Bulletin for April 21 (Easter)

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!

On behalf of the staff of CtR and all of our wonderful volunteers and ministry leaders I wish you and your family a blessed and holy Easter. I pray that this day of Resurrection will bring you great joy and hope. Christ our Savior is risen and that gives us who bear the name Christian renewed promise that God is with His people. The new life that Jesus has given us is our great inheritance as well. If we believe in Christ Jesus, confess His glorious name, and bear witness to that name in our lives, then we too have the hope of everlasting life. May God be praised both now and forever!

I want to especially welcome our visitors today, those who may be spending the holiday with family and friends in the area and those who are joining us for the first time (or the first time in a long time). Please know that you are most welcomed at CtR today and every day. I hope you will consider making our parish your permanent home. If you have been away from the practice of the faith for a period of time perhaps today will be just the thing you are looking for to bring you back to an active faith life. We at CtR are ready to help you in that regard. If you have questions about the Church or how you go about becoming a member, please don’t hesitate to contact me or any member of our staff.

I know that the crowds at today’s Easter Masses are extremely large, but I pray that we are able to make room for everyone. I want to especially thank our great team of volunteers: ushers, greeters, servers, sacristans and Eucharistic ministers. They all went above and beyond the call of duty to make the liturgies flow effortlessly, doing double-duty in the church and Parish Hall. Thank you one and all. My special thanks to Ofelia Carrasco and Deanna Negrete from our Liturgy Office, and Bridget Wenk, Christine Marté, Joe Russell, Mark Dolce and our wonderful adult and youth choirs from our Music Department. The church is also beautifully decorated for the Easter season (and it was as well last week for Palm Sunday) and that is made possible by Patty Arnett and the great Art & Environment committee. All of us owe these people our sincere thanks for the time and energy they put in to make our Easter celebrations so special.

Undoubtedly what makes Easter such a special time in the life of the Church (besides the obvious of celebrating Christ’s resurrection) are our newest members who were received into the Church on Holy Saturday night at the Easter Vigil by the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. This year we welcomed 31 new Christians on that great night (15 by baptism and 16 more by Profession of Faith) and we pledge to continue to journey with them during the next 50 days of the Easter season. If you know of someone who is interested in joining the Catholic Church just like these people did, please contact Julie Cook, who shepherds this wonderful ministry known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Now we turn our attention to our 34th Spring Festival next weekend – yes, it’s next week! The tents will begin to go up tomorrow, Monday, April 22, in the front parking lot. We will need help each night of this coming week with various tasks, so please consider stopping by anytime between 5-8 p.m. to lend a hand to Mike Havelka with the set-up.

You can begin dropping off donations for the flea market tomorrow in the Community Center and continuing throughout the week. Clean out the garage and bring your unwanted items to donate to the Church. The flea market has become one of our biggest events of the Festival the past few years with plenty of bargains to be had. Bring us your items throughout the week, and consider stopping by to help each day with the sorting and pricing of all the donations.

Beginning on Saturday morning you can bring your donations of flowers and greenery for the plant shop, as well as cakes, cookies and goodies for the Sweet Shoppe bake sale. A special note to all you bakers: we always run short on cakes for the cakewalk booth. If you can bake an extra sheet cake or two (doesn’t have to be fancy, just tasty!) please bring them for us to give away. Or make a batch of cookies or treats for the Sweet Shoppe. The popular Mystery Booth, wherein you can win gift cards to various stores and restaurants, is in need of your donations. Pick up a gift card or two to a favorite place (in any denomination). If it’s a place you like to go (think Starbucks, Sonic, Whataburger, etc.), it’s a safe bet it would make for a good Mystery Booth gift card. Drop those off in the office and they’ll make for a most excellent prize.

Next Saturday the place starts hopping after the 5 p.m. Mass with some of the food court open, beer and wine booths, flea market, and a few of the rides. We always have a great band with a packed dance floor so come enjoy a great night. It’s a wonderful evening and sets the stage nicely for all the family fun the next day. On Sunday we get going with the barbecue at 11 a.m. and then everything – all the rides, games, food booths, flea market, plant booth and everything else – is up and running by 12 noon and continues until the Grand Prize drawing for the new car (buy your raffle tickets!) at 7 p.m. Remember there is no 5 p.m. Mass next Sunday!

Remember we have a free shuttle service both Saturday night and all day Sunday. The shuttle will run round-trip, from Millsap Elementary School (about 1/4 mile north of the parish on Huffmeister, just past Cypress-N. Houston Drive) on Saturday evening and again on Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Also on Sunday we’ll have an extra shuttle running round-trip to Hunting, just off the corner of Huffmeister and Cypress-N. Houston. It will save you time and aggravation as much of our parking area will be blocked off for the Festival. Trust me on this one – it’s the way to go.

The pastoral staff of CtR joins me in wishing you and your family a blessed and holy Easter. May Christ the Redeemer, who is risen from the dead this Easter Sunday, be with you and your family. We’ll see you next week for our Spring Festival!

Peace, Fr. Sean