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June 13, 2024Dear friends in Christ,
Happy Father’s Day to all our dads this weekend. I pray that your family will celebrate your presence in their life by giving you the greatest gift a dad could ever want – peace and quiet, and, if you are lucky, complete control of the TV for one day! Seriously, we honor all fathers, both the living and deceased, today and thank them for the gift of life they provide. Let us call upon the patron saint of all husbands and fathers, St. Joseph, to watch over and intercede on behalf of all of them. And let us not forget the wonderful gift of life that grandfathers, adopted fathers, step-fathers, foster fathers and Godfathers offer their children. May God bless them all!
On this 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear of two descriptions of the Kingdom of God from St. Mark. The first speaks of it being likened to scattered seed that grows without watching, which the harvest master will one day come to reap, and the second describes it as being like a mustard seed which grows from the smallest of seed to the largest of plants. What are we to make of all this seed business? Recall the Lord is using the parables to teach his disciples – and you and me still – something of the nature of his Father’s heavenly kingdom. Though the parables might be cryptic, it’s clear that the Kingdom is a) growing, and b) welcoming. That’s good news, my friends, but we should also be mindful that the harvest master will one day come to claim what is his. Pray and work that we might be like that scattered seed that has blossomed as intended.
Along with Megan Dillingham, our Director of Advancement, and Nora Pena, our Business Manager, I am overjoyed to announce that our annual Spring Festival this past April netted a whopping $317,458 for the parish, our third highest net profit ever in the 39-year history of the festival. My thanks to both of those ladies for their hard work on behalf of the parish, but most of all thank you, the people of CtR, who made that possible! God bless you for your generous support. And, even better, I am confident our total will soon rise to become the second highest ever as we still have one auction item that is still outstanding that I expect we’ll finalize in the coming weeks. How great is that?
Leading the way was once again the live and silent auctions which brought in nearly $115,000. Thank you to those who coordinated both of the auctions: Kim Suarez on the live one, Jenny Tyler, Suzanne Villareal, Elaine Gariepy, and the Ladies Auxiliary on the silent one, as well as our awesome auctioneering team of Dan Block and Briz Garcia. The raffle ticket sales brought in more than $66,000, and Bingo, led by Patrick and Marie Kelly, netted a record of more than $12,000 over the course of 70 games for the two days. Special shout out to the Flea Market, which likewise set an all-time sales record of $40,694. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – this parish loves a good sale! My sincere thanks to Angie Wells and her army of volunteers who managed the sales in (and around) the Community Center all week leading up to the Festival.
Every booth, ride and game did well over the weekend, but beyond that I think that everyone who attended had a great time. All of that was made possible to you, the parishioners of CtR, who gave of your time. Thank you again to everyone who volunteered in a booth, bought a ticket, or lent a hand in any way. We couldn’t have done it without you. While the profit is great, the real blessing of the Spring Festival is the spirit of community, service, and joy it fosters. It’s a sign of our parish, and the greater Cypress community, coming together to celebrate our faith and friendship. As for what the parish does with the funds generated, it always goes to a variety of areas and ministries. We will use it to help pay down our debt obligations and I’ll have more to share with you on that in the coming weeks, but we’re also going to use some of it this summer on capital improvements and updates to our physical plant as I shared with you last week.
Finally, let me again express my sincere thanks to our dedicated chairman, Bob Suarez, and his wonderful team of volunteers who oversaw the complete operation. We are indebted to Bob for his service the last two years as he oversaw our transition from the front to the back parking lot and our expansion in a variety of areas. I’d say it was a success! Thank you, Bob!
Bob is going to step aside from his chairman role now, and so we will need new leadership to take the mantle that he, and before him, Mike and Camille Havelka for 30 years, established. They have left us a great template to build upon, and in a parish of more than 7,500 families it is only right and just that others come forward. Remember the Suarezes and Havelkas, and all our volunteers, are parishioners just like you and me. Everyone gives of their time and talent to make this possible, so thank those who have served in the past, and then join them by likewise getting involved and doing your part. It’s a community event and when we all participate as joyful stewards we are blessed beyond measure. We’ll take a break over the summer, but we’re already looking to the fall when we will begin planning for our 40th anniversary CtR Spring Festival next year, May 3-4, 2025. Note that is one week later than usual as Easter Sunday (April 20) and Divine Mercy (April 27) both fall late next year and we need that extra week in between to get properly prepared for Festival weekend. Given that it is a milestone year, it promises to be a special one, so put it on your calendar and plan to join us!
Lastly, a reminder that our parish offices will be closed this Wednesday, June 19, in observance of the Juneteenth federal holiday. We will have our regular Mass and confession schedule that day, however.
Peace, Fr. Sean