Weekly Letter: Dec. 24, 2023 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

     "And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'"

    Those words from the Gospel of St. Luke resound in our hearts as we celebrate the birth of our savior, Christ the Lord. On behalf of Fr. Vincent, our deacons and the entire pastoral staff of CtR, I wish you and your family a Blessed and Merry Christmas.

    Of course, we are still a few days away from our Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24 and 25, so those words don’t yet apply to us! This weekend, we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent. As a reminder, there is no 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Dec. 24 so that we might have time to prepare the church for the Christmas season. Please plan to attend on either Saturday, Dec. 23, at 5 p.m., or 7 a.m. or 9 a.m. Sunday morning to satisfy the obligation for the 4th Sunday of Advent.

    Then, later in the afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 24, we will celebrate Christmas Masses at 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 12 Midnight. We will have overflow seating in the Parish Hall as needed. On Christmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25, masses will be at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (bilingual) only.

     The great season of Christmas continues through Epiphany on Sunday, Jan. 7 and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord the following day on Monday, Jan. 8. So, let the Christmas spirit reign in your hearts and in your homes a few days longer. Don’t be so quick to put away the decorations (especially the crèche!) and try to hold on to the spirit of Christmas – the celebration of the Word made flesh that dwells among us – throughout this coming year. Let us never forget that the Incarnation of God among us is not just a feel-good, Hallmark moment. It is the beginning of our salvation in Christ the Redeemer!

    In particular, I extend both a welcome and an invitation to those who perhaps were raised Catholic but who have been away from an active practice of the faith in recent years. Christmas is often a time when some among us “come home.” We rejoice that you are with us today. I hope that the celebration this weekend might prompt a gentle “nudge” of the Holy Spirit within you to begin coming again on a regular basis. Both Fr. Vincent and myself or any of our deacons would be happy to arrange a time to visit to see how we might assist you to reconnect with the Church. It would be our great honor to do so. Our contact information is in the bulletin as well as on our website.

    Every day our parish continues to grow in faith and we are blessed by the many (roughly 7,300) families that call CtR home. The number of people who are responding to God’s call in their life to be good stewards of their time, talent and treasure has been a real source of blessing for our community. I thank all of you. There is no way we could continue to grow and offer the many ministries we do without the dedicated ministers and volunteers that we have. I invite everyone to take up the call of Stewardship in 2024. We’ll talk about what that looks like and how you can be part of it during our annual Stewardship Sunday in early January.

    The lived response of stewardship is to help us become intentional disciples. That is our one and true mission – to build up the Body of Christ and to grow in holiness as a people of God. That has to be the litmus test of all that we say and do. We must strive daily to grow in holiness, to care for the least of our brothers and sisters, and to be Christ for others. Everything else will flow from the single, solitary mission of CtR. For now, let us faithfully celebrate the coming of Christ into our world at Christmas, and let us long for His coming again. As 2024 dawns, we will again joyfully take up the charge to love and serve the Lord! 

    Next Sunday we return to our regular Mass schedule with the Feast of the Holy Family. The following day, Monday, Jan. 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and we’ll have one Mass that day at 9 a.m. Because it falls on a Monday this year, Jan. 1 is not a holy day of obligation. Still, it’s a holy day, just not obligatory, and so please join us as we honor the mother of our Lord and ask for God’s blessing in this coming year. Our office will be closed on Monday, Jan. 1, but will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

    Again, on behalf of the staff of Christ the Redeemer, we wish you a blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May God bless you and your family always in this coming year.

Peace, Fr. Sean

P.S.: As we near the end of 2023, I invite you to prayerfully consider a special end-of-the-year financial gift to CtR. As Christmas falls on a Monday this year, we will not see the extra holiday collection as we do in those years when it falls later in the week, and that has a negative effect on our total annual income and budget. Gifts of cash and stock are also most welcomed at this time of the year. In addition, those 70½ years of age or older might consider a charitable IRA rollover donation.

For more information, please contact Deacon Kerry Bourque, our Parish Administrator, at 281-469-5533, or [email protected]. Thank you for remembering CtR at Christmas and for your generosity and support throughout the year.