Our Gospel reading on this 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time is one of the most comforting in all of the New Testament. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” (Matthew 11:25-30). I don’t know about you, but every time I read that passage my heart is filled with an inner peace. It’s like being wrapped in a big warm hug by Jesus. If you are burdened by life – and all of us are at some time and in some way – then let these words of Jesus be your comfort and strength. Then go and bring that same comfort and strength to others.
As I mentioned in the bulletin last week, Deacon Jack Alexander has retired from
our staff as our Director of Family Life, though he’ll still continue his diaconal ministry for us. This week, we are happy to welcome to our pastoral staff our new Director of Adult Faith Formation, Mary Caprio.
Mary comes to us with a distinguished background. She is a licensed nurse, having obtained her Masters in Nursing from Loyola University of Chicago. Over the years of practicing nursing, she developed a keen interest in bioethics, and later obtained a Masters of Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville and a Masters of Theological Studies in Marriage and Family from the John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family.
She most recently served as Director of Adult Faith Formation at St. Michael Catholic Church in Houston for eight years before moving last year to become Program Director for St. John Paul II Foundation, where she has taught widely on bioethics and marriage enrichment. A desire to return to parish-based ministry has led her to us. Mary is also a Certified Creighton Model Practitioner of Natural Family Planning, teaching monthly sessions for engaged couples and that will be a great benefit to our couples preparing for marriage. She has also been an Adjunct Faculty member of both the University of St. Thomas and Texas Women's University in Houston.
She has a great love for the Catholic faith and desires to help individuals and families grow in the faith. Having worked at St. Michael's in the area of Adult Faith Formation, we are excited for her to join us at CtR as we seek to grow our ministries aimed at helping adults and families discover the richness of God's word and the beauty of the faith at work in their lives. Please join me in welcoming Mary to CtR. You’ll see and hear much more from her as she gets settled into her position. We are blessed to have her join us and we look forward to her ministry in helping our adults grow in their knowledge and love of the faith.
I’m also happy to announce that Julie Cook, who has coordinated the
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults for several years will be taking on that job full-time and is now our Director of RCIA. Previously, Deacon Jack oversaw the RCIA and Julie coordinated the ministry, but Julie’s role has grown more and more over the years. She’s more than ready to take it over on her own, and this will free Mary in her new position to concentrate fully on Adult Faith Formation for the rest of the parish. I still envision that Mary will help out with RCIA and teach a few of the classes, but Julie and her excellent team of catechists will oversee all aspects of formation for adults, teens and even young children who are converting to the faith though RCIA. We thank Julie for her great work with our catechumens and candidates and look forward to her continuing to grow that vital ministry of our parish.
Remember this weekend is the annual Black Bag Collection for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. This annual appeal supports the work of one of the oldest organizations in the Catholic Church and its outreach to the poor and disenfranchised. While we don’t have a St. Vincent de Paul Society at CtR (Cypress Assistance Ministry fills that role for us), we are happy to assist the good work that it does throughout our Archdiocese and the world. It’s the only weekend we actually pass the black bags in the pews as a reminder of the humble beginnings of this apostolate of the Church when a black bag was passed among seven college students long ago so that each could contribute an anonymous amount.
The work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society continues to be a powerful and personal response to those on the peripheries. Last year, more than 397,000 direct aid services were offered to individuals in need throughout our Archdiocese. The SVDP Society uses $.95 cents out of every dollar to provide assistance with food, clothing, household needs as well as financial help for rent, utilities, transportation, medical and funeral expenses. In their hours of desperate need, many of our brothers and sisters find hope through the efforts of the men and women of the SVDP Society and your assistance makes that possible. Thank you for your continued support of this vital ministry.
Remember as well that we will soon be collecting school supplies for
Operation Backpack. Hard to believe but school starts in just a little more than a month. Please bring school supplies that we will distribute to children in our community through CAM and to our sister parish, Our Mother of Mercy Church in Houston’s Fifth Ward. I’ve seen flyers for many of the local stores advertising great buys on school supplies so keep that it mind when shopping. We’ll have collection boxes in the narthex during the next several weeks.
Lastly for those men and women in the parish ages 18-45 who may be discerning a vocation, I highly recommend the upcoming Life Awareness Retreat on July 21-23 at Holy Name Retreat Center. This weekend retreat has helped many men and women over the years listen more intently to God’s call in their life and several vocations have emerged from it. For more information, ask Fr. Ralph or myself. We’d be happy to help you sign up.