Parish Update – Friday, April 30

Happy (rainy) Friday, one and all! Through the storms this morning I could still hear the sound ringing in my ears:

I don’t think I’ll forget it any time soon, either, as it came sounding over the parking lot last Saturday as I walked to the chapel. It was the sound of six knives turning 29 briskets into hundreds of chopped beef sandwiches. Let me tell you, it was sweet, sweet music to my ears! It was confirmation that our 36th annual Spring Festival, as different as it might have been, was indeed coming to fruition and that in some small way, things were getting back to normal.

I hope you got to enjoy some of that brisket from the fine work of Kenneth Winkler and his team. I can attest it tasted as good as it sounded. Likewise the Nguyen family’s Vietnamese egg rolls, fried rice, and chicken skewers, and the Cajun jambalaya from the hands of the Conners and Stevens families. All the food was a big hit throughout the weekend, and the same can be said of the entire Festival experience itself. … Though I lamented we couldn’t gather on a gorgeous weekend as in past years, I was nonetheless very proud how the parish came together to make this virtual Festival a memorable community event. I’m confident that we’ll be back to normal operations in 2022, but this year provided us with a wonderful learning experience that I think will pay dividends on our operations down the line.

I’m most grateful to everyone who participated in the online auction. It was a big hit, and my goodness, the people of CtR certainly know how to bid it up. Thank you for that! All the winners have been notified and pickup of items will take place this weekend in the Community Center. … Thanks as well to our many volunteers over the weekend who made everything run smoothly, and of course, the fine work of our Festival core committee. We’ll have the final results in another week or two once we settle all the accounts. One thing is for certain – it was good to be together, even if just for a few minutes as you stopped by to pick up your dinners and desserts, or the wine pull, or t-shirts, or however you might have participated. Thank you one and all, and we can’t wait to see you in person once again in 2022 for what will be our 37th annual Spring Festival!

Now the calendar is turning to May and that’s always a busy month for us at CtR. Let’s take a look at what’s coming down the pike this week:

• First, we invite you to please join us for Mass for the 5^th Sunday of Easter, either in person or via our livestream on Sunday at 9 a.m. on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. You can find the link to the livestream at www.ctrcc.com/live-stream, and in addition, you’ll find there both a worship aid and a link to the Scripture readings to follow along with Mass. And you can make your weekly offertory contribution online at www.ctrcc.com/donate. Thanks to everyone for your continued support of the parish in these Easter days. … If you’d like to join us in person for Mass, we welcome you on Saturday at 5 p.m., or Sunday at 7, 9, and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

• Next week we celebrate two Masses of Confirmation for our high school students on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We congratulate our 200 or so youth on receiving this great gift of the Holy Spirit. My sincere thanks to Rachel Smyth, our Director of Youth Evangelization and Catechesis, and Tommy Lannen, our High School Coordinator, and the entire Encounter core team for their work in preparing our teens for this sacrament.

• Also, next Saturday, May 8, our (mainly) 2nd grade students, about 60 of them, will make their First Holy Communion at 9 a.m., and then we’ll have another group of 60 do the same the following Sunday, May 16. I offer my thanks to Kathy Kelley, our Director of Religious Education, and Michelle Christopher, our Coordinator of Sacraments, along with our dedicated parents who have helped prepare the children to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord for the first time. What a blessing it is to have these young children join us at the table of the Lord! … Please note there will be no confession next Saturday, May 8 due to the First Communion Mass. They will be heard tomorrow as usual, and, of course, you are welcome to call or email us (priests@ctrcc.com) to schedule a time during the week.

• Also, as I reminded you of last week, Religious Education registration is open for all families, both those returning and those new to the program. This is your chance to see that your children are signed up for our RE classes beginning in the fall. Make it a priority to enroll them now. It’s first come-first served, so the sooner you sign up the better chance you’ll have to receive your preferred class time and day. It’s easy to do on our website at www.ctrcc.com/re. … And beginning tomorrow, you may also register for our junior and senior high Youth Ministry Faith Formation year that begins in the fall at www.ctryouth.com.

• We’re holding registration open through this weekend for our 2021 Summer Youth Soccer Camps. We’ve got week-long sessions in June and July for children ages 4-14. See all the details and register at www.ctrschool.com/youth-soccer. … Though run through our CtR Catholic School, the summer camps are open to parishioners and public school children so spread the word. This is the third year for the camps and they’ve been growing in popularity each year. It’s great fun for the kids and a wonderful way to unite our community.

• Speaking of summer, our Virtual Vacation Bible School is set for July 12-16 and registration is now open. Due to VBS being such a large event, planning takes many months. While we had hoped to have Rocky Railway 2021 VBS in person, we made the decision several months ago to have VBS again go virtual due to the pandemic. We are hopeful that we will be able to have some type of celebration at the end of the week in person but we’ll keep you posted on that. … Linda Watso and her team again have a great week of fun planned for the kids, so make plans to take part. All the details and registration can be found at www.ctrcc.com/vbs. It’s open for children starting at three-years of age through 6^th grade.

• Finally, May is also a month we dedicate to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, and this year, Pope Francis has announced a rosary initiative dedicating the entire month to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic “has demanded enormous sacrifices from each nation and its citizens,” the Holy Father said. The crisis has called on “the entire international community to commit, united, with a spirit of responsibility and fraternity, to face the many challenges already in action, and those which will come.”

Pope Francis emphasized the importance of considering anti-COVID vaccination as a “universal common good.” To that end, CtR has been invited by the Harris County Office of Public Health to serve as vaccination site, and we’ll host a one-day event on Saturday, May 15 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. for anyone who would like to receive the vaccination (Moderna version) free of charge. We’ll also host a follow-up session four weeks later for the second dose. We’ll have more details next week, but help spread the word. As a reminder the Holy Father and Cardinal DiNardo have stated that receiving the vaccination is morally ethical. Both Fr. Vincent and I received it back in February, with no side effects, and I highly encourage everyone to do so for the greater good of the community.

St. Joseph, the Worker, whose feast day is tomorrow, May 1, pray for us!

Peace, Fr. Sean