Bulletin for Jan. 13

Dear friends in Christ,

This weekend we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. It closes out the Christmas season and is an opportune time for us to recall our own baptism. Most likely you were baptized as a baby but for some, baptism came later in life as an adult. Regardless of age, baptism cleanses us of original sin and inaugurates us into a way of life. As we hear John the Baptist say in today’s Gospel, “He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Thus it is we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and with that comes a mandate to live our lives worthy of our calling. Every day we should strive to live that out in a more authentic and purposeful way. What a great mission God has entrusted to us!

When we truly encounter the Risen Christ in our lives that experience should have a transformative result in us. We are never the same after meeting Christ! Think of the two travelers on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24) whose lives are forever transformed when Jesus opens up the Scriptures for them and breaks the bread. Such a change is possible for us, and in fact, God desires that personal relationship with us. A beautiful way to cultivate that relationship is to be a good steward of the gifts we have received.

At Mass this weekend you’ll hear a bit about that idea of Stewardship at CtR. I’ll give you an update on several initiatives that we have before us in my “State of the Parish” homily that I like to offer yearly. I’ll elaborate on it more in next week’s bulletin but one area in particular that I’d like to call your attention to is our Vision 2020. In short, what does CtR look like in the year 2020? With the help of key ministry leaders, parish staff, and a dedicated small working group that met last August and September, we have developed three main priorities and six goals that we’d like to focus on during the next two years that will lead us up to our parish’s 40th anniversary in the fall of 2020.

I’ll tell you more about it this weekend at Mass and elaborate more fully in the bulletin next week, but for now I’d ask you to let the idea of Stewardship be part of your prayer. At the heart of everything we do, from Sunday Mass, to Religious Education, to community service, Stewardship is at the heart of it all. Each of us has been gifted by God. That’s at the core of our faith. In baptism, God called each of us by name and gave us the gift of the Spirit. Having received, how do we return just a portion of that gift back to the Lord? That’s Stewardship in a nutshell. I look forward to unpacking that nutshell with you over the next two years as we fulfill a vision for our parish community to serve both God and neighbor.

In other news, three years ago in January 2016 I wrote the following: “As January dawns it is a traditional time of new beginnings and new initiatives, and so I begin this new year with the declaration that I need a woman. Actually, I need more than one woman – I need about 8-10 women, or even more. To be honest, I’ll take a few men, too. Before you faint, let me explain. We have a great need at CtR for a new ministry dedicated to assisting us with the many weddings that we celebrate each year at the parish. We are starting a Wedding Guild ministry to answer that need and that’s where I need a few women of the parish who are interested in assisting me in this regard to step forward. (Men are welcome, too, but I suspect it will mainly be women who will want to help fill this role.)”

That ministry never got off the ground and that’s my fault. We met once, but then other priorities crept in and I dropped the ball. (You can see why it’s important to have a vision to carry ideas forth!) I’m now recommitting myself to get this ministry up and running as it is needed now more than ever. Members of the Wedding Guild will assist the clergy by helping with details surrounding our celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage. Each year we celebrate between 40-50 weddings. Some are quite small, but others involve a number of people. The members of the Wedding Guild will assist by leading rehearsals on Friday nights and being present before, during and after the ceremony on Saturdays. They will be the primary liaison between the couple and the parish, and will help ensure that the celebration of the sacrament runs smoothly so that it may be a joyful (and stress-less) day for everyone involved.

Members of the Wedding Guild will be our parish Wedding Coordinators. They won’t be involved in the spiritual preparation of the couple for the sacrament, but rather will be called upon for about four hours (one on Friday, and typically three on Saturday) for any given wedding. That’s why I’d like to have a team of individuals be part of the Wedding Guild so that they may work together to help spread the load. Right now, the priest or deacon witnessing the wedding also does double-duty in coordinating the service and it’s simply too much. With a Wedding Guild, more hands will make for lighter work for all involved.

I invite those who are interested in learning more about the Wedding Guild ministry to join me for an information meeting this coming Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Parish Office Building. At this meeting, I’ll explain to you the idea behind this new ministry, what it will involve, and invite your participation. We’re modeling this upon similar Wedding Guilds at other parishes and I think it will be a blessing for not only our couples who are marrying, but for the members of the ministry. By assisting brides and grooms we will be contributing to the joy of their wedding day, and ideally it will be a source of evangelization, too.

We’ll provide all the training needed, and I think you will find that it is a ministry that can done a few times a year for a few hours at a time so that it will overburden any one person. Please consider helping the parish in this most important role. It will fill a real need for us and be a great blessing for the parish, the clergy and our couples who are married here at CtR. See me for more information or simply plan on joining us on Jan. 15.

Please keep our CtR Youth in your prayers next weekend as more than 215 of them will be at Camp Cho-Yeh for their Confirmation retreat. I look forward to joining them for Mass next Saturday evening. The retreat is an important part of their journey toward the Sacrament of Confirmation the students will receive later in May. In particular I want to thank the 50 adult chaperones and Core Team members who will be with them for their dedication to our young people. They are offering their time and talent for the weekend to mentor and guide our youth closer to Christ. It makes a great difference in the life of our youth to experience a retreat with their peers and adults who they trust. You can be proud of the fine teens of our Youth Ministry program. It’s just one example of how your gifts of Stewardship helps us provide opportunities and support for our youth to grow in their relationship with Christ, to encounter Him in the Church, and to go forth to make Him known through lives of service and love.

Peace,
Fr. Sean