Bulletin for Oct. 8

Dear friends in Christ,

It’s been six weeks since Hurricane Harvey came ashore and inundated southeast Texas with record amounts of rainfall. In addition to the terrible destruction done to Rockport and other small communities along the Gulf Coast, we in Houston suffered devastating amounts of flood waters in the days that followed. The waters have receded now, but those whose homes took on water still have a long way to go to put back together their lives.

In the immediate days after the flood hit, Christ the Redeemer sprung into action with what we called our Community Clean-Up Response effort. More than 800 volunteers were assembled and we were able to send out multi-purpose teams to help those most in need. The work done was truly heroic. We fielded requests from more than 275 families and we were able to respond to each of them in some manner. We completed various tasks at more than 150 homes. Most needed help with pulling out soaked carpet and cutting and hauling out drywall. Others needed help moving furniture and all of them needed help with cleaning, disinfecting and preventing mold growth. Some jobs took just a couple of hours; others took multiple days. We tackled it all with the assistance of all ages, from retirees to 3rd graders. Thank you one and all!

We received donations of cash and supplies from many of our parishioners, even those who themselves experienced flooding in their homes. Our Community Center became a “Catholic Home Depot,” stacked several feet high with all manners of tools and supplies. We were able to equip our teams in the field with all the materials they needed to get the job done, and to leave additional supplies for homeowners after we were done. We continued to keep the Community Center open for two weeks afterward and hundreds of people stopped by to pick up what they needed – all for no charge.

As the outreach in our area began to slow we transitioned to helping out our neighbors in other areas too, sending supplies to those in need at St. Ignatius of Loyola parish in Spring and St. John Vianney in West Houston. We also helped out at Cypress Assistance Ministries with supplies and donations.

As we said at the outset we wanted to be able to assist people in their immediate need and also be there for them in the long run. We knew that, as people dealt with FEMA and insurance agencies (if they had flood insurance), the road to rebuilding was going to be long. Many are still not back in their houses and are still living with families and friends. The number of household items needing to be replaced goes far beyond carpet and drywall.

To that extent we are initiating a Flood Assistance Program to make financial donations available to those in our parish who have been impacted. We have received upwards of $50,000 in donations from both our own parishioners and from those far away. All have said the same thing: “Use this to help your people.” And that’s what we plan to do.

We are reaching out to all those parishioners who contacted us in the first few days of the flood to see if they need financial assistance. We also have a form available on our parish website at www.ctrcc.com/floodhelp. Our plan is to help those parishioners of CtR who have been impacted first, and then, to the extent that we are able, to go out to the larger community to offer some relief to them as well.

If you are a CtR parishioner who suffered damage due to the flood, or if you know of a fellow parishioner who took on water, we encourage you to let us know. We want to help you and the people who have donated money want to help you. I don’t know how much or to what extent we can help, but we want to be able to get this money into your hands. There are no strings attached. It is for your use to assist in whatever way would make your life a little easier in light of the damage done to your home.

I know some of us might be reluctant to request assistance, but it is my hope that many of our parishioners who took on water in their homes will let us know. We are reaching out to those we know of, but I’m sure there are more whom we haven’t heard from as of yet. It doesn’t matter if you got two feet or two inches of water. We want to make this as widely available as possible to all those in need. For now we are starting with parishioners who had water in their homes, but if we can extend it to non-parishioners, we will. We ask that all requests be completed by Nov. 1 so that we can begin to process them and hopefully have assistance checks ready by Thanksgiving.

In the end, every little bit helps, and so I thank everyone who donated to make this type of assistance possible. If you’d still like to donate, we’re happy to receive your contributions, too. My sincere thanks to those who have given. The entire response of our community has been nothing short of amazing. It’s heartwarming to see the outpouring of love and support. To everyone who gave a donation, or helped in the clean-up, or dropped off supplies, I offer my sincere thanks on behalf of everyone in our CtR family.

In other news I remind you of our presentation this afternoon, Sunday, Oct. 8, at 2 p.m. in the Community Center with myself and Pastor Brad Otto of Messiah Lutheran Church as we look at Catholic-Lutheran relations leading up to the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Please join us and make plans as well for Thursday, Oct. 19 when we will host a joint prayer service with Messiah Lutheran in our church.

Finally, in this Respect Life Month of October, you are invited to a discussion on the topic of the death penalty with Karen Clifton of the Catholic Mobilizing Network and Linda White of the Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty and a murder victim family member at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, Oct. 11 in the Community Center. Both are excellent speakers and this promises to be an informative night as we look to how we as members of the Church can work to uphold the dignity of all human life and bring about God’s healing peace even in the face of terrible violence. 

Peace,
Fr. Sean

P.S.: Our annual CtR Golf Tournament is tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 9 at Cypress Lakes Golf Club. The field is filling up but we still have room for foursomes and individual players. You can register on-site tomorrow for just $125 per player. We begin at 12 noon and your fee includes lunch, a goodie bag, and a delicious dinner prepared by the Knights of Columbus afterward. The weather looks like it is going to cooperate, too. Come join us for a great day on the links benefitting youth scholarships and CAM. Even if you are not golfer, we invite you out for the dinner beginning at 5 p.m. We have some great live and silent auction items up for bid, too.