Parish Update – Friday, Feb. 3

Happy first Friday of February, friends! (There’s my favorite alliteration again.) And what’s that I see outside my window? Clearing skies? Sunshine? And, be still my heart, but do I sense that it is a tad warmer, too? After a downright miserable week of weather, it is nice that it is finally nice! Prayers up as well to our friends and neighbors in central and north Texas who took the worst of the recent cold snap. 

We all know that February is the shortest (and often the dreariest) month, but it’s nonetheless a busy one for us. This first week saw us celebrating Catholic Schools Week, and this coming Sunday we embark on the 2023 Diocesan Services Fund appeal (more on that in a moment). Then, in just a little over two weeks, we will usher in the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22. Add in that all our ministries, Faith Formation, and bible studies are in full swing and you can see that these 28 days will keep us on our toes.

And that’s a good thing! As we will hear on the 5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time from St. Matthew’s Gospel in the continuation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount that we began last week, the teaching of the Lord demands “our light shine before others.” Do not hide the light of your faith. If it is illuminating your heart inwardly (and if you are reading this Parish Update, I will assume that’s the case), then let that light shine outwardly just the same. You and I are salt of the earth, Jesus says. That’s high praise from the master teacher. So put your salt to work!

Here's what is happening in and 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.

• One way to let your light shine is through our 2023 Diocesan Services Fund drive which, as I previewed for you last week, kicks off this weekend at all masses. The DSF raises funds to support the more than 60 ministries of the Church that no one parish on its own could ever accomplish, but that collectively we can all do to bring God’s love to all people. Most of these ministries operate behind the scenes and we don’t think about them because we just assume that the Church does them, but it can only be done through your support. Areas of support include:

• Teaching, Evangelizing, and Worship: This includes, among others, the Apostleship of the Sea (every ship that comes into the Port of Houston and the Port of Galveston is visited by a Catholic chaplain, including Deacon Jeff Willard, who formerly served here at CtR); the Catholic Schools office, Young Adult and Campus Ministry (to engage college-age Catholics in the faith), the Texas Catholic Herald newspaper (which you receive free of charge with a donation to DSF), and the CCE office (our children at CtR directly benefit from this as all our RE staff and teachers and our Youth Ministers attend workshops and training offered by the CCE office).

• Ministering to the Poor, Sick and Incarcerated: A Catholic chaplain is assigned to every hospital in the Texas Medical Center to provide spiritual care to the sick. Every Catholic that requests to see a priest while in the hospital has access 24 hours a day in their time of need. The Archdiocese also runs programs to bring pastoral and sacramental aid to the disadvantaged, the disabled, and those in need of God’s healing grace through the San Jose Clinic. Whether comforting refugees or battered women, those in a prison cell or in a hospital bed, these ministries show God’s mercy to those on the margins of society.

• Promoting, Preparing and Supporting the Clergy: From training our seminarians and deacon candidates (we currently have one man in formation for the diaconate, and all of our others have been supported by DSF along the way, too), the DSF helps train the future clergy of the Archdiocese. It was also through DSF that both Fr. Vincent and I were formed at St. Mary’s Seminary here in Houston. We can testify that it alone is worthy of your support of DSF.

• Nurturing and Strengthening Families: Perhaps in no other area do we benefit from the generosity of DSF at CtR than in the support it offers our families. The Family Life Office works directly with a number of our couples preparing for marriage. It hosts marriage enrichment programs and also prepares couples married civilly to have their marriages regulated in the Church. It runs the St. Dominic Village retirement home for older adults, as well as an assisted living facility with a nursing home and special care unit for those with dementia. It also supports the work of the Tribunal to assist individuals with decrees of nullity so they can marry in the Church. Each year our parish, through the Tribunal, helps dozens and dozens of couples in their nullity cases, and that brings about healing and hope as they reconnect with the life of the Church. What a beautiful gift! And of course our large and active Youth Ministry program benefits greatly from the many retreats, conferences and workshops sponsored by the archdiocese.

That’s just a small sampling of the many programs we offer through DSF. You are part of them when you make your pledge to DSF. It is the work of the Lord done directly in your name through DSF. Those ministries can only happen through our support. The thing I love about the DSF is that 100 percent of all money pledged goes directly to support ministries, people, and programs. The administrative costs are absorbed by the Archdiocese; DSF provides direct aid to people. Your support of DSF goes directly to helping people encounter the mercy of God. Isn’t that what it is all about? That’s why I always say that it is an honor, not a burden, to be asked to support the work of DSF.

Our parish goal, as determined by Cardinal DiNardo, is $335,500. The average pledge is usually around $300-400. Could you please consider giving that amount again this year? Or maybe make a pledge of $365 – a dollar a day to support those great ministries. Recall as well that we receive a rebate of 75 percent of any overage of our goal with the other portion going to support low-income parishes in the inner city.

