, families, parishioners, and community members. We invite you to come and see all that our school has to offer at our Open House for the community on Wed, Feb. 1 from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. It’s a great chance to tour the school and see what the kids and teachers are doing up close and personal. … That’s not only a good time for prospective parents to see what is happening, but it’s also a fine time for any parishioner to come and see. Even if you don’t have children or grandchildren that are school age you are invited to see how Catholic schools have an impact on the life of us all. I think you’ll be pretty impressed with what is happening right here at CtR.

• The even better news is that you don’t have to wait until then to apply for the 2023-24 school year, as registration is now open for both returning and new families. Please visit www.ctrschool.com/admissions for all the details on how to be part of what will be our 10th year of CtR School. Hard to believe we’ve reached that milestone, but what a blessing it is. … We expect to welcome more than 450 students next year in grades Pre-K3 through 8th, so don’t delay. While we have openings in every grade level, we will likely max out at some point and have a waiting list, so get your applications in soon. … We have financial aid available as well for families in need, so I especially encourage families new to Catholic education to apply. We’d love to have your children be part of the great things happening at CtR School.

• Another way to discover and celebrate our CtR Catholic School is through the annual Steps for Students 5K Run/Walk. It’s set for Saturday, Feb. 11 and it provides much needed funds for scholarships and programs in Catholic education. It’s a great family event and always a lot of fun. All are invited to join our CtR team and in the process, all proceeds will come back to our school – 100 percent! … It’s a well-organized fun run through downtown Houston with a great party afterwards. I’ve done it for a number of years and find it to be a great way to spend the morning with about 5,000 Catholics pounding their way in and around downtown, while helping a great cause at the same time. … Registration is fast and easy and we always have a big team from CtR and we’d love to have you join us this year. Go to ctrschool.com/steps4students for information and to register. Even if you don’t want to come downtown that morning in person, I encourage you to sign up as a CtR team member and then select the “Snooze” button option. That way you can sleep in, but your donation to CtR School still counts. That’s a win-win!

• If you don’t want to run yourself, you can sponsor my team and all proceeds will come right back to benefit our own CtR School. You can make an online pledge and I’ll do all the work while you get the satisfaction of knowing you supported Catholic education. To pledge to my team go to https://runsignup.com/Race/85757/Donate/LHgqjWJIUPieQLjK (sorry it’s such a cumbersome URL; there’s a link on our parish website that’s easy to follow). It only takes a few minutes to make your pledge safely and securely online. Or if you like, you can give me a check or cash in person at Mass or in the office and I’ll see that it is credited to our CtR team. … On a side note, I am presiding at a wedding in Louisiana on race weekend, so while I’m disappointed I won’t be in downtown Houston with our team on the morning of the race this year, I promise I will complete it on my own at the same time through the streets of beautiful downtown Eunice, LA! I’ll probably need to make about 10 laps around the whole town to equal 3.1 miles, but by God, I will do so!

• We have openings for couples from the parish to join us for our annual Married Couples Retreat on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Camp Allen (just west of the parish, about 30 minutes from CtR). It’s a great way to spend the day (9 a.m. – 8 p.m.) on the beautiful grounds of the retreat center and give your significant other the gift of your heart through a series of reflections and prayer led by Deacon Jim and Christy Wright (she’s our Director of Family Life at CtR) and Deacon Jason and Chaille Sulak. … They’ve planned a wonderful day to help you spend time with one another, going deeper into God’s call for you to be a light to the world through the grace of matrimony. Consider it an early Valentine’s Day present you can give to one another to “come away for awhile” with the Lord in your marriage. … We’ll feed you breakfast, lunch, and dinner and provide all the materials for the day. For information and to register, visit www.ctrcc.com/events/married-couples-retreat.

St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, St. Sebastian, Martyr, and St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, pray for us! … Today is the feast day of St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, and tomorrow is the feast day of St. Agnes. The blood of these three martyrs still echoes through the Church today and reminds us of the price that so many of our forebears in the faith paid as witness to Christ. … Sadly, there is still great persecution in the life of the Church in this day and age in some parts of the world, particularly in Africa. I ask you to pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Isaac Achi, who was shot and killed by terrorists who broke into the rectory of his church in the Diocese of Minna in central Nigeria. Another priest in the rectory was wounded in the shooting, but escaped before the rectory was set afire with Fr. Achi’s body still inside. Just a terrible act of violence that is an example of the persecution the Church faces in some of the troubled lands. May the soul of Fr. Achi rest in peace, and may the martyrs of God welcome him to the eternal kingdom.

Peace, Fr. Sean