Weekly Letter: April 28, 2024 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

     Welcome to our 39th annual CtR Spring Festival! I hope to see you at some point on Saturday night or all day Sunday. It’s looking like we’ll have great weather so please make plans to join us. I’ve got the details below, so read carefully and come one, come all! Before we get to that, however, let’s take a quick look at a few non-Festival news and notes.

     Remember that registration for next year’s (2024-25) Religious Education and Youth Ministry classes is now open. You may register children in grades Pre-K3 through 6th online at our parish website at www.ctrcc.com/re and children in grades 7th-12 on our Youth Ministry website, www.ctryouth.com. We are also in need of catechists to help us teach the faith, so please consider signing up yourself. We’ll give you all the training and help you along the way, but parents are the best teachers of the faith. We invite you to partner with us in passing on the great gift of faith to your children. As an incentive, if you are a catechist, your registration fee for your child is waived. If you want to ensure the best range of options for class times, take care of your registration now. Don’t delay! It’s one less thing to worry about over the summer.

     Additionally, registration for Vacation Bible School and Catholic Faith Camp is underway. VBS will be June 24-28 from 9:30 a.m.­ – 12:30 p.m. daily, while Catholic Faith Camp will be a few weeks before on June 10-14, from 8:45 a.m. ­ – 12 noon daily. See our parish website at www.ctrcc.com/summer for information on registration and volunteering in either program. In fact, we have a number of other camps for children of all ages throughout the summer as well. Take a look at all what we have to offer at that same page on our website. There is literally something for everyone!

     For college students, I remind you of our parish scholarship at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Any student at UST who is also a parishioner from CtR is eligible to receive financial aid in our partnership with the university. We want to assure that parishioners who are enrolled at UST are properly accounted for, so let us know by May 6 if you or someone you know will be a student there this fall by contacting Roxie Goetz in our parish office.

     As for the Spring Festival this weekend, we will again be on the back parking lot for most all of the activities. Walk around a few times and you’ll quickly get the lay of the land. The Big Tent is ground zero for most everything including food booths and the Live Auction (starting at 3 p.m.), with the Games Tent next to it. The Parish Hall will be home to Bingo (we’ve added more tables and chairs this year as it is always packed!), as well as the Silent Auction, which has a number of terrific items. The Flea Market is in the Community Center and has been busy all week leading up to the Festival, so be sure to stop by for a good deal or two. The Wine Garden has been relocated to the back of the property under the big live oaks with plenty of seating on the deck. For those with young toddlers, the popular Tot Spot can be found in front of the Redeemer Activity Center.

     From the delicious homemade barbecue sandwiches from Kenneth Winkler and the CtR Smokers, to the live and silent auctions, to the games for the kids, there is truly something for everyone. The food booths you have come to know and love will fill you up, and if you need dessert afterward (and, of course, you know you do!), the Sweet Shoppe will satisfy any sugar craving. I can’t promise that you will win the Grand Prize Raffle drawing (though I hope you do!), but I can promise you that you won’t go hungry or thirsty.

     The Spring Festival is truly a community event and it only happens through the generosity of time and talent from all of our great volunteers. Look for the Festival Committee members and tell them thank you for their hard work. They are parishioners, just like you and me, who give selflessly so that we can enjoy a great weekend of family fun. My special thanks to our Festival chairperson, Bob Suarez, and his many core team members who have put in many hours of work, along with his wife, Kim, who chairs our live auction, and all our various booths, rides, auction, and games chairs. Thanks as well to Jenny Tyler, Suzanne Villareal, and our Ladies Auxiliary for their dedicated work on gathering the many items for a terrific Silent Auction, too. It takes a village, as they say, and we are blessed by so many parishioners who give so much on behalf of our community. 

     Our parish staff, led by Megan Dillingham, Director of Advancement, along with David Prieto, Wilber Sorto, Omar Cerna, and Jose Moreno on our Facilities team, likewise deserve our support and gratitude, but for now come on out and enjoy the festival, buy your raffle tickets (it’s not too late as the drawing is at 5 p.m. on Sunday at the close of the festival), and support our parish. This is our No. 1 fundraiser for the parish the entire year so every little bit helps us to do our part to continue to the mission of the Good Shepherd, Christ the Redeemer.

Peace, Fr. Sean