Bulletin for Aug. 12

Dear friends in Christ,

It’s a monumental day for us at CtR as we dedicate our Redeemer Activity Center (RAC). We welcome Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, who today celebrates our 11 a.m. Mass and who will formally dedicate the RAC afterward. All are invited. My heart is full of joy and gratitude at the amazing effort by so many people who have helped us reach this day. Of course, it is you, the people of CtR, who made it possible by first being part of our faith community that continues to grow. The RAC is a direct response to the needs of our parish community in three distinct ways, each represented by one of the major components of the building itself. 

First is the auditorium, which, though it will naturally serve our entire parish family, I see as a natural response to the hunger of our families to grow in Christ. Parishioners of all ages have told me repeatedly that they want good programs, strong speakers, and opportunities to come and learn more of the faith. The auditorium gives us 651 seats to gather in, be fed and deepen our faith. I envision it being used by all ages, and I think it will quickly become one of the most popular places on campus. Besides all of that, it’s a gorgeous space and just a cool place to visit.

Secondly is our gymnasium, which again will be used by everyone, but which I see it as a real “home court advantage” for our CtR Catholic School. It will be home to our basketball and volleyball teams, which are important in the middle school years for both students and their parents. It’s also a place for assemblies, P.E. for the younger kids, and a place where all can play with abandon. Regardless of age, we all need to play more in life! The school will make great use of the S.T.R.E.A.M. Lab, art and music rooms in the RAC, too, but the gym gives it energy and life!

Finally we move upstairs for our Youth Ministry Suite. I can say without a doubt we wouldn’t have needed to build this place if not for the needs of our junior and senior high students. They are the life-blood of CtR, and they are great in number. If as a parish we are going to bring Christ to the next generation of Catholics, then we have to offer a dynamic space for Youth Ministry. The RAC gives them a home and a place of their own. I pray that they will “camp out” there, day and night, and know they always have a home where they can encounter God’s heart in the Church. We can all be rightfully proud of our CtR youth.

If you can’t join us for the dedication today, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to see it in the weeks to come. For now, we give thanks to God for the generosity of all who have made it possible. If you have not, I invite you to join us in supporting the Capital Campaign with a pledge so that it may continue to serve all who call CtR home. Thank you one and all!
    
Following the excitement of the dedication of the RAC, we open our school year this coming Thursday, Aug. 16. This will be our fifth year at CtR Catholic School, and I think this is the year we can officially say we are no longer a “new school.” We added new grade levels each of our first four years as we slowly got ourselves up and running. That culminated this past year with our first 8th grade class and we graduated 17 students on to high school this fall. Now with the opening of the RAC, our campus is complete, our school is firmly established, and we are firing on all cylinders. We are fully up and running across all grade levels, and as we welcome 430 students in Pre-K through 8th grade this year it feels like we are poised to reach even greater heights. It’s a great sign of the growth of our community and the impact our Catholic school is making on both children and their families. Praise God!

One final note about the opening of the RAC and the new school year. To accommodate the flow of students and staff between the main school building and the RAC throughout the day, we will be closing the back driveway that runs between the two buildings, nearest the playground. We will gate off the driveway on either side so that no traffic may cut through. It’s important we keep the space clear and safe for all who walk back and forth, from our young children up to and including the old pastor! That means we will have a change of traffic patterns on the campus during days the school is in session. Again, this is only for school days, not weekends.

If you are coming to the Parish Office during the day, you might wish to park in front near the chapel and Community Center and enter via the courtyard by the Prayer Garden. For those wishing to come to the back parking lot, you will now use the drive on the south side of the property, along the fence line of the adjacent neighborhood. This is currently a one-way exit driveway, but starting this week it will become a two-way drive, both in and out, on school days only. On Sunday, it will still be used as a two-way exit to help clear the parking lot after Masses. Longtime parishioners will recall this formerly was a two-way driveway in the past before we changed it after the church was built. The exit itself, which you will notice we recently reconstructed to make egress quicker, will continue to be a one-way exit to allow those leaving campus to turn left or right onto Huffmeister, but the drive itself will become two-way.

On paper it’s a bit confusing, and I suspect it will take us a few weeks to get used to a new way of accessing the back parking lot. We’ll be erecting new signage soon, but I also know most people do not look at those signs. They just do what they’ve always done! Please don’t be that person. Slow down, pay attention, and be patient as we implement this change, which is all in the interest of safety. On weekends, you won’t notice any change, so for the most part it may not impact too many of us, but if you do need to visit the campus during the day be on the lookout for the new traffic patterns.

In other news, this Wednesday, Aug. 15, is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a Holy Day of Obligation. Our Masses will be Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 5 p.m. (vigil) and Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 6:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. I encourage you to make every effort to attend as we honor Our Lady’s assumption into the heavenly realm. With the start of the school year just around the corner for both our Catholic school and the local public schools it presents an excellent opportunity to come give thanks to God for the gift of Mary and to invoke her intercession upon all students and teachers in this coming year.
 
Lastly, we will celebrate First Holy Communion for many of our Religious Education students at 9 a.m. this coming Saturday, Aug. 18, and thus confessions will not be heard on that day. This is our third and final round of First Communion celebrations for this past RE year. We added a “summer option” this year as a way to help parents and students who were unable to join us for either the fall or spring sessions, and it has proven to be a big hit with more than 100 young people participating. Combined the three sessions brought more than 340 children to the table of the Lord for the first time. Praise God! That’s a wonderful testament to the growth of our parish and the strong sacramental programs we offer. We’ve already begun the preparation for this coming fall’s session as the next round gets underway. My thanks to our great R.E. staff and dedicated parents who make it all possible.

Peace, Fr. Sean