Search
-
February 8, 2024Dear friends in Christ,
This weekend marks our final Sunday of Ordinary Time before we begin our 40-day journey of Lent. Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday, Feb. 14. Recall that Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation but it is an important day for us as we begin Lent with our foreheads “branded” with ashes. It’s a call to conversion and a sign of our mortality – “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
We will have six liturgies on Ash Wednesday, all with the distributions of ashes. We begin with a 6:30 a.m. Liturgy of the Word service for those on the way to work or school. We will celebrate Mass at our usual time of 9 a.m. (The school will have a separate Mass in the afternoon, so there will be plenty of seating available in the morning). We will have additional Liturgy of the Word services at 12 noon, 4 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8 p.m. There are no confessions on Wednesday nor an evening Mass. Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting and abstinence from meat, and all Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence.
With the beginning of Lent, we resume our Friday Fish dinners sponsored by our Knights of Columbus Council 8771. Dinner will be served every Friday from 4:30-7 p.m., and it is still a ridiculously good deal for only $11 ($6 for children) for a full meal and drink, and either cash or credit is welcome. Thanks to the Ladies Auxiliary, there will be a Bake Sale each week if you need to satisfy your sweet tooth. In the past, the Knights have served upwards of 1,500 dinners a night, and I expect they will be very busy once again this year. The line moves quickly, though, so come early and bring your family and friends, or take it to go. Be sure and thank the Knights for their hard work on the dinners. They have a great turnout of KC members and each does his part. It’s a great testament to stewardship in action so thank you brother Knights!
Following the Lent Fish dinners every Friday we will have Stations of the Cross in the church beginning at 7 p.m. We begin on Friday, Feb. 16, and I hope many of you will want to join us for this popular Lenten devotion. I especially recommend it to those families with young children. It’s a great way to spend a Friday evening – come for dinner and stay for Stations. In addition, the church will also be open on Friday mornings in Lent following daily Mass for those who don’t want to be out at night and wish to make the stations in the daytime hours. Friday night Stations will be led by the clergy, while Friday morning Stations can be done privately on your own schedule and at your own pace.
To follow up on the items I mentioned at Mass last weekend, you may drop your 2024 Diocesan Services Fund pledge into the regularly weekly offertory and we’ll separate it out to make sure it gets to the Chancery, or you may bring or mail your form to the Parish Office. Of course, it’s easy to make your pledge online at www.archgh.org/dsf if you’d like to take care of it electronically as I did, and I encourage you to do the same. The way the mail system is operating these days with so many delays (many have reported they have not even received the initial mailing from the Archdiocese, which went out two weeks ago), I think it just makes sense to complete your pledge online. Be sure to scroll down and select “Christ the Redeemer – Houston” as your parish so that we are credited for your gift. Thank you for your support of the DSF which goes to fund the more than 60 ministries of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Our goal at CtR this year is $353,000 and if we all make a pledge to the extent that is possible, we’ll easily make it. Again, the size of the gift is up to you, but please do join us in this important work as we remember that “We are the Lord’s” as brothers and sisters in the local church of Galveston-Houston. Thank you for your generous support.
Speaking of mail, you should have received your annual offertory statement from the parish. We mail yearly statements to all individuals who have given $250 or more in traceable offertory (i.e., it was associated with your parish ID number, or there was a name and address on a check). If you are preparing your 2023 tax return, keep an eye out for that statement from our office, and should it not arrive, contact us at the parish and we will prepare a new statement for you.
In other news, today, Feb. 11, is World Day of the Sick (it always falls on the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, though the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time takes precedence today). It’s important that we pray for all who are sick and suffering, especially those dealing with long-term and debilitating illnesses such as cancer and the like. We also pray for our many elderly who are suffering under the burden of years. Those hospitalized or in care facilities are also in need of our prayers. Though they are separated from us because of illness and not able to attend Mass on a regular basis, they are nonetheless part of our parish community. We unite ourselves as one body in Christ, no matter how sick that body may be. In Christ, we are all made one.
One of our most beautiful ministries at CtR is our Eucharistic Ministry to the Sick and Homebound. These are parishioners who literally bring Jesus to the sick. You see them often at Mass, usually receiving Holy Communion in a pyx (a small blessed container) and leaving afterward to visit the sick. There they pray with them and distribute the Eucharist. From the altar at church to the altar of the heart, the sick are always united with us. I’m grateful to all our Eucharistic Ministers to the Sick, and to Deacon Steve and Carol Moses, who oversee the ministry for us. It’s a beautiful ministry and one I encourage you to consider joining to help bring Jesus to those most in need. See the group's webpage for more information.
Lastly, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is sponsoring a pilgrimage to the National Eucharistic Congress taking place in Indianapolis, IN, this summer on July 17-21. It’s the culmination to the Year of the Eucharist, and this historic gathering of missionary disciples over five days promises to a new Pentecost, a powerful anointing and personal commission to invite others to know Christ. There is an impressive lineup of national and international speakers on the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist, and you can bet it will be a faith-filled experience for all.
Prices start at just $1,049 and the package includes admission to the Congress each day, hotel room, breakfast daily, and transportation to and from the stadium, with an option to add-on airfare as well. This will be an excellent opportunity to enjoy the Eucharistic Congress with other Catholics from the Archdiocese, and Cardinal DiNardo will be present to so I’m sure he’ll be interacting with the group from Houston along the way. For additional information, see www.ctrcc.com/eucharisticcongress.
Peace, Fr. Sean