The Advent season is a call to change our lives. As we witness John the Baptist in the Gospel this Sunday, he is one person calling out for change. As we encounter Jesus in our Advent walk, we are called to allow our hearts to be open to change and to open ourselves to a new way of growing in our relationship with God. Now that the Holiday season is in full swing and there are several opportunities for our parish community to witness the love of Christ to those in need this season. The Angel Tree Gift card project ends this weekend with collection boxes is up in our Church narthex and there is a constant need for donations for food in which SVDP will distribute. Thank you for your generosity.
The next opportunity for you to give is to the parish itself. The 2020 STHY gift list is out and this presents a great opportunity to support our parish in a special way to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. Check out the list in the bulletin or Sthaycinth.org and see how you can share the gift of Christmas with STHY.
With the busy times of the Season of Advent and Christmas, enrolling in Faith Direct today is a great way to ensure your gifts of treasure to St. Hyacinth are received even if you may be out of town. Please pick up an enrollment form located on the information table in the narthex, from the parish office, or enroll online at www.faithdirect.net our Church Code is TX526. Already using Faith Direct? Don't forget to add your Christmas or End-of-Year contributions to your account this season.
This year the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is Holy Day of obligation and for those who want to honor our Blessed Mother, there are special Masses on Tuesday at 8:00 am and 7:00 pm. STHY will have our annual Advent Penance Service on Wednesday December 16th at 7:00 pm in the Church. We will have multiple priest confessors available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation that night. I encourage you to come and experience this most powerful and healing sacrament.
With Christmas day 2020 on December 25th falling on a Friday it’s going to be a busy time for us in the church as we transition from our Advent season environment to the Christmas season. Due to the tight schedule, we need lots of hands in decorating the church, Guyot Hall, the Religious Education building and the parish grounds. Call the parish office for details on how to help.
Let’s take a look ahead to the Christmas schedule. Our Christmas Mass schedule is as follows: Thursday December. 24th, Christmas Eve: 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 4:30 in Guyot Hall, Friday December 25th 12 midnight and 10:00 am.
With all those masses we will be stretched thin on ministers to help cover the many needs of the Christmas Liturgy. In particular I am asking our Eucharistic Ministers of Holy Communion to please sign up to assist at one (or two) masses if at all possible. Same goes for our Sacristans, Acolytes, Altar Servers, Ushers and Greeters. We will have a lot of visitors with us this Christmas season and we need your presence, please. For 2020, Cardinal DiNardo has assessed our parish DSF goal at $84,000. This year, our parish has collected $64,419 towards our goal. We have until the end of the year to collect our goal. DSF supports more than 60 ministries and programs that serve the faithful of the Archdiocese and us here at St. Hyacinth. From Catholic chaplains at the hospitals and the Port of Houston, to religious education training for our teachers (who pass on their faith to our children), to outreach to seniors, to youth ministry, to soup kitchens, to Catholic Charities ministry to the poor and disenfranchised, and to training for seminarians, deacons and priests, the DSF provides funding for people and program that serve us all. There is only two months left until the end of the year to cover the $$19,580 deficit in DSF. If we do not make our DSF goal for the year, the balance that is due will come directly out of the operating expense of the parish. Thank you for your generosity.