Bulletin for Nov. 26

Dear friends in Christ,

Today is the Solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Church’s liturgical calendar. Next week we begin the great season of holy waiting, Advent. But before then we honor Christ as our King. Not an earthly king of physical and political power and might, however, but a king who lays down His life in service to all.

A little background on our feast today. In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in his encyclical letter “Quas Primas” in response to growing nationalism and secularism around the world. He had the foresight to realize that secularism could soon wage awful wars against the Church. During the early 20th century in Mexico, Russia and in many parts of Europe, atheistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and, while governments of men around them crumbled, the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Pope Pius XI said that Christ “reign[s] ‘in the hearts of men,’ both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind.” 

Today at the 9 a.m. Mass we welcome nine new members into our Catholic faith. These brothers and sisters of ours have been preparing for the past several months through our RCIA program and are now ready to join us in full communion. Those of you who attend the 9 a.m. Mass regularly have witnessed these men, women and children on their journey throughout the year, and though the normative time for those in RCIA to come into the Church is at Easter, we also welcome a small group each year right before Advent. These are baptized Christians (in a different denomination) who now seek entrance into the Church, and as they are as ready as they will ever be, it only make sense to bring them in now so that they can celebrate the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons as members of the Catholic Church. We welcome them with great joy, and we pray for the others who will continue their formation and join us at Easter. My thanks to Julie Cook, our Director of RCIA, and her team who helped shepherd them through their formation.

RCIA is a good mirror of the Church itself: it’s a constant cycle of people coming to understand God in their life and choosing to say “yes” to His call. We don’t ever force or command someone to come into the Church. The candidate him or herself makes that choice after a period of study and prayer. Our only aim in RCIA is to help them with that study so that they might make the decision to follow Christ when He calls. Let that serve as a reminder to all of us to invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members to “come and see” what the Catholic faith is about. We must be people who radiate the joy of the Gospel so that our very lives will serve as an inspiration to others. When they ask you (or you ask them!) about the Catholic faith, invite them to come talk to us about RCIA so that we might share the Good News with them and hopefully encourage them to join us on the journey of faith.

With Thanksgiving behind us, and with Black Friday  taken place this week as well, the attention of many in the country turns to “Cyber Monday” tomorrow, Nov. 27. This is an outgrowth of online shopping that has become the norm for so many of us, and which is especially popular during the holiday season. Amazon and other online retailers will be doing booming business tomorrow as people who didn’t go to the stores on Black Friday surf the web for the best deals. I’m sure there will be those among us who both shopped on Black Friday and clicked the “purchase” button on Cyber Monday.

This consumer frenzy should give us all some pause. Is it necessary? Of course not. Are we buying what we want or what we need? I don’t want to be a Grinch, and believe me, I love a good sale as much as the next person, but I do hope we will all monitor our consumer habits and make good choices. Recall that just a few months ago, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, many of us did a self-examination of all the “stuff” that we had. Those who lost everything in the flood waters, and those of us who didn’t, had a chance to evaluate just what was important in our lives. Many vowed to live more simply in the future and not become possessed by our possessions. Let’s remember that when shopping this holiday season, and focus on the spirit of waiting in Advent, and the spirit of joy in receiving the greatest gift of all in Christ, our Savior.

The day after Cyber Monday has become known as Giving Tuesday and it affords us a wonderful opportunity to help out worthwhile causes and organizations with our charitable giving efforts. I hope you will include Christ the Redeemer in your consideration of Giving Tuesday and make a pledge – or an additional payment – to our Capital Campaign to support the building of our Redeemer Activity Center. It’s easy to do online. From there you can make a secure donation to help further our mission. We also welcome your support of the 2017 Diocesan Services Fund (DSF), which wraps up at the end of the year. We’re just slightly under our goal, which is set by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and we welcome your donation to push us over the finish line. Lastly, it’s a good time to make end-of-the-year donations to the parish. Many have benefited from the good run of the stock market this year and if you need a tax incentive to offset some of your capital gains, a donation to the church can come in handy. Our Business Office can assist you with completing the necessary paperwork so that you might get proper credit.

Lastly, remember that our parish bulletin advertising representative, Javier Aguilera, is in our offices this week through Thursday. If you have a small business, please consider placing an ad in the bulletin. We publish 2,000 bulletins every week which go out to households across the Cypress and northwest Houston area. It’s a great way to get the name of your business out in front of Catholics. Make sure you use the bulletin when you are in the market for goods and services and tell businesses you saw their ad in the CtR bulletin. Take one with you when you go to their shop or store and thank them for their support. Ads of all sizes are available at very economical prices and it helps us print the bulletin at no cost to the parish. Call the parish this week to reserve your ad space. Individuals may also place small memorial ads as well.

Peace,
Fr. Sean