Weekly Letter: Aug. 20, 2023 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

    “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” I love that line from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans that we hear in the 2nd reading on this 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Short and sweet and right to the point – the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. How great is that?

    But what are these gifts and what is this call that the Apostle speaks about? The gifts are many, but varied among all of us. Each of us has been gifted by God in some way. It may be to teach, or sing, or sew, or serve coffee. It may be to visit the sick, or mentor an engaged couple. It may be to help deliver toys to those in need at Christmas, or to spin the wheel at the cake booth at the Spring Festival, or it may be to pray in quiet reverence before the Lord in adoration. Yes, it certainly can be any, or all, of those things. But no mistake, you do have a gift.

    And that gift is tied to the call, and together they are irrevocable. They can’t be canceled, they can’t be ignored, they can’t be denied. God gifts us and God calls us to put those gifts to serve him and our neighbor. That, my friends, is what it means to be a disciple, a child of God. Gifted and called.

    How might you tap into that gift and call? I’m glad you asked. We invite you to join us next Sunday, Aug. 27 for a ministry fair. You may have seen that we’ve been promoting it the past few weeks as part of our annual Back to School Bash and Ministry Fair. We’ve done so on the final Sunday in August for the past few years and it’s always been a big hit. We’re bringing it back this year, albeit with a few modifications.

    We are concerned about the intense heat spell we’ve been under practically all summer, and given that the “Bash” aspect of it is scheduled to be outside, we’re going to look to reign that in. I think we’ve all had just about enough of the heat, and though next weekend’s forecast is still up in the air, safe to say it’s going to be hot, and even likely miserably hot. That’s no fun for anyone, either you visiting the Bash and Ministry Fair, or our volunteers who will help with it.

    We will still host the event, but in a modified format that we’ll announce at Mass this weekend (we’re still working out the details as this goes to print early in the week). We’re going to scale back the outside portion, and still keep the Ministry Fair aspect where you can join us after Mass to discover the many options we have to share your gifts in one of our many parish ministries. Stay tuned, and plan to join us next weekend after Mass.

    I suspect we’ll have a good crowd, too, because we always see a spike in attendance with the start of the new school year in Cy-Fair (our CtR School started this past Wednesday, and those in Tomball started the day before). We welcome back those joining us for the first time or perhaps the first time in several months after various summer trips and vacations. I pray that this coming school year will be a blessing to our students in the community. May they be filled with gifts of wisdom and understanding. May it also be a time of joy and peace for the many teachers and administrators from our parish who do such good work in our local schools. God bless you all!

    Speaking of our CtR Catholic School, we are seeking assistance in our Before & After School Program. It’s a service we provide for our school families who, usually for work scheduling reasons, need to drop-off or pick-up their children either before or after the usual start and end times of the school day. This is a paid, part-time position for an assistant to help our main teachers in the classrooms. It’s an excellent opportunity for a high school senior who may have time in the afternoon for an after-school job. To learn more and apply, contact Principal Dan Courtney at our school, 281-469-8440, or [email protected].

    Remember that we are accepting donations of old, broken or otherwise no longer needed rosaries, blessed medals, or small religious devotional items to bury under the foundation of our new Prayer Garden that is under construction. Please get your items to us no later than next Monday, Aug. 28. We will have a collection box in the narthex of the church and also in the front office. Small items only, please, and no books or bibles (those that have been blessed should be burned and the ashes buried).


    Lastly, though we have temporarily closed Religious Education and Youth Ministry registration so that we might order books and materials, and recruit and train catechists (FYI: there’s still time for you to step forward to do so – and it would be a great way to respond to the “gift and call” I spoke about earlier), we will still accept your name and contact information and get back to you later in September when we have a better idea of the number of classes and small groups we will be able to offer. For younger grades, we also have a home catechetical option as well. For additional information, contact our RE office (www.ctrcc.com/re) or Youth Ministry (www.ctryouth.com). The catechetical year begins on the week of September 17.

Peace, Fr. Sean

P.S.: In your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. John Ulm, who died this past Tuesday on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He had been in failing health for a number of years. He was the long-time pastor of our neighboring parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Jersey Village. In retirement, he lived in the Christ the Redeemer suite at the Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Priests Retirement Residence. He always got a kick out of that fact, and whenever he saw me, was sure to thank me for the generosity of CtR in providing such a nice place for him to live. May he rest in peace.