This Thursday, Nov. 16, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the dedication of our church building. It is to Almighty God that we give thanks for the gift of our earthly spiritual home as we wait in joyful anticipation of union with Him in our heavenly home. It’s a day of great rejoicing for us at CtR as we recall the beautiful events from back in 2008 (can you believe it has been that long?) and we see God’s manifestation in all the people who make up our parish community.
We’ll celebrate daily Mass at 9 a.m. in the church itself, of course, and later that night, we invite you to join us for Evening Prayer at 7 p.m., followed by a dessert reception in the Parish Hall to honor all our volunteers who do so much at the parish throughout the year. As beautiful as our building is, we know that it is the people of God – particularly the many volunteers and ministers – who are the real shining lights. We’ve tried to contact as many of our volunteers as possible, but if you didn’t get an invite, please know you are most welcome to join us. We’d love to have you for both the prayer service (about 30 minutes in length) and the reception that follows.
The physical structure of the church is only a building of brick, wood and stone made by man, but the spiritual reality of the Church is the living icon of Christ. It is the Body of Christ that makes the building, not the building that makes the Body of Christ. When that Body of Christ, united in faith, comes together with a single hope, dream and vision, we are able to do more than we ever think possible.
As important a date as Nov. 16 is, I think back to all the days that led up to it as the real cause of our celebration. It was in your feedback to our Master Plan in 2005 that gave rise to what CtR should look like in the coming years. It was in countless meetings of the Parish Pastoral Council, Finance Council, and the Building Committee that the vision for the new church took root. And of course, it was in your generous gifts of Stewardship in the “Our Faith, Our Future” Capital Campaign that so many families made the sacrifice that made it all possible. All of those things had to come together first before we could even have a dedication day to remember. That was the real work of our hands and I can never say thank you enough to all those who sacrificed to raise up this good and noble work.
Since the day of dedication 15 years ago, we have welcomed nearly 2,800 new families to our community. We now number more than 7,300 families who call this parish home. God’s holy Church is never static. It is always in mission to the world. I invite you today to take a moment and thank God for the gift of your faith lived here at Christ the Redeemer, and then resolve to deepen your faith by living it more deeply with a spirit of gratitude as a good steward of the many gifts God has given you. The church building itself is where we gather and are fed, but we are sent to leave the building and bring Christ to others through our lives in action. May God continue to bless us for years to come!
And we’re not done growing, either! Our Marian Grotto and Prayer Garden expansion construction project currently happening along the eastern side of the church is on track to be dedicated on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We’ve posted photos that give you a sneak peak of the work in progress on our parish Facebook page and website. It’s really coming together, and promises to be a beautiful and spiritual place of prayer and devotion for our community. I can’t wait for you to see it in just a few short weeks from now.
Speaking of a few weeks from now, we’ve got seven more weeks left in the calendar year, and that means time is running out to reach our 2023 Diocesan Services Fund (DSF) goal of $335,000. We currently have about $305,000 pledged from 767 donors, leaving us roughly $30,000 still to go. That means only about 10 percent of our families have made a pledge. If you are among the 10 percent, thank you! And if you are among the 90 percent that have not made a pledge, I encourage you to do so now. Gifts of any size are most welcome and needed. We’ve always made our goal over the years (if we don’t, we have to make up the difference out of our operating budget), but now it’s crunch time and we need your help to do so once again.
As an incentive this year, the Archdiocese is giving a 50-percent rebate to parishes on the total amount given by first-time donors. So, if you’ve never made a gift to DSF over the years, but for example give $200 this year, the parish will receive a rebate of $100. Additionally, we receive 75 percent of any overage of our goal, and so collectively all of our donations not only help make the more than 60 ministries of DSF possible, but they also come back to aid us, too.
I ask you to join me in making your pledge today. You can do so online at www.archgh.org/dsf, or follow the link on our parish website. That’s how I did it, and I promise you it was fast, easy, and secure. A gift of any size is great help to us meeting our goal and providing for others through the important work of DSF that no parish can do on its own, but that collectively we can all make possible to help in the aid our brothers and sisters throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston through the work and ministry of hospital chaplains, seminarians, soup kitchens, and senior care centers, and so much more. Thank you for your support of the many ministries that benefit from our gifts to the Diocesan Services Fund.
Lastly, for those of you who join us for the weekly Mass with the CtR School, please note that this week only it will not be held at its usual day and time of 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Instead, it will be on Friday, Nov. 17 at 9 a.m., the last day of classes before our Thanksgiving break. It’s Grandparents’ Day at the school and we welcome the many families and friends of our students who will be in town for the upcoming holidays. After a week off for Thanksgiving, our usual school Mass schedule resumes on Wednesday, Nov. 29.