Bulletin for Dec. 30

Dear friends in Christ,

Merry Christmas! Yes, it is true. Our Christmas celebration indeed continues today. The birth of our Savior is not a once-and-done proposition but continues up until the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord next weekend. So let the Christmas spirit reign in your hearts and in your homes a few days longer. Don’t be so quick to put away the decorations (especially the crèche!) and try to hold on to the spirit of Christmas – the celebration of the Word made flesh that dwells among us – throughout this coming year.
 
As the Christmas season continues today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This great feast day, which is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following Christmas Day, is a beautiful reminder of the dignity and respect that being part of a family calls us to honor. We are members not only of our personal families, but also of the family of God. We honor Jesus, Mary and Joseph and we look to them to guide us in dealing with our families. Many, if not all, of us have “unique” family structures. There are always areas of both great love and great tension within every family. Some family members we are extremely close to while others may be estranged from us, often for years. If there are difficulties or bitter feelings lingering in your family perhaps this start of the new year would be a good time to bury the past and build up your family on the model of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. May they serve as an inspiration to us all to always follow the will of God in our family lives.

This Tuesday, Jan. 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. We always start the new year off by remembering the motherhood of Our Lady who gave birth to the savior. It’s also a Day of Prayer for Justice and Peace, something that Mary knew well in her heart and that we should strive to emulate in ours. We’ll have two masses – a vigil Mass at 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 31 (if you’d like to come before the New Year’s Eve hoopla), and on Tuesday, Jan. 1 at 9 a.m., both in the main church. I invite you to start the new year off right by joining us as we ask for Mary’s holy wisdom to guide and protect us throughout 2019.

Before we look ahead to events in this new year we take one final look back at all the events of the past few weeks. On the Saturday before Christmas we had a large group of children, teens and adults who delivered the hundreds of toys you donated to Our Mother of Mercy Church, our twin parish in the Fifth Ward of Houston. Thank you to all who brought a gift. My thanks to all who participated in the delivery and extra special thanks to Tim Herbert for organizing the collection and distribution of the toys. Likewise I extend a heartfelt thanks to all who brought a gift card in our Christmas Giving Tree program. Charlotte and Ken Conner helped coordinate that ministry and the last report I got was that we were approaching $20,000 in gifts cards that were distributed through CAM to the many families in need in our area. Thank you to all who helped make it possible. God bless you in your generosity.

We owe a sincere debt of gratitude to our Liturgy Department and volunteers who helped make the Christmas Masses flow so smoothly. My very special thanks to Ofelia Carrasco, Deanna Negrete, and our many liturgical ministers who put in long hours to make sure our masses last weekend were as well coordinated as they were inspiring. Thanks as well to Patty Arnett, Cathy Oland, and all the dedicated ministers who helped create the beautiful Art and Environment in the church and the Parish Hall. To all of our extra ministers of the Word, Holy Communion, ushers, greeters, sacristans, and acolytes my sincere thanks. Let us not fail to give thanks for the beautiful liturgical music provided by our choirs (adult and children), expertly led by Bridget Wenk and assisted by Christine Marté and organist Joe Russell, as well as Mark Dolce and company in the Contemporary Choir. They all put in multiple rehearsal and enabled us to praise the newborn king with heavenly hearts and voices. Our parish is blessed with selfless people who sacrifice so much so that so many can experience the goodness of God. Thank you one and all for your beautiful Stewardship of time and talent.

I would be remiss if I did not give a personal thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts to the office and rectory for Fr. Ralph and myself. Many more of you brought us presents, wine and all manner of assorted goodies. Thank you very much. You really tested our will power especially with those baked goods! We tried to sample a little of everything and we were happy to share the rest with the staff and friends. Most of all we truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and for remembering us in your Christmas prayers.

Looking ahead a couple of weeks, on Saturday, Jan. 12 we will hold our annual discernment for new members for the Parish Pastoral Council. The PPC is the advisory board that gives guidance and counsel to me as pastor on the mission and direction of our community. We have a wonderfully active PPC at CtR and we rotate members onto the council each year. If you would like to go through this discernment process I invite you to participate Jan. 12 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Room 111 in the parish office building. A discernment takes a few hours but it is a wonderful way to allow the Holy Spirit to work within those discerning to call forth those who will serve on the PPC.

PPC members must be registered and active members in the parish and fully initiated in the Catholic Church. If married they must be in a Catholic marriage. A willingness to serve and work collaboratively is a must. The PPC’s mission is to advise the pastor on the long-range planning and initiatives of the parish and as such it is not involved with day-to-day operations. It has no decision-making authority, but seeks to offer counsel and wisdom to me as the pastor and is charged with keeping the overall good of the parish and its parishioners in mind, not just one particular group or ministry. Please contact me this week if you would like to participate in the discernment, or if you have someone from the parish you’d like to nominate for the discernment meeting.

Finally, we thank the Knights of Columbus for again sponsoring the 2019 parish calendars which are being distributed at Mass this weekend. And if you missed getting a copy of the book we gave away at Christmas, “The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity” by noted Catholic author Matthew Kelly, I believe we have some extra copies available in the parish office. No guarantee, but if we do, you are welcome to stop in for a copy.

Peace, Fr. Sean