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February 9, 2018Dear friends in Christ,
This weekend marks our final Sunday of Ordinary Time before we begin our 40-day journey of Lent. Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday, Feb. 14. Recall that Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation but it is an important day for us as we begin Lent with our foreheads “branded” with ashes. It’s a call to conversion and a sign of our mortality – “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
We will have six liturgies on Ash Wednesday. We begin with a 6:30 a.m. Liturgy of the Word service for those on the way to work or school. We will only have one Mass on Ash Wednesday at 9 a.m. We will have additional Liturgy of the Word services (all with distribution of ashes) at 12 noon, 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. All services will be in the church. There are no confessions on Wednesday nor an evening Mass. Ash Wednesday is also a day of fast and abstinence from meat, and all Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence. See elsewhere in the bulletin for the guidelines for fasting and abstinence and an additional Lenten calendar of events.
We are once again participating in CRS Rice Bowl for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) during Lent. We’ll distribute the bowls this weekend and we encourage you to make it a family penitential practice. Collect your extra change (perhaps that saved from what you “gave up”) over the 40 days of Lent, and then plan to return your Rice Bowls in the Easter season.
With the beginning of Lent we resume our Friday Fish dinners sponsored by our Knights of Columbus Council 8771. Every Friday during Lent, from 4:30-7:30 p.m., the Knights serve a delicious fish dinner in the Parish Hall. For only $8 ($5 for children) you get your choice of baked or fried fish or shrimp, three side dishes, dessert and a drink. These fish dinners are unmatched in the Archdiocese. They serve upwards of 1,500 dinners a night, but the line moves quickly so come early and bring your family and friends. You can also get your meal to go if you like. The first of the six consecutive Fridays of Lent starts this week on Friday, Feb. 16. Be sure and thank the Knights for their hard work on the dinners. They have a great turnout of KofC members and each does his part. It’s a great testament to Stewardship in action so thank you brother Knights!
Let me point out again that price for the Fish Fry: $8 for adults and $5 for kids. I believe this is the eighth year in a row that the Knights have held the line on their pricing. It’s an incredible deal. I see other parishes advertise their Lenten Fish Fry at upwards of $10 or $12, and of course any restaurant you might go to would be even more. The Knights, and in particular David Keating, who is the mastermind behind their ordering system, have worked diligently with their suppliers to keep the wholesale price they pay in line, and they in turn pass on the savings to our community. They could easily and justifiably charge more, and make more profit which they turn back to their various programs for the parish, but they see the Fish Fry not as a money-maker, but as a community builder. There may come a day when they have to raise prices, but for now they are working hard to make it affordable for families and still have enough to give back to the greater community. Please join me in thanking the Knights for their service and Stewardship.
Also following the Lent fish dinners every Friday we will have Stations of the Cross in the church beginning at 7 p.m. I hope many of you will want to spend 30-45 minutes on Friday nights with this popular Lenten devotion. I especially recommend it to those families with young children. It’s a great way to spend a Friday evening – come for dinner and stay for Stations. In addition, the church will also be open on Friday mornings in Lent following daily Mass for those who don’t want to be out at night and wish to make the Stations in the daytime hours. Friday night Stations will be led by the clergy, while Friday morning Stations can be done privately on your own schedule and at your own pace.
To follow up on the items I mentioned at Mass last weekend, you may drop your Diocesan Services Fund pledge into the regularly weekly offertory and we’ll separate it out to make sure it gets to the Chancery, or you may bring or mail your form to the Parish Office. Of course, it’s easy to make your pledge online at www.archgh.org/dsf if you’d like to take care of it that way. Thank you for your support of the DSF which goes to fund the more than 60 ministries of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Our goal at CtR this year is $305,000 and if we all will make a pledge to the extent that is possible we’ll easily make our goal. Again, the size of the gift is up to you, but please do join us in this important work as we are called to be “instruments of the God’s mercy” to our brothers and sisters. Thank you for your generous support.
Remember as well that Fr. Bruce Nieli, CSP, will be with us next weekend at all Masses to preview the upcoming Lenten Parish Mission on Feb. 19-21. Our theme of our mission this year is “Responding to the Spirit: In the Soul, In the Church and In the World,” and will echo Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the “Joy of the Gospel.”
You’ll have two opportunities daily to participate in the mission, either in the morning session from 10-11:30 a.m. or in the evening from 7-8:30 p.m. Each day we’ll serve a continental breakfast in the morning and a light supper in the evening to help feed your body and soul. My sincere thanks to all of our many parish ministries which have been working together with Christy Wright, our director of Family Life, to coordinate the many details of the mission. It promises to be a spiritual blessing for us all so please plan to join us.
Lastly, confessions will not be heard next Saturday, Feb. 17 as both Fr. Ralph and myself will be participating in the Steps for Students 5K Race to benefit Catholic schools. Confessions will resume the following Wednesday and Saturday. It’s also not too late to support us in our efforts. Remember that all donations to Steps for Students come right back to our CtR Catholic School and we use those donations to fund tuition assistance and other educational initiatives for our students and faculty. Visit pages to support either Fr. Ralph or me (though it all goes to the same end, you’ll undoubtedly get more blessings if you give to my team!), or if you’d like, you can drop by a check or cash for us in the Parish Office and we’ll make sure it goes to our CtR School team for Steps for Students.
Peace,
Fr. Sean
