Parish Update – Thursday, March 26 from Fr. Sean

A blessed Thursday evening to you all. If you are like me, you may be losing track of the days, so let me tell you we are making our way to the 5th Sunday of Lent this coming weekend. Our Gospel this Sunday is the greatest of all of Jesus’ miracles – the Raising of Lazarus. I can’t imagine how powerful that story will ring in the hearts of all who have recently lost a loved one or friend to this terrible pandemic.

Let us keep all of the sick and dying in our prayers, but let us take hope ourselves, too. The raising of Lazarus prefigures the raising of Jesus himself on Easter. We are a resurrection people and the Lord did not just triumph over sin and death once long ago. He continues to do so every day until he comes again in glory. In this long Lent of 2020, my brothers and sisters, never forget that the Lord is with us and will see us through. Now on to a handful of updates:

• Tomorrow, Friday, March 27, at 12 noon, Pope Francis will give a special blessing to everyone in the world known as the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing (meaning “to the city of Rome and to the world”). This blessing is normally only given on Christmas and Easter but he is offering it tomorrow in light of the pandemic. Those who take part in the Blessing (whether in person, radio, TV, or yes, internet) and express sorrow for their sins with the intention to go to confession and receive Eucharist whenever that is next possible will receive a Plenary Indulgence. You can receive the blessing via the Vatican website at www.vatican.va.

• We’ve added the option for you to stream Mass online via our parish Facebook page in addition to our YouTube channel. We did a clandestine test run of it today on Facebook with Fr. Vincent and several of you discovered it. It works very well, so if you’ve been having trouble with the YouTube connection, give the Facebook option a try. It’s the same Mass, just a sharing of the stream on both platforms. You can connect to either via our website at www.ctrcc.com/live-stream. Tune in tomorrow and, of course, on Sunday at 9 a.m.

• In light of the new order from Harris County we are not able to offer our regular schedule for confessions for the time being. However, you can schedule an appointment for confession by emailing: priests@ctrcc.com. Either Fr. Vincent or myself will get back to you to arrange a time. Also, we will not be able to offer the Drive-In Benediction like last Friday. Thanks to all who came out for it.

• Fr. Vincent will lead the Stations of the Cross tomorrow at 1 p.m. live on Facebook from our chapel. Tune in to pray along with him, or you can watch it later at your convenience. At 11:55 a.m., right before the Holy Father’s blessing at 12 noon, I’ll be leading the Angelus on our school’s Facebook page. It’s a CtR School tradition that we pray the Angelus everyday at noon, and so even though the students are at home, we’re still doing it together everyday. We’re just doing it a bit early tomorrow so that I don’t preempt the Pope! Join us if you like. All are welcome.

• We have added PayPal to our online giving options in addition to Faith Direct. To donate electronically through either option, visit www.ctrcc.com/donate. Thank you to all who have given recently, especially in these difficult days. It’s a great help to the parish so that we might continue our mission and meet our obligations. Moving your offertory online is fast, easy, and secure and saves the parish time and money in the long run. We still welcome you to drop off or mail in your offertory envelope if you prefer, but I encourage you to check out PayPal or Faith Direct. Thanks always for your kind and generous support.

• Lastly, be on the lookout for scam emails that purport to come from Fr. Vincent or me. There’s been a rash of these lately, but in the wake of the coronavirus, the scammers are out trolling again. Check the return email address and you’ll likely see it looks off. Usually you can tell from the language in the body of the message. We will never email you asking for “a favor” or “a gift card.” If it looks fishy, it probably is. Say a prayer for the misguided souls who sent it out, and then hit delete.

St. Luke the Evangelist, patron saint of doctors, pray for us!

St. Agatha of Sicily, patron saint of nurses, pray for us!

Peace,

Fr. Sean