Bulletin for Jan. 29, 2017

Dear friends in Christ,

    As I previewed last week, we kick-off Catholic Schools Week today. You’ll see a great number of our school kids at all the Masses this weekend. They’ve got a host of activities planned for the week, not the least of which is the Open House from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Thursday, Feb. 2, which is open to everyone. Please spread the word to family and friends who may not be members of CtR but who nonetheless may be looking for a new school option for their children in grades Pre-K through 8th. Above all I ask you to pray for our school. It is a wonderful gift to our community, and in less than three years CtR Catholic School has truly made an impact on us all.

    In addition to your prayers, remember there is also a fun and easy way to support our school. The annual Steps for Students 5K Run/Walk is set for Saturday, Feb. 18 and it provides much-needed funds for scholarships and programs in Catholic education. If you support my team, 100 percent of the money you pledge will come right back to benefit our own CtR School. You can make an online pledge to the Fr. Sean team and I’ll do all the work while you sleep in that morning! Visit my fundraising page to support me. It only takes a few minutes to make your pledge safely and securely online. Or if you like, you can give me a check or cash in person at Mass or in the office and I’ll see that it is credited to our CtR team.

    As I mentioned last week, we kick-off this weekend our 2017 Diocesan Services Fund drive. The DSF raises funds to support the more than 60 ministries of the Church that no one parish on its own could ever accomplish, but that collectively we can all do something to bring God’s love to all people. Most of these ministries operate behind the scenes and we don’t think about them because we just assume that the Church does them, but it can only be done through your support. Areas of support include:

    Teaching, Evangelizing and Worship: This includes, among others, the Apostleship of the Sea (every ship that comes into the Port of Houston is visited by a Catholic chaplain); the Catholic Schools Office, Young Adult and Campus Ministry (to engage college-age Catholics in the faith), the Texas Catholic Herald newspaper (which you receive free of charge with a donation to DSF), and the CCE Office (our children at CtR directly benefit from this as all our R.E. staff and teachers attend workshops and training offered by the CCE Office).

    Ministering to the Poor, Sick and Incarcerated: A Catholic chaplain is assigned to every hospital in the Texas Medical Center to provide spiritual care to the sick. Every Catholic that requests to see a priest while in the hospital has access 24 hours a day in their time of need. The Archdiocese also runs programs to bring pastoral and sacramental aid to the disadvantaged, the disabled, and those in need of God’s healing grace. Whether comforting refugees or battered women, those in a prison cell or in a hospital bed, these ministries show God’s mercy to those on the margins of society. 

    Promoting, Preparing and Supporting the Clergy: From training our seminarians (we have one in formation and two more applying for acceptance later this year) and deacon candidates (we currently have four in formation), the DSF helps train the future clergy of the Archdiocese. We also directly benefit from it at CtR by its support of Good Leaders, Good Shepherds, a leadership training program for priests. Both Fr. Ralph and I are graduates of that program. We can testify that it alone is worthy of your support of DSF. 

    Nurturing and Strengthening Families: Perhaps in no other area do we benefit from the generosity of DSF at CtR than in the support it offers our families. The Family Life Office works directly with a number of our couples preparing for marriage. It hosts Engaged Encounter and prepares couples married civilly to have their marriages regulated in the Church. It runs the St. Dominic Village retirement home for older adults, as well as an assisted living facility with a nursing home and special care unit for those with dementia. It also supports the work of the Tribunal to assist individuals with decrees of nullity so they may marry in the Church. And of course our large and active Youth Ministry program benefits greatly from the many retreats, conferences and workshops put on by the Archdiocese. 

    That’s just a small sampling of the many programs we offer through DSF. You are part of them when you make your pledge to DSF. It is the work of the Lord done directly in your name through DSF. Those ministries can only happen through our support. The thing I love about the DSF is that 100 percent of all money pledged goes directly to support ministries and programs. Your support of DSF goes directly to helping people encounter the mercy of God. Isn’t that what it is all about? That’s why I always say that it is an honor, not a burden, to be asked to support the work of DSF.

    Our parish goal, as determined by Cardinal DiNardo, is again $307,000, and we want to continue our 13-year streak of achieving our goal. The average pledge is usually around $300. Could you please consider giving that amount again this year? Or maybe make a pledge of $365 – a dollar a day to support those great ministries. Recall as well that we receive a rebate of 50 percent of any overage of our goal with the other half going to support low-income parishes in the inner city. We also keep in mind that we have our own “ Living Our Mission: Shaping Our Future” Capital Campaign currently in process. The DSF is a one-time, yearly gift to support the ministries larger than ourselves. Our Capital Campaign is to meet the ministerial needs right in our own backyard at CtR.

    We’ll complete our pledge cards together this week. You can pay in one sum with a check, or make monthly or quarterly payments on your credit card. Please prayerfully consider what you will pledge and we’ll see that it is processed. If you prefer, you may go online at www.archgh.org/dsf to make your pledge. Let’s do our part so that, as the DSF theme says, we might “go make disciples” through the good work of our Diocesan Services Fund. 

Peace, Fr. Sean