Weekly Letter: May 26, 2024 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

     Thank you for your patience last week as we celebrated Pentecost Sunday in the dark and heat resulting from the destructive storm of the previous Thursday. I appreciate that so many people still came to Mass when I know the conditions were difficult. To be honest, our attendance was not too far off from its normal level for that weekend in May. That’s a testament to your great faith and desire for the Eucharist, so thank you for your beautiful witness!

     I pray that everyone has had their power restored by now. We were out for 96 hours, almost to the exact minute, before it finally came back up on campus at 6:25 p.m. this past Monday. Aside from one air conditioner unit in the gym that is giving us trouble it seems we had no real damage as a result of the storm aside from a few down tree limbs and branches. Thank you, Jesus!

     Now, having culminated the great season of Easter with the Feast of Pentecost last Sunday, the Church turns her attention to Ordinary Time, weeks so named not because of their “ordinariness” but because they are numbered. This Sunday is the beginning of the 8th week of Ordinary Time, and we’ll continue in Ordinary Time all the way to the end of November and the beginning of Advent. The first two Sundays following Pentecost are given special recognition with today being the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, or as it is most often called, Trinity Sunday. Next week is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or Corpus Christi Sunday.

    This weekend, we don’t just celebrate a rule or teaching of the Church, but rather the very mystery of the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is a belief that there is one God, yet three persons. How can that be? Three doesn’t equal one. Don’t think of “persons” as we normally do, i.e., I’m a “person,” you are a “person,” the guy next to me is a “person.” In God, the three persons are one being with a single, divine nature. The members of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action and will. It is one of the most complex theological doctrines of the Church and not easily explained or understood. But think of it this way: The Trinity is not a math problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. We are invited into the love that flows in and between the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To be caught up in that active, dynamic Trinitarian love is our great hope and destiny.

    As mentioned, next week is Corpus Christi Sunday, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is blessed to have the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage making its way through our area at the same time. This is something new – a beautiful fusion of the journey to Jesus and the journey with Jesus. What’s more, it is an adventure that all Catholics can do together, either by interior disposition or physical accompaniment with Christ on his way to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this summer, where he comes to encounter his people anew.

     On Thursday, May 30, St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land will welcome the pilgrimage group at 6:30 p.m. with an evening of prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and testimonies from the Perpetual Pilgrims traveling with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Then the next morning, on Friday, May 31, a Mass will be celebrated with the Perpetual Pilgrims followed by a solemn procession around St. Laurence. The Pilgrimage will then travel to downtown Houston to the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart for a 12:10 p.m. parish Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration. The Pilgrimage will then travel to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham for the evening.

     On Saturday, June 1, the University of St. Thomas will host a gathering exclusively for young adults ages 18-39 with pilgrims at 12:30 p.m. A Eucharistic Liturgy of the Hours and a solemn Eucharistic procession around the campus follow; these two events are open to all ages. Finally, on Sunday, June 2, the Pilgrimage will travel to Galveston Island for 10 a.m. Sunday Mass celebrated by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo. After Mass, all are welcome to join a mile-long walking Eucharistic procession from the Cathedral Basilica to Sacred Heart Church. From there, the pilgrimage will depart for Beaumont. For more information on the Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress, visit www.archgh.org/pilgrimage24.

     In other news, if you know of a parishioner from CtR who will be attending the University of St. Thomas this fall, please let us know in the parish office. We have a parish scholarship in partnership with UST and all students from the parish are eligible to receive a portion of the proceeds. In fact, UST doubles our donation from the parish to make an even bigger pool of money for our students. But we need to make sure that parishioners who are attending UST are properly accounted for, so let us know if you or someone you know will be a student there this fall by contacting Roxie Goetz in our office at 281-469-5533 or [email protected].

     The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will be blessed with three new priests who will be ordained next Saturday, June 1 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 10 a.m. in a service that is open to the public. Please note that we will not hold confessions next Saturday so that Fr. Vincent and I might attend the ordination to welcome them to our presbyterate. Please keep them in your prayers as they begin their ministry. 

    Our parish offices and school are closed Monday, May 27, for Memorial Day. Please join us in remembering all those who died while serving in the military for our great country. May God grant them eternal peace and bring comfort to their families. Our offices reopen on Tuesday, May 28 at 9 a.m.

Peace, Fr. Sean