Dear friends in Christ,
This, That & the Other ... It doesn’t get much better than this – our Gospel on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time this weekend comes from the great Chapter 15 of St. Luke. The entire chapter is only 32 verses and contains three short parables: the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost coin, and the one we know best, the story of the lost son, i.e., the Prodigal Son. … You can read the entire chapter in less than three minutes, and let me suggest you do so this week. But let me also suggest you take longer than three minutes – in fact, take your time and let the words wash over you. Savor it. Read it again. Let it sink in. Read it again. Sit with it. Pray with it. It’s perhaps the single most powerful chapter in all of the bible and it deserves our time and attention. See yourself as one who was lost and now is found. Praise be to our Lord, Jesus Christ!
… This weekend is Catechetical Sunday in the Church in the United States. It’s the day set aside to mark the beginning of the new Religious Education year for children, youth and adults. It’s also our first day of the new RE year at CtR as classes begin this coming week for all our children and for junior high (our Rise program on Wednesday nights) and high school youth ministry (our Encounter program on Sunday evenings) as well.
… I am most thankful to our fine RE staff who have been hard at work preparing this year. We are blessed by a dedicated group who take seriously the commandment of Jesus to “go and teach.” To Kathy Kelley, our Director of Religious Education, along with her staff of Linda Watso, Megan Schulz, Katie Griep, Marisel Menendez, and Laurie Molina, we offer our sincere gratitude for coordinating the many aspects that go into a comprehensive RE program. Likewise we appreciate the great work done by Rachel Smyth, Angela Sengenberger, Tommy Lannen and Stacie McKay in our Youth Ministry department. ... Their work would not be possible without our hundreds of teachers, catechists, aides, and parent and core team volunteers. You are truly the backbone our program and without your selfless gift of your time and talent, we would not be able to accommodate our 2,000 children in all grades. Thank you one and all. We’ll have a special commissioning and blessing this weekend at all masses for our catechists as they begin this new RE year.
... I came across the timely reminder for all us who are involved in catechetical ministry – and by the way, that’s all of us. Some do it formally in a classroom setting, but all of us by virtues of our baptism are called to make Christ known. It comes from Joe Paprocki, a master catechist with Loyola Press, and should be memorized by every catechist – every parent, too: “Remember that you are not teaching a subject. Jesus Christ is not a subject to be taught. You are not the teacher of a subject but the facilitator of an encounter.” Isn’t that beautiful? I pray that all our catechists and all our parents (and all of us priests and deacons, too) will keep that foremost in our hearts as we teach this year. We are facilitators of an encounter with Jesus Christ!
... If you’d like to join us in the important ministry of proclaiming God’s word at Mass, please join us for Lector training at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 14 in the Church. We are always on the lookout for those who can read well in public and are willing to commit to a schedule and training. What a privilege it is to proclaim the Sacred Scriptures to our community. We are grateful to our many lectors already active in the ministry and invite others to join them.
... This Monday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in Room 112 of the Parish Office Building, we welcome Deacon Sam Dunning, Director on the Office of Justice and Peace for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, to CtR for our Respect Life Ministry meeting. I’ve known Deacon Sam for a number of years and he is an excellent speaker and a tireless advocate in promoting the Church’s teaching on Social Justice not only within the archdiocese but throughout the country. He’ll be speaking on a topic that has been very much in the news – the refugee and immigration crisis. What is the Church’s position on social justice as it pertains to refugees and those seeking asylum? How can Catholics respond in a way that is formed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ? My thanks to Kerry Chu, who oversees our Respect Life Ministry at CtR for organizing Deacon Sam’s presentation. All are welcome. … Speaking of our Respect Life Ministry, Kerry has a number of events planned during October, which is Respect Life month for the church. Be on the lookout for more information soon. She welcomes those who would like to join this important ministry at the parish. You can contact her at through the Respect Life Ministry page on our parish website for more information on how to get involved in helping us build an awareness of the need for promoting a culture of life.
... Remember that our annual CtR Casino Night sponsored by the Knights of Columbus is this Saturday, Sept. 14, in the Parish Hall. There are just a handful of tickets remaining, so get yours today at this link and join us for a great night of fun. I don't think I've seen Fr. Vincent this excited since he arrived at CtR. He's convinced he's going to win big, so we'll see. I wish him and everyone good luck at the tables! ... Lastly, and most importantly, God loves you. See ya’ at Mass!
