News - November 2018 RSS Feed

Dear friends in Christ,
As we begin the four-week season of Advent today we are called to wait joyfully for the Lord. We know Christmas is near. The Thanksgiving holiday is behind us and many of us are probably already in high gear in terms of preparations for Christmas. We know as well that it’s often a time when our nerves can easily fray and we feel stress more acutely. Why not make a “liturgical new year resolution” to wait patiently? While everyone else is speeding up, try slowing down and listening for the voice crying out in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”

This morning, the District Attorney of Montgomery County executed a search warrant for records and information related to an ongoing investigation. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston continues to cooperate, as we have since the outset, with this process. In fact, consistent with Cardinal DiNardo’s pledge of full cooperation, the information being sought was already being compiled.

Dear friends in Christ,
Today is the Solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Church’s liturgical calendar. Next week we begin the great season of holy waiting, Advent. But before then we honor Christ as our King. Not an earthly king of physical and political power and might, however, but a king who lays down his life in service to all.

Dear friends in Christ, Welcome to our 10th anniversary weekend celebration of the dedication of the “new” church at Christ the Redeemer. I put “new” in quotes because while our present church building is relatively new at 10 years of age, our parish is in its 38th year. (And, yes, we’re already planning on a big parish-wide 40th anniversary celebration in 2020.)

Dear friends in Christ,
While in our country we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day a little more than a week from now, this week at CtR is one of joyful thanksgiving as we mark the 10th anniversary of the dedication of our “new” church. 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 time of great rejoicing for us at CtR as we recall the beautiful events of 10 years ago and we see God’s manifestation in all the people who make up our parish community.

Dear friends in Christ,
As the calendar shifts into November we begin a busy two months until the end of the year. There are a lot of activities at the Church that warrant our attention and participation, and, of course, we’ve all got a lot of family commitments to attend to with the holidays coming into full view. But as hectic as it will undoubtedly get let’s all remember to slow down and focus on the “one thing” that deserves our utmost attention, namely the Lord. As we hear abundantly clear in today’s readings from Deuteronomy and the Gospel of St. Mark, “You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Put that love of the Lord above all else and, like the scribe in today’s Gospel, we too “will not be far from the Kingdom of God.”