Weekly Letter: June 23, 2024 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

     We hear a beautiful passage from St. Paul in his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians this week on the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old order has passed away; behold, new things have come.” Isn’t that just lovely? “Behold, new things have come.” I don’t know why but that image warms my heart. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age, but it’s such a powerful statement of firm, blessed assurance that I love to hear it time and time again.

     Paul himself, of course, knew well what it was to become a new creation, having left behind his former way of life persecuting the followers of Jesus to now becoming the greatest of all apostles giving witness to him. It’s a reminder to us that it is never too late to turn to God and become a “new thing.” Never fail to remember that God indeed desires us to do so, and He gives us the grace of the Holy Spirit that makes it possible.

     This coming week we will host our annual Vacation Bible School session at CtR. We look forward to welcoming more than 300 kids and about 175 adults and teen volunteers in the Parish Life Center throughout the week. Our theme this year is “SCUBA: Diving into Friendship with God,” which is a good lesson for all of us that we are invited to dive deeper into our faith and draw close to the love of the Father through Jesus.

     VBS is a wonderful summer tradition and a great way for our children to grow closer to the Lord. My extra special thanks go to Adilene Huff from our Religious Education staff who oversees VBS. She is more than capably assisted by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers, including Angela Borges, Arlene Sandoval, Heather Duskie, Allyson Akins, and Karen Finke. The Ladies Auxiliary also are providing some much-needed help. Thanks to all who volunteer their time and talent. VBS is truly stewardship in action, as likewise was Catholic Faith Camp a few weeks ago. My thanks to all who assisted in that effort as well.

     Turning to our Knights of Columbus, congratulations are in order for our Council 8771 from Christ the Redeemer which held its annual officer installation commissioning and banquet on Saturday. A big thank you to David Nation who is wrapping up his second and final year as Grand Knight, and to Tom Rinaldi, who will take over for him in that role, and to all the other officers who will help lead and serve in this coming year. We appreciate your service to not only the Knights, but to our community as a whole.

     It will come as no surprise to you that the CtR council is one of the largest and most active in the entire Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and indeed, in Texas. A more dedicated group of Catholic men committed to serving the needs of the Church you will not find anywhere. We all know about their annual Lenten Fish Fry, but the KCs do plenty more good work throughout the year, much of which goes on behind the scenes. They are selfless servants and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

     One area the KCs have always been supportive is with our youth and I again offer my sincere thanks to them for honoring 10 of our recently graduated high school seniors this weekend with a $2,000 Knights of Columbus Msgr. Anton Frank Council College Scholarship with money raised from their annual golf tournament in October. The Ladies Auxiliary also adds one additional scholarship. This year’s recipients are: Nicole Chen, Joaquin Davila, Robert French, Ashlyn Gehrt, Isabella Griffin, Brandon Joy, Natalie Kolb, Keaton Simper, Ava Thomas, and Michael Wilkes. We thank the Knights and Ladies for their generosity in supporting the future education of our graduates.

     Let me also acknowledge our St. Joseph Altar Society, which donated a record $20,500 to Cypress Assistance Ministries last week. That all came from the proceeds from its annual St. Joseph Altar and Bake Sale that they hold every spring on or around the Feast Day of St. Joseph on March 19. (It was Sunday, March 17 this year.) Wonderful job, ladies! Thank you for all you do for the parish and for CAM, and thanks to everyone who came out to honor St. Joseph on that day by enjoying a delicious pasta meal, venerating the beautiful altar, and taking home some delicious goodies from the bake sale. The fruit of all that hard work and generosity was then shared with CAM to put right back into the community to serve our neighbors in need, which is what it is all about. God bless you all!

Peace, Fr. Sean