March 20 update from Fr. Sean

Parish Update – Friday, March 20 from Fr. Sean

Happy rainy Friday, everyone! It’s a good day to stay inside, but then again, these days, all days are good in that regard. Let’s stay healthy and safe, and  keep praying. I’m looking forward to our first Sunday Mass to be live-streamed this weekend. More details on that below, along with a handful of other things that I think you’ll like.

• First, remember we have our inaugural Drive-in Benediction tonight at 7 p.m. in the parking lot in front of the church. Depending on the weather at that time, I’ll process out with the monstrance onto the plaza and give you a few minutes to be with our Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar while you remain in your cars. The church will be lit up from the narthex and hopefully it will be a good opportunity to be in communion with the Lord and one another, albeit at a proper distance. It’ll be brief, probably only 10-15 minutes, but the church will remain illuminated until 8 p.m.

• You are invited to join us at 9 a.m. on Sunday for Mass live-streamed  on our parish YouTube channel. It’s the 4th Sunday of Lent, otherwise known as  Laetare Sunday, from the Latin, “Rejoice!” Even though Mass is closed to the public, it is still good that we gather remotely and rejoice for our Lenten journey is coming near its end. Let us pray that we will soon likewise come to an end of this pandemic that has changed our world.
To watch, go to this link on our parish website:  ctrcc.com/live-stream. There’s a link to click that will take you directly to the YouTube page. There’s even a copy of our Sunday worship aid that you can print and follow along. The  readings for Mass can be found there as well.

I encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can stay in touch with all the happenings here at CtR. In addition to daily Mass at 9 a.m. during the week, we’re planning to add more content in the coming days. We’re looking to offer you reflections from myself, Fr. Vincent and our deacons as well as our pastoral staff. Though not the same as being in each other’s presence, we nonetheless want to explore new options of staying connected by new means of communication. We’ll have more information on those initiatives next week.

• Though I’m heartbroken you won’t be here physically on Sunday, I still want to invite you to be present, online as mentioned above, but also in another unique way. To that end,  send me your picture.

You may have seen the  story earlier this week of a priest in Italy who asked his parishioners to send their picture to him. He printed the “selfies” and taped them to the pews to look at while he was celebrating Mass. It filled the church with familiar faces. What a great idea, I thought, and if it’s good enough for Italy, it’s good enough for us in Texas.
Send me a picture of yourself, or maybe with your family, to this email address:  [email protected]. Get the idea? It’s “us” at CtR! We’ll take care of the rest. Doesn’t have to be a Glamour Shots worthy photo either, just a good snap of you. I can’t promise you how big we’ll print them or what the quality will be, but we’ll figure it out. Just to see your faces will be a joy in itself.

If you’d like, post a picture on your own social media pages with the hashtag  #weareCtR, possibly of you watching the Mass or gathered together as a family in prayer. Even though we are separated from one another, we are still connected. We are still one body in Christ. We are still the church.  #weareCtR

• We will have confession on Saturday from 9-10 a.m. Enter through the chapel. We’ll have people on hand to direct you and we want to keep proper social distance. Confessions will only be behind the screen, not face-to-face. It’s too much of a risk, even at a distance, for Fr. Vincent and me to be exposed to that many people. If you have been recently, you might consider letting others who have not had the opportunity.

• I also ask you to please continue to support the parish financially in these changing times. We are taking quick action to cut our expenses across the board, but we are in for some rough waters. We still must pay our bills and expenses, so your weekly tithe is especially important. If you are not yet giving electronically, I urge you to begin doing so now. It’s quick, easy, and secure to do so through Faith Direct. Go to  www.faithdirect.net and enter our parish code of TX150. From there you can easily make set up your account to give weekly. You can also mail in or drop off a donation at the church office.

I tithe electronically myself via Faith Direct and it couldn’t be easier. One-time gifts are also welcomed, but please consider ditching your envelopes and making this the “new normal” for your offertory. It saves us considerable money in the long run as we don’t have to pay a printer to produce the envelopes, or pay for mailing, or pay the bank for check processing fees.  It’s a great way to practice one of the hallmarks of stewardship. We do so much of our life online these days, from ordering groceries and household supplies, to ordering dinner, to shopping on Amazon, and paying our various bills, that’s it time we add the church to our regular electronic payments, too. Thank you for your continued support of our mission at CtR.

St. Edmund the Martyr, Patron Saint of pandemics, pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Peace, Fr. Sean