June 4 update from Fr. Sean

Parish Update – Thursday, June 4

Happy Thursday, all! We’re coming to you a day early this week as this Friday is the first Friday of the month and I know many of our CtR parishioners like to honor the tradition of attending the “First Friday” mass. We missed the first Fridays in April and May due to the restriction on public masses at that time, so this will be our first opportunity to gather for a First Friday mass since we’ve resumed the public celebration of the sacred liturgy. I’m looking forward to it.

The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the  Sacred Heart of Jesus so we’ll celebrate the  Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart this Friday, June 5, in the main church, at 9 a.m. and follow it with Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day. We’ll conclude with Benediction at 5 p.m. (We have a wedding rehearsal that begins shortly thereafter, so we do need to end at 5 p.m.)

Given the unrest and tension that is going on in our city and country at this time, and seeing that  it is from the pierced Sacred Heart of Jesus that mercy, love, and healing flow, it seems an opportune time for us to dedicate our day of prayer for peace and justice through the intercession of the Sacred Heart. We pray for an end to the sins of sins of racism, bigotry, and prejudice. We pray as well for our country and the world that God’s love will change hearts and bring healing and hope.

St. Paul VI once famously said, in his Message for the Celebration of the Day of Peace in 1972,  “If you want peace, work for justice!” I invite you to join us on Friday in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament so that the work of justice may lead to peace. As many of you know, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is an opening to unite our hearts with that of Christ so that sins against unity may be rooted out.  How fitting that we celebrate  Trinity Sunday this weekend. The oneness of the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – is what we are called to emulate in our lives.  “That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you that they may also be in us.” (John 17:21)

In addition, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a  comprehensive page of resources on the evils of racism and how we, as Catholics, can work to combat it in our society. In particular, I encourage you to read the pastoral letter against racism entitled,  “Open Wide our Hearts,” that was published just 18 months ago when our own  Cardinal DiNardo was the president of the USCCB. There are  several other links on the page with a wide variety of resources for prayer and action. It’s well worth your time.

In other news this week:

• We will continue with our revised Mass schedule for the time being, following the meeting of the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston this past Tuesday.  Cardinal DiNardo wants us to continue to observe 25 percent capacity and limit our on-campus meetings as we have been doing for the past several weeks.

For those who do wish to join us for Mass, you are more than welcome. We’d love to see you. We’ve had more and more coming each week, and we’re prepared to welcome you safely. We had a very nice turnout last weekend for our 40th anniversary with  Bishop Sheltz (thanks to all who helped make it a beautiful celebration), and if you didn’t hear his homily – in which he took us down a memory lane of CtR history – you can find it archived on our website.

Join us this Sunday for Holy Trinity Sunday with Mass at 9 a.m., either in person or  livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube. As always, we will also have public masses at 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday evenings. A  worship aid can be found there as well and a link to make your  online donation.

• This week we’ll have a special 11 a.m. Mass for our Candidates for Full Communion in our RCIA program. Like our celebration last week for the Catechumens, this Mass will not be open to the public so that we can have enough room for our Elect and their families. It’s going to be great to finally conclude our RCIA rites for those who have been waiting to enter the Church since Easter Sunday. From the 23 who were baptized and confirmed last week to the 18 more who will be received into full communion this Sunday  we are blessed with 41 new Catholic Christians! Welcome, brothers and sisters!

• For those who do feel comfortable coming to Mass, be it during the week or on Sundays,  I invite you to assist us in our Usher ministry. We are in need of assistance to help “usher” in those who come to Mass so that we can do so in a way that adheres to social distancing guidelines and the directives of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

Our liturgy team has developed a good “game plan” that is working nicely for us and everyone who has been attending Mass is doing a great job of wearing masks and keeping proper distance. We just need a few folks at each Mass to arrive early to help direct people in, and then stay for a few minutes afterwards to assist us in sanitizing the pews. It’s not difficult, but it does require a commitment to be here and a willingness to help us help others.

As you might imagine, we have some older veteran ushers who are not ready to return to Mass, and we certainly honor that as we do for all who choose to watch online. I’m grateful for those who have been assisting, but we can’t keep asking them to be here every day. It's not fair to ask them to do the work every day when I know we have others in the community who are able to help. Now would be an excellent time for those who are comfortable in coming to Mass to assist us in this vital ministry. We can train you in just a few minutes on our procedures, and it would be a great help to our community during these unprecedented times.  Use this link to sign-up to assist at a Mass of your choosing during the week (there is a separate link here for  serving on Sunday), or just come to any Mass and let one of the ushers know you would like to help.  

• Lastly, join us in a big  “shout out” to all our CFISD graduates for 2020. All of the local high schools will have wrapped up their graduation ceremonies by the end of the week (and Tomball schools will do so next week). CtR has kids in all of the schools and we wish them all of God’s blessings as they move on in life after a senior year that will be one to remember.  Great job, seniors! Stay close to the Lord all the days of your life. May his peace and wisdom be with you!

Praise be to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Peace, Fr. Sean