Today is Catechetical Sunday in the Church in the United States. It’s the day set aside to mark the beginning of the new Religious Education year for children, youth and adults. It’s also our first day of the new R.E. year at CtR as classes begin this week for our children and youth.
I am most thankful to our fine
R.E. staff who have been hard at work preparing this year. We are blessed by a dedicated group who take seriously the commandment of Jesus to “go and teach.” To Kathy Kelley, our Director of Religious Education, along with her staff of Annette O’Driscoll, Linda Watso, Debbie Hawkins, Megan Schulz and Camilla Mackenzie, we offer our sincere gratitude for coordinating the many aspects that go into a comprehensive R.E. program. Likewise we appreciate the great work done by Bryan and Rachel Smyth, Angela Sengenberger and Stacie McKay in our
Youth Ministry Department.
Their work would not be possible without our hundreds of teachers, catechists, aides and parent volunteers. You are truly the backbone of our program and without your selfless gift of your time and talent, we would not be able to accommodate our 2,300 children in all grades. Thank you one and all. We’ll have a special blessing today at all Masses for our catechists as they begin this new R.E. year. To the parents of R.E. students, I ask that you join me in showing gratitude to your fellow parents who are catechists. Be kind to them, and assist them as much as possible so that they may instruct your sons and daughters in the ways of the faith. They welcome your help!
The role of parents is vital in the faith development of a child. A young person is in class only 75 minutes once a week. The rest of the time they are at home so it stands to reason that parents will shape the development of the faith. That is done by example more often than words. One of the most important ways to develop the faith is to see that your children attend Mass on a regular (i.e., weekly) basis. Every year catechists tell me they are amazed when they ask their class how many of them went to Mass that week. Inevitably it is less than half of the students. I ask all parents to please make a commitment to worshipping with your children at Mass. To sign them up for R.E. class is a good thing and I thank you for that. But do not fail to bring them to Church to worship God!
The theme for this year’s Catechetical Year, as chosen by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is “
Living as Missionary Disciples.” That is the work of all the members of the Church, not just those involved directly with catechesis. Let us strive to live intentionally as missionary disciples in all we say and do every day of our lives.
The past few weeks have brought challenges to many in our community, but it has also provided us with opportunities to live out that call to intentional discipleship. Even if we were not directly impacted by Hurricane Harvey or the resulting flooding, we likely know someone who was. Chances are we’ve assisted them through some form of outreach, be it sweat equity in helping them muck out their home, or prayer equity, which is vitally important as well. Others have done both and donated supplies and financial assistance to help those in need. Regardless of the form of our help, it all goes a long way to helping our brothers and sisters, and even complete strangers, recover.
Though the work has been tough, and will continue to be for weeks and months to come for many, there are countless opportunities to see God’s grace at work. Several of you have shared such moments with me recently and I stand in awe and wonder at the goodness of God that shines forth in the work of our hands.
Allow me please to share with you one unexpected sign of that grace of God that arrived in my mailbox earlier this week. The letter was dated Sept. 6 and it reads as follows: “Dear Fr. Horrigan, Thirty years ago today, our son Jonathan Robert Luttkus Sharkey received the
Sacrament of Baptism at Christ the Redeemer. While we moved from the Houston area 29 years ago, Houston and the parish remain a special place for us. Like so many around the country, we have been astonished at the devastation that Hurricane Harvey did to the city we used to call home. Please accept the donation to use how you see fit – we know the needs are many. We will keep all of you in our prayers.” The letter is signed from Sandra Luttkus and Robert Sharkey from Westhope, North Dakota, and included a nice check for our
Community Clean-Up Relief efforts.
Now, I ask you, how great is that? What a touching and heartfelt letter and kind gift from a couple who were members here for only a short time and who moved away 29 years ago. It shows how the sacramental life of the Church connects us to something greater than ourselves. Their son’s baptism united their family in Christ and the place of that moment of grace never left them. They included a picture from 1987 of the baptism with Deacon Barry Beckman holding their son in the old day chapel (now
Eucharistic Adoration Chapel).
Never underestimate those moments of grace, my friends. From baptisms to breaking out of tile, from marriages to mucking out a house, from confessions to carpet-pulling, all of it is an opportunity to see God at work and to respond in thanksgiving. It brings to mind the famous words of St. Therese of Lisieux, “Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love – difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs – everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness. Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift.”
I’ve sent a note of thanks to Sandra and Robert for sharing their story and their donation with us. I pray that today’s CtR families will, in 30 years time, also remember their parish and those moments of grace that take place all around us. By the way, if you are wondering like I was where in the world Westhope, N.D. is located, it is due north of us – you can almost draw a straight line between Houston and Westhope. Granted, it’s a long line of 1,500 miles, but you’ll arrive there eventually. It’s a small town (population 438) that lies just six miles from the Canadian border. That’s a long way from CtR, but they are close to us in the heart nonetheless. From small things big things one day come!