Check out some photos of our STEM exploration of the sights and sounds of Christmas at Genesis. The children smelled the scents of pine, peppermint, cocoa and gingerbread while listening to Christmas music. They additionally stacked and built with huge gifts and raced ornaments and jumbo jingle bells down ramps to test the physics of Christmas.

Genesis finished our fall STEM unit on pumpkins. The children at Genesis Early Childhood Program explored the life cycle of a pumpkin, compared physical properties, dissected pumpkins, measured with pumpkins, counted with pumpkins and experimented with the physics of rolling pumpkins. We ended the unit with our annual Pumpkin Tasting Parties. We graphed our favorites and declared pumpkin cookies the winner.

Genesis Early Childhood Program" did a Pumpkin tasting party and the children voted on their favorite pumpkin flavored item. In a surprising turn of events, pumpkin ice cream was not the resounding winner this year! Pumpkin cookies took 1st place in many of our classrooms. This fun event at Genesis is a great multi-sensory learning opportunity laced with language development and math skills integrated unto a fun party environment.

Seminarian Joey White reflects on his call to the priesthood. Although he didn't focus on the call at first, he kept feeling the nudge by God to become a priest. By dedicating himself to daily adoration, Joey heard God's voice and discerned his vocation to the priesthood.

Dear friends in Christ,
Our Gospel on this 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time is particularly apt for us at CtR this weekend: “The harvest is abundant and the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest,” we read from St. Luke. We are blessed that the master of the harvest, namely Jesus Christ, has called Fr. Vincent Tran to be a priest in His Church and we are doubly-blessed that Fr. Vincent begins his priestly ministry as our new parochial vicar at CtR.

Dear friends in Christ,
We return to the familiar green vestments of Ordinary Time this Sunday after a couple post-Easter celebrations in white for Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi Sunday. You’ll be seeing a lot of green for the next five months as we make our way through the liturgical year. Our readings this weekend for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time could not be more appropriate as they are all about callings, departures and following the Lord. That is the case for Elisha in the First Reading from 1 Kings, and for the Apostles in the Gospel from St. Luke, and finally it’s the case for us at CtR.

Dear friends in Christ,
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, or as we more commonly call it, Corpus Christi Sunday. The Eucharist is the life of the Church and today we call to mind the great gift of Christ’s own body. When Christ surrendered His spirit on the cross, water and blood flowed from His side and the great outpouring of the Body and Blood was made complete. We celebrate that gift every time we gather at the table of the Lord.

Dear friends in Christ,
Buongiorno! I greet you today from Italy where our 2019 Parish Pilgrimage to the Shrines of Southern Italy is visiting Monte Cassino, about 80 miles south of Rome. It is here that St. Benedict founded the Benedictine Order in the 6th century, and as you are celebrating at CtR, our group of 48 will offer Mass at the Abbey of Monte Cassino. We are one with you in spirit, and though we’re having a beautiful and spiritually-fulfilling trip, we look forward to being back home next weekend. In the meantime there are many more churches to visit and much more gelato to eat!

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 but 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.

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.

Dear friends in Christ,
Welcome to our 34th 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.

Dear friends in Christ,
“Alleluia! Alleluia!” That double “Alleluia” is a hallmark of today’s great celebration of Easter. Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is risen from the dead! The stone has been rolled away and the empty tomb lets all know without a shadow of doubt that death has been overcome. The appearance of the Risen Christ to the disciples brings to fulfillment what had been foretold of Him in all of the Scriptures. The Messiah had to first suffer and die but He will rise again on the third day. Today is that day and so we raise our voices in glory to God and Christ the Redeemer!