All registered parishioners should have received a letter from Cardinal DiNardo recently along with a personalized pledge card. Please complete the card and drop it off at Mass sometime over the next couple of weeks. You can also return it in the mail, or drop it off in the office, just as you do with your weekly offertory. You can make your pledge in one lump sum with a check, or make monthly or quarterly payments on your credit card. Please prayerfully consider what you will pledge and we’ll see that it is processed. If you prefer, you may go online at www.archgh.org/dsf to make your pledge. That’s what I did and it couldn’t be easier. Let’s do our part, so that we may embody the spirit of this year’s DSF theme: “God is the Strength of My Heart,” and that through our hearts and hands God may strengthen all who are impacted by the Diocesan Services Fund.

• In other news, I’m happy to report that our Baby Bottles Blessings drive back in October during Respect Life Month, when we invited you to return your donations for mothers, was a huge success. Your donations totaled roughly $10,500, which was equal to our previous high in 2019 before the pandemic. Thank you for your generosity. There are so many wonderful organizations in our area that serve at-risk women that it was hard to choose just one to support, so we instead split the donations between three worthwhile organizations.

The first, Lifehouse Houston, creates a safe place for at-risk young women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. Secondly, we’re supporting Two Lives Changed right here in Cypress. They provide support to young moms ages 13-24 with their Chrysalis program, a residential facility, and their Teen Life Center provides support and education. And then finally, we will make a donation to Catholic Charities of Galveston-Houston’s Blessed Beginnings Pregnancy Center and Parenting Life Center. ... Through all of these donations CtR will be supporting the physical, as well as emotional and pastoral needs of at-risk pregnant women and young moms. Thanks to Kerry Chu, our Respect Life Coordinator, for shepherding the program, and all of you for your generous support that makes it possible. God is good!

• Please keep Deacon Bill Bradley and a group of 19 men from CtR’s Prison Ministry Team in your prayers today and tomorrow as they visit the Ellis Unit in Huntsville. It’s their first time to be back “inside the walls” to lead a Kolbe Retreat for the prisoners since before the pandemic began. … The thrust of the Kolbe Prison Retreat, named after St. Maximilian Kolbe, who himself was a prisoner at Auschwitz in the Holocaust, is helping those who feel most unworthy of God’s love to know that there are people who care about them, and most importantly, a God who cares about them. … Deacon Bill sends his thanks to the many volunteers who made nearly 100 dozen cookies for the prisoners and guards. “That may sound a little routine, but for people who sometimes haven’t had homemade cookies for decades, it’s a huge treat and an act of love that someone would make them for them,” Deacon Bill said.

• We invite you to join us for a new Adult Faith Formation series, "What We Believe" from Ascension Press, led by Deacon Jack Alexander, beginning this Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in Room 217, and continuing until Easter. It promises to be a great way to get a jump-start on Lent. … Over the next 10 weeks we’ll explore, among a host of topics, what Catholics truly believe; who Catholics truly are and how we are called to live; the blessings of Creation, redemption, and newness of life in the Holy Spirit; the profound gift of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, and how to imitate Christ through prayer, through personal conversion, and through love for others. For additional information and to register, visit www.ctrcc.com/theology.

• There is still time for the ladies of CtR to join us our 4th annual Women’s Retreat on Feb. 10-11 here on our parish campus. It’s open to all women in the parish and will be a chance to come away with one another “as Women Living in the Spirit,” as this year’s theme states. It starts on Friday evening, Feb. 10, and continues all day on Sat., Feb. 11 and concludes with the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass. For more information and to register, visit www.ctrcc.com/womensretreat.

• Finally, having celebrated Catholic Schools Week this week, the annual Steps for Students 5K Run/Walk is set for next Saturday, Feb. 11 and it provides much needed funds for scholarships and programs in Catholic education. If you support my team, 100 percent of the money you pledge will come right back to benefit our own CtR School. To pledge go to the link on our parish website. 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.

• Speaking of our CtR Catholic School, we have an opening for our Business Manager and invite qualified applicants to let us know of your interest. Kathy Schwartzbach, who has done a masterful job of organizing and putting our school on a sound financial path, is retiring, and we’d love to get someone in soon who can learn alongside her before taking over. We’re seeking someone with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, with 5-10 years experience in Accounting and/or Finance, ideally for a school or other non-profit. A complete job description and a link to apply can be found at www.ctrschool.com/workwithus. Please help us spread the word to those you know who may be qualified and interested.

St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, whose feast day is today, pray for us! … Blaise was a student of philosophy as a young man, and then became a renowned physician in Sebastea (modern-day Turkey) before being named bishop in the early 4^th century. … He is best remembered for curing a young boy who was choking on a fishbone. To this day, we bless throats in honor of St. Blaise (as we did earlier today at Mass), and he is known as the patron saint of ailments of the throat. He was later persecuted and tortured with iron combs ripping at his flesh, but refused to denounce his Christian faith and was subsequently beheaded. Through his intercession may we be kept healthy and well, and may only kind words and praise of God emanate through our throats and on our lips!

Peace, Fr. Sean