We’ve moved into the month of October, which is always my favorite month. The temperatures are starting to drop just a bit affording us a chance to give our air conditioners a break, and it’s a great time to be outdoors, perhaps for some backyard grilling or football under the “Friday Night Lights.” There is a great feeling in the air and hopefully a pep in our step. It’s also a wonderful month in the life of the Church. October is always designated as Respect Life Month, and this first Sunday of the month is
Respect Life Sunday.
Of course we pray for the protection and dignity of human life every month and every Sunday (really, every day), but today we lift up our hearts in prayer in a special way that we might always work to protect God’s great gift of life. I’m especially happy that we have renewed our efforts at awareness at CtR with our
Respect Life Committee. My thanks to Kerry Chu and her team for bringing a greater awareness of pro-life events to CtR.
On this Respect Life Sunday, you’ll find a beautiful prayer card/bookmark offered as you leave Mass today, reminding us to pray for the gift of life. CtR is also participating in the International 40 Days for Life effort where Christians throughout the world are invited to take part in praying daily from Sept. 26 through Nov. 4. In addition to the 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion in America, please consider volunteering to pray outside of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility at 4600 Gulf Freeway. Various parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston are taking one day throughout the month to silently pray at the facility and our day for CtR is Tuesday, Oct. 30. You can sign up to take one hour on that day
on the CtR website.
Remember that today is also our fall parish blood drive wherein you can “give the gift of life” by donating blood after Mass. It’s our 20th year of partnering with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and in that time more than 1,500 units of blood have been donated by CtR parishioners. Thank you.
In other news, I invite you to join with me in prayer for the Synod of Bishops that is now underway in Rome. This “Ordinary General Assembly,” as it is known, is meeting for the 15th time since the Synod was first convened in 1965 following Vatican II. It meets at the discretion of the Holy Father to discuss matters of importance to the entire Church worldwide. The theme for this year’s assembly is “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment” and it will run from Oct. 3-28 with more than 300 cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay experts, and of course, a great number of young people from around the world. Pope Francis presides over the synod and they will meet daily for prayer, discussion and consultation. Our own Cardinal DiNardo is one of the participants this year.
The purpose of the Synod of Bishops is to discuss teenagers and young adults in the Catholic Church and to find ways to encourage their enthusiasm and dreams, help them sift through the possibilities to serve others and resist temptations. In addition to their personal experience, synod participants will have at their disposal a working document that was based on input from bishops’ conferences, religious orders, offices of the Roman Curia and Catholic organizations; an online survey of young adults; and a document prepared by more than 300 young people who met in Rome in March at the invitation of the pope.
In short, it’s a vast undertaking on a matter that is at the heart of the Church. In the U.S. we speak of “youth” as ages 12-18, and “young adults” as those 18-39, but for the Synod, and really the rest of the world, youth is defined as anyone 16-29. Regardless I think we can all agree that anyone in that age range has a special place in the life of the Church. They make up a great portion of the Church just in sheer number, and while it is wrong to characterize them as the “future” of the Church (because they are already the Church presently), there is no doubt that the younger generation will help lead the Church for years to come. In my own interaction with youth and young adults I find reason for great hope. They possess a spirit and love for God and neighbor that I don’t think my own generation (I’ll be 53 next week) ever quite expressed, at least not so clearly.
And I like how the Synod is focusing on the call to vocational discernment. The preparatory document speaks of the “vocation to love,” which “takes concrete form in everyday life through a series of choices, which find expression in the states of life (marriage, ordained ministry, consecrated life, etc.), professions, forms of social and civil commitment, lifestyle, the management of time and money, etc.” In other words, the concept of vocation in this context is very broad. So when speaking of the states of life and the vocational journey of young people toward them, the U.S. bishops understand “vocation” to mean the pathway to marriage, ordained ministry, and consecrated life.
We have a wonderful ministry to
young adults here at CtR and I encourage anyone in the 18-39 age range, single or married, to get involved with their work. I’m going to be their guest speaker this Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in Room 201, and they have a host of activities (spiritual, service and social) planned throughout the fall and into next year. In fact, we’re going to host a session of Café Catholica North next February, an extension of the popular summer series that is held inside the loop. It’s being expanded in the winter to four parishes in this part of the Archdiocese. If you know of a young adult, encourage them to join us.
More information on our CtR Young Adult Group is online.
Fr. Ralph is on vacation for the next couple of weeks so I’m flying solo until Oct. 19. Please be patient with me if you are waiting for an appointment or a returned phone call as I’m going to stretched a bit to cover everything. There is a lot going on this month, but it’s all good! We welcome today Fr. Dominic Anaeto from St. Mary Seminary for our 9 a.m. Mass, and Fr. Richard McNeillie, the Vocation director of the Archdiocese, to our 5 p.m. Mass.
Finally, remember that our CtR Golf tournament is tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 8 at Cypress Lakes Golf Club. Entry fee is only $125 and includes lunch and dinner. Proceeds benefit Cypress Assistance Ministries and youth scholarships from the parish. We still have room for singles and foursomes, so spread the word and make plans to join us. We tee off at 12 noon and you can register at the course. See the parish website for more information. Hope to see you there!