Parish Update – Wednesday, Nov. 25
Happy Thanksgiving Eve, everyone! We’re coming at you a couple days early this week, obviously because of Thanksgiving tomorrow. (And Christmas is exactly one month from today, too!) ... Our clergy and pastoral staff at CtR wishes you and your loved ones a blessed and safe holiday. May we always give thanks to God for the many blessings we have received. In this year when perhaps those blessings have been harder to see, we know that our merciful God abides with us and is shepherding us through the storms of life. Indeed he feeds us with his very body and blood, the Holy Eucharist, the very definition of which is thanksgiving.
We will celebrate Thanksgiving Day Mass at 9 a.m. tomorrow, and I invite you to join us either in person or on the livestream. If you are coming, feel free to bring a few food items from your Thanksgiving table and we’ll bless them at the end of Mass. By the way, I discovered a unique way to see a whole bunch of you – I went grocery shopping at H-E-B the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I’m thinking of starting an additional Mass in the dairy aisle! It was great to see so many CtR parishioners outside of church (and everyone was wearing their masks and doing a good job of keeping social distance), and I pray that the Lord will bless your respective feasts tomorrow.
Speaking of feasts, let’s remember those who are not able to feast so much these days.
The Food Pantry at Cypress Assistance Ministries is running way, way ahead of its all-time record for food distribution, so your contributions are always welcomed and needed, especially this time of year. Take a look at your pantry after Thanksgiving, or when you go back to the store to stock up, and feel free to drop off items at the church and we’ll make sure that they get to those in need in our community.
This Sunday we begin the holy season of Advent, a time of active waiting for the Lord. Let’s use these next four weeks to prepare our hearts to receive the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, as he comes to us not in power and might, but as a baby in a manger. May our hearts be humbled as we journey to see the glory of God revealed in the Christ child.
Here’s what is on tap at CtR this weekend:
• We invite you to please join us for Mass either in person or 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. Thanks to everyone for their continued support of the parish in these days.
If you’d like to join us in person for Mass, we welcome you on Saturday at 5 p.m., or Sunday at 7, 9, and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Remember that we are resuming our 7 a.m. Mass starting this Sunday, Nov. 29. Early risers, rejoice!
• We also begin our annual parish outreach initiatives this weekend with our Giving Tree project and the Our Mother of Mercy Toy Drive. … For the
Giving Tree, we invite you to bring gift cards to local merchants (Wal-mart, Target, and H-E-B are the most in demand) for distribution by Cypress Assistance Ministries. You can choose any domination, but typically something in the $10-20 range is most common. You can include them in a Christmas card if you like, but the card itself is also more than fine. We get them over to CAM right who in turn will distribute them to families in need in our area. Thanks for making Christmas a bit brighter for our neighbors this year. … Our
annual toy drive for Our Mother of Mercy Church, our twinned parish in Houston, is also underway. You are welcome to bring an unwrapped toy for either a boy or girl to the parish, and we’ll match them with a family in need at OMOM. Use your imagination as to what kind of toy (or ask a kid!), but we’ll also have an Amazon Wish List with pre-selected items that can be purchased and sent directly here to the parish to make things easier and contact free. The link will be live beginning Saturday morning, Nov. 28, at
www.ctrcc.com/toydrive.
• Looking ahead to next week, we’ve got several events to put on your calendar. First up is
#GivingTuesday, which is next Tuesday, Dec. 1. After Black Friday and Cyber Monday,
#GivingTuesday is a nationwide effort to remember smaller non-profit organizations and churches. … I am grateful for everyone’s support of the parish throughout these past nine months. You have been wonderfully consistent and generous and that has allowed us to provide the needed resources to keep our parish running safely. Among other things, your donations have helped us purchase much needed cleaning and disinfecting supplies to provide a safe environment in the church and buildings, and it has allowed us to upgrade our video equipment to provide live streaming services. Thank you one and all! … If, in your charity, you’d like to make a donation to CtR on
#GivingTuesday, you are welcome to do so by visiting
www.ctrcc.com/donate for a quick and safe way to give electronically to the parish. Thank you again for remembering us in your end-of-the-year giving. May God bless you abundantly.
• Next Friday, Dec. 4 is the 19th annual
Advent by Candlelight, an evening of prayer and reflection to put our hearts in a proper place for this holy season of expectant longing. In the past, ABC was held on campus for women to come together in an environment reflecting this penitential season, lit only by candlelight, with a speaker offering her reflection on this holy season. Unfortunately we can’t gather in person this year, but the fine folks who coordinate this wonderful event are transitioning it online and we can all participate electronically. It will be livestreamed on the CtR YouTube channel on Friday, Dec. 4 from 7-8 p.m., and promises to be an hour filled with spirit and grace. … This year’s speaker,
Rachel Smyth, Director of Youth Evangelization and Catechesis at CtR, will reflect on her 2020 theme,
“Even Now”, taken from the Gospel of John. For additional information, visit
www.ctrcc.com/advent-by-candlelight, where you will also find the link that will take you directly to our YouTube channel for viewing.
• One of my favorite ministries at CtR,
PieceMakers (aka, LWMS – Ladies Who Make Stuff!), will hold its annual Fall Sale next weekend, Dec. 5-6. Again, due to the pandemic, it won’t take place in person as has been the custom in the Parish Hall after the masses, but Covid cannot stop these crafty ladies! They will have an online store open all next weekend, so you can shop for plenty of arts and crafts and seasonal goodies, along with an auction, from the comfort and safety of your own home. Keep an eye out for it, and support the PieceMakers’ Fall Sale. See
www.ctrcc.com/piecemakers for additional information. As always, they return 100 percent of the proceeds back to the parish. Thank you, PieceMakers!
• Lastly, our parish offices will close at 1 p.m. today, Wednesday, Nov. 25, and reopen on Monday, Nov. 30. In addition, our prayer chapel (old church) will close at the same time today and reopen on Monday morning after Mass as well, but confessions will be heard on Saturday at 9 a.m. as usual.
Happy Thanksgiving! May God pour forth His grace upon our land!
Peace, Fr. Sean