March 23 update from Fr. Sean

March 23, 2020

Parish Update – Monday, March 23 from Fr. Sean

As we all settle not so gently into the new normal way of life, I greet you all on this Monday evening. I’ve included a video of a quartet from our CtR Choir singing the beautiful and soothing Psalm 23: The Lord is My Shepherd. In these days of unrest, it’s good to be reminded that the Lord is indeed with us, even though we are walking through dark valleys. God has always accompanied his people throughout all of salvation history and he is with us now. Let us go to him in our prayer and trust in his mercy always.

Thanks for your patience as we get the sound fine-tuned in our live stream of Mass on our YouTube channel. We made some adjustments to our system today and I think you’ll hear a noticeable improvement for the rest of the week and certainly for next Sunday. Remember you can watch it live (or later if you choose) at: ctrcc.com/live-stream.
I know you long for the Eucharist (and we priests long to offer it to you), but how was your experience of Spiritual Communion this past weekend? Let us know in the comments or send me an email to sean.horrigan@ctrcc.com. And let us know how we can pray for you and your family, too. We've got some new initiatives ready to roll out to help us stay connected as a parish so stay tuned. More to come later in the week.
While our chapel (old church) is still open daily for prayer from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., we have ceased Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at this time. If you do come to the chapel, please practice physical spacing between one another and wash your hands before and afterward.

We make this change for the safety of all people and to be sure that the Blessed Sacrament is never left alone in Exposition. Many people are choosing to stay home (and that's a good thing) and it is best to offer only Adoration at this time. Of course, the Lord is still present to us in the tabernacle and so our prayers in His presence do not change!

The hours of the chapel will remain in effect until further notice. If the city and county move to a "Shelter in Place" program, we will adjust our schedule accordingly. Let us continue to beseech the Lord for His intercession upon his people, wherever we may be.

Here’s the news I suspect you knew was coming but nonetheless still pains me to say: our CtR Spring Festival will not be held this year. It’s a great disappointment but in reality we didn’t have a choice. It’s the right thing to do for health reasons, of course, but even if the coronavirus restrictions were to be lifted tomorrow, we still wouldn’t have time to pull everything together. The logistics to prepare and coordinate the Spring Festival take time and people working together and we just don’t have that luxury at the moment. Add in the uncertainly with what the future for so many people and it just make sense to take a break this year and reconvene next April. (We considered a move to the fall, but that presents difficulties as well so we’ll wait until next year.)

Our wonderful chairpersons, Mike and Camille Havelka, joined me in making the decision and they too are sorry that it won’t happen this year. They and their core committee had been working the past few months ramping up for it, but now is the time when they normally would be making a big push to finalize everything.

If you sent in a check for raffle tickets, it will be returned to you. Otherwise, please discard the tickets you may have received that have not yet been sold. The annual t-shirts had already been printed, so we will find a way to make them available to you in the coming weeks. They will make for a fun souvenir of the festival that never was, and we might also look to offer a few auctions later in the year, too. More details to come once we get through all of this, but for now, join me in thanking the Havelkas and the team for their work up to this point, and, of course, plan to join us April 24-25, 2021 for the 35th (Not Exactly) Annual Spring Festival!

The canceling of the Spring Festival hurts our hearts as it is a great community event, but it is also has a huge impact on our parish budget. It’s our largest fundraiser of the year and its impact will be felt across the board. I met virtually with the staff today and will do likewise with the Finance Council later this week. We are beginning to implement cost-saving measures across the board, and nearly all of our staff will experience a reduction in hours. This is not a decision I take lightly as pastor. It pains me to do so, but in reality we have to make difficult choices in times like this.

While we can curtail some expenses, the reality is that we still have obligations to meet in regards to utilities, debt servicing, benefits, and a host of other areas. Our offertory collection has taken a noticeable dip as a result of not having Sunday Mass. While we are grateful for the many that give electronically, a great number of parishioners and guests only give via cash or check dropped into the baskets each week.

I encourage you to please remember your parish in these difficult days. We welcome you to mail in or drop off your donation, but the best way to help us is to donate electronically. We have an easy and secure system to use via Faith Direct. Go to www.faithdirect.net and enter our parish code of TX150. You can make a one-time gift or set up your account to give weekly. Later in the week we’ll have a PayPal option available, too.

Every family has to adjust to this new reality and I pray that it will not be too severe for any of us. Your families are in my prayers. The parish is a family, too, and so I ask for your prayers and support for us. May we be good and generous stewards of God’s gifts.

More to come later in the week.

Our Lady of Good Counsel , pray for us!
Peace, Fr. Sean