Bulletin for Sept. 16

Dear friends in Christ,

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 new R.E. year at CtR as classes begin this week for all our children and for junior high and high school youth ministry as well.

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 Linda Watso, Debbie Hawkins, Megan Schulz, Katie Griep, 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 Rachel and Bryan 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 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 commissioning and 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 “Enlisting Witness for Jesus Christ.” By virtue of our baptism, 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.

That theme for the Catechetical Year, “Enlisting Witness for Jesus Christ,” could well serve as a job description for me as pastor. When I think about it, that’s essentially my role. Of course, it could also be said to be the “job description” of all the faithful. We are trying to get to heaven and take as many souls with us as possible.

To best “enlist witnesses,” we have to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus. We have to communicate. We do that in many ways, of course. Primarily through Word and Sacrament in the Church, but also through faithful discipleship in loving God and loving our neighbor. Regardless of how we do it, what is common to all our efforts is communication. We have to know the faith and communicate it through action, word, and deed. That’s how we make Christ known.

Communication is a big part of why this weekend at all Masses we are inviting parishioners to join our parish-wide Flocknote messaging system. I’ll speak more about it at Mass, but Flocknote is a system that we’ve been using widely in the parish for a few years and many of you are already part of it. It’s the way nearly all of our ministries get information out to their members, and it’s been well received. We’re one of the largest users of the Flocknote in the entire country. In fact, the creators of Flocknote and their entire administration team recently visited us to thank us for our engagement with it and to show us even more ways we can use it to help communicate the Good News.

One of those ways is through a “Text In” Weekend that we will participate in at Mass. You’ll be able to send a text message on your phone and in one simple step be part of our CtR Flocknote group. It couldn’t be easier! One of the new aspects of Flocknote that we are excited to partner with is Bishop Robert Barron’s “Word on Fire” ministry, which gives us access to the entire library of engaging videos on the faith from one of the country’s foremost leading teachers. It’s accessible anywhere, on any device, and it’s all free through our partnership with Flocknote.

I’ll have more to share with you about this new form of evangelization this weekend. I’m excited for us at CtR to be able to offer this way of communicating the beauty and richness of our Catholic faith and to help you stay in touch with the life of the parish so that we might better spread the Good News and to help us enlist witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Looking further ahead to a couple events for you calendar next month, the annual CtR Golf Tournament is on Monday, Oct. 8. All golfers are invited to come out (it’s on Columbus Day so hopefully you can get free from work) at Cypress Lakes Golf Club, only about 10 minutes west of the parish. Entry fee is only $125 and we have room for foursomes and single players. It includes lunch and dinner and plenty of fun along the way. The Knights of Columbus Council #8771 does a great job of hosting it each year and proceeds go to benefit CAM and youth scholarships from the parish. Pass the word to your co-workers and friends who might be golfers and come join us for a great day on the links. See our CtR website for more information, or you can register directly on the Knights’ page.

We also have an upcoming Men’s Retreat on Oct. 19-21 at Holy Name Retreat Center on Bunker Hill in the heart of Houston. We all need to “come away for a while” and spend time in prayerful reflection on God’s love in our life, and a quiet, reflective  retreat like this is a wonderful opportunity to do so. It does a soul good to decompress for a few days and just be in the presence of God. If you’ve never been to Holy Name Retreat Center, you are in for a real treat. I’ve made countless number of retreats there over the years. The grounds are beautiful and the accommodations are comfortable. It’s easy to get into the right frame of mind and heart for a retreat there. More information and registration is available on our website.

Peace, Fr. Sean