Weekly Letter: Dec. 1, 2024 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

    As we begin the four-week season of Advent today we are called to wait joyfully for the Lord. We know Christmas is near. The Thanksgiving holiday is wrapping up this weekend and we are beginning to look toward – though some might say make a mad dash toward – Christmas. Let’s resolve to make a liturgical New Year resolution (it begins today) to wait patiently for the Lord. While everyone else is speeding up, try slowing down for, as we hear in the first reading at Mass today from the Prophet Jeremiah, “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.” Yes, indeed. The days are coming!

    Our Advent wreath is blessed today and the first candle is lit to remind us of the coming of the light of Christ. Let us not allow the darkness of the world to overshadow that light. It has been entrusted to us to be kept burning brightly. Just as we will light our trees and homes in these coming days, do not fail to show forth the light of Christ in all you say and do as we await “the days that are coming” when the Word made flesh will dwell among us.

    All women of our community are invited to join us this coming Friday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. for Advent by Candlelight. ABC, as we call it, is a special evening for women to become renewed and refreshed in this season of holy waiting before that mad Christmas rush that I mentioned begins. This is an opportunity to relax and refocus on the season of Advent, a wonderful time of joyful anticipation and expectation. The program includes uplifting Scripture readings, music and reflections focused on the Advent season, and a light reception of snacks. Childcare is available, though we ask you to reserve a spot in advance. See www.ctrcc.com/events/advent-by-candlelight for all the details.

    I know this is just the First Sunday of Advent, but let’s take a look ahead to the Christmas schedule. Our Christmas Mass schedule is as follows: Tuesday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve: 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 12 midnight, and Wednesday, Dec. 25, Christmas Day: 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (Note that the 11 a.m. Mass will be bilingual in both English and Spanish.) We will have overflow seating available in the Parish Hall, with communion brought over, for all masses, though we usually only need it at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. I suspect we will be able to accommodate everyone in the church at the other Mass times, but we’ll be ready just in case. Both Midnight Mass and 9 a.m. Mass on Christmas Day will be livestreamed.

     Fr. Vincent and I invite you to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation in Advent and we’ve extended our hours on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings to help you do so, or you can make an appointment by emailing us: [email protected]. Note that we will not have a parish-wide penance service this year as it is difficult to get enough priests on one of the few available nights in the weeks before Christmas. That alone is a good reason to pray for vocations! We’ll aim to do so in Lent, however. (Also, we will not have confessions or evening Mass on Wednesday, Dec. 18 as we'll both be in attendance at Cardinal DiNardo’s annual Advent Vespers and Dinner for priests.)

        As you do your Christmas shopping, remember that we will once again have our toy and gift drive for the children of our friends at Assumption Catholic Church on Houston’s northside. We need to hurry with it this year, however, as our delivery date will be Saturday, Dec. 14. We’ll collect gifts at Mass next weekend in the narthex and up to Dec. 13 in the office before we deliver them the next day. Plan now when you are at the store to pick up an extra item or two that might brighten the day of a young boy or girl at Assumption. There is also a link on our website (www.ctrcc.com/toydrive) to an Amazon Wish List that you can choose from and have it delivered directly to the office, and if you’d like to help deliver, you can sign up at that same link on the website.

    A little closer to home we will again be participating in our Giving Tree program, an annual Christmas project in partnership with Cypress Assistance Ministries’ “Merriment at the Ministry” program. We ask for donations of gift cards of any amount up to $25 (cards from Wal-Mart, Target, H-E-B, Kroger, etc., seem to be the most popular options). We will get them to our friends at CAM who will in turn make sure they are quickly distributed to families in need who are otherwise unable to provide Christmas meals and gifts. It’s one of our most popular traditions at CtR and we invite you to join us in spreading a bit of Christmas cheer to those in need in our local Cypress community. 

Peace, Fr. Sean