Weekly Letter: Nov. 24, 2024 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

    Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Church’s liturgical calendar. Next week we begin the great season of holy waiting, Advent. But before then we honor Christ as our King. Not an earthly king of physical and political power and might, however, but a king who lays down his life in service to all.

    A little background on our feast this weekend. In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in his encyclical letter Quas Primas in response to growing nationalism and secularism around the world. He had the foresight to realize that secularism could soon wage awful wars against the Church. During the early 20th century in Mexico, Russia, and in many parts of Europe, atheistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and, while governments of men around them crumbled, the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Pope Pius XI said that Christ “reign[s] ‘in the hearts of men,’ both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind.”

    As I mentioned last week, today on Christ the King we welcome a baker’s dozen of 13 new members into our Catholic faith through our Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. Those of you who attend the 9 a.m. mass regularly have witnessed many of these men, women, and children on their journey throughout the year, and though the normative time for those in OCIA to come into the Church is at Easter, we also welcome a small group each year right before Advent. These are baptized Christians (in a different denomination) who now seek entrance into the Church, and as they are as ready as they will ever be, it only makes sense to bring them in now so that they can celebrate the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons as members of the Catholic Church. We welcome them and we pray for the many others who will continue their formation and join us at Easter.

    Though not a Church holy day, we will have Thanksgiving Mass at 9 a.m. this Thursday, Nov. 28 in the main church. You are invited to bring items from the Thanksgiving meal you will be serving that day for the annual Blessing of Food at the end of the Mass. This has become a nice tradition each year for families to start this special day giving thanks to God for the many blessings we have received. Bring a basket with some of the items for the dishes you will be preparing and at the end of the mass we’ll ask God’s blessing upon them. It’s a good way of making the connection between the bounty we receive at the table of the Lord to the bounty we offer at our table at home.

    Thanksgiving week always brings with it the start, whether we like it or not, of the “holiday season.” Some stores even now open on Thanksgiving Day, as hard as it is for me to believe it. Let’s resolve to greet this extra-busy time of the year with joy in our hearts. It can be so easy to allow the busyness of this time of year to overwhelm us. We stress out and worry about so much that is beyond our control. If we can remember to always be “thankful” for all that we have in our lives (and return that thanksgiving to God first), then I am willing to bet we’ll approach these days in the right frame of mind. When we get anxious and worried, short-tempered and “me-centered,” then we quickly lose the joy. Give thanks always and allow the Lord to guide you through this busy season.

    As we enter the final month of the year I remind us all of the ongoing Diocesan Services Fund drive. The good news is we have reached our annual goal as set by Cardinal DiNardo. Thank you to the 807 donating families who have made that possible! Still, we have about 7,500 families registered in the parish, so there’s plenty more room for the rest of us to get on board and do our part. I’m happy to report that we are currently in the top 10 of all parishes of first-time givers to DSF, and the nice part about that is that we receive a rebate of 50 percent of those first-time gifts, so thank you. We also get back 75 percent the total amount by which we exceed our goal, so that, too, will make a nice gift back for our own use. It’s a win-win proposition.

    If you have not yet made your gift as of yet, I ask you to do so today. Remember the DSF funds more than 60 ministries of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston that no one parish could ever do on its own, but that collectively allows us to offer, among other things, chaplains at hospitals, food pantry and soup kitchens, ministry to the imprisoned, senior care centers, and outreach to the most needy, in addition to providing training for lay ministers in Religious Education and Youth Ministry. It’s an important work of the Church that benefits many and we all have a role to play. Your pledge of any size helps make it all possible. It’s quick and easy at www.archgh.org/dsf. Thank you for your support of this important work of our local church.

    Our parish offices will be closed beginning at 12 noon on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and will reopen on Monday, Dec. 2. In addition, there will be no confessions or Mass on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 27, the night before Thanksgiving. Both will resume the following week. Fr. Vincent, our deacons, and pastoral staff join me in wishing you a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Peace,
Fr. Sean