News - May 2019 RSS Feed

Dear friends in Christ,
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. We remember Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Father where He sits in glory until He comes again, a belief we profess every Sunday in our Creed. This feast is celebrated 40 days after the Easter resurrection which by tradition would have put it on the calendar for last Thursday. Some of you may remember “Ascension Thursday” holy days from your youth. It is still celebrated on that Thursday in a handful of the dioceses in the U.S., but several years ago nearly every other diocese, including the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, transferred the celebration to Sunday to highlight its prominence and give more people an opportunity to celebrate.

Dear friends in Christ,
“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” Such a powerful and altogether soothing assurance from Jesus in today’s Gospel on this 6th Sunday of Easter. It seems like something we should commit to memory, and most certainly it is something we should commit to in our hearts. The reason we should not fear is because the Lord has promised that He will not leave us abandoned or alone. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which we’ll celebrate in a few weeks at Pentecost, is all we need to give us the peace of God’s everlasting love. Remember those words throughout this week any time your heart is worried. The Lord is near to us. That is the promise of Easter!

Dear friends in Christ,
On this 5th Sunday of Easter we hear the Lord speak of what He calls a “new” commandment – love one another. Seems odd that He should label it as new. Isn’t love the oldest of all commandments? Of course it is, but this “new” type of love Jesus is asking of us is meant to mirror His love for us. Only when we give of ourselves freely, as He did on the cross, will we be fulfilling what the Lord asks of us. Let us strive to always do so.

Dear friends in Christ,
On this 4th Sunday of Easter we wish a blessed and happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers. Moms hold a special place in our hearts and we need only look at the example of Jesus to know that love and respect for mothers is an age-old tradition in our faith. From the wedding feast at Cana to the hill at Calvary, Mary was always present in the life of her son. In a special way we ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on all mothers, both living and deceased. And let us not forget the wonderful gift of life that grandmothers, adopted mothers, step-mothers, foster mothers and godmothers offer their children. May God bless them all! If you are at Mass on Sunday morning, there is a special mom’s breakfast waiting for you in the Parish Hall. Please join us.

Dear friends in Christ,
As I write this, the remnants of yet another successful Spring Festival weekend are being swept from the parking lot, the Community Center is being cleaned, the games and booths are making their way back to storage, and the receipts are being tallied. Like all of the core committee and our volunteers, I’m exhausted. But the overwhelming emotion I am feeling is one of profound gratitude. I’m so very thankful for the gift of the people of Christ the Redeemer as the parish came together for the 34th time to celebrate our families, our friendship and our faith.