Fr. Sean's Weekly Column

Dear friends in Christ,
Having culminated the great season of Easter with the Feast of Pentecost last Sunday, the Church now turns her attention to Ordinary Time, weeks so named not because of their “ordinariness” but because they are numbered. Today 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.

Dear friends in Christ,
On the Feast of Pentecost this weekend we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus and what has come to be known as the “birthday of the Church.” Gathered together in Jerusalem, the followers of Jesus, who were comprised of every race and tongue, soon discovered themselves to be “filled with the Holy Spirit.” It was a microcosm of what the Church would become: faithful believers in the saving work of Jesus Christ who are empowered by the Spirit to go and spread the Good News. That work continues today. We, too, come from different backgrounds and ways of life yet we are united by the Spirit of God to build up the Body of Christ in all we say and do.

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. So to be clear – you did not miss a Holy Day of Obligation! It just moved a few days down the calendar so that we might celebrate it in all its glory today.

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 hundreds of 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. What a tremendous weekend we experienced as the parish came together for the 33rd time to celebrate as a community of faith.

Dear friends in Christ,
Welcome to our 33rd annual CtR Spring Festival weekend! If you are reading this on Saturday night or any time on Sunday, I hope you will make plans to stop by the Festival and enjoy everything that it has to offer. And I do mean everything. We’ve got plenty of space to spread out and a few new rides and games this year. The food booths and auction tent are back in the usual spots, but take time to wander around the grounds to see all there is to offer.