Happy Friday, everyone! I pray your week has been a good one and, I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but there seems to be a new normal settling it. I suppose it depends on one’s particular life circumstances, but I sense we are adjusting to the return of school and the rhythm of life in these pandemic days.
It’s familiar – but altogether different at the same time, if that makes any sense at all.
We’ve reached one of my favorite weekends of the year –
Catechetical Sunday, which kicks off our Religious Education year, on this
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. As is the case with “regular” school, our RE classes will take on a new dimension this year. We’ll be utilizing home-based catechesis for our youngest children, while students in middle and high school Youth Ministry will have a hybrid model to choose from. In addition, our many Adult Faith Formation sessions and classes are primarily virtual as well.
In that light the theme for this 2020 Catechetical Sunday could not be more appropriate. It comes from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians,
“I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.” The Church has always taught that parents are the first teachers of the faith to their children, and that is clearly the case this year. But we cannot “hand on” what we have not first received. That’s why it is so important for us to study our faith (
hello, CtR bible studies!), to integrate it into our life through faithful worship and practice (be it on-line or in person), and to concretize it through works of charity toward others. When we do that as the Lord has taught, then we’ll be equipped to hand it on to others, whether it be our children or our fellow Christians.
We’ll offer a special blessing to all catechists at our masses this weekend. Please join me in thanksgiving to all who dedicate themselves to this vital ministry in our parish. I know this year will be unlike any other, but while we look forward to resuming our on-campus classes next year, we pray that God will pour forth his gifts of wisdom and wise counsel (and patience!) upon all who will be handing on the faith to others.
Now, on to a few highlights for this coming week:
• We invite you to please join us for Mass via our
livestream on Sunday at 9 a.m. on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. You can find the link to the livestream at
www.ctrcc.com/live-stream, and in addition, you’ll find there both a worship aid and a link to the Scripture readings to follow along with Mass. And you can make your weekly offertory contribution online at
www.ctrcc.com/donate. If you’d like to join us in person for Mass, we welcome you on Saturday at 5 p.m., or Sunday at 9 and
11 a.m. (remember, it's back!) and 5 p.m.
We had a wonderful turnout of more than 250 last Sunday as we resumed our public celebration of the 11 a.m. Mass. Thanks to all who joined us, and of course it continues again this weekend. The 9 a.m. continues to be the most popular time and we have routinely maxed out our church capacity at 300 people for that Mass, with the overflow moving into the Parish Hall for the video link with communion brought over. If need be, we’ll also utilize the Parish Hall for overflow seating for the 11 a.m. Mass as well.
• Remember that we will be celebrating First Reconciliation for our 2
nd graders this Saturday morning, and as such,
we will not hold our regular confessions in the chapel. We have two groups coming at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. so as to keep the numbers manageable and provide social distancing. If any adults wish to come, I’d ask you to let the children finish first, and then a priest will be available afterwards, probably close to 11:30 a.m. Better yet, you can make an appointment for confession at any time by emailing
[email protected], and we’ll arrange to see you at a time of your choosing during the week. Please pray for our children as they celebrate this most important sacrament in preparation for the First Communion later in the year.
• Among the many Adult Faith Formation opportunities that are beginning now (find out more at
www.ctrcc.com/adults) is a book study on “
Jesus and Jewish Roots of Mary,” by Brant Pitre. It starts next Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. and will be led by CtR parishioner Tim Wente. It’s an online book study, and you can pick up a copy of the book and study guide in the parish office for just $15. See
www.ctrcc.com/bookstudy for more details. This is a great opportunity to put into practice that theme for Catechetical Sunday by learning more about the mother of our Lord so to “hand on” the beautiful legacy of Our Lady to others. Make plans to join us!
• For the past year or so, there’s been a run of scam e-mails and text messages seeking money reporting to be from clergy. It’s been particularly troublesome for Catholic priests and I know several of you have received such emails or texts reportedly from me. After dying down earlier this year it seems to have picked up again the past few weeks. Let me assure you,
neither Fr. Vincent or I will ever email you asking for money or gift cards. This is known as “phishing” and scammers are good at it, asking you to call or reply to the message. It might appear to be from us and even carry our name, but it is a fake. Never click on any link and certainly don’t respond. Just delete it and mark it as spam. A good rule of thumb is if it looks a bit off (in regards to phrasing, punctuation, or even “the ask”) it’s a scam. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but it’s widespread throughout the country, and though we’re working to eliminate it, these things are hard to shut down. Pray for those who prey on the vulnerable, but never respond.
St. Vincent de Paul, patron saint of our own Fr. Vincent, who is away on retreat this week, pray for us! (Keep Fr. V in your prayers during his retreat as he is praying for us.)