This, That & the Other ... It doesn’t get much better than this – our Gospel on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time this weekend comes from the great Chapter 15 of St. Luke. The entire chapter is only 32 verses and contains three short parables: the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost coin, and the one we know best, the story of the lost son, i.e., the Prodigal Son. … You can read the entire chapter in less than three minutes, and let me suggest you do so this week. But let me also suggest you take longer than three minutes – in fact, take your time and let the words wash over you. Savor it. Read it again. Let it sink in. Read it again. Sit with it. Pray with it. It’s perhaps the single most powerful chapter in all of the bible and it deserves our time and attention. See yourself as one who was lost and now is found. Praise be to our Lord, Jesus Christ!
… This weekend is Catechetical Sunday in the Church in the United States. It’s the day set aside to mark the beginning of the new Religious Education year for children, youth and adults. It’s also our first day of the new RE year at CtR as classes begin this coming week for all our children and for junior high (our Rise program on Wednesday nights) and high school youth ministry (our Encounter program on Sunday evenings) as well.
… I am most thankful to our fine RE staff who have been hard at work preparing this year. We are blessed by a dedicated group who take seriously the commandment of Jesus to “go and teach.” To Kathy Kelley, our Director of Religious Education, along with her staff of Linda Watso, Megan Schulz, Katie Griep, Marisel Menendez, and Laurie Molina, we offer our sincere gratitude for coordinating the many aspects that go into a comprehensive RE program. Likewise we appreciate the great work done by Rachel Smyth, Angela Sengenberger, Tommy Lannen and Stacie McKay in our Youth Ministry department. ... Their work would not be possible without our hundreds of teachers, catechists, aides, and parent and core team volunteers. You are truly the backbone our program and without your selfless gift of your time and talent, we would not be able to accommodate our 2,000 children in all grades. Thank you one and all. We’ll have a special commissioning and blessing this weekend at all masses for our catechists as they begin this new RE year.
... I came across the timely reminder for all us who are involved in catechetical ministry – and by the way, that’s all of us. Some do it formally in a classroom setting, but all of us by virtues of our baptism are called to make Christ known. It comes from Joe Paprocki, a master catechist with Loyola Press, and should be memorized by every catechist – every parent, too: “Remember that you are not teaching a subject. Jesus Christ is not a subject to be taught. You are not the teacher of a subject but the facilitator of an encounter.” Isn’t that beautiful? I pray that all our catechists and all our parents (and all of us priests and deacons, too) will keep that foremost in our hearts as we teach this year. We are facilitators of an encounter with Jesus Christ!
... If you’d like to join us in the important ministry of proclaiming God’s word at Mass, please join us for Lector training at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 14 in the Church. We are always on the lookout for those who can read well in public and are willing to commit to a schedule and training. What a privilege it is to proclaim the Sacred Scriptures to our community. We are grateful to our many lectors already active in the ministry and invite others to join them.
... This Monday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in Room 112 of the Parish Office Building, we welcome Deacon Sam Dunning, Director on the Office of Justice and Peace for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, to CtR for our Respect Life Ministry meeting. I’ve known Deacon Sam for a number of years and he is an excellent speaker and a tireless advocate in promoting the Church’s teaching on Social Justice not only within the archdiocese but throughout the country. He’ll be speaking on a topic that has been very much in the news – the refugee and immigration crisis. What is the Church’s position on social justice as it pertains to refugees and those seeking asylum? How can Catholics respond in a way that is formed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ? My thanks to Kerry Chu, who oversees our Respect Life Ministry at CtR for organizing Deacon Sam’s presentation. All are welcome. … Speaking of our Respect Life Ministry, Kerry has a number of events planned during October, which is Respect Life month for the church. Be on the lookout for more information soon. She welcomes those who would like to join this important ministry at the parish. You can contact her at through the Respect Life Ministry page on our parish website for more information on how to get involved in helping us build an awareness of the need for promoting a culture of life.
... Remember that our annual CtR Casino Night sponsored by the Knights of Columbus is this Saturday, Sept. 14, in the Parish Hall. There are just a handful of tickets remaining, so get yours today at this link and join us for a great night of fun. I don't think I've seen Fr. Vincent this excited since he arrived at CtR. He's convinced he's going to win big, so we'll see. I wish him and everyone good luck at the tables! ... Lastly, and most importantly, God loves you. See ya’ at Mass!
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