Bulletin for Dec. 31

Dear friends in Christ,
 
Merry Christmas! Yes, it is true. Our Christmas celebration indeed continues today. The birth of our Savior is not a once-and-done proposition but continues up until the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord next weekend. So, let the Christmas spirit reign in your hearts and in your homes a few days longer. Don’t be so quick to put away the decorations (especially the crèche!) and try to hold on to the spirit of Christmas – the celebration of the Word made flesh that dwells among us – throughout this coming year.

As the Christmas season continues today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This great feast day, which is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following Christmas Day, is a beautiful reminder of the dignity and respect that being part of a family calls us to honor. We are members not only of our personal families, but also of the family of God. We honor Jesus, Mary and Joseph and we look to them to guide us in dealing with our families. Many, if not all, of us have “unique” family structures. There are always areas of both great love and great tension within every family. Some family members we are extremely close to while others may be estranged from us, often for years. If there are difficulties or bitter feelings lingering in your family perhaps this start of the new year would be a good time to bury the past and build up your family on the model of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. May they serve as an inspiration to always follow God in our family lives.

Tomorrow, Monday, Jan. 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. We always start the new year off by remembering the motherhood of Our Lady who gave birth to the Savior. It’s also World Day of Prayer for Peace, something that Mary knew well in her heart and that we should strive to emulate in ours. Though it’s still a holy day, it is not a day of obligation this year because the feast falls on a Monday. We’ll have one Mass on Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. in the main church.

Before we look ahead to events in this new year we take one final look back at all the events of the past few weeks. My thanks again to everyone who helped with our toy drive for Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, our sister parish in the Fifth Ward. We had a great response for it as well as for our annual Giving Tree for CAM. You all contributed more than $17,000 in gift cards that were given to those in need in our community. Thank you very much. 

We owe a sincere debt of gratitude to our Liturgy Department and volunteers who helped make the Christmas Masses flow so smoothly. My very special thanks to Deacon Jeff Willard, Ofelia Carrasco, Deanna Negrete and our many liturgical ministers who put in long hours to make sure our Masses last weekend were as well coordinated as they were inspiring. Thanks as well to Patty Arnett and her great team who helped create the beautiful Art and Environment in the church and the Parish Hall. To all of our extra ministers of the Word, Holy Communion, ushers, greeters, sacristans and acolytes, my sincere thanks. Let us not fail to give thanks for the beautiful liturgical music provided by our choirs (adult and children), expertly led by Bridget Wenk and assisted by Christine Marté and organist Joe Russell, as well as Mark Dolce and company in the Contemporary Choir. They all put in multiple rehearsals and enabled us to praise the newborn King with heavenly hearts and voices. Our parish is blessed with selfless people who sacrifice so much so that so many can experience the goodness of God. Thank you one and all for your beautiful Stewardship of time and talent.

I would be remiss if I did not give a personal thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts to the office and rectory for Fr. Ralph and myself. Many more of you brought us presents, wine and all manners of assorted goodies. Thank you very much. You really tested our will power especially with those baked goods! We tried to sample a little of everything and we were happy to share the rest with the staff and friends. Most of all we truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and for remembering us in your Christmas prayers.

Thank you as well to all who donated to our special second collection on Dec. 16-17 for the Diocesan Services Fund. Thanks to your generosity we were able to reach our goal of $305,000 for the year for the 14th consecutive year. We’ll undertake the DSF for 2018 beginning on Feb. 4 and once again our goal for CtR will be $305,000. That figure is set by Cardinal DiNardo, and recall that every parish in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston contributes to the DSF to provide funds for the more than 60 ministries of outreach that help make the Gospel known far and wide to those in need. Thanks for your support this past year, and I ask you to please join us again in pledging to the DSF in 2018.

Looking ahead a couple of weeks, on Saturday, Jan. 13 we will hold our annual discernment for new members for the Parish Pastoral Council. The PPC is the advisory board that gives guidance and counsel to me as pastor on the mission and direction of our community. We have a wonderfully active PPC at CtR and we rotate members onto the council each year. If you would like to go through this discernment process I invite you to participate Jan. 13 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Room 111 in the Parish Office Building. A discernment takes a few hours but it is a wonderful way to allow the Holy Spirit to work within those discerning to call forth those who will serve on the PPC.

PPC members must be registered and active members in the parish and fully initiated in the Catholic Church. If married they must be in a Catholic marriage. A willingness to serve and work collaboratively is a must. The PPC’s mission is to advise the pastor on the long-range planning and initiatives of the parish and as such it is not involved with day-to-day operations. It has no decision-making authority, but seeks to offer counsel and wisdom to me as the pastor and is charged with keeping the overall good of the parish and its parishioners in mind, not just one particular group or ministry. Please contact me this week if you would like to participate in the discernment, or if you have someone from the parish you’d like to nominate for the discernment meeting.

Finally, we thank the Knights of Columbus for again sponsoring the 2018 parish calendars which are being distributed at Mass this weekend. And if you missed getting a copy of the book we gave away at Christmas, “Kingdom of  Happiness” by Fr. Jeff Kirby, I believe we have some extra copies available in the Parish Office. No guarantee, but if we do, you are welcome to stop by to get a copy. 

Peace,
Fr. Sean